parents of kids with Type 1

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Comment by Free2BeMe350z on April 30, 2008 at 9:29pm

My name is Suzie and I am the mother of a 21 year old with Type 1 Diabetes.

We do not have any history of diabetes in our family; however, my son was diagnosed with it (Type 1) just five years ago at the age of 16. Five years is a long time but, not near enough time to learn or completely understand the disease.

Every day for the rest of his life it will be a challenge for him to stay healthy. Diabetes will be with him forever unless a cure can be found. On top of his daily studies with college classes and the two jobs he has it is a full time job taking care of his health. I see how exhausting it is for him at times but, I am so proud of his courage and determination to live a healthy normal life.

When my son was a small child he sometimes worried that there might be a monster under his bed. I could easily chase those fears away for him back then… but now… the monster sleeps with him at night and there is nothing I can do because that monster is his Diabetes. As a parent it is very hard to face the guilt knowing there is nothing I can do to make that horrible monster go away!

Diabetes is the monster that follows him everywhere he goes,
no matter what he is doing or where he is going.

Diabetes is the monster that drives with him in his car and goes to work with him everyday. Diabetes is the monster that attends college classes with him during the week. Diabetes is the monster that celebrates birthdays with him every year. Diabetes is the monster that will attend his wedding one day and be with him on the day his first child is born. Diabetes is the monster he fears will make acquaintances with his children and grandchildren one day.

Without a cure, there is a possibility that one day his future wife will share his same fears. It would be a fear of a new monster invading their home, their family, and their own children. I don’t want my son to know what it is like to be a parent and not be able to chase the monsters away. This is my nightmare and I don’t want to share it.

I don’t think people truly understand how this monster controls the lives of people with Diabetes and their families unless they are affected by it in one way or another. (As in having it or knowing someone with it.) There will always be a worry about medical insurance and life long expenses that are very unreasonable and unfair. Life is not fair, we all know that but, living with Diabetes was not his choice and it surely wasn’t an offering he chose to take or a gift he wanted to receive.

Comment by Larra on April 9, 2008 at 3:08pm

Hello, I am the parent of a grown up D child who was diagnosed in 1970 @ age 15 months. He is now almost 38 y.o and I am, of course MUCH older! :-) My memories of those early times are pretty clear even today. We didn't have the technology you all have today. We did urine testing and I had to squeeze out his diaper to get urine to do the test in a little test tube...one person I recently chatted with on the tu diabetes site called it "boiling urine". That is exactly what we did. I had to laugh at his description. The urine testing was 4 hours behind teh venuos blood or capillary blood...so my son was always in an insulin reaction or sky high. His little pancreas still worked occasinally so it made it terrifically hard to regulate his insulin & to keep his sugars from bouncing all over the spectrum. We used the exchange diet...didin't know about carbs....& basically we regulated his insulin according to what he ate & how much activity he had....what a balancing act....and we were really controlled by the disease! I didn't have many people I trusted to take care of him while he wasl ittle & when I did leave him with someone, I didn't enjoy my time out much as I worried incessantly while I was gone. We did not have cell phones then....what I would have given for a direct line of communicaton while I was out! When it came time to send him to school...he did fine, but I was a wreck! School was a whole different ball game. I won't go into it now. I am sure my feelings then & now are not much different than what all of you must be experiencing. I had a pen pal by snail mail who supported me as she had 2 D cildren...but it really helped me out. I didn't have this wonderful web site for support. I am happy I found this web site. maybe I can be of some support to some of you...even to' my D child is all grown up.

Comment by Larra on April 8, 2008 at 1:23pm

Hello. I am the mother of a 38y/o diabetic who was diagnosed @ 15 months of age in 1970. Have been through lots over the years. He is now having heart complications. I am not sure what I have to offer this group, but I do remember all the feelings & all of the guilt & all of the fear and even now I experience some of thsoe same feelings. We didn't have the technology then....and my son just started using the insulin pump last year inJune '07. what a difference the pump has made in his life & his control and his freedom. I am just leraning how to navigate this site and I have not made my "page" up yet. not surehow to get going. My son is a member of tu-diabetse & is going to show me more about this soon, I hope. I would be willing to share what I feel adn what I have been through and just listen if anyone needs to have an "ear"....this supportive web site is wonderful. I had a pen pal with 2 children with diabetes and we wrote back & forth. This ismuch quicker & better. thanks for being there for each other. I look forward to hearing form some ofyou. Are there parents out there with Adult D children...like me?

Comment by Lorene on April 3, 2008 at 7:59pm

My oldest son, Jack, was diagnosed last Aug. Age 9. I was diagnosed when I was pregnant with him. Could this be connected? We are having a very hard time with his injection sites. He's very lean and scared to try different areas on his body. He will only use his upper butt. Any suggestions?

Comment by Michelle on April 1, 2008 at 1:07am

Michelle and Liliana here, hangin' out in the Great Pacific Northwest. Lili was diagnosed 2 years ago this June, (age 7 then). I promised her that I would do everthing in my power to help raise money for improved treatments and eventually a cure. She is my inspiration daily.

Comment by Chyrisse Arnold on March 30, 2008 at 4:48am

Hi, my name is Chyrisse. I live outside of Las Vegas and my daughter Lyndsey is 7 yrs old. She was diagnosed in Sept. 04, right after she turned 4.

Comment by Teri on March 24, 2008 at 7:14pm

I am also new to this site. Our oldest daughter, 22 years old, was diagnosed in December 2007. We are planning on doing the Tour de Cure that the American Diabetes Association is holding in Minneapolis, MN.