Oh, the joys...

Among the many things that our T1D kids have to deal with, particularly the younger ones, one of the most difficult is approaching puberty.

I was thinking about this today, thinking about how I was pretty much left to my own devices and didn't really have to bare my soul to anyone. Somehow I made it through, but for me at least, something that was very private remained private.

Not so for our T1D kids.

At her last Clinic Day I had to sit and watch my little girl's obvious discomfort when being asked by her Endocrinologist (thankfully female) all kinds of questions that would have mortified me at the same age.

(stock photo provided by SCIENCEphoto Library)

We later had a talk about how she felt about this and she told me that she did not want to discuss ANY aspect of this part of her life with her doctor.

I felt so bad for her. It is hard enough navigating this inevitable part of growing up without having to share every detail and have every aspect monitored by your medical team!

They don't have much choice about this though. Insulin is a hormone, and fluctuations in blood glucose levels, caused by too little or too much insulin, does affect development. Consistently high BGL's can delay the onset of puberty and can result in short stature, therefore, the T1D medical team has to pay close attention to a child's development.

Wouldn't it be lovely just to let our kids be kids...

taking a little time to adjust

We arrived back home on March 20th however it has taken a little while to adjust to "life as usual". The kids and I would all rather still be in Canada ...

Today is Easter Sunday, which, for a T1D family, means lots of extra testing and more insulin than usual - so that the kids can just be kids and enjoy the same Easter treats as everyone else.

I don't think my kids will EVER grow out of Easter Egg hunts!

One advantage of being a T1D Mum is that I get up at 3am to do BGL tests anyway - which now coincides with visits from the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus! I did make a suggestion to the kids that perhaps the Easter Bunny may focus his attention on younger children this year however the looks of horror on their almost 12 and 15 year old faces put paid to that!

Today also marks the 2nd anniversary of our entry into the world of T1D!

Issie was diagnosed on April 8th, 2010.

The last two years have certainly had their challenges although I can honestly say that we have all come a long way. We continue to learn new things about managing T1D through the wonderful support network created not long after Issie's diagnosis and both kids are now learning to become more independent.

While we are still yet to come through the other side of Issie's severe needle phobia (and I am NOT looking forward to her next Clinic Day when she is due for her annual bloods) I'm very pleased that Issie has now figured out that she CAN do sports and other physical activities without having any major problems - it just takes a little planning. This year, for the first time EVER, Issie wants to join the school soccer team! This is a huge step for her, which I am sure is the result of her seeing her brother throwing himself into sports even more, despite being diagnosed with T1D seven months after her.

I'm not sure that this post really makes a lot of sense, T1D diagnosis anniversaries - at least for me - mess with my head a bit.