This January I had been diabetic for 54 years. I held a very demanding full time teaching job for 40 years and still teach two days a week. My parents were told there would soon be a cure when I was diagnosed but we are still not quite there, are we? I was told in my late teens that having children would be very difficult and I would spend at least ten weeks in hospital. To prove them wrong I went in the day I had my son, 35 years ago, armed with the first blood testing machine in my home town. Fifteen months later, my daughter was born. I have been told all my life things would be too difficult to undertake but that made me more determined to do it, from going abroad on a school trip when I was fifteen to going back to work the day after an operation under anaesthetic. Yes there have been challenging times but in some respects diabetes has made me the determined person I am. I've had laser treatment on my eyes, and a cataract removed, tendons in my hand released and kidney stones but life is like that. Who knows what might or might not have happened. My way of thinking is to do your best to overcome difficulties in the best way you can and appreciate what you have got. There are always rewards. My husband, children, career and friends are more important than my diabetes!