How It All Started

Can I have a drink?????

  That was the question frequently asked by our 8 year son Andrew. When it came down to getting him a couple glasses of water before bedtime, I knew something was up.  I guess you could call it "mother's intuition".  I prefer to call it a nudge from the Holy Spirit because God was definitely keeping watch over our son that November evening, 2011.

Due to having hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), I keep a glucometer on hand for myself.  I told my husband that we should at least check his sugars before he goes to bed.  It definitely wasn't the easiest task, but we finally were able to prick his finger.  5..4..3..2..1.  Those 5 seconds seemed like an eternity!  The results showed up at 545!  I remember thinking this couldn't be right.  So I grabbed the glucometer and did mine.  5..4..3..2..1.  Results 90.  I grabbed Andrew's finger one more time.  He must have known something was not right because he didn't even fight me.  This time, the results were HIGH!  I remember thinking, "What does high mean?"  I knew it couldn't be good.  By the look on my face, my husband said, "Is that bad?"  I just shook my head yes and ran for the phone.

That's when it all started - The mad rush to the hospital, nurses and doctor's using our son as a human pin cushion, insulin injections, IV insertion.  This was just the beginning.  Thankfully Andrew did not have ketones in his urine which can be a very serious situation with diabetics. We endured three grueling days of diabetes education, learning how to give insulin injections, nutrition education etc...  The hardest thing to get through was our poor son sitting on the bed just crying because he couldn't understand why all of this was happening to him and how much he missed being at home with his siblings.  As much as I just wanted to break down, God lifted me up and gave me unbelievable strength to help Andrew cope with this new diagnosis.  My head was absolutely spinning from the diagnosis itself and how to care for Andrew.  It's like I went into my own little world.  My husband also leaned on God for strength; however, we grieved in different ways.

After sulking awhile, I knew I had a decision.  I could either crawl in a hole and ignore everything or I could face this beast head on.  Andrew eased into his new lifestyle and I knew that's what I needed to do too.  That's how we've become the Diabetic and Celiac WARRIORS!!!