Wow, the biggest supporter. This is a tough call because we are using the word “support”er. I get a lot of “you need to do this”, “you should do this” from family all the time, but I don’t always get the, “how are your blood sugars”, “wow good job you didn’t have a blood sugar over 150 today.” But I would have to say that I have 2 large supporters. One is a worrier and is always concerned that I have enough insulin and supplies ordered and helps on the financial side of things. The other is just my back up manager. I’ll explain what I mean a little later. But these two people are my mother and Amanda, respectively.
First, my mother. Every time she calls she is concerned about my blood sugars and asking how much insulin I have left and testing strips and pump supplies. She wants to make sure that my COBRA insurance is up to date and deposit money into my account to pay for it. Yes, it gets annoying at times, but when you step back and look at it, it is all out of the goodness of her heart. I must admit that I don’t always give her the truth about my blood sugars because I don’t want to hear the lectures that she is about to give. This is one of the reasons that my mother is one of the two largest supporters.
The second one is Amanda. Who knows where I would be without this girl. Well, for one I’d probably be 30 pounds lighter. It’s a common trait in my family (my dad, my brother and I) to gain a lot of weight once we fall in love. I guess it’s because we’ve trapped our lady, so we can let ourselves go a little, ha. In all seriousness though, she has saved me plenty of times. Most recent example. We were at Dick’s Sporting Goods and I was upstairs in the fishing and golf section and my blood sugar was going low. I didn’t want to leave because I was talking to the golf guy about new clubs, so she went downstairs and bought me some candy and brought it up to me to raise my low.
Whenever we go anywhere, she not only grabs her wallet to put in her purse, but she is always filling her purse up with Skittles or other candies. She will double ask me to make sure that I have enough insulin my pump before we leave on a long shopping day or walk through a park. When we fly, she makes sure that all of my stuff is on the carry-on and not checked in. She is my everyday backup. She does also get on me a lot when I go for that second piece of cake. Every time I see cake now I hear her voice saying “Christopher! that is a lot of sugar!” We all know that I’m in trouble when I get the Christopher!
Of course there is always the DOC. There are too many of you to name in here that have been supportive and helpful to me. I don’t think there is a negative one out there.
You know it – we’d be LOST without these women in our lives! Now, I personally wouldn’t have a golf-club-buying Low example as my wife probably won’t be with me or approve of me spending my (her) money on new clubs… But, hey. She rules and we have many other examples! Thanks for sharing yours.
Well the $299 driver that I wanted didn’t go too well either for me. Instead I bought a fishing pole for only $30, she was a little more acceptable of that. Where would any of us be without our mothers and wives (well, future wife in my case).
What a lovely tribute! I’m making notes – I will try not to worry so much when Caleb is older. My brain knows it’s important to let go. It’s the heart that gets confused.
Never stop worrying. I always tell my mom to just remember that I am responsible. As soon as you worry, just remember that I can handle it and take care of this stuff. It’s a joke in my family that I always say to my mom, “Mom, I own my own business, I can handle this too.” But it’s true. I might forget to take out the garbage, or forget milk at the store, but I’m not going to forget things that my life depend on. But the day my mom stops worrying, then that’s a sad, sad day.