It may sound like a weird thing to say, but it’s absolutely true. He is, by far, the bravest person I know.
This isn’t my usual topic for discussion, though I’ve mentioned him, and his diabetes before. But I’m sitting in his room with him while he eats his breakfast and tells me about his new shoes and how big his feet are getting, and I’m struck by how brave he is. Every day, all the time. When he switches his monster truck to his other hand so I can give him insulin in the arm he was using to play, or when he comes to tell me “I need something to eat” because his blood sugar is low, I’m just amazed by his bravery. I wonder if I would handle things as well as he does if I were in his shoes.
He was diagnosed when he was a little more than two years old. For a while, he had been drinking tons of water (like three liter bottles a day) and going through about a diaper every hour or two, which didn’t surprise us considering his water consumption. We meant to ask the doctor about why he was so thirsty, but we didn’t get around to it because otherwise he was normal.
Then he got sick, and we had no idea what was wrong with him. He was tired and ate very little, but there were no other symptoms. At first we thought it was the flu, or something like it, because of how tired he was, but it quickly progressed to something more serious.
He got lethargic, wanting to play but laying on the floor instead, too tired to push a car across the carpet. He started vomiting infrequently but gagging like he needed to vomit pretty often, his eyes got hollowed out and black around them, and he looked dehydrated despite his constant drinking. He lost weight, to the point his ribs started to stick out. So, we took him to a walk in clinic, who dismissed it as the flu and a mild ear infection after an eight-hour wait and a cursory exam. The next day, he started breathing weird, kind of labored and jerky. So we took him to another doctor.
That doctor sent us to the emergency room at Children’s Hospital, where the intake nurse had her suspicions about what was wrong and rushed us back ahead of a room full of other sick kids (which, incidentally, scared the hell out of us). He was quickly diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes presenting with DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis, where the blood gets acidic from the body breaking down fat for energy because it can’t use the sugar in the blood). His blood sugar was well over 500, the ketones in his blood (causing the acidity) were very high, and they told us he probably had been getting sick for at least a month. A couple nights in ICU to bring down his blood sugar and ketones safely, a couple more on the regular ward to make sure he was stable and that we knew what we needed to do, and we went home.
While we were there, he asked to watch Cars and to have his toys in his bed, and flirted with the nurses. When he got well enough, he asked to go for walks in the halls and to go to the playroom or the playground. My husband and I read the books on diabetes they gave us and spent a lot of time with the diabetes educator and nutritionist, mostly in a state of shock and disbelief. A 2-year-old with diabetes??
Since then, finger sticks and insulin shots several times a day, including mealtimes, have become part of our daily routine. He rarely complains, usually only because we’re interrupting him or because we’re getting him ready for bed and he doesn’t want to go yet. He is afraid of the doctor’s office now, but that’s understandable and getting better every time we go. For us, it often feels like a juggling routine; for him, it’s just life.
He’s starting to see that he’s different, and he takes it in stride. He is an only child, but we’re roommates with my sister’s family and he has a younger cousin. He tells me that she doesn’t need insulin, just him. It doesn’t seem to bother him.
I’m more than just proud of him for how strong he is and how well he’s coped through the onset, diagnosis, and treatment; he really is my hero, and I want to be more like him. His strength and positive attitude are things I aspire to.
–photo by brunorepublic, courtesy of Flickr
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A wonderful, beautiful child. And I could listen to him talk all day long.
And talk, he does. All day long.
i couldn't agree more!!! I don't think i realized how awsome he was until i was on vacation and even with out him being there i was mindful of the carbs and how much he would have to do just to enjoy a regular vacation!!!
It's a hard habit to break once you get used to it. I look at the nutrition facts on everything now, just in case I need to know the carb count.
If only he liked me!
He talks about you. I wish he didn't have so much stranger anxiety, but it's not surprising. It wasn't so bad before he was in the hospital.
I do understand, but I thought he'd ease up over the evening…
Who is dlt?
Your newest cousin!