This week is National Diabetes Awareness Week (13-19th July 2014) and I'm reading a lot of stories about family's recounting when their child was diagnosed with type 1. Sharing these stories is also a way JDRF can raise awareness of the symptoms of type 1 diabetes.
I remember our son's diagnosis clearly. He had just celebrated his fourth birthday and we had just returned from a driving holiday interstate. We'd been gone for weeks and had a really enjoyable time, although we'd noticed that Jason was crying at the drop of a hat. I put it down to all the travelling but a couple of weeks after we got home, he started to drink copious amounts of water and I commented to my husband how much weight he appeared to have lost. It was during this conversation that we both stopped and just looked at each other and said at the same time, "he wouldn't have diabetes would he?"
We had an old dog at the time who had been diagnosed with diabetes and he too had been drinking water non-stop and had lost a lot of weight. I think that's why we made the connection so quickly. This and the fact that I was aware of the symptoms of diabetes through things I'd heard and read and because my uncle is type 1, I related to it and I think it made me just that more aware.
I got into the doctors the next day and because my daughter was only around one year old at the time, my Mum came with me. I told them his symptoms and said I though it could be diabetes. They ran tests and confirmed this quite quickly. I remember the doctor saying what a cool cat I was, and looking back I guess I was really calm about it. I rang my husband at work and told him we were being taken to the Royal Children's Hospital by ambulance. We were living in the country and the trip was an hour away. My mum had to take my daughter home and stay with her there. The doctors commented on how lucky it was that we picked it up so quickly because usually this isn't the case.
Jason stayed in hospital for a week. Life has been full on ever since.
I remember our son's diagnosis clearly. He had just celebrated his fourth birthday and we had just returned from a driving holiday interstate. We'd been gone for weeks and had a really enjoyable time, although we'd noticed that Jason was crying at the drop of a hat. I put it down to all the travelling but a couple of weeks after we got home, he started to drink copious amounts of water and I commented to my husband how much weight he appeared to have lost. It was during this conversation that we both stopped and just looked at each other and said at the same time, "he wouldn't have diabetes would he?"
We had an old dog at the time who had been diagnosed with diabetes and he too had been drinking water non-stop and had lost a lot of weight. I think that's why we made the connection so quickly. This and the fact that I was aware of the symptoms of diabetes through things I'd heard and read and because my uncle is type 1, I related to it and I think it made me just that more aware.
I got into the doctors the next day and because my daughter was only around one year old at the time, my Mum came with me. I told them his symptoms and said I though it could be diabetes. They ran tests and confirmed this quite quickly. I remember the doctor saying what a cool cat I was, and looking back I guess I was really calm about it. I rang my husband at work and told him we were being taken to the Royal Children's Hospital by ambulance. We were living in the country and the trip was an hour away. My mum had to take my daughter home and stay with her there. The doctors commented on how lucky it was that we picked it up so quickly because usually this isn't the case.
Jason stayed in hospital for a week. Life has been full on ever since.