COEUR d'ALENE - In the interest of science and her own education, Kimberly Young agreed to live her life as a person with diabetes for one week.

That commitment included injecting herself - with saline - four times a day, counting all carbohydrates, planning all meals accordingly and poking countless additional holes in herself to monitor blood glucose.

It's all standard operating procedure for a person with type-1 diabetes.

Young is earning a bachelor's degree in food and nutrition at the University of Idaho Coeur d'Alene. She hopes to work with people with diabetes one day, and thought the experience would allow her to develop empathy and insight.

"I was not quite sure what I'd be getting into," said Young. "The experience really put me in their shoes."

Young pursued the research project under the guidance of Samantha Ramsay, director of the U-Idaho Coeur d'Alene coordinated program in dietetics, and under the supervision of Kirsten Anderson, supervisor and certified diabetes educator at Kootenai Diabetes and Endocrinology Center.

"During that first meeting, I saw the needles on the desk and thought, 'Oh boy'," said Young. "I'm not really a fan of needles, but I'm sure people with diabetes are not excited about injecting themselves four times a day either."

The needle presented the first of several challenges.

"I couldn't put it in my stomach," said Young. "But if I was diagnosed as having diabetes, I'd have to do it, so I thought, 'I'm gonna do it.'"

And she did.

Young eventually found an injection site at the back of her thigh that was a little, but not a lot, more convenient.

She, like all people with diabetes, had to seek out a bathroom stall to inject herself when in public. No matter how innocent and necessary it may be, for uninformed onlookers, the act is seen as shooting up in a public restroom. That public perception adds additional stress for people with diabetes.

Even as injections got easier, the daily demands of following protocol, analyzing her status and planning her food intake accordingly presented a daunting challenge.

"I had the best intentions, but I was, as they say, noncompliant," Young confessed. "Sometimes I did my plan, made my meal and completely forgot to take my shot. I was trying to play the part of someone with type 1 diabetes. With type 1, if you don't take your insulin, you're really in trouble."

Young is a busy student and competitive athlete who recently won the female 35-39 age division in the Coeur d'Alene Triathlon. Also a quick study, it took her only a week to learn the harshest lesson of dealing with diabetes:

"It is a challenge and really inconvenient. I was running late all the time, scrambling to get everything in," Young said. "But people with diabetes don't get to choose. They just have to take care of it, every day."

Donna Emert is a communications writer with the University of Idaho.