The Teenage Diabetic Brain

My Teenage Brain

I have one of these living in my midst. Yes a teenage diabetic brain. She is one of, the three to treat. I must discuss recent happenings in hopes to relate or get support. 

Okay I know that most teens have limited capacity to focus, as they are concerned about social events, sports, and in our case fashion and hair.

My daughter has really taken the diabetes thing in stride, seriously since 11 she has injected, tested, gone to appointments, learned about carbs, exercise and other intricacies in relation to managing diabetes. Is her diabetes well controlled? Well not perfect but well enough. I was never harassed about my diabetes from my parents. They kept me safe, ensured I took my shots, ate my meals and snacks, and that was it. Never nagged and therefore I never had any anger towards them. I could essentially be a kid with "D" in the background.

I must say that we attempt to do the same with our D kids. But I note that lately, I have to ask her to test, like in the mornings on my way out the door, I'll pause, and ask, "Did you test?" and she will put down the backpack and hair brush, and proceed to test. I really try not to lecture but this is happening all the time, like everyday.  She will go to her friend and forget her supplies, get home from school and say "I haven't taken any insulin today because I didn't eat" or my least favorite, she injects blindly, basically having know clue what her glucose is and taking a whopping dose based on her teenage brains strange calculation.

Scary stuff! I know. I have discussed this calmly, more times then I can remember. Still no change. Yes I've called off sleepovers and events as a consequence, taken her phone away, she still doesn't have it back, but I feel guilty as I know diabetes is a supreme pain and inconvenience in our everyday life. And I know it just isn't important to her.

Question is I am honestly at a loss....what do I do next, lock her in the house? Duck tape an insulin pump to her? What?!  Sorry just frustrated. I certainly can't be there to remind her every time she chooses to eat to remind her to count the carb and take the appropriate amount of insulin. Trust me I've considered it. There is the option of NPH, but then I fear lows and rebounds.

You'd think in a house full of D, my child would be a superstar, that just ain't so. I just want her safe. Any ideas would be very much appreciated.

Trev

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Mirror Mirror on the Wall?

How we view the world is often a reflection of our inner state of mind.

How we are feeling. What we're thinking. 

If our thoughts are clouded with darkness and despair then the world is viewed through this lense.

If our thoughts are happy and hopeful then this in turn is how we perceive our world.

I guess it could be argued that emotions=thoughts=behavior. The end result is often not the desired outcome.

Emotions are strange things. They are suppose to signal us when something is wrong or something is right. They are sometimes, subtle, sometimes intense, and sometimes just plain difficult to tag a word to describe it.

What to do with them is the tricky part. Deal with them, shelf them, deny them, write about them. What is the best approach?

I guess we are all raised, and therefore wired differently. We all deal differently with our emotions. We come from different family upbringings. Our brains are hardwired differently. We may have done counseling and downloaded software to handle our emotions differently, but often revert back to what is innately familiar to us. What we learned as a child, young adult.

How we deal with our emotions is a huge predictor of success, in my opinion. The easy route is to be a hermit, live alone, never have to deal with any emotion. Status quo, no stress....

However, a fulfilling life is one filled with love, partnership, interdependence, and a continuous drive to self reflect and improve.

The only relevance this has to diabetes, is the fact that when thoughts are dark, mood is low, diabetes control tends to be left last on the list. I suggest not putting diabetes as a last priority, however, this has been my experience. It is necessary to be mentally healthy to manage diabetes.  Just the way it goes.

The reflection in the mirror is a dark one today. Hopefully with a little Windex, and some time, reflection, understanding, the reflection will improve.

Trev

PS:  I know this is a melancholy blog. Until I get a new mirror, my posts will cease to exist.