This blog is for everyone who can relate to others telling you how to take care of your Diabetic child or yourself, when they really have no clue! They do not know ANYTHING about Diabetes nor how to take care of a child with Type 1, but yet they always seem to throw their nickel's worth in. Sometimes, it can be a helpful suggestion....other times it is just down right annoying.
Statements and questions such as these:
Why don't you go to bed? She will be fine!
You need sleep too...
Send her to a sitter for a few hours so you can get some sleep...
No wonder you are tired, you stayed up all night playing online!
Why don't you go to bed when she does?
When you have a "normal" child that has no medical issues, you can go to sleep when your child goes to sleep. If your child is sick, you can lay them in your bed and snooze the night away knowing they are safe in your arms and guess what??!! They WILL wake up in the morning!!
When you have a baby that sleeps thru the night...do you wake up thru the night to check them? Do you stay up keeping a close eye on them and worry they will be ok thru the night???
NO YOU DON'T!!!! When your baby sleeps thru the night...you do too!!
Life is just not that way when you have a child with Type 1. There is constant monitoring thru the day & thru the night. There is no climbing in bed and going to sleep and not checking your child's blood sugars somewhere in the night and usually several times before you can finally rest assured that your child's blood sugars are in a safe range that you can actually get some sleep.
When a Type 1 is ill...they run very high blood sugars and ketones. They could go into a Diabetic coma and even die if you are not on top of those levels. If their blood sugars go too low, they could go into a seizure and either have brain damage or die. They require constant monitoring...which means very little to no sleep for you for the night...or even days or weeks!
When you have a normal healthy child, you NEVER worry about waking up to a dead, or comatose child...WE DO!!!! ALWAYS! We never know if we will see our child in the morning or not. Does that send chills down your spine yet?
We can not just send our child to a sitter. That sitter has to go thru several days of training with our child's Endo, pump training with the pump rep, nutritional classes, and CGM training in order to care for a Type 1 child.
If you leave your child with an un-trained person, and something happens to that child, do you know you both go to jail for endangerment to a child? It IS that serious!
Your child's body functions perfectly by itself...while my child's doesn't. Which means "I" am my child's pancreas. Do you even have a clue how hard it is to mimic the body?? It is not an easy task, but we do the very best we can, and if it means we are up thru the wee hours of the morning, then that is what we do. We play a very important and crucial role as a pancreas. Even the Doctors, who are professionals in this area have a hard time adjusting insulin levels...we are not perfect, but we try to be.
I am sure I am not alone in the Diabetes community, but I have not had a full nights sleep in 2 & 1/2 years...so you think it would be in my child's best interest for me to go to sleep when her blood sugar is at a dangerously high or low level and "hope" I hear the alarm?? Well that is too risky for me, therefore I stay awake to ensure her safety and well being.
I do not have a partner to nudge me when the alarm goes off and I do not hear it. I do not have someone that will do the next check, & I don't have a child who will wake up and tell me she is not feeling well....Therefore I have to be 110% sure that she is safe before I can go to sleep. And if I choose to mop floors, sew, watch TV, or play online between checks...what does it matter??
We will not risk their lives because YOU feel we need to sleep...we sleep when we can and we drink lots of coffee and cokes to make it thru the days. We are not stupid...we will get sleep and assure we are in the right frame of mind around the clock to care for our children.
So before you judge me or anyone else in my shoes...stop and think about how much you do NOT know about this disease and understand that we are taking care of our children in every possible way to ensure they not only wake up in the morning, and that they have the chance to live a longer healthy life.
