I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes back in 2006. I was working two jobs & barely getting much sleep. I was thirsty and tired all the time, I almost fell off to sleep while driving in to work and started getting sick. I stopped being lazy and decided to go visit my GP, first question he asked was if I ever had my sugar checked? To me that was an alien question, I had no idea what he was talking about.
He told me to go get a random sugar check done. I had a random and fasting blood test done. It was confirmed I was diabetic & it no longer was an alien term to me. However I still could not make sense of the illness, what was it? what did it entail? Everyone was worried & I was like what is the big deal, till I did research and found out it's not the best thing to have. I was admitted in hospital and was to stay there for a week till we got the hang of what needed to be done, how to inject myself with insulin, how and when to check my sugar levels. Things were happening inside my body and it was so foreign to me. I was on the wrong insulin for a year. I've forgotten what it's like to get a normal 8 hours of sleep, given that I need to go to the bathroom every hour.
I moved to Australia in 2011 & had my insulin change a few times and dosages go up. The worst part about living with diabetes is it fluctuating from high to low. I had no idea with this comes depression, feelings of anger and irritation. But the good thing is, you can live with diabetes and live a full life as long as everything is in moderation. The most important way to fight this, is change of lifestyle. My hats off to those who deal with in on day to day basis and respect to all their loved ones who fight this illness with them.
Melbourne, Australia
