Last night at One Night in Vegas, Rachel moved the crowd as the Fund a Cure Speaker. Read her speech below and consider making a Fund a Cure donation in honor of Rachel.
My name is Rachel Anszelowicz and I’m 16 years old. On September 25, 2008, when I was 10 years old, I was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas stops producing the hormone necessary to break down food into energy, called insulin. It occurs when the body’s immune system attacks and destroys these insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. While its causes are not yet entirely understood, its onset has been proven to have nothing to do with diet or lifestyle—type one diabetes does not discriminate and as of right now, there is nothing you can do to prevent nor to get rid of it. That’s why we’re here tonight. To help JDRF continue to fund their extensive research which has brought about so many landmark advances in the diabetes field and ultimately to find a cure for this life altering disease.
Diabetes is a 24/7 responsibility with no vacations. Whether I’m sick, tired or sad, whether I’m out with friends or at a party, whether it’s my birthday or my graduation, my diabetes is still there and neglecting it for just an hour can lead to coma or even death.
On the surface, dealing with diabetes doesn’t seem so bad. Check your blood sugar. Take insulin if it’s high. Eat sugar if it’s low. Count the number of carbohydrates you eat. Give yourself enough insulin to break down those carbs. But as any type one diabetic will tell you, living with diabetes is so much more than that. It’s sticking your fingers with needles six, seven, eight times a day. It’s waking up in the middle of the night, shaking uncontrollably with a low blood sugar. It’s unquenchable thirst when your blood sugar is high. It’s scars on your arms, legs, stomach, and hips from injections and infusion sets. It’s headaches from high blood sugars and exhaustion from low ones. It’s IQ fluctuations caused by changes in blood sugar that makes it so that that even basic tasks become become difficult. It’s having to do constant mental math when you’re eating. It’s not being able to drink lemonade with your friends on a hot summer day because your blood sugar would go too high too fast. It’s pulling over while you’re driving because your blood sugar is low and you can’t see straight. It’s packing an extra suitcase just for your diabetes supplies when you go in vacation. But worst of all, it’s being dependant on insulin for the rest of your life.
Standing before you today, I have already come a long way in my journey with type one diabetes. For years I refused to tell anyone that I even had it. I was afraid of what they’d think. I dreaded the typical reactions. The “but you’re not fat,” the “my grandmother has that too,” or the “with technology these days you’re basically cured anyway.” I remembered the time my physics teacher ripped my midterm out of my hands and told me that I’d be getting a zero for using this (insulin pump). He mistook it for a cell phone. It was an honest mistake, but the damage was still done. The same gut wrenching embarrassment that drove me to tears when I was 12 on the soccer field. The other team’s coach, seeing my pump flagged down the ref and insisted, in front of everyone I be removed from the game for having my “phone” on the field. For a long time I was frustrated and angry that I had to deal with this disease and I was so afraid of being ostracized and judged for it. I was afraid that people would think I had diabetes because I had done something wrong. I figured if I acted like I didn’t have diabetes, maybe I wouldn’t have to deal with it. I would go days without testing my blood sugar and consequently without giving myself insulin. My sugars which are supposed to be between 80 and 120 were consistently in the 300 and 400s. I was in and out of the hospital. I was destroying my body. JDRF helped me to realize that diabetes is a part of who I am. Unfortunately it is something I will have to deal with for the rest of my life, but it doesn’t have to define me.
In 2011, I was afforded the very special opportunity to represent JDRF in Washington DC, at their children’s congress program, which brought diabetics from the 50 states together to raise awareness to our state legislatures about diabetes so that they would continue to fund research to find a cure. This program showed me that I am not alone in my struggle with this disease and it gave me hope that our efforts are not in vain. It allowed me to become an integral part in one day relieving myself of this burden.
I was first acquainted with JDRF 3 days after I was diagnosed with diabetes. They welcomed me, as they do for so many others, with my own diabetic teddy bear. Since that day, they have done nothing but welcome and support me and their long island office has since become my second home. I love nothing more than being able to meet and mentor newly diagnosed diabetics and their families and to pay forward all the knowledge and support I have received from JDRF over the years. Every month I impatiently await JDRF’s Teen Talk program, where I am able to get together with other teenagers with diabetes, who along with the JDRF staff are the most amazing support system I could ever ask for. I wouldn’t be able to cope with my diabetes if it wasn’t for JDRF and all the amazing things they do. With your help tonight, we can make type one, type none.