My 10 year-old son was diagnosed 4 weeks ago. It has been hell, to say the least. I feel like I am never going to sleep through the night again, and have all of the usual fears that any parent of a newly diagnosed child would have. One of my biggest fears, is one of my other sons being diagnosed. What is the liklihood of this happening?
Hi Danielle,
I know what you are going through! Our 11 year old son was diagnosed last Sept. (He was 10 at the time) It has been a VERY hard 5 months, but things are improving and I am not stressing as much. Things will get better! I hate to tell you that I still rarely sleep through the night. I think I can count on one hand the times that I have slept all night since September.
We have a younger son that is soon to be 8 so of course this is a concern of mine also. I have asked our Endo and they said that it is like a 5% greater chance of siblings getting diabetes. I don't know your family history, but we have no history of diabetes in our family.
We returned from a Diabetes Retreat this weekend, and there is a test that can be ran on siblings to check their risks. The speaker said that there is a clinical trial for those that test positive for certain things that can trigger diabetes, but there is no proven way to prevent at this time.
Hang in there, things do start to look better!! Please feel free to message me if you want to talk/ vent or post a question/comment in one of the groups. This a great website!
Hi Danielle,
My son was diagnosed over a year ago a month before his 9th birthday.. The first year offers the most challenges and the the first few months are the toughest.
As far as your other children becoming Type 1 diabetics, I think it has more to do with your family history. My brother and I are both diabetic but so is my father as well as my son. I don't have any other children but my father has a brother and he did not develop Type 1 diabetes.
So (for now), I would focus on your son and try not to worry about "what if" for your other children.
Good luck and welcome to Juvenation.
PS...Feel free to vent or ask questions anytime...everyone here is great!!!
As well, I found another great website called "Tu Diabetes".
I think this is such a universal, natural fear. My 3yr old daughter was dx in Nov, just 3 months ago. Again, a lot of sleepless nights here too. I get up at least once a night to test, more if she's a bit low and I worry she won't make it thru the night. Also, it takes a lot of restraint on my part to notto run around after my younger daughter to check her sugars. Every time I think "she sure is drinking a lot today" or "her diaper was REALLY wet this time" I have to tell myself that I am being paranoid. Have I done a sugar check on my youngest yet? Nope. Will I at some point.... well there is a lot to be said about peace of mind. (sigh) As for risk factor? I asked and was told it varies between 3-8% greater risk than any other child in the general population. (we also have no family hx). Sorry to hear of your son's diagnosis, but know that you are in great company here. There are a lot of helpful mommies of D kids on here and a lot of long time diabetics that are so helpful. Take care!
I was just re-reading what I wrote.... by "make it thru the night" I mean that she will go low before breakfast. Sorry, didn't mean to sound so cryptic there! Sheesh!
Danielle, my 10yr old son was diagnosed last Oct. He is the first in our family chain to have diabetes, so it caught us by surprise to say the least. I was very concerned about my younger daughter and the likelihood that she may have it too. So I questioned my sons endo on this. He said that diabetes is an endocrine issue just like thyroidism, and others. With the endocrine family issue already in place, it could have been either a further mutation of the endocrine system or more likely, a virus that attacked an otherwise weakened endocrine system. Luckily, my hospital is taking part in a Type 1 Diabetes Research Study that looks at immediate family members blood to try and see if: 1. there is a trend in development, and 2. what can be done to slow down the development or stop it altogether. So I signed my daughter up. Initially its a blood test that takes about 4-6 weeks to get back. They look for the 3 different anttibody types that signify T1D. If negative, they will continue to test her blood yearly until she is either 18 or the study has stopped. If positive there is a second phase she would be invited to participate in. Anyway, the study is here: www.diabetestrialnet.org for more information and locations. It can all change over time but at least it puts the worrying at ease temporarily. Good luck to you and your family.
Statistically I think only about 1/3 of type 1 diabetics have a family history. Most of us don't.
It's normal to have that fear and someday when your son has kids of his own he will worry sometimes too. My son has only a 2% chance of devleoping diabetes. But there have been a few times over the years when he's drinking more than usual or looks really thin that I've tested his blood sugar to make sure everything is okay. At some point you trust that you can't can't worry and will deal with whatever happens.
Hi Danielle! I SO have the exact same fear. My daughter was diagnosed a little over a month ago and that was something I questioned her endocrinologist about as well. And their pediatrician... and all the nurses we worked with at the hospital LOL. Their pediatrician said the same thing that everyone else's doctors told them... but he also said if I was really concerned about it then I have all I need at home to check his blood sugars... so I might as well do it to put my mind at ease for now. Have I done it? Not yet... but I must admit... I tried. He just wouldn't let me LOL. I think this is always going to be a fear of mine for the rest of my life.... I can't help it :(
Hello Danielle,
I have not logged into this site for a long time. I ran accross your post. My son was diag just after his birthday. However that was over 5 years ago. My daughter was diag. two months after him at the age of 3. This is not common but if it does happen it will be okay. I remember being in a similar spot than you so many years ago. Trust me is seems like forever ago when they were diag. with Type 1. Now my son is still a great student runs track and my daughter is doing great at school. She doesn't remember what life was like before diabtetes. They get along great and they can understand what each other is going through so much more than I can. My youngest son still has the markers for it and still is in a study. To my children it is normal that children have diabetes (how sad this is) but it means they don't feel embarassed about testing or wearing a pump. It also means we have a great supply of food with us at all times. This helps out since my son is now 15, growing, and eating us out of house and home. I hoped this helped with some of your fears and I wish no more children would be diag with Type 1 diabetes. I keep hoping for a cure that part never goes away.
I was familiar with Type 2 diabetes since it runs in my family and their father’s family. So I stressed healthier eating and exercise for my children since they were little. I was trying to prevent obesity and therefore a diabetes diagnosis.
I have fraternal twin boys. They are very different in personality and appearance. In 7/2008 one son was diagnosed with diabetes. He was the first in the family with type 1 diabetes. I was confused, angry, and afraid that his twin could be next.
Not one doctor or article could clearly explain why my child was diagnosed since type 1 is different than type 2. So, i felt no one could tell me that my other son may or may not be diagnosed. After a year of onset, I had more questions than answers. I was tired of worrying. So I decided to focus more on being healthy as a family and enjoying each other than stressing about ‘what if’.
To this day, only one son has diabetes and both are healthy and strong. Which is good because Teenage-dom [they are now age 14] comes with its own problems. This is when independence and rebellion begins.
All that to say... just take one day at a time.
I have an almost 15 year old daughter that was diagnosed with T1D when she was 10. I was always worried about my son who is 2 years younger getting it too. It was crazy to think of how hard it was to handle T1D with one child never mind if you had two children with it. This past summer our son who is 12 was diagnosed with it as well. We also have no other people in our immediate families with it. While it was very upsetting to realize both kids have this it actually is getting better to deal with. Our son seems to be going through the longest honeymoon stage. The one positive thing is that we knew all the signs to look for and we were able to get him to the doctor before his A1C got as high as most people’s at diagnoses. Also he avoided the hospital stay because we already knew what to do. It is apparently very rare but now this is our situation. Now I may feel differently about this when my son goes through puberty but if you can do it with one you can most definitely do it with two!
My nine year old son was diagnosed two years ago. I worry constantly about his four sisters. And I check their blood sugars periodically (when I get nervous). They will even ask me to check them occasionally if they notice they are drinking or going to the bathroom more often than usual. As of now, we have chosen not to have our daughters tested for the antibodies. We reason that because there is no method of prevention as of yet, waiting around for the (inevitable?) diagnosis for a child/teenager with the antibodies would be excruciating. Better to deal with life's challenges as you meet them. My husband and I were tested as we were hoping for the peace of mind of knowing that neither of us has the antibodies so that the chances of our other children having them is minimal. And so it was - neither of us has the antibodies. (Of course, I do not know definitively what the actual statistics are for our other children because we do not have the antibodies.)
Wow! your family sounds very strong. do either you or your husband have T1?