Four continents, 30 cities and 32,000 miles. Adventure seeker Nat Strand and her teammate Kat Chang made history as the first all-female team to win CBS's The Amazing Race. Her accomplishment, however, doesn't stop there. Strand, a 32-year-old doctor from Scottsdale, Arizona, had an additional "road block" to contend with during her race around the world - she has type 1 diabetes.

Congratulations! The first all-female team and the first person with type 1 diabetes to win the Amazing Race. My 8-year-old son Charlie, who has diabetes, thinks you're pretty cool. Or was it cool and pretty. Something like that.

Thank you so much! Having type 1 diabetes, I was just happy to finish the race. Winning it and being the first female team to win it was the icing on the cake.

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PhotoGraham on Flickr

There's a lot about diabetes that isn't so happy. Really, 98% isn't. But to me, there are things about this disease that top the list of the worst parts of diabetes. The biggest thing is the utterly hopeless need for insulin.

I can't hide the facts from myself like I can when I think about complications or discrimination. I can tell myself that better control will lower my risk of complications, that they might not happen to me. I can believe that employers, lovers, and friends won't judge me on my diabetes. Those are things that always leave glimmers of hope in my heart; they aren't finite.

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