Ben’s Story

It’s crazy when something seemingly lousy happens in your life that ends up becoming a blessing in disguise. 

That would be my outlook on my T1D diagnosis.  Eighteen years ago, in 1999, I was diagnosed at the age of seven, and I didn’t have the slightest clue what was about to happen.  It was scary.

I went through the ebbs and flows of being a kid with T1D, and I went through a LOT, as I’m sure pretty much everyone with diabetes does.  It was a struggle – people look at you and treat you “differently” for no reason, and it got to me after awhile, since I didn’t really know anyone else with the same daily battle.  By the time I was in high school, I would hide the fact I had T1D, period.

I then attended my first Children With Diabetes conference in Orlando in 2008, where I realized I wasn’t the only one dealing with the highs and lows of living with T1D.  I learned more about diabetes management, but I found that support network, and I realized I should embrace T1Drather than be ashamed of it or push it away as if it didn’t exist.

I would make T1D the best thing that ever happened to me.

Once I shifted my mindset, EVERYTHING changed.  My confidence soared. My performance in athletics and in the classroom went to another level.  NOTHING was going to stop me.

Off to college I went, and my interests in nutrition, exercise, and diabetes took off.  I started soaking up new information like a sponge and applying it to my daily life.  Opportunities started appearing left and right.

I had started using T1D to my advantage and stopped allowing it to hold me back.

What diabetes has done is motivate me to become better, to become stronger, to become smarter, and to become the best I absolutely on the way to achieving my dreams, all while helping other to realize that they, too, can do the same thing.

Don’t let ANYONE tell you that diabetes will hold you back!Go out there and do big things!

Instagram: @manoftzeel

Ben Tzeel