My diagnosis

Hi, my name is Martha and I am 12 years old. I am writing this blog to talk about my diagnosis.

So where to begin....how about the 10th of November when it all began. It all began with a cold that made me feel weak and tired. This cold lasted for about a week which made it harder for me to do sports when I struggled to breathe when running. So that was the start of it. Then things didn't get any better. I started to lose more weight without trying. Then other symptoms of type 1 diabetes started to occur. I went to the toilet a lot, got extremely tired and became really thirsty.

Then after a couple of weeks, things started improving. I was able to do sport easier, but everything still wasn't back to normal. I was still tired and thirsty. So that is when I decided to do something about it. On Wednesday the 4th of December I mentioned to my mum about all the symptoms so she decided it was a good idea to test my blood sugars. We were able to do this because my dad is diabetic and had a testing kit.

There was nothing we could do that night because my dad was on his Christmas works due. So instead, first thing on Thursday morning we tested my bloods. Normally blood sugar levels should be between 4 and 7. But for me that was not the case. When first testing I was 19 and that was not good. Just to be on the safe side I went to wash my hands but it came up as 20. My Mum immediately called the GP to try to get us an appointment ASAP. We got an appointment at 10:45am on the same day. Sadly that meant that I still had to go to school for a couple of lessons. But in the end I got taken out of Geography and that was probably the highlight of my day.

Anyway, after getting to the GP and talking for 10 minutes, she told us to go to the hospital. So off we went. When arriving at the hospital we were seen by nurses practically straight away. After only about an hour or so we got huge news. "After doing some tests, we now know that you have type 1 diabetes." I burst into tears. Luckily I had my loving parents there to comfort me. It was a sentence that I never thought I would ever hear, but there I was.

A lot more happened that day that was mainly just explaining everything and getting told how to use all the equipment. But eventually I got to go home. When I got home it still hadn't sunk in just how much of a life changing thing this was. But day by day it is becoming more natural and I am understanding it more.

After 3 weeks of having type 1 diabetes, everything is improving. I am not as tired anymore. I am not as skinny as a twig anymore. I am not thirsty anymore. And finally, I am not needing the toilet constantly.

This is going to be an incredibly difficult journey but luckily I have an amazing amount of support. Diabetes will never stop me doing anything.