Brooke Shields' older daughter Rowan shares harrowing challenges during Type 1 diabetes diagnosis

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Hollywood actress Brooke Shields' eldest daughter Rowan Francis Henchy, 21, recently shared developing major health problems she faced from undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes in 2018.

Rowan, now a college student, revealed that her health took a terrifying turn during her freshman year of high school. She recalled experiencing "blaring, red flags" of the autoimmune disease that have affected her life ever since.

Brooke, 59, and her husband, film director Chris Henchy, welcomed Rowan into their family in 2003, about two years after their 2001 wedding. The couple also has a younger daughter, Grier, 18.

Brooke Shields' daughter Rowan reveals she was unaware of her Type 1 diabetes diagnosis

In a recent interview with People, Brooke Shields' eldest daughter, Rowan, recalled that she began losing weight "really rapidly" in 2018 during her first year of high school.

Rowan explained, "I lost a lot of weight, really rapidly. But I was eating two meals [for] each meal. I was consuming so much food and I was just losing weight even faster the more I would eat."

"Another thing is you're constantly peeing. And then my eyesight started to go and then I got a really bad toe infection. So these are blaring, red flags for undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes," she added.

Later that year, Rowan was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and has been managing the condition ever since.

Rowan, a senior at Wake Forest University, has documented her struggle on Instagram, where she regularly shares pictures of herself wearing her Dexcom patch to raise awareness of Type 1 diabetes.

However, her actress mother Brooke said, "It was an adjustment." Along with the diagnosis, Rowan had also changed schools that year.

Rowan added, "There were times I wished that I was diagnosed at 5 because I knew a life without it. But even from the four years that I've had it, there's already been so many advancements in technology."

With a pump and Dexcom patch on her stomach that continuously monitors her glucose levels, Rowan stated that managing her diabetes is a constant, round-the-clock obligation.

She never stops thinking about it, though she only gives it her full attention when her blood sugar levels are abnormal. For her, the key is overcoming the obstacles and figuring out how to manage the illness on a daily basis.

"I have a pump on my stomach and a Dexcom​​ patch on my stomach. It's a 24/7 job and I'm never off duty," Rowan said.

She added, "It only controls my thoughts when my blood sugar is too high or too low. Regardless of whatever headache, you find a way around it. It's something that I have and it's now just about managing."

It eventually made a huge impact to become aware of the problem and be equipped with management tools.

Brooke Shields felt 'helpless' after Rowan's Type 1 diabetes diagnosis

Although Rowan took charge of her diabetes at the age of 14, handling her insulin shots independently and maturing quickly, Brooke Shields admitted feeling "helpless" at first but praised Rowan's early maturity and competence.

"I was feeling helpless because we didn't know what to do and then she became completely autonomous with it. She was old enough to administer the insulin to herself," Brooke said.

She added, "And as a 14-year-old, giving yourself shots multiple times a day is a very quick maturation process. She became very competent. She had to grow up quickly."

Brooke claimed that it took a while for Rowan to get comfortable. "For a long time she wouldn't wear the monitor either, and then the pricking of the fingers all day long, that finally got annoying to her."

"So having the monitor and having it on your phone [to monitor the levels], I can now look it up on my phone and then I don't have to bug her."

In addition, Brooke is contributing to awareness efforts. She recently finished shooting the comedy-drama 'Quarter,' which is based on Kelly Bascom's personal experience as a young woman with Type 1 diabetes.

To discuss normalizing the disease, Brooke and Rowan appeared on a panel for the movie at the Tribeca Film Festival late last spring.

"Kelly Bascom is the young woman who wrote it and directed it and stars in this. It's one of the first type one diabetes movies," Brooke said.

She added, "There are no diabetes movies there. It's interesting from a young girl's perspective. So I think it's going to be an important movie."