Learning about what I would need to do from then on in order to remain healthy was intimidating to say the least, but I bore it stoically. In retrospect, it may have just been shock. I was able to remain calm because I simply could not comprehend it all.

 

Sarah, 23 years old

 

Going to the doctor is helpful
I think that going to the doctor is helpful because then my family and I can get help with numbers and other things we need help with.

Caitlin, 13 years old

 

I’ve gotten used to it
It was kind of scary at first because I was nine years old when I was diagnosed, so I’ve had it for about five, almost six years. After a while, I kind of got used to it. It’s just been a pain in the butt.

Julie, 14 years old

 

When I was first diagnosed with diabetes, it was kind of hard considering me being diagnosed with a lot of other stuff, like seizure disorder and me being allergic to stuff like seafood. It’s kind of difficult.

 

Andre, 18 years old

 

Feeling scared
When I first got diabetes, I wanted to stick myself with the needle. I didn’t want anyone else to do it because that made me more scared.

Alisha, 20 years old

 

It was hard to listen
It was hard. I was crying a lot because I didn’t have it before I went into the hospital, but I did when I left. I was like crying a lot and stuff… I was hyperventilating and everything and it got so bad like I went into an asthma attack right there. I panicked right when I heard “diabetes” because my mom and dad have it and I saw how they struggle with it and I started panicking. I think I didn’t want to hear the doctors or anything so I just think it was hard to listen. When I started listening to them, it seemed easier.

Alisha, 20 years old

 

A frustrating experience
It was more frustrating than anything else. I was 16 ½ and had just got my license that very day. I was a young adult in a part of the hospital that usually only deals with young children. The doctors and nurses did not know how to communicate with me on my own level, and my anger and fear at being diagnosed with this disease was compounded with anger that I was being treated so poorly. Medically, the staff was fantastic, but they all either treated me like a small child, or tried too hard to treat me like an adult and failed miserably at it. Too often they spoke to my parents and not to me, though I was right there.

Sarah, 23 years old

 

I am very used to going to the doctor regularly. It is common for me, and at this point I find it merely frustrating. I wish I did not have to spend my time at the doctor’s.

 

Sarah, 23 years old

 

The scariest part of my diabetes experience
It was probably the scariest part of my diabetes experience. My parents brought me to the emergency room late at night. We had to wait a long time for a room to free up. The room that did free up was, unfortunately for me, with another little girl who had cancer. Her mom was staying with her and when my mom didn’t, that’s when I started to cry.

Mary, 25 years old

 

A little bit of anxiety is about it
It’s really just another doctor’s appointment. Sometimes I’m extra careful to not eat chocolate a couple of days before so I don’t get in trouble, but that little bit of anxiety is about it.

Mary, 25 years old