O’Dell Richardson is a 17-year-old young man who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when he was 12 years old. 

The Diabetes Center at CHOP has been providing care for O’Dell’s type 2 diabetes since his diagnosis.

O’Dell does well with his diabetes management and his mom plays a major role in this, reminding him to test his blood sugar, take his insulin and pills and exercise.

Preparing for college

O’Dell is active in a variety of academic programs and works hard to maintain his grades. For the past several years, O'Dell has been attending the Temple Upward Bound Program a few days a week after school, on weekends and during the summer. The program helps prepare students for college. 

During the summer of 2012, O'Dell was able to stay on Temple University’s campus to get a first-hand experience of what college was going to be like.

Juggling a busy schedule

O’Dell’s busy academic schedule makes it difficult to fit in time for exercise. Still, he tries to incorporate it into his daily routine: If he doesn’t go to the gym, he gets off the bus before his stop and walks. Better yet, sometimes he doesn’t take the bus and instead walks to school.

We applaud O’Dell for working with his family and the Diabetes Center staff to manage his diabetes while juggling a busy schedule.

Originally posted: December 2012