Life with Diabetes

On December 5th, 2008 my daughter Allison was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. At that time she was only 9 years old. She was real sick for 2 weeks. Her symptoms included headaches, stomachaches, constant thirst and weightloss. I feel like a horrible mother who thought she had the flu for a long time. One morning I decided to get her into the doctor to find out what was going on. I explained her symptoms to the doctor and they had her take a urine sample. Then the doctor tested her blood. Her blood glucose reading read 600 HI. When the nurse showed me with fear in her eyes she said the monitor may not be working that she had to do it again. Allison was petrified of needles so we had to tackle her and hold her down while she cried. The reading came back 600 HI. What does that mean? I didn't know what they were testing her for. When the doctor came back in she said that there was sugar in Allison's urine and she has diabetes. I cried, Allison cried! We had to immediately send her the Cleveland Clinics Children Hospital. Yah right - like at this point, Allison would not even hear about going in an ambulance. As I called my husbnd at work hysterical to come to the clinic, the nurse was trying to give me directions. Anyone who knows me well enough knows I can't find a strange place, let alone in this state of confusion. Luckily, mysister was working in the clinic that day and was able to drive us.



In the emergency room she was hooked up to many IV's and given more blood tests. She was admitted for 3 days. Our hearts were broken and our heads were spinning with all the new information. Allison calmed down and after we learned what exactly she had to endure, we explained it to her in words she would understand. She met many new doctors and nurses that took VERY good care of her. Allison was given shots of insulin and eventually decided that it wasn't so bad. She was going to do it herself. So, a young girl who was afraid to get her finger pricked was going to inject insulin with a syringe... oh yea she did!!!



When we got home, we had to change many things such as eating habits, organize information for the school and for ourselves. We had to contact our insurance companies and pahrmacies - they became our new best friends. It became expensive VERY quickly and we didn't think we would be able to handle this. I had to take a day off from work as she was ready to go back to school so I could collect my thoughts and feelings about this lifestyle change. Being the organized person I am, I wrote down all her medication, the steps to take in order to give her the injections, amounts, carbs in foods she can have and foods she has to stay away from. Clearing my head was a necessity. I prepared her medicine bags with instructions and felt a sense of relief, for a short period of time.



It has been several months now and Allison is doing great. She goes to see her endocrinologist every three months and already has has a terrific check up. Her daily routine consists of testing her blood sugar in the morning, testing and injecting for lunch and dinner and another one at bedtime. She has been maintaining great blood glucose levels and is truly amazing. The hard part was educating her coaches and friends to learn when Allison needs to have a quick snack so she doesn't pass out. Her friends have watched her give the injections and Allison is proud to show them how she does it.



Our daughter has the greatest strength of anyone I know. We truly appreciate everyone's love and support through this difficult time in our lives.



If you would like to support Allison in her fight for a cure go to http://www.jdrf.org and type in Alli's Angels.