Time
A lot of time has passed. Nearly an entire year, and not a single post from me. A lot has happened; I’ll give you guys the short version.
First, I left Cleveland. I moved back home and got a full-time job. It’s the kind of place that makes me desperate for a college degree.
So then, I got back to school. I took a semester off (not really by choice), then took a semester at a community college, and now I commute twice a week to a University of Wisconsin system school. It’s more than worth it. Currently I am in the middle of getting ready for finals, plus some academic grievance issues. (When someone gives you a bad grade, then says, “I don’t have anything against you – I’m not prejudiced”, what is YOUR first reaction?)
Midway through this semester (October 26, to be truly precise), I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes AND Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. What these mean:
- Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: my white blood cells have been mistakenly attacking my thyroid, causing it to almost cease production of the hormones that regulate my metabolism, menstrual cycle, and approximately a billion other things in the human body.
- Type 1 Diabetes: the beta cells in my pancreas, the things that produce insulin, have been killed by my body. I can no longer produce insulin, which is what helps cells absorb glucose (blood sugar) that then get turned into energy.
The really unfortunate part is that I’ve received approximately NO real support. Nobody can answer my questions, nobody LISTENS to my questions. They just say what they have been trained to say and call it a day. I have had plenty of appointments with doctors, but no conversations with them. My first appointment with the diabetes specialist nurse was an in and out, “this is insulin, this is your meter, talk to one of our dietitians, okay good luck bye see you in a few months!”
Seriously???
I’m twenty-two years old! And a college student! I live on coffee and M&Ms and pizza! What the HELL am I supposed to do? Well, I saw the dietitian a couple of days ago, and honestly… I’m not in a much better situation. I got an hour-long lecture on how to count carbohydrates, with no answers given to my questions on what I want to eat if I want to work out again, how to eat so I can feel somewhat sane – that sort of thing. If it weren’t for the internet, I don’t know what I would do.
My girlfriend found this woman, actually a couple of women, both of whom are weight training experts. One of them has type 1 diabetes and has set several powerlifting records. I want to use them as resources, but I’m not sure how. I don’t know what to do.
So, life has been a bit crazy. I want to try to keep this blog up, as a record of what happens and what I choose to do. It will be technical at times, it may even be really really boring to hear me talk about how many units of insulin I have to take each day. But that is what I want to do.
