AIBU diabetes not a big deal

The child of a friend of ours was diagnosed around age 2. It’s such a worry for parents. I was one of the very few people they trusted with their child due to my job, just having them for the day was exhausting I can’t imagine that level of monitoring/worrying 24/7.

Another consideration was the child was dairy free too, so lots of additional monitoring due to that. The DC is now 7 and managing well.

One thing that I would never have thought about was their dexcom was initially put on their thigh. When they started potty training it kept getting knocked when pulling pull ups up/down, perhaps keep that in your mind for when the time comes.

We enjoy spotting other Type 1s in the wild..

It's a massive deal but unfortunately you will have to massively reduce your expectations of other people understanding.

Most people don't know someone with Type 1. They do know someone with Type 2 and think it's the same thing. And probably think it's something to do with eating too much cake.
If they know someone on insulin it's probably someone with Type 2 insulin treated which is difficult but not the same intensity of difficulty as Type 1.
If they do remember someone from school having Type 1, it will be from before pumps, carb counting etc existed so the treatment has entirely changed.

I know
But even then cakes and biscuits wouldnt be the best thing to treat hypo
Worryingly this poster said she was Diabetic herself.

DKA cured with cakes and biscuits!! It.must have been a hypo or the outcome would not have been a "cure".

My 11 year old has Type 1, it’s life changing and you cannot switch off from it.

I’ve never known an auto immune disease have such the stigma that Type 1 does. And I think that stems from people knowing about Type 2. The two are not the same.

With no other condition would you get accusations that you’ve got it because your child ate the wrong food or two many sweets. It’s fucking offensive.

All I think about is when my child’s pump is due to be changed, has he treated his hypos at school or even heard his alarms and noticed! Have I got enough insulin, yet another Dexcom has failed!

This technology keeps them alive. That’s the bottom line. It’s terrifying.

I hope she gets a pump soon. Is it possible or too expensive to get one and pay for it?

A friend of mine is t1 and so is her son and they are both on pumps. Her ds refused injections so I think they didn’t make him wait. It’s been life changing for both.

Many years ago a friend died from a diabetic coma, he wasn’t very good at monitoring blood sugars and went out on an absolute bender one night which I guess massively impacted his sugars. He never woke up. People forget how serious it can be. And how restrictive.

I remember that thread. The amount of people saying it was "no big deal" and could wait for a non-urgent GP appointment was shocking. I think a lot of it comes from ignorance but it's scary how many of the responses were so confident that it was fine to wait.

Maybe lack of knowledge rather than not caring?
Its a lot more than just jabbing yourself with a needle each day (which is enough on its own!!).

sleep is so much easier when they get libre sensor - i’m with an adult type 1 - it must be even more stressful with a young child

I do feel for you OP - it’s constant and draining and scary

Both my niece and goddaughter were diagnosed when they were 1 (no family connections, just purely coincidental). Both are now almost 30 so they’ve grown up with it and we’ve all seen first hand how difficult a condition it has been for them and their families to manage.
It is indeed serious and important to manage carefully.
Both now have those pumps which they’ve said have been absolutely life changing, my niece said she’s been able to sleep through the night for the first time in her entire life.

I was at school with a girl who had diabetes. It seemed to me that if she felt a bit light headed she ate half a mars bar and was fine. I honestly thought that was as complicated as diabetes got until years later.
I understand now that it's way more serious than that. I had no idea there was so much constant checking and intervention throughout the day and night, so many future health worries.
I hope you're managing okay op and your family educate themselves and support you.

There was a thread on here just a few weeks ago
A poster wss worried about her teenage son
He had clsssic signs that he might be type1
Lots posters rightly urged her to take him to A&E
But some minimised it saying it wssent an emergency
One poster insisted that her friends DKA was cured by having cakes and biscuits🙄
The upshot was the Op took her son to A&E and he did indeed have type1.

DH is recently diagnosed Type 2 and even that is bloody hard to manage (and he’s in his 40’s) - I can’t imagine dealing with Type 1 in a toddler

It's a huge deal for both the diabetic person and their loved ones, and the consequences of poor management are high.

Diabetes is so complex with many different forms and contradictory manifestations that mean most people (fortunately) won't understand how difficult it can be to manage. I had gestational diabetes and having to constantly think about food, exercise, stress levels, the temperature (anything that could affect blood sugar levels) was exhausting. Even though I know type 1 and type 2 diabetics, until I had GD I had no idea the extent that it affects your life. People saying ignorant things to you genuinely have no clue and YANBU to be annoyed.

You are doing a brilliant job with your toddler, I hope it becomes easier to manage for both of you.

It worries me when I look after so many older adults who think their type 2 diabetes is no big deal, run their sugars high.. then wonder why they get neuropathy / leg ulcers / heart disease / TIA or stroke & other associated nasties.. obviously type 2 is a different disease to type 1 but can be very disabling.
I think education in this area is very lacking.

Also seen certain people late teens upwards with type 1 who really don’t look after themselves & end up in hospital multiple times with serious health problems that are not fixable. I do sympathise with them as it’s hard to have to watch your diabetes when all your mates are drinking / doing recreational drugs / eating lots of carby sugary takeaways/ or even just doing lots of sports which can push sugars too high.

I appreciste its really tough for you now as shes so young
But as she gets oldsr and can start to manage her Diabetes herself hopefully things will still stabilise
My son was diagnosed at 16 and whilst he had a really awful time and was in intensive care
He mansges his own diabtes
Does she have a CGM

Diabetes is a huge deal. My father was a late diagnosed type 1, he has had dka , 1000s of hypos and surgery on his eyes. Its a massive deal and I feel sorry for people who have kids with t1

It's terrifying. I am a teacher and have had one kid hypo in my class. Would not want to repeat and that was about 13 years ago! Have never forgotten. It must be so horrible to have it and very very hard for parents of children with it.

You would hope that your family loved you all enough to find out a bit, to listen and try to understand

my guess is that happens in half the cases only - YANBU hope for that but you won’t be alone out there by any means

the world seems increasingly full of the “self educated” who think the world of themselves and won’t listen and don’t care about about anyone but themselves

and don’t get me started on the TV programs - where the victim dies suddenly and it’s blamed on them not having their insulin that day.

type 1 diabetics often need sugar ( the opposite of insulin ) and that kind of misinformation can be dangerous

Do you have a Freestyle Libra which alarms you when sugars are dropping or would your toddler pull it out? I am constantly checking my son's levels on my phone during the night. Would an insulin pump help? One of the promises made to us but not forthcoming.

I think it’s lack of understanding, most people just don’t realise the impact it makes on everything.

my cousin had d1 unfortunately we lost him to covid, but it was a constant struggle for him, and people just didn’t understand why.

Most people only encounter type 1 “success stories” so have no appreciation of how dangerous it can be and how intense it is to manage. Our friend’s DD is 11 and I know that they have not had a full night sleep since her diagnosis 10 years ago.
I also worked with a lady with type 1 many years ago and having seen her have hypos on a couple of occasions I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

A friend of mine at school, decades ago, had type 1 diabetes. It was a bit of a nightmare for him, and became more so, as we grew up to the teenage years and he could not be as ‘ carefree’ ( aka irresponsible) as the rest of us.

I am sorry your child has this to deal with, and your family are beyond ignorant to dismiss it.