At the age of 8 my parents knew there was something wrong when I started to lose weight and sleep all the time. My parents believed I had the flu and they hoped with Christmas around the corner, that I would snap out of it. Instead I continued to get worse and after sleeping through Christmas and New Years, ignoring all my new toys and losing almost half my body weight my parents knew the problem was far worse than the flu.

I was taken to see our family doctor the very first day his practice opened in the New Year. I was examined, weighed, given blood work and sent home to await the results. When my father laid me on our couch that day and kissed me goodbye before leaving for a business trip he never imagined that less than 8 hours later our lives would change forever.

On January 2, 1990 I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

It is with mixed emotions that I reflect on the last 20 years of my life and what it has been like living with this chronic disease. In the past 20 years I have had over 29,000 injections, tested my glucose over 36,000 times, and used 9 different types of insulin and 10 different glucose meters. I have had to use Glucagon (instant glucose, injected to raise blood glucose in patients who have lost consciousness due to hypoglycemia) 5 times and have had over 40 hospital visits.

As scary as all that sounds with the support of the Canadian Diabetes Association I have lived the last 20 years without complications.

Because of the research efforts of the Canadian Diabetes Association I have had access to the best medications, devices and supplies and I have hope that a cure will be found in my lifetime. Because of the Canadian Diabetes Association my family was able to send me to Camp Huronda (residential summer camp for children living with type 1 diabetes) for 9 years something we would not have been able to afford on our own. Because of the Canadian Diabetes Association I have met over 500 other young people living with diabetes and have been able to share our stories, struggles and triumphs. Because of the Canadian Diabetes Association I have a voice to aid in the fight against diabetes.

I am living proof of what your donations can do and for that I am truly thankful.
Please join me today in making a donation to my Team Diabetes Campaign to ensure that the Association’s important work continues.

Thanking you in advance
Katie