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Episode 14: Tech, Choice & T1D: Living Life on Your Terms with Paddy McCartin & Chris Stocker
108 Plays16 days ago
In this powerful episode of Type 1 Club, Jacqui sits down with two incredible guests — Chris Stocker, an advocate and father living with type 1 diabetes in the United States, and Paddy McCartin, former AFL player and passionate voice for type 1 awareness in Australia. Both guests share their unique journeys living with T1D and navigating its challenges through major life transitions, from professional sport and parenting to managing everyday highs and lows.
Topics We Cover:
- Chris’s diagnosis story and how it shaped his advocacy work in the U.S.
- The emotional journey of parenting a child with type 1 diabetes
- Paddy’s experience managing T1D in elite sport and life after football
- The mental load of diabetes and strategies that help
- Resilience, routine, and what they’ve both learned over the years
- Creating community and support networks for families and individuals with type 1
- The value of personal choice in diabetes tech - MDI through to pump choice
- How tech has evolved over the years and improved their quality of life; from better sleep, reduced mental load, more stability and less daily decision-making.
Why You Should Listen:
Whether you’re living with type 1, parenting a child who is, or just looking to understand it more deeply, this episode offers wisdom, empathy, and hope. Chris and Paddy bring raw honesty and practical insight to the conversation, reminding us that while T1D is a constant companion, it doesn’t have to hold you back from living a full, connected life.
Connect with Our Guests:
- Chris Stocker: Type1Detour
- Paddy McCartin
Further Resources:
Type 1 Foundation Website
Follow us on Instagram
Join the Facebook Group
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction: Purpose and Disclaimer
00:00:00
Speaker
The content provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
00:00:14
Speaker
Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.
Podcast Mission
00:00:23
Speaker
Welcome to the Type 1 Club. Whether you're a parent grappling with a new diagnosis, a caregiver seeking guidance, or simply someone wanting to learn more about Type 1 diabetes, this podcast is for you. Together, let's dispel myths, break down barriers, and build a community of understanding and resilience.
00:00:43
Speaker
Join us as we embark on this journey together. Because with knowledge, compassion and support, no one should ever feel alone in managing type 1 diabetes.
00:00:54
Speaker
Welcome to the Type 1 Club.
Host's Personal Story
00:00:59
Speaker
Hey everybody and welcome back to the Type 1 Club. I'm your host, Jackie Kidman. I'm a mum to Harvey who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in June 2022, just after his seventh birthday.
00:01:16
Speaker
I'm very excited to be back in the podcasting
Guest Introductions
00:01:19
Speaker
seat. I know that say that every episode, but I'm particularly excited this week because um I actually have not one but two guests this week and two guests from completely different sides of the world as well.
00:01:33
Speaker
So we've got one calling in from America and one calling in from ah Sydney. So so i would like to welcome both, we've got Patti McCartan and we've got Chris Stocker.
00:01:46
Speaker
So welcome both of you to the podcast. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. Thank you for having so we might start with you, Chris. Can you just introduce yourself and share a little bit about when you were diagnosed and what you, if you remember anything particular?
Chris Stocker's Diagnosis Story
00:02:03
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. So ah my name is Chris. I am from America. I was born and raised in the state of Pennsylvania. I was actually diagnosed ah later in life.
00:02:14
Speaker
So I was not diagnosed until the age of 19. And April 3rd will be 21 years. So I was a freshman in college. I was playing college American football at that time.
00:02:28
Speaker
And I had every symptom that you could possibly have. If you were looking at like a symptom of type one diabetes card, I checked every single box, but I knew nothing about it. I knew nobody with it.
00:02:41
Speaker
So I just didn't know what was going on. The season had just kind of ended. We were in kind of spring training timeframe. So I was going to the gym every day. I was working out. I was hydrating myself. So I was losing weight.
00:02:56
Speaker
I was, you know, rushing to the bathroom at all hours of the night, but I just kind of justified it because I was working out and drinking a lot of fluids because I was working out.
00:03:07
Speaker
You know, I thought I was doing a good job of cutting weight and getting down and get into better shape. Little did I know that I had lost about 30, about 35 pounds in about a month and a half, two months.
00:03:20
Speaker
And it got to the point where it was a Friday, ah Friday morning in college. And I just got very sick that morning. um I was vomiting kind of all day long up until about, you know, seven, eight o'clock at night. And one of my dorm mates had seen me and was like, hey, buddy, I'm calling 911.
00:03:42
Speaker
nine on one you like You need to go to the hospital. You need you don't look good. So ended up going to the er and they pricked my finger. It just said hi. I was like, oh, that's a you know nice little welcoming gift to the hospital. I don't know exactly what that means.
00:03:58
Speaker
So they they drew labs and my blood sugar was actually 858. um So that was my introduction to being diagnosed at the age of 19 was a blood sugar of 858.
00:04:11
Speaker
And, you know, that was I didn't really realize how serious that was at that time. looking back on it, I realized that my end, the first endocrinologist I saw said that, you know, I, if I maybe would have had a ah soda at that night or something, I may have never, never woken up that next morning. So, you know, it was a pretty serious life-changing ah thing for me.
00:04:35
Speaker
And then that's kind of where, you know, 20 years later now, my life took a
Life Changes Post-Diagnosis for Chris
00:04:40
Speaker
different road than I ah definitely ever expected it to be. And I'm, I know we'll get into that. So I don't want to,
00:04:46
Speaker
you know, take too much time here introducing my my intro and everything like that. But that's kind of how I was ah introduced to to type 1 diabetes was being the age of 19 and a freshman in college.
00:04:59
Speaker
Wow. So for the Australian listeners, I'm just trying to work out that conversion. now i don't know if you've ever done it, Patty. But um so I know when you were saying you lost 30-something pounds, I know that that that's equivalent to that's about 15, 16 kilos.
00:05:16
Speaker
I think that at the 800s of your BGLs is probably around 40 to 50, about 45 to 50, what we would say in Australia. Yeah.
00:05:27
Speaker
That's loose, bro. That's so high. Yeah. So um I'm thinking that's just what that's just what I've just Googled anyway. That's nuts. Yeah.
00:05:38
Speaker
That's wild. It was one of the highest one of the highest that people have heard, yeah. That's the highest I've ever heard. Well, there we go. We probably are correct then if it's close to 50. I think the graph that I'm looking at only goes to 900. So...
00:05:50
Speaker
so You were up there. Very close. from over the edge Wow. Absolutely. Absolutely. And how great that you've got someone that said, okay, mate, you need to go to hospital.
00:06:03
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I, I was lucky. Cause like I said, it was a Friday night in college. I was on the, you know, the football team, all my friends and buddies were out and there just so happened to be like one, one person that decided to not go out that night who kind of saw me and was like, yeah, you know, like he,
00:06:20
Speaker
I spoke with him then a few months later and he was like, I felt like I could see your cheekbones like through your skin. That's just how like bad you, you like look. So he was like, I just felt like we, you didn't, i didn't want to. i was like, no, I'm fine. I'm fine. I'll be all right. I just got like a stomach bug or something. I'll be okay. and you know, I'm glad I, glad I listened to him.
00:06:43
Speaker
So sliding doors moment. One of those sort of, I would call that. Okay, Paddy, would you like to introduce yourself and share your diagnosis a little bit about when you were diagnosed?
Paddy McCartan's Early Diagnosis
00:06:54
Speaker
Yeah, of course, Jay. Firstly, thanks for having me. It's it's great to be on and I've had a bit of of sort of association with the Taiwan Foundation before. So um it's good to be involved with you guys again and all the great work that you're doing for sort of diabetes advocacy in Australia and I guess worldwide.
00:07:10
Speaker
yeah, I'm Paddy McCartan. I used to play AFL and um did that for a while. And my diagnosis, sorry, it's a bit different to Chris's. I was quite young. oh I mean, relatively, odd compared to Chris, I was eight. So you know my parents sort of saw me get quite quick, I had all the just the usual symptoms, you know really thirsty going to the tot a lot not eating a whole heap not a heap of energy and um I was mad into my sports when I was a kid. So um there was probably you know two or three weeks of that. And then one weekend I said to my parents that I didn't want to play footy. And I think that's when they sort of knew something might be up. So they took me to the hospital, the Geelong Children's Hospital, that sort of area there. And I think my blood sugar was a like mid-20s around that mark.
00:07:48
Speaker
And then the rest is sort of history. They looked after me there. I did a week in hospital and from there I've yeah sort of done it all. So yeah, compared to Chris, my story is probably quite boring diagnosis, but yeah, all the usual stuff and all the usual symptoms. And I was very, very lucky that I've had you know an amazing family and an amazing support network from a really young age that have given me a lot of you know support and guidance through what I've needed to do.
00:08:11
Speaker
And that started in Geelong when I was eight. So I'm 28. this year and turning 29 so it's almost 21 years since I got diagnosed so yeah it's been a while but it's been good. Oh so you're almost both diagnosed at the same time then just different. Yeah. yeah So did you say you're coming up to 21 years as well Chris?
00:08:29
Speaker
Yeah. So I guess for for Chris like being when you were saying you were 19 you were already active an active footballer Do we call you a footballer? Is that what we call you in America?
00:08:43
Speaker
that and That works, yeah. Okay. Did it change your day-to-day initially? Like, and I guess what was the hardest part for you to adapt? Yeah, so it it definitely changed my day-to-day because I had ended up having a talk with my coach about a week before my diagnosis. And I kind of was like, I just don't have this in me anymore. Like I don't have the drive in me. I don't want to wake up, you know, first thing in the morning and go work out and then go to class. I just, I didn't really have it in me anymore. So
Adapting to Life with Diabetes
00:09:15
Speaker
I started to started to lean towards like giving it up and just quitting playing. And I had already had two knee surgeries and
00:09:23
Speaker
broken bones and stuff like that. So it was it was kind of a, you know, I guess what they call nowadays, like a business decision. So I had initially started to kind of step away from football before my diagnosis. And then once my diagnosis happened, basically, I i ended up leaving the school.
00:09:42
Speaker
And the reason why is because since I was diagnosed in April. So in in America, you know, the the college, usually you have your finals, you know, the end of May colleges is done for the year.
00:09:56
Speaker
So I was not given any credits for my classes that I was taking that entire semester because they told me that I had missed too many days of school after my diagnosis.
00:10:06
Speaker
And I kind of, I didn't like that. So I decided I wasn't given that school another penny of my money. and I was going to transfer schools anyway to kind of make my mom happy. I stayed at home for a year and went to a local community college. So I ended up giving up football, but it but it changed my day-to-day because,
00:10:25
Speaker
I had something a lot more important to be thinking about every single day. It wasn't just like, oh, wake up, you know, let's get classes done and where, you know, who's having the next party. It was a little bit more like, I can't just worry about that. I have to worry about a few other things.
00:10:40
Speaker
It definitely threw, know, a big, a big wrench into what my life was, was like, but I adapted pretty quickly to it You know, I, just looked at it as like, Hey, this, I was told that I'm going have this for the rest of my life. Like, I'm not going to sit back and let this thing like,
00:10:55
Speaker
dominate me you're like i'm I'm gonna I'm gonna beat it and I'm not gonna I'm gonna learn everything I can about this so that way I can have any you know possible advantage against it that that I possibly can so I kind of attacked it head on and and kind of just made it part of my life and it was like hey this is this is now just what I got to do every day and Patty what do you think day-to-day initially? Like, I mean, being eight, yeah I'm not sure if you even remember kind of life sort of pre-diabetes. Yeah, well, it's an interesting one.
00:11:26
Speaker
And i I think with Chris, like, i mean, I often think now um I feel very lucky that I got diabetes when I was eight because I sort of, can't remember what life was like beforehand. Whereas I think, you you know, especially today, there's so many people getting it at a bit of an older age where, you know, the adjustment lifestyle is significant.
00:11:44
Speaker
you know you go from not having it to getting it and then your whole life changes and everything that you do, whether it's work or, as you said, playing sport or whatever it was, changes quickly. So i was very lucky in that regard that I can't remember life without it. The things that change, I mean,
00:11:58
Speaker
probably similar to you with Harvey. I was eight when I got it at school, you know, a few things like that, what I was doing then, but it was so different back then to what it is now. um i was doing four injections a day and pricking my finger um and then going in and and even when I first got diagnosed, there was like this really heavy focus on like eating carbs.
00:12:16
Speaker
So, you know, these like servings of carbs per meal. So when I would go to school, I'd eat all this food and I had to eat here and eat there and these timed eatings and all this stuff which just is a like looking back on it now as a load of crap like really it doesn't it doesn't make any sense at all but in terms of like my footy and my sport and what I did i was super keen like as soon as I got it to not let it really stop me doing anything I wanted to do and my parents were pretty good they gave me pretty loose rein um which you know at times probably wasn't ideal but you know they let us sort of let me do whatever i wanted you know i never let them do it give me a needle, do any stuff like that. I always just did it myself and think that gave me sort of, you know, pretty good independence with it from a young age and, um yeah, always allowed me to do whatever I wanted to do. So ah changed obviously my life in some regards, and like in terms of how much i had to think about what I was eating, like the needles, the finger pricks at a young age, all that stuff. But in terms of what I did,
00:13:10
Speaker
and what I was doing before I got diagnosed, it didn't ever stop me from doing anything that I was doing sort of beforehand. So that's always been something that I've prided myself on with my type 1 diabetes and something that I've always tried to speak to young kids about who are diagnosed as well. So, yeah.
00:13:24
Speaker
oh I feel like Harvey is was, I have, because obviously I know your story, but i Harvey seems quite similar in that he's very active basketball and footy and we've never tried to sort of stop him from doing any of that. That was kind of one of the main things was to keep him as active as possible and, you know, never let it hinder what he loves.
00:13:46
Speaker
I did ask Harvey this morning. I told him that i was but I was having a chat with you and I said, what would be a question you you would want to ask Paddy? said... He'd like to know how you get up so early and what you have for breakfast because they're probably our two challenges.
00:14:00
Speaker
Our challenge at the moment is he starts very early kind of rep training and he's not hungry in the morning but he needs to have something that keeps him going but then we're sort of struggling with the balance there. So there's two questions he wanted me to ask you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I get asked those questions a lot and it's probably changed a little bit for me now that I'm not playing foot anymore. But when I was playing, I mean, the biggest thing for me is, and I think this is something that i try and push to all kids and adults with type one, is you've got to view yourself as a person like for what you're doing rather than you know worrying about having too many carbs or what if this happens with my sugars or just sort of you know whatever he's doing in the morning, eat based. on the energy that you're going to need. um But one thing that I have always tried to do is, especially before exercises, have the same thing every time. So I would always have oats, which, um you know, a high carb, low sugar, which would really help. I'd always have oats with peanut butter, banana, and blueberries. That's what I would have morning before training and games.
00:15:06
Speaker
um The other thing that I suggest is, to people with in relation exercise. And I know it's really, really hard, especially with you know kids starting school early and how early you get up. like Kids don't really love rolling out of bed, I assume, when they've got school and stuff like that. But is to bowl us about half an hour before you eat.
00:15:23
Speaker
um That's one thing that i was I'd always do, especially before exercise, so that your sugars sort of start coming down before you eat and you don't get those really high spikes, especially if you're sort of having high carb before exercise. And the other thing as well, and this can be really hard, as I said, with school time, time and getting up early is, but to have no active insulin on board once you start exercising.
00:15:42
Speaker
That's another thing as well. So try and eat at least two hours before you start exercising. um And that just sort of cuts out any of the sort of chances of having those like really like harsh lows that once you start exercising, you have those really quick, you know, sort of spikes down.
00:15:57
Speaker
So I would always eat, you know, generally three hours before I would start start exercise. Yeah. So there are like a couple of tips, but I think the biggest thing really is just having a routine and something that you can go to each time and something that body sort of knows that's coming, especially with your food. So it's such a unique one. Obviously, everyone's different. Chris would be different to me and I'd be different to Harvey, but, you know, think some of the principles still apply. Well, Chris could actually also add another layer to that because you're not only type 1 diabetic in your family, are you, Chris?
00:16:28
Speaker
No. So I, my oldest daughter was diagnosed in 2019. It was about a month before her fourth birthday. So she was almost, almost four.
00:16:42
Speaker
And she's going to be celebrating her 10th birthday here in just a few days. So, you know, she's been diagnosed now for six years now.
Family Impact of Diabetes
00:16:51
Speaker
You know, Patty was kind of touched on it a little bit earlier about having those differences of being diagnosed as such a young age versus you know, being diagnosed as a, as a young adult and, you know, having for her, like, this is just, it's just all she knows. It's just, it's her life. She knows, but, you know, I, I tried to set that example for her. Like you can do anything you want to do.
00:17:15
Speaker
And, you know, if you want to play sports, you play sports. You want to, you know, her, her dream is she wants to be a a national park ranger. That's what she wants to do. So,
00:17:26
Speaker
you know, I tell her every single day, like the diabetes isn't going to be what stops you from, from doing that. I'll tell you that, you know, it might be something else, but it's definitely, it's not going to be your, it's not going to be your diabetes. That's going to stop you from, from doing what, what you want to set out to do in life. So it's a totally different outlook looking at you know, like your child having diabetes versus is your own.
00:17:48
Speaker
Like for me, it's just like, you know, if if I have a high blood sugar, I'm just like, yeah, whatever, you know, I've had, I've had a million of these before, but like, when it's your kid, it's like, man, what, like, did we, did we not count the carbs right? Did we not do this? Should we have done, like, you, you start questioning a lot of things because you just, you're like, parental instincts kick in, and it's a lot different than when it's just yourself, like, you know, I, I can handle it myself, but then it's like,
00:18:14
Speaker
you kind of get that feeling like, Oh, I did this. And you know, it's a little, it's a little bit more difficult on you, especially with, um, you know, anxiousness and, and like the stress that comes along with it and everything like that. But it's, it's a totally different, like management, like the way I handle a certain food, like she handles great, but I, if I eat it, it's like, ah there's, I'm going to be high 99 out of a hundred times that I eat it.
00:18:41
Speaker
So it's, uh, It's a very interesting mix. That is, that's for sure. I can imagine. Cause I can understand it for obviously from the parent side of it. Yeah. Then you've also got to kind of take care of your own.
00:18:52
Speaker
Like, so it's sort of, do you kind of feel, was there an initial, initial kind of burnout of like, Oh my gosh, like how do you do sort of both? Absolutely.
00:19:03
Speaker
So when I, in 2008, in two thousand eight um I was ah a senior in college and I ended up getting an internship at a diabetes related company doing marketing for them.
00:19:16
Speaker
And I and started a blog. when I worked for them and I ended up just kind of writing like a daily blog over the years and it became pretty large.
00:19:27
Speaker
And I did that for about 10 years. And then when my daughter was diagnosed, it was now like my diabetes, her diabetes, I'm writing about diabetes for like my income. It was just like, it was just too much. It was too much, just constant on my brain, constantly what I was thinking about.
00:19:45
Speaker
But I, I will say that my wife, like, she from the day my daughter was diagnosed while we were in the hospital, because, you know, I, I'm kind of, uh, you know, I'm, I'm a guy that's like, no doctor's going to tell me, you know, I live with this. I know what's going on. Like no doctor PhD is going to tell me what I need to know. So when we were in the, you know, the hospital with my daughter's diagnosis, I'm like, all right, you guys don't know it. I know more about this than you do.
00:20:14
Speaker
this is my wife's like, well, I need to learn a little bit more about it. So, you know, so my wife from day one has kind of stepped up and she like fully manages my daughter's diabetes. Like I have to text my wife, like, Hey, you know, my wife runs to the store and I'm like, Hey, she wants a lunch. Like, I don't know how, how, how early should I bolus her? Do I wait 15 minutes? So I wait 20 minutes, you know, she is like as full control of it and knows, knows more about like my daughter's diabetes than, than I do. And sometimes I feel like
00:20:47
Speaker
I should probably know more, but i I rely on her and she is, you know, it's amazing to see like how she has taken that on because it's, as you know, it's something that's like a shock.
00:20:58
Speaker
It could send you, you know, down a totally different way. And, and she kind of stepped up and took control of that from day one and um has definitely made my life easier for sure.
00:21:10
Speaker
That's so interesting. of um And I guess it just it just highlights when we talk about this, it's such an individual disease. Like even though it you've you've got the diagnosis of type 1, you know, what works for you, what works for, you know, for Patty, what works
Resilience and Life Skills
00:21:24
Speaker
for for Harvey, what works for your your own child are completely sort of different Paddy, how do you think that growing up and I guess being a type one has kind of impacted your family relations? I know you've mentioned a little bit about your family before, but even like, you know, partners or, you know, yourself or having to kind of share that with friends and that sort of stuff.
00:21:45
Speaker
Yeah, it's a great question. And um but I love, I mean, I love talking about this now, but I, had a really bad run with it when i was te angel like enough probably not too dissimilar to a lot of teenagers who who live with taiwan but i hated it absolutely hated it had really bad experience on tech to start with i would get up most days and i wouldn't bowl this so i wouldn't give myself needles i wouldn't check my blood sugars for weeks at a time um and i think my relationship with type one was was really strained and poor and then i got drafted when i was 18 into the afl and i went into an environment where i was surrounded by people who you know i sort of looked up to you know for lot of my
00:22:20
Speaker
early teenage s and I probably hid my diabetes from them a little bit as well, um which you know obviously didn't have a great impact on my management and um the way I was able to sort of live with it.
00:22:32
Speaker
um and Then as I sort of got a bit older, I ah moved to the Swans and I got up in front of the whole – they asked me if I wanted to get up in front of the footy club and speak about my type one to everyone. and That was a real turning point and sort of the way you i felt about myself and the way that lived with with type 1 sort of emotionally, my ah emotional relationship with it.
00:22:50
Speaker
um I got up and spoke in front of 100 people about, you know, my type 1, how it works, what i have to do to be able to train, to be able to live, some of the signs of lows, highs, things to look for. Obviously, um oh you guys might not know this, but my brother Tom plays for the Swans as well, so I got to play with him there. and He had a really good understanding, obviously, of my type 1, which I was very lucky to have him there with me. But I think from that point on, you know, I've sort of turned – to you know being really open with people about my type one and sort of how it works and not necessarily that i was embarrassed by it but just more i probably hit it a little bit and saw it as maybe a bit more of a negative than a positive and that's all changed now but in terms of my relationship with my family i think the biggest thing that has changed that or their relationship especially emotionally with my type one is the tech for example like when i was 19 i was living by myself and my management was shit i like so bad and
00:23:40
Speaker
and my mum lock openly says to me now like she basically didn't sleep for a whole year like i'd have to message her every morning when i woke up so just so she'd know that i'd sort of woken up in the morning and not had a low overnight and you know i had a partner for seven or eight years who lived with me and um she worked overseas a lot and you know she'd go overseas and um i'd wake up in the morning to messages from her like are you all right have you woken up
Technology's Role in Diabetes Management
00:24:02
Speaker
so i think the relationship with my type one before i went on to the tech that i'm on now was really poor my incredible like I wake up every morning and my blood sugars are like six every day which is not something I like bragging about because I don't think it's really relative what numbers are and you know everyone's journey with tight ones different but that's just how mine is at the minute and with that sort of their emotional relationship with my tight ones really changed my mum in particular like she doesn't worry at all now about my diabetes
00:24:27
Speaker
um she you know she just asks how I'm going and a lot of the time that's nothing to do with type 1, it's more just just generally whereas a lot of the time before it would be around my my diabetes. don't know, probably Jackie as a mum and Chris as a parent as well, you probably would feel that a bit.
00:24:41
Speaker
um I imagine I'm not a parent but I know my mum and dad, that's sort of how they are. so I think you know ah as I've gotten older and more mature, I think I've sort of seen the impact that my diabetes had on my family.
00:24:54
Speaker
And ah feel so lucky now that I'm able to manage my diabetes well. um The tech helps me incredibly. And then a really important side part of that is that you know my parents and my brothers and people that are close to me, their sort of emotional relationship with my type 1 has changed from potentially a sort of one of negativity and worrying to anxiety.
00:25:14
Speaker
you know not worrying about it at all and and knowing that I'm fine. So, yeah, it's come a long way and it's taken a lot of time and I still have my ups and downs and still have days where i hate it, don't enjoy it, but I absolutely love now that my parents and family can just cruise rather than worrying about me all the time.
00:25:30
Speaker
It is interesting. Like, okay, so you're saying, so I've got like another 20 years. till i can kind of sleep properly now will that tell me well no not at all off think what what i'm what i'm saying is ah that's know i mustn't have so i mustn't have said it either but What I'm saying is the tech has changed it all.
00:25:47
Speaker
so but The tech is the reason why. And I think, yeah, like, ah think and I often say this to people now, and I know it sounds ridiculous, but there's obviously never a good time to be diagnosed with type 1.
00:26:02
Speaker
But if you you to get it now, like... um apart from yeah here or there, there should be really no time, based on the tech that I'm on anyway, that you have really bad lows or bad highs unless there's been something that's gone on or you know sport or things like that. But I played you know professional sport with it. and yeah So I think you yeah you and Harvey and you guys be sweet.
00:26:25
Speaker
It is interesting when you talk about how you how you hide the diagnosis, like because I know that Harvey just got, he got he got he's now doing rep rep basketball and I remember he had to wear, it and this is, um never I don't even know if I've ever said this out loud to anybody really, but he had to wear a number on his arm and it had to be a specific arm, like say he his left arm, and it the the tryouts went for like three weeks.
00:26:52
Speaker
And I remember thinking, ah on the second week, because we changed the Dexcom, I'm like, that's going to be right where his number is. And I remember thinking, oh, what if that's going to hold him back when they think, oh, that kid's got diabetes.
00:27:07
Speaker
Do we really want him... to be, you know, like just... Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know what you're saying. personally thought, you know, we say it to these kids all the time is like what you said, Chris, is if your daughter wants to be a ranger, nothing can stop her. But there is this worry that I think of like, but if you got two candidates that you knew one potentially has this, you know, they're like exactly the same, can't pick them.
00:27:36
Speaker
If you could pick the one without, that didn't have that extra burden... you know I'm always like, but they would probably pick that other one, wouldn't they? That's how I sort of felt about it and it was something that I carried um and I'm sure that I will continue to carry that to to feel like that that could, don't know how I get over that. but and One thing I would say to that is that when I speak kids and and sort of but particularly people that are in your situation where you've got to get a young fellow who's just been diagnosed and um you know he's got his whole life ahead of him,
00:28:08
Speaker
one party that about the tech and how amazing that is and how his life's going to be so, so great. He'll be able to do whatever he wants. But the other thing is that diabetes teaches you so many things that especially kids that age and teenagers, they don't learn, especially now, I reckon. And I don't want to sound like one of those old guys who's like, oh, kids these days. i fuck so I'm not like that at all.
00:28:26
Speaker
um But things like resilience, organization, um like being having to like set yourself up each day and know what your blood sugars are and what you have to eat and carb count. And those things that Harvey will learn at such a young age are going to hold them in such good stead.
00:28:44
Speaker
And the same with your daughter, Chris, hold them in such good stead for when they get to 18, 19, 20, and they have to become more independent because kids their age that don't have type one, won't have learned any of those skills at that stage, probably.
00:28:57
Speaker
Um, So, and I think in particular resilience, that's the biggest one I think. And that's the, that's the biggest thing diabetes has taught me. um and I think it's held me in such good stead for adulthood.
00:29:09
Speaker
And I think, I think it's the opposite. I think if there's two people standing in, in line and one of them has got type one and one doesn't, you'd be an idiot not to pick the one with diabetes. That's my opinion. yeah And, and to kind of go off of that too, and that and that's something that I, I kind of explained to my daughter too, is that like you, and part of,
00:29:28
Speaker
why I do things like this and talk and everything is to get rid of some of those, you know, um, those myths and stigmatisms and stuff like that, where it's like you, you have persevered and like you have endured these things and like you have so much more, more courage and strength and like toughness inside of you because you're dealing with this every single day. Whereas the other person, they haven't, you know, they, you're, you're fighting, you know,
00:29:55
Speaker
something every single day. And it's like some, you have bad days, you have good days, but you always put a smile on your face. You go out there and you, you know, and you attack the day and, and you, you have those, those skillsets that Patty just mentioned all of them. Like you have these, um you know, project management skills because you were able to, you know, figure out a meal plan for yourself. Like you can apply these things into so many different aspects of life that a normal, you know, quote unquote, normal,
00:30:24
Speaker
eight, nine, 10 year old kid, like they, they have no idea what's, what's going on. They don't even know what they ate for breakfast because it was just what mom put on a plate and that's it. Like, you know, so, um, you know, I think it definitely teaches her a lot of things.
00:30:39
Speaker
And unfortunately there, there may be people out there that are you know, that are like, Oh, well, I don't want to deal with, you know, this kid because they have something, you know, on their arm and that, and that kid didn't. it um Unfortunately, there's going to be people like that in the world every single day, but you can't let those people stop you.
00:30:59
Speaker
It's something that you know may happen, but you know the the toughness and perseverance that you have from from living with the disease, I think is going to push you beyond somebody who isn't.
00:31:14
Speaker
Don't ignore the four. The four early warning signs of type 1 diabetes, excessive thirst, frequent urination, unexplained weight loss, and extreme fatigue. If you or someone you know is experiencing these symptoms, don't wait. Get checked by a healthcare professional. Early detection and treatment are key to managing type 1 diabetes effectively.
00:31:38
Speaker
Yeah, I can recall a time just like last week when Harvey was having training, he, I was out for, I wasn't there. I'm normally kind of around, but I wasn't there.
00:31:49
Speaker
And um I could see that he was dropping really quick and he was about to have a hypo. And I was sort of like, oh gosh, who do I call to check in on him? You know, and I put a kind of but ah just a quick little message. And I was sort of thinking, am I just being neurotic? Should I just let him handle it? You know, that sort of stuff.
00:32:04
Speaker
And then I put a quick little like thing on the WhatsApp group said, oh, look, is any parents there? Can you just can you just give me a little bit of reassurance that Harvey's treating his hypo? And then the parent that was, there was a parent there and he um and he was sitting with Harvey at the time and Harvey was,
00:32:21
Speaker
shoving down Skittles and he was the one, Harvey was the one that raised the flag to his coach and said, oh, I'm actually dizzy. i need to sit out for a bit. And all the parents were just like, wow, what awareness that kid has.
00:32:32
Speaker
Like it's actually quite amazing how he just knew that he had to just sit out, treat it. And they're like, hey, they were just in like absolute awe of him of just like, wow, we can't believe that he would just do that and, you know, be so comfortable and confident and,
00:32:48
Speaker
You know, it's just that reassurance. It was more me that was sort of doing the freak out, to be honest with you. um But then it does, you you're right, like for nearly for us for three years, he's built that resilience of like, well, this is what I've got to do, guys. Like, I just got to sit out. I can't.
00:33:01
Speaker
and And normally afterwards, he'll sort of say to me like, mum, you know, like I had to sit out because you'd given me too much insulin or like. you'd got of crack the shits at me but he was like he was fine he was like nah I get it it's tough we're just still trying to work out like the morning routine and you know with this new training and he was like so so amazing for nine-year-old to kind of have that awareness that I was just like oh my god so proud Yeah, and ah that's that's all from, yeah, as I was saying before, most kids aren't like that.
00:33:31
Speaker
And I think that's something that every kid that I meet with diabetes is the exact same. and they have the's not I don't meet kids who are kind of like bit different to that. Like they're all like that and they just naturally, because it happens so regularly, not lows and highs, but just the fact that you've got to think about it.
00:33:45
Speaker
this this like natural resilience that you just build inside where if something happens where to some people like having a lot, that and note the parents are like, oh my God, I can't believe that but for a diabetic, we go through that every day. you just like, oh, whatever it is, what it is. And we just keep rolling.
00:34:00
Speaker
And I think, you know, how he's had for three years, in 10 years, you imagine the amount of resilience he would have built up. and then in 20, and then in 30, and then like it's, you know, it puts me on a different level other people.
00:34:10
Speaker
Yeah. So Chris, I would love to hear a little bit more for you to share a little bit more about what it is that you, um well, you sort of said before like the higher road, and I was like, oh, maybe that's ah that's a bit of a segue to talk about how you're you're ah like a travelling family in
Diabetes Management on the Road
00:34:26
Speaker
a motorhome.
00:34:26
Speaker
Can you share a little bit more about that? And also, I can just imagine what you're nearly 10 year old is, you know, like learning from that whole aspect of the confidence to travel with type one as well.
00:34:39
Speaker
So tell us what, what it's like and what systems you've had to put in place and all that sort of stuff. Absolutely. So back in 2020, the spring of 2020, when,
00:34:51
Speaker
the world kind of shut down for a little bit. We were living in the state of Pennsylvania at the time. And my wife is born and raised in Florida. Her whole family still lives down there.
00:35:02
Speaker
So ah we we didn't want to fly. We didn't want to travel. um You know, having two type ones, we were, with the uncertainty with what was going on in 2020, we didn't want to leave our house. So ah we thought about maybe renting like a drivable RV or motor home.
00:35:20
Speaker
It was very expensive to do that. So I just came up with the idea. i always had wanted to travel the country when I retired. And then um you know everything that was happening 2020, I was like, I may work until I retire. And then the next day, just not even be able to you know travel or do anything or not even be able to enjoy my retirement. So why don't we just do it now?
00:35:43
Speaker
So we we obviously, our biggest concerns were like health insurance, um How are we going to get our insulin? How are we going to get our so are you know pump supplies and all that stuff?
00:35:55
Speaker
So we started kind of just doing some research and it took us almost ah probably about nine months before we finally hit the road. But in July of 2021, we bought a big truck and we we have a, it's called a fifth wheel. So it basically attaches to our truck. up And we tow that around the country.
00:36:15
Speaker
We just travel around the United States. We try to go to as many national parks as we can. We go to as many states and um just cool places, bucket list places that we can go to.
00:36:26
Speaker
And we've been doing that now for almost four years. Getting our supplies has actually been quite easy. ah We thought it was going to be like tough and scary, but it's actually been pretty easy. So I do wear a Medtronic um So I'm able to get those supplies mail, mail to me, um, from the supplier. So wherever we are in the country, I just update my shipping address. They get shipped to me and, um, we can pick up our prescriptions wherever we are in the country. We just, um, kind of get a transfer to a local pharmacy and, uh,
00:37:01
Speaker
the diabetes part of it is probably been the easiest. It was getting our supplies was the easiest. So when we first started, there was, there was a big learning curve because we were, were doing a lot more activities. So, you know, we were going hiking four or five days a week and going out and doing these, you know,
00:37:21
Speaker
We used to go on family walks, but we weren't hiking mountains. So it was it was a little different to to to the things that we were doing. I had previously been on, been on like I said, I am on a Medtronic now, but I was on a previous system.
00:37:35
Speaker
And I made the change back to Medtronic. And it's it's helped me with so much stuff that I don't have to really worry about my diabetes per se, or really like stress about is ah as much because the technology is just,
00:37:50
Speaker
The technology is doing what it does, is what I say. And it just kind of does it all for me. And it frees up my mental capacity to be able to just like really look at this national park that we're at and really soak in you know, like the the mountains or the view where I'm at. And I'm not thinking like, oh, am I going high? Am I going low?
00:38:11
Speaker
i just know that, you know, the technology is doing what it has to do. i heard a quote about four yeah four or five years ago that said, you will spend the majority of your life knowing your children as adults.
00:38:26
Speaker
So why not spend as much time with them as kids as you can? And I was like, I grew up, you know, playing sports and just being gone, you know, half the day between school and sports and stuff. And I was just like, you know, i had a great time. I have a lot of memories and everything, but um we wanted to, while our kids were still young and everything, at least get out and travel and and share these experiences.
00:38:50
Speaker
with them and kind of see these places through my own eyes, but then also experience it through like our children's eyes. So we do have two daughters. I know we, I was talking about my oldest one before, but I do have a second daughter as well. So, um but yeah, that's what we do. We travel the country full time and we, we do take some breaks. So not every day and every trip is, you know, this you know, Instagram worthy,
00:39:15
Speaker
trip or life. There is a lot of slow days. We do we do school. i have I have to work. i We have to go grocery shopping. We have to do plenty of things. So um not every day is luxurious or glamorous. And, you know, as I sometimes say, is it's it's not all hashtagable.
00:39:33
Speaker
It's a lot of days are just living living life like everybody else. It's just that our home has wheels and it can move and we can take it kind of anywhere that we want. So that's what we've been doing for the last four years.
00:39:45
Speaker
Four years. Wow. That is incredible. I remember and we my husband and i traveled we travelled around Northern Territory for our honeymoon for four weeks in ah in a little ah little motorhome.
00:39:58
Speaker
um And I remember the systems we had to put in place of like, you know, when I'm cooking, you can't be coming through here or, you know, like but I can imagine you must have them absolutely down pat all those logistics of, yes you know, everything like that.
00:40:12
Speaker
Yes, definitely. It's definitely a change, um but we made sure that, you know, we looked at hundreds of different models and floor plans and everything. And and when people actually see the inside of our um RV, their jaws usually drop.
00:40:27
Speaker
and And we don't even have, you know, like this fancy ah RV. It's just, they're a lot bigger than what what people might think. And, you know and and we you know, we have a kitchen island. We have a refrigerator that has an ice machine in it. We have, you know, ooh.
00:40:42
Speaker
our our girls have their own bedroom and they have their own bath and shower. And my wife and I have our own bedroom and our own shower. So it's smaller than a house, but you know, we, we still have, make sure we have things that were, we're going to allow us to, you know, we're not the type that there is some people that travel the country that, you know, don't,
00:41:03
Speaker
they um They just stay out in the middle of nowhere and they have to you know only use a certain amount of water a day. And that that's not us. we We like staying at nice campgrounds that give us unlimited water and sewage and all the fun stuff. So that is our our style and method of traveling.
00:41:21
Speaker
Wow, that's so inspiring. i i um I love that. So I guess you've kind of sort of my next kind of questions was around like, you know, um and maybe we've already touched on this, so I'm not sure if there's anything else you wanted to add ah add, but have either of you sort of, I know we talk about saying diabetes doesn't hold you back, but has there ever been a time when you were kind of like,
00:41:45
Speaker
you had something big like sport or travel or career that did almost or did stop you? And how did you push through? That's a good question. I can pipe in quickly because it's there's there's not meant too many too many instances.
00:42:01
Speaker
I mean, i try to keep things as real as possible, especially for my daughter. Like I don't want to set unrealistic expectations for her, but I know that the sky is the limit. But there I mean, there are times where I may have fought, you know, three or four lows in the middle of the night and I was eating Skittles, drinking juice.
00:42:21
Speaker
And I just wake up that next day and I just, I don't feel even 50%. Like I just don't want to do anything. And now my whole day is, is ruined. And maybe I had something that I had planned to do. And, you know, I chalk it up as, you know, diabetes got me on that one, but like, I'm going to come back on the next one and come at it. But um so, I mean, yeah, I mean, there's definitely times where,
00:42:43
Speaker
I may have had something planned and I backed out of it because of maybe a bad day of lows or highs and I just wasn't feeling it. But other than that, I mean, like big picture stuff, like I've been able to do any, you know, career type stuff that I've ever wanted to do and and kind of do I say that I can't go skydiving because i have diabetes, but really just because I don't like um will never sky di And if I can just say it's because I have diabetes, and it just then that'll be my excuse. so We won't tell anyone. I use that excuse.
00:43:17
Speaker
Paddy? Yeah, i'm I'm very similar. I mean, I can't really recall any time that I've sort of, you know, not done something or, you know, made a decision not to do something purely based on, you know, having diabetes. um But very similar to Chris, like have had, um you know, a lot of ah lot of days where I've hated it, where I wish I didn't have it, where sort of got a bit of that burnout.
00:43:40
Speaker
And I think probably the biggest thing that I've found is just being able to be, you know, honest with people. And, um you know, I think even when I got to the swans when I got up and spoke in front of everyone about my type one and and what i have to do living with it.
00:43:53
Speaker
ah A part of explaining to them is that you know I have days where I really don't enjoy having it. There's days where it pisses me off. There's days where I have lows, where I have highs and it annoys me, gives me the shits big time. And on those days, you just sort of, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. And that's just how it is.
00:44:09
Speaker
And I think as long as you've got people that can sort of support you through that and you don't feel like you're sort of battling it alone, um then that's a really important part of it. um So, yeah, I think, you know, as I said, there's nothing specifically that's stopped me from doing, but there has been a lot of days where it where it pisses me off and I still have that to this day, but I'm very lucky that I've got an amazing support network around me who look after me when i'm ah when I'm feeling a bit down with it. So, yeah. Yeah.
00:44:34
Speaker
So Chris, I know, i know you've both sort of touched on this, but I guess just to get some clarity, just what's, what is your go-to sort of tech?
Conclusion: Importance of Tech Access
00:44:41
Speaker
And I know Chris, you said that you were on something and then you' changed to something new, maybe just kind of give a bit more of a what's the difference I guess that you've found in your diabetes management?
00:44:56
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. So when I was first diagnosed, I was put on multiple daily injections. I was doing, um, you know, three, four shots a day. And then that just wasn't working for me. and I was introduced to insulin pumps at that time. And it was a lot easier for me. I was like, oh, i so I can like go to the bar and I don't have to worry about pulling out an insulin pen. And I can just like press a couple buttons and I can, you know, don't have to leave the bar. I can just, you know, still hang out with my friends. And so I went on a Medtronic insulin pump in 2004.
00:45:28
Speaker
2005 2006 and I was on that until my daughter's diagnosis so um when my daughter was diagnosed i I knew we were going to put her on to an Omnipod and Dexcom just because of her age and everything we just um I know my daughter I knew that having tubing connecting to her was probably not the the best decision at that time so I wanted her to feel super comfortable and and think it was normal. So I switched over to that and wore that so she could see me wearing it. And I stuck with that for a few years and it just, my my numbers just weren't where I wanted them to be. It it wasn't it wasn't working for me.
00:46:05
Speaker
And then I was reintroduced back to Medtronic about a year ago and I switched over to the seven e g And that's what I've been on since then. And I mean, my A1C dropped tremendously within the first like three, four months of wearing it.
00:46:23
Speaker
And like I said, with the system and the algorithm and everything that it has, it's just given me so much like ah my time back. And that's what's just so important to me is that like, I don't spend all day like just looking at my numbers anymore, thinking about what's going on. Like I know that it is regulating it and doing everything in the background without me having to constantly be checking in and and looking at it and stuff. So, I mean, the the technology that is here today versus even when I was diagnosed, you know, is it's incredible.
00:46:56
Speaker
It makes living with the disease easier. It's not easy, but it makes it easier. And anything that can make it, you know, one ounce of, you know, easier is is definitely well worth it in in my opinion. so I'm so grateful and thankful that I was like even reintroduced back to the new system.
00:47:17
Speaker
And I'm just so glad that I went on it because it's definitely, it's been like a life changer over the last about, I think it's been ah almost a year at this point. As I mentioned earlier, like I ahll literally wake up every day my blood sugar is a six. i I don't even have to think about it. I just know that's the case. like The quality of my sleep has improved dramatically. and you know i think there's a statistic that on average, I think part one diabetics make 280 decisions a day more than you know the average person.
00:47:46
Speaker
and I would say that with this tech, that's probably been cut in half. I would say maybe even if not some more than that. and you know That's been pretty significant you know just for my mental mental space and mental sort of clarity around different bits and pieces that are outside of type 1 diabetes. So it's been game changing for me and you know it's been amazing journey you know, thing for me be use. But I also understand that, you know there's different tech for everyone and everyone has different journeys that they go on and different things that suit them. And sometimes you want things that are a bit smaller or, you know, bit easier to hide and and I get that too. So um I just think that's amazing now for type 1 diabetics that there's choices, people who are able to make choices based on what's best for them. and i think that's the most important thing and I think, you know, i don't know what it's like in America, Chris, but in Australia in particular, I'm very, very passionate about anyone being able to have a choice in what they use tech-wise.
00:48:35
Speaker
I think the fact that, you know, in Australia, people aren't able to have access to tech with type 1 is a absolute disgrace and um something that needs to be changed because it is life-changing and not only does it change the people who live with type 1 diabetes lives, but people like yourself, Jackie, who are parents of of kids with type 1, it dramatically improves.
00:48:55
Speaker
their lives as well so and the people that live with them so um yeah i can't speak highly enough of of the tech and and the impact that it's sort of had on me and the opportunities that it's given me and the things that it's let me be able to do so yeah Yeah, i I kind of think I'm very grateful that Harvey was diagnosed when he was diagnosed. So we were we were he was diagnosed in June and then a lot of the tech stuff came on um subsidised in Australia, Chris, on that 1st of July.
00:49:21
Speaker
So pre that, I remember working with a type 1 diabetic and she was having to, you know, spend... $90 every 10 days to, you know, to access a CGM and, you know, for, and she was a student and, you know, like she honor she, she got it, I think a concession when she was a student, as soon as she wasn't a student, you know, that's like hundreds of dollars a month that, you know, just adds to the cost of living.
00:49:45
Speaker
Yeah. It's quite ridiculous, isn't it? So, but I do still know that it's still a bit of a barrier here in Australia. And I'm sure that's the same in America is that GPs or endocrinologists won't even suggest a pump or a CGM to particularly like the older, the older community as well. I've heard some pretty full on stories about that as well.
00:50:06
Speaker
So still a little ways to go, but. Yeah, definitely. And then there are plenty of doctors. I mean, I had an endocrinologist that I had moved from Pennsylvania to go to college down in Florida And when I, when I went there, I met with an endocrinologist and he was like, oh, you wear an insulin pump. I, yeah, I don't, I won't see you as a patient then. I don't see people with insulin pumps.
00:50:27
Speaker
And I was like, oh, okay. Didn't, didn't know that was a thing. So, so yeah, I mean, so there are, there are definitely some, you know, older endocrinologists that may not actually, you know, want to deal with the tech and cause they don't understand it. So they just rather not, you know, deal deal with the tech. And there was a time where i it was about six or nine months. I didn't have health insurance. I was, um, I was laid off and I didn't have health insurance for like six months and I couldn't afford, you know, the pump supply. So I, I went back onto the daily injections because it was just, it was cheaper to buy the syringes and like the, the generic insulin over the counter. And I kind of just did that. And, you know, those were,
00:51:12
Speaker
probably the the two worst, you know, like A1Cs that I ever had. But once I was able to get health insurance again and get back onto tech, at you know, things improved. So it is definitely something that there's a lot of room for improvement, I think. And and the the choice and option, I think, is is huge. I mean, i'm one we're one family and we have two different sets of devices because one works amazing for me and one just fits my daughter's lifestyle just so much better.
00:51:40
Speaker
somebody if somebody has to live with a disease, they should be the one that makes the decision on what technology, what insulin, what anything that they want to use and what they feel the most comfortable with.
00:51:52
Speaker
Yeah. Amazing, isn't it? um Well, we're kind of coming towards the end of our little chat. it's I can't believe that the time has gone so quickly, to be honest with you. i I don't know whether I feel like I get more out of these conversations than anybody else, but I just learn so much. And so I guess if you could go back to your newly diagnosed self and give yourself one piece of advice, what would what do you think that might be?
00:52:22
Speaker
I get asked this question a little bit and I think um ah think for me, it's sort of a little bit around what I was speaking about earlier is that it's going to, like, firstly, the first thing, i mean, I'd say a couple of things. I think one thing is not enough to say to someone like a young eight-year-old kid who's getting diagnosed, but I think you're going to be able to do anything you want.
00:52:42
Speaker
So that's number one. Don't worry about, you know, you're going be able do this or do that. You can do whatever you want and not only can you do whatever you want, you'll be able to do it as best. as as you can and better than other people It's just around like what it's goingnna the things it's going to teach you and the lessons it's going to teach you, things like we spoke about resilience, organization, ah courage, you know being brave and having to do things. you know Sometimes when you're under fatigue or you're struggling or things haven't been perfect,
00:53:07
Speaker
So I think that's one other thing. And then the other the last part is just to be kind to yourself. I think you know I went through a phase, especially in my teenage years, where I was you know the perfect blood sugar. And if I had a low or if I had a high, I'd be bit down on myself and worried about what if this happens? And if I'm high for too long, will I get sick when I'm older and all this stuff?
00:53:25
Speaker
And it's a type 1 diabetes is an imperfect formula. And if it was perfect, none of us would have it. We would just be normal. So, you know, be kind to yourself. ah Mistakes happen.
00:53:36
Speaker
Ride the highs and the lows, literally and metaphorically, and just enjoy enjoy the ride as much as you can. I love that. Chris? Yeah, I don't want to sound like I'm um'm stealing an answer here, but that's literally that that last part there of like, um you know, but when I was first diagnosed, I kind of was just like,
00:53:53
Speaker
just went with the flow of everything. A high blood sugar didn't bother me. A low didn't bother me. And then, you know, after like my first year or so, I started to like, like, okay, well I've been high like two days in a row. Like what am I doing?
00:54:05
Speaker
I'm, I'm damaging my, myself for the rest of my life, this and that. And then I, then I was, I'd heard from somebody that's like, you know, if you just look at your life as like a timeline,
00:54:16
Speaker
from start to finish, like that high blood sugars is like a little blip. It's just a little, it's a little, little blip in that long timeline that, you know, even if you, you have a high blood sugar, you're having a bad day and you, and you have, you know, 20, you know, 20 hours of, of being on the higher end in the grand scheme of things like that 20 hours over, you know, I've now had diabetes for 21 years, less than a day over, you know, time is, is, is not,
00:54:46
Speaker
It's not that bad. Like you're going to be okay. And now if you are going, you know, 30, 40, 50, 60 days like that in a row, then we might need to start taking things a little bit more seriously, but still not getting down on yourself because that is going to create additional stress and anxiety within you.
00:55:03
Speaker
And then that's going to affect your blood sugars one way or another also. So just look at it as like, Hey, I'm high. and Let me, you know, let me go get some exercise, drink some water, take some insulin.
00:55:15
Speaker
And, you know, it'll it'll come back down. And as long as you're doing what you need to do to get to the next, you know, blip in the timeline, then, you know, you're going to be okay.
00:55:26
Speaker
Yeah, very good. Well, I've absolutely loved this chat that I've had with you both. And I'm very, very appreciative of your your time. I have one last question for both of you.
00:55:38
Speaker
So I'll ask you first, Patty, what's your go-to hypotreatment? ah Yes, that that is a good question. um Well, my, Chris, probably wouldn't have a clue what I'm talking about here, but my my go-to lollies are the Alan's Party Mix.
00:55:51
Speaker
They're my favourite. So I have those. And then I'm also a big, ah and this is, I don't, this is not really relevant at all to, you know hyper management doesn't really help at all but I love peanut butter so always have six or seven lollies glass of milk and a tablespoon of peanut butter so that's my go-to and to be honest I don't have too many loads anymore so when I do have one I actually really enjoy
00:56:18
Speaker
That's the downside to manage for very to good management of your sugar levels Yeah, 100% Chris, maybe share yours and your daughter's and just had to look up the Allen's the Allen's party mix I I just I just looked that up I never never heard of it it looks looks interesting looks like a mix of like soft and hard candies yep for saucy looks good looks like I I want to you wouldn't mind having that there in a low uh my my personal preference is is Skittles I've been yeah Skittles have just been my go-to they're just um easy to carry around um sometimes sometimes they're tough because they're you know they're they're hard so when you're like
00:56:58
Speaker
You're really trying to battle a low and you've you've had to have you know have Skittles four different times. It can get a little little annoying, but I've never been a fan of like um glucose tablets.
00:57:09
Speaker
i've never I've never been able to get into them. They're just disgusting. Skittles are always they're always on us. Or Sour Patch Kids, those those are my two those are my two go-tos.
00:57:21
Speaker
Very good. Skittles are up there with us. We've always... Yeah, I was going to say, what's Harvey's go-to? Yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah Thanks for asking. Skittles, we do Skittles or snakes, which is Alan's snakes seem to be the best ones to keep their softness.
00:57:37
Speaker
That's during the day and at school. But nighttime, we just do a little bit of apple juice and the glucose powder, a big heat teaspoon of that because that's like the... It's just is like a shot for him and then he can just go straight back to sleep kind of thing.
00:57:50
Speaker
because we did for a long time, I tried to get him to chew Skittles deli beans through the night. And then I was like, what am I doing here? Like, this is hard work, impossible. So he doesn't, and he doesn't remember most of the time. He won't remember having his hyper treatment through the night. So lucky him. Yeah.
00:58:08
Speaker
We do juice boxes for, for my daughter in the middle of the night. So she's a juice box. She just, she rolls over, she takes a few s sips. She doesn't even remember it in the morning. And it's, it's,
00:58:20
Speaker
Quick and easy. Yep. Yep. Yep. Exactly the same for us. So, yeah. Interesting. And here, actually, Chris, we have the Skittles, don't know if you have the same, but we have the Skittles in the packet and they have 14 in them.
00:58:33
Speaker
And Harvey normally has seven, depending on that hypo. so it's easier to carry around this little packet rather than kind of trying to do other little Ziploc bags and stuff like that. i Yes.
00:58:44
Speaker
They have the, they sell them usually around either, Halloween time here and we try to stock up on them. So, but yes, they're, and they're easy to calculate. I think it's about like one, one, one per Skittle, one, you know, one card per Skittle is so that's one grant. Yeah.
00:59:01
Speaker
Yeah. Whatever. We don't have to think too much about that's the, that's the easiest and the most convenient, isn't it? Thank you both so much for your time. I'm not sure if there's anything else that you feel like you would like to share before we wrap up or you you feel like you've, I feel like we've had a really good chat and we've covered a lot of sort of topics and information here.
00:59:24
Speaker
now it's been good. No, thank yeah thanks you. for well i was an also like thanks for the the work you're doing over the Type 1 Foundation. I'm sure there's a lot of parents and and people that stuff like this will really help. And even for me, I know I just love being able to connect with with other people, you know, with Type 1 or people who live with those that have Type some pieces and and to be able to chat and sort of connect. So, yeah, really appreciate you getting me on and and meeting you guys. It's been awesome. Yeah, same here. I echo everything you just said.
00:59:51
Speaker
That's awesome. All right. So thank you, everybody, for listening to this week's episode of the Type 1 Club, and we look forward to bringing you the next episode very, very soon. Take care.
01:00:05
Speaker
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01:00:19
Speaker
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01:00:40
Speaker
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