I am pleased to direct you over to Mr. Mike Lawson’s blog, What Some Would Call Lies, for a Guest Post of mine today.
Thank you Mike for inspiring me to write about some concerns Caleb recently voiced. Also, thank you Kim for your “You Can Do This” project which allowed for the chance for Caleb to voice those concerns in the first place.
This is Caleb... 
Sitting pool side with tears streaming. I have looked up to Caleb for over a year now. What sweet vulnerability and raw honesty. I just wanted to hug him. But, Lo, I was already emotional at the title. My certainty is Ryan. And that thought (truth) is beautiful in our boys, in our T1ers. I loved this. Thank you for sharing. Love.
What a powerful video. My heart just broke towards the end and my tears started when Caleb’s did. Such an amazing kiddo you have there.
Sometimes I feel like Caleb does…and I’m 50 and have only been diagnosed with T1 since March,
Caleb gives me courage — if he can do it, I can too
What an amazing video. I’ve had T1D since the age of 3, for almost 30 years, and I still sometimes feel like I cannot manage it without my mom. And the emotions that Caleb expressed, the feeling self-concious when he has to do “D stuff” while playing sports, is something I STILL struggle with as an adult. I hate having to do something D-related in the middle of my workday and I especially hate it when I have to do it in front of other people. I hate the stares, the questions, the awkward moments of silence when someone assumes that because I have “the bad kind” of diabetes, my life is practically over. But seeing this video of Caleb is oddly comforting because it reminds me that I’m not the only person with T1D who feels this way. Caleb and I may be very different people, but we share a common disease and a common experience on a daily (and even hourly) basis that I really think only other people with T1D can relate to.
Caleb, I can tell you this – some things about D don’t really get better. You may always feel weird when you have to check your blood sugar in front of other people or bolus before eating when you’re with people other than your immediate family. And that’s ok, and you have to remember that there are others of us out there who feel exactly the same way. But you will someday realize that having T1D can give you some good things too. It has made me super organized, super strong, and super driven. There are so many things I have done in my life that I have only had the strength to do because I have to life with T1D on a daily basis. Obstacles that became impassable mountains for my peers were minor bumps in the road for me because I was so used to the even bigger and scarier obstacles that diabetes sometimes threw in my path. Of course I wish I didn’t have diabetes sometimes. BUT, I know I am the person I am, in part, because of having lived with this disease. You’re not alone, Caleb!