Type1 Superstar ✨Ollie✨

The worst day of my life! 3 years ago today!

The 15th of February 2021.

Ollie had said to me a few days earlier that he was so thirsty and nothing could quench his thirst. He told me he was constantly going to the toilet. I told him that it would be expected that if he drank lots of water, of course he would be going to the toilet more often.

‘No mum! This is different’

I did a quick Google search and each response was …
Type 1 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes.
‘Well it’s not that!’ I thought to myself. I always thought diabetes was for older people who didn’t eat the right foods. Ollie eats well, exercises and he’s healthy?! Ignored Google.

Sunday during his football game he looked lethargic and I said to Jason ‘Do you think he looks like he’s lost weight?’
‘YES!’

Sunday night he calls me into his room before bed.
‘Mum! There’s something wrong with me!’

It was at that moment that my heart sank and thought ‘No 15 year old boy says that! Something is wrong!’

We talked together about everything that’s been happening and things that have changed and wrote them down.

Cramps, increased urination, thirst, sunken eyes, narrow in the face, lethargy and we got him to jump on the scales and he had lost 5kg! 😳

I said to him that my gut instinct is saying to go to emergency but he didn’t want to. So I made a deal with him that we call 13 Health and if they say to go to hospital with all of these symptoms then we follow their direction. (knowing full well that 13 Health are usually extra precautious)

I was wrong! 😳 They said he would be fine overnight and did not need to go to emergency.

The next morning I was beside myself as he seemed to have gone down hill even further and so I frantically called around to all the local doctors, however, no one would squeeze him in!

We tried one last place where we had not even been before! The lady on the phone gave up her own personal appointment for Ollie! We took him straight to the Pullenvale doctors.

After a quick check of the ketones and his blood glucose levels the doctor appeared panicked and shocked at what she saw. I didn’t understand. Neither of us did.

‘Your son has diabetes! You need to get him to hospital now!’

She picked up the phone and called 000 and had the children’s hospital on the other line. The ambulance and hospital said we didn’t have time to wait for the ambulance and that we would need to drive and to leave immediately! She kept asking Ollie if he was okay amd said to me it’s amazing he’s still Standing.

I didn’t understand.
I didn’t understand what the rush was nor what diabetes was.

We drive straight to the hospital and went straight in to the acute area. I asked them ‘why is this so urgent? What’s happening?’

‘Your son is hours away from being in a coma and in ICU!’ 😳
‘He needs insulin’

Those days in hospital were long. The pain of hearing your son has a life long medical condition is just heart breaking. The information we had to learn (Jason, via Skype as he was away for work) was like studying and cramming a Bachelor of science and nursing in short week. My brain was fried!

Every night I lay awake panicking and checking he was still breathing. I was so scared I would lose him.

To have your baby wake each morning and ask you
‘Mumma, have you found a cure?’

My heart was broken! I couldn’t smile. I told Jason that I could never smile again! I didn’t want to leave him. I checked his levels every 5 minutes (which I know now is ridiculous) to the point where the educator said I was banned from checking his levels lol

Then came the next diagnosis of coeliac! And he HATES it! Can it get any worse! 😢

For my baby just to put food in his mouth, he had to work out how many carbs he was about to eat (and even what sort of carbs because it depends on the type of carbs to how you work out the doses) then had to stick a needle into his finger and check his blood glucose levels, work out the correction to get it back into range using the formula given and then work out how many units of insulin would be needed. Then he had to inject himself with the insulin once he worked out how many units he needed.

After one day, the poor kid had had enough 😢 it was so traumatic! Unfortunately though, this was his new normal!

Every day for the rest of his life - this is it! I’m damn determined to find that cure though! I’d sell my house and live in a caravan to pay for Ollie’s cure if there was one!

Although I have days of sadness where my heart breaks at the thought of the life my Ollie once had. That worry free spark that shined in his eyes. I am super grateful for the life we have now too.

I am SO damn proud of Ollie and his resilience and perseverance to beat this damn thing. We try so damn hard to keep in range but with raging hormones it’s like a constant battle but he does his best and that’s all I can ask.

Every week Diabetes throws us a curve ball, sometimes daily but you know what? We’ve got this and we’re going to kick it’s ass!

Today we celebrated with some gluten free donuts in iso 😂

If you’re still reading this, I appreciate your time ❤️ Thank you! There’s one more thing …

Type 1 is not caused by diet or exercise and it’s not contagious. Its an autoimmune disease and ANYONE can get it and it is on the rise! It’s not something he can help and there is no cure at the moment. Every day can be a struggle and he never gets time off! He has around 7 needles in his stomach a day and inserting the constant glucose monitors into his arm is an awful thing to have to do to your child 😢 The awful highs and the scary lows, especially the ones that you pray he doesn’t have a seizure like the other kids you hear about. It’s all so scary some days.
I’m proud of my boy who now wants to help others with diabetes and become a diabetic educator!

PLEASE know the signs as this could save someone’s life!!!!!

THIRST TOILET *TIRED *WEIGHT LOSS ❤️