The Moms of diabetes

I'll be combining two Diabetes Blog Week topics today.  Today's topic is "what they should know" about diabetes.  Sunday's topic is Diabetes Heros.  Moms of diabetic children fall easily into both categories.

Since my transplant and getting to know more diabetics, I have had the pleasure and opportunity to meet several of these moms.  I was diagnosed at age 24, so I don't have experience with this from my own Mom's perspective.  Its something that I never really thought about before.  It was a real shock when I discovered how a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes can turn a family's life upside down.  Its hard enough to manage when you have your own biofeedback.  I can't imagine having to judge by behavior when a child's blood sugar must be out of whack.  It would be a constant 24/7 worry.  And a real worry.  The statistic that came out in November shocked the whole community.  1 in 20 Type 1 diabetics will die of low blood sugar.  This must have sent waves of shock through these moms.  They knew that this could happen, but at that rate?!  I have no doubt that that fueled the fires to wake up even more to test blood sugars of sleeping children.  I've heard people say that every morning when they go in to wake their child up that they are literally holding their breath, and hoping to find their child breathing.   I can't even imagine going through that each and every morning.  What heros they really are.

This has been most of my motivation in learning to train diabetes alert dogs.  I think that this could really make a difference.  Maybe more Moms (and dads) could get more sleep.