WHAT I WISH MY PARENTS KNEW WHILE RAISING A CHILD WITH T1D by Amelia Rehrman

Hi friends! Amelia here. I was diagnosed with t1d when I was four, and so my parents handled my diabetes care for quite a few years. As I’ve started to learn more and take better care of my diabetes over the past few years, I’ve been reflecting back on some things I wish my parents knew while raising a child with t1d and I wanted to share them with you!

Pump breaks are ok.

Diabetes is hard! Sometimes it helps to switch up the routine, and that’s ok. I never took pump breaks as a kid (I honestly didn’t know that was something people did!). I always thought that once I had an insulin pump, I would never stop using it—it was just something that I never questioned, and I don’t think my parents did either. I’ve realized more recently that it’s so great to not have something on me 24/7, even if it’s just for a few days, and can really help refresh my diabetes management.

Blood sugar absolutely affects mood.

I always thought of diabetes as a physical disease only because that’s always how it was presented to me. I never realized it could impact how I was feeling or my mood, and because of this I got really discouraged from a young age. I would often get upset more easily than my siblings, and I didn’t make the connection until more recently that my blood sugar was in the 200s and 300s more often than not at that time, so of course I was getting frustrated more easily! I think it’s so important to talk about diabetes in terms of physical health and mental health star