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High & Dry -
1. Tell us about your diagnosis - what were your symptoms, how did you feel, did you know something was wrong?
My diagnosis was different from most people's. My parents started noticing some changes in me and immediately started doing research. I was having episodes where I felt “shaky” right before a meal or after I hadn't eaten for a while and also had an ER visit a few months before where I had sugar in my urine (even though my blood sugar was in range at that time). I was always tired and having “shaky” episodes almost every day, but because my A1C was only slightly elevated (“pre-diabetic” at 6.1) the doctors said I was ok. So, my mom bought a glucose meter and the next time I didn't feel good she tested my sugar, it was low! I then got an appointment set up with an endocrinologist who did lots of tests including antibody testing and glucose tolerance test. She told me I had type 1 diabetes. Because it was caught so early on I didn't go into DKA and wasn’t even put on meal time insulin! My body still was making some insulin, so I was put on a couple units of long acting insulin and that was it.
2. What was your reaction when you found out you had diabetes?
I was really sad when I was diagnosed, not so much about the fact that I had it now, but that I was going to have to live with it for the rest of my life. I was also scared because, like any 9 year old, I hated needles! The thought of having to take them every day was terrifying to me!
3. How was your transition from the hospital to going home?
I didn't stay in the hospital, but on my way home from the endo after diagnosis my blood sugar crashed, hard. I remember asking my mom if it was ok that I was spilling my snack in my dad’s car. I didn't realize I was low so by the time I got home my blood sugar was in the 40s. That was my first low officially being a diabetic and it was much more scary than the others because I really knew what it meant to have low blood sugar and how much of a problem it could be. So basically the transition for me was just realizing how scary everything actually was. (I was having lows without insulin because my failing pancreas was trying to overcorrect for the spikes in blood sugar I was having.)
4. How did life change in those first few months?
The first few months everything still felt so new and strange to me. I knew the basics, but compared to what I know now, I knew nothing. I started carrying my supplies on me, something that to this day I still hate having to do. My mom helped me write and present my first speech about diabetes to my very curious class where I told them everything I knew about it. I also had to immediately start learning how to manage my sugars and sports (something I'm still learning today) because I was diagnosed while training for my first 5K. It’s so weird when you go from being a kid with no responsibilities to having to keep yourself alive all the time, and of course my parents helped me with the majority of the work but it was still a lot of pressure!
Stay tuned for next week's installment of our December Spotlight, The Lowdown