I am a 27 year old type 1 Diabetic. I was in fourth grade when I went home from school sick. My parents thought I had the flu, so like any good parents they gave me juice, 7-up, Popsicles etc. After a few days of me not getting better my parents decided it was time to call the hospital. At this point over the few days of being home sick I had lost about 40% of my body weight, was using the bathroom every 15 minutes, I was delirious, pale and very sick looking. The hospital at the time of admission took my blood sugar, it was a staggering 1960 (yes that is correct, at the time, it would have been a world record for an individual still conscious). After the diagnosis of Diabetes I was in ICU for a while, not sure how long since I have no recollection of any of this after that first day of school going home.
Since then I have had some blood sugar control issues, been hospitalized almost once a year for the last 10 years for one Diabetes related issue or another. From DKE almost shutting down my Kidney's, to the simple flu that just won't go away. Already, at 27 with being Diabetic for 19 years I started to show some complications from poor control. As I have never had an A1C under 7 and have been as high as 12.1. Having nervous decline to my feet and legs, up to eye sight issues and cognitive processing problems.
Over the last few years however, I have started a family. Realizing that I need to fix the above to live for my son I have re-evaluated my life and started to focus more on control. With better A1C levels and more watching what and when I eat and check my sugars, the complications have slowly started to go away. For those like me with control problems, don't quit, it can be reversed.
Iowa City, IA
