by Madeline V.
When I was first diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic at the age of 9, I was scared. Scared of being treated differently. Scared of not knowing how this would change my future. It was a tough adjustment: knowing what life was like before and knowing how different it was now. At 9, your only worry is supposed to be making friends and listening to your parents and teachers. Now, I had additional concerns about things that I barely understood. I was even hard on myself because I just wanted to be normal. I was the one to get scared every time we went in for flu shots, then all of the sudden I had to get at least three shots a day.
As if that wasn’t enough, there was a stigma around being type 1 diabetic because no one knew it is an autoimmune disease, unlike type 2 diabetes. Most of all, I dreaded birthdays. Whenever the birthday donuts would be passed around the class, I was never allowed to have one. That was when the teasing would start, reminding me of how different I was. The late night talks with my mom started and from then on, she became my therapist. One of the biggest positives I’ve gotten from diabetes is my stronger bond with my mom. I also enjoyed getting a phone at a young age in order to text my mom my blood sugars from school. Even with her help, I still felt alone, because I was the only one in my school with type one diabetes.
It wasn’t until middle school, where I lost that lonely feeling. There were other kids there that had diabetes too. We went to the school nurse at the same time and it was fun to have friends to joke around with while checking our blood sugar levels. It felt like an opportunity to just be myself, without having to hide this big part of me. I had friends now that I could trust, outside of my family. I had other friends too, but it was hard to explain why I was checking my blood. Even walking down to the nurse with other friends was hard because they would always ask questions that I couldn’t answer because my blood sugar levels were low.
By the time I was in 8th grade, I gained confidence in myself and my diabetes. I was able to get on an independent plan, and no longer had to visit the nurse in order to get my mid-day insulin. I was able to do it all on my own with the help of a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) and my insulin pump. I always kept candy on me as well, so if I started to feel my blood levels dropping, I could take care of it right away. I was even able to walk down to lunch with my friends and not have to interrupt the class to go down to the nurse.
High school was a fresh start for me since I was going to a new school away from all of my old friends. I didn’t have to be known as the girl who had diabetes anymore. At this point, I was able to control my diabetes and was used to being independent at school. I felt normal again and no one knew me for my diabetes. I had friends that liked me for me, not because they had sympathy for what I had.
I also made the varsity cheer team, which was exciting and nerve-wracking. I knew it meant I was going to have to be careful and pay extra attention to my blood sugars. Sure enough, I go low during many practices which can be scary, especially since I am a flier – the one tossed up in the air. My coach has been great and very understanding and always has candy or juice on her too, so I know I’m in good hands. I love being a cheerleader and I’m happy I didn’t let diabetes get in the way of something I really wanted to do!
In the end, diabetes doesn’t define me, and this disease wasn’t able to stop me from achieving my goals. It actually brought some wonderful things into my life, like gaining more confidence and bonding more with my family. Diabetes is definitely a bump in the road, but it is something I have been able to drive over.
