How on Earth do these two things correspond? No, it’s not that we’re up late every night getting it on, though, wouldn’t that be nice, it’s mostly my anxiety that keeps me from sleeping too deeply most nights.
Let me explain.
A year ago I went on a date with the man who is now the love of my life. On our first date I found out that he was a type 1 diabetic. It was on this same date that I experienced my first ever low blood sugar incident.
Since that day I have come to realize just how involved this disease really is. Every day has involved research on Type 1, reminders to test glucose levels, behavior monitoring, insulin alarms, test strips found in random places like couch cushons, terms like A1c, numbers numbers and more numbers. It can consume your every move, if you let it.
In my experience, diabetes can do the same thing to the supporters and caregivers as well, it's not just the "patient" who is so deeply affected by this disease.
Which, essentially, is why I'm here. Being a caretaker, supporter and lover of a man who has been a type 1 diabetic for 20+ years, it can be a struggle to cope at times. I'm a talker, so when when I've got something on my mind, it's gotta come out of my mouth - or, in this digital age, fingers works as well. You know, like this blog.
The things that worry and stress caregivers are often the things they can't exactly talk about with the person with the disease.
Sometimes I'm frustrated, sometimes I'm scared, sometimes I just want to run away and hide.
And sometimes, I just want to sleep alone so that I'm not up all night worrying that his odd sleeping behavior is low blood sugar related.
Thing is, none of this has anything to do with the man I love, it's just feelings about the disease. However, talking about it with him would only lead to alienation, making him feel as if he's a burden.
He's not.
So for all those caregivers and people with partners who have Type 1, or other similar diseases, I want to welcome you to a place where you can discuss, comment, read about or just admire from afar the life of another caregiver.
Welcome to my blog. No, our blog. Let the communication begin!
