How I Became a Diabetic

A few months ago I created a family blog.  Then..I created a recipe blog.  Finally I'm making a blog about diabetes.  I didn't even know there was such a thing until I read someone else's a few minutes ago!  I'm a bit of an old pro at this diabetes thing; I've had it forever, but am still learning a whole lot about it!  Lets go back a bit, shall we?

I was born on November 18, 1983 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

In September 1985 I was a 21 month old toddler sleeping in my crib.  My parents awoke to the sound of what they describe as "a hurt animal in the wild."  We didn't have any pets, and I was the only person in the house other than them so it must be the baby they thought.  It was.  Mom and Dad said I sounded like a sick animal moaning and crying in my sleep, in the middle of the night.  They rushed me to the emergency room at CHEO (the kids hospital in Ottawa) where Doctor's begin doing test after test.  I was sweaty, diapers were soaked in urine faster than they usually filled up, barely conscious, and quite unresponsive.  Dad started doing research of his own and suggested to the Doctor that I be tested for diabetes.  The Doctor asked if our family had a history of diabetes and my Dad said no.  So naturally the Doctor said that is not what was wrong and continued doing his own tests of what he thought was the issue.

Let me take a step back for a moment...I was recovering from Pneumonia.  Is this relevant?  Yes and no.  I'll explain in a few minutes.

As the story goes, a children's specialist from India came to the hospital a few days later to see how the hospital worked and she was sent into my room.  The Doctor did not speak English but had a translator.  Her translator informed my parents that her brother had been a victim of the recent plane crash that killed all the passengers (Air India Flight 182 I believe it was).  This is the extent of information we know about this Doctor.  No I lied, we also know that she diagnosed me, on the spot, as a Type 1 Diabetic.

It was my Nanny's birthday too...the day they diagnosed me.  What a present, huh?

Within the next few days my parents were taught how to take my blood sugar levels, administer and draw up insulin, and signs to look for (for high and low blood sugars).  They still used oranges to teach my parents how to give injections back then...from posts I've seen on other people's wall they still use that technique!  My mom is TERRIFIED of blood so when she would give me my needles, it was always in my behind...with her eyes closed.  She did it though, pretty proud of that girl!

Back to the pneumonia.  The doctors said that my pneumonia had mutated to diabetes.  I grew up believing that.  So that's my story.  I got diabetes from Pneumonia.