My Story

After I graduated from high school, I was working at a credit union as a teller. I did normal 18 year old stuff, hanging out with friends, eating whatever I wanted, etc. Over the summer, however, I lost 30 pounds. I thought it was great! I wasn't overweight, but being 18, the skinnier, the better, right? In August, I started feeling "bad". Its a vague word, but I don't know how else to explain it. I began going to the bathroom a lot, feeling incredibly thirsty, and worn out. I went to my GYN thinking it was something that he could fix. He only knew about the frequent bathroom visits tho and thought it was a communication problem between my brain and bladder. So, I went another 3 weeks feeling worse and worse. Finally, one Sunday evening, my mom said "tell me everything that's going on...all your symptoms". So, I told her about the weight loss, being thirsty, feeling tired, going potty all the time. The weight loss was the light bulb! She has a medical background, and immediately thought of diabetes. The next morning we went straight to my family physician and my fasting blood sugar was 250. He told me that I have diabetes. My parents took me to get blood work, and then we went home. It was a weird feeling...what did this mean? All I knew of diabetes was what the movie "Steel Magnolias" portrayed. By the way, I've always loved that movie! Anyway, we ate lunch at Furr's Cafeteria. I had the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn. YUM! We got a call from the doctor saying that I needed to go back to get more blood work done because they needed another test. So, I had more blood taken, and went home again. Mom made stir fry for dinner and as the 4 of us were eating, the doctor called. Here's how the conversation went between my mom and him: mom-hello? Dr.-how's Jamie? Mom-she's fine, she's sitting here eating dinner. Dr-ok. Well we got the lab work results and her blood sugar was over 800 and she's very dehydrated! I need you to meet me at the hospital now. So, we packed up and went to the hospital. They immediately admitted me and gave me an IV with saline. Over night, I gained 10 pounds just from the fluid they were pumping into me. During my 4 days in the hospital, I learned what diabetes is, and how to check my own blood sugar. The first endocrineologist
I had said I had type 2 and didn't need to use insulin. Eight months later, I had a new endo who said I had type 1 and went on insulin shots. (There's more to my life w/diabetes in other posts)
What is your type 1 diabetes diagnosis story?