Wednesday, 18 September 2013

Living with type 1 diabetes


I’ve been living with diabetes for about 5 years now but its only since I turned 17 that the reality of it hit. I’ve found it hard to care for my diabetes since diagnosed in 2008, always up and down having hypos, but it never bothered me. Sounds bad, I know, but it’s never really stopped me from doing anything so I just lived life like I was like any other teen. When I turned 17 I applied for my provisional to start driving only to be rejected after filling out the medical questionnaire. It wasn’t until that moment, when I opened the letter telling me I have been rejected that having diabetes hit me. I realised how badly I need it to be under control. Its amazing how one thing can change someone’s views and make them realise how serious something is. A few weeks after I got rejected I found out that my diabetes was affecting more than driving but it was actually causing internal damage. I was having medical problems due to lack of control and it really scared me. It was my push to become healthier. I had roughly a month to gain more control before I went for more tests. I started counting carbohydrates like I was meant to, giving myself the correct medication and eating healthier. I went back to the hospital after a month to find that I was getting better, not fully but I was improving. I was so relieved I cried.
Not having anyone who really understands what its like living with diabetes makes it harder. I just wanted to keep it a secret and do what everyone else did. It wasn’t until I found out the damage it was causing that I realised I cant do what everyone else does. I’m going to be different that’s what comes with being diabetic. People try to understand, they try and learn about it but what you learn from books is different from what you learn through experience. I don’t mind when people ask me about it cause at least it shows that they care, makes me feel special. I dislike it when people think they know, think that they understand when they don’t. When they have a hypo then I’ll let them pretend to understand. Just like me people don’t actually understand the reality and the seriousness of diabetes until something happens.
When I had my first hypo it scared everyone in my family, especially me. I understand how scared my family get when I have them so I understand why they are very protective. Why they stop me from eating and doing things I shouldn’t. As much as it annoys me I need them to be able to say no. I’ll be going to university next September, scary thought. I’ll be living away from my parents which scares me as one I’ve never been away from them for that long, and two I’m scared about my diabetes. I’m worried about how I’m going to be able to control it by myself. I have a year to sort it out. I’m going to get it under control, I’m going to learn to drive and I’m going to university.
If you too are suffering from diabetes or want to know more about it then follow my blog: DiaryofaDiabetic2013.blogspot.co.uk. I wrote this in hope that people will realise the seriousness of medical problems, and people wont be as idiotic as me and wont mistreat their medication, in hope that people will learn from my mistakes and will look after themselves properly.

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