Diabetes is a disease that only affects adults who eat poorly? Not necessarily. The disease more and more often does not pay attention to the birth certificate and lifestyle. Children of almost all ages struggle with diabetes, but it is most common between the ages of 6 and 12. What is life like for children with diabetes? Get to know the story of Paweł and Tomek.
Type 1 diabetes takes its greatest toll in winter. Then diabetology departments burst at the seams, and for many families a new life begins – with insulin, a glucometer, sleepless nights and weighed every bite of food. Type 1 diabetes occurs suddenly – very often in families where no one has had it before. Although it is a disease with very characteristic symptoms, it is not always immediately diagnosed and recognized. It is worth remembering the symptoms of diabetes so that you do not accidentally overlook them in your loved ones.
Paweł
December 2011
During the holidays, Paweł brags to his friends how thin he is – he picks up his shirt and pulls his stomach – you can see every ankle. With my husband, we look at it and comment: you have recently grown a few centimeters, you are active, you play tennis – this is probably the reason. After Christmas, she starts drinking a lot and peeing a lot.
Styczeń 2012
January 4 – I go with Paweł to the pediatrician – the doctor examines him, he does not order any tests (he had his morphology done 3 months earlier) – we practically go out without a diagnosis. I’m nervous because we’re going skiing in two days.
January 5 – we go to another pediatrician – practically the same – we go out without an examination order, without a diagnosis.
On January 6 – we go to the famous pediatrician for parasites – looking at Paweł, transparent skin and dark circles under his eyes, he decides: he has worms, you will come back from skis, we will treat him …
January 8 – we are going skiing – Paweł grumbles, does not want to ride, falls asleep in a restaurant on the slope, he is thirsty all the time. After a few days in the evening, during dinner, he drinks almost 3 liters of water …
January 17 – there is a doctor in our group who listens to Paweł and suggests that we go to the doctor immediately with him.
And so begins Paweł and our new life – in the mountains, behind the ambulance that carries him on a signal to the hospital in Villach. Then we found out that he had a sugar of 830 mg / dl (the norm is 70-99 mg / dl on an empty stomach).
January 25 – we travel to the Children’s Memorial Health Institute for the Diabetology and Endocrinology department. We train, we learn everything. We still don’t understand what happened. We ask about our second child and we hear that, yes, the probability of getting sick is very small …
February 2012
After returning from the hospital, we examine our second son, Tomek. Fortunately, everything is fine. Grandparents are under tremendous stress. They hid all the sweets, learn a new way of giving Paweł meals – measuring sugar first – calling his mum / dad, weighing food, insulin and then a meal. They do not hide the fact that they are afraid to look after Paweł on their own. Several times in the hospital, they meet a dietitian who patiently explains how and what to count, how to weigh soup, potatoes, bread, and what to avoid.
Back to school
The headmistress promises that she will do everything so that Paweł can normally be at school as before, before he fell ill. He wants us to provide as much information as possible to teachers and guardians, Mr. from PE. The cooks from the school canteen are also involved in the case. A few nights they stay awake and figure out how to weigh and give Paweł meals.
After returning to class, Paweł makes a presentation of the equipment he uses. He shows a movie about Leo Lenny, which tells the story of diabetes in a simple and understandable way. He eats lunch and has very good results, starts going to his workouts … life goes on.
Tomek
March 2013 – Tomek is less than 3 years old. For several days now, I have been watching him drink and pee a lot. Unfortunately, I know perfectly well what is going on and measuring with a glucometer is just a formality. We land again at the Children’s Memorial Health Institute with sugar 330. It is a nightmare that we cannot believe for a long time.
For Tom, having a pump was so natural that he was not surprised at all. She accepts all changes calmly. He immediately realizes that before he eats anything, he has to ask if he can.
The aunts in the private “Colorful kindergarten” offer help right away – we want him to come back to us, we need training and we will take care of it. With the help of CZD and Dr. Marta Wysocka-Mincewicz, we train everyone. We teach, we show how to measure sugar, operate a pump, weigh and check.
After 3 weeks, Tomek returns to kindergarten.
Now Paweł is 13 years old, and Tom is 7. Paweł does not ask when he will recover, sometimes it still happens to Tom …
More information about the life of the youngest with diabetes and where to look for help when our child becomes ill can be found here.