www.roanoke.com

Photo courtesy of Liv Kiser

Liv Kiser, a 14-year-old with juvenile diabetes, enjoys playing the harp in her free time.

This Thanksgiving, one local teen has many reasons to be thankful.

Fourteen-year-old Liv Kiser, a freshman at Cave Spring High School, has been living with juvenile diabetes for almost her entire life. But despite this hurdle, Liv still enjoys a pretty active lifestyle.

"I was diagnosed when I was 9 months old," Liv said. "I haven't known anything else."

Juvenile diabetes is a disease that imposes many limitations. "I constantly have to watch what I eat," Liv said. "I test my blood sugar eight to 10 times a day. If I find that the number is too low, I have to give myself sugar. If it is too high, I have to give myself insulin."

The diabetes also has restricted Liv from doing some of the things she enjoys. "I have to continuously stick with a schedule to make sure that my blood sugar and insulin levels are all right. At times, things will take a turn for the worse when I'm not expecting it," she said. "Sometimes I have to make adjustments to my sugar or insulin when I am with my friends or out somewhere. I have to be able to say, 'Hold on, I have to handle this first.' It really restricts me in ways that other teens are not."

But Liv has found a way to cope, such as through playing the harp.

"I have been playing the harp pretty much every day for the last six years. I started playing in the fourth grade," she said. Actually, the day Liv decided to play the harp is unforgettable, and a turning point in her life.

"I was in Williamsburg with my family and we were walking through the streets at night. I remember seeing what I now know was a zither, or a hand-held harp that was very popular during the times of Colonial Williamsburg. I don't know how, but something inside me clicked and I realized that I wanted to learn how to play that beautiful instrument," Liv said.

Liv also spends as much time as she can snowboarding, and she is excited to be heading out to Colorado this winter. "You wouldn't expect someone like me to be such an active snowboarder. It just feels so cool when I am out on the slopes."

But she doesn't stop there.

"I want to be a journalist when I grow up," said Liv. As a staff writer for the Knight Letter, Cave Spring High's quarterly paper, Liv is able to take pictures and contribute stories -- two of her favorite things.

"I love being involved in the making of our paper," she said.

While in high school, Liv plans on spreading the word about juvenile diabetes. A volunteer at the Greater Blue Ridge Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Liv helps organize the Star City Gala and the Walk to Cure Diabetes each year. "Helping to raise awareness and provide funds for research is just one way I can represent and help others who have diabetes. I want to show that I am a survivor and I am surviving," she said.

And while fighting diabetes is a constant battle, Liv said she knows that she would not be able to win without the people who love her.

"I am so thankful for my family and friends for their support. They mean the world to me."