Wednesday 19th August 2009. This day that changed our lives forever.
Joshua was just 14 months old when we found out he had diabetes. Worst day of my life. The first thing that hits you is the realisation that he's going to have a life of injections. The next is the guilt you feel that it's your fault. I gave birth to him. It's got to come from somewhere. Il always feel that guilt no matter who says it wasn't you, it just happens.
It was hard at first. Being kept in hospital hooked up to insulin one side, glucose the other, and hourly blood testing. His poor toes were so sore and full of scabs. We couldn't even cuddle him properly because of all the wires and needles. We were shown how to do injections straight away. My husband and I had to practice on each other. It was horrible. Joshua screamed and cried every time, he was too young to understand why Mummy and Daddy kept hurting him.
We came home and life had to adjust. Eventually Joshua was having 6 needles a day and we just couldn't control his blood levels so in July 2012 we finally agreed to try Joshua with a pump. We looked at endless videos on You Tube so by the time we got the pump we knew what we were doing.
It's been a year now and the pump was the best decision we made. He's so happy, you wouldn't even know he had this condition. He even does the pump himself now. We rarely input anything. He's been so brave, he just gets on with it. It's part of him. He's older before his time though. He knows he can't just eat anything which is hard for a 5 year old. He'll always be my Hero.
Newport, United Kingdom
