Fun with Diabetic Kids

When my son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, my reaction was probably pretty typical. I cried. I thought they were wrong. I asked everyone who came in the same questions, hoping this time for a better answer. "He'll outgrow it, right?" "Could it be something else?" "Are you SURE it's diabetes?"

It was a rough few days. If you're reading this, it was probably a rough few days for you, too.

My Nicolas, though, was unfazed. He played with the buttons on the bed. He ate in bed, he watched cartoons, with his hands interlocked behind his head, and said, "Ahhh... this is the life". He went to the game room in the hospital. He met the dogs that come in to play with the kids. Unless he was actually getting a shot or having his blood sugar tested, he was in little kid heaven.

He was five. For a while, we didn't go anywhere. We ate at home, we played at home, if he had a cough I kept him home from school.

After a while, we started going places again. This past Thanksgiving, we went to Florida. Nicolas went to Sea World with my mom. He can do anything and go anywhere any other kid can go, and we'll talk about great places for kids with diabetes and less dLife friendly places.

He's eight now, and we have learned... OH, have we learned. My hope is to share what we've learned and how we've learned it, to create a place where parents and kids can share their stories, recipes, jokes, fears, triumphs and hope for a cure.

I will try to post daily, I look forward to your comments to make this a better journey for all of us.