Bella Cavallero is a 23-year-old woman living in Rochester, New York. She is currently pursuing her Master’s in Health Education at SUNY Brockport after earning her Bachelor of Science at SUNY Cortland. Outside of school, she works as a physical education teacher for the Greece Central school district, a public school district in Monroe County, New York, with a focus on aquatics education.
The summer before Cavallero started third grade, she grew incredibly ill – she rapidly and unexplainably began losing weight, getting migraines, urinating nonstop, and feeling chronically fatigued. Eventually, she went to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Suddenly, she went from a fear of needles to being forced to prick her finger on a glucose monitor six times a day and receive daily insulin injections.
Since her initial diagnosis, the technology for diabetics has shown massive improvement, and Cavallero has become confident in her ability to manage her condition independently. At the same time, wearing insulin pumps rather than administering injections has led to scar tissue buildup around her body, and the constant need to change where the device is attached has made it difficult to wear certain clothing. Additionally, Cavallero struggled for a long time to find a medical ID that suited her personal style.
On adjusting to life after diagnosis:
“It was a big leap. It wasn’t a slow adjustment. I remember it was very stressful. I couldn’t go on playdates with friends or have sleepovers for a very long time, because we didn’t 100% know how to manage it super well. There wasn’t all the technology that I have now, where I can constantly read my blood sugar levels and do everything from my phone.”
“I’ve gotten so good at managing it now that, honestly, I sometimes forget that I have diabetes. It is a disability, and it does affect my life, but I’m so used to it that I don’t remember not having it.”
On how her condition impacts her everyday life:
“There’s always a chance my blood sugar can go low at any time of the day, so I always carry sugar with me, and then I always carry a nasal spray that has liquified sugar in it in case I pass out. It’s kind of like an Epi-Pen. I also wear a medical ID bracelet in case I pass out in public.”
“If I go out to a bar with my friends at night, alcohol affects me a lot differently than other people. Everyone with diabetes is different, but I get nervous every time I go out that something may happen. My blood sugar will go up because mixed drinks have a bunch of sugar in them, so I already don’t feel great. But if I give myself the littlest bit of insulin, the way my body reacts is that my blood sugar will just keep shooting down, so I have to be ready to eat a lot of food so that I can avoid that. My emotions change my blood sugar; the temperature changes my blood sugar. I have to keep these things in mind and surround myself with close friends that I trust to look out for me.”
On how her condition impacts her dress practices:
“With the anxiety I have going out, I avoid a lot of tight-fitting clothing, especially underwire bras. I already feel anxious, like I could die at any second, and the extra pressure on my chest makes me nervous whenever my blood sugar goes low. I already feel like my chest is weighing down on me, so having extra pressure there freaks me out. I’ve almost passed out at bars before because of it. The tight clothing also overheats me, and when my blood sugar is low, one of the symptoms is that I sweat like an animal. If I go outside into the cold air or take off the tight-fitting clothing, I feel instant relief.”
“I have to wear a bag everywhere to carry all of my supplies. When I was younger, I would wear fanny packs, and people thought it was cringy, but then they became popular. Now, I have so many Lululemon crossbody bags to carry all that stuff. I also have a medical ID bracelet, a gold chain bracelet with a little charm I got from Etsy. I think it’s real gold, so it doesn’t tarnish or anything. I don’t have to take it off ever. I wear it every day. We were supposed to get it engraved with ‘T1D’ or something that indicates that I have diabetes, but we just never got around to it. So I guess I am taking a risk wearing this one. That’s why I have a bunch of stickers and keychains that say ‘Type 1 diabetes’ on them, with the big red medical sign. I think it’s really a preference. For me, knock on wood, I’ve never been unconscious in public, so I’m pretty comfortable wearing this. I’ve gone through so many medical bracelets. When I was younger, I wore ones from JDRF, and they had huge plates and charms. Now, that’s not my type of thing.”
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