Living life with diabetes has been better when family was close. This includes the first fifteen years of my diabetes when I lived at home before graduating from high school. By today’s standards, those years of managing diabetes were primitive (one shot a day, no blood meters). But my Mom, Dad, Sister and close friends were there with me. Every step of the way. That meant access to doctors, money for insulin, providing recommended meals, the ears and patience to listen to a child/sibling and teenager with diabetes, and access to an education that served me well after I left the nest. I was one of the most fortunate kids to be diagnosed with diabetes at age 3.
Flash forward into the 30th year of my diabetes. I met my wife when I was 33 and we married at 35. Two years later, our son arrived. Our love provides me stability and a purpose to live well and long. My wife is my soul mate and I love her ways that include being a phenomenal listener and embracing my nutrition experiments and requirements. Our son, Connor, was diagnosed at 16 and influences me as he learns and shares how he lives with diabetes.
Can you see the impact they’ve made? Live with diabetes is better with close friends and family by your side.
Side note: You’ll notice I skipped the 15 years after high school and before getting married. These years were full of exploration … socialness, concerts, career, and exercise. Friends and family were there for me, but for the most part my diabetes was more challenging because I chose to be independent. (More on this later as I write on my worst practices.)