I was diagnosed with Diabetes in 1981, at the age of 9. My only two questions after I stabilized were: "Can I still eat watermelon?"and "Can I have babies?" I was told, "No" to both. I kept my illness a secret from everyone, shameful of not being like other children. At the age of 18 I was in a head-on collision. My fiancé and I were hit by a diabetic who was having an insulin reaction and passed out at the wheel. I was severely injured, suffering fractures throughout my entire body. At 21 I defied the doctor's response to me in 1981. I delivered my first child, healthy and large. Two years later came baby number two. Just 17 months after that came number three and finally, in 1998, my fourth child was born. All deliveries were C-sections because of the pelvic injuries I sustained in my car accident in 1990. In 2004 my second daughter was 9 years old. She sat down beside me one evening and I heard her make this sound with her mouth like her tongue was sticking to the roof of her mouth. I had an instant flashback to when I was 9, before I was diagnosed. I panicked. I checked her blood sugar and it just read, "HI." We rushed to the hospital where her blood sugar was 865. I began my journey as a diabetic mom of a diabetic child, August 24, 2004. We've had many ups and downs with my daughter. She's been in DKA seven times and is dealing with some early complications. She is so smart and beautiful. She starts college at Auburn University, this month. I'm proud to be her mom and I pray for a cure so that she doesn't have to have this burden on her, anymore.

Ami Taylor
Birmingham, AL