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"To be strong in the end, you must fight from the beginning."

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Hospitalized....

Diabetes is just one of those conditions in which you can go over and above what you're supposed to do and things can still go wrong....

For example: last week I was sent via ambulance into the city because I went DKA*.

Despite the fact that I hadn't eaten in over four days and I had all but doubled the basal rate on my insulin pump, my levels just would not drop below 18.0 mmol/L. We later discovered in the hospital that I had an upper respiratory tract infection coupled with a somewhat severe ear infection and those were causing my hormone levels to shoot all over the place.

In retrospect, I should have gone to the ER much earlier than I did. The thing is, I absolutely hate hospitals and of course being a Taurus, I'm about as stubborn as it gets. I had also just started a new job and I wasn't about to come off as a flaky employee so I just tried to grin and bear it.

Bad move.

If you are a type 1 diabetic and are lucky enough to have never experienced diabetic ketoacidosis before, then you are incredibly lucky. All I can compare it to is feeling like my body was made of molasses. Like all the air in the world wouldn't be enough to satisfy my lungs. And the dryness in my mouth that made it near impossible to even talk.

DKA is not just a high blood sugar. It is essentially your body eating itself and turning your blood into acid. Your cells start to eat away at your body fat for energy because they can't use the sugar. I mean, I like the idea of losing body fat as much as the next person, but this is sooo not the way to go about it.

I was feeling disappointed in myself at the beginning for allowing my body to get to such a toxic stage, but I realized that there are aspects of this disease that can wriggle out of your control. It does't mean that you have failed, it just means that you need a hand getting things back on track.

Lots of love to everyone out there! <3

-Hanna

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