New member

[Deleted member 32513]

Hello All. My name is Jaleesa and I decided to join this group because my 11 year old boy was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes on Thursday. It has been a huge shock and thought it would be good to be in a group where others are going through the same thing.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome

So sorry to hear about your son's diagnosis. It comes as a shock to all of us but as a parent it must be particularly overwhelming and scary. Hopefully your son is starting to feel a bit better now that he has insulin in his system again. Which insulins have they given you? Does he have a Freestyle Libre fitted (a sensor on his arm which you scan to get readings) or are you doing fingerpricks?

Be assured it does all get easier as the weeks and months go by but it is a huge learning curve in the beginning, so be kind to yourself, even when you get things wrong. You can't know it all straight away so accept that you can only do your best and you will make mistakes.... we all do at times..... but we are here to help support you if/when things go awry and if you have any questions at all, just ask. We have a few parents who are regulars on the forum @Thebearcametoo and @Bronco Billy are two that spring to mind so hopefully they will come and say hello and offer some reassurance when they are next online.

In the mean time have a read through the parents section and hopefully you will pick up a few tips or just see that your concerns are normal.

Hope you have a good health care team to support you and your son who are in regular contact with you during these early stages of getting to grips with things. Good luck!

 

[Inka]

Welcome Deleted member 32513 🙂 It must have been a massive shock. It’s a big change to start with and so much information to take in, but it does gradually get easier even though it might not seem like it at the moment.

What insulins is your son on?

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum Deleted member 32513. Sorry to hear of your son’s diagnosis but glad that you have found us. It is a shock at any age at diagnosis, but it is amazing how soon all that we do just becomes part of a new ‘normal life’ for both you and your son.

There is a lot to learn very quickly, but do keep in regular contact with your specialist team. They are there to help and will work with you both to adjust insulin doses as things settle down after diagnosis.

You may find the book Type1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents and Young Adults by Ragnar Hanas a useful book to buy. It explains things so clearly, is well indexed for quick reference and includes details of the recent developments in tech, which are many in the last few years.

I will tag some of the other parents on here who will know difficult it is managing this condition for someone else, such as @Thebearcametoo and @Sally71 . They will have good tips for managing in school.

I won’t bombard you with information but will happily respond to any questions that you have. Nothing is considered silly on here, so just ask.

 

[Deleted member 32513]

Hello, thank you everyone for your replies. My son is using the finger prick tests. He is finding it abit annoying. He is using novo rapid during the day and the tresiba for the night 24 hour one. Thank you for all the info. The team have been very supportive. It's quite a shock because my son is so sporty, active and never had anything wrong. But I appreciate the support network on here. I am just trying to balance his meals now with no carb snacks in between. Next week at some point he should go back to sch after I meet with the sch. Hopefully the transition will be an easy one for him. He is my only child so I am glad that I can solely focus on him.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum Deleted member 32513

Sorry to hear about your lad’s diagnosis - it is perfectly natural for you to feel shocked and overwhelmed. Autoimmune conditions are no respecter of fitness, sportiness, or anything else I’m afraid.

I always fought off illnesses very quickly as a child too, but that same immune system unfortunately went nuts and ate my beta cells. My mum still wonders if there was anything she could have done to prevent it 30 years on, but the truth is absolutely NOTHING my Mum did or didn’t do would have had any effect. T1 is just one of those things.

But actually, while it can be fickle, challenging, occasionally exhausting, and sometimes hilarious, T1 really isn’t a bad long term condition to be lumbered with given some of the other options. You can still do pretty much what you want, and eat pretty much you want. It doesn’t have to stop you living life to the full, and havinglots of adventures, a career, a family or any of that stuff. You just have to do a bit of extra thinking sometimes about how to bring his T1 along for the ride.

If you’d like a good overview of the condition and how it is managed Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas is frequently recommended here and considered to be the 'bible' for children and young people on insulin regimes.

Good luck, and keep us posted with how you are getting on 🙂

 

[Bronco Billy]

Hi Deleted member 32513. Welcome to an exclusive club which only lets special people in. 🙂

At the moment, you are on the steepest learning curve you’ll ever be on, but I promise it does get better. Everything that takes a lot of thinking about at the moment, and seems difficult, will soon become normal to the point you won’t really notice you’re doing it.

Don’t be afraid to ask any questions you feel you need to, there’s no such thing as a silly question.

Take care.