Lucky to be Alive! High Blood Sugar!

by James Brandenburg
(Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA)

I was fifteen years old when I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (5 years ago). I was sick for the week prior to my diagnosis and lost a lot of weight and had trouble falling asleep. I was also so dehydrated that I often fell asleep with a water bottle in my mouth because my mouth would dry up instantly if I hadn't. The fact I was urinating once every half hour didn't help either.

My grandparents are the ones who took me to the ER and the doctor was a good friend of theirs so he was able to get me in a room right away. Immediately after hooking me up to an IV they took some tests and found my blood sugar was at 1053. Based on the article above you may have difficulty taking my word for it. I weighed 123lbs when I was sent in and my normal weight was around 150lbs at the time. I remember this because no matter what I did I could not gain or lose weight no matter how hard I tried, so when the nurse put me on the scale I was absolutely dumbfounded! The weight was all water weight I later found out because of my frequent urination, which also explains my severe dehydration. The doc said I would not have survived the rest of the day and my mother (who was on a business trip at the time) often tells me I have a guardian angel looking over me. Whether that's true or not I remain eternally grateful for every little thing in my life.