Help with Diabetes!

[Philpott]

My eight-year-old son was diagnosed this weekend with Type I diabetes. He will have to take insulin for the rest of his life. My wife is having a difficult time dealing with it.

Anyone have some tips to assist us during this transitionn period?

[MTigers006]

Here you go Phil:

http://www.webmd.com/search/search_results/default.aspx?query=Type%20I%20diabetes&sourceType=undefined

and here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_I_diabetes

If anyone else can be of service or support we are all here for you. God Bless

[Philpott]

Thanks, looking for some first-hand experience/tips if anyone has them. :help2: I did research on this for a college class a while back. Also, have a few books. What will the books/experts not tell me?

[MikeyMadi]

Well, my mom has had diabetes since I was just a child.. The biggest thing I can tell you, if your child hits a 'sugar low" when they are in need of juice or candy, is watch his face he will have this distant look and be confused. Because it can happen so QUICK, best thing is juice it works very very quick. It is scary but do your best to remain calm as hard as it will be. You will adjust and you will learn to live with it as will your son. Its a life changing disease, I know its changed my life having to take care of my mom, if you ever need any advice I will be more then happy to help as will all of us!!! Just hang in there and be strong and remember he can live a happy normal life just always be prepared!

~Madison~

[massillon catholic]

My eight-year-old son was diagnosed this weekend with Type I diabetes. He will have to take insulin for the rest of his life. My wife is having a difficult time dealing with it.

Anyone have some tips to assist us during this transitionn period?

Don't give up hope. I was diagnosed with diabetes and denied life insurance. I went to the doctor, got pills. I got tired of the pills read some books on natural remedies and changed my diet. Fast food is NO GOOD! Type I is differant than what I had, but I still believe that there are other remedies out there. Most prescriptions "mask" the symptons and do not cure the problem. Try naturalcures.com. And, don't forget praying never hurts. I already have one in for you and your son.

[Marie]

I would try and see a specialist at Akron Children's Hospital. See if they have some diabetic education for the whole family.
When I was still working in a hospital, they had stopped giving juice for "sugar lows " and instead used peanut butter, crackers and milk. It seemed to keep the blood sugar from peaking and then going low again.
You can also talk to the school nurse if you have concerns while he is at school.

[fyrewood]

Mass. Catholic, Type II Diabetes usually happens as you get older and a lot of times is caused by being over weight, poor diet and lack of exercise and can be helped by changing or improving those things. Type I Diabetes (Juvenile Diabetes) can be helped some from changing those things, but can't be helped as much. My father was diagnosed with Type II a few years ago and is almost off of all meds after changing his diet, losing weight and becoming more active.....Type I will almost always have to be on meds the rest of their life no matter what they do.

Philpott, my girlfriend has been a Type I diabetic since she was 4 years old and is now in her 40's and uses an insulin pump. She is also a Registered Nurse...I will talk to her tonight to see if it's ok with her and if it is maybe we can contact each other and she could answer any questions you may have.

Your son, as an 8 year old probably won't be happy with daily finger sticks to test his Blood Sugar (don't know too many people who are) You might want to look into getting him the Glucometer where you can do a stick and take a blood sample from the forearm....it's less painful.

Also I'm sure you've been told, but when a Diabetic's sugar drops, it can drop VERY rapidly. They will become disoriented, confused and the quickest sign that they are having a problem...they will start getting diaphoretic (sweaty), cold and clammy for no reason. If you start to see this sweatiness in your son when he has no physical activity going on, take a reading of his Blood Sugar and if it's low get him some peanut butter and crackers, fruit juice, a coke, some candy or even some warm water with a few spoonfuls of sugar mixed in....Or most drugstores sell Sugar Tablets and tubes of liquid glucose that work very well. Like Marie said above, if you give him the juice,coke or sugar water, it won't keep his sugar up long, so get him something to eat soon after.

If his Blood Sugar becomes low enough where he is not responding to you or becomes unconscious, don't try to give him anything by mouth....Call 911 and the local Medics can take care of him and then he may or may not need to go to the hospital....Health insurance should also pay for a Glucagon Kit, which is kind of like carrying around an Epi kit for Bee Stings. If he gets low enough where he's not rsponding you can give him the Glucagon injection and it should help.

[Philpott]

I appreciate all the help.

Marie: My son is seeing Akron Childrens looks like we lucked out. It's good to to have someone else to give confidence to where we are going.

fyrewood: We have the glucagon pen. Thanks for all the tips.

I'm glad I have good insurance. I filled his first prescription and paid $63 for over a thousand dollars worth of scripts.

[Spize]

Do not go with the meter that is free... Go with the meter that has the cheapest strips. Cheap strips will pay for the meter in the long run.

Wal-Mart has a VERY good price on diabetic supplies. (Because Diabetics tend to use the pharmacy more later on and they want to hook you in formt he beginning.) The cheapo meter is actually made by a very good name brand. If you don't like walmart, Wal-Greens also has a very good meter with cheap strips.

It sounds cruel, but I wish my Dad had known better, but you should consider finding an older person who has had it for awhile and has had complications because of not watching their diet closeley enough. Let them tell the kid why it is so important. Insulin may fix the problem chemically if you stray from your diet, but the damage is being done anyhow.

[TigerLily]

Since I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes about a year ago, I can relate some.

I’m trying to control mine with diet right now, but I do know that diet is still important when you take insulin.

I had to go to the North Canton Medical Foundation for diabetic training. One thing they asked me is how I felt about having this. My reply was that it is just something I will have to deal with and am not going to let it get me down.

My advice is to make your son feel as normal as possible. He just has to do things a little differently.

There’s a lot of help and support out there now and combined with the love and support of his family….I’m sure he will be able to cope with what lies before him.

God Bless