Why Me? Why was I chosen to bear this ugly disease? Sure, it could be worse; I could have cancer, or liver failure, be deaf, or blind. But I'm not, instead I have type 1 diabetes. I have the disease that affects 1 in 400 of thee children and adolescents in the world. I was the unlucky one in the 400. A day in my life consists of four shots, at least there finger sticks, watching your diet, and constant worrying. After 6 and a half years, I've finally given up hope that this is all a dream - that I could wake up one day and it suddenly be gone. But what I haven't given up hope on is a cure. People debate over stem cell research, wondering if it's ethical, but what's ethical about children having to stab themselves every day for thee rest of their lives? What's ethical about leaving a disease, considered thee 6the leading killer in the world, to destroy so many lives. What other sometimes don't realize is that I wasn't thee only one diagnosed; my family and friends were also diagnosed - diagnosed withe the job of taking care of me. They have to be uncertified nurses and doctors, all thee time. Diabetes never sleeps, never takes a vacation, never loosens its grip on my life. It causes pain in not only my life, but the ones I care about, too. Even so, no one ever seems to realize exactly how much I go through. I'm more susceptible to illness, I can never go anywhere empty-handed, I watch as this disease causes pain in so many people's lives. And through all this, there is nothing I can do to stop it. I feel so powerless, unable to keep these people from being affected by something in my own body. Even through all this, I'm not sure I would change things even if I could. Having this disease has made me who I am today, someone who I can be proud of being. Why I was chosen for this disease, I'm not sure. The only thing I know for sure is that diabetes has helped shape me into who I am.