Moving Away

In less than 3 months I will be moving away from home. I have been accepted into Fanshawe, London campus and plan to live in residence there. The day I was accepted I was beyond excited it was previous to having diabetes. I knew that it was going to be the beginning of a great new start and life. Shortly after I was diagnosed, it crossed my mind on various occasions how this was going to change the way I'm going to have to go about living.

No matter what I knew diabetic or not I was going to have the best times of my life away from home. People say it all the time that college/university was the greatest experience they ever had. In a way it frustrates me that I can't just go and not worry about my health but I know that my health is extremely important and diabetes doesn't take vacations, sleep or stay home while I go to college. It's going to not only be an experience for me because college is a new environment but it's also going to be an experience for me and my diabetes. I experienced diabetes on vacation, while I'm asleep and now it's time to bring diabetes to college.

I wonder what I'm going to say to my three other roommates. How do you explain? I know that they need to be aware of it, know my highs, my lows and how to help me if I'm unable to help myself. These three girls need to be willing to step up when I can't and learn that diabetes isn't just about notbeing able to eat candy.

Each day I learn something new about my diabetes. Today, I learned that Boston Pizza isn't the best restaurant for a diabetic but there is always something on the menu that will work. I learned that either the nutritional menu lied about the amount of carbs or my sugar has gone crazy (13.5) Each and every single day for the rest of my life I am going to learn, just like I had to learn on my cruise, when I went to the gym or restaurant. Soon enough in college I'll learn what do in order to make sure that I'm safe and healthy.

Until the time comes when I pack up my bags and settle in, I won't know exactly how it is going to be. Instead I can enjoy every minute I have at home with my family and friends. Although I will be 100 km away, they will always be there for me if I need support or help.

Kayla