Hope for a cure

"Mum, what would you do if there was a cure for diabetes?" 

"I would run down the street naked"

Oh, mother. You are funny.
She probably wouldn't do that of course, but from that I gather that she would be over the moon, as would my dad, as would the rest of my family as would I and everyone else out there affected by Type One Diabetes.

In just over a month, on June 21st 2013, will be my fourth year living with Type One. It is so weird how fast it's gone. The past four years have been a crazy rollercoaster ride with more ups and downs than I can count, or even remember for that matter. It's daunting to think that I will still have Diabetes for the years after this; for the rest of my life. I will deal with the needles, the crazy blood sugars, the hospital visits, the bruises, the smiles and the tears until of course, there is a cure.

My diagnosis immediately instilled a sense of hope in me that I have never had before. "Hope" it isn't a word many people use often, it's not a word that a lot of people live by. For me, it keeps me going. I live in the hope that there will be a cure for Type One Diabetes in my lifetime and no one will ever have to deal with this disease anymore. Everyone with diabetes will be free; more free than they have ever been before. No boundaries, no pain, no blood sugar mishaps to stop us enjoying the day, just pure freedom to live life as every one around us, normally. And not the "diabetes normal"

I've lived with Type One since I was eleven, I'm fifteen now; soon to be sixteen in July. My life changed forever right from the words "there is no doubt you have Type One Diabetes" and things were, different. Thankfully, Type One hasn't meant that I can't do everything every one else can, it has just meant that I had to alter my lifestyle slightly, it meant that I had to make sure I ate and couldn't skip breakfast, it meant that I couldn't lie in because I will go too low or too high, it meant that I have to go to the hospital every three months, it meant that I had to learn to deal with needles, it meant that I now have to deal with both physical and emotional pain, it meant that sometimes my blood sugar will affect my day-to-day activities, and more.

If there was a cure?

I would be able to run around spontaneously with out the fear of being low, I wouldn't need to carry around a bag with all my supplies in it all day every day, I would be able to leave the house with just my keys and my phone, I would be able to go on random walks with out needing to "plan ahead" I would be able to eat and not feel the sting from my insulin every time, or test my blood sugars, I won't have scabs and bruising on my finger tips, I won't have bruises or lumps on my stomach from my infusion site, I wouldn't spend all day worrying about my blood sugars, I wouldn't have to face the risk of complications when I'm older, I wouldn't have to deal with silly stereotypes about this disease, I wouldn't need to change an infusion site every three days, I wouldn't feel a low blood sugar again, I wouldn't feel a high blood sugar again, I wouldn't need a shelf full of diabetes supplies just to keep me alive, I wouldn't need to wear a Medical ID bracelet, I wouldn't need to keep vials and cartridges of insulin in the fridge, I wouldn't need to keep cans of coke and dextrose tablets in the cupboard, I wouldn't need a bottle of water and glucose by my bed every night, I would go to sleep knowing that I will make it through the night with out a low or high blood sugar, I would be able to lay in for ages in the morning with out waking up low, I wouldn't have to go to the hospital every three months, I would be able to be carefree.

I wouldn't have to deal with my own life, every single day. I would be a normal teenager, EXACTLY like my friends. 

I would probably be able to do so much more with so much ease, but I can't remember it all.

A cure for Type One Diabetes would lift so much off of my shoulders and all that Diabetes has taught me would stay with me forever- but I don't want to have Diabetes with me forever.

But for now,
I am strong and I will keep fighting Diabetes until there is a cure. I will not let it bring me down and I will live my life with a smile on my face, and so will everyone else with Diabetes.

Because we will not let Diabetes, Dia-BEAT-us.

"There's a light inside of you, that can't help but shine through" 

-Ellie

[Peace&Insulin]