I was diagnosed with diabetes in January 2006 in the local surgery in Uganda which is in east Africa after I had felt very full and weak on the walk to school. Everyone asked if I was ok and that I had lost weight, so my mum rushed down to the surgery and my Blood sugar was over 35. They put me straight on a drip and my best school friends came to see and comfort me. I felt very sad and cried for a while. Before I got diabetes I had been picked for a school sports tour and my mum was wondering if I should go. But finally my mum told me that I could go and I was pleased. Although my mum was very worried about me, I coped and had loads of fun.

In Africa it was difficult to get my insulin but we found a person to help us. You should not be worried when you get diabetes because if you are calm and relaxed you can do anything with it. I coped with fine in the beginning and my dad helped me do my injections. At first I was using the long "old fashioned" needle as that is all I could get, and I found it very difficult to inject myself, and it hurt a lot. We had to keep my insulin in the fridge. Then we went back to the UK for a check up and my nurse told me to use a pen because it was easy to use and it didn't hurt as much.

The insulin that I used is Mixtard in the night and in the morning, then I used to use actrapid but they stopped making it so I began to use novorapid. I only have to use a very small amount of it a day; however, when I knew that I had to have 20 units of Mixtard at night and in the morning my face dropped. I soon got use to it and thought it was a challenge and I tired to do it every night by my self.

When I got diabetes at first I thought that I would never be allowed to eat or drink something with sugar in again. Soon my doctor saw the look on my face and he said that I could eat what ever I want as long as I have a balance diet. My mum and my whole family and also the doctor said that my diet is very important because it would keep me fit and I would have great blood sugars.

I thought that excise would make my blood sugars to low however I found out that it kept them balanced as long as I had eaten something before I did the sport. My teachers at school were really helpful and so were my classmates. They always say that if I am looking low or the colour has gone from my face they tell me they also tell me when I am not making sense in class and words get mixed up. My friends were really helpful in getting me through my beginning stages of my diabetes. My Mum was very unhappy but she had a friend who has diabetes and she wanted me to talk to her so that I didn't feel alone. I also talked to my own age group of kids and I think everyone should do it, it helps you because you then know there is more than you in the world of diabetes. I also thought that many people also thought it was difficult to have diabetes and I was correct, talking to other people made me feel better. My Mum and many other people thought it was a bad thing to have diabetes but I thought we were lucky to have it and I thought we were special!!!!

Since being diagnosed with diabetes I have swam for Uganda in the Sub sahara games held in Zimbabwe and Malawi and achieved a junior black belt in Tae Kwon Do. So being Diabetic is not so bad.