For a vast majority of parents, their child's diagnosis comes as a complete shock. Since the majority of people who deal with diabetes are often adults dealing with Type 2, most people's frame of reference is not a little child or a teen who suddenly becomes thin and ill. Some parents are astute enough (or have experience) to recognize the symptoms early; for them, diagnosis day may be a bit less frightening but just as upsetting. How your day goes will depend on how you came to recognize the disease.

Early Diagnosis

For parents who recognized the symptoms (many are medical professionals or have close relatives with diabetes), diagnosis day can occur before a medical crisis ever happens. Parents who know the symptoms—excessive thirst, frequent urination, and rapid weight loss—often receive the first real sign with the results of a home blood glucose test or a quick call to the pediatrician. Some children have even been diagnosed with blood sugars still in the high 100s, and the lower the blood sugar at diagnosis, the less stressful the immediate impact.

There are many benefits of an early diagnosis. First, your child's blood sugar will be brought down quite easily with a dose of insulin at the doctor's office. Second, early diagnosis often means a longer honeymoon period (see Chapter 14 for details). Your child may not have lost an excessive amount of weight, meaning he won't have to work at gaining it back. You may also avoid the trauma of doctors working to bring your child out of diabetic ketoacidosis (see Chapter 5 for details), a condition that, left untreated, can lead to a coma and even death.

Parents who recognize symptoms sometimes have family members or friends who have a child with diabetes. In this case, your most important tool, a support system, may be in place from the start. Let this family member or friend talk you through the whole diagnosis experience. Such help is priceless.

Later Diagnosis

For a vast majority of families, the diagnosis comes once the disease is further along. With children, diabetes is not something parents regularly consider. Although many diabetes groups are doing their best to educate the public about the symptoms of diabetes and how to recognize them, it simply is not common knowledge.

For some parents, the first hint comes from a school nurse, a teacher, or a coach. They may notice your child taking excessive bathroom breaks or going to the water fountain constantly. In the case of teachers or coaches, this may come as a criticism rather than an alert to possible trouble. Remember, they probably have as little knowledge of diabetes symptoms as you had. Be thankful that they let you know what was going on, no matter what their tone was.

Parents of toddlers and babies begin to notice that their children constantly have heavy, wet diapers and quickly drink their bottles and juice boxes. Parents of older children notice bedwetting, weight loss, and even behavior changes.

Yet, for many parents, all these signs can be written off to other causes. Parents of young children can think it is the stress of starting school. Some think that bedwetting is simply a retention issue. The behavior problems that can come from the irritability a child feels with high blood sugar are often assumed to be displays of attitude. Parents have even punished their children for these displays, not realizing that it was really a symptom of a disease.

Many diagnoses happen at annual checkups (thus the high incidence of children being diagnosed on or around their birth-days). Your pediatrician should check blood sugar and dip urine for ketones annually. Some parents, even those with no background in children and diabetes, report that as soon as the pediatrician's office tells them of their suspicions, all the pieces of the puzzle come together. It's a tough moment when you realize that your child has been critically ill right under your nose. More than one parent has not been able to hold it together at that time. If you got very upset, even in front of your child, forgive yourself and explain to your child that you were frightened for a moment and cried out, just as he or she sometimes does.