: I Was Just 3 When I Got Diabetes. Heres Why Parents Must Read My Story #IndiaNEWS #Awareness On 6 February 1984, I, Megha Sood, was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. As a three-and-a-half-year-old,

I Was Just 3 When I Got Diabetes. Heres Why Parents Must Read My Story #IndiaNEWS #Awareness
On 6 February 1984, I, Megha Sood, was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. As a three-and-a-half-year-old, I did not understand what was happening. But my life changed dramatically.
Having lived with Diabetes for over three decades now, at 39, I continue to fight it every day.
That day in 1984 is etched in memory. I remember it was a joyous occasion for the family. My mother was in the hospital, and we were awaiting news of her delivering my sibling. I was staying with my maternal grandparents. My father returned and found me asleep for a very long while.
I didn’t usually sleep at odd hours. Suspicious, my father checked on me and discovered that I was not asleep, but unconscious!
Megha Sood with her baby brother a few days after being detected with diabetes.
I was rushed to the same hospital where my mother was admitted for her delivery, and several blood tests later, it was found that I was suffering from Juvenile Diabetes. On one side, the birth of my baby brother was being celebrated, and on the other, my parents were coming to terms with the fact that I had Juvenile Diabetes.
A repercussion of Measles?
I was told by my doctors that having had Measles twice during my young age had caused my auto-immune system to shut down and that in turn led to Diabetes. It was nothing to do with my genetics. In my case, no one in the family had Diabetes.
I was too young to understand what Diabetes was and how it was impacting my life – I grew up with it. One is so much better equipped to handle Diabetes today, whether Juvenile or otherwise. When I was growing up, it was still fairly new in India, and not much was known about Juvenile Diabetes. In fact, something that is a regular feature now when testing for sugar levels is the HBA1C test, which was not something that was there during my growing up years.
Thick big insulin needles
At 39, Megha is still fighting diabetes every day.
As a child, one of the things that troubled me immensely about having Diabetes was having to take an Insulin injection everyday. It wasn’t like it is today, thin and almost non-needle like. What I had to use was thick, painful, and not at all conducive for children to take. The syringe we used also had to be sterilised before every use. They weren’t disposable, and I remember that being a task in itself.
As I grew up the fear became bigger, but I was constantly told that this was part of my life now and if I did not adhere to this, then I would not be able to survive. There was no denying that life during my growing up years was difficult.
Diabetes has always been a part of my life.
Life goes on, says Megha.
As a child, having grown up with Diabetes, I can say that very often counselling is needed for the parents, more than the child.