Now at age 10, Haley had been on the swim team for 3 years already. Haley started getting more active this past year, and really working harder at getting better times. The irony of this is she had a best friend on the swim team that has been a Type 1 Diabetic since age 2, so Haley was very familiar with what to do once she was diagnosed. Unfortunately her friend’s parents got relocated for a job, and just moved away this last summer. Both girls are very sad about that. But they stay in touch via the email.
This past summer she started losing a lot of weight. We all thought she was going through a growth spurt or something, because she was growing taller as well, but the change is/was very visible. In February she weighed 98 lbs, and by the time they admitted her into the hospital, she was 71 lbs.
I grew concerned over the summer, thinking she was starting to have an eating disorder or something, watching her at every meal, making sure she wasn’t throwing up the food, etc. So I scheduled a doctor visit to make sure she was ok. The soonest they could get her in was September 17th, and of course when they checked her urine, they immediately knew.
Haley’s only big sign to me was the weight loss. Looking back now, she did go the bathroom a lot, but I dismissed it because she drank a lot of water. Her eyesight got much worse, and she was having a lot of stomach cramps, but I again dismissed it thinking she may be starting her period early.
I had a lot of guilt that first couple of weeks. But I am very grateful that I had the parent of my daughter’s friend to talk to, and there is one other student in my daughter’s school that also is Type 1. She was diagnosed 3 years ago, and is already on the pump.
I am very grateful to have such support as these community websites. The more support we have for each other, the easier we can make for ourselves. I know I am not alone in this, and I really appreciate you and all the others that are there for me.