bad news

Dallas, my 11 year old son went to the dr yesterday for a checkup and a
refill on his allergy meds. Dal weighs 170 lbs and is 5'1. He's always
been a "big" kid for his age and I suspect always will be, his father is
6'3 and a hefty guy. the Dr who is semi-new to us has pre diagnosed
Dallas as having juvenile diabetes(t1). What I mean by pre diagnosed is
we have a bloodworkup and screening tomorrow morning, Dallas will have
to fast and then go to do the lab work, then I guess in a day or so we
will see where it all stands. The dr bases his assumption on several
things, the weight loss/gain yo-yo of course being the primary symptom.
Secondly was the fatigue and cravings he almost *always* has. Third, he
looked at Dal's skin and I'm not sure what he concluded from that, he
said something about brown patches, especially on his knuckles and at
his throat. I'm not sure what all that was about, I have not seen
anything about that on diabetes websites I've visited. But he does have
them. Fourth and Fifth he has constant thirst and frequent urination
(I'm sorta used to him being thirsty all the time and carrying a drink
with him almost non stop and having to go pee 100 times a day) Six, the
binge/closet eating/cravings that I've try to brush off as "a phase" or
as "that's just Dallas" for so long.

On top of this of course as I've mentioned before Dallas is ADHD(no
flames please, he's been screened and I'm very secure with the dx of
ADHD and yes I realize that it's over-dx'ed and over-rx'ed, and no I'm
not a lazy mother who doesn't discipline her child)

And on top of that Dallas has encopresis - which we are treating with
therapy and routine meds to assist his bm's.

*sigh*
I felt like a ton of bricks was dropped on me when the Dr said "juvenile
diabetes"
I felt sick and stupid. How come I didn't recognize this and why wasn't
it diagnosed sooner?
After all my time spent changing my WOE to what it is today, why am I
blind to what was obviously right in front of me in my son. I know it's
dumb to beat myself up like this, but I have to wonder where I messed
up. Mark reacted a bit differently which ****ed me off too, he was
pretty nonchalant about it and passed if off with a "if he ate better.."
speech which I could have done without a f*cking lecture at that
particular moment. I may have said 2 words all night after that.

Dallas doesn't know much about diabetes yet and we have briefly touched
on the subject so far, about how his eating habits will need to change.
How he will need to start taking on more exercise with me than he does
now(he walks with me almost 3x a week) I guess once we find out more
from the lab work we can move further into diet and exercise for him.

I don't really have many questions for you guys, except.. anyone have
links or resources for me on this issue? and anyone have a child with t1
diabetes? If/when we get a dx of t1 on him, should I seek the advice of
a nutritionist? endo? which type of help should I get in that area? If
its t1 I don't think I will feel comfortable with just our family dr.

Thanks gang for listening. I've gotta go now and dream up something for
dinner.

Susan
280/191/165(mini)/140

Susan, I don't have any info or help, but you and Dallas are in my prayers.
Hang in there.

- Dewolla

"susanjoneslewis" wrote in message
...
Dallas, my 11 year old son went to the dr yesterday for a checkup and a
refill on his allergy meds. Dal weighs 170 lbs and is 5'1. He's always
been a "big" kid for his age and I suspect always will be, his father is
6'3 and a hefty guy. the Dr who is semi-new to us has pre diagnosed
Dallas as having juvenile diabetes(t1). What I mean by pre diagnosed is
we have a bloodworkup and screening tomorrow morning, Dallas will have
to fast and then go to do the lab work, then I guess in a day or so we
will see where it all stands. The dr bases his assumption on several
things, the weight loss/gain yo-yo of course being the primary symptom.
Secondly was the fatigue and cravings he almost *always* has. Third, he
looked at Dal's skin and I'm not sure what he concluded from that, he
said something about brown patches, especially on his knuckles and at
his throat. I'm not sure what all that was about, I have not seen
anything about that on diabetes websites I've visited. But he does have
them. Fourth and Fifth he has constant thirst and frequent urination
(I'm sorta used to him being thirsty all the time and carrying a drink
with him almost non stop and having to go pee 100 times a day) Six, the
binge/closet eating/cravings that I've try to brush off as "a phase" or
as "that's just Dallas" for so long.

On top of this of course as I've mentioned before Dallas is ADHD(no
flames please, he's been screened and I'm very secure with the dx of
ADHD and yes I realize that it's over-dx'ed and over-rx'ed, and no I'm
not a lazy mother who doesn't discipline her child)

And on top of that Dallas has encopresis - which we are treating with
therapy and routine meds to assist his bm's.

*sigh*
I felt like a ton of bricks was dropped on me when the Dr said "juvenile
diabetes"
I felt sick and stupid. How come I didn't recognize this and why wasn't
it diagnosed sooner?
After all my time spent changing my WOE to what it is today, why am I
blind to what was obviously right in front of me in my son. I know it's
dumb to beat myself up like this, but I have to wonder where I messed
up. Mark reacted a bit differently which ****ed me off too, he was
pretty nonchalant about it and passed if off with a "if he ate better.."
speech which I could have done without a f*cking lecture at that
particular moment. I may have said 2 words all night after that.

Dallas doesn't know much about diabetes yet and we have briefly touched
on the subject so far, about how his eating habits will need to change.
How he will need to start taking on more exercise with me than he does
now(he walks with me almost 3x a week) I guess once we find out more
from the lab work we can move further into diet and exercise for him.

I don't really have many questions for you guys, except.. anyone have
links or resources for me on this issue? and anyone have a child with t1
diabetes? If/when we get a dx of t1 on him, should I seek the advice of
a nutritionist? endo? which type of help should I get in that area? If
its t1 I don't think I will feel comfortable with just our family dr.

Thanks gang for listening. I've gotta go now and dream up something for
dinner.

Susan
280/191/165(mini)/140

On Wed, 23 Jun 2004 23:19:23 GMT, "susanjoneslewis"
wrote:

Susan, I'm sorry you and your son have gotten this news. Maybe the
tests won't show what the doctors fear. If they do, I hope you can
find the best resources possible to help deal with it. You and your
family are in my prayers.

Chris
262/145/ (145-150)

"susanjoneslewis" wrote in message
...
Dallas, my 11 year old son went to the dr yesterday for a checkup and a
refill on his allergy meds. Dal weighs 170 lbs and is 5'1.

I'm not meaning to flame here. But really - how did you NOT see the obesity
if he's 11 yrs old, 5'1" and 170lbs!!!

My 5' tall 10 yr old weighs 85lbs and he's not underweight or super skinny,
just a typical 10 yr old who's hormones haven't kicked into full speed yet
to fill him out. He's gonna out grow me in height this year. My DS has
always been a "big kid" for his age - towering over the kids his age. But
certainly not in weight/height ratio.

I feel bad for Dallas, and for you for not recognizing this earlier. He
now has to learn to monitor himself so closely, a huge responsibility for a
kid his age, and it does take away from allowing a kid to be just a kid.






He's always
been a "big" kid for his age and I suspect always will be, his father is
6'3 and a hefty guy. the Dr who is semi-new to us has pre diagnosed
Dallas as having juvenile diabetes(t1). What I mean by pre diagnosed is
we have a bloodworkup and screening tomorrow morning, Dallas will have
to fast and then go to do the lab work, then I guess in a day or so we
will see where it all stands. The dr bases his assumption on several
things, the weight loss/gain yo-yo of course being the primary symptom.
Secondly was the fatigue and cravings he almost *always* has. Third, he
looked at Dal's skin and I'm not sure what he concluded from that, he
said something about brown patches, especially on his knuckles and at
his throat. I'm not sure what all that was about, I have not seen
anything about that on diabetes websites I've visited. But he does have
them. Fourth and Fifth he has constant thirst and frequent urination
(I'm sorta used to him being thirsty all the time and carrying a drink
with him almost non stop and having to go pee 100 times a day) Six, the
binge/closet eating/cravings that I've try to brush off as "a phase" or
as "that's just Dallas" for so long.

On top of this of course as I've mentioned before Dallas is ADHD(no
flames please, he's been screened and I'm very secure with the dx of
ADHD and yes I realize that it's over-dx'ed and over-rx'ed, and no I'm
not a lazy mother who doesn't discipline her child)

And on top of that Dallas has encopresis - which we are treating with
therapy and routine meds to assist his bm's.

*sigh*
I felt like a ton of bricks was dropped on me when the Dr said "juvenile
diabetes"
I felt sick and stupid. How come I didn't recognize this and why wasn't
it diagnosed sooner?
After all my time spent changing my WOE to what it is today, why am I
blind to what was obviously right in front of me in my son. I know it's
dumb to beat myself up like this, but I have to wonder where I messed
up. Mark reacted a bit differently which ****ed me off too, he was
pretty nonchalant about it and passed if off with a "if he ate better.."
speech which I could have done without a f*cking lecture at that
particular moment. I may have said 2 words all night after that.

Dallas doesn't know much about diabetes yet and we have briefly touched
on the subject so far, about how his eating habits will need to change.
How he will need to start taking on more exercise with me than he does
now(he walks with me almost 3x a week) I guess once we find out more
from the lab work we can move further into diet and exercise for him.

I don't really have many questions for you guys, except.. anyone have
links or resources for me on this issue? and anyone have a child with t1
diabetes? If/when we get a dx of t1 on him, should I seek the advice of
a nutritionist? endo? which type of help should I get in that area? If
its t1 I don't think I will feel comfortable with just our family dr.

Thanks gang for listening. I've gotta go now and dream up something for
dinner.

Susan
280/191/165(mini)/140

"susanjoneslewis" wrote in
:

Dallas, my 11 year old son went to the dr yesterday for a
checkup and a refill on his allergy meds. Dal weighs 170
lbs and is 5'1. He's always been a "big" kid for his age
and I suspect always will be, his father is 6'3 and a hefty
guy. the Dr who is semi-new to us has pre diagnosed Dallas
as having juvenile diabetes(t1). What I mean by pre
diagnosed is we have a bloodworkup and screening tomorrow
morning, Dallas will have to fast and then go to do the lab
work, then I guess in a day or so we will see where it all
stands. The dr bases his assumption on several things, the
weight loss/gain yo-yo of course being the primary symptom.
Secondly was the fatigue and cravings he almost *always*
has. Third, he looked at Dal's skin and I'm not sure what
he concluded from that, he said something about brown
patches, especially on his knuckles and at his throat. I'm
not sure what all that was about, I have not seen anything
about that on diabetes websites I've visited. But he does
have them. Fourth and Fifth he has constant thirst and
frequent urination (I'm sorta used to him being thirsty all
the time and carrying a drink with him almost non stop and
having to go pee 100 times a day) Six, the binge/closet
eating/cravings that I've try to brush off as "a phase" or
as "that's just Dallas" for so long.

On top of this of course as I've mentioned before Dallas is
ADHD(no flames please, he's been screened and I'm very
secure with the dx of ADHD and yes I realize that it's
over-dx'ed and over-rx'ed, and no I'm not a lazy mother who
doesn't discipline her child)

And on top of that Dallas has encopresis - which we are
treating with therapy and routine meds to assist his bm's.

*sigh*
I felt like a ton of bricks was dropped on me when the Dr
said "juvenile diabetes"
I felt sick and stupid. How come I didn't recognize this
and why wasn't it diagnosed sooner?
After all my time spent changing my WOE to what it is
today, why am I blind to what was obviously right in front
of me in my son. I know it's dumb to beat myself up like
this, but I have to wonder where I messed up. Mark reacted
a bit differently which ****ed me off too, he was pretty
nonchalant about it and passed if off with a "if he ate
better.." speech which I could have done without a f*cking
lecture at that particular moment. I may have said 2 words
all night after that.

Dallas doesn't know much about diabetes yet and we have
briefly touched on the subject so far, about how his eating
habits will need to change. How he will need to start
taking on more exercise with me than he does now(he walks
with me almost 3x a week) I guess once we find out more
from the lab work we can move further into diet and
exercise for him.

I don't really have many questions for you guys, except..
anyone have links or resources for me on this issue? and
anyone have a child with t1 diabetes? If/when we get a dx
of t1 on him, should I seek the advice of a nutritionist?
endo? which type of help should I get in that area? If its
t1 I don't think I will feel comfortable with just our
family dr.

Thanks gang for listening. I've gotta go now and dream up
something for dinner.

Susan
280/191/165(mini)/140



Sorry to hear, but the sooner you know the sooner you can deal
with it. I was a fat kid too, but when I was 12 at 5'9 I was
140, so he must be pretty far into the obesity range.

My mother used to say I was big-boned (I'm not), or I had
"baby fat" (11 years later). It would have been better for me
if she'd said, you're fat and you're going to have social
ridicule and poor quality of life your whole short life if you
don't make some changes. Instead, she bought the junk food I
demanded and enabled me to continue gaining. I wish she'd
given me more "tough love."

Anyway, good luck with the tests.

Hark! I heard "susanjoneslewis" say:

Dallas, my 11 year old son went to the dr yesterday for a checkup and a
refill on his allergy meds. Dal weighs 170 lbs and is 5'1. He's always
been a "big" kid for his age and I suspect always will be, his father is
6'3 and a hefty guy. the Dr who is semi-new to us has pre diagnosed
Dallas as having juvenile diabetes(t1). What I mean by pre diagnosed is
we have a bloodworkup and screening tomorrow morning,

snip

*sigh*
I felt like a ton of bricks was dropped on me when the Dr said "juvenile
diabetes"
I felt sick and stupid. How come I didn't recognize this and why wasn't
it diagnosed sooner?
After all my time spent changing my WOE to what it is today, why am I
blind to what was obviously right in front of me in my son. I know it's
dumb to beat myself up like this, but I have to wonder where I messed
up.

I had many of the same symptoms last Winter (including the thirst
and urination), and even though I've had gestational diabetes in the
past, it *still* didn't sink into my head to check it out. And that's
my own body; you're second guessing the symptoms of someone else. So
please don't feel so bad -- now that you know, you're trying to get
him the best medical care, and that's the most important part.

Mark reacted a bit differently which ****ed me off too, he was
pretty nonchalant about it and passed if off with a "if he ate better.."
speech which I could have done without a f*cking lecture at that
particular moment. I may have said 2 words all night after that.

No offense to Mark, but he's speaking out of ignorance. If Dallas
really is Type1, he didn't get it from his eating habits -- I'm
99% sure that it is hereditary, not environmental. For more info,
here is a good source:

http://www.diabetes.org/type-1-diabetes.jsp

I don't really have many questions for you guys, except.. anyone have
links or resources for me on this issue? and anyone have a child with t1
diabetes? If/when we get a dx of t1 on him, should I seek the advice of
a nutritionist? endo? which type of help should I get in that area? If
its t1 I don't think I will feel comfortable with just our family dr.

I would seek an Internist -- I'm fairly certain that this is in their
area of expertise (that's who I go to). My local hospital offers classes
in nutrition and diabetes management; maybe yours does too? Your current
doctor should refer you to them if indeed your son is diabetic.

Best of luck, Susan, and please keep us posted...


--
J.J. in WA ~ mom, vid gamer, novice cook ~
(COLD to HOT for e-mail)
"Why do my knees feel like the wanna tear up?"
- Carl, ATHF

On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 04:15:05 GMT, OceanView wrote:

Sorry to hear, but the sooner you know the sooner you can deal
with it. I was a fat kid too, but when I was 12 at 5'9 I was
140, so he must be pretty far into the obesity range.

It's hard to see how you could have been fat at 140 and 5'9".

Chris
262/145/ (145-150)

Susan, I'm so sorry to hear this and can't even imagine how you must
be feeling. I don't think diabetes is one of the things you would
tend to look for in kids, despite all the recent publicity about the
increasing numbers due to poor diet, although from what I understand
diet may not be the cause of this type which presumably makes it
different from early onset of adult type diabetes which is apparently
starting to show up in younger kids.
You really need to decide what to do next after you get a definite
diagnosis. Do let us know how things go. This is really tough for
you and your family.

janice



On Wed, 23 Jun 2004 23:19:23 GMT, "susanjoneslewis"
wrote:

Dallas, my 11 year old son went to the dr yesterday for a checkup and a
refill on his allergy meds. Dal weighs 170 lbs and is 5'1. He's always
been a "big" kid for his age and I suspect always will be, his father is
6'3 and a hefty guy. the Dr who is semi-new to us has pre diagnosed
Dallas as having juvenile diabetes(t1).

On 6/23/2004 7:19 PM, susanjoneslewis wrote:

Thanks gang for listening. I've gotta go now and dream up something for
dinner.

Susan
280/191/165(mini)/140


Susan, if there is anything that we can do to help, please let us know.
We are all here for you.

--
jmk in NC

On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 04:15:05 GMT, OceanView wrote:




Sorry to hear, but the sooner you know the sooner you can deal
with it. I was a fat kid too, but when I was 12 at 5'9 I was
140, so he must be pretty far into the obesity range.


I too am sorry to hear this and wish Susan the best coping with it.



My mother used to say I was big-boned (I'm not), or I had
"baby fat" (11 years later). It would have been better for me
if she'd said, you're fat and you're going to have social
ridicule and poor quality of life your whole short life if you
don't make some changes. Instead, she bought the junk food I
demanded and enabled me to continue gaining. I wish she'd
given me more "tough love."

Anyway, good luck with the tests.


Well, my mother DID say I was fat, that I shouldn't sit in her good
chairs because I'd break them, that I'd have trouble in life, etc...,
etc... etc... ad nauseum.

It certainly didn't help me any. I mean, I was living it, and I knew
about the social ridicule... which I probably would've gotten, fat or
not, as I was a shy kid, sensitive and artistic. (And I wasn't all
that fat as a kid... in high school, at 5'7", I was about 140 pounds.)

What it did to me was make me grow up feeling unloved, lonely and
horribly unhappy. And it didn't stop me eating. If anything, I
probably ate more for comfort. And I sneaked food. No, mom did not buy
*me* junk food, but she did buy things like Doritos, nuts, chips, ice
cream for my dad. And believe me, I found them and sneaked them, no
matter how well they were hidden.

And I ate extra of things like bread, butter, peanut butter, etc...
that were generally around the house.

Kids aren't stupid... they know when they are fat. Believe me, they
hear about it from school acquaintances, or just see they are
different from the norm. Telling them the consequences makes a
difference only a small percent of the time.

Just like telling kids the consequences of smoking or drinking or
unprotected sex or drugs keeps all kids from trying that.

I'm not saying that it isn't a good thing to let kids know what the
consequences are, but assume they are smart enough to know in many
cases. Harping on something like this often gets the opposite results
from what you want.

That said, your mom should not have continued to buy you junk food!
And it may not have helped to foster any illusions about your weight.


I feel for Susan and her son... it's easy for things to get out of
hand and now that they are, her son is gonna go through a tough time
adjusting to new dietary restrictions. And if he doesn't adjust, the
consequences are pretty bad.

However, at least Susan has learned for herself... and she can now
offer help to her son and support. She might also consider looking for
support groups for young folk with diabetes... that might give her son
a place to "air it out" when he needs to.

Cynthia