My son Jordan has been a type 1 diabetic since he was 2 years old. He is now 14. It is acutally harder every year “we” have diabetes. I say we becasue when he was diagonsed- I feel as if I have it along with him. I only wish it was me and not him. The lows are heart breaking and the scarest thing to watch them go through. In the last five years we became invouled with the local JDRF and that has been great. At least we feel like we are doing something to help find a cure. Jordan is currently going through a “non-diabetic” lifestyle. He is not taking care of himself like he should.
Gwen -
I went through that stage myself. I have just recently really starting taking control of myself and am much happier for it. Unfortunately, you have to give you son some tough love. He may not like what you have to say or try to make him do but he will realize it later and wil love you that much more for it. Unfortunately, you can’t monitor him 24/7 but my best suggestion is to get rid of anything in the house that is not good for him. This will mean that you will have to incorporate his eating habits as your own. You may already be doing this, but if you aren’t, this is a good step to take. Get rid of those sweets and high carb foods. regular sodas are a no no as well as sugary juices. I may be telling you what you already know but just wanted to let you know my thought and I wish you all the best on Jordans road to a healthier life with Diabetes.
Take care and stay in control
Hi Gwen,
I am so sorry to hear about Jordan’s diagnosis, wow such a young age. I bet you have grown quite accustom to taking care of all his needs and testing and insulin and everything because he was so young, and I bet you did a super terrific job all these years.
I can identify with his anger and frustration because I was 12 when I was diagnosed. At 14 things fell apart for me too. Plus I had the complication of knowing full well what living as a non-diabetic was all about.
The hard part is upon you. In my opinion, YOU don’t have diabetes at all. HE has it. I know it’s going to be hard but you have got to let go. You can’t do anything more for him but provide a safe haven. You can’t protect him, you can’t make him a better diabetic and even though you can control his disease better than him right now you have got to give him the keys and let him figure it out.
Stop by the born-again diabetics group and ask us about our stories and why we ALL went through a very tough time of poor control and rebellion. Maybe you can try to understand the mental and physical reasons for the behavior, and why acceptance is so important.
I didn’t grieve my loss of health for years and as a result went through almost 20 years of undiagnosed depression. Maybe your son could benefit from therapy, but I would use caution about “forcing” it.
Best of luck to you Gwen and we are hear if you would like to chat, anytime.