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Parent of sporty son age 14 newly diagnosed T1

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Sjsimo

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Relationship to Diabetes
Parent of person with diabetes
Hi everyone
My son was diagnosed 2 weeks ago now, arrived in hospital with sugars of 33 but thankfully not DKA. We’ve had bad days and better days and he’s amazing me with how he’s coping, but with school online and not a lot else happening due to covid, I’m concerned about when life gets back to normal as we are kind of in our bubble as home right now! He’s very sporty and plays football to a high level so that will be a challenge, but I’d be interested to know how kids of a similar age cope socially - my son was enjoying his independence out with his mates etc before lockdown, often involving pizza, sweets and sleepovers! I’m desperate that he has a normal or life as possible whilst being sensible! Any tips would be appreciated!! We have also started looking at the Libre and Dexcom glucose devices- anyone have any preference or can share the pros and cons?
Thank you all in advance 🙂))
 
Hi and welcome.

Being in a bubble for the first months is good as you’ll get a lot of confidence about carb counts etc so that once he’s able to go with his mates you’ll all be happier. He can still have pizza etc but may need to look at his portion sizes (only because having lots of insulin can mean any errors in dose are magnified) and timing. But all that will come with some experimentation and seeing what works for him.

My daughter is not quite 11 so a bit younger. She was doing a lot of sport until lockdown and we sometimes had issues with timing of carbs etc but you get used to it.

She was on injections and finger pricks until October of last year when we started with dexcom and tslim pump and we like both a lot (dexcom self funded, pump on the NHS). For sport pumps can be an advantage as you can adjust basal much more easily. Talk to your team about options and funding as it’s not quite as easy to get NHS funding for older kids but your team will be able to find a way (if he’s county level or plays for his town team or anything like that then it also helps justify funding). We like the dexcom more than we did Libre but that’s to do with my daughter preferring the applicator. We use a follow app so can always check what numbers she’s at which helps us to be able to manage at a distance (she still needs to enter carbs or extra insulin in the pump but we can message her so she feels like she has more autonomy).

If he can talk to his mates and get them involved in what diabetes means that will make it easier to integrate his care into his school, sports and socialising. I know some kids feel shy of making it public though.

How are you doing?
 
Plus, his team will talk to his school to make sure they know how to treat him carrying out all of his usual activities whilst there. A LOT more liaison between them these days than when we were at school. If he can accept it as just the new normal, it's far easier to deal with with either friends, school or employers later. Just tell em - By the way - I have Type 1 diabetes. With new employers, I tacked this onto the end of the second interview, adding 'which does mean that I need to visit hospital outpatients a few times a year, but I can easily tell you when these are, once they tell me.'
 
Welcome to the forum @Sjsimo
Sorry to hear about your son’s diagnosis but glad that you have found us.

As others have said his diagnosis does not need to stop him doing things, it just takes a bit of planning and organisation. School being closed at present should be helpful as you all have time to get used to his new normal.

A book that many have found useful is T1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents and Young Adults by Ragnar Hanas. It is regularly updated with the the latest tech so worth getting the most recent edition. Diabetes is clearly explained and it tackles the practical considerations of all the normal stuff people want to do. It is well indexed and easy to understand.

It will take time to settle your son’s doses of insulin as his body settles down, and this will no doubt change when he is back at school, but your Diabetes Specialist Nurse will work with you on this. Just keep in contact with them, all be it remotely.

Look after yourself and keep in touch. There is plenty of experience on here, so do ask any questions that you have. Nothing is considered silly. Just ask.
 
I recommend taking a look at runsweet.com.
This is a site dedicated to sport and Type 1 diabetes.

As others have said and some high profile sportsmen, like Henry Slade (sorry, I don't know any current footie players ... Gary Mabbutt was a but long ago) prove, T1 is not a reason not to participate in sport at a high level.
 
Welcome to the forum @Sjsimo

Sorry to hear about your son’s diagnosis.

If you haven’t already been recommended it, many members here recommend Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas as a very helpful overview.

For exercise http://www.extod.org is another useful resource, and there are helpful videos about using Libre or CGM (including for exercise) here: https://abcd.care/dtn/patient-education

Additinally I have a good friend with T1 whose football-mad teen daughter was recently diagnosed, and who has been writing a blog about it here: https://martha1diabetes0.blogspot.com/

Hope you manage to find your feet. Kids with diabetes are superheroes!
 
Sjsimo said:
Hi everyone
My son was diagnosed 2 weeks ago now, arrived in hospital with sugars of 33 but thankfully not DKA. We’ve had bad days and better days and he’s amazing me with how he’s coping, but with school online and not a lot else happening due to covid, I’m concerned about when life gets back to normal as we are kind of in our bubble as home right now! He’s very sporty and plays football to a high level so that will be a challenge, but I’d be interested to know how kids of a similar age cope socially - my son was enjoying his independence out with his mates etc before lockdown, often involving pizza, sweets and sleepovers! I’m desperate that he has a normal or life as possible whilst being sensible! Any tips would be appreciated!! We have also started looking at the Libre and Dexcom glucose devices- anyone have any preference or can share the pros and cons?
Thank you all in advance 🙂))
Click to expand...
Dear Sjsimo

we are a bit in the same situation: my son V turns 13 next month. He is an avid footballer and generally moves a lot.
He was diagnosed DM-1 9 months ago now (sugar of 40+ taken into hospital).
It seems that he has a fast metabolism - maybe because of his moving a lot.
We are still using manual insulin injecting -because V does not like any devices on his body when he is doing sports.
We are managing reasonably well for trainings of 1 hr - even for Tuesdays when he has 2 trainings (1400 and 17:00).

I found the slides in this the most helpful:
Especially slides 85-90

Unfortunately these slides are in Dutch, but maybe the author or JDRF has a translation to English?
(also there are some online tools (google translate) that can help out here; if you really have difficulties I can help you out also).

Upcoming Mon-Wed my kid will do a 3-day training-school with an 'eredivisie' (Dutch premier league) level.
This is the first time since diagnosis that we do 3 days of intensive football (830-1430).
We are a bit anxious as to how to manage.
One challenge is that his glucose starts increasing in the morning even before breakfast - we suspect this is a side-effect of growth hormone that his own body makes. So we must inject extra insulin at the start of the day, but hopefully not too much because too little insulin will also cause gluc-levels to increase.
Usually I am 'standby' somewhere near when he is doing football but Corona makes this more challenging.

I would like to get in touch in person to exchange experiences

PS. during nights he wears a Bubble:

Diabetes | Bubble Smart Reader

Bubble Smart Reader is designed for ultimate convenience of use. Its size is almost identical to the size of your libre sensor, coming in at 38mm x 30mm x 5 mm and weighing in at just 6g, it is light, concealable and convenient to wear.
www.bubblesmartreader.com www.bubblesmartreader.com
This devices shares a gluc-measurement every 5 minutes via bluetooth and we can link this to mymobile phone.
It is connected via bluetooth, but covers pretty reasonable distance across an open football pitch.
 
Michel said:
One challenge is that his glucose starts increasing in the morning even before breakfast - we suspect this is a side-effect of growth hormone that his own body makes.
Click to expand...
That's normal for all of us. It's caused by stress hormones as we get ready for the morning.
Michel said:
So we must inject extra insulin at the start of the day
Click to expand...
Yes, a lot of us do that. Just a little to handle the dawn phenomenon rise. (Or, depending on how quickly you have breakfast, add a bit to the bolus for breakfast.)
 
Thanks for your reply Bruce.
Out of curiosity, how much does your gluc rise?
For my kid, this goes up 8-10 units before breakfast.
 
My Dawn Phenomenon (it is usually more Foot on the Floor syndrome for me as it waits until I get out of bed) will normally raise my levels by about 4-6mmols and I need 1.5-2 units of quick acting insulin to counter it, plus whatever I need for my breakfast if I am having any, but we are all different.
 
rebrascora said:
My Dawn Phenomenon (it is usually more Foot on the Floor syndrome for me as it waits until I get out of bed) will normally raise my levels by about 4-6mmols and I need 1.5-2 units of quick acting insulin to counter it, plus whatever I need for my breakfast if I am having any, but we are all different.
Click to expand...
I'm similar (maybe a little less than that), except I need more like 3 units to cover it.
 
ok - thanks
I do suppose this depends on many factors (Age, gender, bodyweight, ...)
 
@Sjsimo as the parent of a sporty 14 year old son, this may be interesting to watch
www.bbc.co.uk

A day in the life of a diabetic rugby pro

Worcester's Chris Pennell has type one diabetes, but that hasn't stopped him from a successful rugby union career.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

We hear a lot about Henry Slade who plays rugby for England and has Type 1 diabetes.
He is not the only one - Chris Pennell (in the video above) is another professional rugby player with Type 1.

It takes a bit more effort but there is no reason why your son should give up his football as these guys prove.
 
@Michel and @Sjsimo

You may find this online ‘virtual Q&A’ event on Thursday night 29th April helpful

forum.diabetes.org.uk

Managing type 1, sport and exercise virtual Q&A panel session (Thursday, 29 April)

We know sport, exercise, and type 1 can be difficult to navigate. There’s a lot to think about - from the amount of insulin you’ve got on board, to the kind of exercise you’re going to do, and what you last had to eat. Whether you have type 1 yourself, or you’re a parent/carer of a child...
forum.diabetes.org.uk forum.diabetes.org.uk
 
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