Looking for parents who struggle with your child’s diagnosis?

[Callyc]

Tresiba is slow acting so it’s not there to deal with the sugars for the food she just ate but for the background levels. If your background insulin is in the right dose it will keep her level overnight even if she goes of sleep around 4-5. It’s a good idea if below 5 to give a small amount of slow release carbs like a cracker or a small glass of milk (5-10g of carbs) but don’t be tempted to over treat as you will then need a correction dose of insulin. If you’re concerned about overnight levels then talking to your team about what level they are happy with her going to sleep at helps. They will be able to look at all of her data and have a good idea of how stable her overnight levels are.

Thank u this really helps x

 

[Callyc]

Hi @Loopylou and @Callyc .

I hope you don’t mind me replying to your thread, as I’m not a parent of a child with diabetes, but thought I’d reply from a different perspective. Parents have already given you lots of wise words.

I was diagnosed in the 1970s when I was 11, so a similar age to your son. I think (maybe through rose tinted glasses) that I kind of got on with it, all the worrying left to my mum...that’s what mums do with regard to their children...diabetes or not.

I’m sure you try to keep it from him, but does your son know how stressed and worried you are? Could this have a bearing on his current feelings? I can only imagine how difficult it is not to have someone to talk through your day today decisions with regard to his diabetes. Does he feel that he has some responsibility for his condition? Ok you can go out and play for x amount of time, but here’s the reader (phone) for your Libre and here are snacks for your other pocket? I’m trusting you to scan your arm every ...however often you say. Does he chat to his mates? As hard as it is, it’s important to treat him as the same boy...who happens to have diabetes. Maybe his friends would like to chat to him but feel he doesn’t want to? It is also important for you to chat to someone too...ask DSN, they will definitely have other parents in the same position.

My parents were very much into not treating me differently (we all hate feeling different at that age) and were very keen that I joined in and wasn’t left out of anything. (Brown Owl was left in no doubt about this! 🙂). However, for many years my mum would sometimes ask if I had snacks etc, what did I have for lunch etc in front of friends...I hated this. Even now when my husband sometimes asks what my test is it annoys me. I think we like to know our loved ones are there for us,but don’t need like being nagged. It’s a tricky line.

We are mums and wired to worry for our children. My children are now in their 20s but I still want to give them advice. The trick I used / use with my son, to get the message across, whether it was at college, first few months of driving, off to a festival, was to make a joke and say I have to tell him “xyz” as it’s in paragraph 4 , chapter 9 of the mothers manual and if I don’t tell him, I’m failing in my motherly duties and won’t get the good mother’s certificate. I can see him smiling and shaking his head...but he has recently admitted it kind of works.

As others have said 100% perfection is impossible. Even non diabetic sugars can jump about a little. It can be days, weeks, months that extra bit of tweaking needs doing...it’s not getting things wrong, it’s life. Somewhere on the forum there’s a list of 42 things that can affect our sugar levels...so don’t beat yourself up. After 40+ years I’m still learning...but fingers crossed mostly getting it right. With all the latest tech it’s getting easier all the time.

There is no need to feel sad about the life your child might have had. There’s no reason for them not to have exactly the same future, maybe even a better one. Top flight professional sports, Hollywood actors, prime ministers, all sorts of professions, hobbies, pastimes....diabetes won’t stop him...may just take a few extra minutes here and there along the way.

@Callyc I understand your daughters reluctance regarding the Libre...even in my late 40s I didn’t like the thought of it, but it is so helpful. For the first couple of years a did try and hidden it a little...but then found some stickers to attach, weirdly it now doesn’t feel like a medical device and I’m quite happy for it to be on show. I wonder if this may help your daughter...I’m sporting Winnie the Pooh currently. Endless stickers available on Etsy, Amazon and elsewhere no doubt.

Anyway, what a ramble, apologies. I will be an another annoying person to say you will get there...the bumps will get smaller along this learning curve...but you will honest. Before you know it you will be here offering words of wisdom to others.
Xx

Thanks for ur advice we are going to get libre fitted Tuesday she really doesn't want it but we are going to try i will get some stickers as thats a great idea fingers crossed she accepts it and maybe we can move forward a little x

 

[stephknits]

Good luck with the libre @Callyc we have stickers on our libres and there are loads to choose from. I would suggest some form of distraction technique whilst the sensor is being applied. It looks more scary than it is and my daughter is always surprised when it doesn't hurt going on. Can she be watching something or trying to figure out a riddle or singing a song. Hope it goes well and you find it useful.

 

[Callyc]

Good luck with the libre @Callyc we have stickers on our libres and there are loads to choose from. I would suggest some form of distraction technique whilst the sensor is being applied. It looks more scary than it is and my daughter is always surprised when it doesn't hurt going on. Can she be watching something or trying to figure out a riddle or singing a song. Hope it goes well and you find it useful.

Thank u , yes we have tried before but i had to do it as the nurse thought it would b better if i tried but she saw the needle inside and fell to bits and wouldn't let me do it now going to hospital to have put in instead will definitely use a distraction

 

[Lisa66]

Good luck from me too. It’s definitely the thought of it, as once the sensor is attached you just forget its there. Admittedly a five year olds arms are smaller than mine. It’s a shame the applicator makes such a big clicking sound. The Libre is definitely a game changer.

It’s a long time since I had to persuade a five year old to do anything...often things can go much easier than we anticipate. Do you think it might help if you and others around made something that looks like a sensor to wear as well, so your daughter doesn’t feel different and then it’s no big issue? On the other hand being the special one and having something others don’t....with a cool gadget to read the numbers, might work too. Stickers can be bought to decorate the readers too.

Not at all the same thing, but I remember the difficulty getting my son to eat green veg, all sorts of persuasion tack ticks used. The night before his 5th birthday I casually mentioned in passing that 5 yr olds eat all their green vegetables. Ok he replied ...and sure enough from that day on we never had an issue... he would even pinch his sisters kale when she wasn’t looking...if only I’d known it was that easy🙄.

Fingers crossed for you that all goes smoothly.

 

[Sally71]

My daughter also doesn’t like the sensors being applied, she says it's worse than finger pricks or cannulas or injections. But it's only once every two weeks, once it’s on it’s not uncomfortable, and it means she can scan rather than finger prick a lot of the time (it reduces the need for finger pricks by at least half) and she can also see if her blood sugars are rising or falling, which can be extremely useful. So the pros far outweigh the cons, hopefully your little one will also come to see it this way too eventually. You can get some great stickers to decorate it too!

 

[Callyc]

Thanks everyone for your replies

My daughter also doesn’t like the sensors being applied, she says it's worse than finger pricks or cannulas or injections. But it's only once every two weeks, once it’s on it’s not uncomfortable, and it means she can scan rather than finger prick a lot of the time (it reduces the need for finger pricks by at least half) and she can also see if her blood sugars are rising or falling, which can be extremely useful. So the pros far outweigh the cons, hopefully your little one will also come to see it this way too eventually. You can get some great stickers to decorate it too!

Thanks to everyone for there replys x

 

[Thebearcametoo]

How did it go?


My daughter hated the Libre applicator and refuses to try it again after the first couple. She wouldn’t let anyone else do it for her and chickened out of doing it herself. If your daughter is happy for you to do it it will work just fine. The sound is worse than any discomfort, it’s a pretty brutal noise.

 

[rebrascora]

If the sound of the applicator is a problem then maybe give her some headphones and favourite music or a good story. Certainly the application, so far for me, has been painless with the Libre.