What It’s Really Like to Live with Type 1 Diabetes

(If you stick around until the end of the article, I have a FREE download or a FEW FREE downloads for you to surprise your kiddos with, or yourself if you enjoy coloring! )

When people hear the word “diabetes,” they often think it’s something caused by eating too much sugar or that it’s easy to manage. But Type 1 Diabetes is so much more than checking blood sugar or taking insulin—it’s a lifelong condition that requires constant attention, courage, and resilience.

I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when I was seven years old.

At an age when most children are worried about school, friends, and what game to play next, I was learning how to count carbohydrates, check my blood sugar, and give insulin. I learned quickly that living with Type 1 Diabetes means making dozens of decisions every single day—many of them invisible to everyone around you.

But I also learned something even more important.

Type 1 Diabetes does not define me.

Over the years, I have gone to school, built a career as an artist and photographer, become a mother, and pursued dreams I once thought were impossible. Diabetes has been part of my story, but it has never been the whole story.

That’s why I created Someone With Type 1 Diabetes…

As a child, I wanted to know there were others like me. I wanted to feel understood. I wanted to see someone living with diabetes and thriving—not just surviving.

This book was created to help children with Type 1 Diabetes feel seen and less alone. It was also written to help friends, classmates, siblings, and teachers better understand what living with Type 1 Diabetes is really like.

Because children with Type 1 Diabetes:

• Eat many of the same foods everyone else does.
• Play sports, dance, create art, and chase their dreams.
• Sometimes wear insulin pumps or continuous glucose monitors.
• Have hard days and scary moments.
• Are brave in ways most people never realize.
• Can do incredible things.

If you or someone you love lives with Type 1 Diabetes, I hope you know this:

You are stronger than you think.

You are more than your blood sugar numbers.

You are allowed to have difficult days.

And most importantly—you are never alone.

There is an entire community of people who understand the highs, the lows, the frustrations, and the victories. We celebrate each other, learn from each other, and remind one another that diabetes may be part of our lives, but it does not limit what we can achieve.

My hope is that every child who reads Someone With Type 1 Diabetes… closes the book feeling a little more understood, a little more confident, and a lot less alone.

Because that’s exactly what I needed when I was seven years old.

Thank you so much for reading this far, I am dropping a coloring sheet... actually 3 down below that you can download and print to color or for your little kiddos to color!

Check out my board book, paper back book, and stickers HERE!