I'm the new guy
Hi everyone. I'm David. I'm new to TuDiabetes. I've had diabetes for over 12 years. I've read the "coming out" stories of many members, so I thought I'd share mine.
I was 20 years old. I had been experiencing symptoms such as extreme thirst, frequent urination, dry mouth, leg cramps, weight loss - you name it, I experienced it. I ignored my symptoms for quite a while. Looking back, I probably began experiencing some of these symptoms 6 months before I was diagnosed. However, being young and stubborn, I ignored them as much as possible and didn't go to the doctor. By the time I finally admitted something was wrong and made a doctor appointment, my wife (girlfriend at the time) and I were about to drive from Maryland to Long Island to visit her college roommate. So I had an appointment scheduled after our return with my primary care physician.
The drive to Long Island was horrible. I needed to pee constantly. There were several times that we barely made it to a restroom. I even had to pee in someone's backyard because we were in traffic with no way to get to a restroom.in time.
During our visit, I had to constantly quench my thirst. Of course, I was drinking regular soda and peeing every 15-30 minutes. When my wife saw me at one point with my shirt off, she was horrified at how skinny I had become. We decided at that point to cut our visit short and drive home the next morning. I only remember parts of that drive, because I was in and out of consciousness. I do know that the brakes went out in my car, my wife told me that we stopped many many times for me to pee, and it took about 8 hours to get home (about twice as long is it normally would).
I was living at home with my parents at the time. So my wife drove me there. I remember asking for some macaroni and cheese. I don't think I ate much. Then I went to bed. Of course, it wasn't long until I needed to pee. My mom saw me stumbling from my room to the bathroom and knew immediately that I needed to go to the emergency room instead of waiting for an appointment with my doctor. I stumbled in to the ER. I was diagnosed almost immediately. I guess my symptoms were obvious...
I'll never forget that day - July 4, 1999.
When I entered the hospital my blood sugar was 1500. Yikes! I was told I was in a "walking coma" and that I was very lucky. Who knows if I would have been alive the next morning.
I was in ICU for 2 days, in the hospital for a total of 4 days. When I first arrived I weighed 96 pounds. My normal weight at the time was about 130. So I was pretty thin to begin with. I was a skeleton. I gained at least 20 pounds back while in the hospital from IV fluids and getting my blood sugars back to a normal range. I was incredibly weak. I lost so much muscle. I remember having difficulty pressing hard enough on the lancet device to poke my finger.
It took weeks to regain my strength. I remember being so fatigued that I had trouble keeping my arms up long enough to wash my hair. My eyesight became blurry for a couple weeks as my eyes re-adjusted to normal blood sugar levels.
The first year after my diagnosis, my life was monotonous, day in and day out. I was on MDI so I ate the same things for breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. Boring! It was the only thing I knew to do to manage my diabetes. I was in pretty good control, but I had no flexibility. I was on a sliding scale for corrections, but my long and short acting insulin doses were the same every day. So my meal was decided based on how much insulin I took, as opposed to taking insulin for what my meal consisted of. After that first year I started on an insulin pump. Freedom! At that time I chose a Disetronic pump. Anyone remember those? I think Minimed was the only other pump manufacturer that I knew of at that time. I chose Disetronic because they gave you two pumps. So I always had a backup available. Since then I've had two Minimeds. I'm currently using a 722.
I am lucky to have a wonderfully supportive wife, two sons and a daughter. While I don't like having diabetes, I was actually thankful for that diagnosis because I was thinking something much worse was going on! I also feel lucky to have the modern technology that we all enjoy, as well as the DOC.
I'm sorry for making this so long! I've told my story many times, but I don't think I've ever written it.
Thanks for reading and thank you for being such a supportive group of friends! I look forward to getting to know many of you and sharing and learning along the way.
David
I was 20 years old. I had been experiencing symptoms such as extreme thirst, frequent urination, dry mouth, leg cramps, weight loss - you name it, I experienced it. I ignored my symptoms for quite a while. Looking back, I probably began experiencing some of these symptoms 6 months before I was diagnosed. However, being young and stubborn, I ignored them as much as possible and didn't go to the doctor. By the time I finally admitted something was wrong and made a doctor appointment, my wife (girlfriend at the time) and I were about to drive from Maryland to Long Island to visit her college roommate. So I had an appointment scheduled after our return with my primary care physician.
The drive to Long Island was horrible. I needed to pee constantly. There were several times that we barely made it to a restroom. I even had to pee in someone's backyard because we were in traffic with no way to get to a restroom.in time.
During our visit, I had to constantly quench my thirst. Of course, I was drinking regular soda and peeing every 15-30 minutes. When my wife saw me at one point with my shirt off, she was horrified at how skinny I had become. We decided at that point to cut our visit short and drive home the next morning. I only remember parts of that drive, because I was in and out of consciousness. I do know that the brakes went out in my car, my wife told me that we stopped many many times for me to pee, and it took about 8 hours to get home (about twice as long is it normally would).
I was living at home with my parents at the time. So my wife drove me there. I remember asking for some macaroni and cheese. I don't think I ate much. Then I went to bed. Of course, it wasn't long until I needed to pee. My mom saw me stumbling from my room to the bathroom and knew immediately that I needed to go to the emergency room instead of waiting for an appointment with my doctor. I stumbled in to the ER. I was diagnosed almost immediately. I guess my symptoms were obvious...
I'll never forget that day - July 4, 1999.
When I entered the hospital my blood sugar was 1500. Yikes! I was told I was in a "walking coma" and that I was very lucky. Who knows if I would have been alive the next morning.
I was in ICU for 2 days, in the hospital for a total of 4 days. When I first arrived I weighed 96 pounds. My normal weight at the time was about 130. So I was pretty thin to begin with. I was a skeleton. I gained at least 20 pounds back while in the hospital from IV fluids and getting my blood sugars back to a normal range. I was incredibly weak. I lost so much muscle. I remember having difficulty pressing hard enough on the lancet device to poke my finger.
It took weeks to regain my strength. I remember being so fatigued that I had trouble keeping my arms up long enough to wash my hair. My eyesight became blurry for a couple weeks as my eyes re-adjusted to normal blood sugar levels.
The first year after my diagnosis, my life was monotonous, day in and day out. I was on MDI so I ate the same things for breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. Boring! It was the only thing I knew to do to manage my diabetes. I was in pretty good control, but I had no flexibility. I was on a sliding scale for corrections, but my long and short acting insulin doses were the same every day. So my meal was decided based on how much insulin I took, as opposed to taking insulin for what my meal consisted of. After that first year I started on an insulin pump. Freedom! At that time I chose a Disetronic pump. Anyone remember those? I think Minimed was the only other pump manufacturer that I knew of at that time. I chose Disetronic because they gave you two pumps. So I always had a backup available. Since then I've had two Minimeds. I'm currently using a 722.
I am lucky to have a wonderfully supportive wife, two sons and a daughter. While I don't like having diabetes, I was actually thankful for that diagnosis because I was thinking something much worse was going on! I also feel lucky to have the modern technology that we all enjoy, as well as the DOC.
I'm sorry for making this so long! I've told my story many times, but I don't think I've ever written it.
Thanks for reading and thank you for being such a supportive group of friends! I look forward to getting to know many of you and sharing and learning along the way.
David
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Marie B on -
hi David, thanks for writing your story. wow, 1500 is unbelievable, lucky you got to the ER.
I got my first pump, a Disetronic H-Tron, around 1990. I've stayed with them and now have a Spirit, because of the back-up pump. However, I've always used Minimed infusion sets. I just marked my 44th year with type 1 this week. Being part of TuDiabetes has been the best thing I ever did for my diabetes.
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Permalink Reply by David S on -
Hi Marie! I'm glad to have a place to share my story!
I can't remember the model of my Disetronic pump. It may have been an H-Tron, maybe a D-Tron? It was one that was recalled. I didn't know they still did the backup pump! It is definitely a great selling feature. I accidentally wore my pump into a pool. Oops! It was about 5pm. Minimed had a new one to me by 9am the next morning! It was still a bit of a hassle because I wasn't prepared with syringes, etc. I learned a couple lessons that time!
Wow! 44 years! It is inspiring to meet people here who have managed this disease for so long!
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Permalink Reply by Randy on -
Welcome to TuD Dave. Gret story. I think a lot of us who develop T1 as adults don't realize it is coming. It rminds me of a frog in a pot of water. I knew something was wrong, but did not realize just how bad I was doing until I started to work on my BG. Before my DX I had no experience with diabetes and almost no knowledge of it either.Like you I don't really know how long I had this before my DX, but I know it was at least a couple years based on symptoms I noticed and ignored. Now that I understand I kick myself for my denial, but it is what it is. Woulda, shoulda, coulda.
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Permalink Reply by David S on
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Thanks Randy! I had no experience with or knowledge about diabetes either. I learned a lot, very quickly! They say the best way to learn is immersion, right?! I wish I had gone to the doctor much sooner as well. but, like you said, woulda, shoulda, coulda. I try not to be quite as stubborn now!
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Permalink Reply by brokenpole on -
Thanks David. And too long!!! You can never tell the story behind your DX without taking some time. Mine was pretty mundane, as they go, but my still has interesting twist and turns. Come to think of it, I have never told my coming out story on here. Note to self, tell your coming out story so others can learn from it. Or find common ground.
Thanks again David.
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Permalink Reply by David S on
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Thanks for reading, brokenpole! And thanks for sharing your story as well!
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Permalink Reply by Doris D on -
Thanks for writing your story David. I was 10 38 years ago when I took Type 1 I bet it was harder on a 20 year old taking Type 1 than a kid.
Again welcome!!!! I've use MM for 24 years now.
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Permalink Reply by David S on
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Hi Doris! It's interesting to get different perspectives about when we were diagnosed. While it was difficult to have to adjust to diabetes as an adult, I am thankful that I didn't have to learn to manage this disease as a child and go through hormonal changes, etc. And my mom didn't have to worry about me and diabetes as a kid (not that she doesn't worry now (:).
I've been pumping for about 11 years now, the last 7 with MM.
Thanks for welcoming me!
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Permalink Reply by Gerri on -
Welcome, David! 1500 is the highest I've heard. And, a road trip to boot. Damn, amazing you lived to tell your tale.
I was 809 & the (barely) walking dead, so I only imagine how poisoned you felt. I had unquenchable thirst, changing vision, constant peeing & ravenous hunger for about three weeks before I collapsed. The thirst was the worst part. Looking back, I can't believe how stupid I was with every classic symptom not to have immediately gone to the doctor. The last three days before the ER, I thought it was the flu because of constant vomiting. I was drinking grape juice by the gallon & taking syrupy anti-nausea meds. Both brilliant ideas. Still can't look at grape juice without getting queasy. I was still insisting I had the flu when I husband carried me down the stairs, tossed me in the car & raced to the ER. He said I was belligerent & incoherent. Next thing I remember was waking up in ICU & thinking--man, I must have one helluva a flu strain. Like you, I spent two days in ICU & another two days in a regular ward.
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Permalink Reply by David S on
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Thanks Gerri!
Amazingly, I've heard of higher than 1500. But I think I set the record at the hospital I was in! I'm very thankful that I lived to tell my story!
It is nice to be able to relate to the stories of others here.
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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on -
Nice to hear your story! I agree don't worry about the length! There are all kinds of interesting stories.
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