I'm a Registered Nurse, with a BSN, MSN/MS, and MPH.  Soon after graduating from high school, I attended a 3-year Nursing diploma program at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, IL. After raising a family, I returned to school to receive a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing (BSN) followed by a Master's of Science in Nursing (MSN) and a Master's in Health Education (MS) in a combined program where I put in an extra year and wrote a thesis. A few years later, I received a Master's of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Illinois (Chicago) School of Public Health, with a final paper on The History of Mastectomy.

My extensive education introduced me to the world of chronic disease. From this start and from clinical work with patients subjected to chronic disease, I chose to focus on diabetes.

After receiving my RN Degree early in my career, I worked in hospitals and with the Visiting Nurses Association of Chicago. After then raising a family and going back to school to receive my graduate degrees, I taught high school health, and worked at the American Hospital Association, for the American Cancer Society, and at Illinois Tool Works. Later in my career, I taught for 13 years as an adjunct professor at the College of Lake County in Illinois, with courses on anatomy and physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology and medical terminology. I was  mid-career and working on my Master's in Public Health when I decided to specialize in diabetes self-management education. 

I have written for publications including  the Senior Voice and an ongoing series of articles entitled Project Sugar. I presented The Politics of Health in a radio show and at the bottom of the page, you can find links to some of those radio shows, as well as PDFs of some of my Project Sugar publications.

I raised a family while earning my degrees and have the ongoing support of my adult children as I continue my career and passion of prediabetes and diabetes self management education. 

Today I am a member of the American Association of Diabetes Educators and am a freelance educator of prediabetes and diabetes self management. I offer consultations and health coaching to individuals, and provide workshops to senior centers, libraries, churches, colleges, women’s and men’s groups and at pharmacies.

I maintain my IL and FL nursing licenses and founded Teaching for Health to put my experience and knowledge to use, helping others learn about pre-diabetes and diabetes prevention. I currently live in FL (area of Florida) and in IL.  I offer individualized coaching, as well as group workshops on diabetes prevention and Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME). 

For more information about my approach to diabetes education, visit the My Services page.