Oranges

Every parent starts out with the hope and expectation that they will have a healthy child, free from any lifelong diseases or health complications. Fortunately, this is the case most of the time. Amy and I have been amazed, however, by the number of times our friends and relatives have had their lives impacted by lifelong illnesses or diseases. From autism, heart conditions, cerebral palsy, Noonan syndrome, eating disorders, premature births, asthma, to mental health, the list is astonishingly long in our circle.

Maybe we became hyper aware of this after fate knocked on our family’s door in 2001.

It began as a common cold. Morgan, four years old at the time, caught a virus in the winter of 2001. As colds go, it was pretty routine. Rest, decongestant, recovery, and back to a normal routine. Amy, however, noticed things that often go right by me. After his cold, she casually mentioned that he seems to be drinking and going to the bathroom a lot. We filed this observation away as this symptom lessened and he recovered from his cold.

A couple of months later, he once again caught a cold. As he recovered from this cold, the thirst and bathroom trips began to grow exponentially. On Friday night, he would drink a glass of water, turn around and go to the bathroom, and then ask for another glass of water right afterward. We managed to get him through the night, but his thirst returned in the morning. We decided to seek his doctor’s opinion on this development and were fortunate to get a Saturday morning appointment.

Our trip to the doctor was short. The nurse came in and pricked his finger to get a blood sample and a reading from a glucose monitor. It simply read “HI”. His doctor came in after just a few minutes and told us in no uncertain terms to get in the car and drive directly to Children’s Hospital. Morgan had Type 1 Diabetes and his glucose levels were dangerously “HI” A normal blood glucose level is between 70 and 120 mg/dl. A blood glucose meter can only generate an accurate level up to about 600 mg/dl. After that it simply reads “HI”.

We engaged Amy’s parents to meet us to hand off Claire and Carson. We then headed to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. Because it was the weekend, they admitted Morgan to the hospital to get his blood sugar levels under control using insulin. They indicated we would need to participate in a diabetes education training session the following Monday, but would need to stay overnight in the hospital to learn the basics until we could be trained in depth the following week.

Diabetes is a lifetime condition and Amy and I were ignorant about this disease. Over the next few weeks we would get a crash course, but our first task was to learn how to take glucose meter readings and give insulin shots. The nurse handed us syringes, a couple bottles of saline, and a couple of oranges. She then demonstrated the proper technique to draw the insulin into the syringe and inject it into the body using the saline and oranges to practice. She told us the finger pricks for taking the glucose levels would hurt at first, but eventually fade as Morgan developed calluses on his fingertips.

We took turns practicing on the oranges. When it came time for Morgan’s next insulin shot, the nurse asked us if we were comfortable enough to administer his insulin. Amy stepped forward without hesitation and gave Morgan one of his first injections. I followed when it came time for his next shot. We also used an empty practice syringe to poke ourselves just to see how it felt. The needles were so fine that neither Amy nor I could feel it.

They were able to bring Morgan’s insulin levels back to the normal range that day and discharged us from the hospital Sunday afternoon. We drove to Amy’s sister Mary’s house where Frank and Judy had taken Carson and Claire for the day to celebrate their cousin Cole’s birthday. We lingered there as we shared with them everything we had learned about Morgan’s condition at the hospital. We were under strict instructions to check Morgan’s blood sugar every four hours until we completed our training on Monday.

It was there that Amy and I made a decision without even consulting each other. Since this was a lifelong disease, we both felt that it would be better to take his glucose levels and inject his insulin shots in front of relatives and friends so as not to stigmatize them. After the curiosity wore off, the finger pricks and shots would become just a normal part of his life. Everybody watched with curiosity as we checked his level in front of his siblings and cousins.

We ran into our first challenge that night when we arrived home and were preparing the kids for bed. Morgan needed an insulin shot. He had believed that the shots would end once we got home and was upset that he would need to continue getting the shots. He ran upstairs crying and hid under his bed. As we called for him to come down, Carson, who had been a quiet observer to this point, planted his feet apart with his hands on his hips and yelled at us, “You leave him alone!! He doesn’t want it!!”

We managed to get through that first night at home waking up every four hours to check Morgan’s blood sugar. On Monday, we attended the training at Children’s Hospital and began our lifelong on-the-job training.

Carson, his identical twin, was diagnosed just six months later and we never broke stride.

As difficult as it was raising two diabetics through childhood into adolescence and adulthood, I believe how we navigated the boy’s diabetes was one of our finest moments as parents. They have never let their disease stop them from accomplishing their goals.  Whether it was sports, academics, or their careers in law enforcement, they have forged ahead and never let their diabetes define or limit their aspirations. Of that, we can be proud.