Well it’s been an eventful weekend. I found out that my 10 year old brother has type 1 diabetes and will for the rest of his life. It was hard for me to hear and I’m sure harder for him. He went to the hospital friday and came home today. I can’t imagine how hard it’s going to be for someone in 4th grade to be watching carbs and testing his blood sugar and getting his insulin shots.
Anyone else on here that has diabetes? How do you deal with it? Any helpful ideas?
everyone in my family except for me, which im sure ill get someday, as well as some type of cancer
its a downer at first but he will get used to it, even if he is really young
nowadays people function on the avg of 4 different pills its like brushing your teeth
edit: forgot to mention, imagine the people that had it 100 years ago, they just died, when i was in HS i ran a 4.3 40 yard, which i know some people cant believe, but out of nowhere when i was 18 i developed asthma, non smoker etc in shape, im on 3 medications just for that a day, as well as zoloft for anxiety and allergy meds
point being: everything gets better in time, it just sucks at first
Sorry to hear.
Yeah man sorry to hear. It’s something tough to go through.
He won’t be taking shots. He’ll have an insulin pump attached to him 24/7. He can still live a normal life though.
Look into this for him:
http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/camps/d_07_215.htm
I worked at camp rainbow for a few years. My sister ran it for a couple. It’s a short summer camp just for kids with diabetes. It seemed helpful for them all to go to camp together. Makes them not feel so different to see how many kids are the same as them.
Actually he is doing the shots, but another kid in his class has the pump. His birthday is this coming friday, so I gave him his b-day present early…He’s currently playing his new Wii now.
On a side note, he was staying at Children’s hospital and it’s amazing how many kids are there and just have nobody that comes to visit them. Makes me feel like volunteering to just spend some time with them.
my father had type 1 diabetes since the age of 11, he passed away in Dec 08 at the age of 63
diabetes was nothing short of devestating for him, it cut his career short, landed him in the hospital for years of his life (combined stays) cost him both of his legs most of his vision, caused him to suffer a life altering stroke at age 34 and caused him and my mom many financial hardships but it never defined him, it never got him down and he never gave up… (my dad was physically fit, didnt smoke, watched everything he ate/drank , excercised daily ect ect)
despite all of the bad my dad lived a good life filled with family and many close friends, diabetes ultimately did not cause my dads death (although it didnt help) and he walked with nothing but a cane on two prostethics, diabetes may have limited my dad physically but it never limited his spirit or his heart…
technology has come along way over the last few decades and the insulin pump made the last 10yrs or so of my dads life as a diabetic much easier
while its nothing I would wish on anybody, how much it limits you is up to the individual person, your brother will need much emotional support , a healthy diet, regular exercise and routine medical check ups and care but his life isnt over, its only just beginning : )
<oh and some of the most wonderful friends my dad met over the years were other diabetics and their families, theres tons of wonderful people going through the same thing to give your brother/you/your family support>
If he’s using a continuous subcutaneous infusion pump then he doesn’t have to worry about injecting and testing in public. It’ll pretty much give him a “normal” childhood. But this stuff this EXPENSIVE! And most insurance won’t cover it either.
I have 2 sisters who have Type 1 diabetes and a nephew who got it when he was 5. My oldest sister died at the age of 52 from complications, but she also didn’t take care of herself. My other sister and nephew have been on the pump for years, she is 55 and he is 22. He still played sports all through school. As long as you take care of yourself you can go on to lead a pretty normal life. As far as insurance not covering it that is totally false. I know for a fact that insurance covers all their supplies. One thing he needs to be very careful about, unfortunately for a young kid, is to make sure he doesn’t run around in bare feet. A cut could lead to serious complications.
From what my parents told me the testing strips for his meter are like $300 and their insurance doesn’t cover them. My father is trying to go on permanent disablilty which will hopefully help.
I’ve had it for about 6 years. Fortunately, I have Type 2. Even that is a pain to manage. Good luck to him.
This is one of the biggest kicks in the gut for me. I feel more and more depressed the more I read and the more videos I watch. I haven’t felt this bad since my dad sent me a letter before his last open heart surgery. He wrote to me telling me he was proud of me and was basically saying goodbye. It was his 3rd time going in for open heart surgery and he felt that he wouldn’t make it through it. I feel bad for anyone who has lost a loved one and for those who are struggling through illness. A 10 year old kid should be worrying about what cereal he wants in the morning and if he is going to go out and play that day. Not about what his blood sugar level is, what time he needs his injection and counting calories…
I just needed to vent…sorry
My fiance has type 1, they found it when she was 4. She has a pump and has had it since she was 13. It definitely made things easier. Also, she went to one of the camps like fry suggested, she said it was the best thing that she could have done. You or your family should definitely look into one. If you have more questions pm me.
try not to be depressed man, all it means is your brother has a life expectency thats lower on paper than someone who dosent have diabetes…
paper and real life are two different things, my dad outlived alot of people “thought” to far outlive him
I guess what I am trying to say is whatever will happen in life will happen, every day is a gift , statistics dont mean shit
theres tons of promising research for diabetes and stem cell research basically has it cured
I donate to the American Diabetes Society and have followed research of the disease my entire life , if things progress the way they are progressing I expect it to be “cured” within the next 20-30yrs
hell when my dad was diagnosed in the hospital he told me they gave him a grapefruit to practice on and told him when he could “give himself a shot” he could go home
we’ve come along way : )
Hope that cheered you up.
Little update:
Joe (my brother) seems to be dealing with diabetes fairly well. He actively counts carbs, has no problems taking his insulin and his BS readings.
This Sunday my family is doing a walk @ Fantasy Island for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. If you’d like to donate a couple bucks for our team, it’d be much appreciated. Or you can just come out and do the walk on Sunday.
If you feel like donating you can donate here:
http://www.walk.jdrf.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=extranet.personalpage&confirmid=87692346
Thanks guys!