Hi, Pavlos. Great story! and really really well written. Thanks for sharing it with us. You’ve got great parents, by the way. I’m a grown man and I totally cried after I was diagnosed…it’s tough news but you had wonderful family support. And by the way, since I didn’t need insulin, my first “educator” was a hospital dietitian who looked out the window the whole time, totally phoning it in, like she was completely bored. I should have let her have it like your dad did — instead of having to pay her $60. I left more confused than ever.
Wow I didn’t realize you’re so new to T1D. I’m glad you’ve found this community so early!
I was diagnosed 11 years ago and have just found this community- they are all so helpful and kind and understanding!
You are very brave. Please keep me updated on your “family” escapades. I want to start one soon but am a bit scared of what’s going to happen with my and my baby’s bodies.
Thanks it’s all been a bit overwhelming but there really have been a lot more answers here then I’ve gotten anywhere else. I’'m planning on running a half marathon in January to really get my body in good shape and then the baby race is back on. I"m pretty terrified over the whole prospect, but my dr assures me that it’ll be ok. Mine is going to be a bit more complicated since I have a clotting disorder, and have already had complications for that, but I guess we’ll just deal with it as it comes.
Hi Mattie,
I thought I’d tell my story in response to yours because I was also diagnosed at age 25 (I’m 31 now). I have always had blood sugar problems but on the hypoglycemic side. In high school it was getting to the point where food controlled my life because you could set your watch by my BG drops - every two hours I had to eat. Right before college, I had a glucose tolerance test done and responded similar to a diabetic but hadn’t “flipped over” yet (i.e., I still made insulin). So they put me on a diabetic diet and forbade all sugars…nature cursed me with a major sweet tooth!!
Fast forward to first year of grad school, I thought I was going insane. A “professional student”, I thought it was just burn out…my emotions were a total mess, I was narcoleptic and just attributed it to 16 credit hours of doctoral level classes with four term papers and a crashed computer. Christmas vacation I went to the mountains…began drinking tons of water but had heard the elevation will do that (I’m a native Floridian…flatlander that is!) and so didn’t think anything of it. When I got home I started getting random infections and began dropping weight drastically. Finally went to the ER and BG was over 400 and I was very dehydrated. Unfortunately, I didn’t have health insurance and the county clinic would only see me once every 3 months. They misdiagnosed me as Type 2 and put me on oral meds that didn’t do anything. 3 months later they would bump the dose, didn’t work…3 mos later, try a new drug, didn’t work…3 months later, bump the dose…you get the picture. Over the next year and a half I lost over 100 lbs. In the ER, they told me weight loss might “cure” my diabetes. WRONG!! My BG was worse than ever! Long story short, I got married, got health insurance, got put on insulin and lo and behold, my numbers came down… 6 years later, I’m still learning. Just had my first DKA that landed me in ICU for 4 days a few weeks ago, but live and learn. Strangely the near-death experience has made me much more confident about my control. I now realize what can happen if I don’t do what I need to do, barfing or not! And it led me here, to a community where I don’t feel so alone in my daily battle. Hang in there!
it’s all been a bit overwhelming but there really have been a lot more answers here then I’ve gotten anywhere else. I’'m planning on running a half marathon in January to really get my body in good shape and then the baby race is back on. I"m pretty terrified over the whole prospect, but my dr assures me that it’ll be ok. Mine is going to be a bit more complicated since I have a clotting disorder, and have already had complications for that, but I guess we’ll just deal with it as it comes.