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Worried mummy

M

Mummyzilla6

Newbie
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1
Hi im brand new to this
My daughter is type one, 21 and diagnosed a year ago
She is leaving home but will be living alone
I’m really worried she will have a hypo and won’t have anyone to help
I was wondering if there was like a panic button or piece of jewellery should could wear to alert us
Yes she has a phone but I mean if it’s not in her hand
I’m really dreading it
 
Hello @Mummyzilla6

Welcome

As far as technology is concerned you can get a continuous glucose monitor like the Dexcom G6 which is monitored by a smart phone and you can link it to ‘buddies’ setting yourself up as one so you can get alerts, it would have to be self funded though and the package is £159 a month. This system is ideal for parents monitoring kids at school too, otherwise see if there is a friend who can drop in regularly to see her, as long as she’s comfortable with managing her t1 and has good control then living alone should be fine.
 
I lived alone for the first 8 years of type 1 diabetes. I never had a severe hypo in that time. I have always been able to treat myself. Plenty of testing helps.
As @Juicyj suggests, she could get a Cgm.
But there will always come a time when your daughter may be alone. Even if she lives with others they may be out or she may have a work trip in a hotel room alone or she may be walking home alone or she may want to be alone.
I am very keen to be as independent with diabetes as I would be without and have never had a reason not to in the 15 years since my diagnosis.
 

Hi and welcome to the forums. I assume that your daughter is not using any kind of glucose monitoring technology (Freestyle Libre for instance)? I have found this technology invaluable in preventing hypo's because it's so easy to take a reading. Users can see when they are starting to go low and eat/drink something. I've only been hypoglceamic once in the past 6 months and then only briefly, it's definitely a game changer.

You make it sound as if your daughter has sudden uncontrolled hypo's? If so, she may qualify for Freestyle Libre on the NHS. Otherwise it will cost in the region of £100 per month to buy sensors.

Glucose monitoring devices may also send alerts to a smartphone to warn the user about lows and highs.

There are of course alarm services for use at home (activated by a fall or pushing a button on a pendant) commonly used by elderly people (my mother had one) but these aren't cheap.

As for jewellery, there is a range of things to identify oneself as a T1 diabetic. Starting with a simple plastic wristband and going up to more expensive items. Some people in this forum even have tattoos for it!
 
Hi @Mummyzilla6 As my mother used to say to me, consider the worst possible outcome. The following is an account of my worst hypo in my Type 1 life (at the age of 21) from 1959 -2013:

1979 At a party in Haringey, hosted by one of Helen’s predecessors: The hostess, called Julie, left for work at Harrods, with Yours Truly unconscious on a sofa. She telephoned at 12.45. “You still there?” After my baffled response, I put the phone down and tried to think about my state of affairs. I had a raging headache, my vision kept disappearing, and worryingly, I was experiencing a total memory loss. I started to pace around the stark room like a leopard in its too confined quarters. What the hell is wrong? This is not a hangover. I need to talk to someone. My father. What’s his name? Where does he work? (He retired in 1985 and I still remember his number – 01 405 9222 ext 6036) Brain’s battery was completely uncharged then. As I sped around the room in increasing panic, I chanced upon a directory. With my focus looming in and out, I flipped through the pages in the vain hope I might recognise anything. Something suggested the word “assurance” and I had enough cognitive function to write it down. Minutes later I was through to some saint (female) at the switchboard. Why she didn’t think “We’ve got a right one here” I’ll never understand. She deserves recognition.
“Er, er, Oh God, what’s his name?”
“Don’t worry love, which department is he in?”
“Er, ....... Oh blimey I can’t think.”
At this point she began reading down the list until she said:
“Job Evaluation?”
“That’s it!”
I’m a great believer in fate. Normally one of three lovely secretaries would have answered the phone, but for some reason my father himself answered. I must have been able to tell him my whereabouts, because I remember him giving me some chocolate in the flat. The rest is blank until 6.30 the following morning. I had been put in Johanna’s bedroom (I think she was away at college in Oxford at the time) and my father put his head round the door to check progress. He found me on the floor.

I have written this purely to show that in spite of what the media lead people to believe, I am not only alive 39 years later, but able to tell the world about it. Of course it is not advisable to get to this stage, but at least now monitoring is infinitely more advanced. I do think that it is vital that your daughter tells those around her so that they know what to do should something like this occur. I wish you both the very best of luck.
 
Hi @Mummyzilla6 ,

Welcome to the forum.

I can understand your concern. & you've probably seen your daughter low on a few occaisions.
Sensible management is key. & there have already been suggestions of CGMs.

It's not out of the question your kid can have a healthy independent life..

I got over 42 years with diabetes & still here. The "role" has reversed with my mum & I'm still capable of handling it.
I've Been in student "digs.", toured Europe with a band, slept in vans, dossed on floors, dodgy hotels... (Toward the end of the run, the hotels were quite nice.)
With a sensible aproach, it's always good to get home & see my folks... & now the wife.

Why not suggest your daughter signs up here & discusses with other T1s?
Most have been there & bought the "tee shirt" at the gig.
 

It's understandable you are worried and concerned, but type 1 diabetes is just a small part of who she is. I have lived alone for many, many years, even brought up my baby practically by myself and she is 18 now.
You can ask your daughter to text you when she goes to bed and when she awakes for the time being, so that you won't be too anxious, but she may not remember to do it all the time. Is she going to Uni, or just moving to a place of her own and could she join up here? As long as she keeps testing her BS regularly and adjusts her food and medication when needed, I'm sure she will be fine and she will enjoy a happy and a healthy life.
 
Hi there
I live alone.and for years in the morning I txt my sister and last thing at night.
If I do not answer then she calls for help (my son)he is over like a shot.
You could do the same and it will give you some reassurance. I would be exactly the same and scared stiff if it was my son/daughter !
Best wishes by the way Libre is the best!!!
 
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