CHANGES FROM CHILDHOOD TO YOUNG ADULT

By Angeline M. Duran Santiago     DIABETIC'S MOM JOURNEY

Once more, she awakens and her face has already begun to show the frustration and annoyance brought on by her friend, constantly sleeping over, mostly uninvited, but there. I can see she wants to shake her off and tell her to go away, but she lays her head on the pillow and reminds you, "Did you check your sugar?"

Sleepover friend? More like a backpack full of bricks glued to your back kind of friend, right? Maybe that's how she sees getting up every day with Type 1 Diabetes each day. Maybe that's how he feels when you tell him to get up and go to school, and he asks for ten more minutes. The sleepover friend has been talking all night, keeping your child up, sugar levels raised. You've tried so many ways to keep it down but it seems nothing works. And, now that your child has become a young adult, they no longer want to hear the same questions you've asked a thousand times. "Did you check your sugar?" "Did you bolus or cover yourself?"

They are tired of years of the same ups and down, good and poor advice, over care and lack of care from doctors, and good intentions from family but at times just not wanted. How do you reach your child when they turn you off in their mind and shut themselves away?

I don't know. Personally, I wish I had the answers. And I wonder if it would make any difference if I said, "I just want you to know that my life would be so much happier if I saw how well you're doing each day!" I wonder if saying, "When you are well, I feel like the strongest, most powerful woman on earth!" would make any difference.

We don't want to scare our kids or get them to feel discouraged or depressed. We want them to know we care and that those high blood sugars will take effect in some scary ways in their body. Find and make the time to talk about people you know that have undergone major changes in their lives because they thought, "Hey, I'm still young, I can live how I want, eat as I please, and nothing will happen." Wrong. I've seen in my own family the devastating effects and consequences of poor care, unintentionally and never on purpose. All because we see ourselves strong, young, invincible. 

Dear friend, I pray the Lord give you wisdom to speak to your teenager who has Type 1 Diabetes. I pray the Lord creates a special bond for you and your young adult to share without arguing and talk about ways to take care of himself or herself. Be encouraged, dear parent. Give it some time and they will listen.