Well, I have been diabetic for about 10 years. I actually can't remember exactly when, either because its been so long, or because I have blotted it out of memory. It wasn't a really traumatic diagnosis- I just started noticing that I was drinking a lot of water, and I wasn't sleeping so well. That was it.
I went to the health center at my college. After a quick exam, and a GTT, and some other blood tests, they came up with the "diabetes" diagnosis. I was started on micronase, and no follow up was planned.
Three months later, the micronase wasn't working, I was drinking upwards of a gallon of water a day, and I had lost 50 lbs. So I went back to the dr, and was started on insulin. I think my A1c was 11. But I think I took it in stride- for a couple of years, I was a model for good control- I had glucose logs up the yin yang, and I spent at least 2-3 hours a day in the school library learning about diabetes.
But every dr I have gone to listened to my story, and wrote Type II in my chart (I know, I looked). For some reason, that made me incredibly mad! At the time, I suppose that Type 1's were diagnosed early (certainly not at 21!) and usually were hospitalized. For me, that was a sign of both ignorance and arrogance. For the dr's to believe that I had recognized the symptoms and gone to the dr, that would be incredible!
Anyways, I envy those people who have dr's who actually know what they are talking about.
Now, I am participating in a clinical trial involving inhaled insulin ( the dr is kind of iffy, his method of control is to eat exactly the same thing every day- he smirks when I mention carb counting), but I get free insulin and test strips. And since my insurance is only a tiny bit better than no insurance, free is better than nothing.