When eight-year-old Mika went to the doctor because she was losing weight and going to the bathroom a lot, she had no idea she would end up at the hospital with a diagnosis of diabetes.
A finger prick test showed Mika’s blood sugar was 33. Normal is 5-8.
“Mum got me to sit in the car while she talked to the doctor. When she came out she was crying and I thought I was going to die,” says Mika.
Mika and her mum Belinda didn’t know what type one diabetes was. Belinda’s reaction was to think she was a terrible parent who had caused her daughter to be unwell by what she had fed her.
This month is diabetes awareness month and Diabetes New Zealand has the slogan ‘Love, don’t judge.’ Amanda Deans, Diabetes youth service branch coordinator said there is a public perception that diabetes is caused by bad diet.
“We want to change the narrative and move away from blame language,” says Amanda.
“No food is off-limits, kids need to be kids,” she said.
The major life change is that Mika now has insulin injections five times a day.
“I have a needle with every meal,” she says.
Every carb must be counteracted by insulin. Mika checks her blood sugar before eating, and then calculates how many carbohydrates she will have. From that she knows how much insulin to inject. This must be done before she eats because her blood sugar can rise very quickly once she eats. Belinda says that while others count calories, they count carbs.
“Food is numbers to me now,” says Belinda.
Mika understands the need for insulin. It’s protecting her future. If she lets her sugar levels get too high, too frequently, she risks blindness and organ failure later in life.
Life has changed in many ways but Mika, now eleven, joins in everything and enjoys sport, walking the dog and sleepovers.
“I would definitely call myself a happy person,” says Mika.
But she does get annoyed at times and wish that she could be a different person. Sometimes she thinks that when she’s older she will find a cure for diabetes, but she knows that’s a pretty big dream.