Hi, my name is Kate and I was diagnosed with diabetes on May the 19th, 2001. I am now fourteen, and I have had diabetes for seven years, and I can definitely say it has been a roller coaster! However, I think to myself, this is a part of my life now and will be forever, so it is best just to get on with it. This is my advice to anyone who has diabetes. Unfortunately, at the present, there is not a cure for diabetes, but every now and again an article will appear which informs readers that scientists have made a new discovery, and to me there is definitely a light at the end of the long tunnel all diabetics have to trawl through!

When I was first diagnosed with diabetes, I did not understand what it meant. No questions were whirling around my head. To me, it was just another day. I distinctively remember sitting bolt upright on a hospital bead, with a kind doctor asking me what my favourite toy was and how old I was. That day, my mum told me to have yoghurt for desert instead of the sweet smelling aroma being emitted from an apple crumble! I didn't understand why! I was discharged from hospital, and on the way home in the car, I remember my parents explaining what diabetes was. I misinterpreted the definition, thinking I was never going to be able to eat one sweet ever again. I stormed into the house and threw a box of cheerio's, biscuits, and chocolates into the bin. I remember crying and thinking that life was not worth living.

Even now, after having diabetes for seven years, I still encounter a mixture of emotions. My friends are supportive and look after me if I am upset or finding my diabetes tough. They always say they would love to have diabetes as I get to snack in class! They do not understand fully how tough it can be, but nobody except a person with diabetes can, not even my parents. I often get cross, and agitated with myself. I get upset of my blood sugars are not between four and seven. My diabetes is well controlled, but lately as I am going through puberty, it has been hard to determine what my blood sugars are going to do. There is no pattern and my bloods swing up and down like a yo-yo! I give advice to parents to be patient, I tried different amounts of insulin and foods with less carbohydrates. I have just started to do my Lantus in the morning rather than at night. This has helped a lot; it just proves that even when you are going through tough times, it can be controlled, if you really try. I love to do sport, most days of the week in fact. It can be frustrating! In the last month I have played in two national finals for hockey, and I hated having to come off the pitch because my sugars were low. I even got frustrated with the monitor because it was so cold it would not even turn on! This period of time tested my patience and although it drove me around the bend, I realised that with immediate rest it was back to normal within minutes. This all paid off, as both times we won the nationals finals, showing that diabetes can not stop you from doing anything.

Last April, I went on a school skiing trip to Italy. This was a big step for me as I had never been away for a week in a foreign country, never mind skiing and consequently exercising for the whole day in a country hundreds of miles from my house in Wakefield! I secretly think my parents were more worried than me! Even my doctor was slightly nerved about the whole business. However, I was adamant to go, and I did. It was the best holiday of my life, and I felt safe. I was not worried, and I did not have any problems. The last few nights before I left, I was picturing myself in a hospital bed with doctors that spoke little English as a result of a serious hypo. I found myself praying to God every night asking him to keep me safe, I still do. I came back in one piece, and although my blood sugars were running in the teens for the whole week, my diabetic nurse assured me that for one week, it did not matter! She told me that it was a great achievement and that I should be proud. I now hope to go on a hockey tour with my school to countries such as Australia and New Zealand. Going to Italy has given my confidence and I now feel that I could go, and be safe.

A few years ago, I attended a diabetic camp in Giggleswick. It was a great experience, and I loved being around other people that were diabetic. It was a great opportunity to talk to someone that understood you completely. I would definitely recommend parents to suggest to their children that they give it a go. I made a great friend called Ellis, who I have never forgotten. I remember certain events at diabetic camp that I have never forgotten. Whilst at camp, there was unfortunately a circulation of head lice! Everyone in the camp was immediately marched to the showers where there hair was combed over and over again! On one night, the fire alarm was set off as someone had opened a fire exit. At three o'clock in the morning, everyone on the camp was running around outside in the pitch black whilst fire fighters searched the building for a non-existing fire! The leader of the camp was stood outside in nothing but his boxers! That week bought nothing but smiles to my face, especially when the whole bus went to the toilet at the side of a road!

Every year I celebrate my anniversary of the day I was diagnosed with diabetes. Once we went to Light water Valley, another time to London to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. This year, we are going on a family holiday to New York, and as a celebration this year, I am hoping to go on a big shopping spree! By doing this, I feel that having diabetes is not that bad and that having diabetes can have its pro's as well as con's.

Now onto the more serious stuff, how does a diabetic feel? Everyone is different; everyone worries about different things involving their diabetes, yet I can guarantee that every diabetic is scared of something to do with their disease. For me personally, it is complications that may occur on the future, and other questions that I am unable to ask as a result of feeling embarrassed. Will my toes really drop off? Will I go blind? Will I become obese? Will I have healthy children? Will any children I have inherit the disease? Does it really matter if I have a big slice of chocolate cake as long as I give the right amount of insulin? Do my friends think I over dramatise about my diabetes when I talk about it? Does anyone apart from me feel the same way? How do I know I am healthy? Who do I go to when I want to talk about an issue that I do not want anyone else to know about, involving diabetes? How is it possible to fight temptation? What are scientists really doing to help? Are they near to finding a cure?

I would love a hotline to be set up, with someone on the other end of the phone, not knowing who I am, but being able to give me advice when I need it. This is important for me as these questions whirl my head day in, day out, and consequently I worry. I know this is not the way to go, and that I should be positive, but I cannot help it!

I have a very supportive family, and the clinic I attend has such nice, friendly faces in it, I feel very welcome and safe. I know that when I walk in the doors, they are there for one purpose only. They are there to help diabetics like me to keep healthy and to prepare us for the future ahead.

My overall advice to everyone, young and old, is to keep going. Do not let a disease like diabetes get in your way. Although you may not feel it, you are luckier than others. At least you are not stuck in a wheelchair unable to walk. You look normal from the outside, no one will look at you and judge you. Be bold and proud of who you are, and the disease that you have. Yes you will have ups and downs in your blood glucose levels, but everyone does! One thing that I have learnt is that I am not alone and that there are others just like me! Injections hurt, and the pricking of a finger stings, but we cannot get rid of the disease, so take it on and give it a run for its money!