Clarence was diagnosed with T1D when he was 8 years old. It was devastating and unbelievable initially as there is no one else in the family, including extended family, with diabetes. The only thought that came to mind was “why him?”
The consolation we got was that he will be able to lead a normal life, as long as we manage his diabetes well.
Now, 2 years on, he is currently using the Dexcom CGM that gives us updates on his BG level every 5 mins when he is near his mobile phone. We have a nice sling bag for him, so that he will always have his mobile phone, his snack, and usually honey with him, to combat his lows whenever he injects too much insulin in school.
Challenges we face, are times when he turns off the low glucose alarm and also the sound of his mobile phone, as he does not want to disturb his classmates. We sometimes have to Whatsapp his teacher, sometimes more than one if they don’t respond quickly, in order to get their help to inform Clarence to take his insulin when he’s high, or take his honey when he is going extremely low. We understand that teachers will not always be looking at their mobile phone, which they should not in the first place, since their attention should be with the children.
At times when I was unable to contact his form teachers, I had to call the General Office. The challenge is that it will always be a different person and I have personally experienced rude administration members who responded with, “My job here is not assigned to be looking for your son!”
As parents, I understand that this condition is not common and not everyone has knowledge about the seriousness of hypoglycemia. Sometimes information is not passed down from one teacher to another timely, year after year. I have now learned that I reach out to new form teacher every year, as well as new principals or vice-principal, to communicate and share T1D information with them. To make sure they understand why my telephone call to the school should and need to be treated with high priority, because it is a life that we are talking about here.
As a child, I am lucky that Clarence is a very optimistic child, who is very open to sharing his medical condition with his friends. He is also lucky to meet friends who will bring extra snacks to spare in their bag, just in case Clarence is going low when he is with them.
Personally, I would feel that as parents, we should not over-react to his food intake. I prefer to let him enjoy whatever he likes, exactly that same for any children of his age. I focus more on teaching him how to count / estimate carbs level so that he knows the amount of insulin his body needs. I have never prepared any special lunch box for him to bring to school so that he can go to the canteen, queue up like every other kid to eat his choice of food that the school offers.
If there is something I can selfishly wish for, I would hope that the primary school has designated mobile phones in school, who would follow Clarence’s dexcom application. In that case, at least I know someone other than myself is aware of his BG level in school. Someone will help to remind him more timely to take insulin or his snack whenever needed.