Our daughter was diagnosed at the age of 4 in June of 2016. As I’m sure most other parents will tell you, it’s a life changing day we’ll never forget.
Leading up to the diagnosis she was urinating frequently and eating enormous quantities of food. She started to become lethargic and very thirsty. I called our doctor’s office and made an appointment. I had told them what was going on and that I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but she just wasn’t acting herself.
When they got us in the next day we planned to go out to lunch after our appointment (surely I was over-reacting and nothing was actually wrong). Well, at our appointment they did a urine test and said she had some ketones (No clue what those were at the time!) and they wanted to do a finger stick to check her blood sugar. It only came up as high on their meter, so they told us it was above 400. At that time our doctor explained she had Type 1 diabetes and we needed to go straight to the hospital.
Long story short, once we were at the hospital we were told we needed to stay until we had learned to care for her. To say we were overwhelmed is an understatement. With no family history or experience with Type 1, we had a lot to learn!
I can’t thank all of the staff at Toledo Children’s and the doctors and nurses at the EDCC enough. We received a lot of support and suggestions on how to get in touch with other T1D families in the area. Meeting other families has been in incredibly helpful for us as parents and also for our daughter. Parents that live with this 24/7 have so many wonderful tips, tricks and they just “get it”.
A few things to remember at the time of diagnosis:
*What you are feeling now will get better! It takes time, but you truly will adapt and it will become your new norm – hang in there!
*Educate yourself as much as possible!
*Reach out and connect with other families. You may feel that talking to strangers is the last thing you want to do at a time like this, but believe me, there is a wealth of knowledge and support available that will make things easier for you and your child.
*Push yourself to get involved in activities with other diabetic children and families. You’re not alone!
Our daughter is now on a pump and cgm and life is much easier. We still have our ups and downs, but we’ve come a long way from the way we felt at diagnosis. The silver lining in this new way of life for us – we’ve made wonderful friends and have had some great experiences because of Type 1. Find the good. IT WILL GET BETTER!