She carries around a small electronic device wherever she goes. At first glance it looks like an MP3 player or perhaps a small cellphone.

But for Chanti Anderson, this device can help her toe the line between life and death. 

Anderson, 14, is a Type 1 diabetic. The small device is a blood glucose monitor that alerts her when her blood sugar levels start heading toward a dangerous area.

“It plays a little song when my levels are low,” she said. “It’s really extremely annoying.”

She will run in the Kalispell Lions Stride Walk for Diabetes at 10 a.m. on June 21. Although she is not a member of the Lions, her firsthand experience with diabetes make her an easy poster child for the event. More than 200 children in the Flathead have diabetes.

Anderson was diagnosed when she was 12, and the effects haven’t made things easy. Even something as innocuous as treats from a teacher pose a potential health risk. Her glucose transmitter, on her right shoulder, can draw attention.

“At school I have to be more careful with what I eat,” she said. “And people ask me all the time what [the transmitter] is. It can be frustrating.”

For Anderson’s mother, Jamie Lynn, the transition has been hard as well.

“It was pretty scary,” she said of the diagnosis. “We had a lot of sleepless nights where I had to wake her up at 2 a.m. to check her blood sugar.”

Now, with the musical monitor, Anderson takes control of her own health. That being said, it isn’t always easy.

“There are certainly moments when having Type 1 diabetes and being a teenager is difficult,” Lynn said. “Sometimes she just decides she doesn’t want to have it any more, and I can’t blame her. It’s like a friend you carry around all the time, but sometimes it feels like an enemy.”

Anderson has been involved in the Flathead’s diabetes community before, being both a camper and mentor at Ravenwood Wilderness Camp, where diabetic children can go to enjoy summer camp while being monitored by medical professionals.

“It was really fun,” she said. “It was cool to see other kids who have diabetes and know that I can talk to them and help them. You just do normal things at camp, but there are also nurses who check blood sugar.”

Being a teenager with diabetes can be limiting, Anderson admits. Pizza and soda are absolute no-no’s. Even so, she doesn’t let it get her down.

“It’s really not a big deal,” she said. “I have a black belt in taekwondo, but when I was taking the red belt test I was totally exhausted. After, I must have eaten like four bananas. I didn’t know I had diabetes yet, but that was a sign of low blood sugar.”

Lynn said she is watching Anderson’s 12-year-old brother Soran to see if he shows some of the same symptoms. Neither Lynn nor her husband, Jeremiah, are diabetics. 

Anderson, who is 5 foot, 8 inches tall, will be a freshman at Flathead High School this fall and plans to play volleyball for the Bravettes. Although dealing with the disease has become a daily occurrence, it still hits her sometimes that it isn’t really a joke.

“I’ve managed it just fine so far,” she said. “But when the little song plays, I think that if I forgot to check this, I might die. It’s weird to think about.”

For more information on the walk, register at www.kalispell-lions.org or contact the Kalispell Regional Diabetes Care and Prevention Center.

A silent auction will be held June 21 at The Summit. Other donations can be made online at GoFundMe.com/8bi4ek.

 Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.