@BearHouse- I was diagnosed with diabetes at 27. For 4 years I used injections 4 times a day. I was very brittle. Then when I wanted to get pregnant I decided to use an insulin pump. Boy, did my pump change things. My A1 C improved and I had more flexibility which is so nice when you are young. Kids are so tech savvy I am sure an insulin pump would be relatively easy for your child. I would never give mine up. Been using a pump for 19 years, If she will be so far from you should really encourage the CGM. It so much smaller now. She can keep it in her pocket. The most important thing is that it will notify her when she is trending downward. I have always been more concerned about my lows more than my highs. When I was first diagnosed I joined a support group. I learned so much from the other diabetics. If there is an organization at the school have your daughter join. You are all still so new to diabetes. It t sounds like you are all doing an excellent job so early in the game. best of luck.
The CGM values go to the wearer’s phone these days, and up to 5 other people, including alarms for lows and highs which we set. I forgot to include that in my post above 
I would add that first the pump, then the CGM didn’t just make it easier to manage. These devices change management entirely.
My daughter was 4 when she was diagnosed. How different things would have been with these aids! However, many of our kids accomplish all their goals and thrive, even if it can sometimes be a bit of the tortoise not the hare.
I wish the general public understood this disease. I write the media when I see or hear something about generic diabetes and obesity etc. with little impact, but all I can do is try.
My son was diagnosed with TD1 his freshman year in college, and was lucky enough to be on the pump after 3 months. The TD1 caused gastroparesis (stomach nerve damage) which makes going low much scarier. He did end up 7 hours away from us for school, but is now living at home since he graduated and is working in the area. He finally did get a CG monitor, but after a month or so stopped using it as it hurt as he is thin. I wish he would wear it, especially when he goes out with his friends as I know drinking is sometimes involved.
I think drinking in college for a TD1 student is very scary for us parents, but it will happen. I was lucky that my son really didn’t drink until he was 21, and even then only occasionally (or at least that is what I think.) Please remind your TD1 students about the risks of drinking for them as they may do it to fit in, and to have friends (so many people’s social life revolves around drinking).
We talk about drinking a lot. He may choose to drink, but he knows it’s risky. I will say my son is not shy about educating others about T1. He will speak up for himself in class. He informed all his CC professors that he had T1. He educates friends. I think he’ll educate his roommate and even teach him to how to administer glucacon. I had to do it once; it was horrible. 
@compmom, totally agree: I wish the general public understood just how difficult this disease is, and how it is vastly different from T2. (And how no, you don’t get it from eating too much sugar, and so on)
We saw my son’s endo today. I think he talked my son into at least trying the CGM. It’s a start!
We started working on the insurance approval for a CGM today! My daughter has agreed to give it a try. Very thankful that this technology exists and I hope it helps. She is not ready to consider a pump yet. Perhaps in time.
@sbjdorio and BearHouse- That is great news about the CGM’s. I think you will both feel better knowing that they have that extra alarm in place when you are not there. Bets of luck to you and your kids.
My patient, in late 20’s, has finally come to realize how helpful the CGM is. He hates the dependency issues. He was one who graduated college in 6 years, after moving closer to home. Diabetes is so much easier to manage when the adolescent brain matures.
So glad people are considering the CGM! Yay! It took my daughter a long time too…
My daughter just had one of those weird periods (3 days) of running really really low for no reason. No major exercise, no GI issues, no migraine, no hormonal event etc. This happens a few times a year. In this case, she went very low during the night, and had immense amounts of sugar, seemed to go up but then headed right back down again. She actually had her pump off for a time, and her basal was .15! And she ate a whole banana and did only .5 instead of 2.5. You get the picture. Still low low low.
I really think the CGM saves her life on these occasions.
One important thing for everyone to know. The CGM can go much lower than the meter. I imagine this is because it takes longer for the interstitial fluid to get the sugar. So with a low, the CGM may say 42 double arrows straight down, when the meter says 75. Until we figured this out (and the company confirms) we were #1 panicking and #2 my daughter had way too much sugar and would then bop way up
For the first time, in the last few months, the CGM has resulted in some straight lines across that graph- stability!
Sugar Surfing by Stephen Ponder is a great book on the truly different and better way to manage thanks to the CGM
p.s. I use the “we” because my daughter was rehabbing from an injury when she went on the CGM so we were together. She is mature enough, of course, to manage entirely on her own. As a parent, the CGM can present boundary issues so I limit myself to being a human back up alarm
All very helpful information! Thanks for the good CGM info.
The autonomy issue is a big deal to my son. You should have seen his face when his endo suggested that mom might have the data! 
But the endo helped him to see that you can still be independent, but manage diabetes as a team. It’s no different than any other serious disease; you don’t manage it in a vacuum. And T1 diabetes is serious stuff.
@compmom , yes, it’s those weird lows that are the worst. The one time I had to give glucagon to my son, was the time he just dropped like a hammer for no reason. I suspect the pancreas will sometimes just flicker “on” and give insulin, since we do know that the beta cells are still producing a little insulin.
My goal for my son, and he does get this, is that the CGM would help him to be proactive, so he can not spend hours a day on his diabetes management like he does so many days. You know the routine-have a low low, over carb to bring it up, and then have a high high. I call it the yo-yo effect. He can miss a lot of sleep if he has lows or highs during the night, or if he’s changing his pod late. There’s no way he can be successful in college if he spends that much time on diabetes management. I think the CGM would really help!
Good point, it does save time on management but also the stability possible makes for less time on those extremes, and better energy too. You can intervene earlier with a nudge of insulin or sugar, works great.
Joslin told my daughter she is probably putting out insulin at times: people who do, have more brittle diabetes apparently.
The other night when she ran so low with so little insulin, I texted her that she was cured!
The autonomy piece is huge. As I said, I didn’t even know a single blood sugar during college, at least not at my request. We worked out the CGM thing pretty quickly. I have to behave or she can cut me off! Just a human alarm clock here!
D1’s undergrad best friend is a Type 1 Diabetic who went to UNC from his home state of Michigan. He is very compliant and did fine. He did teach D1 the signs of hypoglycemia and what to do if it ever happened, but she was never called upon to use her knowledge.
He now works in NYC, and as far as I know, is still doing just fine.
How are your kids with T1 Diabetes doing this year?
Our class of '18 kid is T1 and is fantastic right now. I am worried for the future. It’s all inevitable, but I need the next 2 years to get used to the concept of her being out from under my wing.
How is your kid @sbjdorlo?
I am still helping out overnight using the CGM/follow program. She is thriving in grad school across the country from me. She continues to be very brittle. She went abroad over the summer thanks to the technology. Howa bout yours sbjdorlo?
Your D is so brave, @compmom. So glad to hear that both your Ds are doing so well, @oldbrookie and @compmom . When you say brittle, does that mean she’s given to highs and lows quite easily?
Son’s diabetes is ok, I guess? Wish that were all he was dealing with, though. It’s probably too much for him to manage everything else and then on top of it, diabetes, but I can say that I actually don’t think a lot about the diabetes. No CGM, but I think he’s making do.
My youngest son is a freshman in high school and has been T1 since he was 9. He is on a pump and a CGM, which I love more than I can say. He will be getting the new Medtronic closed-loop system in the Spring, and I cannot wait. He’s a great kid, and does a good job managing his diabetes, but the thought of having him so far away is terrifying (not that I tell him that). I am hoping that as the technology continues to improve, it will make it easier for me to let him go, but gosh, I’m not ready! I do love hearing all of these success stories, so I want to thank all of you for sharing!
S is a college senior and is doing fine. He plays on a sports team, travels, spent a semester abroad. Our biggest challenge has been getting his insulin and pump supplies in sufficient quantities in advance so he can travel. He uses a pump and likes it, but tried a CGM in high school and didn’t like that at all. Too many false alarms. I’m hopeful he’ll try it again at some point, since I think it would help him overall.
I’m actually looking forward to post-college years for diabetes management. S does better when he’s cooking for himself and not eating in a college cafeteria.
In terms of data sharing, S will upload his info to Carelink if I ask for it, but other than that, I just know what he tells me. I usually try to ask how his diabetes management is going when we’re on the phone. But I’m more of a support system than part of the active day-to-day management.
Not a parent of a diabetic or a diabetic, so I really have no idea of the day-to-day struggles. My hats off to all of you. My 48 year old sister has had type 1 for 40+ years. She is doing fantastic, especially considering what she used back then for insulin and insulin administration. I think all the advances are without question life-changing and fantastic, but also much more time-consuming and full of many more decisions than my parents were faced with (not that taking care of a diabetic child was ever easy by any means). So if you are feeling overwhelmed, you should be - I can only imagine how exhausting and anxiety-producing it is to have a child with type 1 diabetes or to be a diabetic.
I remember when my sister went off to college, which was only 1 hour away, my mother sat down all of her suite-mates (which I am SURE my sister loved - haha) and gave them a crash course on diabetes, including what warning signs to watch for, and how dangerous being sick (vomiting) could be for diabetics. It defintely proved to be a smart decision a couple of weeks later when she drank way too much (first time ever drinking, really), to the point of vomiting and then passing out in bed. Her friends stayed with her and called the campus safety immediately, remembering my mom’s words. She was transported to a nearby hospital and after a day there was fine, and hasn’t had a drink since. One of my other sisters (my sister’s twin) is also diabetic and attended a college about 7 hours away. Mom did the same with her friends but luckily she never landed in the same situation, though she definitely drank her fair share in school and didn’t put a lot of thought into what she was eating.
The main diabetic complications they have had over the years are multiple trigger fingers and carpal tunnel, which are both fairly simple procedures to correct. Also one has very slight neuropathy in her feet, and the other has gastroparesis. The gastroparesis was pretty bad for a few months, but dramatically improved when she had a neurostimulator implanted. Both are now probably in the best shape of their lives and feel great.
Just thought I’d share in case anyone found it useful. As great as my sisters are doing, I think your children have an even brighter future, with less diabetic related complications, due to the advances in medicine and technology, and all of your great care.
I’m glad your sister was “fine” after a night in the hospital. For me, the gravest concern is hospital care for those with type 1 diabetes.
My kid was in an ICU after an injury, where her nurse told me she had worked for 30 years but had never cared for a type 1. Doctors knew little about management Blood sugars were run outrageously high. Testing was done infrequently. Blood sugars bounced from 40 to 350. Outmoded insulins used by drip or syringe, no fast-acting insulins, and doses only in whole units due to needle size. Meals were late after insulin had been administered.
Previously, another hospital mixed up the decimal point in the insulin dose and could have killed her (I intervened). Once after surgery a nurse did not reconnect the pump as I had asked, saying "they only need insulin when they eat (dangerously untrue). It goes on and on.
I will say that during the last hospitalization , the continuous glucose monitor made a huge difference. I think every hospital should have an insulin pump and CGM available for type 1 patients.
Instead, they tell me that nurses aren’t trained and that the incidence of type 1 patients is too low to justify training, which is expensive.
We are lay people and were expected by endocrinologists to just go home and figure these technologies out. It’s not rocket science. Hospitals already use pumps. Why can’t they do this? We need big changes in diabetes management in hospitals. We need concern for the patient rather than concern for liability and licenses.
My kid has other health problems, and has very brittle blood sugars. Some of you may have kids who are easier to manage and many have not yet interfaced with hospitals the way we have. So far, whenever she is in the hospital (and that has been months after the injury) I was with her 24/7. I had to be. There was no other way to keep her safe, even alive.
There is a time when this is an issue for everyone with type 1. When our kids are far away, it becomes a real concern. When my kid was sick, across the country, while at grad school, I flew there immediately and took care of her blood sugars. What happens when I can no longer do that? All I can hope for is a smart spouse in the future.