I Knew Something Was Wrong When I Couldn't Read The Subtitles On TV.

2020 was a big year for everyone, but for 32-year-old Jenna Carroll, it delivered more than its fair share of changes including a new baby and, two months later, being told she had type 1. It’s been a life-changing diagnosis but she refuses to let it define her

- Karen Fittall

Until last year, I’d always assumed type 1 diabetes was only diagnosed in children. And I certainly never thought for a moment that it was to blame for the symptoms I was experiencing.

“In fact, even though I’d had gestational diabetes with two of my three children, when I started to feel really tired and noticed that I was drinking water like a fish and needing to go to the toilet a lot more, I didn’t think ‘diabetes’ at all.

“I’d given birth to Gracie, my youngest child, a few weeks earlier and had been having a bit of trouble feeding her, so I’d started pumping my milk for her instead. I just put what I was experiencing down to being a ‘pumping mum’.

“But when I noticed my eyes had started playing up so that my vision was a bit blurry, I rang my doctor to make an appointment. I wasn’t particularly worried but I knew something was wrong when I couldn’t read the subtitles on TV properly. Then, the afternoon before my doctor’s appointment I couldn’t see a car that was just a few feet in front of me. I was rushed to hospital where I was told my blood glucose level was incredibly high. I was heading into diabetic ketoacidosis and it was a wonder I was still conscious.”

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