I worry about my daughter. She is 14 and a typical teenager. For the past few months, she lied about her blood sugars. I can ask her what her sugar is and she will tell me 173 mg/dl [9.6 mmol/L] when it’s really 425 mg/dl [23.6 mmol/L]. I check her glucometer for verification. I’ve tried to take her word for it, but can’t seem to get across to her that I need to know. I don’t ask her very often what her numbers are because I don’t want to pressure her. I have sent off for a PC cable to download from her glucometer. If anyone has any suggestions to help me to help her to realize that this is very serious, please help. We are looking into pancreas transplant or islet cell transplants. We are working with a doctor for this.

My daughter has been hospitalized numerous times. Her A1c is between and 8.0 and 11.0. She constantly cheats and eats high carbohydrate foods and doesn’t balance it with protein.

Where can I find a support group for parents of teens?

Your daughter sounds like she is burned out by the responsibility and demands of the never-ending daily diabetes regimen. That is not surprising, as she is only 14 years old. No 14 year old can be responsible for managing their own diabetes on a consistent basis, by themselves, without becoming overwhelmed. I strongly recommend that you take over responsibility for checking her blood sugars for her. Then, you never have to ask her what her numbers are, as you will know immediately. Even if you only do her morning, dinner and bedtime checks, that’s three numbers every day that you are sure of. It’s also likely that she is not bolusing after every meal or snack (this is very common among teenagers), and, so, she is not getting enough insulin to cover the carbohydrates she eats. So, whenever she eats in your home, it may be helpful to bolus for her. Your daughter has many years to live with diabetes and it is not typical of most 14 year olds to have to manage a chronic illness in addition to all of the other demands and burdens that teenagers manage. Any way you can relieve her of the responsibility for her diabetes care will help her.

JWB