The Beginning of my story.

The Beginning

From a young age I have always been healthy, lively, just like any other kid. No one in my family has diabetes, and didn't really know much about the condition. I used to get a lot of 'sugar attacks' when I was little, where I would need to eat something sugary quickly, but I always thought this was normal, so never did anything about it.

Moving on to the more recent times, it all started when I was under a lot of stress and pressure. My University exams were all coming too quickly together and I had so much on my plate at the time due to family issues, I just about managed not to crumble. (I am a first year Fashion and Textile student, but still, exams are exams!). By this time I had turned 19 years old and thought nothing of this reoccurring thirst I was getting. 

Anyway, exams came and went and the Easter Holidays did too. By this time I felt absolutely fine, everything was off of my shoulders and I could relax! However, during the Easter holiday I was informed of some more stressful news to do with my family and I went back to the stressed me, hardly eating or drinking anything, and hardly sleeping.

That's when it all started getting serious. As the weeks crept in, I was getting more and more thirsty to the point were I would be thirsty, drink a whole 2 litre lemonade bottle, and still had the exact same thirst that I began with. Now that wasn't normal!

I told my Mam that I was thirsty all the time, and she convinced me to go to the doctors that week and mention it. (My Mam works at a Primary School and knew thirstiness was a bad sign). So that Friday, I went down to see my doctor and mentioned it to her. At first she was a bit cynical, due to me being so healthy in the past and with no family history of the condition. Then, she thought she would do a urine test to see there and then whether to take this seriously or not. I provided her with a sample, to which she tested for sugar extracts, and to which it came back positive. 'Oh' she said 'It looks like we need to book you in for a fasting blood test just to be sure'. So the following week, I was back down there for the blood test (to which they took 4 samples from me...4!!!!) and I hoped I would never have to go through that again!

In the mean time, while all of this was happening, I was starting to get other symptoms too. I started to go to the toilet a lot more due to my excessive drinking, this then interrupted my sleep, therefore I was always tiered and energy-less. 

I used to do an hour of exercising each day after breakfast to keep fit and keep track of my weight, as I didn't want to gain or lose. I have been 8 stone 5 pounds for a few years now, so I wanted to try and stay as close to the number as possible (this is my ideal weight). While I was going through this weird thirst phrase, I kept checking my weight as normal and noticed I was losing 2 pounds each day... this was odd, as I have never lost 2 pounds a day before just by doing some light dancing exercises. I kept an eye on this and yes, I was still losing 2 pounds everyday, even when I had stopped exercising.

Before I got my blood results back, I knew there was definitely something wrong with me. I was drinking all the time, weeing all the time, sleeping most of the time and was slowly wasting away, losing a lot of weight, especially on my face, and becoming very pale and ill looking indeed. I knew whatever I had, it wasn't going to be good news.

I got my results back on the Wednesday night from a different doctor, telling me I had diabetes but he didn't know what type, he then prescribed some tablets (he must have thought I had Type 2, but he was refusing to tell me). He then rang up an hour later and said he wasn't sure what he should prescribe me, so he was going to get a specialist diabetic nurse to look at me. He said 'If they haven't rang by Friday lunch time, then ring me again'.

Friday lunchtime came and went, and nothing turned up, so I rang my doctors surgery. They got in quite a flap about it, and started to panic, this is when I thought, 'they know something I don't' and my doctor told me to pack an overnight bag and to go to A&E as soon as possible. She left me a note at the doctors to give to A&E and off my Mam took me.

Waiting in A&E was the worst half an hour of my life, I felt sick, dizzy, hot then cold and I kept wanting to shut my eyes and just sleep. I wasn't kept long as my doctor marked my letter as urgent, thankfully! I wanted to read it but thought I better not just in case.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I was taking in with a blood reading of 33.3 mmol/l, (a normal persons reading is between 4 mmol/l and 7 mmol/l, at 34 mmol/l you can slip into a very fatal coma which can have a very nasty ending), and a weight of 7 stone 11 pounds. I was in hospital the whole weekend, being discharged on the Monday with Type 1 Diabetes.

I was told that it's just one of those things that happens. Something triggers your body's immune system to destroy the insulin producing cells. Type 1 is normally genetic, being passed down from generations, but most people don't actually have this gene, so we really need to do more research into it! As of yet, nothing has been brought out to stop the condition starting either, so it would have happened anyway even if I had gone to the doctors all them years ago, it would have mainly prolonged the inevitable.

I now take 4 injections daily, check my sugar level 4-8 times daily and have to keep a food dairy. Along with  weekly check ups from my nurse, dietitian and specialist doctor. I'm not looking for any sympathy or anything. I just thought I would share my story to try and spread the word about diabetes, and if it means getting people treated earlier than me, then I have done my job! 

Even if you think your overreacting, or you scared of the thought of needles, so was I. Honestly, just go and get  yourself or someone you are worried about checked out, because if you do fall into a coma, you have left it far too late, to which your organs could suffer damage and some things can never be reversed.