Our son Lucas was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in April of 2012. He was 4. We did not suspect anything was wrong until one day he started throwing up and couldn’t keep any food down at all. We decided to take him to the emergency room. While there they check his blood glucose (BG) level it was over 1200. Well over the normal range. We were lucky that he was conscious. We had completely missed the warning signs. When he was diagnosed he was in Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). He spent almost a week in the hospital on IV insulin. During this time, we had to meet with Diabetic educators, nutritionists, and endocrinologists every day. In a few days we had to learn how to count carbs, check BG levels, calculate insulin dosages and give shots. We practiced shots on oranges with syringes that the hospital provided. We then had to give him shots ourselves before we were allowed to leave the hospital.
We realized later that there where warning signs we had missed. One was frequent urination. We were having tremendous difficulty getting him to potty train. We had been trying for some time and every time it appeared we had made progress he was wetting himself again. It never occurred to us that he could have had a medical problem that was holding him back. After he was diagnosed and was receiving insulin those he stopped wetting himself almost instantly. It was a symptom of his high BG levels.
Lucas is now 8. He lives a completely normal life with his diabetes. He goes to school and a nurse checks his BG at interval throughout the day such as before recess and lunch. His diabetes is almost completely under control. He visits the doctor a little more than some kids but he has only had one hospitalization to this date other than when he was diagnosed.