Diagnosis story

I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when I was 11 years old, almost 12. I was diagnosed on June 21st. For a long time I had been feeling weak, thirsty, tired and just generally unwell, I didn't think much of it and really just put it to the back of my mind. However I remember weighing myself one morning and the scales screaming back 6st11. I was probably about 5'7 at the time so obviously, that wasn't a healthy weight. I went about my life as usual and briefly mentioned it to my mum because again, like I said, I didn't think it would be anything. Waking up every morning would bring a seriously dry mouth, my arms felt like lead, it was a chore just getting out of bed, I started taking 2 bottles of water to school and would finish one before I had even had morning break, then I would finish the other one half way through the day. I even found myself asking my friends for water because every sip of water felt like it was disappearing as I drank it, absolutely nothing would quench my thirst. It was summer, I was skinny, thirsty and tired, I was wasting away and we didn't even know it.

We went to the doctors after the symptoms sticking around for weeks, we told him what I was experiencing and he ordered a fasting blood glucose test, this was on a Monday. On the Friday we got a call from the doctors who told my mum that I had to go in, but it "wasn't urgent" they said. We went in that afternoon and my blood sugar was 16mmol. He pointed to a little graph on the desk and said that any fasting blood sugar over 11mmol is a diagnosis for diabetes. Just "to be sure" he ordered another blood test for the next week. His advice for us in the meantime was to "avoid carbohydrates"...thankfully my mum is smart and had the incentive to get me a blood sugar meter so we could keep an eye on my blood sugar. At the weekend, on June 21st 2009, my blood sugar came up as 'HI' which means it is too high for the meter to read. My mum called the 24 hour doctor on the NHS line and my parents were told to bring me straight to A&E.

It was the quickest wait in A&E ever, can I just say! I only had to weight 10 minutes or so.

The hospital confirmed my diagnosis, "there is no doubt you have Type 1 Diabetes". I wasn't overly shocked however, because I sort of knew it that I had it. With all the symptoms and how high my blood sugar was, I had already come to terms with it in my head. I stayed in hospital for three days and learnt how to inject an orange, how to recognise high and low blood sugars, and other various things like getting my first blood sugar meter and my first insulin pens. My mum stayed with me for the whole 3 days and my dad came up and visited every day, they of course had to learn how to test my blood sugar and give me insulin too! They were and still are my biggest support and I love them millions, they are everything to me!