He could almost taste the bland vegetable soup he had every day for lunch in the third grade. His breakfast and dinners usually consisted of dry Cheerios and a glass of water. Now, healthy foods with low-sugar count are essential to senior Pedro Ramirez’s diet.
At the age of 9, Ramirez was diagnosed with diabetes. Although diabetes runs on his mother’s side of the family, Ramirez and his mother did not know what to expect.
“In fourth grade, when my mom and I went to the nutritionist, the nutritionist told us, ‘Oh, well your son can eat anything he wants. He needs to be careful on how much he measures his food,’” Ramirez said. “And I remember I gave my mom this dead stare, because I was just like, ‘You did this.’ You made me go throughout the whole third grade year just eating vegetables and vegetable soup. And she was like, ‘This is my first time. I don’t know how to treat diabetes.’”
Ramirez clearly remembers showing signs of Type I diabetes during his childhood. He had consistent headaches, lack of sleep, thirst and an urge to use the restroom every five minutes. Although he is used to the symptoms of the illness now, Ramirez tries not to make having diabetes a big deal.
“At times where I’d just be in class, I feel fine [but] 20 minutes later, I could feel my blood sugar drop or spike up,” Ramirez said. “When my blood sugar is low, I feel confused and don’t know what’s going on around me, so I just stare off or shake a lot. It usually puts me in a bad mood, but I try not to show it.”
Ramirez hardly feels like the odd one out, except when it comes to his irregular blood sugar levels. On a daily basis, Ramirez wakes up at 7 a.m. to inject himself with insulin and prick his finger. His routine includes injecting himself four times a day in his arms or thighs and pricking his finger more than five times a day. Each day, Ramirez must make an extra trip to the nurse’s office, because it is necessary for him to inject himself before having lunch. Unlike many other students, Ramirez refrains from sweets even though he craves them.
“I usually read the nutrition facts, read the servings and count the carbs,” Ramirez said. “That’s the main thing I focus on. I can eat sweets whenever I want, I just have to watch out how much I eat of it. For instance, one package of Reese’s has like 46 carbs. That’s like a meal for me, because I’m supposed to eat 60 or 75 carbs every meal. So I have to inject myself for the Reese’s, so my blood sugar won’t go all over the place. So that’s why I’d just rather restrain myself, back away from me going through the trouble of injecting myself just for a pack of Reese’s.”
On Sept. 11, 2012, Ramirez was rushed to the emergency room at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas after he experienced blurred vision, felt as though his vision was going everywhere and could not handle the pain. He recalls nurses and doctors surrounding him to check his blood sugar, which was as high as 500 milligrams per deciliter and has dropped somewhere in the 30s within an hour. For Ramirez, his doctors advised him to maintain a blood sugar level between 80 and 120 milligrams per deciliter.
“[I visit the doctors] every three months,” Ramirez said. “I feel like it’s a waste of time, because I usually get the same results. They tell me the same thing. They tell me, ‘Well there’s really nothing we can do, unless you start checking [your blood sugar] at certain times.’”
Although Ramirez admits he has been slacking off on monitoring his sugar level intake, he does understand the importance of taking care of himself, especially after his trip to Galveston for State HOSA. There, Ramirez ordered a Diet Coke with vanilla and instead was given regular Coke with lemon flavor and Powerade combined into one drink. He can usually tell the difference between a diet and regular cola, but because it was mixed with different flavors, he was unable to.
“I remember later that evening, we went to the pier, we were on the rides, and I just stared off,” Ramirez said. “I just remember Henry [Omambia] and Nirav [Amin] were like, ‘Are you alright? Are you alright?’ And I’d be blank, like no response or anything. I couldn’t really say anything or do anything. Henry called Dr. Hunter to come and check up on me to see what’s going on. We were eating at Bubba Gump Shrimp, Dr. Hunter told me to check my blood sugar. It was at 555 [milligrams per deciliter] and throughout the whole time we were there, I was just drinking cup after cup after cup of water. I remember at the end of the night at dinner, I finished 10 cups of water.”
Despite the downside Ramirez has had with diabetes, he believes his life would be completely different without it.
“Ever since I was a kid, I had that fear of dying,” Ramirez said. “Because of my diabetes, if I eat just one piece of candy, I’ll die. I just feel like diabetes was in the way for me for the longest. For the past nine years, it’s just been there, but I’m surprised myself that I managed to go this far. I’ve gone half of my life with it.”
Ramirez believes he would not have been able to manage having diabetes alone if it not were his mom by his side.
“My mom has always been there for whatever reason,” Ramirez said. “Even if I get in trouble, she would be the first one to show up. She works at KinderCare, and during school, I’d get really sick. She always leaves her job just to go pick me up and take me to the doctor [or] the hospital for whatever reason.”