BLOG – My Diabetes Journey – Gas2Ignition – 22/02/2018 – Lucy Wieland.
My Diabetes Journey
Before Diagnosis
Before being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes I had so many different symptoms, but I just didn’t realize it. I would go through around 3 litres of water in just one school day, which then made me need the toilet all the time. I lost an awful amount of weight which made me look anorexic. My dad would send my sister into the toilet with me to see if I was throwing up after I’d eaten; but the truth was I was hungry and thirsty all the time, but didn’t put weight on, due to diabetes. I was on a cruise the two weeks before being diagnosed and I was just exhausted and weak, I would always fall asleep after I had eaten. The day after we returned from our holidays we went to McDonalds where I had ordered a full meal; however I only drank the drink and I didn’t eat any of the food. My mum then said she was going to test my blood sugar when I got home; she was suspicious that I had Diabetes as Type 1 Diabetes runs in the family. My blood sugar levels were showing as high but not reading on the meter, so this wasn’t good. My mum called my uncle, who is a doctor, he had more of an industrial machine that could read higher numbers, however, it was still off the scale. The next option was to rush me to A&E, I didn’t really know what to think, I was only 13 and I didn’t have a clue what was going on, so my only reaction was to be really upset – which then made my mum, dad and sister upset too.
The Diagnosis
It was Friday 13th on the day of my diagnosis, which is ironic. After getting rushed to hospital we already had an idea that I had Type 1 Diabetes at this point. Blood glucose range is supposed to be between 4-8mmols however when I arrived at the hospital mine were 37.5 mmols which meant I needed insulin fast. My weight had also dropped to just six stone. After I had been treated with many injections of insulin and they got my blood sugar back in range, I had to spend the night in hospital and have many different meetings with different nurses and consultants: This was going to be a massive lifestyle change for me and my family. I have to test my blood sugar around five times a day and before I drive; and then I have to count the carbohydrate content in my food and calculate my bolus of insulin – which can be time consuming, however, you get used to it. Even though this was a massive shock, it was easy to adapt to the change and I haven’t allowed it to prevent me from doing anything in life.
What is Type 1 Diabetes?
Type 1 Diabetes is a condition where the pancreas stops releasing the hormone, insulin. Insulin is needed to give certain cells glucose which provides you with energy. This explains why I felt so weak, this is because I had no insulin or little insulin was getting produced so the glucose I had in my body wasn’t getting transported to the cells to provide energy. There isn’t a cure, yet. However there are many organizations raising funds for research for a cure.
Fundraising
Since being diagnosed I don’t really like the fuss or attention – in fact, this blog post is the first time I’ve written about this experience. I want to raise awareness so that people will get checked for diabetes, many people don’t see the symptoms, meaning they only find out when they go into a diabetic coma. Sometimes this means it’s too late and fatalities occur. I have taken part in The Santa Dash, a 50K nightrider in London, several bucket collections and much more. I did all this for Diabetes UK and, again, to raise awareness by people sponsoring and reading about the condition.
Thank you for taking your time and reading my blog – if anyone has any questions please do not hesitate to contact me on lucy.wieland@hotmail.co.uk
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