Terrified After Diabetes Diagnosis… Please Help?
I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes last week and now I feel like my life is ending. I’m not even 15 yet and I feel like I’ve been handed a death setence. I know I might be blowing it out of preportion a little but diabetes can be fatal.
My friends are treating me different as well. They refuse to touch me as if I’m going to either break or they’ll catch it. I feel like no one can relate to me anymore. My parents/step-parents have done nothing but cry and I can’t put up with it anymore.
I just want to lock myself away. My doctor has the worst bedside manner in the world and just keeps shoving information down my throat. He wants me to wear an OmniPod.
Is there anyone on here who has diabetes/diabetic relative? How did you cope when first diagnosed and did your friends treat you different?
How can I get over this phase of depression? I don’t want my life to be ruled by this disease.
Thanks for any help you can give.
I didn’t know Nick Jonas wore one as well. That makes me feel a bit better. And yeah, I like the Jonas Brothers.
I have been a type 1 diabetic for 31 years. It is scary at first, but do not get too upset, you will do fine if you remain calm. The challenges of being a diabetic are a constant battle that you can not ignore. If you are careful you can live a very normal life despite this condition. You should talk with your doctor about getting an insulin pump one day. That device really has made my life easier. You have to be disciplined and watch your meals each and every day. If you do not you will not feel well. When your glucose levels are high you will feel tired and thirsty and you won’t feel good. Monitor your levels and you will feel normal most of the time. You need a good doctor not one that treats you badly. You need your parents to assist you and stop crying. You have to adopt the attitude that "you have diabeties and diabeties does not have you." After 31 years I have experienced lots of challenges but I feel great today and don’t feel that I have missed out on anything by having this diagnosis. I wish you well.
My son is 16 and has diabetes. I cried and cried when he got diagnosed (he was 7 at the time). In time my whole family got used to the idea. He has run into a few ignorant people over the years who have given him a hard time, but there are jerks in the world. Ask your doctor about support groups. It helps to know you are not alone. Try to educate your friends as much as you can. It’s sad that they treat you different.
My son wears an insulin pump and particpates in sports and has a normal teenage life. It’s an adjustment but you need to know that you can do everything you did before your diagnosis. If you hate your doctor, work with your parents to find another endocrinologist.
Look up http://www.setebaid.com - they have teen weekends and summer camps. My son goes and it does him a world of good to be around other diabetics, he feels less alone. Ask you doc about any support groups in your area.
My family also go invloved in JDRF and other diabetes group events and that helps too. Look up http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com, there’s lots of info there, and http://www.JDRF.com. Learning more and being around others with diabetes will help you cope.
mostly everyone goes through different stages of "mourning" so to speak when they or someone they love is diagnosed with a certine condition…diabetics can lead full successful lives if they manage their diabetes well and take care of themselves…as you become more familiar with it you will learn to cope and become more comfortable with it… you will have your days of ups and downs but that happends to everyone…diabetes runs in my family and i have done tons of research on it…just take care of yourself…and if it would make you feel better maybe find a new dr. that has better bedside manner…i have heard good things about the omnipod….hey nick jonas wears one! lol…but hes a good inspiration for a alot of ppl…then again i love the jonas brothers….if you dont its ok…it was just a little side note! lol! good luck and take care of yourself!!
The other answers above are GREAT in terms of focusing on your depression. Let me throw this out to you. There is a promising trial out there right now of a well known chemotherapy (rituximab) that turns off the immune system that could potentially CURE your type I diabetes. It’s legit, and you’ve been recently diagnosed - so you are exactly eligible and this could change your life!
Locations
United States, California
Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California, United States, 90027
Stanford University
Stanford, California, United States, 94305
University of California-San Francisco
San Francisco, California, United States, 94143
United States, Colorado
Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes
Aurora, Colorado, United States, 80010
United States, Florida
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida, United States, 32610-0296
University of Miami
Miami, Florida, United States, 33136
United States, Indiana
Indiana University-Riley Hospital for Children
Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, 46202
United States, Massachusetts
Joslin
Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02215
United States, Minnesota
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 55455
United States, New York
Columbia University
New York, New York, United States, 10032
Columbia University
New York, New York, United States, 10032
United States, Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15213
United States, Texas
University of Texas
Dallas, Texas, United States, 75235-8858
United States, Washington
Benaroya Research Institute
Seattle, Washington, United States, 98101
Australia
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Victoria, Australia
Canada, Ontario
The Hospital for Sick Children
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 1X8
Italy
San Raffaele Hospital
Milan, Italy
Sponsors and Collaborators
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
American Diabetes Association
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
i was diagnosed when i was 10, so i know how you feel. i went thru a phase of depression too afterwards…some days i iwould just cry because i didn’t want to have to deal with it. i was diagnosed over the summer before 5th grade and i was terrified that my friends wouldn’t talk to me or want to be my friends anymore when they found out. the best way i found to have people not treat you different is education. inform them about it. answer their questions about it. the only way this disease can rule your life is if you let it. don’t do that. take control, learn everything you can about how to take care of it. if you’re not happy with your doctor, tell your parents you want to switch doctors…the way your doctor treats you can affect the way you take care of yourself. i went thru that for years…the doctors i had before the one i have now were terrible and made me cry nearly every time i saw them. i liked dealing with the nurses, but not the doctor. talk to a nutritionist about your diet…that way you can learn how eating the right foods can effect how well you keep your blood sugars in control. diabetes is not always an easy thing to take care of, but don’t let it get you down. find someone you can talk to when you get frustrated or angry.
feel free to contact me or ask any questions.
This is NOT the end of the world nor even the world as you knew it last week!!
Even my adult friends didn’t know what to do when I was diagnosed several years back!
You need to read and heed the info the doctor gave you. You can live to be 100+ if you pay attention to that information!! And you can be much healthier than any of your so called friends as well.
So we have to do either MDI, multiple daily injections with their attendent grams of carb counting, or we can do the insulin pumps with their attendent grams of carb counting!
The only thing that died is your pancreas! It got sick and quit working! If it was appendix that is easier to fix, simply have it out. But the pancreas has life saving secretions and when it dies, we have to do something else. Same difference tho. We have to pay attention!!
Nick Jonas does indeed have an insulin pump! He was devastated when diagnosed too! As was Mary Tyler Moore a lot of years ago in the dark ages of diabetes care!
Read some stuff on the internet that is for helping you to cope with this slight alteration to your life plan:
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/
http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/NewlyDiagnosed.htm
http://www.diabetes-normalsugars.com/book/chapter9.shtml
http://www.diabetes-normalsugars.com/book/chapter10.shtml
And finally there are a couple of really good groups on My Space for teens with diabetes.
Support of one’s peergroup is very very important. You can educate your friends as you learn about this. Talk to them, have them read all the info the doctor has given you. Some of them will be subject to getting type 2 eventually and the treatments are very similar.