Rachel Vermeer

I was diagnosed in April 1999 at the age of 10. Thankfully my parents knew the symptoms of type 1 diabetes and caught it early. I learned how to count carbs and give myself shots- I didn’t want to be reliant upon my parents. I always said that diabetes forced me to grow up and taught me a lot of responsibility from a young age. I never wanted diabetes to be a reason I couldn’t do something and am proud to say that in the last 25 years I’ve become a certified scuba diver, gotten my master’s degree, hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, traveled to multiple countries, and had three full-term babies without complications. Diabetes is hard and it’s a huge part of me but it doesn’t define me.

My two year old daughter was diagnosed last summer and while that’s been a difficult journey, I’m happy that she can look at me and see someone who has never let this disease slow her down.