Ask Our Team
I have a 20 year old daughter with type 1, She has had diabetes since she was 12. She was in ok control. Her A1c's was about 8.6 or around. She is living away from hm, for the first time. We got a terrible result of an 11.1 .She is planning a mission trip to India for two weeks in Sept. What advice do you have for me. As a concerned mother I want to say she cant go .She is not in good enough control.Am I crazy ?
Responses
Ginger Vieira says
You are definitely NOT crazy. If she can't acknowledge the huge importance of managing her diabetes, and making diabetes a priority, then it is simply unsafe for her to be traveling until that issue is addressed. In my opinion, diabetes is not negotiable. She either manages her diabetes as well as she can (no one is perfect, of course), or she pays the consequences. The fact that her A1c has made it's way to 11.1 shows very clear neglect. An 11.1 A1C doesn't happen by accident. There are too many people in the world who get into a comfortable habit of neglecting their diabetes when their young only to pay the price later on. She needs to know that this is not okay, and that diabetes has to be a priority in her life.
The first step: ask her why she isn't managing her diabetes. Maybe there is an underlying emotional struggle she's facing, and she needs some support to work through it. It's not uncommon for teens/college students with diabetes to go through this, but it shouldn't be taken lightly either.
Listen to your motherly instinct and do what you feel is best for your daughter.
Gary Scheiner says
Before assuming that the trip would be dangerous for her, there are a few questions to ask. Specifically, why is the A1c up so much? Is she neglecting to take insulin? Are there weight/body image issues? Is she not monitoring her blood sugar? These types of things should be addressed before she goes on a trip outside the country. If she's just been sloppy about bolusing, not counting carbs right, etc, then the trip should not pose any major threat. She just needs to focus a bit more attention on taking care of herself.
Alicia H. McAuliffe-Fogarty says
This is a difficult situation because your child is no longer "a child" ....she is a young adult. First and foremost she needs to meet with her diabetes team ASAP. They can problem solve together issues she is having. And from there, together with her diabetes team, she can discuss safety concerns as well as try to figure out how to get into better control (i.e., going on a pump, refresher in carb counting, re-evaluating basal insulin). Once you get her diabetes team involved she can make an educates decision of what to do.
