Some people call type 1 diabetes (T1D) an invisible disease. I know there are people out there that would like it to be. It isn’t.

The only time T1D is invisible is when a person with it hides what they have to do to stay healthy, or worse, they don’t do it. 

I remember about 15 years ago there was a “Dear Ann Landers” column about a person who was mortified when a family member gave themselves an insulin shot at the dinner table, and horror of horrors, at a restaurant! Ann Landers’ advice was to tell the family member that perhaps the public restroom was a better place to take care of that. You know, those well kept rooms where you are afraid to touch anything.

I wrote a scathing response to Miss Ann that was never published. I asked her if it would be less difficult for this person to have a blind relative at the dinner table. Would it be less mortifying to have a person who has lost a foot wheeled to the table? Or would it just be easier to take their meal to them at the dialysis center?

People think that if they don’t see something it doesn’t exist. It has long been my goal to not be ashamed of my diabetes and to educate by not hiding it.

The truth is, the more visible we are, the more likely we can fund a cure. I am not saying that people should not do their very best to take the best care of themselves, but the very real ramifications of what it means to live with diabetes for the rest of your life is an important message to get out there.

Embrace the conversation. Be a part of it. Tell people how much you want your children (or yourself) to keep their feet and kidneys. The more that T1D is seen, the more conversation we can start, the more likely we can find a cure.

Christine Arenson was diagnosed with T1D at age 7 in 1974. She has worked as a camp counselor at Camp de los Niño’s in the Santa Cruz mountains, worked for the ADA as a camp coordinator in Alaska, volunteered to help put on a JDRF sponsored day camp in Los Angeles called “Kids Rock the World” and is owner of Equity Marketing Solutions, LLC. At age 46, she has been living with both T1D and chronic kidney disease.  She is passionate about finding a cure.