Recently I wrote an answer to a Quora question about living with a incurable disease. Something a lot of you might not know about me is that I live with Diabetes Type 1 and Ceoliacs disease. I was diagnosed back in 2010 when I was ten and have had diabetes for five years now. I use pump therapy. Diabetes is a very complicated and difficult disease and takes a very long time to explain. If you have any other questions about it, feel free to tweet me @Siofra_Kelleher.
I've been fortunate enough to have been diagnosed in 2010 with diabetes type 1 and coeliac disease. They're not terminal and I will be forever grateful for that fact. But that doesn't mean it doesn't affect me. It is a constant battle with swinging sugar blood levels that send my moods swinging also. Along with being a teenager this makes me a difficult person to live with.
I use an insulin pump that is a small mp3 player sized device that administers insulin to my body (the hormone that my pancreas no longer makes for me) I also have to check my blood glucose multiple times a day. If my sugars go too high I am thirsty, grumpy, have difficulty concentrating and tired. If my sugars go low, I'm shaking, sweating, dizzy and again, very tired.
I have to keep my sugars within range as low and high sugars for a long period of time will cause long term damage that can result in me losing my sight or a limb etc. It's painful, stressful and time-consuming. And it's every day, every hour, for the rest of my life.
Ceoliacs means I cannot eat gluten which is found in barley, rye and wheat. If I accidentally eat gluten, I will have hours later chronic stomach pains and long term damage to my digestive system. So I am left with the gluten-free options of the foods I cannot eat, these usually are tasteless and rather gross.