diabetes taking over??

[Mumlé]

Just a little rant, since I feel a little better today!! But L's 3 year old sister T is getting a hard time of it lately - the fact that her current favourite game is doctors says it all. We are in and out of clinics/doc surgery/chemist practically every day it seems. And me thinking about L's sugars ALL DAY long. As you do. I explain everything to T and yesterday when we came back from getting blood taken for the diabetes trials net thingy, she had all her crayons, got the t-shirt etc - said in the car - "now I have diabetes". I really had to try to explain why she really would not want to have it! She understands that I have to attend to L constantly but I am also sleep-deprived and cranky. It's all the normal stuff that you would have with 2 children this age, only with added extras. No-one said it would be easy did they. Tell you what made me feel a little better, was watching a video about being a parent of diabetic children, on childrenwithdiabetes.org or whatever the website is. It's just good when you can hear and see someone else saying stuff you totally GET.

As an aside - all I want to do these days is stuff my face with junk food. I have a sweet tooth anyway - but I love my food, I love mealtimes, and I hate having to do sums at every meal and think about food all the time. I feel like I am eating more unhealthily now because I'm just fed up of thinking about it. Sigh. Anyone have any recipes good for little ones, with carb counts of course, that don't contain dairy or tomatoes (T's eczema). Oh yes L doesn't really like potatoes either. Hahahahahahaha aaaaaaaargh

Anyone want to come over and cook us dinner?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Wow Charlotte. What a post.

It's hard enough having diabetes yourself, but I can't imagine what it must be like to try to keep a toddler's BGs steady while you simultaneously keep their sibling happy, involved and not feeling pushed aside by it.

By the sounds of things you are doing an AMAZING job, and I completely sympathise with the feeling of thinking about 'healthy' and 'shouldn't really be eating' food so much you just want to reach for the nearest pile of vitamin-free empty calories loaded with shiny E-numbers.

Do your two like rice? When ours were little one in particular used to LOVE plain boiled rice, drained, then an beaten egg sort of barely-scrambled in the bottom of the rice pan with the hot rice popped back in and stirred around. Chuck in a handful of frozen peas that have been sitting in a mug of boiling water for a minute or two and stir. A few drops of soy sauce if they like that kinda thing.

For the carb count of rice we always measure dry work out the total carbs and then divide by eye when dishing up. Others use more of a plate-on-the-scales idea.

Hope you begin to feel more yourself soon. Everyone gets a bit of D burnout from time to time

 

[Ellie Jones]

Sugar Free Jelly🙂 with home-made ice-cream made with splenda! Merquines made with splenda is quite lush indeed...

Home made chocolate mouse, if made with good quality dark chocolate really keeps the carb count down..

Not liking potatoes isn't bad thing at all..

How about using celeraic, you can do chips, crips etc with these and very low carb...

Oh yes, as soon as you become diabetic your perception of food really changes, it goes from taste and looks into a carb count.. Worse bit of it all is that 'junk' food seems to be in a packet with the carb count on the back easy to work out etc...

 

[bev]

Hi Charlotteking,

Have you joined the CWD list yet. There are so many people on there with children the same age as L and your other little one who would be able to empathise. Alex was diagnosed at 10 and is now 12 - so its difficult for me to help you in terms of toddlers and diabetes.

I wouldnt worry too much about siblings taking an interest in diabetes - its only natural and as long as you keep communicating with her then you will be able to watch for any negative feelings creeping in. Sibling rivalry is normal so dont worry - perhaps you could give T some 'quality time' whilst L is asleep and talk about anything other than diabetes.

As for eating junk food - that is just part and parcel of being a parent sometimes - he he. It is so easy to eat a bar of chocolate rather than making a sandwich or similar due to there being no time to do anything for yourself.😱Perhaps you could buy yourself a little 'treat' for when they are in bed - and I dont mean chocolate - you could get your favourite fruit or a low fat yoghurt and make sure they are asleep and you have some 'me' time to enjoy it.

Diabetes is a big part of your life - but dont let it take over - treat it as if it is a chore that has to be done and try to get on with normal life. The carb counting and the maths does get a lot easier as you go on and will become second nature. I sometimes carb count my own food when Alex isnt even here - doh.🙂Bev

 

[Ruth Goode]

We are all allowed a few 'bad day', I can understand how you feel but always try to think positive e.g instead of thinking 'diabetes taking over' I like to think 'we are controlling diabetes' life is like a rollercoaster, sometimes it is up sometimes it is down - hope you're feeling better by now 🙂

 

[chrismbee]

Sounds like you're doing brilliantly, so a brief rant is to be expected every now and then.
Even though I've had T1 for a few years now, would imagine I'd be like a rabbit in the headlights if I were in your position, having to care for your own child with the condition.
It's been mentioned in many threads, but I think it's far easier to contend with diabetes in yourself, than if your loved ones have it.