My daughter was diagnosed because of #WearBlueforDiabetes

In December, we heard of a young girl diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes because of the #WearBlueforDiabetes & Know the 5 campaign we ran in November for National Diabetes Month. Obviously, we wanted to find out all the details! Here they are…

Your daughter was recently diagnosed. Could you tell us what happened?

Late last year, in November 2023, my daughter had flu twice in the same month and didn’t seem to recover completely. I had to pick her up from school as she could not cope. This was weird as her immune system is usually very strong and recovers quickly.

Then I started noticing that she was losing a bit of weight. It seemed normal, because she was taking part in a lot of sports activities at school. Once schools closed, in the first week of holidays, I noticed that she was drinking a whole lot of water and going to the toilet frequently. The water intake kept increasing to even up to 4 litres a day and even at night she would go to bed with a litre or 2 litres of water.

One day she said to me, “Mommy, I think I may have diabetes. I have the same symptoms as I saw on a pamphlet during diabetes awareness at school.”

Symptoms of diabetes

I dismissed it and told her she does not have diabetes. A week later, she had lost even more weight and clothes were getting really loose and she really looked exhausted. I remember asking her if she was tired,  as she was also sleeping a lot. She looked tired and she kept saying no each time.

On the 17^th December, I became even more concerned as she woke up looking even thinner. I spoke to her and said we need to go to the doctor on Monday morning. Monday we went to the Dr and her blood glucose level was 29.9 mmol/l (extremely high). The doctor made the diagnosis and referred us to a paediatrician in hospital and she was admitted.

Did you know the 5 symptoms of diabetes before this?

Yes, we knew them, as her father is also diabetic and had the same symptoms prior to diagnosis.

How did your daughter learn the symptoms of diabetes?

They had a #WearBlueForDiabetes campaign at her school on the 14^th November. The campaign was about promoting and knowing the 5 symptoms of diabetes.

How are you managing now?

It’s very hard. At first it was so painful, and we could not believe it. We are taking it one day at a time and learning every day. However, more than anything she is striving, and she has been very strong.

What makes your life sweet?

Just knowing that she is strong and is not sad everyday, and she is willing to learn about the condition and is getting stronger everyday.

Do you have an inspiring story to share? Please reach out on Facebook, or email us!

What to read next?

WearBlueforDiabetes & Know the 5: All we want to do is spark interest in why people are wearing blue, and share the 5 symptoms of diabetes.

Let’s talk about telling all the stories of diabetes: There is no one face of diabetes, each story is different.. We need to tell all the stories.

Let’s talk about… The difference between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes: Bridget McNulty, Sweet Life co-founder talks about something personal related to diabetes… This month she’s tackling the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.