Inspiring Stories

"TYPE "1" Is not only in children!!!!

I have (Type 1) Diabetes... I was Diagnose back in (2007) at the age of (52)... I'm at (60yrs) old as now.. When I first was discovered.. Myself, set the record at my hospital.. I to was wizzzing/thirsty all the time.. every (2hrs).. I was loosing weight, and feeling tired..When I know things was going wrong... I would see spots..when i would be asleep. You have to eat something..to get your (Oil) Bloodsugar back up.. Myself take (2) Vitamen (D).. A Thieod pill and (60) units a day on the (Novalog). Twice a day.. Or eveytime I eat.. I exercise.. Go for walks just to keep my mind/health going.. I'm a Disabled USMC/R Veteran. w/a (VA) Rating of (50%)..of hearing Loss and (Tennitus).
So far so good. Thanks ...

James K. Rasmussen
Dallas, OR

Me and my son

October of 1984, ,I was 2 years old. My babysitter told my mom that i had been drinking a lot lately, and that she needed to take me and get me checked for Diabetes. Sure enough I was diagnosed as a Type 1 Diabetic. I have had problems, worse is my eyes. I have been Diabetic for 30 years this October. Now fast foreward to January 29, 2013. Had my son at work and one of my co workers thought she smelled a fruity smell on his breath. My wife and I both took off from work and sure enough my son was diagnosed as Type 1 Diabetic at the age of 13 months old. Everyone calls him a mini-me. Since he has been diagnosed I have been trying to do better with mine. I might have diabetes but diabetes does not have me.

Anonymous
Chesapeake, OH

The start of my new life

I was 15 and it was mother-take-your-daughter-to-work day. I went with my mom to work (she's a nurse and was in home health back then) and I was eating almost nothing but guzzling 2 liters of Pepsi. Before this, my parents thought I was on drugs because I was losing weight fast, always tired, eating nothing, and always going to the bathroom. By the way, diabetes runs on my dads' side of the family. So my mom decided to check my blood sugar, and all the meter said was "high". So she called my doctor to tell her what was going on, and of course she was out to lunch with her daughter. When we got to the ER, they hooked up an IV and took blood work; my blood sugar was 1300! That's all I remember because I went into a coma and when I woke up, my doctor, mom, and grandma were in a hospital room with me and they gave me the lovely news that I am diabetic.

Of course I hate needles, so getting diabetes worked out perfectly. I hated the fact that I had to give myself insulin and couldn't eat what all of my friends were eating; it was very depressing. On top of that, my blood sugars were all over the place, so I went on an insulin pump. I loved it! So I had that until I was 26 when I lost my parents' insurance and didn't have any of my own at the time and the darn things aren't cheap. So I went back onto injections and back onto the roller coaster of blood sugars. I decided to be defiant and eat whatever the heck I wanted, whenever the heck I wanted. That didn't go so well of course.

I recently got health insurance again so as soon as that happened, I got my pump back. I am back to feeling great and love educating people on diabetes because people tend to not know the real story and just assume they know everything and they truly don't.

Jennifer Counter
Kansas City, KS

Well A Decade Ago...

It's crazy too look back and realize it has been 10 years (Feb 3 '04). It started when I was 8 and was peeing the bed at night constantly, and at times, my mom thought I smelled fruity. She became concerned and took me to the doctor and it turns out I was a Type 1 Diabetic. It was strange because it did not run in my family at all, and there is no known history of it within the family either.

You have to admit, being an 8 year old and having diabetes is not the easiest thing to cope with at first, and there is times where you give up, it truly does suck. It was about 4 years into being Diabetes where we looking into the diabetic pumps, after having complication with supplies using the Novalog Pen. Since then, i've always used the pump and it truly helps a lot.

10 years later it is hard to imagine a lifestyle without diabetes. Its a true struggle, any type 1 or type 2 can admit that. There's times where I start to not care and that only comes back to bite me. But I can't let it stop me. It sounds cheesy, but you just have to keep moving along with it. Eventually the pokes don't hurt and the shots are a piece of cake (pun intended). Personally, a favorite of mine is showing off my 10 years worth of knowledge about Diabetes. It makes an easy essay for English classes, and an easy speech in my Public Speaking class.

I know science will one day find a cure. Advancements are made everyday and it gives us all hope. But we can't just stop taking care of ourselves and wait for the cure to happen. It's just sometimes hard to realize there's other Diabetics going through the same thing.

Macrae Wilkins
Emporia, KS

Megan's Story

When I was 32 years old, I went to the doctor for a routine check up. For the first couple of visits, everything seemed ok. I was prescribed medication for my high blood pressure. I was also sent for routine blood work. When the blood work came back the Doctor said "I think you might be diabetic." The Doctor sent me for my first A1c blood test. It came back as 8.7. I was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic. My blood sugar was checked in the office, and it was 332! I was put on medication, and I started my journey as a new Diabetic. My Doctor did not offer me any kind of advice on living with Diabetes. His advice was "stay away from sugar." So I had to figure it all out on my own. I am proud to say that I did indeed figure it out, and my last 2 A1c tests were at a 5. One and a half years later, things are still going strong despite living with Diabetes!

Anonymous
Jacksonville, FL

My diabetes story

I was young, smart and energetic but suddenly that all changed when I started drinking loads (I would have a 2 litre bottle of pop and still be extremely thirsty), going to the toilet loads (Waking up 3 or 4 times a night), I lost 1 and a half stone, I was eating like crazy and I just looked ill (My face was very pale and I looked very tired). My mum noticed these signs and searched up online what it could be. She suggested to go to the doctors because all of these signs were symptoms of diabetes. I was 12 years old and only knew that it had something to do with needles. I was extremely scared because I always had a fear of needles.

When I came back home from school, the same day I came back from the doctors, my mum came rushing home saying I had to go to the hospital as soon as possible. At this point I was shocked. We rang my dad to tell him to pick us up. When we arrived at the hospital, they told us I had type 1 diabetes. All my family was shocked because no one in my family has got this . I went in hospital on the Tuesday night and they said my blood sugars were 32! I had to stay until the Friday so I could learn about this disease. I got the hang off this, however I spent my nights alone in hospital due to my mum having to look after my younger sister and crying because I thought I was very ill.

To this day I am very healthy and look after my blood sugars which are between 4-7. I get support of my family and friends who I love very much. Just remember we are stronger than diabetes and it will not stop us from doing ANYTHING!

Chloe
London, United Kingdom

Changed my life

When i was first diagnosed in 2012, i was told to eat less and given a diet plan which in my mind i could not do. My physician even referred me to a dietitian, after speaking with the dietitian she told me to write down every thing that i ate and also handed me a diet plan, again my mindset would not allow me to do the diet. My dietitian then suggested that i attend classes on how to manage your Diabetes. I signed up for the classes that were 5 weeks for 4 hours each class. It was so eye opening that i started immediately to change my eating habits, i deleted sugar from my eating plan and stop drinking sodas of any kind. I started eating more fruit and vegetables and drinking more water. At first i gained weight but i did not get discouraged and soon the weight started to come off. From April 21013 to August 2013 I had lost 22 pounds. I take every day one at a time and i check my blood sugar every morning. I know that exercise is important but i am suffering from sciatic nerve problems so it hinder me from exercising some time but don't let that deter you do as much exercise as you can each day.

Sandra Malone
Fontana, CA

Thanks Mom!

Mom followed a low-carb, low-fat, low-sodium diet, so all of the rest of us did too. Thanks to a life-long habit of whole grains, carb-counting, and conscious eating, I did not have to make very many adjustments to my lifestyle when I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes during pre-surgical blood work in 2005.
I went to all the classes and kept the binder of recipes, but the only change I made was to switch to sugar-free whole wheat bread instead of the regular. I was always sensitive to preservatives, MSG, & HFCS, so reading labels was already automatic. When I tried sugary treats & sodas as a kid I always threw them up, so I never got a taste for them or a "sweet tooth."
In fact, I recently discovered that if I take a coffee measure of semi-sweet real chocolate chips like medicine (35 calories & 3 grams carb), it controls the diarrhea that the dose of Metformin I take causes. Once a day keeps me going once a day! LOL
I am very blessed to have low A1c readings (6.x) and reasonable BG readings. I panic when it hits 200! That happens if I get white rice in a restaurant, or indulge too much at square dances browsing the refreshment table.
Thank God for my mother's early indoctrination for healthy eating and folk dancing. I still need to lose 200 lbs. but I don't know of anyone else my size who can square dance.
The weight thing has been a trial all my life. I started diets at age 13, despite the healthy food & exercise, and every pound came back double every time, so it is safe to say that dieting caused my obesity. Diabetes has been a royal pain in the meds/testing sense, but because of good ol' Mom, it has never been a shock to the system like some of the others in this forum have experienced. I eat the same healthy foods I grew up with, but take 4 pills twice a day to maintain status quo.

Doris
Durham, NC

Wham! You're A Diabetic...

One day I had an itch on my forehead.I scratched it,and several days later,it looked infected.I let it go,thinking it would be ok.within a week or more,it was huge and the skin had turned black.I was sick too,and could not eat.I was losing weight like crazy.One evening my husband told me,you are going to the er.We went to our local hospital.They ran tests,and started an iv as I was dehydrated severely.They decided to send me to another hospital.When I arrived,a team of doctors were waiting for me.More tests,and a decision to operate on my forehead.I also was told my glucose number was 336.Wham,you're a diabetic.They decided the next day to start insulin.I became upset and refused to learn to inject myself.Then I met a nurse named Lisa.She took me under her wings,and gave me the incentive to learn,and also the will to live.It was a totally different lifestyle to learn.It has now been 2 years.Today instead of an A1C of 11,my latest one was 6.5.Instead of 25 units twice per day,I now take 12 units twice per day.I never understood this disease or what people that had it went through,until it hit me.And today I do all I can to help anyone that I learn gets the old Wham,You're A Diabetic,by encouraging them,and helping them all I can.

Cindy Self
Thomasville, NC

Don't give up, it will get better!!!!

I was diagnosed as Diabetic last November [2013] and I went into the hospital because it started with me feeling REALLLY sick and not being able to keep any food or liquids down, not even the tiniest sip of water or a small cracker. And when they checked my sugars when I got settled into the hospital room, it was OVER 600! And honestly, who knows how long it had been that way. But I really thank my mom for saving my life, literally.

They tried me on a couple different insulin shots, and we had to keep switching due to my insurance not being able to cover certain ones. We finally found one that's a syringe and you mix it up yourself, and it's just a once a week shot. And I was already taking some of the Metformin [an oral diabetes medication] twice a day. I didn't mind the once a week shot too much, but the needle was a lot thicker than I was use to, so it deffinately hurt a bit more.

I just had an appointment a couple weeks ago with my diabetes doctor, and she said that whatever I was doing, I should keep doing, because when she looked at my numbers, everything looked completely normal!

That's when I got the best news that a diabetic could probably ever get. My endo doctor said that I'm doing so well that I don't need the weekly Bydreon shot anymore!!! My mom was so happy with this news that she cried, because she came in the room for the appointment.

She said that she was praying for me, a lot. And here's perfect proof that prayer CAN and DOES work wonders and miracles.

So no matter what age you are, or what type, it IS possible to get better. Don't give up on yourself yet!!!!

Melissa Franklin
Wilmington, NC