I would like to raise some awareness for parents who may be unaware of type 1 diabetes symptoms in children.
My son 6, has recently been diagnosed in March, after subtle symptoms over time, to going down rapidly. ending with being in Diabetic ketoacidosis in ICU.
I never knew, just how many children around have it, until I was faced with my son having it.
Even though you may not have it in your family, it doesn’t mean your child can’t get it. It’s not in my family, so it never crossed my mind.
With covid, influenza and other viruses around, anything viral can trigger it, if you child is going to get it, they are going to get it unfortunately and nothing can prevent it.It just takes something to set it off. My son had a mild virus months prior to his diagnosis, which they believe triggered this with his immune system.
Symptoms to look out for in children, that I wish I knew earlier and hope that this can raise awareness for other parents.
Getting up to the toilet during the night or needing water in the night or wetting the bed suddenly or more.peeing more than usual, regular trips to the toilet or a very long one , when they go.
Excessive thirst, drinking more than usual. Asking for water or drinks more than usual. Signs that could be dismissed easily, especially when us parents get so busy and on the go.
Any Weight loss, which could easily be mistaken as a growth spurt.
Lethargic and no energy, feeling shaky or more tired than usual.
A fruity or acidic breathe, something i noticed but put it down to food eaten , it was not.
I noticed all these symptoms and never pieced it together because I was so unaware. I never knew anyone with diabetes, so it’s not something that I ever really had to think of until my sons diagnosis.
If you ever have any of these concerns, please get your child to the Dr asap and request a glucose test. It could save your child’s life. The Dr missed this with my son, if he had of done this knowing my sons symptoms, he would not have got to the critical stage, in ICU for a week. We were very lucky that he came out without any serious complications.
Please parents,listen to your gut and go with it every time. Even if it’s wrong, which it rarely is, rule it out. I have heard of so many more stories like ours, since my sons diagnosis, so I have raised some kind of awareness to those, who may not know what to look out for in their children or others, including Adults.
The type 1 support network has been amazing for us and my son is doing well.
I am also sure after posting this, there will be many other Type 1 parents who have experienced the same as us and can offer even more advice and symptoms to look out for. Thanks for bearing with me. I felt this was an important message to get out 🙏🏼
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Absolutely! I was an EA for a boy with T1D and it was such an eye opener to how scary it was and I have so much respect and admiration for T1 parents who live with that every day. This boy loved to "fake dead" the little bugger giving everyone heart attacks. It was also hard for me because his fresh out of uni teacher did not educate herself on diabetes and there were many times that we clashed for things like toilet breaks, taking shoes off and her only letting him eat fruit at recess and complaining about me letting him eat outside of break times. He was only 6 and still learning himself how to control his bsl with food and Mum had certain foods he had to eat at certain times which the teacher took no notice of, she thought Mum was trying to give him special treatment. When I was away for a week he needed an ambulance as he went hypo. A diabetic nurse came after this and really drummed it into her how serious this was. So please make sure your teacher is educated on this don't be scared to really push them on it.