My Pre-Diabetes is Bringing my Son and I Closer Together

A few years ago, my GP noted that my fasting blood sugars were creeping up. Over the last few weeks, I started checking my morning blood sugar, and have found that it’s consistently in the 120s. Pre-diabetes is clearly here, and probably has been for a while. Tomorrow, I’ll check in with the doctor, and probably go on Metformin, but there’s little doubt: Type 2 lies in my future. 

Suddenly, I have something in common with my six year old son, Sacha, who has Type 1! 

My thoughts: 

1. Prediabetes, and the likely onset of Type 2, is deeply upsetting. I’ve been in a funk for over week, especially since I exercise daily, eat healthily, don’t smoke, etc. 

2. I probably wouldn’t noticed the condition if my son didn’t have Type 1; blood sugar testing is integral to our daily routine. So he, and his Type 1, may have saved me from serious damage. 

3. I’m secretly thrilled that we something in common. Type 2 is clearly MUCH easier to handle than Type 1, so much so that there is no real comparison, especially given our age differences. He’s six, I’m almost 46. Still, I can now share a small piece of his daily struggle, and that makes me very happy. 

James Ron

James Ron is an American, Israeli, and Canadian academic, whose son, Sacha, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2009 at the age of two. Until then, James had never heard of the disease. Today, James is a member of the scientific and advisory group of Life for a Child, an Australia-based charity that supplies insulin and other diabetes supplies to children and youth in the developing world. James teaches international affairs and human rights at the University of Minnesota, and lives in Minneapolis with his wife, Emma, and their two children, Tessa and Sacha.

James Ron

James Ron is an American, Israeli, and Canadian academic, whose son, Sacha, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2009 at the age of two. Until then, James had never heard of the disease. Today, James is a member of the scientific and advisory group of Life for a Child, an Australia-based charity that supplies insulin and other diabetes supplies to children and youth in the developing world. James teaches international affairs and human rights at the University of Minnesota, and lives in Minneapolis with his wife, Emma, and their two children, Tessa and Sacha.