Eric Dutcher is one of the super athletes of the diabetes world. He even calls himself Chronic Superhuman on social media! But he spent years years thinking diabetes meant that he shouldn't be active, and he admits he got pretty low. Eric shares how he found his way to a brighter - and incredibly active - future.
He's now a big part of the Diabetes Sports Project and is training for an Ironman race later this year.
More in this episode on Spare a Rose - marking 8 years of saving lives around the world.
Check out Stacey's book: The World's Worst Diabetes Mom!
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Episode Transcription (beta)
Stacey Simms 0:00
Diabetes Connections is brought to you by Dario Health manage your blood glucose levels, increase your possibilities by Gvoke Hypopen the first premixed auto injector for very low blood sugar, and by Dexcom take control of your diabetes and live life to the fullest with Dexcom.
Announcer 0:22
This is Diabetes Connections with Stacey Simms.
Stacey Simms 0:28
This week talking to one of the super athletes of the diabetes world. He even calls himself chronic superhuman on social media. But Eric Dutcher spent years thinking diabetes and activity couldn't go together. So much so that when he decided to finally try something new, he was surprised to see it had been done.
Eric Dutcher 0:49
I searched around and I found one person who had blogged about doing a tough mudder and how he prepared to it. And I kind of said, Well, I guess if he did it, I can't. And as it turns out, it ended up being a super exciting experience, because also on my team was another type one diabetic who had done tough mudders before.
Stacey Simms 1:12
Eric explains what changed how he went from more than a decade of really struggling with type one to now inspiring others. We talk about his involvement in the diabetes sports project
In innovations. This week, spare arose marking eight years of saving lives around the world. This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider.
Welcome to another week of the show, I am always so glad to have you. Here I am your host, Stacey Simms. And we aim to educate and inspire by sharing stories of connection with a focus on people who use insulin. My son Benny was diagnosed 14 years ago, just before he turned to my husband lives with type two diabetes. I don't have any kind of diabetes, but I have a background in broadcasting. And that's how you get this podcast.
You know, this year, I had talked a lot about a focus on technology, not to the expense of stories like the one today and talking to people in the community. But I had planned on sharing a few more technology interviews by this point, it just turned out that a few of the companies needed to reschedule we've moved things around. So I am keeping that promise you will hear from the folks at beta bionics, I have an interview setup with tide pool, we're going to talk about a new vaccine study, I have also reached out to several other companies, you'd be familiar with their names. And we're just in the process of setting things up. So I will make good on that promise. There is so much technology that frankly got pushed off because of COVID clinical trials were delayed, FDA approvals were delayed. So this is going to be a really big year for a lot of new possibilities. And I want to make sure we are on top of them. So just a little follow up to know that I have not forgotten. I also want to share with you.
And this has nothing to do with diabetes. I have another big project that's been going on. I've talked about this at the end of a couple of episodes recently. And if you follow me on social media, you've certainly seen it that I have added a brand new project. I am helping people with their podcasts. And it's a wonderful new project. But I gotta tell you setting all this up. It's been like having a full time job while also doing this podcast. And I never want this podcast to suffer. I love doing it so much. And I want to deliver great quality to you as you listen. But just an acknowledgement that if I haven't been on social media quite as much, man setting up I have webinars this week as you listen as this episode goes live, lots of stuff going on so you can follow me. I'll be posting about it on social media trying not to let it take over everything. But it is kicking my butt and I want to be honest about but I'm really excited about that. It's been so much fun. Don't you love trying something new every once in a while.
All right. We're going to talk to Eric Dutcher in just a moment. But first Diabetes Connections is brought to you by Gvoke Hypopen, and almost everyone who takes insulin has experienced a low blood sugar and that can be scary. A very low blood sugar is really scary. That's where Gvoke Hypopen comes in. Gvoke is the first auto injector to treat a very low blood sugar Gvoke Hypopen is pre mixed, it's ready to go with no visible needle and that means it's easy to use. How easy is it you pull off the red cap, push the yellow end onto bare skin and hold it for five seconds. That's it. Find out more go to Diabetes connections.com and click on the Gvoke logo. gvoke shouldn't be used in patients with pheochromocytoma or insulinoma. Visit gvoke glucagon.com slash risk.
My guest this week is an extremely accomplished athlete who is always on the lookout for what he can do next. He's currently training for an Ironman race COVID permitting later this spring and as you will hear he really enjoys the extreme stuff, but it wasn't always that way. When Eric Dutcher was diagnosed with type one at age 26 he basically stopped all activity. Now he hadn't been an extreme athlete before diabetes, but he really had the idea somehow that any activity was off the books. It's hard to believe that's the same guy now calling himself chronic superhuman on social media, and who is now a big part of the diabetes sports project. I am so glad he decided to share his story, the good and the not so good with all of us. Eric, thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate you making the time to talk to me and the listeners today.
Eric Dutcher 5:28
Thanks, Stacey. I'm so excited to be here.
Stacey Simms 5:30
Let's just start out by laying it out there, you had a very difficult diagnosis story, you were in your mid 20s.
Eric Dutcher 5:37
Yeah, I was 26. And early on in my career, really kind of chasing life through work, and a new marriage that was not healthy. And added to this a very, very difficult diagnosis of diabetes, something I had never been exposed to and never even heard of.
Stacey Simms 6:02
Did your diagnosis go? Okay. In other words, did the doctor know what you have? Did they send you home knowing you had type one? Or was there misunderstanding because I talked to so many people as adults who are told that they have type two?
Eric Dutcher 6:14
Yeah, no, it was a pretty clear type one diagnosis. Back then I probably weighed in at close to 140, which is about 20 pounds less than where I am today. I had really become a macerated. You know, I had the frequent urination, I had the constant hunger, and honestly, that I can remember these moments of just intense pain where I was at a place that I just needed to either eat or drink or Kopi. And I just couldn't at that moment. And it there was physical pain associated with it. But I didn't really understand why
Stacey Simms 6:59
when I said your diagnosis was difficult, I probably should have been more clear. It doesn't sound like your doctor appointment was all that tough. But it does sound like from what I've read and heard you speak about that afterward, your life really took a turn. Can you talk about what happened after?
Eric Dutcher 7:15
Yeah, I think what gets missed a lot, I think with a diabetes diagnosis is that there is a huge loss. And for me, I didn't recognize it. I knew something major had happened to me. And I didn't understand it. But I really started going inward. And in a dark way. I felt like now I wasn't sure what I could do anymore. I already felt belittled, and where I was, and so this made me feel even weaker. And it really spent about a decade just kind of almost afraid to get off the couch. Anything athletic was completely out of the question, connecting with others I didn't know who to connect to I was really isolated. And I do remember, I mean, this was early days of the internet, but one of the first things that I did was, you know, I thought I was gonna die. And I thought I was gonna die soon. And so I was googling to see, you know, how long do you live with diabetes? It was a major concern for me.
Stacey Simms 8:22
I can't imagine you found anything encouraging at that time. I've had Carrie Sparling famously talks about googling diabetes in the early 2000s. And seen nothing but terrifying numbers and awful stories.
Eric Dutcher 8:34
Yeah, I think it was funny that the one thing that I did find that I really kind of took solace in, even though you know, I trust me 10 years of being in a low mood situation, and my father passing away shortly after my diagnosis, and not really being able to be with the family mentally for that whole process. It was really, really hard. But the one solace that I did take was, you know, I found an article about Mary Tyler Moore, and really just, you know, this story that she shared of her driving around in our car with a box of glazed donuts and just crying her eyes out. And that, I guess, sincerity and knowing it from a celebrity and really being able to recognize that, hey, this is painful for other people, too, was the little comfort that I had in that time.
Stacey Simms 9:31
You never know when you tell your story, who's gonna find it when they need it.
Eric Dutcher 9:36
That's great. That's very true. And I think that's, for me, that's one of the most important messages I put out there today is like, I really encourage anyone that is diabetic or goes through a diabetes diagnosis, to just spend a moment to write your story down because your story matters. And a lot of people think, well, what's going to be good about my story, but the thing is we now know, what about our story is going to connect with someone, and it's going to be important to somebody. So we all should share our story.
Unknown Speaker 10:08
When did things start getting better for you? What changed?
Eric Dutcher 10:11
Well, I kind of had to hit rock bottom. And I did. And through that rock bottom process, I really decided that in what rock bottom for me was, I finally realized that I wasn't who I had been before, you know, I was always described as Tigger by my parents, you know, I bounced around, I couldn't sit still in my chair at school, I was always full of joy and energy. And, you know, I was the type of person that had friends that really didn't seem like they would go together. But I enjoyed being with all of them. And I was a crazy kid that would try to get people that had nothing in common all together for one big party. And I woke up one day, and I realized that my ability to see that beauty and everyone around me was no longer there. And I was defaulting to what I was hearing a lot from the toxic relationship that I was in. And I was starting to be really critical of others. And I just kind of said, you know, this is not me. And I wanted to go running back to who I was. So I started reconnecting more with my family, I started reconnecting with my faith, and specifically looking for people that shared my faith. And through that process, I had a co worker years back that I always admired and thought, you know, this person is really strong in their faith and probably is connected into a good church and reconnected with her and, and that's now my wife, Heather, and choose a big part of really pulling me out of that darkness, but not in a way that I was forced out of it. But really, by just sitting with me and helping me see the light that drew me for
Stacey Simms 12:12
you. It's interesting. When I and you mentioned rock bottom, I assumed you're going to say you were hospitalized with you know, DK or something, you know, you wanted to do something and couldn't make the event or Oh, yeah, it was interesting. And maybe I misinterpreted. But it's interesting to hear you speak about it more in you realized that things were just missing from your life. Am I correct? And kind of how I'm interpreting what you mean by rock bottom?
Right back to Eric answering that question. But first Diabetes Connections is brought to you by Dario And you know, over the years, I find we manage diabetes better when we're thinking less about all the stuff of diabetes tasks, you know what I mean? That's why I love partnering with people who take the load off on things like ordering supplies, so I can really focus on Benny, the Daario diabetes success plan is all about you. All the strips and lancets you need delivered to your door, one on one coaching so you can meet your milestones, weekly insights into your trends with suggestions for how to succeed, get the diabetes management plan that works with you and for you. Dario has published Studies demonstrate high impact clinical results, find out more go to my dario.com forward slash Diabetes Connections. Now back to Eric talking about what hitting rock bottom with diabetes meant for him.
Eric Dutcher 13:35
Yeah, no. And it's funny people think of rock bottom as being something that has to be something physical or it has to be a specific point in time. And to me rock bottom is really just where you hit your lowest and you finally realize, wow, I'm no longer who I was.
Stacey Simms 13:53
You mentioned in one of the pieces that I've read that you spent a decade afraid of athletic events, as you've mentioned, until you caught the obstacle course running fever. Now I gotta tell you, I'm a mildly active person. I have never caught any kind of activity fever in my life. Tell me what that means to you. Why did you get excited and interested in what led to extreme sports from somebody who said you know, basically pickup basketball level?
Eric Dutcher 14:24
Yeah, well, I guess I could go back to my roots and preschool we used to have a mud day and you would make mud pies and you know, you would get your clothes all muddy. And I've just discovered that I'm an adult that believes other adults should play in the mud every once in a while. And you know, my wife and I took on a it was a race called a survivor race and it was a very small I think it may have been a five k may have been a three K and I'm not quite sure and you know, the fire jumped She had to do on it was basically a log that somebody had pulled out of a fireplace it kind of looked like
Stacey Simms 15:05
this race. I should I should find out what they do in this area I could I could train for three k with a jump over a log
Eric Dutcher 15:11
that's like an array. Yes, yes, it's a perfect gateway drug obstacle course racing. Yeah, so it was a small race. But by the end of it, and every time you went through a certain obstacle, when you get to the end of it, you feel like you've accomplished something, it's tangible. You've had parts in there that were more difficult. And that's really kind of the bug that got me was, you know, I'm a Dewar, I'm an accomplished her to a fault. And at the end of this, I felt like I had really accomplished something. And so once I'd done something small, I immediately took the opportunity to step in and do a tough mudder, which was much more difficult. And really going through that journey. Like, the first tough mudder. I did, I went back to Google, and I searched around and I found one person who had blogged about doing a tough mudder and how he prepared to it. And I kind of said, Well, I guess if he did it, I can't and as it turns out, it ended up being a super exciting experience, because also on my team was another type one diabetic who had done tough matters before, and a guy that had had a heart transplant. So you know, the joke is that, you know, we were the the medically special team, and we had the the medic crew all hanging around behind us just waiting for us to drop. And probably the funniest moment is a tough mudder has this thing called electroshock therapy at the end of it, which sounds completely awful. But it's basically you run through some dangling wires, and some of them are live and some of them are not. And it's just enough to where it's like ow that hurt and can cause you to trip. But wait, we had, you're making
Stacey Simms 17:08
that up, that you go from the little fireplace log to like a live wire zap. And this is fun. This happens.
Eric Dutcher 17:16
Yeah. And it is great, because you'll see, you know, there's tons of different tactics, people, I could kind of geek out about this, just because it is very unique in the obstacle racing space that you know, you got people that kind of go try to go under the wires or try to go around the wires and then tough mudder is really smart. And they make the wires a little bit longer at the end. So when you if you have been knocked down and you're in the muddy water down at the end crawling through, you're going to get zapped a couple more times. But what was funny about that first experience was we get to the end, you're between electroshock therapy and the finish line. And every with tough mudder. It's all about teamwork and challenging yourself so you can skip any obstacle that you want. But we literally had to talk the guy with the heart transplant off of going through electroshock therapy, but it was just kind of this bonding moment where you know, we had gone through everything together. And so Gosh, darn it, we were gonna go through this one too.
Stacey Simms 18:18
He didn't know did he? Did he do it? No. All right. Another dumb question. Because now I'm fascinated. Does anything like that mess with diabetes stuff like could it mess with a pump or Dexcom or you know, CGM,
Eric Dutcher 18:32
I have never had a device failure because of my crazy electroshock therapy. And actually, world's toughest mudder, the 24 hour event, there were three electrically related obstacles. And I chose to go that path rather than the non electrical path. But the equipment, I've never had a issue, and I haven't heard of anyone that can I think, theoretically, it could if it hit just right. But I always just carry backups to the events. And most of the time, anything with electrical stuff is is at the end of the race. And so you can adjust out for it.
Stacey Simms 19:16
I'm going to put a note in next time I speak to Dexcom. Maybe we can hook you guys up. And you can do some FDA clinical testing for the g7. As you go through the course.
Eric Dutcher 19:26
I'm always happy to be the lab rat. And as you can tell, I like mazes. Oh my goodness,
Stacey Simms 19:32
I probably should ask you let me I was going to move on. But with diabetes in these races, I know everybody is different. And we're going to talk about the diabetes sports project and how you want to help other people. But can you share anything that you have learned that has helped you because I have to imagine you spent a decade as you said thinking diabetes was going to stop you from being active. So when you started, that'd be a little fear there. I mean, how did you adjust in terms of figuring out how to manage while you did all this?
Eric Dutcher 20:00
It's a good question. So I actually spent, you know, 2019, I created something called Project mud. And it was more unstoppable diabetics. And it was really around, I flew around the country and to various cities and gathered up diabetics and showed them exactly what you need to do to get race ready. And a lot of it is just remembering first that, you know, we're human. And just like any other human, you just need to be able to, you know, get ready with some sort of training. And it doesn't have to be extensive, I think people overthink and think they've got to be trained up and ready to go, rather than just sign up for the race and let that be the reason for you to exercise. But when you think about whether you're diabetic or not diabetic, if you leave your house to go do a run, you need to make sure that you have the things with you to adjust to any changing situations. So even as a non diabetic, it's probably a good idea to carry a credit card or an ID with you, or cash in case you need, you know, you run too far. And you need to call an Uber home, you know, some sort of phone device. And really, once you realize that all doing something athletically with diabetes is making sure that you're ready to address things that might go wrong, then you can actually give yourself permission to step out and do pretty amazing things. And what amazing is is different for different people, I don't expect everyone to go out and want to run a marathon, some people just want to be able to run around the block. And I think you can do that. I think you just need to have a plan in place of Okay, do I have something that can bring my blood sugar up? Do I have something that can bring my blood sugar down? Do I have something that can test my blood sugar so that I know where I am in case being active? makes it hard for me to internally tell where my blood sugar is? Do I have water to stay hydrated? It's really it's funny, we I think we overcomplicate it. And it's because diabetes is complicated. But in the end, all we're trying to do is nudge ourselves back one way or another. And all you need to do is know how to nudge
Stacey Simms 22:34
you mentioned, project mud and the diabetes sports project. Let's talk about that. I was looking back through my notes. And I spoke to Casey porin from the diabetes sports project about a year after he founded it. I mean, we talked to him, I think in 2006, I want to say So tell me about your involvement, and what the diabetes sports project is hoping to do.
Eric Dutcher 22:55
Yeah, I ran into the diabetes sports project when I was just starting to get a little bit more involved athletically and I wanted to dive deeper with athletes that knew how to manage their blood sugars. And I saw a post about the diabetes sports project running the California international marathon in Sacramento. And I had not run a marathon at this point. But I thought why not. And I signed up and went to the event and met Casey and Eric Tozer. You know, the founders. And if you look at the diabetes forks project Foundation, what they're trying to do is really inspire people, those living with diabetes, to live an active lifestyle and encouraging and providing resources and also events where you can do that. And so the California international marathon was an example of one of these events where we ended up having 20 diabetics that were either running all or part of the marathon and they had set it up to where, you know, if you wanted to just do a half marathon you could or if you wanted to be part of a team, you could. So it was a very friendly environment. And around that. They also set up an event with the jdrf where families with kids can come and talk to diabetic athletes about how to be active with diabetes, as well as they were visiting some hospital or awards with children with diabetes. And so it's this great community resource of professional and really strong athletes that is really around educating and inspiring people to an active lifestyle. And I've been very excited to be a champion. They welcomed me in as a champion shortly Thereafter, probably the only mud runner champion that we have. I think there's others that like reading, mud runs for sure there's some on the books. But that being my primary passion, and I've enjoyed working with them, and I look forward to doing more with them.
Stacey Simms 25:18
And your role at the diabetes sports project is changing or has changed, you're going to be part of the leadership. Now, tell me about that. Yeah, I'm
Eric Dutcher 25:25
really excited. You know, Eric, and Casey, as well as Amy and Bradford, it's 100% volunteer leadership team, which is not something you'll always find in nonprofits. And because of that, there's been a limited amount of time that people can dedicate to it. And so they've invited me to come on as the Chief Operating Officer for the diabetes sports project. And I'm really excited about it, because I'm going to be able to add, you know, more time into that volunteer leadership team. And we've got some great things that we're going to put together this year, there's the group that is going to be cycling around Manhattan called the rebellion with with a cause that was set up by crag diabetes sports champion, and then we're working on getting together a camping trip for the Grand Canyon, that would also be a hiking event. So community plus exercise, which is typically what we like to do. And then I hear on the horizon, that we're going to have some members running the New York City Marathon in November. So really excited about what I can do just adding some additional time and dedication with the leadership team there. And we've got an exciting year coming up.
Stacey Simms 26:50
That's great. You know, I asked earlier, I mentioned earlier, everybody is so different in terms of how they manage diabetes during endurance, athletic events, or even during sports. I wonder though, if you might share a tip or two that has helped you personally. Do you have a way that you carry gels? Or do you prefer gels to I don't even know what y'all use? But is there anything you can share about kind of while you're doing these? What's made it easier for you, if that makes sense?
Eric Dutcher 27:21
Sure. I think the first thing that I always encourage everyone is start small. I think everyone some time ago, a lot of people they try to go big and they try to run you know a mile or 10 miles their first time out. So if you start small with a go a mile, remember that all your insulin action time typically is two hours out. So if you're going to reduce your insulin, make sure you're doing it two hours in advance. If you're doing like cardio, you need to reduce your insulin more than if you're doing intense cardio, which sometimes is counterintuitive. My gear that I carry, I tend to vary it based on how stable my sugars feel before I leave, but there's nothing wrong. Don't hate on the old glucose tabs. The glucose tabs are great because you can kind of break them up in your mouth and let them absorb through your cheeks and tongue. And probably my favorite tip is if you want to have a slow drip of glucose into your bloodstream, then pack a few gummy bears in your cheek and just run like a chip pump.
Stacey Simms 28:33
I love it. I have to ask. I've read somewhere that you have. Have you auditioned for survivor on CBS? Is that something you wanted to or something you did?
Eric Dutcher 28:41
Very accurate I have. So I first started training for American Ninja Warrior. And I did apply and put my video together and it actually featured some friends in London that were also type one diabetic, diabetic comedian and diabetic runner in London. I was not chosen for the show there. And I have yes I have applied three times now to be on. CBS is survivor and survivor. If you're listening, the time still is now you need to let a type one diabetic take on the greatest adventure show ever.
Stacey Simms 29:22
Have you heard anything from survivor? Do they have a policy against people with diabetes? Or is it by omission? I mean any idea?
Eric Dutcher 29:29
I have not? And that's actually a really good question. So I have not had a direct conversation with them. And I think that's really where this starts. I have been pushing for just the opportunity to have a conversation with them because it doesn't have to be like I just want a diabetic on the show. I would love to be the diabetic but I really want to open that door. Because I think if people saw that there would be a new level of appreciation for how far we can actually stretch. But there hasn't been a conversation yet. I'm looking to have that conversation. And there at one time, there was a very specific, you cannot do this with it. But I have not been able to read anything in the roles that specifically prevents a type one diabetic from being on the show.
Stacey Simms 30:25
I mean, come on, we've had people all over the Amazing Race and winners of The Amazing Race. I know survivors at different ages. But come on. All right, I'm, I'm pushing for that, too. Now, before I let you go, one of the things I wanted to ask you about, and I hope it's okay to ask, but this is your email, and I won't give out your email address. But it has wolf pack in it. And being in North Carolina, the first thing I thought of was NC State and you know, Wolf Pack. But that's not what it's about for you. Can you tell us about your wolf pack?
Eric Dutcher 30:53
Yeah, so we'll pack is a special way that we refer to our family, when my wife and I got married, I had three children, and she had two from a previous marriage. And we were blending our family. And in addition, she over the years had come close to and informally adopted another son. And so there were six of us, three boys, three girls, we were The Brady Bunch minus Alice nomade. But we really wanted something that was for all of us. And so many times people turned their last name as a domain name or an email address. And we had multiple last names in our family. And we didn't want to, we didn't want to lose that. We didn't want to single out one family over the other. And so we described ourselves and said, We are our Wolf Pack. And our Wolf Pack still exists as a website for us.
Stacey Simms 32:04
Oh, that's great. Eric, thank you so much for joining me come back on. We'll talk more about the sports project. And we'll talk more about survivor. And you know, let us know what wild long range athletic events you're doing. I'd really appreciate it
Eric Dutcher 32:19
sounds great. Maybe I can come on sometime after I complete the Iron Man and April.
Stacey Simms 32:24
Oh my gosh, absolutely.
Eric Dutcher 32:25
Thanks so much.
Announcer 32:32
You're listening to Diabetes Connections with Stacey Simms.
Stacey Simms 32:37
More information, of course, at Diabetes connections.com. I'll link up the diabetes sports project. I'll link up Eric's social so you can watch him in that Ironman training that he's doing just a phenomenal guy to talk to. Although I'm inspired by him, I am not. I gotta tell you, I am not motivated to electrocute myself while running. That's not gonna happen. And if you haven't seen that picture, I will post it in the Facebook group. As I'm recording this, I think it's gonna be the cover. You know, I always have something for each episode that turns out to be the cover of the featured photo. That was fun, the website and it may just be that oh my goodness, but but good for him. Whatever makes you happy. Eric, thanks so much for sharing that.
We're gonna talk about spare a rose in just a moment. But first Diabetes Connections is brought to you by Dexcom. And you know, we started with Basal IQ. That's the G6 Tandem pump software program that came out a couple of years ago, and we really loved it. But I got to tell you control IQ has been absolutely amazing. Benny is 16 he's had diabetes, as you know, for 14 years and I gotta say, we have never done less work for better results. And I hesitate to say we anymore because really is almost all him at this point. I mean, I'm the mom, I nag and I remind but he's doing less work and getting the best results diabetes wise, his last A1Cs have been his lowest ever. His time in range is so great. It's hard for me to talk about sometimes, and I'm a superstitious person, I want to be careful, but this is the real deal. And I'm thrilled that we are able to use control IQ with the Dexcom G6 and the Tandem pump. Of course, individual results may vary. To learn more, go to Diabetes, Connections comm and click on the Dexcom logo.
I started releasing classic episodes this year. These are episodes of the podcast that aired in 2015 or 2016. And you may have missed the first time around. So last week we released one on spare a rose, but I just wanted to talk about it for a moment in case you missed that or you feel like you know what it's all about just for a moment here in the innovations segment. Because Spare A Rose is marking eight years which is pretty incredible for a small program. I think many people thought might be a one and done when it launched back in 2013.
So real quick, a spare rose is a program from the life for a child program, the International diabetes Federation basically helps kids around the world in under resourced countries get meters and strips and insulin and even education for their family. It's an incredibly needed resource and organization and sparrows is one of the ways that they raise money now, year after here. And the idea behind the name spear Rose is that on Valentine's Day, you would buy one less rose, one fewer rose out of a dozen roses, you would buy 11 and then donate the cost of that last rose that you spared to the charity.
If you want to learn more, I would definitely urge you to listen to last week's episode. In addition to the info, it's a lot of fun. We played a game and we were very silly, but I looked up spare arose. And my old blog, I used to write a blog and think about three people read it. But I looked up what I was writing about in 2013. And it First of all, this blog is heinous. I mean, it's just terrible. The picture is totally out of focus. You know, I'll link it up. But I don't, I don't know that I really want you to go back and look at it. But it was so fun. Because apparently, you know, Benny is in second grade in 2013. And we were writing out his Valentine cards. And that's what I wrote about Star Wars and Avengers Valentine cards. And I talked to him about this just tonight at dinner. And I was joking about it. And he said yes, it still very much matters, who would get Iron Man or Yoda as I wrote the book. And if you'd like to learn more about spear rose, of course, I'll link it up in the show notes, what I usually do is just give a couple of dollars every month and make it automatic.
I know this year, because we have said many, many times, you know, this past year has been very difficult for so many people. So if this is not something that you can currently donate to maybe just spread the word, you know, retweet, or share an image and tell your community about it, whatever you do, will definitely help. And I will link it all up at Diabetes connections.com, including some really good more current blogs and pieces about Spare a Rose in 2021.
Before I let you go, I have an event on the books. I'm so excited when this happens, because you know, most of us were traveling here and there and everywhere before COVID. And now when I have like a new zoom in a new place, it's very exciting. And big thanks to JDRF Tampa, who asked me to participate in their walk kickoff. So I'm going to be doing that on March 3, I will be linking up more information on social media and in the Diabetes Connections group on Facebook. So please check that out. And I love to speak to groups. I'm happy to help with kickoffs, if you'd like to learn more, you know where to find me reach out Stacy at Diabetes connections.com. We did not have a book tour in 2020. I would love to do that one of these days. But but certainly I'm available virtually to talk about the world's worst diabetes Mom.
I had a great talk. It was a very casual. And I just want to mention this here to kind of get the wheels turning within a closed Facebook group about camp and I'm trying to get this into an episode or a blog post. But it was about non diabetes camp. And you know, what do you do about sending your child assuming that camps are going to happen this summer, now is the time that people are signing their kids up. So I did an hour q&a with a bunch of moms mostly from New York, one of them was sending their kid to the camp I went to I went to camp French Woods as a child, which is a performing arts camp. Shocking. I know that I went to a performing arts camp for two summers, but I went away to camp, you know, my entire childhood. And I'm thrilled that my kids are able to do that as well. Benny is kind of aged out of his camp. And if they do it this summer, he'll be in Israel for a month, which makes me nervous, but he's going so you know, COVID permitting, but it was a really great hour of conversation. And so if that's something that you'd like to discuss, you know, we can always set up a call. It's mom to mom advice or Parent to Parent, you know, I'm not a doctor, but I'm happy to share her experience. So just putting that out there.
All right, don't forget we have another classic episode coming up this Thursday. Oh, we're talking to Sam Fuld. This is so great. So this is an interview from a couple of years ago with the Major League Baseball player now turned General Manager Sam Fuld. And if you didn't hear that interview the first time around. I'm going to bring it back out in just a couple of days.
Thank you to my editor John Bukenas from audio editing solutions and thank you as always for listening. I'm Stacey Simms. I'll see you back here in a couple of days until then, be kind to yourself.
Benny 39:19
Diabetes Connections is a production of Stacey Simms Media. All rights reserved. All wrongs avenged
Staying in the US Military ater a type 1 diabetes diagnosis isn't easy, but it can be done. Meet Jason Cyr. Diagnosed in 2011 while deployed in Africa, he was able to return to the Army and retire on his own terms a few years later. Jason is an élite cyclist and now a cycling coach.
Stacey mentions another veteran who was able to stay on active duty after a type 1 diabetes diagnosis. You can listen to our episode with Mark Thompson here.
In Tell Me Something Good diabetes month stuff, a big milestone for the college diabetes network and a new podcast about diabetes and mental health.
This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider.
Check out Stacey's book: The World's Worst Diabetes Mom!
Join the Diabetes Connections Facebook Group!
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Episode Transcription
Stacey Simms 0:00
Diabetes Connections is brought to you by One Drop created for people with diabetes by people who have diabetes by Gvoke HypoPen, the first premixed auto injector for very low blood sugar, and by Dexcom take control of your diabetes and live life to the fullest with Dexcom.
Announcer 0:22
This is Diabetes Connections with Stacey Simms.
Stacey Simms 0:28
This week, we're celebrating Veterans Day by sharing the story of Jason Cyr. He was diagnosed with type one while serving in the US military deployed in Africa in 2011.
Jason Cyr 0:40
You know, I was like oh my gosh, this is like my career is on this trajectory to continue to serve whether it's special operations or just back to the regular army. I really enjoy this I started because I really love working with soldiers mentoring soldiers leading soldiers and I was like this is all over now. So now what am I gonna do?
Stacey Simms 0:56
Cyr was able to stay in the military. He shares that story what he's doing now and why I have a photo of him on a unicycle
In Tell me something good. Lots of Diabetes Awareness Month stuff and a big milestone for the college diabetes network.
This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider.
Welcome to another week of the show. I am so glad to have you along. I am your host, Stacey Simms, and we aim to educate and inspire about type 1 diabetes by sharing stories of connection. My son was diagnosed with type one right before he turned two, we are getting close to his 14 year diversity. My husband lives with type two, I don't have diabetes, but I have a background in broadcasting and local radio and television news. And that is how you get the podcast.
It is of course diabetes Awareness Month. So there's lots of things you're seeing if you follow me on social media. I'm posting as I do every year, photos, stories of people in the Charlotte, North Carolina area where I live, who live with diabetes. And I also and this is the first time I'm doing this in diabetes Awareness Month, I'm running a contest, I'm running two contests, and they have started as this episode first airs, if you're listening to it, the week of veterans week of 2020, the contests are going so I'm not gonna spend too much time on them here because they are social media only one of them is in the Facebook group Diabetes Connections, the group you have to be in the group to take part and the other one is on my Instagram and Instagram for me is only Stacey Simms, I do not have a separate one for the show. It's enough. So you get pictures of me walking my dog and pictures of my husband cooking and diabetes awareness stuff and podcast stuff all in one Instagram feed.
I want to give a brief shout out and thank you to the companies that are helping out with the Instagram contest. This is a multi company prize giveaway, we've got a lot of people taking part, it's possible that I may add to this list, and I will certainly revisit it. But big thank you to the folks at NRG bytes. Pump Peelz RX Sugar, Dia-Be-Tees, Wherever EuGO, T1D3DGear and GTTHL Apparel and to the world's worst diabetes mom, the book we're giving that away to I will list all of those fabulous people with links to the companies in the show notes Just go to Diabetes connections.com. But the best way to find out more about them is to head on over to Instagram and take part in that contest. big thank you to everybody for taking part in that.
Kind of a subdued Diabetes Awareness Month, I think for many people with the election in the US and just a lot of diabetes burnout out there. So I hope the contest is a bright spot. But I'm also doing a panel that is this Friday, as you listen on November 13. And that is with my friends at One Drop. We've put together a great panel, we're going to be talking about community, how to get more involved, what we get from community and some surprises there. And we are talking to people with type one, type two and parents of children with type one. And that's going to be a lot of fun that is live on the Diabetes Connections Facebook page, and One Drop will be amplifying it as well.
And speaking of One Drop Diabetes Connections is brought to you by One Drop and I spoke to the people there. And I've always been really impressed at how much they get diabetes. It just makes sense. Their CEO Jeff was diagnosed with type one as an adult. One Drop is for people with diabetes by people with diabetes. The people at One Drop work relentlessly to remove all barriers between you and the care you need. Get 24 seven coaching support in your app and unlimited supplies delivered. No prescriptions or insurance required. Their beautiful sleek meter fits in perfectly with the rest of your life. They'll also send you test strips with a strip plan that actually makes sense for how much you actually check. One Drop diabetes care delivered. learn more, go to Diabetes connections.com and click on the One Drop logo.
My guest this week is a member of a very small club. Not only was Jason Cyr diagnosed with type 1 diabetes while he was in the military, he was allowed to stay in. And you may recall, I met Mark Thompson last year I spoke to him last November. And until this interview, Mark was the only other veteran I've ever talked to personally, who was able to stay in the military. After a diagnosis Mark story is slightly different. His career path after is different as well. I will link up more about mark in the show notes for this episode, you can go back and listen to the prior episode, and learn more as well. And those show notes and the transcript as always, at Diabetes connections.com.
Now the military policy in the US is pretty straightforward for enlisting, you cannot enlist in the military with a chronic condition like type one. But there is just just a bit more wiggle room if you're diagnosed while you're already in. So Jason Cyr was diagnosed while deployed in Africa. And he thought as you can understand that his symptoms were you know, from the weather or the altitude or all of the extra activity, he always does big runner and a big biker. He's going to tell that story and what he's been doing since he retired from the military in 2016. Jason, thank you so much for joining me, your story is pretty remarkable. I'm excited to talk to you.
Jason Cyr 6:16
Oh, well, thanks for having me, Stacy. I really appreciate I don't know if it's a remarkable story. But I appreciate you saying that. I'm flattered.
Stacey Simms 6:22
You're the second person that I've interviewed or even have known with all the hundreds of maybe thousands of people that we've been lucky to meet the diabetes community who has been able to stay in the military after a type one diabetes diagnosis. So I'd say that's pretty remarkable. And I'd love let's just start right there. Can you tell me what happened where what was going on when you were diagnosed?
Jason Cyr 6:42
This was, oh, gosh, it was 2011. I was deployed to sock see the Special Operations Command Horn of Africa. And I was working in Kenya for that organization, basically, helping to do some work with with the Kenyan military. And we kind of set up well, that kind of we had set up an American style Ranger School there. And I was helping a lot of the officers and enlisted folks just make that organization and that school run more smoothly. I am a Ranger School graduate. My career started actually, in the 75th Ranger Regiment, specifically a third Ranger Battalion, spent most of my time at sea company. But so I was there. And we were, were doing some training. And because we were living in the Mount Kenya area of Kenya, it was that elevation. If I recall correctly, this is going back a few years now. I think it was about 11,000 feet or living that. And so I and I was running every day, I was probably running 10 miles a day or something like that, just because I didn't have my my bicycle there. And I was running with some Kenyans. And so I just kind of had some signs and symptoms, you know, the polydipsia polyuria weight loss, and I just sort of chalked it up to Hey, I'm eating different foods, and I'm living in at times in an austere environment and running every day. And like I said, at elevation, so I just kind of dismiss those things.
Stacey Simms 8:06
And I'm gonna just jump in polydipsia polyuria really thirsty really have to pay?
Jason Cyr 8:10
Yeah, exactly. just translate for me and drink. Yeah, sure. And drinking like a gallon of water that you know, cup. You know, I don't know. I betcha I was drinking a gallon of water a day. But I just sort of chalked it up to like, Oh, it's fine. I'm a special forces guy. This is normal. You know, we're supposed to be able to just sort of, I guess suck it up. Anyway, I did have a medic with me on the deployment of Special Forces medic at 18 Delta. And he multiple times said, Hey, you should there's something wrong with you. You've got to go get checked out. So I think he had reached out to the our battalion surgeon and the surgeon had had come down to to actually go and climb Mount Kenya with me. Like on a weekend, a four day weekend we had off. And so anyway, we went climbing mountain and after that, he said, Hey, you got to go get looked at so I had a meeting with I think that defense attache at the at the embassy in Nairobi A few days later. And so I said, Yeah, when I go down there, I've got to meet with him. I've got to brief him on some stuff that we're doing. And I'll go get checked.
So I go down to the hospital after the briefing. And I present with like a blood sugar of like 840 I think, a one C of like 14. So at that point, obviously we knew something was wrong. superfit guy didn't think it was type two, but I was thinking I can't be type one. I'm 36 years older, or whatever it was 37 maybe at the time, wow. That of course starts a cascade effect where they evacuate back to I think we're in Djibouti at that time, and then eventually on to launch to Germany, where, you know, I got some more testing, done some more formal testing done and they said, hey, you've got type 1 diabetes. So you know, after probably a 15 minute pity party, I said Well, I'm gonna have to own this. So I went from there. Yeah, I guess at that point, I went to Fort Belvoir and Walter Reed Medical Center and got some more things done, figured out and then I went into the what's called the ward Transition battalion where they basically start proceedings to, you know, put you out or medically retire or whatever out of the military.
And I guess long story short, I had some great officers that I worked for a two star, and at the time a full bird Colonel that that just said, Hey, you know, you can stay and we've just invested all this time and money in you. I was just about through grad school later on while I was there, and they just said, Hey, we know we're going to retain you. So you go to this medical board, and the board decides, hey, we're gonna put you out. But if you can provide overwhelming evidence that you can stay in and do it safely, and you're going to have these folks that are going to, I guess, you know, not deploy you or put you in an environment where you can make a bad decision if you're hypoglycemic, or something will let you stay in. And so, you know, I think at that point, I was probably at 17 years or something like that. So I really only had three years ago, and my company command was up, I was in a staff position. So there's probably little harm I could do if I had a had a low or something like that. And I think at that point, I had displayed that I you know, had run a marathon I was racing factor racing and a category one and, you know, elite level of still doing some like UCI races. And I think I had displayed that I owned the disease as well as you can, in that short amount of time. And the board made a decision to let me stay in 220. I actually ended up doing I think, 23 years all together. So I ended up staying, and probably six more years, and then retired.
Stacey Simms 11:26
All right. It's an incredible story. I have questions. You mentioned, when you were diagnosed, you had a 15 minute pity party. And I'm just curious. Now I'm assuming that's a little bit of an exaggeration. I'm not taking anything away. If it was 15 minutes and moved on. That's fantastic. It's amazing. But what what really went through your mind, because you had been, as you said, 1718 years in, you didn't know yet that you were going to stay. You didn't know yet that you'd be able to continue with marathons and bike riding and doing everything that you did, do you mind and I hate to get so personal. But just from my own experience, I had a little bit more than a 15 minute pity party when my son was diagnosed. I'm curious what really went through your mind at that moment?
Jason Cyr 12:06
Oh, well, you know, I think after 17 or 16, whatever it was probably 17 years of service, you're kind of like, Man, I've done all this stuff. I've served in all these great units. Why me? I've always been super fit. I think I just, you know, I was like, Oh my gosh, this is like my career is on this trajectory, to continue to serve. And you know, whether it's special operations, or just back to the regular army, I really enjoy this. I don't necessarily serve I mean, obviously, I serve because I love my country. But I serve because I really love working with soldiers, mentoring soldiers, leading soldiers. And I was like, this is all over now. So now what am I going to do? Because this has sort of been who I am and what I've done. In a nutshell that that is what it is. That said, I can't say that I wouldn't if my if my son is diagnosed with Type One Diabetes, I'm going to have a longer than 15 minute pity party, for sure. I can empathize with you. 100%. I think for me, it was just like, hey, let's just get on with it. Let's own this as much as we can.
Stacey Simms 13:02
That'd be just be the perspective of a parent versus family
Jason Cyr 13:05
Yeah. It's very different than me. Yeah. But yeah, I don't even Oh, gosh, I can't even imagine. I mean, I think it's difficult day to day. And I'm one of these people who probably there couldn't be a better person to get it. In my own opinion, because I'm just one of those people who constantly looks at my Dexcom. I'm constantly, you know, weighing what I shouldn't shouldn't put in my body. You know, how hard should I go? I'm constantly thinking about the dosages of insulin I'm taking. So I don't think it would be there's a better person to get it. But yeah, I mean, that's generally what went through my mind.
Stacey Simms 13:37
When you went back when you were clear to go back into what you were doing. I'm curious, what was your routine at the time? Because we're talking about what, seven or eight years ago you mentioned Dexcom? Did you have that then I think I read you were checking your blood sugar like 20 times a day at one point, you know, take us through the routine of that initial first year back in the service.
Right back to Jason answering that question. But first diabetes Connections is brought to you by Gvoke HypoPen, and almost everyone who takes insulin has experienced a low blood sugar and that can be scary. A very low blood sugar is really scary. That's where Gvoke HypoPen comes in. Gvoke is the first auto injector to treat very low blood sugar Gvoke hypo pen is pre mixed and ready to go with no visible needle. That means it's easy to use how easy you pull off the red cap and push the yellow end onto bear skin and hold it for five seconds. That's it. Find out more go to Diabetes connections.com and click on the Gvoke logo joke shouldn't be used in patients with pheochromocytoma or insulinoma visit gvoke glucagon comm slash risk. Now back to my conversation with Jason. He is talking about what it was like when he first went back into the army after being diagnosed.
Jason Cyr 14:58
I didn't have a CGM Immediately, and obviously, they didn't put me on a pump either. So I was, you know, manually doing this stuff, I was actually buying extra strips, you know, because I was testing like 15 or 20 times a day. And so the prescription that I had wouldn't, wasn't lasting that, you know, as long as it normally would. But part of the reason I was doing that is because I was also trying to figure out how to get back to racing at at least the highest level I could do. And at the time, I did have a USAC, or United States cycling Association, or USA cycling pro license. And so you know, as a pro, I was pretty mid pack fodder. But definitely fast enough that I was, you know, winning expert level races at Nationals, or at least getting on the podium. So I wanted to at least see if I could get back to that. And the way to do that, as far as I was concerned, is just collect data. And so my, my wife, who is a scientist helped me build this really wild looking Excel spreadsheet that had like linear regression on it. And I was just plotting points and figuring out, okay, if I go for 20 minutes at max effort, anaerobically, what happens to my blood sugar, and then if I go 40 minutes, what happens? And if I feed at 45 minutes, you know, what happens after that. And so I just was, I guess, in the course of training six days a week, I was just trying to figure out what happens, you know, if I have this much, you know, slow acting insulin on board, you know, what happens with that race effort. And then what happens if I have, you know, from working out or in a periodized stage, where I'm doing like six days of really hard training, and then taking a break? Is the insulin a lot more sensitive.
And, you know, I found out obviously, that it was, so just things like that I was just trying to figure it out. my saving grace really was that my wife, unbeknownst to me, wrote a letter to Phil Sutherland that at the time team type one, and he immediately invited me at the time I think we were Sanofi or Sena Fie team type one. So I was on that team, I think, for a year. And then I got on to the team Novo Nordisk elite team. And just being around type one athletes at training camp in Spain, or in California, we did, we did quite a few training camps over the, I think, five years I was with that team. That was a huge help, because it was just a depth and breadth of knowledge and institutional knowledge that I just didn't have. I didn't know any other type one, athletes, I just started asking those guys questions. And then I also had unfettered access to a an endocrinologist, who's who was on the team, and I just started firing off questions and trying to figure it out. And so the trajectory that I had for learning how to race and deal with diabetes and still maintain a 12, or 14 hour week training schedule was great. And I couldn't have done it. Or I mean, I could have done it, but it would have taken I take a lot longer to figure out those variables. So I think having access to those guys was just great.
Stacey Simms 17:55
When you got your Dexcom, having been someone who already kept their own spreadsheet, and pretty detailed ones, I'm curious what you've done with your data, I famously on the show, have the perspective of my son and I, we're really not big data, diabetes, people we are go by feel, you know, we do great, it's all good. But I love respect and marvel at people like you who really dial into it. So with that being said, when you got the Dexcom, and you opened up clarity, or you looked at these things, what was that like for you?
Jason Cyr 18:29
Oh, it was huge. It's even better now with the six. I mean, I started off with before, you know, went through the five transition to the six. And the six is just like it's almost overwhelming the data that that? Well, it is overwhelming, but it's just great. It's also really great to see the the amount of stuff that's available to you. And so yeah, I use the data all the time. It's great. When I'm racing, we just, we didn't have much of a race season this year. But I think I did five races, and three of them were enduro racing, which is the it's a mountain biking discipline that I focus on. And those races can last for four to six hours, seven hours, you're only racing stages. But you're you're riding from the end of a stage all the way back up the mountain to another stage to race back downhill with these chips on your bike where they they're collecting time. And so seeing the trends, whether it's going up or down or it's really good to see it helps immensely. And then I also look at that data after the race to see it because that racing discipline is very anaerobic and going full gas for the three this to seven minutes or eight minutes that the stage lasts. When you finish because your anaerobic, you know you're you're dumping glycogen in your blood, you're getting these huge spikes that you know your body has to test to deal with later on. And so knowing exactly how much insulin to take, after, say two stages and maintain a good blood glucose level is really important. And obviously you couldn't do that with just by finger sticks, trying to figure it out. So it just Yeah, the data that I get from that informs my decisions and racing, especially over a long day, or days leading up to it, I couldn't do without it. So I think the CGM is really important.
Stacey Simms 20:12
I must have sounded ridiculous to you, I promise we don't just wing it with my son,
Unknown Speaker 20:16
or just
Jason Cyr 20:19
also get that I am a total geek. I mean, that's I think there's reasons to push me to cycling coaching, because I just love looking at heart rate data and power data and overlaying these things and figuring out the puzzle of how we make someone stronger and faster.
Stacey Simms 20:33
Yeah. And I'll tell you what podcast listeners are my listeners are super data people, which I feel bad sometimes that I'm their host, because people that listen to podcasts in general want more and more and more information. So sometimes I'm like, sorry, but you know, we do the best we can, and want to go back if I could, to some military questions. Because there are so many young people who were diagnosed with type one who unfortunately, cannot serve in the military. This has been their dream. And curious what your perspective is, do you think that will change? I know that there's they're looking at it. I mean, there was a study a year or two ago that they were doing at Fort Bragg, with people with type one trying to kind of see how more modern diabetes technology might help. What's your perspective on that?
Jason Cyr 21:16
Yeah, I think, and obviously, I'm not a physician, or a doctor in any way, or probably an expert, I'm probably an expert on my body and how it reacts, I think that maybe technology could fix the problem. That said, I make silly decisions. When I'm hypoglycemic, and soda, I think, to put a combat leader in a position where they have to make life and death decisions. And there's potential that you could be hypoglycemic in the moment, obviously, is detrimental. And that's just on face value. And I haven't looked at how the technology could change it. But I will say that it has made me much more aware of highs and lows just because of the alarms that are associated with a continuous glucose monitor. So yeah, I think it's possible. Yeah, for sure. But I would let you know, the experts make those decisions that said, I can empathize with someone who just really wants to be have a career in the military, because it's made me who I am. I mean, it does. Obviously, my military service doesn't define me as a person, but it is a huge part of my life. There's very few moments I will say that I did not enjoy in my 23 plus year career in the military. So yeah, I hope that we get to the point where that's technology fixes that or perhaps there's a cure someday, I certainly wouldn't enjoy that. Because I tell you what, the first thing I'm gonna do is eat a whole cheesecake.
Stacey Simms 22:39
When you return to the military, if your diagnosis what you do, what was your job? What were your duties? Um, I
Jason Cyr 22:45
think what was my first my, I think I was the, the Operations Officer for this critical infrastructure protection Battalion, which we started, we use a lot of 18 series, guys. 18 series guys are special forces, guys. And we modeled that program off of what the defense Threat Reduction agency does. And they typically use a, or at least in the past to have I'm not sure what they do now. They use a soft guy like a Seal or a Green Beret to do the targeting piece when we look at how we would defeat or take down like, say, a facility. And so I was I think I was an operations officer. And then I moved to the executive officer, the deputy commander of the that critical infrastructure protection Battalion, and I spent the rest of my career there, basically, because I was working for these two officers that wrote letters recommendation that keep me in the military and so that I finished my career out there. And you know, probably one of the reasons I did retire is I was never going to go and command a combat unit ever again. That was not going to happen. You know, I wanted to be obviously I joined the Ranger Regiment and then spent time as a special forces guys starting as an 18. Charlie, which is a special forces engineer. You know, I did those things because that's what I wanted to do.
Stacey Simms 23:55
You mentioned that now you're coaching your coaching other cyclists? Yeah, correct. How so? How is that going? And I'm struggling to think of how to ask this because you started doing that during this pandemic.
Jason Cyr 24:06
They I did and I have to say it's been it's been incredibly successful. The company is cycle strategies. We coach road cyclists, cyclocross, but we focus on you know, the mountain bike discipline, so enduro, downhill, cross country, mountain biking, and I thought, hey, because we're in the middle of a pandemic, this will give me some time to get my feet on the ground, figure out the business aspects, you know, subs, figure out the books, figure out how we're going to deliver the coaching process, and it's been busier than I ever thought maybe that's that is because of, of this. In the process of coaching. Most of it is online, I use an online platform called training peaks to coach my athletes, and I do do the other side of the business is the skills piece. And so I do do skills training with adults and kids, but we're wearing masks. I don't touch it. You know, we don't there's no contact. We just I'm really trying to do our best to stay six feet away in cycling is sort of a socially distance thing anyway. So
Stacey Simms 25:06
it's been amazing though, because cycling has been so popular. I mean, it's been more and more popular every year. But during the pandemic, we tried to get my son's bike repaired. And it was unbelievable. how busy everybody is there at a party. You know, everybody wants to bike ride right now.
Jason Cyr 25:21
Yeah, yeah, I know, our local bike shop has had a really difficult time, trying to come up with way logistically to come up with ways to find parts for folks and just keep the item. Yeah, so it's been great for the sport. I think it's Yeah, it's helped me with a few clients that have just decided, Hey, I'm going to take up cycling, I really enjoy this. Oh, I think I need a coach. And I'm getting an email. And yeah, it's, it's, it's been great. I love it.
Stacey Simms 25:46
What is your advice for people with type one who are reluctant to get active? Because it is a lot of work? And frankly, even with all the technology, there is still some fear, right? It's hard to do a two hour bike ride without going low. If you haven't done that already.
Jason Cyr 26:03
Yeah, my recommendation is, well, first off, I just think living a healthy lifestyle helps you control your blood sugar, much better. And isn't that the intent, obviously, we don't have a pancreas that functions, at least that part of the pancreas doesn't function properly, to provide insulin and the glucose back in the cells. And so exercising helps you a treat some of that out of your system to help to put it back in. It makes you more responsive to insulin. And again, I will full disclosure here, I'm not a physician at all. I'm not an endocrinologist. But that has been my experience. So yeah, that's the first point is it really helps me at least control my blood sugar by just exercising and being consistent about it. Second, it's, it's just a healthy thing to do. And the third thing I would add is that taking it slow. So you may start with 15 minutes of writing and see how your body responds to that. And then add another 15 minutes until you get to an hour something that would be my recommendation. And I just feel like it's a great way to live. Anytime I'm sedentary, I am now chasing numbers. But if I just stay active, generally active and I'm not saying I go out and you don't have to go out and train for two or three hours every day. That's nice. And I know folks that do do that. But I don't do that. I may go for a couple hour ride to three times a week. Otherwise, I'm just doing an hour and maybe a little bit of weightlifting or something in nowadays in the garage.
Stacey Simms 27:27
What do you still like after all this time about riding your bike about cycling?
Jason Cyr 27:32
Oh, yeah, that's a great question. I don't know I'm sure my wife would have. She would say I'm obsessed. I don't know. All things. two wheels. We have dirt bikes. We've got cyclocross bikes. I even got a unicycle this year, as a way to figure out how to work on some balance. I don't know I think for me, cycling creates an experience where I can think about the day I can decompress. I've always used cycling when I was in the military, especially command to decompress. So I would come home, I get on my bike for an hour, and I go just smash out some laps, and really get my heart rate up high a few times, do some intervals. And I would be completely decompress to come home and have dinner with the family and being a good husband and a good father. So for me, I think it's just a bit of an escape, perhaps the endorphins that are released in the process of of executing some physical activity. I'm not sure but I do know that I do a lot of thinking. When I'm while I'm writing,
Stacey Simms 28:27
how's the unicycling going?
Jason Cyr 28:29
Good. I took it took me a solid hour of falling before I figured it out. I put knee pads on and shin pads is pretty funny. The helmet everything. And I just went out there. I just started getting after it. But now I can ride all the way around town on it. Wow. Sure, my neighbors thought that I was
Stacey Simms 28:48
gonna say does anybody stop you? Or take Oh, yes.
Jason Cyr 28:50
Well, interesting enough. My neighbor lives right across the street. He's a really cool guy. He's probably in his maybe mid 50s or something like that here. This is all Jason Let me try that thing. And as I said, God, be careful this thing you'll get hurt. And he jumped right on it and wrote it right down the road massive. Oh, look at that. That's awesome. And he knew, you know, he, he had spent his his youth riding in them. But I didn't know that. So I thought it was great. I was amazed. That's awesome. That's fine.
Stacey Simms 29:16
Yeah, you just cycling isn't the kind of thing that you just jump on and go, that's somebody who had a little bit of experience?
Jason Cyr 29:21
No. And I've got a few kids that I coach, and they all ride unicycles. So I said, Well, hey, you know, if they're gonna do it, I've got to figure this out. So every time in between, like after races or before races, they're just riding around on the unicycle. And I have to say, what it really engages your core. I thought that was really cool. And then the second piece that you get out is this great building of motor skills, and motor schemata or proprioception that you're kind of building and so the balance that comes from that is great for cycling, especially the offer of disciplines.
Stacey Simms 29:52
So listen, I went all over the place. Was there anything you want to talk about that I didn't mention?
Jason Cyr 29:56
No, I would I would add that, you know, thank you so much for letting me You know, I guess, Share, share my story. I don't think it's remarkable. I'm flattered that you think it is. The last thing I would add is that service and the military and service to your country is one, it is just a great privilege to lead and serve one serve, but to lead and be given the great responsibility to lead men and women, I think is just it's a privilege, really, and I wouldn't have done anything else had I had a had an opportunity. I just I've really enjoyed my service to the military and just serve with all those people. Obviously, there's ups and downs. You know, I've lost friends along the way, you know, in Afghanistan and deployments, and just other places, training accidents, those kinds of things. But it's just been a great opportunity. And, and I enjoyed every bit of it.
Stacey Simms 30:42
Well, we can't say thank you enough for your service, and how much we appreciate everything that you've done. And thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story. And if you don't mind me asking, I would love to have a unicycle picture. Oh, sure. Next time you're on.
Jason Cyr 30:56
Absolutely. I've got your your number. I'll text you one.
Unknown Speaker 30:59
That'd be great. Thanks
Unknown Speaker 31:00
so much for joining me.
Jason Cyr 31:01
Thank you, Stacey. Thanks very much.
Unknown Speaker 31:09
You're listening to Diabetes Connections with Stacey Simms.
Stacey Simms 31:14
More information about Jason's story, he was written up quite a bit for bike riding with the Novo Nordisk folks, as he mentioned, I mentioned that unicycle shot, I will put that in the Facebook group as well. Many of you who gosh years ago used to follow my blog may recall that my kids elementary school had a jump rope club. And stay with me, there's a point here, the jump rope club was featured, we put them into the Big Blue test two years ago, which was a wonderful effort from the diabetes hands foundation to get people to exercise and check blood sugar. And it was a really great outreach efforts. So the jumper club was featured in that. But another elementary school where a lot of my friends kids went, had a unicycle club. And that always blew my mind. Because, first of all, who had the idea to start the unicycle club, and it was very popular, and they did just as much with those unicycles as my kids did with the jump ropes we had, like 40 kids, fourth and fifth graders zipping around on unicycles. It was bonkers, but good for you. Cornelius Elementary School in North Carolina, we salute you. Tell me something good coming up in just a moment. But first diabetes Connections is brought to you by Dexcom. And we started with Dexcom back in the olden days before share. Yeah, there were two years almost, I think we used it before share. Trust me when I say using share and follow apps has made a big difference. Then he and I now set parameters about when I'm going to call him or text him you know how long to wait, that kind of stuff. But it really helps us talk and worry about diabetes less. You know, if he's away on a trip or at a sleep over, it gives me peace of mind. It also helps I love this if I need to troubleshoot with him, because we can see what's been happening over the last 24 hours and not just at one moment. The alerts and alarms that we set also help us from keeping the highs from getting too high and help us jump on loads before there were a big issue. Internet connectivity is required to access the separate Dexcom follow app. To learn more, go to Diabetes connections.com and click on the Dexcom logo.
And tell me something good this week Happy Anniversary diaversary. Happy 10 years to the college diabetes network. I can't believe this organization is 10 years old. We have been following their progress from the beginning. The college diabetes network started when Christina Roth basically started a campus group by herself wanting peer support on college campuses. And then she expanded into a national nonprofit which only served the young adults it really was geared towards college kids. But as it grew, and Christina saw the need, it continued to expand and now includes information for high school students, college students, young professionals and people like me, parents and family who are trying to stay informed, stay calm, learn more about sending their students, their kids with T Wendy off to college. So congratulations to the college diabetes network with more than 224 chapters now on campuses across the country. They are just doing an incredible job. They have a bunch of celebrations going on this month. And Benny is he's a sophomore in high school. I'm trying not to get too far ahead of myself. I have learned with all these years with type one, you know, in my family, that while it's good to be prepared and think you know what's coming, you really don't know what each stage is going to bring with your child because every kid is different. So I've stayed away from college type one stuff as much as I can until we get just a little bit closer. another bit of good news this month. The diabetes psychologist podcast has launched and this is with Dr. Mark Heyman and I spoke to him earlier this year. And then kind of off the year we talked about his podcast and I'm thrilled that he took the dive It has done this, I will link it up in the show notes. There's just not enough in terms of resources right when it comes to mental health and diabetes. So kudos to him for launching this. He has launched it as a limited series. He has a bunch of episodes out, and we shall see if he continues, but I'm thrilled that he put these important episodes and good help out there.
And this last one isn't really a concrete Tell me something good, but it's just something I love. You know, every year, there are diabetes challenges on Instagram and Facebook, you know, social media stuff, I'm sure there's stuff happening on tik tok and snapchat that I will never say, but it's all about, you know, post every day, and they give you something to post. And if you're interested, I mean, we're almost halfway through the month. But there's still a long way to go. I'll link up a couple in the show notes. And I'm sure you've seen them on Instagram, but I, I love these. I don't participate anymore, because I have a lot of other stuff going on. And you know, it's Benny's type one. I mean, it's really not something I can take pictures of all day long anymore. I'm not taking care of him in the same way. But I love to see these posts. I don't care if you're posting twice in a month or every single day, your posts are seen. They matter. And they make me smile. They're not all happy posts. Certainly they're all good news posts. That's not what diabetes is all about. But it really is heartening to remember that this community is still the DRC it's the diabetes online community, and your voice matters, your pictures matter. So thanks for letting me take part a little bit in what's going on in your diabetes life. That way, if you haven't told me something good story, you can always reach out Stacy at Diabetes connections.com. And I regularly asked for submissions in the Facebook group, Diabetes Connections group.
A couple of reminders of things I've been telling you about in past episode First, the contests are going on right now I've got two contests this month, one on Instagram one on Facebook. So the Facebook one is only in the group. It's in our podcast group. But the Instagram one is on the Stacey Simms account, it's the only account I have over there. So definitely check those out. Again, links in the show notes, any app you're listening to will have the show notes. So you can always go back to Diabetes connections.com. And the second thing I want to make sure you know about is the ebook, Diabetes Connections extra. I'm giving this away for free. Yes, you do have to sign up for my newsletter. And if you already signed up for the newsletter, you can still sign up and get the book you will not get double the newsletter. Although, you know, would you really mind hearing from me more than once I know. But definitely sign up and get that ebook. I think it's really good for newer diagnosed families, for people who have maybe just started a CGM who have never really figured out what ketones are. And I think for veteran families, and really well educated people, let's face it, like yourself, probably who listened to this podcast every week. It's fantastic to give to the other people in your life, who may not really understand diabetes, because Diabetes Connections extra is full of conversations about the basic building blocks of diabetes management. And some people just learn better when they read a book, rather than sitting down with a grandma, or sitting down with your best friend who's interested and kind of explaining. And that's what I think it's really going to be good for. But
you tell me I'm interested to see what the reaction is to this. That is Diabetes Connections extra and we are giving it away for free, it will not be free forever. I'm going to put it on Amazon as an E book in a couple of weeks. Okay, thank you so much to my editor John Bukenas from audio editing solutions. And thank you so much for listening. It means the world to me that you're here week after week. I appreciate it so much. I'm Stacey Simms. I'll see you back here next week. Until then, be kind to yourself.
Unknown Speaker 38:38
Diabetes Connections is a production of Stacey Simms Media. All rights reserved. All wrongs avenged
Linda Franklin is one of the strongest people we know - and we mean that literally! She holds world records for power lifting and has ranked at an elite national level for cross fit. Linda was diagnosed with type 1 at age 26 and reveals she struggled with management until she found her community. You may know Linda from the amazing Facebook group, Type 1 Diabetic Athletes
In Tell Me Something Good, the dedication of a dad.
Innovations this week has an update on the longest wear CGM yet.
This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider.
Check out Stacey's new book: The World's Worst Diabetes Mom!
Join the Diabetes Connections Facebook Group!
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Episode Transcription
Stacey Simms 0:00
Diabetes Connections is brought to you by One Drop created for people with diabetes by people who have diabetes by Gvoke hypo pen, the first premixed auto injector for very low blood sugar, and by Dexcom take control of your diabetes and live life to the fullest with Dexcom.
Announcer 0:22
This is Diabetes Connections with Stacey Simms.
Stacey Simms 0:27
This week, Linda Franklin is a world record holder for powerlifting diagnosed with type one at age 26. She's in her early 60s and at an elite level, but she says she really struggled with management until she finally met somebody else with T1D, who shared her passions.
Linda Franklin 0:46
And I was trying to do CrossFit and coping with the crazy blood sugars. And I was really having a difficult time when I met him. It was really an eye opener for him and meat. We were just so excited to talk to each other about things,
Stacey Simms 1:00
Linda and that friend Daniel went on to create a now well respected and very large Facebook group for athletes with diabetes. We'll hear more of Linda's story and get some great advice about fitness and type one
in tell me something good. The dedication of a dad and in Innovations an update on the longest wear CGM yet
this podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider.
Welcome to another week of Diabetes Connections. I'm your host, Stacey Simms, and I'm really glad to have you along. We aim to educate and inspire about type 1 diabetes by sharing stories of connection.
I don't know about you, I am on the edge. What a stressful time. I mean, this year has already been bonkers. I find myself, as they say, Doom-scrolling through Twitter, I was already on my phone way too much before this year. And it's just multiplied to the nth degree. Now, don't worry, I'm not going to talk politics here. This is not the place for that you do not come here. I am sure to talk politics. And if we were going to have a show about that, because let's face it, sometimes there are issues you would know before you heard me start talking. This is not that. But I do think it's important to acknowledge that politics is exhausting us.
Everything is exhausting us right now. And I thought it would just take a minute to share with something that is really helping me. And maybe you have your own version of this. Maybe I'll put this in the Facebook group when this episode comes out. And it's Diabetes Connections of the group. I really hope you can join us on Facebook. It's such a great group of super smart, wonderful people. But what's helping me is another podcast. It is pop culture, happy hour. It's an NPR podcast. It's been going on for years and years. I think they just celebrated their 10 year anniversary. And they just talk about pop culture for 20 or 30 minutes. It's fun, it's distracting. And what I have been doing lately because I just found this podcast this year. So there's a huge back catalogue to me. I'm going back and listening to podcasts from 2016 2018. You know, I'm listening to them talk about movies, and TV shows and things that were popular in the news a long time ago. And you know what? It's a great distraction, and it gives my brain a break. So I know you come here for diabetes news and not necessarily weird podcast recommendations. But man that is really helping me right now. Along with walking my dog.
Maybe I should give a little nod to fitness since that was what we're talking about. Actually this episode. You know, I live in the Carolinas. I live in Charlotte, North Carolina. We're so lucky. We live near a Greenway and the weather is generally pretty nice. So I have been able to walk my dog almost every single day. She's actually right here under the table as I tape. She's usually pretty quiet and when she's not, We edit that out. But my dog's name is Freckles. She's not very friendly. She likes us but she hasn't met anybody else that she likes yet. Except maybe my dad. He does like when grandpa comes to visit because he also walks her every single day. But man, she's an interesting character.
Anyway, we will get to Linda Franklin. That's why you're here. Linda Franklin, who is an amazing, amazing story, not just for her dedication to fitness and her passion for it her world records in powerlifting but her diagnosis story and what she found inspiring early on, and a teenage Bret Michaels how he makes an appearance. So we got a lot to talk about. But first diabetes Connections is brought to you by One Drop.
Getting diabetes supplies is a pain. Not only the ordering and the picking up but also the arguing with insurance over what they say you need and what you really need. Make it easy with One Drop. They offer personalized test strip plans. Plus you get a Bluetooth glucose meter test strips lancets and your very own certified diabetes coach. Subscribe today to get test strips for less than $20 a month delivered right to your door. No prescriptions or co pays required. One less thing to worry about not that surprising when you learn that the founder of One Drop lips with type one they get it One Drop gorgeous gear supplies delivered to your door 24 seven access to your certified diabetes coach learn more, go to Diabetes connections.com and click on the One Drop logo.
Like many of you, when I have question about sports and diabetes, mostly about my son, I head over to the type one diabetic athletes group. It is one of the biggest Facebook groups there is. But it's also largely drama free and full of support. My guest this week is a big reason why she didn't start the group. You'll hear more about that in our interview. But she is an inspiring and I think larger than life personality, who challenges us each week with flex Friday and other fun posts. Linda Franklin is a world record holder in powerlifting. And before that, she placed 14th Worldwide in the 2014 CrossFit open this interview was conducted live in that Facebook group, you can watch it there it's recorded and then playback in the group. Or you can see it on our YouTube channel Diabetes Connections over on YouTube, I will link all of that up in the episode homepage as usual, at Diabetes connections.com It was great to talk to Linda here is our interview.
We don't normally take like this and who the heck knows how it's gonna go. But she's been such a great sport. And I'm so excited to welcome my guest someone a lot of you know quite a bit about but some of you may not and boy but a story. Linda Franklin, thank you very much for letting me in the group and agreeing to do this and fingers crossed, it all works out.
Linda Franklin 6:22
Yeah, it will.
Stacey Simms 6:23
Let's jump right in. Because this is a group for and about athletes. And I joined this group because of my son, who was a type one. And he's played a billion different sports. Most recently, he's more interested in wrestling. But I'm just so impressed with the amount of knowledge in this group. Do you mind just sharing how the group itself came to be? Sure.
Linda Franklin 6:46
So Daniel Borba, who has been a lot a little inactive lately, because he's expecting his second child, which is super exciting. But I met him back in 2013, my brother said called me and said, hey, there's a type one diabetic in my gym, my brother on the CrossFit box. And we were both so excited because he knew I didn't know anybody. And so I met Daniel, we did a little tiny podcast that just disappeared, you know, was wasn't much of anything, but it was so great to get to know him. And he'd been thinking about exercising and not there just wasn't much knowledge out there for how to control blood sugars, exercise, being type one, taking insulin, it's very complicated. So he just got decided to start this group and invited me and here we are. This was seven years ago from June, and it's blown up. Well, unfortunately.
Stacey Simms 7:44
Yeah. Well, I mean, there's good and bad, right?
Linda Franklin 7:47
Yes, yes.
Well, let's
Stacey Simms 7:48
talk about the good and a little bit. I mean, we're gonna talk about your story and all of your incredible accomplishments. But I'm really curious seven years ago, and that's about when I started my local Facebook group to the diabetes community was interested in in kind of different things. The technology has changed. Now the knowledge has changed. Do you remember the first kind of questions people had I imagined it was just how do I work out without crashing?
Linda Franklin 8:11
It was very small. We were like 300. To begin with, I would say for the first year, three to 500 people. So it got to be very intimate. And as the group grows, larger, questions become more voluminous. And you can start categorizing everything. But at first it was Yes, that was a big, big problem, or spike, what a really big problem was because it was really based around CrossFit to begin with was the spike after exercise. That was a huge, huge problem. And for me, too, because I was doing CrossFit at the time. And it was a that crashing and spiking after exercise was a big, big issue in the group, how to eat before you get started and when and how much and how much protein and I could go on?
Stacey Simms 8:57
Well, I'm gonna ask you to so I made a note of that, because I think it would be great to get some of your advice a little bit later on. But you said CrossFit, now I'm looking at your bio, and I don't even know where to start your soccer CrossFit world record holder now powerlifting let's go all the way back before you were diagnosed in your 20s What's your sport in high school? Like Were you always athletic?
Linda Franklin 9:24
I was a cheerleader. Okay, this was the 70s, early 70s back in what was cheerleading,
Stacey Simms 9:30
the sport that it is now because the leader in high school in the 80s and it was not an athletic sport.
Linda Franklin 9:36
No, it wasn't then, but I grew up with a bunch of boys and I climbed trees. I've always been a tomboy. And when I did sports in school and high school classes, I set the standing broad jump record in high school and you know, just stuff like that. I kind of excelled at every sport that I did. Except for basketball. I can't run in triple vault. So that was like, but I think my whole family's pretty athletic.
Stacey Simms 10:04
So when you were diagnosed, first of all, what was the process? Were you given an answer immediately or at age 26?
Linda Franklin 10:12
Was it? We don't know what it was strange. Like I've told someone before, or many people that women, it's typical when you have a lot of high blood sugars for a long time, or even a short period, yeast infections are a really big problem. And it was for me, and I was actually in the midst of bodybuilding, starting lifting weights. And this is what introduced me to weights which I found a real love for. And I started just eating a lot drinking a lot up on my ping and the yeast infections got super bad. I look like I walked like I'd been riding horse for. So I went to the doctor, gynecologist beat into a company says you need to go to the lab, like today. So I went the next day because I'm 26 living by myself and my back. Yeah, whatever. Okay, right. Yeah. And I drink in syrup all day at the lab. And by the time I was done, I was like, almost 800. So they said, we'll come back in a few days. And you're going to go see your doctor on Monday. And you know, but they let me go home. And it was really casual. I mean, they knew, obviously, I was diabetic, but they didn't put me in the hospital right away like they would normally now. And that's pretty much how it all got started.
Stacey Simms 12:07
Did you immediately think? Did someone tell you you can go right back to the gym? Or were you told don't work out? Do you remember anything different?
Linda Franklin 10:12
No, I just remember sitting in the doctor's office with a diagnosis on Monday morning. And he just literally went into a fog. He just said you know you're gonna, this is gonna cut your life short. And just all the old 70s routine. And he wasn't trained. I mean, it was an internist, or whatever you call them and wasn't really trained in depth about diabetes, treated mostly type two. So he did tell me not to do activity. But I didn't go back to bodybuilding because I wasn't feeling good.
Stacey Simms 12:07
What led you back to your activities at all, though? Because you didn't ultimately wind up not exercising?
Linda Franklin 12:14
Yeah, absolutely. So what happened though, is I got really active only to control my blood sugar. I refused insulin, I freaked out. Well, I didn't have parents looking over me gone for doing this. I didn't have
Stacey Simms 12:28
an endocrinologist either. As you said, You know, I didn't. It was
Linda Franklin 12:31
just pretty, pretty basic. And I just decided, Okay, well, after I eat, I'm just gonna I gotta jump rope. I jumped rope, or walked or ran after every meal for about three months, until I was down to eating out of a jar peanut butter and decided, I think I need insulin. I just couldn't do it anymore. But that's I just, it was ingrained in me to exercise anyway, before that. So I decided, Okay, I kind of laid off for a little bit. And then I got back into snow skiing and doing normal things. But I wasn't in great control or anything. But I still did stuff.
Stacey Simms 13:10
Yeah. I mean, you couldn't have felt that great. But you also don't want to sit home and not
Linda Franklin 13:13
feel great. No, I'm not wanting to sit behind and watch everybody do stuff when I know. So when did things start to get better? Actually, I would say right before my first pregnancy, I knew that I needed to get my ducks in a row before this happened. That was when I was 33. And I went to the sweet Success Program. But they were both my pregnancies were planned. And I decided I got my a one c under six and got pregnant, had my first baby. And then two years later, did the same thing. And then after that it got a little bit crazy again, you know, with kids and was hard to keep in control. But that's when I realized I need to do better. I didn't have a blood sugar meter, the first two years, I cut my strips into quarters to save money because the meters then would take cut strips, they won't know. So I did that. And I did all these things to save money. But I did a lot of injections to I was stacking insulin a lot up and down, up and down get really low get really high. And it was I was a mess. Before we move on,
Stacey Simms 14:21
you mentioned something called Sweet success. Is that a local program to you is that a hospital program actually
Linda Franklin 14:27
was a nationwide program, I believe for women type ones that get pregnant and they just start this program suitesuccess. I don't know if it's California based or if it is nationwide. I'm not really sure but it is I do know here in California and it was wonderful. He said he was at a more it was at a UC hospital. I was there every two weeks but they both went fairly well.
Stacey Simms 14:54
It's such a different time I think it's hard to understand is
Unknown Speaker 14:57
that
Unknown Speaker 14:58
not only the insulins were different But as you said the blood sugar meters were new in the mid 80s. It's not like it is now at all.
Stacey Simms 15:11
Right back to Linda answering that question and taking a look back. But first Diabetes Connections is brought to you by Dexcom. And we have been using the Dexcom G6 since it came out more than two years ago. And it's amazing. The Dexcom G6 is now FDA permitted for no finger sticks for calibration and diabetes treatment decisions. You do that to our warmup, and the number just pops up. I mean, do you remember back before where you had to wait in a two hour warmup, and then you calibrate then it would start populating? It's just a great advancement. We've been using a Dexcom for seven years in December, and it just keeps getting better. The G6 has longer sensor were now 10 days, and the new sensor applicator is so easy to use. Benny does this all by himself. Now. We love the alerts and alarms, and that we can set them how we want if your glucose alerts and readings from the G6 do not match symptoms or expectations use a blood glucose meter to make diabetes treatment decisions. To learn more, go to Diabetes connections.com and click on the Dexcom logo.
Now back to Linda. And she's talking about what technology was like when she was first diagnosed.
Linda Franklin 16:20
No, there were no cgms there were no cell phones. I mean. So it was Harry Caray. You know, I especially being diagnosed in my mid 20s. I know some people that were diagnosis, children, their parents kind of monitored them and got them through high school into adulthood with a lot of success, but also got them real regimented. Whereas me, I'm 26 I've already got my routine and this gets in the way. And here I am gone. Uh, well, I'm just going to make do till whenever until you know more good stuff comes along. And I I suck at technology. But I sure do love it. I'm telling you.
Stacey Simms 17:00
Well, unless I'm laughing technology, I can't even get my your phone good wired things to behave. And you know when my lighting is insane, so we're in good company, sister. Don't worry about that. But let's talk about you said you started to turn things around a couple years after your second child was born. I'm curious, like, Did you meet somebody? Did you just say to yourself, Linda, I'm not feeling great. I want to do more. I got the CrossFit stuff going like
Linda Franklin 17:21
I'm actually no, I never did know anybody until the dots started. So I didn't really know anybody that was type one, until I was probably well, until I met Daniel Borba the founder of the group. That's why my brother called me said I met a type one because I really didn't know anybody than other. I worked in endocrinology office, and there was another girl there that was, but it wasn't the same as meeting and talking about
Stacey Simms 17:49
was it until you met him that you've got things. I don't see more under control. But you're such a success story. Um,
Linda Franklin 17:57
it did help because it, it made me pay attention to it more, I was kind of brushing it under the rug for a lot of years, like, Okay, I'm just gonna just shoot myself through my chains and just keep doing what I'm doing. And he put it in my face. And I was trying to do CrossFit and coping with the crazy blood sugars. And I was really having a difficult time. So when I met him, it was really an eye opener for him and me to talk about, we were just so excited to talk to each other about things. But before that, my whole connection with type one, and any type of anybody else out there with it. What were diabetes forecast magazines, and I'll never forget when I was in my mid to late 20s. I got one with Bret Michaels on the cover on my porch. I had it I have a T shirt, but it was so cool. I'm like, Oh my God, he's a teenager with type one. Wow. Yeah, it was it was weird. But I had stacks of diabetes forecasts and I would read them. And that's how I connected to it. There was nothing else to connect to really for me.
Stacey Simms 19:02
So tell me about CrossFit. This is not for the faint of heart. I don't even sure where to begin. I just think of people flipping tires. Right and to be ranked 14th in the world
Linda Franklin 19:13
at one point. Well, that was 2014 CrossFit open. Yeah. What goes into that? I got in. Okay, well, it's at that point in time, I was training five days a week. And in between all that I was riding up and down to the CrossFit box on a bike that had no gears up and down hills, like so, you know, I'm a nut. So that's what I did. And I just trained five days a week and did everything I could I mostly trained with it was all younger people in the box. So you know, at my age I started like I was like 57. So there just aren't weren't that many people who were that age in my box. So all these younger people in there and I'm going I gotta keep up.
Cuz that's my, that's how I think.
Stacey Simms 20:03
So take us through a little bit of how you manage diabetes, though, for something like CrossFit, when it is it's cardio with strength. There's just so much going on.
Linda Franklin 20:10
Right? Yeah. And there's a lot of variables and you don't know from day to day, and I actually had to talk to the owner there to give me the workouts the day before, which she doesn't know, CrossFit box likes to do that, because they don't want you to cherry pick their workouts, they want you to just come and do whatever is on the schedule that day. But I had told her, I can't keep doing this without knowing because I have to plan. And so she was kind enough to work with me and what I would do, I knew that what time the classes were, and after talking to Ronnie, my coach, back then he wasn't my coach, but he knew I was doing CrossFit. And he was actually an admin in the athletes group and said, you know, do some insulin and eat some protein and a small amount of carbs, but do half the insulin for it, and then go and take some Gatorade, put it in a bottle and have something to sip on, which is what I started doing, and it started to get better. But still, it was never perfect. It was really difficult. The ups and downs. And it mostly was the adrenaline afterwards kicked in. And I kicked in while I was working out. But afterwards, the blood sugar's were high for like 24 hours. And it was ongoing, you know, until I had to stop. Some days were different depending on the workout, but just some workouts just hit me really hard. So it was never stable.
Stacey Simms 21:30
Did you ever figure out how to handle this? I gotta tell you and I'm only dealing with a teenager. Yeah. Isn't CrossFit that much? Like he hasn't workout like that is what I mean. But we definitely have those adrenaline highs after certain sports.
Linda Franklin 21:42
Yeah, they're really tough alone. Yeah, soccer, I have really big problem with that, too. And my bigger problem, I think was all of it was that I would not eat. Like when I did soccer tournaments, I wouldn't, because I couldn't eat when I was out there running because I played striker. And it was, you know, a lot of sprinting, and I just can't eat and do that. So I wouldn't eat. And I think that is part of the problem was that I wasn't consuming enough food and taking insulin for it to get my blood sugar's down into a normal range. I think it's really important that people don't starve themselves around activities, just try to put your food in at a, you're not to stuff yourself, but eat the right things and take insulin for it, and you will get through it. It may not be perfect, but it will be better than if you don't eat at all, because your liver will raise its ugly head.
Stacey Simms 22:37
How then did you go to powerlifting, because that's just a natural progression, it's something happened to just see something or set a goal.
Linda Franklin 22:43
It was not a natural progression. I CrossFit, well, long term diabetes complications actually probably caused it I did with CrossFit, you do a lot of excessive gripping exercises, a lot of things are like do 100 days and then 50,000 level bar and you do the pull up thing. And with all the gripping that I was doing my overtime, your tendons thicken with diabetes when it's out of range. And so that's what happened and my fingers started to trigger all all of them all. But what happened for people who weren't familiar,
Linda, I'm sorry to interrupt you. Can you explain what that is? When you say okay, triggered?
Yeah, so trigger finger is you have tendons and all of your fingers. And there are two that go up to side. And there are little if you can imagine a fishing pole with a line on it with a little I don't fish but me there's, you know, there's a little you know, the little things that you thread the, the wire the line through, okay, so those are on your knuckles, and those of your tendons sliding up and down. So the line so when you when they get thick, and like weedy and stuff, then they don't slide as well, they get caught. So with the thickening tendon, it can't slide through the little shields that are on the side there on your knuckles, so they get caught and they get stuck, and then you pop your finger open. But it's a it's a really common problem with diabetes and in women that are my age.
So I went to UCLA doctor, he said, No, all your fingers are involved, and we're gonna have to do surgery. So I had a lot of hand surgery. And so I recovered and then I had shoulder surgery several weeks later, so I was just a mess for about a year. But I knew that I needed to get back to lifting I just I missed it so much and I just couldn't sit still my blood sugar's were starting to was gaining weight. I'm like, Oh, I just don't like feeling like this. So I talked to my brother who's a CrossFit expert. He's been in the games four times, and he told me you know, you could possibly power left and went back to the gym, started working on it, put a video in the Athletes group and I said, Okay, I've kind of reached a point where I don't know where to go from here. What do I do? And Rodney saw my video and he's like, let's talk. So we talked. And that's how I got started. Wow. What
Stacey Simms 25:11
is appealing to you? About powerlifting? I can think of a lot of things. But I'm curious, like, why do you do it? What do you get from it?
Linda Franklin 25:21
Oh, man, that's a really tough question to answer. I think it's a rush of, and there's obviously adrenaline involved, too, but just lifting heavy, it's mental. You know, obviously, there's a physical benefit for it. But the mental part of it for me is that I like feeling strong. I just love the feeling of being strong, or getting stronger. And I don't care about, you know, records are great and everything. But to me, it's just the feeling of being strong is wonderful.
Stacey Simms 25:54
What was it like, though? I mean, I know it's not about the records. There's a tremendous picture of you. I think you're breaking a record. And there's a crowd of people. I don't know if it's a video screen. I couldn't tell from the photo that I was looking at. And everybody's kind of cheering and robbed me, especially as cheering. Oh, you know what I'm talking about? Yeah, just Philadelphia
Linda Franklin 26:13
meet that. I went to, I believe, yeah. And in fact, that was me. And Roz, such who is in our group and does the daily workouts on the weekends, we did a meet together, Rodney coached six or seven of us out with a group, but there were seven type ones that did that. Wow, that meet in Philadelphia. So I flew out there from California, never flown that far in my life. But I did it. And we It was a blast. And it was a huge type. One thing was so awesome.
Stacey Simms 26:46
I'll come back to the other questions and about the records. But what was that like for you? I mean, as you said, You've never flown that far, you came all the way east to be with a group of type ones power lifting. I mean, that must have been an incredible situation just to be around everybody.
Linda Franklin 27:00
Yeah. Well, and, and in fact, I hadn't met half of them. But we had talked, you know, over social media and stuff for some length. And although Roz, I knew before that she had come out and handled me for a meet in California, which was amazing. Another one of us flew out from Portland. And it was just, I can't even explain how crazy it was with the blood sugars and all the beeps. And it was just insane. But we were all there cheering each other on. And you know, Rodney had his hands full. Let me tell you. That's awesome. It was pretty incredible.
Stacey Simms 27:35
What's different about managing blood sugar's when you're powerlifting? Then CrossFit, do you mind if is like a little bit of advice, maybe to for people who are looking to get into it.
Linda Franklin 27:43
What I found is consistency is key. And it doesn't have to be every day. Because when I first when I first started getting really back into exercise, after being diagnosed, I tried to do something every single day. And I don't do that now. And I don't feel that I really have to other than I don't sit down all day long. But what I find with it is, it's more of a weekly pattern, versus a daily pattern. And if you do, train over time, you'll start to see changes in your blood sugar's at first when I first started, it wasn't great, but I started to learn how to treat. I knew what my weak plan was. And I could say, Okay, today, I'm gonna have a little snack before I go. But typically, I know how to combat highs better because it's not random stuff. I know what I'm getting into. Because it's just easier for me. It's more predictable. And now my body feels that it is to
Stacey Simms 28:45
Is it a matter of keeping track and logs or looking at your CGM data?
Linda Franklin 28:50
A CGM data is important. I used to keep logs ridiculously back before anything was around, so I can't do that anymore. I tried it last two days, and I'm done. But I do keep a workout book. I don't record my blood sugar's though. But I do know that when I go out there, I'm in a range. I either put my exercise mode on, I take my pop off if I see it start to fall, but I typically run fairly flat. Unless I just for some odd reason. Something goes awry. And that happens.
Stacey Simms 29:23
You mentioned exercise mode. Do you use control iQ? Is that what Yes,
Linda Franklin 29:27
I do.
Stacey Simms 29:28
Tandem Dexcom. And it works pretty well for powerlifting.
Linda Franklin 29:32
It does when you're doing high reps. When I do heavier weight, lower reps. I don't mess with it. I just leave it alone. But I do. You know I have an exercise bike in the garage. I get on every once in a great while. I do it
Stacey Simms 29:47
a couple of minutes ago, you mentioned complications. And I feel like sometimes especially we as parents, we're so afraid to talk about that kind of stuff. Right? And the only way we want to talk about it is did you do it Right, with what did you do? What was your a win? See? How did you eat? Or did you at hell? You know, we were so narrow minded on that, that I just want to ask you, and I guess I'm, I'm trying to figure how to ask you. But first, let me say thank you for talking about complications in the first place, because it is something that happens. It's not something obviously, you have always taken great care of yourself, even when you were saying earlier that you didn't, you're active, healthy person. Is it hard, though, to share those experiences with the diabetes community?
Linda Franklin 30:29
Actually, it isn't. And I feel that I'm being helpful when I do that. Because it could be diabetes, it could be anything else. To me, it's part of living life. And I look at it as I've done the best that I can, I don't look at it as a bad thing. I just try to let people know as not to be afraid of it, I do as I get older, I do have some anxiety around it now like seeing my blood work. When I go to the doctor i get i get real anxiety around lab work and stuff like that, I it's just part of getting older. It's not just part of being diabetic. You know, my mother died from type two kidney disease. And I helped her go through the process. And it was really, it left a real whole, you know, and I but it also made me aware that I need to, I really need to be careful. And so when I wait for my labs to come, I'm always like, how are my kidneys, you know, that's the first thing I worry about, because of what she went through. I saw what she went through. But you can only be the best you can from day to day. And I just hate to see people beat themselves up day after day. And I have adapted to what my hands are now they're not pretty and they're not, you know, my palms are strong, my fingertips are weak, but I found something I could do to keep me healthy. So you just adapt around these things. It's what we have to do as human beings, regardless of what we're dealing with. And I think it's good to know.
I mean, I had someone reach out to me the other day about trigger fingers. She's been diabetic for almost 20 years, maybe I feel so good that people can reach out to me and talk to me about it. Because it's it's a real thing, just like frozen shoulder and all that other stuff in the end being type one diabetic. And I just think that it's okay. There are ways to handle it. I had a great surgeon, he fixed me up not perfect, but it's another chink in my armor. Now, and now I've got stories to tell right? down
Stacey Simms 32:22
it's life with or without diabetes. Yes. You had mentioned before we got started that your daughter had learned a lot from you, in terms of being able to spot diabetes. Can you share that story?
Linda Franklin 32:35
Yeah. So you know, with my kids, obviously, I've had two kids while being pregnant at 33 and 35. And both of them have had to give me glucagon. Unfortunately, I know, there's a lot of people that have lived as long with diabetes as I have and have never had to use it. But here I am. And they recognize signs just from being around me. Are you low? All the typical questions, but she worked at a daycare center and in a gym, and the couple brought their daughter there. She was 18 months old, and they dropped her off and she was not well, and my daughter was holding her and said, I think she's diabetic. I don't know what clued her in but there was some symptoms that this little girl was having that, you know, she recognized. I can't really tell you but I'm so thankful in a weird way that she did.
Stacey Simms 33:25
And and the 18 month old did wind up getting diagnosed.
Linda Franklin 33:28
Yes, she was the youngest in the county. Yeah, at that time. And actually she was it was in the hospital for quite some time and we ended up nannying her after that first my daughter, and then I did and I gotta tell you, kudos to you because I nannied her for six months, and I was a wreck. Oh, the literal wreck. I'm like, I can't do this anymore.
Stacey Simms 33:52
There is truly I mean, every there's no good. There's no bad he didn't do the type one right? It all stinks. But there is truly something unique about toddlers and very little ones. It is a it's a circus. Yeah. It's just it you have to laugh.
Linda Franklin 34:07
Because thank God, I know. Well, you know, the parents were super cool. And they just wanted her to be they loved having us there. And they knew that I handle it. But the thing is, and they were regimented, but not to the they want her to live a normal life. And it was so great to know that not to restrict her so much that she couldn't have fun. That's great. That's, that's funny.
Stacey Simms 34:30
So a world record holder, all this wonderful stuff. You are in your early 60s. Now what do you have any any other goal or is there anything you're working on now? I mean, you've done enough You don't have to.
Linda Franklin 34:44
Actually I am signed up for me to November, but it's November 7, in LA there's COVID there's the election. I think I may just pass on this. I'm really giving it some serious thought and I think it might just I might just do a mock meet at home. You know, I'm a little scared about the COVID thing, because I've had diabetes for so long and, and my age, even though I'm healthy, I don't know how much vascular disease I have. And they do say that that's an issue with it. So I just want to be careful. And there's no point in me really stressing out about something like that right now. It's not that important to me to go do so I figured I could just do a fake one in my garage. Hey,
Stacey Simms 35:24
I've seen some pictures of your garage, though.
Linda Franklin 35:26
I'm not what I was
Stacey Simms 35:28
gonna say you. Did you put that together this year?
Linda Franklin 35:31
Yeah, actually, some young kids here at the gym locally, the gym shut down. They had it at the gym, back up, and they sold it. And I bought it. Oh, I was very blessed in that regard. But yeah, so it's little tiny, single car garage. But I got it all in there. Just what I need. And it's working great.
Stacey Simms 35:49
I'm curious. After all this time, it must be just such a part of your life. But do you still have to get psyched up to work out as often as you do? Are there days where you're just like, I'm laying in bed on none of this nonsense?
Linda Franklin 36:00
And not very many? Yeah. I have them every now and then I had one just I think it was Sunday. Actually. It was like, yeah, I'll just put it off to tomorrow. But no, I have to set goals. Oh, to stay motivated, you know, but I I'm always looking for a goal. I can't not have one. And I think it's really important for people to have goals, but not to get so hung up on it. It's not a failure. If you don't meet it, it's the fact that you're working on something is the success.
Stacey Simms 36:30
Before I do let you go here. I'm curious. There's so many people in the group here for support here for advice. If somebody is just kind of dipping their toe in the water as an adult with type one or a parent of a kid who's you know, playing high school sports, any advice for them? I mean, I would assume that with the technology that we have, things are easier, but there's still some basics that you have to think about.
Linda Franklin 36:50
Yeah, well, there's always a couple things I preach about. And one is when I did have that really bad, low blood sugar, my daughter's boyfriend's a firefighter. And he said, Hey, you need to get up a box of and put on their low blood sugar type ones, snacks, or whatever you want to put on there. But make it bold and let everybody know where it's at. So when you go to sleep at night, and you start to have a low, it's always so important to have something on you or near you all the time. It doesn't have to be like if you're in the house, big deal. It could be across the room. But when you're in bed, and you're sleeping, you should have something by your bed, it gives your parents peace of mind. Or if you go play sports, you need to let everybody know that you're diabetic. I when I first joined a soccer team, that's the very first thing I did. I'm actually proud to be diabetic. Not that I like having it. But I'm proud to tell people look at this is me, this is what I'm going to do. And I want you to support me because I'm going to do this. So I think it's important to embrace it. Just let people know, don't hide it from anybody. And because they'll feel guilty if something happens. It's not fair to them, either.
Stacey Simms 38:00
It's a good point. Yeah, it makes it easier for everybody. I always feel bad when people or kids are shy.
Linda Franklin 38:04
And it's an educational point to you know, you bring it up and didn't tell people I had a guy asked me the other day goes home. You got it bad.
Unknown Speaker 38:12
Yeah, you had the bad kind.
Linda Franklin 38:15
Okay, so we sat for about a half an hour after about the night school.
Stacey Simms 38:20
I just curious too, is anything ever happened? Where like it's popped off? Or somebody hit it with something? You know, My son has all sorts of crazy stories. Oh,
Linda Franklin 38:28
actually, no, I've been pretty lucky. I'll just you know, knock it off on a door jamb or something. But you know, that's happened a couple times. But other than that, I'm pretty careful
Stacey Simms 38:37
with a thanks so much. This was so fun. Thank you.
Linda Franklin 38:39
You've asked questions I've never been asked before. I love it.
Unknown Speaker 38:48
You're listening to Diabetes Connections with Stacey Simms.
Stacey Simms 38:54
You can find more information on Linda and articles on her and find that picture that I mentioned with Rodney Miller and I will put that in the Facebook group as well. But you can find everything at Diabetes connections.com. Every episode has its own little little almost like a blog post. But every episode has its own page with a transcript as well. You can listen you could download the episodes. You can listen on any podcast player. I mean, at this point wherever there is audio on Stitcher, Pandora, Amazon, we're all over the place. You can find Diabetes Connections. Up next Tell me something good with a very devoted diabetes dad.
But first diabetes Connections is brought to you by Gvoke Hypopen. Almost everyone who takes insulin has experienced a low blood sugar and that can be scary. A very low blood sugar is really scary. And that's where the Gvoke Hypopen comes in. It is the first auto injector to treat very low blood sugar. Gvoke Hypopen is pre mixed and ready to go with no visible needle. That means it's easy to use in usability studies 99% of people were able to give Gvoke correctly. I am so glad to have something new find More go to Diabetes connections.com and click on the G voke e shouldn't be used in patients with pheochromocytoma or insulinoma. Visit gvokeglucagon.com slash risk.
In Tell me something good This week I want to share with you this story. This is so adorable. I found this on Facebook and I think it do need to see the photo. So I'll link that up in the group as well. But I will describe it the best that I can. Let me read the caption first from Andrea and she says yesterday we went to Mayci's endocrinology office for our first of three pump training classes. Mayci was given the opportunity to put a trial failing pump on to get the feel of it and become used to it. She was a bit afraid and apprehensive at first. Now looking at this photo, I want to say Mayci is maybe three, maybe four. She is a preschooler, I know that much. And the pump that they're talking about is the Omni pod here. Andrea goes on to say, Daddy stepped up and volunteer to also get a trial sailing pump. He's not type one to help support and show me see it is no big deal.
And this is the cutest photo of the dad right next to me see, and they're both showing off Omnipod on their arm. And she looks a little nervous. Still, you know, preschoolers are doing that smile, and they're a little nervous. But then it's got to be great to have her dad next to her doing that. Kudos. I think by the time this photo has posted the time has gone by maybe two weeks, and she may have already been live with the Omni pond pump. And I hope things are working out great.
I tell the story in my book, the world's worst diabetes mom. But one of the things that made me the world's worst diabetes mom is that I never tried on any of the technology. I never, you know, I never tried to make Vinny feel less alone. It sounds terrible when I put it that way. But I never put on a pump instead, I never put on Dexcom several reasons why. First of all, we're so lucky Benny has been surrounded by friends with diabetes, since he was diagnosed. No, we didn't have anybody close to us. We didn't have any people in our town or our school until at the end of first grade. And he was diagnosed at two. But we didn't know people through jdrf. And we didn't know people that we could hang out with and see one of my best friends started a little diet buddies thing for little kids. So we always knew people who had the same tech on that he had. And the other reason I never did it is because I was so afraid that if it hurt me that I would never be able to put it on Benny again. And that's true. I was terrified that if a pump in set hurt or a shot hurt or late by the time I had Dexcom he was he was nine years old, it didn't really matter anymore. But if that hurt, I had hardened my heart in the way that you do in this terrible way that you have to do when you are doing medical things necessary things to your child. And boy that sounds so dramatic when I put it that way but I think a lot of you understand what I mean. And we had caregivers who did it for themselves just because they wanted to experience it and said oh it's no big deal. It'll be fine. I was never sure it would be no big deal. Is that interesting how we as parents do things so differently?
But back to this fabulous dad if you have a Tell me something good story, you can always email me Stacey at Diabetes connections.com or just drop it in the Facebook group I every so often, and they are always such great story. So thank you so much.
quick look at innovations this week a segment I added this year Sensionic holdings which is the company behind the eversense implantable CGM, they have announced they are filing for a supplement application to extend the wearable life to 180 days. What does that mean? It means Hey, the FDA is now considering letting the eversense CGM system expand 280 days in the US that is quick math six months. And that is up from the three months that it is currently allowed for, you probably haven't heard too much about ever since recently. And that's because honestly earlier this year, wasn't clear that they were going to make it with COVID. Everything else that had happened, it really seemed like the future of the company was in doubt. But they cut a deal with asensia diabetes care, which used to be part of Bayer diabetes. So very, very big company here, which I think is a good move for the ever since we've looked into it because with many wrestling and who knows what will happen with wrestling with COVID. But workouts are starting again pretty soon as I can't imagine they're doing actual wrestling. I'm guessing this is more just fitness workouts. But wrestling is a really tough sport for diabetes technology as you can imagine, because everything's fair game, so somebody could put their hands pretty much on you almost anywhere that you could put a Dexcom or a pump in set. So we've got a lot of great advice from people who've been there. And we've got lots of good methods but we are looking into ever since as a possible backup plan. It's weird to think about because you know, full disclosure here you know, we use the Tandem X to with control IQ which means we need the Dexcom G6 right now. So that kid could have the ever since under his skin and then the Dexcom has Well, not during wrestling season, I don't know what we're going to do. But as always, I will keep you posted on that. But if you have any news for innovations, and that does not have to be a big technology news story, it can be your hack your tip your trick for diabetes, please let me know as well.
I said a couple of weeks ago, this was going to be a very busy time in terms of news stories in the diabetes community always seems like fall has a lot going on. And that is definitely the case. podcasting is really hard for breaking news. But I do my best when something happens to kind of go more in depth and give you a perspective on it by talking to the actual players involved. So I hope you're in the Facebook group or follow me on social media, because that really is the best way to stay on top of what we're doing here. I don't mean to be cagey. But in terms of the timing of the podcast, there are a few things that I have that I've taped that I hope to release in the next two weeks. And as I'm talking to you here, as I'm taping this episode, I've got like three different news stories that I'm working on that I don't know, maybe they'll be old news by next week. So got to do the best we can with the weird time shiftiness of podcast, or maybe someday somebody will pay me to do a daily diabetes news show. If that's you, let me know. Ah, thank you, as always to my editor John Bukenas from audio editing solutions. Thank you so much for listening. I'm Stacey Simms. I'll see you back here next week. Until then, be kind to yourself.
Benny 46:28
Diabetes Connections is a production of Stacey Simms Media. All rights reserved. All wrongs avenged
Diabetes nurse practitioner Michael Greenberg just ran the New York City Marathon – his first marathon – with Beyond Type Run, a group of people with type 1 diabetes fund raising and training together.
Find out more about Stacey's New Book: The World's Worst Diabetes Mom
Michael shares advice about running and training with T1D, about what led him to change his career path and how his love of comic books and wrestling help him deal with diabetes.
He mentions Rhone shorts, a sponsor of Beyond Type Run and Path Projects
Stacey talks about Pie Benny Day from a few years back: watch the video
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In TMSG: a sports connection results in a real life meetup that one kid will never forget.
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At the end of the show, Stacey shares details of Benny's recent surgery - as it pertains to type 1 diabetes.
This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider.
Use this link to get one free download and one free month of Audible, available to Diabetes Connections listeners!
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Christina Martin is the first women with type 1 to compete on American Ninja Warrior. She got into the competition on her first try and made sure to wear her pump and CGM during the run. She even pointed them out for the camera!
Watch Christina's audition video here
Learn more about Stacey's New book!
Christina is also a dancer – at the Olympic level - and continues to run the Type Zero Foundation she started in high school.
In Tell Me Something Good, some good news about travel – a great encounter with TSA from Logan, The Elbow Bump Kid.
This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider.
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Join the Diabetes Connections Facebook Group!
Sign up for our newsletter here
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Use this link to get one free download and one free month of Audible, available to Diabetes Connections listeners!
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Get the App and listen to Diabetes Connections wherever you go!
Erik Douds has big plans for the next few weeks. First, a 100 mile bike ride through Death Valley next week and then the New York City Marathon. Douds says these events take on a new - unexpected layer when you have type 1: it becomes about community.
Buy the Book! The World's Worst Diabetes Mom is on sale now!
Erik is partnering with Scott Johnson on the JDRF Death Valley Ride, we'll talk about how the popular community leader got involved.
Donate to Erik & Scott's JDRF Ride
Plus.. tell me something good! Scholarships and new blogs!
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This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider.
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00:00 Show Open: What's on this week
1:20 Stacey Welcome: Stacey is recording on the road from a women's podcasting conference. She talks about Benny's recent injury he's okay - they thought it might be an ACL tear, but it's just a bad knee strain - and what happened with blood sugar. Book update as well! Pre-orders have gone out!
6:20 Snippet of Scott Johnson ride video
8:20 Interview with Erik Douds
41:30 Tell Me Something Good: college scholarships for people with diabetes?
Check out DiabetesMine monthly blog/social media roundups
45:30 Stacey's on the road! Look at her schedule and request that she come to your event here.
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This season of American Ninja Warrior, keep an eye out for Colt Scott! Diagnosed with type 1 as a baby, Colt has been a course tester for ANW for 4 years and just recently got the call that he made it to the show.
Colt talks about being a sudden role model - he really just found the diabetes community - and takes us behind the scenes of ANW.
In our Community Connection this week an update on what’s now called the Thrive Medical Alert Necklace (formerly Glucose Revival) and how you can get yours
And Tell Me Something Good! A strong drive to succeed leads to a terrific honor for a teen.
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1:30 Stacey welcome - she mentions Friends for Life in Seattle
3:45 Interview with Colt Scott
39:00 Community Connection: Thrive Medical Alert Necklace
(listen to our previous episode with inventor Kris Maynard)
41:00 Tell Me Something Good: Sydney is named Camp Sweeney Camper of the Week due to being accepted at the University of North Texas's prestigious College of Music.
Use this link to get one free download and one free month of Audible, available to Diabetes Connections listeners!
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It's called the World Marathon Challenge: 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days. And Eric Tozer did it all with type 1 diabetes:
We talk about the path that led Eric to this amazing accomplishment and Stacey asks why anyone would even want to do something like this! We find out about blood sugar management, travel issues and how to stay fueled up through seven marathons.
Eric is a co-founder of the Diabetes Sports Project which has great information and inspiration for athletes with T1D.
In our Community Connection this week, a fun way to help spread the word on Diabetes Alert Day next month. Find out about Divabetic’s partnership with an escape room
And Tell Me Something Good! Parents weigh in on their teens.
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1:30 Stacey Welcome, she talks about other extreme athletes who've been on the show. Check out those episodes here.
6:00 Interview with Eric Tozer (find out more about JDRF PEAK study here)
44:30 Divabetic's Escape Room for Diabetes Alert Day
47:30 Tell Me Something Good!
Stacey is experimenting with a new podcast app: Check out Stacey's Minivan Minutes (not diabetes stuff, just testing out the app for a podcast presentation she's doing for college students)
Use this link to get one free download and one free month of Audible, available to Diabetes Connections listeners!
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This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider.
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The new Dwayne Johnson / NBC show the Titan Games premieres this week and body builder Chris Ruden – a previous guest who lives with type 1 – is one of the contestants. You may have seen him in the commercials, he wears a prosthetic arm.
Chris talks about how the mental burden of T1D and the challenges of being born with a shorter left arm and only two fingers led him to the incredible path he’s on now. He’s got advice for all of us.
Listen our to 2017 interview with Chris here
Since our interview, Chris traveled to Uganda to help children with type 1 diabetes there. Learn more here.
Plus.. what is the T1D Fund? Have you heard about this from JDRF? Stacey talks to Karen Jordan from the Bay Area, CA JDRF Chapter about this newer way of raising money for research.
And something new this year: good news straight from you! Want to tell us something good? Email stacey@diabetes-connections.com and share your story.
This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider.
Join the Diabetes Connections Facebook Group!
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1:30 Stacey Welcome / Explains social media, where to find the show and new sponsors who are keeping the show free
4:45 Interview with Chris Ruden
38:15 Stacey talks to Karen Jordan from JDRF about the T1D Fund
49:30 Tell Me Something Good! Great story from listener Kathleen
Use this link to get one free download and one free month of Audible, available to Diabetes Connections listeners!
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Get the App and listen to Diabetes Connections wherever you go!
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Andrew Armstrong was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in high school, when college scouts were already coming around. He had the unique experience of being recruited by someone who knew exactly what he was going through - one of the coaches he met had a daughter with T1D.
Andrew is now in his third year at SU and linebacker coach Brian Ward still supports him, as does Athletic Trainer Tim Pike who lives with type 1. Andrew shares his story plus tips and advice for student athletes.
We taped this episode in front of JDRF families at Syracuse University. They asked Andrew questions and then Stacey put the kids in front of the microphone.
And, this diabetes awareness month, Stacey takes a moment to talk about Project Blue November, a clearinghouse for online diabetes news, events and inspiration.
Join the Facebook Group!
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1:50 Stacey welcome
5:00 Interview with Andrew Armstrong
Interview with JDRF CNY Ambassadors:
32:00 MP
34:30 Bella
37:30 Logan
40:00 Amie
51:00 Project Blue November
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