Day 29 – Jack

Hi! My name is Jack…and I have Type 1 Diabetes…I am a typical 7 ½ year old boy that loves Lego, play soccer, ski ‘black diamonds’, hang out with my friends, and spend time with my family…BUT, sadly, it also means that I have endured more than 16,425 finger pricks alone to test my blood glucose level AND more than 2,920 injections & site changes to just get insulin into my body since I was 2 years old.

One month after my second birthday, on Thursday, October 28, 2010 at 12:40 pm, I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes – a day my parents will never forget! I was in DKA (diabetic Ketoacidosis) and had to stay in the PICU for several days. We call that day “D Day or Diagnosis Day” but in actuality it is the day that I lost my “FREEDOM”.

I love to ski because at the top of the mountain I can see everything! My favorite part is when I am going so fast down the mountain that I feel free! So free – free from Type 1. It is so exciting and fun I wish it could last forever.

I now wear an insulin pump 24/7 and a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor). It has made life so much easier but it isn’t a cure. It has been over five years since that horrible day. As if that wasn’t hard enough, four years ago I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease so I must follow a gluten free diet, test my blood often, calculate and bolus everything I eat, carrying my emergency kit everywhere I go, and answer so many annoying questions about my diabetes. I just wish I had my freedom!

Sometimes it is just too much for a little guy to handle but I just keep thinking one day I will have my freedom again!

Some who are unfamiliar with ‪#‎T1D don’t always realize that there are no breaks and no days off!

Please consider making a Fund A Cure donation in honor of Jack and others living with T1D by clicking here.Jack G.