10 years and counting

It was around this time 10 years ago that I was diagnosed with type-1 or juvenile diabetes. I was enjoying my freshman year of college at Ohio State when my body was doing strange and mysterious things. I think sometimes people are afraid to ask about my diabetes, like it might upset me, but I live with it everyday - it became ok to me at some point.

So, what was my body doing during the 2 or 3 months I was diabetic and didn't know it?

• peeing, peeing, and more peeing


• drinking - water, juice, soda, milk, anything I could find, but nothing ever quenched my thirst


• bad belly - throwing up and just feeling bad every morning (no, I was not pregnant)


• drying out - my fingertips were crusty and nothing made them smooth


• hungry - I finished a WHOLE value meal, biggie sized from Wendy's. That might not seem like a big deal to some of you, but that was a first for me. I also ate open faced roast beef with green beans and rolls at Bob Evans and was starving afterwards - that's pure craziness if you've ever eaten all that food.


• losing weight - I remember looking at myself in the mirror, wearing my roommate's pants that several weeks ago were too tight, but were now looking hot despite the fact that I was eating my weight in food everyday.


• chronic yeast infections - sorry to go there, but it that's the way it was

How did I know?

• My mom is a nurse. I would talk to her about once a week and every week I added a new symptom. She told me I needed to check my blood sugar.


• The bf at the time had a diabetic roommate (funny how life works). I checked my sugar on his machine - it was 580. Normal blood sugar is 80-120. 580=very bad, very dangerous.


• I went to the emergency room in the middle of the night one weekend in early March.


• I was admitted to the hospital several days later when my sugar was 480 because even though I was almost 19, I still had juvenile diabetes, not type-2 (older, fatter, family history) like the ER docs thought. A little food knowledge would have been helpful (ie: a huge bagel and 2 glasses of milk does not mix with a body not making insulin).

What have I learned?

• life goes on


• to be nice even when I'm jealous and pissed of the freedom others seem to have (I know dad, life's not fair)
  
• grieving the loss of complete healthiness of my body took a while, but it was important


• it's important to surround myself with people that are concerned and invested in me taking the best care of myself possible


• how to read food labels and make healthy choices for my family and me


• I still like sweets and indulge now and again, sometimes too much 'now'!


• lots of people don't know shit about healthy eating or diabetes, and that's ok


• I have to keep the big picture of my future in mind when digressing from healthiness enters my mind


• diabetic mothers have big babies (she was 8.15 at 36 weeks - chubby perfection)


• I don't feel sorry for people that don't take care of themselves - step up and value yourself

Diabetes is just part of my life now. I've been able to help several mothers of newly-diagnosed children, and that makes some of the stuff I've gone through be worth it. I have a wonderful husband that doesn't accept excuses and keeps me on track when "some ice cream sounds good." I wish I wasn't diabetic, but accept that I am. I pray (yes, I do pray) that Anna has a healthier body than me.