Hello friends!
Hello all,
My name is Jay and I'm a newly diagnosed type1. My wife has been stressing that I find a "support group" so I found Tudiabetes.
I was diagnosed 10/24 after spending a week in ICU. Now that I've been diagnosed, everyone tells me I should have recognized the signs, but easier said than done. I was 37 when diagnosed.
I told a few people that wondered why for three months I could only be up for two hours at a time, they all assumed it was because I'm a big boy. I've been active in martial arts my entire career so while I've been big, I can outrun most thin people, as well as out work them. When I tell them I'm type 1, they look me over and most don't believe me. One "friend" said "Oh! I thought type1 happened you know, thinner people and 2 was from people like you, bigger" At that point, I stopped telling people. A1C was 19, bg 422 fasting and ketoacidosis (sp?) put me in icu.
I'm now on the pump and dexcom and doing great with my numbers. My a1c is now 6.5 (one month being out of the hospital it was 12.5) and my Endo has put me on a 100 am fasting and 120 for the day. Although I'm one of the oldest people she's officially diagnosed as Type1, because my numbers have been good, she wants to keep me tested and at low numbers.
I'm a photographer by trade, married for 13 years and proud father of 5 beautiful daughters. My wife has been stressed with this all this so to be fair to her, we packed up and moved cross country. Because of my experiences, I dislike her talking to people, so it's only fair to bring her back to her family.
So that's me in a nutshell.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by MyBustedPancreas on -
Glad that you found us!! Yes, very few people understand the difference between T1 and T2. I have had so many people say to me, "But how can you have diabetes? You're so thin!" Ugh. And many people don't realize that about 1/3 of people diagnosed with T2 are of normal weight. There are unfortunately many misconceptions when it comes to "diabetes" and poor understanding (even within the medical community) about the different forms of the disease. Few understand that T1 is an autoimmune condition.
Your diagnosis definitely sounds class T1. An A1c of 19 is just....frightening! You are definitely lucky to be alive.
I do think having some sort of support is good. But probably what you'll get most out of this site is a good place for troubleshooting. Docs/endos are great, but they don't live with T1D 24/7 like everyone on here. I've learned more from this site than I ever have from an endo or doc. So glad you found us!
Oh, and you'll also find plenty of folks on here who have been diagnosed with T1 later in life (I've encountered at least 1 or 2 folks who were diagnosed with T1 in their 50s).
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Permalink Reply by Helen Doolittle on -
I enjoyed reading your story. I was dx with type 1 at age 54! I had lost 18 lbs, was thirsty and hungry all the time and had no energy. I was told 2 yrs before,that I was type 2. I couldn't control my BS no matter what I did, and was wasting away. Finally my dr got smart and sent me to an endo. He dx me as type 1 on the spot and confirmed it with a blood test. He was suprised I didn't end up in the hospital. I think the fact that I was eating a strict low carb diet and exercising like crazy kept me out of the hospital. I am now on the pump for 2 yrs and doing pretty well. it is a day to day struggle.
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer on
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I am a type one that got it later in life. I was in ICU for 3 days but stayed 5 total. I feel the same way when I tell people I am type 1. I am a substitute teacher and one kid told me that if I lost weight it would go away. What can I say to a kid! I stay active too with my nephew and zumba but still big aka fluffy! Congrats with the A1C!
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Permalink Reply by Pete on
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Welcome buddy, sounds like a fantastic job on your A1C my last one was 8.5, not to bad but could be a lot lower so the saga continues lol. Ive been T1 for about eleven years now yet im still learning about the condition every day, thats one of the reasons i think this site is so great because we can learn from each other and vent our spleens. Loved try there best to understand, but you can never truly understand diabetes unless your diabetec yourself. Chat soon buddy:)
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Permalink Reply by Kathleen Jacobs on
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Hi Jay,
Whew. Glad that you have come so far in your journey in such a short time. Keep up the good work.
And with 5 girls. Wow. I have 1) 26 year old son and 1) 6 year old grandson living with us. Sometimes they make me want to pull my hair out! uh oh. here they come now.
I sure do love this site. Everyone here is so nice and helpful. I have joined lots of groups so I can get lots of knowledge.
I have had T1 for 33 years or so. Just got on a pump that I love and it has really helped bring my A1C down. I also see a nutritionist (at my endos office) once a year. You get some good ideas, recipes and info.
Best wishes to you and your family!
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Permalink Reply by AustinMom on -
Sorry to hear of your recent diagnosis, but welcome! You are in a great place full of people with vast experience in managing the trials and tribulations of diabetes.
I found tudiabetes in the months after my then 12 year old son was diagnosed with type 1 a year ago last November. I had already done a great deal of reading and learning on my own and visited a lot of forums that I didn't find very helpful. I read a lot of horror stories and a lot of posts by people who weren't coping well and found myself getting pretty depressed over my son's disease. I wasn't looking for a group to validate my fears - I can ruminate on those all by my lonesome! I wanted a place to learn from those who had gone before us and could help us learn to navigate our way through this.
I was so pleased to stumble across this forum and find what I was looking for - people who were mostly living well with this disease and from whom I could learn a great deal about helping my son navigate the ups and downs of his new circumstances.
Now, 15 months in, I feel very under control. That's not to say we don't get thrown a curve ball every now and again (like my son's site failure Tuesday when I didn't have a back-up pen with me, we were quite a ways from home and I needed to get him insulin NOW). With all I've learned from the folks here, rather than panic when those situations happen, I can channel my inner MacGyver and deal with the situation with confidence.
Best of luck to you. See you around!
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Permalink Reply by Jigga on -
Thanks to all for the warm welcome!
It's sad, but awesome that such a disease can bring so many caring people together. My mom is awesome and she's old school so she thinks I'm dying from this. I educate her and tell her Diabetes is living with ME! The ONLY time I let it get in the way is when I don't want to do something; (wife) take out the garbage! (me) I can't, I got the diabetis (what my Mom calls it).
It's VERY encouraging to find so many people that aren't "living with diabetes" but forcing diabetes to live with us.
And thanks for the compassion regarding the daughters. Right now, they're all perfect saints that do anything Daddy asks. My wife doesn't agree. I don't think she likes any of them but puts up with them because she doesn't want to go to jail lol.
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Permalink Reply by Michael McClure on -
You're funny, man! Good that you have such a good sense of humor -- it'll get you through a lot when dealing with the diabetis (your mom got that from Wilford Brimley!!). You have a photog website we can see?...
/\/\
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Permalink Reply by Jigga on
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I figure I have to be fun with this or die...wait...never mind.
I usually have a pretty good sense of humor with things. Of course I have some bad days, but my good days far outweigh the bad.
I have a website but it has a lot of my glamour stuff on it so lots of nakedness. I'm working on my general portrait site and once it's up, I'll post it.
Thanks Heathersf for the welcome! It's amazing the amount of ideas and things I've gotten from spending a few minutes every few days surfing here!
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Permalink Reply by heathersf on
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Yes, I've discovered throughout other social media that there are lots of diabetics out there, yet no one knows where to find anyone else. I've just become an Adult Organizer of a group on FB (the "book with a face" social outlet) to put folks in touch with one another so we can learn and be supportive on a local level. It's about to get really busy in my world but our motto is: You are never alone! It's quite liberating when you take charge of your health and you start feeling better. Soon enough, you conquer the world :)
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Hi, I saw your post and was wondering if the group that you have on FB is an open group or something local where you are? We do need more support and a place to share ideas. Hope you have a wonderful week.
Kathleen
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