Bianca Villalobos loves to dance, is a Girl Scout, pageant queen, despite living with Type 1 diabetes and Celiac Disease, a chronic digestive and immune disorder. But the 12-year-old homeschooled seventh grader from Lakeside does not allow her medical issues define her, as she is a Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and ADA youth ambassador who uses her platform as the current Junior Miss Sunshine State, and Junior Teen International for Women Achievement titles to spread awareness about living with diabetes.
Bianca said at 2-years-old, she kept going to the hospital and they did not find anything wrong with her until she became extremely sick.
“A nurse actually saved my life,” she said. “Today, it is 10 years since I have had diabetes. It is my diaversary”
Bianca sad she started pageants at 5-years-old and is representing the Sunshine State for her “diabuddies” that have recently passed away.
“Wherever we go, when I do pageants, I like to do diabetes
awareness with that,” she said. “I also give bracelets to the girls because I have awareness bracelets, I like to give to people.”
Bianca said that she has gained much freedom since moving to a new treatment for her diabetes using the Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitoring System and the Tandem T Slim Insulin Pump that delivers insulin to her body when needed.
“I do pretty well treating my diabetes now,” she said. “It can get hard sometimes with my dancing. I just got to talk to all my classes because I dance five times a week and I was having issues with my medical devices. People were poking my Dexcom, and it became unattached. So, I got to talk to them. I was upset but wanted to help them learn. People also say that I am contagious, which is not true. Many of them thought my diabetes was because of sugar and that I ate too much. And that is not the reason. That is mostly Type 2 diabetes. It is mostly when my immune system attacks by beta cells.”
Because her camps were cancelled due to the pandemic, Bianca was unable to connect with her diabetic friends, which she said upset her. She said she just,had an “dream one night about it,” and her mother helped her in making it come true.
“I decided to create a group Diabuddies Connect, and I have an ambassador in each state that we get, so if they see someone out in public wearing a Dexcom or an insulin pump, they can help promote the group,” she said. “It is really fun. We talk about how we were diagnosed, or what our favorite snacks to eat when we are low. We have people from all over the world.
As a Junior Girl Scout, Bianca said this year they have already run out of cookies that they can personally sell or hold a booth, but she did get the chance to hold one booth before all sales went online only.
“I did a cookie booth before the shortage and a girl noticed my Dexcom on my arm and asked me about it then showed me hers. It’s so rare that you see another kid with a medical device like ours who are willing to talk about it, and that was very cool.” said Bianca.
Her mother, Tina Villalobos said that she thinks what her daughter is doing in raising awareness is an amazing thing to watch and told her from the beginning that she had two choices. To stay home and cry or choose to make a difference. She said the move to the automated Dexcom was a game changer.
“I think that she is so amazing,” she said. “It is so important to spread awareness. She has always chosen to make a difference and it has been life changing for many people. I just got a message from one of her Diabuddies ambassadors. She made her an ambassador of the month for spreading awareness about Type 1, so she got her gift. She got it and her mom told me it made a huge impact in her day because she had to change her Dexcom and pump in the same day and she was having a hard time. She is not only spreading awareness, but she is also helping so many other people, adults and kids. It is important to be confident and embrace what you are dealing with.”
Bianca said for anyone out there dealing with Type 1 diabetes is that she would tell them to be strong.
“Being upset does not get you through anything,’ she said. “Even though it does not feel good to get diabetes, there are amazing people in our community, and you can help people understand us.”
