My Life As a T1D

Chapter 1: How It All Started - Part 1: Diagnosis

Before I was diagnosed, I was a normal kid living a normal life. I had a house, a dog, a family, friends and a school, well I still have all those things but everything is a little different now. What could possibly happen to me? It all happened around January 2011, when I was in first grade. I got really sick with a virus that was going on in school. I stayed in bed, went to the doctors to get some medicine, and didn't go to school for a week. I used a nebulizer every night. A nebulizer is a machine that you put on your nose and mouth with drops of medicine. It helps cleanse your system every time you inhale. It wasn't the most fun having it on but I had to have it if I wanted to get better.

Eventually, I got better and went back school but then three months later my parents noticed something wasn't right. I was drinking water a lot, lost weight, went to the bathroom often and I was lethargic almost 24/7. These are all common symptoms of T1D, but we didn't know. I was so thirsty that I would wake up once or twice in the night to get a cup of water. I was always asking my teacher to go to the bathroom at school as well. I would usually arrive from school and immediately want to go to bed. My parents did what they thought would help. They thought I needed more sleep so I started going to bed around 4:00 p.m, as soon as I got home from school. I usually went to bed between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. My parents thought that I was coming down with a cold from sleeping so much. At school, I had an absolute of no energy so when everybody went down to the playground for recess I simply stayed in the classroom and drew, wrote or read a book. When my teacher asked why I wasn't outside playing with the other kids I told her I was too tired to walk down the stairs that led to recess. My teacher, Ms. Sally, called my parents and told them that something wasn't right with me. I mean, face it, what 1st grader doesn't to go to recess because they're tired? If I heard of this I would think that kid is really sick!

Something was really wrong with me. So my parents called my pediatrician and he asked them to have some blood tests done. I remember feeling tired of all the tests but I didn't really complain either. I have always been brave and not scared of needles. After all the tests were made my parents and I waited patiently for the doctor to tell us what was going on.

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On Sunday, May 9th, 2011 my parents got the call that changed our lives. Who do you think the call was from? That's right, my doctor. My only memory from that moment is: My mom picking up the phone and telling my dad, "We have to go to the hospital, now!" I laid in my mother's arms in the back seat of the car feeling terribly weak. I didn't know what was happening at that moment........I didn't care about the world. All I desperately wanted to do was sleep. My mom tried to keep me awake, but I just couldn't keep my eyes open or hold my head up right! I was too weak!

I remember laying in the backseat, with my head on my mom's lap. "Mom! I want to sleep. Let me sleep. I'm tired", I would complain each time she shook me awake.

"Amaia, you can't fall asleep. I know you're tired but you have to try to stay awake, sweetie". My mom said. Why couldn't she let me sleep? Didn't she understand that I was tired? Why was she so desperate for me to stay awake? Most important of all. "Why did Mom have so much worry in her voice?

We rushed to the Hospital Metropolitano where a team of doctors were waiting for us. I was only 7 years old so I didn't know what was going. My mother called Nono and Mita (my mother's parents, my grandparents) to meet us at the hospital. I remember being really mad and annoyed at my mom. All the questions above were soon to be solved when I entered the emergency room.

We were received in the ER by the team of doctors who examined me thoroughly the building. My dad was asked to sign papers at the desk while my mom stayed with me. He came promptly to stand next to her feeling an uncertainty of what was going on.

Nurses and doctors examined me. They poked and drew blood; examined my eyes, heart, pressure and more. You know, they did what is normally done when you go to the ER. Then the lady took out a glucose meter. That was the first time I had seen the machine that I would be using for the rest of my life. She had a tiny needle and pinched my finger. I barely felt it. I was too busy looking at all the machines in the room and wondering what each of them did. I have always been very curious.

Now let's take a break from storytelling. In order to continue I am going to teach you a little bit more about T1D. First you have to understand what glucose is (the proper name for sugar) and blood which runs in our body and in the the diabetes world it is known as BG. There are 2 main ways of measuring your BG: you can check you levels using urine or blood which is more accurate. When measuring blood you either use mmol/l (millimoles per litre) or mg/dl (milligrams per deciliter). I use mg/dl. Just little more learning to do and then we're done. A normal BG range in mg/dl is from 80-100. Your BG range changes throughout the day depending on what you eat, how you feel and the activities you do. If your BG is around the 80's then your body tells you to eat by making you feel hungry. If your BG is around the 100-120 then your body will produce insulin to help get it back down. No more lessons. Let's get back to storytelling.

The number that showed up on the glucose meter for me in the ER was 680 mg/dl or if you understand the other way 37.7 mmol/l. Usually your body would never allow your BG to get this high because it would have made insulin. Well since my body had allowed my BG to come to that level that meant that I wasn't making any insulin. Which means.......do you know where I'm getting?.........That I have Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). The blood test confirmed it. No doubts. No going back. It was definite. I'll say it one more time. Sunday morning, May 9th, 2011, at age 7 in first grade, one small blood drop on one small machine changed my life forever. I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. 

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Hope you liked this chapter!