My diagnosis began way before i went to the doctors. It started slowly about a month before my diagnosis. I was in the city with my friends and i hadnt noticed it, but my friends kept asking me why i was drinking so much water? I just simply told them i was thirsty and thought nothing of their comment.
But that question kept appearing within that month leading up to my diagnosis. It wasn’t really until i was at my friends house, drinking alcohol, that everyone at the party kept asking me why i was skulling so much water between drinks, i simply told them that i was thirsty.
Then it got worse. Much worse.
It was about a week and a half before my diagnosis. I just came home from my Mom’s house who had a really bad stomach bug. No suprise, i caught it. Or at least i thought i did. Mom asked me why i was looking like crap and i explained the stomach bug i caught (or so i thought).
Then it all began.
The water. 2 litres for each meal. The contact urination, and the violent vomiting. (writing this right now is really uncomfortable).
That happened for a week! An entire week of all the symptoms i SHOULD have researched.
Then i gave up. i told Mom that i needed to see a doctor, because i knew that whatever this was, it was not a stomach bug.
At this point, the morning of my diagnosis, i had been drinking 6 litres of water a day, urinating about 30 times a day, vomiting about 30 times a day, and kept falling over whenever i tried to get up.
Then i went to the doctors. There was a massive wait and i knew that something in my body had just switched, i needed to see the doctor, and i needed to see the doctor NOW.
I walked up to the receptionist and said this was an emergency, and i think she saw my face and labeled me as an emergency patient. i was rushed into a room, and was told to lay on the bed. As i walked in i started having serious breathing problems, i struggled to draw breath. My mom was at the verge of tears, she and the doctor knew something was wrong. She did my blood pressure, and all the usual stuff then she noticed something, what i dont know, and ran to her desk and pulled out a bsl machine.
40. 40mmol. (the average is 5-7) (I live in Australia, so the bsl level testing is different for Australia.)
They were stunned, and i mean shocked. She picked up the phone and called the ambulance. At that point i guess i slipped into a coma. I wasn’t sure what it was, but i woke up a day later in hospital. They told me it was DKA (Diabetic KetoAcidosis). I spent a further week in hospital with 2 IV’s in my arm.
note: during a 3 day period of the DKA i lost 30 kilos!
It was the worst week for me, and even worse for my Mom. She was a nurse and kept thinking it was her fault for not seeing the symptoms.
It was the worst time of my life, and i wish i saw the signs earlier.
By Peter Pennicott
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