“I saved her life with that juice box.” Listen: I’m sure it was late at night or right in the middle of her playing in the yard or at a moment in time you don’t usually think to check blood sugar, but…
Parents raising a child with diabetes, are we doing all we can for our other children? I’m not sure I always have.
Carry glucose that does not freeze. Even soft granola bars can become hard to chew in the cold of your outer jacket pocket. Opt for glucose tabs when out in the winter.
When adrenaline made her blood sugar skyrocket, it was like she was pedaling through mud. She struggled to even go, as she pushed herself to move along a flat road. And you know what? She did it with a smile on her face and while cracking jokes, and while figuring out a dose to bring herself down.
I woke up the next day to a new life. My face was a mess. My body was cracked and broken and bruised and hurt. But my heart... I don’t know how to explain it except to say that it was pouring rain outside my hospital window, but the sky had never looked more beautiful.
My otherwise awesome child now officially hated her diabetes and ignored it. I officially hated being the diabetes police, and dreaded every moment of confrontation about it.
How does one actually pull off a normal life when you have a disease that requires constant monitoring and care? With diabetes, it’s easy for the diagnosis to become all you are.
I remember it like it was a minute ago: that moment I pulled away from the college dorm, leaving my daughter with diabetes in Washington DC, 500 miles from home. I’d spent hours helping her arrange her room, and her diabetes supplies were tucked back under her bed in the cool containers I’d purchased just for them.
It is entirely possible that your teen heads out the door at 6:30 a.m. and does not return until 7 p.m. With sports, clubs, drama, jobs, and more, teens are busy—and away from watchful parents—often 50 percent of the day or longer. So how do you keep them safe?
That’s right. While I worked hard and constantly not only to keep my daughter with diabetes healthy: blood checks, doctors appointments, the seemingly endless battle with insurance, educating others, setting things up so she could embrace the life of a “normal” child, etc, I forgot to focus on me.