No, I didn't misspell the title, it is exactly that. The heart of diabetes is it's own irony. It's a disease of paradox, where everything that should be normal is in fact exactly the opposite of. There are so many ways and reasons to hate it, but sometime you just have to admire and laugh at how clever this foe actually is. It's a brilliantly designed disease. Attacks one specific cell among the millions in your body and produces system effects. It will never be held responsible, but will end a life. Takes the simple pleasures of life and changes them to stresses. It not only affects the host but everyone around them. It truly is a magnificently designed enemy.
The irony of diabetes is especially present in kids, it wages war on the behavioural, the social, the economic, and not to mention the physical. It seems that many things that are the saving grace of parenting and being a kid are the most dangerous in a diabetic kid. Confused? Here's some examples to prove my point.
If your 3 year old has a temper tantrum, most parents would let them hash it out until they settle. With diabetic parents...we have to do that and then treat with a juice or candy since all the thrashing around causes a low. We have to reward the tantrum. Awesome.
Diabetes 1 - Parenting 0.
If you are preparing a nice family meal for you kids and one of them decides not to eat? Most parents would say "no problem, but there's no food later." If you've injected your 3 year old with a pile of insulin in this case however..."okay, let's have a bunch of candy then since you're likely to go into a coma in a couple hours if you don't eat". Reward not eating with sweets. Excellent message.
Diabetes 2 - Parenting 0.
With normal families, if your kid wants to play with friends, you find no other better stress reliever than to watch your child's endless energy expended with other kids'. In a diabetic family....you stress about how much Insulin is on board, did she have enough carbs to buffer it....did I bring enough candy to get her out of the impending low?
Diabetes 3 - Parenting 0.
In a diabetic family, there's not many more uncertain things than a night's sleep. You can't sleep while worrying that you might sleep through a scheduled blood check, miss a low and your 3 year old getting in trouble. You end up getting up anyway, check the sugar and make a decision if you can sleep for another 4 hours or not.
Diabetes 4 - Parenting 0.
So many examples of how a little thing like a pancreas can take "normal" and turn it on it's head. It's not an entirely one sided battle however.
If diabetes has the upper hand one day however, and is letting the blood sugar go high....you as a parent take great sorrow in the fact that you have to put a needle into your child for the 4 thousandth time...however there is an unspoken guilty pleasure in the fact you get to fight the disease with a sharp object. Take that Diabetes!...take that!
Diabetes 4 - Parenting 4000 and counting. WIN!! ;-)
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