Hello, tudiabetes, I'm Tara.
I was diagnosed 6 months and 13 days ago with Type 1 Diabetes. I'm 22 years-old, work out on the regular, and no one in my family has ever had this disease so to say it came at a bit of a shock is an understatement. Diabetes wasn't even on my radar, I've never known anyone with the disease and I knew next to absolutely nothing about it. But when the nurse checked my blood-sugar and a result of 579 came staring back at her, there was no question about it- I have diabetes.
I consider myself lucky though to have been diagnosed on the spot by my doctor. His daughter has Type 1 so of course, he would instantly recognize the signs. However, I've recently read an article that most people are not as fortunate to of had a doctor like mine and are continuously misdiagnosed until rushed to the hospital with blood-sugars so high it's nothing short of a miracle that they live.
The ignorance that surrounds this disease is deadly and I hope that some day this disease, like so many others in our history, will be just that- history. But for now, it is very much apart of our present, apart of our lives, apart of ourselves. To deny this fact is...detrimental. But to own it, to know everything you can about this part of you- that is survival of the fittest.
Adjusting to this new found part of myself has been a rollarcoaster, like I'm sure so many of you understand. The ups and downs (literally), the total adjustment of family and friends, and the initial fear that accompanies all things unknown is overwhelming. However, I am a traveler and adventurer by nature and this disease has not stopped not me, it has made me wiser.
Since my diagnoses I have traveled to Paris, London, California, Colorado, been in 4 weddings, and gone to 5 and another one to come in February. I went from a A1c of 12.5 to an A1c of 6 in a matter of 3 months by doing exactly what I knew I was supposed to do. In short- Life. Goes. On. And while I cannot afford the luxury of wearing a tiny purse anymore, or have a day that does not include shots, pricking fingers, balanced meals, or the constant task of trying to keep my blood-sugar on target; I have also never been so in-tuned with my body, so encouraged by the bravery of others, nor have I ever understood the power of faith as I do now.