Road Trip

There has been a lot going on these past few months : TD was sick, her brother left home to study at Cambridge University, her Gran and Grandad have been unwell and the technology project for the term was to build and race a go kart. (And TD was the only member of the group with a working knowledge of hammers, screwdrivers and washers.)  We were all tired, and needed a change of scenery.

So, during the one week school break, the three of us went road tripping.  Andrew hauled out the big map, looked at which roads we had not yet coloured over in red pen (to signify we had already travelled on them) and plotted a route, exploring a few villages and towns close to Cape Town.
Packing was easy: Jeans, t-shirts, swimming costumes, walking shoes and some warm tops, cellphone chargers and an abundance of books.

And ice blocks, cooler bags, extra insulin, emergency glucogen kit, wholewheat bread and cheese for meal emergencies, extra testing strips, one ketone testing strip (well, you never know...) , quick acting glucose sachets, super c sweets, extra needles....  You know - all the usual stuff everyone takes on holiday.  At least everyone who is travelling with T1.

Diabetes takes no holidays.  It is not something we can relax about for a week (or a day) or just decide to take a break from.  It is a relentless disease, unforgiving of forgetfulness, dangerous to tune out.  Holidays or ordinary days, every morning we test TD at 6am, we wake at 2am if needed to check her sugars, we don't skip meals.  None of this bothers us in the slightest.  I suppose we no longer see diabetes as a disease, rather as a new way of life.

The road trip was lovely.  We stood on the beach at the southern most tip of Africa, we spent a whole day at the natural hot springs soaking up sun and catching up some reading.  We ate delicious foods.  We listened to all the latest trendy music (Thanks TD for the compilation!).  We recharged our batteries, missed our son, basked in the wonderfulness of our surroundings and made memories that will last forever.

 

Introductions and Normality

Just to be clear:  TD stands for Teenage Daughter, NOT Teenager Diabetic.  I know this blog is about the joys and challenges of parenting a person with T1 diabetes, but it occurred to me that this gives such a small picture of our lives.  TD is so much more than a diabetic teenager.  Diabetes does not define her.  It limits her.  It hurts her.  But it is only a small part of who she is. And so, with her permission, I thought I would introduce you a little better.

Some things you will already know from previous posts - like how strong headed and certain of the way she wants things (OK - stubborn)  she can be at times.  You will also know she inspires others with her bravery, tenacity and resilience.

She is a quirky, creative being.  She finds happiness in drawing, in playing music ( she plays the piano and the double bass - nothing small about TD's ambitions or instruments!) and in writing.  She is passionate - about human rights, about gender issues, about freedoms.  She is funny, with an off beat sense of humour, and an excellent sense of comic timing.  She reads.  She loves cat images on  the internet.  She plays Settlers of Catan with the family using cunning strategy.  She likes history, and is good at maths. Most of all, she is a good friend - loyal and kind.

I started thinking about all this after reading a thread on the Tudiabetes website.  The thread was called "Can T1s have a truly normal life"  The two sides of the argument seemed to be :  Yes, diabetics are just the same as other people, and No, diabetes affects every part of daily living and you are doing a disservice to children telling them they are normal, as they aren't the same as everyone else.

I have strong feelings about this subject. There is no such thing as "normal."  Everyone has restrictions in their life.  Maybe someone is too tall to be a ballerina, or has a visual impairment so cannot be a pilot.  Some people are restricted by economics, some by low self esteem.  "Normal" is a veneer people put on top of character in order to blend in and feel acceptable.  It is, in my opinion, a mythical, unattainable and reductive goal.

 

Yes, TD now has restrictions.  She cannot eat carbs without injecting insulin, she cannot be a pilot, she needs to test her sugars many times a day,  and she probably will be too tall to be a professional ballerina.  Everyone adapts:  she will too. 

She can't make up her mind.  Maybe she will be an architect.  Or study political science.  Or write a book.  She is fourteen - lots of time for her to decide how she will use her talents in this world.

Until then, she will, like a lot of teenagers, keep tabs on all the cat memes on the internet.  Like all other teenagers, she will challenge her parents, and debate almost every decision.

And like most other teenagers, her room is a mess.