On March 1st, Our Lives Changed Forever: A Type 1 Diabetes Diagnosis Story
Nicole Pihana, Mother of a T1D Child • April 22, 2019
TL;DR
When six-year-old Lala began showing symptoms like extreme thirst, frequent urination, fatigue, and bedwetting, her family initially suspected a urinary tract infection. Days later, they received the life-changing news that she had type 1 diabetes, with blood sugar levels exceeding 700 mg/dL. This powerful story follows a mother’s perspective as she navigates fear, guilt, and uncertainty while watching her daughter respond to her diagnosis with remarkable courage, resilience, and strength.
Lala was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on March 1, 2018
My Lala girl has always been an uplifted high-spirited little girl. She will talk to anyone and say the darndest things to make people laugh. She is forever pranking her siblings just to get a laugh or dancing around the house, copying everything her older sister does.
But about 2 weeks prior to her diagnosis, she was sleeping a lot which was very out of the normal. Lala would consistently want to eat or complain that she was hungry. I honestly did not think anything of it until we took a little weekend getaway to Grand Junction, Colorado.
Lala needed to stop and use the restroom literally every 5 minutes. Both her dad and I thought she just wanted to just stop at every convenience store to see what she could bribe her dad into buying her.
On the last day of our vacation, Lala had wet the bed and her urine also started to have a foul odor. It did not even cross my mind that she was showing any signs of diabetes. I thought she had a UTI (urinary tract infection).
That Monday, I took Lala in for a routine doctor’s visit to see if she had a UTI. A urine screening was done, along with some lab work. I was told everything on the urine screening was normal and we would hear from someone once her lab results were back.
On Thursday March 1st, 2018 our lives changed forever.
I received a call while at work from Lala’s doctor’s office. Upon answering the call, I did not think anything of it. I received these types of calls all the time and nothing serious ever came out of it. All I can remember when I answered that call was them saying to bring Lala in to the hospital right away. I literally dropped to my knees and felt tears coming down my eyes.
The first thought that came to my head was that I failed as a parent. I already knew why I needed to take her to the hospital. I was in complete shock and denial that I honestly didn’t hear anything else after that. I remember my coworkers picking me up off the ground and asking me what was going on. I couldn’t say anything other than I had to go.
Lala’s dad is normally away Monday through Friday, however, he was heading home early and was on his way to surprise the kids and pick them up from school. I remember thinking how am I going to explain this, how am I going to tell my spouse that our worst nightmare came true. We did routine blood work every year and made sure our kids were active and healthy.
Explaining Type 1 Diabetes to a Young Child
The most heartbreaking thing I had to think of was how do I explain to a 6-year-old that her world is going to be changed forever without breaking her little heart. I literally could not even think in that moment all I knew was that I needed to get to my baby and protect her and let her know it will be a tough journey, but everything would be alright. I knew how it was going to feel. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at just 8 years old.
We were admitted to children’s hospital for 3 days. Upon arrival, we were informed that Lala’s glucose was over 700 and they couldn’t figure out how Lala was still walking around and comprehending things. Lala took her diagnosis on like the strong girl she is and began to test her sugars and even gave her own shots before we left the hospital.
Adjusting to Life After a Type 1 Diabetes Diagnosis
Lala is my HERO, my motivation and my reason to never give up. She has risen above all difficulties and challenges that she has faced. We are happy to be celebrating Lala’s 1st Diaversary with no hospitalizations and happy to say Lala is on a
continuous glucose monitor and working her way to an insulin pump. Lala continues to live life the way she wants to and is happy to be a
Children’s Diabetes Foundation Advocate. She wants all children and people who live with this disease to know that when all else fails, we have each other.
