No doubt you've found your way to this book as the parent or primary caregiver of a child who has been newly diagnosed with diabetes. It's been a worrisome time: You've had to learn all about a new and complicated disease that the world in general thinks is no big deal. You've had to begin to accept that your child's life has changed in many ways, and that your family life has been changed at its core.
But you've also realized that it's up to you, as the adult, to make this work. Your goal is to make your child's life as normal as possible while keeping him or her as healthy as possible. You know this will be a challenge, and you realize you need real-time help and support, more than just your medical team can offer.
This book is intended to be a foundation for just that. Written from one parent to another, it is a real-time, nothing-held-back, honest, and basic approach to helping you, your child, and your entire family not just cope with diabetes but thrive, because truly, there is no “magic bullet” to make your child's life easier. It's ironic: The world in general (and admit it, before your child's diagnosis, most of you thought this, too) thinks diabetes is a treatable disease, one that, with a few tweaks in lifestyle choices, pretty much fades into the background of life. Parents of children with diabetes know that is far from reality. They know that they face a lifetime of questions and challenges, of even day-to-day changes in their child's treatment and plan.
This book does not give you every little detail of daily care, but rather it provides an overview of what to expect in every part of your child's life with diabetes. You won't find algorithms for insulin doses, but you will find discussions on which insulin works best in different situations. You won't find a breakdown of the internal workings of each insulin pump available, but you will find information on pumping and when it is or isn't the best choice for a child.
Your reaching for this book proves that you are ready to think carefully through each aspect of your child's life with diabetes. Consider this book your friend, a place where you can ponder and reflect on the challenges you are facing, and think through new situations. This book is a support group on paper, a friend to talk things through with that is bound and printed. Keep it handy and check back on issues as they arise. Most of all use it to push yourself to a new level, where you are helping not just your own child but all families coping with diabetes. Until the cure is found, the truth is we all need each other.