27th September 2011, the day our lives changed forever

Our son Ty was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes age 3½. At the time he appeared to have a bad cold, was lethargic, thirsty, drinking lots and therefore visiting the toilet frequently and had lost some weight (other symptoms can include tummy pain). Hardly life threatening...... or so we thought. We couldn't have been more wrong. Thankfully a simple urine test at the Doctor meant Ty was diagnosed in time before Type 1 Diabetes became life threatening, sadly this is not the case for everyone.  

Ty was extremely ill the day he was diagnosed and was immediately admitted to the High Dependency Unit at Aberdeen Children's hospital. Those days and nights in hospital were terrifying for both him and us. He had I.V's in his hands and feet which were changed frequently causing him great pain and distress. Hearing him crying confused by what was happening & begging us to help him even though we could do nothing, was heart breaking, it was the beginning of our lives with Type 1 Diabetes.

Our stay in hospital was a whirlwind of information overload. We learned that to keep Ty from becoming ill he would need two insulin injections every day, (although this has now increased to a minimum of 5 per day, sometimes more), he also has 8 finger pricks per day to test his blood glucose, (even more during periods of illness or exercise) and we have to carefully control and monitor his diet counting out the carbohydrate content for everything he eats and matching the insulin dose accordingly, not always an easy task and particularly tricky when eating out in restaurants.

We've learned the scary stuff about diabetes, the dangers of - hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) and Hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar), and the long term health complications that diabetes can cause if not carefully controlled, such as decreased life expectancy, blindness, limb amputation, increased risk of heart attack and stroke, also diabetic coma and even death.

The day to day risks are just as scary! for example, most parents can put their child to bed and sleep soundly - for us we always have the fear that without warning Ty's blood sugar could drop dangerously low through the night potentially sending him into a diabetic coma. Because of this we must check his blood whilst he is sleeping, sometimes having to feed him in his sleep to raise his blood sugar enough to keep him stable until morning, although there are never any guarantees that it won't still drop suddenly without warning.

Just about everything affects Ty's blood sugar......, excitement, stress, illness, growth hormones, exercise even the weather can send his blood sugars too high or too low making him feel a whole range of emotions and symptoms...... from shaky, drowsy, hungry, pale, dizzy confused and upset with low blood sugar, to thirsty, nauseous, tired, dizzy, tummy pain, angry, agitated and unable to concentrate with high blood sugar. This makes diabetes difficult to manage and Ty's educational years and concentrating in school extremely tricky.

Since Ty's diagnosis he has had to endure thousands of injections and finger pricks...around 33,000 to date! Most of the time he copes really well and is very brave, but he is still young and sometimes says "I hate being diabetic, I wish I wasn't diabetic any more? and we truly feel our hearts break for him.

Type 1 Diabetes is an auto immune condition and despite misconceptions, is not caused by diet or lifestyle choices. It is no-ones fault and nothing can be done to prevent it. Alarmingly cases of Type 1 Diabetes in children are on the increase, currently with no known cause or cure. JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) are working hard to change this by using donations to fund research into new ways to try to treat, prevent and possibly even cure this life threatening life long chronic health condition.

On 24th September 2017 we will be participating in our 5th JDRF sponsored walk to cure diabetes. It's a walk that our whole family can participate in, including Taylor, Ty's 5 year old brother and our dog called Colby. It's an event where for one day Ty can feel that he is not alone with Type 1 Diabetes and we can come together and make a difference.

If you would like to join us on the walk and help fundraise we would welcome you as part of our fundraising team. Just register for the Aberdeen walk on the JDRF website nearer the time and join the team - Ty's Troops. 

If every walker joining us raised just £50.00 the pennies would soon mount up. Or if you're not up for walking you could help us fundraise by taking a tray of cakes to work (collected from me) and offering them to your colleagues for a £1 minimum donation each.

We are also selling

Paracord survival bracelets £5.00

Key fobs / school bag zip pulls / Luggage identifiers £3.00

Paracord buddies for £3.00

Friendship bracelets £1.00.

Buy one for yourself or give one as a gift for son's or daughters, grandchildren, nieces or nephews, friends.....anyone really. The bracelets have endless uses or can be worn just as a cool fashion accessory and the key fobs and buddies are colourful lightweight and very handy. There are 26 colours to choose from) see my official Facebook page Ty Paracord for more photos and info.

However you choose to help any donation no matter how small is very much appreciated and WILL make a difference.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.