Anyone else have a diabetic skid?
My oldest SD (SD15) is a Type 1 Diabetic (T1D). She was diagnosed around 10 or 11. She has an Omnipod (little pod that sticks to her skin with a needle in for 2-3 days at a time and can inject insulin wirelessly) and it is relatively controlled. DH used to carefully monitor her, including checking her blood sugar once or twice in the middle of the night.
As she's gotten older, SD has asked to be nagged less and to be more in control of her diabetes herself. She is a relatively responsible 15yo. I agree she should be more responsible, as she will be off to college in 2.5 years and will be totally on her own!
She was doing pretty well and her A1C (number that measures how in control her blood sugar is) was OK. not great, but improving. She is turning 16 very soon (almost done her learner's permit hours) and DH and I have been talking about getting her a car. BM and SD15 must contribute at least $4,000. We even went looking at cars a few weekends ago to give her an idea on what cars cost, different models, etc.
Well, she just had her last A1C test and it was TERRIBLE!!! Off the charts terrible!! We are so pissed. We allowed her more responsibility and nagged her less, and it is not good! I've taken back to reminding her after ever meal and snack to bolus.
We have completely put the kibosh on a car until her A1C is under control and she can prove she will be a responsible driver with diabetes. For those who don't know, going too high or too low is VERY dangerous while driving....she could become disoriented, have lower response times, go into a coma, crash, injure or kill herself or someone else, etc.
When driving with her, I've been getting her into the habit of checking her blood sugar right away, right when she's adjusting her mirrors etc. We are putting her on a new type of pump that has a more continuous stream and also that we can monitor at all times from an iphone app. MAYBE if she's proven herself by February we can revisit the car thing.
We are just very frustrated. She is a really good kid....no trouble (minus occasional minor sass), Straight As (a B here and there) without any nagging, babysits, is polite, etc. We are hoping this is just a one time slip up and she will learn her lesson. She REALLY doesn't want Mommy and Daddy checking her all the time.
Anyone out there with T1D, any suggestions? How do you help your skid manage it?
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I wish! She has refused to
I wish! She has refused to use any apps to keep track of things. Forcing her with the new device may be our next step.
I just worry about her. I want her to get in good habits now for college. A normal kid can go binge drinking and wake up fine (albeit a little hungover) the next day. If SD15 goes drinking and doesn't bolus properly or eat properly, she may not wake up and could easily fall into a diabetic coma in her sleep. Just worrying
I just keep reminding myself that she is a good kid and this is just a slip up....an unhealthy one, but just one month. Lord knows I have way more than one month diet slip ups haha
How terrible was her A1C?
How terrible was her A1C? Honestly, for a teen, 8 and under would be outstanding.
Yep. Mine is 14 with the
Yep. Mine is 14 with the omnipod. Actually I ended up here. She was 10 and sick, sick, sick. and Her parents wouldn't do anything and I begged and pleaded and I kept telling them I suspected she had type 1 diabetes and yep. I get you.
Yep. Mine is 14 with the
Yep. Mine is 14 with the omnipod. Actually I ended up here cause of it. She was 10 and sick, sick, sick. and Her parents wouldn't do anything and I begged and pleaded and I kept telling them I suspected she had type 1 diabetes and yep. I get you.
^^ What she said. Animas
Animas pump: This bad boy has a built in/attached continuous glucose monitoring system (thus no more pricking your finger 7-10 times a day only need to do it once a day to calibrate). Meter talks to pump, meter sets alarms for too high and too low.
http://www.animas.com/
Look into it.
I took her to Universal
I took her to Universal Halloween Horror nights with me last month and she forgot her blood sugar testing device in the car and I was so pissed. I had to trek a mile to the car and a mile back . And she had her Omni pod in a backpack and left it on the hood of the car and then BM drove over her very expensive pump. So she's my baby's half sister and I don't get her very often but I think at 14 my exSD needs lots of reminding and prodding still even though she is LOADS better than she used to be but the problem I have with her that I have to keep drilling into her is that with diabetes she has to watch very closely every illness, every insect bite, every little burn for infection and she doesn't do that. She's always getting staph .
My sister was diagnosed T1
My sister was diagnosed T1 when she was 14 or so.
Holy hell it was awful.
She was not good at monitoring for a long time and didn't eat right, didn't exercise, etc.
Drove my parents nuts I'm sure. Much like any teenage rebellion.
But she grew out of it.
She's in her 40s now, and has had a pump for a loooooong time and loves it. She can function very, very normally. Except it's made her lazy about her eating and exercising! Since the pump automatically controls her levels, she doesn't pay as much attention - and she's, I think, starting to have some issues because of it now.
One of my co-workers as a pump too. You'd never know he was diabetic. I just saw the line in his pocket and knew then what it was. He's in fantastic shape and super healthy.
So the pump is great, but it's no excuse to be lax.
Oh wow I am so sorry. My
Oh wow I am so sorry.
My sister was diagnosed with T1 a couple of years back. She has a pump and is pretty good at monitoring everything, but I still worry for her.