Lucky me, I do! My daughter and son-in-law live with me. He'll sometimes notice that I haven't eaten much, and present me with a plate of food - LC!
Tonight he came into the kitchen (also my 'office') and said... if you feel like taking a little extra insulin, there's home made cherry vanilla ice cream. Love it that he knows what I eat regularly, but also knows that if I want a treat occasionally I'll have it. My daughter married well LOL
Nope, the only people I know who really get it are other Type 1's I've met. My two Type 2 acquaintances (both on insulin) think I'm obsessive. My brother is "teachable" and asks good questions; he offered to help me pay for my pump if I needed, so he's supportive even if he doesn't know much.
So no, I don't have anyone like your son-in-law, jrtpup. To me, that's the definition of supportive, someone who listens and observes what you do and makes offers based on that knowledge. I actually don't really think I'd want someone to support me in too active a way though. I'm pretty self sufficient and don't let people make suggestions or tell me what to do unless they really earn it. (By being very aware) and I can't imagine that happening. I'm also especially touchy about food and it's a rare person who can make inroads on that one. I'm going to a wedding next month of a very old friend, but one who I haven't seen in many years, and he'll be the only person I'll know there. I'm not nervous about traveling with D because I know how to take care of me, but I don't like being dependent on others or having to be polite if they encourage me to do things I don't want to do. I won't have transportation so I will quickly scope out the restaurant at the hotel as well as see if there's a grocery store nearby if I want anything to keep in the fridge in my room. But I'm also at a point in my D now that I can be more flexible. I've already checked that there will be a vegetarian option at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding, but most likely it will be pasta and I'm just going to have to be ok with that. Seems I can't get both my vegetarian and my diabetic needs met unless I'm the cook and the first one is non-negotiable for me.
Yeah I've been living alone a long time and I'm set in my ways...with D as with other things. I couldn't imagine having somebody asking me if I was low or what my blood sugar was. I'd probably like that as much as I liked guys who asked if I was on my period if I was in a bad mood! I'd probably give them a dirty look or say something rude and profane!
I am very lucky to have a best friend who, somehow -by osmosis maybe or just because she cares - has learned so much about D and totally gets it. In fact, she can recognize that I'm going low before I know it myself. When we were sitting shiva after my mom died, she came over with a cup of juice and said "test - I think you're going low (which I was) and then shooed everyone away while I ate. She reads everything she can about D and, more amazingly, she remembers it all.
Now that we're older and she is pre-diabetic, she has called me many times for advice re when to start taking oral meds, what to eliminate from her diet to lower her bg's/A1c's (she already exercises nearly every day and eats a very healthy diet), and she's managed to stay off meds for a couple of years.
I have a brother who also is insulin-dependent, and my mother was, too (from chemo...onset at age 65!), but other than those two, my family totally doesn't get it and neither do most of the other people I know.
Ruth
Ruth
What a wonderful son-in-law! Love him. Yep, he's a keeper.
My husband understands. He went with me in the beginning to medical appointments & was supportive of LC.
Fortunate to have great friends. No food police among them. They'll check if a restaurant is cool, or tell me what they're planning for dinners together. I dislike making a big deal about food (& people who are difficult re food) & can always find something to eat. But, lovely to know people who are kind to ask.
That's REAL support ;)
Sure is! I'm grateful to have sensitive, caring friends. One friend made LC alternatives to mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving. How sweet is that!
My wife and daughter are very supportive, and would be more supportive, but I'm not really oriented towards being supported.
LOL ar! There's support, then there's support, ya know?
Gerri, what did she use for the potatoes? My daughter makes the most amazing cauli mash.
yes, thank goodness, my husband! He has went to classes including a pump class. He always looks at me to see if I am alright. And when I am busy or not feeling well, he asks if I need to eat, or have I checked my sugars? He does it a way that is loving and caring. I don't know what I would do without him, married 32 yrs last week!!
Should add, he is my cheerleader too, when my a1c went from 9.8 to 7.3 we celebrated, low carb style!
It was a cauliflower mash. Very good. Her son didn't realize what it was as the dish was being passed. His face was priceless at the first bite.
i have friends with chronic autoimmune diseases and they are the ones that really get me. we can ■■■■■ and moan to each other and not worry about the other person thinking, "omg, here we go". i have to say, D doesnt seem so bad when compared to a really bad chrohns or RA episode. we win the "everyday pita" category, but luckily i dont have any of the debilitating pain they suffer at times.
some days i feel luckeier than others...
I had a friend with a severe chronic illness where she was very limited in what she could do and in nearly constant pain. I didn't discuss my D with her too much though she was certainly open if I did. She actually was always open to hear other people's problems because she said they took her focus off herself. Probably the reason I didn't is her husband was a type 2 insulin dependent diabetic who had less than optimal care but wasn't really open to change.(He thought I was obsessive) So I would throw things out now and then but not really get into it. But Tami helped me enormously because her situation really helped me keep in perspective that as you say, what we have is definitely an "everyday pita" but nothing like what she suffered. And she always did it with such grace, trying to maintain her quality of life till the end. (I met her and her husband in Costa Rica to celebrate her 60th birthday the year before she died). Even two years later she is still a shining example to me.
But commiserating about my Type 1 I only do in more than the briefest "updates" with my Type 1 friends in real life and on here.
+1 to that!
This morning at first finger poke , hubby getting breakfast going , including milk for me , I expressed a 3.7 ( x 18 ) result ; he turned around and handed me the glass with the 1 percent milk . He truly got it this morning :)
Keep him nel ;)
Thanks jrtpup ...even if I have my doubts ...and so does he ...will keep :)
No, I do not. But there are people who fill in different parts of the grid - living with T1 diabetes, cancer and life-threatening depression is a pretty pukey combination.
On the other hand, I've lived without support for so long that I probably would not recognize it if it whacked me upside the head.
PS Let me clarify - of course I feel that all of my friends here on TD get it. Big time.
And my heart carries a lot of gratitude for that.
But in person-to-person life, no.
My son is highly interested in it. He even checks my 24 hour plot on my CGM and comments how good or bad a day it has been. But he is also 10 and still thinks dad is cool and someone to look up to.
My wife cares but never really asks. It is pretty much off her radar. But after 17 years together she does automatically pack things for lows when we are going on a picnic or what have you. I have quite mixed emotions about it. Sometimes I am glad I really don't have anyone looking over my shoulder but at those times I want to throw a pity party I have no one show up.
Yes. My husband, while quite ill himself, is fantastic!
I can understand how you'd have mixed emotions!
Enjoy your son's 10 year old adulation while it lasts LOL