When Gentry Simpson woke up in a hospital bed at Stillwater Medical Center, she had no idea how she’d gotten there. But she did know the course of her life would now be forever changed.
Just days before, she was unaware she had Type 1 diabetes. Now, as she woke up, she was informed she had gone into diabetic ketoacidosis – a term she had never heard of before.
“Back in October 2024, I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. I had no idea I had it, but I was feeling all the symptoms,” Gentry said. “And then one day I went into diabetic ketoacidosis and woke up two days later in the hospital at Stillwater Medical Center.”
Ben Simpson, Gentry’s then-fiancé and now husband, found her unresponsive and immediately called her mom, Gretchen Landers. The two rushed to the emergency department at Stillwater Medical, not knowing what to expect.
“I had never been to Stillwater Medical before,” Gentry said.
“Not having had an experience with doctors here before was a little nerve-racking as a mom,” Gretchen said. “I didn’t know if there would be a doctor who has the expertise to treat my daughter. But he came in and immediately put us at ease. He was very knowledgeable about what she was going through.”
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition where the body can no longer produce insulin—a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar. Without insulin, blood sugar rises to dangerous levels, and if untreated, it can lead to a serious complication called diabetic ketoacidosis, or DKA. During DKA, the body begins to shut down, and it can become life-threatening very quickly. If left untreated, it can result in coma or even death.
Life after a Type 1 diabetes diagnosis requires daily monitoring. Since the body no longer produces insulin on its own, people with Type 1 must carefully monitor their blood sugar levels throughout the day and administer insulin through injections or an insulin pump. Every meal, exercise, illness or even stress can impact blood sugar, so remaining ahead of these changes is a daily occurrence. With planning, constant awareness and listening to one’s body, Type 1 is manageable, but a significant change in lifestyle.
Yet, in the midst of all the medical procedures, one nurse took time for something even more important — connection. Gentry had been extensively taught the medical side of her new condition and how to manage her Type 1 diabetes, but one nurse went even further.
“A nurse came in and sat on my bed,” Gentry said. “She took the time to check in on me emotionally. She had diabetes, too, and was going through the same things I would be. That was very, very special.
“But, I mean, all the nurses were so amazing,” Gentry added. “I think back to all the advice and tips nurses at Stillwater Medical told me all the time.”
The guidance from nurses was a relief for Gentry. For Gretchen, it was the attentiveness and speed of the nursing staff that helped ease her stress, especially the small details Stillwater Medical excelled in.
“From a mom’s point of view, this allowed me to just concentrate on my daughter and what she needed. I wasn’t worried about anything else,” she said.
One of those small details turned out to be a big help: the hospital menu. “It had helpful tips on what I could eat,” Gentry said. “They even let me take it home. I feel like I can look at food now using what I learned from that system.”
Now, Gentry is adjusting to her new normal. In May, she graduated from Oklahoma State University, married Ben and moved to Tulsa to begin a new chapter in her life and health.
“It was one of the weirdest feelings ever to wake up, and your whole life just changes,” she said. “Everything I knew about how I lived my life is now different.”
But thanks to the care and support she received at Stillwater Medical, she and her mother feel confident about what lies ahead.
“They truly got us through,” said Gretchen. “When you go through something like that, and you worry for the worst, to be surrounded by people who are taking care of you—and taking care of me, too—was just such a blessing.”
