The Begining

This is my first blog so i guess I'll start with a little "About Me" info. (:

My name is Stephanie and I was dx'd with Type 1 Diabetes on April 1st 2011.
I was 19 and living in Waco with some extended family. I had been home the weekend before and while visiting with different friends I complained about my vision changing and always being thirsty/peeing all the time. I hadn't connected the two symptoms at the time. While I was talking to C about being thirsty & having to get up constantly during the night to pee she suggested I should check my A1C. C has two T1D grown-up kids so she knew what she was talking about. I went back to Waco the next day and bought a mail-off A1C test from Wal-Mart. It had all the supplies in the box, you filled out a form and you could choose to have them mail the results or email them to you. I was REALLY scared to do my first finger poke but I finally was able to & I put the blood on the little circle for the test and them mailed it off.
That was a Monday and then early Friday morning (during one of my many trips to the bathroom) I checked my phone & I had an email with my results. It showed my A1C was a 7.7%  I didn't know what that meant but I knew 6% was much more normal. Later that day once I was finally up and around I went back to Wal-Mart & bought a disposable meter, lancets & a lancing device. I wasn't sure about everything so I had the Pharmacist come & help me. I couldn't wrap my head around the lancets & lancing device. I wasn't sure what they were for or how they were used. Finally it clicked & I said "Oh, it's like a gun & bullets!" He laughed & said he hadn't ever thought of it like that but yes. After I got back home I read all the directions & figured out what to do. Again, I was terrified to do the finger poke. Once I did it I remember it was in the 400's. I tested several times throughout the day & I never left the 400's. I was convinced it was broke.
Later that night my cousin came home. I remember asking her to come to my room & I instantly starting crying, I was so scared. I asked her to check her blood sugar to see if this meter truly was broke or not. Her bg was 96. I then told her the whole story and then she said we had to go to the E.R.
When we got to the E.R. I  walked in & said I was an undiagnosed diabetic. The nurses thought I was so dumb. I told them the whole story but I remember one saying I'd probably just drank a soda. They took my blood (which she managed to get everywhere, all over the sheets & down my arm.) Finally, the Dr came in & told me I had T1D & I had DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis.) I had done enough research throughout the week that I was at peace with everything. I wasn't scared at all. Then, the Dr said he'd be admitting me for the weekend. That's when I lost it & started crying. I had never been in the hospital before & my parents were several hours away.
I got into my room that night & the nurse gave me my first shot. By Saturday I was giving my own shots. I had a Diabetic Educator, a Nutritionist and an Endocrinologist. They were all so helpful to me & I learned so much! I was put on Lantus & Humalog pens. I was released on Monday and in the months after that I pretty much lived on frozen meals & soup since they have all the nutrition info on them.  I didn't have insurance which sucked! I had never even thought about needing insurance. In the following months I learned my body, dealt with highs & lows and learned the hard way about diabulimia.

It's been a process but it's a fight I'm still fighting! (: