Really....please Educate yourself

My son was diagnosed at the age of 2 and I have to admit we did not know that much about Type 1 Diabetes.  Like typical America, diabetes was always associated with overweight people who do not take care of their health.  If they lose weight, the diabetes goes away.

Well, don't we all wish it was that way.  I know my 13 year old son would be happy to change his diet or stop eating certain foods if it meant never having to stick his sore little fingers again or dropping so low that he feels like he cannot stand up.

My husband and I were just out with our son eating Chinese.  We were talking about what life would be like for him if someone would just come up with a cure.  He said "mom I would just be happy if they came up with a painless way to check my blood, like running a laser over my arm that takes the blood sugar automatically."

I told him that I wish I could donate my pancreas to him so that he could live his life like a normal little boy.  My husband said you can't live without a Pancreas.  I said I would just have to take insulin, and I would do that for my son in a heartbeat.  I know many of you parents would do that without a thought.

After all these years we still get the ...I don't want to say stupid, but uneducated questions and comments.  "Is it hard on him not to be able to eat sweets?"  "How long will he have to be like this?"  "Did he get the diabetes from you or your husband?"  "Does he have to go to a special school for his disease?"  How many of you have had to deal with some of these same questions.  There is so much information out there now about Type 1 Diabetes that it is hard for me to believe that people can still be so clueless???

I love the shocked looks on people's faces when I tell him it is okay for him to have some candy or a cupcake as long as he bolus' for them.  I guess since he is diabetic I should never allow him to have anything "normal" kids have.  Of course we don't get that opportunity very often.  It seems as though my son doesn't have many friends and I just don't get it?  He is a great kid, a smart kid.  Problem is I guess the parents of some of his old friends just didn't want their sons "catching" what he has.  Or they didn't want to have him over because something might happen to him and they would "freak out".  

My husband and I work so hard to try and make Jacob feel normal.  If only I could get everyone else on board who seem to go out of their way to make him feel like some kind of freak???