Author: Anonymous
When I was still living in Africa, at about 7 years old, I remember spending about a week constantly drinking large amounts of water and immediately going to the bathroom to pee right after. Because I was using the bathroom so often, my parents became alarmed and took me to the doctor to get my blood drawn. The results quickly revealed that I have type 1 diabetes. Being 7 years old, I couldn’t comprehend the severity of the diagnoses. I remember coming home that day and my dad telling me, “Sarah, you are not allowed to ever eat candy again.” Imagine being 7 years old and hearing that you could never eat candy again!
My childhood was filled with confusion. My parents literally had to lock me out of the kitchen so that I wouldn’t touch any food that could raise my sugar levels too high. When the rest of my siblings would get to eat certain foods and I wouldn’t, I would be extremely annoyed and feel as though some prejudice was going on. Even though I was 7, I wasn’t completely in the dark. I was already handling the insulin myself and knew how to test my blood sugar. Here I was, pricking my own finger, and still I wasn’t allowed to eat what I wanted? It wasn’t until I was older when I started doing my own research that I learned what exactly was going on with my body. I tried a number of diets and experimented with various foods and even when I found what worked out with my body, I still deviated from it. I liked eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Living with type 1 diabetes is still a challenge to me, however it’s a challenge I’ve learned to include in my daily life. I’m at a point where I’m trying to make diabetes work around my lifestyle rather than making my lifestyle have to accommodate the diabetes.