Twelve years ago, a routine doctor’s appointment changed my life. Lab work showed elevated blood sugar, and I was initially diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. A few years later, antibody testing revealed that I was actually living with Type 1 diabetes.

After a couple of years managing diabetes with multiple daily injections, I transitioned to insulin pump therapy—first with the Animas Ping and later with the original Tandem t:slim X2.

As a home furnishings designer by profession, I’m accustomed to thinking about how good design can make everyday life more beautiful, functional and comfortable. It didn’t take long for me to realize that sleeping with an insulin pump presented a surprisingly simple design problem: there was nothing I wanted to wear that could comfortably hold my pump while still allowing me to easily access and check it during the night.

So I started experimenting.

I took a favorite pair of sleep boxers, added a pocket with a simple button closure—and suddenly, my pump had a comfortable place to go. It was a small change that made a meaningful difference.

That first homemade pair became the beginning of StoWELL.

Over the next few years, I continued refining the idea: adjusting the placement and proportions of the pocket, experimenting with contrasting fabrics and patterns, perfecting the fit, and eventually adding a simple loop at the waistband to help guide and manage pump tubing.

Friends and family kept encouraging me to turn the idea into a product, but StoWELL truly began to take shape after a conversation with my dear friend Lousine.

Together, we shared a larger vision: to create thoughtfully designed clothing for people who live with medical technology—clothing that considers their medical needs without allowing those needs to define how they dress or how they see themselves.

We believe that whether someone is navigating a temporary medical challenge or living with a chronic condition, they deserve clothing that provides dignity, comfort and a sense of individual style.

Living with a medical condition can bring uncertainty, frustration and plenty of unexpected challenges. We can’t take all of those away.

But if thoughtful design can make one small part of the day—or night—a little more comfortable, a little easier and a little more like yourself, then StoWELL is doing exactly what we created it to do.

I’ve always wanted to help people heal. My medical residency taught me how to be a doctor, but my patients taught me what it truly means to care for someone.

Over the years, I came to understand that successful treatment extends far beyond a diagnosis, procedure or prescription. How someone feels about themselves—and how confidently and comfortably they can return to everyday life—is an important part of the healing journey.

I saw this firsthand with patients adjusting to medical devices such as PICC lines and chemotherapy ports. After receiving a life-changing diagnosis, they would leave the hospital with questions that had little to do with the medicine itself:

“What kind of clothing can I wear now that I have this device?”

“I have a wedding next week. What am I going to wear?”

“How do I shower—or even sleep—with all of this tubing?”

These may sound like everyday concerns, but to someone navigating a serious medical condition, they can feel anything but ordinary.

As medical professionals, we naturally focus on treating the illness in front of us. But our patients eventually leave the hospital and return to their homes, families, jobs and lives. I began thinking more deeply about what happens then. How do we help someone feel comfortable leaving the house again? Getting dressed? Going to a wedding? Sleeping through the night? Simply feeling like themselves?

I even encountered patients who were hesitant to use PICC lines or chemotherapy ports because they were anxious about living with a catheter and how it might affect their daily lives. It reinforced something I had come to believe strongly: the experience of living with medical treatment matters, too.

Michael and I have been friends for many years. When he shared his experience of living with Type 1 diabetes—and the simple sleeping shorts he had created to make living with an insulin pump more comfortable—I immediately understood the larger idea behind it.

Our experiences came from two different perspectives: mine as a physician caring for patients and Michael’s as both a designer and someone living with medical technology. Together, they became the foundation for StoWELL.

We created StoWELL with a shared belief that medical clothing can be functional without feeling clinical. It can provide access and comfort while still expressing personality and individual style.

Because medical technology may become part of your life. It doesn’t have to define how you live it.