Blog about diabetes

My 17YO son was diagnosed with Type 1 last Tuesday. I joined this
group for information, guidance, etc. No one in my family (that I
know of) has ever had it, so the only thing I know about it is what
I have learned in the last week. I’ve tried to learn as much as
possible, but it’s all very confusing.
It all came as such a surprise . . . I took him in for a check-up,
the only real symptoms he had was that he couldn’t get enough to
drink, which naturally caused him to run to the bathroom a lot.
When I told the doctor about this, of course they checked his sugar,
and he tested 707. The doctor immediately admitted him into the
hospital. Doc said, “If either of us adults had a sugar level that
high, we’d probably be dead.” Everyone kept commenting that they
couldn’t believe that his level was so high, and he showed no other
symptoms other than being thirsty. He felt absolutely fine, other
than that. They checked him into CCU (which naturally scared the

wits out of me) where they hooked him up to a couple of IV’s,
checked him hourly through the night and by the next morning, his
sugar was down to 195. We spent the day watching videos, learning
how to calculate insulin dosages according to carbs (I think they
refer to this as a sliding scale), learning to give the shots and
speaking to a dietician. He was released that night after supper,
but only after proving that he could give himself a shot.
The next day was Thanksgiving . . . our first day on our own. Wow,
that was a fun day. His sugar went back up to 499 at one point. I
called the Doc, he had us increase the insulin, and said that it
might take a little time to ‘get it right’. Since that day, the
lowest he’s been is 178, but mostly he’s been between 250 and 350.
He went back yesterday for a follow-up, and after reviewing his
book, he made a few adjustments to his insulin and told us to come
back in another week.
Sorry to be so long-winded . . . I tried to keep it short, I just
wanted to give a somewhat detailed introduction, so that you would
know our story and why I joined the group.
I think the worst thing for my son has been the reality that he
won’t be joining the military after he graduates. He has talked
about going into the Navy for the last 2-3 years, and has even
talked to a recruiter about going into the delayed enlistment
program at the end of this school year so he can go immediately
after graduation next year. He was going to be a SeaBee.
Anyway, thanks for letting me join, and I look forward to getting to
know some of the other members of the group.
Jo