It was just another normal day of school in ninth grade at Sage Valley Junior High School. For my second hour class, I had to go over to Paintbrush Elementary School where I was an aide. As soon as I arrived at Paintbrush, I checked in the office and went to the classroom that I was assigned. When I got to the class, I realized the students were outside for recess, so I put my stuff down and went to join them.
As soon as I stepped foot outside, some of the sixth graders came up to me and asked if I’d play basketball with them. They needed one more player so they could play five-on-five. Before too long, the bell rang and it was time to go back inside. I was so run down from the game, I started to have what felt like an asthma attack. I realized that I had forgotten my inhaler at home, so I went down to the nurse’s office.
“I’m having an asthma attack and don’t have my inhaler on me since I’ve forgotten it at home.”
She kindly replied, “I want you to lie down on the bed and give me your mom’s cell phone number.” She got my mom on the phone and told her what was going on.
My mom ran home immediately to get my inhaler, but it took her 45 minutes to get to Paintbrush, when it should’ve only taken her 20 minutes at the max. When she came into the nurse’s office, I asked her why it took so long and she said, “I got pulled over for speeding, but I let the officer know why and he let me go.”
Since I wasn’t feeling so great, the nurse wrote me a pass to go home. She also called Sage Valley and let them know what had happened and that I was going home for the remainder of the day. The nurse also recommended that we go see the doctor, so I could get a prescription to help with my breathing.
My mom called the doctor to make me an appointment for later on that day. Once there, they prescribed me an antibiotic known for raising blood sugar levels.
A couple of weeks went by and I’d finished the antibiotic. But I started to feel horrible again. I had blurry vision, constant dizziness, extreme tiredness, was thirsty for only water, and was urinating every hour throughout the day and night. I put up with it for about seven days, and then I had finally had enough.
The next week I was back at Paintbrush for my student aide class again and I told a fellow teacher aide how I was feeling. She told me that it sounded like diabetes, because her father has diabetes. I trusted her, but just to make sure, once I got back to Sage Valley, I went into the nurse and told her what the teacher aide had said. The nurse told me that it was too early to tell and it was highly unlikely for me to get diabetes out of the blue. Before I walked out of her office, I told her, “You know what? I don’t believe you, so I’m going to the doctor after school.”
My mom picked me up after school that day and we headed right to the doctor. When we got there, we checked in and they put me in a room. After talking with the doctor, he said, “Those symptoms you’re having sound like signs of diabetes, but just to make sure we’re going to have you take a urine test.”
Once I was done with the urine test, they took my blood sugar, which was a high of 477. Then I also had to take a vision test. I was 70/100 in the left eye and 90/100 in the right eye. After the tests, I came back into the room and found my mom was crying while talking to the doctor. I asked what was wrong and the doctor said, “Cole, your results have come back from your tests and they came back positive for diabetes.” He told me that I had to go straight to the hospital.
I spent three days and two nights in the hospital before I got to go home. Before I left the hospital for home, the doctors made sure that I knew how to check my blood sugar and give myself at least three shots of insulin a day. After spending all that time in the hospital, I felt pretty darn good, other than I knew my life had changed forever.
I could no longer have sweets, juices, and pop on a regular basis. I have to limit all that stuff. I also have to check my blood sugar five to seven times daily and give myself shots at least three times a day. I have to do this everyday until the day that I die. Currently I’m on the insulin pen and later on down the road, my doctors will put me on the insulin pump. If I don’t take care of myself now, I can end up with amputated body parts, heart problems, heart failure, and even different cancers. I have learned a lot about diabetes.
There are two different types of diabetes. There’s Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes. Type 1 Diabetes is also known as juvenile diabetes. Diabetes is when your pancreas no longer puts off insulin to regulate your blood sugar, so diabetics either have to give themselves an insulin shot two to four times a day, or they have an insulin pump, which gives insulin when needed. The insulin pump is basically automatic. The pump regulates blood sugars versus it fluctuating when giving insulin shots. Diabetes is a genetic disorder, however it does skip a generation.
Since I’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, my health has improved tremendously. I no longer miss as much school as I used to. However, living with diabetes has made me more susceptible to getting sick, such as catching a cold, and getting sinus infections and strep throat.
I thought living with diabetes was going to suck, but it actually has benefited my life in many ways. There are many bright sides, and there are also some dark sides when living with diabetes. Regardless, I’m going to make it.