Hey Y'all,

I was recently hospitalized for five days after going to the Emergency Room with severe Diabetic Ketoacidosis. I had no idea that I had been living with type 1 diabetes for over a year, and I certainly had no idea what kind of danger I was in. Type 1 is the autoimmune flavor in which, for reasons unknown, the white blood cells attack the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. I had lost the ability to use sugar correctly, and my body was degrading my fat and muscle for energy instead, leading to a life-threatening buildup of acid in my blood. This could easily have led to a heart attack or stroke at any moment. For weeks, I had been walking around on borrowed time.

There is no cure for type 1 diabetes. Once your pancreas is done, it's done. Lifestyle choices don't cause it, and there was nothing I could have done to stop it. Though I (and everyone else, for that matter) can benefit from a strict diet and exercise, making better decisions won't reverse it. It requires constant blood sugar monitoring and careful planning of every single thing that I eat. I will be saying goodbye to refined flour and sugar and in the gym 5 days a week. Still, I'll be injecting myself with insulin every time I eat or drink for the rest of my life.

Now that I have the proper care and medication, it has been a complete 180. Scrapes and burns that hadn't healed for months disappeared in a few days. My hair, which was falling out in patches, has started growing back. I've gained 20 lbs in two weeks. Prior to my diagnosis, I weighed the least I had in twenty years. I had lost the ability to find joy in anything. I was physically weak and constantly exhausted. Now I feel like myself again; like I got my life back. Some symptoms remain. My feet and hands are still numb and at times tingling and painful. My vision is permanently damaged. I haven't been walking as well as I used to, though in the time I've been out of the hospital these things have vastly improved as well.

You never expect it to happen to you until it does, and I'm still in shock. I never expected to have a reason to set up a GoFundMe, but the bills have started to roll in, and I'm humbly asking for a little help from my community. An ER visit, five days of hospitalization, and a lifetime of medicine and doctor's visits doesn't come cheap. I don't have insurance until November, and I've needed to take a few weeks off of work to heal. It's going to be an expensive year. If you can give, please do. If you can't give, please share.

One positive of this whole experience is that I have a whole new appreciation for my life and the people that make it what it is. I can't wait to see all of you again real soon. Thank you.