Élise is my big sister for those of you who don't know. Today she is turning 23. She asked me if I was going to write a post about her today. Like the one I wrote for my mom on her birthday. The thing is it never crossed my mind, I never really thought of her involvement with my diabetes the same way as my mom's. From what I can remember, she wasn't really involved in the beginning. I know she was there, but she was 11 when I was diagnosed. So I don't think she participated in the daily ins and outs. My memories of her involvement are vague. I remember she was at the hospital in her school uniform everyday after school. I know it must have been hard to witness my wild reactions to the shots when we came home. I can't even imagine how crazy I must have seemed or how scary it must have been. Once recently she mentioned to me that she was jealous of how much attention I received when I was younger. I don't blame her, I think it would suck to be the sibling of a diabetic kid. Diabetes is a selfish disease that can take away alot from the other members of the family. For our extended family type 1 diabetes was so novel, and I am sure Élise was left in the background for many years because of this. Eventually Élise became the only other person besides my mom, I would let give me shots. But it hasn't been until recently that I have even talked to her about diabetes regularly. She helped me through choosing a pump, read the booklets, looked at the pictures, and even explained to my mom why it had to be the Cozmo not the Animas. We have grown up so much over the years, and gone through many trying times together. I can't imagine any of this without her though, even if I don't remember the beginning. I love you Élise! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
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4 comments:
Thank you! I love you to the moon!
I agree we should point out how siblings to us diabetics are influenced by our diabetes. It isn't easy for them. Practically all of then feel are jealous of us. Jealous for the added attention we have received from our parents. To us any jealousy related to diabetes seems just too weird to comprehend, but on second thought their jealousy is probably warranted.
I agree that diabetes is hard on siblings. I remember when I got diabetes after my twin already had it for 3 years and it was weird--like she was almost sad she wasn't getting all the attention or that it had to be divided yet again (as it is with twins).
I'm glad you have your sis to help you through. I love both your names, too! :)
Élise - Love you more!
Chrissie - It is very true that siblings of any person with a chronic illness should be taken into consideration. I don't think they speak up until the damage has been done and they feel so left out.
Amylia - We have a similar experience except it wasn't a double dose of diabetes. When I was about 7 or 8, my sister started coming down with a lot of weird symptoms that pointed to multiple illnesses. She was misdiagnosed a few times, until they settled on lupus. I was so upset that she was getting attention, even though I knew she was extremely sick. It was so hard to deal with at such a young age.
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