{"id":68,"date":"2009-06-07T19:38:11","date_gmt":"2009-06-07T23:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s782639264.onlinehome.us\/?p=68"},"modified":"2012-12-18T13:06:37","modified_gmt":"2012-12-18T18:06:37","slug":"family-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/type1demystified.com\/?p=68","title":{"rendered":"Family disease"},"content":{"rendered":"

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While there may be one or two people in your family with a Type 1 diabetes diagnosis, it affects every single person in that family. It becomes a family disease.<\/p>\n

Ever since my son was diagnosed, I talk about his Type 1 diabetes in terms of we. When I mention checking his blood sugar in conversation I always say, ‘we check our sugar…” Of course, I am not physically checking my sugar every time he checks his, but in my own miniscule way, by saying we instead of he, I feel I am taking some of the weight of this disease off of my son’s shoulders. In\u00a0a perfect world, I would take this disease from him and carry the burden all myself, but as I can’t do that, I share whatever part of this disease that I can.<\/p>\n

It doesn’t stop with blood sugar checks either. I use the word we when talking about anything with diabetes. If my son’s insulin pump site needs to be changed rather quickly at school, I will grab my young daughter and tell her, “Hurry we need to go to school we need a site change.” Now my three year old (soon to be four) knows full well that she does not have Type 1 diabetes, yet she never questions why she should be included in this family site change. She knows we own this disease, it has become part of our family.\u00a0We are a family with Type 1 diabetes.<\/p><\/div>\n

This really hit home today when my daughter who does not have Type 1 diabetes read her brother’s meter. She asked what number was on the meter. I told her 123. She said in the sweetest three year old, soon to be four year old voice, “Oh, that’s a good number,” with a huge smile on her face. I didn’t know whether I would explode with pride over how bright and concerned she is regarding Type 1 diabetes, or whether I would fall to my knees gathering up the pieces of my broken heart realizing how smart and concerned she is regarding Type 1 diabetes.<\/p>\n

I don’t check my sugar 12 times a day like my son.
\nI don’t give myself insulin every single time I eat a carb.
\nI don’t get shaky when my number drops too low.
\nI don’t get cranky when my number is too high.<\/p>\n

None of these things happen to me because I don’t have Type 1 diabetes. All of these happen to my son, he’s the hero living with and defeating Type 1 diabetes everyday. He’s the one, yet since that fateful day in July of 2007, the day Type 1 diabetes bombarded our home, it became part of all of us. No one else in our home has Type 1 diabetes, but in reality we all have it. It is our family disease. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While there may be one or two people in your family with a Type 1 diabetes diagnosis, it affects every single person in that family. It becomes a family disease. Ever since my son was diagnosed, I talk about his Type 1 diabetes in terms of we. When I mention checking his blood sugar in … <\/p>\n

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