Lauren's story

My name is Lauren, and I have been Type 1 for 9 years (already)! For me, I felt my diagnosis put a huge damper on my college social life, as I found out about a week before I turned 21. Being a junior in college, I was quite busy with my class schedule, a part time job, and trying to maintain a social life, so while I had every symptom under the sun (lost about 10-15 lbs, constant cotton mouth and hunger, and going to the bathroom so often I could not make it through a 50-minute class without getting up multiple times), it never really phased me that something was going on.  These symptoms probably started in November 2007.

Fast forward to February 2008. I woke up one Saturday with horrible chest pain and was taken to the ER to find out I had pneumonia. I was then admitted, and while I was sipping on some lovely apple juice (my favorite juice!), the nurse came to take it from me with some surprising news: my blood work came back and was five times what it should be.  Again, this was right before my 21st birthday, most kids favorite year; I was devastated and truly wasn't sure HOW I was going to juggle this new day-to-day focus with school work and my job. Talk about stress overload!

Here I am now...at the lovely age of 30...and while I have obviously made it through, some days just plain suck still, but I believe as diabetics we all have those days where we have just had enough. I am so glad to have met one of my good friends in college a few months after my diagnosis who happened to be diagnosed when she was a child. I think simply being able to share something like this with others is so important to keep your head high. With friends and reaching out to others through social media, we are not alone! Today, I am a Junior HighEnglish teacher who enjoys reading, exercising, and simply staying healthy!

Thanks for letting me share my story!

Lauren Ruth