Juvenile diabetes has always been a big part of my family as multiple family members struggled with the disease. As I was growing up, family get togethers and birthday parties always consisted of the birthday angel food cake half-frosted, so the diabetics could have a piece, sugar-free Jell-o and dishes special for diabetics.
It was just a part of our family. I remember feeling sorry for the ones who had it. I couldn't imagine a worse life than not being able to eat sugar and having to give yourself shots every day.
What could be worse?
Little did I know that was just the top of the ice berg in the life of a diabetic.
I met my now husband in 1996 and found out he was diabetic right away. I didn't think much about it. After all I had grown up with it in my family.
We got married in 2001 but it was the year before, in 2000, that the true effects of the disease opened my eyes. While the first year of marriage usually consists of adjusting to married life, living together, combining finances, etc, ours consisted of a heart bypass surgery, dialysis runs every other day, endless trips to the ER and a kidney transplant.
What so many don't understand is that diabetes isn't just watching what you eat and giving yourself multiple daily shots, but it truly affects the whole body.
Diabetes damages blood vessels and therefore causes limited blood flow to all areas of the body. Diabetes also causes nerve damage. Blood vessels and nerves are in all parts of the body.
Since his teenage years my husband has suffered with vessel damage to his eyes requiring laser surgery which in turn causes him to lose peripheral vision. Currently his vision is like looking through a straw. This has forced him to give up his driver's license and it is possible he may become blind in the next few years.
As stated above he has had triple bypass and had a very weak heart due to the vessel damage. He has had 3 heart attacks and at one point there was a discussion about a heart transplant.
He has a condition called gastroparesis which is delayed emptying of the stomach which is caused by diabetic damage to the stomach. When he has flare ups of this condition, he has intense nausea and vomiting which can last for days at a time and is in the hospital due to severe dehydration.
My husband started showing signs of kidney failure in 2000 due to diabetes. He was on dialysis for about a year until he was able to recieve a kidney from his brother. Kidney failure is very common in diabetics.
Then there's the intense, horrible nerve pain called neuropathy. Diabetes damages the nerves and I can't even begin to describe the pain I've heard my husband in. Imagine 100 pins constantly poking your feet at the same time and trying to walk. I've heard my husband screaming in agonizing pain from neuropathy. He says it's much worse than any heart attack he's had.
These complications are only a handful of complications my husband deals with because of his diabetes. He has constant lab and doctor appointments, specialist appointments and constantly dealing with reactions due to high or low blood sugars.
November is Diabetes Awareness Month. So many don't know how much diabetes affects the body and the struggles a diabetic faces in their every day life. If you know a diabetic, give them support. Give them a call or a hug or both. Tell them you're thinking of them and you're sorry they have to go through so much.
Diabetes is so much more than shots and watching your sugar intake. It affects the whole body and creates so much stress in the lives of the diabetic and their family.
While it's painfully hard to watch my husband suffer as much as he does, I'm grateful to God he has allowed our family to be the voice of diabetes and to witness to others how life is precious and such a gift. Our hope and prayer is that one day a cure will be found and no one will have to suffer the life debilitating effects of diabetes.
For more information on juvenile diabetes, visit www.jdrf.org.
Then there's the intense, horrible nerve pain called neuropathy. Diabetes damages the nerves and I can't even begin to describe the pain I've heard my husband in. Imagine 100 pins constantly poking your feet at the same time and trying to walk. I've heard my husband screaming in agonizing pain from neuropathy. He says it's much worse than any heart attack he's had.
These complications are only a handful of complications my husband deals with because of his diabetes. He has constant lab and doctor appointments, specialist appointments and constantly dealing with reactions due to high or low blood sugars.
November is Diabetes Awareness Month. So many don't know how much diabetes affects the body and the struggles a diabetic faces in their every day life. If you know a diabetic, give them support. Give them a call or a hug or both. Tell them you're thinking of them and you're sorry they have to go through so much.
Diabetes is so much more than shots and watching your sugar intake. It affects the whole body and creates so much stress in the lives of the diabetic and their family.
While it's painfully hard to watch my husband suffer as much as he does, I'm grateful to God he has allowed our family to be the voice of diabetes and to witness to others how life is precious and such a gift. Our hope and prayer is that one day a cure will be found and no one will have to suffer the life debilitating effects of diabetes.
For more information on juvenile diabetes, visit www.jdrf.org.
