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Son with constant highs

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Bruce Stephens said:
Would dexcom give that much more information than Libre 2 already does?
Click to expand...
The advantage is you can use the dexcom follow app so the parent can see in real time what’s happening without scanning. I don’t think that’s an option for Libre. It does require the teen to have a phone though.
 
Bruce Stephens said:
Would dexcom give that much more information than Libre 2 already does?
Click to expand...
Hi weuse to self fund dexcom before untill the libre 2 came funded. But yes at least with the dexcom it takes away a lot of nagging and hopefully the pressure lifted fromThat would maybe make him feel less got at and maybe start to take bk a bit of control .so yes maybe only way.
 
Although Libre 2 needs specific scans to capture the data, it is in fact transmitting in real time every minute and there are apps that capture that real time data. For android phones there is Diabox and Nightscout; for iPhone there is, apparently, Shuggah (which might be the same thing as x-drip for ios); I'm on android so have no personal knowledge of ios apps. I used Diabox and loved it; having my own technical issue with it just now - but that's just something I still have to resolve. Not sure if it can be shared.
 
Thebearcametoo said:
The advantage is you can use the dexcom follow app so the parent can see in real time what’s happening without scanning. I don’t think that’s an option for Libre. It does require the teen to have a phone though.
Click to expand...
I am pretty sure you can follow Libre.
If not officially, definitely through 3rd party apps which have the advantage of not needing the scan.
 
Bruce Stephens said:
There appears to be a LibreLinkUp app for this, but as you note it still needs scanning. (Seems to be quite separate from LibreView for some reason, which (to me, anyway) seems confusing. However, I'm sure it works fine and makes sense once you get used to it.)
Click to expand...
The LibreLinkUp app is very basic. My wife has this and sees what readings I'm getting whenever I scan and in a wifi zone, but no trend info nor info about what, if anything I might be doing; ie no correction data nor food being taken.
 
Proud to be erratic said:
Although Libre 2 needs specific scans to capture the data, it is in fact transmitting in real time every minute and there are apps that capture that real time data. For android phones there is Diabox and Nightscout; for iPhone there is, apparently, Shuggah (which might be the same thing as x-drip for ios); I'm on android so have no personal knowledge of ios apps. I used Diabox and loved it; having my own technical issue with it just now - but that's just something I still have to resolve. Not sure if it can be shared.
Click to expand...
Hi thank-you i will look into that .
 
Sorry to hear what a tough time your son is having, and how it is affecting you in turn.

Diabetes can be relentless and exhausting, and periods of ‘diabetes burnout’ are not at all uncommon.

I am sure you are well used to having sensitive conversations in a positive and supportive way, but you might fins some of the hints and tips here useful.

 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Sorry to hear what a tough time your son is having, and how it is affecting you in turn.

Diabetes can be relentless and exhausting, and periods of ‘diabetes burnout’ are not at all uncommon.

I am sure you are well used to having sensitive conversations in a positive and supportive way, but you might fins some of the hints and tips here useful.

Click to expand...
Thankyou for your kind words and I will definitely have a read.
 
Hi, and welcome

While not a parent, as someone of pensionable age who has lived on the street for most of my life, I do come across more than a few teenagers with "attitude problems". Also, being, approachable, likeable and somewhat famous/notorious, I fairly regularly get asked for advice from parents with "teenager problems".

Noting that most of the kids I come across have been seriously damaged by society, I try to point out to them that if they can avoid disease, prison, addiction, pregnancy.... or combination thereof, then life is full of opportunities that society has taught them are "not open to the likes of them".

In my case, despite having a less than perfect childhood, once I escaped from an abusive family, I went on to
  • Study maths at uni
  • Beat over 50,000 applicants from across Europe for a job in cutting edge particle physics.
  • Spend a very comfortable 30 years on the streets of the South of France, where:
  1. I would spend summer on the beaches with my own Kayak and diving equipment, (I was very well known around La Ciotat)
  2. During the winter, I would migrate to the Caribbean where I would buy a cheap, throw-away car; mask and fins; speargun; tarpaulin and armed with a hammock, camp out on isolated scenic beaches.
  3. On return to the Metropol, while waiting for the weather to improve enough to repeat the process, I would rent a very tiny studio in the off-piste haven of Puy Saint Vincent. In the process becoming a fairly accomplished; moderately well known off-piste skier
So, what I would say to your son is this: He is young, with his entire life a blank sheet of paper waiting for him, and him alone to fill in. During the next two years, all his current friends will drift away, with the distinct possibility of never being seen again. The course his life takes is completely up to him. If he maintains his health, it is realistically possible for him to go to the Moon or Mars... Alternatively, if that is his choice, he could follow in my footsteps and becone a beach bum, sail single handed around the world, become a surfer and spend his life searching for that perfect wave... or any other big adventure of his own choosing. However, all of this is dependent on him maintaining his health. If he so chooses, he could spend his life as a bitter, bed-ridden cripple.

To you as a parent, I would say this: Most adults, me included, spend their lives trying to forget the realities of teenage life and the incredibly stupid things we personally did as teenagers. In your case, despite the potential for deep, personal embarrassment, I suggest you try to remember. Also, most importantly, don't forget the old adage: "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink it". In other words, all you as a parent can do is be ready with water when he needs it most.

My sympathies,
Irvine
 
Wow amazing post very inspirational. We do get caught up in the everyday struggle and forget the bigger picture. Thankyou for your time and insight.
 
You are welcome, I just hope it helps you with your son/

It's all about having a goal. For me, rather than being envious of people with multimillion dollar trust funds, I decided I was going to spend my life doing everything that I would have done if I had such a fund. Albeit, at more modest level.

People respected this, it kind of gave truth to the French national motto of "Liberté, égalité et fraternité". The first time I flew out to the Caribbean, I went into the travel agents with a coke bottle full of 10 franc coins. They were so impressed, they helped me get a bank account.

There are many islands and calanques around Marseille, with very exclusive, surprisingly cheap restaurants which are only accessible by boat. With my kayak, about once a month, or so, I would treat myself and girlfriend d'jour to a meal at one of these restaurants.

As a result, I could go into Cassis, set up a parasol and deck-chair on the vieux-port, then, Ice-Cream in hand, I would hold out my other and raconteur the locals with things like: "Mon dieu il y est fait chaud! Vous-avez pas une petite pièce pour le ski?" Which translates to: "My God its hot! Do you have any money so I can go Skiing"

The thing is, Cassis is not only the place where all the French millionaires live. It is also the ideological heartland of the Front National, and generally considered extremely [violently] hostile to my chosen life style. This is particularly true when you are a foreigner. However, since the connaissent, having seen me on the pistes, in the airports and at their favourite watering holes, knew the truth, I was actually quite well received.

By the way, I didn't speak French before I arrived and have an appalling accent, a kind of mélange of Marseillais and Broad Scots which sends shudders through the hearts of Parisians everywhere.

Anyway, as I say, it is all about deciding what your goal is and not fixating on potential costs, but rather focusing on how best one can achieve that goal with the available resources. For example:
  1. A cheap throwaway car + tarpaulin in the Caribbean -- between £50 and £100 or much less
  2. A two month stay in a Caribbean resort hotel -- between £7,000 and £10,000 or more

I hope this helps you with your son. He is young and the only limitations he has are the ones he places on himself.
 
Some 20 ish years ago we were on the coast road above Cassis on one of our motorbikes so decided to go and have a look. We never got there as we couldn't park. I can assure you and the French the fact we happened to be on a motorbike had nothing whatever to do with the state of our bank balance, but with £6k's worth of newish bike and 3 weeks more holiday to go, you don't just abandon it! Their loss, not ours.

Never been anywhere in striking distance of that bit of coast since, haven't bothered. Plenty of other more accessible and interesting places to go.
 
No - it isn't. Please yerselves. We just spend £70k ish on em to prove to the rest of the world how skint we are and never want to spend any money locally ......... As I said - their loss!

(Kir's far too sweet anyway ..... :D )
 
La Ciotat, about 10km further along the coast is much more welcoming; much less expensive; has some beautiful calanques that are unusually accessible, plus miles of beaches of better quality than those of either St Cyr Sur Mer or Cassis, (or Nice, Cannes and the rest of the Riviera for that matter.)

Because of the shipyard, (which now services super-yachts,) it is considered to be a very low class destination. Ironically however, there is a steady, very slow 2 kph current along the modern breakwater at the back, giving it some of the cleanest water in the entire Gulf d'Amour. The design provides shelter for rare fish and other sea life, and, if you look carefully, there are many flat shelves which not only provide easy access to the water, but convenient, very secluded, private picnic spots.

The breakwater also has the added bonus of being far enough away from anything combustible that it is one of the few places on the South coast where you can have a traditional beach barbeque.
 
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