User blog:Acebatonfan/The "D-word"

The past few months have been an uphill battle for me, and my life has forever changed from these precious months.

My Story
As what some of you have known, I was not exactly feeling like myself since my move in July. I was sleeping constantly, losing an incredible amount of weight (60+ pounds in three months), drinking a lot more, and just feeling like crap. I believed it was simply depression from the move and increased levels of stress from school starting back up.

September and October flew by, and my family became really concerned about me. We all thought that it was from the move and decided to wait until we found a local doctor until we got things checked out. Things took a sharp turn-around on one blustery day in November: November 6th, 2013.

My day started out like normal. I woke up, got breakfast at Dunkin Donuts with my family, and went to school. There, I went to AP chemistry and celebrated that the next unit would be review for me, then to English as my class and I speculated whether our teacher was finally fired. Anatomy flew by as I took an exam on either the integumentary system or respiritory system, and economics was spent awkwardly staring at the guy I like while we worked on a project. As I got home, I began working on my chemistry lab report until I left the house at around 4:30 for my hair appointment. Before the appointment, my mom and I took a quick drive to Walmart to pick up some food for the rest of the week. We walked out of the supercenter, and I saw the most beautiful sunset, not knowing that it would be the beginning of a hell-filled night.

We stopped off to get something to drink before going to the stylist. I have become incredibly thirsty, and I could not go a half hour without either needing to have a drink or sprint to the restroom. I walked in to get my hair cut, and all seemed well until my stylist, whom I have only seen once prior, motioned my mom to get into the room with me. She commented that my hair seemed to fall out every time she touched it, and she wanted us to get to an urgent care before it closed for the night to get my thyroid checked. She gave us the directions to the local clinic. While in the car, my mom and I debated whether it will be worth it to go to the urgent care. After telling her that it would probably be worth it in the end, because we will probably not be able to get an appointment with a doctor for at least a solid two months, we flew off to the urgent care.

While at the urgent care, they decided to do a blood and urine test when I complained of my tiredness. After these tests, the doctor rushed in and said that I needed to get to an emergency room as soon as possible. My blood glucose was 579, and my urine had a large amount of ketones. I was in the middle of diabetic ketoacidosis, could be dead within twenty-four hours, and I didn't know I was diabetic.

We debated with the doctors and wanted them to wait five minutes for my dad to come home and take me to the hospital. They said that, if he did not come within ten minutes, I would need to be rushed there via ambulance. Thankfully, my dad came shortly afterwards, and we both sped off to the hospital while my mom returned home to tell my grandmother and sisters that I am going to the emergency room.

During my stay in the ER, I was given lots of IV insulin and potassium. With all the DKA has done, I became a hot mess, to say the least. As the stay grew longer and longer, it became obvious that I was going deeper into DKA; I was becoming incredibly confused and breathing heavily, both classic symptoms of it advancing.

Long story short, they managed to bring my glucose down from the ketone-producing levels at around 6 in the morning the next day. I was taken up to ICU and spent another two nights there. I learned about my type 1 diabetes diagnosis and tried to get as much learned within that short time in the hospital.

Within twenty-four hours after leaving ICU, I left the hospital with very bruised fingers, scared s***less (sorry for the swearing) of what could have happened, and a big bag of diabetes supplies -the things I will be living off of for the rest of my life.

'''I was very lucky that I had someone looking out for me that night. If I did not go to my hairstylist that night, or if I have not gone to that urgent care, the DKA would have progressed, and I could have gone into a diabetic coma or total organ failure within hours.'''

Anyways, I know a lot of you might be wondering what this all means -and what diabetes is in the first places. I have complied a FAQ's section explaining how this diagnosis will affect me.

What is diabetes?

 * There are two main types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2. Type 1 is an autoimmune disorder that affects the pancreas's ability to produce insulin. In other words, the immune system believes the pancreas is a threat and attacks it to the point where it produces very little to no insulin.


 * Type 2, on the other hand, is more commonly known as insulin resistance. The pancreas sitll produces insulin, but the cells cannot use the insulin.

How common is diabetes?

 * 25.8 million people have diabetes in the US -roughly 8.3% of the population. 215,000 children and adolescents have it in the US -about 0.23%.


 * About 5% of diabetes cases are type 1 diabetes. 95% are type 2.

What causes diabetes?

 * There is no known cause for type 1 diabetes. Researchers suggest a genetic and enviornmental correlation in addition to certain diseases increasing the risk of developing it.


 * The risk of type 2 diabetes increases with obesity, sedentary lifestyle, and age. Certain races are also at an increased liklihood of it.

Are you a type 1 or a type 2?

 * I am a type 1 diabetic

Is there a cure to diabetes?

 * Not yet. There are only treatments, but no cure.

What is the treatment for diabetes?

 * Type 1 diabetics are placed on insulin for the rest of their lives. Typically, this includes a combination of long-acting (basal) insulin taken once a day and short-acting (bolus) insulin taken at mealtimes. Glucose monitoring is also important.


 * Type 2 diabetics are treated with diet, exercise, oral medication, and insulin. This diabetes is typically considered reversible.

What are the complications of diabetes?

 * There are two main categories for complications: short-term and long-term.


 * Over the short term, especially for those being treated with insulin, hypoglycemia, low blood glucose is a concern. It is very easy to take too much insulin, and this can cause insulin shock. Symptoms usually include shakiness, irritability, sweating/feeling of warmth, headaches, tiredness, seizures, and coma. It is key to catch a low blood glucose before it drops any further. Typically, if I drop below 70 mg/dL (the American measurement of blood glucose), I will consume a quick-acting source of carbohydrates (sugar) and test again in fifteen minutes.


 * Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is also a life-threatening short-term complication of very high blood glucose in type 1 diabetics. When the body has no insulin, it can not break down carbohydrates into glucose (energy). The body then resorts to burning fat for energy, which produces a toxic substance, ketones. When too much ketones build up in the body, the blood can become acidic, and diabetic coma and organ failure can occur. The main symptoms are a fruity smell on the breath, deep, labored, breathing, confusion, and coma. This requires a stay in the hospital and the administration of IV insulin.


 * Many of the long-term complications happen when blood gluose levels are elevated for a very long time. These typically include: eye disease, nerve disease, kidney failure, cardiac failure, amputations, and blindness.

Can you eat sugar?

 * Yes, I can. I take insulin for any sort of carbohydrate I eat, including sugar and pizza. In my personal opinion, I do not like eating a lot of sugar. It tends to cause my blood glucose to go extremely high and then extremely and suddenly low.

Can I catch diabetes?

 * No.

Did you get it from eating too much sugar?

 * No. My immune system simply attacked my pancreas's insulin-producing beta cells to the point where my pancreas cannot produce any insulin.

How do you get your insulin?

 * I take muliple daily injections of both basal and bolus insulin. I take my basal insulin daily around bedtime and my bolus insulin any time I am eating something that is above a certain number of net carbohydrates.


 * Other diabetics get their insulin through an insulin pump that feeds insulin through a tube to their bodies.

How long will you live?

 * As long as I follow my insulin schedule, I can live a long and average lifespan.

Where can I go to get more information?

 * TheAmerican Diabetes Association offers information regarding both type 1 and type 2 diabetes as well as local walks to support diabetes research.



Overall, I am still like everyone else and am completely normal. An insulin pen is my pancreas, instead of it being inside of me. As long as my glucose remains within control, I can do almost anything a normal person can do, including yelling at all of you for creating NCU pages. ;)

Feel free to ask any questions in the comments section!