Are you looking for help navigating your life with diabetes? I have diabetes too, and I can help you:
Interact with the medical system - learn which medical professionals to speak with, what questions to ask, how to advocate for yourself, and more.
Build awareness of resources that can help improve your diabetes knowledge - things like podcasts, YouTube channels, diabetes educators, advocacy groups, and clinical trials.
Brainstorm daily practices around diabetes to improve your management.
Lend an empathetic ear. Sometimes diabetes just sucks, and it’s nice to have someone who “gets it” and wants to listen.
How it Works, Costs, and Disclaimers!
Medical Disclaimer
This isn’t your standard diabetes education service, and this is not medical advice. You will still need to speak with your medical team before making any changes to your diabetes management program. I’m not a doctor, I’m not a diabetes educator, and I’m not a psychologist.
Session Details and Costs
I am a person who lives with many of the same stressors as you, and since I’ve developed a great quality of life with diabetes, I’ve become passionate about serving as a guide to help others do the same. If you are looking for someone to speak with about your diabetes, we will set up one-on-one sessions via Google Meet, Zoom, Phone, or even in-person if we live near one another to discuss your concerns. My goal is to keep this very simple, straightforward, and affordable.
Sessions do not have a specific length - they are tailored to whatever you need at the time. That might be 10 minutes, 30 minutes, or an hour. You may only need one session ever, or you may want to meet with each other on a recurring basis - totally up to you.
Session cost is $40.00, with payments made through Venmo.
I fully understand that part of the challenge around diabetes education are the costs associated with it. I believe $40.00 is extremely reasonable, however if you have limited funds and are unable to pay for a service at this time, please email me and we can discuss pro-bono options.
If you’re interested in speaking with me, please complete the form below and I’ll get back to you within 24 hours!
About Me
I’m Doug.
My diabetes origin story began in 2018. After spending about 15 years as a web developer, I had gone back to school to become an Occupational Therapist. I achieved that goal, and began working in an acute care hospital in the Bronx, NY. While I began to become more familiar with my patients who were often suffering from side effects and complications, I began to experience weird symptoms of my own….unexplained (severe) weight loss, blurred vision, and sneaking into the bathroom every few minutes to urinate. I went to the doctor not long after that, and was immediately sent to the emergency room with a blood sugar of 1000 (that’s not a typo)!!!
Unfortunately at the time I was given a diagnosis of Type II diabetes. To try and manage it I learned all I could about diet, exercise, and the nature of the condition. I got myself to a good place, for a short while, but after an A1C of 12 in 2022, I was finally given the antibody test and c-peptide test which revealed my true diagnosis…Type 1 Diabetes.
Since that time I’ve been on insulin, and again I’ve tried to learn all I could. I gathered all the data I could from my doctor, but I found the online diabetes community to be the most helpful. Things like the Juicebox podcast, a Type 1 Diabetes meditation group that I became part of, and becoming a clinical trial participant with the Barbara Davis Center at the University of Colorado.
This experience has changed my life in a variety of ways, but it hasn’t all been negative. I’ve met some amazing people and made great connections. I’ve also developed an exceptional sense of understanding of the condition, and I find that it serves me well when working with my own patients in the rehab setting who have diabetes. In fact, I’m going to attempt to become a diabetes educator in the future as well.
For now though, I’m here to offer my services on a more casual level. I want to be there to help guide you in your diabetes journey in the same way that my community helped me. I can’t prescribe you any medications or give you medical advice, but I can help you understand what your options are, give you advice on what to look for in a medical team, and suggest community and national resources to help improve your life with diabetes.
I really want to help, so I hope to hear from you soon!
Videos
I’m passionate about this stuff, so I’ve created a bunch of diabetes-related videos on YouTube. Please excuse my complete lack of knowledge when it comes to editing or saying “umm” - but I think the information may be helpful!
Coming Soon…
Just getting started but I have a bunch of ideas for related services that I think may help the diabetes community. Some of those include creation of a discord / chat account where I can answer questions and provide useful information as I come across it; I’ll work on developing a mailing list and a recurring newsletter with relevant content as well.