Grace Bennett, an employee at BreakThroughT1D (formerly JDRF), had always been fiercely independent, navigating the ups and downs of life with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) that ultimately caused her to have Diabetic Retinal Disease (DRD). When she began experiencing complications with her vision as a result of DRD, everything changed. The fear was overwhelming—what would happen if she lost something as crucial as her eyesight? On top of the fear, there was the crushing weight of shame and isolation. Grace couldn’t shake the feeling that it was her fault, that maybe she’d done something wrong in managing her diabetes.
Her retinal specialist assured her it was not her fault, telling her that living with T1D for over 20 years—like in her case—very often leads to serious complications like kidney and heart disease as well as vision loss from DRD, even when you do all you can to manage blood sugars. At that moment, Grace felt a wave of relief. This understanding gave her the strength to focus on addressing the complication and moving forward. There’s still so much more work to be done. We must continue to support innovative research and develop new therapies to address the early stages of DRD and restore vision in people who have lost it due to diabetes. Together, we can find new ways to prevent and cure vision loss from diabetes
