And we were there 10 1/2 years ago when we found out about his diabetes. Its not something that can be just blown off, and taken lightly.
And Im hear to tell ya--if you are reading this and you know anyone who has diabetes--READ READ READ!! People have got to be educated about this disease. Its a chronic illness that has NO CURE!
His pancreas is DEAD, ZILCH, NADA, DOES NOT WORK!!! His insulin pump is his pancreas. Without the pump, or me giving him shots of insulin he would die. He has to check his blood sugar before he eats ANYTHING. He can't just say to himself, "Man, I sure would like a coke!" He can't just go into the kitchen and eat whatever he wants without checking his sugar first. He has to do this because he has to know if he's too low, in target or too high. Having a low blood sugar can result in a seizure if he's had too many consecutive ones. But, its just as fatal if it goes too high and stays that way.
Why am I making point to say all this again? Because tonight when I got done at church, the youth were not out yet. So, Tobi and I went and waited for them to get finished. We stood out in the hall about ten minutes waiting with other parents. When I saw that they were finished, and all those teenagers started walking through the youth center, I didnt see Colton. Well, I knew where he was--he headed for the pool table. I stuck my head around the corner and told him to come on, I was ready to go. Of course, he had some comment to make and didnt want to leave. And this attitude just increased rather quickly--keep in mind it only takes about 5 minutes to get from church back to our house.
He was around the house huffing and puffing and just acting down right awful. I finally looked at him and said, "When's the last time you checked yourself?" He just got that look like, "uh oh..." and said, "I dont know, before we left." I said, "Before we left for church??!!!??? Keep in mind that he'd already informed me around 3 this afternoon that I didnt need to hunt him down right before church started to remind him to check himself.
He walks back into the dining room to check himself. His blood sugar was 306. Thats BAD!!! I then proceeded to tell him to give me his meter. I started going back through and looking at all his readings for the last 2 days. Almost EVERY single one of them was over 300--and about 5 of them, all the reading said was HI---THATS REALLY BAD! That means his sugar levels have been over 600!
Do you know what happens the higher your bloodsugar levels are, and they just continue to be high like that? You can fall into a diabetic coma and die.
And the way that it needs to be looked at--the higher a person's blood sugar is, the 'thicker it runs' through your body. So, you could imagine what you must feel like if your blood was as thick as ketchup, syrup, oil...get my point?
THAT is why we are so hard on him. That is why we stay on him. He does NOT do all of these things like he's suppose to 100% of the time. Why? Because he's a kid, yes, but a lot of it--because he's angry he's sick, he's angry he has to do all of this crap all of the time, and he's just flat out ANGRY.
Im going to post some links, again, with information for diabetes. Please, if you are reading this, whether you know someone with diabetes or not, READ and LEARN about this disease.
Its not fun. Its annoying. Its aggrevating. And its REAL. You can NOT blow it off.
And it doesn't matter if its Type 1 or Type 2--if you have this disease you HAVE to take care of yourself.
Yes there is a difference between the 2 forms. Thats another reason to educate yourself. Don't assume because you use to know someone who had it, that you know all there is to know. Type 1 and type 2 are very different. Type 2 is treated with diet, exercise and meds to help your body work with the insulin it makes. Type 1 doesnt care what a person eats, or drinks--and their medication is insulin--I like to say, "Insulin is NOT A CURE, but its my son's life line!" Not only is it his life line, but many others. I have met some wonderful ppl in the last 10 1/2 years, because of that common bond--our kids all have diabetes And one of these people is one of my dearest and closest friends--her daughter has D
. It doesn't matter what your age is either. Keep in mind that Colton was just 2 when we found out about this. Juvenile Diabetes--they need to come up with a new name for it. It doesnt just affect kids--Im 37 and I could be diagnosed with it next week. Ive seen story after story on Children With Diabetes website--babies even as young as 8 months old are diagnosed with this.
I know a lot of you guys reading this know what I am talking about, some of you dont. I know a lot of you know how hard I am on him to do what needs to be done, WHEN it needs to be done. Please know I do it because he is my son, and I will not just sit back and let him be lazy and slack in taking care of himself. God gave him to us--He chose US to be his parents. What kind of parents would we be if we just blew this whole disease off like it was no big deal.
Daily continual prayers of family and friends, as well as our own, is what gets me through EACH and every day.
Diabetes links:
www.jdrf.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_blood_sugar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoglycemia
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