Surviving Type One Diabetes

I have survived Type One Diabetes since the 24th of March 2004. You'll notice that I used the word 'survived.' This isn't for dramatic effect or to be deliberately politically incorrect, rather to demonstrate what I believe it means to endure an incurable disease, every day of your life, for twenty years. I would love to write that surviving Type One Diabetes has become easier with every passing day, month and year, but this hasn't been the case.

This isn't a story of tragedy however. Within these pages you'll find a very personal and vulnerable recount of my experiences and what it means to suffer, survive, live with with and conquer Type One Diabetes. As I sat down to write this book in December 2022, I had just turned thirty and I was the happiest I had ever been, physiologically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I realised that my Type One Diabetes was and is, a quintessential part of my ongoing happiness. Indeed, it is an essential part of my inner strength, my fortitude, my values and my identity.

Whether you survive Type One Diabetes yourself, are a parent of a newly diagnosed child, know someone with the disease, or are just curious, this book should impart an honest and unabridged reflection of Type One Diabetes, the metaphorical and literal highs and lows and, above all else, hope. As you read my story, I hope that you can reflect upon your own challenges and come to understand what makes you quintessentially happy, perhaps even in the face of adversity. As someone close to me once said, I don't live with Type One Diabetes, Type One Diabetes lives with me.