Julie Tramp and Andrew Sundene have a history together that has taken them from preschool to high school. They’ve been best friends all along. And they both have diabetes.

Both Redmond residents are Type 1 diabetics and were diagnosed when they were 5 years old and 6 years old, respectively.

On Monday, the 17-year-old Lake Washington High School juniors stood side by side as part of a group of American Diabetes Association (ADA) teen and adult advocates that met with Gov. Jay Inslee, Sen. Rodney Tom and Reps. Cyrus Habib and Ross Hunter at the Capitol Building in Olympia. The advocates discussed their challenges of living with diabetes and how research programs are crucial in preventing and treating the disease.

“I’m doing well, but I’m hoping to improve,” Tramp told the Reporter. “In our teen years, there’s a lot of stress with schoolwork and it affects our blood sugar. If my blood sugar is too high or too low, I can’t focus and I get tired and lethargic.” (Tramp’s older sister, Jessica, also has diabetes.)

On the ADA’s annual Diabetes Day at the Capitol, the group focused on Medicaid expansion, which will allow a wider age range of individuals to be insured and thus help diabetics to afford the supplies they need like insulin, needles, pumps and testing meters and strips that regulate blood sugars, Tramp said. Effective Jan. 1, 2014, the expansion will include people between the ages of 19 up to 65 (parents and adults without dependent children) with incomes up to 138 percent the federal poverty level based on modified adjusted gross income.

“The governor is 100 percent for expansion,” Tramp said. Inslee, who endorsed the state’s efforts for expansion under the Affordable Care Act at a Feb. 6 news conference, has been affected by the disease: his mother died of complications from diabetes and his brother has diabetes.

According to the ADA website, nearly 25.8 million people in the U.S. are living with diabetes and more than 215,000 of them are younger than 20 years old. It’s the leading cause of new cases of blindness in adults in the U.S.; one in 12 Americans has diabetes and one in four of those individuals doesn’t know it yet; adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates about two to four times higher than adults without diabetes; the risk for stroke is two to four times higher among people with diabetes.

In Type 1 diabetes, usually diagnosed in children and young adults, the body does not produce insulin. In Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin.

Tramp and Sundene, who have both attended the ADA gathering at the Capitol the last few years, said they enjoy being involved with such a positive and strong group of diabetes advocates.

“I think it’s amazing that we’re trying to make an impact on Washington state,” Tramp said. “It’s exciting that I’m part of something that’s getting closer and closer to finding a cure for diabetes.”

Sundene said that Tramp and the others are like family members who support each other.

“It went really well,” he said of the Capitol event. “As we learn more about (diabetes), we can teach the legislators and other people.”

Added Julie’s mother, Sara: “These kids are doing remarkable work. They have been an incredible support for each other for over 12 years.”