Keely Goodall
| Above the emotional toll of having a child with a chronic illness, it can also be financially draining to manage the diet and medication needed for the child to live a normal and healthy life.
Parenting any child is no easy task. Every day, loving parents have to manage mood swings and temper tantrums among others to try and give their little ones the best life possible.
These parenting challenges can grow exponentially when you add in a chronic illness such as diabetes, which is a lifelong condition that needs to be constantly monitored.
Pippa Hudson speaks to Matt Gair, who is the parent of a diabetic child, and Bridget McNulty, who is the co-founder of Sweet Life – South Africa’s biggest online community for diabetics.
Gair’s son was diagnosed with type one diabetes two years ago at the age of three-and-a-half.
He speaks about how terrifying the experience of taking their son to the doctor was, to rushing him to the hospital with dangerous sugar levels.
Gair says managing this disease is a constant balancing act with trying to make sure your children know what is happening but without scaring or overwhelming them, while managing your own emotions.
Above the emotional toll of having a child with a chronic illness, it can also be financially draining to manage the diet and medication needed for the child to live a normal and healthy life.
McNulty herself was diagnosed with type one diabetes and founded Sweet Life to try and help diabetics and parents of diabetics to find a sense of community.
Listen to the audio for more.
This article first appeared on CapeTalk : Family Matters: How to care for a child with diabetes
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