Type 1 Diabetes

I think that the best way to support a child with type 1 diabetes is that they feel like they have a support system in you. My granddaughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 10 years old. I tried to learn all that I could about it so that I could give her parents a break. It is difficult to know what to do with this child when you need to be away from them. You worry about what they know or don't know, or who the caregiver is, if they will be able to handle things correctly, if they will know how to handle an emergency. So I think one of the support systems is to learn all you can so that you can be a relief person for that parent and for that child, and that they can feel comfortable in your home, that they can have a sleepover and not feel like they're alone.

So if you have a friend or a loved one who has type 1 diabetes, one of the best things that you can do to support them is to not make assumptions. There's a lot of assumptions about what we can and cannot eat, what we need to do for our health, things like that, and really the best thing is most diabetics would prefer if you just ask instead of making those assumptions. For example, sugar-free stuff is not necessarily good for type 1 diabetics. It's not a free treat. We still have to take insulin for it, and sometimes we have to even take more insulin than if we just had a dessert that actually had sugar in it in the first place. So please don't make assumptions. Ask. We love to teach those around us, and good luck.

If you have a child who has diabetes, try to treat them normally. My parents were really great. They just kind of taught me to do what I had to do and then left me do it. You have to learn how to test your own blood sugars. You got to learn how to take your own shots. I was given my insulin shots. I was filling them and giving them at age four. So a four-year-old, yeah, can do it. And the more normal that you treat somebody and you're not always like, after them, like, do this, do that. And if you just kind of let them, you know, say when they need help, then I think that's the best way that you can support somebody.

I have a granddaughter who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 10 years old. She is now 16. As a grandmother, I try to be very aware of the diet. We have a lot of family gatherings, and this grandchild lives in our area. I try to be aware to not make a shared meal so totally carbohydrate that it becomes difficult for her to eat normally with us without being so concerned about the numbers that she's dealing with. So you can't totally change your diet. You can't totally change the way you do things, but to be aware, especially for desserts, to have some things that work well for that child that they enjoy, even if they can't have exactly the same thing that everybody else is having.

One way that we can support individuals with type 1 diabetes from an outside perspective and from a psychological standpoint is understanding the impact that our mental health has on chronic illnesses and vice versa. Our mental health can impact our chronic illness management and our chronic illness can impact the way that we interact with others, therefore impacting our mental health and can lead to things like anxiety and depression. So being aware of the mind-body connection is so important when it comes to chronic illnesses such as type 1 diabetes.