From Michele: Looking at your life today, there may be a few things that you love, a few things that you want to change, and a few things that you absolutely hate. But in all retrospect, those very things can change in just a day. Elijah knows that from experience.
From being a normal teenager to being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, go check his story about what it’s like.
Read about his scary experience and his reality.
On Wednesday, February 13th 2019 my life changed forever. That was the day that I got diagnosed with T1D.
Back in the end of November, my first symptoms started. I drank a gallon of water a day and it just kept getting worse. Eventually, I was drinking 3-4 gallons a day and peeing excessively. I also started to skip meals and lose a lot of weight… meaning, more than 50 pounds.
I was feeling sick to the point of not wanting to move from bed or walk at all.
And this is when the story comes to the part where I knew something was wrong. I took a trip with my family and girlfriend to go see my sister that lives out of town. On my way there, I started to feel really sick. I could barely walk straight, my stomach hurt, my head was beating and I felt like I had to throw up. Everyone was frustrated with me because everyone thought I was faking it to just get to stay in the hotel. But that night I woke up with sharp pains coming from my stomach throughout my chest and body. When we finally left the hotel the next day, I still felt sick and I thought it would be smart to go out to eat. So my girlfriends and I sat down at the table to get drinks before dinner.
Then it happened.. I started to lose my vision.
My vision was so blurry I couldn’t see my girlfriend who was sitting right in front of me. I thought I’d be okay, so we decided to eat really quick and go home. I told my mom about this and she said if I still can’t see completely in the morning to tell her.
The next morning. You guessed it. I still couldn’t see.
I told my mom I would be okay even though, I wasn’t. I went to school because I had a math test to take. My girlfriend picked me up to go and even though she told me I shouldn’t be going and that I look like I’m not going to make it through school, I persisted as I knew that I had to go because I had a “math test…”
So I went.
During my first hour class, I decided to lift weights and to bench. When I lifted the weight, everything went black and I dropped it straight on my chest. That was a warning sign…I left school after my first hour and walked home. As I was walking home I felt dizzy and fell, leaving a permanent scar on my leg. I called my mom and told her that she needed to take me to the doctor. As soon as we got there the doctor looked at me and knew I was not looking my best.
At this point have never been so scared in my life.
She was asking me questions for 1 hour until she finally suggested that I get a blood test done. When she said that, I asked “why do you think I need that?” But at this point, she just looked at me and said, “Just to check.”
To myself, I was thinking “check what? That’s weird.”
So my mom came in and they tried to take my blood. I say tried because they couldn’t get a ounce of blood from me. So the doctor asked me if I was drinking water and I said “yeah I’ve been drinking 3-4 gallons a day.”
She took the half of a ounce that they got and sent me home. That was at about 9am. I left and waited for a long time. At 8:30pm my mom walked in my room with tears flowing down her face. She told me that I had to be rushed to Children’s hospital right away in the morning because they didn’t know if I had T1D or leukemia.
As soon as she walked out, I sat there for a second and broke into tears. I fell to my knees yelling at God. I prayed to God trying to figure out what I did to deserve this. I cried for what I think was hours. Eventually, though, I went to sleep.
The next morning I was rushed to the emergency room of Children’s Hospital Wisconsin. I was told I was a T1D. My blood sugar was 879 and they told me if I would have waited one more night I could have died in my sleep...That’s my story.
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Instagram: https://instagram.com/emoneyt1d
Michele, I’m glad your dream has become a reality. You wanted a platform where others can learn, share and form a community and you have done just that. Regardless what happens from this point forward you made a thought and idea into reality which is no small feat, so congratulations!!! You can do only so much, the rest is up to the readers and community.