Aaron's Diagnosis (Part 3)

So, we ended up spending 3 days in the hospital with Aaron. It was primarily for education, because there is A LOT to know about managing diabetes. Like I said in my previous post, Aaron did a great job learning what he needed to know. By the time we were discharged (Friday afternoon), he was very adept at checking his BS, calculating his carbs and the amount of insulin he needed to give based on his BS and carbs. He was also a pro at giving himself his shots.

On the last day, he learned how to use an insulin pen (instead of using syringes). These are so much easier to "draw up" the dosage, and the needles are so small. The nurse practitioner for the group set up all the stuff we needed at the pharmacy and arranged for it to be delivered to the hospital before we left so we wouldn't have to go pick it up. She also gave us 2 "coupons" to help lower the cost of insulin for us.

We came home, and began our new normal. For the first week, I was very thorough in keeping track of everything Aaron ate (along with the carb counts) and keeping track of his BS and dosages. On Aaron's part, he never missed a beat. He went out with friends that first night home. When he told me he was going out with friends to watch a movie, my initial response was no. I mean, he just got out of the hospital, right? But when he asked me why he couldn't go, I really didn't have a valid reason, other than I didn't want him to leave my sight. But I knew that he couldn't be controlled by diabetes, and he was obviously not going to let it change his life. I needed to not allow it to change how I treated him either.

A few weeks after this, I was alone with Aaron outside. I told him how proud I was of him and how he had been handling everything. He looked at me and said "how else am I supposed to handle it? It's not like anything would change if I got mad or angry or depressed about it."

And that's Aaron. He doesn't get easily ruffled. He takes things in stride. To this day, I still worry. Right now, we are kind of in limbo. Since August 12, he hasn't needed to take any insulin, which is very unusual. His doctor says he is in the honeymoon phase, and that eventually, we will be back to needing insulin, and having to do all those calculations and worrying about low blood sugars. But we've had almost 4 months of no insulin, and I praise God for that. And I pray that if (or when) Aaron in no longer in the honeymoon phase, that he will adjust just as smoothly as he did when he first got his diagnosis.