Episode 1: The Beginning.

     A couple of months ago, my world was turned upside down. On June 8th, I left to go on my senior trip to Blue Ridge Georgia. My high school friends and I went ziplining, water tubing, hiking, visited the Bigfoot Museum, and spent the week in a house in the middle of the woods. The day right before we left Blue Ridge, one of my friends, Lexie, and I got sick. That morning, she and I had a coffee and a cheese Danish from a little coffee shop in Blue Ridge. We thought it was just the heat getting to us but on the way back home, we both still felt sick, so we then thought it was probably a stomach bug. Lexie got better and I did not, I tried everything to get better, ice cold water, Gatorade, Pedialyte and nothing helped. I was so thirsty all the time, I was so hungry but anything I ate would make me throw up again. I was exhausted, but I couldn’t sleep because I would wake up to my stomach hurting. I was very dehydrated; water on an empty stomach is not the best idea. I lost so much weight my clothes didn't fit me anymore. I lost weight that didn't need to be lost. After a week of feeling awful, I was crying and told my mom “I’m scared. What if it’s something bad?" She then told me “Whatever it is we will deal with it, and everything will be ok. God will handle it.” We both decided I was not going to get fluid in me any other way than an IV.

     On the morning of June 17, 2023, my mom and I went to UAB’s free standing emergency room in Gardendale, Alabama. By then I could barely walk. I was tripping over my own feet and felt like I was going to collapse at any moment while walking into the ER. They took me in and told me I was very dehydrated. They started an IV, drew blood samples then ran some tests on it. After waiting for what felt like forever, the doctor came in and sat by my bed. I could tell by the look on her face when she walked in that something was wrong. She told me “I have some life altering news. You have Type One Diabetes.” In that moment, tears started welling in my eyes and I was doing all I could to keep it together. My mind went blank. Those words will echo in my mind for the rest of my life. I honestly could not tell you what else she was saying at that time. Later, they told me that my blood sugar when I was admitted was 380 and I had gone into ketoacidosis. If I had waited any longer to go to the hospital I could have gone into a coma or worse. They then transferred me to Childrens Hospital in Birmingham. Children’s Hospital took very good care of me and taught me how to take care of myself. That day will forever be known as the day my life changed forever.