I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus in February 2024. Now it all made sense.
It all started in October 2020 when I passed out cold. I was rushed to the emergency room and 3 days later woke up to find I had a thyroid issue and lost 2 pints of blood. Four days later, after a blood transfusion, I was sent home. At that point, I thought I was feeling better. I was prescribed 200 mg of Levothyroxine for my treatment. The doctors said my blood work didn’t make sense.
In 2022 my husband passed, and I relocated to Las Vegas with my “second” family whom I knew over 40 years. I wasn’t feeling well so I found an endocrinologist for a check-up. He found immediately I was on approximately two and a half times too much Levothyroxine. I was immediately lowered to 75 mg and everything got better. He also stated some of my blood work did not make sense.
I was referred to a nephrologist in September 2023 due to my labs showing my EGFR readings were in the thirties. There was no explanation of why. I was in Florida at the time with a friend vacationing. I was having some joint pain in my thumbs and was then referred to a rheumatologist for further evaluation. The rheumatologist ordered X-rays of my chest and hands as well as extensive blood work in October and stated I had a wheezing sound in my chest. I had those done the next day. Again, my blood work didn’t make sense.
My friend and I were going to leave back home in a few days. The rheumatologist called me at the end of October and stated I needed a CT scan of my chest as there was white cloudiness showing in my lungs. I had no time to do it as I was leaving for Las Vegas the next day. I told my friend I could feel there was something going on inside my body but I didn’t know what. My plan was to follow up when I got back.
When I returned to Las Vegas I still had the coughing and sputum I’ve had for about a year, but it seemed to have been better. I did not go forward with the CT scan immediately as I wanted to follow up with my established doctor here. When I did it seemed to be of no concern except my blood work didn’t make sense.
In January 2024, I moved into a friend’s house. In mid-January, she was diagnosed with COVID-19. She was not very respectful of the rules of staying away from people. I did my best to stay in my area to avoid any issues. A week later, I was diagnosed with it as well. It was a mild case, and I seemed to recover quickly. I had an appointment with my endocrinologist, and he stated I was prediabetic, but my blood work still did not make sense; we were just going to keep an eye on it.
About 2 weeks later, my appetite was non-existent. I felt fine but just had to force myself to eat the smallest amounts. Then, within days, I woke up to blurry eyes to the point where I thought I was going blind. My first thought was it could have been from the low kidney readings from my internet search. I made an appointment with my eye doctor since it had been about 4 years since my last exam. After a full eye exam, nothing showed as an issue except a change of my prescription was needed. He issued some dry eye drops to help clear the condition, but they did not help. I ordered my new glasses and thought all would be clear. I went about my business anxiously awaiting the new prescription to have the issue resolved. In the meantime, I still had blurry eyes and struggled through every day.
On the weekend of Super Bowl 2024, I went to stay with some friends to watch the game. I went there on Friday night and was going to go back home on Sunday night after the game. I was returning to my work-at-home job on Monday morning. I still couldn’t eat. I started to feel weak and I could not stay awake. I let it go as I thought maybe it was still part of COVID-19 and I needed to rest.
My friend made me a fruit smoothie to try to get some nourishment in me, but I immediately could not keep it down. I could not get out of bed without assistance. He then called 911 as my body showed six out of 10 symptoms of my body shutting down. By the time the paramedics arrived, I was totally unconscious.
I kind of woke up upon my hospital arrival only to find my blood sugar was 650. I had no idea what that meant till I heard the word diabetes. I had insulin bags connected to me on both sides and then I heard the words “ICU.” From that point on, I was unconscious and woke up 2 days later. I was sent to a regular room, spent 3 days there and released. Now I’m insulin-dependent and being checked every 3 months to make sure my blood sugar stays in check.
Beth Thacker is a patient advocate.
