Holiday college break feels so good!

[OSUMom]

Just posting because Dean came home for holiday/quarter break yesterday from Ohio State. He had me laughing hysterically last night.

See he took a nutrition class last quarter (had considered being a CDE but not going to happen I don't think). He's quite the "expert" now. ;) Unrelated to his diabetes, I was put under interrogation as to how I handled my preganancy with him and first year of life. :D How long did I breastfeed? When did I start feeding him fortified cereal? Did we have floride in our water? Did I take pre-natal vitamins? and on and on.... He had me rolling on the floor laughing. Never did I think he'd care so much, and he is such a comedian. I've already started talking to him about if he should get married and how important it is that the woman have a say in all this too with having a baby. I could see where he'd want it his way. The parenting hasn't ended yet!!! :)

So just posting that I'm loving having him home from college - at least these first 24 hours. haha! :D Any of you guys have your kiddos back yet?

[Treesa57]

My boys will be home this week. My son David who has the type 1 diabetes is coming from Central Michigan University. His twin brother Derek is coming from Heidelberg In Tiffin Ohio and my oldest son is coming home from grad school at Kent state also in Ohio. We live in Northern Michigan. So osu we love your school you beat u of m. yeah!! We are MSU fans. Wont it be great to have kids home making noise and messes once again?

[PattyR]

One more week for me to have them both home. Non-D son coming next Friday. DD - home from grad school middle of the week. Can't wait:D Now that the countdown is underway, I am getting excited about decorating and all the Christmas stuff.

[siren]

Mine is home today. He is switching from his pump to lantus for the 4 weeks he is home. five years of pumping and he needs a break. We have the CGMS in case we need it. Tree ornaments go on tomorrow and sugar cookies get made after I get home from the gym. JUst need some new cookie cutters.

[Margaret O]

Mine is home today. He is switching from his pump to lantus for the 4 weeks he is home. five years of pumping and he needs a break. We have the CGMS in case we need it. Tree ornaments go on tomorrow and sugar cookies get made after I get home from the gym. JUst need some new cookie cutters.


I am curious about the switch. (Our DS does not come home until the 19th so we are still hopeful that he does well during finals.) He had quite a set back last week, which is too crazy to post, but I will say that I never want to get a phone call again like the one we got last Saturday, and spend two days in ICU with a DKA. (long story). :(:(

He really is in denial that he has diabetes and is all over the place with his numbers. He really hates site changes. When we were in the hospital and he was ready to attach his pump again, it took a good 10 minutes for him to finally "click" the inserter. Our endo has been amazing trying to help him get back on track, but he has a long way to go.

So we have come to the conclusion that maybe if he considers going to lantus for a while he wouldn't have to fight the pump so much. If you don't mind sharing, was your son the one that suggested that he switch to shots again, or did you see a similar pump burnout and suggest he consider going to shots?

[Margaret O]

Okay, I need to get more in the holiday spirit. My last post was a downer...:o

I am excited about our DS coming home. He will be home for 6 weeks so we can help him get back on track and enjoy just having him around again. (and keep a closer eye on things ;))

[siren]

Margaret:
I'll preface this with saying if I totally missed the mark please ignore. I may be reading into this too much. Just that we had a few dark weeks in freshman year and wondered if this was a part of what you were going through.

Our son decided last August to do this on his own. His sites weren't working as well, he is skinny and running out of good places. He uses the silhouette without the inserter. He said when he uses the inserter for the CGMS he gets a bit tense just before clicking it, doesn't relish the feeling even though it's painless. He also decided to do it this month because he wanted to be home with us in case there were any surprises. His endo said everyone on a pump wants to come off at some point for a break and supported his decision as did we. Every person is unique he asked me to say. Hang on and once he gets home and has your support in person away from stress of a new college he will feel stronger about things, he can relax in a familiar place. Being away at college as a freshman involves so much more responsibility and freedom to manage and control. Blood sugar and insulin are thrown into a mixer of sorts where the effects of new people, pressures of succeeding in college, all nighters, the behavior of the others in the dorm, late nights and sleeping in late or getting up 10 minutes before class and racing to get to class with a blood sugar to manage takes some getting used to. We found for our son the guys don't support each other the way girls do. I don't think guys are into sharing feelings and so miss out on the support they would get from that. If he is in his freshman year away at college he has to reestablish his support system, a new family to temporarily be there in place of what he had at home. I can tell you our son went to college near home and was able to keep some of his friends who also stayed nearby, Cal and SCU are close to each other so he can go hang out with them and vice verse. So even though he had a whole new set of friends at college(his dorm mates and roommates bonded well but not until around winter time) he still had a people who knew what he was like and what he had to do to take care of himself and they were fine with it.\. Our son also went through a difficult time in adjusting to his new school as it was so different from his high school in terms of the make-up of the people and professors. He really wanted to quit and go to jr college, we asked him to stick it out, since everything else was safe, we asked him to see a college counselor just to have a professional assessment in case we were missing something and so he had an outlet to vent the depression he felt. At our endo's office they have a psychologist that specializes in diabetic children/ family dynamics and she stays pretty busy talking to teens and parents. Once our son was aware of why he was uncomfortable at his school( new people, change, support ) he started to turn things around and began adapting and taking ownership of his choice to go there. His roommate then was great, they are still good friends though not roommates this year. They have been accepting of his diabetes as a small facet of sons life, keeps it low key and humorous. Oh, and his roommate this year is also really great. (he's on the Deans's list, hoping it rubs off some)

PS, During a visit to a school in Seattle we talked with the disability person there who shared a story of a girl with epilepsy. She went to this school far from home for several reasons and along the way she also didn't want to have epilepsy, so when she arrived she decided to stop taking her medication trying to be 'like everyone else'. She survived and went on to do well.

[Margaret O]

Siren,

I think you are very accurate in your assessment.

I do have to say that I like our DS's friends and they really stepped up to the plate to help out. One friend said he knew our son had diabetes but never saw him test so he thought it was a "mild form' of it. :confused: We spent some time explaining what to look for and asked if they didn't mind reminding him to test every once in a while. They were all over it. He is now sending numbers in to us on a daily basis and at least that's a start. I can't wait until he gets home and we can help him more here.

I do think he needs a pump holiday...he tried to take a diabetes holiday but that really didn't work. Maybe going back to shots for a while might help him decide how he best wants to manage this.

Thanks for sharing your perspective. This is very hard for our kids.

[siren]

Margaret, Just noticed our sons were diagnosed almost exactly a year apart. He was Dx March 16 2002, two weeks before he turned 14. He's home now and miraculously I seem to be able to sleep all night now. ??? Its terrific that Patrick's friends are stepping in to help and support. Sounds like he has some good people around him.

[susanH]

my son will be home this friday, for nearly a month. :cwds:

OSUMom - you're completely accountable to this guy now! hope mine sticks with metalworking!! :eek: good for Dean! sounds like he learned some practical stuff.

margaret - i hope things work out for you and your son.

siren - a pump break sounds like a good idea; my son's been pumping for 7 years; i'm sure his sites are a mess, he's so dang thin, he has very few choices.

home for the holidays takes on a whole new meaning for me now.