Personal Narrative: When I Was Diagnosed With Type 1 Diabetes

We started speeding down the road to meet the ambulance. Upon meeting them I was rushed to Wilcox Memorial Hospital, bumping my dad from the operating room right before he his knee surgery. I wasn't suspected to make it, as I had lost seventy percent of my blood. But somehow, with the help of God, I underwent several surgeries and within the next few days I was stabilized and discharged from the hospital.

Living with a chronic condition not only effects the individual, but it effects the entire family. An adolescent living with a chronic health condition not only depends on their family for support, but also on support from their friends, classmates, and healthcare team (Rostami, Parsa-Yekta, Najafi Ghezeljeh, & Vanaki, 2014). Supporting an individual with a chronic disease leaves an emotional impact and can be financially straining as well. Families living with a sick child must find strategies to cope. Whether the coping strategies utilized are positive or negative, they leave a lasting effect on the entire family, as well as the child living with the condition (Woodson, Thakkar, Burbage, Kichler, & Nabors, 2015). Involvement of the parents in this situation is vital to the child’s future success in managing their illness (Landers, Friedrich, Jawad, & Miller, 2016). This paper will explore one family’s story of living with, and coping with, a child who has recently been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D).

Do you know someone who is or was gravely affected by a disease? I do. My brother, Billy, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) when I was 10 years old. When we first realized that he was not feeling okay, we were at school when one of my friends’ mom noticed and told my mom. Before this incident, I was irresponsible and did not pay much attention to anyone other than myself.

I've experienced a lot of events which had great impact on me since I was young. Thinking of life changing events, the one I would like to share is when I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. It was a very devastating day for me. A day that changed my life. I never thought Id get through but today I can say that Diabetes has changed me for the better.

When I was five years old, I was diagnosed with type one diabetes. It was 11 years ago on New Year’s Eve, and I was celebrating the holiday by consuming an immense amount of sugar. My mother, who already had two other young children with diabetes, immediately recognized that I was suffering from the symptoms of hyperglycemia. After I was diagnosed, I was given a book and a bear. The book was about how the other kids would react to my diagnosis, and the bear was covered in colourful patches that corresponded to the areas on my own body that I could give my insulin injections.

I couldn't believe what was happening. My dad turns to the doctor and says "What do you mean ICU?" That's when she tells us I have bleeding in my brain and that I can't eat or drink and need an IV right away. I'm still so mad at my dad to this day because he promised me I wouldn't need an IV. After they get the needle in, they put a bunch of medicine into me and said that it would make me a little weird. "A little weird" wasn't even close to what it did to me. I thought I was going to have to get moved in a mental hospital after taking that medicine. I couldn't spell or talk and when I did talk nothing I said made sense. People were constantly texting me and I didn't know what I was typing so everyone responded with "what is wrong with you?" Honestly at this point I had no idea. My boyfriend was still here and was laughing at me because of how crazy I sounded but I was honestly scared and thought I was going to be this way forever.

Around the end of January I began to feel ill. I was becoming weaker, I couldn’t even stand in the shower by myself. I lost around 10 pounds too. In the beginning of February, I went to the doctor with my mom. The doctor said we shouldn’t worry about it and it was probably just the flu. She also took a couple blood tests just in case it was something else. My mom took me to work with her, because she didn’t want to leave me alone at home. Later on that day, the doctor called my mom and told her to bring me into the hospital as soon as possible. At the time I had no idea what diabetes was. I was only 8 years old. It was February 9, 2007, and I was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes. I ended up staying in the hospital for that whole week, and stayed

My heart was throbbing, heavily and I could feel my body shutting down, my vision was getting hazy. And then suddenly I heard the sirens of the ambulance and two paramedics got down to our rescue as I fell unconscious.

Very true. What was my little jolt? Yes, I know I’m 56 and it has me take a while to figure things out also appreciate them. The depression likes to take over, however I’ve made a decision to change for good. I’ve lost from my family so much that enough is enough. Not be able to assist to my granddaughter’s baptism, it has been the little jolt I need. I’m not at the family picture from that special day. I broke into tears.

Hurriedly my mom packed me into the car and dashed to the hospital. Nobody knew what was going on, one day I was a sweet seven year old boy and the next I was as rancid as a rotten egg and grumpier than a cat. I don’t quite remember what happened when I got to the hospital because on my way there I lost consciousness. A few hours later I awoke and once again master of my senses. At that moment the doctor came in and told me the bad news. I had a lifelong and challenging disease, known as Type 1 Diabetes.

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.

During Christmas vacation, three weeks before my 4th birthday, I began eating more; more than I had and more than I should. I was always hungry, extremely hungry. Hungry, thirsty and tired, painfully dragging myself to and from day to day activities. I gorged myself with food, yet my pants became looser, arms thinner and stomach flatter. The world swirled around me; I couldn’t stand without stumbling. On December 23, 2001, I entered the hospital kicking and screaming, tired and alone. Since that day, I haven’t seen food the same way.

It was a Thursday night at around 12 P.M. when I finally fell asleep I was nervous because the next day I was getting my wisdom teeth cut out. My dad woke me up a 5 A.M. to get me some chicken broth because I couldn't eat or drink anything after 6 A.M. I went to school tired and hungry but I lived through it. After school I went home for about 40 minutes waiting for my mom the get home to take me to get my wisdom teeth cut out. When we got to the place we had to wait about 20 minutes and then they called my name. They brought me into a room and sat me down talked to my mom and I for a couple minutes and then they put an I.V into my arm and put me to sleep. When I woke up there was a woman there that told me to sit in the chair she had in front

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.

Turns out it was something but no one knew, I went to the hospital and they gave me medicine and had me there a long time, 3 days. In the hospital, they took more than 32 jars of blood for tests and stuff like that. As they were drawing blood, the doctor was telling me “ we have never had a kid in the hospital for