I was diagnosed with type 1 back in the 'dark ages' of diabetes treatment. I was a couple of months short of my 3rd birthday, my mom boiled glass syringes & it took 4 people to hold me down & inject me. Technology has certainly come a long way since then, I do my best to take care of myself. It's a lot of effort but since I know what the consequences are of not making the effort, I make it. I am insulin sensitive & have anti insulin anti bodies, which causes me to be brittle, or very hard to control. I can do everything 'right' & still not wake up in the morning, very aggravating but I have to fight to keep things in as best control that I can. I have had many issues in my life that have made me not care about caring for myself, but I really came to my senses about 20 years ago, when I was told I was in an early stage of kidney failure. I said, ok, that's enough, I'd had many complications prior to this but this needed my undivided attention. Today, I really try to care for myself & my life is good. The photo is from my 50th birthday party which was wonderful. If I'm still around next August, I will have accomplished 50 years of living with difficult diabetes & will apply for a Joslin Medal, what the heck. I've always had difficulties with control & living with the disease, but I learned to keep trying & do what I could to get the help I needed. I hope everyone can do the same, it's really worth it. Oh, I also try to advocate to get people who need help the help they need.

Liz
New York, NY