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!
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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