DIABESTIES
A program of the College Diabetes Network
THE CONCEPT.
The goal for this concept is for a young adult living with diabetes to join a database and to find another type-1 diabetic in their area (in their town/city or at their college/university). Once these diabetics have connected to each other, they are deemed ‘Diabesties’. The diabesties will then be able to send each other text messages to remind each other to check and to stay in touch with each other. This text message will also have a time stamp and will be logged ‘in the cloud’ or online so that each diabestie can go back and look at their BG levels and trends. This will also be smartphone compatible.
OUR STORY.
Sam, Jo and Natalie met at Wellesley College in the winter of 2011. Both Sam and Jo were seniors and Natalie was a sophomore. The three girls instantly hit it off and agreed that it was time to take responsibility and to hold each other accountable to live healthily with type-1 diabetes. They became diabesties. All three girls have different histories of type-1 diabetes, but were desperate for friends who understood what they were going through each day. Almost immediately, they started texting each other each time they checked their blood glucose levels (i.e. wake-up, pre and post meals, exercise and bedtime). They finally had other diabetics on campus to look out for them: to call about a tough day, to have low food supplies in different places on campus, and to calculate carbohydrate counting during meal time. Let’s face it, there’s something special about talking to another diabetic who deals with it every day. When you get older, you don’t want parents telling you what to do, so, here’s a way for diabetics to look out for each other. This relationship was so helpful to each of the girls that they decided to share what they were doing with every diabetic they knew. They created a Facebook group called Diabesties and added every young adult living with type-1 diabetes that they knew. Soon the group turned into a forum for young adults to find each other, talk about hot topics, and to feel normal. Now, the group has people posting from Chicago, San Diego, Jacksonville, West Virginia, Virginia, Philadelphia, Honolulu, New Hampshire, Georgia, New Jersey, California, Maine, Long Island, Pittsburgh, Massachusetts, Vermont, Ontario, Utah, and Macedonia!
THE FOUNDERS.
Sam is now living in Oakland, California. She is 23 and graduated this past spring. She was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes in 2006. She was a counselor at Camp Carefree the summer of 2011. She now volunteers for the ADA and for the College Diabetes Network.
Jo is now living in Boston, Massachusetts. She is 22 and also graduated this past spring. She was diagnosed in 2004 after her freshman year of high school. She worked at Camp Carefree during the summer of 2009 and also worked on diabetes research in Dr. Doug Melton’s lab at Harvard University.
Natalie is currently studying in Aix, France and is originally from Hawaii. She is a junior at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes when she was 3 years old and does not remember life without it. She was a camper at diabetes camp in California for many years.
Join the Diabesties Facebook group!
http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/143244405739217/
Some quotes from our fellow diabesties:
“Getting advice from other diabetics makes it 1) less embarrassing / stressful, 2) more relevant and real and 3) makes you feel included in a community, instead of feeling like someone who is just diseased.”
“… the fact is that we are, for the most part, normal. We have no disadvantage intellectually or physically (as long as we take care of ourselves). Emotionally we have actually have an advantage: we know what it's like to have a chronic illness, and are more well-rounded and deeper people as a result. Most importantly, we get to show the world the strength each and every one of us has within us. We do have a significant obstacle. But when we overcome it, as all of us has in order to be a healthy member of this group, we get to show fortitude and inspire those around us.”
“It’s the different from getting advice from your parents on how to do well in a class that you are failing, that they’ve never taken, versus studying with someone who is in the class with you. Diabesties share each other’s strengths, weaknesses, frustrations, and commonalities. In the end, you just don’t feel so alone.”