Tomorrow marks an anniversary that we never knew we'd look forward to. Not because it marks something that's super worth celebrating, but that we've survived. Collin has survived, the other kids have survived, and we've survived while getting everyone from point A to point B for a year.
A year ago tonight, I went to bed a normal frazzled mom of four healthy and normal and wonderful kids. I woke up the next morning to a three year with with an earache and a six year old who'd peed the bed again, a day's worth of sub plans to scramble to get together, and if you know me, you already know what happened.
What a difference a year makes. It would have been very easy for us to wallow and feel sorry for the hand that Son Number One was dealt, but as we've told him hundreds of times, we love him just as he is, and Type 1 Diabetes is a part of him now. Some days it would be easy to grouch, gripe, or wallow, and then I remember how much easier it would be if I were a 7 year old kid. And so we will plaster on our smiles and press onward, and do our best. Some days it's good, some days it could be better, and every day is a new day.
From the very first day of his diagnosis, I've been blessed countless times by the kindness of others. From our awesome pediatrician who doubted my mom-diagnosis, and then stayed extra with us to tell us about her Type 1 son once our diagnosis was all but sure. Every staff member we interacted with at the University during the hospital stay, especially our amazing nurse Laurie whose laugh was a bright spot in some tough days. The friends who took great care to prepare some diabetic friendly meals in the days after we came home from the hospital. The nurses and researchers who have helped care for him when we're at the hospital for clinical trial visits, and who take great care to make sure he picks something really cool from the prize closet. The staff--teachers, associates, bus drivers, secretaries, and our school nurse--at school who constantly are going above and beyond for him. The local Lion's Club who came to me within a couple of days of being home from the hospital to tell me that they'd love to send him to a summer camp for kids with diabetes. The staff members at Camp Hertko Hollow--every single one of them. To the parents of other Type 1 kids who have been a source of information as well as support. To our family and our friends who have been learning so much right along with us... People I didn't know would find their way into our lives, but to whom we are eternally grateful.
I've administered more shots to my child than any parent should have to, become a pro at counting carbs for meals and predicting the subsequent changes in blood sugar. Our home has sharps containers sitting around, and you'll probably find more than one diabetic test strip laying around (because 7 year olds...). We've learned the difference between sugar free and no sugar added... We know we can carry OUR bag into Kinnick stadium when others can't (this was kind of a big deal!)... We've come to rely on technology to alert us of high or low blood sugars, and a plethora of other details that we never expected to be important. But that's not the big stuff.
We've learned that we can count on our seven year old to know what to do and how to respond in a situation that may be scary to others. He knows when he needs to eat carbs, when to test ketones, when to calibrate his glucose sensor, how to administer his own insulin, and how to tell others about diabetes. We've learned that the emotional roller coaster he is sometimes on must seem bigger and scarier to him than it does to us, and so we have to model calm as much as we can. We know that he is still destined for greatness, even if the path he's on to get there may have gone a slightly different direction. We've learned that he probably won't be an astronaut or a fighter pilot--and we are ALL good with that.
Everyone would do well to take a page from Son Number One's book. Be grateful always, even when you're 7 and have more shots every day than most people have in a year. Be kind. There's literally no reason not to be. Look on the bright side. Could things be better? Always. But they could always be worse, too. Take every opportunity you can to educate yourself and be your best advocate. Doesn't matter if you're 6 ot 60--knowledge is power, and the sooner that you realize that, the better off you'll be. Ask him, he is really active in his care. (He has an appointment next week and "can't wait" to see what his A1C is... Because of course he can't.
Anyway. It's been a year. It's been a long year, and a year that I didn't hope to have, but that I'm grateful to have survived along with one of the best kids a mama could ever hope for.
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