Thursday, March 21, 2013

Our Diabetic Life in drawings


A typical day.

I wake up in a cold sweat at 5:10am realizing I slept through my alarm...

I go to their rooms to check to see if they are breathing.  They always look like they're dead, and they're breathing so shallowy I can't see their chests rise and fall...so of course I have to poke them.
 
Then I roll them out of bed and make them breakfast.  And like the old adage says: if you make a child with diabetes breakfast...they want to know how many carbs to go with it.

 
Then I send them to school.

 
Then I do the same things regular people do...but one handed, or with one eye always on my phone.  The phone can't leave my sight.  Ever.

 
 
 
 
 
But the phone call from school always comes at the worst time.
 
 
And then I have to dust off my crystal ball because the phone call usually goes like this:  "I ate most of my sandwich, half my chips, four bites of my apple and a cookie Tommy gave me..."

 
Also, when I drive around doing errands, I'm so emotionally spent I sob like a baby to songs that were never ever remotely meant to be emotional or sad...

 
So far the kids have made it home alive every day.  But someone is always low.

 
Or high.

 
Then I make dinner and before I can fill up my plate, they have already filled their plates and eaten their food.  I have no idea how big their portions were, but inevitably I'm asked:

 
When they finally go to bed I check all their sugars and decide if they can make it the rest of the night without checking them again.  Usually the answer is no.  But I do a lot of math and negotiating with myself before I come to that conclusion.

 
Then I set my alarm and pray that my alarm fatigue won't act up that night.  It's already midnight, the alarm is set for 2am.

 
Then I go to sleep and dream of numbers.  And then wake up to my alarm, in a cold sweat...wondering if I snoozed it a hundred times, and in essence...slept through it again.

 

(PS  Drawing is hard.  I pretty much gave up on trying after picture number 2.)


54 comments:

  1. You're an artist in so many ways and your drawings are precious and wonderful. This could be me but I wouldn't have been able to share it so well.

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  2. LOVE THIS, LOVE THIS and it's a perfect blog post for your wonderfully dyslexic friend...me! Thanks for doing that ;) very much appreciated!! You made me smile!!

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  3. Such a wonderful blog post!! I am a Type 1 diabetic and all of those thoughts run through my head day in day out. I cannot imagine having to do what you do! Fabulous drawings as well :)

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  4. Oh my gosh! This is ME! Same, same my sweet Meri! Love the phone in the mouth! I've had to do that often! Yuck!

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  5. LOVE! You've captured my life in drawings! Especially the phone. There IS a reason why I HAVE to answer the phone at 11:30 in a public restroom and say stuff like, "She's low? Did tickles vibrate?" Don't judge, people! I actually laughed out loud...at work...Sometimes there are moments that are just so ridiculous I think: Is this really my life?? And then I laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

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  6. I'm from Brasil. My daughter has T1D. You are amazing! Thanks for share your life. My day is much better now.

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  7. Hahaha the square root of syrup!! LOVE IT!

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  8. Oh man! I love this! You should draw more. Thank you! You are my inspiration. If you can do it with your three boys then I know I can do it with my one and a half (hypo). :)

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  9. This was such an awesome post! So much conveyed in your drawings! I never thought much about what my mom must have been thinking/doing when I went off to school with my diabetes, diabetes is exhausting for everyone!

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  10. LOL! I know that song: "thrift shop"! You are my hero, Mari! xoxoxo blessings, blessings......

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  11. I am laughing so hard at "the square root of syrup." Love this!!!

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  12. What a fantastic post! Thanks for sharing. Everything is so true. Its so hard sometimes being the only one doing it all.

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  13. love it - well said, well done! United we stand. diabetes Sucks!

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  14. This is so my life with my Type 1 daughter.The other night I slept through an 0200 alarm, woke at 0700 with a start thinking 'What am I going to find'. Last night, daughter check at midnight, she was low, up until 0200 (Check her bloods before going to sleep.)keeping an eye on her, then up again at 0500 blood check again, good score yipee another 2 hours sleep for me. I have spent the day quite up beat, but I know I will not be tomorrow. LOL

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  15. Great, great stuff... the pictures are as revealing as your writing. Thanks

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  16. this is so insanely awesomely wonderful I can't STAND it. You ROCK so very very much!!!

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  17. Thank you so much!!!! Can I tell you that you made my day? I am a Mom of 3 boys and this is me - I love the part about the phone, I feel like I can't go anywhere without it because anytime I did - that would be when I would be needed. It is so nice to feel like someone else gets what I go through and I am not alone. Thank you!!!!

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  18. Awesome! LOVED it! SO SO SO true! Going into Sam's one day, I left my cell in the car, and quickly hustled back out to get it. An old man made a remark about how "this generation is always attached to their phones; can't go anywhere without it". Some days, I'd let that ride. Not this day! It was uncalled for and snarky. "No, sir! I have two boys with a life-threatening illness, and I HAVE to keep my phone attached in case the school calls with an emergency!" 'So, suck on that' is what I did not add out of respect for my elders!

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  19. The square root of syrup is "f this I'm going to be high anyway". For future reference ;)

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  20. This is my life! from morning till night. I laughed so hard!!! Thank you : )

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  21. My Son was DX T1 at 11 years old. I was dx at 46 years old. I think honestly that was the best day in the life of a D that I have ever read. Your ability to share it in a way that can make me laugh and cry at the same time is wonderful. Thansk so much for that.

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  22. wow, this is so true! thanks for giving me a laugh but not a laugh.. you know what i mean ;)

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  23. Haha! This is great, Meri!

    I can totally relate to the "I'm 392, must eat everything!" Why does that happen?

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  24. Awesomeness. What program did you use?

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  25. so cool, thanks for the laughs!!

    'They're probably alive..."

    hahahaha

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  26. You're cracking me up!!! Love it!!! You should totally share the pic of you calculating breakfast carbs... With me, please ;)

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  27. We live this life, too! As the adage goes, I laughed and I cried... Thanks for sharing and all the best to you and your family.

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  28. I thought those lyrics were a joke when you wrote them, then I read the comments. That's an actual song?

    Great pictures!! :D

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  29. oh, my gosh Meri you just made TJ and I's night (after fighting two desperately stubborn boys to bed) these laughs were much needed!!!

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  30. Awesome ALL AROUND!
    my favourite is the shower pic. LOVE IT!

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  31. Thank you! Great idea!! We are two at home with diabetes (my son and I) and I share most of feelings with you!

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  32. So, So, So loved this!! Type 1 Moms get this! That is why college in the fall scares the jebbers out of me, but not my daughter :) Letting goooo...breathe.....

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    Replies
    1. Julie, my son is now 42 (diagnosed at 13). Going to college scared me too. Since he had been responsible for his care for several years, he did really well. We were affiliated with a major medical center who supported our belief that he should be independent. Those around him in the dorm knew about TI and he had a roommate the first year. The following three years, he had a private room. He did just fine. I did have to go to his school a couple of times (about 2 hours away) during the 4 years. He even participated in trips to Russia, Papua New Guinea and work trips during spring breaks. Just make sure the back up is in place for the worst case scenario and let your daughter be herself. Yes, letting go is hard, but you and she will be prepared. God bless and take care.

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  33. So I'm not the only one that thinks it's scary AND funny that my first thought after sleeping through the night is, "He's problably still alive!":) Thanks, Meri! You are a sanity saver! My husband and I laughed out loud at this post!

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  34. You are the most amazing writer ever. Seriously. And draw-er (artist?) :) This so perfectly, completely describes our lives as parents of Type 1s... love this post!!

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  35. I don't know which is my favorite panel: the one with the holding the phone in the mouth while cleaning the toilet, or the one w. driving/crying "he already had a broken keyboard!" You made me love that song EVEN MORE.

    You are so right on!

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  36. Margarida RegĂȘncioMarch 23, 2013 at 6:12 PM

    Oh my God! This could be my mother & I'm 37!!! She still controls everything and saved my life so many times (literally! Especially during the night!) Congratulations!!!

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  37. Love this post... and the square root of syrup made me laugh out loud! :) So many of us Type I parents have these same thoughts.

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  38. This was such an interesting post - loved the pictures! I had to take the time to read the whole blog. You are truly amazing. Thanks for sharing. I don't have children with diabetes so your posts were a real education - I hope you realize how much you are helping people of all walks of life. Those with diabetic children as well as those who have lost a love one. You have a gift.

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  39. Now I know what my daughter, Vicky, goes thru every night with her son, Cody. Thank you for sharing this. I have a better understanding of why Vicky is always tired. She deserves a medal.

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  40. Well the hits will just keep rolling in. I LOVE this, my daughter loves this, and my husband smirked with a slight laugh and said it IS really good (which is big for him). My personal fave is the scene of praying before going to bed at midnight and asking for forgiveness for swearing at seeing a score of 52!! I really need to figure out how to print this up like a comic strip! I may even ask our endo tomorrow if she has some way I can share your blog with her patients.

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  41. Thanks for all your honesty! That's the way our life goes everyday also. Comforting to know we are all gong thru the same thing.

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  42. best diabetes blog post ever!

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  43. Holy moly that's some impressive paint art. I'm sitting at my desk at work and the crystal ball one and the crying to thrift shop one both made me literally LOL. Love your posts!

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  44. Yay!!! You sooo get it and found the time to put it into pictures. Superwoman!!

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  45. I just found this. SO SO True!! And funny! With two T1D's this is totally my life too. Thank you !

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