As a parent of a child who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the tender age of 4, I am being robbed of the experience of raising a child without diabetes. But more importantly, my son is being robbed of the experience of just being 4 then 5 then 6.
I will never know as he grows and changes how much diabetes has an impact on who he has become and is still becoming. He started school when he was 4 and 2 months. He got diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 4 and 1 month. He will never know what it is like to go to school without diabetes. It is robbing him of the regular experience of just going to school. He is bogged down with glucose checks and bolusing throughout his day. He can’t just learn, and play and be like everyone else, he also has to carry around Type 1 diabetes. Diabetes robs him of that normalcy.
Along the same lines, I will never know what my son would have been like in first grade without diabetes. The only student I know him as is a student with diabetes. I only know what it’s like to have to train staff member upon staff member about his diabetes and his symptoms for highs and lows. I only know the fear of sending a child with Type 1 diabetes into a huge school where he feels completely unsafe. I am being robbed of our first grade experience.
That’s not to say diabetes is causing any issues, what I am saying is that I will never know when and if an issue arises if it would have surfaced has diabetes never reared it’s awful, ugly head. I will never know what it is like to send a 6 year old boy to first grade without diabetes.
My son will never know how it feels to run around the playground at school without a care in the world. He needs to always remain cognizant of where his special lunch bag is that carries his low blood glucose treatment. He can’t be too far from the adult carrying that lunch bag because if he goes low and it or the the person is too far away, no one will know. Diabetes robs him of his security.
People talk about diabetes as being a manageable disease, but at what cost.