My freshman year in High school started out really good. I was a bit nervous to start, because I didn’t really know anyone. But…like I said it started out good.
Until October/November came around.
So it’s October/November and I’m sitting in second peoiod, Algebra, and my hands start shaking really badly. Oddly enough, it never occured to me to ask to go to the nurse. I called my mom after school and I told her what had happened to me.
“Mom, something weird happened today. I was sitting in 2nd period and my hands started to shake so bad that I couldn’t even use my calculator.”
“Did you go to the nurse?” she asked me.
“To be honest, it never even occured to me.”
Fast forward a week or so and I’m sitting in third period. In all my classes when I’m taking notes I ALWAYS write the date on the page. For the life if me I couldn’t remember the date. I remember just staring at the board and doing absolutely nothing. I don’t know if you asked me my name if I could have told you what it was. I was SO confused. Somehow I made it to my next class, French, and I STILL couldn’t concentrate right. Somehow I made it to lunch (about 11:15 or so). After I ate I felt fine.
Again after school I called my mom and told her about what had happened.
One of the woman she takes care of at work has Type 1 and has for 50+ years.
She was telling Shel what happened and what was going on and Shell said “Anne, it sounds like it could be diabetes. You should really check her sugars.”
So my mom borrowed an extra meter and bought one home. She checked me 2 hours after I finished eating dinner (I think that I had some kind of meat, mashed potatoes, some veggies and some coca cola). Two hours later and my sugar was 264. About an hour after that I was 285. She checked me first thing the next morning and I was 119.
“Is that high?” I asked her.
“It’s on the high end of normal.” she told me.
She decided to wait until Thanksgiving was over before she took me to see the ped.
“Dr, I think that Kiersten has diabetes. She’s been having all these weird signs and symptoms. We borrowed a meter from someone and she was 285.”
Needless to say, he didn’t believe us. He did something about it anyway.
“How long has it been since you ate?” he asked me. I told him 3 hours.
He sent my for more blood work. I went on a Thursday morning, in early December because I had off from school.
He called my and my mom back on Tuesday night, right after we started eating dinner.
“Kiersten has an appointment tomorrow morning with Dr D. at 8:45.”
So I emailed my friend Rachael from school, saying that I would not be in school tomorrow and that it looked like I had diabetes and had to go to the hospital the next morning.
So, we get there the next morning anf Dr. D sends me down to the lab to have me tested for antibodies and they came back negitive. So, he doesn’t know what is going on either. He said that it didn’t look like type 1, but I didn’t fit the criteria for type 2 either. I mean, I was 14 years old and 98 lbs. It just didn’t fit.
So they give me a meter for home and one for school. At that point, I was just watching what I ate. That was on December 14, 2005.
Right after the New Year, I started on prandin. I hated it. I was on that until April. He took me off that and put back on it.
In September of 2006 (my 3rd app, with Dr D) he tells me that my sugars are good and that I didn’t have diabetes. I saw the nutritionist and she said that I had MODY (maturity onset diabetes of the young). Well, that threw me for a loop. Here I was almost a year later and I suddenly didn’t have diabetes? yeah right. He continued to see me anyway. Nothing much really changed, except my sugars started to continuely rise, slowly. Things didn’t really changed until January of 2008. I was put on Lantus. At first I was on 3 units. Then it when down to 1.5 units. It eventually went up ALOT. At that point my sugars were pretty horrible. I was going high every day. Into the 300’s.
I had an appointment with Dr. D in June of '08 and he once again took me off prandin because “We have more than doubled the dose in the last few months and it is doing nothing for you. Let’s see what happpens when you are only on the lantus. Call us of you go over 400. We don’t want you that high, but we will not put you on Humalog until you go that high”
I went on vacation about a month later and my sugars were terrible. 300’s ALL DAY LONG!!! I was on 25 units of Lantus at that point. Told you it went up fast!
I went on another mini vacation for 3 days with my aunt, uncle, nan and my brother. Again, sugars were terrible. Since I wan’t on humalog, I didn’t bring it with us.
It was the day before we were leaving.I had woken up at 185, which was the highest I had ever waken up at before. Me, my aunt, uncle and nan went out to brealfast/lunch. I had a diet soda, an omlet, hashbowns and toast.
(Before we left I had a packet of instant hot ceral). So we are out at the resturant and I check my blood sugars and…311? Oh great. Blah. So we eat and we go back to the hotel. I’m sitting outside our room and I check my sugars 2 hours after I ate. Put the blood in and wait 5,4,3,2,1…421??? I had NEVER been that high before.I call my mom in a panic. She said she would call Dr. D. They told me wait an hour and check again. I was 483 at that point. That was at about 2 PM. This was the horrible part. I didn’t have my cell phone on me, my uncle’s cell ran out of minutes and I had to find a pay phone on the boardwalk, that actually worked. so we finally found one.
I called my mom and now I was calling her back. “Kier, they want you to check for ketones. If you have ketones you have to go to the hospital.”
Thankfully they were negitive.
So my mom and dad drive and pick me up. It was a 2 hour drive. We stop to get something to eat and my sugars were 311. It was about 7pm then.
So I gave myself 3 units of humalog. I was on a sliding scale at first. 2 hours after I finished I was 401. Blah. I check again before bed and I was 421. grrr not a good blood sugar day. The next morning I was 176. Not great.
So Dr D. wanted to see me so I went and saw him. After figuring that a sliding scale didn’t work, they gave me an insulin to carb ratio. And insulin pens. Cool, I didn’t have to use syringes any more. I was finally tested for MODY and the results came back negitive. So, yes I do call myself type 1.
I saw Dr. D again in late October/ early November. “Dr, I want an insulin pump.” I was really suprised that he agreed. I really wanted an animas Ping, but my insurance covered a minimed 100%, so I wasn’t arguing, especially since MM was my second choice.
I started pumping insulin on Saturday November 21, 2008 and I have been loving it every since. Going on the pump has been the smartest decision I have ever made.
I do have to say thoughm that if it was not for the CWD forum (childrenwithdiabets.com) especially the CWD teens, I would be totally lost and clueless. They are such amazing people and they have made me come a long way.
pumping definitely helps, especially that nifty bolus wizard. no more math! haha.