We thought he had a UTI. So I took him to the doctor. The doctor did a urine test, which led to a finger poke and high blood sugar result. Sending us to Phoenix Children's Hospital, on April 16, 2012. Where he was diagnoised as having Type 1 diabetes. We where in the hospital until Thursday, April 19, 2012. Then came home, to Cottonwood, AZ. Where we started our new way of life. Shocked, sad, scared, angry and in a daze. Here we are. He (Levi) is doing great, adjusting well to having to check is sugar and having shots all the time. Mom and dad on the other hand still trying to adjust. Mom (me) still needs all the help and advice she can get about EVERYTHING. So please feel free to give it.
We would also love to make all the friends we can and get Levi all the friends we can that are "just like him", living with T1.
Hang in there Candie. My son Mason (now 7) was diagnosed when he was 4. Take it one day at a time. Believe it or not, you and Levi will be fine. Best advice is to take time to breathe.
I also found a food scale to be very helpful. The one we use is this one. It shows the carbs for a lot of foods so you can eliminate guessing. www.amazon.com/.../B0013IDHTO
Thanks, I actually order Kitrics Perfect Portions Digital Scale with Nutrition Facts Display, it should be here tomorrow! Thanks for the advice, I'm taking all I can get!!
I was diagnosed when I was 4 and am now 39 and complication free. Thanks to glucose meters, insulin pumps, and ACE inhibitors (blood pressure drugs that protect kidney function) there are a lot of us out there. www.businessweek.com/.../651365.html
Diabetes will definitely change your son's and your life, but it won't ruin it. I attended college, have had a variety of jobs, have traveled a lot, enjoyed hiking and outdoor sports in my younger days, found a wonderful husband, and am now a parent myself.
Diabetes definitely has negatives. I used to mourn the loss of my non-diabetic self, but have since realized that this IS who I am supposed to be. I think that adversity build character and causes a person to have more depth than they would have otherwise. After adjusting insulin and carbs and a million other variable diabetes will also make you a quick and creative problem solver. And you will learn to divide any number by your sons carbohydrate factor. I did great in Algebra and know it's in large part because my math skills got a lot of practice. =)
I'm a huge fan of diabetes books. As mentioned above, think like a pancreas is great. This list has a bunch more. Any listed as "highly recommended" are a good place to start. Your library may have some of them. www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/d_06_b00.htm
Take care and keep us updated on how Levi is doing.
It's been a rough week, with super highs and low lows, luckly not so high or low that we had to go to the hospital. Just enough to keep mom and dad scared to death. Had his follow up appoitnment with Doctors at PCH and they did some insulin adjusting. So we shall see how that all goes. He is a tough little guy. He has lost 3 lbs (he is already a skinny little guys, so lossing weight is a big issue with us), doctor and nutrientionist said it is ok, he will put it back on as soon as we get his insulin level stable. Little to say mom still having a really rough go of it. Trying to take a deep breathe and be able to relax a little, it's just so hard.
Thank you so much Jenna, I really appreciate you sharing your "story" I need all the "happy" news I can get at this point, I'm still in the very angry and sad emotional state on top of some of my own "health" issues I'm dealing with.
We have formed a local support group of families that have Type 1 kids. Most live in our suburb but there are a few from other suburbs too. We have picnics, dinners out, etc. We even rented a rec center's pool one night last February. It really helps. There are so many kids now with type 1 it's crazy.