Inspiring Stories

Growing Up at Camp

As I sent my boy Lucas 11years old off to( Camp Midicha) diabetes camp. He was so excited to be there. I kept saying goodbye waiting for him to come and give me a kiss but the football was already in play. I thought to myself he is growing up and I did not want to ask in front of his friends so I wont ask him for one.Before camp he was scared to put in his own site ---one week later he was putting his own site in. He was scared to give himself injections but now he can.I got my kiss when he came home but it was a a boy who is growing up to be a confident, brave and wonderful young man

Christine Mckinney
FARMINGTON HILLS, MI

Our very own superhero.... The E-MAN!!

In January of 2011 we had taken a vacation to my home state. During the 10 hour drive home my 3 year old son was feeling sick. At first I chalked it up to the trip and maybe catching a little bug. The next week I noticed he was drinking more and more and was just not back to 'normal' yet. I have two brothers with diabetes and knew the signs. I told my husband that I thought Ethan was diabetic and called his pediatrician. I was told by the receptionist that they could get him in the following week for an appointment. I argued that it was urgent and I knew what was wrong. After demanding that I speak with his doctor right away, his doctor told me to get there within the hour. I was there within 10 minutes. After a short blood test my fears were confirmed, WE had diabetes. (It's OUR disease not his.)

Ethan was given insulin right away and we had an appointment the following morning in Milwaukee. He didn't need hospitalization because I knew the signs and was adamant that he be seen that very day. I thank God that I trusted my gut.

Ethan is now a happy, healthy, pump wearing, 6 year old boy that loves Mario! We walk for a cure and have helped to get a golf outing started in our area. We just held the second annual golf outing this past week.

In May 2005 I lost my younger brother, then in February 2012, I lost my older brother to diabetes. I know the ugly and refuse that fate for my son.

January 24th 2011 will be forever in our minds as the day our life changed. It is the day that made us stronger and closer as a family and to God. It is a day we became Diabetes advocates and educators to the public. It is the day our superhero began to show us his strength. It is now a day we celebrate with a diagnosis party, to celebrate all of these things.

Julie Mikkelsen
Appleton, WI

Never took it serious in the begining

3 years ago I had a triple bypass the followed by having a Vats done on the left lung. Since then I have stomach problems, O H, dresselers disease, Kidney problems, Nerve problems. Now being treated for D E M ( injections done in both eyes trying to slow the damage done. For those of you just starting to deal with please take it serious. At 46 with to young boys Iam now doing my best to make sure I am around for a little bit more.I still work and I have the bad days, but as long as I wake up in the morning I make the best of it. Another day of time with the boys.My wife is my rock she does not give up on me and And I am not giving up so easy.As a combat vet, this to me is the toughest thing to fight. Please take this disease serious. Like I said in the beging I played around with it now I am dealing with it. Thank You

Fred
Philadelphia, PA

Grabbing the bull by its horns

I was 13 years old when I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I didn't know what the word diabetes meant, I didn't have a care in the world besides being a kid! I went for a physical and they found sugar in my urine and told my parents that they needed to run some test just in case. The next day I was pulled out of lunch and told that I had diabetes. I didn't understand what was going on but I cried anyways while my parents argued on where to take me to be treated. When I arrived a the hospital by blood sugar was 667. I'm now 22 years old and it hasn't always been easy. I went through the stage that I believe every teenager goes through. The "I'm not really sick, and I don't care stage" I went a whole year without checking my blood sugar because I thought I was invincible and that I would be fine. I definitely was not with an A1C of 12, but since then I've realized that I want to live my life to the fullest and have learned to control my diabetes. Like my mom always told all of her friend and family members "my daughter really grabbed the bull by the horns when she found out she had diabetes". And she's right, it's not always easy, but this is my life and I wanna live it to the fullest. Diabetes doesn't have to stop you from doing what you love, it's just a bump in the road, take it one day at a time. And one day we will have a cure! I know it! :)

Danielle McCoy
Peoria, AZ

How I was Diagnosed

I used to drive 200-300 miles a day and my job meant I was on the road a lot. I was having a problem with constantly needing the toilet. I went to the doctors and for 5 weeks, prescribed me 3 types of antibiotics because they said I had a bladder infection. My Husband is a T1 Diabetic, so for a week, I tested my blood to see if they were normal. The readings were coming back in the high teens to mid twenties, so I went back to the doctor and demanded a Glucose Tolerance Test. Within 3 days of the test, I got a phone call to go to the doctors urgently. I was diagnosed as T2 Diabetic and put on tablets. That was August 2012. By May 2013, I was put on Insulin as the tablets didn't work. So in a way, I diagnosed myself because I lived with a Diabetic and knew the signs to look for.

Selina
Staines, United Kingdom

Not so nice surprise

In May of 2009, I found out I was pregnant, the next day I had a miscarriage. I was taken to the hospital, but nothing was mentioned about being diabetic, just that I was anemic and that could've been what caused the miscarriage. A month later I took another pregnancy test and found out I was pregnant again, and just to make sure I truly was I went to the urgent care to have them give me a pregnancy test. While there I was told that yes I was pregnant but they found sugar in my urine. They gave me a few pens, and showed me how to use the pens. My pregnancy had a few problems and I gave birth early, but after I gave birth my blood sugar seemed to return to normal so I stopped taking my meds. October of 2010, ten months after I gave birth my blood sugar was 500 mg/dL. Here I am 4 years later,22 years old and I have been in DKA once, and close to it a few other times. My blood sugar can be anywhere from 400 mg/dL to 30 mg/dL, I am still having trouble keeping it regulated, but I am working on getting myself healthy. My goal is to get my blood sugar near perfection, as I would like to have more children later on in my life.

Jessica Miller
Fuquay-Varina, NC

Darci's Story

Darci turned 2 on January 14, 2009. Around that time we (her parents) noticed that she was a lot grumpier, not sleeping well at night, always thirsty, and wetting through more diapers. She had even started looking a little thinner, but we attributed this to her losing baby fat and getting taller. Darci has a cousin and an aunt with T1 and we knew the symptoms, but they were disconnected enough at first not to worry. Then, the last week of February it all started getting worse. She would wet through diapers, clothes, and sheets at least 2-3 times/night. She would beg for a drink 3 or 4 times a night. She was lethargic and thin. I (her mother) was 8 months pregnant at the time and had recently been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I decided to do a fasting glucose on her with my glucometer. 12 hours fasting her BG was 355. I immediately called her pediatrician's office and they told me to head right up to Primary Children's Medical Center. March 3, 2009 was the day she was officially disgnosed T1D. We were very lucky to catch it early or she would have been MUCH sicker. We went home from the hospital 4 days later with our entire world changed.
Now Darci is a happy, energetic, sunny 6 year old. She is so brave and we all think of her as a hero. She can do her own "finger pokeys" and even tries to help us calculate her carbs. We spent a couple of years doing insulin shots and now we have a pump. In every aspect of life she is a very normal 6 year old girl, she just has to do a few little things differently. We hope that we are teaching her to be self confident and to know that diabetes does not define her.

Marissa Armstrong
Lehi, UT

Double the Dose

My daughter was 7 yrs old and loosing weight, thursty, and tired. Staying with her grandmother during a school holiday she got a little sick and my mom tested her blood sugar (My husband was also T1 and grandfather T2 so there were meters around). Her initial reading was 591. I worked for a Dr so he called the children's hospital and got her an appointment that very next morning and got dosages of insulin to give her for the night. The following day we went in for the official diagnosis. Fast forward 17 months to June of 1999, 3 days after my son's first birthday. He and I go to bed at 9pm, wake up at 1am soaked! I assume I forgot to change his diaper before we went to bed. Made sure to change it the next night .. Same thing. Grabbed a meter and his initial blood sugar was 487. Beginning of summer and the Doc was away at diabetes camp. We called her office and treated my son as per there protocol until 2 months later when he actually saw the doc. His first A1c was 6.4 (normal tops out at 6.3) We caught it as early as anyone could.

My children are now 23 and 15. Both have been diabetics for most of their lives. At home, I was the odd man out as the only one without diabetes. Both have grown into great kids and aside from the common issues with teen diabetics, we've had NO problems, NO hospitalizations, nothing. I am truly blessed in every way. Diabetes doesn't get the better of us.

Suzanne Helt
St Paris, OH

How do I begin?

I got it at eight and diabetes wasn't so out there as it is now. The knowledge of it is was very little compare to now. As a diabetic for forty years now I can say that it's been a long road one that I don't wish on my worse enemy. However, I can say that I'm blessed even after loosing my kidney function at the age of 24. Right before I got married my kidneys stop functioning and I went on dialysis for about four years. I finally received a kidney transplant from a decease donor. The doctors had explained the risks of having a child and they advised me to wait two years before planning on having one. You see I had once given up on being a mother. The doctors had given me no hope and circumstances were not allowing me to become pregnant. However, I became pregnant after the transplant and I had mixed feelings, I was grateful, excited, afraid for my baby and I remember that all I wanted was to have a healthy child. I took very good care of myself and It wasn't an easy pregnancy because there were many appt's to see the doctor, nutritionist and I can't forget how the doctor's made such a big deal. (miracle) Well, I can say now that I have a healthy sixteen year old girl...beautiful, athletic, smart and did I mention healthy? Yes I do. However, the struggling didn't stop there. After having Gabriella I lost the transplant. I experienced an acute kidney failure and once again I went back on dialysis. Well, my husband and I raised our child. We were a team and he is my hero. I have to say that I did another four years of dialysis and when my antibodies allowed me to have another transplant my husband donated his kidney in 2000 and it's been working for 13 years now. I still have diabetes. In 2009 I had a pancreas transplant which failed. Yes, it's been difficult but you can't let diabetes stop you from your blessings. Be Blessed.

Raquel Aponte
Plainsboro, NJ

Mom, granny, Christian and living with t1d

My story begins in 2006 on the day after Christmas when we were eating dinner with my dad and my sister. My daughters and son were at home. They asked if I was feeling ok and I said that I was. But we checked my blood glucose just in case. It was over 300. I'm normally active but with parents and sisters living with diabetes they wanted to make sure I was ok.

Then the next year I came down with an infection in my throat. This was unusual since I sang in church. I went to a nurse practitioner in November of 2007. She diagnosed me with diabetes but was unclear as to what type I am and she prescribed me pills, due to my family history if type 2. Not even a year later I came down with a bad backache and did not feel well at all. I tried to do normal stuff but the pain kept getting worse. I went to the clinic twice and to a chiropractor who gave somewhat a clue to what I have and suggested I go to the hospital. It was after I developed paralysis and lost 100 lbs. that I went again to the hospital. It was a spinal cyst and I had mrsa. The doctors tested my blood and showed that I had antibodies in my blood and it was clear that I had type 1 diabetes.

At first I did not believe it, I thought how could I get a kid's disease....I was 43, fairly active, about to be a granny, and needed to walk again. After eight months in rehab I could walk again, but needed a cane due to lack of balance. I now eat better, counting carbs, got more active, use insulin and I realize that type 1 diabetes will never go away, but I should never give up just because I have type 1 diabetes.

Pebbles
Oklahoma City, OK