[BeckieLynn55]

I'm a 21 year old type 1 diabetic. I was diagnosed when I was almost 12 years old (Jan 20, 1996 )and started using the pump Minimed 508 insulin pump 4.5 years ago.

I'm currently a Junior mathematics, economics, and statistics student at the University of Pittsburgh loving every aspect of life. I concider myself pretty bright, however, I definitely havent cared for myself the way any intelligent human would, putting everything else in front of my diabetes. I'm looking to make a change and looking for inspiration through this forum with others going through the same thing that I am. (others who know that my little blue box is not my MP3 player or a pager! ) I've been a member for maybe 12 hours already and have already found that this forum is very supportive and inspirational as I look through old posts.

Many people have already replied to help me out with my Applied Regression Report on Diabetes under the general category. Thanks for you help! I already feel so welcome!

[HeatherP]

Welcome Beckie! I'm T1 for 13 years m'self. Like you've already said, we have many friendly members who are happy to help others, ask questions, and get into a bit of good-natured nonsense on a semi-regular basis. I hope you enjoy your time here and that you'll make some new friends!

Nice to meet you,
HeatherP

[soremom]

Welcome, I am T1 for 13 yrs myself. I use the Animas 1200 pump and just love it. Glad you found us here, just don't take everybody too seriously, we love to kid around.

I am live about 2 hrs north of you, an hour south of Erie. Nice to have another PA'er here. Hope to see you around the sites

Kim

[camjen1]

Welcome Beckie!

I am T1 for almost 6 years now and I was much like yourself and not properly taking care of myself. I followed all the strict guidelines when first diagnosed but soon after began to slack off a bit. I would even go off insulin for a few days just to get rid of the 2-3 pounds I just gained. Boy if dieting and losing weight was that easy. I paid for slacking off and it ended me near death and in the ICU for almost 2 weeks. I think this got my brain going and that's when I made the big change of getting my pump. I consider it my life saver as I do believe if I had to do MDI's I surely would be dead. I joined this forum in January and I admit I was a bit bored with it in the beginning but once I warmed up I got to checkin the board every hour looking for new posts. Well hope you like these people as much as I do and I look forward to chattin more.

~Sandi

[BeckieLynn55]

Originally Posted by soremom

I am live about 2 hrs north of you, an hour south of Erie. Nice to have another PA'er here. Hope to see you around the sites

I know Franklin! You have that festival every year in the fall! I'm actually from about an hour North of Pittsburgh originally. A town called Ellwood City (right between New Castle, Beaver Falls, and Cranberry) I go to school in Pittsburgh and have been staying here in the summer for classes and work, also. So I live in Pittsburgh, but my mom still gets very offended when I call Pittsburgh my home!

I also wont take everything too seriously. I'm one of the sarcastic people you'll ever meet! There's gotta be a balance! I just happened to be commenting on the serious stuff!

(Randon note... I've been a member for a day, and already posted from 4 different locations.. my computer, a computer during class (an easy course), and from 2 different labs. I'm currently in the library lab) Wow, I'm a dork

[am1977]

Welcome to our family

That's really what this is here. We are one, big, happy family and we're still growing, which I think is a great. The more, the merrier

It sounds like you are a very intelligent person and you shouldn't be shy to admit that. We all let life get in the way of taking care of ourselves at times. There are so many more aspects to life than just diabetes, so this can happen rather easily. I think as long as you recognize that you need to put a little more attention to managing your diabetes and put the effort in, things will be ok.

Anyway, I just wanted to welcome you and I hope we'll see you around quite frequently.

[dixiepixie64]

Hi BeckieLynn ,
It's great to have you around. I've been enjoying your posts. I understand what you mean about putting everything else in front of your diabetes. It happens to us all from time to time for various reasons. I find this site great for advice, camaraderie and staying on track with managing this disease. Hope you do too!

[buzzborne]

hey, just wanted to add... Hi and Welcome to the ''family'' its become my second home!! And glad that you are finding it useful!! I've been T1 since the age of 11, just passed the 8 year mark!

Hope that your report goes well! Keep us informed!

See ya around!

[Mario]

Hi Beckie and welcome here. People here aren't just a group, they are a family. And like a family, they support each other. This is the biggest strength of them. I'm sure you'll find friends here and also, many informations for your diabetes. I'm a french canadian and didn't find yet a big source of information in french like this one. It is a reference. Welcome in the family !

[soremom]

That would be Applefest you are referring to. It is held the first weekend of October. It actually started as a apple pie contest, about a 3 hour event. Now last 4 days and over 100,000 people come to our little city during that weekend. I love it, my hubby hates it. You should come to it sometime, if you are into crafts, food booths and such. It is usually beautiful. Even if the weather doesn't cooperate there are alot of people and fun.

I grew up in New Castle. So I have heard of Ellwood City. I lived there till right before 11th grade. Big difference from there to Franklin, but I guess I like it since I am still here. It is neat to be have someone on here that is close and knows my town.

Hope you enjoy our little family as much as I do. It is nice to talk to people who understand what you may be feeling or get some advice from

Kim

[BeckieLynn55]

Originally Posted by soremom

You should come to it sometime, if you are into crafts, food booths and such. It is usually beautiful. Even if the weather doesn't cooperate there are alot of people and fun.

I grew up in New Castle. So I have heard of Ellwood City. I lived there till right before 11th grade. Kim

I have been there before! When I was 10 or 11. My parents went up this year and I believe my cousin's son won some sort of Apple Fest Prince or Apple Fest Baby contest a couple years ago. His mom was proud =0)

New Castle, of course! Yes, that's very close. My mom works in New Castle and since there's nothing in Ellwood City, I requent there a lot when I'm home. I also attend church in the Shenango / Laurel area. A lot of my friends here at school in Pittsburgh are actually from New Castle. We have our little "LC crew" (Lawrence County)

[soremom]

Beckie, have you had Coney Island Hot Dogs? Every once in awhile I will cover over for one and bring hot dog sauce back. I've got everybody here hooked on it. It has actually been awhile since I was there, my sister in law was dating a guy from there so he would bring it with him. But she dumped him . So I am going to have to take a ride.

I am actually drawing a blank at anything else to bring up about there, getting time for brain shut down for the night. If you think of anything, please post it.

Kim

[Batty]

hey hey. welcome to the forums

(i'll skip the rest since everyone else seems to have done it!)

I'm going on my 12th year since being diagnosed with T1 myself time flies eh?

Natalie

[BeckieLynn55]

Originally Posted by soremom

Beckie, have you had Coney Island Hot Dogs?
I am actually drawing a blank at anything else to bring up about there, getting time for brain shut down for the night. If you think of anything, please post it.

Kim

I definitly have! My dad practically forced them down my throat when I was little because "I HAD TO LIKE THEM!" They're amazing. I've been eating extremly healthy for the last 5 months or so... so they sound even more delicious right now! (but hotdogs have about 16 grams of fat each! .. sorry for being a health nut!)

When you lived in New Castle, was it the cool thing to do to "cruise the diamond" when you got your license? I found it quite amuzing when my New Castle friends took me to drive around this main street over and over again... with every other 16-18 year old in town. Things have changed if you havent been there in awhile. They built a little shopping plaza out by Union High School... I love the Ruby Tuesdays there! And the Lawrence County Fair.. most pathetic little fair I've ever seen, but its a yearly tradition. I love the area, actually.. but my friends from New Castle and I constantly make fun of ourselves for it.. All of our other friends really think we grew up in the sticks. ... (in a way, it is... at my church, EVERYONE talks about the fair for months before hand. I think my dad is one of the few not to wear his best cowboy boots to church, too) It's a cute little place near the intersection of 422 and 388 called Faith County Chapel, if you've ever heard of it. All cowboys, but genuinly nice people who think I'm a city slicker.

Oh, New Castle...

[KickStart101]

Welcome and Hi Again Beckie! Well, unfortunately most people put
their Diabetes last at some point in their lives. Just as long as they soon
wake-up and smell the coffee. So sorry we cannot put you in the
Guineses(sp) Book of Records for that. Good Luck in your studies. Great
Avatar by the way.