The Breakthrough T1D Tulsa Green Country Chapter is delighted to honor Becca Curtis as our very first Positive Profiles recipient. At Breakthrough T1D Tulsa, we believe strength and courage while living with type 1 diabetes should be complimented and passed on. Check out Becca’s story below and join us in celebrating this incredible individual!
Congratulations, Becca!
Name: Becca Curtis
Hometown: Tulsa, OK
Age: 17
Years with Diabetes: 12
Favorite Activities/Interests/Hobbies: My favorite activities would have to be going to Grand Lake, spending time with my family and friends, any Highschool Leadership and Student Council activity I can get my hands on, and being involved with my local Breakthrough T1D.
Least favorite thing about diabetes: Checking my Blood Sugar. I really struggle with taking the time to do this as much as I should.
Favorite thing about diabetes: Diabetes camp is the best part of having diabetes. It is a time for People with Diabetes to come together, to not worry about being different, and to be like normal kids. I think it is very important for every single child with diabetes to experience these moments. Before I ever went to diabetes camp, I was the only kid at my school to be open about having diabetes, and it was amazing to meet other people experiencing the same things I was, and understanding everything I was going through.
Best memory from a Breakthrough T1D event: I gave a speech at the 2006 Breakthrough T1D Gala, and would have to say that that event was by far my favorite Breakthrough T1D experience. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
What diabetes means to me: Diabetes to me has always been normal. I don’t remember a life without it, and I personally do not look at it as a setback, but more an achievement. I have never viewed myself as different because of this disease, although I do know that it has made me a stronger, more mature child, teen and young adult. I have met so many wonderful people and have had countless experiences, that I otherwise wouldn’t have recieved or been a part of because I am a Person with Diabetes. Diabetes doesn’t mean checking, insulin, highs, lows, infusion sets, pumps, shots, glucose tabs (although I am very sad they discontinued the watermelon flavor), more than average doctor visits – all kinds, or any of the countless others. It’s a way of life. It’s something I do to keep myself alive and healthy, something I explain to someone on a weekly basis, and something that has shaped me into the person I am today.
When there is a cure I will… I’m sitting here, looking out the window thinking to myself, ‘What will I do?’. I have always dreamt of the cure, but I guess I have never really dreamt of being able to grasp that exact notion; until now. Of what it would be like to wake up and feel good – almost everyday. To not have to be really awesome at guessing the amount of carbs in everything. And to be like everyone else.
But what will set me apart? The Cure. People will say, “She had Type 1 Diabetes for x amount of years, fought it, lived it, and stayed healthy. She got what she deserved.” I can not wait for that moment. That e-mail, phone call, text, notification, tweet, or however the news makes it to me. I want to be in the middle of class, to be able to share the news with some of the most important people in my life at that very moment. To cry. Tears of joy that I made it, tears of sadness for those who lost the battle, and tears of pure happiness that no one coming into this world will ever have to go through the things we have all gone through together as T1’s. I will tuck my pump somewhere safe and sound. And in the future, eat as much wedding cake as I want, carry healthy babies, watch them grow up, and grow as old as I possibly can with the people I care most about. I will live my life.
