Worrying

Other ways in which diabetes affects our lives: I worry.

I do worry about stuff, all the usual sort of stuff, the kids, money, pet care while we're on holiday etc.; though I don't think I'm an excessive worrier, but I do worry about Mike.

Maybe all wives worry about their husbands, maybe this is totally normal and nothing to do with diabetes, to be honest I have no idea, because this is all I've ever known.

I worry when he goes away without me. I worry when he goes out for an evening with friends. Basically, I worry when I'm not there to look out for him. Don't get me wrong, I know I'm not needed, he can look after himself. That doesn't stop me worrying. I suppose it's because there have been times when he has needed help and I know that not everyone would know how to spot the signs, why they are happening and what to do. Mike is an adult, and I am not his parent, but I think I probably worry in the same way a parent does. I worry that people may think he's drunk when he's actually hypo. I worry if he's away and wakes up low, that people will just think he's overslept. If he starts talking nonsense, will people realise something is wrong, or just change the subject out of embarrassment? Who will be there to spot it and help him?

My worries are, so far, unfounded. If I could stop worrying I would. I try not to show it, I don't really feel that I have the right to worry in the way a parent does, I have to respect Mike's right to independence, he is my equal.

But I do worry, because I love him.

Jane