Question

By the time 14-year-old Jake got home from school he was sick enough for his mom to notice. He seemed shaky and confused. He was sweaty even though it was cool fall weather. “Jake let’s get you a glass of juice right away,” his mother said in a calm manner. She was very familiar with the symptoms. Jake was diagnosed with diabetes at age 6. His mother was very familiar with monitoring his insulin, eating, and exercise. Now that Jake was in middle school he was taking on more of his own monitoring, but he seemed to mess up often.

“Yeah, I know I shouldn’t have waited so long to eat,” Jake muttered once he was feeling better. “Mom, you just don’t understand. I don’t want to be different than the other kids!” Jake’s mom was on the phone with the school nurse before he could finish his sentence.

Jake needed to inject himself with insulin 3 times a day. He knew what would happen if his blood glucose got too high or if he didn’t eat regularly and it got too low. But when he was on a field trip he hated to go to the chaperone and say that he needed to eat something immediately. And he hated going to the nurse every day to do his injections. Even worse, if he didn’t report to the nurse between fourth and fifth period the nurse would come to the classroom to get him and pull him out of class.

Jake was tired of having this disease, sick of shots and angry that he could not sleep in or skip a meal like the other kids. He made a face as his mother was on the phone with the nurse and slammed the door on his way out to find his friend Joe.

1. Why do you think Jake is not more conscious and responsible for his self-care?
2. Do you think Jake’s classmates talk about him or does he just think that they do?

Answer 1

Jake is just 14 year old boy. At this age, he is not aware of the seriousness of the diabetes disease. It is quiet obvious that kids at this age can't understand the seriousness of such complex diseases. As jack goes to school and notice his friends ,he observes that his lifestyle is not similar to them. He has to take insulin shots 3 times a day which is mandatory and also he has to have a regular meal to maintain his blood glucose level. Seeing other students and realizing that they are not bound to such hard daily routine is quite a obvious thing to get irritated.

It's a human psychology to get upset and irritated when we see other people living their life more comfortably and superiorly than us. Jack is also facing the same issue. That's why he is not conscious about his self health.

I think it is Jack who overthinks that his classmates are thinking and taking about him and making fun of him. This thought of inferiority is established is his brain which makes him upset and force him to overthink in every situation.