Getting support when you have diabetes makes living with it easier. It’s still not easy, but it definitely helps.
Here’s how you can get support, plus an inspiring story of how a child diagnosed with diabetes now makes it her mission to support others.
Christina was a typical kid who loved to dance and socialize with her friends. At 13 years old, she was diagnosed with type-one diabetes.
Here’s how she described it.
“It was a scary and confusing experience. I started to feel sick at school that morning to the point that I was lightheaded and nauseous. I was taken by ambulance to the hospital by myself while my parents rushed from work to be there. After being tested for what felt like forever, that night I was told I had Type 1 Diabetes and I’d have to change how I lived my life.”
Like most kids with diabetes she didn’t know anyone else who had it. Imagine having to start injecting yourself with insulin (since your body doesn’t make it anymore). You have to monitor your glucose and begin learning how to respond to the numbers. Do I need more or less insulin? Do I need to eat? Now imagine you have to do this every day…from now on.
“Throughout the rest of my teen years I was never comfortable checking my blood sugar in public or doing what I need to do to take care of it around friends.”
Despite that, Christina stepped out of her comfort zone and put herself “out there” and was open about her diagnosis. She and a friend started a club in high school to teach others about diabetes …and dance. She wanted people to understand diabetes and have fun.
That club later became Type Zero Foundation, a nonprofit organization to bring awareness, physical activity and support to people with diabetes and their entire family. She doesn’t want others to feel the loneliness she felt when diagnosed.
Christina has danced all her life. She finds it helps her express emotions and manage her diabetes.
Christina has incorporated dance routines into Type Zero Foundation and now supports people all over central Florida. She has dreams of expanding her foundation so that others may be helped.
Christina is so passionate about supporting people with diabetes, and destroying the stereotypes of people afflicted with this disease, that she applied to be on “American Ninja Warrior”…and was selected! I heard only 1% of applicants get chosen. Christina was the first woman with type 1 diabetes to be a Ninja Warrior. She proudly wore her insulin pump during the competition. Since then she has been a frequent speaker at diabetes events.
“It was only just a couple years ago when I did America Ninja Warrior that I finally felt confident in my ability to really get it under control and use it as a positive in my life instead of a negative. I can now say that I am happy and proud to live with diabetes even though I still want to chuck my pump out the window sometimes.”
Now a college graduate with a degree in exercise science, Christina has a personal training business which helps people move with attention and care. She even helps people with diabetes manage their glucose while exercising.
“Fitness is an incredibly important aspect to what we call “healthy and well”. You cannot have those two words in the same sentence without being able to move your body with intention and care. As I continue to help people on broader scale through Type Zero Foundation and speaking, my goal is to make sure to always connect with people in the diabetes community individually, create an environment in which they feel seen and heard, and empower each person to become the leader for others that they want in their own lives.”
Christina is a great example someone who does of not let diabetes get in the way of her dreams. In fact, because of her disease, she is passionate about supporting others who are touched by it.
Here are a couple of my favorite resources to get diabetes support:
Take Care of Your Diabetes has great videos, programs, events developed by an endocrinologists living with type 1 diabetes. They truly understand what people with diabetes go through. They provide a lot of “edutainment” on both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Association of Diabetes Care & Education — Peer Support — because people who are living with diabetes provide great support for each other. Many different groups are available to try.
Everyone with diabetes needs support and there are people who love to support you. I am one of them. Have you seen my Free Guide How to eat when you have diabetes?
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