Real User Stories
World-travelling Warrior encourages others to #DiscoverWithDexcom
Jan. 22, 2025 • 5 min read
Few have seen as much of the world as Amy Hsieh. A native of Taiwan, she grew up in Vancouver, Canada, and now lives in California, where she works as a product designer. When not at her desk, the 31-year-old spends as much time as possible travelling the world to broaden her horizons, try new foods and reconnect with family in Asia.
Her overseas excursions are all memorable, but one trip abroad turned out to be the most life-changing.
While visiting family in Taiwan in December 2018, Amy began to experience extreme thirst and hunger, frequent trips to the bathroom, and weight loss. She went to the hospital and was diagnosed with Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA), Type 1 diabetes and pneumonia. She spent a week in the hospital stabilizing, then another six months in Taiwan recovering and coming to grips with
her condition.
“We have no family history of diabetes, and I didn't
know these were the symptoms,” she said. “It was unbelievable, just a total shock for everyone.”
First came the physical challenges of learning to fingerstick and give herself doses of insulin. The doctors in Taiwan weren’t as helpful as they could be, giving only basic instructions on insulin dosing. Then came the mental hurdles of starting her journey living with type 1 diabetes.
“The diagnosis affected me more on the mental side than the physical side,” she said. “Even though everything was overwhelming with learning to manage the glucose, pricking my finger and the insulin injections were a lot easier than the mental part. Nobody around me has diabetes, so not having anyone who knew what it's like to have Type 1 made me feel very alone.”
Inspired to become a Warrior
She took a semester off from graduate school at the University of Southern California to focus on her health before returning to the United States. She saw a doctor, who prescribed the Dexcom G6 Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) system and immediately saw a positive impact.
“It definitely made things so much easier,” Amy said. “It reduced a lot of my stress and anxiety about managing, like having to check my glucose levels and not knowing my levels. But I feel the main difference was that before Dexcom CGM, my diet felt a lot more restricted. After using Dexcom I feel like, because I can watch my numbers in real time, I have more freedom to experiment with a lot more different types of food and can just glance at the numbers after meals. And since I travel
a lot, it’s been a game-changer, since I can watch my numbers all the time.”
She now uses Dexcom G7.
“I definitely like the faster warm-up time and the
12-hour grace period,” Amy said. “I also love the size
of the Dexcom G7. It’s more comfortable to wear.”
Amy also decided to get active in the diabetes community, spreading the word about CGM and how her life has changed. While still at USC, she started a student project to create a Type 1-themed social media app called MyDiabuddies, which connects people with diabetes as a virtual support group.
“One piece of advice I’d give to someone newly diagnosed is that it’s important to have a strong support system,” she said. “Surround yourself with friends, family or other people with diabetes who understand your condition and can offer emotional support.”
She then launched type1amy on Instagram, where she offers diabetes management tips, shows how she applies her Dexcom G7 and uses it while exercising, offers encouragement to others when the management stresses become tough, and fights the stigma around the condition.
Changing perceptions of what’s possible
Every Nov. 14, people and organizations around the world mark World Diabetes Day and Americans recognize National Diabetes Awareness Month (NDAM). In 2023, Dexcom sent Amy and a group of other Warriors to New York for the #SeeDiabetes campaign,
in which Amy played an active role spreading awareness. For 2024, she’s filmed a video as part of our new #DiscoverwithDexcom campaign to encourage those living with diabetes to set health goals, stay consistent with them and remain motivated. She’s helping inspire the diabetes community to change perceptions of what’s possible and to Discover what you’re made of
with Dexcom.
Amy is already active in yoga and Pilates, but she has set a new goal of lifting weights once a week to build more muscle and help keep her numbers steady. She also mentioned she wouldn’t mind making progress on a “bikini body.”
“I guess I look better at a certain number,” she said. “And I really like to do workouts the first thing in the morning, because that really helps with my glucose level control during the day. Just being consistent with working out every morning, it becomes a habit for me. I set the goal, and it becomes a lifestyle change.”
Amy finds consistency by remembering how much better she feels when she sticks to her goals.
“Just wanting to manage diabetes better helps me stay consistent,” she said. “Knowing exercise will have that awesome impact on how my body is behaving and how I feel helps me stay consistent. Also knowing it’s going to reduce my stress during the day really helps.”
And she stays motivated by remembering her fateful trip to Taiwan in 2018.
“That stay in the hospital was so traumatizing,” she said. “So that's my motivation to stay on top of my health.
I don't ever want to experience DKA again.”
Participating in the #DiscoverWithDexcom campaign to spread awareness is her opportunity to help others set goals, stay consistent and get motivated.
“It's very important for me to inspire other people with diabetes because I've been through being diagnosed and all the stress after,” Amy said. “After struggling at first with my diabetes diagnosis, I learned acceptance is sometimes the only way to move on with life. Living with diabetes can be very tough, but there are many positive things that came out of it, like learning to become the most resilient, strong and healthiest version of myself with Dexcom CGM. It's important for me to inspire other people so they know that they can also move forward while living
with diabetes.”
Embracing life’s journey
Resiliency is the biggest lesson she wishes to impart in the #DiscoverWithDexcom campaign.
“There are a lot of days when your glucose doesn't cooperate,” Amy said. “Despite the effort to keep numbers in range, you have to learn to persevere through the setbacks and not let frustration or discouragement take over. Being resilient has been very important for me, maintaining a positive mindset and celebrating the small victories. Diabetes is kind of like a marathon, not a sprint, so you can go at your own pace because life is a journey.”
As for her life’s journey, Amy’s A1C is holding steady at 5.5% thanks in part to staying on top of diabetes management with Dexcom G7 and an active lifestyle. She now plans another trip to see family in Taiwan and then onto Japan to explore its rich history and culture, including the food.
“I’m going to try a lot of different foods, and I know I’ll figure out how to bolus correctly,” she said.
Get started on Dexcom G7
BRIEF SAFETY STATEMENT: Failure to use the Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitoring System and its components according to the instructions for use provided with your device and available at https://www.dexcom.com/safety-information and to properly consider all indications, contraindications, warnings, precautions, and cautions in those instructions for use may result in you missing a severe hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) or hyperglycemia (high blood glucose) occurrence and/or making a treatment decision that may result in injury. If your glucose alerts and readings from the Dexcom CGM do not match symptoms, use a blood glucose meter to make diabetes treatment decisions. Seek medical advice and attention when appropriate, including for any medical emergency.