SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Tuesday is “Rare Disease Day,” and a Sioux Falls four-year-old has dealt with a rare genetic disease ever since she was born.

Elizabeth, or Beth, Raymond is a typical little kid, but she has a rare disease they found out she had when she was only days old.

“Beth has Glutaric Acidemia Type 1, or GA1. It’s a metabolic condition where her body doesn’t process proteins the same way everyone else’s body does. It can build up and cause brain damage, paralyzations, strokes, seizures and it can sometimes cause death in some people,” Beth’s mom Jennifer Raymond said.

David Pearce is the president of Sanford Research, where researchers study many different types of rare diseases.

“A protein is made up of 20 different types of amino acids. They’re the substrates that construct protein, and then they’re all mixed together in a different order. What Beth has is the inability to really process one of those building blocks, one of those amino acids, so it can accumulate and become toxic,” Sanford Research president David Pearce said.

Beth has been in and out of the hospital a lot throughout her short life.

“In the past, she’s been hospitalized 12 times, so for things like every fever, vomits, diarrhea, ear infections have landed her in the hospital. She had influenza A and B,” Jennifer said.

They have to watch Beth’s diet closely and limit how much protein she eats. She also has a feeding tube.

“She’s a normal four-year-old, so she fights it. We did feeding therapy for about a year or two to see if we could get her, for a little while she was almost afraid of food, so you’d put new food in front of her and she’d like freak out,” Jennifer said.

“When we do have to feed her, sometimes we feed her with, put her pump in a backpack, and she’ll run around and play like normal,” Beth’s dad Chris Raymond said.

And at only four years old, mom and dad say she’s already trying to read nutrition labels for foods she eats.

“Looking for protein. As we monitor what’s in there, she’s doing the same thing and she’s learning that at a young age,” Chris said. “She’s a champion. She doesn’t know any different, so therefore it’s just normal life for her.”

Both Falls Park and the Arc of Dreams in downtown Sioux Falls will be lit in the colors blue, green, pink, and purple on Rare Disease Day to show solidarity with those affected by rare diseases.