I am really afraid to go in for a check-up in a month because I know my A1c is going to be high. The thing that scares me the most is that my mom doesn’t know it will be higher than usual. She gets really mad when my blood sugar is high and screams at me. I hate that because I really don’t feel well when I’m high. Do you have any suggestions on how to tell my mom that my blood sugars are high without her freaking out at me?

You have asked an important question. First of all, I think it is great that you want to bring your A1c down so that you can feel better. Diabetes is a very complicated disease to manage, especially as a teenager. Therefore, it is a disease that is very hard to manage alone, so I recommend that you ask your mom for help. Can you bring up your concerns about your A1c with your mom before your medical visit or at least bring up your concerns at your medical visit next month? Your doctor or nurse educator should be able to explain to your mom how hard it is to manage diabetes as a teenager. Then, hopefully, the three of you can brainstorm together about positive ways that your mom can help you bring your A1c down together. For example, maybe she could help remind you to bolus insulin, or help with carbohydrate counting, or help with site changes, or even help with blood sugar check reminders. Or, maybe your mom can help you look through your meter memory once or twice a week and log blood sugar results and look for patterns. If your mom is willing to do this, then maybe she could be in charge of talking to your health care team about insulin adjustments in between medical visits. You and your mom may also want to consider meeting with a licensed mental health counselor, like a psychologist or social worker, to discuss the stress related to living with diabetes and how to work together positively as a team. Good luck!

DB