I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes in June 2010 when I was 20 years old. In December 2019, I was told that I had been misdiagnosed and I actually had Type I Diabetes.
The second time around felt less traumatic mainly because I had spent 9 years of my life thinking that I was a “bad Diabetic” because my A1C was never in range, my blood sugars were always in the 200s and the doctors always scolded me, so when I was told that I had been misdiagnosed, it was a relief because being “non-compliant” was not entirely my fault! I had been living without something my body needed to function properly which was INSULIN.
STORY TIME
My insurance had changed a few times since my diagnosis in 2010 so naturally, I was not consistent with my follow up appointments and/or my lab work. As soon as I had a new insurance, I would make an appointment with a doctor, I would let them know my medical history and they would just go along with it all. They would re-prescribe me my medication and tell me to get lab work done which I rarely did. That cycle was on repeat from 2010-2019.
In December 2019, I had an appointment with an endocrinologist – it was the second time in 9 years that I had an appointment with a specialist. My boyfriend (who is now my husband) was the one who told me to see a specialist! – I proceeded to share my medical history regarding my Type II Diabetes diagnosis with her. She said she wanted me to get lab work done before doing anything further and to come back in one week. I get my lab work done and I get an appointment scheduled within the week; the doctor held me accountable to making sure I got this done so I think that is why I followed through this time around.
I show up to my appointment one week later and she is reviewing my lab work and she goes “you don’t have Type II Diabetes, you are actually a Type I Diabetic.” She goes on to explain that I should have been diagnosed with Type 1.5 Diabetes but because that diagnosis did not exist when I was first diagnosed with Type II Diabetes, my lab work was more consistent with that of a Type II Diabetic versus a Type I Diabetic therefore I was given the diagnosis of Type II Diabetes.
I then began my life as a Type I Diabetic 🙂
Living with Dianabetes 