Anndal Narayanan

I hope I can offer inspiration to some people newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, because I sure needed that as a kid. I developed it a month before my sixth birthday. I am now thirty-six and thanks to the care of my parents, good doctors, and the benevolence of the Lord, I have been able to pursue many dreams already. I went to college, studied abroad, got a Ph.D., have travelled all over the world including India and Iceland, and I’m teaching college history classes now and finishing my first book. I was diagnosed before short term insulin existed. My life is far beyond what I thought it could be when I was a kid. There’s nothing you cannot do because of type 1 diabetes; you just have to decide what you want to do and figure out how you will do it. Learn to advocate for yourself calmly and without being defensive, and you will find that most people want to help; it’s just that they haven’t been exposed to information about T1 because it’s so rare. Ask the Lord for help too.