Dealing with Diabetes: Part III

Zephyrus: When were you diagnosed with Type 1?

Ellie Kohner: I was diagnosed in January when I was in second grade, I think it was 2006.

Z: What were you thinking when you found out?

E.K.: I didn’t really understand it at first, I remember I asked when it was going to go away and the doctors said, “Oh, it’s not, you’re going to have this for the rest of your life.” And it kinda took me a while to understand it because I was only in second grade.

Z: Describe a day in your life and how the diabetes affects it.

E.K.: Usually I wake up and I have to test my blood sugar right away and depending on if it’s high or low I give insulin right away or wait until I eat. Then I give insulin again right before I eat something and then I do that again at lunch and dinner and if I eat a snack.

Z: Have you had any health scares?

E.K.: No, I’ve never been to the hospital and I’ve never had to give myself the glucagon shot. If you faint if your blood sugar gets really low, they give it to you and it’s like a sugar shot.

Z: Is your diet restricted at all?

E.K.: Not really.

Z: How do you know something is wrong with your body?

E.K.: When my blood sugar is low, I feel myself get really shaky and dizzy. And when my blood sugar is high, I usually get a headache or feel kind of light-headed.

Z: What should people know about diabetes?

E.K.: There’s not anything you really do to get it, it just kind of comes and when you find out, it’s not the end of the world, it’s okay, and it doesn’t make you different than anyone else.

Z: Where do you find support in your life?

E.K.: From the nurses upstairs, I talk to them a lot and there’s this support group at the clinic I go to, it’s Park Nicollet. And other kids that have diabetes: I have a friend who’s a freshman and I’ve known her since elementary school.