Audrey

Age: 21 Year Diagnosed: 2005 Location: Laguna Niguel, Ca

“I was diagnosed 14.5 years ago on Halloween night, ironic, right?! Back track for a hot second, April 2005, my little brother was diagnosed with Type One, nearly losing his life. My parents recognized my signs and next thing you know, within 6 months, there were 2 of us!

This is going to sound insane, but I honestly don't really remember the transition to Type One, and I can not even begin to express how grateful I am for that. What I remember being a kid was being a little shit, running from dad, in the opposite direction when he asked me to come here. I remember saying ZOOM ZOOM from the old Mazda commercials, slicing my ankles with my razor with all the neighborhood kids, singing Shania Twain at the top of my lungs. I traded my teddy bear for a bright green F150 with big wheels, I cooked with dad, terrorized my brother, shopped with mom, camped on the beach with family and ate all the smores. I made apricot jelly and crepes at Grandpa's and I tried stealing my Grandma's neighbor's cat. I took in every stray animal, I raised butterflies and sniffed each flower. I had water balloon fights and lived off popsicles. I ran wild, full speed ahead. I was care free. I didn't let diabetes stop me, and neither did my family. I don't look back and think about the last activity I did or the last meal I ate without counting carbs. I don't look back and say, wow what a life I had before. I don't look back feeling stripped of freedom, my childhood or life. I look back and remember the good, the crazy, the wild and that is what matters. Yes Type One Diabetes has changed me. It has impacted my life and family greatly. It is tough. It is exhausting. I do have days where I fall apart, cry and ask why, but that's life. Diabetes has taught me to be grateful, be wild, be reckless, to live. It's given me passion and purpose. It's given me a whole new perspective. Have fun, walk on the edge, sing at the top of your lungs with all the windows down while driving full speed ahead, not looking back. Go live your life, live it to it's fullest and don't ever let diabetes stop you!”

Cece

Age: 28 Year Diagnosed: 1998 Location: San Marcos, Ca

“Solo traveling on its own is a challenge - but throw diabetes in there and you have more things to worry about than the average person. On one of my trips to Rome I ended up getting a kidney infection (from a previous UTI) my first night there ! I had to go to the ER and spent most of my vacation in the hospital. The scary part for me was having the nurses remove my insulin pump and not being able to explain that I still needed my insulin because I was a type 1. I couldn't explain my dosing to the nurses and was constantly worried about not getting the right amount via MDI. I was always asking the nurses to check my blood sugar every chance I got and am so grateful that things didn't get any worse. We are all human & even nurses make mistakes, and as type 1 diabetics we know how our body works/reacts. I think it's super important to advocate for ourselves, not just when it's urgent but all the time!”

Kelsey

Age: 31 Year Diagnosed: 1992 Location: Phoenix, AZ

“I was born and raised right outside of Chicago and did not know may other type 1 diabetics my age growing up. Going to summer camp changed everything for me. I started day camp when I was 5 and transitioned to overnight camp when I was 8. I went to camp throughout high school and met so many local kids just like me! Camp always overflowed into real life and I formed many lifelong friendships. I highly recommend attending camp or encouraging those you know to attend. I would love to attend an adult camp in the near future.”

Brenna

Age: 16  Year Diagnosed: 2007   Location: Glendale, Az

“In third grade I was bullied by another classmate. He went around telling others not to hang out with me because I was “contagious” being a little third grader I was mad and confused. I later seemed counseling and to this day, I feel that made me a stronger individual. There are so many uneducated people that we can educate and show them how amazing everyone is.”

Sarah

Age: 29 Year Diagnosed: 2005 Location: Weymouth, MA

“The first time I boarded an airplane, I was traveling alone, and had the unfortunate experience of having an OmniPod expire while standing in line with others. Due to the high pitch frequency, and how uncomfortable it seemed to be making others (awkward glances left and right), I made a joke about being part of the inevitable robot takeover and that I would be happy to act as an ambassador for us humans as we learn how to communicate with our new AI friends. Needless to say, the jokes were not well received, I was ignored by my fellow passengers but still boarded the plane without question despite the high frequency noise emitting from the lump beneath my leggings.

One of the things that both my yoga practice and my diabetes diagnosis has taught me is that we cannot take shelter in the temporary. The reality of this material world is that things are always changing, always moving. Even when everything is going right, even if we have a "perfect blood sugar" in the here and now, we must recognize that it will not always be this way. It works the same when when everything seems to be going wrong. We have to realize that all of this is temporary and soon the sun will shine again. Fortifying our hearts and minds to accept these changes is integral in our evolution towards a more balanced and stable relationship with not only our blood sugar management routines but our development as spiritual beings.

Find friends and sources of peer support because knowing you're not alone and having a sense of community is what will carry you through the moments you feel like you just can't do it anymore.”

Andrew

Age: 36 Year Diagnosed: 1996 Location: Temecula, Ca

“I met my wife, Hannah and within about 7 days of knowing each other we got married, not much time to tell her about diabetes...I remember walking quickly down the stairs and my pump tubbing got ripped out on the handrail. I kinda tried to play it cool and quiet about my diabetes back then so when that sucker got ripped out I remember looking at her like oh crap...this is awkward.

For most of my 21 years with T1D I felt isolated and alone, it wasn't until I got connected with the T1D community online that I finally took huge leaps forward with my diabetes management and confidence. It became way easier to show off my fancy devices and open up about this part of my life. I no longer wanted to keep it quiet. It has been amazing sharing helpful tips, information and being an advocate for T1D!

Some advice would be to get involved in community! You'll learn so much from other T1D's and family's living with it.”

Qiana

Age: 44 Year Diagnosed: 2000 Location: Montclair, NJ

“I've always been a dreamer- but I realized later on in life that I also am driven to pursue that which I envision. I am an artist deep down inside. I love to perform and I absolutely love to sing! I knew from a young age that this was what I wanted to be- a singer, dancer, model. I dreamed of it as a kid and I got to do a lot of what I dreamed of. One thing i didn't see coming was being diagnosed with Type One Diabetes at a time where everything I ever wanted was coming to pass.

I struggled with Diabetes management for such a long time and it had me to miss the mark when it came to being my best on the stage. To my detriment- something bigger than Diabetes was getting in the way of my blood sugar management and that was an eating disorder that is sometimes called Diabulimia. Diabulimia is associated with insulin omission to lose weight. I did this for over 10 years. I was literally "Dying to be Thin" in an industry that glorifies such statues. I can recall being rather sick days before my most memorable auditions with artist such as Jay-Z, Kanye West, P. Diddy, and Missy Elliot to name a few. One night I was so sick from not taking my insulin for 4 days that I took about 20 units of insulin the night before an important meeting with my ex boss and record executive L.A. Reid. I prayed I would wake up the next day well enough for the meeting. Thinking back on that night now, I'm lucky to have woken up at all. An A1c between 12-15 was my norm for years and I didn't come out of this unscathed. I do have diabetes complications as a result of Diabulimia. Taking it back to being a driven dreamer- once I became a mother (something I also didn't see coming) My priorities shifted to being as healthy as possible. I wasn't so sure I could do it, though. Since my diagnosis, I had never even been in a healthy mindset or blood sugar number. So I was on a quest to prove it to myself that it was indeed possible. I pursued the vision I had of myself healthy, happy, and with the lowest A1c since diagnosis and I DID IT! I started to develop a new relationship with my health and with my insulin. It took relentless work and it was so worth it. It is the inspiration for this new chapter of my life to reach back and help those who are still struggling with Diabetes self-management. I'm currently in school studying Nutrition and Wellness with a long term goal of developing programs for people with Diabetes. I've also started a non-profit called "The Anchor Holds". My intent is to be an anchor in the diabetes community by way of education, guidance, and encouragement. I'm your ultimate cheerleader- Singing Cheerleader!”

Sarah

Age: 22 Year Diagnosed: 2010 Location: San Clemente, Ca

“Two weeks into my freshman year of college, I passed out while I was surfing due to a high blood sugar. After being unconscious in the water for almost a minute, good samaritans spotted me and pulled me from the water. I was immediately transported to the emergency room with a blood sugar reading of 532. The medical staff took my pump off of me and gave me only one injection of insulin during the entire 12 hours I was at the facility, causing me to deteriorate within a few hours, and resulted with me in DKA being transported to the ICU at 3 am. After getting my blood sugars in control during my ICU stay, the focus was turned to addressing any damage within my body caused by the drowning incident. To everyone's surprise, I only had a minor amount of water in my lungs and my breathing recovered within the next 6 months. I was told by all medical staff treating me that it was truly a miracle I was alive. Every day since the incident I thought about the people who pulled me from the water and saved my life, but I never knew who did it or how to get in touch with them, that is until I decided to see a new hairdresser four years later. This new hairdresser and I were talking about diabetes when she told me the only interaction she had with a type 1 was four years prior, when a young girl went unconscious in the water while she and her family were at the beach. My jaw immediately dropped as I knew, by some miracle, I had found the people responsible for saving my life. It turns out her 5 year-old son saw me roll of my surfboard into the water and alerted his parents that I had not come back up. After searching the water, they spotted me and immediately pulled me from the water, giving me another chance at life. I tell people this story for two reasons. First, because it is pretty crazy that I was able to meet and thank those who saved my life after four years of wondering who they were. And secondly, because it shows diabetics the danger of uncontrolled blood sugars and that as type 1's, we cannot always rely on medical staff to understand how to treat our condition. Many emergency rooms do not know how to treat type 1 diabetes properly, and it is our responsibility to advocate for our own health to avoid situations where the ignorance of medical staff costs us our health.”

Shay

Age: 3 Year Diagnosed: 2019 Location: Escondido, Ca

"We enjoy Shay talking in her toddler language about diabetes... ‘I have Type 1 Diabetes.’ ‘My Elsa doll is Type 1 Diabetes.’ ‘Mommy can’t have juice... you don’t have Type Diabetes.’ ‘Are you going to zap me’ referring to her bolus from the Omnipod.

Shay is an amazing toddler, who is resilient. Last year our life was turned up side down, but you would never guess it. Shay is always smiling, singing, playing, and excited for what the day will bring. If only we were all like that!”

Advice for t1d toddler parents:” For toddler parents...ditch NPH and regular, get on Humalog right away with MDI and switch to pump. Life is easier when you aren’t forced on a crazy schedule. The pump is life-changing! Skittles are a life saver- 1 g per Skittle!

Don’t be hard on yourself! They say you need to take care of yourself first and find time for dates. We haven’t mastered this yet either! It is true, it gets easier with time.”

Karlyn

Age: 24 Year Diagnosed: 2012 Location: San Diego, Ca

“I was diagnosed with diabetes in high school - it's actually part of the reason I decided to become a nurse. It's kind of awesome that something I'm not usually thankful for helped me find my career. And what's even cooler is that I get the chance to interact with diabetics in the hospital and connect with people on a closer level. I had one patient who was complaining about the lancets we use (they only have 3 settings and all of them are pretty strong). I told him about how I understood since I was diabetic also. He didn't believe me and said "you're not diabetic, there's no way". I whipped my pump out of my pocket and showed him and also told him about my CGM. We got to chat about diabetes and get to know each other more since we had the shared experience of dealing with diabetes daily. We are not alone as diabetics - there are so many amazing people out there to connect with who understand our struggles. Find them!”

Xavier

Age: 29  Year Diagnosed: 2009  Location: Los Angeles, Ca

“My freshman year at college, I forgot to inject my long-lasting insulin and didn't want to leave or cause too much attention. I'd just been diagnosed a few months beforehand and was a little shaky and still using syringes. But my homies left the party and even watched me inject and asked a bunch of questions. Made me feel like i had people really in my corner and made the my first year away from home much more manageable 

Type 1 came out of nowhere for me and my mom. It was two weeks before my 18th bday. Loss about 30lbs in a month after going into ketosis. It sucked at first, but I learned so much more about my fam, friends, and myself. During that time I took theater and art more seriously. It's my calling/passion that I wouldn't give up for anything and it's going pretty well I think .

The advice I'd give to any newly diagnosed type 1 is the same advice another type 1 back in high school told me. "Don't feel embarrassed about checking your levels or injecting at the table. It's your health, f*ck em'."

Simona

Age: 17 months   Year Diagnosed: 2019- at 11 months  Location: San Diego, Ca

“Simona was diagnosed with T1D before she could walk or talk. We almost missed it. In hindsight, she was showing signs for several weeks: increased thirst, crankiness, urination. We thought it was because she was teething and it was hot outside. We could tell she was losing weight but we thought it was because she was crawling more and becoming really active. It wasn’t until she woke up from her nap with blue lips and rapid breathing that we knew something was wrong. I drove her to the Emergency Room and I could see her in the backseat in her car seat, completely out of it. She didn’t respond to my voice and was falling asleep in my arms despite sleeping all day. She had fruity breath but I thought it was from the plums she ate for dinner.  The ER docs couldn’t figure out why she was breathing so hard because her oxygen stats were normal. T1D wasn’t on any of our radars. 

Six months later, Simona is finally starting to stabilize. We are more confident in making adjustments to her insulin and it doesn’t feel as foreign anymore. We’ve tried to get ourselves involved with the T1D community by going to different events and we just came back from winter family camp at Camp Conrad Chinnock. We want our girls to see the positives that come from this disease: community, friends, support. The diabetes community is incredible. We realize that having a baby diagnosed with Type One under one year old is rare. We hope we can someday pay it forward and help newly diagnosed families when we are seasoned veterans, just like people have been helping us.”

Amy

Age: 23 Year Diagnosed: 2002 Location: Tempe, Az

“I've lived with Type 1 for almost 18 years, so you'd think that coming up with a story centering life with diabetes would be easy, but honestly I struggled a little bit. I think I have my parents to thank for that. I was diagnosed with T1D two days before I turned 6, so I was still in the hospital on my birthday. I don't know what kind of planning and rearranging happened behind the scenes, but as far as 6-year-old me could tell, life went on as normal. I had my birthday party a few days after I was released from the hospital--I had a cookie cake and got a new bike and all my friends were there. I'm sure my parents were holding their breath and calculating every moment of that day, but all I remember is having my hair braided by my sister and wearing my new birthday outfit. Sure, my childhood memories are scattered with a lot of poking and prodding, and I learned what a carbohydrate was at an alarmingly young age; but, I also remember that my parents were there every step of the way. They shouldered (and continue to shoulder) so much of the burden of living with T1 so that I didn't have to. They would probably say no thanks necessary, but I want them (and the whole stinkin' world) to know they have given me so much to be grateful for.

I guess long story short: my parents are my heroes and I truly believe parents of T1s are the closest thing we have to angels on earth.”

William

Age: 9  Year Diagnosed: 2014  Location: Phoenix, Az

“Diabetes is not fun because when you are low you are tired and you can't run as fast, and it's boring, but it can be fun because you get to eat sugar! 

Treat your blood sugar if it's 100 or below if you are going to run around!”

Cy

Age: 6 Year Diagnosed: 2015 Location: Phoenix, Az

“One time I asked my mom if I could put my pod on my forehead!

A piece of advice I would give to someone is not to dose me when I am low!“

Angelique

Age: 39 Year Diagnosed: 1998 Location: Scottsdale, Az

“Diabetes is not pretty. It is not an easy disease to manage, but it is treatable and you CAN live with it. ‘Either you will take shots before you leave here, or you will die.’ That's what the nurses told me at the hospital when I was diagnosed. I was in ICU for 3 days and a regular room for 2 more days after that. When I asked the nurses when I could go home, they told me I would have learn how to give myself shots and I would have to do for this for rest of my life. No one in my family had it at the time and I had to battle through learning how to survive with this new disease and new life change, and I was about to graduate high school. I lost all the friends I did have because they didn't understand what I was going through. I've always been embarrassed, self conscious, and vulnerable when discussing this auto-immune illness around others who don't understand it. I hate this disease and I would give anything to live a normal life without worrying about high and low blood sugars 24/7. Diabetes has taken over my life. I feel I am always one step behind everyone because of this burden. I've always hid it from people until just recently after I had my 2nd child. I saw a pregnant woman on my feed with an insulin pump and I clicked on the hashtag and fell into a wonderful community of diabetics that I never knew existed. I will never be happy about what I've been given, but seeing that there are others out there making it and they are just like me, has given me new life. I am so incredibly grateful to have met Laura and hear her story and inspire me to share mine. In her words, ‘My whole goal is to share the TRUE side of this disease and not (no pun intended) "sugar coat".’ So, thank you Laura for the push.”

Lukas

  Age: 16 months  Year Diagnosed: 2019 (13 months)  Location: San Marcos, Ca

“Life with Lukas before diagnosis seems so far away now. Our life with a 1 year old with type 1 has become a day and night full of decisions we didn’t know existed before. My biggest takeaway from this experience so far is that our son is so resilient. Could you imagine feeling all the highs and lows and waking up in the middle of the night to eat and finger pokes and site changes and not being able to understand any of it? I wish I didn’t have to know how resilient he is, but am so thankful that he is so much stronger than me. The best advice we been given in regards to having a tiny T1 is to always let him be a kid first and a diabetic second.”

Roz

Age: 39 Year Diagnosed: 1996 Location, Philadelphia, Pa

“I was an on duty Resident Assistant in college when I had the worst hypoglycemic event of my life. I went out on an ambulance because the paramedics couldn't wake me in my room (I came to on the ambulance - which was terrifying). It was a weekend night when this occurred and I was wheeled out via the quad of the most populated living commons on campus. Many assumed I had alcohol poisoning (because, college) and that I was in trouble because not only was I an RA, but I was on duty that night. Thank goodness enough people knew that I was diabetic and acted quickly when they found me in my room unresponsive.

When I attended the first Bolus and Barbells (@Bolusandbarbells) event in Austin, Texas in June 2016 I met a large group of T1Ds who were athletes. Until that time I knew a handful of T1Ds but none that I felt were my peers or had similar interests. This organization, and specifically this first event, opened my eyes to the true power of the DOC. Being in a room with 20+ physically and mentally strong T1Ds was life changing. From that point forward I embraced my new friendships as well as my health and wellness with more vigor than I ever had in the past.

Find a good CDE, preferably one that is a T1D ASAP! A good CDE is the most important member of your health care team (other than your endo who can write your Rx for insulin). Take the time to learn as much as possible from them so you can eventually become independent in making dosing decisions and making changes to pump settings, if applicable”

Liz

Age: 21 Year Diagnosed: 2013 Location: Phoenix, Az

“There are going to be times when you will hear someone say something out of ignorance about this disease. While it’s beyond frustrating being the butt of every sugar related joke, take the time and patience to educate the person. The only way to end the cycle of misinformation is to graciously communicate the truth. Compassion and understanding is built through the relationships we have with others. They may not understand or empathize but we need to give them an opportunity to.”

Dave

Age: 32 Year Diagnosed: 1997 Location: Tempe, Az

“I'm forever grateful to the Diabetic Online Community because I went nearly 2 years without insurance and completely relied on the kindness of strangers to get supplies. I posted on Twitter in February, 2018 and got several shares and replies from people all over the country that were willing and able to send me supplies and insulin.

Now that I have insurance and can get my supplies I try to help others as I can since I was helped so much."