It’s not a disease. It’s a medical condition — and one that’s relatively easy to live with. Kids and teens with type 1 diabetes take us into the world of blood testing, carb-counting, and emunah-building.
“If you make a diabetes diagnosis a big secret, it’s going to take over your life. If you don’t make it a problem, it’s not a problem. You are controlling the diabetes; it’s not controlling you,” asserts Tzippy* an outspoken teenager who has lived with type 1 diabetes mellitus since age three.
Diabetes is something Tzippy has, not something she is. She doesn’t hide it, isn’t ashamed of it, and she’s eager to educate people about what causes the medical condition and how she manages it.
“Hashem has a plan for all of us. He created us with, if we utilize it the right way, a way to advance our soul. I really believe that diabetes is what my neshamah needed to prepare for the Next World,” says Tzippy.
The unusually mature teen firmly believes that, as a rav once told her, “You are not sick. As long as you control your blood sugar, you can be as healthy as any of us.”
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