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Juvenile Diabetes
Tackling the Diagnosis as a Family
By Renee Roberson
"It's good to bring a glucose monitor, insulin depending on the time of day, glucose tablets and a snack," Scarsi says. "You can have one of the siblings be a 'buddy' to remind the child with diabetes to bring their supplies."
Kim Rahfaldt from Watertown, Wis., discovered her daughter, Amanda, had juvenile diabetes when she was 4 years old. She says her older son tries to help out by noticing when Amanda seems extra tired. "We haven't tasked him yet with taking care of her," she says. "As he gets older, we will discuss more ways for him to help."
Rahfaldt's daughter doesn't have an insulin pump, but checks her blood sugar five times a day on average and receives three insulin injections a day.
"We watch her diet very closely," Rahfaldt says. "She can do all the same activities, but we have to make sure to have snacks on hand or feed her before gymnastics class. It has taken away from the flexibility – but as long as we have some food and [a] meter with us, we can do just about anything."
Rahfaldt says food outside the home is where things can get a little tricky. "Parents bring snacks to school or to events and if I haven't planned for it, it can be an uncomfortable situatio," she says. "It makes my daughter feel bad if she can't have what the other kids have because she ate already. I find I have to plan for everything, and try to get parents, teachers, etc., to communicate with me all the time."
