At the age of 13, I started to slowly experience symptoms of diabetes. In the late winter and early spring, I experienced cold symptoms which lasted for weeks. As spring progressed and I began my softball season, the weight loss started. I had not paid attention to it partly because it was so slow that I had not noticed how I actually looked. In the year 2006, being stick thin was also the trendy aesthetic and none of my friends said anything to me. So really, how was I suppose to know I looked sickly when zero people in my life mentioned it.
After softball season ended, I began to eat and drink MASSIVE amounts of food and beverages. Again, I wrote this off because well I was a growing teenager. In my mind, there was nothing wrong. I was not in tune with my body at 13 in any shape or form. In my family dynamic, my parents were so busy and I signed myself up for SO many activities that I was too focused on those and not how I went from a size four to a size zero in six months.
Looking back at photos of that year, I looked so unhealthy skinny. I am surprised that no teacher, counselor, or any adult really ever asked if I had an eating disorder.
As school got back in session and my hunger and thirst got worse there was one kid that recognized that I had something going on. The day before winter break my group of classmates were walking the halls and as I stopped for my tenth water fountain break he looked at me and said, "I wouldn't be surprised if you came back to school with diabetes."
Now, I knew the word diabetes. My family has a heavy history of it (specifically Type 1). My uncle, my cousin, my brother and fifteen years later my older sister. But, clearly this kid was wrong. I was fine, obviously.
Christmas came and went. My siblings and I went on our visit to our dads house. The date was December 27th and for all intents and purposes was a normal day. Dinner time arrived. I could not stop myself. My body was starving. I ate five or six large bowls of chili. Several pieces of corn bread. Washing the enormous dinner portions down with a minimum of 1 gallons of water.
It was at this point, my dad decided to check my blood sugar. Using my older brothers glucometer, the reading came out as HIGH. Which on the glucometer meant above 500 mg/dL. I washed my hands again and for the second time the reading came out as HIGH.
The rest really came to be a blur. I know my dad called my mom to let her know the situation as he rushed me to the local ER. After several hours there, lab work was processed and I was given several liters of IV fluids. The ER team explained to my dad that they had to transfer me to the children's hospital. Luckily, this happed to be close to my mom.
It was there that I spent several days learning how I was going to manage my new normal. I learned about reading nutrition labels, counting carbohydrates, how to calculate insulin doses, how to give injections, how to check a blood sugar, etc.
Life was never the same. However, this disease helped me understand what direction I wanted my life to go. At the age of 13, I knew that I wanted to go into the medical field to help others like me. Now 16 years later that is what I did and continue to do.
I became a nurse. I have had the opportunity to work with people from all across the lifespan. In every setting that I have worked diabetes has been present. Diabetes is a disease group that affects anyone at anytime. In my personal and professional life, I will continue to advocate, educate, and care for those affected.
All the love,
Trisha BSN, RN
The Diabetic Diabetes Nurse
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