Testimony of Alex Bonness

My name is Alex Bonness. I am fifteen years old and I am Eric's younger brother. I was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when I was four. I don't remember the day I found out I had diabetes but I do remember being really scared of the finger pokes and shots. When I was diagnosed, no one on either side of our family had juvenile diabetes so living with it was a big shock to us. I remember feeling lost, confused, and alone. Some nights, I would throw tantrums and cry when it was time to go to bed. I never talked about why I did it. My parents thought it was because I afraid of the imaginary monster in my closet. Boy were they wrong! I was afraid of a monster alright, but it wasn't in my closet. It was diabetes.

When I was seven, I felt like I was saved. That's when Eric was also diagnosed with diabetes. I know it sounds terrible to say I felt like I was saved because my big brother was diagnosed with diabetes. How could such a bad thing become a good thing? I was sad Eric had to go through so much pain because of diabetes, but somehow I no longer felt so alone with my disease. When Eric reached out to me, I made sure I was there for him. Don't get me wrong-Eric can be a real "pain". But it was important for me to help him.

As Eric and I have grown up together, we have always told each other we can beat diabetes. I know we can. But as I get older, my fears about diabetes seem to grow too. When Eric hit his teenage growth spurt, I watched his uncontrollable blood sugars skyrocket to extremely high levels because of his changing hormones. It scared me to death. I worried about Eric. Now, I am about to hit my teenage growth spurt-and I worry about me. I have cried myself to sleep. I have also cried with my mom about what scares me most: long-term diabetes complications like blindness and amputations. Mom always tries to comfort me. But she and I both know, I have had diabetes for ten years-complications could occur at anytime. For example, I have to go to the eye doctor every year. At my last eye appointment, I sat on pins and needles with every word my eye doctor said. She saw no signs of complications-yet! On the way home, I thought about what I would have done if she had seen blood vessels in my retina starting to deteriorate. I am not a little kid any more. I know my brother can't save me from going blind. But I also know that research can! And you can make that happen!

Thank you.