A Life with Diabetes
"The first thing I had to change was my attitude"

(If you're just joining us, this is a story about a woman coming to terms with diabetes. Read the rest of her story.)

The College Years (cont'd.)
Thursday, March 3, 2005

College was four (and a half) years of studying, sleeping, and socializing; heavy on the socializing. Athens was full of bars, and as is turns out, alcohol isn't really approved of in the official diabetic diet. Thus began my love-hate relationship with drinking. One of my 'favorite bars' featured a fish-bowl-margarita happy hour special. That fish bowl beverage taught me many things: I don't like salt on the rim of my drink; I enjoy cocktails more when drinking out of a straw; and fruity drinks caused my blood sugar to peak into a false high and to come crashing down a few hours later, normally resulting in a seizure since I was numb to the symptoms of a low blood sugar.

My roommates soon became much more experienced in bringing me out of a seizure than I'm sure they ever hoped they would.

The first rule for someone bringing me out of seizure is: While you are attempting to get sugar into my mouth while I'm seizing, DO NOT stick your finger in my mouth. Many a roommate suffered a bloody or severely bruised thumb.

Second rule: Use sugar that is thick; pancake syrup is usually best. A seizing person will choke on, and probably spit back in your face, any types of juice.

Third and final rule, (which my sister perfected): When I become conscious, make a list of the first four or five questions I ask because I will keep asking those same questions for the next two to three hours. On my 22nd birthday I remember waking up with a list of the following answers: 1. Last night was your birthday; 2. Yes, you had fun; 3. You are at my house; 4. You are eating a burrito; 5. No, you don't owe me any money.

It turns out the seizures not only resulted in a day of rest for me; they were also very damaging to more than a few brain cells. As a result, my memory not only suffered the day after, but often for weeks after. And drinking wasn't the only thing that set the seizures in motion.

Stressful tests and finals were extremely trying for me as I soon found out that stress had the same effect on my blood sugar as drinking and could also end in a seizure. My "stress seizures" even caused me to drop out of school completely one semester after having a seizure the night before a test on several occasions. This of course wiped out all the information I had managed to cram in my brain the previous night.

Somehow I managed to make it through college alive and kicking. And with my journalism degree in hand I decided to try my luck in New York City.

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Early Days

02/10/2005: The Diagnosis

02/19/2005: My First Seizure

Independence & Denial

03/03/2005: The College Years

03/09/2005: New York, New York

Unfamiliar Revelations

03/13/2005: Home Sour Home

03/29/2005: Taking Responsibility

04/02/2005: My Search for Control

11/01/2005: The Final Chapter