Julie V. Watson - Living with Diabetes: A Family Affair: Practical and Emotional Support Strategies

LIVING WITH DIABETES, A FAMILY AFFAIR

Practical and Emotional Support Strategies

by JULIE V. WATSON

Copyright Julie V. Watson, 2005

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.

Copy-Editor: Jennifer Bergeron

Design: Andrew Roberts

Printer: Transcontinental

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Watson, Julie V., 1943

Living with diabetes, a family affair : practical and

emotional support strategies / Julie V. Watson.

ISBN-10: 1-55002-551-1

ISBN-13: 978-1-55002-551-4

1. Diabetes--Popular works. 2. Diabetics--Family

relationships. I. Title.

RC660.4.W38 2005616.462C2005-900942-X

123450908070605

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and The Association for the Export of Canadian Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program, and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.

Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credit in subsequent editions.

J. Kirk Howard, President

Printed and bound in Canada.

Printed on recycled paper.

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LIVING WITH DIABETES, A FAMILY AFFAIR

This book is dedicated to the members of our team. We are so blessed to have them in our life with diabetes:

Helen Grant, to whom I owe my sanity and well-being;

Dr. George Carruthers, who took us on when getting a doctor was tough and is a true gem compassionate, caring, and a darn good family physician;

Dr. John Dornan, Endocrinology and Internal Medicine Specialist, Saint John Regional Hospital, who gave us hope and restored both health and quality of life. We especially appreciate the willingness to be flexible;

Linda Graham, Department Manager, Diabetes Education Centre, Saint John Regional Hospital, who put us on the right track, became our lifeline, and is valued and appreciated;

Melany Hellstern, Account Development Manager, Canada, Disetronic Medical Systems Inc., who went far beyond being simply a salesperson, helping Jack to research, understand, and become part of the wonderful world of pumping; and

the friends who do their best to cope with the complications that we throw at them.

More than anything, this book is for Jack, who has my eternal respect, devotion, and love.

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Diagnosed and Moving Forward

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Impact on Life

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Impact on Others

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Working and Paying the Way

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Living Life to the Fullest

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Interpret and Understand

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Taking Charge by Becoming Your Own Advocate

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Pumping to Quality of Life

I never felt that I was really affected by my dads diabetes. By the time he was really sick I had left home to go to college. I knew he was sick a lot, but looking back I realize my parents protected me from a lot of what was going on. I live in Vancouver so I would only see them during visits and it just didnt sink in. It wasnt until there was a huge improvement that I realized how sick he had been.

The biggest impact it had, the biggest thing I can think of, was when he started counting carbs and got his insulin pump. The first time I saw him after that he looked 100 percent better.

I just went, Holy Cow! Look at you!

I see it when we golf and do things together. Hes great! We didnt do as much before, and now I realize he couldnt. Im starting to watch my own health now. I worry that Dad was a third-generation diabetic.

John Watson, son of Jack and Julie Watson

One of the most difficult parts of writing a book, at least for me, is organizing it. This one is particularly difficult because there is so much I want to say so much that needs saying. As well, its a complex topic. I have no medical background, and neither does my husband, who is the hero of the piece. We did not intend to produce a medical book or to give medical advice.

What we wanted to do was share our story, to try to get other diabetics to take their disease seriously and work to maintain good health. We also wanted to tell the stories of other diabetics and their families with the objective of letting people know that they are not alone, they are not crazy, they are not hypochondriacs or whiners, they are not making a mountain out of a molehill, they are not seeking attention.

We felt that by reading about the experiences of others, by sharing their concerns, by using them as role models, other families could learn to cope and manage.

As importantly, we wanted to encourage people to take control. Our own experience from day one was that we had to fight and work for proper treatment and recognition of what we were dealing with and what we feel are our rights.

I had to decide early on whether I would approach doctors, the professionals, and ask them to contribute to this book. After much mind searching and discussion with others affected by the disease I decided not to do so. The reason is my own personal mandate. It always seems to me that talking to others, hearing their experiences and how they handled things first-hand, makes their stories come alive. To try to do a book that involved medical professionals would have limited my ability to tell the stories space would have been an issue. I truly believe there is a need for a Canadian book with input from medical professionals, but this isnt it.

I didnt want it to turn into a preachy, you must do this book. What I want is more of a sharing, maybe a few laughs as you recognize familiar experiences, that will perhaps give all concerned a feeling of normalcy and hope that there are things they can do to maintain their quality of life. The people quoted in these pages and there are many of them either have diabetes or are one of the caregivers or support team for a diabetic. They are all influenced and affected by the disease.

It is important for you to know that this is not a medical book. It will not tell you how to treat your diabetes. We have no more smarts than any other layperson about this devastating disease.

What we have is the certainty that there is a gap in information out there. I get so tired of picking up magazines and specialty publications with what looks like interesting and beneficial information only to find that 90 percent of it is the same old how to prevent diabetes, or how to cook low-carb recipes, or new herbal cures, or promises of cures that are still ten or twenty years in the future. There is actually very little published in mainstream publications that addresses the real issue of day-to-day living. Nothing concrete for those with diabetes.