- How was the diagnosis? If you remember.
Well, he started getting sick when he was only two years old.
He was only two years old, and what happened was...
...he started really needing to urinate, all the time, when he was little.
And when we took him to the hospital, they didn't know what the problem was.
Well first we had taken him to a clinic, and they didn't know.
They said he had a cold and gave him antibiotics.
And the problem continued... until we took him to another hospital.
There they detected he had diabetes.
And that to us was a huge shock, like you know.
At first it's like death, worrying something is gonna happen to him at any moment.
There was chaos in the family, everyone was worried, everyone was suffering.
And so little by little, until my son, who is Reiki's dad...
Him and his wife...
They found out about the
"Vivir Con Diabetes" center.
And, since then, now...
We have the help of the insulin, and all the necessary things...
...to obtain those medicines and everything.
And thanks to Ms. Miriam, too.
And Maria del Carmen, the nurse here, They have always collaborated with us during the hard times.
We had some hard times, back then.
But time has passed, and it's already been ten years since he was first diagnosed.
And we keep learning, every day.
We learn something every day, on the good times and the bad times.
We're committed to him, and this situation.
- What has been the hardest thing to manage about that?
Learning, I mean... learning.
His dad left him with me, he left.
He told me he would come back, and all that.
So I had a lot of learning to do, and I have failed many times.
We had to take him to the hospital many times because...
...his sugar levels would rise, and we didn't know what to do.
I didn't know what to do, because myself...alone
I had trouble injecting him with the insulin...
Until we learned. We gave him the NPH at first. Just NPH.
And then they gave us the fast-acting insulin.
And with that we've started to control it a little better.
The diabetes.
As you know, he's a child, so he obviously loves caramels, sweets...
And we've had to tell him he can't.
I'm tired of always having to tell him "No this, no that."
We're still on that. We've had to tell him not to eat this or that...
It's having to constantly bombard him with "No, no, no, no."
But yeah, it's been ten years and that's where we are.
Fighting.
Always looking forward, one day at a time.
Anything is possible with God's help.
And we know that we're going to get through this.
Of course, that will always be there, the diabetes.
But thank God, we are moving forward.
He helps us to have strength, to fight every day.
I say also tell him "God gives us what we ask him for."
He gets sad sometimes, he says like "Why? why?" but...
We have to give him strength.
I, more than anyone, because he lives with me, I have to be strong so he can also move forward.
We can't let this crush us emotionally.
We are learning everyday and so is he.
He's been a very brave boy, so far.
He knows, he realizes the situation, so... yeah.
We are fine, I think we are.
Do you agree with that?
More or less. I don't know.
- Yeah?
Yeah...
Why is that? How do you feel?
I disagree a little.
Sometimes we are fine, sometimes we are not.
- It happens to all of us
I know, right?
- So tell me, you live with your grandfather, who else do you live with?
With my uncles... and him.
It's been like that since I was 7, I think.
When I was 7, I came to live with my grandfather.
Little by little, I got used to this.
Now, I know how to control my insulin.
Nobody has to tell me to take my insulin, I do it myself.
- Do you remember when was the first time you injected yourself?
No.
- No?
- Do you inject yourself?
Yeah. Since I was 11, I've been doing it by myself.
- And at school, how are you doing?
All right.
- How was this morning? Good? okay.
How are you doing with your classmates?
Good. They always ask me how I am.
They tell me to drink a lot of water.
Sometimes when I can't do something, they ask me "Can you do this? no?" and they help me
with almost everything, but with some things they don't.
- But that's a good thing, right? That they know about it and help you.
Yeah, that's good.
Yes, since I was in first grade actually. They have always supported me.
My classmates.
- Does it scare them? Have they told you anything like that?
No.
- That's cool.
I think there's plenty information about it now.
Using the internet, they surely search it and investigate.
Some of my friend's parents have diabetes too, so they also tell them about it.
So, only by that they know. They have told them about it.
- And what do you like to do, Reiki?
Just study, for now.
Sports too, like basketball.
Basketball and BMX.
- Oh yeah, you were talking about it earlier. Can you tell me more about it?
Oh no, my bike is ruined, the chain has come off, the wheels have come off.
I had to stop using it.
So now it's there, in the way.
- What do you like the most about doing BMX?
The speed.
The speed, more than anything.
- That makes sense.
- Ok, I think this is it. We'll stop here and continue later.
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