John and Stacy

Diabetes is a roller coaster. Sometimes it's amazing. Sometimes it's scary. Sometimes it's excruciating. A good roller coaster has ups and downs, twists, turns and unexpected adventures. Roller coasters vary in speed, style, form and build. Diabetes has the same twists and turns, the same diversity.

If you compared every roller coaster, you would find many variations. There are the old wooden ones that blatantly show the test of time. There are the new, sleek kind that speed by in the blink of an eye. There are the classics that stand true no matter how many other roller coasters exist. If you compared every diabetic, you would find the same varieties. There are those diabetics that make their disease obvious, whether by choice or not. There are the "modern" diabetics that have every gadget and speed through diabetes life without a care. There are the classic diabetics that exist somewhere in the middle of knowing the disease inside and out, while using old techniques with new technology.

Diabetes itself has the ups and downs, twists, turns and many adventures. Like a roller coaster, diabetes will throw you into a loop just after a calm start. Or diabetes can jumpstart faster than the speed of light. Sometimes diabetes is the slow and steady roller coaster that takes you through tiny loops and mini turns. It can change in an instant all in the same ride.

The emotions of diabetes follow the path of the roller coaster. There is the initial fear upon learning about the disease. There is an anxious feeling to get new things started in diabetes management (as opposed to the long lines of the roller coaster). Diabetes can give you a high (quite literally) with its many hidden blessings. And after the high, there is always the lull of the frustrations and mundane lifestyle of diabetes. Diabetes often brings you the same roller coaster stomachache after you've ridden for too long.

And just like roller coasters, diabetes is not for everyone (and especially the faint of heart). Diabetics are tough individuals (the same way that roller coaster lovers are tough enough to endure the ride). Sometimes you're forced onto a roller coaster by your friends and sometimes you’re forced into diabetes by unknown causes. But either way, you can handle it. Just close your eyes and feel the thrill.