by Shadow Mandoll

Created on: March 31, 2010

I am a type 1 diabetic. I was diagnosed at the age of 12, that was 13 years ago. Being a child diagnosed with diabetes is especially difficult. I was actually diagnosed and hospitalized right before Halloween so you can imagine the torture that put me through. My mother had to test my blood sugar several times a day and night, waking me up at all hours to prick my finger. Taking shots was especially hard because before diabetes I had been terrified of needles. Worst part for me, a chubby little girl, was the limitations on what I could eat.

Things have changed since then, things I am very happy about. Now the rules have changed. Before they told us we could not have certain foods, no sugar. Then ofcourse with the realization that it is in fact carbs that are dangerous we had even more foods banned from us. My mother would have to hide all the "good food" because I would get up in the night and eat it all because I craved it so bad.

Now its common knowledge that we can eat what we want, in moderation, and with taking an appropriate dose of insulin. I'm on a sliding scale because my blood sugar cannot be controlled with the same dose every day. Depending on what I eat I have to be very careful and exact with my dosages.

I became pregnant a couple years ago, this was a frightning time when it should have been joyous. Why? Because if diabetes is not controlled properly it can hurt your un born baby. I did everything right, and still because I'm a diabetic my son had to spend two weeks in the ICU because his blood sugar dropped after birth.

Then, because I'm a diabetic, I healed slower than non diabetics. Some are slower healers than other diabetics. This is me. My c-section incision took nine months to heal. It was an up hill battle the whole way and I was terrified I was going to die.  This is why it is so important to stay on course with your medication because if I hadn't, well, I probably wouldn't be writing this right now.

I do consider myself lucky though. Modern medicine is a lifesaver. If it wasn't for the times I would be dead, no question about it. So in retrospect we diabetics should all be thankful. Being a diabetic is hard, and takes a lot of work, but compared to dying its easy.

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