This month is National Diabetes Month. I was 4 years old when Mom was diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic. She was diagnosed on February 14th, 1973 at 35 years old. Dad had bought her Valentine candy that year but she never got to eat it. She had been having episodes of weakness for about a year. The doctor would do fasting blood sugars but they were inconclusive. Shortly before she was diagnosed, she had started losing weight, feeling thirsty all the time, and just not feeling well. Daddy carried her to the doctor. She was told to go home, pack a bag and go straight to the hospital. They discovered her blood sugar was extremely high. Shortly after being admitted, her blood sugar went up to 900, the normal range is 80-130 mg/dL, and she went into a diabetic coma. The doctor worked hard and diligently to get her blood sugar down. They were able to save her life. She stayed in the hospital for over a week and her blood sugars continued to go up and down. 

My parents had three children at home, a 14-year-old, a 13-year-old, and a 4-year-old. Dad would stay at the hospital with Mom on the nights that she was not doing well. We had different family members stay with us. Just a few days after Mom was admitted to the hospital, my sister, Sheila, passed out and was diagnosed with the flu. I can not imagine how stressed my dad was to have his wife in the hospital critically ill and his 14-year-old daughter being diagnosed with the flu. Thankfully, family stepped in to help out during this trying time.  

After being in the hospital for over a week, Mom was finally discharged. The next several years were very difficult. I remember Daddy waking us up in the middle of the night to carry Mom to the emergency room because she had passed out. She would often get up in the night not knowing where she was and would wander the house. My dad would find her and give her orange juice or soda to bring up her blood sugar. One night he found her with the oven door open and when he asked her what she was doing she said “looking for the bathroom”. Over time, Dad learned to just reach over and feel her during the night. If she felt clammy, he knew to treat her low blood sugar.

One day, Mom and I were on our way home and had gone over the B.B. Comer bridge which goes over the Tennessee River. When we got to our driveway, Mom passed it. I said, “Mommy there is our house”. She just kept driving. We drove around the block numerous times and I would say, “Mommy pull into the driveway”.  After numerous times around the block, she finally pulled into the drive. I quickly told my dad what had happened and he treated her blood sugar. I remember being scared, not knowing what to do to get us home. 

Another time, the same thing happened to my mom and sister. They had been out shopping and Sheila realized Mom was not acting right. Mom drove past our house but when questioned, said she was going home. Sheila was able to convince Mom to pull over on the side of the street and Sheila was able to get the car home.

My brother had a scary experience as well. My mother and Tim were in the garage one day. It was just the two of them at home. Mom passed out in the garage. Tim had to call my aunt that lived nearby to come over. They put Mom in the little red wagon and pulled her to the house. After treating her low blood sugar, she was fine. I am not sure Tim ever recovered from that scary situation. He was only 13 years old. 

In 1983, 10 years after being diagnosed with diabetes, Mom went to a diabetes camp in Birmingham for 2 weeks. They were trying to get her diabetes better regulated and to see if she would be a candidate for an insulin pump. Unfortunately, after the 2 weeks were up, they still were not able to regulate Mom’s blood sugars well enough for her to get an insulin pump. She was diagnosed as a brittle diabetic, a rare form of type 1 diabetes with frequent and severe episodes of high blood sugars and low blood sugars. 

It was not until 12 years later that Mom was able to get an insulin pump. This gave her so much more freedom. She had been taking 2 insulin shots a day and checking her blood sugars, by pricking her finger, numerous times a day. With the pump, she just had to change the needle every 3 days and she had better control of her blood sugars. They were still brittle but more manageable. 

Having diabetes never slowed Mom down and she never let it define her. She went to work full-time about six years after being diagnosed. She always kept Lifesavers candy in her purse to eat if she felt her blood sugar was low. Mom always enjoyed baking and would bake all kinds of sweets and not eat any of them except when her blood sugar was low. Once she got the insulin pump, she was then able to enjoy some of the sweets in moderation. 

Mom and Dad educated us about Mom’s diabetes and always appeared calm when treating her low blood sugars. I did not realize the effects of her diabetes on me until she had passed. When I was in kindergarten and elementary school, I would cry not wanting to go to school. Mom would bribe me with all kinds of things to try to get me to not cry. One morning on the way to kindergarten, I was sitting in the front seat trying so hard not to cry. Mom looked over at me with tears in my eyes and said “Kim are you crying” I replied, “no, the sun is in my eyes”. I made it to school that day without crying. I don’t remember what the bribe was but I am sure it was worth it. When I got older, I realized the reason I did not want to go to school was that I was afraid of leaving my mom home alone for fear she would pass out and no one would be there to take care of her. 

Over the years, I continued to worry about Mom throughout her life. After my dad died, I worried because he was not next to her at night to feel her to see if her blood sugar was low. When I went off to college, I worried that she was alone and no one would be there to help her. When she was battling Alzheimer’s in assisted living and nursing homes, I worried that the staff would not check her blood sugar often enough or that she would not be able to tell them that she felt her blood sugar was low. I did not realize this burden I was carrying until it was lifted after she passed. Even though I missed her terribly, the weight of her diabetes was off my shoulders because she was completely healed. The Word says “the Lord Jesus Christ will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” Phil 3:21

“God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” 1Cor 1:9. The Lord was faithful to Mom throughout all the years. He never left her. All the times she passed out or had low blood sugars, He protected her and always had someone there to help when she needed it. It was a disease that we had to walk by faith, not by sight. We never knew when or if something was going to happen but the Lord carried us through each season of the disease. We learned how to not live in fear. Even though I worried a lot about Mom over the years, I learned how to better trust the Lord and give her over to him.

 I believe the Lord was preparing me to care for others because I started looking out for Mom at such a young age. The Lord was setting the stage for my career as a nurse and caregiver. Our entire lives are a living testimony. The Lord never ceases to amaze me as I look back on my life and how He was preparing me for my future. We all have a story to tell and the Lord is continuing to shape and mold our lives. Sometimes you have to look hard to see the Lord’s Presence and sometimes it is crystal clear. One thing is certain, He is always there right by your side or sometimes carrying you through trials, tribulations, and celebrations.