Its a Family Thing

When one member of the family suffers from diabetes, inevitably, the entire family suffers. Steve and I have two children, Gavin who is almost six and Ava who just turned three. We've tried to fill them in the best we can on diabetes, how much of it they understand we aren't sure. They realize that Daddy can't eat sugar and they know that he has to take shots. Ava, our extremely compassionate and eager to help child, picks up on when Daddy isn't feeling well and will ask, "Do you need to check your sugar?". Being only three she can load the meter with a test strip, prick his finger and check his sugar nearly all on her own. I am so proud of her for this! Gavin would rather feed Dad saying, "You want some? It doesn't have much sugar."

So they know that Dad is different from them and they also know that Dad doesn't feel good much of the time. It's hard watching your child grab a football and excitedly ask if his dad wants to go outside and play, only to be let down. This happens more often than not and I try to fill in the best I can but I can't take his place.

On the days Steve feels okay he always tries to get us out of the house. We love visiting state parks and hiking the nature trails and plan to one day be able to say that we have visited every Florida State Park. We also love the rivers and beaches. If nothing else we will just load up the dogs and take a ride.

One of hardest things to watch is a paramedic loading Steve into an ambulance and seeing the worry on my children's faces. Another would be the look on their faces when they see Dad lying in a hospital bed hooked to several I.V.'s and monitors. Again all we can do is try to explain things and hope they get some kind of understanding out of it all.

Like me, they have to endure the mood swings but I try to protect them as much as I can by telling them when Stephen isn't feeling good and shooing them from the room. After his sugar returns to normal I always make it a point to have him apologize if needed. They never doubt their Dad's love for them.

Diabetes is a menace to the lives of each person it touches. Everyday is a battle but being a family, more often than not, makes us stronger than the disease. Stephen has three people who love him very much, who watch over him and brings him cookies when he needs them and that makes us a force to be reckoned with.