In honor of November being National Diabetes Month, I’m sharing with you how I grew up living with Diabetes. Not having diabetes but living with it, in that, my mother, and both sisters were/are diabetic. Wow…it missed me! Needless to say, I am THANKFUL!
You see…I am the lucky one! And seeing my family struggle with diabetes throughout the years, I realized the magnitude of that. My sisters were the recipient of a lot of family attention due to their diabetes. It’s hard to make sense of all the attention when you don’t understand the silent havoc that diabetes reckons. If you have children that aren’t diabetic, just know that it’s difficult for them to understand how diabetes silently affects your health. Watching my mother and sisters deal with the complications of diabetes, I understand now why there was so much attention given to them!
My Mother’s Story
My mother went into a diabetic coma when she was 18, the year was 1960. That’s how she was diagnosed with diabetes. She knew what the symptoms meant when both of my sisters were diagnosed with diabetes, one at age 6 and the other at age 12 which was about 1970 and 1977. All 3 of them had what was known as juvenile diabetes which is now called Type 1. I remember my mother crying and being so upset when each of them was diagnosed. As a child, I didn’t totally understand how devastating it was for her to have 2 out of 3 daughters diagnosed with diabetes. As a mother, I totally get it!
I remember watching all of them get shots, give shots, and take their own shots. I remember lots of talk about sugar, starches, blood sugar count, insulin shock, etc. While a cure hasn’t been discovered, the technology to deal with diabetes has advanced. When my mother and sisters were diagnosed, the ability to track diabetes with technology/apps of today was unheard of? We think it’s easy. Just take a shot every day and watch what you eat. How hard can that be? Right?
But it is! It’s. Really. Hard!
Effects of Diabetes on Your Body
Unfortunately, the effects of not taking care of yourself show up years later. It’s like a train going up a mountain. You’re slowly moving along enjoying life. Then you hit your peak. This peak, well, you don’t know it’s your peak, aka the healthiest you’ll ever be! Then it’s downhill from there, fast and not the thrill ride you wanted your life to be; rather the crumbling of your body from within. Losing feeling in the feet, organ shutdown, vision loss, gastrointestinal issues and a multitude of other problems.
My mother passed away at age 60 from complications of diabetes. Just as a reference, 18 months prior to that she was working full-time and dealing with some complications of diabetes but for the most part living a normal life. By the time she passed, the decline of her health included being a double amputee, kidney dialysis, high blood pressure, and most of her vision gone. Needless to say, diabetes had controlled her!
Although there isn’t a cure for diabetes, advances are being made in dealing with the disease. And, it is possible to live a long healthy life as a diabetic. Unfortunately, my mother didn’t slow down enough to treat herself as well as she treated others. She was a workaholic and a giver to the point that she neglected the self-care that she needed; something many mothers are guilty of…sad but true!
It’s really important for us, as women, to take care of ourselves. Our children need us, albeit differently as they grow older, but they still need us. As women, it’s important to give ourselves the same kind of care and attention that we give our families and friends. Self-love, self-care…whatever you want to call it. Make your health a priority! Especially, if you have a disease that silently destroys your body like diabetes!
Has diabetes affected your life, your family? Let us know how!