Hi everyone
My name is Marla and I have an almost 7 yr old daughter (and 5 yr old son) who was dx @ the age of 3.
I'm looking to "meet" some other parents who understand what its like to parent a child with diabetes...
My son was diagnosed the week after his third birthday. He'll be five this fall. I understand!
My son was diagnosed in Feb of this year. So, I'm kinda new to diabetes and new to this site. I love it here. Everyone has been so nice and helpful. My son is 8. =)
Hi, I'm also new to this site as of today actually. My son was diagnosed almost 3 years ago. He's now 12 but we recently started him on the pump. Lots of questions to go with this... first and foremost how do you let go of the control a little and not feel constantly anxiety ridden? I see that most of you have little guys (or girls) but any suggestions?
Hi Marla,
My name is Deb and I have an 11 yo daughter that I happened to diagnose at 6 yo while on vacation! I SO understand.
My daughter has been on the pump since she was 8yo and was dx'd when she was 6. I have always tried to have her "help" me with any decisions regarding her T1. At 11 yo, I still have to prompt, but she's getting better. Your son will forget to bolus at times when you aren't around, but he'll learn with the next BG reading. The only way I don't go crazy or become too anxious is to view in the same way that kids have to learn EVERYTHING else....trial by example and lessons we teach them. Our job is to be patient and lead them. Hope that helps.
My daughter is 10 and was diagnosed not quite two weeks ago. I have been an emotional wreck. I am anxiety ridden about nighttimes and afraid she will have a low and I won't know it. Any ideas how to help this? Days, I am still nervous when she is outside playing and being a "normal" kid. I am afraid she will drop herself too low with playing also. I worry about the lows more than anything....any ideas on how to help with this anxiety?
First of all-BREATHE!!! You are still in shock and understandably an emotional wreck! I know I was too even though I'd kept it all internal. I guess I have some questions, then I'll add my two cents.
How is your daughter handling the news? Does she appear to be accepting of this or is she rather quite about the whole thing? If it's the latter, you should really talk with her and let her know that you too are afraid and nervous and that together, you'll be able to learn what you need to, to get through this and "become" as normal as is possible. If she's accepting, let her know that because you are nervous and learning alongside her, that you may urge her to take BG readings every couple hours for awhile until you both see how she reacts to exercise and other activities. Of course this would be in addition to testing before eating anything. She may gripe about it but in the end, she'll gain understanding as well AND she may learn the "feeling" of a low/high. My daughter will come in and say "I think I'm low" and she's usually right.
I worried more about the lows as well as I was afraid she'd drop when no one was around. I did have Sarah test every couple hours and after awhile we extended it to three and next thing I knew, I could usually tell if she was low/high.
As far as the middle of the night, I have in the past had to wake her up to take BG but only when her BG's were out of whack. If her morning BG are within target then she is probably doing OK through the night. Talk with her Endo. about her readings. I've created a spreadsheet to log daily numbers so I can see any patterns.
The last piece of my 2 cents is TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS.
I hope this helps you relax a little bit and know that what you're going through is perfectly normal.