About Us

I just wanted to give you very a warm welcome and tell you that I’m very happy to have you here today. Thank you so very much for taking the time to read my story. I hope you really enjoy what I’m going to share with you!

I have no idea what brought you here today. Whether it was because you’re a new diabetic or a long time warrior (like me!) just looking for more information on your condition, a little support, or you hoped to meet a friendly new face you can relate to, I’m happy you found me!

 

A Little About Me…

 

I should probably start by telling you that I’m a brittle type 1 diabetic and that I have been for 22 years now. Some of you may be wondering what a “brittle” diabetic is. This is now an outdated term. What it meant when I was diagnosed was that my diabetes was very hard to control. The newest updated term is now “labile” diabetic. I believe the name was changed so that some people would stop being offended. I’m going to continue referring to myself, however, as a brittle diabetic.

This is not only because it was my actual diagnosis, but also because it makes me sound stronger. I’m brittle but after 22 years I still have everything I was born with (hands, fingers, feet, toes, etc.) and my A1C has been 7.1% for 3 years, but dropped down to 6.5% in the last 2 years. I don’t know about you but that sounds like a pretty cool combination to me!

 

What’s My Story?

 

I was diagnosed at the age of 5. I have no idea what occurred back then (I’ve been told several different stories about how this happened) but I do remember that I was rushed to the hospital where I was eventually diagnosed. Since I was young for years I had no idea what being a “brittle type 1 diabetic” meant or even understood what to do about it. All I remember is that my mom went everywhere and did everything in her power to make sure she could take care of me. I followed her to all the classes, frequent checkups, and support group meetings only to play with all of the toys and scribble on the pieces of paper she brought to keep me quiet.

Over several months, my mom figured out that my condition was not going to be easy to take care of. After taking all of the notes and listening to all the doctors’ advice, she discovered that everything they said would happen did not happen with me. Normally, the opposite thing happened instead. As a result, whatever they told her to do or expect, she did and expected the opposite.

For example, what happens to any normal person, diabetic or not, when they get excited or scared is that their BG (blood glucose) shoots up! This is because cortisol, other hormones, and glucose get deposited into the bloodstream in order to serve or deal with whatever caused the stress. In contrast, any time I get excited, my BG still plummets! To this day, I have no idea why this happens but I’ve yet to meet another diabetic that this happens to.

At this point, I just want to say that I have dealt with those doctors who are condescending and don’t really understand their patients. When I was younger, I had some really strict doctors. There was this one I remember in particular that said I couldn’t have any sugar (literally, like at all) and that 1hr of television would be good for me per day. Please let this stuff sink it. This advice led to a lot of chaos later in life. The doctor told my mom this and she went with it. So much so that I was sneaking food out of the kitchen at night and trading whatever I could for candy at school throughout my pre-teen and teen years.

Young diabetics do this all the time. I also fell into this rabbit hole but it’s very dangerous. Come to find out later, since science has advanced a lot since then, that cutting sugar from any kid’s diet (even diabetic children) is actually dangerous for them. In the case of diabetes, we now know that cutting sugar from diabetic kids’ diet completely is NOT good for them. I’ll come back to what happened in life as a result of this advice later, so for now,  just keep it in mind.

My mom also made sure I always had insurance, medications, a home, and food! While I was always in and out of the hospital (to the point where everyone on the pediatric hospital floor knew me and my family’s names), I never had to worry about a thing growing up. This was 100% true and she did it all on her own, with little (if any) help from anyone else. As I’m sure you know, diabetes is expensive! She wasn’t rich but still kept me alive when we weren’t allowed to pick up my insulin one night. Most of you mothers out there can probably understand how my mom really felt hearing this information. Horrible, weak in the knees…you name it, she probably experienced it at this time.

However, I was saved and given insulin anyway out of the kindness of one person’s heart. This is the moment my mom decided I would never be in a situation like this ever again. Even back then, I was extremely lazy. My mom did everything for me and all I did was watch her TV and ate all her food. I was lazy as hell and still didn’t care; that was how I lived my life for a while. My attitude had placed me in a lot of danger! I didn’t know it but my mom did. My A1C was roughly going from 9.0-9.7% every 3 months then. At this point, I just want to say sorry to my mom. She kept working with all this and I just had no idea for several years. I should’ve taken more responsibility earlier.

After a while, even while still dealing with this, my mom decided to get me a pump. This was supposed to change my life and make my sugars more controlled. It would have if all I had thought about was getting better. Instead, all I cared about was getting more sweets. This is where the strict doctor’s advice came into play. My thoughts were “I can get more sweets and food if I bolus more insulin and have lows.” Most of you can probably guess the chaos that ensued as a result.

While my A1C dropped a little, it was still in the 8s (if I remember correctly). This is where I’ll share a little more advice with you. Continually having lows will NOT get you a good A1C! There’s more to the A1C calculation than that! As proof, I want you to take notice of the fact that it was still in the 8s back then while now it’s usually around 6.5%.

Going back to the story, I took too much insulin one night. I was waiting for it to go down so I could get my sweets, but I was in bed and, unfortunately, fell asleep. I woke up in a serious car wreck with the ambulance trying to get me to calm down so they could extract me from the car and put me in their vehicle. Total loss of the car, by the way. I actually ruined my mom’s car over this! It took them a while because of all the screaming and flailing I was doing (for those of you that have been living with type 1 for a while, I’m sure you know about hallucinations and not being in control of your body even when your mind is still conscious). After finally got in the ambulance vehicle, my family followed suit, and we went to the hospital.

I was already off of my pump and wide awake, but the nurse still gave me TONS of food that shot me into a rebound high. This caused me to end up somewhere in the 420s. I got a sandwich, an orange, some crackers, some sugary juice, etc. (incorrect treatment of this situation, but for what reason it was done like this, I’ll never know). Fast forwarding to when we got home, my mom checked my history, saw all the insulin I’d given myself, shook her head (understatement), and took away my pump. I was sad that I lost my “sweets getter” but went right back to my previous lifestyle. This whole thing, as I look back now, was absolutely ridiculous. It may not have all been my fault, but still. I’m glad I was paying some attention at least so I could remember this ridiculousness to this day.

It kept going like this until one day when I finally got sick of living like that! I got really bored with just watching TV and going to school. When I thought about it more, I was trying to figure out what I had to be bored of. Instead, I thought “What else is there to do in my life?” This was the starting point of what turned me into what I am today. I began searching for something to do (I was in the 11th grade at that point.

Remembering all the cool promises my family gave me about getting good grades in school and rewards I would get as a result. I even cut a deal with my stepdad about the newest videogame that was coming out at the time and with my mom about getting my pump back. Everyone agreed to their terms and I got to work! I was able to receive everything I aimed for including my pump which I’ve had now for 12 years now. After a while, I realized the joy of making good grades so I kept doing it without worrying about any rewards. I became an honor student (straight A’s) for my last 2 years in high school as a result.

Soon, I went off to college. Throughout this time is when I starting meeting and caring for all these different type 1 and 2 diabetics. Most were in these awful situations where they no longer cared about their conditions or lives. As a result, they had completely stopped trying. I also started seeing, learning, and caring about why they were ending up like that. There were threats of kidney disease, dialysis, amputations, losing eyesight and hearing, peripheral neuropathy, and more everywhere! While I was scared of finally looking down the monster’s throat, so to speak, I’ve never backed down.

I haven’t once thought “This’ll never happen to me.” or “This is pointless.” I’ve always thought “I’ll stave off this mess off as long as humanly possible. It won’t happen if I can I actually prevent it” instead. Recently, I found out the average lifespan of someone with my condition. The longest living person with type 1 diabetes was Bob Karuse, who died at 90 years old and no complications (that I’ve been able to find). I’ve even decided I’m going to do my best to break his and other records!

Not everything was sugar-free candies and rainbows, though. I’ve almost died several times over the course of my life. I’ve woken up with no movement of limbs all alone at home before but I was “somehow” saved (personal story, so I won’t go into detail here). After all of this, since that pivotal moment in the 11^th grade, I think I’ve only been in the hospital 2 or 3 times. I’ve also only had ketones about the same amount of times and I dealt with those at home.

As you can probably see, I didn’t necessarily have a HUGE life-changing epiphany. All I did was keep living. As a result, time taught me what I needed to know. If there were someone other than my mom in my life in the beginning who was what I am aspiring to be, I could have been set on a much faster path to control! I want to be that someone for other people, not just kids (although I realize they will probably show the fastest compliance and results; so that’s one of the biggest goals I aim to reach in my life).

I’ve learned several things over the years and I hope that my knowledge will serve you well. I’ve found lots of resources and discovered tips that help your condition over the years. I’m going to share some of what I’ve learned with you here in my blog! While this is great and all, I have to remind you that this blog does not REPLACE medical advice! It only supports it. Before beginning any new changes or methods, you should always speak with your doctor 1^st.

My overall goal is that this information will speed up your care for the better and that it won’t take you 18 years like as it has taken me. I know I can help so I just want to tell you again how much it means to me that you read all of this. I look forward to helping you find the success you crave!

 

What Has My Story Led To Me Accomplishing?

 

Moving past my diabetic stats, I’m also currently in my 20s, live in the U.S., and I have 2 college degrees: one Associates in Science from a technical school and one Bachelor’s in Health Administration from a university. However, I’m not done yet! I’ve always been a determined, passionate person with a big vision for the future. I will not stop until I see it all done and even then, I’ll still keep going.

I love the idea of what healthcare could be. Unfortunately, many people living with diabetes (as well as many others with medical conditions) are not being treated well because of the healthcare system. Many are being taken advantage of, and this is something I just can’t believe. There’s so much more opportunity to do the opposite!

As a result, my dream is to become a certified diabetes life coach and eventually open my own coaching practice with other diabetics like myself. This is so I can live the rest of my life as a a person living with diabetes showing others how to truly live their lives, not just survive it.

Unfortunately, throughout my life, I’ve seen so many people with diabetes that just give up on life completely. Achieving my goals will help me to prevent this hopelessness in people of all ages by working with them when they are ready to adapt to life, which will just happen however it pleases. This will forever make them see their conditions differently!

They won’t see it diabetes as a terrible hand in life but as a WAY of life instead! In the past, I’ve tried to improve my chances by serving as a volunteer intern under a nurse practitioner at a diabetic clinic and assisting as a regular volunteer at an upscale retirement home each week. Currently, I am undergoing coaching certification and coaching others everyday on these very things! At this point, I’ve impacted several lives so I’ll keep doing it whether it helps my goals or not. So far, I’ve served over 200hrs volunteering and helped several clients changes their lives.

I can be considered an entrepreneur that aims to prevent hopelessness in diabetics. Since starting my business, I’ve helped several diabetic mothers like mine, overwhelmed diabetic children and teenagers, veteran diabetics, and regular diabetic adults like myself do what they what they can (and need to do) to improve their care and start having a higher quality of life. It all started with them downloading my book Tips for a Diabetic Diet.

 

Hobbies and Interests?

 

Unlike most people my age, I’m a HUGE nerd and am very proud of that fact. There’s absolutely no shame in my game (lol). I have every Pokémon game ever made, I love Nintendo, Sega, Game Freak, (etc.), I binge watch Netflix, Funimation, Crunchyroll, (etc.) whenever I have time…honestly it’s probably shorter to sum all this up. I love just about all fiction shows, games, and books! In addition, I love learning nonfiction facts, and I’m determined to keep learning long after I’ve gotten where I want to be. But even I like to enjoy my free time leisurely when I can get a hold of any.

I mentioned earlier that I’ve been volunteering (used to do it religiously every week). I started doing this for a specific reason, but that’s become a bonus for me at this point. While doing this, I’ve realized that talking some sense into all the diabetics who are on the wrong path and being a supportive figure during hard times has made volunteering something I look forward to! In addition, I always learn something new that I may be able to share with you. Long after I’ve accomplished my educational goals, I plan on continuing as a weekly volunteer (it time permits). I just love the feeling of doing something good!

 

How Can I Help?

 

Again, whether you’re a newly diagnosed or a long time diabetic, regardless of why you’re here I’m happy you are! I have tons of experience working with diabetics and living with it myself. I’ve seen and learned a lot about all kinds of diabetes. More specifically, I’m very good working with type 1s and type 2s.

if you’re newly diagnosed, you probably have no idea where to start.

If you’ve been a diabetic for years, you’re probably just looking for updated information. I can help with all of these things.

If you’re a parent (or the caretaker for a diabetic in your family), you probably just want your loved one in a much better position as quickly as possible.

If you’re in any of these categories, I would love for you to reach out to me. I honestly want to save you from the hell I put my mom through (and all she was trying to do was help me).

There are also some people don’t have any insurance and, as a result, can’t get the care they need.

You can’t get through diabetes without the proper tools. I’ll not only help with all these positions, but I’ll be happy to do so! I’m here to speed up your care and make a positive impact on the way you choose to live your life. The only thing I need from you in exchange is trust and commitment.

Just remember to always run anything you find here by your doctor to be safe, but you can more than likely find what you need.

All of us make bad decisions here and there. We also get bad advice from time to time. There’s no magic secrets to taking control, cures for the condition, and certainly no easy button. But by working together, we can weed out a good bit of that dangerous information.

Your mindset is quite literally the key to your whole life. I believe this so much that I’ve actually taken the time to put a book together on simple diabetic diet tips that will help you get started improving right away! This book you can get for free – just sign up for my email list. You will literally get the book delivered to your email in a few moments.

I’ve done enough living myself to be able to say several things very adamantly (ex: DO NOT cut sugar from you/your child’s diet unless your/their doctor says you/they are in danger if you/they eat any; there are a few diabetics under this category unfortunately).

 

You Can Do This! You Just Need to Try!

Alexis, Founder of the Diabetic Elite