Tools for sleep and sanity. One Family’s Strategies for Raising Two Kids with Type 1

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:15):
Welcome to Think Like a Pancreas--The Podcast, where our goal is to keep you informed, inspired, and a little entertained on all things diabetes.
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 health care provider before implementing.

(00:38):
Welcome back, everybody.
My name is Kathryn Alvarez, and I will be hosting today's episode.
I am happy to be joined by Ali Adler, who is a mom that has been through something truly extraordinary.
Not one, but two of her little boys were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
So we're going to talk together about how they found their strength through this, created systems that will work for them as a family, finding their new dynamic, and managed to stay sane through it all.

(01:08):
My hope is that their story can help another family out there and help you to hopefully find some relief in some way through what Ali has to share.
So Ali, thank you so much for joining us today.
No, thanks for having me.
I'm very excited to talk diabetes.
Give me a little bit of background because I think every diagnosis story is unique.

(01:29):
So what was the order of diagnosis?
How old were they?
Yes, I was aware of the signs.
In the back of my mind, for some reason, I kind of thought that it was just older kids or like around puberty.
I kind of had the wrong idea that that's just when it happened.
So I was sort of like, oh, that's like something we'll have to worry about eventually.

(01:50):
So Tom was two and a half and he started, you know, being super thirsty, peeing all the time.
Just the classic symptoms.
And I feel like I did the same thing that a lot of parents did, which you somehow you like justify it in your mind, right?
Like try to find the reason.
So at that time, it was April.
It was just getting nice out.

(02:10):
He was peeing outside a lot.
And I was like, oh, he's just, you know, he likes peeing in the yard.
He's like a little a little boy just, like,having fun doing that.
And then it kind of got to a point where I was like, OK, it might be like--that's like it's like a lot of peeing in the yard.
It might be too much.
It rained one day.
And so he was peeing in his little potty.
And I, for the first time in a few days, got a visual of how much he really was peeing.

(02:33):
And I think it was probably like the third or fourth time that I emptied his little potty that I was like, I realized and I feel like I, you know, I knew immediately.
And you start thinking back through your head.
I all of a sudden realized that he had been super, like, lethargic.
And I recognized then some of like the weight loss.

(02:54):
And I just went to the kitchen and Chris was cooking dinner.
And thank goodness, Chris is such like an easygoing person.
Because I remember being like, go to the like, you need to leave right now and go to the pharmacy and get a finger test.
And he was like, really? Like, right, like, right this second, like? I was like, yeah, right this second.
And thankfully, he just turned off the stove, headed out and he's the best.

(03:15):
Tested his finger.
Sure enough, it was high.
You know, we're like, got out the directions were like, what does HI mean?
What does HI mean?
You know. I'm thankful that my parents live very close. My mom headed over and she had been through it before.
So she was like, you know, was able to kind of prepare us. Headed to the hospital.
So Tom's our oldest.
And yeah, he was two and a half at the time.
And then our second is Joe.

(03:36):
He's the youngest.
He was five months old at the time.
Loaded up Joe.
I loaded up Tom, went to the hospital.
And I guess I guess I can just tell the story for Joe also.
And how much later was this?
So it was actually kind of crazy because it was almost exactly one year later.
So I think Tom was, yeah, early April.
Joe was just a few weeks later.

(03:57):
So a year and a few weeks.
For him, I mean, we were just kind of on the lookout.
He was 18 months.
I actually had like the Trialnet box sitting on the counter because we were like, all right, when he turns two, we're going to do that.
But we were definitely, you know, you're just on the look.
One night he was walking around just with a diaper on and we noticed. Chris and I just sort of like both looked at each other.

(04:18):
We're like, that's a big diaper.
Chris grabbed the finger kit.
But you're not, you're not ever really thinking, you know, you're like, it's not going to happen to us, you know. Test his finger.
Sure enough, it was like 170.
And I think we kept testing after that.
I think, you know, he had like just had dinner and it went to, I think, up to 300.
But then by the time we got to the hospital, it was down.

(04:39):
I think he was just in like the 90s at that point.
But obviously, I mean, night and day, like I feel it was I feel very lucky that we had a full year with just Tom to get we had our feet under us.
It was just it was surreal.
It was horrible.
But I mean, we were just like, all right, let's like we've we've done this.

(05:00):
Like, let's do it.
It, you know, moved so much faster.
I feel like, you know, as a mother, you probably feel like, you know, you have to take it on for them.
But I'm sure that's challenging.
Yeah, I don't know if you can tell, but I am a little bit of like, you know, a control-- like I need to have control.
So it actually it's worked really well for us to have that pretty hard divide.

(05:21):
Mm hmm.
Like I know in the beginning, I mean, just out of--like you're just--there are days when you're just like exhausted and, or I would need to do something or, you know, you'd hand the ball off.
And I mean, it's hard.
It's hard, especially early on to like kind of pass it off.
And you're trying to explain, like this is the morning that we've had.
And yeah, especially early on, I always felt like it was just easier just to do it.

(05:44):
We're at the point now where where Chris can definitely jump in and he does a great job.
We'll trade off like sleeping in and by sleeping in, I mean like eight thirty on the weekends and he'll do breakfast.
And it's you know, and we actually we give the kids a break on the weekends.
They eat the exact same breakfast every day before school.
Sometimes we'll like switch up the protein that we pair with it.

(06:04):
But generally, and like on the weekends, they will have like granola and yogurt or like pancakes.
So even with that.
Yeah, he does.
He does a good job.
Is there like a time frame that you'll trust him for?
Like, I can't leave Chris in charge for...
...
Yeah, maybe like a couple hours. But that's like one of the, and that's why like I feel like when we were looking for help, do you like, do you like get somebody with diabetes or just like a nurse or someone that can babysit and kind of handle it better?

(06:33):
But I feel like sometimes it would just be it would be so stressful trying to set everything up to leave.
You're looking at your phone constantly and then you like come back and you potentially have to be sort of like dealing with the aftermath.
Right?
It's like where their lows, where their highs, like, you know, trying to I was like, I just can I just like not like leave them ever because it's like so much effort.

(06:53):
You know, it wasn't like a break.
Yeah.
Which I mean, that that is also just paired with the first year or two, which is also, you know, it's just so much harder. Now,
It's definitely changed and gotten so much easier.
But yeah, it's hard.
Yeah.
If you were leaving them with someone, would you go through like a training process that would help to make you feel comfortable?
Or what did that look like?

(07:15):
Yes.
Early on, it would usually just be my parents or Chris's parents, which it was fine when it was just Tom.
But I think when it was both of them, I mean, you could just feel it. Like it's just stressful.
Inevitably, it was like I would be like, oh, like, we did great.
We had the same breakfasts every day, which I mean, as you know, like literally the same thing and every morning is, you know, different.

(07:39):
I'd be like, they're like good to go here.
Here're all like the low carb snacks.
One goes high, one goes low.
Like, you know, it just every time.
Yeah, it was just a lot.
So we decided let's try to find a babysitter. First just to train somebody.
That was fine.
I actually feel like by the time, though, I would get to the point with someone where I was like, I feel like I can leave the house for some, for whatever reason.

(08:00):
We just like went through babysitters like really fast for whatever reason.
I don't know if other people have that struggle.
Then we're like, let's try to find somebody that has diabetes or is a nurse or and and that was great.
We actually found two babysitters.
That was awesome.
But again, it was like a fast turnaround.
And that's when we decided to look into getting an au pair.
And that has been life changing.

(08:21):
I know it's not possible for everyone, but actually it's way more affordable than you think.
And it's way more accessible.
We had both of them.
It was actually on like our she basically got here on our two year diaversary for Tom, one year for Joe.
Wow.
That has been like life changing.
It's just been such a gift to breathe and to have that like break.

(08:42):
And also just like without with the kids, I mean, now they're in school half day, but also just kind of bridging that gap before, you know, they're in school and having that help.
But I mean, and we definitely I mean, we're at the point where she just knows like she's in the household, you know, with us and is in the routine.
And it's crazy.
I think she handles lows better than I do.

(09:04):
She like actually like follows the rules, you know, doesn't overtreat.
Yeah.
Which is so funny how that's like that's kind of at least for me like that is the challenge is to just like follow my own rules.
I know.
And practicing what you preach is like, yeah, so hard.
Yeah.
And it's like, you know, you know all the things that you should be doing and like why is it so hard to do them every day?

(09:28):
It's like that funny thing where, it's like, the things that are important are never like urgent and the things that are urgent are never important.
It's just so hard to like prioritize the things that will make the management easier.
And you get into like these cycles where you're not doing the things you're supposed to do.
So you're not sleeping and then you're exhausted and it makes it even harder.

(09:51):
And yeah, we're at the point where, you know, she just handles it.
They'll come back from an outing and she kind of recounts like, oh, yeah, he was cruising down, tested the finger. Finger, you know, whatever.
And I'm like, perfect.
You did like great execution.
You know, she's super careful.
And yeah, it's been amazing.
What a relief for you because just having that time to be able to know that your your kids are taken care of and they're safe.

(10:14):
But how did you how did you find her?
Like, how did you go about that process?
So we used Au Pair in America.
I think the two biggest ones are Au Pair in America and Culture Care.
But it's just it's sort of like online dating.
You just like make a profile.
You go and watch videos that they've posted, set up like a video chat.
And we actually so we searched for diabetes and actually like just only two Au Pairs popped up.

(10:41):
She was one of them.
And then so when we were chatting with her, we learned that it was her brother.
She has an older brother that has type one.
So that was nice to have that.
You know, she just had that familiarity with it.
And it just--we just hit it off.
She--I could tell that she was super well prepared in our video call.
You know, she was asking tough questions.
And and we were actually just like, oh, let's like just see, you know, explore the option.

(11:05):
And then we started to see people that, because you like like you like like people.
Yeah, we started to see like, oh, they got matched and they got matched and they got matched.
And we were like, let's do it.
And like we literally we had our video call with her and we matched.
And yeah, the rest is history.
And what exactly is an Au Pair?
An Au Pair lives with you.
So you have to have a spare bedroom.

(11:26):
That's a requirement.
And they actually like the they'll come to your house and make sure, you know, you're all set up.
And so, yeah, you provide a place for them to live and food.
They can work up to 45.
There's like, you know, all these rules up to 45 hours a week.
And it's for one year.
You can--you have the option to extend for up to an additional year at the end of that year.
But it's pretty cool.

(11:47):
They have to do some like just a few school credits while they're here.
But they're able to do basically anything related to kids, child care and then any chores related to related to the kids.
There's like a babysitter's page that I know that somebody put together.
I've seen it at conferences before that people can utilize.
And then I see a lot of people posting online, like looking for people that could potentially care for their children.

(12:12):
But it's not something I ever saw myself doing.
But they asked and it's like, you know, this is going to be great for supplemental.
So I think just asking anybody, if you feel that it's someone you trust and would care for your children is worth it, you know, like maybe a school nurse would be open to it or.
Yeah, no, that's super cool.
And and I feel like like you're exactly the type of person that, like before we kind of went the extreme route, which was the au pair, kind of what we were looking for.

(12:41):
And actually, and I did get that list.
You did.
Yeah.
And I'm forgetting what it's called.
But yeah, I did get that posting on the college websites like, you know, nurses or if you're in school to be a nurse and want like part time child care and all that kind of stuff.
Obviously, like kind of our search for just a regular or more of a regular babysitter was cut short because we just like went for it.

(13:02):
But yeah, there are definitely options like that that are great.
And like even just having a babysitter with type one was awesome.
And I felt like she could definitely dive in fast and did a great job.
So definitely for parents that the dust has kind of settled.
Yeah.
Looking for, yeah, at least like a babysitter just to have a little bit of time, even if you're like still in the house.

(13:24):
The only other advice I would say is like podcasts and stuff like that.
Unfortunately, I feel like that's one of the hard things is that I don't think that there is really, especially early on, I don't think that there is much advice you can give that like makes it any less like I always think like, oh, man, is there anything you can tell new parents that will speed up the process, make it less painful?

(13:44):
But unfortunately, I feel like you do sort of just have to like go through it and learn.
And yeah, and it just just takes time.
Yeah, it's almost like a grieving process that you have to go over.
Yeah, it really is.
You are grieving your child's new life and all of the extra things that you now have to learn and take on grieving process.
You definitely can't just snap out of.

(14:06):
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(14:29):
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And now back to our program.
What have you said?
Have you like do you have like a go to now that you would say to newly diagnosed?

(14:50):
No, I was going to ask you and see if you have any good ones.
A friend texted and said a friend of theirs was they were in the hospital this weekend.
Eight year old, the other eight year old son, Bodhi, was diagnosed and I just texted her.
We just want to-- wish you could just give him a hug.
You know, I mean, I don't I have not come up with with anything good.
So if you have ideas, I even it's so hard.

(15:11):
It's like the thing that you do is like bring a meal.
I feel like that is like not really that helpful.
I feel like that can cause all sorts of mixed feelings and it's hard to get right.
I've thought, you know, thought about a goodie bag, which I might actually try that this time.
But again, you're like, are they going to feel overwhelmed because you're giving them all this stuff, which I feel like there's so much stuff in the beginning.

(15:34):
You're like, you know, supply overload. Its tough.
It really is.
I don't think there's like I think everyone has different needs, but there's really no right answer.
I think my go to is just it wound up being one of the best things that ever happened to me, which I know sounds crazy.
I talked to Joanne Milo recently on The Podcast and like I wouldn't know her if I didn't have type one.

(15:57):
She's just she's amazing.
I think about like all of my colleagues, Gary, Jenny, Alicia, Tavia, Dana, like and I just love them all.
They're all such amazing people.
And I don't I just can't envision a life where I didn't get to be friends with them.
And then especially like this family that I'm connected to now, I just I love them so much.

(16:20):
And I think that I had no idea how much I guess I needed them.
And didn't even know.
But no, it's just in so many ways, it's made my life.
Become happier and I've learned a lot from it, so I think eventually the good comes. Yes, it's probably going to take some time.

(16:44):
Yeah, no, I love that.
I definitely try to do the same thing and there is a lot of good to be found with it.
And it definitely I mean, it makes you a stronger person, you know, has definitely pushed us to do things we wouldn't have done otherwise that have been great.
Yeah, there's a lot to be grateful for.
And yeah, and it brings a lot of good.
Absolutely.
We can become better people in ways, too.

(17:06):
And I don't know, we just really understand our bodies like nobody else.
So yeah, no, that's been a huge thing.
Like I think Chris and I are definitely like the healthiest that we've ever been in our lives.
And yeah, we've definitely put a major focus on, you know, food and, you know, exercise and all that kind of stuff that has been, you know, I think, yeah, really good.

(17:27):
And you guys have to you had to also learn about gluten free.
Yeah.
So at the same time that Joe was diagnosed, yeah, we found out that Tom had celiac.
I was so upset.
I'm getting like kicked while I'm down, you know?
Yeah.
But it ended up being so great because I got diagnosed with celiac and I discovered that I have had celiac for probably most of my life and was just tired for most of my life and was kind of just walking around being like, oh, how do these people do this?

(18:00):
Yeah, I'm so tired.
Talk about energy when you need it, because within even just a few weeks of going gluten free, I was like, I mean, it was just it's just been completely life changing.
I could handle, you know, what we had to go through. Just getting settled with both of them so much better.
And I think all of like my fears about what it would mean were not true.

(18:21):
It was, you're just sitting there being like, am I ever going to be able to find like bread that my kids are going to like eat?
And thank goodness for the gluten free movement.
Oh, my gosh.
Like all of the options, you know, and also it just pushed us to eat real food, just to eat things that are naturally gluten free, which I think is just good all around.
And man, these kids are so adaptable and so resilient.

(18:42):
That is definitely something diabetes and celiac has taught us.
They've just again, I'm like, oh, man, are they really going to eat like oats and peanut butter every day before school?
All these things that you are capable of so much more than you think.
And like all these fears that I've had for, you know, for not.
And it's been it's been great.
And it's celiac.
Definitely, probably not initially, because I think I did that thing where I just tried to find replacements for everything before being like, OK, now let's go more of like the potatoes and rice and try to go lower glycemic because a lot of the a lot of the products I think are more highly processed and can be harder on blood sugars.

(19:19):
And it's maybe a little harder at the beginning.
But then I think once we pivoted, it's been a great thing.
Yeah.
And then also just like working with Jenny at Integrated Diabetes, I've been meeting with her.
I think it was yeah, it was when we started pumping.

So like just kind of thankfully, thankfully, just before Joe got diagnosed for-- like I'm in the hospital and I'm like emailing Jenny, I'm like, oh... Kathryn (19:32):
you're on it.
But anyway, I'm just yeah, she's just been amazing.
But definitely with like the nutrition aspect and just sort of being just generally being kind of like an accountability partner has just been so great.

(19:53):
And actually, that's one thing I would definitely recommend for new parents once the dust settles.
And I call her my diabetes coach.
Well, we kind of like mostly steer away from the word coach, because I think the only reason is, and this is like this is very controversial.
We've been talking a lot about this recently.

(20:13):
Because coach is--most people like that.
And so when people hear it, they're like, great.
Yes, I want to work with a coach.
But then at the same time, a lot of the people calling themselves coaches are not actually what we would consider qualified.

(20:34):
So a lot of people, you know, they just live with type one and you know, it's I think that they're-- they intend to do a good thing.
But all of us have gotten a lot of education, put in a lot of hours to be able to get to where we are.
So it's like we don't want to get mixed in and people to think like we're just people living with type one that are helping.

(20:56):
So we're--we live it, but also educators.
So I don't know.
Do you what do you think coach is like?
That makes total sense.
I think I think I couldn't figure out how to like explain to other people.
Yeah.
She's like a nurse and a nutritionist.
And so I just started being like, you know, the meeting with my diabetes coach. Obviously like highly qualified coach!

(21:17):
Yeah.
Meeting with her.
And obviously, like you helped us build Loop for both of them. Having your support and doing that.
And then meeting with Jenny. That's been such a game changer.
And even sometimes I'd be like, oh, no, like I have my like Jenny meeting this week.
Things have been a little crazy.
Like but I mean, every time she's so gracious and anyway, so great.

(21:39):
And it's, and then, I have found for me, again, going back to that, having to try to prioritize the things that are important but not urgent, having kind of that accountability is super helpful.
Sometimes I feel like diabetes can be like spiteful and it's like right before an appointment, things always go bad.
Yes, exactly.

(22:01):
No, that's so funny.
Actually, we just had our endocrinology appointment and their blood sugars were actually good.
And it was yeah, it's funny.
I said that somehow we like always have a bad morning before those and then you're like...
Yeah, I swear I have never gone without having some kind of total wackiness happen.
Like a pod came off and it was at a weird time and I didn't put a new one on right away or something crazy happens.

(22:26):
Yeah, its just ordinary.
No, seriously, it trying to leave them with somebody. Something crazy always happens.
Appointments. Yeah, all the things.
Yeah, it's like diabetes gods! So mean. Or you like talk, you say like, wow, things have been really good.
And the next thing you know, it's like everything is a disaster.
Yes.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.

(22:46):
The the quiet before the storm, for sure.
When you're like, oh, man, like, yeah, this has been a great week.
It's like brace for it!
Because I don't make any plans this weekend.
Don't say it.
But it is interesting how I definitely have it's like a negativity bias, right?
And it definitely comes out for me with diabetes management, where I remember, especially the lows, the lows get like cemented in my mind, the highs, too.

(23:10):
Thankfully, I don't have I mean, like that first year, I feel like I also have felt them like I had adrenaline, which, thank goodness, that's when bad diabetes, they would just like ruin your day like that was the worst.
I try to sit down once a week and, you know, look for trends, look at their graph or at least once a week.
And I feel like I'll be I'll think it's worse than it is.

(23:32):
You know what I mean?
I'll kind of be like, yeah, I'm like, you know, you just you remember you're remembering all those and all the highs and then you'll sit down and be like, oh, wait, no, we're good.
Like we're 80 percent in range.
It's all fine.
And it's crazy.
Yeah, it's like when you sit back and look at the bigger picture, it really is.
And sometimes those lines just feel so crazy.
But it's like you're only looking at usually three figures.

(23:54):
Yeah, that's true.
Yeah, definitely.
Stepping back sometimes is good and looking at what the actual bigger picture of it all is.
Yeah, looking at graphs once a week is super helpful.
Have you ever thought you were looking at Tom, but you're looking at Joe's or you're looking at Joe and you're looking at Tom?
Like, I think that would happen to me.
Yes, it definitely happens.
Yeah.

(24:14):
I listened recently to the episode, the three moms episode on the Think Like a Pancreas podcast, and they were talking about it to the sugar pixel, which we got them recently.
And so Tom's in front and like Tom's in the first spot and Joe's in the second spot, which thank goodness you can have two numbers.
We have a couple around the house.
And that is that is so helpful.

(24:36):
I feel like I mix them up a lot more on my phone.
And and also I don't think I realized how much phone fatigue I had until we got them.
And you realize you can just glance and it's like such a relief.
Thankfully, I have not like mixed them up like dosing.
Maybe I can think of maybe one time I can think of.

(24:57):
But yeah, thankfully, that has not happened so much.
I have like a but I have on their like their phones are different colors and I have like a it says Tom and it says Joe.
Oh, so thankfully that has not happened.
But yeah, it's a.
I once dosed myself twice and I was like, oh, my gosh, like for a meal, I can only... what if I did that on his phone instead of my phone?

(25:19):
I dosed him twice.
You're like, Its your lucky day!
We're having ice cream for dinner.
And we're having everything. But it can happen so easily.
Yeah.
All the tech is the same.
And I would do that even if I wasn't tired.
So that.
It's yeah, it definitely yeah, it's hard having to just like I mean, you

(25:42):
really do just have to be like on all the time or you see it reflected, I feel like
in the blood sugars when you're like, I was just like distracted today or just
whatever's going on, like it really does show when you are just yeah, again, not
following your own own rules and just sort of like winging it, which I feel like
definitely going from one to two, it was like winging is a lot harder.
And we, you know, really try to like follow the routine and prioritizing sleep has been huge for us.

(26:07):
That was like number one.
I think going from one to two, it was like I am not messing around with sleep anymore.
And thankfully, with Jenny's help, we have come up with a system that has really helped to minimize night lows.
And I feel like most the time now it's just compression, which it's usually just like the first day or last day of sensor.
And that's and somehow I feel like when I have to wake up for a compression low, I can pretty easily go back to sleep.

(26:32):
I feel like it's like the true lows with the finger test and that's more disruptive.
But we we I definitely have like a cut off at night.
Like I don't I do not correct them after 10 p.m. But before that, I correct pretty like aggressively.
And that seems to help a lot with the nights.
And then I think the second most important is just breakfast before school.
But yeah, man, sleep, you can like start sleeping.

(26:53):
Yeah, that's really, that's really-- Wow I need that.
The whole compression low thing that was so frustrating.
Yeah.
And such like midnight and it woke you up for no reason.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Do you have like what's your alarm?
You have the sugar pixel.
Is that what you use for overnight alarms?

(27:15):
Actually, so we use just our phones and kids phones.
And actually, because they were so little, we were still using baby monitors.
And so we just still use the baby monitors.
And it's funny, actually, Chris will occasionally be like, are we ever not?
Are they ever not going to have baby monitors?
So at some point, they're going to be like, mom, dad, like, I cannot like, yeah, but that is our backup.

(27:39):
Because if for whatever reason, our phone doesn't alarm their phone, we'll definitely alarm and we'll hear that.
So that's worked, worked really well as a backup.
I will occasionally, actually, I don't even know if that's possible with Libre, but I know it is for Dexcom.
You can change the sound of the low alarm.
I'll do that occasionally just to make sure I don't sleep through it.

(28:02):
But again, like we just we haven't really, thankfully, been having very many, you know, night lows, which is so huge.
Lots of you feel so huge.
Yeah, the Libre is very limited from like an alarm standpoint.
So huge.
Yeah.
XDrip has like, oh, my gosh, so many options.
Yeah?
So if you need them again, go back to XDrip.

(28:24):
Oh, cool.
Thank you.
I love that baby monitor.
Yeah, you know, it's smart.
Yeah.
But it actually, I don't know, it does,
It brings me it brings me peace of mind, like in like the very rare chance we have like an emergency low, just the idea that I would hear it if nothing else, just based on stories from other parents talking about having gone through it.

(28:46):
It sounds like it's you know, you'll hear it.
And that's that helps me sleep at night for sure.
Yeah.
So hopefully they're cool with those until low blood sugar.
I mean, I think I think that they.
Yeah, they seem to like it.
They'll wake up and be like, can I?
Which is very sweet.
They'll be like, I'm awake.
Like, can I get out of bed?
And you're like, no, it's four in the morning.
Go back to sleep.

(29:07):
Not.
Yeah.
Either of them wake up in the night yet for low blood sugars or they right through it.
No, right through it.
So Tom, Tom can feel them during the day, which is great.
Joe, I'll be curious to see if Joe can ever feel it.
He'll feel it like the few times he's been really low.
He'll have symptoms.
But other than that, they will become restless.

(29:31):
Like I've noticed that they'll start sort of tossing and turning if a low is approaching.
But I swear, I think that now they will sleep through me giving them juice.
Yeah.
I will put the straw to their lips and they will drink it.
And I'm like, I don't like I really think that they're just full asleep.
Totally asleep.
Yeah.
That's amazing.
I do the same thing.
They will go.

(29:51):
Yeah.
So it's amazing.
Yeah, it's actually funny.
I feel like if you just like even like touch their lip, like they'll like search for the straw, which is.
Yeah.
Yes, it's really.
Its really sweet. Yeah.
But have you experienced that, too, though?
Yeah, yeah, he does the same thing.
It's just like, yeah, my mind.
Yeah, man, they are like so adaptable.
It's crazy.

(30:12):
I don't think they're awake.
It's really incredible.
Yeah, it's really great.
If you could choose one thing.
That you would tell everyone to get.
For diabetes, that you would encourage them to go to.
Like you think maybe the sugar pixel or Loop?
Like, what do you think could be your saving grace? Jenny?

(30:35):
Yeah, maybe maybe just talking to somebody at Integrated Diabetes for sure.
I actually I do have one like product that has helped us.
Oh, what is it?
It is IV prep pads.
It was actually one of our diabetes babysitters that that turned us on to that.
Have you heard of those or use those?

(30:55):
Will you use those under the pod or how are you using the?
So you just use it basically to clean the site before you put on the sensor pump.
I mean, we did alcohol wipes for a while.
Then we were just doing soap and water.
OK.
But we were definitely having issues with them coming off.
And she recommended that.

(31:16):
And that has been that has been great.
So you just clean the site.
It leaves it just like a little bit tacky.
You let it dry for 10 seconds.
And I just I feel like it really helps them stay on, which I mean, Tom and Joe.
Oh, my gosh.
They're just like constantly.
Like wrestling. And it's always at the worst time and like on.
I mean, then it'll the now it's that it'll come clean off from like before.

(31:40):
I feel like the whole thing would come off and now it just tears off of the off from like the adhesive.
But but no, but but it'll stick on. Like now,
It's definitely really helps them stick on.
But yeah, somehow it took us.
We hadn't heard about that.
It was just really just the alcohol or soap and water.

(32:01):
Yeah, IV prep.
Have you tried Skin Tac or do you think IV prep works better than that?
No, we actually we did try Skin Tac.
I felt like it was almost too sticky.
It was really hard to get them off at the end and it would leave it would leave more irritation.
I found the IV prep to be a good kind of middle ground.
Yeah, but totally.

(32:22):
I mean, I feel like everybody has to try.
You have to try all the things I feel like.
Yeah.
Until you find what works for you.
But definitely.
I thought you were talking about like the like the film.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
And what they put those underneath the skin and have their device insert through to kind of prevent like skin irritation and stuff.

(32:43):
And now what people are discovering is like putting a little piece Opsite flex effects is what a lot of people are using.
OK, which I use it myself.
I just put like a small little strip and then I canula inserts through and just to help with keep that canula in place.
We have some of like the the other one where you just like cut off the square, the one that you were talking about.

(33:05):
I think we've tried that a few times, like during the summer and stuff.
Thankfully, we haven't had so much like skin irritation.
Thankfully.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Skin irritation is tough.
I think we all get it at least little bit at sometime.
Particular spot or something for whatever reason.
Well, it has been such a pleasure talking to you.
I think it would be great.
Like there's so much we could talk about.

(33:26):
No, this is great.
My pleasure.
Yeah, such a pleasure.
And thank you for joining us on the Think Like a Pancreas, The Podcast.
And we look forward to having you come back to listen to more.
Awesome.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thanks for tuning in to Think Like a Pancreas, The Podcast.
If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to like, follow or subscribe on your favorite podcast app.

(33:51):
Think Like a Pancreas, The Podcast is brought to you by Integrated Diabetes Services, where experience meets expertise, passion meets compassion.
And diabetes care is personal because we live it, too.
Our team of clinicians, all living with type one diabetes understands the challenges firsthand.
We're here to help no matter where you are in the world.

(34:13):
In glucose management, the self-care strategies, the latest tech, sports and exercise, weight loss, type one pregnancy and emotional well-being, we've got you covered.
We offer consultations in English and Spanish via phone, video, chat, email and text.
Want to learn more?
Visit IntegratedDiabetes.com or email info at IntegratedDiabetes.com to schedule a consultation.

(34:40):
On behalf of Think Like a Pancreas, The Podcast, I'm Gary Scheiner, wishing you a fantastic week ahead.
And don't forget to think like a pancreas.

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