Kendra Wendling
Has your life been affected due to living with a diabetic? In positive and negative ways.
Yes, my life has been affected in both positive and negative ways. One positive way would be that it made me more aware of what we are putting into our bodies and how I am feeding my family. It has helped me make healthier choices. It has also helped me be aware of physical activity. Andy and I both try to keep each other active so I do not get type two and that way he can stay healthy. It has also helped me cause I am knowledgeable on the subject. It is beneficial to my nursing career. As far as negative ways, it is not as bad now, but there was a time when we were not educated as well and Andy would have lows every night. I would have to wake up to a non-responsive husband and would have to call the ambulance. Before the ambulance got there, I would help him drink sugary juice. I have a little bit of PTSD at night because he has an alarm on his pump if his numbers go low or high so when the pump beats, it brings me back to all of the times he was low. I begin to panic when it goes off. Another negative is when we are active, we have to make sure we have sugary food or drinks just in case he were to have a low. He usually does not have high blood sugar if we are exercising. There is just a lot of preplanning before we do anything to make sure that his blood glucose levels stay accurate.
Have you been exposed to other diabetics and their lifestyles? If so, what was your relationship with that person?
My husband has type one diabetes.
My father has type two diabetes so it is a little bit different than living with a type one. It was different because he only took oral medication and did not have a monitor so I was not affected by it. My dad did not take care of himself when he had diabetes. He would eat whatever he wanted and he did not change anything about his lifestyle. Now, he ended up with kidney disease and because of this, he is now very restricted on what he can and cannot eat. He also did not go on insulin even though he needed to because the insulin cost was too high; he could not afford it.
Are you having to change your lifestyle due to living with someone with diabetes?
Yes, we have to watch what food we have in the house. We have to limit the carbohydrates we have for meals. We have to preplan for days when we will not be around sugary foods or drinks if my husband were to have a low.
Have there been big changes to the family, financially or non-financially, since finding out your family member has diabetes?
We do spend a lot of money on diabetic products and insulin. We are financially stable in doing so due to our insurance but we do spend a great amount.
Are you aware of the high insulin prices?
Yes but thankfully we have great insurance so we have a lot of that covered.
Are you still able to travel and participate in extracurricular activities due to the cost of insulin?
Yes, we just make sure that we have everything we need in case of a low.
My parents feel the effects more with the cost because they are on medicare so they have to limit their activity and watch what they spend their money on. Their healthcare has been more affected than ours.
Do you have an emergency plan if your diabetic were to have a low / high? If so, what is it? Is there an extra cost to the “emergency plan”?
Yes, I do have a plan. I have a nasal spray (inhaled insulin) and I have an emergency injection that I can give to my husband if he were to get too low. We call 911 if we have to.
Has the cost of insulin swayed your decision to continue or discontinue using insulin?
No, it is a must for our family. We have never thought about discontinuing it because it would be harmful to my husband. Type one diabetics have to have insulin.
