My Life Story?

Well I’ve been diabetic for 10 yrs. I was diagnosed when I was 8 yrs old. How can you tell a kid they can’t have candy, when everybody around was free to do so?? Well that was my life. I was very independent since day 1. I did my own shots and everything.

My mother cared for me. But I was in denial. I ate candy at school. Sometimes I would skip my doses and lie that I did them. Result: I was in the hospital at least once every 2 months. I’ve been in the ICU a few times. And Drs once feared I might have had brain swelling ( but I didn’t). And that is how a careless life began.

I just didn’t care ( I said it ). As if an Angel was protecting me I survived all my wreckage. And My teenage years came and I was as careless as ever. My mom would ground me for not checking my BGs but that still didn’t make me change. I was a rebel without a cause. A few months ago is when reality hit me, , , I want to live. I want to be healthy and not feel this way. NOW I’m afraid it may be too late for me. I have a feeling that eventhough I am much better at this it may be too late. I rather not think about it but the fear of not making it to 30 is nerve wrecking. :confused:

Dannys right. It’s NOT too late. Most of us Kid Diabetics went through what you did. Are you experiencing any symptoms of complications such as blurry vision, pains or numbness in your feet, etc. Anything different? An Endo visit and testing should reveal any other problems.

After 22 years of having mostly out of control Diabetes(not much info back then), I was dxd. with Retinopathy in my left eye. My Ophthalmologist repaired it with laser surgery. If you have any questions, please ask. We’re here for you.

ok you may have done a little damage,

but what will help you live is to stop it (your Diabetes) from getting worse

so any degree of damage you may have done to your body bits should not get any worse now



being so young, you have ‘youth’ on your side, and please know that young bodies have alot going for them in helping in recovery



so you probably know that 10 years is about the time diabetes damage can develop.



so if you stop your timer now and start looking after yourself, i really believe you really do have a second chance and can be 'born again, but realise you probably blew your first free ‘get out of jail’ card or ‘you have 2 strikes’.now



what i am wanting to tell you is to realize you may have done a ‘little damage’ to your body bits (and you may not necessarily be sick at this stage - or necessarily have to get sick now as a result!!!), and that high blood sugars can affect the small (as well as large) blood vessels in your body which lead to heart attacks, stroke, kidney disease, eye problems etc etc.



but you may have time yet, but as i said, you have probably used of 5 or 6 of your 9 lives (as for a cat you might say), and now you have to take charge of sugars, and stop them from going crazy (or high)



one day at a time is how you will do it





one day at a time





one day at a time





we wereall young once, and looking back we could have done things better, or not done things at all that we later regret



but i believe your stressing and worrying can have an equally bad impact on your body - if you dont relax, and be -proactive and ‘chill’ as you might say



what stress does is to increase blood pressure, affect vital metaboilsm hormones, fatigue your adrenal glands (wear them out) , affect your sleep, and ‘destroy’ your health and general well being.



so if you instead channel that massive raw energy in controlling and mastering your diabetes !!! which you can !!!

you will not needlessly suffer stress, and have good health comes in your future life.



you have to beat this diabetes monster (many have donethat before you, and many will do it after you)



so focus, point your activities and energy in the right direction and you will beat this dreaded diabetes



i said once in another post



the great thing about diabetes (yes great), is that you can fall off the bandwagon, but what is beautiful, is that you can get back on the bandwagon, and still win!



PS its 12:30 am so i’m ranting and raving a bit - but thats the reality. you CAN do it, if you really try

I’m glad to hear you’re wanting to “start over!” It’s great to see that you’re wanting to change before medical problems make you change. You’re young, your body will pretty much recover from any of the damage you have done to it, but you have to be super good to it. You can do it!

I am inclined to agree with SuFu that you should be able to clean yourself up pretty well. I have to disagree with Michael’s statement that you have used 2 out of 3 strikes, I think you can get a lot more strikes than that with diabetes? 30 is a good goal and, when you make that, then you can revisit things and see where you are and where you want to go. I was certain I would be dead by 40 but am now 43. I don’t really have a specific diabetes or longevity goal these days but I’m not drifting aimlessly, just doing other stuff. Finding other things to be interested in really helped me a lot. Music when I was younger (debauched 1980s college rock bands, not like jazz or anything fancy!) and then, when I sort of hit a down time, I started studying martial arts and that was really neat to have done and kind of cross-pollinated with diabetes a bit too, being very ‘goal’ oriented although I am always resistant to saying what the goal is, working to improve seems reasonable?

I agree with his agreement. If you were 40 and just now getting a hold on your t1, yes you would be on 2 strikes. You’re 18 and you body can do a helluva lot of recovering. If the young body didn’t recover quickly, I would be on a liver transplant list!

I think though that it’s more like you have 20 or 30,000 strikes, due to the YDMV business? If you are testing 10x/ day, that’s 3650 tests/ year so maybe it’s even more than that?

I know I can do I & I’ve known all along that I could. It was just that I was so outta focus. I would be the kind that my A1C would shoot 10.0 & next visit without doing much of anything it was an 8.0. Now it is different for me. I want to be a professional, you know? & I examine myself sometimes… Well my last A1C was 7.9 & for me that’s a record. It has never been that low before. :smiley: I have drive & passion. Thank you for your encouragement

Oh boy. Your story hit home because I have been feeling exactly the same way lately. Lucky for you that you were diagnosed early and you had your mom there to ground you! I was 22 and living on my own so my recovery only came 2 years ago when I decided to go on the pump and realized all the things I was doing wrong. I have some eye damage and thankfully that is all because it could have been SO much worse. I am still in denial some days, only going through the motions because I have to and not because I want to. It’s frightening to think about the future and I understand that I can’t give up and noone should. You will make it through this tough time and the many more to come. Your circle of family and friends will help, just don’t be afraid to share what you are going through with them. That is something I just learned to do and things have gotten easier since I have begun opening up more. Good luck. Keep your head up. Always remember that denial comes before you can come to terms and begin healing. :slight_smile:

Thanks acidrock23 :smiley: I know that I don’t just have 3 more lives like Michael said because I am living proof of it, but it doesn’t mean I completely disagree. For you music was or is your outlet & for me I’d have to say Art is my outlet. Colored Pencil art to be specific. & yes 30 is my goal right now & when I make it there 50 will be my next goal!!

Spring, thank you for your words and your faith. I understand your concern because I have a mother of my own that worries too. I was a handful when it came to my diabetes. But now I realize what’s been done & I want to make up for it. & yes I am strong and have always been & yes I am also confident. I want to major in anesthetics, I want to have a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig house :slight_smile: & I will get there!! Tell your daughter she can talk to me or make contact me whenever she feels alone in this which believe me I feel that way all the time, not because there is not supportive people by my side but because I am the only one with diabetes and the only one that knows what its like :smiley:

I know. Sometimes I sit there staring at the ceiling analyzing my situation but I know I’ll make it and I know I am not alone :slight_smile:

GOOD! 100 points to start the day, thats what I say if it starts out on point, - 50 if it starts out on a bad note. I have to have a sence of humor or I would prob need anti- depressants!

My new goal is 26.2 miles 10.9.11! puff puff puff. Diabetes will be along for the ride but isn’t my primary focus?

Keep shooting for goal. A 2.1% drop is awesome! I’m excited to see how low you can get it at your next appt! Mine has been slowly rising, but we’ll see what it is in the next couple months.

hahaha. talking about that. I had a really bad chest pain on my right. I asked the Dr & she said that it was anxiety, that I should slow it down but if it doesn’t get better to go back so she can prescribe something, who knows?

actually you do have many more lives left lke 20-100 !!

my point is you must get serious now at this point in time , as you don’t want to get to that point of ‘no return’, where you fall sick, and cant get better, do it now

acid rock’s point of correcting me (and he is perfectly right to do so), is that you really are prob not in bad health yet (he is right !)

but time now to take it serios

Teens, children are so active that all that exercise probably brought your blood sugars down (children often drop a lot with exercise). I doubt if it is too late, or even if much damage has been done at all. There are countless adults with no complications who were diagnosed at a time when there was no carb counting, no glucometers or other reliable ways to check blood sugar. Read Richard’s story. I am glad you are grown and ready to take good care of yourself. You can eat candy (occasionally) and eat sweets and other treats in moderation, as part of your meal plan. Many foods will spike blood sugar and some that are still considered treats surprisingly may not. Even teens who take good care of themselves have a very, very hard time maintaining good blood sugar control at this time of life so you are not alone and are in fact among the majority. You will make it to 30 and long beyond, especially if you start taking good care of yourself now.

Thank you for all the support :smiley: I am confident I will