Diary of a Diabetic's Wife: Diabetes From a Child's Perspective

This post is written by my oldest son Jared. He's been around the longest to see his dad living with diabetes and so I asked him if he would write a few things about what he remembers growing up. ~ Chris

Ever since I can remember, my Dad has had to check his blood sugar constantly throughout the day. I can't imagine having to prick my finger as much as he does to make sure that my blood sugar levels are good in order for me to feel good through the day. I know that my Dad has had to fight every day with his Diabetes. Some days are really hard for him, his energy gets drained if his sugar levels get low, and it takes all he has to get out and do anything. I feel so bad for him when this happens, he gets so depressed.

There have been many experiences that I have with my Dad dealing with low blood sugar. The one that comes to mind for me happened about 15 years ago. I was sleeping and it was around one in the morning, and had a strange feeling come over me telling me that I needed to get up and go to the kitchen. There was my Dad with very low blood sugar trying to get some sugar down him, but he was at the point where he could not help himself anymore. He was confused and didn't know what was happening. I yelled down to my mom and she came running up stairs so we could work together and make some orange juice and whatever else we had in the refrigerator. He starting crying and saying I don't want my kids seeing me like this, and he kept saying it over and over again. As I tell this experience it feels like it just happened yesterday.

My Dad is a great example to all those that are Diabetic of ways that they should take care of themselves. He is constantly making sure that they should take care of themselves. He is constantly making sure that his health is in as good as it can be.

I am grateful for my Dad and the hard work that he puts into himself to make sure that his health is in as good as shape as it can be in. Without his dedication to himself he would not be around today. There are many Diabetics who don't take care of themselves and live lives that are terrible, constantly in the hospital with different medical problems. If you take care of yourself you can live a life that is manageable!!