Disease?

I hate saying that word. Am I really a person living with a disease?

I don't know if most of you know. But I have Diabetes, Type 1. I was diagnosed in 1994, at the age of 19. I lost 25 lbs in 2 weeks, lost my sense of taste (soda tasted like carbonated water and water tasted like minerals), lost my sense of vision (could barely see), and couldn't walk more than a couple of steps without getting winded and needed help standing up. I thought I had a REALLY bad case of the flu, and I refused going to the doctor. Finally, when I couldn't wake up from 14 hours sleeps I told DH (then my boyfriend!) to take me to the doctor. I couldn't eat a thing. All I drank were ICEE big gulps from 7-11 because it was all I could taste. It was the extremely high amount of sugar I could taste. I went to urgent care and wasn't seen immediately. I fell asleep in the office. DH took me to eat, and all the strenght I could muster was to eat some watermelon. I hadn't eaten in days, and was throwing up bile by this point. When we got back to the clinic, the nurses were in a panic when they saw us come in. They quickly ushered me to the back and put me in a gurney and started an IV drip. They asked me if I was diabetic. I said no, I mean, my step-father had Type 2 diabetes so I knew about it, but no one in my family (well my maternal side, because I don't know much about paternal) My blood sugar level was over 800!! The doctors told me I was in Ketoacidosis, and a little bit longer, I could have fallen into a diabetic coma! What a shock!!

To further realize I would have to give myself shots for the rest of my life, well my 19 year old brain could not wrap around it. I still remember the first time the nurse came in to show me how to give myself shots. I was terrified.

To this day, I am not sure how I got Diabetes, since the occurrence of it in the family is usually a sign. I've got way more to talk about my diagnosis, my thoughts on getting it, and feelings towards. But I'll have to update later. Because I got to run!