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This is one of the contributions to:DIABETES ESSAY AND POEM COMPETITION 2009
My hands are shaking, my heart rate increasing, and I begin to feel lethargic. Instantly I recognize the signs of another blood sugar low. I excuse myself from class and head to the sickbay for a quick sugar hit. I sit back in the chair and think about what my life was like just 2 years ago – before I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. I didn’t even know where the sick bay was and had never even heard of terms such as Hypoglycemia, Insulin or Ketoacidosis. Nowadays I find myself using them on a daily basis. It makes me think back to the day it all began. The day when my life changed from being simple and carefree to consisting of daily injections and blood testing. All the result of a simple blood test.
It was an average Wednesday morning – nearing the end of period two. My friends and I couldn’t wait to get out of maths and to the Ricki Lee concert. As I finished my third full bottle of water for the morning I got back to work. It was then that the ‘office lady’ knocked on our classroom door.
“Sorry to interrupt. Is Gabby Bull in this class?” I raised my hand uncertainly. “Hi, could you please get your bag and come to the office. Your mum is waiting.” Immediately I was confused. “Why was mum here?” “What’s happened, what’s wrong?” I asked myself. Packing up my stuff, I felt myself start to sweat and my heart rate increase drastically as I began to think of the possibilities. The only realistic conclusion I could come to was that something had happened to Pa, my grandfather who had been very sick. This worried me immensely as I nervously headed to the office. I arrived to find my mum waiting for me with an unconcerned look. “Hi bunny – Your test results came back and were a little strange so the doctor just wants to talk to you.” Blown over by relief I happily signed out and followed mum to the car.
The Doctor greeted me and led mum and I into his room. He started by explaining to me about Type 1 Diabetes. I listened for a while but then his words about pancreas’ and insulin all became a blur. I was still having trouble getting over the fact that I might have diabetes. “How can that be?” I asked myself, “How can I have diabetes?” My Dad’s aunty has diabetes. The girl in my netball team has diabetes. But not me. When I tuned in again he explained that my symptoms match those of someone with high blood sugar levels, or an undiagnosed diabetic - extremely thirsty and lethargic. He made a call to a specialist at the Monash Diabetes Unit and explained my situation. They immediately wanted me to come in. When we got there they took me into a small room filled with posters and equipment. An educator got out a kit and did a simple sugar test using blood from my finger. After five seconds the result appeared. She said
“Right, so we’ll start the education program straight away.” And that was it. It appeared that they already had a very clear idea on what the result would be. I didn’t.
The next few days are just a blur. I was too lethargic and tired to care or listen about all the information that was being forced into my brain. I didn’t want to hear about complications and risks or food I could and couldn’t eat. I didn’t want to hear anything at all. I wanted to go back to being the girl who was going to the Ricki Lee concert that Wednesday afternoon with her friends. Not the girl who would now have to monitor blood sugar levels and inject herself 4 or 5 times a day for the rest of her life. These feelings soon eased in the weeks to come, although I was still a little bitter about having a chronic disease.
As I head back to the classroom, my mind is busy reflecting on that significant November day. I now know that having diabetes is easy to manage and has become a part of everyday life. I have hope for the future for me and other diabetics. Scientists are frequently inventing ways of making life easier and someday they may even develop a cure. Those first few days I thought the world had come crashing down on top of me. I now realize that it hadn’t and it was just the beginning of a new adventure in my life.