I was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of ten. Then I had lost weight and I was always sick. My parents decided to take me to hospital where it was discovered that I was suffering from type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes or insulin –dependent diabetes produces little or no insulin. Insulin is a hormone needed to allow sugar (glucose) to enter cells to produce energy. Personally, I felt nothing was wrong with me. Ironically, I was always excited about going to the hospital, because as a child I was sure of being bought for an ice cream after every doctor’s visit.
During those days, I visited the hospital on numerous occasions and that resulted into hefty medical bills, which our insurance cover readily took care of. That taught me the importance of having a medical insurance cover to ensure that you and your household are insured in case of any eventuality.
Being sick was not a big deal for me because I was always given preferential treatment both at home and school. When I joined high school, I went to a boarding school. I was put under a special diet. The school nurse loved and took extra care of me. While the other students took black tea, I was offered milk. Every games time I had to drink fruit juice and take my medicine. I did not feel anything was wrong with me then. During weekend, my parents came to visit and had my blood sugar level checked. They were always worried that at some point, they wanted me to enroll me to a day school but the school nurse promised to always check on me.
Fast forward, one thing about diabetes is that you are always under constant medication. It feels sad. It always reminds you that something is not right with your system. And you wonder why it had to be you. Currently I’m almost 30 years and I’m still diabetic but very healthy, strong and rejuvenated to face each day. In fact I’m looking forward to celebrating my 100th birthday.
One thing I can advise patients who have diabetes is that they should strictly follow their Endocrinologist advice. If you are overweight, try losing some weight as this reduces the risk of getting diabetes but it is not true that all diabetes is caused by being overweight.
This has been a journey but I thank my Endocrinologist for helping me, my parents for not giving up on me and my siblings for encouraging me.