Video: Emily

Contributor: Emily; http://aimingforaverage-a1c.blogspot.com/

Connection: Adult with type 1 diabetes

Quote: “A lot of people sympathize with me when they hear that I have to inject myself with a huge needle every three days when I change my infusion site. I guess it’s easy for non-diabetics to sympathize with the physical pain, because that’s something they can understand or have experienced themselves, but what they can’t understand is the other kinds of pain that come with this disease: the loneliness of feeling like you’re the only one having to deal with it, the anger and self-pity that comes when you’re wondering, ‘Why me?’, and the frustration and disappointment when your A1C comes back too high.”

Video: Kim

Contributor: Kim; @txtngmypancreas

Connection: Adult with type 1 diabetes; creator of the You Can Do This Project

Quote: “If you’re having a tough time living with diabetes, I totally get that. But I also want you to know that even when it gets super tough, you can bounce back from that. Talk to people – you won’t want to, because you won’t think they’ll ‘get it’, but you need to. I wish I had.”

Video: Haley

Contributor: Haley (website and video no longer online)

Connection: Teen with type 1 diabetes

Quote: “The hardest part is the emotional pain. Other people don’t know how it feels to be different. People make comments all the time. I feel labeled as ‘the diabetic girl’. I just want to be Haley.”

Video: Joe Solowiejczyk

Contributor: Joe; Children With Diabetes

Connection: Adult with type 1 diabetes

Quote: “For me, the most difficult thing to come to terms with has been dealing with feelings of anger, rage, and frustration. I used to think that if I had those feelings, I was doing something wrong. It took me a long time and a lot of work to come to the realization and understanding that feelings are just a guide, and not a sign of whether I’m doing well or not.”

Video: Melissa

Contributor: Melissa; @MelllBe

Connection: Teen with type 1 diabetes

Quote: “I see my diabetes as a blessing now, and I’m glad I stopped ignoring it. I’m so happy [that] I’ve had the support of people online – I did not know there were so many type 1 diabetics everywhere. It’s amazing.”

Video: Chris

Contributor: Chris; tobesugarfree.com

Connection: Adult with type 1 diabetes

Standout Quote: “”[Diabetes] is a very personal disease, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a one man or one woman army fighting this battle. There’s a community that […] wants to help and offer support, because doing this by yourself is pretty miserable.”

Video: Mike

Contributor: Mike; www.diabetesmine.com

Connection: Person with type 1 diabetes

Standout Quote: “It’s been tough sometimes – a lot times, especially as a teenager or in my early 20’s, that I just wanted to give up. I had a lot of burnout, and I wanted to be ‘normal’ – whatever that means – and I really wish I would have been able to find somebody to talk to, to realize that I was not alone. That there were other people out there going through the same things that I was going through and struggling with. I knew that there were others, but I could never really find them and I didn’t really want to talk about my diabetes.”

Video: Sarah

Contributor: Sarah; @SugabeticMe

Connection: Person with type 1 diabetes

Standout Quote: “One thing to remember about diabetes is that it can be stressful; it can be hard. Every day is a struggle. It is a battle to try and look normal, act normal, be like everybody else and still fall within the guidelines that are set for us to be so ‘perfect’, [by] the medical community. Looking back, I’m telling you – never let diabetes stop you from doing the things you want to do.”

Video: Jess

Contributor: Jess; http://jess-meandd.blogspot.com/

Connection: Person with type 1 diabetes

Standout Quote: “Whatever you’re feeling at any given time – it’s okay. It’s okay to be sad, angry, depressed, happy, furious… all of it’s okay. This disease is so emotional […] which is something people don’t really talk about.”

Video: George

Contributor: George; www.ninjabetic.com

Connection: Person with type 1 diabetes

Standout Quote: “I spent a lot of time ignoring diabetes. I would go months without checking my blood sugar. I would still take my insulin – I never missed a shot, but I would never check my blood. I just hated it. I went a long, long time that way – not checking, not caring. In the back of my mind, it felt like it was a part of my life I didn’t want to face; didn’t want to deal with – so I didn’t. [after being in the hospital] I think seeing the fear and being scared myself was one of the reasons why I finally went and saw an endocrinologist, and found out my A1C was 12.5, and found out that that was bad. (I had never known my A1C before that.)”