{"id":37902,"date":"2015-05-26T05:49:48","date_gmt":"2015-05-26T09:49:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?post_type=feature&p=37902"},"modified":"2016-01-11T09:34:49","modified_gmt":"2016-01-11T14:34:49","slug":"type-1-diabetes-unites-classmates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=37902","title":{"rendered":"Type 1 Diabetes Unites Classmates"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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. My husband and I knew what this child and her family were facing\u2014the tightrope that is maintaining healthy blood sugars; the never-ending insulin injections and carb counting; the constant care and worry. But our son didn\u2019t view it with sadness like we did. He said he\u2019d help her feel brave about finger sticks and shots, that he\u2019d tell her not to be afraid. I think that in her diagnosis he saw solidarity, even happiness\u2014there was someone who really understood what his life was like.<\/p>\n

A year later, the kids are wrapping up first grade. At their school they have an amazing nurse who cares for them. She is kind and flexible and knows how to handle worried parents. They have a teacher who works hard to educate them around their highs and lows, who advocates and looks out for them. There\u2019s even a lunchroom staff that diligently counts carbs and creates healthy snacks and meals. It\u2019s a good, safe place for them to learn.<\/p>\n

After school today, I found my son and his friend in their classroom, sitting on the floor, laughing and playing, just two kids who look like any other first-graders, minus the bulges around their waists where they wear their insulin pumps\u2014matching pumps, I should add.<\/p>\n

I asked them what it was like for them, both having diabetes in school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have something in common!\u201d said my son.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d agreed his friend.<\/p>\n

\"superheroes2\"<\/a>They told me they check their own blood sugars during certain times of the day, but race to see who can check first.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s usually him,\u201d my son\u2019s friend told me.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou win once in a while,\u201d he said to her.<\/p>\n

I asked if they ever felt different than the other kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I have to wait to eat my snack if I\u2019m low,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sometimes feel special in class,\u201d said my son. \u201cI have to do things differently, I\u2019m late with stuff \u2026 like practicing the play [because of a low].\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone wants to watch us when we check ourselves,\u201d my son\u2019s friend said. \u201c[One classmate] says, \u2018Ewww.\u2019 I say, \u2018It\u2019s not gross, I\u2019m used to it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

I asked the kids about a cure for type 1 diabetes. The previous weekend my son\u2019s friend and her family had completed a JDRF walk for the cure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019re going to make a new pancreas,\u201d she said. \u201cCut you open, put it inside. I think they\u2019re trying to make it right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d my son said. \u201cIt\u2019ll be shaped like a pancreas, but the inside will be a robot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut your pancreas does other things,\u201d she said. \u201cYou need it, taking it out would be bad. Maybe they would keep the two pancreases inside of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d said my son, or \u201cif the cure is a really, really deep shot, I\u2019ll take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

I asked the kids what they wanted to be when they grew up. Both are athletes\u2014she, a hockey and soccer player, he, a soccer and baseball player.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be a pump nurse,\u201d my son\u2019s friend told me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be a coach for some kind of a sports team,\u201d said my son, \u201cor someone who works in a hospital to find a cure for diabetes. If they\u2019ve already found a cure, I\u2019ll stick to sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

The kids laughed, my son wiggled on the floor. \u201cI feel low,\u201d said my son\u2019s friend as she grabbed her backpack. She checked her blood sugar. \u201c108,\u201d she announced.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re totally superheroes,\u201d said my son.<\/p>\n

As we sat there and the kids laughed and bounced around, I saw their acceptance of one another, and I\u2019ve seen it before\u2014their high fives on the soccer field, the way my son puts his arm around his friend, the way he sometimes, after school, reports to me her lows or highs along with his. It\u2019s a kind of love, like that of siblings\u2014they left their plans to get married back in kindergarten.<\/p>\n

Knowing what I know about type 1 diabetes, about what it takes to manage the condition and the potential for bad things to happen, I don\u2019t wish it on anyone. But it happened to my son and his friend; this is the hand they were dealt.<\/p>\n

Whether they realize it or not, they make life easier for each other. The fact that in this tiny school, in the same class, there are two children who have diabetes and are active and happy and healthy, changes how others, including kids and adults, see them. It changes how my son and his friend feel about themselves. They know they\u2019re not alone. And they know they are more than just kids with diabetes.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re totally superheroes.<\/p>\n

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

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