One of the Lucky Ones
Editor’s Note: Get involved in Beyond Type 1’s #SeeTheSigns of diabetes campaign! Share your signs to help save lives, request #SeeTheSigns posters to share in your community, get sharable graphics for social media and more! Learn more here.
How it happened
Fourteen years ago, my youngest son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. He had all the classic symptoms. But neither my husband nor I knew that all the signs my son showed meant that our lives would change drastically very soon. I am pretty observant and I did notice that my son was urinating more frequently, but I thought it was just a urinary tract infection. Fortunately, my son’s pediatrician at that time was a friend of the family, and on top of that, her sister has lived with type 1 diabetes since she was little, so she had personal experience with it. I took the liberty of calling her doctor on her cell phone while she was on vacation, and thankfully, she answered the call right away.
When I told her about the symptoms my son had, she immediately said, “I hope I am wrong, but he has all the symptoms of type 1 diabetes. As soon as the pediatric emergency clinic opens, take him in and ask for a blood sugar test. Call me when you have the results.” I was skeptical and baffled, and I told my husband what the doctor had said; I went online to read about type 1 diabetes, but I still did not think that would be the diagnosis.
As soon as the emergency clinic opened, we took Jaime in, we discussed the symptoms with them, and told them about my conversation with the pediatrician. They checked his blood glucose level, and indeed the correct diagnosis was type 1 diabetes.
The instructions were very straightforward: “You have one hour to go home and get the necessary clothing for a safe hospitalization.” We left the urgent care with a referral to the pediatric hospital, with our hearts pounding out of our chests and thousands of questions. Jaime was seen by the doctor quickly once we got to the hospital. The next day, we started diabetes education, and two days later, we went home.
Counting our blessings
Although my son’s diagnosis was surprising, I confess it was not traumatic, and although we had doubts and fears, we were able to resume our new life quite quickly. That experience led me to believe that all type 1 diabetes diagnoses in children were like ours. What I did not know is that that was very far from reality. I assumed that all primary physicians could identify the symptoms and begin the necessary treatment and education to stabilize the patient’s blood glucose.
The sad reality is that I was very wrong and once I joined the online diabetes community, I learned about the stories of misdiagnosis. I could not believe it! From that moment on, I could not help but thank my son’s pediatrician for sounding the alarm and telling us what steps we needed to follow. From that moment on, whenever I had the opportunity to educate others about the symptoms of type 1 diabetes, I did not hesitate to do so. As parents, we know the signs of many common illnesses and can quickly identify them, but I had never heard of type 1 diabetes symptoms.
That is why I am so passionate and why I value Beyond Type 1’s #SeeTheSigns of Diabetes Awareness Campaign so much, as it seeks to help identify new type 1 diabetes diagnoses and prevent diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) from occurring. I feel very fortunate that my son was not in DKA and that his diagnosis had no complications.
Even if type 1 diabetes has already reached your home, I want to invite you to help us by educating your friends and family. We must be observant, educated and proactive parents, and if the symptoms of type 1 diabetes show up at any time, it is necessary to seek medical help right away. If your story is like mine, you should feel fortunate and be thankful to the healthcare professional, friend, or whoever guided you. Join our efforts, share the signs of diabetes and let’s prevent misdiagnosis or missed diagnoses from putting the lives of others at risk.
