Pancreas Keychain - Diabetes Gift Keychain - Pancreas Design Enamel Keychain

A friend sent me a link to this keychain because just a few weeks prior I had been hospitalized with pancreatitis. Of course I bought it because it’s too cute! Lots of compliments and “wtf’s” everywhere I go. I love my little pancreas!

Five years ago, I had a painful and terrifying episode of acute pancreatitis. Since then, I've transformed my mindset and lifestyle to keep it from happening again and show more respect for my sweet, gentle pancreas. Whenever I leave my apartment, come home, or start my car, this little guy checks in with me to make sure I'm doing right by myself and my guts - and always makes me smile in the process.

Recently, a wonderful 9-year-old superstar volunteer gave me one of your adorable pancreas key chains. This gift was both completely unexpected, and it brightened my day like nothing else has in a long time. Her gift got me thinking; there are so few aspects of type 1 diabetes that are fun or uplifting. Yet this tiny memento from I Heart Guts has since served as my silver lining on bad days, as well as a reminder that attitude and perspective are everything. On those bad days — days when I just want to give up, or cry, or yell — I look at that smiling little pancreas and remember how lucky I am to have dozens of other perfectly functioning body parts, and also to work for the # 1 organization funding diabetes medical research. To me, your key chain is a placeholder until the day a real cure (or artificial pancreas!) is created.