Page 28 - Panama City Living Magazine

"IN EAR"LY 2016 I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS. I WAS 24 YEARS OLD."As a second grader, I had never even heard the word before. My grandmother went to the drug store and purchased Ketone Test Sticks, an at-home testing kit. If ketones are found in the urine, it is a sign that your body is using fat for energy production instead of glu- cose due to the absence of insulin, the body's main anabolic hormone that reg- ulates the metabolism. The in-home test showed there were ketones and the pos- sibility of diabetes. I was then examined by a physician who tested my blood sugar. It did not register on the glucose meter because it was “too high to read.” They knew then I was diabetic. The re- maining question was, for how long? The Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital inAtlanta, Georgia was our next stop. The tests there determined my blood sugar level was at 980. The normal blood sug- ar level for kids is below 100 (milligrams per deciliter). It is a true miracle that I was alive. I spent a week in the hospital where my parents spent countless hours learning about this disease and how to take care of me and be able to teach me how to handle the medications and dai- ly blood tests on my own. I am a type 1 diabetic.In early 2016 I was diagnosed with Mul- tiple Sclerosis. I was 24 years old.It started with being sick all the time, and I mean ALL the time. I missed so much work I was afraid I was going to be red! It was embarrassing. I was sure they thought I was overdramatic and not sick. The doctors ran test after test and couldn’t gure out what was going on but we knew my immune system was compromised more than normal consid- ering the diabetes.28 • March - April 2018 • www.PanamaCityLiving.com