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Permalink Reply by Zoe on May 9, 2012 at 7:12pm

Well, I'm long past the thinking about kids thing, Kelsey, but I understand about the fears that we all have, like not waking up. Understand it, but don't go there. I think if we let the fear get the better of us then we won't live our lives, and that's as true for diabetes as anything else in life. So I don't worry about "what ifs" much. I do what I can to keep myself safe and well. The other night I stayed up till 4AM because my blood sugar wouldn't stop going down; I just kept treating it until it finally started coming back up. I don't go to sleep unless I'm in a reasonable range although that was a pretty extreme example.

I'm a lot older than you and what I've learned over the years is to find a good balance between worry and staying safe. If we really think about all the things that can happen to us, as diabetics and as humans in a crazy world we would never leave home. What kind of a life would that be. On the other hand when I was your age I took all kinds of crazy risks with my life and that is not a good way to go either. Balance. Do the best you can to take care of yourself and your D. Go ahead and have children if that's important to you, and if they get diabetes, then they will be fine and live good full lives....just like their mother!

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Permalink Reply by TimmyMac on May 9, 2012 at 7:13pm

When thinking about kids, think of this.
Do you like being alive?

no really, If you had the choice of living with diabetes or not having diabetes, but not existing, what would you choose?

As much as I gripe and complain about my life on here, I honestly wouldn't trade it for the alternative.

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Permalink Reply by drsoosie on May 9, 2012 at 10:46pm

If you think about the odds of what is required for a person to even be born, you have to conclude it is kind of a miracle. I am like TimmyMac. I find life awesome and precious and I wouldn't trade mine for anything. I have two children, and while I hope they don't inherit my diabetes, I can't imagine my life without them. Life is full of gambles and no one can predict what will happen. But that said, you kind of just have to go for it and let the chips fall where they may!!!

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on May 9, 2012 at 7:34pm

I wonder if I should have had kids because mine is 13 and I am in a *constant* state of feuding about various chores, duties, obligations, manners, etc. I used to think I wouldn't live much past 40, as I used to be rather wild (a different sort of "wondering if I'll get out alive...") but I settled down and am 44 and seem to have crossed that threshold ok. I worry about her exposure to my "cooties" as that would certainly be another thing for us to feud about but well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it...

I totally agree w/ Timmymac. Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich, who can be a bit ponderous but has a goofy sense of humor I like a lot, was asked "how could you survive under communism for so long..." [his memoirs recounted various horrors of living under the NKVD/KGB/Yezhovshchina, friends hauled off to camps, writing national anthems under duress for idiots like Stalin and his flying monkeys, etc...] to which he answered "it was better than the alternative..." or not surviving.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Wittman on May 9, 2012 at 7:48pm

Hi Kelsey ~

You pose some interesting questions. But have you thought about this question: "Am I a better person because I have diabetes?" My guess is that you are a far better person, because you are more careful about what you do, and more tolerant of others who have issues because you have walked a mile in their shoes.

At times, we all wonder if we will wake up in the next morning. That is why it is important to make an impact today. Should you have children because you have diabetes? Of course you should. Children bring more joy to heart than the diabetes
hurts the soul. Having diabetes makes unique among many. Should diabetes strike them, you will be well equipped to guide them through the management of it.

Sometimes, Kelsey, it is good to be diabetic.

Be well.

Brian Wittman

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on May 9, 2012 at 8:37pm

I wouldn't say it's good, it's beyond good and evil... ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Jen on May 9, 2012 at 7:57pm

We have no family hx of diabetes, yet my 3 yr old is now a T1. The truth is that every time you choose to have a child you roll the dice. There are an unknown amount of disorders, diseases, and chronic conditions that anyone's child could end up with.... Or they could be perfectly healthy. I agree you can't live your life that way. My daughter got diabetes. Truth is I'll take that over MS, cerebral palsy, down syndrome, cystic fibrosis and probably many many others. And I hope she will feel the same way. This ugly disease does not affect her ability to do whatever she desires in life.

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