Emotional Impact

“This post is my August entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetescaf.org/2013/08/august-dsma-blog-carnival-3/“
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"What can a parent of a child with diabetes, or a person with diabetes, do to help reduce the emotional impact of caring for diabetes?"

What can I do to help reduce the emotional impact of caring for my diabetes? Holy cow that is a loaded question.

Recently I had a rough low. It was one of those where you want to eat everything in sight, but still have the wherewithal to not (a rare case might I add). I actually didn't feel the low until I laid down and the world took up spinning. Not good. I opened two packs of fruit snacks and waited. I may or may not have actually chewed the snacks. What made this low so much different than others, was that I broke down and cried. I'm the first to admit that I'm not much of a crier. Very rarely do sappy movies even evoke a tear. My daughter will confirm that. However, here I was at 5:30 in the evening bawling my eyes out over a low of 54.. or was it 45. It was just too much for me to deal with right at that moment. We were two days away from moving my daughter to college and becoming 'empty nesters'. That in itself is an emotional roller coaster. My daughter has been there to help with my middle of the night lows, my stubborn highs and subsequent rage boluses (boli?), my "I hate food" dinners, and everything in between.  It was then that the thought sunk in that I wouldn't have one of my biggest Type Awesomes right there, and I would be just a little more on my own. 

So how can we reduce the emotional impact?  We can surround ourselves with an outstanding support team.  Family, friends, physicians, people who may or may not "get it" but will ALWAYS be there for you.  They may carry fruit snacks, insulin, test strips, alcohol wipes, glucose tabs... but they will always and forever be Judgement free.