Kyle's Diabetes

While this blog is for Carter, he isn’t the only member of our family who has T1D. I’ve mentioned before that my husband Kyle also has T1D. This is my story of how I was first affected by Kyle’s blood sugar.

I meet my husband in 2006. He told me he was diabetic and I just thought it meant he couldn't eat sugar. He ate anything he wanted and drank a lot of soda; occasionally he would have a diet soda. For the most part Kyle monitored his own sugar and took care of his shots. He would tell me things about his diabetes like how he felt when he goes high and symptoms of a low. He would tell me if he ever went low it would seem like he was drunk. He also warned me to put honey under his tongue if he was low.

We got married in the summer of 2007. About seven months later Kyle and I were talking at the table. He stared to seem confused and was having trouble talking. I asked him if he was okay. He just gave me a blank state. He stood up and took a couple of steps. His legs buckled and he fell to the floor. My heart was racing because I wasn't sure what was wrong with my husband. I started to panic and remembered what Kyle had told me about low blood sugar. I went to the cupboard and got a bottle of honey. I put Kyle’s head on my lap as I put the honey under his tongue. After about twenty minutes, Kyle’s color stated coming back and he was able to talk. At this time we didn’t even own a glucose monitor! I sat on the floor with Kyle and told him we needed to talk. I made an appointment to see a doctor.

At the doctor’s Kyle took an A1C test, a common blood test used to diagnose diabetes and gauge how well it is being monitored. A normal range is between 4.5 to 6 percent. Kyle was at 15. The doctor gave Kyle a prescription for all the diabetic supplies and most important, a glucose monitor. He told us that Kyle needed to check his sugars 2 hours before and after meals and bedtime. Kyle explained how to check his sugar, the sliding scale and carb counting. I learned a lot about diabetes but I never checked his sugar or my own or gave him any shots. I did start buying foods with more protein and made sure Kyle ate better. He now has a A1C of 7! But it wasn't until Carter was diagnosed that we changed our entire life style and I learned more about diabetes then I could ever imagine!