Lizmari will be providing Articles for time to time for our eMagazine. To get to know her a little better, we asked her to tell us a little bit about her:
BHS: Please tell us your connection with diabetes?
LC: I have type 2 diabetes, and most of my family has it, including my husband and my brother. My father passed away from type 2 diabetes complications.
BHS: What general geographic location do you reside?
LC: Northern Midwest -- Central Iowa.
BHS: What blue shoe (Heel, sneaker, riding shoe, etc.) suits you & Why?
LC: I love blue sandals/Summer shoes, because I'm an island girl. Born and raised in Puerto Rico.
BHS: What does advocacy mean to you?
LC: Advocacy to me is that moment when we decide that the pain of remaining quiet is greater than the pain of speaking out -- when it doesn't matter what the world will think of us for standing up for our lives and our truth. Advocacy is standing up and taking action for change -- when we'd rather not rock the boat. But advocacy is also when we quietly help those we've never met because their journey is our own.
BHS: Words of wisdom/encouraging statement/general statement about diabetes?
LC: "Diabetes is a journey in self awareness, self validation, and the realization that yes, I am a breathing, thinking part of this universe, and my actions will impact my fate."
Liz will be gracing us for the NEW 'Type 2 Tuesday Feature article in our eMagazing.
Lizmari M. Collazo is a person living with type 2 diabetes. She was diagnosed in 2009, after a couple of years of escalating symptoms, and the loss of her professional job in Human Resources.
Sobered by the reality of her diagnosis, and her late father’s battle with the disease, she immediately took to the internet to learn as much as she could about the condition. Today, she is a much healthier person, and dedicates her time to help advocate and educate about this disease. She is a Stanford University’s Medicine X ePatient Scholar (a community of patients, along with medicine professionals and innovators, who convene every year to discuss the future of healthcare and technology), and she administrates a Facebook group called “Living with Diabetes.” You can read her various musings at her personal blog, The Angry Type 2 Diabetic.
