On this episode you will hear from the perspective of Chase, a 16-year-old mature, young man. He is a man amongst boys!

Chase was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes thirteen years ago at the young age of three.

Today he is sixteen, and a junior in high school that loves basketball and is in a dual enrollment program studying engineering and robotics.

Chase learned how to count carbs by the age of 4 and knew his basal rates by the age of 6 and he also knew how to give himself insulin manually through a syringe by the same age.

He does feel as though he has progressed faster than others his age due to this diagnosis.

As a younger kid he loved cars and motorcycles and says knowing about mechanics correlates with how he was able to deal with diabetes.

Chase is prepared for life. He gives all the honor to his mom for him becoming the human he is.

In his elementary school years he recalls, walking in the classroom when and a kid asking about his Dexcom and trying to grab it off his arm. His mom explained it to Chase that young people are curious. That's when he realized that he wasn't the same as other children.

In his younger years in school, he was told to sit out of recess and gym many times, too many to recount. Staff would approach him often asking if he was ok to play and every 5 minutes he feels as though they would call him over to check on him. It was embarrassing knowing that his peers were paying attention to it, and he was truly uncomfortable.

Once on a school field trip a teacher would not allow him to eat a hoagie and basically policed his eating until he got back to the school, instead of trusting in Chase and his ability

to care for himself. He even explained how he was able to give insulin for the carbs, but this specific teacher took it upon herself to deny him.

Chase says that he doesn't think that people understand the time that goes into living with type 1 diabetes.

Today, Chase thinks often about doing diabetes on his own as he grows into an adult. Things such as driving and having health insurance coverage does concern him.

Chase loves the community that exists within the T1D community and wants to stay involved because no one knows us like we do.

Chase's mom Courtey is gifted her flowers throughout the entirety of this episode. Thank you, mom, for being amazingly you and raising your first born and keeping him at his best, always.

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