Julianna Lopez

I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 10 years old and my entire life changed. Medical technology thankfully was approved right at the time I was diagnosed so an insulin pump and CGM made my new diagnosis ten times better. At 19 years old, I was hit by a drunk driver. I broke both legs, my pelvis, multiple ribs, left arm, spine, and had to get a splenectomy. I don’t remember anything about crashing but three bystanders came to help me and the only thing I could say was that I was a type 1 diabetic. One of the bystanders had a daughter that was almost the same age and had type 1 diabetes so she crawled inside the car with me and sat there with me for an hour until the fire department could extract me from the car. I was in the hospital for two months and in a wheelchair for five months until I could learn how to walk again. It has been 17 months and 11 surgeries later. My a1c is now 6.2 and diabetes has been a small thing in my life compared to everything else but I still feel so accomplished seeing how well managed it is.