My lovely 14 year old lad has been in hospital this week diagnosed with diabetes. He now has to inject insulin 4 or 5 times a day for the rest of his life. Oh god.........

To be honest it's not as bad as you think, though I can understand why you are upset!! Plenty of us humans live quite happily with Diabetes and other problems...as long as YOU can cope with the injections then he will be fine! Honest! All the best, Dawn

Diabetes is not as scary as it sounds,and injecting insulin is easy,they teach kids how to do it. You should get full instructions before you start. Your dog will soon get used to the routine,the needle is very fine and not very long.
4 or 5 times a day seems rather alot,as most insulins are long acting and only need to be done twice a day.

Keep us informed of progress.

i think we are talking about a human here :D
well atleast that is the jist i got from the original post

My friend is a diabetic nurse I remember her telling me about a pump gadget that some teenagers wear strapped to their waist that gives very small amounts of insulin regularly through the day that they control depending on their activity levels etc.  Apparently teenagers are notoriously difficult to stabalise on to just a couple of injections due to their hormones, growth spurts and vacilating from comotose activity listening to music and dashing about on the sports fields ;) but they do grow out of it so maybe the 4 or 5 injections will reduce as he matures :)

So sorry to hear that but you'll be amazed at how well they adjust.  I have two friends who started with diabetes in their teens, one of them also had two brain tumours she's certainly a fighter.  Then my dad got diabetes and started injecting in his late 40's.

Hope that your son gets the help that he needs but the diabetic nurses are brilliant.  My dad had a real phobia about needles but copes brilliantly.

Sorry to hear that. I'm sure you must be feeling terribly worried and a bit scared but there is no reason that your son won't be able to continue to do all the things he did before and more besides once his routine is established.

My friend has been diabetic since she was 10 and is now 43. She is in excellent health and lives a very full and active life :) She also has to inject up to 5 times a day but the routine is second nature to her. I helped with her injections for a while when she hurt her wrist and couldn't do it herself and it's not nearly as bad as it seems (easy for me to say, I wasn't at the sharp end!!). She uses a device like a pen where she sets the dose, sticks the needle in and presses a button on the top which is far less scary than the thought of hypodermic needles etc.

Lots of help and advice will be available from the diabetic clinic at the hospital. Ask plenty of questions and try not to worry too much :)

My Hubby developed diabetes at 15 and he's 30.... ummmm 36? now. He injects 4 times a day and to be honest, it's so much a part of normal life, we don't even think about it much ;)

Diabetes isn't a death sentence I met a well known diabetic who has had a fantastically successful sports career You might have heard of him a winner of five Olympic gold medals in a career of over 20 years in rowing, Sir Steve Redgrave.

Gary Mabbutt is also a diabetic, Arthur Ashe & Joe Frazier also quite well known diabetics

BTW yes I'm a diabetic too & I've run the London Marathon

My friend's neighbour's 3/4 year old was diagnosed a few years ago.  I know how hard it hit the parents discovering that their toddler had diabetes.  I really felt for them as they were so uncertain about how it would affect their little girl and at the time of diagnosis she was very ill.  It is the fear of the unknown that drives you to imagine all sorts of things.  Once her condition was stabilised, the little girl soon learnt how to manage her diabetes (under strict supervision of course) even as young as she was.  She is now 8/9 and doing fine.

This must have come as such a shock and as a mum I can imagine how upset you must be.  Be strong, I am sure your son will soon learn to adapt to having this condition. Kids are so resiliant.

Chin up. Best wishes

Chin up Katy - he'll cope, as will you, once you can all come to terms with the situation.   My cousin is 6 months younger than me and was diagnosed as diabetic at 6 years old.   She is now 62.    She is married, has a career, and has 3 daughters.  She has come on holiday with us, and done all the other family things that all families do - and now, as people - including the specialists - know more about this condition - finds that she is eating more and more the same things as the rest of us.

And yes, she still injects herself daily.

The specialists are doing a lot of research into diabetes and life is certainly becoming easier for most diabetics in the way that they handle this condition.

Regards

Margot

Can't wait for the Pancreas transplants to become routine!!! I'd be up for one without a doubt!

Sorry, didn't realise it was a human kind! But seriously, apart from famous people, there's ME!! I live with ot and have done for a long time...it's true it becomes routine, but if he has a sensible Mum looking after him, he'll be great! HONEST! All the best, Dawn BTW The British Diabetic Association have excellent support networks http://www.diabetes.org.uk/home.htm they even have a teenzone

Thanks guys. You have all been great.
Ollie is a real star, he's really going for it, injecting, testing, checking labels on food/drinks.
I am very proud of him.
I didn't know wether o post my 'devastated' comment on here but now I'm so glad I did.
So grateful to you all.
Kate. x