A Chat with Alexis of the Blue Heel Society

Hi! My name is Alexis Newell, I am from Brooklyn, New York originally, but I currently live in Las Vegas, Nevada. I am a fulltime working mama and wife. I love all things fashion, and music. I am completely devoted to spreading awareness and advocating for the Diabetes community and for everyone living with the disease. I am beyond thrilled and honored to be “here” to chat with you Mike!

I actually have multiple connections to Diabetes.

I am a D mama (woot woot!) of a 9 year old with Type 1 Diabetes. My son, Justice, who is my personal superhero, was diagnosed just a few days after turning 6. He was in DKA, and had what’s called sudden onset Type 1. He went from no symptoms to symptoms and DKA in 72 hours. That is when I became a strong advocate for Type 1 diabetes. I started blogging, tweeting and working with JDRF about a year later. I knew from day 1 it was meant for me to be his mother and him my son. My job is to be his pancreas day in and day out, and to advocate for him whenever necessary.

My grandmother was diagnosed with Type 2 when I was 10 years old. It was later realized that she was a type 1. That was my first experience with carbs, shots, BG checks, etc.

In 2010, my husband was diagnosed with type 2, and just a year later my father.

I had a realization that Type 2 needed awareness and advocacy as well. Sadly diabetes is one of the few diseases where the patient is blamed and ridiculed, especially Type 2.  Diabetes seems to be my calling, in every sense. And I am so in love with the community we have; we are truly blessed.

Thank you for asking about The Blue Heel Society. We are an advocacy organization designed to focus the spotlight on people who live with or care for a person diagnosed with diabetes. We chose our symbol, The Blue Heel, because we thought that the heel represented what a person living with diabetes, either Type 1 or 2, LADA, gestational….1.5, whichever, must look like to the outside world. The shoe…is just beautiful.

The representation is, that our heels cause pain, discomfort, and a host of other issues not always made visible. We chose the heel as a way of saying people with diabetes do look perfectly fine on the outside. That doesn’t mean a silent war isn’t raging on the inside…and it wasn’t a choice. We can take the proverbial heel off….they can’t. So we agreed that the heel represented our allegiance to promoting awareness and advocacy and helping to ultimately find a cure. And who doesn’t speak “shoe”??

Our hope, with our Society, is to accomplish several goals. Number one on the list is to use the inclusive simplicity of wearing blue shoes to further diabetes advocacy. We intend to foster awareness about the daily difficulties all persons living with diabetes and their caregivers are faced with, including financial and emotional tolls, and use our meet up campaigns…our “Shoe-ins” as a way for people to connect, network, and show support for each other all while uniformly working toward the same goal. It’s inclusive, fun, and it’s an easy way to show love and support without any financial or time commitments. You simply wear a blue shoe. We hope that in doing so, our efforts are one day recognizable world wide. If you see a person wearing the blue shoe, you immediately think Diabetes Awareness and Advocacy. Much like several ribbon campaigns which use a specific color to define who they are advocating so eloquently for and foundations that use sneakers or blue circles…..we all have the same goal. We want a cure for all people living with diabetes.