Welcome to Diabetes Distilled . My name is Taylor Long , and I’ve been living with Type 1 diabetes for nearly 25 years. I’ll never forget the moment in the emergency room when a physically fit male triage nurse pricked my finger, smeared my blood onto a test strip, looked up at me with raised eyebrows, and said: “Dude… your blood sugar is 660. You have diabetes.” Shock surged through my body—disbelief mixed with relief. Suddenly, the misery of the previous two months made sen