More than 50 years ago, two moms founded Breakthrough T1D. While much has changed since 1970, one thing remains constant: like the founding moms, today’s parents of kids with type 1 diabetes (T1D) dedicate themselves to helping their children live with and learn how to manage T1D.
In the process, these moms, dads and other guardians take on a new way of life—one that parents of non-T1D children would find challenging, to say the least.
Here are some of the ways that you—our T1D parents and guardians—rise to the challenge to become T1D champions for your kids!
- You know what a 504 plan is and why it’s so important.
- You know the significance of the numbers 70 and 180.
- You carry glucose tablets, snacks, a change of insulin pump site supplies and glucagon everywhere you go. So does your child.
- Even if you didn’t go to medical or nursing school, you’re a pro at drawing up insulin, pricking fingers and inserting pump sites.
- Even if you’re not a software developer, you successfully DIY’d an app for your child’s artificial pancreas system.
- You understand the meaning of “bolus,” “HbA1c” and “DKA,” among a whole host of other T1D-specific terms. (Think you know them all? Check out Breakthrough T1D’s T1Dictionary.)
- When you talk about “the honeymoon phase,” you’re talking about something relevant to your child’s diagnosis, not your marriage, a new job or a move to a new town.
- Your child’s endocrinologist (“endo”), pediatrician and school nurse are on speed dial.
- Even if you don’t have an advanced degree in mathematics, your math skills are top notch (carb counts, blood glucose levels… SO MANY NUMBERS)
- Celebrations and holidays involving sweets can cause you a lot of stress….
- …But you’ve learned to live with it so your child can enjoy as normal a childhood as possible.
- You voraciously consume news about T1D research.
- When it comes to issues relevant to T1D, such as insulin access or pump choice, you’re an amateur healthcare policy wonk.
- You are in awe of the support and dedication of the T1D community—a community you and your family treasure.
- You are—and always will be—a warrior for your child. You won’t rest until cures are available.
