Question from my son

[ROVERT81402]

So, last night we're driving around, looking at Christmas lights, and out of no where, Trevor asks, "mom, what does a cure look like?" I couldn't say anything, my heart sank, and I got the BIGGEST lump in my throat. So then he says, "If I know what it looks like, I can try to help find it." Finally, after a few minutes, I gathered myself enough to tell him that I didn't know what it looked like either. Luckily, there was a beautiful house on his side, and he dropped it. I have never felt so, so helpless.

[twodoor2]

I know how you feel, my daughter is only 4, and almost every day she keeps asking me, "Mommy, do I still have diabetes?" It breaks my heart.

[Kirsten]

Yes, we all have those moments. Once at the beach Griffin's pod failed, but he was running low, so we let him go podless for awhile. He said, "I don't have diabetes anymore!" I had to explain that he still had diabetes...:(

[payam7777777]

im in tears here...

[Jensmami]

im in tears here...

so am I - kids:)

[Debbie]

Things like that are heartbreaking. When we did our first JDRF walk, Adyson was 3. She thought it was like an Easter egg hunt, only we were huntung for the cure. It was so hard in so many ways to explain it to her.

[Noel]

Ugh....these are the toughest things to deal with. We lost my dad to ALS in August....in June we did a bike ride (similar to JDRF walks) when the riders were crossing the finish line everyone was chanting "Knock Out ALS" Aidan asked me what it meant, so I explained to him that if we found a cure we would knock the disease out. I tried to relate it to diabetes so he would have a better understanding... all of a sudden he started crying he told me he "didn't want to knock out diabetes because then he wouldn't be just like Daddy anymore" .....heartbreaking...tried to explain that Daddy would be cured too.

Also this year he sat on Santa's lap....his request....."new medic id bracelets, new skins for his pump, and a soccer pump pouch" :cwds:

[krstn9@yahoo.com]

My six year old son asked me why diabetes was called diabetes? Well I had to be honest that I didn't know the origin of the word. I asked him why he thought of this question. He said that he didn't like it because it said "Die" in the beginning of it and did that mean he was going to die. I really had to control myself and explain that no as long as he takes care of his body he will be fine. Also that I understood why he didn't like the word. At the moment I couldn't think of anything creative to turn the word diabetes around to a positive.

[Treysmom]

Poor thing! This is the hardest part. I refuse to think of this as forever. I know they will come up with something one day. When exactly is the big ??.

[Kaylee's Mommy]

The things kids say.. you wonder what THEY are thinking.. Kaylee asks why we do the walk.. and I explain it to her.. but she's not quite 5 so its hard for her to understand..

that question from your son was such a strong one.. powerful coming from a little boy.. I wish we all knew what a cure looked like!

[momx2withdiabetes]

My kids to asked about the word diabetes and hated the die part in it . So for awhile we called it liveabetes . ( which meant to us we will live and bete , diabetes.

[Pavlos]

The word Diabetes is derived from teh Greek verb "diabaino" (διαβαίνω), which means "to pass through". This is because, when untreated, most of the water drank rapidly "passes through" the body and is discharged as urine...so the word "die" does is not part of the etymology :)

What I tell my kid (I am Greek, so nothing is lost in the translation) is that diabetes will someday "pass through" as a cure is found :cwds:

[OSUMom]

Wow as I'm reading your poignant posts I'm tearing up in a major way.

You know though my feelings also turn to how awesome it is that your kids are talking to you sharing their thoughts. Your kids are so smart and you are great parents to be there that they are open to sharing. How awesome is that!!! :cwds:

From a parent of a 20 year old, keep the conversations going if you are able. :)