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I've had it 30 years this October ...happy birthday (c;

I know what you mean about struggling emotionally ... I think it's affected my mum a lot. She's had to deal with all the extreme low blood sugar, me not wanting to have injections, me being grumpy with high blood sugar and all the rest. I think she often felt frightened. My Dad took it really personally and thought it must somehow be his fault. My brother felt ignored and frightened all at once

At the moment it probably feels like diabetes is your sons biggest characteristic but he's still in there with all his other interests... his humour, his temper, his likes and dislikes, his friends. Once you all get the hang of it, it will just become part of all the other things he does.

He's going to really hate handing over control of his life so you'll have to let him be in charge of as much stuff as possible... I hated other people doing my injections for me so I started doing them myself when I was 7 or so. At first this took an hour with me sitting with the needle pushed against my skin ...going nowhere. Now I barely feel it and I'll do it on buses, in restaurants, in front of just about anybody

Make sure he has the information to make his own choices. Expect him to have patches in his life when he's angry and frustrated with it. They won't come all at once ...they'll come when he can't control his sugars no matter how hard he tries or if he has a crumby unsupportive doctor or if he's not allowed to do something because of it. Don't feel sorry for him (privately perhaps). This is just how it is now. He needs to feel master of it, not victim

Hope your coping days get more and more frequent

Best Wishes (c;

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A diagnosis of diabetes is tough at any age but I feel that for teens, it can be devastating. Younger children tend to have an easier time adapting to it. Adult understand more about the disease and what happens if they don't take care of it. Teens, on the other hand, are just finding their identities...they are finding their way into the world and all of a sudden, they have this "stigma" attached to them. Teens can be rebellious and they don't really think so far into the future where they can fully understand what will happen to them some day if they don't take care of the diabetes.

I strongly suggest you find a support group for you and your son. You can go separately or together but these groups can really help in dealing with diabetes and all that comes along with it. You can ask your son's doctor or contact the American Diabetes Association (diabetes.org) for more information.

In the meantime, learn all you can about diabetes. Talk with your son. Let him know that you are there for him. Many people go through a "denial" stage when they just can't accept what is happening to them.

I've been diabetic for many years. I was 26 when diagnosed and I have type 1. I use an insulin pump. One thing I learned really early on is that there are a lot of diseases that can take your life. Diabetes can take OVER your life. Whether or not you let it is up to you.

Good luck.

EMT

Emotionally he probably is doing better then you. I am an adult with type 1 but I do remember how my mother was at first and I can tell you it hurt her more then it hurt me. Check with his diabetes educator for support groups for teens with diabetes. I have a 13 year old (non diabetic) and I know this age can be difficult I wish you all the best with your son at a time like this, but it will get better much better. I feel my quality of life even as a type 1 is the same as the rest of my non diabetic family. Thats how I get by day after day.

My child was diagnosed at age 7. She is now almost 17.

I know how you're feeling, and it's normal. It's actually a grieving process - grief for loss of a "normal" picture of life you had for him.

I know you can't think this now, but eventually you may come to believe that if diabetes, although it sucks, is the worst thing that ever happens to him, he'll be lucky.

By the way, when you get tired of being the "food police" you might want to think about an insulin pump.

A very good book for parents is "Sweet Kids" by Betty Breckenridge. She emphasizes letting kids be kids first, and adjusting the treatment to fit their lifestyle, and not the other way around.

A very good website for parents is www.childrenwithdiabetes.com.

Believe me, I know how hard it is and feel for you - I still have dreams that it's me that has it, and I wish it was - but you and he will be OK. It will become a way of life, not much more than an annoyance.

There are a couple of things you can do both for you and your son. Diabetes is now a way of life for him and the less stressed he is about it,the better. Diabetes is so much easier to manage nowadays with all of the tools,information and education out there for everyone. Encourage him to continue in as many activities as he previously has. He can be as discrete as he/you want or as open as he/you want regarding his diagnosis.

Take advantage of any support groups available for yourself and for him if you feel he needs it. Don't isolate yourselves. If you are not located in an area where there might be a support group associated with your nearby hospital,then look around the web for something. Also The juvenile diabetes foundation should have info/assistance for you. The better educated you are then the better able you are to handle and cope with this new challenge.

Something to keep in mind for next summer might be a camp for diabetic children.

As I said,diabetes can be managed with so many tools nowadays. Yes,it will take some learning,some adjustments,some compromises and some more learning but it is not the dreaded disease it once was. Best of luck to you and your family.

hey...I'm 13 and i have type 1 diabetes and it sucks...there are very few people who i know that are going through what i am and they say they know how i feel and they dont...im sure in some ways youre son feels the same way...

stop worrying about him so much...jus make sure he is doing what he is supposed to do and you should be fine...

you can alo find fun family support groups around were you live...i go to one and i have found a friend that i cn talk to that has diabetis too...

if you or him would like to be able to talk to someone his age with diabetis then you can go to my email at [email protected] you can check out my myspace @ www.myspace.com/fatycaty...

Fasten your seatbelt, because in the next few years he's likely to hit that "rebellious teen" stage and go off his diet, and go days without his insulin. For now, he probably just hasn't had time yet to figure out how he feels, so give him a little time. Also, keep in mind that even as teens, boys just don't have the female compunction to talk about all their feelings. Meanwhile, you've got enough troubles without hunting for more.

The best thing you can do is to support him. It's hard, because I know, My wife and I lost our daughter in May.