‘Nobody needs to know I have diabetes’
NEWDELHI:HE was 8 years old when he was diagnosed with type-i diabetes. It started with feeling lethargic and sleepy, frequent urination, and frequently throwing up. His family thought it was typhoid or jaundice. Instead, the diagnosis showed he had to monitor his food and blood glucose levels for life.
After the diagnosis, his worried parents did not send him go to school for two months. They thought it would be impossible for a child to keep a check on his sugar levels during classes.
When Chadha finally went back to school, his mother stopped by every day to bring him lunch home and check his blood glucose levels. She ensured all the teachers and staff at school knew about his condition so that they could help, if needed.
“Except for the two jabs of insulin and three to five pricks to check his sugar every day, it was soon business as usual. I knew instinctively how much of what I could eat and if someone offered me more, I refused,” said Chadha.
What changed his life was an insulin pump, which he bought in 2013 just before he started working at a corporate office.
“Taking insulin got a little problematic in public as people would wonder what I was up to if I took a shot in a public place. With the insulin pump, I can change the dosage of insulin just by pressing two buttons,” said Chadha.
“Now nobody needs to know I have diabetes. The insulin pump made everything discreet,” he said.