My ex-husband and I were divorced in 2001. In the divorce, I was given
full
custody of both of our children, the oldest having Type 1 Diabetes.
During
the course of our marriage, my ex-husband did very little in caring for my
son's diabetes and after our divorce, he became even less involved. My
ex-husband only saw the kids 1-2 days every other weekend and so had
little
time with him anyhow. In 2003, I remarried and moved out of state which
meant that my ex-husband's visitation with our children changed to a week
at
Christmas and 8 weeks during the summer. Because of his lack of ability
to
care for our son's diabetes, I forced him and his new wife into diabetes
training although this did little good because he hasn't put much of that
information into practice. Over the course of the last 5 summers, my
son's
diabetes has not been managed well when with his father for
visits...something I have addressed without much success. Even my
attorney
said that "until something bad happens there really isn't much you can do
about it." At the end of this year's summer visit, my ex-husband decided
to
petition the court for custody of my oldest son (I truly believe as a way
of
trying to get out of paying any child sup****t). Since that time, I have
been in a legal battle to keep my son. Unfortunately, the court doesn't
care what type of a father this man has been in the past because he's
never
actually done anything to hurt my children (anything that is physically
evident up to this point at least) and so my attorney believes we need to
attack this problem by focusing on his lack of care for our son's
diabetes.
The problem I am running into is that no doctor has been willing to put in
writing an opinion as to why my son's hemoglobin A1c's are so much higher
after he returns from visiting with his father in the summer. They simply
"do not want to get involved." I am, therefore, trying to gather as much
medical information to share with our Guardian Ad Litem in the hopes that
this information will help sway her opinion as to where our son should
live
and that she will then share this with the judge. What I need is any
information that might be useful in educating our G.A.L. about my son's
diabetes. In particular, I need something stated that shows what a
hemoglobin A1c is and what the "normal" ranges are for someone my son's
age.
Though A1c levels are generally best under 7.0%, for someone my son's
age,
good control is considered anything under 7.5%....the problem is that I
need
do***entation to prove that and am having a hard time coming up with
anything. I would greatly appreciate any help that can be given. Thank
you!
Lamentations 3:22-23 "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His
mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is God's
faithfulness."
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