Pre-T1D

In some ways, I feel like my whole life has been leading up to this diagnosis.

When I was very young, if I liked a certain food, I would eat that food until I hated it. It's the reason I don't like butterscotch, I'm hesitant about how much quiche I eat, and I've learned to restrain myself around jellybeans.
Obviously, mindless eating is not something that a person with Type 1 Diabetes can do. Everything must be methodically planned out before I consume anything.

I also tended to ignore my body. I would sit around working on one project for hours, even if I was hungry, I would wait until the project was finished before I ate. This became quite dangerous in college since my projects went on late into the night and I would often skip dinner.
Now, I pay very close attention to my body. I have my fitbit on me, telling me how much I've exercised (too much and I go too low, too little and I go too high). I have a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) to measure my blood sugar. I am constantly aware of how I need to treat my body since the consequences are quite serious.

But the biggest change T1D has brought into my life is that I didn't think I could change. I thought that I would always be afraid of needles and that I would never be able to pay attention to my body and that I would always be this way. And I was okay with this. I didn't think I could change and I didn't necessarily want to change.

I am a practicing Catholic and I have read several stories about the saints. Many of these saints overcame great odds, most of which were diseases of all sorts. I thought, maybe if I had a disease I could overcome, I could be more like the saints. Not that just having T1D will automatically put me on the path to sainthood. It's just interesting how things turned out.

I'm stronger, smarter, and more aware now because of this. I sympathize with others that have chronic diseases. I don't just feel bad for my friends with asthma and others with auto-immune diseases, I understand them better now. I can understand what they are going through and relate to them better.
For all the bad that has come from this, there is always good.