Most people just don’t know the difference, and it hurts because none of us with type 1 chose the life of being diabetic. I didn’t choose to be made fun of or talked about, none of us did. Those diabetic jokes that everyone thinks is funny especially the one “Johnny had 20 chocolate bars and he ate 19 what does he have now? Diabetes!” Those jokes hurt. People don’t go making fun of cancer or any other critical medical issue so why diabetes? I use the term “we” when talking about diabetes because I know I’m not fighting alone. No you don’t know. You won’t ever know unless you’re in my position. There are two different types of diabetes, completely different types to be exact. When people find out I’m a diabetic, some people have said, “You don’t look fat,” These are false stereotypes. When people see me eating sugar, they almost automatically say, “You shouldn’t be eating that.” I’m actually allowed to eat whatever I want.  I am a diabetic. I have type 1 and always will.

Forty kids per day develop Type 1 diabetes in the US, and type 1 is completely different from type 2. With type 2, the body still produces insulin, but people who have type 2 don’t have to take five shots a day or worry about covering everything they eat. No, type 2 is taking pills because the body doesn’t produce enough insulin. Type 1 diabetes kids get as a juvenile, also called juvenile diabetes; people take five to seven shots a day or change an insulin port every two to three days.  Diabetics check their blood sugar at least six to eight times a day, which means more pricks and pokes.  Sometimes I get asked, “Does it still hurt?”

I answer, “Kind of.”

Of course, it still hurts it always will. It gets tiring feeling the pricks and pokes, the stinging and burning of needles, and tubes going into my skin. But I will never hate anyone for my diabetes because it has made me who I am. Carrying around snacks, insulin, needles, insulin pump parts, blood glucose meter, strips, and whatever else a “normal” person carries around is not an option; it’s necessary. Our body thought our pancreas was an infection and turned on itself, meaning that Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease, which means that my body thought my pancreas was an infection and turned on itself. People say, “Oh, don’t eat too much sugar, or you’ll get diabetes!” That’s just not true; there is no known way to prevent it. Whether a kid, teenager, or adult, diabetes is very difficult to manage. In fact, diabetes is very life threatening disease; it affects the heart, eyes, kidneys, nerves and much more. It can cost people their eyesight, a leg, foot, arm, any extremity, even a life. There is no cure.

I didn’t get it till I was eight, but I know people who were born with diabetes and have had to deal with it their entire lives.  People judge me every day for something they know nothing about, or I get funny looks when they see the scars on my body from the shots and tubes that I have to live with. The worst out of it all for me personally is this: I am different and not like others. I feel people are prejudice against me.

I want to make this clear: diabetics are ordinary or normal people just with a slight disability. However, just because someone has a disability it, doesn’t mean that he/she can’t do normal activities. I can do everything, just with a challenge that’s all. Type 1 and type 2 diabetics are normal people. We are fighting together. People would not ask for a life of shots and finger pokes every day. Well, we didn’t ask for it, but it’s our way of life.  But no one knows how strong he or she has to be until being strong is the only choice. We all will fight together until the cure is found.