Type 1 diabetes is a unique disease. It does not compare to any other disease for better or worse. In fact, comparisons should never be made between any disease that strikes children. They are all awful in their own right.
I had a funny, sarcastic, to-the-point, kind of rude response when people would say to me, “It could be worse,” when they heard about my son’s diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes. I would say to them, “Yeah, it could be your kid.” Of course, I was hurting when I would say this, and this was my way of dealing with that jab to my heart. I don’t want anyone, child or adult, to have to live with Type 1 diabetes. I don’t say this anymore. I have grown over these 20 months. I have my empathy back, I lost it there for a while. However, I still believe very deeply that a comparison to another disease, or suggestion that ‘it could be worse’ should really be left out of any discussion regarding Type 1 diabetes.
I won’t even get into the other diseases that I have heard that they would be worse. I do want to ask those people that have suggested Type 1 diabetes is easier than other disease if they really know what they are talking about.
I have to prick my 5 year old son’s tiny finger over 10 times a day. That is over 70 times a week. That is over 300 times a month. That is over 3600 times a year. No comparison. Not better or worse. No comparison.
My son gets a site change for his insulin pump every 2 days. That is over 15 times a month that he must endure the pain of a site change. That is over 180 times a year. No comparison. Not better or worse. No comparison.
My son must endure checks at any given time of day, regardless of day or night, awake or asleep. As his parent, I worry every time I go in his bedroom if he will be alive. If his number went too high, he can be in a coma. If his number went too low, he can be having a seizure, and if not caught in time, he could die.
People with type 1 diabetes and their caregivers are the only people that have to worry 365 days a year about ‘Dead in the Bed’ syndrome.
Now I am not saying I don’t think there are worse things. I just don’t compare. That’s not for me to do, and it’s not for you to do either.
Please don’t tell me, “It could be worse,” when you hear my son has type 1 diabetes. I am not sure how I will respond, and I am not sure I will be sorry either.