{"id":48486,"date":"2018-02-05T09:36:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-05T14:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=48486"},"modified":"2018-02-05T09:36:00","modified_gmt":"2018-02-05T14:36:00","slug":"love-in-the-time-of-diabetes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=48486","title":{"rendered":"Love in the Time of Diabetes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even though Valentine\u2019s Day usually focuses on matters of the heart, today it\u2019s all about the pancreas.\u00a0 Living with diabetes doesn\u2019t stop us from experiencing love.\u00a0 Not even a little bit.\u00a0 But diabetes adds an additional dimension to our relationships, with our partners learning the diabetes ins-and-outs as they get to know and love us.\u00a0 I talked with a few PWD partners about what they knew about diabetes before meeting their loved one and how diabetes affects their relationship.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What did you know about diabetes before you met your partner?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHow to spell diabetes – and that it wasn\u2019t pronounced diabeetus \u2013 sorry Wilford,\u201d said Bob Wojcik.\u00a0 His wife, Jacquie, has T1D, and they\u2019ve been together 13ish years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn other words, [I knew] nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew a bit about diabetes as my best friend had type 1 and my grandad had type 1, too.\u00a0 I knew all the symptoms to look out for and what has to be done to help,\u201d shared Lynn Riddle, wife of diabetes athlete Roddy Riddle.<\/p>\n

Tamara Oser is the wife of Sean Oser, who has been living with T1D for 25 years.\u00a0 \u201cI had never known anyone with type 1 diabetes prior to meeting my now husband. I honestly don’t remember knowing much about diabetes at all. I didn’t have any negative or positive views-it was just something I hadn’t encountered by that point in my life. None of my family or friends had type 1 or type 2 diabetes.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Do you guys approach diabetes as a team? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Tamara thinks so. \u201cI would say yes, and I would hope he would too. We approach everything as a team. The most recent example I can think of is over the weekend when he had a day with repeat lows. We were traveling and in a hotel room. He ran out of glucose tabs, and I saw him looking around the hotel room to see if there was anything [he could use to treat a low]. I had glucose tabs and a snack, and glucagon which we have never needed thankfully, in my purse as I always do so I was able to help him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bob didn\u2019t see diabetes as something that could be tackled fully as a team. Not for lack of trying, though. \u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t see diabetes as a team sport. I wish it was, and that I could take it from her when she was tired of it. Occasionally I will assist her in the middle of night with juice box retrieval or help installing a Dexcom sensor on the back of her arm.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But diabetes does have influence on a relationship.\u00a0 It pokes its head in and makes itself known at both predictable times and completely random times.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tamara tackled the mealtime disclosure.\u00a0 \u201cI remember the first time I realized my husband had diabetes was when we started dating 25 years ago. We were having lunch and he nonchalantly pulled out a syringe and gave himself an injection. He calmly explained that he had type 1 diabetes and had to take insulin. He has always done what he needs to do to take care of himself, and integrates it into our life. He had only had type 1 diabetes for 5 years when I met him, so I feel like we grew into adulthood together while living with and learning about diabetes,\u201d said Tamara.\u00a0 \u201cIt is just part of him and because of that has been a part of our relationship. Life is crazy and challenging at times, and diabetes is as well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lynn Riddle talked about the unpredictable side of diabetes, and how a partner can worry.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s the hypo at night, being dark and by yourselves with someone sometimes relying on you to help can be hard and sometimes very frightening to start until the level starts to rise. Also it can be slow to increase glucose level so you have to be careful not to overcompensate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

When we\u2019re facing something challenging and chronic, like diabetes, it can be helpful to find the silver linings in those experiences.\u00a0 They are there, if you do a little digging.\u00a0 I asked the PWD partners if there were any bright spots when it came to diabetes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What\u2019s the hidden blessing of diabetes, if there is one? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Bob saw a window of health opportunities, through the pane of diabetes.\u00a0 \u201cQuarterly blood work \u2013 [a way of] finding out if something else is wrong way earlier than the average person.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has introduced us to so many friends and\u00a0amazing people,\u201d said Tamara. \u00a0\u201cIt has inspired a new direction in my career as I want to help those I’ve met. Unlike some other diseases, there is an entire community waiting to offer support – both online and at in-person events like Children With Diabetes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lynn was grateful that the diagnosis was diabetes and not something else. \u201cWhen Roddy was first diagnosed, it was just two weeks before our son was born. Roddy had lost loads of weight, was thirsty, going back and forth to toilet, had thrush, and was very tired. \u00a0We went to the doctor and was told to go straight up to hospital. On our mind was the big C word and when we were told it was diabetes, it was like\u00a0relief as it was something that could be controlled and could be lived with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tamara added one more thing.\u00a0 \u201cI have learned so much from my partner. I have learned how much work it takes on a daily basis, how gracefully he incorporates it into his life, and probably most important that someone with diabetes can still have an amazing life and accomplish great things.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our pancreases might be broken, but our hearts still make a whole lot of love.\u00a0\u00a0 Big thanks and lots of love to the partners of PWD this Valentine\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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