My name is Ciara, I am 12 years old, I will be 13 in May. I am diabetic and I have been diabetic for 4 years.

It was the 2nd of October and it was a Thursday. My mum picked me up from school and we went to the doctors. My mum is a nurse and she had noticed that I had been going to the toilet loads and drinking loads. When we were at the doctors we waited for a while, then a doctor came and diagnosed me with diabetes. I can't really remember what I thought about it because I don't think I really understood what it was, as I had never heard of it before. My mum and myself had to go to the hospital that afternoon. I remember on the first night that every hour the nurse had to do my blood sugar, I found this annoying and it really hurt my fingers. The next day my dad came to the hospital and so did my diabetic nurse R. She explained to me what diabetes was and I got to choose a blood sugar meter. I can also remember my first injection, I didn't hurt at all but what I didn't realise is that I would have to have that injection twice a day every day. The fun part being in the hospital i! s when I played in the playroom and I can remember meeting a girl called Alex who had her appendix taken out. The Easter after being diagnosed me and my family went to Brighton, because there was a diabetes weekend where loads of diabetic children went with their families. When I was there some organisers took me and my brother to the aquarium and the zoo on the two days. I met loads of friends there and we met up with each other still. This weekend a girl who I met at Brighton is coming round to my house with her family.

Being diabetic can be annoying because of having to do loads of blood sugars and two injections everyday, but I just get on with it. I've only ever had one problem and that was because I had the wrong injection pen for my humalog insulin and the pen got jammed and I wasn't getting any insulin for about five days. I cope with being diabetic very well and I never have any problems. I feel that I am the same as everyone else and there is nothing that I can't do. I also feel that diabetes hasn't changed my life at all and I'm used to being diabetic and there is nothing I can do about being diabetic, so I just have to get on with it.

When I go to the hospital every 3 months, sometimes I find it annoying having to miss lessons but sometimes I don't mind missing school. I like to know every 3 months what is my blood sugar and see if it has gone up or down. When I go to the hospital I like getting new blood sugar meters and finding new ways about controlling my diabetes.

The good thing about being diabetic is that my mum and dad don't treat me any different to my brother. If they didn't treat me the same as my brother I would feel that I'm different to every one else, which I'm not.