It’s National Diabetes Awareness Month (NDAM) and all month long
we will be interviewing family and friends of those who have T1D, and
what it’s like to live with them on a daily basis. 

Meet the Peters family, proving that living with a person with T1D makes family bonds stronger.

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My son, Jacob, is 5 years old and was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes on January 14, 2013. 

As the primary caregiver of Jake, there are definitely days when all of the stress, sleepless nights, and general worry about his T1D overwhelm me.  Jake is such an amazing, strong boy.  I will never let him know the weight that his illness has put on me.  Even during those first days in the hospital when he was crying & screaming about not wanting to be stuck with another needle, I held it together.  We told him that his shots were “superhero injections” or since Jake loves airplanes that we were “fueling up his jet engine.”   

My biggest fear is that he will go too low over night.  There are nights when I feel like I have just fallen asleep, and the 2am check alarm goes off.  90% of the time, he is fine, but there’s always that random low.  There have been a few times that either I slept through the 2am alarm or that it didn’t go off for some reason.  I wake up in a complete panic!   The entire time until I see the number on the meter I am saying to myself, “Please, God, don’t let him be too low!”

With T1D there is always a learning curve.  Just when I think I’ve got it figured out, here comes something completely unexpected.  I have learned to plan, but at the same time expect the unexpected.  Going somewhere for the afternoon is not just packing up the kids and heading out.  It is packing snacks, juice, extra pods, insulin, syringes, ketone strips, alcohol wipes, extra test strips, batteries for insulin pump, etc.

Some days I feel absolutely defeated.  Bad numbers, bad behavior from highs, multiple corrections and nothing helps! I tell myself tomorrow is a new day, and it will be better!  When his numbers are in range all day long, I feel like doing a victory dance.  Take that D!  I’m all about the small victories!

T1D has reminded me how important it is to spend quality time with my children.  In some strange way, I almost see Jake’s D as a small blessing.  I now put off chores to play a game or read books.  It has also made our family stronger. 

I haven’t always been able to see the silver lining.  After the initial feelings of being in shock disappeared, I started to feel a lot of anger.  “Why my child?  Why is this happening?!  Did I do something wrong as a parent?”   I would get mad when I saw parents yelling at their kids in the grocery store.  I wanted to tell them how lucky they were to have a healthy kid.

I’m proud of my tough little guy and all he goes through. I am proud that dealing with D on a daily basis has not changed his spirit or enthusiasm of the world.  I am proud of all he accomplishes in spite of having T1D.  Mostly, I am proud that Jake is my son T1D and all!

Want to know what it is like to live with T1D for a day? Click here to sign-up for the T1D for a Day Text Challenge.