Hi everyone,
I just passed 3 years of living without a fully functioning pancreas. I was chuckling with my mom a couple of days ago remembering some of the things we did as a new T1D ‘wranglers’. Does anyone have any funny things they did as a newly diagnosed T1D? Or funny things you still do? Or funny stories that are T1D related?
1 Like
I was diagnosed in 1963. Home BG meters first came about in the early 80s (that’s 1980s (cough cough) so back in the day we checked for sugar in our urine instead.
Knowing I had eaten foods I shouldn’t have gotten into, sometimes I would water down my urine, hoping it would improve the result. I learned that after trying to substitute my sweet pea with plain water - that was obviously way too obvious so I was caught easily.
What are some of your funny memories? Do tell!!
1 Like
I was diagnosed in 1964. So, like Dorie, I remember doing urine sugar tests (never accurate, at least for me!). When I started Kindergarten, I was scared. I had gone to “meet the teacher night” with my mom and she had explained to my teacher about my diabetes. I wasn’t sure I trusted my teacher to know what to do. So, I would tell her I was dizzy (my symptom for a low blood sugar). She would send me to see the nurse. I really wanted to go home! This happened too often, and my mom got wise. She gave the nurse a box of sugar cubes and told her to just give me one or two - - very low in carbs - - and send me back to class. The only problem was, I liked the sugar cubes too much! So, I still claimed to be low when I wasn’t just so I could get some!
That’s my story!
~Pam K.
1 Like
Haha! I’m glad I never had to deal with that!
I remember panicking when I screwed my (brand new!) humalog pen all the way up to 30 u to see how far it would go and then it got stuck at 30. I thought it was the end of the world when the pen got stuck and would only move if you pushed on the end to give insulin. 30 u insulin shots would kill me. Over the next 2 days my mom somehow managed to give 2-5 u boluses from that pen, slowly decreasing from 27 to 0 units on the dial.
Other stuff I remember… paranoid carb counting, lancet changing, record keeping, and LOTS of algebra problems to calculate dosing. I also distinctly remember trying to explain to my friends how to use a glucagon kit in case of a severe low (I didn’t want to die) and seeing the horrified looks on their 12 year old faces when I explained how to give the injection…. 
yay for baqsimi nasal spray!
I also taught one of my friends how to carb count and when she reorganized her pantry one day she informed her parents of the number of carbs in each can of beans, cereal, and pickles. She’s still one of my few friends who can spot a high BG very quickly.
3 Likes
I was diagnosed in 1993, when I was 6 years old and just about to start first grade. We’d had lessons in kindergarten about rabies and what to do if we saw a wild animal during the day. My 6-year-old brain used to get rabies and diabetes confused, I think because they rhyme. Apparently I told several of our friends and neighbors that I had rabies. 
3 Likes
Oh boy! You might want to sit down for this one. Before I was diagnosed I was a pretty funny and smart guy, always having amazing grades and making people laugh, as soon as I turn 15 however, sh**. Goes. Down. We’re assuming this is the time that my pancreas decided that its credit card of life had expired and now I was constantly angry at nothing. For no reason I would be snappy, and then one day im in my science class, and I just look at my friend next to me, I don’t know why but I BURST out in laughter, he’s confused and laughing too by this point, the teacher walks up to me and says, “Are you ok?” I can’t stop laughing and in between laughter I just barely manage to say yes. In my defense his face looked funny to me! I have no idea why but it did (Btw I drank Coke that morning with breakfast, and THEN coffee, sugar filled French vanilla to be exact) and the teacher tells us to step out of class, so while laughing we do, we’re there in the locker rooms and then he looks at me, and I look at him, and we just start laughing even more than before, my face is contorting harder than the grinch to hold back laughter by this point, eventually I stop, then I look up at him, and I start chuckling, long story short, at this CHRISTIAN SCHOOL, here I am, eyes red from a lack of sleep, mellowed eyes from lack of rest from the small amount of sleep, and sudden changes in mood, laughing randomly at nothing, we eventually head back to class and I stop, that was a good day, and btw, I’m back to old self now, and my grades are back on track now that I have insulin, in case you were wondering!
2 Likes
Haha… those mood swings pre diagnosis were baaad
I got my first few C’s right before I was diagnosed…. I was so hangry right after lunch (highs always make me hangry) that I got in trouble with my science teacher for eating during experiments. Fortunately that was middle school and so it didn’t affect my GPA.
I also have gotten some interesting reactions from telling my friends “I’m high”. The other day one of my classmates was shocked to see me test my BG with my meter “did you just poke a HOLE in your finger!!?”
My grades and moods are now back to normal… insulin is awesome!
1 Like
i watched a movie and it said you can die from insulin so i went up crying to my mom and said i dont wanna die stop giving me this shot then stormed off she came in and said girl stop being dramatic it saves you
Haha that’s the mind boggling thing about insulin. Enough keeps you alive, too little will kill you, too much will kill you.
1 Like