Same Story

Diabetes happens around the whole world and I think for me, every time someone messages me from somewhere beyond Canada I realize just how much ground this disease has covered. It's not happening just here, it didn't just happen to me. I am not the only one.

I find it so weird, because most diabetics have a similar story to tell. It's after the diagnosis their stories differ but before it all went down our stories are much more alike. We all had to use the washroom more than average, we all had thirst, we were all diabetics in the making.

Here I am, sitting in my dorm room, testing my sugar, I can't grasp how many other people are doing the same thing. It's hard to imagine that people in the U.S are doing this, that people in Australia are managing this, and that people in China are coping with diabetes.

It is so funny to me, I mentioned it before. When someone adds me that is diabetic, we instantly have a conversation to engage in. It often feels like we have been friends for awhile and that despite living thousands of kilometres away we feel as if we know each other. How can this be?

People that are blond don't assume another blonde is their best friend, people that are Caucasian doesn't feel as if they know every Caucasian in the world. Why does a disease make people so familiar with each other? How is this bond created?

Personally, I believe it's beyond the label of the disease. Simply just because you're blonde doesn't mean you will click with another blonde because you don't have the same experiences, maybe a few but not likely. Being diabetic is beyond having diabetes. If that makes sense. People that have diabetes can relate to others with the disease because somewhere along the line we all had these life changing experiences. We have all had low sugars, high sugars, bad days, good days. It's something about living a life of injections and pricking that we instantly know their story.

I love being a part of the diabetic community. There are so many people that I have met from it that there is no way that I would turn back time and choose a different life. It's not like I choose this but if there was a choice, I'd decline. Those are strong words, but I speak from my heart. I truly believe that these people who have entered my life because of this disease are meant to be a part of my life. Every single person who is a part of my life means something different to me. They have taught me something about myself that I wouldn't have known otherwise.

I want to sincerely recognize diabetics, living all around the world, thousands of kilometres away with the same story.

Kayla