Accomplishments Big and Small - Diabetes Blog Week Day 4

Todays Topic:

We don’t always realize it, but each one of us had come a long way since diabetes first came into our life. It doesn’t matter if it’s been 5 weeks, 5 years or 50 years, you’ve done something outstanding diabetes-wise. So today let’s share the greatest accomplishment you've made in terms of dealing with your (or your loved one’s) diabetes. No accomplishment is too big or too small - think about self-acceptance, something you’ve mastered (pump / exercise / diet / etc.), making a tough care decision (finding a new endo or support group / choosing to use or not use a technology / etc.). (Thanks to Hilary of Rainie and Me for this topic suggestion.)


 So I thought about this one all day, Its been 6 months since Justin was diagnosed.  I feel like everything we've been doing to take care of him (counting carbs, checking BG, giving insulin) is just what we have to do, and not really an accomplishment that we have mastered in such a short time.  I'm the kind of person, you teach me what to do and I do it.  That's what were doing on a daily basis.

I feel like our biggest accomplishment is just accepting that our son has diabetes, and adapting to our new life.

It still feels weird when I'm telling someone for the first time that my son is a type 1 diabetic, it just sounds so strange coming out of my mouth.  But we haven't let this slow us down at all.  He was diagnosed Monday before Thanksgiving, so he had some time off of school before going back, but he was back the first day after break.  And we were back at scouts that week, he never missed a meeting because of diabetes.  

We pretty much kept our routine what is what, and just added diabetes into it.  Have been to Disney, planning a trip to the Rapids, he still goes over to play at his friends next door.  

We just are doing our normal, with some added supplies and TLC for Justin :)

It didn't come easily, but I knew if we stayed away from our usual activities it would be that much harder to go back to that routine.  I didn't want to send the message to Justin that he was different and couldn't do things because he has diabetes.  He felt better by the time we left the hospital and was pretty much back to his normal active self, so we had no reason not to do things!

I won't lie, it's so overwhelming at first, and still is at times.  But we try hard to make it so that diabetes is background noise, not the major part of our day.  At the end of the day, I don't want Justin to remember getting a shot, I want him to remember what we did as a family that day, or a silly moment, good memories.