Jennifer Flores

I have had type 1 diabetes for 50 years now. Fifty years ago, there weren’t even sticks to pee on to get a reading. I had a science kit, basically. 10 drops of urine, 5 of water, in a test tube, drop a pill in there and check the color of the fizz. Now, my CGM talks to my pump and my A1c is amazing. Long gone are the days of doctors scaring their young patients with stories of a diminished life due to their diagnosis. Thank God. I’m sure there are still discussions about risks associated with high blood sugars but my guess is that they aren’t telling their young patients and their parents not to expect a full life. My life is FULL. Exactly the opposite of what I was told I would have. I married my high school sweetheart. We’ll be celebrating our 37th year together on our next anniversary. We have three healthy, adult children. We travel, we hike, and sometimes we just sit together. I plan on many more years with my family. And I still have all my bits, including that dead pancreas. I have type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes does not, and has never, nor will it ever, have me.

It doesn’t have you either.