Instead of typing 'Juvenile Diabetes' constantly, I am going to refer to this as JD. As I said in my last blog, JD is managable. When I was young, I could not understand why I had to obtain this disease. I was too young to understand that sometimes bad things happen to good people, especially children. So, I cried. This actually helped me become a stronger person in life, generally. I was able to cope with things better. Since then, I have dealth with this disease as if I was born with it; after all, it is a part of me. When I was younger, I never wanted anyone to know of my condition, I tried to hide it at all times. Before lunch time, I had to go to the nurse's office to test my sugar, then I would go to lunch to eat, then I would go back to the nurse's office to do insulin for the food I just ate. (Do not worry about when I speak about testing my sugar, taking insulin, etc. I will explain the important aspects of having JD soon enough.) When my sugar would go low, I would have to ask permission to go to the nurse's office to drink a juice. One time, I went low twice in one day and my fourth grade teacher actually had the nerve to ask, "Are you SURE you need to go to the nurse's office?" That sure drew more attention to myself from my classmates, which I did not want. Not until about COLLEGE, did I become okay with letting everyone know I had JD. I was not embarrassed and ashamed anymore.
What is JD? JD occurs when the body's immune system attacks and destroys certain cells in the pancreas. This organ automatically produces insulin. Since my pancreas is not producing insulin anymore, I have to manually give myself insulin through injections (I ahve an Insulin Pump now). I was dignosed with JD right after I got Chicken Pox. As you know, Chicken Pox is a virus. This virus attacked my pancreas, which ruined it. No more insulin for me!
Here are the basics for a JD: A person with JD blood glucose reading should be between 70-120, if my blood glucose level goes too low, (hypoglycemia-low blood sugar) I will have to drink 15 carbohydrates to raise my blood sugar to a normal level. Symptoms for low blood sugar are shaking, fast heartbeat, sweating, dizziness, feeling anxious, hunger,vision problems, weakness, or feeling very tired. And yes, I have been through this many times! If my blood glucose level goes too high, (hyperglycemia-high blood sugar), I have to take insulin to make my sugar go down. This is life threatening and can cause serious future problems. Some symptoms are extreme thirst, having to urinate often, dry skin, hunger, blurred vision, drowsiness, wounds that are slow to heal.
Those are the most important points in order to understand JD. There will be more to come next week!
My neighbor, who is like a sister to me has JD as well, and it is really encouraging to see how you handle this! i might just pass your blog on to her:) I've seen her go through the same struggles but now she just sees it as a part of her. The other day we were out for her sisters birthday party and one of the girls made a comment about someone she knew that had JD (completely forgetting that she had it too) and my neighbor had the perfect response "Life goes on"...and you just deal with it. It's encouraging to see people who in a sense ask "why not me?" instead of "why me?" :) keep your chin up!
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