On January 19th, 2010 Ellie was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Our story is pretty uneventful and for that I am somewhat grateful. Ellie had few symptoms, just extra thirst and extra trips to the bathroom. I took her to her pediatrician on a Monday…a blood test was done just to make sure the symptoms were not some sort of virus or infection. The blood test was then lost by the hospital. Another blood test the next day…the call from the doctor’s office at 3:00pm to get her in the office as soon as possible to talk about the results. They said diabetes, I called my husband, mother and the rest of our family and said diabetes…but I did not actually register diabetes. I was voting for kidney stones.
At the pediatricians office we sat as Ellie ran the halls (empty due to the late hour) and asked for water. She was over 600 with not a symptom I could see. Just thirsty. The doctor told me to take her right over to the hospital and check her in. I asked if we had time to get some supplies at home first. He said you have an hour. So we rushed home and I packed a few things for her to have at the hospital. We arrived and checked in at the hospital and then I am a little foggy on the details. I had apparently slipped deeply into denial. When the endocrinologist came in and began to describe to me what we would be doing for her on a daily basis I cut him off and questioned him…”Wait a minute! Do you KNOW she has diabetes? I mean don’t we have to do more tests??? I thought we were here to test for some sort of infection? Or kidney stones…” He looked at me with the sadness that anyone would when they have to tell a mother yes, your child has a horrible chronic disease and there is no cure, just management.
The rest of the story is similar to all who have been there. Carb counting, insulin, shots, finger-pokes, screams and pain. Fear, Fear, Fear. Education, worry, determination, frustration, and little bits of confidence to follow. Now facing reality and looking for that place to land, the DOC has been a huge emotional boost for me and I am honored to join it…I hope to be here for a while…I am trying to land.
Sfincham's Blog 
Finding myself drawn to blogs like yours…..needing someone to understand these emotions now settling themselves deep into my heart. My 15 yr old daughter was diagnosed T1 just 5 months ago today. I think as a mom you receive this grace to cope (call it denial if you want) but it doesn’t really sink in until months later. It can’t – you have supplies to buy, doctor appointments to make and keep, materials to read and you MUST stay strong for your daughter. My husband fell apart early and then recovered and is fine. Me? I started “we can do this” strong – and now I find myself crying at the slightest thing. In it there is this strong need to connect with another mom who is also dealing with the emotion of it all. Thanks for giving me this place – blessings to you and your family.
Thank you for sharing your story here. I’ll look forward to reading more and keeping up on the D-life adventures over here in your corner.
Ha! Hey you! I’ve been reading you through Meri’s blog and check yours out here and there! Thanks for commenting!
Help us TURN IT BLUE for World Diabete’s Awareness Day by turning a
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World Diabetes Day is the primary global awareness campaign of the
diabetes mellitus world and is held on November 14 of each year. It
was introduced in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation and
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