It was May 2017, Whitsun week I spent in hospital with DKA and a diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes. Not just any May but AS-Level exam season. My grades were massively affected by pre-diagnosis high blood sugars and lack of revision thanks to being hooked up on a drip for a week. On the positive side, I suppose my diagnosis didn't sink in with me immediately as I wanted to get the AS-Levels out of the way. I had mixed feelings throughout, feeling positive about exams and then not wanting to do them. I even had a Hypo which the exam invigilators didn't let me treat!
So why am I writing this? Well, here I am just over 6 months later. I had to drop from 4 A-Level subjects to 3, pay for 2 module retakes, adjusting my university ambitions because of the dropped subjects, apply to university and still deal with life as a normal healthy teenager. It's been very hard but the main help has been my friends who have accepted it very well. As you may expect, it was strange at first to others to see me just whipping out a blood monitor that had never been seen before. Many people still forget that I have Diabetes now! It does make life harder (especially as having Epilepsy too) but I just seem to get on with it. I did have a few worries about history repeating itself again and me falling ill in the upcoming exam period, with even more A-Level exams this year. These worries have diminished after accepting an Unconditional University offer, guaranteeing my next step, but I'm still determined to do well!
I never try to sit back and compare life to what it was like before diagnosis, and always discipline myself regarding food. Carbohydrate counting has been invaluable and through this my HbA1c has dropped a lot, the Diabetes Department always say I'm doing too well! The support from them, my friends and family have been great and we really need to make everyone Diabetic-Aware.
Managing Diabetes is hard - finger-pricks, injections (sometimes painful), carrying a blood monitor and emergency Hypo treatment everywhere you go - but don't let it stop you from what you want to achieve!
So why am I writing this? Well, here I am just over 6 months later. I had to drop from 4 A-Level subjects to 3, pay for 2 module retakes, adjusting my university ambitions because of the dropped subjects, apply to university and still deal with life as a normal healthy teenager. It's been very hard but the main help has been my friends who have accepted it very well. As you may expect, it was strange at first to others to see me just whipping out a blood monitor that had never been seen before. Many people still forget that I have Diabetes now! It does make life harder (especially as having Epilepsy too) but I just seem to get on with it. I did have a few worries about history repeating itself again and me falling ill in the upcoming exam period, with even more A-Level exams this year. These worries have diminished after accepting an Unconditional University offer, guaranteeing my next step, but I'm still determined to do well!
I never try to sit back and compare life to what it was like before diagnosis, and always discipline myself regarding food. Carbohydrate counting has been invaluable and through this my HbA1c has dropped a lot, the Diabetes Department always say I'm doing too well! The support from them, my friends and family have been great and we really need to make everyone Diabetic-Aware.
Managing Diabetes is hard - finger-pricks, injections (sometimes painful), carrying a blood monitor and emergency Hypo treatment everywhere you go - but don't let it stop you from what you want to achieve!
