They are everywhere…
Took my oldest son for his Hunter Safety course. It has changed a lot. Longer and covering a lot more things. He did great and scored 87 on his test. I was so proud of the way he paid attention.
Unfortunately I had a stomach virus and was getting up every hour and half. So I really wasn’t paying a lot of attention to the class. Mainly trying to not throw up. Needless to say… it made for a long day.
Anyway a funny thing happened. We had just watched a film on survival. Being prepared, the importance of shelter, fire, water, etc. With me backpacking this caught my attention. After the video, the instructor talked about how he loved to hunt alone but now he doesn’t. He’s gotten older, has a congestive heart condition and… has Juvenile Diabetes.
BING-BING-BING!!!!
What!?! My son and I both looked at each other. My brother-in-law and his son-in-law that was with us didn’t catch it. You see… the instructor was a TYPE I Diabetic. That is what Juvenile Diabetes is. It really surprised me. I talked to him later and he was diagnosed after he was out of the army in ‘75. An older man, retired now, he was in great physical shape and a wonderful instructor.
I had wanted my son to talk to him some but the test was about to start and I was sick. Plus my son didn’t seem like he wanted to. He was eager to hit the range after all.
I have ran into other older TYPE I’s before and I am quick to see if my son wants to talk to them or ask questions. He hardly ever does. Which is fine. He is still newly diagnosed. I just want him to know it’s okay and there are people there he can talk to.
That is when it hit me. Running into other TYPE I people… retired, young adults, teenagers… well… I guess I need it more than my son does. I need that reassurance sometimes that his life is still going to be full. I have even been reading Diabetic blogs. Ones written by people with TYPE I. One I read has a great tagline under her blog’s title… “Diabetes doesn’t define me, but helps explain me.” That little tag line says a whole lot. It also sums up the way my son feels about having Juvenile Diabetes. As he said not long after being diagnosed. He didn’t want to be a “Diabetic kid”… he just wanted to be a kid with Diabetes. That to said a lot to me. Especially coming from a 11 year old little boy.
As a dad who isn’t diabetic… I feel I’m on the outside. Its a world I can’t completely be a part of, yet am around everyday. I limited my own sugar, I pricked my finger, and even had the nurse supply me with a syringe of saline so I could give myself a shot. That still doesn’t make me a part of his world. It’s only a glimpse through the door.
When you have a personal relationship with someone that has diabetes you become a part of the “diabetic” world, but we’re not completely in it. It’s a special sub-culture all it’s own. We have our own sub-culture as well. There are things as parents, caregivers, etc. that we work through that the people we love may not be able to understand. The same way we can’t completely understand what it is like to live with Diabetes everyday.
My son just got over a stomach virus. A year ago this wouldn’t have been a big deal. This time… with diabetes… it was major. It was scary, tense, uncertain, confusing… you name it. I’m at work, and my wife is reporting in to me with updates… “He threw Up”, “Can’t hold food down”, BS high, but nurse says that is good”, “ketones @ Trace”, “keytones @ Moderate”, “Trying to get them down”, “May have to goto ER”, “Nurse on phone”, etc.
My wife handed it like a trooper. I joke that her title is Tactical Domestic Manager. To that I have added “medic”. She got the keytones down, and we didn’t take him to the ER. The nurse was thrilled and congratulated us. We made it. It was like when he was an infant and was very sick that very first time. We did it. We made it past another marker in this journey with him.
He is better now. Yet as a Dad my job is to prepare him for the world, while my wife’s is to protect him from it. It’s genetic… it’s what we are hardwired to do. So now I think, what happens when he is in college? What happens if he was at his house alone? What if this? What if that? Crap! I gotta stop thinking about this!! Then I read another blog. A young adult living on her own with a virus. She handled it fine. Another blog… someone at work sick. They are fine.
Little digital glimpses into the “TYPE I” world. Little glimpses that help us “TYPE 3’s” a whole lot sometimes. When I read these blogs I have to smile to myself. They think their readers are all TYPE I’s like themselves. I’m sure most are. Wonder if they know though how many parents are quietly hanging on to every word. Or just how important these little glimpses into lives help us.
So for all you TYPE 3’s out there… here’s what I am reading.
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