That Stupid Pancreas!

WOW. I got home two and a half hours ago from JDRF Canada’s Let’s Make History Again event, and it is still the only thing I can think about. So many crazy and amazing things happened today that a billion words and images are bouncing around inside my head looking back at it all, and the only thought I can focus on long enough to be able to effectively communicate it through words is WOW, THAT WAS AMAZING. Today’s event was so incredibly unique that it is kind of difficult to explain in a way that does it justice; so, I think the best place to start is at the beginning. 100 years ago, insulin was discovered by Canadians Frederick Banting and Charles Best at the University of Toronto. It was first successfully used to treat type one diabetes on January 11 th , 1922. Since then, insulin has gone on to save millions of lives, it has been deemed ‘Canada’s gift to the world,’ and it is regarded as the greatest discovery in diabetes history. The universal acclaim for the gift of insuli

The last five years of my life with type one diabetes have felt like one major juxtaposition. I have felt both invisible and like the center of attention; I have felt like I am both on top of the world and carrying its weight on my shoulders; I have felt both alone and like I am part of something bigger than myself; I have felt both hopeless and hopeful; I have felt both helpless and like I am a human wrecking ball; I have felt both like a blazing fire that is getting brighter, and like one that is burning out. I look back to the person I was before my diagnosis, and I do not recognize her. I have said many times that diabetes does not define me, but it really does. It dictates everything I can do, how far I can go, and how I can get there. Multiple diagnoses I have received in the last five years have put me through so many metamorphoses and forced me to shed so many layers of skin I thought I would be able to wear forever, and each rebirth has put me through pressure and self-doubt

Today is my second anniversary of life with celiac disease, and it’s also the last day of disability pride month. This month has been one where I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what it means to have a disability and what it means to be proud of who you are with your conditions. This month has been a lot. I’ve been pondering one question really deeply all month. Since being diagnosed with two autoimmune diseases (type one diabetes and celiac disease) and generalized anxiety disorder, I haven’t considered myself to be a totally healthy/able/“normal” person. But I also don’t consider myself to be sick exactly, because I’m not really sick . Like, everything is as good as it can be, health-wise. My management is good and all that. So if I don’t fit the definition of totally healthy (I survive on insulin, gluten-free food, and therapy), but I’m also not sick (my health isn’t declining or anything like that), then where do I fit? What am I? What’s the word that describes me? What commu

Dear Newly-Diagnosed Type One...   When I was diagnosed with type one diabetes, lots of crazy things were happening all at once. I was meeting lots of doctors, learning about lots of concepts and terms that I didn't understand, and everything felt like it was changing all at once. It was overwhelming, to say the least. But I've found out since that day that I'm quite resilient, and you probably are, too! I've had type one diabetes for four years now, and it's a part of my normal. I'm used to rocking cool devices with my outfits (I use a super helpful insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor to make my diabetes management easier!), I know all the lingo, and I've grown a lot. It seems like a lot right now, I know. And it is a lot. But with some time, you will get used to it, and it won't seem like such a huge scary thing anymore. Unpleasant at times perhaps, but totally something you can handle. And I still do all the things I used to do before I was di

 Hello bright and beautiful internet! I am highly aware of the fact that it has been many moons since I last posted, and I duly apologize. I have no worthy excuse, except that I'm in high school and consider myself to be a good student, and therefore I like to live up to that standard by actually committing myself to studying/attending class/doing homework, all of which takes up time and physical/mental energy that I would otherwise devote to this, my most treasured blog. (also I've been kind of busy with advocacy stuff, too)  So in conclusion, sorry I've been MIA, but yeah, what's to be done about it? Let us all simply go forth, allow bygones to be bygones, and jump right into the fifth and final post of House of Cards: A Series!  If you've forgotten what House of Cards is about in the four months it's been since my last post (which I wouldn't blame you for - again, so sorry it's been so long!), please feel free to get caught up by reading  House of Car

   Okay so I am super glad that the topic of this post is the one that I had already planned on for this week, because the past couple of weeks have been an adventure of sorts and are the perfect example of my main points for this topic. Even if I had been planning a different kind of post for this week, I would've had to abandon it to write about the past few weeks instead, because the past few weeks have been, as I previously stated... (*deep calming breath*) an adventure. So let's get into it, shall we? We've got a lot to talk about!    This is part four of House of Cards: A Series, and we're talking about being careful with the amount of pressure you're putting on yourself (like how you'd be careful adding weight to a house of cards to avoid sending it crashing down). And what are the main points that my last few weeks exemplify so very well? Well, they all kind of boil down to one point, which is this:    LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES. LIKE, SERIOUSLY.    What was

   This is me and Alex, my cat (or, before my brothers freak out, I should say, my FAMILY'S cat). You've seen pictures of her on the blog before, I'm sure. There's also a tiny Canadian flag in the background, some post cards on the wall that my grandmother gave me (Hi, Grandma! Now you're famous! Well, sort of.), and a yellow board of birthday messages that my friends gave me way back in February 2020 before this whole COVID mess really started impacting life in Canada! (*sigh* those were the days...)    Why are you looking at this picture right now? Because when you think about it, it actually segues well into what I wanted to talk about for this post! This picture only shows a small part of one corner of my room, and even that small part only exists as it does now because lots of different people contributed to it! My grandmother gave me the post cards (and the Canadian flag too, actually), my friends (hi guys!) gave me my birthday board, and Alex provided... well