Signs pre-diabetes and adjusting to the new norm.
I was told in my early teen years,"you would have have gotten it by now" and "it typically runs through the same gender" when it came to diabetes as my dad is Type 1 Diabetic. Needles terrified me so I was hoping this was true. Obviously my worst fear became reality however how I found out wasn't so clear and cut.
In the beginning of 2012, I was a junior in High School (yes, Im old). I was playing basketball and dancing. My weight was definitely on the lower side but I just assumed the cause was not eating as I should have. Throughout the beginning of the year I had the urge to use the bathroom every 1/2 an hour and my energy level diminished significantly. My lack of energy resulted in me leaving the basketball team early season and feeling light-headed all the time. No one, even myself, saw any red flags until one visit to my guidance counselor.
As I mentioned, I was going to the bathroom ALOT. So much so that I had maxed out my bathroom passes for the semester within two days. I went to the nurses office to try to obtain a permanent bathroom pass but they required a doctors note.....and that wasn't going to slide for me. So what does any teenager do when they don't get their way? Go the the guidance counselor and try to convince them to help you.
Within standing in his doorway and drinking two water bottles in a record time and asking for more to drink, my counselor started questioning me. "Why are you drinking so much, When did this start, How are you feeling"..."Does your family have any history of diabetes".... My stomach sank... I informed him about my father but its unlikely for me because most get diagnosed at a younger age. He contacted my mother and suggested for me to go for blood work the next day.. I was panicking but tried to convince myself that they won't find anything wrong.
When my mother made the appointment, they recommended I starting fasting after dance class. Like any teenager not taking into consideration I might be diabetic, I was under the influence to eat and drink anything and everything before dance class... this included McDonalds, chocolate, soda. Unfortunately, this resulted in me almost passing out during dance. By the time I got home, my light-headedness was on a whole new level.
Once my mother got home, roughly 9:30pm, she was curious and had me check my glucose (the benefit of having a diabetic father, we had a glucose monitor at home). Now keep in mind, anyone with a working pancreas has a glucose range anywhere between 80-120 (100 being perfect)....Ima drop a chart for reference to stress the concern of my glucose that night.
Okay, so now that you have seen the chart and where your glucose should be..... when we tested my sugar that night, February 29, 2012 (yes, leap year) ,my glucose read back 473. Yeah.... not good. We immediately ran to the hospital that night. They found ketones in my blood but couldn't officially announce that I was Type 1 Diabetic until I was transported to Children's National Hospital. What the first hospital did give me was the teddy bear in that picture. Funny thing is, I still have that teddy bear to this day.
My hospital stay consisted of constant blood work, frequent blood glucose checks ,and lessons about Type 1 Diabetes. Oh, and did I mention my fear of needles? Yeah about that...... they required me to inject myself with insulin before I could leave. It took a lot of tears and 20 minutes of staring at the needle. All in all, the denial of the life changing event and the fear did not go away in just a few days but I celebrate my “Diaversary” every year to remind myself how far I have come.
If you take anything from this story, understand that significant changes in a person might be more than them "becoming lazy" or "not being interested anymore". And just because my diagnosis story didn't result in drastic measures, some end up in comas because no one in their family are aware of the signs of Type 1 Diabetes. Become aware and understand the signs.
Stay weird ✨.
For more information about Type 1 Diabetes, visit https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000305.htm
Hi my name is Cody nd I kwn how u feel I T2D