Diagnosed at 7mths with Type 1 Diabetes

Sakura Cove our beautiful daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at 7 months.

Having T1 Diabetes at any age isn't fun, but having a child diagnosed at this very young age is every parents nightmare! Less than 1% of all children are diagnosed in the first year of life.

Not sure what T1 Diabetes is? It means that Sakura's pancreas - an organ in the upper-right side of the belly- makes little or no insulin. The condition is a autoimmune disorder, which it happens when the body's defense system attacks and destroys cells that make insulin.

We had no idea that our daughter had T1 Diabetes until one morning I just had that mother's instinct that something wasn't right with her breathing. By the time we had got to the hospital Sakura had slipped into a severe DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis) and we were starting to lose her. It wasn't until an hour later that they had finally managed to get the iv lines into her and start treatment before they told me what it was. Hours turned into days, days turned into weeks, weeks turned into month that we were in hospital with her still trying to stablise her. We were taught the survival skills needed to care for her i.e insulin injection techniques, food calculations etc so we could finally bring her home, which posed another lot of challenges.

T1 Diabetes diagnosis has significant challenges to both of us as parents as well as to the awesome health care professionals involved in her care. The major challenge is getting her treatment plan that is both reasonable and realistic as this changes every week due to her growth!

Biggest concerns are about giving her insulin before we know how much she eats. This is the age where you have only just started feeding them food as well as formula/breast milk and slowly into proper food by the age of 1! It demands extra attention to be taken when adjusting her dosage as even 1/2 unit can cause Sakura to have hypoglycemia which can be life threatening and could lead to subtle cognitive impairments later in life. Untreated high blood sugar from diabetes can also damage your nerves, eyes, kidneys, and other organs. So everyday is a roller-coaster ride of levels and not to mention emotions.

It is a vicious cycle trying to console her and coax her into having the injection or finger prick (yes even at 7 mths they know what is going on!) every 2 hours day/night, therefore would be very very thankful for any donations that we receive to help fund CGM monitoring (medical devices such as the Dexcom G6 which is $90per week) which would save the finger pricking on her tiny fingers!

And in the near future an insulin pump (costs $10k + consumables) which would deliver her insulin directly into her without the hassle of fighting her to manually inject her stomach and would give her stable blood glucose levels instead of the ultra highs and lows that we get daily.

We are faced with a long journey through early childhood, school years and adolescence but would appreciate any help that can help her have the best life she can without this disease hindering her from doing anything she wants to do as she grows up.

Much Love,

Sakura and her family x