Kaitlyn’s Story

I dont remember life without Type One, yet I’m quite jealous of it. When I was 7 years old I was experiencing extreme fatigue, was always so thirsty and lost a bunch of weight all of the sudden. One of my friends from kindergarten had recently been diagnosed with type one and all of our symptoms were the same, and a trip to the pediatrician confirmed our suspicions. I spent three days in Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. Those three days are a distant blur in my mind of finger pricks, needles, tears, and fear of the unknown. It didn’t really set in that this was a forever thing until I came home and realized my life changed forever. This was never going away, I was going to fight a never ending battle against my body. Acceptance was one of the hardest things about my diagnosis, being angry with myself and anyone I could because I was so confused and scared. But eventually acceptance came, i accepted my new way of life and how I was going to need to live it, i accepted that i couldn’t change it and I just needed to embrace it and be proud of what Type One gave me, it gave me a fight and a drive and a motive to not let type one win. To run down the path I was given and not let it stop me. So I encourage anyone who is struggling with your diagnosis, fight. Don’t ever give up. Fight. Type one is not your destiny, type one is not all that you are, but you can still be proud of what it’s given you. I am now 16, a Junior in Highschool and I couldnt be happier. Don’t ever give up. And don’t let any tell you that you can’t do it. The sky is the limit. You got this.

Kaitlyn Luckie