Inspiring Stories

A Unique Bond

I was diagnosed with Diabetes in 1981, at the age of 9. My only two questions after I stabilized were: "Can I still eat watermelon?"and "Can I have babies?" I was told, "No" to both. I kept my illness a secret from everyone, shameful of not being like other children. At the age of 18 I was in a head-on collision. My fiancé and I were hit by a diabetic who was having an insulin reaction and passed out at the wheel. I was severely injured, suffering fractures throughout my entire body. At 21 I defied the doctor's response to me in 1981. I delivered my first child, healthy and large. Two years later came baby number two. Just 17 months after that came number three and finally, in 1998, my fourth child was born. All deliveries were C-sections because of the pelvic injuries I sustained in my car accident in 1990. In 2004 my second daughter was 9 years old. She sat down beside me one evening and I heard her make this sound with her mouth like her tongue was sticking to the roof of her mouth. I had an instant flashback to when I was 9, before I was diagnosed. I panicked. I checked her blood sugar and it just read, "HI." We rushed to the hospital where her blood sugar was 865. I began my journey as a diabetic mom of a diabetic child, August 24, 2004. We've had many ups and downs with my daughter. She's been in DKA seven times and is dealing with some early complications. She is so smart and beautiful. She starts college at Auburn University, this month. I'm proud to be her mom and I pray for a cure so that she doesn't have to have this burden on her, anymore.

Ami Taylor
Birmingham, AL

Stand Tall and Never Give Up Hope

I was 31 when I got Type 1 diabetes. I knew the signs because both of my parents had it, but I do not believe it is hereditary but caused by stress which is how we got. It started with the stress, then the signs, but something happened that I did not realize or really even notice, it was Necrobiosis Lipoidica Diabeticorum. After being in the 700's for a year on the pill the Dr finally sent me to specialist and then did not listen to him. So I was on the wrong insulin and still in the 300's long bad story short got an insulin pump and got control, but because of loosing my insurance I lost my pump and switched to many different insulin's. Now still not under control because I am addicted to overeating I feel low when I am below 200, I have lost all the weight I have gained back, been in the er on 5 different 5 day tours, been passed out twice and had the ems guys above me when I cam to and finally yes got ulcers on my Necrobiosis Lipoidica Diabeticorum(NLD) spots. So insulin is not a cure and no one seems to know why or how some people with diabetes get NLD and some do not. How am I so lucky? I have read on the internet about NLD and found someone trying to figure out other peoples experience of how and when they got it. I also would love to hear other peoples stories about this and maybe we can figure it out together. We are so close to a cure we may already have and just don't know!

Anonymous
San Antonio, TX

Theres always hope :)

I was diagnosed in 1996 at 11 years old. Diabetes and I never got along. I would often be kept awake at night by severe leg pains and my HBA1c was never below 8% and snuck up to 12% on occasion, but I wanted to be 'normal' and not let diabetes get in my way. If only i knew!! In 2008 I decide that I wanted a family so I finally got my act together, did a carb counting course and got myself on a pump. My HBA1c went from 8.7 to a respectable 7. Well I thought id nailed it, go me!! But instead of a baby I got diabetic retinopathy. The years of neglect finally caught up with me, I was devastated. From 2009-2012 I had eye bleeds every couple of weeks leaving me with limited vision for days at a time, months of intense laser treatment, 3 eye injections and 3 eye ops, also thrown into the mix was a brief spell of panic attacks and a miscarriage! Not the greatest time of my life that's for sure. Through all this there was one thing I did have a say over, my diabetes control. A family was all id ever wanted and I couldn't give up. My HBA1c steadily lowered and things in my eyes stabilised. I felt well and in control for the first time since I was diagnosed. Then at the beginning of 2013 I fell pregnant. My HBA1c was 5.6% (38) and now at 5 weeks from my inducement date I have a healthy sized baby boy waiting to make his entrance. If I could tell teenage me to do things differently I would but I have to live with the mistakes I made. But there is always hope, you just cant give up.

Jennie
Dorset, United Kingdom

Sugar and Carbs Watch What I eat

I am still writing my story. I currently am on oral meds but spike as high as 400 or so at worst and if I watch what I eat at best have had normal A1C and Daily 89 -101. My story is This: I intend to watch the Sugar and Carb intake. You Can do it as well if you are as fortunate as me. I am in the process of being put on the Liver Transplant List for end stage Liver Decease.
I need to do this and in one years time I will write back with good news that I can and have controlled my destiney.

Russell Bartoszak
Wantagh, NY

Justina

Hi, my name is Justina, 17 from Pittsburgh. Back in 2000 when i was only 5 years old i was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. At first it was very hard and scary. Being 5 years old and being told this is a weird thing. Having to stay in the hospital for 5 days with doctors coming in at all times puting in different IV'S and all different shots is a change. That young you dont know what that is. When i went to birthday partys with my friends i could never understand why my food was measured or i couldnt have as big of a piece of cake as everyone else. As time went on i grew to understand what was going on and how serious it was. Becoming a teenager was the hardest. Always wanting to be with my friends and feel like them, never want to take my insulin around them. I was always in and out of the hospital from DKA(diabetic keto asidosis). Now that i am 17 almost 18 years old i know how much i need to pay attention to this and how serious it is and how bad it can become if i dont take care of it.

Justina Lueckert
Elizabeth, PA

diabetes

When i was 13 years old i took sick I was always having to go to the restroom and always so thirsty and one night I was just laying around and mom and dad knew something was wrong so they said come on we are taking you to the hospital now so we went and i was to the point where I could barely walk by myself so my mother had to carry me as they was checking me out they said if i would have been there a second to late i would have been in a coma well they done test and it came up I was a type 1 diabetic mom couldn't believe it cause at that age i was no more then 90 pounds max so I stayed in the hospital for 5 nights when they told me I had to take 5 shots a day i didn't think i could do it but i eventually got the hang of it and till this day I am 18 years old and haven't been sent to back to the hospital I have to say im pretty happy of myself and i don't let diabetes get the best of me is pronounced diabetes not die-a-beat-us yeah doctor visits can be a struggle but hey at least im alive and im a true believer of one day there to be a cure <3

Kelsey
Malden, MO

I have type 1 diabetes

I was just a normally healthy girl until one day My mum noticed started loosing weight,drinking more and getting more tired. So she took me to the doctors all worried because she couldn't understand why I was all a sudden this was happening, I was crying my self because I couldn't understand why I was in the doctors. So when then doctors called us in to see us my mum explained what was happening so then they said she will need blood test done and other test, they said they think it was diabetes but they want to double check, so they started to take my blood and tested my finger(at this point I was crying even more)and they said she need to go straight to hospital ,so my mum was getting more worried.

We got to the hospital and they told my mum I had diabetes,I couldn't understand what was happening. So at the age of 5 I found out I had diabetes, I had to stay in the hospital for 3 months until they could find out how to control it the best for me. After the 3 months of being in hospital I finally got to go home but the day I had to go home I had to let my mum do my injects it took me a good 2 hours to let her do it to me, so then when I let her we got to go home but I was still confused what was happening because I still couldn't understand, until I got older I started to understand more and more.

Then I started to learn how to do my injections my self, my mum learnt me how to do them on a orange and since that day I done them my self.
But from the day I found out I had diabetes I still struggle coping that I have diabetes, I am now 16 years old and I still struggle, but I have learnt I got my family to help me through it because I know diabetes is never going to go away

Chloe moore
Kirkby-in-ashfield, United Kingdom

Transgendered Type 1 Diabetic

My name is Randy and I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in April 2013. In March 2012 I moved across the country from California to Michigan to start a new life with a new career. Things were going great had great friends and a great job. I turned twenty-one in January 2013 enjoyed my birthday with friends. March came around and I started reconsidering my options of transitioning from male to female transgendered, I knew I would have the support of my friends and I knew I would not have any issues at my job. Come April I finally came out and started working on the transition. Few weeks later I started noticing that I was drinking about a gallon or more of fluids a day, peeing a lot more, and eating a lot more then I normally ever did. I ended up going to the doctor's where I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes with my blood glucose level over 700. In that moment everything stopped. Type 1 Diabetes runs in my family, but I thought at age 21 and not having been diagnosed yet I was safe, turns out I was wrong. I was scared, being far away from family as well as afraid this would stop my transition. I spoke with my doctors, and was happy to find out that It would not cause any issues with my transition. I continue both my diabetic and transition treatments and have taken control of my life and diabetes with the support of friends and family. I am in control not my diabetes.

Randy
Lansing, MI

My Hero, My Son

Wednesday 19th August 2009. This day that changed our lives forever.

Joshua was just 14 months old when we found out he had diabetes. Worst day of my life. The first thing that hits you is the realisation that he's going to have a life of injections. The next is the guilt you feel that it's your fault. I gave birth to him. It's got to come from somewhere. Il always feel that guilt no matter who says it wasn't you, it just happens.

It was hard at first. Being kept in hospital hooked up to insulin one side, glucose the other, and hourly blood testing. His poor toes were so sore and full of scabs. We couldn't even cuddle him properly because of all the wires and needles. We were shown how to do injections straight away. My husband and I had to practice on each other. It was horrible. Joshua screamed and cried every time, he was too young to understand why Mummy and Daddy kept hurting him.

We came home and life had to adjust. Eventually Joshua was having 6 needles a day and we just couldn't control his blood levels so in July 2012 we finally agreed to try Joshua with a pump. We looked at endless videos on You Tube so by the time we got the pump we knew what we were doing.

It's been a year now and the pump was the best decision we made. He's so happy, you wouldn't even know he had this condition. He even does the pump himself now. We rarely input anything. He's been so brave, he just gets on with it. It's part of him. He's older before his time though. He knows he can't just eat anything which is hard for a 5 year old. He'll always be my Hero.

Vicki Daunter
Newport, United Kingdom

You name it I prolly did it!!

My name is Pete. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was 13 years old. I did very well managing my diabetes for many years until I was old enuff to do what I wanted. I started drinking pretty heavy and not eating right and not checking my blood sugar very often. After pleading with me to straighten up my doc dropped me. With no insurance and little guidance and very little reguard for my own life I was a train wreck waiting to happen. The drinking eventually developed into a methamphetamine addiction. This made eating obsolete. I did have a very good friend who would force me to eat at least once a day. I finally got clean when I was 26 and have been almost 10 years. This started the uphill battle of getting my sugar under control. I started to eat regularly again and went to a family doctor. He did his best to help me. I wrote the pharmasuitical companies for help with meds. They were very gracious and blessed me with the help I needed. Eventually I landed an excellent job with good insurance and check my sugar at least 4 times a day. On an insulin pump now which I LOVE. I ride motorcycles and diabetes does not slow me down one bit. I see my doc regularly now and although things are not perfect, they are a ton better than they were. I am now 36. I have a 16yr old daughter and a very fulfilling life!! That's my story!

Pete Anderson
Fort Smith, AR