Sophie's Story

I was 10 when I was diagnosed. It was in July 2020 and we had started home schooling due to covid. I’d lost a lot of weight and I was always so thirsty. Mum thought I was playing up and delaying going to bed. I’d had a couple of nighttime accidents which was not like me at all. It was when I got (another) bout of tonsillitis before going away for a camping trip that mum mentioned to the doctor that I’d wet the bed a couple of times and she wondered if I was stressed because of everything happening at the time. Luckily the doctor suggested bringing in a urine sample when she went to collect the medicine for my tonsils. But before we could get back home the doctor had tried calling us, they’d left a voicemail and sent a text message to go back urgently. My dad was home by then and so he took me back the the doctors where they did a finger prick which read HIGH and I had ketones of 3.5. They rang the hospital and told dad to go home and get a bag, the hospital were waiting for us. We spent the next three nights in hospital, only one of my parents were allowed to stay with me which was really upsetting. My mum stayed for the first night and then dad came and took over. We were taught so much in those first few days, but when we came out we felt so lost and afraid. Our hospital team were amazing though and they kept ringing to make sure we were ok. We had so many questions and they were very patient with us. It took a few months for us to get a sensor so we relied on finger pricks at first. Looking back now it seems so long ago and we’re now looking ahead to starting our pump journey 3.5 years later! Since being diagnosed my parents have made sure that we still go out and do fun things. We have been on the worlds fastest zipline, been to the countries largest theme parks, been on holiday, ice skating, horse riding and I’ve started to play rugby! I don’t think diabetes should stop anyone doing what they love, it just sometimes takes a bit more planning.