What is diabetes?

I have juvenile diabetes, otherwise known as type 1 diabetes. I was diagnosed in 5th grade, when I was eleven. People who find out how old I was when I was diagnosed usually wonder what it was like getting such a disease at that age. At present, I would tell you it sucked. Fortunately, at the time I don't think I realized this fact, and so I was able to cope with my diagnoses as if it was a kind of exciting-and-new-especially-extra extracurricular activity. It had taken time for me to realize how my diagnoses has effected my life.
I also feel like many people want to ask what type 1 diabetes is, or how it is different from type 2 diabetes... so here are my answers for these questions as well.
-Because I have type 1 diabetes, it means that my body's immune system decided (for reasons unknown) to attack and kill all of my insulin producing cells in my pancreas. As a result, my body no longer creates any insulin on its own. This puts me at a dis-ease because without insulin, all the carbohydrates I eat that enter my bloodstream as sugar have no way of leaving my blood stream to feed all the cells in my body that need sugar for food. Essentially, without insulin, I can eat all I want and my body will still starve to death anyways (insert sad face here).
To solve the problems established (not wanting to starve and needing insulin), I, and all type 1 diabetics, must take multiple daily injections of insulin.
Many type 1's such as myself have chosen to wear an insulin pump, which takes the place of multiple injections and is kind of like an external pancreas that is programmed manually. It as about the size of an mp3 player. It looks like this:
-I will admit I know less about type 2 diabetes, however, here is what I think I know. Type 2 occurs when a person's body malfunctions in one or both of two possible ways:
1)Their body is resistant to its own insulin (i.e. their pancreas makes insulin, but their body cannot use it efficiently), or
2)Their body does not or is unable to make enough insulin to account for the amount of insulin their body needs.
Usually type 2 diabetes is treatable with diet and exercise, although sometimes treatment requires oral drugs. Rarely does treatment of type 2 diabetes require insulin injections.

(ummm... I am not a doctor or medical professional of any kind (yet!) so please do not take my information too seriously... :-) )

More diabetes stuff later...