Jeremy's+Page

=My name is Jeremy Cypres and I was raised in Los Angeles,= =California. Currently I am a junior history major at= =the University of Colorado at Boulder.=

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I believe in science, because without science I would be dead. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 17 during my junior year in high school. I remember walking into the hospital for the 1st time as a diabetic, unsure of what this disease was that had made me extremely sick for several months prior to my diagnosis. As I walked into Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles I looked around and saw children in wheelchairs with their heads bald from the chemotherapy. At that point in time I had no idea what diabetes was and had no notion of the disease’s seriousness. I thought to myself, is this going too be me. Am I going to be in a wheelchair too weak to move around on my own two feet. I walked to the elevators and proceeded to the third floor where I met a nurse who took me and my family into a small room and began to explain how my life was forever changed. The first thing she said to me, something I will never forget, was that with modern medicine I would be able to live for a long time if I took care of myself. No longer was a diabetes diagnosis a long, drawn out death sentence. I would be able to eat somewhat normally and with the recent invention of fast acting insulin, I would only have to wait about ten to fifteen minutes after I gave myself a shot until I was able to eat. At this time I was given my first shot of insulin and about an hour later I felt a feeling of mental and physical well being that I had not felt in months. I finally felt normal again as my blood glucose lowered back into the normal range. My hands no longer twitched and I no longer felt the need to constantly be drinking water. I realized that science had saved my life.

Although I have absolutely no interest in the study of science, I do appreciate those that have dedicated their lives to this study. There are scientists out in the world who I will never meet, yet their research has a profound effect on the way I go about my days. These men and women are unsung heroes who have dedicated their lives to saving strangers. I deal with the roller coaster ride that is diabetes everyday, and everyday as I give myself insulin shots, count carbohydrates, and test my blood glucose, I am reminded that without science my disease’s complications would have overtaken me long ago.