The end of a very long winter has finally arrived. We’ve moved back into British Summer Time and the days smell of warm promise yet to arrive. Life has changed. We’re getting to grips with R’s Type 1 Diabetes – it’s not an easy path and we don’t have any choice about taking it. We’ve begun to find information in books and online about the condition in the hope that we can become experts so we can support R. Flexibility and pragmatism seem to help even when we (I) feel ready to cry with despair.
We’ll get through this – we have to. And even saying that seems ridiculous – we can’t ‘get through’ diabetes – there is no Promised Land on the other side where the condition no longer exists.
All cheery stuff!
Most of this hits in waves. Yesterday I met with a wonderful friend who has already been there and is dealing with her son and T1. We laughed and cried, she told me lots and lots of things which filled me with hope. I left her house buoyed up and ready to hit the local supermarket to pick up a huge bag of insulin, lancets, test strips, and lots of other day to day necessities for someone with T1. That’s when it hit – walking through Sainsburys surrounded by people who were stocking up for the Easter holiday, buying normal things like chocolate eggs, cakes and sugary puddings – all things that now R has to think about before he can eat them. Things that I take for granted – the only worry I have over eating a slice of chocolate cake is will it make me fat? I don’t have to think about upping an insulin dose because I’ll get a headache and feel ill if I don’t.
So I began to lose it in Sainsburys. I didn’t burst into tears. Instead I attempted to make it all better because that’s what mothers do, right? So I bought a Wii – the Sports one. I reasoned that this would be ideal for R to play with alongside his brother particularly if his blood glucose is a bit high or he can’t get out to ride his bike or play rugby. This Wii would be ideal for all of us to have some family time and burn off a bit of energy while it rains outside. All good reasons for purchasing a new games system, but I made this decision in a spilt second with the real intention of making everyone feel better – the healthy carb free version of pigging out on chocolate when you’re feeling down. Well, healthy for the body, not for the bank account. And I saved the tears for back in the car with a boot full of meds and Wii boxes and games.
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