Boxergirl
Well-Known Member
Those of you that have been on the forum for a while know that I have two children with Type 1 diabetes. My oldest daughter, now almost 25, was diagnosed at age 2 with a glucose level of 1066. We're very lucky that she's alive. If we had allowed her to go to sleep that night she would have slipped into a coma and likely not have woken up. My younger daughter, now 22, was diagnosed at age 12. Puberty is a common age for diagnosis.
Type 1 used to be known as juvenile diabetes. It's a whole other animal than the more common Type 2. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. It happens when the immune system decides to attack the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas. When this happens, the pancreas stops producing insulin. Insulin is necessary for the body to use food for energy. When we eat, glucose levels rise, and insulin is released into the bloodstream. The insulin acts like a key, opening up cells so they can take in the sugar and use it as an energy source. When the beta cells are destroyed, the pancreas no longer produces insulin and it must be provided through shots or with an insulin pump. The onset of Type 1 has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle. It does NOT come from eating too any sweets or drinking too much soda. There is nothing you can do to prevent it, and—at present—nothing you can do to get rid of it. Insulin is NOT a cure. While insulin injections or infusions allow the person to stay alive, they don't guarantee the prevention of serious side effects of the disease. Some of these are kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage (neuropathy), stroke, heart attack, pregnancy complications, and early death.
I can't speak for my children, but I can tell you that as a parent of children with diabetes - it was exhausting. And very expensive. There are no days off. Other people don't understand the disease or the careful balancing act it takes to manage it. If you don't live it, you don't know that for 20+ years I was up every two hours doing blood checks and am just now learning how to sleep again. (Sort of. Habits are hard to break.) That when someone sent their sick child to school and my child then got sick that there was no sleep for days because diabetics feel ten times worse than everyone else when they get sick. It's a ketone thing and a compromised immune system thing. That it's a horrible feeling when your child has a seizure because her insulin peaked when it wasn't supposed to or the day of swimming caught up with her at 3 am. That it's the most awful thing in the world when your seizing child takes in a breath - and doesn't take another. Glucagon saved her life that time. Sometimes I remember just wanting to finish reading my book. Or going to the bathroom. But my three year old was low or it was snack time. Or meal time. Or bedtime snack. Or 2am check. And if I felt like that I wonder how my child felt. Or how she felt when the birthday treats were passed out and the room parent skipped her desk. Not one time, but four times.
And say hey! Did you know there's a thing called "dead in bed" syndrome?
"Dead in bed syndrome (DIB) is a term used to describe the sudden unexplained deaths of young people with type 1 diabetes. The syndrome is characterized as when someone with insulin dependent diabetes has gone to bed seemingly perfectly fine and has been found dead in an undisturbed bed." - diabetes.co.uk
My children are here and they're healthy. My oldest, who has been diabetic for 22 years, has shown no complications. My youngest already has some problems and is meeting them head on. There are some very promising things on the near horizon for Type 1 diabetes. It's heartbreaking to see my oldest get emotional talking about the possibility of living a life she's never known. One without a minimum of six finger sticks a day, five or six shots a day, counting carbs, or worrying about going low while doing things others take for granted. I want a cure for my kids more than I can tell you, and I want a cure so that no other child has to live with this disease. So no other parent has to be afraid to put their child to bet at night or jam a huge glucagon needle into their five year old who has stopped breathing during a hypoglycemic seizure.
I'm not asking for donations for our team, although I will share the link to our team page and share pictures after the walk just so you can see my beautiful, strong girls. (And dogs. There will be dogs walking.) I'm looking for awareness and understanding. September is walk to cure month in many US states and November is Diabetes Awareness month. Please consider adding that $1 to your grocery bill this September to help fund a cure. Consider donating to a local walk team. If you can't donate, then participate in the walk. It's a pretty powerful thing when everyone starts walking at once. The support is just as important as the money.
Here's our walk page with a picture of my girls.
http://www2.jdrf.org/site/TR?fr_id=6974&pg=team&team_id=236004
Isn't their team logo awesome? We had t-shirts made for our team.
Type 1 used to be known as juvenile diabetes. It's a whole other animal than the more common Type 2. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. It happens when the immune system decides to attack the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas. When this happens, the pancreas stops producing insulin. Insulin is necessary for the body to use food for energy. When we eat, glucose levels rise, and insulin is released into the bloodstream. The insulin acts like a key, opening up cells so they can take in the sugar and use it as an energy source. When the beta cells are destroyed, the pancreas no longer produces insulin and it must be provided through shots or with an insulin pump. The onset of Type 1 has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle. It does NOT come from eating too any sweets or drinking too much soda. There is nothing you can do to prevent it, and—at present—nothing you can do to get rid of it. Insulin is NOT a cure. While insulin injections or infusions allow the person to stay alive, they don't guarantee the prevention of serious side effects of the disease. Some of these are kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage (neuropathy), stroke, heart attack, pregnancy complications, and early death.
I can't speak for my children, but I can tell you that as a parent of children with diabetes - it was exhausting. And very expensive. There are no days off. Other people don't understand the disease or the careful balancing act it takes to manage it. If you don't live it, you don't know that for 20+ years I was up every two hours doing blood checks and am just now learning how to sleep again. (Sort of. Habits are hard to break.) That when someone sent their sick child to school and my child then got sick that there was no sleep for days because diabetics feel ten times worse than everyone else when they get sick. It's a ketone thing and a compromised immune system thing. That it's a horrible feeling when your child has a seizure because her insulin peaked when it wasn't supposed to or the day of swimming caught up with her at 3 am. That it's the most awful thing in the world when your seizing child takes in a breath - and doesn't take another. Glucagon saved her life that time. Sometimes I remember just wanting to finish reading my book. Or going to the bathroom. But my three year old was low or it was snack time. Or meal time. Or bedtime snack. Or 2am check. And if I felt like that I wonder how my child felt. Or how she felt when the birthday treats were passed out and the room parent skipped her desk. Not one time, but four times.
And say hey! Did you know there's a thing called "dead in bed" syndrome?
"Dead in bed syndrome (DIB) is a term used to describe the sudden unexplained deaths of young people with type 1 diabetes. The syndrome is characterized as when someone with insulin dependent diabetes has gone to bed seemingly perfectly fine and has been found dead in an undisturbed bed." - diabetes.co.uk
My children are here and they're healthy. My oldest, who has been diabetic for 22 years, has shown no complications. My youngest already has some problems and is meeting them head on. There are some very promising things on the near horizon for Type 1 diabetes. It's heartbreaking to see my oldest get emotional talking about the possibility of living a life she's never known. One without a minimum of six finger sticks a day, five or six shots a day, counting carbs, or worrying about going low while doing things others take for granted. I want a cure for my kids more than I can tell you, and I want a cure so that no other child has to live with this disease. So no other parent has to be afraid to put their child to bet at night or jam a huge glucagon needle into their five year old who has stopped breathing during a hypoglycemic seizure.
I'm not asking for donations for our team, although I will share the link to our team page and share pictures after the walk just so you can see my beautiful, strong girls. (And dogs. There will be dogs walking.) I'm looking for awareness and understanding. September is walk to cure month in many US states and November is Diabetes Awareness month. Please consider adding that $1 to your grocery bill this September to help fund a cure. Consider donating to a local walk team. If you can't donate, then participate in the walk. It's a pretty powerful thing when everyone starts walking at once. The support is just as important as the money.
Here's our walk page with a picture of my girls.
http://www2.jdrf.org/site/TR?fr_id=6974&pg=team&team_id=236004
Isn't their team logo awesome? We had t-shirts made for our team.