Medical Mom

I began my journey as a medical mom last fall when my youngest was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. The role, as if motherhood isn’t tough enough already, adds an extra level of complexity and emotions to being a mom. Of course, this is also true for the medical dads out there, but this is based on my personal experience. Hence, the focus on medical mom.

I’m grateful to my friends who shared their experiences and their kids’ symptoms that led to their Type 1 diagnosis. This is where social media can have a large and positive impact on society. If my friends hadn’t shared their experience, the Mayor’s diagnosis would have been delayed. Instead, we were able to get him help before it became a crisis.

So what were the symptoms that led to his diagnosis? He experienced rapid weight loss (20 pounds in less than two weeks), dry mouth, and increased thirst. As soon as he mentioned these, I checked his blood sugar, and it came back at 188. Thankfully, I was able to get him to the pediatrician right away. She rechecked his blood sugar, tested his urine for protein and ketones, as well as additional labs. Once the urine came back with ketones, she sent us to the hospital.

When we got home from the hospital, we found out that as much as we thought we knew, we actually knew nothing. It was terrifying. It was such a big change. We were scared to get the carb count wrong or screw up the insulin injection. I haven’t slept soundly since he was diagnosed out of fear of missing a low or a high. Terrifying is the most accurate way to describe it. Of course, the other emotion medical moms walk with is mom guilt. The guilt that we couldn’t protect them from this diagnosis. It’s irrational, I know, but it doesn’t diminish the guilty feeling.

We’ve been in the throes of the battle for almost a year now. The Mayor has managed his blood sugar really well since his diagnosis. I will say my hubby and I have had to learn not to take the angry highs personally. Moreover, the conversation about Type 1 has been in the public sphere as Barbie released its Type 1 Barbie. I’ll write a separate post on this, type 1 myths and stupid people. In the meantime, to all my fellow medical moms, hang in there.

2025 Goal Tracker:

• Run a 5K: still training, signed up for a 5k on 9/20!
• Complete Kayla Itsines program: finishing 2.0 this week!
• No afternoon Starbucks (except for travel/vacations): I made it into September and haven’t buckled!
• Top performer at work: on it!
• Travel: went to Vegas, but lots of work to do here.
• Eat to lower inflammation: in progress
• Read daily: in progress. I’m reading The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins as part of my summer of re-reads.
• Get out of debt: in progress, but still poor
• Financial independence: in progress, but still opt

Why do you blog?

I initially started blogging as a way to manage grief. Now I do it because I love it.