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What happens now?? My 13 year old son just diagnosed type 1

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MelanieG

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Type 1
Hi everyone, I'm new on here, and new to diabetes.
Last week my eldest son (13) was diagnosed type 1, and we are all still in shock, and trying to get our heads around this new way of life.
He is so scared of the needles, and worried about what is happening to him, and I'm doing my best to understand what diabetes is and how we cope.
Any help would be great as its all so scary at the moment and I need to see my son smile again.
Thank you
Mel
Mum to Thomas age 13, Elliot 10, and Lucas 5.
 
Hi mel & welcome to the forum.

What aren't you sure about?

Can I ask what size needles is your son using?

If you have questions, we will do our best to help 🙂
 
Hi Melanie, welcome to the forum 🙂 Very sorry to hear about your son's diagnosis, but I would like to reassure you that there is plenty of help available to help you understand what it entails and how to deal with it, and there is no reason why he should not be able to do everything he wishes to do in life - it just takes a little extra planning!

I would recommend starting by reading Adrienne's guide to parents of newly-diagnosed:

http://www.diabetessupport.co.uk/boards/showthread.php?t=23853

Also, you should get a copy of Type 1 Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas - an invaluable resource and reference guide. There are lots of other sources of information in our Useful links thread. You might also like to join Children with Diabetes, a resource set up and run by UK parents.

If there is anything you are unsure of, please ask and someone is bound to be able to help. What insulin regime is your son on?
 
Thanks all, tom's on the smallest needles at 4mm, and 4 injections a day, before each meal, and a long acting night time one. We are still trying to get his levels under control, and still unsure of what he can and cannot eat. Espeshally with Easter, and his other brothers who will be able to eat chocolate.
How I get him back to school after the Easter hols is also a worry as I can't see how he will be able to inject himself when he can't even look at a needle :-(
I will look into the book and info, thank you so much, I've been so worried and I don't want him to see me upset.
 
Hi Melanie- my son was diagnosed about 15 months ago now{he was15] and its still fresh in my mind how difficult it all was at the start but it deffinately will get easier and a way of life- just more planning as northerner said. There is a hell of a lot to take in to start off with -I knew zero about diabetes! My son was ok with the needles - but we had to get our heads around the sporty side of things as that was important to him. The one thing I was glad we did from the start was to eat out in public and inject at the table etc as I didnt want him to have a hang up about injecting in public- this has paid off and he will inject anywhere!.His diabetes has not stopped him doing anything he didnt do before- everyone on here will help you with anything that crops up.I still need to ask loads!!.- Glad you found us and welcome from me
 
He can eat anything as long as he counts it.

Easter wise he can have chocolate but maybe a small chocolate & another treat (like a comic/book kinda thing?)

I don't like needles so I know your worry, how is he with his lancets?
 
Hi Melanie, sorry to hear about your son's diagnosis :(

His levels may take a couple of weeks to settle down, we found this after the diagnosis.

With regards to what he can eat, most things as long as the insulin covers it. You will probably be counting carbs before long to allow more flexibility with food. So a bit of chocolate egg - yes though probably best after a meal at the moment.

How about him getting used to being able to watch you inject him as a first step, lots of encouragement. Then you can part share the task until he is able to do it independently.

Things will feel easier in time for you all x 🙂
 
Whatever you do, don't get any 'diabetic' chocolates or sweets etc. for him - the ordinary stuff is OK in moderation and best eaten at the end of a meal as it will then have less impact on his levels.

I'm guessing he is on fixed doses currently with his meals? Hopefully you will be taught to 'carb count' soon so tat you can more closely match his insulin to his carbohydrate intake - it's not as complicated as it may seem right now! 🙂

You should discuss with his DSN what arrangements need to be put in place for him at school - who he can go to if there is a problem, what must be available to him and so on. Hopefully he will get used to the needles before too long. The injections should be more or less painless, but if he is tense when injecting then this can make it hurt more. Did he lose a lot of weight before he was dagnosed? How did he come to be diagnosed?
 
Just read your thread- what support have you been given? can you ask the nurses to call in at a mealtime so that they can support him at injection time?before he goes back to school a care plan will need to be set up with the school- our team arranged a meeting . you will need supplies for school eg gluotabs /biscuits spare meter etc .Our sons levels were all over the place to start with and every few days we had to alter one thing or another.-this soon settled - the most important thing is to test . is he ok with the blood testing? Your team should arrange a meeting withthe dietician {for what its worth] but the upshot is they can eat some chocolate following a meal adding the carbs for it and I would at easter- he doesnt want to be different from the other children
 
Thank you everyone for your response, we don't feel so alone now, we've had the best advice ever on here. we've had the nurse around a couple of times, but not over Easter. He is ok with the lancets, I think he could do that for himself soon. The advice on first stage is to get him used to seeing the needle while we do it, makes so much sense. It's hard when you are wrapped up in the moment, to make sense of it all. I am so happy I posted on here today. Very emotional but much happier to have heard advice from you all.
Thank you
 
I'm glad you feel better about it.

Can I ask a stupid question? Did your son get admitted to hospital when he was diagnosed? Just when I was admitted I did my first injection on my own with the nurse sat by me & wondered if he had done that?
 
We did get taken to hospital where it took about an hour to get a needle any where near Tom. The nurse did it for him while they held him down. I just can't see how he will be able to do this for himself. Aged 13, he's the bravest person I know.
 
Ahh ok.
I'm just trying to think of something to help your son deal with his fear of needles.
 
Lauras87 said:
Ahh ok.
I'm just trying to think of something to help your son deal with his fear of needles.
Click to expand...

There is something you can get that shields the needle from view - can't remember the name of it at the moment but I know one or two of our members have used them for their children...will post if I remember or perhaps someone knows! 🙂
 
Northerner said:
There is something you can get that shields the needle from view - can't remember the name of it at the moment but I know one or two of our members have used them for their children...will post if I remember or perhaps someone knows! 🙂
Click to expand...

My fear of lancets I got over by using them on mum & needle wise I think I stabbed a teddy
 
Ok great thank you. I've heard a bit about the pump but don't know if that's an idea for him in the furure, or not feasible?
 
MelanieG said:
Ok great thank you. I've heard a bit about the pump but don't know if that's an idea for him in the furure, or not feasible?
Click to expand...

It could be once he gets sorted & meets the pct criteria's.

Good thing is no needles unless he opted for the cannulas with needles (I haven't!) I hate needles & I'm normally in a state when I have blood taken
 
Hi
My daughter is 12 and was diagnosed in October we were advised to get her back to school and normal routines ASAP she came out of Hospital on the Thursday & went back to school on the Monday which I did really worry about but it really was the best thing for her to get back to normal, having said that she wasn?t worried about doing her own injections and has always done them herself. I can see that it?s a whole different matter if your son is worried about the injections hope all goes well for you
 
Laura, cannulas have an introducer needle down the middle of em - you can't get a bit of bendy teflon through your skin otherwise!

But, if you use what we usually call a 'whanger' - to 'whang' em into you - that shields the needle as well as the bit of you it's going into - so you can't see it going in. Which to me - is the very worstest bit.

Melanie - have you given YOURSELF a jab? Not with insulin obviously! - but have you stuck a needle in you? Cos seeing you do it, might encourage him?

If you have the pens with separate insulin cartridges - take the cartridge out, join the pen back together without, screw a needle on, uncap it and away you go. If not, just take a needle out of the box, extract it from the outer casing, hold the plastic bit carefully between thumb and forefinger, remove the cap, and jab. (if you can't get it out of the outer casing, just screw it on a pen VERY slightly, withdraw the outer and unscrew the needle.)

You shouldn't actually be able to FEEL it at all whatsoever - other than the pressure of the bit where the needle itself joins the plastic part, pressing against your skin.
 
trophywench said:
Laura, cannulas have an introducer needle down the middle of em - you can't get a bit of bendy teflon through your skin otherwise!

But, if you use what we usually call a 'whanger' - to 'whang' em into you - that shields the needle as well as the bit of you it's going into - so you can't see it going in. Which to me - is the very worstest bit.

Melanie - have you given YOURSELF a jab? Not with insulin obviously! - but have you stuck a needle in you? Cos seeing you do it, might encourage him?

If you have the pens with separate insulin cartridges - take the cartridge out, join the pen back together without, screw a needle on, uncap it and away you go. If not, just take a needle out of the box, extract it from the outer casing, hold the plastic bit carefully between thumb and forefinger, remove the cap, and jab. (if you can't get it out of the outer casing, just screw it on a pen VERY slightly, withdraw the outer and unscrew the needle.)

You shouldn't actually be able to FEEL it at all whatsoever - other than the pressure of the bit where the needle itself joins the plastic part, pressing against your skin.
Click to expand...

Thank you! I remember panda with the cannula with a needle in & a foam pad but didn't see a needle.

And I did wonder about suggesting what you did to help Tom with needles (mum drew the line with that)
 
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