087: A Digital Health Success Story – Candy Barnes

Candy Barnes owns an architectural design company in Virginia Beach, Virginia. To her surprise, she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a little over a year ago. Her hemoglobin A1c at diagnosis was over 11% (which means her average blood sugar was above 300 mg/dL) and was immediately put on insulin. Candy was very motivated to take care of herself and was able to do so with the help of a digital health tool called BlueStar. Her background in home economics and her desire to enjoy her grandchildren growing up were also key to her success. Today her A1c is down below 6% (which means her average blood sugar is below 126 mg/dL; 5.6 and below is considered “normal” blood sugar). She no longer takes insulin. She’s on a small dose of metformin and has lost about 50 lbs. 

Hope Warshaw is a dietitian and certified diabetes educator. She’s been in the field of nutrition and diabetes as a consultant, counselor and writer for nearly 40 years. Hope is the author of several books published by American Diabetes Association. Eat Out, Eat Well and Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy are her two most current books. Hope is a consultant to WellDoc, the developer of BlueStar.

Tune in to the show to find out:

What symptoms Candy had How home economics classes helped Candy create her own 5-day menu How Candy was able to lose 50 pounds What the BlueStar app entails The best thing about digital health tools like BlueStar How healthcare providers are using digital health tools to monitor and manage diabetes 

For the full show notes and resources visit www.SoundBitesRD.com