Sunt Diabetes

Today is October 28th, we celebrate St. Simon, my name day. And today, October 28, 2008, is also a special anniversary for me: it's been four years since my debut with diabetes.

In 2004 my blood tests were clear: the blood sugar was very high, I had type 1 diabetes. First came the feelings that flooded my mind in those days: the concerns, surprise, disbelief, incomprehension, anger, fear, confusion. Then the urgent things to do in the office files, the bureaucratic cards, certificates, recipe for pharmacies, and especially the doctors and clinics. And in particular anxiety and sadness of the first day spent in the dark basement of the hospital's diabetes center for adults: 28 October 2004 was, in fact.

I had just turned 17 years, passed up to that time no particular health concerns. Diabetes arrived as a rock, a sort of Copernican revolution that stravolgeva all my habits of life, leaving me bewildered and discouraged, with nostalgia for what I had done the day before, the fear for the future, and the illusion a speedy recovery. It was not easy to accept. The tests of blood glucose, insulin injections, frequent blood tests, everything was harder for me, I had the nightmare of the needles. To say nothing of my family, she also hit by this and personally involved with worry.

But something was already changing, the very first weeks. I started to read, to form any respect, to fight against the negative aspects of the "disease", and to think in a different approach: I began to dream. I was not going to suffer with sadness that happened to me, there I was, I had to react. The sport and the bicycle, my passions, my curiosity and stubbornness, a family caring, attentive and close, my sincere belief in God: all this has helped me find the way and the strength to accept and live peacefully this new condition, trying to catch even the positive in everything, never content to stay afloat, but wanting to go further, dealing with life decision.

Today, at age 21, I can not imagine a life without diabetes: everything became normal everyday. Diabetes is no longer something alien: it is a part of me, I live exactly as the need to eat, drink, breathe, trying to do my best. I no longer feel no anger or nostalgia, but hope for a better future, without the obsession of cure. My life has certainly changed, but I think that the difficulties are always present. The important thing is to feel good about themselves, trying to live well the new opportunities that are presented to us. Diabetes can make us even stronger. For this I must thank all those who were close to me and still help me.

Four years is not much, if confrontanti with many people close to me who have spent considerable time in more boldly with diabetes. But every story is different, and in these years I've done a lot for diabetes, with commitment and determination, and I hope that these are good things. I have accumulated many positive experiences to share, and communicate to others.

According to many I think that the Holy One who bears the same name as me has brought me luck, and now there is nothing to celebrate. At first I thought so. But now I have a new vision of things, so I do not agree: I had an onset with no complications, even without the need of hospitalization because the diagnosis was fairly early. Also today I feel realized in the things I do, and keep chasing the same dream before. All in all, that October day four years ago, San Simon has protected me, and I must be thankful that I was saved that day.

Simone