Alaska Respite

This week I’m happily home alone with my sweetie, Jasper, as Max and Charlotte cruise Alaska with their cousin, Cecelia, and their amazing grandparents, Papa and Tati. This is monumental. Four months into T1D, my parents (both nearing 80) kept their promise to our children and set sail on an enormous ship and adventure – with minimal T1D training and experience.

Charlotte and Cecilia

 

From the moment I tearily told them about Charlo’s diagnosis, my parents have been stellar. My Dad (super athletic and incredulously diagnosed as pre-diabetic . . . type 2, of course . . . several years ago) immersed himself in T1D knowledge. My Mom, offered heartfelt support from her own experience with a child battling a devastating, life threatening, chronic disease (my elder brother died at 16 of cancer, non-hodgkins lymphoma).

Amazing grandparents!

I can only imagine their incredulity that horror has struck our family again. I’m dumbfounded. It’s thankfully not cancer this time, but T1D has a hell all its own. Imagine your child being hospitalized and told they have a debilitating chronic disease, then released to you to manage said disease for four months without seeing the new doctor, an endocrinologist. Holy shit.

There aren’t many other diseases where people must take rigorous care of themselves. T1D places harsh demands on its victims. No nurse and doctor, administers Charlo’s insulin, monitors her blood sugar levels, rushes in when a low comes, or increases doses when there is a high. We do that on our own, multiple times a day. Every bite and sip my girl takes, need to be carefully considered and compensated for. Her damn pancreas doesn’t work. Never will.

Whose pancreas doesn’t work?

We ruminated about canceling once Charlo’s diagnosis came through, but we all felt it would be devastating to Ms. C and send a terrible message to her brother, Max, and cousin, Ceci. Disease won’t stop this clan! So my parents took on T1D with three days of training to give our children an extraordinary adventure, despite the hardship and obvious connection to my brother’s disease and demise.

Ceci and Max

My parents are superstars. Not only have they given their grandchildren a gift, but they have given me and Jasper a much needed, deserved T1D respite. The strong tentacles of disease have loosened their grip allowing us to appreciate all that we have dealt with and done these past months. I will greedily take what I can this week, as T1D emersion will come too quickly. For now, I will breathe.