Hello everyone! I am new to this site, and new to the diabetes online community as a whole, actually. Weird for me, since I was an early adopter of internet groups and networking–I was even a member of a BBS group (remember 300 baud modems?) back when I was a teenager. Anyway, I’m glad to be here and to be finally catching up with the DOC phenomenon. I even made a twitter account.
So, I live in Las Vegas, have had T1 for 33 years, pumping for 21 years. I have no major complications. I’m an RN and a CDE. I worked with pediatric endocrine for many years, then became a Clinical Manager for Medtronic for five and a half years, and now I am running a diabetes program for an Air Force hospital. I’ve got years of diabetes camp experience, although I haven’t been in a few years. My other CDE friends think I’m crazy because my favorite patients are the toddlers and the teenagers. I miss pediatrics, but I love my work with the military.
I have generally easy diabetes, I know that if I work hard I get A1cs well below 7, but I haven’t been paying a lot of attention to my own diabetes lately, and it’s time to get busy. I have always found the best support and community online, and I’m really glad to be here with all of you!
Welcome! For those of us who are newbies (4 years) it’s always wonderful to hear from someone who has “easy diabetes”. I look forward to your future posts.
My time with diabetes is similar to yours, 27 years as a T1 and 24 years on the pump. I always thought that health professionals who are T1s themselves would be a wonderful asset to their patients. Not knowing first-hand what hypoglycemia feels like and being blind to the whole emotional side of diabetes renders many doctors and nurses unable to really understand their patients.
You’ve connected with a great group of smart people who can provide more value than most doctors. I hope that you take the time to participate here; it’s well worth the effort.
Welcome Tandy! You must be a pioneer in the diabetes-care world… pumping for 21 years! I’ve been T1 for 30 years, but only pumping for 4.
I used to use BBSs as a teenager too (dialed in on my Tandy computer, actually!), and ran one for awhile as well. Those were the days! Glad to have you on-board!
I’ve met lots of awesome CDEs without diabetes, but I do find that I can establish a quick rapport with people by introducing my diabetes when I introduce myself. They know I get it.
