Erika, I am a grandmother who was diagnosed as type 1 at age 12, waaaay back in the dark ages. I am fit and healthy and probably healthier than most of my peers because, like what Michelle (above) wrote, I am careful about what I eat, and I find that eating the same amount of food at each meals helps stabilize my glucose and insulin needs for good control. Yes, like all type 1 folks who are in good control, I test often and adjust often, but truly, in time you hopefully will cease to be consumed by the thought of your daughter being diabetic. It won’t be the first thing you or anyone else thinks of when they see her: you and others who know and love her will think of the things she is gifted at, her personality, etc. Those are who she IS. This is just something she will need to learn to do to remain healthy, like brushing teeth every morning. Even being diagnosed before glucometers were even available, I am complication-free after 44 years on insulin. She can have this kind of healthy life too. So we who are writing here encourage you. Once you as mom are able to get over your disappointment over this diagnosis, you can move on, and so can your daughter.
A tip for glucose testing: go for the SIDES of the fingertips. Pricking is not as painful on the sides of fingers as on the ball of the fingertip, and blood flow is just as good. Also, make sure you are using the smallest needle that is available… shots are often completely painless with tiny needles, depending on the location. Maybe you and your daughter can make a game of finding the “best” spots for shots. Some locations even on the same general area are very sensitive while others are not. Perhaps while she adjusts, you can find some way to distract her when it is time for a shot or finger prick: sometimes making a very tight fist can distract me if a nurse has a very hard time finding a vein when trying to do lab work (I have tiny veins, a lab technician’s nightmare). I have learned to do this or sometimes to use the other hand to rub a spot on my arm or leg vigorously to send messages to my brain that other sensations are happening, and doing this makes the needle prick less of an issue. The brain is easily confused about pain signals and any “sensation” you create to distract the brain’s attention will make the pricks actually less painful. Make sure you teach HER these things, for they really do help and she will need to know about any tips like this as she grows up and learns to manage this by herself.
One thing that happens, I believe, with any diagnosis of a chronic disease, is that we learn to really listen to our bodies. And in the case of the type 1 diabetic person, we learn to control a lot. We listen to our bodies daily, hourly, and react to what our bodies tell us. In many ways, we become much healthier than the typical American of today who eats prepackaged meals, who won’t make the effort to get exercise, who gains weight after middle years hit. I am still the same size I was in college, and don’t expect to ever have to battle obesity. Perhaps lucky genes, but I suspect the real reason is that my diet is made up of fairly simple foods rather than casseroles because simple foods are easier to figure out carbohydrate content for. And they are lower in calories. A half cup of frozen green peas, after cooking, has much fewer calories than a half cup of pretty much any casserole dish. We learn to love celery and baby carrots and tiny salad tomatoes, which are pretty much “free” snack foods. We learn to love a slice of cheese when hungry or a handful of nuts – both having neglible carbohydrates – which are much healthier than a handful of crackers or chips. You may find that if the whole family starts to eat simple foods, all will be healthier.
Yes, this is something that will change your lives, but in some ways, you can make lemonade out of the lemons if you focus on the good things you and your family will learn about nutrition and lifestyle while learning to adjust your daughter’s glucose levels. As others have written, we all KNOW from first-hand experience that this becomes easier in time and you will figure it out. Do get in touch with your local JDRF chapter and see if you can find other parents locally who can help guide you. We are out there, and JDRF’s Online Diabetes Support Team (ODST) is also available to help with specific issues, to answer questions from first-hand experience. So feel free to ask questions, and if there are specific more personal questions than are appropriate to bring up in TypeOneNation, do go to jdrf.org and click the button at the bottom of the page labelled: “Get Personal Support.” You will be matched up with just the right volunteer who will email you and answer your question. There is a lot to learn, and much is not written in the “textbooks” so I do recommend finding support this way. We are here for you and your daughter!!
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