My name doesn't matter, nor does my age, location, social status or gender. In our modern, superficial, fast food restaurants and celebrity obsessed world, people are only interested in each others weaknesses, our not-quite-rights and what they can criticize and judge us on to make themselves feel better, resulting in us feeling different, upset and even threatened.

The 16th of March 2006 was my turning point, or should I say the start of a new type of living, a type 1 kind of living. As well as surviving the social groups at school, the sexually driven alcoholic parties and adjusting to the state puberty had left me in; I had to tackle a complete change in my personal lifestyle.

Many people describe living with diabetes like a rollercoaster ride, and to some extent yes it is- with all the emotional highs and lows we suffer. But I like to describe it more like the dodgems, you keep going on in life, dodging the obstacles in front of you, running forward from the ones behind, and then there's the ones that you didn't see coming that bump you back.

A diabetic life is full of 'ifs' and 'buts'. IF I don't take my injections everyday then parts of my body will begin to fail or shutdown. IF I don't check my blood sugar levels then I won't know when my medication needs changing. IF I don't have a healthy diet and exercise regularly my diabetes will get worse and I will begin to suffer serious problems. You can eat sweets BUT only a little now and again considering your present diet. You can have a normal life BUT you can't go into the army or navy, fire or ambulance service, be a train or bus driver, be a pilot or be in the police force. You can have children BUT there will be risks if you don't monitor yourself 24/7. Although there are 'ifs' and 'buts' in every lifestyle, I feel I'm faced with, or at least reminded a lot more since I've been tagged with this condition.

While recently reading I came across a particular sentence that struck me. 'Sometimes I feel like I must have done something really bad to have deserved this.' I don't know why this particular sentence did it, but it made me react in way I didn't think I would. I felt like something had just mentally and physically stopped me in my tracks. I don't know why I reacted like I did neither do I know how to describe the way I felt once I'd read it. Possibly annoyed? Because I'd hate to think I've done something so terrible to deserve this or maybe upset? Because it's something I tell myself everyday.

Although I have my ups and downs, I no longer need people to tell me everything's going to be okay, I got overly sick of the sympathetic sigh and stroke up my arm in the first 2 weeks of being diagnosed. I think there is a certain stage in every diabetic life where this word 'diabetes' becomes more of a strength than an illness, you just need to come to terms with its mind tricks and games and be ready for its future attacks.

If I had to pick one thing that annoys me about 'diabetes' over the rest it's the importance of the word in the public's eye. Reading through these essay entries you will probably find that over 50% of them say when being diagnosed they didn't understand or know what the word 'diabetes' meant, and I admit myself being one of them. I certainly find that when I actually tell somebody that I'm diabetic they don't know what it is, or they say 'is that the one where you can't eat chocolate?' -Utterly charming I'm sure you'll agree.

I'm not particularly proud of the fact that I'm diabetic, and neither do I consider myself lucky as some do. I'm not even going to say I'm 'special' because I'm not. We all have our own personal battles to fight everyday, whether we're being bullied, being a mother or just keeping ourselves alive. Diabetes is my personal battle.