Hey everyone,
So just last week my friends cousin became a type 1 diabetic. He's a runner and right now he doesn't know what to think. I told my cousin I would talk to him if he wanted me to. His friend said he wanted to talk to me. So I'm going to tell him everything I know about it and also tell him things like it doesn't stop him from following his dreams. Things like that. I was just wondering if there was anything else i needed to add.
http://www.tudiabetes.org/group/diabeticswhorunmarathons would be a good resource, if you read back through the main thread, there's a lot of accounts of people's races and training, etc. Even if you aren't running that far (the high school cross country people around here run about 3 miles I think but they do it in like 13-14 minutes and are as fast as hell!), the advice may be useful and helpful so he can keep doing well!
Thanks ill let him know
I think everyone is overwhelmed at first. Just seeing you successfully dealing with it should be a big help.
Never give up on your dreams!
Information overload! Take it slow and encourage reading as much as you can. It takes months to adjust to live this lifestyle. Encourage him to get in here. So many folks here can answer his questions. He can be a runner, butcher, or candlestick maker. Anything. Just an adjustment to his daily routine and he'll be fine.
wise advice acidrock23
Telling him everything you know is a lot. Wish I'd had a cousin like you to help me through. Having someone who understands to turn to with the many questions that come up is the best resource.
As a young men he will focus on knowledge and will likely ignore the emotional impact of this diagnosis. Thus I would recommend a book like "Think like a pancreas" by Gary Scheiner.
I agree with Holger that emotional tole is alot as u know. Please tell him about us so we can help him through all the stuff. I had a 1st cousin who took Type 1 10 years b/f me and she helped me so much in my understanding. I in turn helped my cousin when he took Type 1. In my family we had about 5 or 6 1st cousins take Type 1 so we all got together and talked to each other b/c we knew how the other d's felt and it would get upsetting to talk to the "normal" family members who knew nothing about what we were saying about our feelings. Your so right in helping him. Just be there for him to talk to it helps alot!
Oh one more thing tell him that in NO WAY is he limited in what he wants to do. He just needs to be sure to take his shots, check his bs's b/f doing that and kinda watch his diet some.
Anna, he's so lucky to have you! Let him know that it's totally OK to be angry, pissed off, upset, confused. He's so lucky to have you as a great example of someone with super attitude and good management. Make sure he knows that those things didn't come easily - it takes time and commitment, but he WILL get there.
What "emotional impact"? ;-)