May 20, 2025 • 39 mins
Episode Summary
In Episode 35 of Think Like a Pancreas-The Podcast host Tavia Vital and her guest Laura Harkins share their experiences of living with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) while raising children who also have T1D.
Laura shares her journey of being diagnosed at 18 and how it has shaped her approach to managing her son's recent diagnosis.
Tavia, a nurse and diabetes educator at Integrated Diabetes Services, reflects on her experiences of raising a child with T1D and the unique challenges it presents.
Together, they discuss strategies for balancing self-care, advocating for their children, and finding support within the diabetes community.
Key Topics Discussed- Trust your instincts when it comes to your child's health.
- Seek support from other parents and diabetes specialists.
- Advocate for your child’s healthcare needs.
- The honeymoon isn’t as fun as it sounds.
- Balance self-care with caregiving responsibilities.
- Stay informed about diabetes management tools and technologies.
Chapters
00:18--Welcome and Introduction
01:12--Laura Harkin's diagnosis story
02:07--Tavia's diagnosis story
02:50--Their children's diabetes diagnosis stories
05:26--Role of Knowledge and Support in Diabetes Management
09:39--Adjusting to a Child's Diagnosis
11:42--The biggest challenge in managing your child's diabetes
21:55--Responding when people say "At least you have diabetes too"
26:36--To screen your children for type 1 diabetes...or not
31:54--Tips for parents of newly diagnosed children
Links:Pregnancy with Type 1 diabetes
Related Podcasts:Quest for a Cure--A Diamyd in the Rough
Coping with Burnout in Diabetes Management: Strategies for Success
Disclaimer:The information contained in this program is based on the experience and opinions of the Integrated Diabetes Services clinical team. Please discuss any changes to your treatment plan with your personal healthcare provider before implementing.
If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to like, follow or subscribe on your favorite podcast app.
To book a consultation with an Integrated Diabetes Services Team member go to:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Gary (00:18):
Welcome to Think Like a Pancreas, the podcast where our goal is to keep
you informed, inspired, and a littleentertained on all things diabetes.
The information contained in thisprogram is based on the experience
and opinions of the IntegratedDiabetes Services clinical team.
Please discuss any changes to yourtreatment plan with your personal
(00:38):
healthcare provider before implementing.
Tavia (00:40):
Thank you for joining us today.
My name is Tavia Vital.
I'm a registered nurse and a certifieddiabetes care and education specialist
at Integrated Diabetes Services,and I am joined by a special guest
today, Laura, who I will let youintroduce yourself a little, Laura.
What we're really interested in is
um, tell us a little bit about when youwere diagnosed with Type one Diabetes and
(01:03):
then we'll come back around and you and Iwill share stories about the second part
of the reason that you were invited today.
Does that sound likea good place to start?
Laura (01:11):
Sounds good.
Yeah.
So, Laura Harkins, I was diagnosed withdiabetes type one diabetes when I was 18,
so it was about a week or so before prom.
So I was in the hospital and I was like,I wanna go to prom, and I needed to
figure this thing out so that I could go.
Tavia (01:28):
No pressure, no stress there.
Laura (01:30):
No pressure, no stress.
It's all good.
And so, so I've been livingwith diabetes for, uh, a long
while and now have two kids.
So I have a, I have a familyin the, in the working world
i'm a product manager, sobuilding software very, mm-hmm.
Very fun.
And I started working withintegrated, uh, diabetes in my,
like mid twenties I wanna say.
So I've been with, with you all and I'mkind of off and on working with you guys,
(01:52):
so, but I'd say I, I've been with you,with you all for quite a while, um, and
I've always just really enjoyed workingwith, with everyone from the practice.
Tavia (02:01):
That's good to hear.
Yeah.
What Laura and I have in common, we havea couple of things right off the bat.
The first is that, of course,as a diabetes educator at
Integrated Diabetes Services, Ialso live with Type one diabetes.
Myself and I was diagnosed at age two anda half, and that was over 40 years ago.
So now, you know, I'molder than 40 something.
(02:21):
Yeah.
So I've also lived with type onefor many years and I'm married.
I have two children that are nowteenage teenagers, which I can't
believe and, uh, work full-timeat integrated, keep busy that way.
And then the secondary reason thatI asked Laura to join us today
is that we have thisother thing in common.
So I mentioned I have two children.
(02:43):
My oldest, his name is Itzia, he's 17 now.
He was diagnosed with type one diabeteswhen he was age 12, may of 2020.
And how about you, Laura?
Laura (02:52):
Yes, so I have two toddlers, 4-year-old girl and a 2-year-old son.
And my 2-year-old was diagnosed with typeone diabetes not too long ago January.
Tavia (03:03):
This is fresh.
Laura (03:04):
So fresh, fresh diagnosis here.
Yeah.
So, so a couple months ago
Tavia (03:09):
about then I was still crying quite a bit.
How are you doing?
How are you doing with the diagnosis?
Laura (03:12):
I was kinda like choking up a little bit, but, uh, I got it.
Okay.
No, it's, it's, uh, you know, assomeone living with type one and, um,
wanting to have a family, I come from.
From a very large family.
My, my dad is one of eight andum, I'm one of four, so I've
always wanted to have a family.
So back when I was diagnosed at, at 18,it was always on my mind, what are, what
is the likelihood I'm gonna pass this on?
(03:34):
And, you know, when's a, when'sa good time to start thinking
about starting a family?
And, and when I had my daughter,I think I was even more obsessed
with the signs of, of diabetes.
And, um, when we finally potty trainedher, I was taking keynote the ketones
strips once in a while and just.
Doing a little dipping once in a while.
Um, and, and everything was all good.
(03:55):
It was always on my mind, starting afamily, and, and I'd say when I had
my second child, typical, typicalnumber two, where you're not as kind
of vigilant as you are with your first.
So when he started showing somesigns, I think I kind of knew in
the back of my mind that, you know,I should probably check his number.
But as with all two year olds,they're constantly getting viruses.
They're constantly fluctuatingin their eating and their
(04:16):
drinking and their diaper.
So I was kind of like.
And then finally it really hit oneSaturday when, you know, we had
kind of started investigating betterdiapers and he woke up from a nap and
he was sitting with me and just, justchugging water without breathing.
And I was like, okay, gosh, Ineed to check, check his number.
You know, it was soon enough thatthat once we got into the hospital,
he wasn't DKA or anything, which.
(04:37):
It kind of didn't even come across mymind 'cause I've never been DKA, so
I was like, oh, I, I'm glad that wefinally were like, yep, we should check
his number And yeah, sounds playedout My old meter, um, like years ago.
'cause I don't use it as often.
And, uh.
So, so all of that to say is itwas kind of always on my mind.
Uh, so kind of knew it,it could have happened.
(04:59):
And so when he was diagnosed,you know, I kind of took a very
much matter of fact way about it.
I think that's how I was diagnosed too.
You know, this is what it isand we're gonna figure it out.
And, and luckily I had all of theknowledge I had as an adult to make
me feel a little bit more confident,but then also really thinking about,
well, I don't know how this is fora toddler, so what does that look?
Tavia (05:19):
Yeah.
Laura (05:19):
And how for a toddler.
Different story.
Tavia (05:22):
Yeah.
How about the rest of your family?
What did they, how did they respond?
Laura (05:26):
Yeah, so I think when I started working with Integrated Diabetes, I
was actually looking to start a family.
So I really wanted to get bettercontrol of my, of my numbers and
really get better understanding of
why certain things would happenwith my numbers and I wasn't getting
as much the why behind some of ourfluctuations in blood glucose from
(05:48):
my traditional endocrinologist oreven educators here in Chicago.
Um, and I really wanted to seekout more knowledge about this and,
and came across, uh, Jenny's book.
She is another, uh, nutritionist at.
At integrated diabetes about pregnancywith type one, and I'm like, oh, it
kind of all led me to, to IntegratedDiabetes and, and that's where I really
knuckled down and, and learned allabout everything behind, you know, blood
(06:11):
glucose that I didn't really learn whenI was diagnosed and didn't really seek
out information prior to that moment,which is kind of crazy thinking back.
But
Tavia (06:19):
I mean, there's so much to know and there's so much to contend with.
And there's alwayssomething new to be learned.
You can't really.
Laura (06:25):
Yeah, and what I'm getting to is, when I was starting to dig
into this for pregnancy, my husbandreally, he's much more of a bookworm.
So he was looking into Sugar Surfingand all these other, you know,
nutrition and nutritionist books.
And so we were really a good team thinkingabout starting a family and then actually
getting into pregnancy and really whatwas going on with my numbers, how to
(06:45):
best strategize what was going on.
So he's always been my thought partnerduring tough times like pregnancy where
you gotta be in super, super control.
So when Nate was diagnosed, you know,I think we went into that same mode of
just a a team and really taking a stepback after leaving the hospital and both
of us coming together and being like,you know what, this is how I know I will
be with his numbers in the day to dayoutside of the hospital, he kind of shared
(07:09):
this is how I think I will be and let'sfigure out a good way where we're not
stepping on each other's toes and we cankind of make the right decisions for him
'cause he's two.
My daughter, I think itwas really hard for her.
She is autistic.
So we're also have some, someneuro diversion in the household
that we're working with.
So she, you know, really struggledto articulate her feelings, but
she could see, Nate, we left.
(07:31):
And went to the hospitalfor a couple of days.
And so she doesn't lovethe routine change.
So that was hard for her.
And we came back and wewere giving Nate shots.
I mean, we were shooting himwith, with insulin, with a
syringe that she associated with,with shots going to the doctor.
So that was very, and he would say, ow.
And you know, she was kindof trying to protect him.
(07:51):
So, so that was really hard for her.
Um, and, you know, we workedwith, she, she does occupational
therapy and speech therapy.
We worked with her therapist to.
Think of good strategies to talkwith her about what was going on in
the way that she would understand.
Tavia (08:06):
That's amazing.
Laura (08:06):
Uh, whether it's a little doll that we bought, little pretend syringes,
it got a fake little blood glucose toy.
You know, and I will say there'sa business here for this.
And so anyone who's listeningthat wants to start, I agree.
There's huge money to be madein, in understanding diabetes
in, in books and in toys.
So that.
(08:27):
The kids can kind ofunderstand what's going on.
I think it's getting a lot better now.
He's now on the pump, so less shots, lessscary situations for him and, and so I
think it's, you know, we're getting morecomfortable with it, with it all as well.
So I think that's onlyhelping her deal with it too.
But you know, it was definitelydicey after leaving the
hospital for a couple of weeks.
Tavia (08:46):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's a lot to adjust to.
But in a different way.
Sometimes people will think, well,if you already have type one,
then you just sort of just, you'vegot another one in your herd and,
Laura (08:57):
right.
Tavia (08:57):
I think that's true.
To a point,
Laura (08:59):
yes.
Tavia (08:59):
But when it's another human being, it's different when that, when
you're, I mean, you're used to lookinginside and looking at, you know,
cause and effect and patterns and.
And you know, a little bit except forduring pregnancy, I will say, for me
anyway, I can most of the time lookat my diabetes management pretty
objectively and just stand back andsay, okay, I've been having more lows
(09:22):
in the afternoon, so let me adjustthis and get back on track there.
Oh, I'm really annoyed with myblood sugars after breakfast lately.
What do I need to change toget that to be tidied up?
More often, and it doesn't, it's notmuch deeper than that, that I'm thinking
about what's gonna happen next about me.
But with your child, it's a newlevel of, first we have to figure
it out and we have to adjust, butthere's this secret nagging like,
(09:44):
are they gonna be okay in the future?
Yeah.
That worry that comes up.
Laura (09:49):
Definitely.
Yep.
Tavia (09:50):
For all of us parents, with kids with type one, right?
Laura (09:53):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
As they get older, you know, I, he's two,so now is a little bit easier, but you
know, you do wanna teach that independencebecause you do ultimately need to
own it as a type one moving forward.
And yeah, do exactly what you'resaid is kind of take a step
back and figure out tweaks.
'cause you don't want it to be your life.
And that was hard for me.
It was when I was diagnosed of definitely.
(10:15):
Perfectionist and was reallynitpicking the numbers.
So I've learned with that.
I think you also bringin your baggage, right?
So I think I still have those lowfears and so when I see his number
and I'm like, my husband's like,well, we gotta cover what he ate.
And I'm like, but what if.
That's always really hard.
Uh, so I'm trying to, but it'salso kind of, you know, helpful for
(10:36):
me to, to move on from that too.
And you know, it's so great thatwe have such good technology now.
Tavia (10:42):
Yes.
Laura (10:42):
I mean, yeah.
Tavia (10:43):
And tools and like with the new glucagon, that's a huge
relief for me to just know what's.
Available.
Like my son is playing soccer and I knowthat he has in his bag his, um, hypo pen.
And so if something happened andhe needed it, he knows it's there.
His brother plays on the same soccerteam this year 'cause they're both in
high school now and he's told a coupleof his friends and the coach, it's
(11:04):
right there in the bag and he's gota sensor on and it alerts him and you
know, but just it's, things are easier.
Relatively speaking now compared tolike back when you were diagnosed?
Laura (11:14):
Totally and especially the glucagon.
That's a great point.
Like now there's nosyringe trying to teach.
If Nate were a little bit older and wedecided to stay on MDI trying to teach
of a teacher, let's say there wasn't anurse, he's in a little daycare program.
There's no nurse there, so trying toteach them to inject, it's just so heavy.
Where now it looks like an EpiPenand we all know how to do EpiPens.
Tavia (11:36):
We're less afraid of
Laura (11:37):
it's great
Tavia (11:37):
to each others.
Yeah, I think so too.
What do you think is harder foryou to deal with with your son's
diabetes than it is for you todeal with with your own diabetes?
Laura (11:47):
Yeah.
I think because it's such a newdiagnosis, I think I am struggling
with the day-to-day management andnitpicking what we're dosing during the
day and sort of taking a step back and.
Looking at where we wannafocus our time on those trends.
Because you know, you do wanna getyour dosing right in every meal,
but you don't wanna obsess about it.
(12:07):
So I think I've done a good job formyself of doing that, but I also
work and I get focused on work and.
Diabetes comes a little bitdown, a little bit on the list.
So it's like an easy distraction wherehim, you know, I am, we are, me and me
and my husband and and his caretaker,we are the ones really managing this.
So there's a heaviness there andthere's a lot of mental energy there.
(12:31):
So how do we make it a little bitmore of a balance where we're not
totally obsessing about every singledose and counting every single
carb and every moment I think is.
Is gonna be a learning process again,it's, it's still fresh, but I think
Tavia (12:47):
Well, and, and your child is too, so yeah.
Anybody who has children, diabetesare not, I mean, trying to make your
2-year-old, like, no, you dosed for that.
You have to eat it or no, no.
Really sit down and eat.
No, don't run around the table.
Laura (12:59):
Right?
Tavia (13:00):
No.
Like I know that we're gonnago play in the park after
this, but it's not time now.
Laura (13:04):
Right.
Tavia (13:04):
First you have to do this, then we can do that.
Right?
No, stop doing what you're doing now.
Like, oh, your glucose is coming down.
Sit still while you
Laura (13:11):
Totally,
Tavia (13:11):
right.
Exactly.
You chase them around with,
yeah.
Laura (13:14):
Yeah.
You just can't deal with that at all.
And there's a lot morerationalized with a toddler.
Tavia (13:21):
You could try, but you're gonna be the one frustrated.
Laura (13:23):
Yeah.
Right.
I mean, the one, the one thing that'sbeen really great is he is so good about
taking low treatments 'cause, so he'salso going through a honeymoon phase.
I'm not sure if that's on your list tochat about, but that is something that
I never went through, which looking backI was like, that would be kind of nice
just to get a little honeymoon foods.
Tavia (13:39):
But it kind of ease into it a little bit maybe.
Laura (13:42):
Yeah.
But as someone who's managing it fora toddler, it is not fun because.
It's not like I imagined honeymoon,meaning like your pancreas
clicks back on and you justdon't need insulin for a while.
Oh, no, no, no.
Your are just, pancreas starts workingat different parts of the day and
it's like, okay, sometimes at two,2:00 AM to 5:00 AM it is working great
Tavia (14:00):
and like no basal from the pump is needed.
Thank you very much.
Right,
Laura (14:03):
exactly and I'm like, okay, this kind of sucks because you don't know
when it's gonna hit or when it's truly.
An exercise like was the walkaround the block, why he maybe
got low at, at two in the morning.
That's a bad example, but you knowwhere I'm, where I'm going with this.
Tavia (14:18):
You had an afternoon at a, at a waterpark or something
where these, the honeymoon.
Yeah.
Laura (14:24):
So that's definitely difficult to manage, but hopefully with
time it'll, it'll, it'll change.
Tavia (14:30):
That's one thing we can rely on.
Right?
Whatever's working now, we'llneed to change in the future.
Right.
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Tavia (15:13):
My son had, you know, he was diagnosed as a teenage or as a
12-year-old, and he was tiny, tiny, tiny.
I mean, I was prettytiny when I was little.
And my husband isn't very tall guy either.
We, we had our kids in different studies.
Looking for type onediabetes to detect it.
Right?
So I know that both my boys have highrisk genes for type one diabetes, and
(15:36):
especially Itzia was making antibodiesfor almost 10 years before his diagnosis.
So his wasn't a freshout of the box surprise.
It happened.
No idea it could be happening.
We knew it was coming.
Laura (15:47):
Yeah.
Tavia (15:48):
When he was diagnosed, but once he got his diagnosis and
started insulin, he started gainingsome weight and getting taller.
And the first, I mean also 12 yearolds, between 11 and 13 kids have all
these monster girl spurts like normally
anyway.. But he went from like56 pounds to, I don't know,
90 pounds or so in a year.
(16:09):
Like he just gained weightand he grew several inches.
Just, it was phenomenal to seehim getting healthier and bigger
and growing like he's supposed to,but he did have a good honeymoon.
I call it the phase.
I don't think it's a period of time.
That sounds like a week or two.
And then it should be done right?
Laura (16:26):
I agree.
It needs to be relabeled.
Tavia (16:28):
Yeah.
So he is a 17-year-old boyand normally 17 year olds.
Need a ton of insulin, not a littlebit, not a lot like buckets of insulin
imperative to when they're young, um,and then comparative even to many adults,
he sometimes needs zero basal still,or like 0.05 or 0.1 unit per hour.
(16:48):
Basal rates.
Mm-hmm.
Which is just wild.
Like in the afternoons when he playssoccer, we have to turn his pump way down.
His carb ratio is somethingsilly, like one for 20 grams.
Whereas without soccer it's one forseven, which that, I know physical
activity impacts everything, but toa degree you still need some insulin.
It's unusual, like lots of kids are superactive and in sports and I see their.
(17:11):
Basal rates are like one point something,two point something at his age.
Nope, not him.
He still makes the tiny bit of insulin,which up until about last year, so
the first three to three and a halfyears, I'll say it was challenging for
him to get up into the three hundreds.
It could happen, don't get me wrong.
Right.
But it would, it would be very rare.
Mm. Interesting.
(17:32):
Now that the honeymoon period is, thephase is sort of dwindling and he's
making less insulin now it's easier.
And if he delays changing his,his pump site out, sometimes he'll
be like, yeah, yeah, I got it.
And then like an hour ortwo later, I'll see this.
The glucose graph going up and he'll belike, Hey, did you put your new site on?
And he'll be like, oh, I got sidetracked.
(17:53):
He can hit 300 now doing that wherehe couldn't last year, you know?
Laura (17:56):
Sure.
Tavia (17:57):
Yeah.
So I think that's been a challenge forme is to see, to see him be more like
how my diabetes behaves, where it'sharder and there's more fluctuation
more easily, and that includes lows.
So once you lose.
More insulin production, you have lessinsulin produced, then you also lose some
other gut hormones that help regulateblood sugar and keep you safer from
(18:19):
severe lows or severe elevated glucoses.
And, um, seeing, seeing that changein him has been, I don't like it
because I know what it feels like.
Laura (18:27):
Yeah.
And
Tavia (18:27):
I know it's hard and I wish that he didn't have to deal with all of that.
He handles it like a champ.
Absolutely.
He really does.
Yeah.
Laura (18:35):
It's really hard as a mom to watch that.
Tavia (18:38):
It is and
Laura (18:38):
know what it feels like.
Yeah,
Tavia (18:39):
yeah.
When he has, um, a couple days in a rowor a series of lows a day where he is like
low and he has to fix it low and he hasto fix it, and he just, he's pale and he's
sweaty and he's weak and he can't do whathe wants to do, and I get super upset.
I, you know, I. Stop and I talk with himand see how he's doing and make sure, you
know, the diabetes side of it's cared for.
(19:01):
But I'm checking in with him onhow he feels after dealing with all
that, because firsthand it's scary.
It doesn't feel good.
It makes you angry, you know, likeyou as the person with diabetes.
So I'm expecting that from him.
Or if not, that's okay too.
Great if he doesn't really care.
But I just want him to know that I can, hecan talk to me about those things because
(19:24):
I grew up my whole life without that.
No one knew what I was going through.
Laura (19:27):
Right?
Yep.
Tavia (19:29):
And I think, so when I see him really low, it gets me every time.
'cause I'm just like, oh, he feels lousy.
I'm not scared for safetybecause I know who he got this.
Laura (19:38):
Yeah.
Tavia (19:38):
But I just hate that he has to
Laura (19:40):
feel it.
Tavia (19:40):
Experience that,
Laura (19:41):
yeah.
Tavia (19:42):
Makes me frustrated.
Laura (19:43):
Yeah.
And, and I think we also know livingwith type one, I don't know about you,
but you know, we all experience diabetesburnout of just thinking about it and
having that mental baggage of like.
You know, the technology is great, right?
Like I think I've had way less lows nowthat I can do automated mode and all.
There's all these great algorithms,but sometimes then, you know, you
(20:05):
kind of, when you get low, youremember all that time before and
it's like, it's just, it's heavy.
It's heavy and yeah, you can't dowhat you wanna do and you still
wor I still have that baggage.
Like I said, even when he goes low,I'm like, oh gosh, what's gonna happen?
Like.
Do I need to not send him to school?
Should I, you know, throw a movieon so that he doesn't have to
(20:26):
run around and it gets worse?
It's a lot, it's a lot for your,your mind on top of your own
baggage with your own diabetes.
So,
Tavia (20:34):
yeah, I think I do, I do best with it when neither of us have a lot
of alerts going on overnight and weget several nights of sleep in a row.
It's amazing.
Laura (20:42):
Yeah.
Tavia (20:43):
But like if he's going through a growth spurt and he needs wildly different
amounts of insulin than normal, allof a sudden, or his growth spurt stops
and we have to back back off of thingsagain, and he is getting lows overnight.
And then if I have a weird sensoror I have a low or I whatever, yeah.
It's just too much sometimes.
Yeah.
It just really is a, those nights,I think in the next day after, yeah.
(21:05):
Then I go, then I pull the, it's notfair card out, even though I don't like,
that's not really been a thing for me.
Laura (21:11):
Yeah.
Tavia (21:11):
Gosh, that definitely pushes my buttons.
Like if it, if it was just, I keepthinking like, oh, if it was just one
of us, it's annoying, but I can do this.
Right.
Yeah.
And then it gets to betwo of us and I'm like.
Yeah.
What can I do to make sure nomore alerts happen tonight?
Right?
Like, what is possible tomake sure we're safe, but
no more beeping.
Laura (21:29):
Yeah.
Tavia (21:29):
Just being asleep.
Laura (21:30):
It's so true.
And, and that can impactthe household too, right?
Like when two people are feeling weigheddown by this, everybody else feels it too.
Tavia (21:38):
Yeah.
We're not as much fun.
Laura (21:40):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Which like, we understand, right?
They understand it's just.
It's a bummer.
Tavia (21:46):
How do you feel when people say where?
If you say, oh, my son got diagnosedwith type one, they say, oh, well at
least he's got you because you aredoing a great job with your diabetes.
So it's really great.
It's lucky that he has it.
Because you can just teach him everything.
Has that happened to you?
Laura (22:03):
Yes.
Actually, I would say when he wasdiagnosed, I was a little more reluctant
In our lives, I would say most peopleknow that I'm diabetic, but for, you
know, his therapies that he goes toor his little daycares, you know.
We kind of just started this year, sothey don't really know me that well.
They don't see my devices.
They don't hear me beep.
So I was kinda reluctant to share.
I also have it at the sametime that I was sharing.
(22:26):
He has it.
'cause I didn't want there tobe this like, oh, of course if
you have it, he's gonna get it.
One of you was gonna get itbecause that's just not true.
Tavia (22:35):
Right, right.
Laura (22:36):
With, with statistics and everything, I mean, we,
there is probability, right?
But then it was also hard for meto deal with as a mom, like knowing
it I could be passing this down.
I was always having that heaviness.
So for the people that did know,they were actually pretty great.
They wouldn't, say something like that.
I think I would be the first one to share.
Like it's been good thatI also have the pump.
(22:58):
I also have the Dexcom, so Nate isstill kind of delayed in his language
and, and some of his development.
So, which I'm wonderingmight be because of diabetes.
Um, but that's another topic.
So it's been good for someone who islacking speech and, and sort of some
of these skills for I could point tomyself and say, oh, mommy has one too.
(23:19):
Mommy has one too.
And that really helped him.
I share that with, with people when, whenthey say, how are you doing with this?
Because I think they can kind of put theconnections together that it's a lot.
I can kind of share that, that that is.
A bright side is, is, you know, I cansort of have that relationship with him
so that he understands what's going on.
If he's not getting it, truly,
Tavia (23:40):
that's nice.
Laura (23:41):
Um, but when someone does say that, who doesn't really know me?
It is, it is tough.
Or, or sometimes it's brushed asidebecause they might not know the whole
disease, right?
That's hard.
That's hard.
And I don't wanna be educating them.
Right.
I'm much educating to do like when he wasdiagnosed, you know, we had to educate.
(24:01):
We kind of had to reeducate myparents a little bit because you
know, I was diagnosed at 18, soI was kind of doing it on my own.
They didn't really learn the ins and outs.
So I kinda had to reeducate them'cause they help babysit and stuff.
Mm-hmm.
Such, I had to educate the, thecaregiver and my husband helped too.
But because it was so back of the napkinfor me, I felt like I just did it a lot
as teachers and, and stuff like that.
(24:23):
That was one of the firstthings I sort of had to do.
And.
I would just show my devicesso they knew what it was look
like and and what to expect.
That's helpful.
Having to bother him.
So that was a positive, but no, it's hard.
It's hard when they might notknow exactly what's going on
Tavia (24:39):
and then, yeah, it's like a brush off comment.
You're right.
If some people aren'tnecessarily really involved in
Laura (24:43):
Yeah,
Tavia (24:44):
there would be no way for them to really understand what our lives
are like, because they don't haveto deal with it, so it's different.
Laura (24:50):
Right, right.
And, and sometimes I don'twant to talk about it.
Tavia (24:52):
Right.
Fair.
Laura (24:53):
So I'm like, yeah, yeah.
It's, yeah.
It's lucky that I have it too.
Tavia (24:58):
Sure is lucky.
Laura (24:59):
Right?
Because you're gonna take thosemoments where like, you know what?
I don't really wannatalk about it right now.
Uh, just like when you beep, youlike beep somewhere where you don't
wanna talk about it, and you're like,no, no, I have to talk about this.
But it's okay becauseit's good to educate.
It is helpful because there's just somuch confusion still in 2025 between
type one and type two, and it's just soincredibly different and it bothers me
(25:22):
when people don't know the difference.
Tavia (25:23):
But yeah.
It's, it can be a lot for sure.
Did you guys do any screeningfor either of your children?
Laura (25:30):
So I bought the kit for Natalie, but I never went through with it
because like I said, she's autistic.
So it was pretty challengingwhen she was younger to even get
through a doctor's appointment.
I. And we were trying to figure outthis diagnosis and figuring her language
delays and was she kind of understandingwhat, what we were talking about in just
(25:50):
everyday scenarios, making sure we gother to school and figured out the doctor
and mommy and daddy are going to work.
Like concepts like that took,took us some time to figure out
what way to communicate with her.
Right is basically what,what we were dealing with.
So I was like, do I really wannaadd like a blood draw to this
when I could just test her urine?
That was probably the first thing I askedwhen Nate was diagnosed is, okay, cool.
(26:13):
Can we do antibodiestests for, for Natalie?
And of course there's this wholerigamarole because technically she's not
the patient of the endo that I'm with.
For Nate, so he can't order them.
And then I can't ask the pediatricianbecause they don't do screenings,
but I just saw the, the ChrissyTegan commercial on screen for
type one, which I was like, yes.
(26:34):
'cause I think that was the originalcompany I looked at for Natalie
eight know four or five years ago.
Tavia (26:38):
Nice.
Laura (26:39):
And so now that's becoming more mainstream.
So I think I will get her tested.
I did do, when Nate was diagnosed,you can test for, you might
have to help me with this one.
Tavia (26:48):
There's a c-peptide test that's drawn in the beginning that tells you
a little bit about how much naturalinsulin is still being produced.
Laura (26:54):
Yes.
And they said that's notactually that helpful.
I think I read somewhere to, toask for that, so we asked for that.
But, but yeah, so for Natalie, I thinkwe'll definitely get her screen just
so we know maybe what, what to expect.
But again, I think we'll wait until wecan kind of explain to her what's going
on, because we just have a lot going on.
Tavia (27:12):
Yeah,
Laura (27:12):
the house right now.
And I think, I think, 'cause thething you wanna think about is do
you actually want that information?
Right?
There's so much out there healthwise that you know, parents have to
worry about for themselves, for theiraging parents, all of that stuff.
It's like, do we really want this
on the list of things I gotta havein the back of my head every day.
Tavia (27:31):
Yeah.
Laura (27:32):
And actually my, I switched endocrinologist for Nate and then
the second one who I now reallylike, he was the one that was like,
do you really want that information?
I appreciated that because it'slike, you know what, maybe.
Now is not the time for that information.
Like maybe we, you know, let thingssettle with what we have now.
Tavia (27:49):
Yeah, and I don't think there's one right answer for anyone.
I think it's very individual or.
Decision.
Yeah.
Laura (27:56):
Yeah.
Tavia (27:56):
I like the screening.
Screening for antibodiesas an option for people.
You can do it for free if youfall within certain parameters.
You can look at trial net for diabetes.
That's a free one.
JDRF, which is now Breakthrough.
T 1D also had a kit thatcould be ordered for a fee.
It had a price tag on it.
Mm-hmm.
(28:16):
But that could be done by anyone.
You don't have to.
Be a first or second degreerelative of somebody who lives
with type one like trial.
That is, and it could be any age.
So that's nice for anybodywho wants to screen.
The more people that get screened, themore potential trial enrollees could.
That could, I mean, trial enrolleescould exist, so if you find out your
(28:37):
family member you have antibodies fortype one, then you can look up what
studies are available for preventingtype one from starting, and then
decide if there's a study near youthat you think you want to enroll in.
But really we need our morepeople screening and enrolling
in order to test things out.
And for the things that work to prove theywork in a variety of different people.
(29:01):
They're getting down into geneticsbased treatment therapies to stop
diabetes from progressing or.
Reversing it back to needingless insulin or not needing
insulin for periods of time.
That takes a lot of testing.
So on the, on the one side, thinking ofit from that standpoint, not emotional
at all, just what do we need for scienceto move forward with what we all want?
(29:25):
We need people to screen and then enrollin these studies that are available.
The other benefit of screeningfrom a clinical standpoint is those
who get screened for antibodies
have a much lower risk for their typeone diabetes presenting as DKA and being
hospitalized with diabetic ketoacidosis.
(29:45):
So that's nice.
Laura (29:47):
Yeah,
Tavia (29:47):
it's a really nice safety feature.
And on the flip side, somepeople will choose not to
screen for a variety of reasons.
And if you have a first degreerelative with Type one diabetes,
you watch for symptoms.
And you do ketone testing in the urine,and if you can, a finger stick if there
are other signs and symptoms, right,like frequent thirst and urination
(30:07):
and wetting the bed or, or peeingthrough saturating diapers and littles,
um, being super hungry, super tired,super moody, headachey, stomach aches.
Seems like the flu weightloss that's unexplained.
There's so many things, so many differentsymptoms that it's hard to know.
Some of that just sounds like a grumpykid, or the flu, or who knows, right?
(30:29):
But if you know about the symptoms,then you can check sooner like what
you guys did, which is important.
That doesn't get us down the cureresearch path, but it does keep
safety in mind, which is reallythe most important piece, right?
Yeah.
Body testing though, it doesn'ttell you your genetic risk.
So I feel like it's sortof a misnomer because.
(30:50):
I don't know if it's a misnomer, butmaybe it's just important to point
out if you don't make antibodiesfor type one diabetes right this
moment, it doesn't mean there'sno guarantee that you never will.
So sometimes people will say, ohyeah, I got antibodies screened for
my child, and they don't, they don'thave type one diabetes, and I'm
like, today they don't have it today.
Laura (31:09):
That's my other hesitation is like, okay, do I really wanna
put her through a blood draw?
If this moment in time everything's fine.
That was another thing that weighedin my mind is just, you know, the
having to put her through that really.
But, you know, now that we're, we'regetting older and she's getting, you
know, much more communicative andunderstanding what's going on, I think
it's a lot easier to, to do a blood draw.
(31:29):
I mean, she has to do that forjust her normal health, so.
Yeah, it's a little bit more normal
Tavia (31:34):
added into one that she already has to get done.
Laura (31:36):
Exactly.
Tavia (31:36):
And decide you wanna do that sometimes.
Laura (31:38):
Exactly.
I'm like on that website rightnow, looking at how much it costs.
Um, funnily enough.
So, yeah.
Tavia (31:44):
What do you think, what do you think is helpful for other people like us
that live with Type one diabetes and maybethey're just brand new and just found out
that their child has type one diabetes.
Maybe they're worrying about it.
And there's some symptoms.
What do you wish somebodywould've just picked up the phone
and called you and said this?
To help you.
Laura (32:04):
Yeah.
Um, I think, you know, trust yourgut, you know, eventually my gut was
like, yep, I gotta check his number.
I probably knew it sooner, but so muchwas going on that maybe I just put it off.
So trust your gut with that.
And then I. You know, seek other advicefrom doctors if even those results
(32:25):
are normal, you know, and talk throughsome of the things that you're saying
because I, I do think the screeningis getting a lot easier to do.
I mean, I saw in one, one optionas just a finger prick, so maybe
that's less invasive for, for kidswho are younger that, like Natalie,
you didn't, might wanna, wannaput them through a blood draw.
You could do it through a fingerprick, just for ease of mind.
And then if there is a diagnosis.
(32:45):
You know, the first thing I did whenwe got into the hospital was use one of
my CGMs and put it on him immediately.
They're not gonna give you a CGMuntil day one, um, because that's
gonna give you peace of mind, right?
It's gonna tell you what his number is.
Uh, bring an extra device.
I. Uh, for that CGM.
'cause you can't do it onyour, you're the one you're on.
Yeah, that's true.
That's true.
So that's another one weused my husband's iPad.
(33:07):
Uh, I didn't think of it thenI brought the iPad to watch a
movie and I was like, oh wait, wecan put the, uh, Dexcom on here.
So definitely bring extrasupplies because the hospital.
Stuff is rough.
Um, and and advocate.
Advocate for your kid.
You know, the hospitals are great.
They are doing everything that they can.
The nurses are amazing,especially after Covid.
(33:28):
I think there's just this added stressat the hospitals now, especially if you
go in during winter season, which I did.
Everyone had RSV.
It was very stressful.
Advocate, you know.
Speak for the technology that you have.
Go with your gut, you know, you knowwhat the numbers are, trust Dexcom
or whatever CGM that you're using.
And even as you get away fromthe hospital and come home, like
(33:50):
if something doesn't feel right.
For example, we, we weren't fittingvery well with our endo that we had
from the hospital, and so I soughtout other moms who had gone through
this, you know, pretty recentlyto us, I would say some moms like.
Who may have older kids with typeone might not be as helpful if
you've got a toddler and they'redifferent, it's a little different.
(34:13):
So, you know, try to use your network.
There's great Facebook pages.
I luckily had a couple of momsthat, that I knew of that I
reached out in the hospital andso they recommended a goodo and.
And, and it was a much better fit for us.
You are the mom.
You are, you know your kid best.
So if they are as young as Nate and,and you don't feel comfortable with
some of the things that they might bedoing in the hospital, as the doctor
(34:35):
speak up, especially diabetes, likewe all we know as type one diabetics
that like a lot of the work is on you.
Get trusted advisors that you can geton your side, like integrated diabetes.
You know, I think I reached outto you guys like coming home from
the hospital and Nancy was like,why don't you wait a day or two?
And I'm like, no, no, no,I'm getting on the calendar.
When's your next availability?
So seek help.
(34:55):
So, so it's not all on youto kind of ease that burden.
Um, but those are the main, main things,you know, you're gonna know is the
mom, you know, what, what makes sense?
And even what you mightbe comfortable with.
Like for example, I wasn't readyto put Nate on a pump in a lot
of hospitals across the us.
Push the pump because youknow, it's less to learn.
There's all these algorithms.
It's amazing.
I wasn't ready for that.
(35:16):
I wanted to make sure he was comfortablewith shots in case the pump never worked.
'cause that's happened to me a lot.
Or prescriptions fall through,production goes down, plastic
becomes super expensive.
We gotta know how to do the old stuff.
So that was good for us.
Once we were ready for the pump,me and my husband, we, we did it.
It's great.
Awesome.
But I, I think.
(35:36):
We needed our own time with that.
I, I didn't want a doctor to, adoctor at the hospital who doesn't
know us to kind of push that mm-hmm.
If I wasn't ready.
So, yeah, there's alot of advice in there.
If I were to succinct it up,it's like, seek out other moms,
um, who's gone through it.
Trust your gut because, you know, diabeteswell put a CGM on 'em immediately,
or
Tavia (35:56):
there we go.
We, we talked through several things.
You and I, we talked about whatit was like living with type one
diabetes ourselves, and then havingone of our children get diagnosed
and what that experience was like.
We talked about how living with typeone ourselves gave us some advantages
to being able to navigate our child'stype one diabetes in a little more
(36:20):
structured, a little less emotional way.
Once things got rolling.
And you brought in some really goodinformation about how important it
is to get resources and outside inputfrom people other moms who live with
Type one diabetes and to partner withwho you have in your family, in your
case, your spouse, for example, to getthe right amount of support whenever
(36:43):
possible for the both of you, right?
Both people living with type oneneed, helping us support with
getting through each and everyday and night with diabetes and.
I think we covered some good topics withhow many different choices there are and
how it, how just living with type onediabetes and then having it in your child
(37:04):
as well can feel pretty overwhelming.
Kind of heavy is how you described it.
And it doesn't feel that wayall the time, thankfully.
Right, right.
But there are certain thingsthat are gonna get you, it's
gonna push your buttons andyou're gonna feel all the feels.
And I would, I'm not a betting person,but if I were, I would wager a bet that.
We could get other moms with typeone who have kids with type one
(37:26):
and they all have buttons thatget pushed, that get their tears
welled up in their eyes right?
From from time to time for sure.
Um.
And I just think it's good forus to have this specific podcast
because there are lots of peoplewith Type one diabetes worldwide.
There are less people with Type onediabetes that are moms who have kids
(37:48):
who also live with Type one diabetes.
And so just knowing that there areother, there are others of us out
there, and there are resources andpeople you could reach out to for
information is really important foryour wellbeing, our own wellbeing,
and for our kids that we're raising.
So thank you so much.
I appreciate your time, Laura, and your,and your experiences that you shared.
Gary (38:08):
Thanks for tuning in to Think Like a Pancreas, the podcast.
If you enjoy today's episode, don'tforget to like, follow or subscribe
on your favorite podcast app.
Think like a pancreas.
The podcast is brought to you byIntegrated Diabetes Services where
experience meets expertise, passionmeets compassion, and diabetes care
(38:29):
is personal because we live it too.
Our team of clinicians all livingwith type one diabetes understands
the challenges firsthand.
We're here to help no matterwhere you are in the world.
In glucose management, theself-care strategies, the latest
tech, sports, and exercise.
Weight loss type one.
Pregnancy and emotional wellbeing.
(38:51):
We've got you covered.
We offer consultations inEnglish and Spanish via phone,
video, chat, email and text.
Wanna learn more?
Visit integrated diabetes.com oremail info@integrateddiabetes.com
to schedule a consultation.
On behalf of Think Likea Pancreas, the podcast.
I'm Gary Scheer, wishingyou a fantastic week ahead.
(39:14):
Don't forget
to
think like
a pancreas
Welcome to Think Like a Pancreas, the podcast where our goal is to keep
you informed, inspired, and a littleentertained on all things diabetes.
The information contained in thisprogram is based on the experience
and opinions of the IntegratedDiabetes Services clinical team.
Please discuss any changes to yourtreatment plan with your personal
(00:38):
healthcare provider before implementing.
Tavia (00:40):
Thank you for joining us today.
My name is Tavia Vital.
I'm a registered nurse and a certifieddiabetes care and education specialist
at Integrated Diabetes Services,and I am joined by a special guest
today, Laura, who I will let youintroduce yourself a little, Laura.
What we're really interested in is
um, tell us a little bit about when youwere diagnosed with Type one Diabetes and
(01:03):
then we'll come back around and you and Iwill share stories about the second part
of the reason that you were invited today.
Does that sound likea good place to start?
Laura (01:11):
Sounds good.
Yeah.
So, Laura Harkins, I was diagnosed withdiabetes type one diabetes when I was 18,
so it was about a week or so before prom.
So I was in the hospital and I was like,I wanna go to prom, and I needed to
figure this thing out so that I could go.
Tavia (01:28):
No pressure, no stress there.
Laura (01:30):
No pressure, no stress.
It's all good.
And so, so I've been livingwith diabetes for, uh, a long
while and now have two kids.
So I have a, I have a familyin the, in the working world
i'm a product manager, sobuilding software very, mm-hmm.
Very fun.
And I started working withintegrated, uh, diabetes in my,
like mid twenties I wanna say.
So I've been with, with you all and I'mkind of off and on working with you guys,
(01:52):
so, but I'd say I, I've been with you,with you all for quite a while, um, and
I've always just really enjoyed workingwith, with everyone from the practice.
Tavia (02:01):
That's good to hear.
Yeah.
What Laura and I have in common, we havea couple of things right off the bat.
The first is that, of course,as a diabetes educator at
Integrated Diabetes Services, Ialso live with Type one diabetes.
Myself and I was diagnosed at age two anda half, and that was over 40 years ago.
So now, you know, I'molder than 40 something.
(02:21):
Yeah.
So I've also lived with type onefor many years and I'm married.
I have two children that are nowteenage teenagers, which I can't
believe and, uh, work full-timeat integrated, keep busy that way.
And then the secondary reason thatI asked Laura to join us today
is that we have thisother thing in common.
So I mentioned I have two children.
(02:43):
My oldest, his name is Itzia, he's 17 now.
He was diagnosed with type one diabeteswhen he was age 12, may of 2020.
And how about you, Laura?
Laura (02:52):
Yes, so I have two toddlers, 4-year-old girl and a 2-year-old son.
And my 2-year-old was diagnosed with typeone diabetes not too long ago January.
Tavia (03:03):
This is fresh.
Laura (03:04):
So fresh, fresh diagnosis here.
Yeah.
So, so a couple months ago
Tavia (03:09):
about then I was still crying quite a bit.
How are you doing?
How are you doing with the diagnosis?
Laura (03:12):
I was kinda like choking up a little bit, but, uh, I got it.
Okay.
No, it's, it's, uh, you know, assomeone living with type one and, um,
wanting to have a family, I come from.
From a very large family.
My, my dad is one of eight andum, I'm one of four, so I've
always wanted to have a family.
So back when I was diagnosed at, at 18,it was always on my mind, what are, what
is the likelihood I'm gonna pass this on?
(03:34):
And, you know, when's a, when'sa good time to start thinking
about starting a family?
And, and when I had my daughter,I think I was even more obsessed
with the signs of, of diabetes.
And, um, when we finally potty trainedher, I was taking keynote the ketones
strips once in a while and just.
Doing a little dipping once in a while.
Um, and, and everything was all good.
(03:55):
It was always on my mind, starting afamily, and, and I'd say when I had
my second child, typical, typicalnumber two, where you're not as kind
of vigilant as you are with your first.
So when he started showing somesigns, I think I kind of knew in
the back of my mind that, you know,I should probably check his number.
But as with all two year olds,they're constantly getting viruses.
They're constantly fluctuatingin their eating and their
(04:16):
drinking and their diaper.
So I was kind of like.
And then finally it really hit oneSaturday when, you know, we had
kind of started investigating betterdiapers and he woke up from a nap and
he was sitting with me and just, justchugging water without breathing.
And I was like, okay, gosh, Ineed to check, check his number.
You know, it was soon enough thatthat once we got into the hospital,
he wasn't DKA or anything, which.
(04:37):
It kind of didn't even come across mymind 'cause I've never been DKA, so
I was like, oh, I, I'm glad that wefinally were like, yep, we should check
his number And yeah, sounds playedout My old meter, um, like years ago.
'cause I don't use it as often.
And, uh.
So, so all of that to say is itwas kind of always on my mind.
Uh, so kind of knew it,it could have happened.
(04:59):
And so when he was diagnosed,you know, I kind of took a very
much matter of fact way about it.
I think that's how I was diagnosed too.
You know, this is what it isand we're gonna figure it out.
And, and luckily I had all of theknowledge I had as an adult to make
me feel a little bit more confident,but then also really thinking about,
well, I don't know how this is fora toddler, so what does that look?
Tavia (05:19):
Yeah.
Laura (05:19):
And how for a toddler.
Different story.
Tavia (05:22):
Yeah.
How about the rest of your family?
What did they, how did they respond?
Laura (05:26):
Yeah, so I think when I started working with Integrated Diabetes, I
was actually looking to start a family.
So I really wanted to get bettercontrol of my, of my numbers and
really get better understanding of
why certain things would happenwith my numbers and I wasn't getting
as much the why behind some of ourfluctuations in blood glucose from
(05:48):
my traditional endocrinologist oreven educators here in Chicago.
Um, and I really wanted to seekout more knowledge about this and,
and came across, uh, Jenny's book.
She is another, uh, nutritionist at.
At integrated diabetes about pregnancywith type one, and I'm like, oh, it
kind of all led me to, to IntegratedDiabetes and, and that's where I really
knuckled down and, and learned allabout everything behind, you know, blood
(06:11):
glucose that I didn't really learn whenI was diagnosed and didn't really seek
out information prior to that moment,which is kind of crazy thinking back.
But
Tavia (06:19):
I mean, there's so much to know and there's so much to contend with.
And there's alwayssomething new to be learned.
You can't really.
Laura (06:25):
Yeah, and what I'm getting to is, when I was starting to dig
into this for pregnancy, my husbandreally, he's much more of a bookworm.
So he was looking into Sugar Surfingand all these other, you know,
nutrition and nutritionist books.
And so we were really a good team thinkingabout starting a family and then actually
getting into pregnancy and really whatwas going on with my numbers, how to
(06:45):
best strategize what was going on.
So he's always been my thought partnerduring tough times like pregnancy where
you gotta be in super, super control.
So when Nate was diagnosed, you know,I think we went into that same mode of
just a a team and really taking a stepback after leaving the hospital and both
of us coming together and being like,you know what, this is how I know I will
be with his numbers in the day to dayoutside of the hospital, he kind of shared
(07:09):
this is how I think I will be and let'sfigure out a good way where we're not
stepping on each other's toes and we cankind of make the right decisions for him
'cause he's two.
My daughter, I think itwas really hard for her.
She is autistic.
So we're also have some, someneuro diversion in the household
that we're working with.
So she, you know, really struggledto articulate her feelings, but
she could see, Nate, we left.
(07:31):
And went to the hospitalfor a couple of days.
And so she doesn't lovethe routine change.
So that was hard for her.
And we came back and wewere giving Nate shots.
I mean, we were shooting himwith, with insulin, with a
syringe that she associated with,with shots going to the doctor.
So that was very, and he would say, ow.
And you know, she was kindof trying to protect him.
(07:51):
So, so that was really hard for her.
Um, and, you know, we workedwith, she, she does occupational
therapy and speech therapy.
We worked with her therapist to.
Think of good strategies to talkwith her about what was going on in
the way that she would understand.
Tavia (08:06):
That's amazing.
Laura (08:06):
Uh, whether it's a little doll that we bought, little pretend syringes,
it got a fake little blood glucose toy.
You know, and I will say there'sa business here for this.
And so anyone who's listeningthat wants to start, I agree.
There's huge money to be madein, in understanding diabetes
in, in books and in toys.
So that.
(08:27):
The kids can kind ofunderstand what's going on.
I think it's getting a lot better now.
He's now on the pump, so less shots, lessscary situations for him and, and so I
think it's, you know, we're getting morecomfortable with it, with it all as well.
So I think that's onlyhelping her deal with it too.
But you know, it was definitelydicey after leaving the
hospital for a couple of weeks.
Tavia (08:46):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's a lot to adjust to.
But in a different way.
Sometimes people will think, well,if you already have type one,
then you just sort of just, you'vegot another one in your herd and,
Laura (08:57):
right.
Tavia (08:57):
I think that's true.
To a point,
Laura (08:59):
yes.
Tavia (08:59):
But when it's another human being, it's different when that, when
you're, I mean, you're used to lookinginside and looking at, you know,
cause and effect and patterns and.
And you know, a little bit except forduring pregnancy, I will say, for me
anyway, I can most of the time lookat my diabetes management pretty
objectively and just stand back andsay, okay, I've been having more lows
(09:22):
in the afternoon, so let me adjustthis and get back on track there.
Oh, I'm really annoyed with myblood sugars after breakfast lately.
What do I need to change toget that to be tidied up?
More often, and it doesn't, it's notmuch deeper than that, that I'm thinking
about what's gonna happen next about me.
But with your child, it's a newlevel of, first we have to figure
it out and we have to adjust, butthere's this secret nagging like,
(09:44):
are they gonna be okay in the future?
Yeah.
That worry that comes up.
Laura (09:49):
Definitely.
Yep.
Tavia (09:50):
For all of us parents, with kids with type one, right?
Laura (09:53):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
As they get older, you know, I, he's two,so now is a little bit easier, but you
know, you do wanna teach that independencebecause you do ultimately need to
own it as a type one moving forward.
And yeah, do exactly what you'resaid is kind of take a step
back and figure out tweaks.
'cause you don't want it to be your life.
And that was hard for me.
It was when I was diagnosed of definitely.
(10:15):
Perfectionist and was reallynitpicking the numbers.
So I've learned with that.
I think you also bringin your baggage, right?
So I think I still have those lowfears and so when I see his number
and I'm like, my husband's like,well, we gotta cover what he ate.
And I'm like, but what if.
That's always really hard.
Uh, so I'm trying to, but it'salso kind of, you know, helpful for
(10:36):
me to, to move on from that too.
And you know, it's so great thatwe have such good technology now.
Tavia (10:42):
Yes.
Laura (10:42):
I mean, yeah.
Tavia (10:43):
And tools and like with the new glucagon, that's a huge
relief for me to just know what's.
Available.
Like my son is playing soccer and I knowthat he has in his bag his, um, hypo pen.
And so if something happened andhe needed it, he knows it's there.
His brother plays on the same soccerteam this year 'cause they're both in
high school now and he's told a coupleof his friends and the coach, it's
(11:04):
right there in the bag and he's gota sensor on and it alerts him and you
know, but just it's, things are easier.
Relatively speaking now compared tolike back when you were diagnosed?
Laura (11:14):
Totally and especially the glucagon.
That's a great point.
Like now there's nosyringe trying to teach.
If Nate were a little bit older and wedecided to stay on MDI trying to teach
of a teacher, let's say there wasn't anurse, he's in a little daycare program.
There's no nurse there, so trying toteach them to inject, it's just so heavy.
Where now it looks like an EpiPenand we all know how to do EpiPens.
Tavia (11:36):
We're less afraid of
Laura (11:37):
it's great
Tavia (11:37):
to each others.
Yeah, I think so too.
What do you think is harder foryou to deal with with your son's
diabetes than it is for you todeal with with your own diabetes?
Laura (11:47):
Yeah.
I think because it's such a newdiagnosis, I think I am struggling
with the day-to-day management andnitpicking what we're dosing during the
day and sort of taking a step back and.
Looking at where we wannafocus our time on those trends.
Because you know, you do wanna getyour dosing right in every meal,
but you don't wanna obsess about it.
(12:07):
So I think I've done a good job formyself of doing that, but I also
work and I get focused on work and.
Diabetes comes a little bitdown, a little bit on the list.
So it's like an easy distraction wherehim, you know, I am, we are, me and me
and my husband and and his caretaker,we are the ones really managing this.
So there's a heaviness there andthere's a lot of mental energy there.
(12:31):
So how do we make it a little bitmore of a balance where we're not
totally obsessing about every singledose and counting every single
carb and every moment I think is.
Is gonna be a learning process again,it's, it's still fresh, but I think
Tavia (12:47):
Well, and, and your child is too, so yeah.
Anybody who has children, diabetesare not, I mean, trying to make your
2-year-old, like, no, you dosed for that.
You have to eat it or no, no.
Really sit down and eat.
No, don't run around the table.
Laura (12:59):
Right?
Tavia (13:00):
No.
Like I know that we're gonnago play in the park after
this, but it's not time now.
Laura (13:04):
Right.
Tavia (13:04):
First you have to do this, then we can do that.
Right?
No, stop doing what you're doing now.
Like, oh, your glucose is coming down.
Sit still while you
Laura (13:11):
Totally,
Tavia (13:11):
right.
Exactly.
You chase them around with,
yeah.
Laura (13:14):
Yeah.
You just can't deal with that at all.
And there's a lot morerationalized with a toddler.
Tavia (13:21):
You could try, but you're gonna be the one frustrated.
Laura (13:23):
Yeah.
Right.
I mean, the one, the one thing that'sbeen really great is he is so good about
taking low treatments 'cause, so he'salso going through a honeymoon phase.
I'm not sure if that's on your list tochat about, but that is something that
I never went through, which looking backI was like, that would be kind of nice
just to get a little honeymoon foods.
Tavia (13:39):
But it kind of ease into it a little bit maybe.
Laura (13:42):
Yeah.
But as someone who's managing it fora toddler, it is not fun because.
It's not like I imagined honeymoon,meaning like your pancreas
clicks back on and you justdon't need insulin for a while.
Oh, no, no, no.
Your are just, pancreas starts workingat different parts of the day and
it's like, okay, sometimes at two,2:00 AM to 5:00 AM it is working great
Tavia (14:00):
and like no basal from the pump is needed.
Thank you very much.
Right,
Laura (14:03):
exactly and I'm like, okay, this kind of sucks because you don't know
when it's gonna hit or when it's truly.
An exercise like was the walkaround the block, why he maybe
got low at, at two in the morning.
That's a bad example, but you knowwhere I'm, where I'm going with this.
Tavia (14:18):
You had an afternoon at a, at a waterpark or something
where these, the honeymoon.
Yeah.
Laura (14:24):
So that's definitely difficult to manage, but hopefully with
time it'll, it'll, it'll change.
Tavia (14:30):
That's one thing we can rely on.
Right?
Whatever's working now, we'llneed to change in the future.
Right.
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Tavia (15:13):
My son had, you know, he was diagnosed as a teenage or as a
12-year-old, and he was tiny, tiny, tiny.
I mean, I was prettytiny when I was little.
And my husband isn't very tall guy either.
We, we had our kids in different studies.
Looking for type onediabetes to detect it.
Right?
So I know that both my boys have highrisk genes for type one diabetes, and
(15:36):
especially Itzia was making antibodiesfor almost 10 years before his diagnosis.
So his wasn't a freshout of the box surprise.
It happened.
No idea it could be happening.
We knew it was coming.
Laura (15:47):
Yeah.
Tavia (15:48):
When he was diagnosed, but once he got his diagnosis and
started insulin, he started gainingsome weight and getting taller.
And the first, I mean also 12 yearolds, between 11 and 13 kids have all
these monster girl spurts like normally
anyway.. But he went from like56 pounds to, I don't know,
90 pounds or so in a year.
(16:09):
Like he just gained weightand he grew several inches.
Just, it was phenomenal to seehim getting healthier and bigger
and growing like he's supposed to,but he did have a good honeymoon.
I call it the phase.
I don't think it's a period of time.
That sounds like a week or two.
And then it should be done right?
Laura (16:26):
I agree.
It needs to be relabeled.
Tavia (16:28):
Yeah.
So he is a 17-year-old boyand normally 17 year olds.
Need a ton of insulin, not a littlebit, not a lot like buckets of insulin
imperative to when they're young, um,and then comparative even to many adults,
he sometimes needs zero basal still,or like 0.05 or 0.1 unit per hour.
(16:48):
Basal rates.
Mm-hmm.
Which is just wild.
Like in the afternoons when he playssoccer, we have to turn his pump way down.
His carb ratio is somethingsilly, like one for 20 grams.
Whereas without soccer it's one forseven, which that, I know physical
activity impacts everything, but toa degree you still need some insulin.
It's unusual, like lots of kids are superactive and in sports and I see their.
(17:11):
Basal rates are like one point something,two point something at his age.
Nope, not him.
He still makes the tiny bit of insulin,which up until about last year, so
the first three to three and a halfyears, I'll say it was challenging for
him to get up into the three hundreds.
It could happen, don't get me wrong.
Right.
But it would, it would be very rare.
Mm. Interesting.
(17:32):
Now that the honeymoon period is, thephase is sort of dwindling and he's
making less insulin now it's easier.
And if he delays changing his,his pump site out, sometimes he'll
be like, yeah, yeah, I got it.
And then like an hour ortwo later, I'll see this.
The glucose graph going up and he'll belike, Hey, did you put your new site on?
And he'll be like, oh, I got sidetracked.
(17:53):
He can hit 300 now doing that wherehe couldn't last year, you know?
Laura (17:56):
Sure.
Tavia (17:57):
Yeah.
So I think that's been a challenge forme is to see, to see him be more like
how my diabetes behaves, where it'sharder and there's more fluctuation
more easily, and that includes lows.
So once you lose.
More insulin production, you have lessinsulin produced, then you also lose some
other gut hormones that help regulateblood sugar and keep you safer from
(18:19):
severe lows or severe elevated glucoses.
And, um, seeing, seeing that changein him has been, I don't like it
because I know what it feels like.
Laura (18:27):
Yeah.
And
Tavia (18:27):
I know it's hard and I wish that he didn't have to deal with all of that.
He handles it like a champ.
Absolutely.
He really does.
Yeah.
Laura (18:35):
It's really hard as a mom to watch that.
Tavia (18:38):
It is and
Laura (18:38):
know what it feels like.
Yeah,
Tavia (18:39):
yeah.
When he has, um, a couple days in a rowor a series of lows a day where he is like
low and he has to fix it low and he hasto fix it, and he just, he's pale and he's
sweaty and he's weak and he can't do whathe wants to do, and I get super upset.
I, you know, I. Stop and I talk with himand see how he's doing and make sure, you
know, the diabetes side of it's cared for.
(19:01):
But I'm checking in with him onhow he feels after dealing with all
that, because firsthand it's scary.
It doesn't feel good.
It makes you angry, you know, likeyou as the person with diabetes.
So I'm expecting that from him.
Or if not, that's okay too.
Great if he doesn't really care.
But I just want him to know that I can, hecan talk to me about those things because
(19:24):
I grew up my whole life without that.
No one knew what I was going through.
Laura (19:27):
Right?
Yep.
Tavia (19:29):
And I think, so when I see him really low, it gets me every time.
'cause I'm just like, oh, he feels lousy.
I'm not scared for safetybecause I know who he got this.
Laura (19:38):
Yeah.
Tavia (19:38):
But I just hate that he has to
Laura (19:40):
feel it.
Tavia (19:40):
Experience that,
Laura (19:41):
yeah.
Tavia (19:42):
Makes me frustrated.
Laura (19:43):
Yeah.
And, and I think we also know livingwith type one, I don't know about you,
but you know, we all experience diabetesburnout of just thinking about it and
having that mental baggage of like.
You know, the technology is great, right?
Like I think I've had way less lows nowthat I can do automated mode and all.
There's all these great algorithms,but sometimes then, you know, you
(20:05):
kind of, when you get low, youremember all that time before and
it's like, it's just, it's heavy.
It's heavy and yeah, you can't dowhat you wanna do and you still
wor I still have that baggage.
Like I said, even when he goes low,I'm like, oh gosh, what's gonna happen?
Like.
Do I need to not send him to school?
Should I, you know, throw a movieon so that he doesn't have to
(20:26):
run around and it gets worse?
It's a lot, it's a lot for your,your mind on top of your own
baggage with your own diabetes.
So,
Tavia (20:34):
yeah, I think I do, I do best with it when neither of us have a lot
of alerts going on overnight and weget several nights of sleep in a row.
It's amazing.
Laura (20:42):
Yeah.
Tavia (20:43):
But like if he's going through a growth spurt and he needs wildly different
amounts of insulin than normal, allof a sudden, or his growth spurt stops
and we have to back back off of thingsagain, and he is getting lows overnight.
And then if I have a weird sensoror I have a low or I whatever, yeah.
It's just too much sometimes.
Yeah.
It just really is a, those nights,I think in the next day after, yeah.
(21:05):
Then I go, then I pull the, it's notfair card out, even though I don't like,
that's not really been a thing for me.
Laura (21:11):
Yeah.
Tavia (21:11):
Gosh, that definitely pushes my buttons.
Like if it, if it was just, I keepthinking like, oh, if it was just one
of us, it's annoying, but I can do this.
Right.
Yeah.
And then it gets to betwo of us and I'm like.
Yeah.
What can I do to make sure nomore alerts happen tonight?
Right?
Like, what is possible tomake sure we're safe, but
no more beeping.
Laura (21:29):
Yeah.
Tavia (21:29):
Just being asleep.
Laura (21:30):
It's so true.
And, and that can impactthe household too, right?
Like when two people are feeling weigheddown by this, everybody else feels it too.
Tavia (21:38):
Yeah.
We're not as much fun.
Laura (21:40):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Which like, we understand, right?
They understand it's just.
It's a bummer.
Tavia (21:46):
How do you feel when people say where?
If you say, oh, my son got diagnosedwith type one, they say, oh, well at
least he's got you because you aredoing a great job with your diabetes.
So it's really great.
It's lucky that he has it.
Because you can just teach him everything.
Has that happened to you?
Laura (22:03):
Yes.
Actually, I would say when he wasdiagnosed, I was a little more reluctant
In our lives, I would say most peopleknow that I'm diabetic, but for, you
know, his therapies that he goes toor his little daycares, you know.
We kind of just started this year, sothey don't really know me that well.
They don't see my devices.
They don't hear me beep.
So I was kinda reluctant to share.
I also have it at the sametime that I was sharing.
(22:26):
He has it.
'cause I didn't want there tobe this like, oh, of course if
you have it, he's gonna get it.
One of you was gonna get itbecause that's just not true.
Tavia (22:35):
Right, right.
Laura (22:36):
With, with statistics and everything, I mean, we,
there is probability, right?
But then it was also hard for meto deal with as a mom, like knowing
it I could be passing this down.
I was always having that heaviness.
So for the people that did know,they were actually pretty great.
They wouldn't, say something like that.
I think I would be the first one to share.
Like it's been good thatI also have the pump.
(22:58):
I also have the Dexcom, so Nate isstill kind of delayed in his language
and, and some of his development.
So, which I'm wonderingmight be because of diabetes.
Um, but that's another topic.
So it's been good for someone who islacking speech and, and sort of some
of these skills for I could point tomyself and say, oh, mommy has one too.
(23:19):
Mommy has one too.
And that really helped him.
I share that with, with people when, whenthey say, how are you doing with this?
Because I think they can kind of put theconnections together that it's a lot.
I can kind of share that, that that is.
A bright side is, is, you know, I cansort of have that relationship with him
so that he understands what's going on.
If he's not getting it, truly,
Tavia (23:40):
that's nice.
Laura (23:41):
Um, but when someone does say that, who doesn't really know me?
It is, it is tough.
Or, or sometimes it's brushed asidebecause they might not know the whole
disease, right?
That's hard.
That's hard.
And I don't wanna be educating them.
Right.
I'm much educating to do like when he wasdiagnosed, you know, we had to educate.
(24:01):
We kind of had to reeducate myparents a little bit because you
know, I was diagnosed at 18, soI was kind of doing it on my own.
They didn't really learn the ins and outs.
So I kinda had to reeducate them'cause they help babysit and stuff.
Mm-hmm.
Such, I had to educate the, thecaregiver and my husband helped too.
But because it was so back of the napkinfor me, I felt like I just did it a lot
as teachers and, and stuff like that.
(24:23):
That was one of the firstthings I sort of had to do.
And.
I would just show my devicesso they knew what it was look
like and and what to expect.
That's helpful.
Having to bother him.
So that was a positive, but no, it's hard.
It's hard when they might notknow exactly what's going on
Tavia (24:39):
and then, yeah, it's like a brush off comment.
You're right.
If some people aren'tnecessarily really involved in
Laura (24:43):
Yeah,
Tavia (24:44):
there would be no way for them to really understand what our lives
are like, because they don't haveto deal with it, so it's different.
Laura (24:50):
Right, right.
And, and sometimes I don'twant to talk about it.
Tavia (24:52):
Right.
Fair.
Laura (24:53):
So I'm like, yeah, yeah.
It's, yeah.
It's lucky that I have it too.
Tavia (24:58):
Sure is lucky.
Laura (24:59):
Right?
Because you're gonna take thosemoments where like, you know what?
I don't really wannatalk about it right now.
Uh, just like when you beep, youlike beep somewhere where you don't
wanna talk about it, and you're like,no, no, I have to talk about this.
But it's okay becauseit's good to educate.
It is helpful because there's just somuch confusion still in 2025 between
type one and type two, and it's just soincredibly different and it bothers me
(25:22):
when people don't know the difference.
Tavia (25:23):
But yeah.
It's, it can be a lot for sure.
Did you guys do any screeningfor either of your children?
Laura (25:30):
So I bought the kit for Natalie, but I never went through with it
because like I said, she's autistic.
So it was pretty challengingwhen she was younger to even get
through a doctor's appointment.
I. And we were trying to figure outthis diagnosis and figuring her language
delays and was she kind of understandingwhat, what we were talking about in just
(25:50):
everyday scenarios, making sure we gother to school and figured out the doctor
and mommy and daddy are going to work.
Like concepts like that took,took us some time to figure out
what way to communicate with her.
Right is basically what,what we were dealing with.
So I was like, do I really wannaadd like a blood draw to this
when I could just test her urine?
That was probably the first thing I askedwhen Nate was diagnosed is, okay, cool.
(26:13):
Can we do antibodiestests for, for Natalie?
And of course there's this wholerigamarole because technically she's not
the patient of the endo that I'm with.
For Nate, so he can't order them.
And then I can't ask the pediatricianbecause they don't do screenings,
but I just saw the, the ChrissyTegan commercial on screen for
type one, which I was like, yes.
(26:34):
'cause I think that was the originalcompany I looked at for Natalie
eight know four or five years ago.
Tavia (26:38):
Nice.
Laura (26:39):
And so now that's becoming more mainstream.
So I think I will get her tested.
I did do, when Nate was diagnosed,you can test for, you might
have to help me with this one.
Tavia (26:48):
There's a c-peptide test that's drawn in the beginning that tells you
a little bit about how much naturalinsulin is still being produced.
Laura (26:54):
Yes.
And they said that's notactually that helpful.
I think I read somewhere to, toask for that, so we asked for that.
But, but yeah, so for Natalie, I thinkwe'll definitely get her screen just
so we know maybe what, what to expect.
But again, I think we'll wait until wecan kind of explain to her what's going
on, because we just have a lot going on.
Tavia (27:12):
Yeah,
Laura (27:12):
the house right now.
And I think, I think, 'cause thething you wanna think about is do
you actually want that information?
Right?
There's so much out there healthwise that you know, parents have to
worry about for themselves, for theiraging parents, all of that stuff.
It's like, do we really want this
on the list of things I gotta havein the back of my head every day.
Tavia (27:31):
Yeah.
Laura (27:32):
And actually my, I switched endocrinologist for Nate and then
the second one who I now reallylike, he was the one that was like,
do you really want that information?
I appreciated that because it'slike, you know what, maybe.
Now is not the time for that information.
Like maybe we, you know, let thingssettle with what we have now.
Tavia (27:49):
Yeah, and I don't think there's one right answer for anyone.
I think it's very individual or.
Decision.
Yeah.
Laura (27:56):
Yeah.
Tavia (27:56):
I like the screening.
Screening for antibodiesas an option for people.
You can do it for free if youfall within certain parameters.
You can look at trial net for diabetes.
That's a free one.
JDRF, which is now Breakthrough.
T 1D also had a kit thatcould be ordered for a fee.
It had a price tag on it.
Mm-hmm.
(28:16):
But that could be done by anyone.
You don't have to.
Be a first or second degreerelative of somebody who lives
with type one like trial.
That is, and it could be any age.
So that's nice for anybodywho wants to screen.
The more people that get screened, themore potential trial enrollees could.
That could, I mean, trial enrolleescould exist, so if you find out your
(28:37):
family member you have antibodies fortype one, then you can look up what
studies are available for preventingtype one from starting, and then
decide if there's a study near youthat you think you want to enroll in.
But really we need our morepeople screening and enrolling
in order to test things out.
And for the things that work to prove theywork in a variety of different people.
(29:01):
They're getting down into geneticsbased treatment therapies to stop
diabetes from progressing or.
Reversing it back to needingless insulin or not needing
insulin for periods of time.
That takes a lot of testing.
So on the, on the one side, thinking ofit from that standpoint, not emotional
at all, just what do we need for scienceto move forward with what we all want?
(29:25):
We need people to screen and then enrollin these studies that are available.
The other benefit of screeningfrom a clinical standpoint is those
who get screened for antibodies
have a much lower risk for their typeone diabetes presenting as DKA and being
hospitalized with diabetic ketoacidosis.
(29:45):
So that's nice.
Laura (29:47):
Yeah,
Tavia (29:47):
it's a really nice safety feature.
And on the flip side, somepeople will choose not to
screen for a variety of reasons.
And if you have a first degreerelative with Type one diabetes,
you watch for symptoms.
And you do ketone testing in the urine,and if you can, a finger stick if there
are other signs and symptoms, right,like frequent thirst and urination
(30:07):
and wetting the bed or, or peeingthrough saturating diapers and littles,
um, being super hungry, super tired,super moody, headachey, stomach aches.
Seems like the flu weightloss that's unexplained.
There's so many things, so many differentsymptoms that it's hard to know.
Some of that just sounds like a grumpykid, or the flu, or who knows, right?
(30:29):
But if you know about the symptoms,then you can check sooner like what
you guys did, which is important.
That doesn't get us down the cureresearch path, but it does keep
safety in mind, which is reallythe most important piece, right?
Yeah.
Body testing though, it doesn'ttell you your genetic risk.
So I feel like it's sortof a misnomer because.
(30:50):
I don't know if it's a misnomer, butmaybe it's just important to point
out if you don't make antibodiesfor type one diabetes right this
moment, it doesn't mean there'sno guarantee that you never will.
So sometimes people will say, ohyeah, I got antibodies screened for
my child, and they don't, they don'thave type one diabetes, and I'm
like, today they don't have it today.
Laura (31:09):
That's my other hesitation is like, okay, do I really wanna
put her through a blood draw?
If this moment in time everything's fine.
That was another thing that weighedin my mind is just, you know, the
having to put her through that really.
But, you know, now that we're, we'regetting older and she's getting, you
know, much more communicative andunderstanding what's going on, I think
it's a lot easier to, to do a blood draw.
(31:29):
I mean, she has to do that forjust her normal health, so.
Yeah, it's a little bit more normal
Tavia (31:34):
added into one that she already has to get done.
Laura (31:36):
Exactly.
Tavia (31:36):
And decide you wanna do that sometimes.
Laura (31:38):
Exactly.
I'm like on that website rightnow, looking at how much it costs.
Um, funnily enough.
So, yeah.
Tavia (31:44):
What do you think, what do you think is helpful for other people like us
that live with Type one diabetes and maybethey're just brand new and just found out
that their child has type one diabetes.
Maybe they're worrying about it.
And there's some symptoms.
What do you wish somebodywould've just picked up the phone
and called you and said this?
To help you.
Laura (32:04):
Yeah.
Um, I think, you know, trust yourgut, you know, eventually my gut was
like, yep, I gotta check his number.
I probably knew it sooner, but so muchwas going on that maybe I just put it off.
So trust your gut with that.
And then I. You know, seek other advicefrom doctors if even those results
(32:25):
are normal, you know, and talk throughsome of the things that you're saying
because I, I do think the screeningis getting a lot easier to do.
I mean, I saw in one, one optionas just a finger prick, so maybe
that's less invasive for, for kidswho are younger that, like Natalie,
you didn't, might wanna, wannaput them through a blood draw.
You could do it through a fingerprick, just for ease of mind.
And then if there is a diagnosis.
(32:45):
You know, the first thing I did whenwe got into the hospital was use one of
my CGMs and put it on him immediately.
They're not gonna give you a CGMuntil day one, um, because that's
gonna give you peace of mind, right?
It's gonna tell you what his number is.
Uh, bring an extra device.
I. Uh, for that CGM.
'cause you can't do it onyour, you're the one you're on.
Yeah, that's true.
That's true.
So that's another one weused my husband's iPad.
(33:07):
Uh, I didn't think of it thenI brought the iPad to watch a
movie and I was like, oh wait, wecan put the, uh, Dexcom on here.
So definitely bring extrasupplies because the hospital.
Stuff is rough.
Um, and and advocate.
Advocate for your kid.
You know, the hospitals are great.
They are doing everything that they can.
The nurses are amazing,especially after Covid.
(33:28):
I think there's just this added stressat the hospitals now, especially if you
go in during winter season, which I did.
Everyone had RSV.
It was very stressful.
Advocate, you know.
Speak for the technology that you have.
Go with your gut, you know, you knowwhat the numbers are, trust Dexcom
or whatever CGM that you're using.
And even as you get away fromthe hospital and come home, like
(33:50):
if something doesn't feel right.
For example, we, we weren't fittingvery well with our endo that we had
from the hospital, and so I soughtout other moms who had gone through
this, you know, pretty recentlyto us, I would say some moms like.
Who may have older kids with typeone might not be as helpful if
you've got a toddler and they'redifferent, it's a little different.
(34:13):
So, you know, try to use your network.
There's great Facebook pages.
I luckily had a couple of momsthat, that I knew of that I
reached out in the hospital andso they recommended a goodo and.
And, and it was a much better fit for us.
You are the mom.
You are, you know your kid best.
So if they are as young as Nate and,and you don't feel comfortable with
some of the things that they might bedoing in the hospital, as the doctor
(34:35):
speak up, especially diabetes, likewe all we know as type one diabetics
that like a lot of the work is on you.
Get trusted advisors that you can geton your side, like integrated diabetes.
You know, I think I reached outto you guys like coming home from
the hospital and Nancy was like,why don't you wait a day or two?
And I'm like, no, no, no,I'm getting on the calendar.
When's your next availability?
So seek help.
(34:55):
So, so it's not all on youto kind of ease that burden.
Um, but those are the main, main things,you know, you're gonna know is the
mom, you know, what, what makes sense?
And even what you mightbe comfortable with.
Like for example, I wasn't readyto put Nate on a pump in a lot
of hospitals across the us.
Push the pump because youknow, it's less to learn.
There's all these algorithms.
It's amazing.
I wasn't ready for that.
(35:16):
I wanted to make sure he was comfortablewith shots in case the pump never worked.
'cause that's happened to me a lot.
Or prescriptions fall through,production goes down, plastic
becomes super expensive.
We gotta know how to do the old stuff.
So that was good for us.
Once we were ready for the pump,me and my husband, we, we did it.
It's great.
Awesome.
But I, I think.
(35:36):
We needed our own time with that.
I, I didn't want a doctor to, adoctor at the hospital who doesn't
know us to kind of push that mm-hmm.
If I wasn't ready.
So, yeah, there's alot of advice in there.
If I were to succinct it up,it's like, seek out other moms,
um, who's gone through it.
Trust your gut because, you know, diabeteswell put a CGM on 'em immediately,
or
Tavia (35:56):
there we go.
We, we talked through several things.
You and I, we talked about whatit was like living with type one
diabetes ourselves, and then havingone of our children get diagnosed
and what that experience was like.
We talked about how living with typeone ourselves gave us some advantages
to being able to navigate our child'stype one diabetes in a little more
(36:20):
structured, a little less emotional way.
Once things got rolling.
And you brought in some really goodinformation about how important it
is to get resources and outside inputfrom people other moms who live with
Type one diabetes and to partner withwho you have in your family, in your
case, your spouse, for example, to getthe right amount of support whenever
(36:43):
possible for the both of you, right?
Both people living with type oneneed, helping us support with
getting through each and everyday and night with diabetes and.
I think we covered some good topics withhow many different choices there are and
how it, how just living with type onediabetes and then having it in your child
(37:04):
as well can feel pretty overwhelming.
Kind of heavy is how you described it.
And it doesn't feel that wayall the time, thankfully.
Right, right.
But there are certain thingsthat are gonna get you, it's
gonna push your buttons andyou're gonna feel all the feels.
And I would, I'm not a betting person,but if I were, I would wager a bet that.
We could get other moms with typeone who have kids with type one
(37:26):
and they all have buttons thatget pushed, that get their tears
welled up in their eyes right?
From from time to time for sure.
Um.
And I just think it's good forus to have this specific podcast
because there are lots of peoplewith Type one diabetes worldwide.
There are less people with Type onediabetes that are moms who have kids
(37:48):
who also live with Type one diabetes.
And so just knowing that there areother, there are others of us out
there, and there are resources andpeople you could reach out to for
information is really important foryour wellbeing, our own wellbeing,
and for our kids that we're raising.
So thank you so much.
I appreciate your time, Laura, and your,and your experiences that you shared.
Gary (38:08):
Thanks for tuning in to Think Like a Pancreas, the podcast.
If you enjoy today's episode, don'tforget to like, follow or subscribe
on your favorite podcast app.
Think like a pancreas.
The podcast is brought to you byIntegrated Diabetes Services where
experience meets expertise, passionmeets compassion, and diabetes care
(38:29):
is personal because we live it too.
Our team of clinicians all livingwith type one diabetes understands
the challenges firsthand.
We're here to help no matterwhere you are in the world.
In glucose management, theself-care strategies, the latest
tech, sports, and exercise.
Weight loss type one.
Pregnancy and emotional wellbeing.
(38:51):
We've got you covered.
We offer consultations inEnglish and Spanish via phone,
video, chat, email and text.
Wanna learn more?
Visit integrated diabetes.com oremail info@integrateddiabetes.com
to schedule a consultation.
On behalf of Think Likea Pancreas, the podcast.
I'm Gary Scheer, wishingyou a fantastic week ahead.
(39:14):
Don't forget
to
think like
a pancreas
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