Are you considered 'terminally ill' when diagnosed with Juvenile diabetes?

[tomos]

The reason that I ask this is because my son's dad is married to someone (who hates my son but different story there) and she has 4 kids, one of whom has Juvenile diabetes. Well my son has asthma, and Global Developmental Delay (possibly autism we are testing for that in 8-12 months). So I was sharing with my son's dad what I will have to be doing with our son since he lives in Las Vegas and we live in Ohio. Then I said that I wish that he lived here in Ohio so that he could help with this stuff because having a child with asthma and these kind of delays are hard when you are two parent house hold. His comment was that "It is not easy living with a terminally ill child either" talking about the one the Juvenile Diabetes. I did not know that this diagnosis made you "Terminally Ill", but also they are a TWO parent household, so how is it the same as what we are going through? My son's dad's Step-Son is hooked up to a insulin pump that does ALL the work for them all they have to do is change the stuff out every now and then...My son is 2 and looking at 3 different therapies a week, plus a MRDD pre preschool program. I am doing all of this and going to school myself, and taking care of all of this while he only sends me $92 a month that I don't get every month....
ok sorry i guess this turned more into a rant...but when diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes are you considered "Terminally Ill"??

[guo99]

A terminal illness is one that is uncurable and/or unmanageable and eventually fatal. This is simply not the case with diabetes Type 1, although diabetics are at risk for more complications than others. Your son's dad is playing up the illness for dramatic effect or money reasons. I hope you are keeping him on a tight legal leash concerning his responsibilities to your son. Good luck.

[roderigo]

Diabetes is a" Chronic "illness, not a terminal one.

[churchill]

No. I think your son's dad was trying to garner sympathy from you. What he's basically saying is that he doesn't care.

[lawrence]

No.

"Terminally ill" means that you ARE going to die, even if you receive treatment.

Juvenile Diabetes (PROPERLY called Type 1 Diabetes) is completely treatable. It take a LOT of self-discipline , and no small measure of courage, but if the patient is self-determined to win, then the diabetes can be CONTROLLED (not cured) and their lifetime is almost as long as normal.

A properly-treated diabetic patient is NOT "doomed" to die (at least, no more so than the rest of us).

This does NOT meet the definition of "terminally ill".

[terence]

juvenile diabetes is not a terminal illness. it's a diagnosis to say that a child was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. he's dependent on insulin to live, but that doesn't make him terminally ill. the condition can be controlled as long as blood sugar is kept within normal range (roughly 80 to 105 or so). that's not an easy thing, but it can be done. insulin, diet, exercise, rest, stress control are all factors in a diabetic person's life & it all has to be coordinated for most benefit. the key is to avoid complications & that comes from blood sugar control. all that said, a person can die of the complications, but that's usually after many years & less than optimal control (regardless of the reason for lack of control). my husband will eventually die from his diabetes, but he's already had it for more than 30 years & has many complications which have taken a life of their own.

i have kids with asthma, but it's all relatively well-controlled. the older 2 really don't have trouble with it anymore. the youngest has problems with asthma when his allergies are bad. it can be scary when it's out of control. i have no experience with developmental delay, so can only offer "moral support" on that one. you have my best wishes.

i had a problem with my ex-husband for several years when we lived across the country from each other, similar to your situation. it was nasty. all we did was fight over who had to deal with what. once the older kids got old enough (my youngest is from current marriage), we became friends again & were able to sort through most of the issues & resolve them. i wish now that we had been friends long before. it hurts everybody when each side feels the other isn't doing enough. both of you have a lot going on. each should do what they can, but i think it's unfair for either side to blast the other with how bad their own situation is in order to get problems addressed. your son's problems are big enough that you should focus your attention on getting him the best care you can. if your ex can only send a little, then accept it & do what you can with it. your 2-year-old won't benefit much if you're stressed out. as for your ex, having a child who's diabetic & already on a pump carries a lot of stress also. kids have a different sense of "denial" over diseases & have to be monitored which in turn will likely irritate the heck out of the kid, who likely feels he has no control over his own life.

this wasn't intended to be long, but i hope you understand. the whole discussion couldn't be covered in one or 2 sentences & have it make sense. you have to live your life the best you can for your sake and your son's. it may mean not counting on additional help from your ex. take it as a bonus when you get a check.