When it comes to my diabetes I'm always quite... protective of it. I suppose I think of it more like an object now, rather than a medical condition. I've named my pump and my blood glucose meter, I know which hypo treatments work best for me and my brain has become a personal carb counting app. I'm no expert though - far from it! But I do know what I do and don't like when it comes to my diabetes.
One thing that I've never liked is sharing my diabetes with partners. Not even a little bit... nope... no way...not a chance... couldn't think of anything worse!
There are many reasons for this, mostly because I'm stubborn, don't like people telling me what to do (even for my own good), and I'm always right! Other (more sensible) reasons include; I don't like needles and struggle when injecting in front of people, I find that my hypos upset others as well as myself due to uncontrollable emotions, I don't like people worrying when they see me testing my blood sugars or treating a hypo.
For example: "Oh my God, you're drinking Coke! Do you need me to help you?! Are you ok?! Blink once for yes or twice for no!!"
Me - "Ok... I've done this for many years. Now stop jumping up and down and make me a sandwich."
However, the time has come for me to grit my teeth, suck it up and accept that I occasionally need a little helping hand with my diabetes (as much as I hate to admit it).
Enter Mr T!!
No, not the Mr T who's going to tell me that I'm a fool for keeping my diabetes all to myself, but Mr Tailor, who tells me that I'm a fool every day, and that I shouldn't keep my diabetes to myself.
Mr T entered my life in September last year and embraced my diabetes in a much more understanding and accepting way than I thought he would. In fact his calm and understanding attitude towards my diabetes had left me wondering if I'd made a fuss about nothing all this time.
Mr T learnt first hand just how confusing my hypos could be when my blood sugars plummeted one night, and I (apparently) declared my love for him through a mouthful of chocolate digestives and dextrose tablets! The poor guy had only known me for a few weeks but still hung around while I giggled like a child and forced the biscuits into his mouth as well. I say apparently because I have no recolection of this happening - In fact I often wonder if this story was fabricated in order to embarrass me... I will never know.
Mr T has learnt that should he buy me 7 bars of chocolate to cheer me up mid hypo, I will in fact eat them all in one sitting without coming up for breath.
Mr T has learnt that when having a hypo I may fall into an unusual silence, crawl under the duvet and cry until I'm ready to face the world again.
My T has learnt how to test my blood sugars when I'm feeling low/lazy/hungry/sleepy/happy.
Mr T knows when my blood sugars are too high and brings me water to quench my thirst because I'm too exhausted to get it myself.
And the best part of all is that Mr T has learnt that diabetes is a huge part of who I am and accepts that I want and need to be actively involved in it; learning, researching, talking, laughing, crying...
Mr T has been pretty awesome when it comes to my diabetes, and it has been nice to have someone to lean on when I needed to. He still has a few things left to learn though... I am yet to cannulate him and attach tubing to him for the day... but his time will come... His dedication to my diabetes is heading to the next level ;) He doesn't know what he's let himself in for!
Ninjabetic x
P.S - If you want to follow/warn Mr T on twitter, he's @AmarTailor01