Question #5: How did your family react to your diagnosis? How was this for you?
My sister made fun of me for having a bladder infection (the first attempt at a diagnosis, which was obviously incorrect), and my father gave me a hard time for going to the bathroom so much. I still give them a hard time, but they feel pretty bad about it, so I don’t harass them too much.
My grandfather once told me that they all thought I was dying. My mother said when they found out it was diabetes, they were relieved. Diabetes was something they could handle, although she also said they knew nothing about it.
My parents both told me that they took classes and learned all about diabetes. Dad said the nurse told them that it was their job to make sure I knew this was something we could handle. They must have taken that to heart, because I never got any other message from them (despite the fact that those words were never spoken).
My sister said she felt she had to take care of me and make sure I didn’t eat sugar, although no one had specifically told her that. My brother said he was jealous of the close relationship that developed between my dad and me. My dad took me to all of my appointments and he definitely took a leadership role in my diabetes management – he gave my shots for the first year, and took an interest in what I ate.
I preferred having my dad give my shots (the first year – after that I did all the shooting, but that’s another story). When my mom gave my shot it really hurt. I was very surprised and deeply affected when I learned that my mother felt she was bad at giving my shots and that she was very upset with herself for that. I think her lack of confidence in herself made her even less able to perform. All I knew is that it hurt when she did it. Now I know it’s like anything else – when we don’t believe we can do something, we aren’t very good at it!
My sister and brother both told me (much later) they missed having sugar cereal after I got diabetes. I was shocked to hear that because I don’t remember sugar cereal ever being in my parents’ house. They never said a word about it to me or my parents, which I think is pretty impressive.
In retrospect I know that my family responded to my diagnosis of type 1 diabetes in a positive and effective way. We were a family first; one that happened to include diabetes. Diabetes did not run our lives, and I’m very fortunate for all of that.