Hello! I have been a type 1 diabetic since 2004. I was diagnosed at the age of 6. I am currently utilizing the omnipod 5 and Dexcom g6. I have a diabetic alert dog.
I am very interested in diabetes advocacy and would like to pursue that as a career in some form - possibly working for the American diabetes association, Jdrf or similar. I have created a Facebook group for diabetics in my area (I live in New England), and I’m hoping to start an in person support group. I am excited to connect with other diabetics!
@juliaduprey Greetings Julia from a former New Englander and Welcome to the JDRF TypeOneNation Community Forum. Diabetes Advocacy, which can be accomplished in many ways is important so thank you for your energy.
To meet other people with diabetes, you may want to contact a JDRF Chapter or sub-chapter near you, or attend one of the diabetes Walk for Cure or Ride for Cure. JDRF chapters can be found by visiting the EVENTS tab at the top of this page, select JDRF Near You and enter your zip-code. On the JDRF home page [ jdrf.org ] and the ADA site [ diabetes.org ] there are Advocacy sections describing the various categories that may interest you.
If you are a runner, the JDRF, ADA, and Joslin Diabetes all sponsor teams for the Boston Marathon every April - being a team member qualifies you as a runner.
Welcome to the Forum, Julia! I’m also a New Englander and was also diagnosed at 6 (but in 1993). I use MDI and Libre 3.
I think it’s great that you’re trying to start your own in person support group. Please let us know how it goes. JDRF’s Greater New England Chapter hosts some virtual ones you might want to check out, if you haven’t already.
I’ve never met anyone with an alert dog before. If you don’t mind questions, I’m curious how he/she compares to your Dexcom. (Or works in tandem with it?)