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Hello from Heather down in Cornwall...

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Heather1970

Heather1970

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Parent of person with diabetes
Hi All,
My name is Heather and 6 weeks ago my 8 year old son was diagnosed with type 1. Its been an emotional rollercoaster for us to say the least, and with so much information to take in I'm surprised my head hasn't exploded.

Luckily for my son, he wasn't ill when diagnosed, but the copious amounts of water he was drinking along with feeling tired rang warning bells with me, so off to the GP we went...and then immediately to hospital after blood glucose levels were registering so high.
It was a shock, and trying to remain composed in front of your child was difficult especially when you as a parent is the one who is supposed to be able to say everything is going to be ok...except it doesn't feel like that at the time.

Anyway, 6 weeks on and a carb counting course later (another brain draining experience) I have to say that so far it has made such a difference to my son's wellbeing...dramatically reduced hypo's which has made him and I feel more relaxed about the whole diabetes scenario.
We are of course still very much in the honeymoon period, but trying to stay positive and carry on with 'normal' life rather than allow diabetes to rule us is the name of the game in our house!🙂
 
Hi Heather and welcome to the forum. sorry to hear about your sons diagnosis. This forum is a great help and support to everyone who comes on here.
 
Heather1970 said:
Hi All,
My name is Heather and 6 weeks ago my 8 year old son was diagnosed with type 1. Its been an emotional rollercoaster for us to say the least, and with so much information to take in I'm surprised my head hasn't exploded.

Luckily for my son, he wasn't ill when diagnosed, but the copious amounts of water he was drinking along with feeling tired rang warning bells with me, so off to the GP we went...and then immediately to hospital after blood glucose levels were registering so high.
It was a shock, and trying to remain composed in front of your child was difficult especially when you as a parent is the one who is supposed to be able to say everything is going to be ok...except it doesn't feel like that at the time.

Anyway, 6 weeks on and a carb counting course later (another brain draining experience) I have to say that so far it has made such a difference to my son's wellbeing...dramatically reduced hypo's which has made him and I feel more relaxed about the whole diabetes scenario.
We are of course still very much in the honeymoon period, but trying to stay positive and carry on with 'normal' life rather than allow diabetes to rule us is the name of the game in our house!🙂
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Hi Heather, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sorry you have to be here though! Good that you spotted the symptoms and got him the help he needed before he fell too ill, it can happen very quickly. When I was diagnosed and started receiving insulin I couldn't believe how much better I felt - hadn't realised how poorly I had been feeling.

Good that you have been given a carb counting course - how is it going now? What insulin is he on? I would highly recommend getting a copy of Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas - you will find it very helpful as it covers everything in a very readable and easy to understand way 🙂 I'd also recommend looking at our Useful Links thread for other great sources of information and support 🙂

Please let us know if you have any questions and we will do our best to help out 🙂
 
Hello Heather and welcome to the forum. I'm down in Cornwall as well 🙂
 
Welcome Heather. I have just come back from Cornwall.

Sorry to hear about your sons diagnosis but pleased to hear that you are determined to get on with the 'new normal' life. Keep asking questions and we are here to help in any way we can.

Have you looked at the parents section on this forum. You are not alone in this and there are plenty on there who are not far ahead of you in the diagnosis of their child.

How has the return to school gone? Has your DSN been in with you to meet with staff who will be supporting your child?
 
Welcome to the forum, Heather. What are your son's interests, sports, hobbies etc?
 
Hello Heather
Sorry to hear about your little chap, but glad to hear you're feeling more confident and a bit happier about it all. We're a friendly bunch so if you need help just shout 🙂
 
Hello and welcome Heather 🙂

Sorry to hear about your little lads diagnosis but glad to hear things are beginning to improve for you all. It's a steep learning curve but bit by bit it all starts to add up and normal life begins to reappear. I wish you well with it 🙂
 
Welcome to our forum Heather and know you'll get loads of help and support on here. You're going through a difficult time but sounds like you're both doing really well. 🙂
 
Hi Heather, welcome...after reading your intro i feel i have some things in common...8 year old son newly diagnosed...for one. We're just over 2 mths in and it has become a way of life..This is a great site, plently of people on hand to help with the 'real' experience behind them. I look forward to your updates.
 
Heather1970 said:
Hi All,
My name is Heather and 6 weeks ago my 8 year old son was diagnosed with type 1. Its been an emotional rollercoaster for us to say the least, and with so much information to take in I'm surprised my head hasn't exploded.

Luckily for my son, he wasn't ill when diagnosed, but the copious amounts of water he was drinking along with feeling tired rang warning bells with me, so off to the GP we went...and then immediately to hospital after blood glucose levels were registering so high.
It was a shock, and trying to remain composed in front of your child was difficult especially when you as a parent is the one who is supposed to be able to say everything is going to be ok...except it doesn't feel like that at the time.

Anyway, 6 weeks on and a carb counting course later (another brain draining experience) I have to say that so far it has made such a difference to my son's wellbeing...dramatically reduced hypo's which has made him and I feel more relaxed about the whole diabetes scenario.
We are of course still very much in the honeymoon period, but trying to stay positive and carry on with 'normal' life rather than allow diabetes to rule us is the name of the game in our house!🙂
Click to expand...
Hello Mrs nearly exploding head. (sorry) Well done to find this forum too as well as taking the info in. It takes years to get good at it but please keep going. I was diagnosed at 3 50 odd yrs ago. I would seriously employ any T1 with the right attitude. Good luck 🙂
 
Hi Carol,
Thank you for posting on my thread. Its very tough initially isn't it? And tougher when its your own child. I would rather it was happening to me than him. We can't change things but I do try to keep positive for all of our sake..I have a daughter too, my sons twin, who is absolutely fine.
Happy to chat maybe on another page..I will look at the parents section of this site...See you there 🙂
 
Thank you to all of you who have welcomed me to this site. Its great to have support x
 
Hi Heather. What a bugger, along comes diabetes and wow everything changes. You'll get all the info you need and to be honest no one knows diabetes like a diabetic.
Make your son proud to be T1 diabetic, get the T shirts, have diabetic birthday parties, tell everyone, let him tell everyone how he injects and where even let him show people if the situation arises, let and make him talk about his diabetes.
Don't hide it, it thrives on secrecy and denial.
Good luck.
 
Marsbar63 said:
Hi Heather. What a bugger, along comes diabetes and wow everything changes. You'll get all the info you need and to be honest no one knows diabetes like a diabetic.
Make your son proud to be T1 diabetic, get the T shirts, have diabetic birthday parties, tell everyone, let him tell everyone how he injects and where even let him show people if the situation arises, let and make him talk about his diabetes.
Don't hide it, it thrives on secrecy and denial.
Good luck.
Click to expand...

Thank you...and I will indeed! I knew nothing about the condition before diagnosis, although for some strange reason I seemed to link the thirst element to it..god knows where that came from but so glad i did! Friends/other parents from school seem to be interested in my son and what I have to say, although I feel only in small doses, because at the end of the day its not happening to them so they switch off. (and I'm not one to bombard people with too much information in general) I guess just raising awareness any way can could make a difference to someone whether it be adult or child.
 
Heather1970 said:
Thank you...and I will indeed! I knew nothing about the condition before diagnosis, although for some strange reason I seemed to link the thirst element to it..god knows where that came from but so glad i did! Friends/other parents from school seem to be interested in my son and what I have to say, although I feel only in small doses, because at the end of the day its not happening to them so they switch off. (and I'm not one to bombard people with too much information in general) I guess just raising awareness any way can could make a difference to someone whether it be adult or child.
Click to expand...
Heather one more thing. Your son will at sometime have a hypo when you are not there. It's imperative that as many people as possible know how to help him.
So many people think that a diabetic having a hypo needs insulin, this is down to poor education and confusion and can prove to be dangerous to say the least.
Take care.
 
@Heather1970 what part of Cornwall are you in, I'm on the border?
 
Marsbar63 said:
Heather one more thing. Your son will at sometime have a hypo when you are not there. It's imperative that as many people as possible know how to help him.
So many people think that a diabetic having a hypo needs insulin, this is down to poor education and confusion and can prove to be dangerous to say the least.
Take care.
Click to expand...
I understand that this will happen at some point. My sons teachers are great, they have had training from the DSN and they are currently the only other people apart from my parents that would be with him when I am not. I know that this won't always be the case as he starts growing up, but for now I am with him the majority of the time and that suits me just fine. My son seems to be good at spotting his own hypos at the mo, but I realise that there may be occasions in the future when he doesn't realise a hypo is happening until its too late. Like you say, raising awareness and education is the best way forward.🙂🙂🙂
 
Pumper_Sue said:
@Heather1970 what part of Cornwall are you in, I'm on the border?
Click to expand...
I'm in Helston, on the Lizard peninsula.... I love Cornwall! I spent my childhood growing up here, moved away for about 13 years then returned in 2011 with my twins. I'm home now....such a wonderful county to live in and bring up children.
 
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