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Monday, July 10, 2006

This Monday, I'm sharing 2 memories of my son. The first one is of the day he was born, which I posted in April, here's the link Monday Memories: Part 2 . It was the first time I'd been induced, and the first time I'd ever had an epideral, which is heaven by the way, if it's done correct the first time. The second memory of him is not funny at all. Sometimes, I find it one of those things that God allows in our life for whatever reason, we have no idea WHY, but as there is a reason for everything, I try and accept it the best I can. I've mentioned before, that my son is a Type 1 diabetic. Which basically means his Pancreas does not produce insulin to help break down carbohydrates into energy. All sugar is carbohydrate, but not all carbohydrates are sugar. Most of everything he eats, like bread, milk, potatoes, ice cream, rice, anything with carbohydrates, he needs to have injections of insulin to help break these foods down for energy, otherwise the sugars build up and become keytones which are poison to his body. Enough of the Medical lesson. If your'e still reading, the story is about the events leading up to how we found out he was diabetic. My 3yo. was born in March of 2003. I started to potty train my son, but was finding it a little hard, because he would soak through his diapers, and he was constantly thirsty. My son was a tank. He was built very stalky. Then all of the sudden he lost so much weight and got really skinny. My mother remarried in August, and my son cried the whole day. My grandmother mentioned that she felt there was something not quite right with him, but we couldn't put our fingers on it. According to his doctor when we brought him to the ER the day after Christmas, he had only been completely diabetic for about 2 wks. We look back at pics of him and he looked so sick, if it hadn't been for my husband who is also a Type 1 diabetic, suggesting to test his BS, my son would have ended up in ICU, the nurses told me he was very close to going in, and they had seen many worse cases, which made me think why didn't I see it before. The road hasn't been an easy one. My husband was 12yo. when he was diagnosed. I've been trying to get my son to recognize how he feels when his Blood Sugar is low to tell someone ASAP. Dealing with a teacher, who doesn't quite understand the importance of testing his blood, let alone, informing me when he was having a party at school, or when he puts in his mouth is important for the school nurse to know.....but she just didn't get it! The end of this story is, it's getting better all the time. He's on an insulin pump now, so he doesn't get stuck with a needle 6-8 times a day, only if his there is a problem with the pump, and I change that 2 or 3 times a week. He's always been great about not giving me a hard time with testing his blood or shots, but now, he knows how to work his pump with my supervision. This year he starts first grade, and will need to visit the nurses office every 2 hrs. to test his blood, and I told her I gave her credit, because there are 8 diabetics at his school, and she has them all scheduled as to what times they come in...Anyways, it's so great to see him growing up with it and that he's taken on quite a lot for being so young in taking care of himself. I realize and thank God, that it could be worse. That it wasn't cancer, and that Diabetes is somewhat to a point manageable, but I wouldn't wish any child or adult to have to deal with what my son and husband have to go through every day...The funny part of this story is my husband tells me the the other day...I only have to deal with are a few gray hairs and wrinkles....True! I do thank God for my husband too, because without him, I'm not sure if I'd ever made it through this far. I'm sure I could if I had too, but It's nice to have his support in helping me understand Diabetes better.
I hope everyone has a great Monday!

2 comments:

Catch said...

Its always sad when someone so young has to deal with diabetes, but you are right..it is manageable and it could have been so much worse. God bless you and I wish you all much luck and happiness.

Travel Italy said...

My father was diabetic. As a youngster I spent several summers working as a councelor in a camp, in Atlanta, for kids with diabetes. There are some things that we all had to be aware of and we all received 2 weeks of training before the camp opened up to the kids.

This was volunteer work, I am amazed that the school does not have required training! The various forms related to diabetes are very common and becoming more so as kids put on more weight.

I must say that my experience was great. The kids had a much better handle on real life, probably because of extra attention they had to dedicate to what is normal for everyone else. We had fun, they seemed to enjoy it as much as we did.