my diabetes is a teenager.

13 years.

i've been looking at the blank screen trying to figure out what to say about that. another year has come and gone; another year lived with diabetes. pretty much a normal life like everyone else lives, just with a few techonological medical attachments.

so, in my search for words, i read back through some old blog posts. some i'd forgotten about, some were silly, some meant a lot.

i didn't have diabetes as a kid. i didn't go to summer camp. my mom didn't worry about me at school every day (ok, maybe when i was in college she might but i wasn't a YOUNG kid then). i was diagnosed right on the cusp of adulthood. a busy, crazy, exciting moment when it was time to grow up. maybe that's one reason that i didn't have a dramatic reaction to my diagnosis. life was already changing, so this was just one more change at the same time. it fell into place along with all the other new things.

i quickly learned about living with this disease, and took it in stride. i had no choice. i made it through college healthy, graduated, got a job, then another, then another... met a great man, had a fabulous wedding and here we are. a happy new(-ish, we're still newlyweds!) healthy couple.

all these things that some people may believe aren't possible, i'm doing them. i feel like i've written this before, and i'm sure i'll write it again. it's just a part of life. i live with it. i might think about it multiple times on a daily basis, but i don't always broadcast my thoughts. it's always on my mind, but not always on display. and it doesn't control me. i control my diabetes.

welcome to the teen years.



(there's still time to help me meet my goal of 13 donations for my JDRF walk team by the end of my 13th diaversary! just go HERE!)