# 4 year old daughter diagnosed type 1 diabetes



## April2011 (Apr 23, 2011)

in shock my little angel just got diagnosed 10 days ago looking for advice on all please help! ahhhhh


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## Northerner (Apr 23, 2011)

Hi April, welcome to the forum  So sorry to hear of your little one's diagnosis, but don't panic - help is at hand! There are a lot of very useful resources that will help you through this. We have some excellent parents here on the forum in our Parents section who will be happy to answer any questions you may have or calm your fears. There is also a website that many of the same parents use called Children with Diabetes: 

http://www.childrenwithdiabetesuk.org/

Also, there is an excellent book that will explain everything you need to know:

Type 1 Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults by Ragnar Hanas.

What insulin regime is your little one on? Please feel free to ask any questions - nothing is considered 'silly' and we will do our best to help


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## April2011 (Apr 23, 2011)

*thanks*

hi there thanks for replying....my daughter on humilin 9 units in morning, lunch time novorapid.....dinert time novorapid changes everyday and levimeer 4units. we had a good day bm have been lowish not as high as when in hospital as they were in 32! and mostly 20's....

i am carb counting and trying to get her back to nursery so i can get back to work....ill check that website out and the book thanks

its a whole new world!


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## Robster65 (Apr 23, 2011)

Hi April. Welcome.

It must seem a complete nightmare for you but there are several members who were diagnosed as tots and all have survived to adulthood 

Hope we can help you through.

Rob


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## Northerner (Apr 23, 2011)

Sounds like you have got off to a good start  There is an awful lot of information that can be overwhelming at times, so do take a moment to pause and ask whenever you need to. What you need to bear in mind is that this is a manageable condition - it needs planning and hard work, especially at the beginning, but there is no reason your daughter shouldn't grow up to be as happy and healthy as anyone else and achieve just as much as a non-diabetic child  We've got lots of members here who have been diagnosed for several decades - before all the great treatments we have today - and they are great examples of  how this can not stand in your daughter's way. Have you got a JDRF starter pack for her? http://www.jdrf.org.uk/page.asp?section=173&sectionTitle=KIDSAC

JDRF are a brilliant organisation for Type 1s


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## veganlass (Apr 24, 2011)

See if your area has a community diabetic care nurse for children?.

My friend is one here in west Sussex.


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## AJLang (Apr 24, 2011)

I'm one of those who was diagnosed as a child, when I was 2, and that was 40 years ago!  diabetes doesn't need to get in the way of life, despite being diabetic for so long - and from a very working class background where money was tight - I've done some fantastic things in life, including gaining a PhD, working all the time since I left school (apart from the last two years of my degree), travelling to places such as Beirut and Israel and successfully gatecrashing a party of my idols - Benny and Bjorn from Abba (I have the photos as evidence. I hope that this helps to highlight that although diabetes can be challenging it doesn't need to stop anyone from having a great life


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## teapot8910 (Apr 24, 2011)

Welcome to the forum April x


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## Becca (Apr 24, 2011)

Hi April, my daughter is 8 but was diagnosed when she was 3..  Northerner has given you a fab website to look at which has an informative mailing list as well.

It's hard to get your head around it all, all info being bombarded at you, so many questions rattling about, take your time with it all, ask any questions you might have someone will be about to help x

What regime have they put your child on?
x


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## Pumper_Sue (Apr 25, 2011)

Hi April,
Welcome to the forum.
I'm another one who was diagnosed as a young child 4 1/2. 46 years later I am still alive and well to tell the tale 
My advice to you even though your world is upside down and back to front at the moment, is to take one day at a time and breath. Your daughter will accept things as she is so young. Just put on a matter of fact front as if it is all normal.
Best wishes
Sue


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## Sunflowers (Apr 25, 2011)

April2011 said:


> in shock my little angel just got diagnosed 10 days ago looking for advice on all please help! ahhhhh





Hello  I think you'll get loads of great advice on here. I've had Type 1 since I was 5. I'm 35 now and recently went onto Insulin Pump Therapy. I was working in Early Years at my local primary school when one of the new starters in Reception came in with an insulin pump. So my job role change and I was her support whilst she was at school. I saw first hand, how fab the pumps were and that's when I got the bug! Sorry, the point in me telling you this is that nowdays (way different to when I was at school!) funding is in place for type 1 diabetic children to have one-to-one support at their school (the amount depends on their age/needs/effeciency of staff applying for the funding etc etc) to assist or take on the role of carer - counting carbs, administersing insulin etc. My friend has an 8 yr old type 1, who was diagnosed at 5 and in the beginning she was shell shocked. She now couldn't imagine life any other way and most of the care comes as second nature. 

now I have a 5 and 7 year old of my own, I've come to realise that being diagnosed as a child is much harder on the parents than it is on the child (in the general sense) because you don't actually know that the blood tests and injections aren't really that bad at all - you just imagine the worst and see it as something *you* are doing to your child, whereas you're actually doing it just to keep them well. Just my thoughts and ramblings! You sound like you're doing a grand job already - it will get easier with time. I hope you have lots of support from your diabetes centre/clinic. You'll find lots on here too and sometimes it's just great to here other experiences first hand and to know that others are going through it too 

Take care,

S x


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## April2011 (Apr 30, 2011)

Becca said:


> Hi April, my daughter is 8 but was diagnosed when she was 3..  Northerner has given you a fab website to look at which has an informative mailing list as well.
> 
> It's hard to get your head around it all, all info being bombarded at you, so many questions rattling about, take your time with it all, ask any questions you might have someone will be about to help x
> 
> ...


hi thanks for your response my wee girl is on 3 injections per day 5 if needed

07:30am bm taken usually between 4-5!
Humilin 8 units
breakfast 30 carbs
10am snack 15 carbs
11:45 bm usually 5-6
12:00 lunch 30 carbs
2:30pm snack 15 carbs
4:45pm bm usually 5-6 (bm have been low)
5pm dinner 50 carbs = 3.5 units novorapid
6:45pm bm 5-7
7pm levimeer left leg 3 units and supper 30 carbs 

then we do ot all again!

she had one hypo and was not pleasant!

any advice welcome im like a zombie not sleeping keep checking on her


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## margie (May 1, 2011)

Hi April - welcome to the forum - I hope that some of the parents will be able to provide you with some coping strategies that will allow you to sleep better - I suspect that worry might be keeping you awake. 

You sound like you are doing really well though with those levels - just beware that things like heat, exercise and illness can affect how much insulin your little one needs. So they are the times you need to keep an extra eye on things.


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## Northerner (May 1, 2011)

You are doing really well with those levels April  It's still early days, with a lot to take in and contend with, so as margie says it's likely that the stress and worry of it all are not helping you grab sleep when you can. Hopefully, in time, things will become more routine (as much as they can be with a 4 year old child!) and to some extent more predictable as you gain knowledge of how different food and activities affect her. You are doing a great job!


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## andyjc (May 2, 2011)

Hi April ,
Sorry to hear about your daughters diagnosis at such a young age . I myself was diagnosed at age 2, thanks to my very persistent mother. I will be 48 in August. I enjoy relatively good health , usual aches and pains of getting older and an active lifestyle . I still pass eyesight test for driving license, still go mountain biking twice weekly, hold down a full time job and have two healthy ( almost grown up ) kids.  Proof , i think that if care taken , living with diabetes is not the tragedy that some make it out to be . 
 I always think that getting diabetes at such a young age was a bit of a blessing for me ( not my parents ), as i grew up not knowing anything but how to live with it , rather than having to adapt after years of eating what i wanted . 
Obviously it will take time to get used to the routine, which appears to be mountainous at first, but once you're into the routine it will become second nature to you and your daughter,and hopefully she'l be able to carry on with her life as she would have had she not been diabetic.  
Good luck with everything and keep us informed as to how you are both coping


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## andyjc (May 2, 2011)

April2011 said:


> hi thanks for your response my wee girl is on 3 injections per day 5 if needed
> 
> 07:30am bm taken usually between 4-5!
> Humilin 8 units
> ...



WOW Bm's to be proud of , Great work


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## Northerner (May 2, 2011)

Well said Andy, and it should also be borne in mind that treatment options and knowledge about diabetes has grown enormously since you were diagnosed. It does mean that we tend to strive for tighter control, which can present different problems, but the spectre of complications has receded for those who take good care to manage their blood sugars well.


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## ruthelliot (May 6, 2011)

Hi April,
As others have said you seem to be doing great. I'm sure you will have good days and bad and in the first months I found I went through a huge range of emotions - fear, anger, sadness, exhaustion! Life does settle into a routine though never the one you had before. I would never wish this on any child but I do agree that for the child a diagnosis is prob much easier at such a young age. Our son doesn't remember life before it and just takes it in his stride. He has just started insulin pump therapy and had his first day back at nursery today where he was the envy of every child with his magic pump!
Hope things are going ok.
Ruth


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## Steff (May 7, 2011)

Hi April sorry for the late welcome.x


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