Diagnosis at Eight: Fruity Breath Means Diabetes.

When I was eight years old, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

I was with my mom and a friend on a hike when I started to feel like I couldn’t go on any longer. I sat down on a rock and felt like I was about to pass out.  It was too hard for me to go any further.   We went home, and that night I threw up. I stayed in bed for two days drinking coke, sprite, and ginger ale and then having to go to the bathroom over and over again. In less than two days, I felt so horrible I couldn’t breathe or sleep. In the middle of the night, my dad observed my heart was beating very fast.  We raced to the emergency room, where.  a nurse thought my breath smelled fruity – a telltale sign of high blood sugar. My blood glucose was over 500.

What Does Diabetes Mean?

When I first woke up in the hospital, I woke up with many tubes in my arms and thought I was going to die. When my Mom told me I had type 1 diabetes, I did not know what to say. I did not know much about what it was, or why I got it. I was in the hospital for five days, and my mom and dad stayed with me the entire time. My Uncle Mark, who also has type 1, spoke by phone with my parents and my new doctors every day to help my parents with all their questions.

The Omnipod insulin pump makes managing my diabetes easier, but sometimes it hurts, and sometimes pricking my fingers does too. To be honest, I would rather spend my time thinking about and doing other things.

Staying Motivated

Though sometimes it is difficult, I plan to always be in control of my diabetes. Some people might call it a disability, but there are diabetics who use their diabetes as a performance tool. They consider it part of a diet plan. There is a group of bicycle riders who are like this, called “Team Type 1”. They believe that “with the appropriate diet, exercise, treatment, and technology” anyone with diabetes can achieve their dream. And the team has proved this to be true.  They have biked Race across America four times and hold the record for the shortest ride — 5 days, 9 hours and 5 minutes.

“My mom says that I make jaws drop. I think that is a good thing.”

Since my diagnosis, I have been involved in fundraising to help find a cure, including walking for five years in the Breakthrough T1D Walk to Cure Diabetes.  During the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, I talked to people in my community, as a phone banker and door knocker for the Obama-Biden Campaign, about the importance of type 1 research and the potential promise of stem cell research. I explained the importance of appointments of Supreme Court Justices and health care for people with pre-existing conditions. My mom says that I make jaws drop. I think that is a good thing.

Diabetes is not easy to live with. It is constant and very frustrating and aggravating, but I have found a large and supportive community to help me. I have met some of my closest friends through diabetes. I go to a summer camp called Clara Barton Camp, a sleep away camp in Massachusetts for type 1 girls. We do all of the normal things that campers do and we also talk about our diabetes and we test our blood sugar together. We all have something in common and I believe that it helps bring us together. It’s important for me to be part of a larger support group, especially one of my peers. It helps me to better manage my diabetes and my health.

Support from Friends

I also know that my friends who don’t have diabetes are there for me. Once, when two of my friends and their families were vacationing with us over the summer, I got low. All the parents had gone out for dinner and a babysitter was playing games with the little kids in the living room. We were watching a movie when I said that I felt low and immediately my two friends jumped up and found my testing kit. My blood sugar was 32. They ran to the kitchen to get me sugar. They brought back orange juice, candy, and some cookies. One of them went to tell the babysitter what had happened and then called my mother. In moments I was fine.

I am 14 years old, and as I continue to live with diabetes, I understand that it will always be part of my day – every day – until there is a cure. While I do not like living with this disease, I believe that I am lucky as I have caring friends, family, doctors, and resources to live a healthy life. Though I am truly grateful for this, I want to be able to help those with type 1 who aren’t as fortunate as I am. Additionally, I will continue to help to raise money to find a cure for all of us, because that will be the biggest help of all!