Controlling Diabetes

Brandon Thrapp of Center Valley, Pa., manages type 1 diabetes

A key piece of his diabetes “tool kit”— Brandon has mastered his insulin pump with help from his team, including (l-r) nurse practitioner Justine Fierman, C.R.N.P., his mother, Danielle, and diabetes educator Ellen Cooper, R.N.

Diabetes Warning Signs

Call your doctor right away if your child shows any of these signs.

General:

• Extreme thirst
• Frequent urination and/or bedwetting
• Fatigue
• Blurred vision

Type 1:

• Weight loss
• Increased hunger
• Skin rashes and infections

Type 2:

• Weight gain or loss
• Muscle cramps
• Discoloration in neck or armpits

Even though 11-year-old Brandon took a bottle of water to bed every night, he got up for more. His parents, Mike and Danielle Thrapp of Center Valley, noticed how much he drank on beach and camping trips. And when he reported for football practice last August, he weighed the same as the previous year—abnormal for a healthy adolescent.

They called Brandon’s doctor, family medicine physician Mark Wendling, M.D., of Lehigh Valley Health Network, and tests confirmed the doctor’s suspicion: Brandon had type 1 diabetes. The family met promptly with educators at the health network’s Helwig Health and Diabetes Center. They left with a basic understanding of diabetes and the tools they needed for Brandon to inject himself with insulin several times a day. Remarkably, they had avoided the type of insulin crisis that puts most children with diabetes into the hospital.

“Type 1 diabetes is often diagnosed when the child develops ketoacidosis, a potentially life-threatening situation when the body doesn’t have enough insulin,” Wendling says. Early symptoms of thirst, dry mouth and frequent urination can escalate to nausea and vomiting, breathing problems and eventually loss of consciousness. If your child has any of the warning signs of type 1 diabetes (see box), call the doctor.

Type 2 diabetes is more difficult to spot, Wendling says. It often occurs in overweight children (although weight loss in a child also should prompt a call to the doctor) and may be picked up through routine blood work. “It’s important to continue regular well checks through the teen years and report anything unusual,” Wendling says.

Your child is at greater risk for type 1 or type 2 diabetes if there’s diabetes in the family. Certain ethnic groups—including African Americans and Latinos— are at increased risk. Type 1 usually shows up in childhood or adolescence, type 2 in middle age. But the rise in obesity and sedentary lifestyles has produced a growing number of children and teens with type 2 diabetes.

A diabetes diagnosis can overwhelm parents, says Ellen Cooper, R.N., diabetes educator at the Helwig Center. “The good news is that children who learn to control diabetes early are at no greater risk for developing complications in adulthood.”

Brandon’s not only controlling his diabetes, he’s enjoying his guitar, skateboard and baseball practice. An insulin pump frees him from daily injections and helps him regulate his blood sugar. He’s become an expert at counting carbohydrates. “I have a disease that won’t go away,” he says. “You get used to it. I have to keep living my life.”

Published from Healthy You Magazine, May June 2009

This page last updated 1/4/10 01:40 PM