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geovikiJuly 31. Everyone who reads my journal knows this is Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling's birthday.
It's also the third anniversary of the day my son was diagnosed with diabetes. He was 10.
I'd always thought I was fairly well read on health issues, but nearly everything I knew about this illness was wrong. And I've discovered I wasn't alone. Type 1 diabetes used to be called Juvenile Diabetes. Then they found out that adults can and do develop it, too. A co-worker didn't develop his until he was in his 40's.
Type 1 is on the rise. No one knows why.
The cause of Type 1 is still unknown. It has a genetic component, and some unknown environmental trigger. No prevention is possible at this point.
Over half of Type 1 diabetics have no family history of the disease (raises hand).
Symptoms: Increased thirst and urination, and weight loss. If left untreated, serious illness will follow. It will not get better. Over half the new cases are hospitalized before diagnosis.
Type 1 diabetes has nothing to do with what you've eaten, or your diet, or anything to do with food.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, more like lupis or rheumatoid arthritis. It occurs when your immune system looks at your insulin-producing cells and says "WTF, man? What are these? Think I'll do a little search and destroy." Which it does, very efficiently, until every insulin-producing cell in your body is gone for good.
Yes, my son requires insulin. He makes none. He gives himself 4 or more shots a day. Without insulin, he would die.
Type 1 accounts for 10% of diabetics. The other 90% are Type 2's, a different disease with similar symptoms.
Stem cell research is a truly promising path for a cure. Guess who I'm voting for in the next election?
Not knowing most of the above, I was only mildly concerned the day I took my son to the doctor 3 years ago. His thirst was getting out of hand, but I thought...well, a lot of misinformed things, really. He'd been at a summer camp, outdoors. Drinking plenty of water, which was good, right? I mean, it was so hot. July. So since he was drinking a lot, that meant he had to pee a lot. Makes sense.
Weight loss? We never noticed it. My son -- to this day -- wears clothes that would look too big for Dudley Dursley. I never see most of his body under all that cloth.
We never heard him getting up in the night to go to the bathroom.
One hot Sunday, he wasn't feeling well at all. So Monday, I finally called, thinking maybe he was eating too many sweets and it was causing this problem. The scheduler first gave him an appointment for Friday. I called back later and had them bump it up. Good thing - the doctors told me he'd have been in a coma before the Friday appointment.
The doctor's appointment was pretty quick. The doctor checked the lab results of his urine test, disappeared, then returned with the address of the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes. We needed to go there immediately; my husband needed to leave work and meet us there.
A half hour later, our world had changed.
Nothing - nothing - hits a parent as hard as finding out their child has a life-threatening illness. We are so lucky - Denver has a world-class center for Type 1 diabetes. The next two days found us in an intense training program, with doctors, nurses, dietitians, and psychologists teaching us what we needed to know about this new, unwelcome presence in our life.
By the end of the first day, we had learned how to give insulin injections.
We learned so much. Three years later, we are still learning.
I tell people that controlling this disease is like trying to steer a yacht without a wheel by running back and forth on the deck. Every meal is a new chance to get it wrong.
Most of the time, we cope. He's a typically close-mouthed boy. He doesn't want to talk about it. He doesn't share it much with friends. He hates being different.
We've learned that with effort, Eric will be able to do nearly everything he wants to. He cannot be in the military (okay...), drive a truck cross-country (no big loss), or fly an airplane. Continuing his health insurance will be a huge driving force in his life. This disease isn't cheap. When it comes, the cure won't be cheap, either.
He can eat anything he wants (within reason). We just have to calculate how much insulin he needs to digest it. (Remembering that insulin is affected in some undefined way by any other hormone running around his system due to adolescence, exercise, stress, growth....)
They're talking cure in 10 years.
It's also the third anniversary of the day my son was diagnosed with diabetes. He was 10.
I'd always thought I was fairly well read on health issues, but nearly everything I knew about this illness was wrong. And I've discovered I wasn't alone. Type 1 diabetes used to be called Juvenile Diabetes. Then they found out that adults can and do develop it, too. A co-worker didn't develop his until he was in his 40's.
Type 1 is on the rise. No one knows why.
The cause of Type 1 is still unknown. It has a genetic component, and some unknown environmental trigger. No prevention is possible at this point.
Over half of Type 1 diabetics have no family history of the disease (raises hand).
Symptoms: Increased thirst and urination, and weight loss. If left untreated, serious illness will follow. It will not get better. Over half the new cases are hospitalized before diagnosis.
Type 1 diabetes has nothing to do with what you've eaten, or your diet, or anything to do with food.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, more like lupis or rheumatoid arthritis. It occurs when your immune system looks at your insulin-producing cells and says "WTF, man? What are these? Think I'll do a little search and destroy." Which it does, very efficiently, until every insulin-producing cell in your body is gone for good.
Yes, my son requires insulin. He makes none. He gives himself 4 or more shots a day. Without insulin, he would die.
Type 1 accounts for 10% of diabetics. The other 90% are Type 2's, a different disease with similar symptoms.
Stem cell research is a truly promising path for a cure. Guess who I'm voting for in the next election?
Not knowing most of the above, I was only mildly concerned the day I took my son to the doctor 3 years ago. His thirst was getting out of hand, but I thought...well, a lot of misinformed things, really. He'd been at a summer camp, outdoors. Drinking plenty of water, which was good, right? I mean, it was so hot. July. So since he was drinking a lot, that meant he had to pee a lot. Makes sense.
Weight loss? We never noticed it. My son -- to this day -- wears clothes that would look too big for Dudley Dursley. I never see most of his body under all that cloth.
We never heard him getting up in the night to go to the bathroom.
One hot Sunday, he wasn't feeling well at all. So Monday, I finally called, thinking maybe he was eating too many sweets and it was causing this problem. The scheduler first gave him an appointment for Friday. I called back later and had them bump it up. Good thing - the doctors told me he'd have been in a coma before the Friday appointment.
The doctor's appointment was pretty quick. The doctor checked the lab results of his urine test, disappeared, then returned with the address of the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes. We needed to go there immediately; my husband needed to leave work and meet us there.
A half hour later, our world had changed.
Nothing - nothing - hits a parent as hard as finding out their child has a life-threatening illness. We are so lucky - Denver has a world-class center for Type 1 diabetes. The next two days found us in an intense training program, with doctors, nurses, dietitians, and psychologists teaching us what we needed to know about this new, unwelcome presence in our life.
By the end of the first day, we had learned how to give insulin injections.
We learned so much. Three years later, we are still learning.
I tell people that controlling this disease is like trying to steer a yacht without a wheel by running back and forth on the deck. Every meal is a new chance to get it wrong.
Most of the time, we cope. He's a typically close-mouthed boy. He doesn't want to talk about it. He doesn't share it much with friends. He hates being different.
We've learned that with effort, Eric will be able to do nearly everything he wants to. He cannot be in the military (okay...), drive a truck cross-country (no big loss), or fly an airplane. Continuing his health insurance will be a huge driving force in his life. This disease isn't cheap. When it comes, the cure won't be cheap, either.
He can eat anything he wants (within reason). We just have to calculate how much insulin he needs to digest it. (Remembering that insulin is affected in some undefined way by any other hormone running around his system due to adolescence, exercise, stress, growth....)
They're talking cure in 10 years.
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no subject
Date: 2004-07-31 08:59 pm (UTC)Every time someone shares something of what their struggle/thoughts/life/etc... is like I feel blessed because it widens my lens that much more, and, hopefully, makes me a better teacher.
Thank you for sharing this. And so much *love* to you and your family. I'm going to spend some of tomorrow on the internet. Thank you. ♥
no subject
Date: 2004-07-31 10:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-31 10:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-31 10:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-01 12:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-01 12:53 am (UTC)Um. I don't know why I am telling you this, but anyways. The thing is, that I know quite a bunch of people with type 1 diabetes and what I've seen and heard, their lives are not that different or overly restricted than the lives that people without the disease live. I'm sure that things will be fine for your son too!
What I didn't know was that there might be a cure in ten years. I truly hope that they get enough funding, such a thing would really make a difference! Thank you for letting me know!
*hugs*
no subject
Date: 2004-08-01 12:09 pm (UTC)They are learning more all the time about how to work towards better care. But ask your friends sometimes about what it's like day to day and you'll be surprised at the intensity of keeping on top of it.
Thanks so much for your concern, too. I appreciate it.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-01 03:01 am (UTC)Thank you for sharing this with us.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-02 12:46 pm (UTC)*hugs* Thank you for sharing, the story and the information. I actually have distant family with Diabetes 1 and I still don't know as much as I should.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-06 11:49 am (UTC)In other words, I hope it's OK to friend you? I've been reading A Thousand Beautiful Things (I'm currently in chapter 4), and enjoying it a lot. Also, it's always nice to meet other adult ficcers.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-13 11:48 am (UTC)You know the drill, then. Although dealing wtih a 13 year old boy with this has its problems, too. Just when he should have been growing into independence, we had to be all over him with our focused attention. Not good.
Oddly enough, 3 of the 19 people in my husband's side of the family are Type 1. The odd thing is, it's all related by marriage, not by genetics. Eric's aunt (my s-i-l) is 55, and we have a new nephew-in-law who's 25. It makes interesting family reunions; lots of meters pop out.