🎯Three Content Types · One Force Field
Every square belongs to one of three content types — not three levels you climb. Track progress in your Course and Skills Lab.
📘 Learn It Content type
Concepts to absorb.
🛠 Live It Content type
Daily skills and habits.
📣 Share It Content type
Teach, advocate, carry forward.
🛡️Your Force Field — 16 Squares
Deeper detail lives in the Prepared Patient Type 1 Diabetes course.
What T1D Actually Is
Autoimmune destruction of pancreas insulin cells. Lifelong insulin therapy required.
Learn ItWhy You Take Insulin
Your body makes none. Without it, blood sugar spirals into DKA within hours.
Learn ItSpot the Red Flags
Severe low (unresponsive) · DKA (fruity breath, fast breathing, vomiting) · 911.
Learn ItTriggers & Patterns
Stress, illness, exercise, hormones, alcohol — all shift glucose. Patterns help.
Learn ItNumbers That Matter
A1C, time-in-range, GMI, glucose variability, ketones when high.
Learn ItInsulin Daily
Basal/bolus or pump. Carb-counting if MDI. Site rotation.
Live ItCGM Use
Continuous glucose monitor reveals patterns no fingersticks could. Trust the arrows.
Live ItCarb Counting + Pre-bolus
Eat, dose, time — get the trio right and you stay in range.
Live ItExercise & Insulin
Adjust before, during, after. Bring fast carbs. Hydrate.
Live ItMake Every Visit Count
Bring CGM data, pump report, sick-day history, hypo events.
Live ItYour Care Team
Endocrinologist, diabetes educator, dietitian, pump trainer, eye doc, podiatrist.
Live ItTech Stack
Pumps, CGMs, hybrid closed-loop, smartphone apps. Settings matter.
Live ItInsurance & Cost
Insulin and pump supplies expensive. Manufacturer programs, 340B, advocacy.
Live ItTeach & Mentor
Newly diagnosed kids and adults need lived experience. Yours is gold.
Share ItFight Stigma
T1D vs T2D confusion is constant. Educate, don't get tired.
Share ItResearch & Trials
Hybrid closed-loop, beta-cell transplants, immunotherapies, smart insulins.
Share ItThree things to learn before you actually need them.
Workflow lives in the Prepared Visit Tool. Trackers in your Course.
Which door do I use?
T1D requires constant attention. The ladder is about catching highs and lows fast.
Handle at home
- Blood sugar in your target range most of the time
- Following insulin and CGM/pump plan
- Mild fluctuations corrected at home
Log it. Keep CGM data flowing to your team.
Call the office / message the portal
- Persistent highs >250 for hours
- CGM/pump malfunction
- Running low on insulin or supplies
- New medication that may affect glucose
Same day. Insulin issues escalate fast.
Urgent / Acute care
- Blood sugar >300 with ketones
- Persistent vomiting (sick day)
- Severe hyperglycemia symptoms (thirst, urination, fatigue)
- Pump failure with no backup
Urgent care. Bring meter, ketone strips, insulin.
ER NOW / call 911
- Severe hypoglycemia — unresponsive, seizing, can’t take sugar by mouth
- Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) — fruity breath, rapid breathing, abdominal pain, vomiting
- Blood sugar >400 with confusion
- Chest pain or stroke signs
Call 911. Glucagon for severe low if available. Recovery position.
How to describe a new symptom in 30 seconds
What is it?
Plain words.
How bad?
0-10.
When did it start?
Time + what you were doing.
What made it worse?
Movement · food · meds.
What helped?
Even a little.
What else was new?
Fever · med · supplement · stress. The forgotten detail often shifts the diagnosis.
“My blood sugar has been running 250-300 for 24 hours, I’m a 6 on fatigue, started after my insulin pump alarmed for occlusion overnight, drinking water helps a little, and I have small ketones on the strip.”
Questions worth asking
Four for every patient, every condition, every visit:
- “Could this be a side effect of one of my medications, a supplement, or something else I’m doing — and should we change that?”
- “Would any non-drug therapy help — physical therapy, meditation, rest, ice or heat?”
- “If I can’t afford this medication or this test, can we talk about samples, alternatives, or a social worker who can help?”
- “What should I be watching for between now and my next visit — and when do I handle it myself, when do I call your office, when do I go to urgent care, and when do I go to the ER?”
Questions specifically for Type 1 Diabetes:
- “Is my insulin regimen (basal/bolus or pump settings) right for my life right now?”
- “Am I on the right CGM — and what does my data say about overnight lows?”
- “What’s my A1C and time-in-range trend?”
- “Do I have glucagon at home — and does my family/partner know how to use it?”
- “What’s my sick-day plan — especially for vomiting and ketones?”