I thought I would offer any assistance I could. My daughter was diagnosed April 2008. She has had pretty much every auto immune illness before and since. If you have any questions, I will do my best to help you. Even if you just want an adult to talk to, thats not your parents. :)
Victoria
How about an adult to cry with? My 18 yr old son was diagnosed this afternoon. It has been almost four hours and I am still in shock. He has been the healthiest of my four kids and I am just at a loss right now. We go to the specialist tomorrow and fine out what he will need to do. He is to go away to college in 8 days. I thank God we found out before he went. We just have a lot to learn in a very short time. I will take any and all advise I can get!
Type One? You are going to learn ALOT really fast. What as his A1c? (the average of his blood sugars the last three months) My daughter was put in the hospital the day we found out. It is hard, I wont lie. The first year is the hardest and I was lucky to have at least one person to talk to that understood what I was going through.
Im sure he is smart and he has to understand how important it is to take care of it now.
I remember being so scared all night, watching her sleep. Then she was so sick from the insulin. Her blood sugar went from 595 to 90 in 3 hours and made her very very sick. She was sick alot at first getting used to having regular blood sugars. When we would go out to places I would get so overwhelmed with all the choices and carbs and how much insulin and hat was her blood sugar. She is using an insulin pump now and it has made a workd of difference. Would recommend in about 6 months to a year depending on how long the honeymoon phase lasts.
I just learned or was told that it was ok, to wish I could go one day without thinking about diabetes. I feel guilty to be tired of any of it since Im not the one who has to go through it, but I do, with her everyday. But we do and you will too.
It will amaze you how people come out of the woodword that have diabetes or know someone with it. Its like a club you really dont want to belong to, but when you do there are members everywhere.
Feel free to email victoriapressley@aol.com to talk more personal if you need to. I am sorry. I dont know what your faith is but I have always told Samantha that God only gives those that are the strongest the hardest things to deal with. If you have any questions at all, I am happy to help.
Good grief, this afternoon!! Crying right you. Maybe you should post a message in forum asking for tips for the newly-diagnosed heading off to college. My diabetic son is also my oldest, but three years away from college, so I have no advice to offer on that front. You, try to get sleep. Take notes when you go to the specialist if that kind of thing helps you (helps me a lot). How is your son responding?
You're going to be hit with so much information. Two things stand out to me that might be good for me to pass along:
1) Type 1s should always test blood sugar before driving.
2) College students in particular should make sure their roommates understand that food=medicine for a diabetic. He should make clear to his roommates (nicely and all) what food is off-limits because it's his "I'm low snack food." Maybe, I wonder, if it's good to keep glucose tabs around as back-ups because roommates would be less likely to eat those.
Best of luck and please check back in.
[quote user="Roxane Hicks"]
How about an adult to cry with? My 18 yr old son was diagnosed this afternoon. It has been almost four hours and I am still in shock. He has been the healthiest of my four kids and I am just at a loss right now. We go to the specialist tomorrow and fine out what he will need to do. He is to go away to college in 8 days. I thank God we found out before he went. We just have a lot to learn in a very short time. I will take any and all advise I can get!
[/quote]
Roxane,
I was diagnosed exactly a year ago, and I know this is a tough time. My two recommendations are to try to learn as much as possible about day to day management ("Think Like a Pancreas" is a highly regarded book that is pretty easy to understand), and look into enrolling in a clinical trial. I just posted elsewhere in this group Newly Diagnosed in more detail, but you can see the JDRF information page here: http://www.jdrf.org/index.cfm?page_id=101984. It has links to other sites and information resources.
The reason I suggest this now even while you're still in shock is that most of these trials have a short window of eligibility--often they are open to people within 6 weeks of diagnosis only. This is because the trials are often trying to maintain what insulin production is still remaining, and it often fades fast after the point at which most of us are diagnosed.
Good luck to your son, please don't be shy about asking more questions and I'm always open to be contacted directly if you would like to hear more about my experience enrolling in a clinical trial (I am in a thymoglobulin study at UCSF, http://www.diabetes.ucsf.edu/index.php?section_id=473&).
Regards
BP
My heart is with you and your son...we went through the same thing about a 2 weeks ago. There is so much to learn just do your best to take in what you can. The shock is really something else...I still keep thinking this is something that will go away. I wonder how long it will take to really settle in that this is how it is just going to be.
Is your son going away somewhere close? I bet you will be worried sick - it is hard enough to just let them go yet alone with this diagnosis. My son is only 12 and is just about taking care of everything himself. Your son will be able to do it just fine, he will be healthier and feeling better too.
Roxane,
My 18 year had been away at college for about 8 weeks and was home on fall break when she was diagnosed. She has missed a week of school due to the inital hospitalization. Any advice on what to do to help her as she returns to school? She will be about 250 miles away. She has been home from the hospital for three days. The first day seemed great. She talked alot and felt good. Yesterday was really hard. Something went wrong but she won't tell me. I think she's depressed but don't want to "hover"... She is not ating alot. She is trying to avoid carbs because her correction doses are kind of high and she doesn't like it when the plunger is too far out. Ideas?
I hope your son is adjusting well. Freshman year is a huge challenge anyway. How has this impacted him?
My heart goes out to your daughter Lsandste. I am sure she is going to be depressed for a while. I recommend a few things...
1. Introduce her to Juvenation. Everyone needs to know they are not alone.
2. Get ahold of JDRF and see if they can put you in touch with someone close to where she is going to college. That way she has someone close that she can talk to if she needs to, or if she has questions.
Thats just a few suggestions but good luck and I hope she bounces back soon! This is a very difficult disease to deal with and to have her be away at college is even more difficult. Good luck and let us know if you need anything!