The Great Debate...

Recently I feel like I have read a lot of blogs that cover the issue of getting type 1 diabetes early in life compared to later in life. Here are my thoughts...

I was diagnosed when I was 4 years old, on Halloween. I really do not remember much before I was diagnosed, although I remember some details from my actual diagnosis day and my time thereafter in the hospital. I can remember eating lunch at our kitchen table with my mom and brother and having a Snickers bar for dessert. I went to the doctor in the afternoon and remember my mom telling me that I had to go to the University of Iowa hospital to get better. I was there for one week while my parents were educated by the nurses and doctors. I can remember doing some things there, like making a mini-pizza, only to find out that I had to give it to my dad because they said I could not eat it at the time. Later, the nurse told my dad that I could have eaten the pizza and he felt awful and apologized for hours about it.

I am glad that I have not known life without diabetes. I cannot imagine being able to freely eat and exercise and not have to worry about my starting blood sugar or reading the signs my body is giving me. It is always something I have known and cannot imagine not doing it.

I admire all those people who got diabetes later in life, and actually remember living a "normal" life compared to one withe diabetes (although living with diabetes is still a normal life in my book, it just takes a little extra dedication and motivation). Even now as I type this blog I cannot imagine one day waking up and knowing that I would have to give myself insulin shots or be attached to a pump in order to live. In many ways, I feel lucky to be diagnosed at such a young age. I cannot imagine my life without it, which is why I have a hard time thinking about a cure. Maybe someday I'll wake up and there will be a cure. For now, I will keep living my life the way I have always known, only with better technology.