I became aware of a wonderful short documentary from the Sundance Institute that shows the reality of what daily life with Type 1 Diabetes can be like. CAN BE not is every single day. I was so heartbroken that the comments on the NY Times page by diabetics themselves no less show just how uneducated people are about how deadly this disease is. It only takes one low to be too low. I see people talk about using CGMs (continuous glucose monitors) as a kind of cure all and that if you manage it like “you should” then all is rosy. I am here to tell you that you can do everything by the book and sometimes it just isn’t good enough! Sometimes your child still will die in their sleep because this disease is DIFFERENT FOR EVERYONE! If you understand only that I will be happy. Not every person’s body responds in the same way to every assistive device.
This is a disease that has so many things affect it’s manifestations. You have a low blood sugar and your CGM alerts you but your lows cause you to be combative and complacent, loopy, out of it. You can’t get your sugar to rise fast enough and you pass out. You have done everything right but your body betrays you what then? This documentary MidnightThreeSix has shown that people with diabetes do not have to fear that scenario with people like Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers .
Even with my son having a volatile case of Type 1 no one ever told us about this or that he might qualify for disability. Doctors just write a script and off you go but with T1D it is not so easy. Sure your numbers average out and look great to the doc but all it takes is one number to end your life in an instant. With a Service Dog my son’s life can be so much more fulfilling and freeing and going to bed not so scary, eating not so agonizing. One day my dream is to say goodbye to Diabetes and not goodbye to my son because of it.
Mandy
