Hi..this is my first post here and I look forward to everyone's input. My son was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 12 months old....oh, the trials and tribulations but hey we've made it...and pretty well I'd say,so far!!! Now, 18 years later we are getting ready for his move away from home and off to college in September.
I think my biggest concern about him living away from home is him getting through the night safely and not being too low to rouse himself in the morning. This isn't something that happens regularly now, but it has happened, and thank goodness we are here and have a routine set to wake him each morning to get things going. I have to admit I am more programmed for this time of day than he is...typical teenager he is...loves to be up late at night and sleep in in the morning....he can sleep right through an alarm...not because he is low...just because...he can!!!
Any advice, tips on coping with heading away to school and staying safe and keeping good control
You have a huge advantage in knowing that he is a late to bed/late to rise individual. Knowing this, you can design his insulin schedule to let him go a little higher when he is likely to be asleep. I know the ideal solution is to have perfect control 100% of the time, but if he really sleeps that deeply, I would err on the side of being too high. Most roommates are good people, and telling them basic information about diabetes is ok, but you cannot expect anyone to make sure he wakes up by a certain time.
I wouldn't worry too much. I made it through college fine, and so did a lot of other people on this site. Student health centers can usually fill prescriptions for you, so no worries about shipping insulin (and you can get supplies the same day if you run out). A doctor's note should ensure you can get an air conditioned room. There's usually easy access to sugar if you happen to be out. Check out some of the older posts on the site, a lot of good college advice is in them.
You have a huge advantage in knowing that he is a late to bed/late to rise individual. Knowing this, you can design his insulin schedule to let him go a little higher when he is likely to be asleep. I know the ideal solution is to have perfect control 100% of the time, but if he really sleeps that deeply, I would err on the side of being too high. Most roommates are good people, and telling them basic information about diabetes is ok, but you cannot expect anyone to make sure he wakes up by a certain time.
I wouldn't worry too much. I made it through college fine, and so did a lot of other people on this site. Student health centers can usually fill prescriptions for you, so no worries about shipping insulin (and you can get supplies the same day if you run out). A doctor's note should ensure you can get an air conditioned room. There's usually easy access to sugar if you happen to be out. Check out some of the older posts on the site, a lot of good college advice is in them.
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I agree with Eric, knowing his routine and the fact he's dealt with it his whole life will make it easier. I got through my college year fine while working two jobs and all the crazy stuff some college kids do! if he's living in a dorm, have him talk to his roommate so that if something does happen..they at least know they either need to call the floor manager or get him sugar if he needs them too. otherwise, just make sure he has enough money for food(i was living in the same town as my mom but living on my own since 18 and she would pop over every few weeks with a big bag of groceries, or a grocery store card with money on it for me to get food)! after a few months, you'll feel less concerned about it :) us young diganosed kids do suprisingly well on our own if you give us the chance! haha it took my mom about 6months to feel totally comfortable with me living on my own and stop worrying if i didn't call her every day haha. it's normal, she was the same with my big brother who has no health concerns.
I know my parents were very concerned about my going away for college for the first time w/ my Diabetes. I'll share w/ you a few things I did as soon as I moved into my first dorm that proved to be fairly helpful:
-I told my new roomate, floor RA (resident advisor) as well as the main office in my dorm about my condition and "what it meant."
-I tacked up to my post-it board my endocrinologist and parent's #'s and told my new roomate and RA where to find them in case of an emergency.
-I started wearing one of those tacky "medic alert bracelets" (always hated them, but being away, in case anything happened when I wasn't w/ people I knew, I got one but kinda "camoflaged" (sp?) it w/ other bracelets and my watch.
-Made a point to always have OJ and a jar of glucose tablets in the room at all times. I told my roomate she was welcome to mooch off of any other snacks, soda, etc. in our frig, but to please try to stay away from the OJ (never had a problem). Also, I'd encourage your son to keep cereal bars or something portable to eat on the go in his room/backpack at all times--can't tell you how many times my class schedule cause me to miss dining room hours.
I will say I had a wonderful college experience, best 4 years of my life! I rarely had too many "Diabetic issues," and it's just a matter of planning and being organized w/ your meds and meals. I might suggest talking to your son about alcohol, it does affect insulin since it too is a drug, but then juice mixers raise blood sugars, and as much as parents want to think their child won't touch a drink until they're 21, they will drink. When I was at parties, I just tried to be somewhat careful - beer has less carbs then a screwdriver for example, and you have to learn your limits and stick with that no matter what your friends are doing. ALSO, I pledged a sorority and told the sisters immediately about being a Diabetic and they were totally understanding and I was never forced to drink or eat anything I told them I was uncomfortable with. So really, diabetes had no affect on my social life, your son will have a great time in school :)
Being in college was probably the worst time for me sugar wise. WHile I never really had any major incidents I was rebelling and not taking care of myself fully. In all I think I had about 4 major lows in my time in college. All of these were within months of each other. Thankfully though my friends and roommates knew what was going on and how to handle to issues.
I definitly reccomend making sure the appropriate people know, RA, Roommate, Residence Hall Director, Health Services, and even Security. No matter how careful we are lows happen. Just two weeks ago, even with my CGMS and doing what needed to be done. A low snuck up on me while I was sleeping. I eventually bounced out of it and moved of. There is nothing to truly be worried about. Just make sure people know. The one "good" thing with your son is that being diagnosed at such an early age it is part of his life and he is well aware of what needs to be done.
The JDRF has a good site with information about kids in college you can click here if you have not done so already.
That being said going off to college is a huge step and I am sure things will go well for him. You have taught him well and your son knows what to do. College is just part of life and you and he will be fine.
The first time I heard of a diabeitc dog was on the George Lopez Show. They named the dog Needles, which I thought was kinda cute. George Lopez made a couple of insensitive jokes, but I honestly don't even remember them, so let's not open that can of worms again. ; )
Well I did know animals can have T1, I had a friend that had a very large cat that was diagnosed w/ T1 & they had to give him shots to. This is only the 2nd time that i've heard about animals having T1 so hopefully it isn't that common for them b/c like you said at least we can voice what is happening to us & they can't. So it breaks my heart when I hear about animals like us!!!!!
My ex-boyfriend's dog was diabetic, and his mom gave it shots. That was before I was diabetic though, so I didn't have too much of an opinion of it... and the dog was really fat, so I don't think I ever gave Type 1 a thought.
I am an animal person and a pet sitter, so I have been giving animals (cats & dogs) insulin shots since I was like 15..before I even had diabetes or really understood fully what it was! Cats are very strange with diabetes because they can go "in and out" of it..be diabetic then it goes away and then it can come back. Its really strange! I'm not exactly sure if it is technically T1D because I've only ever seen overweight or really old animals have it. Also they only take long acting insulin, usually one or two shots of it a day, so I feel like its more T2 but since they can't take a pill like metaformin they just get a small shot everyday.
We had a dog who was not fat. He was a malamute primarily but not full blooded. One day at about the age of 10 he had a seizure. My wife was ready to pull the plug. But the vet and I decided to do a blood test first. Come to find out he had diabetes. So he was put on 2 shots of NPH per day. The hard part was making sure he ate when he was supposed to. Sometimes he did get low and bump into things and stuff. We'd then give him milk and tortillas and he'd come around. He ended up living another 3 years and eventually died of leukemia.
We had a dog who was not fat. He was a malamute primarily but not full blooded. One day at about the age of 10 he had a seizure. My wife was ready to pull the plug. But the vet and I decided to do a blood test first. Come to find out he had diabetes. So he was put on 2 shots of NPH per day. The hard part was making sure he ate when he was supposed to. Sometimes he did get low and bump into things and stuff. We'd then give him milk and tortillas and he'd come around. He ended up living another 3 years and eventually died of leukemia.
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Aaww that poor dog. I bet it costs a lot of money to take care of a pet with diabetes. :(
When I was little, my neighbor's dog had D, but I always assumed it was T2 b/c he was old. I guess the good thing about a dog is that their dog food should have the same # of carbs each day!
When I was little, my neighbor's dog had D, but I always assumed it was T2 b/c he was old. I guess the good thing about a dog is that their dog food should have the same # of carbs each day!
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That assumes they eat all of their dog food after they take their insulin. This dog always had food out and ate it sporadically during the day til diagnosis. Then at age 10 or 11 he had to learn to eat it all at once! We didn't want to get into the habit of if he didn't eat, give him some human food that he would eat right away because it wouldn't take him long to learn to not eat dog food and get something better. Kindof like a kid would do. And we all know that eating the same amount of carbs and taking the same amount of inslulin always keeps our number good, right? It was hard, but the extra 3 years we got with him was worth it.
I saw on Animal Planet the other week about a cat with D, 1st time I heard of it. I just get a kitten a couple of months ago. Watched that show, I started to watch my cat for signs. Funny how much this effects everything you do.
It seems strange that animals can get diabetes, but when you think about it, they primarily have the same organs and physiology that we humans do, so they can get pretty much everything we can get. I adopted a kitten in the fall who had a runny nose and turns out she has chronic sinus infections -- who would have known!?!?
My aunt's little yorky-poo has asthma. He takes a few medications, one of them is nerve pills and he was diagnosed with depression if you can believe that!
The family I babysit for, their cat, was diagnosed a few months ago with T1 and seeing al I have T1 they ask me to pet sit now to, he uses Humalin (I'm not sure how to spell that...) and it's pretty depressing to hear him cry... :(