My daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes this year and the world became a different place for her and our family.

Not a worse place, or a bad place, or a dark, hopeless and desperate place.

A different place.

One where the focus on our physical health has been elevated, but so, too, a focus on our mental health.

I am not unfamiliar with diabetes in my family. But, I would be lying if I said I truly understood or appreciated the depths of how diabetes impacted my brother and his family when his son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes three decades ago.

I remember the finger pricks, the worried gazes between parents, the crying boy, the fearful calls, and the candy, the juice, and the panicked moments waiting for blood sugar to climb.

Beyond that, I sadly admit, I could not grasp just how dark, hopeless and desperate those moments I saw, and the far more many moments I did not see, must have been for my brother and his family.

Today, thanks to science, technology, modern medicine, and the non-profits, companies, people and government agencies that focus on diabetes research and discovery, the world is a decidedly different place for those with diabetes.

It’s estimate that 800 million people in the world live with diabetes. The number of people with uncontrolled diabetes is nearly 445 million.

In the United States, it is estimated that 38 million people live with diabetes. Of that, nearly 9 million are undiagnosed.

Of that number, nearly 1.8 million have been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

In a nutshell, Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that prevents the pancreas from producing insulin, a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels. Without insulin, blood sugar builds up in the bloodstream, which can lead to serious health problems over time. 

My Daughter controls her diabetes today, thanks to modern medicine, with a pump that can help regulate her blood sugar levels with insulin delivered to her body.

Unlike the days my brother and his family faced decades ago, finger pricks are no longer the primary means of measuring blood sugar levels. The variety of electronic gadgets that have been developed, medication, treatment, and understanding of the impact of diet and excercise, also play a significant role in helping to treat her diabetes and give her the freedom to continue to pursue her education and live her life.

She and her friends, those with diabetes and those without, have also started up a chapter of The Diabetes Link https://thediabeteslink.org/ on their Marquette University Campus and you can learn more at https://www.tfaforms.com/4928823?acctid=001Nx00000C6p7NIAR This important resource for young people at Marquette University underscores that diabetes doesn’t define my Daughter, she defines diabetes in her life.

Today, as we wrestle with those who doubt the impact of modern medicine, or those who are as knowledgeable about science and medicine as I am about rocket science who act as though they are rocket scientists on social media, I know that the one person in my life who is capable of figuring out the solution to the future of Type 1 Diabetes has a name: Maisie Mische.

There is no doubt in my mind that within the next 5 years, if not sooner, there will be even more incredible advancements in the discovery related to diabetes. No doubt in my mind that there will be a cure, in whatever form it will take, to Type 1 Diabetes, as well as Type II Diabetes.

It won’t be decades from now. It won’t even be a decade from now. It will be less than that.

In the meantime, I will continue to loudly advocate for policies in this country that advance the power of science to find cures to what ails us – whether its a pandemic, or cancer, or diabetes.

As the CEO of SAVE-Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, http://www.save.org, I have concerns about the impact of chronic diseases on the mental health of people. Including my Daughter. She gets annoyed when I keep asking how her head, and her heart, are doing but it’s my job as her Dad and I will keep asking it until the end of my time.

While we focus on the physical aspects of chronic disease, we need to me mindful of the mental aspects of it, too. There is worry. Anxiety. Fear. Uncertainty.

There is also resentment, anger, frustration and I can only imagine there are moments of “Why me?” that take place – with my Daughter, and her friends, and others with Type 1 Diabetes.

If I could take Type 1 Diabetes from my daughter and give it to me, I would do it before I finish typing this sentence.

If my pancreas could be given to her and I am the one using a pump and she is the one texting me pictures of eyeballs when my blood sugar starts to drop, I would make the incision myself.

But, I can’t. At least I can’t right now.

Maisie Mische is going to define diabetes up until the moment science and medicine and technology makes it go away. She will be part of the discovery that leads to that day – whether is because of her own advocacy, knowledge, determination or participation in studies or activities that make that day the day.

My Daughter is a problem-solver. She is a rule-follower. She is also a disruptor. And, I have long followed the disruptors in my life.

She is, above all else, a Warrior. Warriors always win.

My Daughter will win.