In A Bit Of A Shock

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KarinBee

KarinBee

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Well, I never thought I'd be joining a forum such as this. I am still in a bit of a daze.

My son, 19, started feeling very tired last week, very thirsty and on Thursday he was sick. Friday morning he went to see his GP and by Friday afternoon he was in hospital with DKA and then confirmed with Diabetes Type 1.

He is still in hospital as I type. He may be 19 but he is still my baby. Don't get me wrong, I don't mollycoddle or pamper! He is currently on a medical ward where we left him last night with three very old men, one gasping for breath and one who had taken all his clothes off - bit of a shock to the system for my son I think.

Apart from his injections as a baby, he has had no medical interventions whatsoever and I am so proud of him as he sits in his hospital bed with numerous drips attached to him and being tested for blood sugar every hour. But I really wish I could swap so that it was me sitting in that hospital bed instead of him.

As a family, we have decided that we are all going to be part of his condition and, I think it will help us all to start eating better and more healthily.

Yesterday night I was putting some boxes of sweets and biscuits away that I had recently bought for Christmas and it made me feel really guilty.

I hope I can get lots of help, advice, encouragement and support from this site.
 
Hi Karin,
welcome to the forum and so sorry to hear about your son and the shock it has caused you.
Things do get better take one day at a time anything you don't understand ask.
Christmas goodies etc, there is no reason not to eat them just use moderation. The invention of carb counting and insulin makes having type 1 diabetes a lot easier.
Hopefully his new team of medics will teach carb counting and show your son how to adjust his insulin. This means no food is out of bounds.
All that goes in his mouth has to be matched by the correct dose of insulin.
Best wishes
Sue
 
Hi KarinBee. Welcome 🙂

Agree completely with Pumper Sue. Don't deprive him of all the sweets )or yourselves), just be aware of what carbs are in them and how they might affect his blood sugar. Might be worth asking to see a dietician asap and read some of the threads on here.

Glad you're not molly coddling. He may look like a wounded soldier but we're all testament to the ability to adapt pretty quickly and get by fine, as long as he accepts it for what it is and tests and injects sensibly.

Some people find their tonsils don't work so well and they get wipped out. Never a 2nd thought.
For us, it happens to be our pancreas, which is a bit more of an issue, but luckily for us, we just have to inject a few times a day, keep an eye on our blood sugar and try not to eat too unhealthily (although we all do now and then!). Other than that. He's the same as he was. 🙂

And he'll never have to pay for a prescription. Bonus!! :D

I hope he can join the forum too and learn how to have bad habits and get away with it.

Rob
 
Hear Hear!

I was diagnosed at age 22, married a year ... tried to ring hubby, he was in the car on the way home from work, so I rang my mummy!

Treatment has moved on a lot since then; mainly to our benefit but some of the old wisdom has been lost along the way which is a shame really in certain cases. However, the main thing to realise is, it isn't just sugar itself that causes the increases in blood glucose, it's anything which turns to glucose inside the body - so that's all carbohydrates. Sugars, starches (flour, corn flour, rice, oats ...) fructose (yes! - 'healthy' fruit!) some vegetable, legumes (peas, beans ...) Aaaaargghh.

But being diabetic is the same as being you, but with added mental arithmetic!

I highly recommend a book - 'Diabetes in children, adolescents and young adults' by Ragnar Hanas. There was an updated version published in March 2012, so make sure you get the most up to date version of it. (and I think but not certain there's a UK version and a US one, make certain if ordering online, it is the right one else you'll be confused as they use different measurements in the US) (you can convert back to 'ours' but much easier esp at first if it's done for you)

Or 'Using Insulin' by John Walsh, or 'Think Like a Pancreas' by Gary Scheiner. Both American, but they usually give both measurements.

You definitely don't need all of them!

Good luck to him and I endorse what Robster says! Many of us survive this relatively unscathed as far as we or anyone else could notice and although I spose I have to concede it's kinda 'life changing' - it will only affect you detrimentally, if YOU let it! It does need effort which can be tedious at times and it's useful to have this forum (or another like it, there are others which aren't very good) to bounce ideas and queries off.
 
Hi there

Sympathise with your sons hospital experience! I was Dx at 21 and spent a week in a ward with some very elderly poorly people, some with various bits missing 😱

Thankfully 20 years later I'm still here all present and correct, and as others have said with carb counting, modern insulins, and a bit of moderation and some effort diabetes is something you can control, well most of the time anyway!
 
Thanks to all who have replied to my post. I am very tearful today, probably because I checked out Diabetes UK website and it really hit home and also because he was put on a really awful ward. So pleased this forum is here so I can say how I feel and others, not just living with people with Diabetes, but those with it, can let me say how I feel without a patronising reply.

We are off to visit him again in about an hour so I am looking forward to that.

I plan to check out those books mentioned as I really want to learn as much as I can about Diabetes.

I just get so frustrated with the NHS - yes, I suppose we should be thankful for it, but when it comes to a weekend that is not the best time to be ill is it.
 
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KarinBee said:
Thanks to all who have replied to my post. I am very tearful today, probably because I checked out Diabetes UK website and it really hit home and also because he was put on a really awful ward. Added to that I was told to 'get a grip' by my other half earlier today which is not the sort of response I thought I would get when I cried in front of him. So pleased this forum is here so I can say how I feel and others, not just living with people with Diabetes, but those with it, can let me say how I feel without a patronising reply.

We are off to visit him again in about an hour so I am looking forward to that.

I plan to check out those books mentioned as I really want to learn as much as I can about Diabetes.

I just get so frustrated with the NHS - yes, I suppose we should be thankful for it, but when it comes to a weekend that is not the best time to be ill is it.
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Hi Karin, welcome to the forum from me too 🙂 Perfectly natural that you should feel emotional about your son's diagnosis - it's a big thing to suddenly have to deal with. The good thing is that he should be very quickly feeling much better now he is getting treatment. I was at death's door when I was diagnosed, but felt like I was glowing with health as soon as I started getting insulin! 😱

I would also highly recommend Type 1 Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas - it covers everything and is written very well so it doesn't blind you with science. There are lots of other good sources of information in our Useful links thread.

Any questions you may have, please ask away - nothing is considered 'silly' or daft 🙂
 
Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents has been ordered.🙂
 
LOL - pity we aren't on commission, isn't it?
 
KarinBee said:
I hope he will. 🙄
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Tell him there are some nice young ladies to chat to :D

Please do note that you will hear loads of horror stories about blindness, limb loss etc.
But very little about the success stories ie people who have gone 50, 60, and even 70 years with no problems at all.

Hope you have a good visit and your son is feeling better now.
 
Pumper_Sue said:
Hope you have a good visit and your son is feeling better now.
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Good visit. Insulin and saline drips removed and had received two insulin injections today, only one drip with Pottassium in. He was able to Gwalior to toilet too!
 
Hi Karin and welcome. My son was almost 16 at diagnosis. It really is hard as a mum. We caught it with my lad before it got to DKA thankfully, so he only spent 48 hours in hospital, but bringing him home it felt like coming home with a new baby all over again - that shocking feeling that your safety net has gone and suddenly you are on your own. Be prepared for that feeling. It's horrible. We had this bag full of insulin, needles, blood testing gear, sheets and sheets of paperwork and just felt utterly bewildered.

My husband too seemed to think it was 'nothing' and couldn't understand my upset for quite some time, though he did have the odd weak moment at different times to me, so you never know, your husband may crack in a few days or weeks.

It doesn't matter how old they are, they are still your baby. If you could take it all way from them you would in an instant. It's awful feeling powerless to do anything about it.

Life does go on though, so go with your feelings at the moment. Don't hide how you feel, you don't have to be brave all the time.

This is a wonderful place to come for support and advice. Any time you need help or advice, or just to let off steam, post and we will all come back and help you.

Hope your son is home very soon and feeling much more like his old self. Take care.
Tina
 
Thank you Tina63. Just reading your kind words set me off crying again.

My daughter and I sit and have a hug and a good cry so it's nice that I have her.

My son seems very accepting of it all and is one of those people who don't get flustered or upset about anything but I think he is now fed up of having finger pricks every hour since Friday evening.

I am pleased this forum is here as I feel I am going to need lots of support/times to let off steam - no one else to talk to.
 
How's his blood glucose been since he came off the 'sliding scale' ? (intravenous insulin delivery thingummy-bah) and has he met the outpatient team yet? Cos you are sposed to, you should see the consultant and the specialist nurse, before they kick you out on the street.

I highly recommend he has company when talking about his ongoing treatment if possible, because there's quite a lot of info to amass and it's easy to miss stuff, two heads are usually better than one. And if you are chief cook and menu planner, then it would be as well to be there yourself probably. (He isn't excused from the bottle washing though, don't let him get thinking he is !)

There should also be a dietitian available and he should also be asked if he needs any counselling as psych support should also be available. (Quite often it isn't though, a big hobby horse of mine!)
 
He doesn't meet anyone with any knowledge of Diabetes until tomorrow. When I ring in the morning I think I will ask if I can be there when he is seen by the specialists. I have been reminded, on more than one occasion, that he is now an adult and should find out things for himself but yes he still lives at home and I cook most of the meals so I want to learn as much as he needs to be told.
I know what it's like when you are told you have a certain condition, as soon as they tell you you kind of go into a bit of a daze and sometimes don't take in other things they are telling you. Also, as his Mam, I am very concerned and want to know what is going on and be there for him whenever he needs me.

(Tomorrow my husband is having his first day at work after a cycle accident on 28th May and it's day 1 for the builders too so I have a lot going on in my head but my son is the most important of them all.)

Think his blood sugar levels were quite good after being taken off the drips - can't say what as I never looked at his notes.
 
Well, with a bit of luck and a following wind, they'll loose him out and then get him back in pretty soon (like a week or something) to an outpatient appt to see the Specialist Nurse, so don't worry too much if that doesn't happen tomorrow, cos if he wants you there, you can go to that.

And I recommend both of you to write down things as they occur to you, what would happen if? Hang on, what am I sposed to do about THAT? Did they tell me anything about whatever? etc. Doesn't phase em if you go with a list!

Preferable to letting em think you know what you're doing, but NOT knowing!
 
I had a ten minute session with the hospital DSN, but then was in regular phone contact for the next couple of weeks for adjustments and any questions. They were brilliant 🙂
 
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