The main management style when I was first diagnose and for many years after was to have a set amount of carbohydrate at each meal time. Now when I say meal time it was breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and supper. I don't know you but that is a lot of eating. This amount of carbs was set by the amount of insulin you were having at each interval. Basically you were eating to match your insulin rather than setting your insulin to match your food.
I remember sitting at the bench after going home from hospital and watching mum serve up dinner. For my plate she had measuring cups, spoons and scales and for everyone else it was business as usual. My plate was calculated once, twice and sometimes 3 times just to make sure while this was sinking in. Everything was timed and it always felt that I was eating. I could sence that this was going to be a big part of my life. What I didn't realise though was how adaptable we humans are if we allow and how something that has never been done before becomes second nature. Confidence also plays its part. I was never one that was an extrovert with my confidence however I had to become, over the years, an expert of myself.
By the time I headed back to school my insulin requirements had changed to have 1 morning injection mixed with both short and long acting insulin and the same again in the evening. With this being the norm while I finished primary school there wasn't too much of a problem cause I was in the same room day in, day out and my bag stayed put. My teacher was aware and I suppose that was easy. However moving into secondary school was different. I would be moving between classes, a lot of different teachers and my possessions even though in a locker were out in the public rather than locked away in a class room. With all these scenarios running through my mum and teachers heads it was agreed that I would do the unthinkable a have my equipment and supplies on my always. Now what is the best way to do that in a ever friendly and non judgemental environment? That is right a fluorescent bum bag!!!!! That along with me being terrified that I would have a hypo and be even more different was just one of the barriers to get through.
For some reason I, from a very early stage at high school, had the fear of a hypo. I had it to the extent that every night I would devise a way to sneak a few dollars from my parents wallet or purse so that I could buy a mars bar and a diet coke... I know doesn't make sense at all I would eat the mars bar to keep out of the danger zone but have the diet coke cause of the guilt. Kids minds are strange and I was not an exception to the rule. School continued with the far share of taunts from older and younger kids but when it all came down to it I did it cause it was my health and if they had such low responsibility and values then they could keep themselves happy doing whatever they wanted. I wasn't a short weedy guy so they were not about to use anything other than words and we all knew that. Not to mention that I had 2 older brothers that on occasion, and I mean odd occasion would make sure I was ok. To talk of my brothers for a sec I don't ever think my elder brothers really understood what T1D really was. Yes they knew I had to inject but not the real details of the disease? To this day I still don't think they understand it fully. Makes me sad to think that a loved one could suffer and not know what it really is. I am not saying that I am looking for sympathy, cause no way. I just think of myself if my daughters were to get it I would find out every detail and I would encourage their sisters to understand as much as they could just in case one day they were needed.
Outside of school was also interesting. I played hockey to start with and then moved to baseball and basketball. These created new challenges making sure that the exercise didn't drop me low. The main recommendation from the endocrinologist was to have normal cordial to maintain the sugar balance. I maintained doing that the whole time I played sport while I was injecting and only stopped when I went on a pump but I will get to that in another post. Sport was everything it showed me no matter what I could still do whatever I wanted
No comments:
Post a Comment