About

In 2009, at 14 months of age, our son developed type 1 diabetes. Our (then) pediatricians failed to put the symptoms together, so we self-diagnosed with help from Erik’s co-worker, whose son was also diagnosed as a toddler. We were discovering that: type 1 is often not recognized in children this young, and that we’d entered a larger family where people we barely knew would be helping us along with advice and support.

Parenting a kiddo with type 1 who can’t yet talk or be self-reflective (“little drunk people,” a friend of Erik’s calls toddlers) has its own challenges. With more children being diagnosed at an earlier age, it’s sadly becoming a more common one. Luckily, there are bloggers out there sharing their experiences as parents of young ones with type 1, parents to older kids who’ve let me imagine Lukas growing up as a happy kid, and adults who give me hope that he’ll have a chance at a reasonable chunk of adult life to look forward to. Adding our experiences here to the mix, for others looking for a bit of companionship and points of comparison – we’re not alone.