Personal Narrative: Dealing With Type 1 Diabetes

When I was five, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Even though this was a truly terrible event in my life, there were people who were extremely helpful to me. Obviously, my parents, other family, and friends helped me through the situation, but I am eternally grateful to the nurses. They made me feel like everything was going to be ok as it was happening in the moment. They were the reason I made it through the ordeal. Since then, I could always picture myself going into nursing so that one day, I can be that same trusted support system for someone else.

Being diagnosed with a disease is a good theme for writing a book, or creating a movie, not for someone’s life. My eighth grade year of middle school I was diagnosed with Colitis, a form of IBD. Trying to balance a normal teenage life, while forming a plan that satisfied my fed up intestines was not simple. When I figured my life couldn’t get any more surreal my skin decided to have a mind of its own and take teenage acne to a new level. The summer before my freshmen year of high school I was diagnosed with Pyoderma Gangrenosum, a severe skin condition. Both of these diagnoses in less than a year quickly put a spin on my life. At times I felt like giving up, and to this day my life is a constant battle. Being put through the bumpiest road of my life, has showed me how brave, confident and strong I am.

When most people look at me, they probably don't realize that every day I deal with type one diabetes. Which, is rather ironic considering that diabetes is a vast part of my life. Not a day goes by where I can just stop caring about my blood sugars or the carbohydrates in the foods I eat, even though doing so would be much easier.

Imagine pricking your fingers with a needle five times a day. As a type 1 diabetic, this is a reality for me. My fingertips are callused and scarred. I was frustrated that after years of having diabetes, there wasn’t an easier way to check my blood sugar. I scoured Google Scholar for alternatives and I found a contact lens technology that would be capable of checking sugar levels using only tears. This would eliminate the need to prick my fingers for blood! If an unassuming tear could simplify diabetes care, what else the eye was capable of? My curiosity led me to volunteer as an optometry intern for blind motivational speaker Nancy Solari. Nancy is based in California and I live in Maryland, so I was a remote intern, communicating with Nancy

The scorching hot sun blinded my eyes as looked up. I suddenly started to think about that Glucose ad that was on T.V. The ad was always amusing, the sun sucking out the energy of the little boy with a straw as he played cricket outside with his friends, his mother gives him a Glucose drink then he gets all charged up. I wish mother had made me a Glucose drink too, the sun was tiring. It was sports day today, I had always come and watched my brother on sports day. He always won something, sometimes first, sometimes second, sometimes third. This was my first time competing.

This is it. Today will be the day to end the mystery of all the fainting I have been doing lately. I had my blood tested a couple of weeks ago, because my mom thinks I am diabetic. I don't think I am, but it's always better to be safe then sorry. I can't keep still, I really want to know what has been causing me to faint.

I do not like the vision of myself having diabetes and obesity. I like the most appealing element of life: food. At the same time, I might or might not I like my lack of self control, the weakness that allows me to occasionally have quality yet fatty desserts. As if to make the matter more troublesome, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, my roommate made me a tray of tiramisu, and my slender diet discipline was gone with the wind. I tried my best not to devour the whole tray at once, but instead sneaking a little bit here and there regularly throughout a couple of days.

At the start of my freshman year of highschool, I reluctantly enrolled in a weight training class. Coming into the school year, I was on the verge of being morbidly obese and at risk for my family’s history of diabetes and hypertension. It was scary at first; I was always afraid of people judging the way I looked or the amount of weight I could lift on the bar. After several months of beginner lifting, I took a big step forward and bought a gym membership to lift weights outside of school. I started out going once a week, then twice, then three times, and eventually as much as I could.

September 3rd, 2010. Quite an utterly unassuming day for most. On this day, I am eleven years old and I have a doctor’s appointment. I heaved myself out of my restful bed, and my stomach grumbled and protested along with me. The doctors previously informed me not to eat following midnight, and my absolute favorite meal is breakfast, so I was not too fond of this advice. Ravenous was the only word to describe how I was feeling. After proceeding through the motions of readying myself for the day ahead, I loaded into the car with my mother, and off we went. My mother’s face was haggard with perturbation, and her fingers gripped the steering wheel with a ferocity I had never distinguished before. She was petrified. I was too, but the

Back in July I found out that I have diabetes, and ever since that day I’ve been trying to figure out what I can do to change my life. I’m not going to act like I haven’t looked for quick fixes, because I most definitely did. I am not going to say that I have been making all the right choices since I found out, because I most certainly have not, but I am definitely searching for the way. My current goals are to make sure I get my A1C down to below 7%, lose 20 pounds, and change my eating habits. The first thing that I need to do is slowly wean myself off to many high sugar, and high carb food items. I do not need to eliminate them completely from my diet, but they should be consumed at a minimum. After I wean myself I can focus on adding higher

The universe taunts us with the infinite mysteries it holds. Throughout our existence, we have bargained with the universe in order to release its secrets. But the battle isn’t over yet; especially health. Although people ripped these breakout cures and treatments for certain illnesses from the clutches of the universe, many still remain unknown/ ineffective. Personally, I want to uncover the details of diabetes from the universe.

Throughout my clinical experiences I have encountered a large variety of school cultures and environments. I've been lucky enough to work with both public and charter schools and have first-hand experience with grades one through four. While I have taught and observed all of the typical subjects including math science, reading, and social studies, I have also worked in the schools to educate students in theater as well as health and physical education. From all of these experiences I learned that my greatest passion is in working with young students, grades K-2, in underprivileged schools.

I am a loyal customer of your store at 9 mile rd and Van Dyke in Warren, MI for many years now. Buying my household needs as well as my pharmaceuticals at your store. I am a diabetic without insurance and never had a problem buying my needs at your locations before. Last week that changed.

A patient experience that stands out as significant was the day my evening patient cancelled his or her appointment. On this day, I found a patient at the CSU. When I first approached this individual, he refused to go to the clinic. I explained to him that there is no cost for an assessment and that it is up to him to accept treatment or not. When he came in to the clinic, he looked nervous. I explained everything before starting the assessment to help him feel comfortable. After the assessment I told him about the findings. I explained to him what gingivitis is and what he can do as an individual to help bring his gums back to health. I talked to him about the consequences and the risks associated if he refused to decline treatment. He was

An object that I recently bought was a rock in memory of my cat. My cat was a stray cat, who came into my life when I was 8 years old. This cat was loved by the whole neighbor hood. Toward the end of 2015, my cat got sick with Chronic Kidney Disease. This was a very hard time for me since my mom was also battling cancer. I have always had a fear of needles, but in order to keep my cat healthy, I would have to put SQ fluids. SQ fluids are fluids to keep him hydrated and help with his kidneys. It was horrible seeing him like this because he can’t talk. He could meow, but obviously we don't speak his language. Before I moved down to Los Angeles, I used to live in San Francisco, my cat kept giving non-verbal cues that he wasn’t feeling his best. He found a new sleeping area and would eat that much. At first we thought it was because my mom was in the hospital.