Summer of '76
Joanna's Story
July 23, 1976 seems like ancient history. Was it really that long ago? Come to think about it, next month will be 31 years. I am amazed at times how I have made it this far and then there are times I wonder if I will make it through another day.
I was 12 years old and school had let out for the summer. But that summer of 1976 there was a 
bad strain of flu lurking around and little did I know it was headed my way. After I had recovered from this flu I became tired all the time, losing weight, going to the bathroom which seemed like every 5 minutes or so. Not wanting to do anything but sleep. And of course drinking everything that was in sight because I was so thirsty. My biological father at the time said I was just begin lazy. Some how I ended up seeing a doctor who agreed with him and said it was just the hot weather. A week later I was sitting in the doctors office who brought me into this world. She left the door of the examining room that I was in and after testing my urine I saw her drop her head and shake it.
bad strain of flu lurking around and little did I know it was headed my way. After I had recovered from this flu I became tired all the time, losing weight, going to the bathroom which seemed like every 5 minutes or so. Not wanting to do anything but sleep. And of course drinking everything that was in sight because I was so thirsty. My biological father at the time said I was just begin lazy. Some how I ended up seeing a doctor who agreed with him and said it was just the hot weather. A week later I was sitting in the doctors office who brought me into this world. She left the door of the examining room that I was in and after testing my urine I saw her drop her head and shake it. Later she came back and said that word. You have diabetes. Well in the mind of a 12 year old, "diabetes" was not in my vocabulary. My sugar was 600 mg/dl and within an hour I was on my way to the hospital.
I was hospitalized again after my first trip to the hospital. And missed the first week or so of school. When I came back I was so thin that people who I thought were my friends avoided me like I had the plague.
I started on the insulin pumps when they came out in the early 1980's. For the first time in 30 years last month I had to visit the emergency room of our local hospital because of DKA.
So far and keeping toes crossed no major complications. But as time goes by I can tell that the type 1 diabetes is taking a toll on my body. But no matter what, I've got to keep going on.
Editor's Note: You can find out more about the symptoms of diabetes here.
