Wednesday 15 February 2012

Blame Diabetes

Suffice it to say I do this far too often. Diabetes is on my mind for such a large proportion of each and every day that I tend to hold it accountable for any problem in Dylan's life. Sure, a lot of the time it's warranted because diabetes is the culprit, but from time to time there are other factors at play. After all, he is an 11 year old boy. He CAN and WILL get sick, scraped, scratched, bruised, banged up, and heartbroken as he grows up, and many of those times it will have nothing to do with diabetes.

On and off for the past few months, Dylan has been battling headaches. Some are minor, some more intense, and some even causing nausea they are so powerful. At first, I wrote them off as normal, stress related aches and pains, but their persistence has me concerned.

My immediate reaction was that they were blood sugar related; that he was getting headaches when his blood glucose level was high. In fact, I was positive this was the cause (always quick to blame diabetes). So we started tracking patterns. Every time he had a headache we'd test his blood sugar, but we quickly learned that there was absolutely no correlation between his sugar levels and headaches.

Back to the drawing board we went, unable to figure out the cause of his discomfort. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when Dylan came home from school and told me he had been having trouble seeing the overhead projector screen from his desk in his classroom. As the metaphorical lightbulb flashed in my brain, I wondered, "Could it be that simple? Does he need glasses?"

He is due for his annual eye exam (the one with the pupil dilation) anyway, so I called the optometrist and made an appointment for Dylan to have a full eye exam. We see the doctor this afternoon, so hopefully I'll have some answers soon.

1 comment:

  1. It is all too easy to blame the big D for things that bother our kiddos because that's the primary thing on our minds! I think it's wise to 'go there' first and rule it out, if possible.
    Hope you are able to find answers! Glasses could certainly help! :)

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