Introducing myself: George Simmons
Howdy! My name is George Simmons and I am very excited about joining the Diabetes Collective. I wanted to take some time to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about my diabetes life.
I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on October 2, 1990 at the age of 17.
That first year was difficult. Trying to figure out insulin dosages and amount of food meant missing lots of school -- so much so that I almost didn't graduate. Diabetes proved to be a challenge for me right from the start. I hated it so much that I found it was easier to ignore my disease rather than face it.
Years went by and I got married, had two amazing children, and bought a home. Life was moving along nicely even though I continued to ignore my diabetes. I would always take my prescribed shots of insulin but I rarely checked my blood glucose levels and never went to the doctor.
When I had to make a change
In 2005, I ended up in the hospital with diabetic ketoacidosis. I decided then to make a serious change in my life. I knew if I didn't take diabetes seriously I could end up back in the hospital or worse.
Before I was in the hospital I loved listening to podcasts. When I got home I started looking for podcasts on iTunes that were about diabetes. I found one called DiabeticFeed and decided to check it out. What I heard changed my life forever.
The host was a type 1 diabetic like me and she talked all about diabetes. She interviewed a blogger named Kerri Morrone. Kerri wrote a blog called Six Until Me. She had type 1 also and wrote all about her life with diabetes on her blog. As soon as I got to a computer I logged onto her site and began reading.
In reading her blog I found many other blogs written by people with diabetes. I spent hours each night reading all about people who were a lot like me! The concerns, the frustrations, and how much of a struggle it can be just to get through the day sometimes sounded like what I felt. Several times I caught myself in tears while reading. It felt as though I was finally home. I finally found people who understood and felt a lot like I did.
In January 2006 I began my own blog called Ninjabetic. I have been writing there for many years and hopefully many more to come. I love to share my ups, downs, failures, and successes. If I can help anyone not feel the way I did than I am accomplishing what I hoped. To always try and reach out to people with diabetes and let them know they are not alone.
Now that I am part of the Diabetes Collective I hope to continue that mission here. To help people never to feel alone in their diabetes life.
