Single with diabetes. I sleep with a different brand of glucose tablets every night. Don’t judge.
Category: Relationships
He was feeling the way I have often felt over the years because of my diabetes. He was angry, in pain, worried about money, upset about letting the kids down, and he needed my help. For the first time I understood just how much diabetes strained our daily lives. Being the partner of a person with diabetes takes its toll.
My son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes almost three years ago, when he was four. He started kindergarten as the only diabetic in a relatively small class of kids in a very small public school in a rural part of New York. And then, just as the school year ended, one of his classmates was diagnosed with type 1.
I learned that Tess’ little brother Jeff had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. My heart broke for their family. How could the people who were so understanding and caring when I was diagnosed be dealing with the same disease in their own family? Still neighbors, my family offered their family as much support as they could during that hard time. The tables had turned.
My dating history can be summed up as: bleh. One of my ex-boyfriends took me to the hospital in the middle of the night when I had a stomach bug and high ketones, only to repeat - daily until we broke up - how annoying it was that he had to take me. Another guy I was seeing for a few months told me he didn’t care at all to learn about my diabetes.
Cynthia Hatch, a mother in Brookfield, Wisconsin, is convinced that her family’s diabetes alert dog Sunny, a golden retriever/Irish setter mix, has saved her son Nathan’s life multiple times. Nathan has all the latest diabetes gear: a CGM tied into a pump that automatically shuts off when his glucose goes below a certain level. But he also has a rare combination of type 1 diabetes and Addison’s disease, another autoimmune condition where hormonal imbalances can cause severe and precipitous drops in blood sugar.
This story is my best example of how diabetes – something initially terrifying – has brought me something incredible. Diabetes is always a challenge, but with my best friend next to me, it isn’t so bad. John and I understand each other, and we don’t let diabetes consume us.
These are some of the questions I ask myself about any person when deciding whether or not to tell them I have diabetes. I don’t try to hide my diabetes. I mean, I wrote a book about it. But, I’m careful about revealing my diabetes to just anyone. Doing so is always a leap of faith and a high stakes roll.
I’d like to believe that anyone and everyone I tell would be understanding and accommodating to this fact of my life.
What are the statistical chances of getting type 1 diabetes along with your spouse in your third decade of living?
Deep down inside I knew I wasn't just married to someone with diabetes. I knew I was a diabetic, too...