Lauren’s Story

Hi everyone! My name is Lauren Hinton and I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when I was 12 years old. I have always considered the autoimmune disorder to be a nuisance rather than a disease, and one that I could manage all on my own. The diagnosis slowed my normal routines, but I never let it get in my way. My one goal was to play D1 college soccer and having an uncooperative pancreas was just another added step in my recruiting process. Fast forward five years and my dream had come true, however, a big struggle of mine I discovered was balancing blood sugars with college-level practice schedules. The duration of the workouts was longer and the intensity higher, so I found myself peaking mid-practices and falling low if I were to take insulin as a correction. This frustrated me to no end. Everything I tweaked seemed to make my problems worse. I tried to check more regularly and avoid corrections during the long practices but failed to see much improvement there either. Eventually, I decided to embrace help and consulted our team’s nutritionist. His idea involved the timing of my eating, and he suggested a better regimen to avoid the erratic highs and lows. Looking back, his solution seems so easy, but I was so reluctant to ask for help for so long that the obvious answers seemed to escape me. I have accepted that it is okay to ask for help and I encourage people to do so even from those who are not a part of the Type 1 community. Your body is ever-changing with whatever stage of life you are in and you will not always have all the answers. Embrace the help and be appreciative of those who take extra interest in a disease they do not possess. There are so many kind, intelligent, people who want to learn and be advocates for those who do have diabetes. I have found that especially those who are not fellow diabuddies (my fav diabetic vocab) are excited to ask questions and to absorb new information regarding the autoimmune disorder. You are never alone in this diagnosis, from diabetics to non-diabetics alike there is room to grow and room to learn. Welcome help and in return help others and never accept that there are limitations to what you aspire to achieve. Being diabetic has given me a new team, thousands who are just like me, and I’m excited to hear their stories and how they choose to accept help in order to make their individual journeys just a little bit easier.

Lauren Hinton