Morgan Panzirer , a Villanova University biology major, started writing a book about Type 1 diabetes when she was a seventh grader.

Now that book is finished, writes Marc Narducci for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Panzirer, who has been a Type 1 diabetic since age 6, is the author of “Actually, I Can: Growing Up With Type 1 Diabetes, A Story of Unexpected Empowerment.”

The book was No. 1 this month on Amazon’s Teen Health new releases list.

“Type 1 does not have to be a disease that stops you,” Panzirer said. “Rather, you can use it to do the complete opposite. So, you can take an obstacle — this applies to anything in life — and kind of twist it and change it into an opportunity if you just flip it on its side and look at it in a different way.”

Panzirer’s mission to educate people about diabetes led to her meeting President Obama in 2009 at Children’s College, a Type 1 diabetes lobbying event in 2009.

She had an audience with Pope Francis in 2016 at the Stem for Life Conference, where she offered a patient’s perspective on chronic illness. She was given the Pontifical Hero Award.

Read more about Morgan Panzirer here.

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