You can do (almost) anything with diabetes…!

Meet Annelieke. Annelieke was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 10 in 2002 during her vacation in the US. In 2014 she was also diagnosed with an insulin allergy which is under good control. Learn more about our model Annelieke in the following interview.

At mySugr we love to show the many different faces and stories of people with diabetes in the real world. So we do our own photoshoots and feature real people living with diabetes instead of using stock photos. In this series, we want you to get to know our shooting stars a little bit better.

1. What was your biggest fears/concerns when you were diagnosed with diabetes? 

Not being able to eat pizza (I was almost 11 but they gave me pizza on my last night in the hospital to show me everything is possible).

 2. What’s the hardest part/biggest struggle for you in living with diabetes day-to-day?

As a new mom; trying to manage diabetes while figuring out how to take care of a new life. Which reminds me I should’ve changed my infusion site yesterday so better do that now. 

Before: not letting my diabetes control my life. I would try my very best to manage everything and still not get the sugars I would want which was very frustrating and mentally draining. Since roughly a year I have a closed loop and this has improved my diabetes life so much in the sense I need to think about my diabetes a lot less getting way better results. 

3. What piece of advice would you give to a person who is newly diagnosed with diabetes? 

 You can do (almost) anything with diabetes, you just may need to take some extra measures to get there!

4. Is there a phrase/statement about diabetes that drives you crazy?

That we get it because we eat too much sugar. Or that type 1 is the ‘bad’ kind.

5. When you think of the word “freedom” in terms of diabetes, what does that mean to you? What would make you feel more free?

Other than a cure, not having to think as much about my diabetes during the day.