Review: I could relate...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 10, 2012
My son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 8 years old. I have found several novels from the child's point of view, explaining the disease and presenting characters they could identify with, but have not found books written from the parents' point of view. This brought back all of those feelings of guilt and helplessness at being faced with a situation that no one can prepare for. Other reviewers have mentioned inaccurate information, and our journey was certainly much more difficult than what is portrayed in the book. My son made multiple trips to the hospital with dangerously high blood sugars and ketoacidosis, was not nearly as cooperative with nutritional choices, and struggled to get control until he got the insulin pump as a teen. Taylor seemed to rebound instantly, achieved excellent control with minimal testing, and had few limits and no trouble accepting them. However, I read this less for the story about Taylor, and more for her mother. That seemed more realistic, as she struggled to find a balance between overprotecting her daughter in an attempt to control what she could, and letting her be a normal child. I remember the fear of telling anyone, thinking they would look at him, or me, differently. I felt guilt not only about the disease itself, but also that it was so long before we took him to the doctor. It accurately captures the misinformation and outright prejudices that we faced from others. He is still asked if he got it because he ate too much sugar, and why he can't just lose weight and make it go away. We had to fight with the school to let him have insulin if he needed it because the syringes were classified as drug paraphenelia. I am grateful for anything that helps to bring awareness to Type 1 diabetes. This is not a medical textbook, but in my opinion, it does a good job of capturing the fears and frustrations of the post-diagnostic period.