Parenting Children with Diabetes by Eliot LeBow

Author:Eliot LeBow
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2019-07-22T16:00:00+00:00

CHILD’S PERSPECTIVE

During these extreme low blood sugar events, I was consumed with extreme fright, along with lots of sadness and anger. The first one was still very scary, despite the kindness and comfort of my mom’s friend Tom. I didn’t know what was going on as I was going in and out of consciousness. You think you are going to die and feel very ill. Your mind starts racing. Thoughts start to disappear the longer it goes on until you black out. I did feel comforted when Tom was carrying me. That helped to ease my fears.

The second low blood sugar episode was scary because I was more aware that the reaction was happening. I felt woozy, my legs felt like Jell-O, and my head was spinning. I was afraid to tell my mother because I didn’t want her to get angry. The feelings came on about five minutes before it was time to leave for Disney World. I felt disoriented and confused, hoping it would just go away so the trip wouldn’t get ruined. It didn’t go away! As I lay down on the hotel bed, my mother asked whether I was feeling all right. I grudgingly gave in and told her that I didn’t feel well and that my blood sugar might be low. My mother picked up the phone and called 911.

The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital, scared and angry at the world and myself. I was embarrassed, but I was more scared that my mom would be angry with me and that I would be yelled at for ruining the trip. Even if she hadn’t said it, I felt I had ruined everything, and I was even more furious that my diabetes was to blame. I felt that diabetes had ruined not only my life but also what could have been the best trip ever. I felt helpless and sad because I had less control over my life than when I was five years old, prior to getting this horrible disorder. The thought that everyone else that day just got up and went to the park spun in my head. I couldn’t stop thinking about it while they rode all the rides that I had wanted to but couldn’t because of this awful illness.

If I had told my mother about the low blood sugar sooner, I could have avoided the hospital altogether, but the frustration in my mother’s body language and her tone of voice scared me more than the repercussions. It’s hard to remember, but I may have allowed it to happen because of the sympathy I got after the first experience.

In the adult world, I kept seeing my mother’s frustration and guilt around my disorder. It’s very frustrating to have to stop all the time for blood tests, urine tests, reactions, and forgetting to take the kit with the insulin in it to the restaurant and having to go back to retrieve it. I was also burned out and

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