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Episode 1: Meet Jacqui and hear Harvey's Diagnosis Story
8 Plays22 minutes ago
Welcome to the Type 1 Club - a podcast brought to you by the the Type 1 Foundation.
In this episode Jacqui (your host) will share her personal experience and story of how her child Harvey was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in June 2022.
Through the power of stories and experiences we aim to raise awareness not only for early detection but also to highlight the day to day challenges of a Type 1 Diabetic.
Jacqui will bring you regular podcast episodes to help educate, empower and inspire others on her families journey of navigating Type 1.
To make sure that you don't miss the next episode please like and subscribe. If you found this episode of value we would love for you to leave us a review.
Further Resources
Type 1 Foundation
Instagram
Type 1 Foundation Facebook Group
Transcript
Introduction and Purpose
00:00:00
Speaker
The content provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.
00:00:23
Speaker
Welcome to the Type 1 Club. Whether you're a parent grappling with a new diagnosis, a caregiver seeking guidance, or simply someone wanting to learn more about Type 1 Diabetes, this podcast is for you. Together, let's dispel myths, break down barriers and build a community of understanding and resilience. Join us as we embark on this journey together. Because with knowledge, compassion and support, no one should ever feel alone in managing Type 1 diabetes. Welcome to the Type 1 Club.
00:01:02
Speaker
Welcome.
Meet the Hosts: Jackie and Angelistan
00:01:03
Speaker
Welcome to recording one of our new podcast, the Type 1 Club. The Type 1 Club. Yeah, he yeah. I am Jackie Kidman. And I'm Angelistan McCauley. And we have come together as initially two Type 1 mums, and we've come together to share our story, inspire, educate, validate,
00:01:31
Speaker
in Empower. Yes. All the words. We've been writing down a list of of the words.
Children's Diagnosis Stories
00:01:37
Speaker
Empower. Current type one families, people with type one and I guess future and we are like so excited to be doing this because this is something that we've been wanting to do for some time now we've been like thinking about it but we are finally here and we're here for you because we want you to feel understood and to know that you're not alone on this journey and that we're just like you we're two type one mums who have had both had children diagnosed and we are living in the different stages of diagnosis
00:02:11
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I'm 10 years in and Jackie is... I will be to coming up to two years. Coming up to two years. So 20 months. Yeah. Not that I can.
00:02:22
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yeah And I just hit the big 10-year diversity, which is always big. I can imagine. like and Each year, I think, would be it's a milestone, isn't it? But when you get to the double digits, it must hit differently. It really does. And for those of you out there that are in similar stages, we hope that you get something out of this podcast and to understand to know that you know we're just like you and we felt the feelings that you feel whether it's just nearly diagnosed or whether you've been like me doing this for a while. So we thought to kick it off we would share our
Jackie's Journey to Diagnosis
00:02:56
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stories. um I think it's something really empowering when you are able to sit and sit with someone and share your story of
00:03:08
Speaker
when your child was diagnosed and the feelings that came up. And I guess a lot of people might kind of resonate with that. I know that when I hear people's stories or read people's stories, I really kind of resonate and it makes me feel less alone. I think that's the important kind of thing as well.
00:03:25
Speaker
yeah It probably is one of the hardest times that nearly diagnosed age when you're in hospital and I know we've all been there and you googling and you're trying to find out the cure and trying to find out is anyone else there out there like me. So Jackie tell us a little bit about your story and and what it felt like and how did you know that Harvey had type one. Take us back to that moment. Take you back. Okay, so I've got two boys. I've got a 11-year-old, Jimmy, and Harvey, who is currently eight, almost turning nine. And he had just celebrated his seventh birthday. And my husband and I had just sort of said to each other, we had a 10-year-old and a seven-year-old, and just sort of said to each other, gosh, things are just starting to
00:04:15
Speaker
get a bit easier, are they? You know, like our kids are just starting to be a bit more independent. They, you know, are going for play dates and sleepovers and starting to walk to school together. You're getting a bit of you back. And that really then backfired.
00:04:34
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um So I remember it was the start of the year and Harvey started wedding the bed again. And he'd sort of been sort of fully tall, it trained for a long time, but the bedwetting sort of took him a little bit longer. He's quite a deep sleeper. um they're Quite out of character. Quite out of character. Yes. So, um you know, then it started off sort of once or twice a week and then it sort of built up quite quickly to now it started around Easter. So the bedwetting started around Easter. Yeah. And um so that was around April. And then it just got more and more frequent. And to the point that
00:05:12
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he would wet the bed three times before midnight. And wow I was sort of like, there's something not right. I kind of troubleshooted a little bit and... Dr. Google? a du No, i didn't I didn't actually Dr. Google. I didn't Dr. Google. I took him to a chiropractor thinking maybe there was something going on there just because I'd had some other experience with chiropractic.
Facing the New Reality
00:05:33
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And they had, I know that they worked with children for bedwetting.
00:05:37
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And the chiropractor, beautiful Alla, she actually said to me while we were there, Harvey went to the toilet twice for a 15 minute appointment, basically went to the toilet twice. And she said to me, Alla is actually type one. And she said to me, wow, how often how how often is he going to the toilet? And I was sort of like, you know,
00:06:01
Speaker
It sort of just seems normal to me. He does he does used to go to the toilet a lot anyway. He probably still does. But it was kind of like the urgency was more, yeah to be honest. and And she just said, oh, I might just give you a buzz a little bit later. And I was like, oh, OK. And then I thought instantly, oh, I bet you she's thinking he's got Type 1. So you thought that at the time. Yeah. I remember talking to my husband that night and saying, this is what Ella said. And I think she thinks he might have Type 1. Yeah. so And you're aware of type one at the time. Yes. So my sister's niece on her husband's side yeah is actually type one. So I've had a little bit of experience, but nothing like what I currently do yeah a little bit. I understood a little bit. understood I understood the four, you know, sort of the thirst, but he was an extra thirsty.
00:06:52
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I understood the weight loss, but he hadn't lost any weight, but probably hadn't put on weight. Do you know what I mean? And I understood the fatigue, but he didn't seem extra tired to me. And obviously then the frequent urination and the bedwetting.
00:07:08
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So the bed wedding was something that was very out of character. Very out of character. Like a regression sort of type thing where you'd gone back to bed. Yeah, yeah. And if you ever wet the bed, there's a little child. A little bit, but nothing to that extent. So basically within sort of five days of that initial conversation I'd had with Ella,
00:07:28
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we were in hospital. So I made an appointment with the I think the night before he'd wet the bed and we'd pretty much run out of sheets like and he had a you know a wet mattress we had towels down I was like I don't know how else to you know, ah we can't get going on like this. So I took him to the GP. I couldn't get into my normal GP until the following Monday, but I was like, no, I need to go today. So I picked him up from... Did you have that motherly gut instinct? Yeah, I knew I couldn't wait till Monday. I was like, no, no, I'm not.
00:08:00
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continuing to do this. I mean, I had like washing everywhere. It was winter. It was all over the house, like sheets and towels. And I was just like, I was tripped back and forth to the laundromat. That's what I was doing because we had so much like just it was just that that much. So then we, yeah, we went to the GP and I ah just explained to her what was going on. And she sort of silently like just listened and like, OK. And then she said, oh, yeah, OK. Well, we might just do. Do you think you'll be able to do?
00:08:31
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a a urine sample and I'm like, yeah, I think he will. I never said at the time, I think he has diabetes. I didn't say those words out loud. Oh, you didn't know. But you you told her the symptoms. I told her the symptoms and just prayed in my head that it wasn't. It was wrong. What was, yeah. And so I... Do you feel like you knew though? Definitely. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely knew that before.
00:09:00
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probably even before the chiropractic appointment. I definitely felt like I knew. What about his behavior? Was that different? No, no, not for us. Nothing. Like, and I know that there, I know that there's, um, that can, like, there are, oh yeah but that's the thing with us. It was the only symptom was the bedwetting. So at the GP and explained, and then we did a urine sample and then we waited in the little nurses section and the GP went and she was seeing other,
00:09:30
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other patients. ah So we just did the urine sample thinking maybe there's like some sort of bacteria, you know, or I don't know. And then the nurse didn't say much. She just said, Oh, what, what's she looking for? And I said, Oh, I don't know. I think like, I think some sort of bacteria or something, or like maybe it's a UTI, not knowing now that's very, ah very unusual for boys to get UTIs. Yes. so And so she didn't say much. And she was doing, you know, now I know she's measuring the color of the glucose stick. And she was sort of looking at it like that. And then she just kind of said, oh yeah, no bacteria. And then she kind of walked off. And so I was like, okay, will that sit then? i guess I guess that's us. i've got a you know I'll go and pay and I'll go and wait for the blood test. So we're getting then going to go and get a blood test.
00:10:18
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I didn't know that you could pick it up on a urine sample. That's how naive I was. I didn't know that you could pick up the high the high sugars. yes So she'd actually gone and got the doctor to say that his sugars are high. yeah Like it's showing that he's got sugar in his urine. So I was at the counter paying and the doctor came up and said, Jackie, you need to come back. And I was like, okay.
00:10:43
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I reckon from that moment, everything went slow mo. Yeah. Like I can remember the walk. I can remember my breath becoming quite shallow. I can remember saying to myself, hold it together. You know, you've got this little seven year old that needs you. And I was just like, she just said, look, it's showing that he's got sugar in his urine. So we're going to do a finger prick. And I was sort of like, OK.
00:11:07
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You know, yeah and I remember him sitting on my lap and because I was already getting emotional yeah as I am now, Ben saying to me, just going to prick your finger and it's just going to draw some blood. And he was just like.
00:11:18
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you know, like, you know, he was getting a little bit, he was obviously feeding off me. And then they, and they use those really harsh ones, but not not like the ones that we have now that is like these delicate sort of finger prick. Oh, when you do it, yeah, really, and it's quite a loud click. So he did that, like they did, they did the finger prick and then they did the glucose test. And he had a reading of 22.
00:11:45
Speaker
And for me, that didn't mean anything either. It was just a number. I was just like, oh, okay. You know, still thinking maybe it's just a virus. Maybe it's just something that has sent his sugars high. So then they said, you know, his sugars are really high. You need to go to emergency. And so I was like, oh, okay. You know, it was, um, I remember timing my, my, my doctor's appointment really well to then just go straight to school, pick up, to pick up my other boy. And I also had, ah I was at a birthday cake in the, in the oven.
00:12:14
Speaker
because it was my oldest boy's birthday that weekend. I remember thinking, Oh God, you know, we've got, we've got the party. This, you know, like I was just sort of rushing ahead. i Yeah. Like, what do you mean? You know, like, and I was just like, who can I call to get Jimmy, my oldest boy, normally I'd call my parents, but I didn't want to put the worry on them already. So I just, the first phone call was to my best friend and I just said to her, I just need your help. I've got to take Harvey to the hospital.
00:12:45
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um So I need you to just go and get Jimmy. And she was pretty much like, are you OK? And I said, no, I'm not really. I think um I just I couldn't even say I think Harvey has diabetes. I just said, I've just got to get him to the hospital. He's OK, but we just got to go. And she was like, yeah, fine, I'll do it. i I'm off, you know, like um and her boy doesn't even go to this, but they didn't go to the same school. So I just told her where he's going to be. She picked up her kids who had picked up picked up my my boy and then um I and then I rang my husband and I remember putting Harvey in the car and I remember because I was crying so much. Like I just could not hold it together. I was crying, paying the bill at the thing and then Harvey was getting upset and I was just like, I have to really pull my shit together. You know, I mean, it's such a, just to say, oh, you've got to take him to emergency. You know, like, you're just like, what? Like it's just those words, emergency. It's just, this yeah. All of a sudden everything becomes so serious.
00:13:45
Speaker
Yes. And I'm normally quite good in a crisis, but when it came to, when it comes to my kids, I'm a very different person to be honest with you. You know, you kind of got these perfect little well children and all of a sudden there's something that's not right. And I'm just just like, wow. Okay. And I think it's that shock that immediate shock that.
00:14:07
Speaker
you told your whole world just changes. And then you're like, how did it actually get to this point? Yeah. Yeah. Of going, you know, into the GP because you're thinking in a UTI or an infection all the way into emergency and things actually could get really serious. Yeah. Yeah. It's that fear of the unknown. Yeah, absolutely. So then we, I called Scott and said, look, I'm taking to emergency.
00:14:34
Speaker
There's no point coming to me just because it was pre, just out of COVID. I think you can only have one person in the hospital still. How did your husband like, what was his reaction? it Scott was very calm. He was like, Oh, okay. You know, what do you want me to do? And I just said, just, just be on standby. yeah Like Mel's picking up Jimmy. yeah Let's just try and keep it normal. He had footy training. I was just like, let's just keep it normal. I'll let you know what I need. So I drove home. Um, I texted my sisters where I got in the car and I said, I'm taking Harvey to emergency.
00:15:04
Speaker
because they think that he might have diabetes. Still couldn't verbalize it yeah completely. I think even I said to my husband, he's got high sugar. I couldn't sort of, you know, and and I just said to them, don't don't don't call me because im I've already cried too much yeah and I'm scaring Harvey. So don't call me i'll when i when I know a bit more, I'll call you um and don't say anything to mum and dad.
00:15:28
Speaker
So actually, my dad was in hospital. He had some heart stuff going on. I dropped him off at hospital at 5.30 that morning. Wow. That same morning. So I knew my dad was in hospital and my mom was home alone. So you didn't want your parents to worry? I didn't want them to. They put that burden on them either. Yeah. Yeah. And I didn't have any answers just yet. And I didn't want my mom to be at home being upset. Home on her own being upset. And she was already worried about my dad being in hospital anyway. Isn't it funny how those things tend to happen at once? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:15:58
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, it is bizarre. It is bizarre. So yeah, so off we kind i kind of went home, packed a bag, which was... nothing that I needed. Um, as I soon realized, i've obviously like frantic packed some bag and took, I don't even know. It's just didn't, didn't take an iPad. It didn't take a phone charge. It didn't take anything that, you know, you kind of, you actually knew you didn't mad rush, did it in a mad rush. And then we just went to, went to emergency with my little envelope that explained what the doctor was suspecting and all that sort of stuff. And then just, I remember being at the, at the counter,
00:16:36
Speaker
And they weighed him and they'd done another finger prick. And this mum behind me said, oh, is your child diabetic? And I said, I don't know. And she said, oh, my son was just diagnosed like six weeks ago and he showed Harvey. It was just this gorgeous little boy. and he showed Harvey like his CGM, and and I think he might have even had a pump, or I can't remember. And I just thought, well, that's not gonna be my world. yeah Don't label us that just yet. I was kind of like, I remember a thing really lovely, but I remember thinking, fuck off. I'm not even, I haven't even got that far. i' like I'm not there yet. But in hindsight, I guess I'd probably be that person
Hospital and Community Support
00:17:21
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now.
00:17:21
Speaker
Yeah, but I was so like, you know, like, I was my eyes were ready. I was but I was puppy. I was obviously not in a very good way. but She was obviously trying to be really kind to me. um And the boy was really kind to Harvey as well. Like, I remember, I do remember that. um And then we just, you know, you just do the hospital wait. And he was obviously very like how he was sort of, you know, he was still well, he was very well. So you picked it up early. Yeah. Then do you go through the process of emergency and um and then them doing like blood tests and you know, all that sort of stuff. And then then then the doctor, I remember Covington said to me, do you know what's going on? And I said, I think he has, you know, type 1 diabetes. And she was like, yeah, she said all, she said, we're 99% sure he has type 1 diabetes. We just have to wait for a couple of blood tests to come back to confirm it, but it's, we're 99% sure. What was that feeling like, like getting that final?
00:18:18
Speaker
You know, youve you've been told. That's heartbreaking. That was, you know, like, I mean, you're in emergency with all these people that are very unwell. There's people screaming as like, you know, it's it's it's not a great place to be keeping yourself but centered and all that stuff anyway, let alone to be then be told, you know, like, and then they were like, oh, so you'll be will you'll be admitted.
00:18:46
Speaker
and you'll be here for five days. yeah And I was like, what? you know I've got like, I've got some cake. I didn't remember to turn that off. They party, what am I gonna do? yeah you know And that guilt of, ah you know like for my oldest child and you know and then that I have to be here for my younger child and how are we gonna manage this and you know all that sort of stuff. And I just was like,
00:19:11
Speaker
Oh, well, can I get, can we do, can we do it in four? and ah Thinking, I guess it was Jimmy's birthday on like the month day. We got this Like really? Yeah. So, um, yeah. So admitted on that very long night of hospital, a very little sleep and, um, Harvey every day and then looking at me and just saying, why did you bring me here? Take me home. You know, we shouldn't have come.
00:19:41
Speaker
And I was like, mate, this is, you know, this is, unfortunately, this is what we're where we have to be. We didn't have a choice. We don't have a choice. This is, this is us. And that is, that's the hard part, isn't it? it's that That lonely feeling that you get on that first night. You've been told all that news, but then you're actually in the hospital with your child who's looking at you for answers and asking you to help. Yeah. And then, and then you don't have the answers.
00:20:09
Speaker
I don't have the answers. I just, I'm like, wow. Okay. You know, where are we going with this? You know, and what you do to take that off. the Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And even now, you know, you know, nearly two years in and I'm sure you're the same. And just like, you know, if I, and I do often say that to Harvey is if I could have, if I could take this from, from you and I, and I would take the, take the burden and solely be my, be me with type one, I would do it.
00:20:38
Speaker
you know great I think it's the cruelest thing because you know not only that as you told things like you know oh there's no cure that it's relentless it's forever it's and then then you just get in over that and then they're like now you actually have to physically hurt your child yeah by using you know injecting them yeah and holding them down and We never had to do that. We never had to do the like Harvey was actually like an absolute trooper. Like I think because he started off for for us, I feel quite like we obviously picked it up very early. Like I remember the doctor saying you've obviously caught this very early. Like he's the only kid in this hospital running around, you know? And I do remember looking at, you know, we walked past the children with like obviously are going through cancer treatments and stuff like that. And they're they're sitting in like a kind of a makeshift classroom. trying to live being there for months. I remember thinking.
00:21:36
Speaker
wow it could be worse It could be worse. But you know, I also don't want to sort of dumb down the fact that this is still, you know, like, it yes, it could be worse. And he could have started off in ICU. But I mean, you're lucky, not lucky, but it's the positive part of it was that it wasn't worse and you did pick it up early. Yes. Yeah. And but that can change pretty fast. So if I waited till the Monday, yeah, that could have changed. Very different. So, you know, which which I wasn't aware of until I was talking to the doctors saying that, you know, he could have lost five kilos in a day. does It doesn't happen within hours. even yeah Yeah. Yeah. And he's only like, I think he's just cracked the 25 kilo mark now. You know what I mean? And he's not little, he's just, he's little. But, you know, like... Was it only little? They were only little, you know. So, so yes, then you've got to be thrust into this
00:22:30
Speaker
education and and also explaining to Harvey, when we leave here, this is what we're learning. We have to continue. Yeah, it doesn't end here. It doesn't end here. And quite often he'll say to me, am I never going to get rid of this diabetes? Yeah. And that's I do remember after I was sort of jumping ahead, but like I do remember in the car conversation and Jimmy, my oldest was telling saying about how his friend had sprayed his ankle and You know, ah it's really sad because he can't play sport and, you know, like he's, you know, a bit stuck with things and, you know, and then Harvey just pipes up and says, you know, you know what's really sad? Having diabetes for the rest of your life. well Wow.
00:23:15
Speaker
<unk>t take that ah What a way to really kind of like bring like Jimmy back to bed. It's just a sprained ankle man. I've got to go through harder stuff. serious More serious stuff. Yeah.
00:23:35
Speaker
don't ignore the fall the four early warning signs of type one diabetes says first frequent urination unexplained weight loss and extreme fatigue if you or someone you know is experiencing these symptoms don't wait get checked by a health care professional
00:23:58
Speaker
So, yeah, for for me the hospital was just... you know, we just went through the motions. But I found probably the difficult, most difficult thing was watching these kids that have come out of ICU, newly diagnosed, diabetics, and seeing how skinny and frail, and then kind of seeing Harvey that was, you know, bouncing off the walls, throwing balls and, you know, running around and of just that realization that, wow, this is such a full-on disease. Yeah.
00:24:32
Speaker
and the And the community, I guess, like I just made it really conscious choice was I was going to message everybody and just say, I just want to get this done. I don't want to have to be telling people randomly. You know, so there was like core groups of friends and I was just like, this is what's happened. It's what we know. And we'll be in hospital for the next four days, five days, four, I'm still going for, um you know, and we've got to learn it. We've got to learn just a new way of life. And just the outpour of kind of support and From people I didn't even know. Like, friends saying, I've got a friend that's got Type 1 kids and they um want me to pass on this message to you. Want me to pass on the number. Want me to, you know, like, I don't think you get that no in very many other
00:25:21
Speaker
communities. I think that is the thing about Type 1 is some anybody that does know anybody with it that's close to them, that they understand even a small part of it, they really do understand it. They really do understand. They're way more compassionate, I feel. Yeah. Yeah. I got like, because I was saying how my sister's niece is type one. And so my sister had messaged those parents that I'm friends with them as well. And, you know, that those these were some of the first people that messaged and said, I'm so sorry, you know, I'm so sorry, you've you've got to go through this. Did you realise that when they were saying, I'm so sorry, this spirit like what they were saying, did you sort of think that was
00:26:04
Speaker
um Did you sort of realise then that this must be quite serious? yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. I was like, wow, this is, yeah, yep. This is full on. Yeah.
Adjusting to Life with Type 1 Diabetes
00:26:15
Speaker
Cause I think that is one of the big things that when you were first diagnosed, you go into it quite ignorant cause you don't know a lot. I always feel for, for people that have another child diagnosed because I feel like you we already know, but I mean, there's pros and cons to that as well. But I feel you don't really know what's going to come. Yeah. For us now, I guess we're 20 months in still not sleeping great. Um, we're still, you know, I've worked through,
00:26:44
Speaker
things with psychologists and you know I spent probably the first 12 months of being very anxious, being very worried about Harvey being excluded from things, me being excluded from things because it's just too hard when that kid's got diabetes. Did you find any of those things?
00:27:04
Speaker
Not that I'm aware of, but I find I do create stories in my head sometimes of like, oh, that's probably the reason why we didn't get invited to that party or like he's only just now. I mean, he's still little anyway. He's only eight. He's only just gone to a friend's place for a sleepover. Oh, yeah. Which might sound quite young, but my oldest was Yeah. Doing that all the time. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm talking like close, close, close, close friends who are almost like, you know, those friends that they're almost like family. You kind of call them the aunty and uncle, but they're not, yeah you know, that sort of stuff. So, yeah you know, we were doing that really easily before. Yes. And this is only just now, yeah sort of.
00:27:42
Speaker
been and that's but that's with me pretty much not sleeping. Yeah that's like what we were saying is like they almost go back to the baby stage of like you now have full control you can't leave the house without all the preparation. Oh my gosh. The baby bag. I was terrible. I was a terrible person with the baby bag. I used to always forget the nappies, the wipes, the snacks And now I'm like this, I can't leave, you know, I've got snacks in cars, like, you know, in the boot of the car. Yeah, just got like stuff everywhere. You know, you can't walk out of the house without.
00:28:13
Speaker
You can't, you're like, okay, what do you need? What do you need? And then you always forget something. And then you always feel really bad as a mother. You always have that guilt of like, oh, I can't believe we're driving three hours and I don't have the hypo treatment. And there's no servo inside. Just crossing your fingers that nothing happens. We even went to Italy and that's something that I thought, how am I going to get it? So these are my first thoughts, right? When he was diagnosed.
00:28:40
Speaker
I thought, how am I ever going to let him out of my sight? Because I have to have full control over this, right? No one else can do this. no I'm his mother. I have to have full control. um Even though he's far, you know, he's more than capable. that's my That was my full yeah thought process. um I don't know how I'm going to get him back to school. um I have to might have to go to school with him.
00:29:03
Speaker
Yeah. Right. I'm going to sit in that classroom and be with him. And this is when we we left hospital with just doing the finger pricks. Yeah. So we hadn't connected to the CGM or anything like at that point. That was four months down the track. yeah So we were doing a fingerprinting and injections. Yeah, which we so it's so now we're CGM and manual injections. yeah ah So I remember that every I'd set an alarm for every four hours to do the finger pricks. The two a.m., six, seven, ten,
00:29:33
Speaker
you know, before lunch, you know, like all that. So I just remember just having just alarms go off all the time. I mean, we still do that. The alarms go off all the time, actually. Different ones. Just different ones. And it's not like, you know, you've got to get up and I remember buying like a head torch. It's one of the first things I did when I got one of those head torches to do the nighttime finger pricks. I remember thinking that you never thought things were going to be possible. Yeah. So I remember thinking, how's he going to get back to school? Right. How's he ever going to go to a party without me?
00:30:08
Speaker
um I'm still working on that one. How is he you know ever going to have a play date? I'm going to have to have all the play dates at my house. It's just, it was just hard. it's gone back Yeah. Like, as I said, not just a baby, because you can actually leave a baby, you know, like you can put your child into childcare and just say goodbye and, you know, and go to work or you can, it's, it's like, it's actually like nothing else.
Traveling with Type 1 Diabetes
00:30:34
Speaker
Yeah. It's so hard to describe and lots of people, I don't know about you, but I found that one of the hardest things to try and describe.
00:30:41
Speaker
what you're describing now, those feelings that you have about how am I ever going to let yeah my child live? It's almost like you surround us around them in a big bubble. Yeah, ah totally, the bubble boy. Yeah, absolutely. you know And I was that parent that was like, my sisters used to call me like the free range parent because I'd just be like, I've just sent them up to the park, which is a block away. And like I'm like, are they together? Or you know like I'd be like, oh, yeah, they're just kind of like I just let them roam bigger distances when we're at a playground or you know like let them kind of just be a bit freer. Maybe that's happened what to you and I because I was that parent too. Yeah I don't know maybe it's kind of like brought us back to going oh hey you know maybe you need to like back to reality like that down yeah I'm that parent too. Yeah
00:31:31
Speaker
Like I remember even we traveled around Italy and we went um very remotely into Tuscany and I didn't even think about where's the nearest hospital, which I probably should have in hindsight. I'm like, Oh God, Jackie. and how Look how far you've got come. But look how far like within 12 months, I would never have thought that we would.
00:31:50
Speaker
be traveling on a plane to be honest, like ah on a, you know, you have for 24 hours on a plane. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. But it was, it was easy. Yeah, you know, we like, we just did it. Yeah, we our first holiday, actually, we did go to Bali for 10 days. And I found that probably more stressful, do you because we all got sick.
00:32:09
Speaker
yeah And I was probably more worried about Harvey with the vomiting. And then I got really sick and becomes just terrible it was just No, I'm looking after anyone. No, no. So but I found Italy was just, yeah, I don't know. I don't know whether it's because I had my full family support there or but I was never my sisters were um more worried about the remoteness of where we were in the places.
00:32:34
Speaker
And I was like, and but we did only talked about it afterwards. yeah my I was like, oh yeah, I probably should have really. And look, that's not, I know that that's not that's not very good advice. Like you probably should know that because things can change so quickly. But yeah but I'm probably at the naive stage still.
00:32:53
Speaker
But I think I was like, yeah, but maybe that's a good thing too, because ignorance is bliss and like, you can spend so much time worrying about some really, you know, small-minded details sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. And I think, you know, you wouldn't do anything if you really thought too much into stuff. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, if you went back to my initial stage, you wouldn't have left the house. Yeah. Yeah. So tell me where you are now, 20 months on, like, what do you feel right now about how far you've come. I'm tired.
00:33:30
Speaker
but But I have had three nights of seven hour blocks. yeah so da That's amazing. Um, but do you have insomnia? Do you think, do you suffer from broken sleeve? No, just from, no, just from alarm. Just your husband does. My poor husband does. Yeah. I would check my phone and then,
00:33:51
Speaker
I couldn't get back to sleep. My mind would race about nothing, you know. um about the lack of sleep that I was getting and about the, you know, like, or if I had to do a correction, I would be like, is anything going to hyper? Have I overshot it? I've I, you know, like just the guessing, guessing, guessing it kind of. um And so I would I would lay awake, you know, and then those thoughts of I'm never going to get these hours back. I'm going to be too tired to then do this, that, the other, you know, that sort of stuff. So so for us, I'm
00:34:22
Speaker
I think I've still got a long way to go in terms of the learning of this. I feel like i've i've I've taken on what I could at the time. And I was very conscious about not overwhelming myself because I felt huge amounts of overwhelm of ah i should I should know more than I do and I should be able to help you him more than I can. But um I think that I'm kind of creating I'm working on trust more, of letting not not letting go, but trusting that I've got a community around that can also support him. you know He's got great basketball coaches, great footy coaches, great friends and family that they all know, you know like that Harvey has diabetes and it's not a you know
00:35:11
Speaker
It's not a secret. It's not something that we have to take him away from people to inject or test or, you know, anything like that. It's very, I'm very public about it. yeah I mean, hence the podcasting.
00:35:26
Speaker
its Do you feel that um everything at the time was so overwhelming, like the information overload and just the overwhelm of the emotional side of it?
Information Overload and Acceptance
00:35:38
Speaker
that you kind of, you know, for instance, like looking at any other technology, for instance, or moving to a different stage of anything, it's almost like makes you feel physically ill, like the thought of, you know, like, say, for instance, pumping or trying out ah the technology that's out there on the market. Sometimes it's just too overwhelming. Yes, I feel like it was I had to learn a whole new language when it came to to type one and I say it's like learning French that's right yeah yeah I used to be very good at French yeah it's it doesn't feel like French to be honest thank you so much for sharing today Jackie that like I think that so many other moms out there would get so much out of that just to know that your story was possibly similar to theirs but also just to know that
00:36:28
Speaker
They might have the same feelings or feel exactly like you did. And as we keep saying, just know you're not alone on this journey. Yeah, absolutely. That's the end of our episode on getting to know your hosts. We will do a separate one for Angie. Or Angie, sorry. And you'll be Angie if you want. I don't know why. I've never called you Angie before. I was just there. I'm not talking about Angie. Thank you so much for listening today. I guess the big thing is that we end this by thanking you all for tuning in because I think it shows that you guys want to learn more, know more and empower yourselves to do more. So we just hope that you get something out of today's episode. Thanks everyone. Take care everyone. Bye.
Engagement and Follow-up
00:37:33
Speaker
appreciate it if you could leave us a rating and review. It really helps us to reach more listeners just like yourselves. For more updates, behind the scene content and to join the conversation further, Follow us on Instagram and Facebook, the Type 1 Foundation, or visit our website type1foundation.com.au. Thanks again for listening and we will see you next time on the Type 1 Club.