My mother told me when i was in utero that doctors were expecting me to be a rather large baby and weren't exactly sure what would be when i would come into the world.They told her I may not live very long. When I was born I was as healthy as could be.
I remember I was overweight and always thirsty. I would tell my mom that i had an itch and i couldn't stand it. I couldn't take it anymore and told the school nurse. I can still remember the look on her face when she asked me to open my legs. She was beside her self. She called my mother and told her I was in need of medical attention.
I was in kindergarten, when I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. The dr advised my parents I would need to travel eight hours to the nearest hospital that treated juvenile diabetics.
I didn't comprehend the severity of the issue. .When I was taught how to administer insulin, I wasn't phased by any of it.
It wasn't until after I got into middle school and started to deal with kids bullying me for being over weight that it started to effect me.I started becoming withdrawn and felt alone. I didn't want to deal with this disease anymore. It was making me feel isolated and so different. My parents didn't know how to deal with it either. I stopped going to see my endocrinologist and gained even more weight. I wish I would've been taught more discipline and guided better by the ones who were supposed to be examples in my life. When they were threatened to have to go to court for child neglect, they made me wright a letter saying I begged them not to take me and that I was fault for the missed appointments.Even if I did pitch a fit, why would a parent allow there diabetic daughter to win this battle that clearly wasn't any good for her?
I am 27 years old now and suffer from peripheral neuropathy.
TUCSON, AZ
