10 Years Ago Today-Part 3

Time seemed to slow down through out the rest of the day, but just as I was ready to throw in the towel, the love of my life walked through the door. I was thrilled to see him! We hugged, but I think he was anxious to see his little boy than anything else. Under the circumstances, who could blame him? He went straight to Ethan's bedside, our 4 year old who had been diagnosed earlier that day with Type 1 Diabetes. Ethan was excited to see daddy and began telling him about everything he had missed. He was upbeat and smiling. Of all things...smiling! That's our Ethan!

Ethan has always had a smile that lit up a room. His dad has the same smile. He doesn't know what a stranger is, isn't the least bit shy, and is the "social-butterfly" of our family (not including myself of course!). He has always been VERY inquisitive, smart, and a perfectionist (which he comes by naturally from his father & grandfather.) He also has the biggest heart of any kid I've known! He was always a strong kid, (he had to be with his older brother, Logan, pushing him around all the time), but after diagnosis he grew even stronger. There isn't a day that goes by that I am not amazed by Ethan's strength and determination. I am blessed to have him as my son and lil' protector.

We all stayed a week at the hospital attending classes and going through training on how to take care of Ethan and his diabetes. When it came time to learn how to give him his insulin shot, the diabetic educator had Mark and I give ourselves a shot of saline first. Her theory was that many parents feel they are hurting their child, when in reality it is nothing more than a little poke. It would be easier to give him his shots if we knew how it felt. I wasn't convinced of her theory, but soon learned there was no turning back. 1...2...3... and Mark was done. Me on the other hand, I'm not sure how long we were there. I broke down, sobbing uncontrollably for about 10 minutes. Finally, I closed my eyes (yeah, not the smartest thing to do) and stuck it in. Mark's first words were, "See, that wasn't so bad." I opened my eyes and glared at him. Poor guy, he was just trying to help.

After the traumatic lesson on giving shots, Ethan learned how to check his own blood sugar. He did a great job! And when the nurse gave him his first shot that week it was the ONLY time he cried. (I must say on his behalf however, the lady did NOT know what she was doing and had NO bedside manners!) Before we left, Daddy gave him a shot. They both survived it, with daddy being overly cautious and Ethan reassuring him, "It's okay daddy, it didn't hurt that bad."