I had been having symptoms for about six months by the time I was diagnosed. I was a senior in high school, and my friends were going to lose their minds if I said “I’m so thirsty” one more time. We couldn’t go anywhere for too long because I would have to pee within 15 minutes of leaving the house.
I knew all the signs and symptoms as my younger sister was diagnosed with type 1 at age six. I had been living with diabetes for eight years when my symptoms started, but I didn’t want to believe diabetes could happen to me too. I watched what my sister had endured thus far and I’m terrified of needles.
I started having leg cramps at night so bad that the I couldn’t walk. The day I checked my blood sugar, we had just traveled from New York to Virginia for a family trip. I cried about half the trip because I had to pee so bad, and there was nowhere to stop. I remember clearly looking at the number after forcing down breakfast and it read 360. I looked at my sister and she said “You have diabetes”. I laughed uncomfortably and said ”No, we have to wait two hours after I eat, and then we can go to the hospital”.
After two hours the meter read HIGH, so we hopped in the car and drove about 30 minutes to the nearest hospital where I immedialty got on fluids and the doctors proceeded to try to convince me that I had Type 2 Diabetes. After about 3 hours and 2 bags of fluids they decided they couldn’t diagnose me because I was underage (2 months from my 18th birthday), where I then had to go in an ambulance for an additonal hour drive to the children’s hospital.
As soon as I got there, they confirmed it was indeed Type 1 and prescribed me enough insulin to last the rest of the vacation, showed me how to carb count and sent me on my way. That was it. I was in the hospital for less than 48 hours, and not once did I see any who would train me to treat my diabetes.
When I got home, I met with my new endocronologist and about 2 weeks later was already on the newest medtronic pump and cgm. Seemed crazy considering I was barely able to give myself injections at this point. I went to college a few weeks later, and had my roommate doing pump site changes because I couldn’t do them myself (she was a trooper).
It was terrifying to leave home for college, and then adding diabetes on top of it was a whole other thing. I eventually learned to do shots and site changes on my own, and on my 18th birthday even got my first tattoo (pictured below). My medical ID tattoo is the first thing that really helped me feel safe in the world. I know it’s not a catch all, but it helped me to feel a little peace and begin to enjoy my life again. Diabetes really is as invisible as you let it be, and it being invisible was one of the most terrifying parts for me.
I’ve never been one to keep my diabetes hidden. I’ve traveled the world with it, met so many amazing people because of it, and it’s the reason I’m here writing this today. For those who are just recently diagnosed, or are struggling with the their diagnosis, I beg you not to let this disease slow you down. It’s a road bump for sure, but once you get the hang of it, you can get right back to it. It can be scary, and sometimes overwhelming, but the reality is, you’ve got your whole life ahead of you and you don’t need to spend it worried about this.
I’m 5 years into this now, and I’m still learning new things every year. I’m constantly challenging the norms of someone with a chronic illness, like swimming D2 in college and traveling to Guatemala for weeks. If I had let diabetes stop me from doing those things…wow I would‘ve missed a lot of amazing things.