Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Not Second Nature

Someone posted a video on a Diabetes Facebook group of a young girl, only three, checking her blood sugar. I decided to play it, not knowing what my reaction would be from it. See, I check my blood sugar upwards of eight times a day, so you would think seeing others check their blood sugar would be like second nature. But, for some reason, watching a young child check his or her blood sugar is a much difference experience for me.

I played the video, and couldn't help but notice how adorable the little girl was as she sat on her floor with her kit beside her.  She was very particular as she would do each step carefully and tidy up after each step.  I did notice that she is much more thorough with her blood sugar checking procedure, she actually changed her lancet, and she used an alcohol swab to clean her finger, something a lot of us diabetics leave out as we get lazy perhaps, with technique.

She was adorable as she gave a play by play at what she was doing as her mom taped her.  She hardly needed any help, the only thing was to get the top of the lancet device off, and a few times her mom tells her not to worry about tidying up.   At the end she says her name, and then tells us all what she just did with a smile on her face.

I was diagnosed at age eighteen, so when I began to check my blood sugar on my own after leaving the hospital, the process was fairly simple but tedious.  To watch a young girl do the exact same steps as I do every single day, without crying, without screaming, without giving up, gives me the strength to keep smiling after blood sugar checks and keep moving.  After all, she is only three and I am sure she would much rather be playing with dolls or watching her favourite show, but instead she takes the time to take care of herself, something most three year olds could not even grasp.

Kayla

7 comments:

  1. I was 24 when I got my first meter, before then I was checking my urine sugar and ketones using keto-diastix. That is what we used in the 1970's. Let me tell you, I hated testing my urine. That was... ICKY. I don't know if I would have rather tested my blood at the age of 5 or not.

    But is sounds like the mother of that girl didn't make the diabetes a big deal. That it's just something she (the girl) has to deal with. I've found that the parents who don't treat the child like they're going to break, do much better than the children who have parents who treat them like they can't survive simply because they have juvenile onset (type 1) diabetes.

    I always tell people, I've survived living with it for almost 48 years. I have no complications. You can survive.

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  2. Can you post a link to the video?

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    1. I don't have a copy of the video since it was posted on Facebook. But you can find it on the Facebook group called ''Parents of Children with Type 1 Diabetes" and the lady that posted it, her name is Jessica.

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  3. LRM, I agree with you about not treating them like they're breakable! My son was diagnosed at 16 months, and just turned two a couple weeks ago. We do everything we can to treat him just as any other little toddler. We also don't make a big deal out of the diabetes so that his big brother (age 3.5) won't treat him differently, and can stand up for him down the road when he starts taking flack for it.

    I also second the comment about posting the link to the video!

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    1. I don't have a copy of the video since it was posted on Facebook. But you can find it on the Facebook group called ''Parents of Children with Type 1 Diabetes" and the lady that posted it, her name is Jessica.

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    2. Kayla, is it a you tube video? Because not everyone has a, or wants to have a facebook account.

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    3. Nope it isn't youtube, I just happened to see it on Facebook.

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