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My son has type 1

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Lisa13100

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Parent of person with diabetes
Hi All
We are just into our first week of being home from hospital after my son, who is 16, was diagnosed with type 1. I am finding it a bit scary but he
seems to be taking it all in his stride. I am finding that every meal is a mathmatical challenge!!! Hes back to college on Monday which scares but he says he will be fine.
 
Hi Lisa. Welcome 🙂

It's very often the way that parents/partners find this whole new game a lot more frightening than the person with the diagnosis.

I would be cautious that, although he says he's fine, he may be putting a brave face on and the full realisation will hit him later on. But as long as he's testing, injecting and working out his carbs, he'll be ok, bar the odd hypo or hyper.

What regime have they put him on? eg. MDI (4 or 5 x multiple daily injections) or twice a day, etc

Does he understand the need to carry fast acting carbs with him at all times in case of a hypo too?

Rob 🙂
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. Whenever our children get anything it can be very worrying, and teenagaers who are finding their feet are a law unto themselves at the best of times.

It is great you are being supportive, have a good explore of the site and I am sure you will find lots of good advice, help and tips to help both you and your son.
 
Welcome Lisa (and son, should he choose to join forum).

It's tough getting type 1 diabetes at any age, but as he's becoming an independent adult, you and he are wise to take it in your respective strides, and carry on with the important things in life, like college, meals etc, with minium fuss - mainly essential to always carry insulin & blood testing kit and some spare food at all times.

Pencil cases are discrete and cheap ways of carrying kit. Muesli bars are good as emergency food, as they are fairly robust, and survive even months in pockets.

Calculating carbohydrate and insulin doses is a particular challenge in frist few months from diagnosis, so-called honeymoon phase, as pancreas occasionally "wakes up" and produces seemingly random amounts of insulin. Plus a 16 year old will be having growth spirts. So, please don't feel bad about occasional "out of range" readings. It does get easier, but there are always surprises!
 
Hi Lisa- my son is 16 too we are nearly a year in ,dx in Dec-2 weeks before christmas- he too took it in his stride and has continued with his countless sports etc just with a bit more planning - we got used to eating out from early on as I wanted him not to have a hang up injecting in public -which seems to have worked - and at school he will always test in class if he needs to and his teachers are all aware of this. Welcome to the forum -everyone will always help you if you need any advice
 
Lisa13100 said:
Hi All
We are just into our first week of being home from hospital after my son, who is 16, was diagnosed with type 1. I am finding it a bit scary but he
seems to be taking it all in his stride. I am finding that every meal is a mathmatical challenge!!! Hes back to college on Monday which scares but he says he will be fine.
Click to expand...

Hi Lisa, welcome to the forum 🙂 Good to hear that he has taken his diagnosis well. The maths does become much easier in time, as you learn from experience and acquire the ability to 'eyeball' food and make pretty accurate guesstimates about carb content, especially for favourite and fmailiar meals. I'd recommend getting a copy of Carbs & Cals which has pictures of common meals in different portion sizes to compare with what you wish to eat. You'll find lots of links to good information in our Useful links thread - I would particularly recommend getting a copy of Type 1 Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas, often called the Type 1 bible 🙂

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have - nothing is considered 'silly' - there are lots of friendly, experienced people here who will do their best to help and support you and your son 🙂
 
Hello & welcome! 🙂 Great advice above...all I can add is that a good substitute for sugary coke in flavour is pepsi max or coke zero (diet cole to me tastes like coloured water lol). Also I tend to use mixer size (150ml) mini cans of coke for hypos - it's a v quick hit & i suspect the caffeine helps the post hypo slump. 😱 It's all about finding what works for your son really. Diabetes shouldn't stop him doing almost anything he wants to, it will just require a bit more planning & thought. All the best! X
 
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