Meet Sushma

Eight years ago, I couldn’t be happier for the next phase of my life. I was a healthy pregnant lady without any pregnancy-related symptoms. I could eat well and sleep well, two most important things during that phase. My baby was healthy and growing well. Almost smooth-running pregnancy suddenly turned the rest of my life drastically. I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes, which in almost all cases reverts back to normal after delivery. I was taking 4 insulin shots per day during my last trimester and it was definitely a struggle to control but managed to have an uncomplicated delivery. The only complication was that my glucose levels didn’t stabilize after delivery and I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. A year passed by on metformin but gradually diabetes stopped responding to most of the oral medications I was prescribed. It was totally out of control despite all the dietary and physical efforts for 2 yrs. Being underweight since the beginning, I lost 8Kgs in those 2 years. I felt weak and looked sick. I had to quit my job for a short while. My family, friends, and colleagues worried about me and everyone looked at me with sympathy. My sisters used to make fun of me calling names- a skeleton, an x-ray.

Soon, I was diagnosed to have Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young (MODY), a kind neither type 1 or type 2 but the one which starts at a younger life and some like to call it as 1.5 diabetes. I didn’t think what, why, and how; but I all knew from my doctor was, I will remain insulin-dependent for the rest of my life.