“Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance.”
“Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance.”
A day that changed my life forever and a day that I will never forget is July 24, 2000, the day I was diagnosed with Type 1 Juvenile Onset Diabetes. A term that at the time I was too sick to understand. The doctor’s statement, “You have diabetes!” began my long stay at the hospital. I was placed on the ICU floor for five days. Before I was diagnosed with diabetes I had become extremely sick. Diabetes did not run in my family, so we did not recognize the warning signs.
When I got to the emergency room my blood sugar was 800. A normal blood sugar for me is 80-120. 800 was a cause for panic. I learned later if I hadn’t arrived at the hospital at that time I could have lapsed into a coma, fighting for my life.
When I was younger my parents would have to drag me kicking and screaming to the doctor’s office. If I had to get a shot during the doctor’s visit it was that much worse. I can look back and laugh about this now. When the nurses educated me about what I would have to do to take care of my diabetes every single day when I got out of the hospital I had to fully understand that the shots I was so afraid of receiving when I was little was now going to become a part of my everyday life for the rest of my life. Learning to inject myself with insulin shots was hard for me. Although I was resistant at first, I would have to do this in order to stay alive.
Thirteen years later, I am very used to my diabetic routine. I wear an insulin pump. I also wear the Continuous Glucose Monitor. Diabetes is a challenge and sometimes difficult. No one ever said life was going to be easy! It’s easy to get down on yourself but I realize now that this life experience has made me a stronger individual able to face new challenges everyday!
