Smiling is contagious. My diagnosis story.

I've always believed the happier I am, the happier I'll be. Since I was diagnosed with diabetes I chose to be strong. Positive mind. Positive attitude. Positive body. On the 11th February 1998 the nurse in the emergency room gave my first insulin injection in my thigh. And I did every single one from that moment on. I'm still proud, obviously. I've been the same height since I was 14, 173cm (5'8") tall. I weighed 50kg (110 pounds), but not for long. 


I had diabetes for at least two months before I was diagnosed. I remember drinking about 10 litres of fluid per day, anything I could get my hands on. I was just sooooo thirsty. My regular size drink soon super-sized to a 2 litre juice or soda.. the worst things I could possibly go for, but how was I to know? I had to pee every half an hour. Before bed I’d slam down a 2L Coke and keep peeing until 2 or 3am. With minimal sleep, I’d go to school. It was like ground hog day. 


Coming home, the train tracks always looked blurry - I’m short sighted. But one day the train lines were so clear, I could see the parallel lines it was like a miracle. Almost like my un-diagnosed diabetes cleared up for a moment. Then one day it all took a turn for the worst.


My dad took me to McDonalds (in Australia we call it Maccas) for breaka (Aussie for breakfast). I ordered the pancakes with plenty of sugary goop on top, only to find myself vomiting out the car on the way home.. we went to my doctor and I was given medication to stop me vomiting - end of story?!.. not so fast..


I told my god mother the things that were happening to me and she suggested that I could be diabetic. I checked out Encarta* on our trusty family computer and looked up diabetes. Sure enough, I had every symptom on the list: excessive thirst, frequent urination, loss of appetite, loss of weight, blurred vision, vomiting. These symptoms were initially overlooked by my doctor!  *For the younger generation, Encarta was an encyclopaedia on a CD that did not require the internet!


I’ll never forget the moment mum and I went to our local doctor, my normal doc wasn’t there that day so some random doc took my blood sugar level, and changed my life forever. My blood sugar was 28mmol/L (505 mg/dl). She said go straight to the emergency room at Flinders Hospital (same place I was born) and get admitted for type 1 diabetes.


At first I had no idea what diabetes was, all I knew was that I had my appetite back and wanted to eat eat eat!!! I was the girl in ward 4 with the sign above her bed "diabetic." When the nurses came through with the food trolley, they knew I needed breakfast, lunch or dinner to feed four people. In addition to my snacks! I just knew, inject then eat, inject then eat. And smile. I would literally eat four sandwiches for lunch and still want more.. Smile at the nurses and the snacks were in abundance. I put on 10kg (22 pounds) in 7 days. 


It was a whirlwind week. Everyone kept telling me it could be worse. And I was fully aware of that fact. My positive attitude helped me make sure I never took for granted just how lucky I am to be graced with diabetes.. something that makes me stronger every single day. On discharge from hospital, I felt like a (very) mini expert on type 1 diabetes and was left in charge of my new condition/life/lifestyle. Left in charge?? All right, I'm gonna take this thing (whatever I wanted to label it) and not let it stop me doing anything! 


Smiling can lift you out of even the crappiest of moods. So when the tough was going, and the going got tough, I would always hold my head up high, take a deep breath and smile. Now this can take effort.. A lot of effort some times. But the more I don't sweat the small stuff, the more the small stuff doesn't sweat. 


Smile from the inside. It will transcend you to an overall positive feeling and help you smile externally. Then others will smile back at you. I love how smiles are contagious. I make a concerted effort to smile at others.


Keep smiling!