Dia-versary

The painting Michelle made for me for my anniversary. 

Today I received a phone call. They told me that my blood glucose level was 24 [432 mg/dl] and I needed to come into the doctor's office.   I finished off a cookie I had been eating on the couch with my sister, grabbed my purse and yelled upstairs to my mom, "I'm going to the doctor's my blood sugar is 24!"  I drove to the doctor's office and I couldn't tell you what I was thinking - or if I was thinking at all.  I paid for parking, or parked along the side of the road, and walked into the office to tell them I had just been called.

They sat me down in the waiting room with other patients coughing and hacking away.  I still hadn't figured out what 24 meant. I remember my mom texting me, just asking questions - she had to know it was diabetes, but she never said it once.   I was passed around from room to room, as the fill-in doctor tried to figure out what to do with me.  He seemed  a little but unsure, and what I hate the most was that he told me I would be most likely on pills. Nothing was said about needles.

I was there from morning until they were closing down, by the time I left the lights were off in the office.  It was confirmed I had diabetes, I made a couple calls and asked if I could go home and grab some things and then head to the hospital.   I wasn't scared of going to the hospital - it still hadn't hit me what was happening - after all it was just a pill I was going to have to take just like my Grandma and Grandpa.

When I got home I was flustered - I had already told my mom to start packing some things.  She was a little panicked too, she recalls she had to work that day, so she had to call in and say she couldn't go. She drove me to the hospital and I was instantly given a bed. Soon, I found out I would be given needles every four hours, and about those pills - they would be needles for the rest of my life.

I hardly cried, in fact I was smiling at the edge of the hospital bed, and the doctor said to me, "Why are you smiling - you've just been diagnosed with diabetes"  I just shrugged my shoulders, but now when I think about it, that smile that I got in 'trouble for' has never left and will never leave.

This was all three years ago to this day.  Today, I am actually just sitting there, enjoying a nice morning in London, Ontario. I have already graduated with a diploma of Liberal Studies, and now I am attending an amazing University.  I am sitting here, not having to take needles every day - I have a insulin pumps that keeps me alive.  I have met amazing people - and I am not even exaggerating. I have also done things I would have never dreamt of doing pre-diabetes. I've also managed to keep a blog going since that very moment I left the hospital.

Today is a celebration because I have accomplished so much since that very day in the hospital and I am healthy and happy which is most important.  I am an example of what diabetes can look like - it doesn't have to be a horror story, or a horrible life sentence - diabetes can be fun, happy, cute, exciting, and a drive to do your best.

Kayla