Your story sounds very familiar. It hurts to hear someone else going through this. Know that your feelings are very normal and that time is going to help. My son was diagnosed a year ago at the age of 10. I’m so glad you’ve found support online, I think it’s the only thing that’s kept me sane 
again, your story sounds pretty familiar. our boy was diagnosed february 2009 at 4.5 yrs old. And he was definately not sick (just kept peeing a lot) and told us so when we tried to take him to the hospital (he said he felt fine and it didn’t matter that he pees a lot and he was not going). We have recently started pumping and are now adjusting to a new new normal, but so far so good with the pump:)
Support keeps me sane…along with the fact that my son is handling this all very well. He has had a few meltdowns, but I expected them and except some more.
My son wet the bed 3 nights in a row. Something he NEVER had done. The first morning, I didnt think to much about it. The second night, I talked to him and we decided to be careful of any fluids he took in after dinner. The third night when I also noticed his extreme thirst, I knew something was wrong. Took him to the doctors and she did a direct admit to the hospital. We caught it early according to the hospital. His AIC was 8.3. Looking forward to when my son can get the pump. I think it will make things just a tad bit easier! But that is a year away, our next appointment he will get switched to the pen.
I’m sure my mother could relate to what you’re feeling. It’s how she describes my diagnosis over 20 years ago as she tried to process it all while I was in a coma in the hospital. Today, I’m a healthy 31 year old mother of a perfect 9 month old girl and she is a doting grandmother. She still worries, but her love and attention has made my life with diabetes a rich one. I wish you the best. It does get better, it does get easier, and yes, we’re your family now.
Thank you Melissa! I am happy to hear you are doing well.
Depending on her last reading some very rare days I can let her go until 7:00 AM, but when I have to bolus because she is hich or give juice when she is low at 12:00 I have to re-check at 3:00 AM… In this age normally at night the growth hormone seems to be very active and we tend to have periods of time in which she is high at night…and you have to adjust little by little because you don’t want a low in the middle of the night…
When she is sleeping she never wakes up if she is low so it’s kinda scary… that’s another reason that if I’m not sure I prefer to check.
Thanks to the midnight check and tighter control during the day we were able to lower her A1C to 6.8 so we are really happy ! 
Thanks for the reply.
I read about a monitor that alerts you if readings go below or above a certain number. But I havent heard of anyone that uses it. It would seem this would be something worth having to eliminate the night time concerns. Right now, we are fortunate and bedtime readings are good and we only have to check at night if we had a low during the day. We havent had to do a correction dose in at least 3 weeks. Jerods readings run generally from 100-130 with an occasional drop below 80.
We have hundreds of members here on TuDiabetes who use continuous monitors. Check out “Dexcom Users,” “Navigator Users,” and “CGMS Users.” I’ve been using one for two years now.
Right now, Jerod is likely in what we call the “honeymoon period” if he is not needing corrections. You should expect frequent corrections as time wears on.
Thanks…yes I am aware of the honeymoon stage. Was just pointing out that right now, the 2am check isnt something we are needing to do to often.
So do you wear a monitor and a pump or is it a combined thing?
Yes we know about them they are called CGM (continuos glucose monitors) but my daughter’s doctor does not recommend it yet for little kids like my daughter. It’s not 100% reliable yet and the transmitter (the one you have to wear on your skin) has a bigger canula that can only be used in little kids on parts with looots of fat. The too devices together are too much for a 3 yr old… Imagine the size of a 3 yr old with a pump connected to her + the CGM transmitter under her skin + the CGM monitor that is the size of a PDA which needs to be close to her…wayyyy to much in my opinion…
We are waiting until some of the diabetes products manufacturers (Animas, etc) come out with an integrated solution (pump+cgm)…which we are not far from seeing soon…hopefully by when your son is ready for the pump this will be a very ready…
I completely understand because my son at this time isnt crazy about the idea of the pump for that reason and he is 12 years old. I think as time passes and he realizes how it will give him a little more “freedom” for a lack of better words, he may change his mind.
I am sure you like me, don’t mind waking up in the middle of the night to check if it gives that peace of mind we need to sleep.
I wear a separate pump and monitor. There is one company (Minimed) who makes a combined product, but their CGM is the least accurate and most painful, so I opted for a more reliable brand of monitor.
They hope one day to have combined systems that actually communicate and make decisions based on the information (look up “Artificial Pancreas Project”).
Wow. Everyone’s words are hitting such a cord. I feel like I know you all! Next week is my 11-year-old daughter’s 1 year D anniversary. She is just such an amazing person. She inspires me every day as she handles this condition with such grace and humor. I hate that this has happened to her but she doesn’t let it get her down as a matter of fact she seems stronger, more confident and more comfortable in her own skin than she did before. She went to a FANTASTIC diabetes camp last summer. She let me read her camp journal. It had a page “3 things that I like about myself” and “3 things I would change about myself”. I was floored that her three things included her very mild asthma but not her diabetes.
I promise you that eleven months from now your life will feel different (in a good way) than it does today. This last year in our lives seems like ten years. We’ve learned and experienced and grieved and overcome so much. The quote about strength in the other poster’s reply is so true. I will say that the passing of time (acceptance? knowledge? who knows) and the pump have made an exponential difference in our day to day lives. We were at a luncheon sponsored by the JDRF today. Tom Brobson is a man who works for JDRF in communications and has been involved with the artifical pancreas project. He has type 1 and has been a human guinnea pig for the artifical pancreas. He shared that during the time he wore the AP that for the first time in his memory he actually forgot sometimes that he has T1D because testing and dosing wasn’t the first thing he did every morning and the last thing he did every night. Isn’t that wonderful and hopeful?
Everyone has different ways of coping in the early weeks and months after diagnosis. I admit that I called my doctor from the hospital room the morning after MK’s diagnosis. She called in a prescription for me for a mild antidepressant. Not everyone would go that route - I get that - but for me it has helped me survive this year intact. It has helped me not to feel so overwhelmed and fragile and weepy and helped me live through the despair and sadness. Most importantly it helped me be the mother to my child that I needed and wanted to be when she needed me most. After the holidays my doctor and I are going to wean me off the anti-depressant (hopefully). I also found a therapist who uses art in her sessions for my daughter. She saw her for four months or so after the diagnosis. Our DD was very open to the idea of ‘talking with someone’ and it was a big help for her (and knowing that it helped her also helped me). Whatever works for you to help with the grief (whether long baths, exercise, journaling, therapy, pharmaceuticals) by all means do - not just for you but for your son, too. A mentally and emotionally healthy mom is going to be healthy for him. One thing I did find - talking about it endlessly (I know friends and family were only trying to be there for us) and reading too many negative websites definitely did not help. As aliceclones said “when things get hard … push through, there is always a way to make it work.” that advice will serve you in the days and months to come.
Stay strong - the new normal will find you.
Hugs and warm wishes from MK’s Mom (aka Kristi) in Lucas, Texas.
Kristi,
Thank you for your reply! I chuckled when reading it because today my son has a doctors appointment with our primary doctor and in the bathroom this morning I thought to myself, maybe I need to have her write me a prescription for some “happy pills” so that on the days that I feel so low, I have help. Yesterday I left the house, not knowing where i was going. I ended up at the cemetery where my mom is buried. Sat on the cold wet ground and sobbed. I am normally a strong person and I feel so extremely weak right now and I don’t like this feeling. I have to keep telling myself that my son has a disease that is managable and treatable. That he wasnt handed a death sentence.
Oh boy the negative web sites. Yes, there are many out there and at first I was indeed reading them and they were scaring the crap out of me. I was thrilled to find this site, because I need positive encouragement, not hearing from people who didnt manage their diabetes well and are having problems and full of gloom and doom.
If I hold up a sign that says I am here, will the new normal get here any faster?
I think that is what I was reading about.
I find it funny that my sons meter for home, school and the doctors office all have different readings. The one at the doctors office had a difference of 22. At home, that would be a whole unit of insulin.
Hi, Jerod’s Mom~
I’m not sure if anyone else recommended this book, but I’m in the middle of reading it and I think it’s very good, although perhaps a bit dated. It’s written by a Mom of two Type 1 sons and I love the encouraging, positive message she gives and the ideas she has to create community and safety for our kids. Her sons also wrote a book that had a lot of ideas of how to manage various sports, etc. I felt greatly encouraged reading their book…they’ve done a ton of sports, done well in school, backpacked across Europe, etc. Here are 2 links to the books, the Mom’s book is out of print, but I was able to buy a copy second hand.
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Grip-Diabetes-Quick-Teens/dp/1580400531/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1288895499&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Life-Parenting-Kids-Diabetes/dp/1580400833/ref=pd_sim_b_3
Our daughter is now 5 and has lived with diabetes over 3.5 years…it still chokes me up sometimes, but overall, things are much much easier. It will get easier with time…we live in Bklyn, NY.
Blessings to your family~
Jessica
Wow, I had to read your story twice, because I could have sworn you were talking about me and my family! My daughter was 12 when she was diagnosed too, about a year and a half ago. You have received excellent feedback from the other parents here. My daughter has no interest in the pump at this point, but that has to be her decision. She turns 14 next week and is almost totally independent with everything (although we always check behind her). Most days are good, some days are bad. But every day is a blessing. We have learned so much from this site, as well as others. I don’t cry every day anymore (in fact I haven’t for over a year), but I occasionally get very overwhelmed for her. My heart still breaks if I think about it too hard. Not to minimize at all what they are going through, but sometimes I think it’s worse on the parents because we feel so helpless at times .I would rip out my pancreas and give it to her in a heartbeat, if I could! Thanks for sharing your story.
Lee (Richmond, Va.)
Amen, Lee.
The FDA requires only that meters be within 20% of lab results…a pretty wide margin of error for those of us calculating insulin! The market has consistently chosen speed of meter results over meter accuracy in my lifetime as a diabetic. My best advice is to base dosing decisions on one brand of meter at a time and use your best judgment. =/