Welcome to the T1/LADA club,
@Rowgirl
I can understand the relief of the diagnosis along with the trepidation of taking insulin for the rest of your life.
It does get easier.
For me, the important thing is not to let diabetes control your life ... in return don't expect to fully control the diabetes. It is about management and balance.
I know this site encourages low carb and even keto. I find very low carb incredibly challenging to dose insulin for (I need to count the different types of protein to calculate insulin dose), research has shown that taking insulin protects the remaining beta (insulin producing cells) whilst avoiding insulin puts extra strain on them and I feel changing my diet just because of diabetes is letting it control me.
I was diagnosed in my mid 30s, nearly 20 years ago, I live a very full and active life, have no other medical conditions and no complications due to diabetes. So, for me (and we are all different), my approach works well.
If you do not already have Libre, I recommend requesting these on prescription. Unless ... you are the sort of person who becomes obsessed by numbers and always being in range. I found the Libre wonderful for helping me understand the impact of different types of food, exercise, stress, ... on my levels to allow me to manage my diabetes. I consider it waaay more than a replacement for finger pricks.
Feel free to ask questions to help you live your life without being dictated by your diabetes.