Scared Sister

In the days leading up to Jack's diabetes diagnosis, he peed a lot. In fact, that was the symptom that concerned us, that prompted us to take him to the pediatrician and that led to his diagnosis. I clearly remember repeating to Gregg a fact that I'd read somewhere, "Frequent urination is a warning sign of diabetes. Jack could have diabetes." Thus, whenever Madeline or Max appears to run to the restroom more often than normal, I take notice. Besides, once you've had one child diagnosed with one major health condition, you know all too well that additional diagnoses are not out of the realm of possibility. This weekend, Madeline began to pee a lot. She had none of the other symptoms of diabetes, and really, she wasn't peeing nearly as much as Jack was peeing before his diagnosis. And she wasn't complaining about any discomfort. So I wasn't too concerned about diabetes, a urinary tract infection or anything else. But I did notice, kept my eye on her and kept quiet. What saddened me was that she noticed, started to worry and spoke up. "Mom, I have to go potty again. Do you think I could have diabetes?" she asked. Her question hit me in the heart. I felt so badly for her, as she felt afraid. She does not want diabetes. She sees what Jack experiences on a daily basis, and she does not want to endure the same. I tried to comfort her as best as I could. We talked about Jack's symptoms before his diagnosis versus hers, and she soon felt better, realizing that she does not have the same condition as her brother. While Madeline's pancreas works just fine, she is still affected by diabetes. We all are. How could we not be?