Name: Savita.
Occupation: I am e.x-software engineer.
Currently I am working on a natural farming and sustainable lifestyle project. I enjoy yoga and meditation. I also love to work with children and animals.
My daughter Ovi is 11years old. She loves cooking using new recipes.She also loves painting and crafting. She is a dubbing and voice over artist and loves spending time with animals.
Diagnosis
My daughter Ovi was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 2 years. Her GAD antibody test was positive, ketoneswere high and blood sugar was around 400 mgldL. She had polyuria (excess urination), polydipsia
(extreme thirstiness) and also had weight loss.
Impact of the diagnosis
Initially our family was in complete denial about the diagnosis.They were reluctant to accept her changed health needs and requirements.I changed my working hours to part-time as I was her primary caregiver. Diabetes management is a full time job, when It comes to children you have to be a dietician, diabetologist, counsellor as well as a parent.
Managing Diabetes
We check Ovi’s blood sugar levels before every meal and sometimes post meals as well. Most of the times we use glucometer, however we also use a continuous glucose monitoring device to understand the sugar trend and adjust her insulin doses accordingly.
Medication
Ovi learned to inject insulin injections at the age of 5 under adult supervision. Now Ovi is 11years old and is able to take
insulin injections on her own. If we are apart, she calls me and always discusses the required dose in advance. We do revise dose ·
calculations periodically when wefind blood sugars are not following normal routine trends.
Learning to cope
While Ovi was too young to understand her health condition, l sent her to nearbypre-school that could be reached within five minutes, in case of an emergency. School staff were made aware of her requirementsand I handed over powdered sugar packets to ensure their availability, if needed. Later on, when she went to primary school I joined thesame school as an assistant teacher. Whenever Ovi has to go away for educational visits she wears a continuous glucose monitoring device and monitors her sugar herself and adjusts insulin doses accordingly.My parents, sisters, friends were always very supportive of both Ovi and me and encouraged me to stand strong and help mydaughter with her needs. Whatever changes we made to our food routine at home were received positively. My family accepted the changed routine and happily helped us adjust to our new norm.Sessions and events conducted by Blue Circle Diabetes foundation helped us a lot to connect to the Type 1 Diabetes community and learn from each other’s experiences. It gave us a platform to share our feelings.
Fitness routine
As a young child, it was easy to encourage her to inculcate healthy
habits. Ovi would do yoga and meditation everyday. Now as an adolescent, she provides her input regarding her daily activity. She loves to play actively on the ground with her friends. Ovi also enjoys cycling, swimming, hiking and zumba dancing. But l still insist on her doing yogasana and Pranayam routine every day. That’s helpful for her physical and mental health.
Diet
We follow a simple and healthy food routine and strictly eat home cooked food.This helps to manage Ovi’s blood sugar levels. I have considerably reduced eating
bakery products. We rarely eat direct dairy or packed food, instead we prefer plant-based supplements. Ovi’s breakfast normally includes seasonal fruits and a laddoo. We usually have brunch of a bowl of veggies, jowar roti or fulka made of khapali gahu, daal/aamti/chh.aas and salad. Dinner usually includes a millet meal with lots of veggies and veggie soup.
To conclude
Accept your child as they are, talk to your child about their health condition. Tell them it’s okay and you will always love and support them.
Give yourself time to cope as well. Your mental and physical health also needs looking after when you are a caregiver to a child with Type 1 Diabetes. Keep yourself motivated. Take a break, spend time in nature and follow a simple food routine.
Stay connected with Type 1 Diabetes support groups to help you when you feel overwhelmed. Remember that Diabetes management is 24*7 work.I am extremely proud of my daughter. She is always smiling inspite of daily injections. I feel blessed to have this smiling and loving angel in my life. My heart goes -Zindagi … chal tera shukriya Jo diya, humne huske liya … ae zindagi tera shukriya
