Teenagers, Trials and Tenacity

September 19, 2016 by dianec12 1 Comment

It’s been a while since I’ve posted so here’s an update!

I remember folk from years ago telling me that teenage years for a child living with type 1 diabetes were great fun. Satire at it’s best. Noted.

He is almost 14 years old. It’s been nearly 10 years since his pancreas exclaimed “nah, can’t be bothered” (said Kevin).

I’m here now. In the midst of it all. Puberty. Hormones and the lack of. It’s nothing short of living within confines of the extreme limits of human patience combined with the strangest art form – which I can only relate to as some sort of pseudo-psychic mind games.  Does Derren Brown have an answer to this paradigm shift in behavior,and the management of? This phenomenon known as teenage manhood?  Or is that just me being a nagging mother?  To talk or not to talk? Chapping on bedroom doors to get shouted at “don’t come in!”  etc,etc.

We have limited blood glucose testing at the moment, with the associated snorts and groans of what resembles a British Saddleback.  There’s the refusal to change the insulin pump cannula on day 3, resulting in bedtime (and through the night) hyperglycaemia reaching steady heights of >24mmol/L with various correction regimes. We have the non-compliance to remembering how to operate the messaging services on iPhones – known as “text”.  Furthermore, the Instagram and Facebook messengers have now been denied access. Next on the list is his refusal to answer the telephone when it rings. It’s funny, and enjoyable folks. I love it.

Clinical measurement

Hba1C used to be something I had some sort of limited control over, with regular input to his care and management. But these days, I’m lucky if I’m allowed to touch him to prick a finger. So there goes that as a reliable measurement. Other parameters to measure who a teenage is living and coping with type 1: refer back to the pseudo-psychic mind games statement.

Why do we still seek answers?

With all this in mind, I thought it would now be interesting, and slightly ironic, to introduce you to my next career change. I have completed the BSc (hons) Biomedical Science successfully,  and now plan to embark on a life changing masters course. This will be research based – looking at the application of technology to treat type 1 diabetes in paediatrics. I’m hoping the course will allow me insight into the hidden world of where the answers lie. Like some strange landscape on a (not yet discovered) planet, in some far off nebulae, where the cast of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy are all sat around a table, looking at graphs with nice straight lines. Or, I could just wait for the artificial pancreas to be MHRA approved?

Yes, I am sleep deprived.

It’s not all bad folks, sometimes he laughs at my jokes. This usually happens around December time.

Thanks for reading!