In the beginning of February, just after having had laryngitis, I still did not feel very well. I drank a lot of water, had to pee a lot and my vision was really bad. I remembered then that in a certain part of the TV-series Army Wives, I had seen the same symptoms on a woman who turned out to be a Type 2 Diabetic. I started looking up my symptoms and decided that I wanted to get checked out. The same day I was in the ER with an incredibly high blood sugar: I should have been in a coma. The diagnosis was made fairly quickly: type 2 diabetes, because I was very overweight. They told me there was a slim possibility that it was a type 1, but that they would test it anyway and I would get the results within 6 weeks. The good news: I could get rid of the diabetes if I'd lose enough weight. About 4 weeks later I should have been transferred to my own general practitioner for regular checkups but because of a misscommunication, he never got that information. About 5 weeks ago I went to see him and asked what was going on. He then scheduled an immediate appointment and requested all the information from the hospital. At the appointment, they told me I was in the wrong place: type 1 diabetics should be under the care of a diabetes nurse at a hospital. That's when it became clear that the blood results I never got, showed that I was a type 1 diabetic. I was very angry, because this meant I had a chronic illness and was never gonna get rid of this stupid disease. I had, and sometimes still have, a hard time accepting that I'm chronically ill and that I should take a step back occassionally. It's hard getting used to, but I'm determined to get through this, stay strong and live a long, happy and healthy life.

Veerle
Tilburg, Netherlands