diabetes

I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was two and a half years old. I was sick for a long time, but the doctors could not figure out what was wrong with me. They told my mother it was an ear infection. My mom didn't buy this. She studied my dad's medical books and decided I was diabetic. She took me to the hospital and told them this. They didn't believe this was true, but checked my bloodsugar anyways. When getting a normal reading from the monitor, the doctors were satisfied, but my mother was not. She wanted a blood test run. The doctors argued that this was a waste of money, but humored her. When the results came back that I was in fact diabetic, they apologized profusely. The monitor that read my bloodsugar was incorrect. If it wasn't for her persistence, I probably wouldn't be here today.
Being so young, I didn't realize then how significantly it would change my life. All I knew was that everyone in my family was upset and I had to be poked with needles and wasn't allowed the same foods that I used to be able to eat. I laughed and said to my mother, "get that die-beat-tass off me," brushing my shoulders.
Type one diabetes is a disease creating high blood sugar because the body cannot produce insulin. The body's immune system destroys the insulin producing beta cells, mistaking them for a virus. Usually this is hereditary, but in my case, not. When not putting in enough insulin for the carbohydrates I eat, my body cannot convert this food into energy with the insulin, resulting in me being really tired. If I have too much insulin in my body, then I have to eat food immediately.
It's something I have to constantly deal with, my mother always hassling me, "Shelley Clair, TAKE YOUR BLOODSUGAR!". For everything I eat, I have to calculate how many carbohydrates are in it, taking into account the serving size. This helps me to calculate how much insulin to give myself through my insulin pump. I've had this device since I was in the 3rd grade. It makes things much easier. I don't have to take shots several times a day, but only change the needle for the pump every 3 days. It delivers insulin regularly to me, acting more like a pancreas. Still though, diabetes remains a struggle in my life. It takes so much work and effort to keep a stabilized bloodsugar, especially as a teenager.
Approximately 246 million people worldwide have diabetes. It's difficult. It's upsetting. It will never go away, unless a cure is found.