diabetes 1 diagnosis of 2 year old

Our little 2 year old grand daughter was diagnosed last week with diabetes 1
Shock and sadness and worry.
I am worried about possible complications: she is being monitored, and has 3 injections
a day now. I am so terribly worried!  Will this affect her growth? I am worried when
I read about heart attack and  kidney failures etc. being affects for this disease!!
Help. Also, is it uncommon to get this at such an early age, and does this mean
that she is even more vulnerable than an older child?  

[JDRF Volunteer SG]

Children can develop type 1 diabetes at any age, but what we often see it diagnosed when the child is a toddler, at puberty, or in late teens. This makes sense if you consider that it is thought that the genetic problem that makes a child's autoimmune system malfunction only causes type 1 diabetes after it mistakes the islet cells in the pancreas for virus and not only attacks a virus, but then goes after the pancreas. The ages that I mention are all ages when kids or teens are often sick with viruses, so the trigger is easily set off at these ages. She should grow normally now that she is on insulin, and such progress has been made in my lifetime with different types of insulin and delivery that her prognosis for a long and healthy life is very positive. The heart and kidney issues that you read about are possible long-term effects of poor control, but if her control is good, she can live to be healthy and very normal. I developed diabetes as a child and am now a healthy grandmother. May she do as well as I have.