Why Was I Thirsty, Tired, and Achy All the Time?

This schoolteacher suffered for yearsuntil her daughter's nurse took notice.

- SEBRINA SMITH-HENRY, MARISA COHEN

When I was younger, I was very active and always on the go. I interned at a TV station and a radio station until I eventually got a teaching license. At first I worked in a classroom, and then as a tutor. But by the time I had my daughter when I was 27, I was tired all the time. I would get really thirsty, and I kept noticing aches and pains and stiffness in all my joints.

At that time, my ob/gyn told me I was anemic, and I started taking iron pills. But the pills didn't really help, so I had to go to the hospital for iron and vitamin infusions. I would be there for the whole day and then go home and feel great, but I was still so tired, and by the next day I was just blown out and exhausted. I still didn't know what was wrong with me.

HELP FROM AN OBSERVANT NURSE

When my daughter was 7, she had some complications with type 2 diabetes, so her doctor enrolled her in a clinical study at Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center in Durham, NC. There was a guest room at the hospital for me to stay in when she was being treated. One of the nurses there could see how tired I was, so she told me to go lie down. When she came to check on me, she told me I had been sleeping for eight hours!

I said to her, "Lord, I'm just so tired all the time." So she took my vitals and told me, "You need to tell your doctor about all these things that are happening to you."

Until that point I had been going to the military hospital because my husband at the time was in the service. You never saw the same doctor twice there, so I don't think anyone was putting the pieces together. Finally I was sent to an outside doctor. He looked at my eyes and scalp and asked me how long I'd had a keloid on my skinI'd thought it was just a mole! He checked me for diabetes and sent me for blood tests, X-rays, and other screenings.