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This is one of the contributions to:DIABETES ESSAY AND POEM COMPETITION 2009
Ruby the teddy got diabetes last year,
When she found out she flooded out tears.
The nurse sat her down and said it’s alright,
So Ruby got rid of the upsetting fright.
The nurse said Ruby was special not bad,
And that made Ruby, very, very glad.
She told Ruby of her pancreas troubles,
But that got Ruby in a bit of a muddle.
The Nurse said:
When you eat some yummy food your stomach mixes it all around, like food in a blender or clothes in a washing machine. It changes the food that you eat into sugar, and then the sugar is taken around your body to keep it working.
But the sugar will not move on its own, it needs a substance called insulin. Insulin is like a babysitter, looking after sugar until it is needed, but unfortunately, the babysitter that you hired is sick, and can’t look after the insulin or sugar you have. When your body doesn’t make enough insulin it is called Diabetes.
When Ruby heard this she thought she had been naughty, or maybe caught it off somebody, but the nurse made her feel better again because she knew that it isn’t because you have been naughty or eaten too much.
While they were talking, Ruby felt thirsty, and also needed the toilet. The nurse said these were symptoms of diabetes, and also said you could feel hot, hungry, or feel really sick.
But even though the nurse had told Ruby about diabetes, Ruby wondered how she would get better, and the nurse said, “we cant make diabetes go away, but we can give you medicine to stop you feeling sick.” Ruby asked the nurse if she was going to have it as a drink, because Ruby liked them. But the nurse said no. So Ruby wondered if she would take a tablet. But the nurse said no again. She said Ruby would have to have an injection. Ruby was scared, but the nurse reassured her saying that you can hardly see or feel it.
As Ruby looked at the needle, she was amazed. It looked more like a ‘Pen’ than a needle. The nurse said she could inject herself in her arms, legs, tummy, or bottom, and warned Ruby to always change the needle and change the place each time to stop getting bruises on her body.
Before leaving the Hospital, Ruby gave all the Doctors and nurses a big hug, and they gave her a blood sugar monitoring book, to record all the insulin she takes and all the sugar that is in her blood, so the Hospital can check up on her diabetes. They also gave her a blood sugar meter, so Ruby knows how much sugar is in her blood: she checks it before she eats or does sport by pricking her finger and putting it on a special piece of card. And after that Ruby left.
After a week or so, Ruby was back to her usual self. But Ruby started to feel shaky and dizzy, when she was exercising, or hadn’t eaten enough. This is called a hypo and can also happen when you have taken too much insulin. A hypo means that you don’t have enough sugar in your blood, and can easily be fixed. Ruby got told when she is hypo she should eat or drink something sugary like sweets or juice, and then eat some bread or biscuits to stop you going hypo again. Ruby also discovered another problem, High blood sugar. Ruby remembered what she learned about this in Hospital. It happens when you eat too much, don’t take enough insulin, or you are sick. This doesn’t happen to Ruby a lot because she knows that it makes her feel sick and she might have too go back too Hospital!
Ruby sometimes feels upset about having diabetes, but she knows it doesn’t stop her from doing anything that her teddy bear buddies can do, if not more!