Those of us that have been recently diagnosed must contend with the idea that our lives have changed.
For some this is easy during diagnosis because we are just happy that we have an answer to why we feel so bad....
As of the writing of this, I use the term "recently" a bit loosely because it's been nearly 10 years since my own diagnosis at age 25. I got out of the hospital a day before my 26th birthday.
So let me begin by telling my story and from there we'll get into "the good stuff"...
Around the middle of June 2007 I felt like I was coming down with a cold. Was weak, had cold sweats, thirsty and rarely hungry, even a bit nauseous from time to time.
On top of all that I was about a month into a new job. Why did I have to be getting sick now?!
After about a week of this, I suddenly became thirsty to the point that I was literally drinking more than a gallon of water daily. I turned to the "inter-webs" entering search terms like "extreme thirst". I got results like, Diabetes, dehydration, etc... I dismissed them all assuming at this point in my life diabetes was out of the question, and with as much water as I was drinking, I couldn't POSSIBLY be dehydrated.
Another week later, it was to the point that I looked at my boss in desperation and asked, "do you have any idea what would make me so thirsty all the time?". He responded with a shrug, "diabetes?". His wife had diabetes, so I assumed that was probably his "go-to" for many of the symptoms I was experiencing. Meanwhile, I'm still putting away giant mugs of water like and Irishman puts away pints!
Another few days and I suddenly started experiencing stomach cramps. When I woke up on the 3rd of August, I purged the contents of my stomach and when my roommate woke up they said, "you're going to the doctor". I didn't argue... When I arrived at the doctors office, I had to keep getting up to go to the bathroom and then drinking from any source of water I could find (water fountains, which I NEVER drink from). I was desperate for air and water, and just couldn't get enough of either. It was like I had just run miles!
I'm so miserable now that I wish I could tell my torturers what I knew, but I didn't know what they wanted!
The doctor said with some actual concern in his voice, "He needs to get to the hospital. Now...". My roommates drove me to the hospital where I stood hunched over the counter while they described my issues.
I lost about 24 hours over the next 48, but I remember the E.R doc. with a stethoscope near my throat asking me to swallow and I simply couldn't do it without water. My mouth was so dry my tongue wouldn't move to swallow without water.
At some point the E.R. doc walked in with an expression on his face that indicated a serious condition. My mind was racing! What was he about to say?! Cancer?... Some other obscure diagnosis?! Good lord man, just tell me what I was dealing with!!!!
He said, "You have Diabetes..."
Immediately my mind went to several people in my life. I thought, "that sucks, but surely I can deal with this.".
I said, "ok, what happens now?". He responded with, "we'll need to run some tests to insure organ functions". They started pumping liquids through the I.V. and that is when I started losing time.
Over the course of the next three days they starved me only providing broth "to eat", while every hour or two an individual came in and stabbed me in the finger and then stabbed me in the belly. At this juncture I can only assume they are trying to test how long it takes to break me a second time!!!
On the 6th of August, I was released from the hospital and feeling FAR better than when I went in. I knew though it was only the first step on my new adventure.
This brings us here. It's my goal to provide my own experiences with Diabetes and with the tech offered.
Long story, short... I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at 25 now I'm 35. I've had the experience of undiagnosed diabetes both with myself and with others in my life since then. It's awful and I wouldn't wish it on anybody. Starving while eating, dehydrating while drinking gallons of water. It's bad.