No. It's not. Diabetes is no where near awesome. It's an awful disease that should be wiped off of the face of the planet for all that it does. And no, I'm not saying that cancer or any other disease is less important; everything deserves attention. But I have diabetes, so that's what I'm going to talk about.
When you are forced to grow up at a very young age, it can maybe skip a step or two in the process of learning. I wish I would have known that I was going to be okay when I was a teenager; maybe I would've taken better care of myself or something. That would've at least helped my mom feel better about everything.
I was diagnosed with diabetes when I was five years old, back in 2000, the spring break of my kindergarten year. I don't remember anything before coming out of the hospital, so that's where my life begins. It isn't the best of the beginnings, having the hazy memory of walking inside, being greeted by grandparents and siblings. For the first years, my parents took care of everything. I had to go to the nurse everyday at school to check my blood sugar before lunch and then after to get insulin for the carbs I just ate. Elementary school went by just like that; going to the nurse everyday and keeping really good track of my sugar. It was here where I met the ginger. I had the biggest crush on him forever. But he was a grade older and went to a completely different middle school then I did. He'll pop up later in this story.
It was middle school when I started slipping. My mom wasn't in control of everything anymore and I stopped going to the nurse everyday. Sixth grade was fine, seventh grade was okay, and then eighth grade was questionable. I don't remember much of my middle school lifestyle; I just remember that one summer break, we went to go visit my grandpa Mike and I was changing into my swimsuit in one of the spare bedrooms and I just started puking. It was awful. My mom had found out that I had been lying about my blood sugar numbers. From then, my parents started to keep track of my numbers again.
High school was the time that things started to get worse. If you're reading this, just make sure you take care of yourself. No matter what. The pump is a lovely invention that I have been on since the third grade; it keeps you from having to take shots four or five times a day. Basal rates are things that are constantly giving you insulin so you don't have to take long lasting insulin at the beginning of the day. A very helpful invention, but when you are a teenage girl not wanting to deal with it and kind of going through a tough time, basal rates are the only thing that is really saving you. It didn't get super bad in high school though. I managed to slide my way through it. There were obvious bumps in the road, doctors yelling at me and everything for not taking good care of myself.
Nothing bad happened until I was nineteen. Remember that ginger? Yeah, we had gotten back together and by now, we had moved into an apartment together. We ended it in December of 2013. After he moved out, well, obviously I was all alone. One night after I got off work, I stopped at the gas station and picked up a package of gummy worms because, well, I like gummy worms. I had scarfed them down before bed and the next thing I knew, I was surrounded by my parents and a few EMTs. I hadn't waken up. This article is getting long, so I'll skip to the spring of 2014. I ended up having to go to the ER because it turns out that I had a case of the DKA, which happens when your blood sugar is super high for a long period of time.
Diabetes sucks. Any disease sucks. I've seen both sides of the end and neither one of them are quite pretty. I still haven't taken good care of myself though. But I recently just got switched insulin. I have been on Novalog since I was six. I am now on Humalog. Humalog back in the day didn't work so well, but as of right now, it's working just fine. Hopefully it'll stay that way though, but it's still scary. I am now taking care of myself. It's only been two days but I already feel so much better. My blood sugar numbers are already drastically back down to normal; I even downloaded a super cool app, a log book if you will.
Kids. If you skipped to the end of this, I don't blame you. This is a long article. But if you take anything from this, no matter how bad your life is and how badly you don't want to take care of yourself, take care of yourself. It takes a lot of effort for me to take care of myself, but even after a few days, I already feel a ton better. I'm stressed out of my mind because switching medicines is always scary, but it's made me take care of myself. Please. Stay alive. Help someone that has diabetes out; ask them what their last blood sugar number was. Give them a hug if they seem down or cranky. A small gesture can mean so much to someone; you never know.
