Nearly diagnosed 2 year old...worried mother!

[phojay]

Hi everyone, came across this forum whilst browsing at some silly time last night. Yesterday turned out to be a shocker...we took our 2 year to the doctor because of his extra thirst over the last couple of weeks and ended being rushed to A&E because his blood sugar was 24 and they suspected diabetes. Totally out of the blue. They've all been very good so far in hospital, he's got to stay for a few days until they stabilize his sugars and teach us how to manage it with insulin. His sugar went down to 8.8 after his first insulin injection, they were then worried it had dropped too far too quick, but on the next check a couple hours later it was back to 22.

After reading through some of the posts, there seems to be so much support and knowledge on here, just wondered if I could pinch a little bit! My partner and I are still reeling a bit from the diagnosis, so much information thrown at us that our brains have closed off, my brain keeps skipping to longer term and problems that can develop, (motherly panic I think).

Anyway, hope I haven't waffled too much, any advice, info, extra brain cells would be greatly appreciated.

 

[cugila]

Hi phojay.
Welcome to the Forum. Have a good look around and ask anything you wish, there is usually somone with an answer.

We have lot's of Mum's and Dad's of young children with Diabetes. They will help and advise you. I am a bit long in the tooth for advising you about children, so I will leave it to our 'experts', the real Mom's and Dad's. They know exactly what it's all about, they are the ones to listen to.

It will all get better, the better informed you become. If you are not sure about somethiong then just ask......

 

[SophiaW]

Hi Phojay,

I'm sorry that your son has been diagnosed with Type 1. A lot of us have been there so we can understand how you feel, what a shock it is and how it leaves you numb and with an overload of information at the beginning. Things will settle down over time and the information will start to make sense as you learn and understand about diabetes. You have a support network of other parents with diabetic children here so don't feel alone and don't be afraid to ask any questions.

 

[suzi]

Hi Phojay,
There are lots of us Mums (and Dads) on the forum ready to give you lots of support and ((hugs)) and as much advise as you need, don't be afraid to ask, and theres never such a thing as a silly question. We've all been where you are at this moment in time, we understand the emotions, frustration and even the anger that follows the diagnosis of a child.
Take care,
Suzi x

 

[Jen&Khaleb]

Try not to worry too much. It does get easier, although I found this hard to believe when I was first told it. It does seem an incredible amount of information at the beginning. Eventually you start going back to doing the same things you were doing before, but, you do them with a big bag of all the stuff you might just need.

I hope your little one is coping well. For some reason young kids seem to accept diabetes really well and growing up with it can be a bit of an advantage compared to getting it later in life. Khaleb has recently taken to trying to beat me putting the bit of cotton wool on his finger by putting his finger on it. He thinks this is a great game. I can also confess to making funny sucking noises as the blood goes up the test strip. This gets a giggle also. The needles just come with the meal.

Take a day at a time, Jen.

 

[sugarmummy]

Hi Phojay,

My daughter Keira was also diagnosed at the age of 2, just over a year ago. I was lucky in that my dad is also a type 1 diabetic so at least already knew a lot about it & was less fearful of the long term consequences. he is in his mid 60's has managed his condition well for over 40years, despite the current technology now available not being around then. he is very well having had none of the known complications.

Now on to Keira, she had no problems adapting to regular finger pricking & her insulin injections. On some occassions she decides to kick off, but this is more down to being a rebellious toddler & not connected to the task being completed, she would kick of similarly to having her nappy changed!Like the previous post, I actually agree that in someways it is easier for younger children to adjust. They haven't got into bad eating habits, you have more control over what they do, their friends grow up with it & don't see it as anything unusual. They will never have know anything different. They can also learn what to do as their age allows, rather than having to learn all in one go. Keira likes to hold the test strip against her finger, while doing bloods. She'll be doing her own injections before you know it!!!

My final consolation is that things have changed in the diabetic world dramatically over the last 40 years since my Dad was diagnosed & it is an exciting time, with lots of new technology out there being made available all the time. keira is about to go on a pump & I can't wait.

Always remember there are worse things a child could have. Diabetes can be well managed & controlled. It seems mind blowing at first, but soon it just becomes a way of life. A lot is know about it & things are improving all the time.Who know what will be available by the time the wee ones have grown up.

Take care & just always remeber you will go through bad patches, when it is overwhelming, but at other times, you forget what life was like before & it just becomes routine.

All the best
Sharon & Keira

 

[Theunicornlady]

Welcome to the T1 club hon. Its such alot to take in and even now nearly two years after my daughter was diagnosed, we are still learning. We are still adjusting and you are right, its a big old shock, especially if nobody in your family has diabetes. I was aware of it, but not the complexities etc. You will get plenty of support and advice on here - I've only recently joined myself - but its nice to know there are people you can talk to.

The Unicorn Lady
11 year old T1 daughter

 

[helenamc72]

Hi Phojay,

My name's Helena, our daughter Grace was diagnosed with T1 just 2 weeks after her 2nd birthday last year, she turned 3 yesterday! I like you found this site whilst desperately searching for information, help and advice. You will find all that and more on here. Myself and my husband went through a whole range of emotions on diagnosis from relief that we finally knew what was wrong to anger and despair, was it something we had or hadn't done. My husband is in the army stationed in Germany so not only did we have a newly diagnosed T1 toddler but we also had the language barrier as she was sent to a children's hospital in Hanover for treatment. Grace uses an insulin pump as the team in Hanover thought this was better due to her age. There is a a book I and other mums over here have found really useful called "Type 1 Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults" by Dr Ragnar Hanas which you can get from Amazon, when you first look at it it just seems crammed with too much information but don't try and read it all at once I just dip into it when there's something I don't understand or just want some more info. It has been really useful to me over the past 12 months.

What I am trying to say is, yes it all seems daunting now but it will get easier with time although we have had some set backs with high bloods and illness but on the whole you cope,, then you manage and then it's second nature. You will be so surprised at how well your little boy will cope with it all, Grace calls her glucose tests her achoo and doesn't bat an eyelid now and she has them 11 times in 24 hours, she doesn't even wake for the night time ones any more! She doesn't like having her catheter changed but now she has stopped crying when I get the inserter set out now that she realises that it doesn't hurt too much and I know I have had it done to me so I know what it feels like! All of this is now second nature to Grace and I am glad so she will grow up with it and to her it is normal every day life. Take care and I hope all goes well. If you ever want to chat just let me know and I will help in any way that I can. Helena xxxxx

 

[annettekp]

Hi

On Monday it will be 3 weeks since my 20 month old son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. He was rushed to hospital and then when he was ready to go home went down with slapcheek just to complicate things even more.

There is so much to take in, things I never knew and its hard to know whats normal.

Its good to know this forum is here.

Annette

 

[Chelsey]

Hi,
My 16 month old daughter was diagnosed 1 month ago. Her father is T1 and so we saw the signs and when we went to A&E her sugar was 32.9. We also stayed in for a few days.
My daughter was put on Humalog Mix 25 in the hospital which then changed to Levemir and Lispro. She now only has Levemir as Lispro dropped her sugar from 19 to 3 in just 2 hours. Her sugars are still not predictable now and doctors have told me it can take quite a while for them to settle down when they have just been diagnosed.
I am still quite upset now so I know how you feel but there is brilliant support on here which i'm sure will help you x