{"id":37592,"date":"2015-02-12T08:27:29","date_gmt":"2015-02-12T13:27:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?post_type=feature&p=37592"},"modified":"2016-01-11T07:49:37","modified_gmt":"2016-01-11T12:49:37","slug":"the-normal-life-of-a-child-with-diabetes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=37592","title":{"rendered":"The Normal Life of a Child with Diabetes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

My son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes two Septembers ago. Our story\u2019s probably a lot like other ones you hear: there was a frantic trip to a hospital, a period of shock\u2014He has what<\/em>?\u2014followed by the anger, then mourning that comes with realizing your child is completely dependent on a drug for survival and will forever cope with a condition that requires round-the-clock maintenance\u2014maintenance that comes with never-ending ups and downs.<\/p>\n

My husband and I circled the wagons, retreated into our own scary, complicated world of carb counting, needles and sleepless nights. I cried. Most of my friends, though well meaning, didn\u2019t understand (He\u2019ll stabilize, right? At least it\u2019s not cancer). I look back at the compassion we were surrounded with and wish I could have better articulated that we were grateful, but we just needed time, that we\u2019d rely on that love and support for, um, forever. But when you\u2019re so stunned at how your life\u2014I mean, the way you live your life, how you expect things to go\u2014can change so dramatically after a quick trip to the pediatrician, well \u2026 you\u2019re busy metabolizing your new scene and the gravity of it all.<\/p>\n

But now, as the days fall away, I can tell my friends that leaving the hospital was kind of like bringing home my first newborn, but without the instincts to help him survive. This time that stuff had to be taught, studied, practiced\u2014there was a learning curve. At the hospital (what I call our three-day \u201cdiabetes boot camp\u201d) I recall giving myself finger sticks and shots, injecting expired glucagon into oranges, taking carb quizzes and math tests. (I should also mention that my son took all of this like a champ: even then he was a precocious little guy who immediately knew a protein from a carb, who, from the start, would bravely present his backside for a post-meal shot.) When my husband and I sufficiently passed our tests we were released, and permitted to bring our son home. In a word? Terrifying. But we did it.<\/p>\n

And we\u2019re still doing it. Things are okay. Our normal is our normal. And now I have something important to share, particularly with those D-Moms and D-Dads who are at that panicked \u201ccircle the wagon\u201d stage. Here goes.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

My son turned seven today.<\/p>\n

Even though there was no school, he awoke early, opened presents from his sister, Dad and me, and checked himself in the mirror several times to report, he told me, what he looked like as a seven-year-old. (In his words, \u201cThe same, but different.\u201d) He and his little sister built an enormous blanket fort that they filled with pillows and toys, with a strategic entrance facing a wall so they\u2019d know if someone\u2014Mommy\u2014was coming. There were cartoons, followed by a trip to the outdoor ice rink\u2014a flooded and groomed baseball diamond\u2014two hamlets away from ours. While we were there the wind whipped, making the single-digit temperature feel dangerous, numbing faces and toes, but we skated on, my daughter shuffling from one corner of the rink to the other, my son sprinting round and round, hockey stick in front of him. We came home, thawed fingers and toes and drank hot chocolate. The kids watched cartoons, then we climbed into the car and set off for a nearby town, where my husband and I threw our son a party at a pizza parlor. A dozen kids came, mostly seven-year-olds, running wild in their pirate hats and eye patches, gobbling pizza and opening their mouths to exhibit partially chewed food. They laughed, hugged, jumped, chased, tackled. It was chaos, particularly after the giant cupcakes.<\/p>\n

We drove home through snow, my son on a high from the fun, recounting the gifts he had just opened: LEGOs, a slime kit, pirate tattoos, superhero books, Harry Potter wand, toy helicopter, a snake that grows when you put it in water. At home we inspected the bounty, my son started building one of his new LEGO sets, then we brushed teeth and read a book. The kids were kissed, snuggled, tucked. Exhausted, they quickly fell asleep. I watched my son for a while\u2014my little guy, not quite as little as before.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It was a beautiful day.<\/p>\n

Throughout it all were finger sticks, carb counting, insulin injections, an insulin pump set change, a couple of hypoglycemias and a couple of hyperglycemias. Those are just things we do, stuff we deal with, part of life. Are some days harder than others? Do I worry much of the time and wish to the moon and back that my son didn\u2019t have type 1 diabetes? Sure, but there\u2019s more light than dark, more hope than fear. And that\u2019s something.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes two Septembers ago. Our story\u2019s probably a lot like other ones you hear: there was a frantic trip to a hospital, a period of shock\u2014He has what?\u2014followed by the anger, then mourning that comes with realizing your child is completely dependent on a drug for survival and will forever cope with a condition that requires round-the-clock maintenance\u2014maintenance that comes with never-ending ups and downs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":37594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1430],"tags":[20],"yoast_head":"\nThe Normal Life of a Child with Diabetes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do I worry much of the time and wish to the moon and back that my child didn\u2019t have diabetes?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=37592\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Annie Stoltie\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=37592\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=37592\",\"name\":\"The Normal Life of a Child with Diabetes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=37592#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=37592#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/The-Normal-Life-of-a-Child-with-Diabetes-2.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-12T13:27:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-11T12:49:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/28bf516504a4bdffde7646d31e32550b\"},\"description\":\"Do I worry much of the time and wish to the moon and back that my child didn\u2019t have diabetes?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=37592#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=37592\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=37592#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/The-Normal-Life-of-a-Child-with-Diabetes-2.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/The-Normal-Life-of-a-Child-with-Diabetes-2.jpeg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"The Normal Life of a Child with Diabetes 2\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=37592#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Normal Life of a Child with Diabetes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\",\"name\":\"ASweetLife\",\"description\":\"The Diabetes Magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/28bf516504a4bdffde7646d31e32550b\",\"name\":\"Annie Stoltie\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe3c625a5c22e53b9c8cfe2fb1bd409e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe3c625a5c22e53b9c8cfe2fb1bd409e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Annie Stoltie\"},\"description\":\"Annie Stoltie is editor of Adirondack Life magazine. 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