All About Me By Natalie Myers (Age 11)

All About Me By Natalie Myers (Age 11)

Hi. My name is Natalie. I have a problem with my body. I have something called Type 1 Diabetes. I have had it ever since I was six, for almost for years now. Diabetes is whenever part of your pancreas shuts down and stops making something called insulin. My brother and sister help me along the way. Even my other sister who is three years old gets juice boxes for me. Sometimes kids treat me wrong, especially if they see my pump sites and Dexcom sites because they don’t understand how Diabetes works. A pump site is where my pump delivers insulin into my body. Dexcom is a device that is attached to my skin and estimates my blood sugar. I have to explain this to my classmates, but sometimes they don’t get it, so I have to show them. I have to poke my fingers all the time with a needle to get a drop of blood to test my blood sugar. My pump is visible and that makes me unique because I have to have one and the other kids don’t. My pump is basically a mini-pancreas.

I have to get up every day to test myself with a poker needle. Along the way, my brother and sister help me with counting carbohydrates and sometimes they will poke my finger. When I put on pump sites, sometimes the pain makes me cry. Dexcom sites do not hurt as bad. I have to leave my class a lot to see the school nurse to test my blood sugar and treat it. I miss a lot of school because of this and have to make it up. During PE and recess my blood sugar goes low a lot. When this happens I have to sit out and not participate. This makes me sad, especially when they are playing my favorite games. I play on a basketball team. If my blood sugar goes low, it affects my vision and the hoop gets blurry and moves around making it hard to score. I have learned how to manage my Diabetes and still do all the things I love. It just takes more work and extra steps then it would for other people.

When I flaunt my Diabetes, it makes me feel like I don’t have to hide it anymore. I don’t really hide it much because everyone is there for me, but sometimes I feel like I am such a baby with all the needles. I remind myself that I have friends that can help me and they would probably not like needles either. When it is my Diabetic anniversary, I sometimes go out with my mom to get our nails and hair done. Hopefully we can find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. I have a lot of scars and rashes that people can’t see. Once they got used to me and my Diabetes they thought it was cool and they got over it. I still have a little bullying here and there.

When I get older I am going to be a professional basketball player and rescue marine animals. If I get down about my Diabetes, I just think about Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song”: This is my fight song, take back my life song, prove I’m alright song.”

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