Anyone who has visited us later in the evening after 8pm or so...has gotten the pleasure of seeing Dave and I be-bop through our house with a head-lamp on...you know the type most people use camping or like my sister will be using soon (in her 100 mile race through the night). I don't know if it was the sleep deprivation or what, but it took Dave and I a couple of months to figure out that we needed a little extra light to be able to shuffle in-and-out of our son's room through the night to check his blood sugar...you can imagine how difficult a task this would be to do with limited light...pricking his tiny fingers, squeezing out a little drop of blood and then lining it up correctly with the strip that is inserted into the glucometer. Dave had the brilliant idea of using a headlamp...so we have danced through our living room, wearing the headlamp, with the bulb turned on...in front of our company while heading to Joe's room...yes, sometimes wine was possibly involved...
Well, anyone with one type 1 kid...who has other kids...knows that you are always concerned that the other child/children in the family are going to get type 1 as well. It is like all of a sudden you have a built in "Water-Consuming Radar" and "Pee-Meter". I am constantly aware of Bridget's water consumption and how many times she uses the bathroom...and listening for the splash of the urine hitting the toilet...to gauge how much she is voiding. A few times, within a year and a half after Joe was diagnosed, Dave and I had checked her blood sugar number. Bridget is really afraid of needles...so we had done the checks at night while she was sleeping...did I mention Bridget is a light sleeper? Anyways, we got away with a couple of checks without her waking. The last time we checked her...or attempted to...put a stop to this practice. I headed in with the Spelunking Gear on...and ooohhhh so quietly tried to shift the covers around to grab her delicate finger and was getting the lancet ready to prick her finger ...when her eyes suddenly open...and she stares at me wide-eyed and fearful...the light from the headlamp illuminating this image of what I am doing to my child...scaring her.
It was from this point forward, that Dave and I have decided to be upfront with Bridget...we talk openly about diabetes...Is she concerned she is going to get it? Does she realize mom and dad worry at times that she may get it etc? One thing that we always reinforce that if she does, (which it is not likely)...we will all be OK...we know the ropes of this diabetes thing...and Joe even let's her know that he will help her with the "set changes"; like she helps him.
We haven't checked Bridget's number for over a year now...we know the signs and symptoms all too well. We will not miss them...In looking at some of these posts, my parental judgement may be questioned...I know. I was a worried mom that needed a concrete number to help soothe my nerves and worries...selfish.
On a side note, we don't use the head-lamp anymore...I am not sure if we have turned into vampires or something with all our late night and early morning checks, but our vision has adjusted to doing blood sugar checks in the dark...illuminated only by the hall light.
1 comment:
I'm always worried about getting diabetes as well. Both of my parents have it, but I haven't showed signs yet. I have just been trying to make sure I get healthy and stay healthy. I want to get some body composition scales to help me keep track of my progress, but I haven't found one I like yet.
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