Home > Health > Family Health > Parents Key in Managing Adolescents' Type 1 Diabetes Treatment

Parents Key in Managing Adolescents' Type 1 Diabetes Treatment

Reader Comments
Back to article

Genuinely picture is the display of some one’s feelings; it presents the lesson to the visitors.

Zoosynupsnota of AL 7:42AM February 12, 2012

Our son was diagnosed at 6 years old and we have encouraged open ness with everyone. He has had the best doctors he could have and gone to diabetes camps since that first summer. He is the longest camper at Chris Dudley's camp that ever will be, cuz he was 8 and began with the first year. He is now a counselor at the camp and still has low BG needing 911.
He has made his life full of excercise with basketball and healthy eating....an Assistant Coach at the Community College,..... plays on 2 mens league basketball teams...as well as a mens Soccer league. He has the exercise down and good food habits, but he is so busy with full time college along with all of this
that I can't get through to him to take time out for himself and get his blood sugar under control...I worry about him all of the time. Please help me to help him

Janell of OR 12:52AM November 27, 2010

I am 23 years old and have had Type I diabetes since I was 2. So for over 20 years I have managed this disease...it is essentially all I know. I rarely meet people who have Type I diabetes or anyone who has had it as long as I have and therefore my experience is a unique one as is the case for many other Type I diabetics. I say this because parents and others who interact with people with Type I diabetes need to be extra sensitive to the fact that "nagging" us about our disease does not promote a sense of independence and self-sufficiency that many other teens and young adults have. It is important to support your child, family member or loved one, but at the same time it is important to understand the world they live in from their point of view. Stress to your children and loved ones to be vigilant in caring for their disease but remember that you can't be there every step of the way and therefore you must teach them to be reliant on themselves, and that is the biggest word of advice I could give to any parent as they raise a child with Type I diabetes.

Whitney Brown of CA 1:33AM October 20, 2010

My son has had diabetes since he was 12 and is now 22. I can relate to the comment made earlier, "When are you going to stop treating him like he was 2?". The answer is, " This is my child and he will always be my baby. He has a very serious disease that has no cure currently. I will ALWAYS be concerned and more hyper vigilant about his health." That said I know he has to take this on and manage it in order to live a full life. However, he was rushed to the hospital earlier this week due to a seizure from low blood sugar. He has just moved out and has his first apartment. Thank God his roommates knew what to do, but I wonder when he will take care of himself properly so this does not happen. It's still scary knowing what could happen to him and having to let go and let him grow-up.
Barbara of Fl thanks for posting about the Facebook page. It sounds like a much needed site!!!

Mary G. of TN 1:36AM July 16, 2010

My son was diagnosed at the age of ten and becaused I have limited use of my hands, he has managed his insuline from the beginning. He is now seventeen and I agree it is a fine line of nagging, checking the meter and quite support. It is impossible for any parent of a teenager to be liked even 50% of the time and a parent of a Type 1 teenager has a greater disavantage. His Dr. asked me at what age I thought I could stop monitoring him like a two year old? The answer is never and especially during the teen years.
I have given up some things: If he eats at home I make sure he gets the right balance, but I do not ask him what he eats when he is not at home. I do check his meter to make sure he is checking his blood suger at least upon rising, two other times per day and before driving. I figure I can not make him eat, or eat correctly when he is away from me but I can strongly encourage him to not kill brain cells, look forward to a future with all his toes and other body parts and take his driving privleges for not checking his meter.
So, I give a little by not nagging about when and what he eats but keep checking that he's checking the meter! Luckly he hates the hospital and really likes being able to think clearly.

Ann of LA 9:10PM July 15, 2010

We have a 11 year old, who was diagnosed with Type 1 when he was five, It took my wife some time to reconcile with the fact, but we still managed the disease with extreme care by reading and learning to-gather to keep his ailment in balance. That is why it is known as long term managed care, because the person who is constantly monitoring is more capable to prescribe the dosage then the endocrinologist of the patient, who sees him on periodic intervals of every three months.
Everyone from the primery care to the Endocrinologist to the nurses and office staff of the doctors and hospitals, all cooperated to the best of there abilities and with the support of friends and family we were able to manage and monitor.The more you bring it in the open the more concern generates in your ambiance and community which results into robust impact on the child which also generates a positive approach on his part towards his ailment, plus his suger is constantly monitored at least 4 to 5 times without fail even at school, where he has to go to the Admin office for the nurse to check his BGL (blood Glucose Level) and she calls my wife or me if she is unavailable to find out how much Novalog needs to be administered according to his current reading and the lunch he would eat.
This ritual has made my son take his disease seriously and sometime if he is feeling high or low, will himself go and take his reading. Besides that on our part we constently follow his his mood swings, sillyness, and bed wetting, or hyperness and concludes accordingly.
I dont know weather this Info really helped anyone but these are a few things that we do and have done which have contributed to the growth of awareness in my child and hopes till a proper cure or remedy is not discovered, he would stick to this ritual and take it seriously.
Until next time. Peace.

Ahmed Salahuddin of CA 7:40PM July 15, 2010

We have a 17 year old that was diagnosed with type diabetes at age 13. SHe often gets angry when we ask her to see her meter, but if we don't check her meter she does not check her blood sugars regularly. She will go days without checking if we aren't constantly asking her.
Anybody with any thoughts on how to help her to understand that if she doesn't do this she will have complications. She was hospitalized 22 times in one year for ketoacidosis. This last year she was only hospitalized once but then decided she was not going to use her insulin pump any longer and started giving herself shots again. But she refuses to cover for the food she eats.
any help would be great.

Brenda Barney of MT 2:14PM June 22, 2010

When our six year old daughter was diagnosed with Type 1, we were not prepared for the changes to our lives that occurred. These days - 7 years later - we've gotten into a rhythm of living with this disease that takes some careful balancing of the nagging and caring that Barbara mentioned.
It's important to NOT make diabetes (and all the blood checks and food monitoring that goes with it) the center of our daughter's life. She's more than a disease that needs constant monitoring. Some days, she's VERY angry at her condition... but most days, it's simply part of who she is.
She's even said that she'd pass on a complicated or expensive cure, preferring the ritual of her management. I'm not sure she'd really choose that route, but it shows how she's come to identify with the control of the disease.
Still... if it could only be me and not her...

Kurt of IL 10:36AM May 04, 2010

As a 50 year old Type 1 diabetic who was diagnosed at age 5, my childhood and teen years were difficult not because of inattentive or involved parents, but by a lack of tools, knowledge and technology to control the disease. Strange concocted samples of urine mixed with water to check glocose well after blood glucoses had risen, absence of A1C, blood glucose monitoring, disposable syringes, or insulin pumps, and physicians who were well meaning but ill informed: These were the challenges that may or may not have affected my life span.

Michael Schmitz of MN 1:56PM April 27, 2010

It's difficult being the parent of a teen, but when your teen has diabetes, the challenges are often huge. It's a delicate balance between "nagging" and "caring" and the perception of both.
Living with diabetes is indeed a family issue. And it often helps to get advice and suggestions from other parents. This was the motivation for the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation (diabetesresearch.org) establishing the PEP Squad (Parents Empowering Parents).
For more information feel free to check out our website (diabetesresearch.org) and go to the PEP Squad section. Also we have a PEP Squad group on Facebook where a new topic is posted every week and parents can post their comments.

Barbara Singer of FL 3:26PM April 12, 2010