Type One Take Over

Welcome back to Bs with Hazel Austin

In 2016, I was in Florida on vacation visiting my family when my whole life got turned upside down. I was only eight years old at the time and it was the last day of vacation and I couldn't help but feel dehydrated the more I drank, not to mention I had to use the restroom frequently. I was exhausted and the worst part was no one knew why. The first night with symptoms I frequented the restroom many times. The next morning I woke up in the same state as I was the day before. The only good news was that I got to go home and visit my doctor who hopefully could tell me why I was not feeling like myself. When my family and I were on the plane ride home I still couldn't get enough to drink and when you are on a plane having to drink a ton the gross bathroom becomes your best friend. I have never been able to be on a plan ever since. When I finally got home I waited patiently for what my doctor was going to say the following day in my appointment. At the doctor’s appointment I was stoic, I only thought it was a check up . Once my doctor entered the room, they thought that I had an infection and that's why I was dehydrated and why I was using the restroom constantly. Luckily for me, I have a mom who knows and knew what she was talking about when it came to me having Diabetes. She asked the doctor to test me for type one but the doctor said that it was not necessary and that she was worrying herself over nothing, but my mom pressed on until my doctor finally agreed to let me take the test. This meant that I had to urinate in a cup, and the unfortunate thing for me was at that moment I did not have to go to the bathroom. That did not stop my mom from wanting me to take the test. We ended up leaving the office and went to Rutters to get Gatorade for me to drink. When we went back to the doctors office, I went to the bathroom and gave my doctor the sample that they needed to complete the test and then it was back to waiting. Yet again, I was put in a place of fear asking myself if my life was over, because why would I take this type of test at a check up. After a few minutes go by, the doctor comes back in the room with their head down moping. They say to my mom how sorry they were for not trusting her motherly instinct in the first place ,and we have already made the call to Hershey Medical hospital and they were waiting for us to arrive. The doctor walked out, and I broke down crying because my worst fear just came true. My mom and I left and went home to pack are bags for the hospital. I could not stop crying no matter what, I had gotten myself into a loop of dispair. When I arrived at the hospital, I remember looking around seeing things that have definitely scared me for life. We checked in, and they told us to go sit down, and here I was again waiting for the worst. A while later, they finally called us back into the long hallways of the hospital. As I passed the rooms all I could think about was where are we going, what are they going to do to me. We finally made it to the room where they sat me on the hospital bed and told me a nurse would be in soon to give me a IV of fluids. I was only eight years old, how was I supposed to know that an IV was not the new doctors lingo for them going to cut my arm off. I was scared and terrified of the sounds in the hospital wondering if that would be me. When the nurses finally arose, they walked me through everything they were going to do before inserting the IV into my arm. I was relieved that it was only going to be a little pinch or so I thought. When they went to put the needle into my vein, they couldn't find it. I was so dehydrated that my vein was so small that they had to intensely search (dig) into my arm to get it. It was one of the worst pains I have ever felt. After that they proceed with bringing in other doctors to give me an ultrasound. Just another thing I was terrified of. Once they were done, they all left the room for a while except for one nurse that stayed behind to ask me what I would like to do with my time. She told me that she had coloring books, puzzles and a bunch of other toys. I ended up going with the coloring books. After what felt like ages of coloring, a new nurse came in and told me it was time to check my Blood Sugar. I thought to myself why are all of these doctors saying all of these big words when I am so young and unable to comprehend . The nurse thought it would be a good idea to slightly pull out my IV to receive some blood. Long story short there was a lot of pain involved when the nurse ended up not even getting blood from my IV but from pricking my finger instead. After several long hours at the hospital, they let me go home. Just when I thought everything was over I learned that I just scratched the surface on my new life. The next day, I had to go to training about everything type one. On our way there, I thought that it was smart to pretend to sleep so when they got there I wouldn't have to go in. All good thoughts have to come to an end right? When my family and I got there, they dragged me in as if I was a rag doll. As we entered the doctor's office and checked in and it was back to sitting, waiting for the diabectic educator to call me in. I started asking my parents questions: are they going to give me another IV. All they could tell me was that they did not know. Once the educator called me in, I remember feeling like time froze. As the educator was going through all of the supplies and all of the books that they recommended me to read. I sat there in shock at the amount of information they wanted me to read when I was only at a third grade reading level. We were probably there for about three hours before the educator told us to go get lunch at the subway next door and once we get back, we will work on shots. As my parents and I walked out of the building, I started crying because I finally knew what the rest of my life would look like. We entered the subway, and I wanted to wait as long as possible to get my food because I was not ready to go back into the dreadful room full of needles and the strange looking thing that I had to use to test my blood sugar. I could tell that my emotions would not stop us from walking back into the office. Once I was dragged back into the room the frightful time was here. The educator taught my dad first how to give the shot because he would be the one to insert it. My mom had to hold me down while my educator pinched my skin and three, two, one everything was over the insulin was in, and I could enjoy the very first meal with dosing insulin. After what felt like forever, I was back at home trying to comprehend what had happened over the last two days. I remember my mom leaving for the first time to pick up my CVS prescription and how she needed the same thing I did time to comprehend. When she arrived back home, I watched as she brought in the biggest bags worth of insulin needles and a lot more. The first night with shots I was still terrified of them I would be for the next few months. Flash forward to now I am thinking back on my whole experience. Most of the memories are blurry because it was and is the hardest thing I have ever had to go through. This event not only changed my life but it has changed my family’s, too. For instance, there are things my sister wants me to do with her that I can not because I have bad blood sugar, and the times that I am able to do things I have to make sure I am getting my school work done so I do not fall behind. My diagnosis has changed my life not only physically but mentally. At such a young age, I had to grow up and mature because every decision I make becomes life or death. I am proud of myself for being able to become who I am today. I am independent, smart, and responsible with my diabetes. My diagnosis is my strength because I know if I could get through that I can get through anything. My life is full of ups and downs throughout my type one. My diagnosis has made me stronger physically and mentally. I love my type one diabetes because my type one is me.