How Does Diabetes Affect Your Family

At age six, my younger brother Christopher was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, a chronic condition that renders the body unable to produce a sufficient amount of insulin. At the time of his diagnosis, Christopher and I were enrolled at a school in which our two grades were taught together in the same classroom. It hurt me so much to see his empty seat some days that I refused to go to school, and reminded me how he would scream when before his shots. I don’t remember much of spending time at the hospital with him, but I clearly remember my family’s distraught reactions. His diagnosis affected our family as a whole, but brought us closer together in the long run. Although the rest of us thankfully lack the disease, we suffer with him. After all, family relationships are an important source of support- especially with the many painful insulin treatments and easily forgotten blood glucose checks. Living with Christopher is an emotional rollercoaster on a daily basis, and I’m sure this applies to him as well. There are a lot of things that could go wrong if he neglects checking his blood sugar, administering insulin, or even counting carbohydrates, which helps keep control of blood sugar levels. He could have severe and possibly irreversible damage done to his body. Another possible complication is …show more content…
In Christopher’s case, this is especially important since he was also diagnosed with celiac disease, an autoimmune condition sometimes associated with diabetes. In a nutshell this means he is intolerant to gluten. With this condition, and an unfortunate peanut allergy, it is somewhat difficult to provide a diet without excessive carbs or sugar, with no traces of peanuts, while remaining gluten-free. Recently he has gone to his endocrinologist and returned with positive results instead of warnings from former