Today marks two weeks since my six-year-old's diagnosis. I don't want to sound from my subject line like we're not handling it well, because I think we are. My son, for the most part, is handling it wonderfully. But, he keeps saying he doesn't feel well or complaining of headaches. I don't know if it's his body adjusting to the insulin, a high, a low, or just him being a kid and not wanting to be at school.
Every day he goes to the nurse's office and says he doesn't feel well. Sometimes his BG is right on target, sometimes it's a little high. When it's a little high, I have them take him to the gym to run a little (for 5 minutes or so), retest, and send him back to class. We talk to the school nurse or teacher multiple times each day, which is reassuring and I wouldn't discourage. When will he start feeling better, and when will I stop worrying constantly?
while it does get better, i have found that we can go back around the loop where we struggle with things again, then things do get better, then i am angry/sad/frustrated again, etc.
I don't think i will every stop worrying though, at least on some level.
as far as why he isn't feel well so often, i have no answer for that as we didn't have an experience like that, but maybe he likes going to the nurse and getting out of class. maybe safe from the fear of diabetes. just a thought. don't really know though.
I have to admit that I'm worried that he's just going to the nurse because he's bored in class, and I'm sure he likes the attention. But I don't want to be too tough on him because he's going through an adjustment, both physically and emotionally. I feel like I need to give him a little time, but I also need to make sure that missing class to lie down in the nurse's office doesn't become a way of life.
Thanks for the feedback. I'm sure that life will be full of adjustments ahead. It's great to have this community so that I know I'm not alone in this.
After my diagnosis I was always getting headaches and feeling tired and weird a lot too until my levels were better, for me it took a couple of months to start feeling better. My doctor told me that my body had to get used to not being high all of the time.
It has only been two weeks, I do understand your concern of missing the classes but it really is a life adjustment and it does get easier with time, you can't really put a time frame on it. It is really a case by case scenario. I am still adjusting 10 years later. You have to figure out how to live your life with a chronic condition and not let it get in the way of everyday life.
It took my son several weeks to get on track physically. He was always starving for about three weeks. His eyes were blurry for about three weeks. And I know from experience that mental stress (that he would never confess to himself) can be physically draining. So some of this may just be physical recovery and some may be mental adjustment. Like Gina said, I don't know how long the mental adjustment takes. Hang in there. Do you have a follow-up appointment coming up soon? (We had one 3ish weeks after diagnosis.) Start keeping a WRITTEN list of what you want to ask. I have one small notebook that is dedicated to taking notes during doctor's appointments AND phone nurse conversations. I date it, note who I talked to, and what was said. We've referred back to it often.
it all depends on who you are for me it took like 2 months some of my friends who have D took anywhere from 1 month to 1 year. it all depends on how you handle the situation...
Thank you all for your feedback. I will hang in there with him and continue to be on call for the school nurse and teachers. I work 5 minutes from school, as does my husband, so it truly is manageable. It's just been hard for me to tell if he's really feeling badly or not. It feels good to know that others of you have gone through much of the same physical/mental adjustment. I'm really proud of my little guy. I guess I just need to be patient. Thank you!!!
We are 6 weeks out from dx of cassidy and she is just now not complaining as much about not feeling as crappy. Those first few weeks poor kid was feeling low when she was like 120- 140 its so hard to sit back knowing that they are fine in that moment, its just their bodies trying to reset themselves from being high for so long. Now she can feel her lows, still cant tell when she is high but we can deal with that. Just keep giving him time and checking him every time you think something is not right along with lots of hugs.
Well Riley and her numbers are a different case because they dont have us blousing for meals yet so she is almost always high. She is dealing with them better and she has not been getting nearly as many headaches as the first couple of week to a month.
I am still trying to get the school to set up a 504 plan but they say they are working on it so whatever. Even tho I am still dealing with all of it my stress level has gone way down. I think mainly because I have really educated myself on I want for her and all the things I was really worried about. I still have a lot to learn but knowing what I do know has really eased my fears. I think right around week 2 or 3 is when I mourned all of this D stuff.It took a while but I got back on my feet.
My daughter was diagnosed 2 weeks ago she is 7. She's having the headaches too and we were told it's due to her body adjusting to the insulin & she too has the highs & lows cause she still adjusting. As for it getting easier it will. They told us in the hospital she would eventually take her own sugar, give herself insulin shots and learn how to calculate how much insulin she is supposed to have. She's already doing it and she's only been out of the hospital 2 weeks. So please believe it will get better because its a lifestyle he'll grow up with and you all will get used to it.
Wow! My son was diagnosed the same time your daughter was. Unfortunately, he's on the diluted insulin, so he's on syringes and not the pen. Until he's on the pen we can't have him do his own shots. He has tested his blood. I'm glad to hear the headaches and stuff are normal. I feel I'm a lot more prone to worrying about him now. Good luck with your daughter! It sounds like you guys are doing great!
Today marks two weeks since my six-year-old's diagnosis. I don't want to sound from my subject line like we're not handling it well, because I think we are. My son, for the most part, is handling it wonderfully. But, he keeps saying he doesn't feel well or complaining of headaches. I don't know if it's his body adjusting to the insulin, a high, a low, or just him being a kid and not wanting to be at school.
Every day he goes to the nurse's office and says he doesn't feel well. Sometimes his BG is right on target, sometimes it's a little high. When it's a little high, I have them take him to the gym to run a little (for 5 minutes or so), retest, and send him back to class. We talk to the school nurse or teacher multiple times each day, which is reassuring and I wouldn't discourage. When will he start feeling better, and when will I stop worrying constantly?
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I want to say that you'll never stop worrying...because you're a Mom and it's your nature to worry about your kids :) (my sister and I are in our 20's and mom still worries ;-) )
As far as getting easier, time is the answer. Everything gets easier with time. It sounds like you two have a pretty good system worked out, so the only thing that can happen with that is to make something that's already good better. I hope that makes sense.
My daughter was dx'ed on 12/23/09 and we still don't feel "normal." We still have struggled sometimes at dinner over what dose to give her because she appears to be honeymooning. Last night, she went to bed with a 143 (8:45 pm), then, just because I felt it my gut that I should check her, I did and she was at 79 (10:00). I was worried so I woke her up and made her drink apple juice. She was so hard to wake up and it took her about 20 min to drink about 1/2 cup. My husband says he keeps score and right now D is winning. If you have some time, go to his blog at www.withoutenvy.com. Alot of people have told him that it is just how they felt and it may make you feel better knowing that there are many, many people like you out there. I think that it won't ever get "easier," but we will become accustomed to our new way of life. I think it may take several months.
My son had three weeks where his vision was affected -- and had headaches both from trying to read and from the level adjustment ( I think) . It took a long time for him to gradually adjust to the highs ( pre diagnosis). When he was dropped from over 700 to under 100 in one day ( where he should be) his body felt bad because that wasn't "normal" for him. It took over a month for the constant headaches to go away. We are on 10 weeks and he is still more tired than he was, but doing better than the first six weeks. Just my opinion but if he is going to the nurse "for the attention" that will get old on its own. I encouraged my son to be very aware of how he felt - as this is how he can learn to know what the highs and lows feel like. As to when do you stop worrying...haven't gotten there yet.
I agree with Gina, It took my daughter a while to get use to insulin. She was so use to being high that her body felt horrible even when her BG was perfect. It took her at least a month to begin to feel better.
She is a year in to this and is doing well. It has just become part of our routine.
It's so good to hear that this is normal. My son has been moody, had headaches, and just plain doesn't feel well. It's tearing me up! And being snowed in for a week hasn't helped a whole lot (LOL). Knowing it's normal takes away some of the worry. And it also makes me feel better that he's not just trying to get out of class. We've gone through so many testing strips at school because they know that everytime he doesn't feel well to test him. He goes to the nurses office about 5 times per day. Knowing that improvement is on the horizon is reassuring.
Just a thought that if his vision is blurry (because he's adjusting to having more normal BGs) that this combined with looking at the chalkboard, his book, etc. could also cause headaches in school. Does he have the headaches on the weekends? He might not notice that his vision is blurry, or that he is squinting or something to compensate. You could ask the teachers if they notice him squinting. We were told not to take our son to the eye doctor for 3 mos post dx, since it can take that long for vision to return to 'normal'.
My daughter has always been quite a drama queen and anxious about a lot of things that are "scary"... needless to say, that issue has multiplied exponentially with the diagnosis of Diabetes last March. She is 10 years old and pure joy most of the time. But I have had to come to terms with the impact that her numbers really do have on her mood and her physical well-being... she gets headaches when she is high and she is crabby. When she is low, she is scared. When she is dropping from a high, she thinks she's low... and she is scared. Unfortunately, as mentioned by someone else, sometimes it does feel like Diabetes is winning. But then there are times where she has great control for a few days in a row and she is clearly the one in the lead. I'm not sure it will ever be easy. And I am certain that we parents will ALWAYS worry. No doubt about it, this is a scary thing. Sometimes we need to allow our kids a little leeway as it's hard to know what's going on inside their body when their blood sugars are all over the place. But as time passes, it does give us a little more sanity and a little more patience and we find ourselves managing life a little better -- with Diabetes on the game field with us.