So I was just diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. The last three weeks of my life have been tossed up, turned about, with slap after slap after slap in the face from doctors and tests. I have been poked with more needles in the past 3 weeks than I have in my WHOLE life. For those that don't know me, I'm DEATHLY afraid of needles.... well not as much anymore. More just those that have to poke me other than myself.
A little side story here. September 2011, I noticed that I had gained a little too much weight. This was concerning because I had gestational diabetes. It was very mild and didn't require medicine. I was able to control my blood sugars with diet and exercise. In fact, I would often wake up in the 40's and 50's (that's very close to hypoglycemic coma levels). I would obviously remedy that by eating sugar to get it up, but the point is I controlled it. It was easy to control. However, I was now at a higher risk to be type 2 diabetic for the next 10 years. I would have to be very careful of my weight and diet and the amount of sugar that I ate. So in September, after I had noticed that amount of weight I had gain (I was only 5 pounds overweight) I knew I had to do something. I changed my diet and I started exercising. I lost a whopping 25 pounds and 2 pant sizes! Then May 2012 came around and was probably the most stressful months I had in a LONG time. I was tired all of the time, drinking a LOT of water and going to the bathroom almost every 2-3 hours. This should have been my first warning sign. But I stopped exercising and started stress eating. But I was still losing weight. I lost an additional 5 pounds. I just thought that I had kicked my metabolism into high gear and I wouldn't have to worry about that kind of thing anymore. That should have been my second clue. My last clue was that I was not healing as fast I ought to have been. It took me almost a month and half to heal a small wound on my leg, and now there is a huge scar from where it was.
Now on to the regularly programmed story: So let's begin about a month and a half ago. Rob and I had decided that we would try to get pregnant again. Autumn just turned 2 in May and we didn't want our kids too spread out, but not close together either. I was using an IUD for birth control for the last year and was scheduled to get it out three weeks ago yesterday. Well everything went fine with the removal with one exception. I experienced some pain that concerned the doctor. He was concerned that I had an infection that would have caused sterility. I was completely devastated. He had blood work done to check for red blood cell count and white blood cell count to look for infection; as well as a urine test, to check for UTI (which I am very prone to having). My blood work came back normal with no sign of infection. However, they forgot to take a culture for my urine test to see what strain of bacteria was growing, if it was growing.
I had to go back in to the doctor's office for more blood work and another urine test to check and see if I had gotten worse and my blood cell counts had dropped out of normal counts. That's when they noticed the absurd amount of sugar passing through my urine. They called me in after the weekend to have a glucose test done. I read 267 three hours after eating. For those that don't know, you should be back down around 120 two hours after reading. My doctor immediately diagnosed me as diabetic, but wouldn't tell me what type I was. He insisted that we wouldn't know for 4-6 weeks, until I got my blood sugars under control. He was going to perform a test that if my blood sugars were out of control would throw it completely out of whack and give a false reading.
This doctor hasn't talked to me in almost 2 weeks! He gave me insulin and told me to take it morning and night. My blood sugars would drop sooooo sticking low before lunch and I would start shaking and feeling like I would almost pass out. But then I would spike after lunch! I told his MA that I was concerned about this, but they obviously weren't concerned. I had enough with not knowing what was going on, not knowing what Type of diabetic I was, and not getting the attention I needed from this doctor. So I started looking for a new doctor. I was referred to this AMAZING doctor from some co-workers.
We had the appointment on Friday morning. I learned more information in 30 minutes with this doctor (who we shall call Dr. W) than I had when I was pregnant and from the other doctor combined! The doctor walked into the room and I told him what was going on and before I could even finish, we point blank told me that I was Type 1. He said that there was no way I was type 2. I am young (23) and I am skinny and well within the acceptable BMI chart range (I weigh 130 at 5' 6"). He gave me instructions with taking insulin that has kept my numbers better under control. I cannot believe the difference in the way that I feel. I feel more energetic and more motivated than I have in months! This is very exciting for me. I thought that being tired was from being a working mother while supporting a husband through school. But now I know better. And I am so glad.
So why am I writing about this very personal matter? Because, I don't want to feel alone and hopefully another diabetic will find this blog and help me not feel alone. Also, I need to be able to express myself and understand my feelings and write it out. So this will be my journey through learning how to better manage my diabetes. Including recipes that I found that are SUPER tasty, but surprisingly healthy! So welcome to my journey!
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