May 28 2010 |
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My diabetes story begins in September of 1997. I was in the seventh grade and still an active kid. I played basketball & softball, did recreational gymnastics, and ran long distance track. I was strong and enjoyed a good athletic challenge. I remember the week of my diagnosis being in PE class and feeling so sick and so weak that I couldn’t even use the light archery bow; so I went to the nurse’s office and she sent me home from school. I then spent the next week in bed. I would get up to get a drink since I was SO thirsty, and to use the bathroom. After being in bed for a week my parents decided it was time to take me to the doctor. It just was not like me to be in bed for so long. At the doctor they performed a variety of tests and finally decided to check my glucose. It was outrageously high. The pediatrician said that I had diabetes and sent me to the Barbra Davis Center in Denver. I remember thinking “can I have something to drink if we have to go to Denver, I am SO thirsty.” I don’t remember realizing that I was diabetic until I was admitted to Children’s Hospital. I then spent a few days in Children’s Hospital, and the next two weeks in and out of the Barbra Davis Center learning the “ins and outs” of diabetes. I thought I had a good understanding of the disease and how to care for myself. I remember wanting to cry as I told all my friends and my family about my new diagnosis and they were all very supportive. The first couple of years I had diabetes were fine. I would discuss my numbers and doses with my parents and it was part of our everyday life. As I started to mature and become more independent I would hide my diabetes as much as I could. When I didn’t people would look at me like I was crazy. At one point in time someone told me that it was rude of me to take my insulin in public. I was mortified. I became involved in different activities provided by the Barbara Davis Center including ski trips and holiday parties and even getting to meet Mrs. America who was diabetic at the time. I thought that this was so cool. I made several friends who also had diabetes enjoyed their companionship yet I still felt like no one understood what I was going through. I stopped being quite as active when I got to high school. Late my freshman year I stopped caring for my diabetes and my HbA1c started to rise. The doctors would tell me that it was pretty typical for teenagers to not want to have diabetes and to ignore it but that it was very important for me to care for myself. They would remind me of the complications that would develop if I did not care for myself. Somehow none of this seemed to matter to me at the time. I struggled with diabetes for the next several years. I was convinced that diabetes was going to ruin my life. I hated it. After high school I still had poor control over my diabetes and spent a lot of time not feeling well and getting very ill. My weight fluctuated up and down and up and down. I still was not showing signs of complications so it didn’t matter. In 2005 I was hospitalized for the first time for DKA since I was diagnosed. It has been 8 years since my diagnosis. Everyone was so impressed that I had never been hospitalized. I was devastated. I was terrified the day that I was admitted, I could not breathe and barely had the energy to walk into the ER. Then again in late 2008 I was hospitalized again for an even more severe case of DKA. I do not recall the ambulance ride or the first day and an half in the hospital. I had some friends who were diabetic and they told me that I should be riding in the Tour De Cure, so that someday there could be a cure for our disease. In summer of 2009 I was rear-ended and my car was in the shop. It just so happened the day I dropped my car off at the auto body shop was the day my company had a kickoff party for Tour, The Longmont Clinic Carbo Raiders. I decided to sign up. I thought this would be the best time to do so. Even though I had a rental car, this would give me an excuse to get back on my bike. I had not been on my bike since my junior year of high school. It took me a couple of months before I actually started to fundraise and in about a month I raised the money to ride. I didn’t know what to expect with the Tour but I was excited about it. I paired up with a friend who had ridden the year before and she walked me through registration and what to do and where to go the day of the tour . I was overwhelmed that day with the number of people who were there. Not only with the number of Red Riders but the number of people who were there riding to fight diabetes. It was so uplifting to see the support and see all the people there fighting for finding the cure for diabetes. I felt like I was no longer alone in my battle! I was emotional when my ride was starting but I climbed onto my bike and took off!! I had so much fun riding on my rusty chain mountain bike that I signed up the next week to become more active in the Tour de Cure. So, thousands of shots and finger pokes, numerous HbA1C checks, hospital visits and emotional days, I am proud to be riding with diabetes! |
I had grown up riding my bike. When I was in the second grade I even rode 50 miles on a banana seat bike in Texas over the Fourth of July weekend. Talk about HOT! Then in the fourth grade I moved to Colorado and continued to ride my bike even taking some mountain biking classes offered through my Girl Scout program. I was your typical kid riding my bike to school and using it for transportation to and from my friend’s houses.
