How to Cope
Although the term
Your Perception (the Good)
When you think of how few people truly understand the basics of Type 1 diabetes, never mind the intricacies, you realize, quickly, that almost no one out there understands what a honeymoon is and what it means. This can lead to some skewed perceptions of life with Type 1, of its impact on your child, and of your ability (or inability) to manage the disease.
For you, the shock of leaving the hospital and the fear of mastering this complicated new life can be immediately quelled by a nice honeymoon—and there's nothing wrong with embracing that. Think of it this way: If you were asked to run a marathon with only four days to train, you'd have a heck of a time even crossing the finish line, never mind winning. But given a full year (or more) to get the feel for the run and to work your way up to the real run, you might just do okay. A honeymoon can be the same for parents.
The Downside
This is one honeymoon that is not all hearts and roses. Putting aside the fact that you and your child are struggling emotionally to accept a chronic disease, and that you are feeling alienated and afraid, the physical aspects of honeymooning can be tricky. Although it's a good thing for the body to produce its own insulin for as long as possible, it's also a complicated thing.
Essential
Blood glucose testing is more important than ever during the honeymoon, since lows are a possibility. Stick to the times and plan that your team suggests. Letting your testing slack off can endanger your child's health. Be diligent.
During the honeymoon, your child's body produces insulin in sporadic doses. Unlike the body of a child without diabetes, you cannot predict exactly what the pancreas is going to do each time your child eats or plays or sleeps or just lives. Toss a shot or bolus of added insulin into this, and you can have some dicey times.
That's why lows are a big concern during the honeymoon. Most medical teams help families err on the side of caution, giving lower doses and expecting to correct for a high from time to time. Some parents get so frustrated with their inability to judge what the child's insulin needs will be that they actually express relief when the honeymoon is over, and it's all down to the insulin you personally place into your child's body.
Your Child's Perception (the Good)
A good honeymoon can help a child have time to adapt as well. It's not easy, for a child of any age, to grasp and accept all that comes with diabetes graciously, maturely, and without complaint. A honeymoon period can mean fewer shots and certainly a longer period to begin to understand the feelings that come physically with highs and lows, and emotionally with being a child with “something different.”
The child who experiences a long honeymoon will get some breathing space and be able to see that he can live with diabetes. By not diving directly into the period when blood sugars can bounce quickly high or low with a confused carb count or a miscalculated insulin dose, he can see that diabetes is not always a reason for panic. Finally, by experiencing a high here and there and from time to time rather than often, he can get used to the concept of going a little high sometimes without panic.
Public Perception
By now you realize that most of the world thinks that if you just keep your child away from jelly doughnuts, you should be fine. The impact of diabetes on a child (and a family's) life is widely misunderstood. A honeymoon, as great as it is, can feed into those misguided perceptions. When your child's blood sugars fall into line with relative ease, friends and family may think that indeed diabetes is no big deal. Naysayers may be convinced that diabetes is not a disease that must be cured. You'll need to find a way to explain the honeymoon period to your friends and family without them chiding you for being so pessimistic and suggesting that perhaps your child won't develop full diabetes.
Encourage your friends to investigate the Type 1 honeymoon period. Entering that term into a search engine will bring up a wealth of information that should quell their comments that long bike rides and low carbs will prevent high blood sugar in your child.
