For Chrissy Teigen and John Legend, their son’s Type 1 diabetes diagnosis last summer came as a shock. Miles, their super-active, sports-loving 6-year-old, “didn’t show any symptoms,” Teigen tells SheKnows. “We were just thrown into this whirlwind of chaos, trying to learn everything under the sun as quickly as we could.”
It started when Miles came down with a case of shigella, a bacterial infection that was going around his football camp. “His body took it really hard,” Teigen recalls. “A lot of [the other kids] just had stomach cramping and didn’t feel very well for a few days. Miles came home from camp and was just doubled over in real pain.” It was unusual enough that Teigen and Legend took Miles to the hospital, where he stayed for three days. Eventually, the couple noticed that doctors were giving Miles a lot of blood tests — which seemed out of the ordinary.
It was Miles’ pediatrician who explained that there might be an underlying issue. “He said, ‘We feel like his blood is telling us something,’” Teigen remembered. “‘He is here because of this sickness that he got at camp, but we are definitely fighting something else here too.’ And so all signs pointed to him having Type 1.”
Teigen’s father and many family members on her mother’s side have Type 2 diabetes, but the model admits she “knew nothing” about Type 1. “I had no idea how all-encompassing it is to have Type 1,” she says. “I thought it was manageable by [monitoring your] diet… I had no idea that it follows you everywhere, at all times of the day.”
Managing Miles’ Type 1 has now become a major part of the family’s life, and Teigen says it affects their other children — Luna, 9, Esti, 2, and Wren, 22 months — in different ways. “We might be doing bedtime with Luna, and I feel like her vibe is a little off,” Teigen explains. “Sometimes I’ll have to bring it up, like, ‘Is it Miles? Do you feel like Miles is getting a lot of attention from Mommy and Daddy lately? … and then we just hug and talk about it.”
Luna also gets frustrated when she doesn’t get “tokens” like Miles does — the system the family uses to reward their kids for doing chores or having good behavior. “She’s like, ‘I don’t get a token for for putting on my device or pricking my finger!’” Teigen explains. They rely on open communication to make sure everyone feels heard. “By them being so open about their emotions with us, we can figure out ways to make it better for everybody.” (Wren and Esti, meanwhile “just don’t care about anything,” Teigen laughs. “They think it’s so cool… they get to bring out their little plastic doctor kits when we’re mixing the insulin. They’re just all about it.”)
Of course, the one dealing with the brunt of the diagnosis is Miles. “He’s constantly on the move, always running around, always in the pool, always catching a football, always playing basketball,” Teigen says. “He’s just so active. And then all of a sudden, we had something that would have to interrupt that a little bit, all the time.” They’ve had to encourage Miles to be more vocal about how he’s feeling. “He knows Mommy and Daddy are a little bit more worried all the time,” Teigen explains. “So if he’s feeling sleepy or sick or nauseous, Mommy and Daddy have to know about that.”
Miles’ biggest concern? That he wouldn’t be able to play sports anymore. “That was a huge deal for him,” Teigen remembers. “And we were like, ‘Absolutely you can.’” Now, she says, Miles gets “so excited” whenever he sees or meets someone else with diabetes — like Nick Jonas, who the family connected with soon after Miles’ diagnosis last summer. “What could be a better introduction to the T1D world, than than someone like that?” Teigen says.
That’s why Teigen and Miles have been vocal about his diagnosis, including working with the pharmaceutical company Sanofi to promote early screening for Type 1 diabetes. “It has been so game-changing to get to be spokespeople for this,” Teigen says, “because it really is nice to see yourself reflected in somebody else. I know it matters so much to him when he sees somebody else [with Type 1].”
Teigen also knows firsthand how important it is to know your risk for Type 1. “Early detection is key,” she says. “We had no time to prepare. If we would have had, I’m not kidding, a week — [it] would have made a difference, much less a year.” And even after Miles was diagnosed, Teigen and Legend weren’t encouraged to screen their other children — “so we really want to get the word out there that people should talk to their doctors about screening, and just so you don’t get blindsided by something.”
Speaking out about Miles’ diagnosis has also had another positive side effect: creating a massive network of support for their son as he navigates the still-fresh diagnosis. “He’s surrounded by the coolest, most supportive village ever,” Teigen says. “Yes, our family, but also encompassing all the people that know about our family and know about him. It’s really cool.”
Before you go, read about these celebrities who have shared their health issues to address stigma:
