The decision-making process, dealing with diabetes, has so many factors leading us to a conclusion. The question we must continue to ask ourselves is what decisions are being made based upon good sound judgment and what decisions are being made base on absolute fear?
Being cautious is different from being fearful and I think it’s important to recognize the difference. I read recently that a child wanted to be separated from their parents for a while and the parent told them absolutely not. As I read this, and there certainly might have been a reason the mom did not share, but the fear shown got me to thinking.
The child was a teenager, it was only a short time, and I just could not figure out the reason. When someone had asked for ‘the why’, the only answer I could see was that ‘the mom’ didn’t think the teen age child could take care of himself.
Fear.
There are so many things we, as parents, must teach ourselves regarding ‘letting go’ for our kids to go forth and become active participants of this wonderful world we live in. Make sure that their diabetes is in that mix. The philosophy that they will have this disease for the rest of their lives, and we will take care of it for them for as long as we can because of that reason, is a philosophy that needs to be cautious.
The faster they ‘take-on’ their own management and the less reliant they are on someone ‘doing to for them’, the more they will understand. The more they understand, the more they will accept. The more they accept, the better management they will have in the long run.
Taking care of it because it is necessary and taking care of it out of the fear that you will do a better job is the question we must constantly answer. One young man decided he no longer wanted any devices attached to him. No more pump, no more CGM. Although the parents thought the complete opposite, it took a great deal of control to let the teenager (late teenager) make that call and see what the result would be.
The fear came into play but they did not act on fear. They discussed and he believed that for him, at that moment, MDI (multiple daily injections) were his best course of action. They allowed him to make the call. The result: his A1C dropped 2 points.
Now I’m not going to discuss which management is correct because I have very strong feelings on it and know you do also. My point? Sometimes, it is good to allow fear to heighten your senses to weigh all options, but in the end—-fear cannot be the driving force in the decision process.
DO NOT let fear be the only reason you conclude on an action-step in your child’s diabetes. Make the decision based on an approach that weighs ALL FACTORS and allows you a clear head to move forward.
Easy? Of course not but fear, listened to too often, will paralyze your process which will not help anyone. Fear to the point of caution, being part of the process is not what I am talking about. Actions based only on fear is what I am talking about. Don’t give in to it.
You can be afraid of the dark to the point of being cautious. But sometimes the only way to over come that fear is to walk in the room and turn on the light. Think about it.
I am a diabetes dad.
Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.