The Diagnosis Story
Every diabetic has a diagnosis story, it’s just like a coming out story except there’s less rainbows and your mum cries for a different reason.
I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was 14 years old. At this age, I was mainly thinking about football, playing video games and flirting wildly with my female teachers like any other normal slightly confused about their sexuality teen.
Anyway, my mum had noticed all the constant peeing and drinking and had asked me to do a urine sample-why I thought this was standard procedure I have no idea. I mean, I knew something was up, I was 6 stone and had a tongue that was as dry as Ghandi’s flip flop and yes, I had in fact pee’d myself a little bit in my sleep, however, my biggest concern was why the hell couldn’t I run faster than Emily Peakman anymore?!
I remember crying over my TV dinner the night before going to the hospital for an emergency appointment. I was poked and prodded and allowed to be a human rat for a student nurse who got blood all down my arm. There’s nothing worse than hearing the words ‘whoops!’ when someone is messing around with your canula.
So I had diabetes they said, and I would need to start injecting insulin- with like, old school syringes. Maybe some day I’ll get off that shit, but right now I’m a hardened insulin junkie.
You’d think this was the scary bit, most people fear needles. The difference is that there is no choice. It’s inject or die.
I didn’t have time to deal with it emotionally because that evil bastard Mr Yip was expecting my math homework on Monday damn it, so I just got on with it and it wasn’t even that hard-the equations or the injections (How little did I know how useful that B in math would come years later with the fuckery of Carb Counting).
There was a lot of new information, but it was a novelty and I EVEN got to stop off at the corner shop on the way home from the hospital for a jar of “Splenda”! THE BRAND NEW SUGAR SUBSTITUTE THAT TASTES JUST LIKE SUGAR!! RRP ONLY £5.99!!!, which was obviously exciting and pivotal, and when we got home my mum cried. Coz that shit’s expensive.
Life was OK, but the problems began when the novelty wore off…