Dear type 1, you can’t stop us
Dear type 1,
It’s been nearly three years since you’ve entered my life. Although it hasn’t been easy, I’m learning to live with you. My mother, Hélène, says I’m resilient and I suppose I am. You’ve left me with no choice except to keep fighting for myself and others. So that’s been my focus.
I remember the day I was diagnosed.
It was a shock to me and an even bigger one to my family. My mother still gets emotional talking about it. It started when she saw I was tired and thirsty. When she hugged me, she noticed I was thinner. But I was also a growing 12-year-old boy, who was about to become a teenager. Like most parents, mine assumed these were normal changes.
Just to be sure, my mother had a pharmacist check my blood glucose levels. Before I knew what was happening, I found myself at the hospital emergency department where I received this life-changing diagnosis.
It was a lot to deal with, especially since I was also set to start high school. Before you entered my life, I was active and energetic. I played basketball, soccer and other sports. Once I started high school, I was afraid to continue. Afraid that it would be dangerous to be so active. I spent more time in the library than in the gym.
Then, something amazing happened.
My parents organized the most incredible 13th birthday party a person could have. It was a big affair, with more than 100 friends and family members. The guest list included my school friends and teachers, my doctors, and Sébastien Sasseville. He’s not only an endurance athlete who has climbed Mount Everest and run across Canada, he also lives with T1D. Talk about an inspiration! If he could live a full life with type 1, I knew I could, too.
From that moment on, I decided I no longer wanted to be afraid, and that’s when I created “Team DouDou”. In 2019, I participated in my first-ever Sun Life Walk to Cure Diabetes for JDRF. As I geared up for the Quebec City event, I asked everyone I knew to help me.
This was about more than fundraising. This was about changing lives and finding cures for everyone living with this disease.
Thanks to the kindness of my friends and family,
I raised $28,000 dollars. On top of that, my team added another $10,000!
I still smile when I think about how special that Walk day was. Everyone who participated in support of me wore red. That included a team from Mallette, the accounting firm where my mother works.
How incredible to watch this sea of red t-shirts walking and running and celebrating! I was also excited to learn that, as result of the support we received, “Team Doudou”, was one of Canada’s top ten fundraising teams.
I’m excited to continue raising awareness and funds in support of T1D treatments and cures. What I’ve learned in these few years since you’ve entered my life, is that you can’t stop me.
Yes, I have to monitor my glucose levels daily, and yes, I need to take insulin to survive. But that won’t prevent me from accomplishing whatever I set my mind to. And for me, that’s finding a cure for type 1 diabetes.
So watch out T1D, because “Team Doudou” will keep raising the funds until that happens. Like Sébastien conquered Everest, we’re going to conquer you.
Édouard Chatigny
Living with T1D since the age of 12