I feel like this is probably a good place to start, I'm not sure if this is even interesting but I have read a few diagnosis stories and I do find it interesting how different they can be, so here goes -
I was 14 when I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, probably the worst day of my life.
My mum had her concerns - I was losing weight, drinking a lot more water than usual and obviously that led to going to the toilet more frequently. This had been going on for around a month or two but gradually getting worse. She took me to the doctors on 1st December 2014 and they sent me straight to the hospital. The doctor took a urine sample and a drop of blood and she knew instantly something was wrong.
I didn’t actually notice these symptoms myself which looking back, I don’t know how I missed these key symptoms. I guess being in your early teens you’re not aware of these changes, a lot happens at this particular age so I guess I just thought my body was changing through puberty.
I think I was crying the whole journey to the hospital, panicking about what was going to happen to me from now on, how my life was going to change forever.
I remember waiting for ages, then I was finally put in my own room at hospital and from then I have been injecting myself ever since. They weren’t sure if I needed to go on a drip at first, luckily I was well enough just to start my injections.
Ever since I was small I have been prone to fainting - especially when it came to injections or seeing blood. So when I was told I had to inject myself 4+ times a day for the rest of my life, it’s safe to say I honestly didn’t know how I was going to do it. The nurses did all of my injections throughout the week I was there, I couldn’t bear to do it by myself. Even testing my blood with my finger pricker took me a day or two. I remember the nurses being really supportive, all I wanted to do was go home but they tried their best to be there for me.
I remember on my first night in the hospital a father and son walked passed my room, they had pizza in their hands and kindly offered me and my mum a slice… I think that was the first time i’d ever refused a pizza! I remember thinking how typical, just my luck to get offered pizza after hours of getting a T1D diagnosis.
My first injection was my Lantus (long lasting insulin). I remember crying while the nurses where trying to inject me in to my thigh, I thought it was going to hurt but I genuinely didn’t feel a thing. When they took the needle out of my thigh I started laughing, the relief of the first injection done and the fact that it didn’t hurt. My emotions were all over the place (clearly) on that evening, I had my mum with me the whole night, she is the most supportive person I’ve ever met and I couldn’t thank her enough for being there with me through that first night at the hospital.
I thought my life was over, I thought I could never live like a “normal person” again. I dreaded every meal time where I had to have my injection, tried to find all the foods that had 0 carbohydrates so I didn’t have to give myself insulin but I knew I couldn’t do that for the rest of my life.
Overall I had 2 weeks off school when I got my diagnosis, one week in hospital and the next at home. Learning how to carb count, attempting to do my injections on my own over and over again, learning how almost everything and anything can affect blood sugar levels.
After that I just had to get on with it. I wasn’t even injecting myself independently when I was at school, my school nurse had to help me for a few days before I finally did it. I remember I was so happy that day, no one else could really understand. My friends were supportive of course but no one really knew what I had gone through or what I was dealing with except for me and my family. For sure it gets easier over time but in that first year I had a lot of low points.
If you’re reading this and you’ve just been diagnosed with T1 diabetes, or if you’re feeling left on your own to figure everything out then don’t worry. It’s hard for sure, but you’ll get there. It understandably takes time to control your blood glucose levels, you’ll have blips here and there but who doesn’t? If you’re doing the best that you can then that’s definitely enough.
Thanks for reading,
Phoebe
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