My Diagnosis Story
My journey with diabetes actually starts a full month before I was diagnosed.
The year is 2011.
I am 14 years old; a sophomore in high school.
The warm summer days start to transition into crisp fall weather and the “back to school cold” hits me hard. It was deemed a common cold with a mild fever, sore throat, and congestion.
After five days, I bounced back and resumed life like normal.
Except for one week later, my health started to decline again.
Fatigue had taken over my entire body.
I was constantly taking naps whenever I could. During the 30 minutes between school and cheerleading practice, I napped. I would come home from practice and take a nap again. This was very strange behavior from my usual energetic self.
Slowly, the constant thirst crept in.
Water, juice, soda, you name it - I was drinking it. And I was drinking A LOT of it. I could chug an entire water bottle in less than 30 seconds and still be thirsty. At the time I thought it was a pretty impressive feat because none of my friends could do that.
Following the thirst, frequent urination.
Yup. I had to pee so often, I was always running to the bathroom. As time went on, it got harder for me to hold it in. I even wet the bed a few times :/.
Finally, rapid weight loss revealed itself.
As a result of my body eating its own fat for fuel, I was getting very thin. At the time of diagnosis, I was 5’5 and weighed 90lbs. I lost about 20 pounds over the course of 3 weeks.
Although we never pieced together all of the symptoms, my mom and I knew I was not my usual self and it was time to get some answers.
My doctor ordered fasting blood work for me and a week later my mom got a call that I needed to get to the Emergency Room ASAP. My blood tests showed a blood glucose level over 700.
It was a Monday when I got called out of class. I was so excited to find out why my mom was picking me up early.
My birthday was two days away so I could only imagine! A birthday lunch, shopping trip, maybe we were just going to hang out…
I climb into my mom’s car and to my dismay, it was a surprise that I could have never imagined.
“The doctors think you have type 1 diabetes”.
Those words echoed in my head.
I had barely even heard of type 1 diabetes except for maybe that’s what Nick Jonas had?
I had no idea what would lie ahead and what this would mean for my future.
I don’t remember much from my few days at the hospital.
Maybe I blocked it out as a trauma response. Maybe it was just insignificant in the grand scheme of it all.
What I do remember is that I hated every minute of being there and I cried a lot.
Three days of constant finger pricks, food logs, giving myself insulin injections, counting carbs, and calculating ratios.
I was learning how to keep myself alive.
The weeks, months, and even years following my diagnosis were really tough for me.
I thought this was my disease and a burden I needed to carry all on my own. I had never been more wrong.
Over time, I eventually grew to accept my diagnosis.
I decided to allow my support system to help me when I need it. I connected with the diabetes community and I even sought out help from a mental health professional.
Those three things changed my life and my diabetes management for the better.
Diabetes is a beast sometimes but like my mom always says: Having diabetes does not define you, and it will never stop you from accomplishing your dreams.
