I'm Special!

At least that's what my doctor said. Actually, I think he used a different word. Like 'unique' or something like that.

I got some interesting news this January from some blood work I had done three months ago. Let me first begin with some background info...

I was first diagnosed with diabetes about five years ago. My doctor at the time said I wasn't really a Type 1 (insulin dependant) or Type 2 (insulin resistant) diabetic. She called it Type 1.5. That made no sense to me at the time. I spoke with other diabetics and they had never heard of it as well. Anyways, she had decided to treat me as a Type 2 diabetic anyways and prescribed oral medications. While I was pregnant I switched to insulin injections because it's very important to control your blood sugar (BS) levels at that time and insulin was the only way I was able to control mine from going too high. After delivery I went back to just pills.

Fast-forward to today...I decided to switch to a new endocrinologist closer to my new house. And I've heard awesome things about this doctor. I met him back in October. One look at me and listening to my history, he wanted to do a DNA test to check for a diabetes gene. I didn't know you could do that!

Anyways, three months later (it takes a LONG time for scientists to look through one's DNA) I met with him again. The result? I have MODY (Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young). My doctor said it means that I was pretty much BORN with diabetes...or I was born with the gene that causes some people to develop diabetes later in life...whether you like it or not. Only 2% of people with diabetes have it. In other words,  I'm the 1 in every 400,000 people with this 'abnormal gene'. So...I'm SPECIAL...I guess.

These are the reasons my doctor suspected me of having MODY:
1. Diabetes presents at a young age, usually less than 25 years of age. (I was 24)
2. You are not overweight. (No I'm not)
3. MODY runs in families through several generations. A parent with MODY has a 50% chance of passing on MODY to their child. This is called autosomal dominant inheritance. (My dad, grandfather, and uncle all have diabetes. If you go by the statistics, Hudson or Brayden probably has the gene now)
4. People with MODY do not always need insulin treatment and can often be treated with diabetes pills or meal planning alone. (I've been on both insulin and pills. Both have worked. I like carbs and sugar so meal planning is not an option for me)
5. People with MODY do not produce enough insulin; this is different to Type 2 diabetes where people frequently produce lots of insulin but don't respond to their insulin. (My body is producing enough insulin however I'm also somewhat resistant to it...so odd)

So, what does having MODY mean for me? Not much. My doctor thinks it's kinda cool though. Whatever. I'd rather not have diabetes to begin with. My diabetes is well controlled right now. I have an A1C of 5.9 which is PERFECT for a diabetic. An A1C below 6.0 is actually considered 'borderline diabetic' but remember I'm on medication. If I wasn't, my number would probably be higher. People with diabetes should have an A1C below 7.0.

If my diabetes was out of control then my doctor would prescribe a new treatment plan with MODY in mind. 

I hope all that made sense to you. If not, you're not alone. I still don't understand most of what he told me. One thing I did read while I was doing my own research online was that one site described MODY as...you guessed it...Type 1.5 diabetes. We came full circle.