The Optimist

Abby Towell doesn’t let her diabetes get her down.

Priscilla Cuevas

Staff Writer

Daily finger pricking and regularly checking your blood sugar doesn’t seem like something a 15-year-old would have to worry about. But freshman Abby Towell, dismisses these daily routines and doesn’t let them stop her from participating in cheerleading and other various activities.
      In September 2006, Abby Towell was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, which is a rare autoimmune disease amongst teens where the immune system attacks the pancreas. In return no insulin is being produced. Insulin is important because this is what helps regulate the sugar levels within one’s body. However, this condition has not stopped Towell from being who she is. “You can’t really let it define you,” said Towell, “I don’t want it to define me.”
      Towell is like any other teenager: she likes to go to the movies, the football and basketball games, and hang out with her friends. She is currently taking Honors English, Biology, Stain Glass, Spanish, and Algebra as a freshman. Not only that, Towell also cheers for South on the competition and regular squad.
 Towell’s day begins with waking up to check her blood sugar. Although the effort taken into count to checking her blood sugar isn’t very much, it is very important to Towell’s health. Towell has something that is called a glucometer, which she refers to as her meter. She tales this and puts it up to what are called strips that are found on her side. The meter then calculates how high or low Towell’s blood sugar is. Not finished quite yet, Towell then pricks her finger as well to see her blood sugar levels. This whole process may sound like it’s time consuming but in reality it is only a minute or two. Once this is done Towell gets ready to go about her day.
 When lunch comes around, Towell goes to her locker to get her blood glucometer (or meter) and checks her blood sugar level. With Towell being a freshman she has to adjust her insulin doses because high school lunch is a lot earlier than middle school lunch. After lunch, the first thing Towell does is count her carbs. The reason behind this is because carbohydrates act as energy. “My body doesn’t make insulin,” said Towell, “and that’s what insulin is.”
 Once school is out, Towell walks home to check her blood sugar another time, eats a snack, does her homework, and is ready to head off to cheerleading practice. One condition to Towell participating in cheerleading is that she must check her blood sugar 30 minutes prior, right before, and every hour during it.
 One may feel restricted having diabetes, but according to Towell, “[a diabetic person] can do anything. You just have to do things with more caution and carefulness.” For Towell, she feels restricted at times when her friends are able to eat junk food and not have to worry about their blood sugar. Yet, “I can eat anything, I just need to have my insulin,” said Towell. It is important for Towell to have her insulin because she has encountered a scary moment one time when her blood sugar was extremely high. “I just felt really sick,” said Towell.
 In dealing with Type 1 diabetes, Towell sees it as something she has to do, as if she is learning something new. Even though Towell’s mother was a nurse and was the one who started noticing all of the symptoms beforehand, both of her parents were scared at first. Towell’s parents had to learn about the disease as well. “My parents have adapted to the situation,” said Towell, “by disciplining, checking up, and understanding me.”
 It sounds strange to think that someone as young as Towell has to deal with diabetes. Usually this isn’t the case because diabetes is more common among the elderly population. However, not to get it mixed up with Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes is where the body does produce insulin and the body does not respond to it.
 As for the future, knowing that diabetes does not go away, Towell is optimistic saying: “it is 2010, anything is possible.” Towell plans to graduate from high school, attend college, and get a successful job like any other person.