Gone

I'm going to Summer camp for 2 weeks. Won't be posting or saying anything until then. But I will post a LOT once I get back. :) just wanted to say that. okay, bye!!! xoxo

Diabetes

My brother, Andrew, was 10 when his dreams were crushed. He is 17 now. My mother went out of town for a hockey tournament for my other brother, Michael(age 14). She was 3, long, hard hours away. I was only about 4 years old. My sister was about 16. My brother had been drinking a lot. He was always thirsty, and was always drinking. He also went to the bathroom a LOT. Then, he got really sick and started throwing up. My dad took him to the hospital in a hurry. He looked terrible like he hadn't slept in weeks. When they got to the hospital the doctor said immediately "Do you have diabetes?"

Forever, Andrew's dream was to serve the country. he didn't care how. Military or anything, he knew his life was going to be spent serving the USA. When he was 10 years old, my brother's dream was ruined for life.

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"No." My dad didn't even really know what diabetes was. So when they did some tests, they told my dad "Your son has diabetes, and since he hasn't been taking any medication, he has 8 hours to live." Andrew was heart broken.

Pretty sad, huh? So they hooked him up to a bunch of stuff, and he was sitting there feeling horrible and scared. The poor guy was only 10! Then, they gave him insulin and medicine, and while they were trying to treat him, my dad gave my mom a phone call.

"D?"

"Yes?"

"'Don't panic, it's gonna be fine, but Andrew wasn't doing well, so I took him to the hospital, and he has diabetes. He also has...8 hours to live."

I would hate a phone call like that. 

But after a while, he was...

okay. We brought him home and he was just perfectly fine, but had to take shots and stuff everyday, if you call that fine. So now my brother is 17 years old and has diabetes. It was so bad for him because he had it for a while, but they never knew and didn't treat it. Now my parents check our blood whenever they see just a small symptom or anything similar just to be safe. 

Diabetes is a medical disease where an organ in your body stops working and doesn't function anymore and so you have to take insulin and stuff because your body does it automatically, but with this organ not working, you have to do it yourself through shots and other things.

(That was all one sentence :P ^)

I used to be a Jonas Brother fan. When I was, people would tell me "You only don't like diabetes and you only care because Nick had it." and "People didn't even know about diabetes before they knew Nick Jonas has it." and "You don't care about diabetes, you care about Nick." and "I bet you don't even know what diabetes is." and "He is always bragging and telling people about how he has diabetes. It's not THAT bad. A lot of people have it and all it means is ya gotta like take shots and what not. Its not that bad. You SHOULD worry about swine flu and cancer. Not diabetes."

Let me tell you: You're wrong. I don't like the Jonas Brothers anymore for other reasons, but I want you to know that my brother has diabetes. I think it's a terrible thing. Sure, cancer is worse. Swine flu is a whole other story. Let me say one thing: Swine flu only killed ONE person in the U.S, and he ALREADY had health problems. Another thing, diabetes is really bad. Cancer is worse, yeah. But diabetes suck. when you have to see someone you really love take shots every day and always have to know their blood pressure and wake up at 3AM just to take a shot then go back to bed, you'd hate diabetes, too.

Diabetes also can run in the family, and since I drink a LOT and I am overweight, there's a high chance I'll get it. I'm very scared of that, too.  

They will probably never find a cure. How can you make an organ work after it stopped? You can't. But anything is possible. And I pray that they will somehow find a cure for diabetes so I don't have to see my brother go through pain everyday. Shots is my biggest fear. Snakes? Nah. Sharks? Nope. Spiders? No way. Shots? YES. A shot every day? Uhm, NO THANK YOU. But guess what, that's also Andrew's fear. He got over it, but still. It MUST still hurt. A shot. A needle sticking through you. EVERY. DAY. I pray they'll find a cure. It's almost impossible, but its not fully. 

I hope now you think twice about saying "People shouldn't feel bad for Nick Jonas." Because guess what? Diabetes is serious. I don't care if cancer is serious, too. I don't care. I care about diabetes more because my brother has it. and went through all that pain when he was 10. Even though he had to get shots and be hooked up to all these machines, I think his heart was the one thing that was hurt the most. His life-time dream was no longer possible.

The pictures at the top is my brother a year after he was diagnosed. Thanks for reading. I appreciate it. And any prayers you have for Andrew is much appreciated. Thank you.

-Katelyn