On this episode you will hear from Monique. Monique was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes in 1972 at ten years young. After her diagnosis she stayed in the hospital for 2 weeks.

The spring before diagnosis she remembers spending all her money at the fair on lemonade. By the summer her father noticed her drinking a ton and frequenting the bathroom, but he chalked it up to it being summer.

After a family friend returned from vacation, she told her mother that she noticed Monique had lost a lot of weight over the two weeks she was away. Her mom had noticed that she was also was able to put on a pair of shorts that normally were too small and that she had put in the donate pile.

After the friend's mention, her mom took her to the ER.

The doctor asked her to urinate in a gallon jug, she filled two gallons. He also put a ketone pill in the urine, and it turned dark purple almost black. This was at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

During her hospital stay she met a young girl name Linda her age, that was diagnosed at the same time. They remained friends for a few years and kept in touch. Linda also had 5 brothers that were diagnosed with T1D ahead her own diagnosis.

Upon returning to school after the summer Monique's teacher asked, "Little Miss Gordon what did you do for summer break?" Her reply was that she was in the hospital. Her teacher encouraged her to talk about her diabetes.

He also helped her with teaching a lesson to her classmates on diabetes in 1972. His mom lived with T2.

Monique recalls when she was young, the refrigerator was her place of refuge. Not for food, but to cry. When a program came on about diabetes she would go there to cry. There was a tv show called Dr Welby MD and in one episode titled Prisoner of the Islet Cell, it was about a 10 year old with diabetes and it came on when she was in the hospital. She started crying when Dr Welby spoke about diabetes complications.

When she was released from the hospital on Ch 6 news they featured a 12-yr old with diabetes that had gone blind in one eye, Monique got up and went behind the refrigerator and cried. No one ever knew.

Today Monique has lived with Type One Diabetes for 52 years and is definitely someone in the community that everyone should get to know.

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