Nick Jonas says he sometimes resents having diabetes, but he also feels it has given him something important.
The singer, 34, wrote an open letter to the disease as part of Dexcom’s A Letter to Diabetes campaign, which invites celebrities to talk openly about living with the condition. It coincides with National Diabetes Awareness Month and World Diabetes Day on November 14.
Jonas was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 13. He began his letter with, “Hello, old friend,” and noted it has been 21 years.
“It’s funny how often we talk,” he continued. “Staring at my phone to see where my glucose is. Reaching for my pump to bolus because I’m about to eat something with 17 carbs. Those are just a couple of the hundreds of little decisions I make every week.”
Most people never notice them, he wrote, but together they form a real relationship.
“That’s what diabetes is. It’s an ongoing conversation between your body, your mind and your devices,” the singer continued.
He then recalled how the unpredictability of diabetes shook him as a teenager. He had built his life around a belief that he was in control.
“I’d built my whole life around this unrealistic structure and belief that I was in control. You took that apart over the years, bit by bit,” he wrote. “Part of me is grateful I learned that lesson. Part of me resents you for it. Full stop. There are days I wonder what life would feel like without you.”
But Jonas said diabetes also gave him community. He wrote that he always struggled to feel like he belonged. That changed when he began talking openly about type 1 and meeting others who live with it.
He said he does not want to be seen as a victim, but he shares his story for newly diagnosed kids, so they can see someone living their dreams while managing the disease.
