"But by the time I made it to the summit, I was greeted with bad news: The ruins were closing in five minutes. I was too angry to appreciate the splendor around me; the valley spread out below me like a picture book. In the photo my friend snapped, I'm frowning like a petulant teenager on the verge of a tantrum. It wasn't my finest moment, to say the least."
"Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that causes the body to attack insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. With little or no insulin, the body can struggle to use glucose for energy. After my doctor gave me the news, I was forced to come to terms with a bewildering new reality: injecting insulin multiple times a day, obsessively monitoring my blood sugar, and calculating carb ratios before every meal."
"If I didn't learn how to mimic the work of a human pancreas, there was a chance I could go blind, lose limbs, fall into a coma, or die. The disease also came with constant exhaustion, alarming medical costs, and a crippling fear of exercise - I risk a sugar crash if I so much as walk my dog around the block with too much insulin in my system."
A diagnosis of type 1 diabetes at age 39 required multiple daily insulin injections, constant blood-sugar monitoring, and precise carbohydrate calculations. The condition created real risks of blindness, limb loss, coma, and death without careful management. Physical endurance declined and formerly easy hikes became exhausting challenges, complicating travel and outdoor activities. The disease introduced chronic fatigue, high medical expenses, and a persistent fear of exercise because of hypoglycemia. The diagnosis fractured a sense of self and required rebuilding identity, while motivating a determined effort to regain travel, joy, and normalcy.
Read at Business Insider
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