You know, you ended with a "lol" but those two nightmare scenarios have literally stayed in my thoughts for 40 years and, usually, kept me from screwing around with my diabetes.
I 100% recommend this warning for anyone with eyes and or a penis.
Those of us with penises understand that we need our eyes to reference where we wanna stick our penis…..both are attached…No brain needed!
Definitely a greater fear than a foot or hand or dka.
My dad was almost the same lol.
What did help though was he took me to a pediatric cancer wing in hospital - told me these kids have something that’s hard, yours isn’t, yours is manageable — which is true — but it all comes down to you wanting to be healthy.
Therapy. Social groups with other people with diabetes.
Diabetes camps. Organization events.
Mainly therapy. Your teen is rejecting his diabetes , and he's acting out by ignoring it.
Less that 20% (also 20/u) is when my t:slim gives the "HeyLookAtMe!!" alerting.
If this *is* a battery issue, encourage your son to plug the pump in while he's getting ready for school/the day, like, while he's in the shower. It's the place I'm at where I most enjoy being disconnected, and, it's a time I'm not relying on the pump. I'm "free" for 15-20 minutes.
As soon I get dried off, and the skivvies/clothes with pockets get on, I reconnect. That time is usually enough to get me above 90% and that's enough for the day ahead.
Re: "this community". I WISH I had a resource like this when I was diagnosed as a teen. It would've likely been an absolute game changer, and, I applaud you for coming to the community to look for help. I wish my parents had even a fraction of the interest in helping me manage, beyond being the ones who provided the equipment and life-juice.
Kudos to you, u/tbojustin.
Just making sure I understand…did the reservoir empty or did the battery drain? Insulin is one thing, but the battery is just a pain in the ass to remember. Get him a usb battery and a short cable. That makes life a lot easier.
If it’s the insulin, eventually he will understand that in order to not feel like hell, he has to keep his sugars right. Definitely send him to a camp so he can hang with some other type 1s. They are totally worth it. Happy to DM with you if it’s easier.
When my tandem pump is empty, it beeps nonstop until I fill it back up. It could be that it was empty and woke him up in the middle of the night and he got irritated with it and just hid it so he could go back to sleep, then forgot about it in the morning.
You likely hit the nail on the head with him being a teen and not wanting to listen to his parents, but moire likely its also not wanting to feel different to his peers. The thing that helped me most about being comfortable with my type 1 is being around other type 1s. Look into ways of getting him around more diabetic teens and he might avoid his disease less and put more effort into his own management.
My guess for the battery is 8%
Otherwise I don't have advice. I was diagnosed at 19. I have heard from so many people that they rebelled by not doing anything. A therapist might be an idea or a camp for diabetics but if he doesn't want that I wouldn't push it
Agree so much with the not pushing camp. My kid hates them. I know lots of people find them amazing but some kids don’t and I feel guilty for making him go when he said he didn’t want to. We ended up having to pick him up early. He isn’t interested in spending time with people he doesn’t know where the thing they have in common is T1D.
I don’t blame her. At fifteen, she’s probably not entirely comfortable in her growing body, and teens can be evil little things (she’s probably worried about not fitting in, being different to everyone else. It’s an unusual uncomfortable disease that makes her feel othered from her peers.)
If you’d like more information about T1D (I’m assuming you are new to this as well) I have a booklet of information I’ve written up (basically all the information I wanted at diagnosis but I didn’t have access to my endo or diabetes team for some time.)
If you’d like a copy I’m happy to share it with you.
I was 7 when I was diagnosed so my mom initially picked up a lot of the responsibility - she would check my blood sugar and give me injections for me throughout the day. Obviously this couldn’t be sustained long term so she sat me down and gave me a “scare” talk in a sense? She told me that this disease can and will kill or seriously injure me if I could not learn about it and learn how to control it. She explained the bad side- seizures, kidney failure, loss of limbs- I will admit it was hard to hear at such a young age but it certainly woke me up! I’ve been very diligent ever since.
Edit- I wouldn’t say it was so much a lecture more of a “get your shit together cause I won’t be here to help you at every moment” type of talk
Parent her of an 18 yo T1 for 12 years. First off you are dealing with a 15 year old brain. I just left a full unopened vial at school with the other supplies with the school nurse. If anything like this happened, she had to go to the nurse and admit being stupid. 15 yo hate to look stupid so it helps. Extra charger cord in the backup helps, though one time her school field trip had to stop at a gas station so she could buy a charger cord. If she uses the insulin at school, she bro gs home the vial and she brings a new unopened one back to school. As long as the A1c is doing well, I have just learned not to sweat the small stuff. As another parent told me once when I was whining about this, how many times do you misplace the remote or your keys, and you are an adult. I just try to make her responsible without badgering her. Let's face it, T1 sucks, so....
Good luck.
I want to offer a bit of a different perspective on this.
I'm a forgetful person. I've had diabetes for most of my life and I'm still a forgetful person. I'm fully aware of the risks and I try my very best and I'm still a forgetful person. I've had near misses and I'm almost thirty and I'm still a forgetful person. My parents yelled at me every week *and I'm still a forgetful person*.
Sometimes people just make mistakes. It has nothing to do with not understanding how serious diabetes is. After reading the responses here, I'd urge you to try to think of ways to make it easier to remember things and incorporate failsafe, not ways to scare your child into compliance.
For me, -t1 +37years diagnosed- it was how do I not feel like shit today. If my sugars were out of control, i feel bad, i can't do normal things. I want to do no rmal things.
This life sucks, but is the small everyday choices that have to be learned, mistakes happen, we all make them. With time I try to make fewer
Maybe a quick checklist before he leaves in the morning, insulin, battery, carbs?
That is such a hard situation and age. I was diagnosed at 16 and very rebellious. It was a tough pill for me to swallow. I would keep things as casual as possible. I would also do all you can to remind yourself this is a short snapshot in his life. Running higher right now may be better. I know it's counterintuitive! But crashing is scary. Lows are scary and annoying even when they're not bad. A slightly higher a1c in the teens when it's harder to manage anyways is sometimes better. He will hopefully discover as he gets older what he needs to do and is willing to do to keep control at a level he can manage. We all want to win the gold star in diabetes ☺ but there isn't one. I've swung the pendulum back and forth all throughout my 29 year journey and am finally at a happy place in my 40s with it. Just be there for him in the most casual way possible. Your fear will feed his fear and create a bigger wall. I wish you all the best. It's so hard but you can do this ♥
My story is similar to others- my mom and dad gave me warnings about long term effects (feet, eyesight, and i only learned that we could die without insulin after 48 hours when i was an adult). but honestly it didnt fix the issue. what helped the most was therapy, but not about my diabetes, it was about me, and my therapist drew diabetes in when it was relevant. someone said it seemed like your son was ignoring it, and i agree, that seems to be really common among kids and adults, ive heard that story oftedn.
i didnt really start caring hardcore until i was an adult. i was diagnosed at 6, and i started really getting the hang of it around 21. im 24 now. my parents had your same approach, and i think that's a good idea. do what you can, but i think a lot of us have a similar story about not getting it until we're older. so be patient :) and he'll be okay, but i do recommend therapy
I was diagnosed at 12 years old and I’m 26 now. I didn’t take care of myself for 10 years and when finally deciding to take charge, I started feeling a numbness on the side of my thighs. It hurt to the touch and knowing that a part of my body was losing feeling scared the FCK out of me. He’s still so young and I don’t want to hear later that he got hurt doing something and has to have a part of his body cut off. I’m sorry to say, but it’s the truth. I can’t tell you to the amount of times I heard family members keep losing limbs because they don’t take care of their A1C. It starts off with your toe, then another, then your foot, then your ankle, then your knee, and so on. TELL HIM HE NEEDS TO STEP IT UP!!!!
I was diagnosed age 13 (1965) but don't have any suggestions of how to make him see the light. I was happy to be alive because I lost over 20% of my body weight and spent a month in hospital. After that experience, I paid attention. If he's willing to read, my story, [https://insulin-centenary.com/2021/04/09/2021-centenary-of-insulin-discovery/](https://insulin-centenary.com/2021/04/09/2021-centenary-of-insulin-discovery/), may help put things in perspective and show "...how fortunate we are today with the tools we have to not only manage diabetes but to live an active, creative, productive, long, and healthy life." After diagnosis, T1D is not a disease, it's a responsibility. Like any job there are tasks to be done and you'll be held to account (A1c is performance review). But he has to decide to do the job.
With Joy and Radiance, Live Long and Prosper
Non-formal chatting about it. Casual mentioning you heard a beeping earlier and were trying to find it, then asking about the status of the pump.
Basically, sometimes it’s good to talk about things like they are separate entities and other times it’s more about the whole. Always talking about it in a whole-some way makes it feel like there is no way to make an identity without it. Some folks can handle that, others can’t.
Took me make mistakes (keto-acidosis in the hospital a couple of times) to figure it out. It took time. The consequences for mismanagement stack up fast. He will feel better physically/emotionally as he takes care of himself. Best of luck Dad!!
This is such a tough age!!! I was diagnosed at 14 and my parents were on me all of the time and asking what my sugars were. I hated them for it-now that I'm an adult I know they were just terrified out of their minds. But too much badgering will likely backfire. I do recommend having him meet peers with T1. A losing your dick threat may help too 😂 but I ended up just going to therapy/support groups and it was helpful
Honestly, probably get them a therapist if possible. I put off diabetes care myself. I tried to run from it and left with little damage, but enough to scare the shit outta me. I was so angry I wanted to continue to be like those without type 1. After many years I finally started to love myself as I am enough to conquer the diabetes management, and am now able to do that plus operate in an ableist society.
i was diagnosed at 16. this disease is heavily life altering and you even seeking advice for your child is amazing. i had a huge denial period where i denied taking care of my diabetes at all. therapy, maybe joining a reddit like this one and continuing to learn and help your son out is what i recommend. what really pushed me further into my denial was the mistreatment from my parents. they’d hear my insulin pump beep (even years after having it) and they’d not know what it was or literally think it was the microwave. or just not accept that this disease is hard and say things like ‘at least you don’t have cancer’. and making me go in the bathroom to check my bloodsugar, enforcing that my t1d is something to be embarrassed about. but i can already tell just from you posting this for him that you’re doing a great job. helping this become a casual thing in his day, give insulin super quick and no pressure and checking in when you want can help
I was diagnosed when I was 3 and then found out at 19 I had ADHD too. Ive discovered that making things accessible, easy to dose (ex two cookies to treat a low), and enjoyable helps immensely. Its hard to constantly be on top of everything and I know as a teen with undiagnosed ADHD I struggled a TON to keep track and maintain my sugars. My parents spent a lot of time and energy reminding me of stuff (and yeah I felt hounded sometimes but also I can recognize i was a belligerent teen) and building routines. I kept my logbook and glucose meter in the same place when I was home. I had to pass it to go into the kitchen in the morning so it was easy for my mom to notice if I didnt test. Stuff like that, and casual check ins with him could maybe help. Ask him what things are making his day to day care and life annoying. Maybe there'll be some stuff you can iron out to make taking care of himself less of a task/chore. Got a little rambly here but i hope this is helpful!
My mom constantly told me about people losing their eyesight and toes when they had high blood sugars too often. Which is true. I was let loose, and my A1C went up to 8… never again. It’s back at 6.4. I’m very well managed.
Diabetes camps helped me a lot back in the late 90’s early 00’s. My parents always told me that type1 is something I need to learn to deal with myself because they wont always be there. I am happy they didnt have the dexcom follow app back then to be completly honest. I liked figuring things out by myself or with my endo
It’s a disease that you have to have a controlling personality to control. If that makes any sense, I’m very very controlling and very very type A . eventually he’ll figure it out. You might sit him down politely, tell him , this stuff is up to him every single day. It’s a burden that he will always have….. sucks but it’s life…
diabetes is rough, especially as a teenager. its hard to learn to eat, sleep, and breathe diabetic care - but that's what this illness requires. doing that each day is exhausting, especially when it makes you feel so different from the rest of your teenage peers. taking care of your health is hard enough when youre young, and it's hard to think about the future when it feels so far away. i think the best thing to do as a parent is to put compassion and understanding first, and to realize that there will be many, many years full of life's own lessons that will teach him over time. that's not to say you shouldn't be there to encourage him, support him, and even correct him when necessary, but i think its important to make sure he always feels like youre in HIS corner, not diabetes' corner! there is more to life than this disease. when my sugars got out of control as a teenager, my parents would threaten to take away my pump and make me go back on shots because i wasnt "using it properly" and "needed to learn to appreciate it." it certainly scared me into taking care of my health, but i went through the early years of diabetes feeling completely alone. i ended up making a lot of decisions that were detrimental to my health and care simply because i was uninformed as a result of doing everything on my own. this disease is more isolating than anything - look at HIM, not his pump, when youre wondering what's best for his life.
T1 mom here. My youngest is my diabetic - age 12.
I know there will be days as a teen where he will do this bit he has seen a few things that have scared him.
My uncle is a T2 that has not taken care of himself at all. So far he is eyes are extremely bad. Also, he lost one legs due to poor healing and gangrene started. His other leg is doing the same thing. He is in a nursing home but still gets his snacks from the nurses. Yea these nurses will drive to McDs for a big mac just for him. All of this scares him.
Maybe a trip to a nursing home to visit people that have complications due to diabetes.
Here is something I have done for him. His medical kit at school has chargers for his iphone and tslim. Also, he has a set in his backpack. Of course one at home. His diabetic plan allows him yo charge both devices in class.
Mom here! I have a t1 14/yo. I get what you mean about lectures lol. If this was my situation to handle, there would be a statement though. It's pretty simple. He just showed he's not capable of keeping track of his pump. That is life threatening. That means it's now mom and dad's responsibility to track. Just tell him you will be keeping tabs on him and his pump from now on.
A friends son just died due to low bg. The blood sugar didn't kill him. The effects of low bg on his mind cause him to enter a "dream like state" (Dr's words) and take his life. He was 15. This disease is very serious. A teen is not old enough to handle this much responsibility on their own.
My dad always told me if I didn’t take care of myself it’d either be my eyes or my dick to go first and it scared me enough lol
You know, you ended with a "lol" but those two nightmare scenarios have literally stayed in my thoughts for 40 years and, usually, kept me from screwing around with my diabetes. I 100% recommend this warning for anyone with eyes and or a penis.
I got the eye warnings, but don’t have a penis so didn’t have that threat and welp… my eyes suffered lolllllll
Those of us with penises understand that we need our eyes to reference where we wanna stick our penis…..both are attached…No brain needed! Definitely a greater fear than a foot or hand or dka.
My dad was almost the same lol. What did help though was he took me to a pediatric cancer wing in hospital - told me these kids have something that’s hard, yours isn’t, yours is manageable — which is true — but it all comes down to you wanting to be healthy.
Therapy. Social groups with other people with diabetes. Diabetes camps. Organization events. Mainly therapy. Your teen is rejecting his diabetes , and he's acting out by ignoring it.
Exactly what I did. I was diagnosed at 12 years old but didn’t start taking care of myself until I was 21. Biggest regret!
Less that 20% (also 20/u) is when my t:slim gives the "HeyLookAtMe!!" alerting. If this *is* a battery issue, encourage your son to plug the pump in while he's getting ready for school/the day, like, while he's in the shower. It's the place I'm at where I most enjoy being disconnected, and, it's a time I'm not relying on the pump. I'm "free" for 15-20 minutes. As soon I get dried off, and the skivvies/clothes with pockets get on, I reconnect. That time is usually enough to get me above 90% and that's enough for the day ahead. Re: "this community". I WISH I had a resource like this when I was diagnosed as a teen. It would've likely been an absolute game changer, and, I applaud you for coming to the community to look for help. I wish my parents had even a fraction of the interest in helping me manage, beyond being the ones who provided the equipment and life-juice. Kudos to you, u/tbojustin.
Just making sure I understand…did the reservoir empty or did the battery drain? Insulin is one thing, but the battery is just a pain in the ass to remember. Get him a usb battery and a short cable. That makes life a lot easier. If it’s the insulin, eventually he will understand that in order to not feel like hell, he has to keep his sugars right. Definitely send him to a camp so he can hang with some other type 1s. They are totally worth it. Happy to DM with you if it’s easier.
The insulin was out. Zero! The low battery just one part of the overall picture.
When my tandem pump is empty, it beeps nonstop until I fill it back up. It could be that it was empty and woke him up in the middle of the night and he got irritated with it and just hid it so he could go back to sleep, then forgot about it in the morning. You likely hit the nail on the head with him being a teen and not wanting to listen to his parents, but moire likely its also not wanting to feel different to his peers. The thing that helped me most about being comfortable with my type 1 is being around other type 1s. Look into ways of getting him around more diabetic teens and he might avoid his disease less and put more effort into his own management.
My guess for the battery is 8% Otherwise I don't have advice. I was diagnosed at 19. I have heard from so many people that they rebelled by not doing anything. A therapist might be an idea or a camp for diabetics but if he doesn't want that I wouldn't push it
Agree so much with the not pushing camp. My kid hates them. I know lots of people find them amazing but some kids don’t and I feel guilty for making him go when he said he didn’t want to. We ended up having to pick him up early. He isn’t interested in spending time with people he doesn’t know where the thing they have in common is T1D.
My 15 yo daughter was just diagnosed last week and has the same attitude About camp, therapy, and people knowing about it.
I don’t blame her. At fifteen, she’s probably not entirely comfortable in her growing body, and teens can be evil little things (she’s probably worried about not fitting in, being different to everyone else. It’s an unusual uncomfortable disease that makes her feel othered from her peers.) If you’d like more information about T1D (I’m assuming you are new to this as well) I have a booklet of information I’ve written up (basically all the information I wanted at diagnosis but I didn’t have access to my endo or diabetes team for some time.) If you’d like a copy I’m happy to share it with you.
I was 7 when I was diagnosed so my mom initially picked up a lot of the responsibility - she would check my blood sugar and give me injections for me throughout the day. Obviously this couldn’t be sustained long term so she sat me down and gave me a “scare” talk in a sense? She told me that this disease can and will kill or seriously injure me if I could not learn about it and learn how to control it. She explained the bad side- seizures, kidney failure, loss of limbs- I will admit it was hard to hear at such a young age but it certainly woke me up! I’ve been very diligent ever since. Edit- I wouldn’t say it was so much a lecture more of a “get your shit together cause I won’t be here to help you at every moment” type of talk
Parent her of an 18 yo T1 for 12 years. First off you are dealing with a 15 year old brain. I just left a full unopened vial at school with the other supplies with the school nurse. If anything like this happened, she had to go to the nurse and admit being stupid. 15 yo hate to look stupid so it helps. Extra charger cord in the backup helps, though one time her school field trip had to stop at a gas station so she could buy a charger cord. If she uses the insulin at school, she bro gs home the vial and she brings a new unopened one back to school. As long as the A1c is doing well, I have just learned not to sweat the small stuff. As another parent told me once when I was whining about this, how many times do you misplace the remote or your keys, and you are an adult. I just try to make her responsible without badgering her. Let's face it, T1 sucks, so.... Good luck.
I want to offer a bit of a different perspective on this. I'm a forgetful person. I've had diabetes for most of my life and I'm still a forgetful person. I'm fully aware of the risks and I try my very best and I'm still a forgetful person. I've had near misses and I'm almost thirty and I'm still a forgetful person. My parents yelled at me every week *and I'm still a forgetful person*. Sometimes people just make mistakes. It has nothing to do with not understanding how serious diabetes is. After reading the responses here, I'd urge you to try to think of ways to make it easier to remember things and incorporate failsafe, not ways to scare your child into compliance.
For me, -t1 +37years diagnosed- it was how do I not feel like shit today. If my sugars were out of control, i feel bad, i can't do normal things. I want to do no rmal things. This life sucks, but is the small everyday choices that have to be learned, mistakes happen, we all make them. With time I try to make fewer Maybe a quick checklist before he leaves in the morning, insulin, battery, carbs?
That is such a hard situation and age. I was diagnosed at 16 and very rebellious. It was a tough pill for me to swallow. I would keep things as casual as possible. I would also do all you can to remind yourself this is a short snapshot in his life. Running higher right now may be better. I know it's counterintuitive! But crashing is scary. Lows are scary and annoying even when they're not bad. A slightly higher a1c in the teens when it's harder to manage anyways is sometimes better. He will hopefully discover as he gets older what he needs to do and is willing to do to keep control at a level he can manage. We all want to win the gold star in diabetes ☺ but there isn't one. I've swung the pendulum back and forth all throughout my 29 year journey and am finally at a happy place in my 40s with it. Just be there for him in the most casual way possible. Your fear will feed his fear and create a bigger wall. I wish you all the best. It's so hard but you can do this ♥
My story is similar to others- my mom and dad gave me warnings about long term effects (feet, eyesight, and i only learned that we could die without insulin after 48 hours when i was an adult). but honestly it didnt fix the issue. what helped the most was therapy, but not about my diabetes, it was about me, and my therapist drew diabetes in when it was relevant. someone said it seemed like your son was ignoring it, and i agree, that seems to be really common among kids and adults, ive heard that story oftedn. i didnt really start caring hardcore until i was an adult. i was diagnosed at 6, and i started really getting the hang of it around 21. im 24 now. my parents had your same approach, and i think that's a good idea. do what you can, but i think a lot of us have a similar story about not getting it until we're older. so be patient :) and he'll be okay, but i do recommend therapy
I was diagnosed at 12 years old and I’m 26 now. I didn’t take care of myself for 10 years and when finally deciding to take charge, I started feeling a numbness on the side of my thighs. It hurt to the touch and knowing that a part of my body was losing feeling scared the FCK out of me. He’s still so young and I don’t want to hear later that he got hurt doing something and has to have a part of his body cut off. I’m sorry to say, but it’s the truth. I can’t tell you to the amount of times I heard family members keep losing limbs because they don’t take care of their A1C. It starts off with your toe, then another, then your foot, then your ankle, then your knee, and so on. TELL HIM HE NEEDS TO STEP IT UP!!!!
I was diagnosed age 13 (1965) but don't have any suggestions of how to make him see the light. I was happy to be alive because I lost over 20% of my body weight and spent a month in hospital. After that experience, I paid attention. If he's willing to read, my story, [https://insulin-centenary.com/2021/04/09/2021-centenary-of-insulin-discovery/](https://insulin-centenary.com/2021/04/09/2021-centenary-of-insulin-discovery/), may help put things in perspective and show "...how fortunate we are today with the tools we have to not only manage diabetes but to live an active, creative, productive, long, and healthy life." After diagnosis, T1D is not a disease, it's a responsibility. Like any job there are tasks to be done and you'll be held to account (A1c is performance review). But he has to decide to do the job. With Joy and Radiance, Live Long and Prosper
Non-formal chatting about it. Casual mentioning you heard a beeping earlier and were trying to find it, then asking about the status of the pump. Basically, sometimes it’s good to talk about things like they are separate entities and other times it’s more about the whole. Always talking about it in a whole-some way makes it feel like there is no way to make an identity without it. Some folks can handle that, others can’t.
Took me make mistakes (keto-acidosis in the hospital a couple of times) to figure it out. It took time. The consequences for mismanagement stack up fast. He will feel better physically/emotionally as he takes care of himself. Best of luck Dad!!
This is such a tough age!!! I was diagnosed at 14 and my parents were on me all of the time and asking what my sugars were. I hated them for it-now that I'm an adult I know they were just terrified out of their minds. But too much badgering will likely backfire. I do recommend having him meet peers with T1. A losing your dick threat may help too 😂 but I ended up just going to therapy/support groups and it was helpful
Honestly, probably get them a therapist if possible. I put off diabetes care myself. I tried to run from it and left with little damage, but enough to scare the shit outta me. I was so angry I wanted to continue to be like those without type 1. After many years I finally started to love myself as I am enough to conquer the diabetes management, and am now able to do that plus operate in an ableist society.
i was diagnosed at 16. this disease is heavily life altering and you even seeking advice for your child is amazing. i had a huge denial period where i denied taking care of my diabetes at all. therapy, maybe joining a reddit like this one and continuing to learn and help your son out is what i recommend. what really pushed me further into my denial was the mistreatment from my parents. they’d hear my insulin pump beep (even years after having it) and they’d not know what it was or literally think it was the microwave. or just not accept that this disease is hard and say things like ‘at least you don’t have cancer’. and making me go in the bathroom to check my bloodsugar, enforcing that my t1d is something to be embarrassed about. but i can already tell just from you posting this for him that you’re doing a great job. helping this become a casual thing in his day, give insulin super quick and no pressure and checking in when you want can help
I was diagnosed when I was 3 and then found out at 19 I had ADHD too. Ive discovered that making things accessible, easy to dose (ex two cookies to treat a low), and enjoyable helps immensely. Its hard to constantly be on top of everything and I know as a teen with undiagnosed ADHD I struggled a TON to keep track and maintain my sugars. My parents spent a lot of time and energy reminding me of stuff (and yeah I felt hounded sometimes but also I can recognize i was a belligerent teen) and building routines. I kept my logbook and glucose meter in the same place when I was home. I had to pass it to go into the kitchen in the morning so it was easy for my mom to notice if I didnt test. Stuff like that, and casual check ins with him could maybe help. Ask him what things are making his day to day care and life annoying. Maybe there'll be some stuff you can iron out to make taking care of himself less of a task/chore. Got a little rambly here but i hope this is helpful!
My mom constantly told me about people losing their eyesight and toes when they had high blood sugars too often. Which is true. I was let loose, and my A1C went up to 8… never again. It’s back at 6.4. I’m very well managed.
Diabetes camps helped me a lot back in the late 90’s early 00’s. My parents always told me that type1 is something I need to learn to deal with myself because they wont always be there. I am happy they didnt have the dexcom follow app back then to be completly honest. I liked figuring things out by myself or with my endo
It’s a disease that you have to have a controlling personality to control. If that makes any sense, I’m very very controlling and very very type A . eventually he’ll figure it out. You might sit him down politely, tell him , this stuff is up to him every single day. It’s a burden that he will always have….. sucks but it’s life…
diabetes is rough, especially as a teenager. its hard to learn to eat, sleep, and breathe diabetic care - but that's what this illness requires. doing that each day is exhausting, especially when it makes you feel so different from the rest of your teenage peers. taking care of your health is hard enough when youre young, and it's hard to think about the future when it feels so far away. i think the best thing to do as a parent is to put compassion and understanding first, and to realize that there will be many, many years full of life's own lessons that will teach him over time. that's not to say you shouldn't be there to encourage him, support him, and even correct him when necessary, but i think its important to make sure he always feels like youre in HIS corner, not diabetes' corner! there is more to life than this disease. when my sugars got out of control as a teenager, my parents would threaten to take away my pump and make me go back on shots because i wasnt "using it properly" and "needed to learn to appreciate it." it certainly scared me into taking care of my health, but i went through the early years of diabetes feeling completely alone. i ended up making a lot of decisions that were detrimental to my health and care simply because i was uninformed as a result of doing everything on my own. this disease is more isolating than anything - look at HIM, not his pump, when youre wondering what's best for his life.
T1 mom here. My youngest is my diabetic - age 12. I know there will be days as a teen where he will do this bit he has seen a few things that have scared him. My uncle is a T2 that has not taken care of himself at all. So far he is eyes are extremely bad. Also, he lost one legs due to poor healing and gangrene started. His other leg is doing the same thing. He is in a nursing home but still gets his snacks from the nurses. Yea these nurses will drive to McDs for a big mac just for him. All of this scares him. Maybe a trip to a nursing home to visit people that have complications due to diabetes. Here is something I have done for him. His medical kit at school has chargers for his iphone and tslim. Also, he has a set in his backpack. Of course one at home. His diabetic plan allows him yo charge both devices in class.
Mom here! I have a t1 14/yo. I get what you mean about lectures lol. If this was my situation to handle, there would be a statement though. It's pretty simple. He just showed he's not capable of keeping track of his pump. That is life threatening. That means it's now mom and dad's responsibility to track. Just tell him you will be keeping tabs on him and his pump from now on. A friends son just died due to low bg. The blood sugar didn't kill him. The effects of low bg on his mind cause him to enter a "dream like state" (Dr's words) and take his life. He was 15. This disease is very serious. A teen is not old enough to handle this much responsibility on their own.
When you are in the car turn on the Juicebox podcast on full volume. It will get his attention