Newly diagnosed son 13

[Ruth Goode]

Im sorry you had to be here but it is a lovely forum. Since my daughter was diagnosed I have been been since and I'm really grateful for others' supports and advices. Im sure we will all be happy to answer all your questions, no matter how stupid they are! Stay strong

 

[fencesitter]

Hello! Another teenage T1's mum here. My son is 14 and diagnosed in March last year. He doesn't like talking about his health much, but he does seem to manage OK emotionally unless I am missing a trick. He has very nice friends at school who take a bit of an interest in his diabetes which helps. Your son has made a great start by being so open about it all. Hope you are OK too! It's hard when your kids are faced with something like this at an age when they're keen to assert their independence. I can be very overprotective according to William but I do try not to be! 😱 It's been taken out of my hands to some extent as he started weekly boarding in September. But you should see me pounce on his meter when he gets in on Friday nights, ha ha! I have a nice bit of software to go with his meter that downloads all the last week's readings and makes a chart out of them. Helps a lot as we've spotted a pattern of post-lunchtime lows.
I'm rambling now so will sign off, but hope to hear how you're all getting on soon.

 

[SusieJ]

Well we've ahd an up and down week (to be expected of course) with first thing in the morning the most difficult (" I dont want to test! I dont want diabetes") I just wait for him to come round and we get on with itl Whats a few mornings late for school, right?
M saw the consultant and Diabetes nurse again on tuesday and this mildly freaked him out, all the talk of hypos and the like, somehow when the doc told him that he woulddefo haev a hypo one day (hasnt so far) that was a real shock to him as he hadnt picked up on that so far (he had been told several times but just shows the value of repitition!)
Anyway, Im waffling and Im in work so better get off! thanks again all 🙂

 

[delb t]

Well we've ahd an up and down week (to be expected of course) with first thing in the morning the most difficult (" I dont want to test! I dont want diabetes") I just wait for him to come round and we get on with itl Whats a few mornings late for school, right?
M saw the consultant and Diabetes nurse again on tuesday and this mildly freaked him out, all the talk of hypos and the like, somehow when the doc told him that he woulddefo haev a hypo one day (hasnt so far) that was a real shock to him as he hadnt picked up on that so far (he had been told several times but just shows the value of repitition!)
Anyway, Im waffling and Im in work so better get off! thanks again all 🙂

our son was diagnosed 8 th dec and to be honest I was totally freaked out by the hypo thing as I cant remember them using the term I think they said lows to break us in gently- I think they all are effected differently - he at the moment just sort of feels faint and so whips out the monitor- tests and pops the dextrose- at the moment they are reducing the night lantus we started at 20 now on 14-I felt totally thick at the start of all this but I ring and ask the nurses about pe /games lessons etc because sport has a big effect on him- keep strong

 

[Tina63]

Hi Susie

Obviously I don't know how things went for other T1s after diagnosis, but my teenage son who was diagnosed just over a year ago had his first hypo 5 weeks in. His first one wasn't a true hypo figures wise - it was 4.1 - but he went deathly white, got the shakes, felt faint and nauseous, but the coke worked like magic. Trust you have some, or lucozade, or dextrose tablets etc in.

I would suggest you try and gently explain to him that they will happen from time to time (each time it was a signal to my son's team to lower his Lantus) and that is all the more reason to test regularly. Tell him not to ignore things if he feels a bit 'odd', don't be afraid to either test in the classroom or ask to leave (with a friend) but don't ignore the signs. Also reassure him he will be fine once he treats it. I had visions of my son dropping to the floor at the first sign - no-one explained really what was likely to happen, so I think we all lived in fear. I never asked my son what he expected either, but I think he was scared witless by the thought of it. It's not nice, but usually things perk up pretty quickly. Once you have all been through the first one or two you will relax a little about it. It will unnerve him (and you) to begin with, but you soon all become expert at noticing the signs. My son's colour is usually the first sign of trouble.

My son had hypos 3 or 4 days in a row, so the Lantus was lowered, he stabilized for a week or two, then they started regularly again, so it was lowered again, and that's how it goes. Others will tell you on here thought that there is no rhyme nor reason to it, and just when you think things are ticking along nicely, a hypo can strike. So just make sure he carries coke/lucozade/dextrose etc around with him AT ALL TIMES.

Hope that takes some of the mystery away for you, and also I haven't scared you witless!

Tina

 

[Gillsb]

A rather belated welcome from me. Haven't been on for a while, just normal busy life stuff going on. I along with many others on her have or are going through the "life with a teenage type 1" stage. You sound much calmer than I was when my daughter was diagnosed at age 12 and your son obviously picks up on this and is doing really well. Hearing you talk about the first potential hypo takes me back - I remember expecting quite a major event with lots of drama but how wrong could we be, it turned out to be quite a non event. A simple "I feel different", followed by a blood glucose test (3.8), carton of juice and life carried on as normal and has since then. They soon recognise their own symptoms (and although not to be ignored) will in time be a help in getting his insulin right.

Give yourselves a pat on the back so far and remember there are loads of people hear to help you with any questions or just to chat if you need to let of steam. Take care.

 

[justlikethehotels]

Hi Susie

I can say, with absolute certainty, that in a months' time you'll be amazed at how much you already know... my 13 year old daughter was diagnosed on 12th December ...

I won't pretend it's easy ...

Hypos will happen (that was the killer for me - up until that conversation I'd been thinking "it's OK, we can do this" and then I realised that no matter how well we manage her carbs, at some point she was going to have a hypo), but he'll manage them with your help.

One day he'll say "why me" and "it isn't fair" you'll cry and say "I don't know and no, it's not fair", but you'll get on with it and it'll be OK again for a while...

One day you'll get a call from the school and it'll be like he's a baby again and you'll rush to get him and he'll shake you off and tell you to stop being so embarrasing ...

One day you'll ask yourself what you did wrong ... and hopefully answer yourself virtually instantly with "Nothing, this wasn't my/our/his fault".

One day he'll go off to town on the bus with his mates - he'll have lunch while he's out and go bowling. You'll panic all the time he's out and he'll swan back in as if nothing's happened ... just like my daughter is today.

I guess what I'm saying is, today it's really hard for both him and you, your husband and his sibling, but you WILL get there, even if it's up and down and haphazardly and in a months' time you'll be an entirely different family to the one you are now, but still completely the same 🙂

And I'm hoping that what everyone says is true, and in a years' time it will all be second nature to us!

Best of luck x