As the 13 year "reunion" of my diagnosis approaches I find myself reflecting .... remembering the morning that certainly felt like the most isolating and bewildering moment of my life.
It was only about a month after my 13th birthday, 8th grade. I probably had one of those outlandish pool parties at home in the middle of November where it took my Dad a whole day to heat the pool and my mom had strict orders to get pie, NOT cake!
Our family (Mom, Dad, Megan, Ant, and me) packed into our suburban for our annual ski trip to Tahoe between Christmas and New Years. And anyone who knows my dad knows that you better go to the bathroom BEFORE you get into the car because stopping anywhere for anything is pretty much out of the question. Being a pretty good rule follower I made sure to do so, twice!, before getting into the car and allowed myself a small water bottle for the trip. Low and behold, I had to pee not once, not twice, not three times, but FOUR times in the less than 4 hour drive it took us to get there. By the last time, suffice it to say, Dad was not happy and I was forced to squat on the side of the freeway if I really had to pee. Pretty embarrassing as a 13 year old with a caravan of family friends pulled over beside you...
At any rate, the rest of the week continued on this way. All hour trips to the bathroom to pee. An amazing appetite and feeling like no amount of food ever filled my stomach. And the most intense thirst for anything liquid all hours of the day. I might as well have been in the middle of the Sahara Desert with no sign of an Oasis nearby. To top it off, I was losing weight and fast!
The night before my mom scheduled an appointment to see the pediatrician I woke up in a puddle of my own urine. I was sick. Thirsty. Tired. Confused. And EMBARRASSED. I broke down. Something was wrong. In true fashion my mom cleaned up ... and then held me as I cried.
The next morning we made a visit to the doctor who suspected Type 1 diabetes with a urine test and I was immediately checked into El Camino Hospital. It all happened so fast and that day is really a blur. Between meeting some doctors, learning how to test a blood sugar, and practicing insulin injections in an orange I am not sure what was going through my mind. At 13 years old how do you process such a life changing event? Even at 26 I am still processing ...
