Having been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes over Christmas break my freshman year was not a Christmas present I was hoping for. I would like to say that adapting to a completely different lifestyle was not that bad, and it could have been easier, but I was a COLLEGE STUDENT! I kept telling myself this over and over. No way was I going to give up a college experience of revelry for blood sugar readings. I am not supposed to have to worry about counting carbs and poking myself with a needle. It all happened so fast that there really was no time for me to step back and take in what was going on. my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in October and now I am diagnosed with type 1 diabetes? still to this day it is hard for me to believe that I am diabetic. They say the best thing to do in order to control blood sugar levels is accept that you are a diabetic and that you must now lead a healthy diabetic lifestyle, but I am a COLLEGE STUDENT. For those who were diagnosed with type 1 at an early age, a diabetic lifestyle comes much easier than for those who are diagnosed later in life and have a somewhat set way of life. When diagnosed at an early age, parents control your life, your diabetes, and provide you a lifestyle centered around controlling diabetes , but when you are an adult college student, you have to be able to figure it out and figure it out quick, because in the end it is really life and death. My parents to this day don’t know the difference between basal and bolus. Yeah, there are other diabetics and support groups that can help, but I’m not like them. Those people are like…. Diabetic Diabetic, like for real.
Aside from the constant denial and the “why me”, expect to be
frustrated with the amount of information being thrown at you. Doctors will
provide you with tons of information and you should take in as much as possible,
but don’t fret over having to know everything. I am a 3 year type 1
diabetic and know a thimbles worth of information. I would like to say I read
all the books on “exercising and diabetes” or “how to properly
use your insulin pump”, but I haven’t. It is a process of experimentation.
Its all about finding what works best for you and becoming comfortable with
it. You wont have all the answers, you wont want to check your sugar level,
you wont want to have to take a shot while out with friends. Diabetes sucks,
and you have it! But living a healthy diabetic lifestyle doesn’t have
to suck. Yes the late night ginormous bowl of fruit loops will have to be
laid to rest, but that doesn’t mean you and Tucan Sam cant be friends
anymore. Me and the Cap’n make it happen all the time, the only difference
is that he doesn’t make an encore appearance. It is a gradual change
that will not happen over night.