It doesn’t have to be a crutch

For some people, life is not easy. For those with diabetes, it can be even harder at times. According to WebMD, diabetes is the most often occurring disorder of the endocrine system, affecting an excess of 23 million people in the United States alone.

Diabetes has two types, aptly termed Type 1 and Type 2. WebMD describes Type 1 diabetes as the body’s inability to produce insulin, the compound made by the pancreas to break down sugar in the blood, while Type 2 is the body’s inability to effectively use the insulin.

Students at Noblesville are not unaffected. These students live normal lives, and upon first glance, you could not tell they have diabetes. Sometimes the smallest things can have a huge impact, but the larger problems don’t always have the largest impact. These students do everything that their non-diabetic friends can do, and some would say they do it just as well.

Freshman Courtney Jordan was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes on August 1, 2000, when she was only three years old. She does not feel impaired at all by the disease.

“I just have to make sure I always have something on me to use to treat if my blood sugar gets low,” Jordan said.

Sophomore Zach Walker, who was diagnosed with Type 1 on November 8, 2004, slightly disagrees.

“Sometimes it gets in the way, just because my blood sugar dictates the energy I have,” Walker said.

Medically, diabetes can be a difficult disease to diagnose. WebMD says that nearly a third of those with diabetes are unaware of their affliction.

“Most people don’t understand it, so they have a lot of misconceptions, such as we can’t eat sugar or you have to be overweight to get it, but it varies,” Jordan said.

“People are very stereotypical about us, like the fact that we can’t eat sugar. That bugs me,” freshman Alli Dressler said.

Dressler was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes on September 23, 2009, but seems to have little trouble controlling it. Things were not quite so easy at first, though.

“At first it was really hard to handle and I hated it. I wasn’t really myself. Today, I think I’m my crazy, fun self,” Dressler said.

Some people have had their lives altered by diabetes, but only in slight ways.

“I’m still the same as ever. Not as active, but otherwise identical,” Walker said.

In their free time, these three live everyday lives. Jordan is taking dance lessons. Walker and Dressler are in the band and Walker actively takes part in his church youth group.