Ten years. T-E-N Y-E-A-R-S! That’s how long it’s been since I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. If you’re interested in the story of my diagnosis, I’ve written about it here. But today, I just want to celebrate!
Celebrate that I am not alone with it all, but have a great community that is always there for me. Celebrate that I can not only survive, but thrive! Celebrate that I am still alive and didn’t die 10 years ago as I would have if I had lived just 100 years earlier.
I can’t help but consider myself lucky. It’s 2019 and still so many people with diabetes don’t have access to insulin, test strips and medical care. On a day like this, I can’t just ignore that. That is why I’ve started a fundraising campaign for T1International. 380 Euros of the 500 Euros target have already been donated. It would mean the world to me if you could make a donation to this fantastic organization as well. Let’s reach the goal together!
To celebrate this day and more importantly, as a thank you to all of you out there, I’m doing a big giveaway! But I’m not doing this on my own: With the support of some fantastic diapreneurs, we’ve gathered some amazing prizes:
Here’s what you can win:
- PEP ME UP Shop: 10x 10 € Voucher
- AnnaPS: 1 Tank Top (Male, Female or Children)
- Medangel: 1 Medangel One Temperature Tracker
- Mellitus One: 1x 10 € Voucher
- Mysugarcase: 1 Combi Case Diabetes Case
- Ruby Limes: 1x 20 € Voucher
- T1D LYF: 1x 20 $ Voucher
How can you win? Tell me about your diagnosis! Comment either here, on this facebook post or on this Instagram post. You can enter on all these channels to increase your chances of winning. However, duplicate comments are not allowed and will be deleted. Each participant will receive a maximum of one prize. The competition runs until 30.06.2019 at 00:00. The winners will be selected randomly and notified by email or direct message. Legal recourse is not allowed.
Once again: THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! Thank you for every post you read, share and comment. Thank you for all the questions, all the ideas, all the opinions and all the encouraging words you share with me. Thank you!
A big thank you also goes to Anna from AnnaPS, Amin & his team at Medangel, Hanna from Mellitus One, Maren from Mysugarcase, Frida from Ruby Limes and Linda from T1D LYF for offering some of these amazing prizes. <3 And now good luck to all of you!
10 Comments
Jasmin
16. Juni 2019 at 7:29On 18.10.1998 I received my diagnosis from my pediatrician, I was 11 years old.
There we were because I suffered a bicycle accident a few days before and we wanted to see if I did not suffer from internal bleeding for the sake of my never-ending pain. Well, blood glucose levels in excess of 600 mg / dL came out and the rest is history.
Theresa Smith
16. Juni 2019 at 17:00Hi my name is Theresa. I was diagnosed the 17/01/1993, two months shy of my 11th birthday and at the start of a new school year. My mother was sick with worry because I had become rail thin, was drinking non stop all the water, soda etc I could find and always tired and sleepy. My legs was in constant pain and cramping my family thought it was growth pains. I was diagnosed with a bg of 14mmol/262mg /dL and the doctor said he needed to confirm if I was type 1 or 2, it turned out to be type 1 and my parents were devastated. I had no clue what I was about to go through and had to live for the rest of my life.
It has now been 27 years since my diagnoses. The road up until now has not been easy and I take each day as it comes. I am happy to say that I have no complications and are very grateful to the Lord. Diabetes is a extremely difficult and tiring disease to live with. Physically and emotionally. But as a person it makes you extremely strong and knowledgeable about your body. My prayer is that a cure will come quickly. But as a diabetic community with all the technology available , I know we will stand strong and help each other up.
Steffi
17. Juni 2019 at 10:37Hi there, ich was diagnosed almost a year ago during my second pregnancy. Since then my life has changed a lot and I‘ll celebrate my First Diaversery with very mixed feelings. Proud for adapting so well to the new tasks and restrictions I habe to face every day. And also sad, angey and frightened for the freedom I lost and the challenges the future will bring..
Happy Diaversery for you! It‘s good to see that so many people out there live such inspiring lifes in spite of this nasty disease, thanks for sharing your experiences!
Steffi
17. Juli 2019 at 11:37Hi Steffi! Thanks for your comment and CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve won the Anna PS Tank Top Voucher! Please contact me at steffi@pepmeup.org to settle all the details! 🙂
Christina
24. Juni 2019 at 19:21Since I seem to have commented on the wrong post previously, I’ll try again here: Thank you for sharing your diagnosis story and giving us insights into your diabetes history! 🙂
I was diagnosed at age 5 when I was in kindergarten and kept drinking straight from the tap because glasses of water didn’t feel like enough. Luckily, my mom’s a pediatrician and so she realized quickly what was wrong with me and brought me to the hospital where I stayed for a one week training. Since I was diagnosed at such an early age, I can’t really remember life without diabetes anymore.
Emma Stott
30. Juni 2019 at 10:49Hello, I’m Emma!
I was 12 when I was diagnosed on the 15th April 2005. I remember feeling quite calm about it all, as the nurses and doctors were all very friendly, and my parents were with me the whole time. I also think I felt very calm because I didn’t really understand the effect diabetes would have on my life, but ignorance can sometimes be bliss right!
I had to stay at the hospital for the weekend. I remember recieving my breakfast on the first morning and having the feeling that I shouldn’t eat it till I was told. I didn’t know that I needed insulin before I ate, because I hadn’t had any education by that point, but I guess I understood that things had changed in some way. Then the nurse came in about ten minutes later and gave me a shot- I have no idea how they decided how much insulin to give…
Anyway, now I feel like I probably know more about diabetes than those doctors, and am lucky to have access to medication, a whole lot of amazing technological devices and a very very supportive partner! There are good days and bad days, and I take them as they come. I also couldn’t end this comment without mentioning the online diabetic and looping communities, an incredibly supportive group of lovely humans 🙂
Steffi
17. Juli 2019 at 12:14Hi Emma! Thanks so much for sharing your story and I completely relate – especially to the part about the diabetes community. Also: CONGRATS! You’ve won a 10 € voucher for shop.pepmeup.org! I’ll send you your code via e-mail! 🙂
Viso
30. Juni 2019 at 11:31i was diagnosed one year ago… its crazy because sometimes it feels like all day routine and sometimes its like i can not understand what it means to do this for the rest of my life. i hope in nine yeas, that i can celebrate my ten years diaversary like you can… today its more like celebrating that i do it, anyway 😉
Elisabeth
30. Juni 2019 at 13:05I was diagnosed at 11 years old in september 1999. Since I had always been a small, skinny and quiet kid, nobody noticed that I had been losing weight, that I drank way too much water and that I was always tired. Only when I came back from a school trip and my mum hadn’t seen me in a week, she noticed something was wring and decided to take me to our GP the next morning. Luckily for me, in our family sick children would sleep in our parents‘ bed and my mum has a very light sleep. That night she noticed my breath changing and me slipping into a coma. They took me to the hospital immediately, where I scared the crap out of that poor, young doctor working the night shift, since he had no idea what might be wrong with me. He tested my blood sugar more out of desperation while waiting for his supervisor, but that was all he needed for the diagnosis, and I got better within half an hour. I don’t remember anything about that night or the next two days though, and when I was finay able to move again I was mainly happy to get my strength back and gladly took all the needles and carb counting in exchange for that.
Maja
30. Juni 2019 at 22:45Ich hab meiner Mama gesagt, dass irgendwas nicht stimmt und am nächsten Tag war ich im Krankenhaus. Mein Blutzucker war nicht mehr messbar und ich hab noch was mit Geschmack getrunken. Mit schön viel Zucker 😂 bis dahin musste ich ja nie darauf achten. Das war 2006 eine Woche vor meinem 14. Geburtstag. So habe ich meinen Geburtstag dann im Krankenhaus gefeiert. Erstmal war alles ganz surreal und erst später habe ich verstanden was das jetzt für mich bedeutet. Anfangs war alles super eingestellt und ich hatte perfekte Werte aber irgendwann habe ich dann immer weniger Insulin selbst produziert und in der Jugend hatte ich nicht viel Lust mich damit auseinanderzusetzen weswegen ich die Jahre später mit einem hba1c wert über 10 nochmal ins Krankenhaus musste 🙄. Danach habe ich den Arzt gewechselt und seitdem läuft es trotz einher Hoch und Tiefs (die sich ja leider nie ganz vermeiden lassen) wieder super 😊