Living With Fear

One of the things that we rarely talk about with diabetes is the fear that it causes for caretakers. Although my husband is young - only 26 - I think of the toll diabetes is taking on his body more often than I should. I know that I think about it more often than he does.

Every time he mentions having a high, I think about the damage being done to his internal organs. Every night he thrashes around from a low, I think about the possibility of a coma were we not to catch it in time.

Living with diabetes means living with fear. Unlike type 2 diabetes, type 1 is virtually uncontrollable with diet. It's not a lifestyle disease; it's the evil side of genetics.

The fear it brings for the spouses of diabetics is one of the worst parts of the disease. It makes me worry when I should be carefree. It makes me grieve now for the time I know I will not have with my husband because of this illness.