NAZARETH, Pa. — Peanut butter on toast is 5-year-old Mason's favorite bedtime snack.
The treat isn't just tasty, it's the ticket to safe blood sugar levels while the sandy-blonde, blue-eyed Nazareth boy sleeps.
Mason has T1D, or, Type 1 diabetes.
It was first named juvenile diabetes, or insulin-resistant diabetes, because it often develops in children, teens and young adults, but it can happen at any age. Unlike Type 2 diabetes, which can go away with a strict diet, exercise and medication, T1D is a chronic condition with no cure.
"Mason need only speak three words: 'Daddy, I'm low.'"Austin Person, Mason's dad
T1D occurs when the pancreas makes little to no insulin, the hormone that lets sugar enter cells for energy. Insulin helps lower the amount of sugar in the blood stream. So, no insulin means sugar stays in the blood. Out of balance blood sugar, too high or too low, can be fatal if not treated quickly enough, according to the Mayo Clinic's website.
Mason need only speak three words: "Daddy, I'm low."
And Austin Person jumps into action.
“He’s really smart — he’ll know when he’s low or high. The first time he told me, I didn’t believe him. I checked his phone. His sugar was in the normal range," Person said.
Through a father's eyes
But Person can also tell by looking at his son.
“If his blood sugar is high, he’s very defiant. If it's low, he’s lethargic and doesn’t want to do anything. He gets dark circles under his eyes. Now we know. We just know now what to look for,” Person said.
"So then I finger-checked just to be sure, and he was low. So I changed his Dexcom, gave him some gummies, (usually six of any sugary kind) and we went about our day.”
Mason wears a Dexcom CGM, or continuous glucose monitor, and an Omnipod, which delivers insulin automatically when the monitor says it's needed. The family interacts with these devices via phone app.
"It's a patch that goes anywhere on the body that has fat. Arms, legs and tummies are best. Such a little champion!" Person said in an email.
Intentional meals are a must — "we have to carb-count" and find types and amounts that will keep Mason's blood sugar stable, he said.
Otherwise, Mason is a typical boy who likes to run around, go to kindergarten and play on the iPad.
Business begins
Person comes from a family who spent 60 years in the meat processing business and is a branding and marketing professional.
He's also starting a new business.
But his love for Mason made him want to do something special for the boy and for Breakthrough T1D, formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.
"It's one of the largest national research foundation hospitals. It's important that we give back."Austin Person, creator, Two Brothers Nut Butters
It started in 1970 by families of T1D kids. Advancing treatments, influencing policy and improving access are roads they hope will end in conclusion of their sole mission: Finding a cure.
Person is on a mission of his own.
Intrigued by manufacturing, he walked the grocery aisles at Wegmans last year and took notes. He wanted to find a shelf-stable product he could make and sell, and share proceeds with the nonprofit that does so much for T1D kids.
He realized the answer was already in his kitchen.
"Peanut butter. Me and my son, we love peanut butter. It’s his favorite snack for when his sugar gets low," Person said. "It's also a favorite snack amongst diabetics."
Person and his brother Adam got to work, making batches of peanut and other nut butters, and coming up with flavor combinations. They tested them at farmers markets in New Jersey and Pennsylvania to see which ones were favorites and if they needed to add any varieties, and came up with the business name:
Two Brothers Nut Butters.
Their slogan: Gourmet Nut Butter Treats Made With A Purpose.
Small batches are made with a honey-roasted base consisting of a high quality, commercial peanut butter that uses organic nuts. Then come the candies and spices that make up each variety.
Hess's Strawberry Pie is a popular flavor that brings a lot of attention to the cause, for its nostalgia to the old Allentown department store treat. Pop off the lid and see a tempting swirl of sweet strawberry jam and peanut butter.
No need for a cracker. Just grab a spoon.
Other popular flavors include Cinnamon Roll, Fabulous Fluff, Cookies and Cream, and Birthday Cake. There's even Woof Butter, safe for dogs.
Austin and Adam Person split territories, taking the products to farm markets and food shows up to an hour outside of the Lehigh Valley.
"We find that that’s where all the good ones are. In New Jersey, it's Summit, Morristown, Chatham, and then Easton, Saucon Valley — some key ones that are really crucial to the community," Austin Person said.
"Shark Tank" reached out to him after he sold at the Hoboken market — it's a really busy one, he said. So talks are in the works about possibly appearing on the show or on "The Profit," another business mentor show.
For now, the brothers keep at it.
Getting the green light
Every quarter, they donate a portion of sales to Breakthrough T1D.
"It’s in our marketing, why we're doing this, so customers can see that and donate via the QR code on our website or flyer, and every dollar counts, so we love that," Person said. "Once we enter stores nationwide, we’ll be putting that QR code on our products."
His other mission is to do something for Mason that he can perhaps carry on one day.
"Mason was diagnosed at age two. His biological father had T1D and passed away when Mason was about four months old. It wasn't managed well," he said.
Person met Mason's mother, Bailey, and the rest is history.
"I adopted Mason. I have Type 2, so I know what to watch for. I knew it was a 50-50 shot he’d get diagnosed. I’m going to mentally prepare myself now," he says he told Bailey, before even knowing what lay ahead. Mason was 2 at the time.
Then, it happened.
"One week, Mason was urinating a lot, peeing the bed a lot, drinking a lot of water. We took him to the pediatrician just to be sure what was going on, and his blood sugar was 600. (Normal for his age is no greater than 160 after a meal.)
"We had to rush him to the ER. He was in the hospital for a few days until things got leveled out. Some kids don't know they have it and end up with blood sugars of 1,200, which is DKA for T1D," he said.
DKA is diabetic ketoacidosis, or a chemical reaction when the body burns fat for fuel instead of glucose, due to the lack of appropriate insulin absorption.
"DKA is no joke, it’s a serious condition that can lead to diabetic coma or even death," the American Diabetes Association website says.
"At least we were familiar with it already, so we knew not to wait to get to the pediatrician. In the hospital, we got educated on everything," said Person, who credits the doctors and staff at Lehigh Valley Health Network with getting Mason on track.
"When you have a child with something this serious, your awareness is always turned on."Austin Person
Two Brothers Nut Butters partners with LVHN as well with their "Bags of Hope" that they hand out to children.
The busy dad admits he rarely enters quality sleep mode.
"When you have a child with something this serious, your awareness is always turned on," ready for if and when Mason's blood sugar gets extreme in either direction during the night, he said.
Mason helps his dad out at farmers markets when he can. His picture is right there at the booth, which surely spurs on his energy at those moments he shouts out, "Step right up here folks, we've got peanut butter for you!"
"It's definitely a journey," Person said.
