Philson’s diagnosis at 17 months old was a huge shock to our family given no family history in autoimmune conditions. As his caregivers, we had little time to grieve and were focused on picking up all the skills from his Diabetes Nurse Educator, in order to have the confidence to provide him with the best quality of care back home. Be it finger pricks or administering of insulin injections, we observed and learnt as quickly as we could.

Unfortunately, the required hospital stay to learn the day-to-day diabetes management was traumatic for our son and he had recurring nightmares for a month after discharge. As a family, we revamped our lifestyle to have a more balanced diet as we wanted to set a good example and allow him to enjoy the same food as us during mealtimes, instead of relegating him to having a “low GI meal” alone.

We were thankful to be introduced to a Whatsapp support group with fellow caregivers as we could relate to each other’s challenges and share tips on navigating this chronic condition. While we initially felt alone given how uncommon T1D is in Singapore, meeting fellow caregivers gave us much needed emotional support and allowed us to be heard.