Another First

For most of my life, I have been known as the 'fragile' girl whose list of medical problems was longer than most people's daily grocery lists. Around the time of my eighth birthday was when everything started to happen. . Around this time, I began to constantly be thirsty. I couldn't go fifteen minutes without some type of fluid. I also began to lose weight at a scary rate. Being a naturally slim person, this was a scary sight for my parents. This persisted for a few weeks, until my mom left for a week long trip to Germany. In the course of that week, a new symptom arose: mind-numbing headaches that literally prevented me from walking. When my mom returned, she knew something was terribly wrong. She drove me to the family doctor's right away, and all it took was a urine sample to determine what was wrong with me: I had Type One diabetes. I don't remember much from that day, but I do remember hearing those words. I also remember my mom asking the doctor to take me to the waiting room. I can only imagine how devastating that would be for a mother to hear. For it was only weeks ago that she had a perfectly healthy, happy child. The next thing I remember is hearing 'we have to go to the hospital'. As a child, there is no scarier sentence in the world. I remember they tried to make me wear a hospital gown, and being the stubborn girl I still am to this day, I refused to wear it. Eventually, they gave in and let me wear my normal clothes. I stayed in that hospital for a week, each day learning more about this illness that apparently wouldn't go away. I remember them taking my blood sugar for the first time. I remember my first injection. I remember everyone telling me that I was stressed, when in reality I was just confused. I remember the look on my family's faces when they would visit me. But remember, I was eight years old. Slowly I learned what insulin was, and how to check my own blood sugars. I learned about carbohydrates and meal plans and what could happen if my blood sugars rose too high or too low. I think that is what scared my parents the most. The 'what could happens' of living with juvenile diabetes. The doctors and nurses put it into really simple terms for me to understand, so I still to this day don't know what my future holds. I don't resent having diabetes anymore, for it has made me what I am today. I am not sure that I really want to know. Ten years later, I am in my first year of University at Laurier Brantford. I have lived through my first self-given injection, my first trip to the hospital, and countless other firsts, and now I am living away from home. For the first time in my life, I am completely responsible for my own health and well being. Nobody is there to remind me to give myself insulin, or to pick up medical supplies at the pharmacy. That is all up to me now. I hope this blog helps other Type One diabetics, and any firsts that they encounter throughout their lives.