{"id":31311,"date":"2012-11-20T08:35:24","date_gmt":"2012-11-20T13:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?post_type=feature&p=31311"},"modified":"2016-01-09T02:46:57","modified_gmt":"2016-01-09T07:46:57","slug":"diabesties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=31311","title":{"rendered":"Diabesties: An App That Connects People With Diabetes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 14. After diagnosis I had a fairly easy time incorporating diabetes into my day-to-day routine, due in part to the incredible amount of support I received from my family and friends. In addition, my routine was consistent, which made diabetes management easier. When I left for college, however, my outlook on diabetes changed \u2013 I lost my support system and my drive. Suddenly, I wasn\u2019t given any special-treatment, nor was my schedule consistent. I soon realized that it was much simpler to eat and act like my new college friends, ignoring diabetes to stop it from getting in the way. As an 18 year old, I rarely had diabetes complications on my mind, and when I did, I\u2019d try to brush off my ever-present fear and guilt by trying to convince myself that it was only a few years of poor management. People had much worse control for greater periods of time \u2013 I\u2019d be fine once I graduated.<\/p>\n

Every doctor\u2019s appointment I had would be yet another attempt at jumping back on the horse. My friends grew used to my poor management skills and seemed to think if they saw me check my sugar once a week, I was doing a great job at diabetes. It was also hard for people to understand that just because I was open about having diabetes, I wasn\u2019t necessarily taking proper care of myself. All of this terrified my parents, but their frustrations and concerns only made me want to push them away. I was isolating myself when all I really wanted was someone who understood. I worked at a diabetes camp one summer and it was amazing to meet other people living with the same frustrations I had, and it was wonderful to exchange stories with them.\u00a0 But when I left camp to go back to school, everything I had learned there fell to the wayside when I was again consumed by the stresses of college.<\/p>\n

Everything changed when I met Natalie.<\/p>\n

Natalie, who has been living with diabetes since the age of three, happened to be sitting across the lunch table from me one day during the spring of my senior year at Wellesley College. A mutual friend casually said, \u201cOh yeah \u2013 you guys both have diabetes.\u201d We were both thrilled to have someone else with diabetes, but the other six girls at the table didn\u2019t seem to be as excited as we were.\u00a0 Natalie and I exchanged phone numbers and reverted back to a conversation that everyone else could relate to.<\/p>\n

A few days later, I joked to my classmate Sam, saying all that the only things in my fridge were beer and insulin. \u00a0I had no idea, but it turned out that she had type 1 diabetes as well. Sam, Natalie, and I started a to have a continuous group text conversation. We texted blood sugar levels and guesstimations of carb-counts in the dining hall.\u00a0 We still had everyday conversation, but it was always interspersed with diabetes talk in a way that could never happen with friends who did not have diabetes. Talking to Natalie and Sam quickly became part of my essential diabetes management. As it turned out, my\u00a0 diabesties<\/em>, as we began to call ourselves, were also struggling to manage diabetes in college. The three of us agreed that it was time to take responsibility and to hold each other and ourselves accountable for living healthy lives with diabetes. There was no reason for us to spend so much time feeling guilty, tired, frustrated, and sick.<\/p>\n

Natalie, Sam, and I learned how special it is to talk to another person with diabetes, someone who also deals with it every day, and \u201cgets\u201d it. \u00a0We had become old enough to not want to consult with our parents on every diabetes-related decision, so finding a diabestie<\/em> provided the support that we so desperately needed in a way that pushed us to exercise responsibility. While we each had different stories, pasts, and diabetes routines, what we had in common was that we were all desperate for friends who understood. We began to not only stay in touch on our phones, but we would also meet for meals and stop by each other\u2019s dorm rooms to check in. Through this relationship, we developed other friendships with students with type 1 diabetes on campus \u2013 we looked out for each other, whether it was simply to call about a tough day, to have low supplies available all over campus, or to bounce carbohydrate counting off of one another.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>And diabesties<\/em> didn\u2019t end there.\u00a0 On our campus, we established a branch of the College Diabetes Network<\/a> (CDN), a national non-profit organization that supports college students living with diabetes. Soon after that, we were reaching out to others with a Facebook group and were talking about diabetes not only with each other, but also to hundreds of others.\u00a0 The group turned into an active forum for young adults to find each other and create a place to openly talk about diabetes. \u00a0\u00a0And it has now taken a bigger leap.\u00a0 Last month, CDN, where I serve as program director, launched the Diabesties iPhone application<\/strong> that I developed.\u00a0 The app enables users with diabetes to connect with one another and feel supported in their everyday management. It allows friends to share blood sugar levels, insulin dosages, carbohydrate counts and messages while also effortlessly logging all of the information entered for later review. These messages allow each diabestie<\/em> to receive real-time support and troubleshooting so that they never feel alone with their diabetes.<\/p>\n

My father recently told me that the day I called to tell him about my newfound diabesties<\/em>, he and my mother could breathe for the first time since I had left for college. Looking back, I see a very direct link between meeting my diabesties<\/em> and taking on the responsibility of being a young adult living with type 1 diabetes. Meeting them relieved me of the guilt, the loneliness, and the frustration that I had been feeling up until that point. While living with type 1 diabetes can be bumpy at times, I don\u2019t let it get in my way and I now always have a diabestie<\/em> to cali if I feel like it is getting to be too much.<\/p>\n

For more information about the College Diabetes Network, please visit our website: www.collegediabetesnetwork.org<\/a> or follow us on Facebook: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/College-Diabetes-Network\/241757184299?ref=hl<\/a>, or Twitter: @CollegeDiabetes<\/p>\n

For more information about Diabesties, visit our website: www.collegediabetesnetwork.org\/diabesties<\/a>, join the Facebook group: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/143244405739217\/<\/a>, or search for it today in the iTunes App store!<\/p>\n

For more information about Ayogo, please visit the website at: www.ayogo.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My diabesties, as we began to call ourselves, were also struggling to manage diabetes in college. The three of us agreed that it was time to take responsibility and to hold each other and ourselves accountable for living healthy lives with diabetes. There was no reason for us to spend so much time feeling guilty, tired, frustrated, and sick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":77,"featured_media":31312,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1459,1439,1429],"tags":[1269],"yoast_head":"\nDiabesties: An App That Connects People With Diabetes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"my diabesties, as we began to call ourselves, were also struggling to manage diabetes in college. The three of us agreed that it was time to take responsibility and to hold each other and ourselves accountable for living healthy lives with diabetes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=31311\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jo Treitman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=31311\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=31311\",\"name\":\"Diabesties: An App That Connects People With Diabetes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=31311#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=31311#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Diabesties-Logo-Home.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-11-20T13:35:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-09T07:46:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b51a8a04b17f76e314e5377ae222a78b\"},\"description\":\"my diabesties, as we began to call ourselves, were also struggling to manage diabetes in college. The three of us agreed that it was time to take responsibility and to hold each other and ourselves accountable for living healthy lives with diabetes.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=31311#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=31311\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=31311#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Diabesties-Logo-Home.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Diabesties-Logo-Home.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":394,\"caption\":\"Diabesties Logo\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=31311#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Diabesties: An App That Connects People With Diabetes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\",\"name\":\"ASweetLife\",\"description\":\"The Diabetes Magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b51a8a04b17f76e314e5377ae222a78b\",\"name\":\"Jo Treitman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d78975003f149750434f5369fe08800?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d78975003f149750434f5369fe08800?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jo Treitman\"},\"description\":\"Jo Treitman graduated from Wellesley College with a B.A. in Neuroscience in 2011. She is currently living in Cambridge, MA and working full-time as CDN\u2019s Program Director. She was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 14. She co-founded the Wellesley College CDN chapter, and attributes much of her success to overcoming the frustrations of Type 1 diabetes and the incredible community that she has found because of it.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=77\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Diabesties: An App That Connects People With Diabetes","description":"my diabesties, as we began to call ourselves, were also struggling to manage diabetes in college. The three of us agreed that it was time to take responsibility and to hold each other and ourselves accountable for living healthy lives with diabetes.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=31311","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jo Treitman","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=31311","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=31311","name":"Diabesties: An App That Connects People With Diabetes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=31311#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=31311#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Diabesties-Logo-Home.jpg","datePublished":"2012-11-20T13:35:24+00:00","dateModified":"2016-01-09T07:46:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b51a8a04b17f76e314e5377ae222a78b"},"description":"my diabesties, as we began to call ourselves, were also struggling to manage diabetes in college. The three of us agreed that it was time to take responsibility and to hold each other and ourselves accountable for living healthy lives with diabetes.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=31311#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=31311"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=31311#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Diabesties-Logo-Home.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Diabesties-Logo-Home.jpg","width":600,"height":394,"caption":"Diabesties Logo"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=31311#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Diabesties: An App That Connects People With Diabetes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/","name":"ASweetLife","description":"The Diabetes Magazine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b51a8a04b17f76e314e5377ae222a78b","name":"Jo Treitman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d78975003f149750434f5369fe08800?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d78975003f149750434f5369fe08800?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jo Treitman"},"description":"Jo Treitman graduated from Wellesley College with a B.A. in Neuroscience in 2011. She is currently living in Cambridge, MA and working full-time as CDN\u2019s Program Director. She was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 14. She co-founded the Wellesley College CDN chapter, and attributes much of her success to overcoming the frustrations of Type 1 diabetes and the incredible community that she has found because of it.","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=77"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31311"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/77"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}