I Hate Diabetes!

From Michelle:

How do you feel when your child with diabetes says that? Or how would you feel if she did?

A few weeks ago, we headed home from an outing with plans to stop on the way to get a treat. I forgot to check my 7-year-old son’s blood sugar in advance. We popped into our local corner store and bought a round of treats (for Max: a chocolate/caramel sundae from the freezer section, with its own mini-spoon – yum!) … and THEN I thought to check his BG.

18.7.

So we decided (translation: I told him) that we would all wait to eat our treats, to give the correction dose of insulin a chance to do its job. When we got home, he went straight to his room, made this sign, and told me that he wanted to “put it on Waltzing the Dragon”:

It took a little over an hour for his BG to be back in range. Then we all had our ice-cream and Mr. Freeze, and he moved on. But the whole thing stuck with me. Because I hate diabetes, too. And because I both love and hate that he hates diabetes.

I love that he’s honest with himself and with us, his parents, about how he feels – I have heard time and time again that it’s healthy for him to express his feelings, and as Joe Solowiejczyk (Diabetes Nurse Educator, Family Therapist, and PWD)  often says, “you don’t have to like it, you just have to do it…and if you DO like it, you’re nuts.” (Amen to that!)

But I hate that he has diabetes to hate. I hate that he had to wait an hour to enjoy a summer treat. I hate that he felt the anger and frustration that prompted him to make that sign, complete with ELEVEN mad faces.

 

How do you feel about diabetes??? What does your family do to cope with anger and frustration? We would love for you to share your thoughts…