Type 1 diabetes- Life story

In type 1 diabetes or juvenile diabetes, the body causes a reaction that destroys the part of the pancreas that produces insulin, and the real cause that leads to this autoimmune disease is still unknown. There are three main things that are necessary in type 1 diabetes, and they are: the introduction of insulin, regular physical activity and proper nutrition

In people with this disease, the body's immune system destroys insulin cells in the pancreas leading to a lack of insulin production

In type 1 diabetes, there is no insulin that pushes glucose into the cells, so sugar builds up in the bloodstream where it can cause life-threatening complications.

There is a lot of talk about diabetes, but little is actually known. In addition to experts, the truth about diabetes is best known to patients and their families.

This is the story of my child with diabetes 1 that I found in his diary, which after so many years touched my heart again but now with great relief than at the very beginning of his illness because now a grown man is aware of his illness. worries.

As parents, we didn’t know much about the details until the diagnosis itself, so we had to go through material on insulins, raising and lowering blood sugar, hypoglycemia, and hyperglycemia to be able to help our child. In the end, we took a real test at Rebra in Zagreb

We literally screamed because of the injections he had to give himself five times a day - because parents don't have an exact manual from which to learn everything about the disease, so we had to go through the right education to know the necessary steps. He had to ingest exactly 1400 calories a day.This meant using mathematical oscillations to count the calories of each meal.

But what it's like to be in puberty, go to school, hang out with friends and be a child like everyone else, and at the same time measure your blood sugar, take insulin and count everything you eat ten times a day, is known only to children with diabetes 1 and their parents.

Unlike his peers, my child has a special "fashion accessory" that is always with him.

It is an insulin pump that has a brownie function by which it receives insulin. We only got the pump after one year of "pricking the injection", and Dino adores it because there are no more injections at every meal.

The number of carbohydrates is entered into the pump, and the pump calculates and releases the required insulin. In addition, it has a sensor that also replaces injections, which reads the amount of glucose in the blood. However, these devices that are much needed by people on injections are currently not available through health insurance, which are purchased on their own initiative and are not so cheap, but here is parental solidarity in part.

My son's letter:

My name is Dino I am 18 years old and I have been a person with diabetes for 3 years now! When diabetes came into my life, it shook the lives of both my mom and my dad! I remember the day I ended up in the hospital Dad was crying, and you know Dad doesn’t cry. I was much better the next day. The days before I ate poorly, drank a lot and went to the toilet a lot. The next day I was hungry like a wolf! I could have eaten both the doctor and the nurse! Mom literally moved to the hospital that day, Dad came after work. I know it was the end of the world for them! The first year was difficult for everyone; me and them. Every day they read, studied, looked for a way to help me! Mom received an invitation from the Zagreb Diabetes Society to go to a camp that will help us all! Dad was skeptical, but Mom said, "Let's go!" That meant a lot to us! I saw a lot of children with diabetes, parents talked to each other, helped each other and then I finally saw my own laughing again and that they are old again! I hung out, met some new friends. When we got back it was easier for us because we all relaxed and then everything somehow fell into place.

I love my life. I live it to the fullest and I lack nothing! I am grateful to my parents, aunts, godparents and everyone who took care of me! I still have my life like others, and I even have a girlfriend. Most important of all to me is that I can still play football and that football is a part of me!

I would like to tell everyone who has just gotten diabetes that life has not stopped, we are just a little sweeter. Don’t be ashamed to give insulin if you have to, eat if you have to! Those 20 seconds can save us!

I had to share this on the blog because as a parent I had a hard time accepting it.