It can be so hard to even think about how to let our T1D kids have more independence, but I really believe that it’s hardest for those of us who had kids diagnosed when they were really young. For that special category of T1D parent, we’ve been so closely knit into the diabetes management, so part of every T1D decision, that it’s harder for us to step back and let our kids fly.

On today’s show, I talk to one of those moms. Her daughter, now 14, was diagnosed in kindergarten — and mom is struggling with the normal independence that her daughter wants to have. She talks about how diabetes reset (and raised) the level of her day-to-day anxiety, leaving her worrying about every number and every possibility. It’s a hard habit to break, especially as her daughter wants to walk out the door to the school dance carrying a teeny purse with no room for low supplies.

So she and I brainstorm: We think through ways she can talk to her daughter about bringing those supplies without creating a fight. And we also talk about the ways that mom can to release the iron grip of her anxiety. As I always say, it doesn’t mean she should unclip her diabetes seatbelt — her daughter does need to have low supplies at the dance — and mom has some work to do to let some mistakes happen. After all, if our kids are out of range because they mis-dosed for a boba, it’s not the end of the world: In fact, it becomes a moment to have a conversation about how to this about it differently next time.

Together, we think about the ways that our kids learn diabetes management (spoiler alert: step by small painful step) and how we can support that process. And we look at the importance of having faith in who our children will become, both as people, and as people with diabetes.

Even if your child was diagnosed when they were older, so much of this is familiar to all of us with T1D kids: the anxiety and the letting go.

Hope you enjoy the show!

When our kids are first diagnosed with T1D, our anxiety spikes. Normal for all of us — how could it not? But what happens when it stays so high that we can never get a break from it, when we’re feeling anxious all the time and aren’t able to step away from diabetes?

That’s what I’m talking about on today’s podcast episode. Natalie, mom of four year old Amara who was diagnosed at eight months, came on the show to share the ways she’s having trouble turning down the volume on her own anxiety about diabetes. Even though this makes so much sense — her daughter was diagnosed at 8 months! and she’s still so young! — we look at the toll it’s taking on Natalie.

The irony is that Natalie theoretically knows what she should be doing to help herself feel better— before she had Amara she was a meditation teacher. But now she’s having trouble leaving Amara with anyone else to make time for self care. Even though we spend a little time problem solving this — and noting the ways that Natalie has recently taken new steps to get some support — I challenge Natalie a lot in this episode. I emphasize all of the reasons that it’s essential for her to take better care of herself, not least of all because she wants to model a good relationship to diabetes for her daughter.

Listen in to hear about other ways we T1D parents can think about shifting our narrative about diabetes so we can recharge ourselves.

Hope you enjoy the show.

Natalie's Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/NatalieCalzadilla

What is the anecdote to the terror we feel when our kids are diagnosed with diabetes? Today’s podcast guest, Brooke, has one compelling answer: Activism When Brooke’s six-year old daughter was diagnosed, she was in the ICU and had a 24-hour period when it was touch-and-go if she would live. Today, three years later, Brooke feels like the doctors should have seen some of the signs earlier. But her solution isn’t to complain and get angry; her answer is to get out and spread the word, being sure that everyone around her knows what the symptoms are of T1D, as a way to help prevent this same kind of trauma from happening to others in her community.

While Brooke talks about how sharing her story helps her to heal the fear that she felt three years ago, we also look at the ways she’s still living in that fear, how it comes up with her two other children and her worries about them having T1D, how it shows up in her extreme expertise about diabetes. Through the conversation, we discuss ways that Brooke can go beyond activism to turn the volume down on her fears, and work through the trauma of her daughter’s diagnosis, from getting her other kids tested for antibodies regularly to the potential for therapy for herself.

In listening, I think we all recognize pieces of our own diagnosis story and the ways we learned to cope with the new challenge of diabetes as it entered our lives. Hope you enjoy the show!