Meet Azalee

This is Azalee, well Azalee and her doppelganger.

This last week I had the opportunity to relive my high school days and go to high school summer camp with my work. When I was going through the roster I came across a student who also has Type 1 diabetes (check out a moment of excitement). Because she had diabetes she was put in my car, my room, and my small group, just in case anything went wrong.

Meet Azalee, I know she has the coolest name right?! Azalee is going into her junior year and has had T1 diabetes since she was 8. I kind of laughed a little when I realized we were both diagnosed around the same time, but she was 8 and I was 18. This girl has her stuff together. She wears a backpack with diabetic pride written on it and carries all of her supplies with her at all times. She hasn’t let diabetes slow her down either. She is does pep and cheer at her school, and is very active. She even helped out team win first place in rec during camp.  

The first few nights while we were both trying to get to know one another we would share our diabetes stories. We talked about diabetes camp and how this was only her second camp/trip that wasn’t going away to diabetes camp. She talked about her other diabetic friends and how they share the things they need, just like I do with my diabetes friends. And we talked about how her mom taught her friends how to give her shots with an orange. She laughed a little when her friends came up to her on this trip and were bummed out they didn’t get to practice on a piece of fruit this time around.

As always I try not to be overbearing with other diabetics. If I was checking my blood sugars I would ask her to either check hers or ask what her last number was. There was only one night that we had an issue with low blood sugars, but she handled it well. She drank her juice waited 15 minutes and when her numbers were back to normal went back to sleep. By the way her favorite food to treat a low with is gummies. On our most active day she hung in there like a champ and chugged a juice after the event.

I find people like her inspiring. She lives life to the fullest and never lets her diabetes drag her down. She has amazing support from her friends and family, but no one treats her like she is incapable because she has diabetes. I really enjoyed this last week and getting to know her.