Feature Friday: Sarah & Grayson

Feature Friday: Sarah and Grayson!

 

Today’s Feature Friday is with Sarah and Grayson! I’m Sarah, and my son Grayson is T1. We live in Auckland, New Zealand. Grayson (5), is an outgoing, fun and happy boy that loves being outside, playing basketball, golf, doing parkour, being with his big brother Noah (8),and playing with our dog Kaia. I’m a stay at home mum that works part-time. As a family, we love going on bushwalks and spending time with our friends and family. Grayson was diagnosed just before he turned 4, so nearly 1.5 years ago!

Diagnosis

Just before covid hit NZ last year we noticed Grayson was always tired, always hungry, had an extreme thirst, having toilet accidents, and the occasional dizzy spell. After he started waking in the night, to guzzle 2 cups of water, I took him to our doctor. Of course I had looked on the internet to see what those symptoms could be. Type 1 diabetes came up and I dismissed it as we have no family history. The doctor took a BG reading and it was 24mmol. We were sent straight to hospital where we stayed for 5 nights. The doctors said another week and he would have possibly been in DKA – I was so grateful to have caught it early.

Initial Thoughts

I was momentarily in disbelief when they told us he had Type 1 Diabetes. He was a healthy, active little boy. When I learned more about how his life would change from that moment on, I felt sad for him but knowing his personality I knew he could cope.

School & T1

I was very stressed about Grayson starting school. He got an insulin pump late last year, which I hoped would be easier not only for and Grayson, but also the staff at school. We did training with them and we set up a detailed plan about his care. They are in constant contact with me while he’s there so I still manage his diabetes. Grayson knows how to use his pump so he only needs supervision for the amounts to bolus and then treatment for any highs and lows. It’s been 3 months since he started and so far it’s going pretty well.

Grayson is very resilient and doesn’t let his Type 1 interfere with anything he wants to do.

Thriving with Diabetes

Thrive to me means living your life with no boundaries, being happy, healthy, and feeling secure in who you are Thriving with Type 1 for us means keeping Grayson’s levels in a normal range while continuing to do anything and everything he wants to do. No limits!

What works for Grayson:

I wish I had been told earlier that lower carb can give you way more control of Type 1, it’s so much easier to be in charge and keep levels in range. Without a looped system pump, we are in a sense, Grayson’s pancreas – so it’s been less stressful to see his levels not spiking with super highs anymore.

Words of Hope

My words of encouragement: It does get easier as you learn more and there is a lovely, understanding diabetic community out there that is willing to lend support and help when you need it – wherever you are – just reach out. Being part of the online diabetic community has been great for my personal well-being as a parent of a type 1 child. It’s been great to see and share our story with others going through the same things. It’s also been lovely for Grayson to see there are so many other children that have to cope with this disease – he is not alone.

Sarah

1 thought on “Feature Friday: Sarah & Grayson”

  1. Pingback: Feature Friday: Skiy & Vera - Thriving Diabetic

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