I've been afraid to say it, but now I must face it...

I officially have diabetes. For the last two years my doctor and I have been slowly watching my blood sugars rise. I went through stages of changing my diet and working out, and stages of denial just hoping that it wouldn't get any worse or would just magically self-correct itself, despite that I know better. I am 26, 5'9, size 8. I kept thinking this is not supposed to happen to me! I am not obese, my diet isn't great, but it's not that bad either...

Yesterday, I was in tears, full of self-pity, wondering about my future, my ability to have a healthy baby someday, about medical school, about heart disease, blindness, and amputations. But today on this Thankgiving, as I took a walk on the beach with my Dad after dinner, he reminded me of some advice I had given him when he was struggling with depression. "Everyday, when you wake up in the morning, you have a choice. You can choose to look at this bleakly or you can live everyday to the fullest and take control your blood sugar, rather than letting it control you." So this is my choice. Diabetes, watch out, here I come!