“I wanted to be ‘normal’ like my friends. I started neglecting my health. As you can imagine, it doesn’t take too long to forget about the nasty finger pricks and injections. I had to skip some because of ‘what people would think.’”
‘I was told, ‘Crab meat will ‘cure’ it.’ They suggested I stop taking insulin. My parents worried if anyone would ever marry me.’: Young woman describes hardships of being Type 1 Diabetic in India
‘My eyes! Something is wrong with my eyes!’ He throws down his backpack, screams, and slumps onto the bench.’: Mom to son with Type 1 Diabetes claims ‘no one can prepare you for this’
“‘What’s wrong?’ My heart drops. ‘I can’t see anything anymore!’ I feel sick, but tell myself I have to stay focused and calm for my son because he is neither of those things. He’s now stomping around the house, pounding on the table. It all happened so fast. From fine to not in just a few minutes.”
‘This is the mask of a Type 1 Diabetic caregiver. You’ll find us at 3 a.m. just trying to keep our child alive.’: Mom to son with Type 1 Diabetes claims ‘we are the strongest mothers you will ever meet’
“We are supported to teach our kids to dream. But their dream is a cure. Firefighter, pilot. ‘Too risky,’ we tell them. The anxiety of death is real. Instead, we train them to get a job with ‘good benefits,’ a conversation no parent should be having with an 11 year old. You’ll find us at 3 a.m., wide awake, just trying to keep our child alive.”
‘My son died all alone in his apartment. In the blink of an eye, my family changed. It seemed impossible to think I wouldn’t see him, hug him ever again.’ Mom’s 26-year-old son dies due to ‘senseless price of insulin’
“Insulin was $1,300 a month. My son left the pharmacy empty-handed. He lasted only 27 days without insurance. I’d been to my fare share of funerals, but nothing prepares you for the death of your child.”
‘I am Retarded.’
“One of the staff members decided it would be beneficial for her to wear a medal around her neck that read this. She suggested the staff member wear a medal around HER neck that read, ‘I am Ordinary.’ She was a legend.”
‘People told me to get a second opinion because there was ‘no way’ I could be diabetic. I wasn’t ‘fat’ enough and I didn’t eat enough sugar, so the doctor HAD to be wrong.’: Girl finds out she has Type 1 diabetes after years of feeling sick
“After telling them all my symptoms, they put me on hold. When they picked back up, their voice seemed urgent. ‘Go to University Health Services as soon as they open in the morning. Don’t wait for an appointment. Don’t eat or drink anything for the rest of the night.”
‘My son complained of pain in his abdomen. He was gray in color, his cheeks sunken in. When he started throwing up, I thought, ‘Maybe he ate something bad.’ I was in denial.’
“We had no family history of it. When we got the news, I was thinking we had some quack doctor in the middle of the desert trying to diagnose my son by smelling his breath. He added, ‘If you waited 3 hours, he would’ve died in the car.’ My heart broke into a million pieces.”
‘I couldn’t keep any food down. I had lost 25 pounds. Something serious was going on, I could feel it in my bones. And I was pregnant.’
“I remember saying to him that something must be brewing for us because our life had been too easy! The rest was a blur of grief and anger. I have a lifelong disease—one that will never be cured. One that was caused by IVF.”
‘My daughter was knocked out. Joking, I asked if she was breathing. Until I felt no movement.’: Mom loses daughter to undiagnosed childhood diabetes
“Her blood sugar level was in the 500s. How could she have died from a disease thousands of people manage? My baby had undiagnosed Type 1 Diabetes. I could not comprehend.”
‘Alec was looking at a cost of $1,300 a month. He died because he was unable to afford insulin.’
“He was rationing the little bit of insulin he had left to last until pay day.”
