The Future and Type One Diabetes

Welcome to the future! Or maybe not...

If you’re anything like me, you probably don’t like to think about your future. The future is full of uncertainties and I don’t like it.  Recently, I've been thinking a lot more about having type one diabetes as a part of my future. It’s a really scary thing to think about if you've actually deeply thought about what could happen. Everyone has different fears about their futures, but the fears of type one diabetics are just a little more intense and always present.

I feel like many of the fears that I have about being a type one diabetic in the future are the same across the T1D community. Personally, I worry a lot about the effects of my blood sugars on my internal organs. I vividly remember my endocrinologist telling me that if I don’t keep my A1C in the 6.0 range that my internal organs will get damaged and start to shut down. I’m assuming that he told me this to scare me into taking care of myself, which worked on some level, but it also created an everlasting fear throughout my life. I also worry a lot about passing my type one diabetes along to my children. Since scientists have found that type one diabetes is a genetic autoimmune disease, there is a high chance that it could be passed on to any children that I have. A final worry that I currently have is if I will be judged for my type one diabetes while trying to get a job in the future. As a junior in high school, I was not picked for a summer academic program due to my type one diabetes. During the interview process, they assumed that because I had fund raised for JDRF that I had diabetes (which is true), but their one question to me was whether or not I am able to take care of my diabetes on my own while I was at the program. I didn't think much of the question until I realized that the other twelve girls were getting asked legitimate questions like their future goals and why they wanted to attend the program. I worry that a similar thing may happen while trying to get a job.

As much as I worry about all of the complications that having type one diabetes can cause me in the future, I have a lot of hope about how life with T1D can be in the upcoming years. My brother likes to send me articles about advancements in cures for type one diabetes, and every time I read one, I get more excited about what may happen in the years to come. With as advanced as our technology is now, there are a lot of better ways to treat type one diabetes than there used to be. With this hope, even if a cure isn't close to being discovered, at least scientists are able to make ways of living with T1D more tolerable.

There’s a lot to think about concerning the future with type one diabetes. There’s so many things to worry about, along with the many things that we hope will happen. Don’t let your fears and worries ever overpower the hope that you have with how great life could be in the future with type one diabetes.