Meet Katarina

I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at nine years old, which changed my life forever. One minute I was an average nine-year-old, the next I had to deal with the constant challenges of diabetes, including getting several shots each day, learning how to carb count, multiple finger pricks, and many sleepless nights. I was very scared because I had no idea what type 1 diabetes was. I thought it meant something about dying because it had “dia” in the word. I was showing many symptoms, including losing weight, drinking a lot of water, having to use the bathroom frequently, being constantly hungry, having mood changes, and having low energy. Unfortunately, my parents had not heard about T1D (type 1 diabetes) so they thought I was having these symptoms simply because I was growing. 

Luckily, at my annual physical, my doctor quickly noticed something wasn’t right and started running tests. She told me that I had diabetes and that my glucose level was very high. I nervously asked my doctor if I was going to die to which she said no, reassuring me that I would be all right, but I needed to get to the hospital immediately. While I was glad that I wasn’t dying, I was still nervous to go to the hospital. I don’t know if you’ve ever thought that you were dying, but from my experience, it wasn’t fun. This was one of the scariest days of my life, not knowing what would happen next. When I arrived at Rady Children’s Hospital, I was overwhelmed because there were many nurses asking questions, drawing blood, and giving my family books with information. After two nights in the hospital, the nurses and doctors taught my parents and I everything we needed to know. There was only one thing left to do and that was to have a social worker tell me that I wouldn’t be any different than before. I wouldn’t listen to her, though, because I knew that my whole life had changed. I hoped that I would wake up and this would all be a really bad nightmare. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case and my diagnosis was very much real.

When I was first diagnosed, I struggled to accept this as my new reality. I was worried that people would treat me differently because I was now “sick.” I constantly felt alone and that nobody understood my feelings. While some people do tend to treat me differently when they find out I’m diabetic, I’m grateful that my parents never did. Instead, they pushed me to work even harder, which allowed me to grow after my diagnosis. As much as my family and friends are there to support me, they don’t truly understand what it’s like to have diabetes. 

My mom noticed that I was struggling and decided to look for some T1D resources. She found that many celebrities, athletes, and other inspirational people are still thriving even after being diagnosed with T1D. This inspired me to be less insecure about my diabetes and not let it be an excuse for not achieving my goals and dreams. A couple of months after I was diagnosed, my mom found a summer camp hosted by the American Diabetes Association for kids who have type 1 diabetes, called Camp Wana Kura in Santee, California. She ended up signing me up for the camp. While I was hesitant to go to the camp at first, it ending up being the best week of my life. It helped me grow in my confidence knowing that so many other people are going through the same thing and understand my struggles. I have gone back to camp every year since that first time and I still keep in contact with the friends I made there. While now I am too old to be a camper, I still enjoy going back each year to volunteer for the community that helped me grow in my confidence so much. 

Now that I am more confident with having diabetes, I enjoy helping bring awareness to it. I have done presentations for my class to educate them about diabetes. I also believe that wearing visible CGMs [continuous glucose monitors] and [insulin] pumps brings awareness to diabetes while also helping other diabetics to feel less insecure. Seeing other diabetics confidently wearing their devices inspires me not to be ashamed either, so I hope to be an inspiration for others. I educate others by answering questions and by spreading awareness through posting on social media about T1D. I also enjoy going to events to bring awareness to diabetes while also fundraising for research for a cure. 

I have realized that having diabetes means that I have to work ten times harder than everyone else. While there are many highs and lows (literally) of having to deal with this disease constantly, I am grateful for my life and for this opportunity to prove how strong I am. I am also grateful to have such a strong support system of family, friends, health care professionals, and the diabetes community to help me manage T1D. I think it's important to remember that being diagnosed with diabetes doesn't have to stop you from reaching your goals. I don’t like to view diabetes as a negative part of my life, it is more of an obstacle that I have to overcome by staying strong and taking care of myself. 

Eventually, I hope a cure will be found for T1D. For me to one day be cured, T1D research is crucial. I believe that it is important that I help further T1D research by participating in studies. So far, I have participated in three studies and I look forward to participating in more. I also enjoy attending research updates about the new technologies in the diabetes community. T1D technology has already improved so much from 100 years ago. For research to continue to improve, support from the U.S. Congress is necessary. T1D affects over 2 million Americans, which means millions of people deal with the constant struggles of living with T1D. One of these struggles is the cost of living with diabetes, which is very expensive. Many people can’t afford the necessary supplies needed to manage their diabetes, which then leads to health complications. It is important that research and funding for diabetes continues so that everyone can receive the care that they need and eventually a cure can be found. I look forward to the future and the possibility of living in a world without diabetes!