Diagnosis Story

My diagnosis story starts like many others i have heard over the years, full of all the symptoms of having this relentless condition but not really knowing something is wrong. 

I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when i was 19 on the 21st June 2003. For so long i had been feeling tired, thirsty and i had lost a significant amount of weight which i of course was happy with as i have never been a 'Skinny' girl.  As far as i was concerned for the first time in forever i was finally able to lose weight and keep it off. Little did i know what was really happening. 

I had moved away from home to go to university and apart from a long running illness with a lump in my neck i was otherwise healthy. I spent my first few months feeling generally unwell but i just kept think this is how living away from home feels. I did not realise the tiredness, weight loss, mood swings and the constant trips to the toilet were anything to be worried about. I spent my first year feeling generally unwell but i just kept pushing the feeling that something else was wrong to the back of my mind as i was just having the best time making friends, dancing till dawn and studying hard. I had gone to the university doctors after having yet another infection about my 5th of the year and was given another set of antibiotics and told to go home rest and keep drinking water there was no chance of that not happening as i was drinking bottle after bottle of water a day. Another missed opportunity to find out what was actually happening to me but i just ignored how i was feeling Drs know best right. 

Later that year i was scheduled for surgery back in my home town of Nottingham to have the lump in my neck removed. It was the morning of the 21st of June. I had all my pre admission checks but was asked on the morning to bring in a urine sample for the nurses to check that everything was ok. As i laid on the ward bed waiting for my gown to get changed into a nurse came running over to me making a hell of a racket. She was screaming 'WHY DIDNT YOU TELL US YOU HAD DIABETES?" as she paced towards me red faced. I couldn't find my voice it was like someone had stolen it. i whispered "Cause i dont" 

And so began my journey on this rollercoaster ride that was Type 1 Diabeties.