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| Type 1 Doll. Spend 24 hours with me!! |
How many times have you woken in the morning and wondered what happened ? Looking at the bedside cabinet brings it all back. Ah yes! the blood glucose strips just left where they dropped, the cannula's empty wrapping, glucose tablets, snacks, needles from injections. Ahh and the extra person in your bed.No the gremlins hadn't invaded the house last night. The monster of Type 1 Diabetes had.
The alarm clock still ringing, no matter what, we have to carry on as usual.
After watching Emmerdale over the last few weeks. Yes, I am addicted to the soaps. In fact living in my house is a soap opera in itself. 5 children, 1 husband , 1 house rabbit and me with OCD diabetes.
I had to laugh when they bought the "real life baby doll". Then I thought wouldn't it be brilliant if someone designed a "real life Type 1 doll". That when it screamed, cried, got giggly, aggressive, shirty and all the other delightful side effects of hyper/hypo episodes. The person had to check the blood glucose levels and treat accordingly. Weigh food, count carbs, adjusting for sports, swimming, playing, illness, in fact the list is endless.
This would hopefully help people understand how challenging Type 1 can be.
So when people say:
you look tired
why is your child playing up
should you really give your child sweets/sugary drinks
she looks healthy enough
children are resilient
I can't watch, how can you do that..
so many more stunningly stupid statements.....
I could just hand them the Type 1 doll and see how long they last. I am sure that at the end of 24 hours they would have had enough.
It should be compulsory for any medical professional providing Diabetes Care, to live with a Type 1 doll for 3 months or I would be more than happy for them to live with us.
Sadly for most of us we have "real life Type 1" every day.
September has been very challenging. Claudia starting High School has taken it's toll on her levels. It is only at the end of week 4 that we finally managed to eliminate the majority of hypo's.
Phew! bet any money that the next 2 weeks will be spent cranking the insulin back up.
It has left me feeling exhausted and lacking any sense of humour. Claudia's behaviour has been interesting. Yes, tears, anger, exhaustion all on top of starting a new school and living with Type 1 and Coeliac Disease.
Even though Claudia has been diagnosed over 4 years, part of me is still angry that it happened to one of my little lovelies. I honestly think that feeling will always stay with me.
In a strange way it gives me the strength to carry on the battle each and every day to keep Claudia as healthy as possible.
Somebody said to me recently, "you must be used to it by now". Sometimes I do admire my ability to remain civilised and smile sweetly. I recommend buying a dart board. It can be very therapeutic throwing arrows at a board.
I suppose deep down I just want people to understand how hard life can be for our children. That's what has made me passionate about raising awareness of Type 1 Diabetes, not forgetting the delightful Doctor who said Claudia had a sore throat, when in fact she was in DKA. (diabetic ketoacidosis)
With World Diabetes day rapidly approaching I am on a mission to raise awareness. Just not sure how. I am cycling from Portsmouth to Birmingham again!!! 155 miles ouch.
I've been a juvenile onset for 47 years (the 17th of this month was my anniversary) and I an not used to it by now. Especially with what menopause has done to me. It has made things really horrible. I can go from 35 to 350 or vise versa in a short time with no warning. You learn how to manage this disease. You don't get used to it because it changes depending upon your age, the season or just because.
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