Although my pancreas failed 50 years ago, I have accomplished more than I expected. I am mother to two beautiful and healthy children who have blessed me with three healthy grandchildren. I attended college, achieved executive careers in corporate America and then transferred my skills to Federal Government for a civil service career. I retired […]

I look back on how much diabetes care has changed just in the time I’ve experienced it, and it completely blows my mind. I started off trying to manage life with the ticking time bomb that is NPH insulin, and here I am now with my glucose sensor communicating with my insulin pump to keep […]

I found out I had type 1 diabetes when I was starting college. I was told I wouldn’t be able to have children and that I shouldn’t expect to live past 40. Obviously that wasn’t the best thing to hear, but we now know that people with type 1 diabetes can and do thrive and […]

My sister was diagnosed with type 1 when she was five and I was eight, so type 1 has been a part of my life for a long time. I also couldn’t have any candies because my parents didn’t wanted her to have any candy or sugar around. Back then there was not as many […]

In 2007, when I was 17 years old, I started feeling unwell. I went to the hospital various times and was told I must be dehydrated. I became more tired through the years, experienced some nerve pain, and, in the last year, experienced severe weight loss and was so weak that I felt like I […]

It is hard to believe 10 years have already passed since my type 1 diabetes diagnosis. So much has changed in that time. While diabetes technology has advanced a great deal in that time, the mental and physical load of the disease remains as constant as ever. When I think back over the highs and […]

I agreed to have my second child participate in a study that screened for genetic markers of T1D at birth. When he screened positive, I asked to be screened for antibodies and they were positive! I was diagnosed with T1D at age 36 without having any symptoms. Research (and my son!) may have saved my […]

From Tracie, Susan’s daughter: My mom is a superstar! She struggled and survived undiagnosed too long! She rocks her insulin pump and cgm….this woman is my hero! I am so grateful to call her my mom.

I was initially misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes. After several months of learning, I realized my doctor was wrong and demanded a referral to an endocrinologist, where I was diagnosed type 1 diabetes. I now live a healthy life by eating low carb high protein. I became T1 at 42 years old.

I was 18 years old and extremely sick all of the time. I started to lose weight, take a lot of naps and no one seemed to understand why I was feeling this way. I went to my mom’s one’s day after eating lunch and fell asleep. She said she was hollering my name and […]