|
|
For the next few hours our son was poked and prodded after having drunk some horribly sweet concoction. When the tests were over we were told to expect a call within the next few weeks. A couple of hours later my wife called me at work to say the hospital had already called. Our son had Type 1 diabetes and needed to start on insulin injections immediately. A nurse was coming to the house at dinner time to give him his first injection.
The next several days were a blur. We’d get up in the morning, fix our son his “prescribed” breakfast, then await the nurse who would take his levels and administer his injection. Then it was off to the hospital for educational sessions. Once back home we barely had time to get dinner before the nurse was back for the evening injection. Then it was time to bathe our young daughter and fall into bed. The next day we did it all over again ! This went on for a week before we were “educated” enough to start dealing with this disease on our own. As much as we dreaded having to do the injections ourselves I was never so happy as the day the nurse left our house and wished us good luck. Finally we were on our own and life would go back to normal, sort of.
Over the next several months we learned a lot about this disease. What it is, what is does, how to control it, etc. Although most days are better now it has become a permanent part of our lives, especially my son’s. He tests his blood 4 times a day and injects insulin morning and night and before every meal. He counts carbs all the time (as does my wife who does all the shopping and cooking !!) and there’s lots of trade offs. A phrase heard a lot around our house these days is “if you have that for desert tonight you’ll have to give something else up”. When he goes out somewhere he has to take his blood testing kit with him and he always carries a readily available source of sugar in case he goes low. Some nights he goes to bed hungry because his numbers are high and he can’t or won’t eat anything because he’s trying hard to be good. My wife and I are constantly worrying that he will lose his sight someday or have to have a foot amputated or develop heart disease at a very early age or develop some other complication.
This past weekend was Thanksgiving and we let him eat anything he wanted but he paid a price for it. He had to take extra insulin and his numbers were still high, but the kid’s gotta live too !!
Sometimes I try to put myself in his place and it’s hard. He has to inject himself every day. He can’t always eat what he wants or when he wants; hard enough for an adult but a teenager ? He knows he can get really sick if he isn’t careful and even then he might have problems someday.
Years ago I read an article by some guy, don’t remember his name but I remember what he said. Teenagers think they’re invincible and that’s a good thing because it’s what makes them take chances us old guys won’t take. Oh sure we need to teach them about the evils of drugs and not driving when you’ve been drinking and stuff like that but they should still be allowed to feel invincible because it’s one of the things that makes being a teenager fun. My son doesn’t think he’s invincible and that makes me cry sometimes.
We need to beat this disease. Please join us by downloading Folding at Home and running it on your computer.
OldGuy
Special Response Team
Note: Read here about Folding At Home.
"
|
|
|
 |
|
No Comments Allowed for Anonymous, please register |
|
| |
|
Login |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
· New User? · Click here to create a registered account.
|
|
|
Article Rating |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Average Score: 4.83
Votes: 6
|
|
|
