Twenty-Two Years In: Still Managing, Still Fighting

In August 2026, I’ll hit 22 years living with Type 1 diabetes.

Twenty-two years of finger pricks, insulin, carb counting, highs, lows, and everything in between. Twenty-two years of learning, adjusting, and figuring it out one day at a time.

When I was first diagnosed, I had no idea what life would look like down the road. I just knew things had changed—permanently. What I didn’t know then was how much this disease would shape me.

Diabetes has been my constant. It’s been there through every phase of life—through work, through challenges, through growth. And somehow, over all these years, I’ve managed to keep a pretty solid handle on it.

Not perfect—never perfect—but consistent.

But 2026 has brought something I never saw coming.

After everything I’ve already navigated with diabetes, I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma—a rare form of blood cancer.

It’s hard to put into words what that feels like. You spend years managing one serious, lifelong disease, and then suddenly you’re facing another fight entirely.

And yet—here I am.

Still showing up.
Still learning.
Still adapting.

At the same time, life didn’t just stop. I’m also finishing up my Associate’s degree—a goal that started years ago and is finally within reach. There were plans to walk across that stage, to celebrate that milestone, and to keep pushing forward into the next chapter.

Now, that journey includes hospital visits, treatment plans, and preparing for a stem cell transplant.

It’s a lot.

There are days when it feels overwhelming. Days when managing blood sugar alone is a full-time job—let alone adding cancer treatment into the mix. The physical toll, the mental strain, the uncertainty—it all stacks up.

But here’s what I keep coming back to:

Diabetes prepared me for this.

It taught me discipline—because you don’t get to ignore it.
It taught me awareness—because small changes matter.
It taught me resilience—because you have to keep going, even on the hard days.

And now, those same lessons are carrying me through this new fight.

Twenty-two years in, I’m not just managing diabetes anymore—I’m navigating something even bigger. But I’m doing it the same way I’ve done everything else:

One step at a time.
One day at a time.

If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s this:

We’re capable of more than we think.
We can face more than we expect.
And we can keep going—even when life throws things at us that feel impossible.

I don’t know exactly what the road ahead looks like.

But I do know this—

I’ve been fighting for 22 years already.

And I’m not stopping now.

— Paul