Married to the Needle

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="181"] November Diabetes Awareness Month[/caption]

Hello, my name is Michael Peterson. I am a 33-year-old male who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes June 26th 2008. I was rushed to the hospital with DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis).

Diabetic ketoacidosis is a complication of diabetes that occurs when the body cannot use sugar (glucose) as a fuel source because the body has no insulin or not enough insulin, and fat is used instead. Byproducts of fat breakdown, called ketones, build up in the body. Well I had lost 15% of my lean body muscle and became extremely sick.

I knew I was getting sicker and sicker. My symptoms actually started in 2007 but I did not seek medical attention until 2008 when it was almost to late. I was not able to drink water, and was urinating every 3-5 minutes. I had a horrible rotten meat taste in my mouth and slept 85% of the day. The only thing I was able to drink was sprite and oj. I finally one day told my sister (who i was living with at the time) to take me to the hospital because i just wasn't feeling well. The admitted me there on the spot with a blood sugar over 1600. The ER staff was amazed that I was not in a coma and was able to actually walk.

I stayed in ER Triage for 3 days, they didnt know if I was going to make it. My G.A.P. level was 32 and it was supposed to be at most 10. I had a team of 7 doctors who checked on me every 4hrs. All the staff kept saying that I was on my way out. It was hard for me and my family to keep hearing that.

When I was stabilized enough, the moved me to ICU where I spent another week. At one point they inserted a PICK line into my thigh because i kept breaking the IV and they couldn't get enough fluid in me. On top of the DKA I was badly dehydrated. I took over 30 bags of fluid. All in all I was in the hospital over 3 weeks.

I started this blog back in 2010 to help me just deal with all the issues I was under going. and as a way to also voice my frustrations, and deal with the mental health issues that sprang from my diagnosis. So my blog now reflects both my day to day struggles as a diabetic, and as someone who suffers with depression and being bipolar. It is a long hard road but its my life now, for better or worse, Im married to the needle.