Hayley Schreiter
I have two younger sisters—Anna and Morgan. Anna is quite the tom-boy; she loves sports and owns more shoes than I do (all Nike and Adidas, mind you) and she’s almost thirteen. Morgan, on the other hand, is more girly. She likes shopping for earrings and lip gloss, and is practically obsessed with shopping at Limited Too. I usually get along with both of them, but they sure do know how to push my buttons. Anna is more of the friendly type—sometimes overly so, but she’s still nice. Morgan’s usually more reserved at first, but she’s also more mischievous at times. I have three step-sisters, two of whom are married with children. I spend about half of my time living in the town of Harrison with my step-dad and mom, the rest of my time I spend in Appleton with my dad. As for pets, I currently have one calico cat named Sandy, but I rarely call her that… usually I just call her “Kitty”. She loves to sneak into my room while I am conveniently absent, and chew up my belts, purses, and other assorted items. Even though she can be irritating, it’s still pretty entertaining when you tease her with catnip. At my mom’s house we live on a sort of hobby-farm, so recently we’d decided to get some chickens. Mostly, I steer clear of them to avoid injury.
I currently attend Appleton West High School, even though half of the time I am closer to Appleton East High School due to my mom’s residence. I chose to attend Appleton West because it’s about two minutes away from my dad’s house, and I have a lot of friends there. Presently, I am in the tenth grade, and I have about seven classes a day. My schedule is as follows: Advanced Placement World History, Comm. Arts*/Speech, Biology, Orchestra, Spanish III, Geometry, and Gym. Overall, my favorite classes during the day are Biology and Spanish, because I find Biology really interesting, and I’m not too bad at it. I love Spanish as well, because it’s an easier class due to my pretty impressive English/grammar skills. My least favorite classes (and most difficult at times) include AP World History and Gym, because History usually takes up a ton of my time, and there is a lot of homework and studying required. Although it’s a difficult class, I will be able to obtain college credits for passing the AP exam in the near future. As for Gym, I honestly don’t enjoy it, simply because I have no aggression or competitive drive. In the past, I’ve participated in sports like basketball, soccer, t-ball, and volleyball. I decided to pass on volleyball when I hit high school though, because I believe it can be too competitive. After all, school isn’t just about smelly locker room victories and the school mascot, is it?
As for hobbies, I enjoy reading, playing the violin, singing in Christmas Stars Choir, watching movies, chilling at Starbucks, shopping, and hanging out with my friends. My favorite books (recently) have been The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (it’s a love story), Twilight and New Moon by Stephenie Meyer, Harry Potter series, and The Messenger by Marcus Zusak. I play the violin in my school’s orchestra, sometimes playing first-violin pieces, other times I’ll play second-violin pieces. Either way, it’s fun, and sometimes a little challenging. My favorite movies include anything with Johnny Depp—specifically Edward Scissorhands, Finding Neverland, and Benny and Joon. I usually enjoy anything directed by Zach Braff, especially the movie Garden State. Recent movies that I’ve enjoyed are Little Miss Sunshine and The Prestige. Apart from movies, shopping is my favorite, hands down. I usually head to the Fox River Mall and shop at my favorite stores, namely American Eagle, Forever 21, Pac Sun, Bath and Body Works, and Gap. No matter if I’m reading, playing my instrument, or purchasing a new pair of jeans, I usually have fun and enjoy myself.
I was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes (a disease that makes it impossible for my pancreas to produce any of the hormone called insulin; which controls my blood sugar levels) when I was seven years old—around 1998. I’m almost sixteen, so I’ve had Juvenile Diabetes for a little over half of my lifetime. When I was first diagnosed in the hospital, it was a pretty emotional ordeal. After noticing symptoms of Diabetes, my mom rushed me to the hospital where I was diagnosed by a busy doctor that gave us my verdict in a generic reply of, “The test was positive”. In that one instance, my whole life had changed. From that point on, I’d have to do thousands of finger-pricks and shots. I had been diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. Back at school, people hardly treated me any differently—I was only in second grade. My friends were sympathetic towards me while I was in the hospital—in fact, when one of my current-day best friends heard that I had been diagnosed with a disease, she actually thought I was dying! Looking back, I laugh. Today, most people don’t treat me differently. The most harassment I receive is when kids just ask “What’s in your pocket? Is that a cell-phone!?” (Referring to my insulin-pump) I simply reply back to them that it is a device used to help monitor my diabetes. Sometimes it aggravates me when people don’t have a clue about the disease—people should be more informed! After all, diabetes affects more than 190,000 people worldwide.
At my quarterly diabetes check-ups at the Children’s Hospital either in Milwaukee or Neenah, I usually see Dr. A, the director of Pediatric Endocrinology at Children’s Hospital. He’s basically the “boss” of the diabetes wing at my hospital. When I see him, we usually review my Hemoglobin A1C (an “average” of three months worth of blood sugars) and talk about ways I can avoid high and low blood sugars to healthily lower my A1C, or to establish better control of my blood sugars. I find his advice is very helpful in the way he helps me trouble shoot my problem areas of managing my disease. Another health specialist I usually see includes a dietician or nutritionist that helps me plan out healthier ways to eat while maintaining sufficient exercise. I find my quarterly check-ups very helpful.
As of now, there is no cure for my disease. However, there is much research going on in regards to finding new ways to cure Diabetes. The new type of research I find most interesting is that of stem cell. Hopefully in the future, stem cell therapy will provide an efficient and safe way to reproduce pancreatic tissue, which could possibly lead to the cure of diabetes. Since middle school, I have done many research papers and projects regarding diabetes and/or stem cell research. I am also devoted to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, of which I am an active advocate. I attend numerous walks to cure Juvenile Diabetes ever year, each time asking others to donate money to help support research for finding a cure of my disease. Hopefully someday in my lifetime, I’ll be able to experience some sort of a cure.
Because I am a juvenile diabetic, I need to take certain health precautions. For example, I always have to keep my insulin with me to help control my blood sugars if they get too high. I also have to make sure I have snacks available if my blood sugars become too low. If I happen to be without insulin or snacks and my blood sugars aren’t maintained, the unfortunate usually happens, and I need to call my parents to have them bring me my insulin, or I’ll have to borrow money for a snack. It is quite an inconvenience when I am forced to do so; my parents are always telling me to make sure I am prepared—no matter where I am, in case my blood sugars aren’t normal. I usually experience the effects of my disease if I choose to eat a small lunch or am overly active in gym class. In both cases, my blood sugar could unexpectedly drop, and I could be in danger of slipping into a hypoglycemic coma (not good!). To prevent this, I usually have snacks in my gym locker or extra money at lunch time. For the most part, my disease does not limit my activities. I can exercise, participate in co-curricular activities, and enjoy life like any other teen—with or without diabetes. Although I can usually do anything anyone else can, diabetes is also known for long-term complications, like heart disease, nerve damage which can lead to amputations, kidney failure, blindness and more. Although I am a little worried about my future, right now I am trying to enjoy life, while keeping up a healthy lifestyle.
I am proud to say that I’ve completed earning a girl scout’s Silver Award—and no; it did not involve selling Thin Mints. The award is quite prestigious, as it involved my active participation in creating a mini-booklet about my life with juvenile diabetes. The booklet was directed towards newly diagnosed children with the disease, and was designed to be available at different hospitals and medical centers. The booklet was designed to help newly diagnosed diabetes understand that managing the disease is NOT impossible, and can be maintained in a healthy manner. I provided personal insights about my feelings towards the difficulties and obstacles regarding diabetes, as well as telling the story of how I was diagnosed. I hope that the booklet was beneficial in educating, if not inspiring newly diagnosed adolescents all over my community. I am also proud of keeping a high 3.87 grade average, and taking a rigorous Advanced Placement history course.
Regarding high school, I’d like to finish with an impressive grade point average, as well as being involved in other co-curricular activities. After high school, I see myself attending college, possibly earning a medical degree. I see myself going to school for more than four years. I am most interested in micro-biology and human anatomy. In fact, I’ve recently been thinking about dentistry—more specifically orthodontics. I see myself earning a well-deserved high-earning career. Hopefully I can use what I’m currently learning in school to further advance my medical knowledge. Until then, I can only hope for the best in college and beyond.