My name is Katya, I am 20 years old, now I am preparing to enter the university. Exactly one year ago, I was diagnosed with diabetes. I have no genetic predisposition, so I want to tell my story.
How did the first symptoms appear?
After school, my parents, naturally with the best of intentions, decided my fate by sending me to study in a place that I did not want. Because of this, I began to worry and stress a lot, as it was not what I wanted.
First of all, my immunity collapsed. I have it strong enough, but as soon as I start to worry, I immediately get sick. I got sick on average every 2 weeks. Common cold. Then I began to notice that I was very thirsty (the first sign of diabetes is uncontrolled thirst): I woke up several times at night and drank 2-3 cups of water. In total, I drank about 7-8 liters per day, and even this amount was not enough, constant dry mouth (also an initial sign of illness). This period fell on July, a hot month, so I did not pay attention, I thought it was from a lot of activity.
After that, my smells and tastes changed. The fact is, if you walk with high sugar for a long time (as was the case in my case), then unprocessed carbohydrates into glucose begin to be processed into acetone and poison the body. Hence the changes in tastes and smells: I could smell acetone everywhere: in the taste of sweet, in the smell of meat, everything was terribly tasteless.
Also, a hallmark of diabetes is a sharp weight loss, but I did not notice this. Since I am a girl, and at that moment I was preparing for a trip to the sea, I wanted to lose weight, so for me it was not guarded, although it should have been.
Already in September, I decided to take a general blood test and biochemistry, because it didn’t get any easier, and wild weakness and constant dizziness were added to all the points.
Glucose in my blood was 23, while the norm on an empty stomach was up to 6. I was immediately hospitalized and began complex treatment.
How was I diagnosed
I was taken to the hospital, to the intensive care unit, at that time I was still serving on conscription. The doctor examined me and diagnosed me right away – diabetes mellitus with complications (ketoacidosis). I was shocked, because I never had health problems, but I was very lucky with my doctor, he calmed me down and gradually brought me up to date.
They picked up a competent insulin therapy for me and put several droppers. The main goal was to lower my sugar and remove complications.
I spent more than a month in the hospital, they restored my sugar, picked up insulin therapy, told me what diabetes is, how to live with it. The people in the hospital helped a lot, it’s great that there are still people who care.
The treatment cost me completely free of charge, since I served on conscription, but after discharge I was discharged, since I was no longer fit for military service.
How the disease affected work and personal life
Diabetes has only changed my life for the better, it has given me another chance to start over.
But in general, my life has not changed in any way, the only exceptions are daily insulin shots and constant monitoring of blood sugar, but you get used to it.
My family and close people support me, help me keep a diet and not break down on sweets.
Yes, complications will reach me, but I want to say that if I compensate for diabetes and lead a healthy lifestyle, then the likelihood of complications is the same for me as for everyone else.
For my relatives and friends, as well as for me, my illness was a shock: we had not encountered this before. My relatives blamed themselves for a lot, because my whole illness developed solely on a nervous basis.
But I do not blame them, on the contrary, I am grateful to them, as well as to my illness, because they taught me to choose myself, my health, my comfort. They taught that difficulties can only be overcome when you are ready for them.
How do I feel now
That’s why I want to tell my story, because I gave other people the opportunity to decide my fate, and because of this I faced difficulties that I was not ready for and that broke me.
Now I value myself, free time, calmness and prudence, I approach the choice consciously and calmly.
2023-07-31 15:32:46
#live #diabetic #ketoacidosis
