Diagnosed with T1D in the 90's, at 10 years young while in the 5th grade on Staten Island, NY.

Simone?! is a Black trans non-binary artist. He is a New York City nomad who has lived in each borough at least

twice. His 32nd diaversary is approaching, along with the 4th year living with kidney failure. Simone?! has lived

with other complications and continues to learn that other conditions could also be comorbidities.

Simone's?! paternal grandmother also lived with diabetes. During diagnosis Simone?! was met with a lot of scare

tactics. Simone?! was spoken to as if they were supposed to know everything the doctors knew about diabetes.

The start of this journey geared how diabetes was handled for a long time.

Keywords

diabetes, chronic illness, resilience, community, identity, mental health, kidney disease, self-advocacy, art,

"We are alive, we're not always well."

"Your story hasn't been told before."

"I was diagnosed as a little one."

In this episode of the Chronically Will Podcast, Leah shares her journey living with type 1 diabetes and other chronic health conditions. The conversation explores the intersection of physical and mental health, the importance of advocacy, and the role of community support. Leah discusses her experiences with multiple diagnoses, the impact of chronic illness on mental health, and the misconceptions surrounding diabetes. The episode emphasizes the need for education, self-advocacy, and the hope for a future cure, while also finding humor in the challenges of living with chronic illness.

Follow Leah on instagram @contentleah

On this episode of Chronically Will Podcast we get to hear from the amazing Keeratdeep. Keerat comes to us from Delhi, India and was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes 20 years ago at the young age of 10. Yes, she has been learning, living and thriving with diabetes for the last 2 decades. Diabetes sort of grew up with her.

Through this conversation Keerat speaks fondly about her loved ones that have been there with her along this journey. When she was diagnosed, they too received a diagnosis. Her mom, dad and brother have been her everything!

She tells us all how having a community of people living with diabetes that we can interact with helps validate us more than anything. As Keerat says, you must choose your tripe wise. This will benefit you along your life with chronic health conditions.

Keerat has traveled and lived all around the world. She's lived in both Australia and America. Over the years she's learned so much about herself because of diabetes. It has 100% affected her in relationships, with people not seeing her in the amazing light that she is because society sees diabetes one way.

Keerat is fun, strong and just an overall great spirit of light that deserves her shine.

Get to know Keeratdeep!!

Follow on Instagram instagram.com/lifewithkeerat

On this episode you will hear from Michelle @michelle_jako Michelle visits us from Johannesburg, South Africa.

Michelle was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes in 2012 at 13 years young, while in the 7th grade. In this conversation Michelle tells us about how diabetes makes you

grow up fast and as a young teen when you're told to do certain things how you know as a youth that nothing can stop you.

She recalls her mom not knowing if it was her blood sugar or her just being 13 that altered her emotions and made her irritable. Even as a child in school, teachers would provoke her about her diabetes, specifically when she was doing exams and couldn't focus at times.

Once at a restaurant a patron told the waiter to tell her to take her insulin in a restroom. Michelle used this as a moment to advocate and educate this person on diabetes and the direct need for her to take her insulin.

Michelle recalls at the age of 15 not wanting people to know about her diabetes so she hid it. No one knew that she was taking insulin 3x a day, in the morning, before lunch and in the evening. Her close friends knew she had diabetes, but they didn't know the details of it. When she would

stay with friends their parents would make sure to keep the sweets from her.

One of Michelle's greatest hopes is that her child never has to grow with this.

When she met her significant other and she told him she had diabetes, he was okay with it. He was so excepting

of it and had no questions. He didn't know anyone with diabetes, but he told her, "Well, you'll teach me about it. I'm willing to learn. " While dating he once came to visit her and had to ask security to accompany him to her door, and there they found her unconscious. It was an eye-opening experience for her.

In her career she helps educate people on diabetes and advocacy. Although her child is only 2 she wants

to also educate her so that she will know what to do incase an emergency does occur.

Living with diabetes has made Michelle a more patient and understanding person. When she had her child, and although her pregnancy was hard for her, it was amazing! As Michelle passionately shares, "She is her gift from God!"

Follow Michelle

Instagram: Michelle_Jako

Tiktok: Michelle_jayy

On this episode we get to hear from Dr. Allison Ong, also known as Allie. Allie comes to us from southern California. Allie was diagnosed with T1D at 11 years young, almost 18 years ago. After falling ill and getting a glucose tolerance test, which she passed, six months later she was in full blown DKA with a blood sugar greater than 1,500 mg/dl. Soon to be heading to middle school she learned and began to care for her own diabetes shortly after. On this episode we get to experience the perspective from a person not only living with T1D but also that works in medicine. She see's patients of all ages, including kids that are type 1's as well as young adults. Her journey through T1D advocacy and medicine took her to grad school in the Sacramento/Bay area and to residency in Miami, FL where she trains in internal medicine & pediatrics (a field called Med Peds). She is passionate about urban health, adolescent medicine, and using writing and social media for education and change. When she isn’t pulling 80 hour workweeks as a resident, she enjoys indoor rock climbing, the arts, and writing a good yelp review. Some fun goals for this year include doing 5 solid pullups in a row (she’s almost at four), incorporating more art into her free time, and continuing to grow as a mentor for medical students and residents learning about diabetes!!

Allie states how diabetes and medicine are not separated for her. They are both apart of her identity. Allie shares that while at the hospital taking care of patients, her blood sugar can be super high at times.

She enjoys being able to talk with a lot of patients with chronic illnesses from a really empathetic and caring perspective. Allison appreciates honest and transparent content creators because it makes the process real and not sugarcoated.

Get to know Allie!

Follow her on Instagram @Allie_T1D

Tiktok @allie_t1d

On this episode we celebrate Steven Cannady!

Steven was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes at age 13, 21 years ago. Steven is a graduate of the North Carolina Central University!

He has been married for 5 years, loves traveling with his wife (Nia) all athletics, hanging with his crew and ran the NYC Marathon in 2024 and is prepping to run the Chicago Marathon in 2025 and NYC Marathon again in 2025!

When Steven got to college, he said that is when he truly became who he is. He's a true people connector and

loves to conversate with everyone.

During his diagnosis he lived with his mom, grandmom, older brother and two younger sisters in a 2-bedroom apartment off of Hardee Street in Durham. Before diagnosis he remembers laying out in the kitchen on the floor. During Christmas break he was home eating a family sized box of Froot Loops and began to get sick. Shortly after he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Two years later his older brother was also diagnosed with T1D. His family came together for his well-being during this diagnosis. They made sure he did everything he could to be his best.

Steve recalls back then catching the bus or walking to Hardees restaurant and him getting the low carb burger. This included a beef patty wrapped in lettuce. Steven shows great gratitude to his original medical team at Duke University because as he says, he probably wouldn't have made it without them. With him being the new kid at school, no one recognized him as the kid with diabetes. Other than the school staff, no one knew he had diabetes. Ahead of his brother's diagnosis Steven recognized his brothers' symptoms and told him that he might want to get checked out because it may be diabetes. In Highschool he ran cross country and track but ended up in DKA 3 times because

he wouldn't take his insulin. During those days he knows he avoided taking care of his diabetes. He admits that he doesn't know how he made it.

Steven's greatest advice to someone newly diagnosed or needing to press a reset on their diabetes is to TAKE INSULIN! NEVER SKIP YOUR INSULIN!

Big shout outs to Steven's wife Nia and his homies from Durham for being there for him and always showing up for him even when he is unable to understand the situation when he's suffering from hypo's.

Follow Steven on instagram @steven.cannady

Donate to his Chicago Marathon campaign for Breakthrough T1D

Donate to his NYC Marathon campaign for Beyond Type One

Neo (Nayo) comes to us all the way from The Freestate, South Africa.

Neo was diagnosed with T1D 6 years ago at 15. When she was diagnosed, it was the first time she had ever heard of Type One Diabetes.

Now Neo is an advocate for T1D. During our conversation she speaks heavily about how difficult it is for people to understand what living with diabetes is because they can't resonate with it unless they are actually living with it. And when people say things such as, if they had to use insulin they would die. Neo tells them, you will need to learn how to survive!

When she was first diagnosed it was near impossible to explain it to her peers because she didn't understand it. Many people said it was because of witchcraft or someone hating her family that she was diagnosed with diabetes. She had to constantly explain to people that believed in those things that it wasn't like that. Her peers thought she was making up stories because they had never heard of the intricacies of T1D and this made Neo hide it then. Some classmates thought she was taking drugs.

Neo wishes that medical systems share that it is a norm and not taboo to be diagnosed with Type One Diabetes.

Now that she is knowledgeable, she asks, "How did we miss this?" At the time of diagnosis, she was drinking a lot of water and staying inside when she hated water and would normally spend all her time outside with friends.

Now that she owns her diagnosis and shares it some people complain about her talking about diabetes too much, even though she has already explained, it is something we cannot turn off.

Neo says how for some people they have their own perceived understanding of what diabetes is and when we try to explain it, they still will be argumentized.

For Neo it's almost like her diagnosis was her parents' diagnosis. She remembers how involved they were in her care and looking out for her well-being.

Neo lives by the saying, "God doesn't give us hurdles that we cannot conquer and God chooses his best and greatest soldiers to fight his battles."

Follow Neo on Instagram and learn more about living with T1D in Freestate, South Africa @pabii_moffat

In episode, we feature Dr. Nicole Videla, EdD. instagram.com/nikovid3la/

Dr Nikki is a mother, wife, and an educator in higher education in the New York area for over 17 years. Recently, Dr. Nikki and family relocated from New York to Charlotte.

Dr Nikki was diagnosed with Type Diabetes 10 years ago at the age of 33. Initially misdiagnosed, she was unaware of the signs of diabetes. Before her diagnosis, she held many stereotypes about diabetes, only to realize she lacked a true understanding of the condition and its implications.

During this conversation, we explore various aspects of life, including how managing diabetes has become second nature while prioritizing her family remains essential. Even while nursing her children as infants, she found ways to multitask despite experiencing low blood sugar levels.

At the start of her diagnosis, she took an isolated approach, considering it solely her health and her disease. Gradually she learned more about diabetes and began involving her family in her care. It was after the birth of her son that she started exploring advancements in technology.

Being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 33 was entirely unexpected and took significant effort for her to accept. Today, she not only lives with Type One Diabetes but thrives with.

Follow Dr. Nicole Videla on Instagram at instagram.com/nikovid3la/