Welcome to The Lighthouse, thank you for arriving, I’m so happy you’re here. I’m Kimberly, a fellow T1D that knows exactly how dark the diagnosis is. I was diagnosed in the ER at the age of 36, July 2023 in Diabetic Ketoacidosis to the point of near organ failure.
I have no family history of diabetes, I didn’t know where my pancreas was or what it did. I did not know insulin was a hormone or why I needed it. My life changed quickly and dramatically. Quite frankly feeling that I was cast out to sea injured, alone and lifeless. No matter when diabetes enters your life's journey, it’s overwhelming and isolating. It’s having to learn a foreign language on the spot. We are told we will have this forever, there are no breaks and there is no cure (yet)!
There is nothing I did to cause my diagnosis and reflecting back, I believe my onset started 3 years before my diagnosis. I was seeing doctors for specific symptoms, but no one drew blood for a fasting glucose or an A1C. I left the hospital with a thick packet of paperwork that would become my lifeline that I needed to organize and decipher. There was information on carb counting, insulin dosing, diet, exercise, suggested doctor appointments and types of doctors to visit without any pre-arranged appointments. I was in complete shock from what I experienced in the ER it was almost impossible to coordinate and organize doctors, pharmacy orders, pain and brain fog. If it wasn't for my husband I am not sure I would've made it at home more than a week. The first time I injected myself with insulin it pooled on my skin seeming as not to have gone in, but I was unsure. I broke down in tears. I remembered the nurses saying how dangerous of a medication it is and if you don't take enough you'll be back in the hospital, and if you take too much you could go into a coma and possibly die. Sitting there not knowing what to do it all became real.
About 2 and half years prior to this day I had quit drinking alcohol. I learned through sobriety to take on day at a day, and was thankful for the mindset, discipline and resilience that was instilled already when getting diagnosed with diabetes. Except that with diabetes, it's often shortened to 5 minutes at a time. It was a painfully slow and often not so steady path that led me to founding The Lighthouse T1D, in January 2026. I've done a lot of research, trial and error, risk taking, healing, trusting, and learning to get here. 10 months into my diagnosis I traveled to Bali for a 2 week yoga and healing retreat, which was laughably the furthest place I could've chosen to go, 36 hours of travel one way, crossing 14 time zones. It was planned before I knew I had diabetes and instead of assuming I couldn't do it, I asked for help. I decided on the things I would need to do and learn before going that would make it possible. I was terrified but I did it and while I was there I climbed a 5,600' active volcano in the dark to watch the sunrise. It was life changing, and became a new baseline to everything with diabetes from that point forward - "If I can climb a volcano in the dark across the world I'm SURE..." I can have a piece of pizza!
I look forward to sharing more of my story with you and hearing yours. I know you’ll find sanctuary for diabetes at The Lighthouse T1D.
