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Nick Jonas is sharing insight into his health.
More than two decades after he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, the Jonas Brothers member detailed his complicated relationship with the disease in an open letter to his “old friend.”
“How long has it been? 21 years. 21 years, and you haven’t changed a bit,” Jonas wrote in the letter, which is a part of Dexcom’s A Letter to Diabetes initiative. “It’s funny how often we talk. Every few minutes, honestly. 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,” he continued. “Most people never notice them. But they add up to a real relationship, because that’s what diabetes is. It’s an ongoing conversation between your body, your mind, and your devices.”
The “Burnin’ Up” singer noted that there are days it feels like he and his condition are “on the same team,” while on others it seems like his diabetes is on a “solo mission.”
As Jonas—dad to daughter Malti, 4, with wife Priyanka Chopra—put it, “In a lot of ways, that’s what family is like. You rely on each other, you push each other, and you know they’ll always be there.”
But when the “A Little Bit Longer” artist was first diagnosed with diabetes in November 2005 at age 13, its “unpredictability threw” him for a loop.
“I’d built my whole life around this unrealistic structure and belief that I was in control,” he wrote. “You took that apart over the years, bit by bit. Part of me is grateful I learned that lesson. Part of me resents you for it. Full stop.”
Jonas then admitted, “There are days I wonder what life would feel like without you.”
That said, the Camp Rock star emphasized that being diagnosed with diabetes brought him something unexpected: a strong “community.”
Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC)
“I always struggled to feel like I belonged anywhere,” Jonas recalled. “At school, I felt misunderstood. In most circles, for that matter. Through my childhood and youth, that was the theme. It wasn’t until I started talking openly about life with type 1, and meeting other people who were living it too, that I finally felt like I belonged somewhere.”
And while the “Jealous” singer “never wanted” to been painted as a “victim,” he continues to be open about his “truth” to help others feel “a little less alone.”
“I share my story for the 13-year-old who just got diagnosed and is lying in a hospital bed, scared to death,” Jonas noted. “I want them to be able to look up and see someone out there living their dreams while managing all of this, every single day.”
To see what other stars had to say about their journeys with diabetes, keep reading…
Instagram / Nick Jonas
Instagram / Lance Bass
Getty Images / Pedro Gomes
Shutterstock / Ray Garbo
Instagram / Chrissy Teigen
Rob Latour/Shutterstock
Instagram / Hoda Kotb
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