Newly diagnosed daughter. What should we expect?

Bah... my life isn't normal.. but that's because i don't want it to be haha.

I was diagnosed when i was 9. I'm 25 now, and i live with my husband, we have a beautiful, if mischevious 2 1/2 year old, a sled dog, and two snakes.
I take her running for at least an hour every night, sometimes pulling weights. I also do burlesque for exercise. I play far too many computer games lol.

We went on holiday to wales last year, we should be going to scotland next year, spend some time with that part of the family.

I worked in Switzerland, America, France as a a ski instructor for about 3 years. I've been heli-skiing, i go off roading in my landrover....

Normality is what you make id But my diabetes hasn't stopped me doing anything. I've got no signs of complications, and eat a pretty normal diet.
Your daughter will be fine Her diabetes won't stop her doing anything she wants, it just takes a little more planning and thought, that's all.

Hi Deb - i agree with the others. Having diabetes shouldn't affect your daughter from doing anything she wants to. I just see it as a pain in the a***! , something extra to deal with and plan for. For me with 2 children being type 1, along with a husband who has had it 25 years, I won't let it get the better of us. I want my kids to do everything their friends do and although it sometimes takes a little more planning and thought i don't find it hinders them in any way. When they were first diagnosed, play dates were a bit of an issue as I would need to turn up to do injections, so basically they both couldn't go on a play date at the same time. I also have a toddler so it meant dragging her along when she was a baby. I'm pleased to say we have overcome that hurdle and as they both can do their own injections this has become easier.

My husband leads an active life and travels abroad as part of his job. He often uses air travel several times a month and has never had an issue with this.

The only issue we had was a few months back when we found out that our daughter was missing a lot of her maths lesson. The lesson was just before lunch and she was often leaving early as she felt she was low (a hunger feeling). I was a bit annoyed with the school as they didn't mention anything to me for about 6 months, in which time she had missed a significant amount and in our opinion was falling behind. We remedied this by taking in another testing kit which she has in class (to save her walking to reception each time). We also had her tutored (which we still do), and I'm pleased to say she is now doing very well at maths.

I Know it is early days for you at the moment and of course there will be challenges ahead, but I can honestly say that it just becomes a way of life and things become second nature. My kids amaze me everyday and I'm so proud of how they deal with this condition. Legott

Well done her - you both must be so proud. Keep up the good work!

Hi Deb, it does get easier as you go along but you will still have the odd blip.
Yesterday Lily was playing with a friend who lives over the back from us and came in saying she felt low, we tested her and she was 3.2 so treated her, unfortunately her friends parents were taking them to the park and by the time we had finished treating Lily they had gone, thinking that she didn't want to go with them. She was so upset and was in floods of tears and saying that she hates diabetes etc.
It breaks your heart sometimes, but mostly she does what every other kid her age does, and doesn't miss out. We are starting to get pretty good at going with the flow.

Harry

Celtic.Piskie said:

Her diabetes won't stop her doing anything she wants, it just takes a little more planning and thought, that's all.

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Spot on - so it is with our son! (only him/ he instead of her/ she )

Hi my son was diagnosed August09 when he was 12yrs and it has been a long emotional and sometimes exhuasting 1st year but as much knowledge and information as your brain can deal with for now is the key to at least understanding why the levels are changing. Food obviously being the
most important and time consuming when trying to calculate carbs to dosage etc.
Well after a year i was recommended the most invaluable 'visual' carbohydrate counting book which has made calculating and estimating ratios so much easier and i definitely think all newly diagnosed T1s should have it from day 1. It is called 'Carbs to Cals' by Chris Cheyette and there is even an IPOD APP for it which is absolutely brill for my teenage son and meal times and eating out, especially those restaurant puddings are just so much easier.

Deb Arkle said:

Hi Duggyboy - yes, I have that book and it will be very useful - we're going to a friend's party on Saturday, and it will be a challenge carb counting handfuls of crisps & biscuits!

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I feel your pain :lol: If you can get the app for your phone, I can highly recommend it, I use it daily for 'guesstimating' handfuls of food and the odd biscuit here and there! as for parties, I find if you get a plate and pop the handfuls of crisps etc on there, you can make an estimate at total carbs and then bolus for that. Ok, so I'm not a child and perhaps find it easier to say no to random crisp consumption but I find the plate method helpful - good luck!

Deb Arkle said:

Thanks Debloubed! We survived Halloween, so I reckon we can survive anything!

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tell your daughter from me that the bonus of being diabetic at Halloween, Easter etc is you can ask for money rather than sweets! and then save up and buy the Nintendo game or new skirt or latest CD - much nicer than sweets