As the youngest of 3 children I’ve always felt like the spoilt kid of the family. That’s true for the most part, but after living with my parents as an adult I now understand, the care and effort parents provide. Selfishly or ignorantly I haven’t fully considered the feelings of my parents with respect to my diabetes. Now, when I think back on the day that I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, I realise the pain and anguish that my parents went through, and still go through (but to a lesser degree hopefully) today.
They were worried even before my diagnosis. My mom had a dreadful look one morning when she tested my blood sugars after I had mentioned that I was so thirsty and peeing all the time. I saw the levels but, since I didn’t really understand the condition, didn’t think much of it. The look on my mom’s face told me more than I wanted to know, but I still disregarded the signs. My day was normal and I never thought much of it. I thought, oh well, probably a mistake or a glitch on the machine, or blankly that it wouldn’t happen. In fact, I do remember thinking maybe my mom is overacting. You know how moms can be, sometimes they’ll call the doctor for an odd bowel movement (Just for the record I don’t tell my mom casually about my bowel movements but sometimes she asks, and describing is the polite thing to do).
I remember being in the doctors office and waiting for the results of the urine test with my mom. The results weren’t my best, but we’ll brush past that. After a lot of disbelief, my mom had to leave. I can’t remember why, whether there was another appointment or just that it was difficult to handle. I sat in another room, while my doctor dealt with some appointments. I sobbed for a while, which was probably because of the shock, but being totally alone didn’t help. No blame for my parents as they must have been something urgent (probably picking up my sister) and it wasn’t long anyway. I waited for my dad to come and pick me up and deal with some instructions from the doctor. After my dad arrived, and we gathered in the doctors office and the dynamic of the room changed. My dad who I don’t see get emotional crumbled and even our family doctor broke. As tears filled the room, the worry also built in me. More tears fell as we told my sister the news…. Such a baby haha. Essentially the disbelief of the diagnosis along with the uncertainty and concern over my future was overwhelming and rocked the family. This had happened to my mom a while before me and although this was just as shocking, it was different somehow. There was more silence when the same happened with my mother. I remember just times sitting in the living room with the whole family in silence after my mom had arrived with the diagnosis. Again disbelief and shock, but muted in both respects…
This is continued on my blog
But I just wanted to put it out there (or remind since its probably already out there) that there are lots of other people affected by diabetes, not just being the sufferer.
Do you think about other people diabetes effects? Those that worry but don’t mention it. Maybe those that help you whenever you’re having a hypo, or those that encourage and support you. If you do, how do you think about them? and do you let them know?