Lauren Figg

People say “diabetes doesn’t define us,” but really it does. Diabetes has had a profound and lasting impact on my life. My current life is almost exclusively a result of having diabetes: my job, my friends, the things I care about, the things I worry about, the choices I have made, the choices I was not able to make, the way I interact with the world. All of these things are from a life with type 1 diabetes.

I sometimes consider what it would be like to not have diabetes, and I can’t imagine it. Perhaps it’s because it’s been 25 years since I haven’t had to consider diabetes in every single daily action or behavior. Diabetes has given and taken so much from me. But the callouses on my fingers, scar tissue on my stomach, never-ending fatigue, recurring charges on my credit card, anxiety, a bird’s eye view into disparities and a deep hatred for anything that beeps live alongside of the meaningful friendships I’ve built, a deep appreciation for science and technology (notably that has allowed me to live with diabetes for 25 years without complications), global and local perspective that I believe has shaped me into the person I am today, and empathy that I’m confident I wouldn’t have been able to tap into otherwise. As much energy as it takes from me, diabetes also provides a different type of energy.

Although I think about diabetes constantly, considering specifically that I’ve lived with the disease for 25 years feels emotional. I have grown in those 25 years, and thankfully, so have my options for treatment. If I could tell nine-year old Lauren that she’d be wearing a hybrid closed loop insulin pump and a continuous glucose monitor, I don’t think she’d believe me. I’m endlessly thankful for the amazing healthcare providers I’ve had in these two and a half decades, from Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana to Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, California. I’m thankful for the research community who has advanced treatment options. Most importantly, I’m thankful to the diabetes community who has been an integral part of my own diabetes management, and always supportive when I most need it. While I grew up hearing of all of the things diabetes would make impossible, I feel empowered daily that I live a fulfilling and happy life, with type 1 diabetes tagging along sidecar. I’m hopeful that someday I will have time on the opposite side of my life that doesn’t include diabetes, but until then, cheers to 25 years.