Note to a newly Diagnosed Family.....
WRITTEN BY KARINA MASON

Dear Family,

Your life has just changed overnight, right now your in a state of shock, bewilderment and disbelief.

How could this happen?

Why didn’t I see the signs?

How will I cope?

How will I remember everything I’m being told?

What does the future hold?

And I’d like to address these few questions

How could this happen?
All of us before you have asked the same question and there is no answer, please don’t blame yourself. The human body is an amazing thing and sometimes things go wrong, you are going to be just fine, I know it seems very overwhelming right now, just breathe and keep putting one foot in front of another.

Why didn’t I see the signs?

T1 can have both a quick onset and a slow onset, and unless you have had personal experience it’s really hard to pick up yourself.

Excessive urination is a sign, if you have a child in nappies, you might notice heavier nappies, but like me you might also have a healthy child that is just a heavy wetter, one of my other children doesn’t have T1 and she was just a very heavy wetter. If your child is older, I know I don’t keep diary of how many times a day they visit the toilet. School Student? Who knows how many trips to the loo they take at recess and lunch.

Know the signs yes, but please don’t beat yourself up because you didn’t notice them, we are all human

How will I cope?

You are going to do just fine. Type 1 will slot into your life just like it did before. There is a large community of support to help lift you when you are down. You will have days where it’s all overwhelming and when your child’s levels are not playing the game and on these days, take a deep breath, sit down with a book or a coffee or a giant glass of wine Reach out on support groups and the JDRF peer support Mentor program is fantastic, I highly recommend it.

Your new normal is here and in a short while you won’t even notice the extra things you need to do for the T1.

Everything you did before T1 you can still do, it might just take some extra planning, but you and your child don’t need to give anything up.

What does the future hold?

Who knows really? What did the future hold before T1? Don’t let go of your dreams, your dreams and goals are still the same as before, just now they might need some extra planning

Technology is advancing every single year, we are almost 11 years down the track, and the way technology has come has been inspiring and it’s only going to get better, who knows it might be your child that unlocks a cure in 30 years time. Encourage your child, everything is possible, my eldest daughter who has watched her sister live the first 11 years of her life with diabetes is so inspired that her entire VCE is aimed around gaining entry to Biomedical Science/Medicine. She knows she can’t cure her sister, but it’s inspired her to help others one day.

Lastly. It’s going to be ok. Don’t worry if you get home from hospital and can’t remember anything, all your learning will begin at home, what takes you back to hospital today you will learn from, it’s almost like a on the job traineeship that the nurses did back in the day.

Also remember as the care giver and even the person with Diabetes you are human.

You will forget a Bolus, forget an injection, overestimate/underestimate carbs, forget to unsuspend your pump after suspending for a bad low. You might even head out for dinner and forget to take your insulin or reconnect your pump after your shower and only notice when you go to bolus for that delicious meal in the restaurant!

You will sleep through a 3am alarm

Stay calm, take a deep breath, these things and many more have happened to us all, there are solutions. Please don’t beat yourself up. Even the best of us humans forget things.

And your child/partner loves you, even thought sometimes they might tell you the opposite, they hate the disease but they love you

Breath. It’s going to be ok xoxo