Real User Stories
Dance teacher, Warrior Mason Bettis finds her groove with Dexcom G7
Published: Oct. 17, 2025
Updated: Oct. 29, 2025
7 min read
The New York Times bestselling author Chris Rose once described Louisianians as people who “talk too much, laugh too loud, live too large” and “dance even if there's no radio.”
He could have had Dexcom Warrior and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native Mason Bettis in mind when he penned those complimentary words.
The 27-year-old has been a whirling dervish since she was a toddler, with dancing as her passion and focus ever since. Mason owns and teaches dance at Evolve 26, a studio inspired in part by her mother’s words of encouragement to her: “Believe in yourself.”
For more than 14 years, she has choreographed and taught others to move their bodies as a form of expression and connection.
“When I teach, I tell my girls that when we dance, people will remember you on stage by how you made them feel,” she said. “If you can find an emotional connection with what you're doing, whether it's a happy feeling or a sad feeling or whatever, people will connect with the emotion you give because it's human. Whenever I’m dancing on stage, I don’t think about putting on a fake face. I just naturally smile, that emotion just comes out and I feel like that’s what makes people connect with me.”
Her preferred styles are jazz and contemporary.
“Dance is a form of therapy for me where I don’t have to use words – it’s just the music and feelings, and it feels good,” Mason said. “I love to mentor kids and be the coach and mentor I wish I would have had when I was younger. I've taught some kids who've gone to California to pursue back-up dancing in the industry and others who have danced collegiately at universities, such as LSU, Ole Miss, and UNLV, to name a few. I love to help guide my students and bring them to whatever paths they want to take and goals they set.”
For most, the paths in life are rarely easy or predictable, which she learned when she was diagnosed at age 12 with Type 1 diabetes.
Disconnection on the dancefloor
During her diagnosis, she saw her doctor’s surprised expression and felt “freaked out” and overwhelmed by the classes she was about to take to learn how to manage the condition. Then came some adjustments.
“I know this sounds bad, but I was used to eating whatever I wanted, and Cosmic Brownies and Pop-Tarts were like my best friends,” she said. “Then my mom became stricter, and I just felt very restricted, honestly.”
Her path with diabetes soon tripped her up yet again. After four years of best efforts to manage her Type 1, doctors realized she was insulin resistant and actually had Type 1.5 diabetes. Also known as latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA), Type 1.5 is a condition where the body attacks its own insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, but the process happens more slowly than in Type 1.
The accurate diagnosis helped, but the condition’s impact remained. The connections she felt through dance sometimes weakened.
“With the sense of connection I got from dancing, I struggled because people around me didn't understand what was going on,” she said. “My glucose would drop, and I'd have to sit out and eat a snack or drink a juice. It would eat me alive having to sit out, unable to be physical, do our workouts or do our rehearsals or classes. And I always felt alone having to sit out when no one understood and thought I didn’t want to do the work.”
When she was 15, she got her first Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) system, realized it made diabetes management easier, and she began to find her rhythm again.
“Owning the studio is a lot, and I do more than just teach,” Mason said. “I have to run the business, social media and all the other things. So, if I had to stop and prick my finger all the time, it would just be such a hassle. Thankfully, I have [glucose readings] on my phone, and the Dexcom G7 also alerts me if I'm going low or rising and I need to take more insulin. It’s always making noise to let me know, and that has been so helpful.”
Being a dancer requires grace, skill and athleticism. While pushing her body to contort, twist and turn, she cannot have a CGM hindering her movements.
“The G7 is so comfortable that I forget it’s there half the time,” she said. “I know that with other devices, they've gotten like hooked on my clothes, or I’ve felt like they were in the way. Truly, the Dexcom G7 is easy and I can move around, do whatever dance moves I want, and it's never gotten in my way.”
“I would say my number one favorite is that my boyfriend can closely follow my numbers, because he’s usually with me and it alerts him if my glucose is low while I’m taking a nap or something,” she said. “He knows I need to have a juice and will go get it. Or when I’m at work and I go low, he’ll text me to alert me. It makes me feel less alone.”
The G7 alerts have also brought more empathy from those around her, and she no longer feels others judge her for taking a health break.
“Now, when my sensor goes off, the kids I teach know what that sound means and they'll be like, ‘OK, like she has to get some orange juice for a second,’” Mason said. “And they're no longer wondering, ’Why is our teacher going out of the room right now or having to sit down for a second and drink a juice?’ I feel like other people around me now understand better what's going on.”
Managing her Type 1.5 diabetes with Dexcom G7 CGM has had a profound impact on her numbers.
“My A1C was pretty bad for a while,” Mason said. “At one point, it was in the 12s and 13s. Now, it’s at 8% and the best I ever had was 7%‡, so the G7 has truly helped. In the past, I struggled with having almost a resentment toward my diabetes and it was hard for me to accept it. Now, I’ve become more accepting.”
Reconnection with Dexcom
Physical health and mental health go together like well-matched dance partners. So, while working on her diabetes management and physical health, she has also focused on her mental health and finding connection in the diabetes community.
She recently participated in a trip to New York, where she mingled with other Dexcom Warriors, went to the Broadway show “The Last Five Years” and afterward spent some time with the show’s star Nick Jonas, also a Dexcom Warrior.
“Most of the other Warriors were also performers, so it was awesome to hear them talking about their different experiences and how Dexcom G7 makes things easier with their performing, rehearsing and things like that,” Mason said. “Nick Jonas answered our questions, and I remember he told us the reason he feels he doesn't have to prove his work ethic is because he knows he has to work harder than most people around him just because of his diabetes.”
Connecting with Jonas made a lasting impression.
“Hearing what he said was really cool because I had a coach whom I looked up to when I was younger tell me, ‘With your diabetes, no one's ever going to want to hire you because there's always going to be someone healthier.’ So, hearing that answer from Nick Jonas was really encouraging and inspiring to me.”
Like her aptly named Evolve 26 studio just a few miles east of LSU, Mason spent the past year continuing to grow, progress, and transform in her life, work, and diabetes management. This summer, she and her Evolve 26 team competed at a national event in Orlando, Florida—a milestone that showcased their dedication and talent. As the season turned, Mason enjoyed cheering at football games in Tiger Stadium and embraced the opportunity to coach more aspiring collegiate dance team members and back-up dancers, further cementing her role as a mentor and leader.
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*Compared to previous Dexcom CGM systems. †Separate Dexcom Follow app and internet connection required. Internet connectivity required for data sharing. Users should always confirm readings on the Dexcom G7 app or receiver before making treatment decisions. ‡Individual results may vary.
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.
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