Last week, I sat through a 20-minute conversation. The man, David, was telling me about his brother who died from Type 1 Diabetes. As David went through each ailment developed and subsequent surgery, the sinking feeling in my stomach fell deeper and deeper. First it was eye surgery (retinopathy), then leg amputation, next came heart surgery. Eventually the man had a kidney and pancreas transplant. Finally, David’s brother died just before his 40th birthday. He was about to have a heart transplant.
As a 33-year old woman with Type 1 Diabetes, this conversation put my greatest fears into words. Listening to David talk about his brother, I crumbled inside. I spent more time trying to make sure my face showed nothing I was truly feeling than I did actually listening to him.
It has been one week since the conversation, and this is the very first day I have been able to breathe a word of it.
I write to you today because I live and breathe Juvenile Diabetes. Diagnosed at age 10, it has been a part of my every day for nearly 23 years. My anniversary is Valentine’s Day.
Instead of sitting in the shadows waiting for diabetes to kill me, I want to kill it. While I have passively considered writing about or working in a field related to Juvenile Diabetes, the conversation last week with David sent me into overdrive. I want to get involved. I need to get involved. There are too many people out there misinformed and too many diabetics out there feeling discouraged and to be blunt, waiting to die. This is unacceptable. A very dear friend of mine once told me, "I will let diabetes kill me before I change my lifestyle for it." The sad reality is, that probably will happen to him.
I am starting this blog today as an outlet for you, for me, for your family, for your friends and for mine. Living with a disease, an illness, is not easy. It affects every single decision I make in a day. Sometimes I grow frustrated because I feel like no one understands, but then I think, why would they? I never talk about it!
So here goes....
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