Today marks 20 years of living with type 1 diabetes for me. I was 9 years old when my parents had to rush me to the ER because I was unknowingly near a coma. 20 years of this disease has not been easy, but I will say I wouldn’t be who I am today had I not been diagnosed. I am curious what other TD1’s do on their anniversary? It seems a little strange to celebrate something like that when you think about it, but at the same time, I think that you really need to treat and thank yourself to the many years of hell that diabetes can rain down on you, and how we have had the courage to march forward when this disease rears its ugly head. SO, I want your thoughts and ideas! What do you do on your diaversary and especially your 20 year diaversary?
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Happy 20th Diaversary @eburt1987!
My 30th diaversary is coming up this July so I will be monitoring this thread for ideas. I too was diagnosed at 9 years old.
I usually celebrate my diaversary by myself and have a glass of scotch 
I was going to throw a party on my 25th, but never did that. For me it is an accomplishment to celebrate, but having friends celebrate with me feels kind of odd to me so I am focus on making time to do something fun and relaxing.
Right now for my 30th, I am thinking about doing a local hike for fun (an excuse to leave the kids at home) … Haven’t done Garibaldi Lake for a while so it may be worth a visit… I can reminisce about my university days when I would fill the back-pack full of candy and eat it all the way up the mountain to keep the blood sugar in line. Hiking was the only time I would ever eat candy.
(Picture stolen from Wikipedia)
Oh - and maybe a call to mom and dad to thank them for the help over the years.
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Blessings to you! And Bravo!..I’m only at 10 years+ and I barely acknowledge it. Even though I have achieved good control, The D turned my life inside out and upside down. For me, there is nothing to celebrate. I hate it…I accept it. That’s the best I can do…
I hope you have a celebration that is meaningful for you—That’s what counts!
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My son, Caleb, recently recognized his ten year diaversary. We haven’t acknowledged it every year, but the ten year mark seemed noteworthy. We celebrated his success of managing this beast with cupcakes and hugs and words of praise.
Congrats to you! 20 years is a big deal!!
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I often regret that I didn’t make a note of my dx date. Now I have no way of knowing when it was. Sigh. I know the year of course—but that’s all.
It will be 50 for me this year. I don’t have any plans.
I used to have a major mental meltdown on my diaversary, but a friend here convinced me I don’t have to do that. So for the past few years, I’ve just tried not to remember how traumatic it was.
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I know mine was mid-December 1983 but not the exact date. So much upheaval then, not just because of the disease itself, which was plenty, but I was in grad school at the time and it came on at the end of term–had to miss exams, take extensions, all that kind of stuff. So taking note of the precise date wasn’t very high on the priority list. Turns out the clinic that dx’d me is still running but they destroyed all their records from that time a while ago. I do observe World Diabetes Day, but that’s easy to remember—it’s my birthday. 
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My records no longer exist, either. Just recently—well, a few months ago—I called the office of the doctor I was seeing then to inquire. They don’t keep records that far back.
Our goal has always been to try to focus on the positive. Dx was a crappy, terrifying few days so following my daughter’s lead, the diaversary date is a day to celebrate accomplishments over the past year. We go out to dinner & a movie, both rare occurrences for us. On her 5th we bought her a small gift. Her 8th will occur this summer. Looks like it will be the first one we won’t spend together, as she’ll be a counselor at D camp. I hope she continues to always treat herself to some sort of celebration. She works hard. She deserves a special day to reward herself.
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Congratulations on your 20th!
I’m at 45 or 46 and have never treated it any differently than any other day of my life. I deal with diabetes, I don’t let it dominate my life.
I understand how diabetes has changed my life, but that’s just the way it is. I certainly don’t ignore it, and it certainly takes more time and effort than brushing and flossing my teeth. But it’s no more important to me to control my diabetes and keep it from injuring my health than it is to keep periodontal disease from injuring my health.
BTW, I have controlled it well enough over the past 45-46 years to have no complications. A1c’s over the past 15 years (when the test was available) have been 5.0-6.5. So don’t think I just blow it off. You just do what you gotta do.
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It will be my 32 anniversary this year. I usually didn´t even mention the thing as I was diagnosed during my mother´s birthday. I know, ¡that wasn´t a nice thing to do diabetes! it was till this year that I decided to do something special (for me) with my family of course. I celebrate my second chance in life, life should always be celebrated so… I guess it all depends on many things. I did have a cake by the way LOL.
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I know my diagnosis was in Janaury, 1984, but I didn’t remember the exact date. I just pickd a day in the middle of the month, January 14, since it seemed close enough,
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Wowie, @MarieB! Have you looked into the Lilly or Joslin medals? Caleb received the 10 year Lilly medal this year.
Lilly Journey - 10, 25, 50, 75 years
Joslin Award - 25. 50, 75 years.
Does anyone offer a 22 year medal? 
Will only be 5 for me. I can’t forget my diagnosis date – it’s on my birth certificate.
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It will be 19 years for me on October 20. I don’t do anything to celebrate. I was 50 when diagnosed. I Try to make it just another day in the life.
Yep. Different day for for me, but also easy to remember, I was dx’d ON my birthday!
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As far as I have been able to determine, the only interesting thing that happened on my birthday was Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation.
I’ve never celebrated the annual arrival of my anniversary date of diagnosis. It was never a clear temporal line of demarcation for me. I was probably sliding into diabetes for at least a year.
A more meaningful date in my diabetes life occurred about March 1, 2012. It was a diabetes care renaissance for me. I changed my eating to low carb high fat, lost weight, halved my insulin dosing, started rocking solid diabetes numbers. Twenty-eight years after my diagnosis, I figured out how to steer my crude metabolic ship. That’s an anniversary I can celebrate!
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I hit 55 on Christmas day 2017. Congrats!!
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