Me... A walking medical bill!

by Nicole
(Whiteville, NC)

When I was 15 I became extremely depressed, soon developing suicidal thoughts and eventually attempting suicide a few times. My parents found out and took me in to a clinic for messed up teens in different ways. I was there for two weeks before the doctors noticed that I had lost about 25 pounds, lost color in my skin, very dark eyes and my hair was falling out. I was shivering but sweating. Sending me to the emergency room, taking blood the doctors found the culprit. I had Hyperthyroidism, or Graves disease. I was soon sent home on treatments and missed a total of 65 days of my freshman year of high school. I was very sick and had a hard first year. I caught up and did well until my senior year. I started sleeping in class and failing grades and the depression came back slowly. I soon found out the thyroid had caused a large goiter to form, and I was given one dose of a radiation treatment. I was home for two weeks but felt well enough to go back to school and finish, and graduate. 2 weeks later I met a guy at a local restaurant and we dated for 2 years before marrying. We soon found out we were pregnant and I lost about 15 pounds in the first trimester and passed out and was sick a lot. At 28 weeks they found that I had gestational diabetes. The levels were in the 400's and the doctors were astonished I was still walking around. They said that the numbers and tests were telling them that I had had the diabetes before the pregnancy, up to a year before. They boiled it down to the radiation treatment that caused it to happen much sooner than my family history expected it to. Now I have been married to the same great guy for 5 years, we have a 5 year old daughter and a 2 year old son, and I am expecting our third baby (another boy). The diabetes never went away and I take insulin every day two times a day as well as Synthyroid. I will be on insulin and The thyroid meds for the rest of my life and I am okay with that. I've also developed narcolepsy and the depression is being treated as well. I am a Christian and I believe that God will heal according to His plan. I trust that He will carry me and my family and that I will be taken care of all my life by Him, my husband and my precious children. God has blessed me tremendously with a great family and support system through my church home. Having these medical issues hasn't stopped me from being a mother, wife, secretary, maid, and full time college student. I will live my life with my family while dealing day by day with the speed-bumps that arise.