Living with MODY3 – Part 2 by Nadia Milojevic

In this two part global postcard, Nadia shares her MODY3 diagnosis with us. In Part 1, she talks about her initial diagnosis and the challenges she faced trying to find the right management for her. Part 2 sees Nadia moving to Italy and having to self-advocate for her own medical needs. Want to find out more about MODY 3? Check out this link here.

Part 2 – Diagnosed Again! 

It was all going well until 5 years ago, when I experienced a rather traumatic period in my life. I ended up moving to Italy with the hope of regaining courage and strength to start a new life for myself. Along the way, my health and my diabetes was affected from all the stress I endured. I became very underweight, fatigued, wasn’t sleeping again, and just couldn’t manage to control my sugar levels no matter how hard I tried. I never lost hope. I loved being in Italy. I had finally found my happy place again, and wasn’t going to let this situation send me home, so I started searching for a good doctor that could help me here.

Eventually I managed to get an appointment with a specialist and had my first visit to the diabetes clinic here in Italy, which was certainly one to remember. I couldn’t speak the language very well at the time, so as you can imagine it was quite an event. 

The clinic was really well organised but when I told my doctor that I had MODY 3 and just needed to increase my tablet dose, they refused to do so. Since I never actually had the genetic test, the doctor insisted that I will be placed back on insulin again. That’s when the nightmare really began..

At this point, I was on both my current tablet and insulin, which was way too much for my body. It was a total mess. I was having hypos daily, and was feeling continuously fatigued. It was horrible, but I never gave up, and just wouldn’t stand for it.

So, after 2 months of letting the doctor try and sort out my treatment with no success, I insisted on having an official genetic test. I needed to confirm my type of diabetes once and for all, so I could receive the proper treatment. It took a while, but in the end, I was accepted to have the genetic testing done at a hospital in Rome. I was then officially diagnosed with MODY3 after eight years of living with diabetes. It was one of the most emotional moments of my life and one that I will surely never forget.  

From that moment on everything changed for me and I was finally on the road to recovery and was receiving the correct treatment again. Life isn’t perfect now living with MODY3. I still have my ups and downs. But we all have our own difficulties and challenges to face and MODY3 is mine. As funny as it may sound, my struggle with diabetes has actually made me a stronger and more ambitious woman today.

In my opinion the true silver lining to having diabetes is having to really take care of your body in order to stay alive. This is something that a lot of normal people really take for granted. There are so many ways in which we can help ourselves to live healthy and happy lives. And like I always say: it all starts with you.