Losing my daughter, Diani, to type 1 diabetes changed the course of my life forever. Diani was diagnosed at 18, just as she stepped into adulthood, full of joy, ambition, and dreams. Suddenly, her world was filled with restrictions, calculations, and constant reminders that her health now rested in daily insulin injections, balanced meals, and careful monitoring. As bright and strong as she was, this new reality was hard for her to accept. Managing diabetes became not just a medical challenge, but an emotional and psychological one—a daily reminder of what had changed.
My name is Erica and my dad was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when I was in middle school. His diagnosis came rather late as he had already been dealing with poor circulation in his lower extremities that eventually led to gangrene. My father eventually had to have an above-knee amputation on both his legs. His transition from diagnosis to becoming paraplegic happened rather quickly, and mostly because he wasn’t aware of his diagnosis early enough and had poor health literacy.
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