November is diabetes awareness month, with that, I am going to ask everyone to wear blue every Friday and especially on Wednesday November 14th to show support to those with diabetes and those with family members or friends with diabetes.
Diabetes does not just effect the person with the disease. It effects the whole family. Since Kyli was diagnosed, about a month and a half ago, our whole life has changed. All of us, Kyli, Mike, Noah and for me. Kyli has had a lot of change because of the consistent finger pokes 5-10 per day and shots. She continues to handle it like a champ. We have had only 2 bad shots and by bad, I mean she cried. For Mike and I, I think we have had the mos change. We might as well have diabetes. We ensure Kyli is taken care of, check her sugars, watch for signs that she is going low or high. Noah has had a lot of change as well and he has adjusted quite well. For him, he has lost some attention, but he has become quite involved with Kyli's blood sugar checks. We have also had a house overhaul. We have one bag of candy for when Kyli's sugars are low and then we have one treat. We have had to watch what kind of snacks we have in the house and try to ensure that the snacks are lower carbs so Kyli can have them.
Sleep has also been changed for me. I am constantly getting up and checking on her and I panic in the morning if she sleeps late. I usually end up going to check and her and accidentally wake her up. Night time is the scariest time for me. Mike and I always make sure she is good to go to bed with healthy sugars and such, but last night we had to give her a larger shot than normal and I was nervous and of course she slept late. Mike has been so awesome too, he knows that I cannot sleep if I am worrying about her and he got up and checked on her for me. He will do middle of the night blood checks for me, if I am concerned about her sugars before bed. A lot of times, Mike comes to bed later so he will just check her before he comes to bed.
This has not just affected our household, both of our Grandma's who watch Kyli have had a change in caring for her and both of Kyli's Grandma's have had to change how they care for her. Before Kyli's diagnosis, I had finally cut the apron strings and let Kyli stay the night at Grandma's house and now, I feel like we are back at square one, I am terrified to leave her anywhere. Kyli has yet to stay the night anywhere. It is not because I don't trust them, I do and they will take great care of Kyli. It is because we know how her sugars work best and where she needs to be in order to keep healthy sugars throughout the night. I will get there and it will be good once we get her to stay, Mike and I could really use a date night. Until then we are doing our best to understand how Kyli works so that we can spread our knowledge with our loved ones.
The saddest idea for me is that Kyli will never get a break, diabetes is 24/7 and she cannot take a break. It will always be there and we will always have to be on our toes. We will have to watch her at home, on vacations, birthdays, school, always. If we do not, it can cost Kyli her life. She will not get to just eat to eat. She has to eat for energy, for sugar, for her health. Mind you, while we have to feed her for healthy, she can still have treats as long as we keep her sugars in order and it helps if we plan accordingly.
As I have said before, this will not hold Kyli down, it is only a characteristic of her and not all she is. She is going to thrive and make an impression on the world!
Our little Mad Scientist
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