I'm writing this as both the first blog post I've ever personally written but also as the first on behalf of Be With Blue - my new venture into the Type 1 Diabetes world professionally. I'll speak to the purpose of Be With Blue later in this post, but first I'd like to give some background on myself.
My Short (Summarized) Story & Background
I was diagnosed with Type 1 in the spring of 1995, an entire 25 years ago. I've lived with T1D for most of my life at this point, and I will never forget the days leading up to my diagnosis, and the day I was admitted to the hospital. What's entirely worse about the entire experience in retrospect, is that I was too young to understand what was happening and even as a 4-year-old boy I was probably 1000x less scared than my parents due to my pure lack of understanding.
Back then - there were no insulin pumps commercially available, no continuous glucose meters, and few insulin options themselves that were not nearly as effective as they are now. They were human-insulins (soon after followed by the first analog). The lack of variety in insulin and technology compared with today's standards is almost hard to believe when thinking back. The glucose meters were large and required their own calibration. There was no other way to take insulin aside from a bag of syringes and vials and the routine was far from the way we can treat today, as long-acting basals weren't available. Even more interesting was that the internet itself was in its infancy. All the information out Type One could only be found from medical professionals on doctor's office visits OR in real, paper...books. There was a lot of trial and error, a lot of unknowns, and a lot of stress.
All that to say - life with Type 1 diabetes in 2020 is far, far different from the one I grew up with. There will be more posts on this since I still find the advances in tech and treatment so miraculous.
Enter...Be With Blue
Be With Blue was born from the advancement in tech, the flourishing T1D community becoming closer than ever, and the ability to make living with Type 1 easier and more personalized to your lifestyle. With a ton of products that now exist that previously did not, there are plenty of ways to personalize your routine and make living with Type One more fun. The ability for people to access the internet and increased globalization has also given us the opportunity to make products more quickly and cheaper. The advanced technology such as CGM and insulin pumps have brought their own challenges and the type one community has taken steps to solve problems with their own solutions. There are a lot of products out there now, both useful products for treatment AND lifestyle products helping to spread awareness and increase the strength of the type one community.
Be With Blue wants to give you access to these products to find what works best for you. We'll curate products from suppliers that fit your routine so you can try different brands and discover what's out there for you. You'll also be able to receive some of the critical essentials that Type One's use often but aren't typically considered as part of your regular Rx plans or health insurance needs. Let's be honest though - keeping a CGM sensor on with extra adhesives can be equally as important as the sensor itself!
Our Promise
For every sale we make - Be With Blue will donate a portion of proceeds to JDRF to fund research toward a cure for Type 1 and we hope to bring a fun experience to an otherwise unfortunate situation that many of us, family members, and friends deal with.
Plenty more to come! I hope you'll Be With Blue and help support the T1D community! Sign Up Today for a subscription or Join Our Email list for more information.
Take Care,
Dan C - Founder of Be With Blue
myVlfoaRNSkv
fwiDPjLQCWlsem
fvlrgnMc
YKMDRTCpvdE
DlckqyLKmxt