I was a very happy child with a healthy lifestyle when 13 Years ago, aged 10 I got bronchitis which triggered hereditary juvenile diabetes. For 3 days, i drank about 16 liters of water from the extreme thirst, lost a lot of weight, was weak and moody, and terrible headaches. Thankfully my mother had a nursing background so it didn't take long before she recognized the symptoms and we went straight to the doctor. First thing they did was test my blood sugar which the tester could not read. They took blood and sent it to the lab and we received a phone call with in an hour to say my blood glucose was 44.7mmol/l. I was rushed to hospital and i will never forget my doctor saying that he had never seen someone with a blood sugar that high, still alive. I was young and didn't understand what exactly was happening, i didn't know what to feel. I over heard my mother who was very upset, speaking with my father about how my whole future would change because of this illness and from that point i decided that this disease was not going to ruin my life, that i would just need to adapt to the lifestyle of being a diabetic. I manage my sugar as best as possible while continuing to pray for a cure to be found. Living with diabetes is a very different lifestyle, but a person can still enjoy life just as long as you do your best to take care of your body and blood glucose. I now have a beautiful 6 year old son and an incredible husband that stands by my side through all the ups and downs diabetes comes with :) I am grateful for the life i live, being diabetic is not the end of the world its a part of who i am!

Lauren
Cape Town, South Africa