It would be pretty impossible to tell you all of the specifics that have
occurred over the past year and a half. But I will try to give you a
general overview of what has happened thus far, since being diagnosed
with Type 1.
((Warning: Graphic. Might want to skip over!)) I had
been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in June of 2010. I had been
experiencing gastrointestinal bleeding for a few months. The bleeding
progressively worsened. At first, I would only see slight traces of
blood with a bowel movement. When I decided it was time to see a
gastroenterologist, I could just sit on the toilet, not even passing a
movement, and blood would just come out. It was incredibly scary. I was
worried that I had something serious, possibly colon cancer. A
colonoscopy confirmed that I had Crohn’s disease. I was prescribed two
medications. 1. asacol 2. entocort. Within a month or two, the bleeding
had stopped…
But the weight loss had not stopped. I weighed only
104 lbs in September 2010. (I am 5’5 & typically weigh about
125-130.) My hair was falling out in clumps. I was constantly drained. I
became incredibly thirsty. This is kind of embarrassing — but I
stopped buying soft drinks because my habit was becoming too costly. I
was probably drinking ~8 cans of soda a day). When I visited home for
Fall Break, my mom told me I looked incredibly sickly and made me go
to the doctor for bloodwork. The lab called to give the startling
results — just as I had arrived back in my college town (Murfreesboro),
3 hours away.
I made an appointment with a general doctor in
Murfreesboro. My blood sugar was 498 that day. The doctor gave me a
prescription for glipizide to use for a few days until I got started on
insulin. My loving (slightly overprotective) mother, who is also a
nurse, was furious that the doctor let me walk away with my blood sugar
that high. My mom DROVE all the way to Murfreesboro, picked me up, and
took me to an awesome female nurse practitioner (Lucy) back home. “Dr.”
Lucy (who is young, blood, gorgeous) has an autoimmune disease
herself, Lupus. As such, I found it extremely easy to relate to her.
She truly seemed to care that I realized the seriousness of my
diagnosis. She immediately put me on the Novolog and Levemir pens that I
still use to this day.
When I returned to Murfreesboro, I saw
an endocrinologist there. Let’s just refer to him as Endo #1. Well,
Endo #1 was not the greatest doctor. He was okay, but after 2 visits,
he started sending me to his nurse practitioner, who would simply check
my glucometer and ask how my feet were doing, every single visit. My
blood sugar was still in the upper 200s and 300s, with frequent lows.
My a1c was getting under better control, but I was having too many
scary lows. Mostly at night. After adjusting my insulin again, I ended
up being too high again.
Desperate for help, I visited Endo #2
in December 2011. Big mistake. Endo #2 was a complete whacko. On a
positive note, he pointed out how ridiculous it was that Endo #1 had
not recommended I get a pump yet. But that’s the only positive of the
visit. Endo #2 spent the first 10 minutes of the visit, talking to me
about the history channel. He brushed off my questions and interrupted
me. He told me I need to see a podiatrist about my feet, claiming that
my tingling has nothing to do with diabetes. He told me he’s never
heard of any diabetic having headaches after eating, and dismissed that
as strange. I asked him how to calculate my carb intake/ insulin
ratio. He responded, “well..what do you usually take? you’ve been doing
this every day.” …
Fortunately for me, I moved back to my
hometown after Christmas 2011. I say this because I truly had TERRIBLE
experiences with every doctor I visited in Murfreesboro. After two
failed endocrinologists, and my a1c climbing higher and higher, I knew
that it was time to get a new endocrinologist back home. I was able to
get in with a wonderful doctor (Endo #3) on January 31, 2012. He
listened to me, he knew what he was talking about and spoke in a way
that was easy to understand, he couldn’t believe my horror stories from
the previous 2 endos. And he told me that a pump would be
life-changing for me. Until the pump comes through (stupid insurance
companies), I still have to use insulin injections. He did some
mathematical calculations, told me both my long-acting and fast-acting
insulin dosages were way off. With the new adjustments he gave me, I’ve
already dropped from averaging about 300 to averaging 200. Only 2.5
weeks later, and I am already doing MUCH better. What a relief!
Waiting. For. My. Pump.
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