My name is Magda and I’m a diabetic mom. I have monogenic diabetes (mature onset of the young ie MODY), a rare variant of HNF4A gene that was inherited from my mother. Although I know this now, I didn’t initially so here is my story:
At 15yrs old I was told by a pediatric endocrinologist that I was borderline diabetic and to watch my food intake and increase my activity. During this time, I was not overweight nor did I ever eat allot of junk. I did have the occasional slurpee, but who didn’t at 15? I took the advice from the medical team seriously and did what they advised. For 10 years I was successful at keeping my diabetes at bay or so I thought.
My stressful and crisis driven career was the brink of my diabetes onset becoming unleashed. I was not as active, ate more (and not the right things), stressed, and tired. I was not healthy. Being a proactive person, I asked my physician for a blood test to test my sugar levels and thyroid. It turned out my a1c was 14. I had to undergo further lab work that consisted of the glucose syrupy beverage and a 2 hour wait in a lab. Fun!! Then it was confirmed, I was a type 2.
Of course, I was upset with the news. I had mixed emotions of sadness, guilt, anger, resentment, and confusion. I thought, life is not fair! Why me!? Ugh!!!! At the time I didn’t know but I realized it’s a process and I will be feeling this way for a while. The Stages of grieving are fluid and the ebb and flow of it must be respected. Obviously, at the time, this perspective did not come to me. I was hard on myself and blamed myself for letting myself go. Shortly after, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and was on a low dose of synthroid.
I tried focusing on a healthy diet and exercise. It helped but my morning sugars were always high. This was the hardest part of the day for me. I could not get myself out of bed and was always late for work. I was lethargic. This could have been a combination of hypothyroidism (exhausted) with high sugars. This changed slightly when I started to take metformin. My emotional reaction and physical reaction were the same. I felt shitty and well you know … Figuratively and literally. It was not great. My sugars went down but were inconsistent. It felt like a rat race!
When my husband I decided we were ready to start our family we spoke with my endocrinologist and she referred me to the pregnancy and diabetes clinic. From there on they put me on a combination of insulin (nph- slow rising night insulin) and metformin. They were adamant that my a1c be done monthly, so they can monitor my levels. They recommended my a1c be under 7 but ideally they wanted my a1c to be at a 5. I had to journal what I ate and check my sugars before every meal and 2 hours after every meal. It was grueling but I was motivated.
I had to take prenatal vitamins (Preg Vit folic 5) that had a higher dose of folic acid. It was a lot of work to get myself ready to conceive but going through this process helped me become a healthier person. In some way I wasn’t doing it for me but more so for my future child. After a while, it became about our survival. The endocrinologist at the pregnancy clinic questioned whether I was a type 2 based I my family history (mom, two sisters, and dad all have diabetes) and physical presentation. The endocrinologist wanted me to see a geneticist at bc woman’s hospital to rule out monogenic diabetes (maturity onset diabetes of the young- mody), so I met with more doctors.
Once I became pregnant, blood was drawn and sent away to a lab in England to figure out if I did have mody. It took a few weeks to get back the results, in which it was verified that I did have mody. Further testing on my parents and siblings was requested. My parents agreed to give blood but my sisters did not. The lab in England found the same strain in my mom that they found in me. My Dad on the other hand did not have mody.
Now that we had some answers, I was left wondering about my baby. The geneticist advised that I must strictly follow my doctor’s orders as there was grave risks to my unborn child if I didn’t. They were worried that my baby would be too large, could miscarry, could go into early labor, and could have a stillborn. Obviously this scared me.
[Note: At this time, I was still reaching the a1c expectations with a night and morning insulin (nph) and a before meal insulin (rapid). I stopped taking metformin once I was pregnant.]
There was a 50/50 chance my baby could have mody. From the geneticist’s perspective, my baby would have a higher chance of becoming diabetic later on in life because she was born from a diabetic mother regardless. Testing was scheduled to happen for my daughter once she was born, but the lab in England advised they were unable to test her blood sample. They did not think it was going to change anything since she’s an infant and wouldn’t be showing signs of illness. They were more interested in testing my sisters to figure out if my mody gene is progressive and pathogenic. Overall, my little girl and future babies may have my mody gene. It sucks but I’m thankful to know now then later. This way I can be proactive and educate my children about our health.
Furthermore, this blog site is a way for me to unleash my thoughts and feelings that would be helpful to other parents. I do not discriminate over what type you have because in the end we’re all fighting the good fight. My experience is based on my truth and it may not always fit for you and that is okay. My motto is you’re the expert of your own life and this is just a glimpse of mine.
What to expect from me are monthly updates on healthy recipes for my daughter and family, my journey as a mom and how diabetes influences my overall health, parenting literature, beauty advice and overall a place to feel good. I hope you get what you need from this site and I look forward to growing with you.