I had no idea what to make of my diagnosis when I got it: I was six years old! I do remember one thing,
though: All of a sudden I wasn't allowed to eat lots of things that I had enjoyed before then. And I didn't
understand why. It was very hard for my parents. They've always supported me, helped me and explained
everything to me. But when you're a small kid, you just do things you shouldn’t, especially when it comes
to food... Things got better as I got older, though.

I've been a referee for four or five years now. It's a big hobby of mine and it gives me lots of exercise. Sports is good for diabetes, but each game takes a lot of preparation. You have to set the insulin pump to supply less insulin, and I always have some dextrose handy. I need to check my glucose levels all the time to see if levels are changing and whether I need to increase or decrease the insulin. Of course I can only do that during breaks. During the game I have to try to feel my levels.

Over time, you learn to feel the hypos coming; my worst hypos have always been during the night. My parents told me about one time when they had to use an emergency injection. I struggled so hard against it that they had to lie on top of me to get the injection into me. I couldn't really do anything about it because my body was on auto pilot.

A lot has changed for me with the pump. I don’t get as many hypos and I don’t have to do the injections in public any more – I always felt that people were looking at me funny.

I've had girlfriends who were turned off by my condition and that made me a little wary. My girlfriend asked me at some point what was wrong with me and I explained it to her. Now she has taken over my mum's role a bit and keeps saying ‘Have you checked? Have you eaten? Have you taken your insulin?' and so on. In a way it does get on my nerves, but of course it's good for me. She's just concerned.

My advice to you: Get yourself a prescription for a pump. It makes you feel more free and independent.
I really recommend it.