It all started in year seven, when I was 11. Our school put on a stage production of Oliver, and everyone who took part was taken down to London to see Hairspray as a reward.
The journey down to London took ages. All I can remember was being incredibly thirsty. Within a few hours, I had drunk nearly all three bottles of my water. I only had one bottle left! As you can imagine, after drinking all that water I started to need the toilet. I asked my teacher how long it would be till we arrived. She told me it would be an hour – I was becoming desperate!
On the way back I tried not to drink any water. After falling asleep, I woke up to find my mouth incredibly dry, I was finding it hard to breathe so I grabbed my water bottle and took a great big gulp.
After returning to the toilet again one of the boys at the back shouted a nasty comment. 'It's just the hot weather making you drink a lot,' I thought to myself.
"This skirt is massive!"
Later in the term I was becoming incredibly tired. By the end of term I was exhausted. But I was glad it was the last week. I remember saying to my mum, "this skirt is massive! I really need a smaller one," even though I remembered that it fitted fine a week earlier.
Later, in the holidays, I went to on holiday, to Filey (in Yorkshire) and Spain. I continued drinking lots and going to the toilet a lot. But the real change was in Spain. I was eating constantly and losing weight dramatically. Every night I got up about five times and every morning about half of a full eight-litre bottle of water had been drunk by me alone. Every morning when I woke up I was as tired as I had been that night when I had gone to bed. One day my dad and uncle tried to throw me in the pool: "Don't snap her, she's like a twig!" my dad unknowingly joked.
When we arrived home my mum took me to the doctor; I tried to persuade her not to go but it was no use. They ran some tests and told my mum the results should be there later that day and they would ring us.
The phone call...
But about an hour later there was a phone call...
It was my GP. He told my mum and dad that I urgently needed to get to hospital because I had extremely high bloods.
We rushed all the way to the hospital and I had some more tests. The nurses weighed me and took some blood samples. My dad and mum were both really nervous, but I didn't really understand. They told me that I was Type 1 diabetic and that my bloods were 38! They explained to me that normal people's levels are between 4 and 7. I weighed just 4.3 stone, and you could see my hip bones prominently. I wad told that my condition at that time was very severe. They told my mum, dad and me that I was very lucky. If we had not gone to the doctor on that day I would have been in a coma.
Thanks to the great diabetic team my bloods now run normally (most of the time!).
And a special mention to my mum, dad and sister for unexplainable amounts support and love! Thank you <3<3
Your comments
That was almost exactly what happened to me! Only difference was I went undiagnosed for longer, and was in a foreign hospital. It's good to know people have been through the same things I have. (My story is on here too if you want to read it!)
– Chloe
It must have ben really scary to be on holiday and constanly feeling unwell. For about three years before I was diagnosed I was also extremely tired, dehydrated and I always needed the toilet too. When I was first told I was Type 1 Diabetic, I didn't realy know what the condition was. or what I'd have to do.
Fortunatly, we have the support from relatives anf friends so we don't need to worry about being left alone to deal with it ourselves. Everyone who has this condition should have the support so we can carry on with our normal lives without having to base our lives around diabetes.
I'm happy you are feeling better now though. My blood results are still not level, and I have been diabetic for 8 years now! I wish you luck. x :)
p.s You can read my story, and poem, on here too! Please comment!!! :> – Charlotte