Well, today was one, just like any other; that is until I got home…
My son calls me at 2:30 in the afternoon after getting home from school, his blood sugar is 55, so I ask him to have a juice and call me in 10 minutes. 10 minutes later, he calls me and says, “I’m 82 now dad” so I say ok and to have his mom call me when she gets home if she needs anything. Fast forward to 6:30 pm. My wife gets home with my youngest son from soccer practice. Youngest one goes upstairs to use the bathroom and he announces “Why is there a popcicle wrapper in the toilet?” Wife asks my oldest (type 1) about it, he denies any knowledge of how it got there. Mind you he had been home alone since 5:00pm when my wife left for soccer practice. This causes a huge eruption. Oldest son goes down to check his blood before dinner, he’s 432! World War 3 just started in our house. Wife is upset, I’m upset, son denies having anything other than a juice to correct his low; oh, and a granola bar which he did bolus for. So my question, can a 25 carb juice make you jump to 432 over the course of 2 hours? I think not! So we start looking around more, it appears as though some of my younger son’s chocolate bar was missing as well. Before anyone starts to assume, we let both boys have small treats from time to time, nothing major, a fudgecicle here, maybe a candy bar there. No preferential treatment for the youngest. Oh I forgot. This morning when I returned from the gym, I put my protein shake on the island and went up stairst to get ready for work. It was 3/4 full. I came down and noticed it was 1/2 full. “Who drank some of my shake?” I ask. Denial. WTF??? I don’t know if this is normal 12 year old behavior but boy it set us off tonight. We try to be understanding and supportive, but we cannot tollerate lying to our face! That and this just started today! We tried to give him a chance to come clean, tell the truth, and we would be fine with that; then coach on what would have been a better choice.
I read all the time of people who wish they would have taken better care of their condition; hell I have a friend that is waiting for kidneys and is on dialysis! I have another friend that is doing ok with his type1 but wishes he had done better. I know, I just know, that these indulgences are causing damage. I just don’t know how much. I don’t want to completely lock out any special treats, snacks, or his favorite cereal, but if he sneaks and then lies. I know he has a crap load to deal with, between his disease, moving into teenage years, school homework, and then the a-holes that he has to deal with at school. Sometimes I just wish I could put him in a bubble and protect him, but how would that help? I wish that the USFDA would accept the Islet transplants like Canada does. I wish someone would find a cure. I wish I had type 1 and he didn’t. If I could make a wish, thats what I would wish for; strike that. I would wish for a cure and would give it to everyone with this disease for free.
God bless you all dealing with this daily struggle.
