I was full of energyI loved playing volleyball and running around with friends.
But things shifted halfway through the inaugural year of my teens.
In what felt like a flash, my life changed forever.
I started losing weight.A lotof weight.
My chubby, big-boned frame disintegrated in months.
I was always tired and struggled to keep up with my friends.
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I was extremely thirsty, and because of my enormous liquid consumption, I had troublecontrolling my bladder.
After I peed on myself outside of our home, my mom dragged me to a doctor.
He took one look at my clammy, exhausted frame and tested my blood sugar.
Even though Ive been T1D for years, theres so much I still dont understand.
I never learned how to grow with my T1D.
And Im just starting to unpack the complicated realities of being Black and diabetic.
Recently, and to my surprise, Ive discovered support in navigating Blackness and diabetes on social media.
The online diabetes community is rapidly growing.
More and more people with all types of diabetes are taking to platforms to share their experiences.
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I first foundTiana Cooks, community manager atBeyond jot down 1, on Instagram.
Since her T1D diagnosis in 2014, Cooks has made a name for herself in the diabetes community.
But her greatest passion is improving a massive issue in the diabetes community: diversity within diabetes camps.
Diabetes camps are significant for young diabetics, allowing them to learn diabetes management and connect with other diabetics.
Unfortunately, these camps arent accessible to all, and newly diagnosed BIPOC kids are often isolated from them.
A2018 studyfound that in diabetes camps around the country, 83 percent of campers were white.
Diabetes camps need to improve their accessibility and inclusivity.
Id love to see more representation and diversity in these spaces.
We started off as a one-day camp with 20 campers, she tells me.
Cooks passion for supporting young BIPOC T1Ds has made an enormous impact.
Cooks latter statement is relatable.
This means stress management is especially important for people with diabetes.
Its Amazing How Its All Connected.
The Mussa family then decided to leave the country for their safety.
My dad took me and my brother overseas to stay with family in Germany for a while.
And we didnt come back until January [2002].
I was diagnosed a week after I came home.
Like Cooks, Khan started working within the diabetic community soon after her diagnosis.
She and her brothers attended Camp New Horizonsa diabetic day camp in Dallas for Black T1Ds and their families.
At 13, Khan became a counselor in training.
I just never realized so many people just need to help.
So early in my journey with diabetes, I had the seed of advocacy.
At Diabetics Doing Things, Khan makes sure the platform discusses issues that affect Black and brown diabetics.
Khan says her podcast series,More Than A Diabetic, is her proudest accomplishment to date.
I want to talk about how police brutality can impact us.
We carry things on our bodies that look like tactical weapons.
If you look at a pump the wrong way, it looks like a gun.
We rarely hear conversations about these stressors that Black diabetics experience daily.
Its difficult for sure, T1D advocateDan Newmanshares.
Im starting to think about how all these identities interact with each other.
Like Cooks and Khan, Newman is incredibly candid about his experiences with diabetes on social media.
Both projects were inspired by the isolation hes felt with his diabetes.
Finding a community of diabetics, especially Black men, has played a crucial role in Newman finding solace.
Being able to connect with other Black men with pop in one has really helped me.
Phylissa Derozehas similar motivations.
I looked for about a year.
Deroze created her blogDiagnosed Not Defeatedfrom her hospital bed to share her journey with loved ones.
It grew into something much bigger, and now Derzoe is a titan in the T1D community.
Its so much bigger than me, Derzoe says of her account.
People can come to my page and find Black people living with diabetes who are smiling and thriving.
They can find Black doctors, diabetic-friendly southern recipes, Black prayerswhatever they need.
Having diabetes is tiring, scary, and, most of the time, overwhelming.
Being Black can feel similar at times.
But the most challenging thing about having both identities is the strandedness.
Ive always felt secluded in my pain, physical and emotional.
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