March 19, 2025 • 50 mins
Ken Amaro, a former broadcaster with 42 years of experience and current Jacksonville City Councilman for District 1, joins Eric Ross, RN. Ken shares his decade-long journey with Type 2 diabetes from diagnosis through management and lifestyle adaptations, dropping motivational nuggets and tips he's learned along the way. The two discuss the need for regular checkups, the importance of listening to your body, and the importance of watching what you eat.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Announcer (00:00):
Welcome to MedEvidence! This podcast is a
joint production betweenMedEvidence! and what the Health
Just Happened.
Eric Ross, RN (00:06):
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this
week's episode of what theHealth Just Happened, where we
talk about all things healthcare, community, business and life
the goods, the bads, the ups,the downs, the lefts, the rights
and everything in between.
We are so fortunate to have on avariety of guests to share
their industry expertise andexperience, and today is no
difference.
If I had to guess, we will talka lot about healthcare, a lot
(00:27):
about community, right, maybesome business, definitely life.
I want to do some dad stuffhere.
More importantly, this isbrought to you by MedEvidence
who, again, if you have notheard this show with Dr Koren
and their team, it is incrediblethe truth behind the data.
They peel back the onion onvery complicated topics in
healthcare.
Today we're going to talk aboutdiabetes, right, how it affects
(00:50):
, how do you manage it.
Let's get to the intro.
Ken Amaro worked in broadcastingand television.
For how long?
Ken Amaro (00:56):
42
And 42 years.
Yes, sir
Eric Ross, RN (00:58):
Dang, I turned 42 on Sunday.
I didn't want to get there.
Ken Amaro (01:02):
So I've been on TV just as long as you've been
alive.
Eric Ross, RN (01:04):
You've been around, but now you are a city
councilman for District 1 herein Jacksonville.
Ken Amaro (01:09):
That's correct.
I'm serving my first term,about a year and a half.
Eric Ross, RN (01:11):
First term year and a half in local politics.
Again, we're going to talk alot about type 2 diabetes, maybe
some type 1 too, if it comes inthere.
How do we manage it?
What goes on?
Let's start with this when didyou get that hat?
If you're hearing this on theradio, you can't see it, but you
can look online Like where isthis hat from?
Ken Amaro (01:32):
I'm a hat collector Eric.
First off, thank you for havingme and I like the title.
Eric Ross, RN (01:37):
What Health Just happened.
It's fun.
It's fun.
you can say hell by the way.
Ken Amaro (01:46):
For some reason I started wearing hats and it's
amazing when I look at oldmovies and stuff like that.
It was nothing unusual in theAmerican culture.
Guys wore hats and they werepretty stylish and impressive
and things of that nature.
So all of a sudden I foundmyself collecting hats and this
(02:07):
one particular brand a couple ofguys in New York.
They make this.
Eric Ross, RN (02:10):
What's it called?
We love shout outs
Ken Amaro (02:12):
Bellissimo
Eric Ross, RN (02:13):
Bellissimo.
Yeah, sounds fancy.
Ken Amaro (02:15):
And so I've got my collection of hats
Eric Ross, RN (02:19):
you look sharp, Jacket, pocket, square watches,
glasses, hat Like you look sharp.
So broadcasting 42 years Isthis radio TV Anyone?
If you live in Jacksonville,you're going to recognize this
man, because I did when youwalked in.
Ken Amaro (02:34):
It's mostly television.
I started in radio it's funnyand I was doing weekends on the
radio station while I was incollege and what happened was
one Saturday I showed up and thestaff was gone.
I'm like what in the world?
The regulars, rather they weregone and the management had
(03:00):
changed the format and got awhole new crew in and I was just
a part-timer so I was on theweekend, so I was relatively
insignificant.
But then I started thinking,man, this is a little uncertain
here, as much as I love being onradio.
Nah, so I started making atransition to television.
Eric Ross, RN (03:20):
Local TV news stations.
What stations?
Where did you bounce around?
Ken Amaro (03:24):
WTLV, WJXX.
I did some part-time work atwhat is now Channel 17 WJKS, and
radio.
It was back in the day.
Listen, I'm going back.
Eric Ross, RN (03:39):
When you say back in the day, like what year,
Ken Amaro (03:42):
I don't know,
Eric Ross, RN (03:43):
the 20s, the 30s, okay,
Ken Amaro (03:45):
oh my god
Eric Ross, RN (03:46):
I'm just messing with you man.
Ken Amaro (03:48):
um 81, somewhere there.
Okay, um, it was uh.
Uh.
I can hear the call letters inmy head, but it was the.
The slogan was no static, nostatic at all.
It was from the.
I don't know if you watchmovies like FM,
Eric Ross, RN (04:11):
fm?
Ken Amaro (04:11):
yeah
Eric Ross, RN (04:12):
I don't know that movie?
Anyone know that movie?
I don't know that.
Ken Amaro (04:15):
Anyway, there was a movie back in the 80s called FM
and it was about life in theradio business and the slogan
was no static at all and it wasuh, an album oriented radio
station where we played longsongs.
You know like uh, um in a godof the feeder, um, you know um
(04:38):
black sabbath
Eric Ross, RN (04:39):
long songs yeah, metallica's got a couple
eight-minute songs,
Ken Amaro (04:42):
things like that, alice Cooper
Eric Ross, RN (04:48):
you look like an Alice.
Cooper guy
It's funny you should say thatbecause when I took the job I
knew nothing about the music.
I'm like what the heck am Ilistening to?
It was a popular radio stationand I worked weekends, saturdays
(05:08):
and Sundays and did six-hourshifts.
While going to school?
Yeah, and you studied.
You mentioned you studiedbroadcasting, right?
Was that like growing up?
I want to go into this space.
Ken Amaro (05:20):
Well, I got introduced to radio because a
friend of mine was attending theUniversity of Connecticut.
I went up to UConn with thethoughts of going to school
there and during the summerUConn had a college radio
station at the Fieldhouse andstudents could go in and do
(05:41):
their blocks.
And so he and I we'd go over tothe radio station and he had a
show and I would be part of theshow, and so that kind of
indoctrinated me intobroadcasting.
Connecticut was too cold.
I grew up in the Virgin Islandsand I had moved from the Virgin
Islands to Connecticut and, asmuch as I love the place, I was
(06:04):
like I gotta go,
Eric Ross, RN (06:06):
Amen to that
Ken Amaro (06:08):
And so that's how I ended up in Florida.
But it was fun.
I mean, you know, it's amazingwith radio, people connect with
you even though they can't seewho you are.
And back then, you know LynyrdSkynyrd, was big in the
marketplace.
Eric Ross, RN (06:25):
And from Jacksonville, by the way, from.
Jacksonville,
Ken Amaro (06:28):
and you know I always laugh because I would have just
completed playing Free Bird,
Eric Ross, RN (06:36):
that's a long song too
Ken Amaro (06:37):
And the phones would blow up.
Can you play Free Bird?
Eric Ross, RN (06:43):
This is great.
I love like a little back storybefore we talk about the health
care side.
I love like a little back storybefore we talk about the
healthcare side.
You were in broadcasting.
You know this world right.
So then you transitioned toon-camera asking questions.
I'm going to go back to thatlater because I got some fun
questions about being on cameraand asking questions.
Family man Want to talk aboutyour family.
(07:05):
How important is it to you?
Ken Amaro (07:06):
I'm married as long as about 40, 43 years we've been
married.
Eric Ross, RN (07:12):
We like that.
You guys have 44 to 43 years.
Ken Amaro (07:14):
That's a good run.
Yeah, my wife and I have fourdaughters,
Eric Ross, RN (07:19):
four daughters
Ken Amaro (07:22):
and now we have three grandkids.
Eric Ross, RN (07:25):
So we talked off air.
I said what do you do for fun?
Remember what you answered.
It was one word Family, thatwas it?
Ken Amaro (07:31):
Yeah, yeah, it's important to me.
I don't know what point thatevolved as one of the biggest
qualities in my life, but it hasand it's important to me.
So I try to do things.
Even though my kids are grown,I try to do things as a family
(07:54):
with my wife and my daughter.
I still have a daughter wholives at home.
Eric Ross, RN (08:00):
I like again, it's about painting a picture to
talk about type 2 diabetesmanagement, which we'll get to
MedE vidence!≈am;ap;m;am
ENCORE how how they wereinvolved.
But I want to understand.
You've been around just acouple years.
I'm not calling you old because,guess what, I'm old now too
Most of our staff looks at melike you're an old dude, but
(08:20):
you've had this incrediblecareer in broadcasting radio,
then television, and now you'rein local politics as of a year,
right.
So was that something youalways wanted to do?
What triggered that?
For you to say let's do this?
Ken Amaro (08:34):
You know, I believe in predestination.
Eric Ross, RN (08:38):
Are you a man of faith?
Ken Amaro (08:39):
Yes,
Eric Ross, RN (08:40):
okay, as are we, so you can talk about faith
openly here.
Ken Amaro (08:43):
I believe in predestination that things are
already laid out for you theroadmap of life.
You may take some twists andturns, but you're going to end
up where you're supposed to be,and when I retired, it was a
significant change, if you will,because for 40 plus years you
get up and you're energized
Eric Ross, RN (09:04):
Purpose.
You're driven Community andyou're energized Purpose.
You're driven Community.
You're driven.
Financially.
Ken Amaro (09:09):
Well, forget the financial piece.
But you're driven.
Yes, you know.
And then you get to the placewhere.
Where do you go?
What do you do?
What do you?
You know what's left of yourlife, rocking chairs or not.
It just doesn't fit into myequation.
Eric Ross, RN (09:25):
It's pretty boring.
Ken Amaro (09:26):
Yeah, you know,
it's pretty boring
Watching television didn't fit into the metric.
Eric Ross, RN (09:30):
What about bird watching?
No thanks.
Ken Amaro (09:33):
And so and I don't fish, I don't golf
Eric Ross, RN (09:36):
oh, man.
Ken Amaro (09:41):
So for me, I was looking for a way to continue
being connected to the community, and so this opportunity came
up, where the incumbent hadreached the end of her term and
someone suggested if I wouldwant to serve in that area.
And I used the word serve,because that's how I look at it
(10:04):
as a vehicle of service.
And so I gave it some thought,meditated, prayed, you know,
because of thehyper-partisanship in our
culture, is just something thatI really want to get into and I
stepped into it.
Eric Ross, RN (10:21):
So what year?
I promise we'll get to diabeteshere in a second.
What year did you retire?
Ken Amaro (10:28):
21
Eric Ross, RN (10:29):
So 21, and we can talk about COVID if you want.
There's a lot of things thatchanged.
A lot of people retired,changed industries.
How long did you take off andrealize like, hey, I got to do?
Ken Amaro (10:39):
something Six months,
Eric Ross, RN (10:41):
six months.
Was your wife saying, hey, yougot to do something.
You're driving me nuts.
Ken Amaro (10:46):
No, my wife was a college professor and when I
retired she said I'm retiring aswell.
She had about 30 years ofteaching as a professor under
her belt.
Eric Ross, RN (11:02):
Locally.
Ken Amaro (11:02):
Yeah,
Eric Ross, RN (11:03):
which college?
Ken Amaro (11:03):
FSCJ
Eric Ross, RN (11:03):
Okay, okay, I got a degree from there
Ken Amaro (11:09):
And so she retired.
And just as she's retiring, I'mthinking what can I be doing?
And that's how that evolved.
And she jokingly tells friends,I'm retired.
He's the one that went and gota job.
Eric Ross, RN (11:27):
This is again just painting a picture as we go
into.
Can I mention both companies?
I'm already seeing it on air,even though we can edit this.
So MedEvidence! is a showpredominantly Truth Behind the
Data, which I love.
taking very complicated topicsin health care on every, every
(11:49):
sector and section possible andpeeling it back and talking like
very complicated stuff, ENCORE,which is based in jacksonville,
is doing a lot of medicalresearch, um, which we'll get to
in a second, especially afterthe commercial break, because I
got questions.
I'm pointing over here.
You can't see this on the radio, so they set this up.
I love it because this is areally important conversation.
(12:10):
We're looking at a verysuccessful human being, right, a
father of four, a good husband,a man of faith, a sweet hat
wearer, now a grandfather.
You had something happen adecade ago.
Yeah, what was it?
Ken Amaro (12:27):
One day I was working and I'm sitting on the anchor
desk and I'm looking into the uhtele, uh, the teleprompter, and
and the words are jumbled umand um.
I'm, I'm puzzled, I am likewhat's going on?
I, uh, I can look at the paperand in front of me I don't have
a problem.
But I'm looking at the prompter
Eric Ross, RN (12:47):
and blurry or like jumbled words
Ken Amaro (12:49):
yeah, just, just, just blurry, like and um
Obviously I started, I becameconcerned as to what was going
on and and at the same time, Inoticed that I was going to the
bathroom more frequently.
Eric Ross, RN (13:08):
Peeing, let's say that
Ken Amaro (13:09):
Urinating yeah yeah, yeah.
Eric Ross, RN (13:11):
My kids would say number one, not number two.
Ken Amaro (13:14):
Well, it's like, you know, I went an hour ago and now
I got to go again and it'salways urgent.
You know, it was always urgent,
Eric Ross, RN (13:22):
Like right now.
Yeah, I got to go right now.
So blurred vision this goesback to like signs and symptoms
of it
Ken Amaro (13:28):
Precisely.
Which I was not aware of at thetime.
and so you know I take myhealth seriously.
And so I said I need to go seethe doctor.
And I went and that was thediagnosis type 2 diabetes
Eric Ross, RN (13:47):
Was it a, this is really designed for men who
take their health for granted orignore, ignore, ignore, ignore
and then something happens.
Was this a primary carephysician?
Ken Amaro (13:55):
Yes
Eric Ross, RN (13:55):
So you had a primary care physician, you call
them.
Mind you, this is 10 years agoNow.
Do you know what it takes toget into a primary care
physician?
Three to four months.
Ken Amaro (14:03):
Yeah, it's like.
It's incredible.
Eric Ross, RN (14:05):
We'll stay off that.
So you call your doc.
They say, let's get you in here, okay.
So you walk into the doctor.
What tests do they run?
What do you?
Ken Amaro (14:14):
Well.
First, the question was why areyou here?
What's going on?
Da-da-da-da, and I rememberdoing the blood glucose thing,
Eric Ross, RN (14:25):
fasting?
Ken Amaro (14:26):
well, no.
Eric Ross, RN (14:27):
Oh, on the spot.
Ken Amaro (14:33):
There was no fasting on the spot because I didn't
know I needed to fast.
You know, I made theappointment, yep, and I showed
up and went through a series.
I distinctly remember the bloodtest for glucose and then the
monitor said that my glucosenumbers were 300 plus.
(14:56):
I think 300 was the range of themonitor.
Eric Ross, RN (14:57):
If I know this is my experience in healthcare
right it says really high andtheir max number is 300.
Yeah.
Ken Amaro (15:03):
So that means you're over 300.
Eric Ross, RN (15:04):
You could have been sitting at 700.
Ken Amaro (15:06):
Probably Because it was beyond the range of 300.
Eric Ross, RN (15:11):
This is to paint a picture for men who avoid this
stuff, and I'm sure there'ssome guilty men in this room
that take this for granted.
You felt normal,
I did.
You were living day to day.
Ken Amaro (15:22):
I did.
I didn't have any, anythingthat would say your life, you're
heading to a diabetic stroke oranything of that nature,
nothing.
Except, the frequency of goingto the bathroom and experiencing
(15:44):
blurry vision when I was tryingto read.
So there were no other symptomsthat I knew of.
I'm one of those who believethat, regardless of your age, if
you have health insurance, youdo an annual exam.
I was doing annual exams andnothing was indicated.
So at some point from my lastannual physical until that
experience, something changed,and I don't know what it was.
Eric Ross, RN (16:06):
So you had seen a doctor.
That's great you were doingthat Some men will go years
without seeing a doctor.
Ken Amaro (16:13):
Oh no, I'm one of those who believe that if you
have insurance, go see the damndoctor.
Eric Ross, RN (16:17):
I love it.
If you have insurance, go seethe damn doctor.
That's a T-shirt, so I like tothrow out medical terms If Dr.
Koren was here, like so.
Polyuria, that means lots ofurination.
We say peeing often.
Ken Amaro (16:29):
Yeah yeah.
Eric Ross, RN (16:30):
Did you notice that before the blurred vision?
Like were you?
like man, I'm peeing a lot.
Ken Amaro (16:43):
It was like a couple of days, you know, and but I, in
all honesty, Eric, it was a fewdays before the blurred vision,
but I never connected the two.
Eric Ross, RN (16:48):
But this is a short span and pretty quick.
Ken Amaro (16:50):
Yes, okay, it's like within a week, week and a half,
of you know.
But I noticed I was going butnever thought why or anything
like that, just thought I wasdrinking too much or whatever.
And then all of a sudden thetwo connected.
Eric Ross, RN (17:08):
I just as we go along like how do you put an
emphasis on certain things,especially for MedE vidence! One
is frequent doctor visits,right, You're going annually.
There's so many men out thereguilty.
Yes, I went years withoutseeing a doctor.
Ken Amaro (17:21):
Well, if you feel you're healthy, you think that
you don't need I'm fine, right.
Eric Ross, RN (17:26):
So seeing a doctor is important, running
that blood work is important.
You had something that happened.
There's a lot of guys out therethat don't notice or don't
think about it.
You had two things thathappened.
So you go, you see the doctor.
They prick your finger how dothey test your blood sugar?
Ken Amaro (17:42):
Prick my finger
Eric Ross, RN (17:43):
Finger stick, high.
And what did the doctor say toyou?
Ken Amaro (17:46):
He said I ought to send you to the
emergency room, to the hospital, and then the and I can
remember it very clearly thefollow-up question or series of
(18:10):
question as to how do I feel, amI experiencing anything?
And he subsequently gave mediuretics and
Eric Ross, RN (18:19):
water pills we don't know who's listening Like,
diuretic helps you flush outwater A lot of people call it a
water pill.
Ken Amaro (18:26):
And then there was some metformin
Eric Ross, RN (18:28):
any insulin?
Ken Amaro (18:29):
No.
Okay, no, I don't remember himdoing anything.
Eric Ross, RN (18:35):
Metformin, water pill.
This is about a decade ago
Ken Amaro (18:39):
yes, and then I subsequently was referred to an
endocrinologist.
Eric Ross, RN (18:45):
What did that?
The endocrinologist?
What did that look like?
The appointments, follow-uptests.
Ken Amaro (18:52):
It was just a little bit more exaggerated than what I
experienced with my primarycare, and that led to a
treatment plan, if you will, andlater on it led to taking my
(19:13):
blood pressure changed as well,which apparently
Up or down.
Blood pressure went up
up up up
Eric Ross, RN (19:20):
no history of high blood pressure.
Ken Amaro (19:22):
No no.
And so today I take a bloodpressure medication once a day
to minimize the risk ofcomplications from the diabetes
and blood pressure, and I'm onMounjar o.
GLP.
Eric Ross, RN (19:44):
Oh, let's hit that.
The second half.
Sure
Ken Amaro (19:47):
I just started that treatment within the last month
and a half, and the success ofthat is that I have been able to
lose some weight.
How much?
I've lost about 20 pounds, and how long.
Five pounds in a month,
oh, my gosh
a month and a half maybe.
Eric Ross, RN (20:08):
And that's diagnosed for type 2 diabetes,
not obesity.
That's the biggest thing peopletalk about.
Ken Amaro (20:13):
Well, you know, part of my diagnosis, if I recall
correctly, was weight gain.
I'd always been a skinny guyand you know, you develop an
inactive lifestyle and all of asudden the pounds come on and
they don't come off like that,you know.
(20:34):
So I was.
Until recently I was walkingaround at 280.
What are you at?
Can you share?
What are you at now?
I'm at two.
Yesterday I had my visit.
I'm at 272.
But in November, when I went in, I was 287.
(20:55):
So I've lost 25 pounds.
Eric Ross, RN (20:59):
What are treatment measures?
Again, we're about to go to acommercial break here in a
couple minutes.
Ken Amaro (21:05):
My Endo would always say that if I can lose some
weight, it will improve, andit's one of the most difficult
things.
Eric Ross, RN (21:15):
You're not 25.
No, you can eat a whole pizzaat 25.
Ken Amaro (21:18):
Your?
lifestyle, you know.
And my other weakness is I'm abread guy, you know, I'm a—.
Eric Ross, RN (21:25):
Potatoes or just bread Bread.
Ken Amaro (21:28):
I go to the Italian restaurant or whatever
restaurant.
Now, where's the bread?
Eric Ross, RN (21:32):
Olive Garden, all you can eat breadsticks.
Ken Amaro (21:34):
Well, no, not sometimes there, but because I
like bread with texture and thebreadsticks are delicious but
they don't have texture.
Eric Ross, RN (21:43):
Oh, this is gold.
Ken Amaro (21:44):
They're a little too soft.
But I'm serious, I'm a bread guy, and part of my education with
this experience is that which Ididn't know was that carbs
become sugar and contribute tothe problem, and so I've learned
to back up on certain things.
Eric Ross, RN (22:07):
That is an incredible transition.
So the second half we'll talkagain on the podcast.
There will be no breaks, butfor the radio purpose I think it
helps just to have a littlebreak here.
I think second half is yourjourney with treatment, what
you've learned, how it'simpacted family in your life.
But I appreciate you sharingthat story, your journey so far
and I think, sharing this foranyone who's been diagnosed with
(22:29):
type 2 diabetes know someonewho has.
How do you manage it?
How does it impact your life?
Do you have fun so far?
Ken Amaro (22:37):
Yeah, yeah
Eric Ross, RN (22:38):
I, you know we got to make them laugh more.
There, it is there it is.
Ken Amaro (22:44):
This is the first time I've ever had a lengthy
conversation about diabetes.
Eric Ross, RN (22:48):
We'll get.
We're going to get real indepth the second half.
Okay, Any shout outs anyonebefore the commercial break.
Yo
MedE vidence! the Truth Behind the Data.
That's what the Health justhappened.
All right, welcome back to thesecond half of what the hell
just happened, special episodetoday brought to you by MedE
vidence! Truth Behind the Datawe are sitting down with.
(23:11):
Can I call you a friend?
Ken Amaro (23:12):
yet I'm okay
Eric Ross, RN (23:14):
we'll get there, we'll become friends.
Who is this guy?
K en Amaro Um, now in uh,politics right, city council
district one, arlington, was inbroadcasting for years.
Shared your story the firsthalf, but we're going to dive
pretty deep here on.
You were diagnosed with type 2diabetes about a decade ago.
How it's impacted your life.
You shared some of the firsthalf.
(23:35):
We're're going to peel back theonion, like I keep saying, and
get some Truth Behind the Data.
So, diagnosed doctor,endocrinologist, right, checking
your sugar, you got onmetformin and a water pill or a
diuretic.
Now you're taking Mounjaro,which is a GLP-1.
(23:56):
Thank you, my goodness.
How do I forget that term?
Which is help.
That's recent.
We're going to rewind a littlebit and talk about how treating
this has impacted your life.
Ken Amaro (24:07):
It's interesting because from the metformin, my
endocrinologist decided to use ahybrid drug, Janumet, which is
metformin and something else.
I don't know what the otherpart?
Eric Ross, RN (24:24):
Genuvia Okay.
Ken Amaro (24:25):
Okay, so I was doing that for a number of years and
it controlled my A1C.
The highest it's been is like7.8.
It's below 7 now, but not quiteto where I would like it to be.
Eric Ross, RN (24:51):
Can I pause and explain?
So A1C?
Right, If you prick your fingerand take your blood sugar level
, that's on the spot.
You've eaten, you've not eaten.
Your A1C is a longer version ofwhat your sugar looks like.
This is just whoever hears thiswhat is A1C?
What is your blood sugar?
So your A1C is a longer picture.
Ken Amaro (25:07):
It's a barometer that you want to monitor because
over, like I said, a 90-dayperiod, really what's going on
with your body and it's a greatat least I've learned it's a
great indicator if you'recontrolling your diabetes, and
obviously the higher the numbergo, then they have to use
(25:28):
different methods of treatmentand often that's how folks end
up on insulin when it's superhigh, if you will.
But anyway, I was on the Janumetand with the introduction of
the GLP drugs my endo keptinsisting that if I can lose
(25:48):
some weight it would somehowbenefit me and bring things.
Because he noticed that thingswere managed, if you will, and
if I can change my body massindex a little bit, it would
help.
And so after my visit inNovember, when my A1C was 7.1,
(26:16):
he got me on the Mounjaro andit's been working.
The weight loss has been verysubtle, not to me radical at all
, but noticeable, and I feelgood and my numbers are good.
(26:37):
And so he just had a visit thisweek and stated that numbers
are good and my endocrinologistis satisfied with the success of
the GLP drug, Mounjaro, andwants to kind of augment my
therapy with Jardiance, becausehis words were the benefit of my
(27:03):
heart, if you will, becausediabetes can be sneaky.
Eric Ross, RN (27:09):
It's like a ninja man
Ken Amaro (27:09):
yeah, yeah, yeah, you know you're looking at what's
going on that way?
Eric Ross, RN (27:15):
I feel fine, I feel fine, I feel fine.
And then, all of a sudden, youhave a heart accident
That teleprompter's blurry.
Ken Amaro (27:18):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and so I'm following the therapy
and my hope is that I can justget down a little bit more and
get my numbers.
Eric Ross, RN (27:32):
We'll go back to clinical in a second because I
think it's relevant.
You in the home front right,has this impacted time with your
wife, daughters, grandchildren?
Do you, are they, do theyunderstand the ramifications
Like how does your, how is yourfamily involved in this?
Ken Amaro (27:49):
My wife is involved my kids.
I have not had that conversationwith them and don't ask me why.
I don't know, I don't know, Ijust have not had that
conversation with them.
But she knows fully.
Eric Ross, RN (28:06):
Is your wife involved day to day, so you're
on aCGM, a constant glucose monitor.
Ken Amaro (28:13):
It's interesting because she's the one that
pushed me to get the CGM.
Eric Ross, RN (28:15):
She did yeah Good job wife, all right
Ken Amaro (28:18):
it was, and the reason she did that is because I
was inconsistent in my testing.
Eric Ross, RN (28:25):
Can you be specific, like what was
inconsistent Once a week?
Ken Amaro (28:28):
Well, once a week, twice a day.
Once a day instead of.
Maybe every other day or everyother week.
Eric Ross, RN (28:34):
Wow
Ken Amaro (28:35):
There is unfortunately when you're
feeling fine.
You guess you don't test.
Eric Ross, RN (28:45):
I like that line.
Ken Amaro (28:46):
And so I was in that place, I'm fine.
And so at the end of the week Isaid well, you know, I hadn't
checked my sugar all week, letme check.
So I'll test.
And I guess what got me to thatplace of comfortability, if you
will, is that I noticed thatduring the day my numbers would
(29:09):
be fine.
You know, I would test, and mynumbers would be 130, 110, 130,
110.
During the day, when I eat, itgoes crazy.
I go to bed at night and I getup in the morning and I test.
It might be 140.
(29:29):
It's been 160, that kind ofthing.
So I don't know what happenedovernight.
And so I got to a place thatmaybe I don't need to test every
day, just so often.
Eric Ross, RN (29:42):
You got comfortable.
Ken Amaro (29:43):
Yeah so having a monitor and having
it connected to my phone, I justlook
Eric Ross, RN (29:53):
Is your wife attached to looking at your
phone also?
Ken Amaro (29:55):
No, no.
It's shared with myendocrinologist.
Eric Ross, RN (30:01):
This is an example for men.
I'm telling you because I'm 42years old.
I can share similar stories inthis stage of life.
We've got two other gentlemen.
They don't want to admit thelast time they went to the
doctor.
But, like you said, most men atany stage 25, we're invincible.
35, we still think we'reinvincible.
But 40, like everything changes.
Oh yeah.
Ken Amaro (30:23):
The metamorphosis creeps up on you
Eric Ross, RN (30:24):
Until something's wrong.
So the point of this, I think,is recognizing it earlier and
taking care of it earlier, Sinceyou've been diagnosed and
you're treating it and itconstantly involves and changes.
What have you learned aboutyourself in this process?
Ken Amaro (30:39):
And that's one of the reasons I've become a strong
advocate for anyone that hasinsurance, regardless of their
age.
For me, it's not an age thing,it's the fact that if you have
health coverage that can giveyou access, go get yourself
checked.
Annual exams are earlydetection systems, if you will,
(31:00):
and so I become a strongadvocate for that because I
understood when I was workingand I had insurance, I took
advantage of that and I don'tknow how this crept up on me
like that, if you will, but itdid, and so now I'm living with
it.
Eric Ross, RN (31:22):
We don't have to get into this.
So you're comfortable talkingabout this with your wife.
You've not talked about it withyour daughters, you're clearly
comfortable enough to talk aboutit on whatever.
Ken Amaro (31:34):
And perhaps there hadn't been an occasion for me
to have this conversation withmy kids, because when we're with
each other, we're not talkingabout health, we're enjoying
life, we're talking about thisand that and everything else,
and so there was never anopportunity to discuss health,
(31:58):
if you will.
My oldest daughter as of late,she's always checking on me.
How are you doing?
How are you feeling?
I'm like I'm okay, Something'ssupposed to be wrong.
I'm fine.
Yeah, I love it.
We're fine, I'm fine.
The daily routine now.
You talked about medications,the CGM.
Yes, how often are you lookingnow?
(32:18):
You used to do once a week.
Are you looking daily now?
Yes, every day.
I look, not every hour
Eric Ross, RN (32:25):
but if it's high or low you get alerted on your
phone.
Ken Amaro (32:27):
Yes,
that's what's incredibleabout it
the alarm goes off.
Eric Ross, RN (32:30):
Let's talk about technology now.
This did not exist 10, 15, 20years ago.
Right, you stick your fingerwhere am I sitting and if you
don't feel like checking, you'renot checking.
Now you have these monitorsthat track you around the clock.
Ken Amaro (32:41):
I've had friends who were type 1 and have to live
with an insulin pump.
Some of them have had theprivilege of having some kind of
(33:04):
monitoring, if you will, toindicate you know hypo- or
hyper- experience.
It's interesting and I'm nottrying to be morbid here, but I
remember when I moved into myneighborhood, my neighbor Wayne
he was an old guy and he wastype 1 and showed me his insulin
pump and stuff and and he livedby himself.
Eric Ross, RN (33:23):
This is prior to you diagnosed or after?
Ken Amaro (33:24):
After, um, and and we had a conversation and and he
was talking about how he's livedwith this all his life and and,
tragically, one day he was inthe house and I guess his
glucose got so low he fellasleep in the chair and never
woke up.
Eric Ross, RN (33:41):
It's not morbid.
Ken Amaro (33:43):
And he lived by himself.
Eric Ross, RN (33:45):
No one there.
Ken Amaro (33:46):
No one there to give him glass of orange juice or
anything of that nature.
So I've always remembered that.
Eric Ross, RN (33:55):
Yeah, that's again the difference between
hypo or low and hyperglycemia,different signs and symptoms.
You said you've had noexperience really with low blood
sugar because you're gettingalerted.
Yes, when you hit 70, you getan alert and you know hey, I got
to put some sugar in this body.
Yeah, so you talked about bread.
Let's go back to that.
(34:16):
This guy loves his hats andbread His wife his daughters,
his grandkids bread and hats.
Ken Amaro (34:23):
If I go to a restaurant and there's no bread,
I'm like what up?
What's going on?
We're out of here.
What kind of restaurant is this?
Eric Ross, RN (34:31):
Have you noticed yourself limiting bread?
Ken Amaro (34:34):
I've become more conscious, yes, as to how often
it's like today.
I ordered a sandwich for lunch.
I decided just to eat half.
Eric Ross, RN (34:46):
Where was the lunch from?
Ken Amaro (34:48):
French Pantry.
Eric Ross, RN (34:49):
Oh God, love that .
You got good bread.
You got good bread.
Sorry, not healthy.
Okay,
it was rye, by the way
But this is a great example for other men who
hear this Like how do you makedecisions?
Ken Amaro (35:02):
You order this beautiful sandwich from the
French, and it was good, so good.
Eric Ross, RN (35:06):
You only ate half , only ate half.
Do you eat the second halflater today?
Ken Amaro (35:09):
I'm contemplating such yes
Eric Ross, RN (35:11):
But again, that's spread out what's on the
sandwich.
Ken Amaro (35:14):
And you know I mentioned earlier that during my
early diagnosis and mydietician at the time was said
be smart about what you'reeating.
Instead of, you know, consuminglarge portions, spread your
portions out and was encouragingme not to miss meals, things of
(35:35):
that nature, to try andmaintain a steady diet if you
will, because the reality isthat when you eat, your numbers
go up so you want to play safeand say I ain't going to eat, as
if that's going to absolutelysolve the problem.
Eric Ross, RN (35:52):
That might be even worse, yeah.
Ken Amaro (35:53):
Precisely so.
That was the reason for thateducation, and so I started.
What's interesting is, sinceI've been on the GLP drug, which
is kind of an appetitesuppressant, I don't eat as much
and it takes I'm satisfiedquicker, if you will, and so I
(36:17):
don't know if that's good or bad.
Eric Ross, RN (36:19):
Well, as I say the GLP-1 s.
That's hours and hours andhours of conversation.
Some people agree or disagree.
Why are you using it Again?
It sounds like it's working foryou.
That's great.
This is kind of a loadedquestion here and maybe you can
answer, or not?
So Can you think of a timewhere your diabetes has caused
physical or emotional stress,where you're like this is a
(36:41):
problem?
Ken Amaro (36:42):
No.
Eric Ross, RN (36:43):
See, that's a win .
I think there's other peoplethat happen.
You're in a sweet spot.
Is it because of education?
Ken Amaro (36:51):
Perhaps I think that's a piece.
I had a very good friend ofmine.
His name is Robert, and Roberthad been living with type 2
diabetes all of his life and wasnever able to control it.
Eric Ross, RN (37:10):
Lack of education ?
Didn't care?
Ken Amaro (37:12):
He didn't care.
Eric Ross, RN (37:13):
Which is common, which is common in men.
I'm fine.
Ken Amaro (37:16):
I shouldn't say he did not care, he didn't get rid
of the bad habits smoking,drinking, things of that nature
and his numbers were always Imean always his A1C was always
double digits.
Eric Ross, RN (37:33):
Not good.
What's the normal range for A1C?
6.5 or lower.
Ken Amaro (37:35):
That's right.
Eric Ross, RN (37:36):
And he was always double digits.
Yep, not good.
Ken Amaro (37:37):
Not good
Eric Ross, RN (37:38):
what's?
the normal range for A1C 6.5 orlower, and he's in double digits
.
Ken Amaro (37:42):
Yeah, he's in double digits.
So he's on insulin and then hestarted having diabetic wounds
in his foot and they could neverbe completely healed, just when
they were healed again, becausehis numbers were all skewed.
(38:03):
Then it led to gangrene, toesremoved, foot removed and he
lived in Louisville.
Eventually he passed away,which was interesting because he
passed away from a cancer thatwas in the liver, if I remember
(38:25):
correctly.
And I don't know if there's aconnection
Eric Ross, RN (38:29):
I was going to say that's you talk about
another dialogue.
everything's connected in ourbody, right, and if your body's
constantly in a state ofrecovery, recovery, we talk
about wound management.
So if you're having a hard timewith wounds healing constant
urination, blurred vision, likesome men just don't like ah,
it's fine, why is this wound nothealing?
(38:50):
That's why the test the primarycare physician going to get
looked at matters.
Ken Amaro (38:55):
My neighbor, he's, I didn't know.
He's diabetic and he he was um.
He had a wound on his foot anddidn't do anything and
eventually he passed out yeah,yeah, he passed out and and now
he's at um Cypress Villagebecause he's been, they had to
(39:19):
remove a section of his toes andyou know, the guy's about 80 or
something and he's now intherapy, and all that to be able
to learn how to walk.
Eric Ross, RN (39:29):
Was he treating his diabetes or just ignoring it
?
Ken Amaro (39:32):
It seemed I don't know, it just seemed like he was
not paying the attention thathe needed.
He's a good guy.
Eric Ross, RN (39:44):
I go back to commending you right.
It's been 10 years.
It's a diagnosis that somepeople panic and think of all
these things but it's a journeyand it changes from year to year
.
Ken Amaro (39:57):
There are times that when and these stories I'm
sharing about people I knowthere are times when they come
into the frame and they'remotivational that you don't want
to have that experience and soyou start paying closer
attention to yourself becausethe reality is, you know, if you
(40:19):
ignore, these are theconsequences.
Eric Ross, RN (40:23):
That snowball gets big real quick when you
roll it down the hill.
Ken Amaro (40:27):
When it gets to that place, it's even more difficult
to deal with what you're dealingwith.
Eric Ross, RN (40:33):
What would you so you don't have to share your
age but you look 10, 20, 30years ago?
What would you recommend toyoung men who aren't doing
certain things?
Because I love we can reinforceseeing a doctor at least
occasionally do blood work, butin your diabetic journey, give
some advice here.
Besides, buy his hats.
His hats are sweet.
Ken Amaro (40:53):
Well, you know, we're one of the things about the
beauty of life that we live asAmericans.
We have this choice to be ableto do whatever the heck we want
to do, when we want to do whatwe want to do, sometimes without
thought, sometimes withoutconsidering long-term effects or
(41:17):
anything of that nature.
And you know, I don't knowanything about dietary
guidelines or anything like that.
But my encouragement would beto seriously pay attention to
what you're eating.
I mean these.
You know you get to a place inlife and you realize that there
(41:38):
are, that what you put in arecontributing factors and if
you're not vigilant, you mayjust be putting junk in.
That that's going to-
Eric Ross, RN (41:47):
We're going to open a can here that I want to
talk aboutdo too, the American diet
disaster.
You said it right you, youlearn about yourself.
You have this diagnosis.
How do you treat it?
That's different.
But what do you put in yourbody?
And bread, like you love bread.
But you know, if you live offbread you're in trouble.
love bread and I love cakes.
(42:07):
I mean, that's tough.
Hey, I feel bad man.
Ken Amaro (42:10):
But but I don't, you know, I I've gotten wiser.
I don't eat cakes like I usedto.
I'm still consuming bread, butI'm trying to push back and be
selective in the types of breadand things of that nature.
I try to do whole wheat versuswhite bread.
Eric Ross, RN (42:30):
Have you alternated any other part of
your diet like eliminated sugarydrinks, increased protein
intake.
Ken Amaro (42:39):
I usually don't drink sugary drinks except, except
sweet tea again.
Eric Ross, RN (42:47):
It's like, how do you?
And I'll cry, I'll do a lot ofthings, but I am not eliminating
the sweet tea
Ken Amaro (42:53):
I didn't say that.
I said, uh what?
What I've done is I'd say, letme have an Arnold Palmer.
So I you know.
But if it's too sweet, if I goto a restaurant and I order
sweet tea and it's too sweet, Igo.
Ah, you know, yeah, right away.
Eric Ross, RN (43:12):
But five, ten years ago did you feel that way,
or you drank that and thought,oh heck, yeah, no,
Ken Amaro (43:15):
I'll probably drink it.
Eric Ross, RN (43:16):
Yeah, that's awareness, that's education.
Ken Amaro (43:24):
So what I do is I'll ask the server get me a glass of
water with some ice and I'lltake the tea and pour it in the
water with the ice and kind ofdilute it.
Eric Ross, RN (43:30):
Great tip these are low hanging fruit, right.
Ken Amaro (43:34):
And so I've diluted the sweet tea.
I still have the flavor, if youwill, but it's to a place where
I find it acceptable to mypalate and you've also.
Eric Ross, RN (43:45):
I love that example.
You recognize now, when youdrink a certain sweet tea you're
like oh it's too sweet.
Ken Amaro (43:51):
Oh yeah, yeah,
Eric Ross, RN (43:52):
but 10 years ago.
You're drinking two or threeglasses of that.
That.
Suck it down like it was-
and that's it goes back to the education thing
, right?
So you know how do you noteliminate bread?
We could get into a wholecomplicated conversation about
how the body works.
You know, increasing yourprotein and fiber intake before
carbohydrates, but for you,specifically, what?
(44:13):
Like low-hanging fruit?
For anyone that hears this,these are some things that I've
done that I've noticed made adifference.
The sweet tea thing I love thattip right.
Limiting your bread, constantglucose monitor.
What else have you done?
I've added more fruits into mydiet.
What kind of fruit?
Ken Amaro (44:28):
Grape, primarily.
I love grapes.
I do blueberries, super foodWatermelons, that's about it.
Sometimes pineapple.
Eric Ross, RN (44:40):
What about vegetables.
Ken Amaro (44:42):
I'm not that good he's like I want.
But again, for me it's anevolving thing, and so I'm doing
more salads than ever before,so I'm getting there.
Eric Ross, RN (44:54):
You know I'm getting there.
Ken Amaro (44:55):
I mean just the day before yesterday I was ready for
lunch.
I said I'm going to, you know,.
I said I'm going to get me acob salad and it was good
Eric Ross, RN (45:05):
10 years ago.
What would you have got at thesame restaurant?
Ken Amaro (45:08):
barbecue or something
Eric Ross, RN (45:11):
with an extra side of bread,
Ken Amaro (45:13):
a barbecue sandwich with some baked beans, and and
load up and again.
Eric Ross, RN (45:18):
We love free shout outs here in.
Northeast Florida.
So the French pantry.
Today you got lunch.
Ate half your sandwich, yes.
Do you think that's attributedto the Mounjaro or are you
learning stuff?
I think it's a little bit ofboth.
Okay, I think the drug which Itake on Mondays which is
interesting, today's Wednesday Itake it on Monday, it's a once
(45:41):
a week thing, but there'ssomething about it that it
sustains throughout the week andso it has this effect on your
appetite throughout the week,which I think it's interesting.
(46:05):
So it makes me feel full sooner
It is amazing, man, again.
Ken Amaro (46:08):
And maybe it's just psychological, I have no idea,
but it makes me feel full sooner.
Eric Ross, RN (46:13):
Okay, so here we are.
It's not a day over 21,.
Right, you've got another 20,30 years.
What?
do you envision the next 5 or 10years?
Look like treating thisdiagnosis.
Ken Amaro (46:31):
You know I'm 70 years of age.
Eric Ross, RN (46:32):
What?
Ken Amaro (46:32):
Yeah, I'm turning 70.
But I'm just looking for goodhealth until whatever.
Eric Ross, RN (46:39):
Okay.
Is there things you might havechanged if you knew now, 20
years ago?
Ken Amaro (46:44):
Yes, number one, I would have paid more attention
to my weight gain.
You know, I think one of my andI don't know if this would be
true, but when I was in my 20sand early 30s and in my teens, I
(47:07):
was always active, moving,moving.
Yeah, Ball, karate, just in somestrenuous sports that just kept
you going.
You know and I think my body Ikeep saying this that because of
those early years my bodybecame conditioned and so when I
(47:30):
got to the place where Ideveloped this sedentary
lifestyle that I had enoughcushion to and I don't even know
if this is a fact or anythingbut to bear whatever was to come
.
I say that to myself.
Eric Ross, RN (47:49):
You sound like most, men I know myself included
.
Yeah.
Ken Amaro (47:52):
Well, you know, it's if I was, because there are guys
who are in their 20s and 30sand they're not active, they
don't do anything, you know, andso I feel that kind of assisted
.
Eric Ross, RN (48:08):
Yeah, yeah, I love it.
We're down to.
We got about a minute and ahalf here.
We asked what you learned about.
What are you grateful for inthis process?
Maybe nothing Over the last 10years.
I'm actually thankful for thispart of this journey.
Ken Amaro (48:25):
Well, in reference to my health, as I reflect, I wish
I'd paid more attention.
I have no regrets really beyondthat.
If I had paid more attention, Icould have been a little bit
(48:46):
ahead of the curve, if you will.
I think that there's so muchthat we take for granted, until
you're at that crossroad andthen you realize the decisions
that you made, but for the mostpart.
I'm at a place in my life wherethere's a song that's been
(49:07):
played on the radios.
It's with these words
Eric Ross, RN (49:08):
Freebird?
Ken Amaro (49:08):
No, but it's become kind of a mantra for me, and the
words are it's good to be alive, but it's best to live.
Eric Ross, RN (49:16):
Oh, I like it
Ken Amaro (49:17):
And so I'm trying to live, yeah, every day and enjoy
what life has.
You know, I think it'sChurchill that said something to
the fact that during, you know,when Britain was at war with
Germany, he said some people aregiven opportunities and all
they do is look for difficulties, while some people, who are
(49:43):
faced with difficulties, try tofind opportunities.
Eric Ross, RN (49:47):
He's got some nuggets here.
Ken Amaro (49:50):
That's been my perspective.
Eric Ross, RN (49:53):
I don't know how to.
That's a first.
That's the alarm saying thetime's up Doesn't matter, Ken
Amaro, City Council, district 1,ex-broadcaster news guy,
husband, father, grandfather,sweet hat wearer, but I would
say type 2 diabetic, living thisjourney and sharing your story
for a lot of men who need tohear this.
So thank you for joining this.
Ken Amaro (50:15):
I hope someone takes something away.
Eric Ross, RN (50:17):
One person We'll take one.
If there's 100 or however many,it's great.
And that's that's a win.
Medevidence! thanks for settingthis up.
That's What the Health JustHappened.
Ken Amaro (50:27):
Thanks for joining the MedEvidence! podcast To
learn more head over toMedEvidence.
com or subscribe to our podcaston your favorite podcast
platform.
Welcome to MedEvidence! This podcast is a
joint production betweenMedEvidence! and what the Health
Just Happened.
Eric Ross, RN (00:06):
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this
week's episode of what theHealth Just Happened, where we
talk about all things healthcare, community, business and life
the goods, the bads, the ups,the downs, the lefts, the rights
and everything in between.
We are so fortunate to have on avariety of guests to share
their industry expertise andexperience, and today is no
difference.
If I had to guess, we will talka lot about healthcare, a lot
(00:27):
about community, right, maybesome business, definitely life.
I want to do some dad stuffhere.
More importantly, this isbrought to you by MedEvidence
who, again, if you have notheard this show with Dr Koren
and their team, it is incrediblethe truth behind the data.
They peel back the onion onvery complicated topics in
healthcare.
Today we're going to talk aboutdiabetes, right, how it affects
(00:50):
, how do you manage it.
Let's get to the intro.
Ken Amaro worked in broadcastingand television.
For how long?
Ken Amaro (00:56):
42
And 42 years.
Yes, sir
Eric Ross, RN (00:58):
Dang, I turned 42 on Sunday.
I didn't want to get there.
Ken Amaro (01:02):
So I've been on TV just as long as you've been
alive.
Eric Ross, RN (01:04):
You've been around, but now you are a city
councilman for District 1 herein Jacksonville.
Ken Amaro (01:09):
That's correct.
I'm serving my first term,about a year and a half.
Eric Ross, RN (01:11):
First term year and a half in local politics.
Again, we're going to talk alot about type 2 diabetes, maybe
some type 1 too, if it comes inthere.
How do we manage it?
What goes on?
Let's start with this when didyou get that hat?
If you're hearing this on theradio, you can't see it, but you
can look online Like where isthis hat from?
Ken Amaro (01:32):
I'm a hat collector Eric.
First off, thank you for havingme and I like the title.
Eric Ross, RN (01:37):
What Health Just happened.
It's fun.
It's fun.
you can say hell by the way.
Ken Amaro (01:46):
For some reason I started wearing hats and it's
amazing when I look at oldmovies and stuff like that.
It was nothing unusual in theAmerican culture.
Guys wore hats and they werepretty stylish and impressive
and things of that nature.
So all of a sudden I foundmyself collecting hats and this
(02:07):
one particular brand a couple ofguys in New York.
They make this.
Eric Ross, RN (02:10):
What's it called?
We love shout outs
Ken Amaro (02:12):
Bellissimo
Eric Ross, RN (02:13):
Bellissimo.
Yeah, sounds fancy.
Ken Amaro (02:15):
And so I've got my collection of hats
Eric Ross, RN (02:19):
you look sharp, Jacket, pocket, square watches,
glasses, hat Like you look sharp.
So broadcasting 42 years Isthis radio TV Anyone?
If you live in Jacksonville,you're going to recognize this
man, because I did when youwalked in.
Ken Amaro (02:34):
It's mostly television.
I started in radio it's funnyand I was doing weekends on the
radio station while I was incollege and what happened was
one Saturday I showed up and thestaff was gone.
I'm like what in the world?
The regulars, rather they weregone and the management had
(03:00):
changed the format and got awhole new crew in and I was just
a part-timer so I was on theweekend, so I was relatively
insignificant.
But then I started thinking,man, this is a little uncertain
here, as much as I love being onradio.
Nah, so I started making atransition to television.
Eric Ross, RN (03:20):
Local TV news stations.
What stations?
Where did you bounce around?
Ken Amaro (03:24):
WTLV, WJXX.
I did some part-time work atwhat is now Channel 17 WJKS, and
radio.
It was back in the day.
Listen, I'm going back.
Eric Ross, RN (03:39):
When you say back in the day, like what year,
Ken Amaro (03:42):
I don't know,
Eric Ross, RN (03:43):
the 20s, the 30s, okay,
Ken Amaro (03:45):
oh my god
Eric Ross, RN (03:46):
I'm just messing with you man.
Ken Amaro (03:48):
um 81, somewhere there.
Okay, um, it was uh.
Uh.
I can hear the call letters inmy head, but it was the.
The slogan was no static, nostatic at all.
It was from the.
I don't know if you watchmovies like FM,
Eric Ross, RN (04:11):
fm?
Ken Amaro (04:11):
yeah
Eric Ross, RN (04:12):
I don't know that movie?
Anyone know that movie?
I don't know that.
Ken Amaro (04:15):
Anyway, there was a movie back in the 80s called FM
and it was about life in theradio business and the slogan
was no static at all and it wasuh, an album oriented radio
station where we played longsongs.
You know like uh, um in a godof the feeder, um, you know um
(04:38):
black sabbath
Eric Ross, RN (04:39):
long songs yeah, metallica's got a couple
eight-minute songs,
Ken Amaro (04:42):
things like that, alice Cooper
Eric Ross, RN (04:48):
you look like an Alice.
Cooper guy
It's funny you should say thatbecause when I took the job I
knew nothing about the music.
I'm like what the heck am Ilistening to?
It was a popular radio stationand I worked weekends, saturdays
(05:08):
and Sundays and did six-hourshifts.
While going to school?
Yeah, and you studied.
You mentioned you studiedbroadcasting, right?
Was that like growing up?
I want to go into this space.
Ken Amaro (05:20):
Well, I got introduced to radio because a
friend of mine was attending theUniversity of Connecticut.
I went up to UConn with thethoughts of going to school
there and during the summerUConn had a college radio
station at the Fieldhouse andstudents could go in and do
(05:41):
their blocks.
And so he and I we'd go over tothe radio station and he had a
show and I would be part of theshow, and so that kind of
indoctrinated me intobroadcasting.
Connecticut was too cold.
I grew up in the Virgin Islandsand I had moved from the Virgin
Islands to Connecticut and, asmuch as I love the place, I was
(06:04):
like I gotta go,
Eric Ross, RN (06:06):
Amen to that
Ken Amaro (06:08):
And so that's how I ended up in Florida.
But it was fun.
I mean, you know, it's amazingwith radio, people connect with
you even though they can't seewho you are.
And back then, you know LynyrdSkynyrd, was big in the
marketplace.
Eric Ross, RN (06:25):
And from Jacksonville, by the way, from.
Jacksonville,
Ken Amaro (06:28):
and you know I always laugh because I would have just
completed playing Free Bird,
Eric Ross, RN (06:36):
that's a long song too
Ken Amaro (06:37):
And the phones would blow up.
Can you play Free Bird?
Eric Ross, RN (06:43):
This is great.
I love like a little back storybefore we talk about the health
care side.
I love like a little back storybefore we talk about the
healthcare side.
You were in broadcasting.
You know this world right.
So then you transitioned toon-camera asking questions.
I'm going to go back to thatlater because I got some fun
questions about being on cameraand asking questions.
Family man Want to talk aboutyour family.
(07:05):
How important is it to you?
Ken Amaro (07:06):
I'm married as long as about 40, 43 years we've been
married.
Eric Ross, RN (07:12):
We like that.
You guys have 44 to 43 years.
Ken Amaro (07:14):
That's a good run.
Yeah, my wife and I have fourdaughters,
Eric Ross, RN (07:19):
four daughters
Ken Amaro (07:22):
and now we have three grandkids.
Eric Ross, RN (07:25):
So we talked off air.
I said what do you do for fun?
Remember what you answered.
It was one word Family, thatwas it?
Ken Amaro (07:31):
Yeah, yeah, it's important to me.
I don't know what point thatevolved as one of the biggest
qualities in my life, but it hasand it's important to me.
So I try to do things.
Even though my kids are grown,I try to do things as a family
(07:54):
with my wife and my daughter.
I still have a daughter wholives at home.
Eric Ross, RN (08:00):
I like again, it's about painting a picture to
talk about type 2 diabetesmanagement, which we'll get to
MedE vidence!≈am;ap;m;am
ENCORE how how they wereinvolved.
But I want to understand.
You've been around just acouple years.
I'm not calling you old because,guess what, I'm old now too
Most of our staff looks at melike you're an old dude, but
(08:20):
you've had this incrediblecareer in broadcasting radio,
then television, and now you'rein local politics as of a year,
right.
So was that something youalways wanted to do?
What triggered that?
For you to say let's do this?
Ken Amaro (08:34):
You know, I believe in predestination.
Eric Ross, RN (08:38):
Are you a man of faith?
Ken Amaro (08:39):
Yes,
Eric Ross, RN (08:40):
okay, as are we, so you can talk about faith
openly here.
Ken Amaro (08:43):
I believe in predestination that things are
already laid out for you theroadmap of life.
You may take some twists andturns, but you're going to end
up where you're supposed to be,and when I retired, it was a
significant change, if you will,because for 40 plus years you
get up and you're energized
Eric Ross, RN (09:04):
Purpose.
You're driven Community andyou're energized Purpose.
You're driven Community.
You're driven.
Financially.
Ken Amaro (09:09):
Well, forget the financial piece.
But you're driven.
Yes, you know.
And then you get to the placewhere.
Where do you go?
What do you do?
What do you?
You know what's left of yourlife, rocking chairs or not.
It just doesn't fit into myequation.
Eric Ross, RN (09:25):
It's pretty boring.
Ken Amaro (09:26):
Yeah, you know,
it's pretty boring
Watching television didn't fit into the metric.
Eric Ross, RN (09:30):
What about bird watching?
No thanks.
Ken Amaro (09:33):
And so and I don't fish, I don't golf
Eric Ross, RN (09:36):
oh, man.
Ken Amaro (09:41):
So for me, I was looking for a way to continue
being connected to the community, and so this opportunity came
up, where the incumbent hadreached the end of her term and
someone suggested if I wouldwant to serve in that area.
And I used the word serve,because that's how I look at it
(10:04):
as a vehicle of service.
And so I gave it some thought,meditated, prayed, you know,
because of thehyper-partisanship in our
culture, is just something thatI really want to get into and I
stepped into it.
Eric Ross, RN (10:21):
So what year?
I promise we'll get to diabeteshere in a second.
What year did you retire?
Ken Amaro (10:28):
21
Eric Ross, RN (10:29):
So 21, and we can talk about COVID if you want.
There's a lot of things thatchanged.
A lot of people retired,changed industries.
How long did you take off andrealize like, hey, I got to do?
Ken Amaro (10:39):
something Six months,
Eric Ross, RN (10:41):
six months.
Was your wife saying, hey, yougot to do something.
You're driving me nuts.
Ken Amaro (10:46):
No, my wife was a college professor and when I
retired she said I'm retiring aswell.
She had about 30 years ofteaching as a professor under
her belt.
Eric Ross, RN (11:02):
Locally.
Ken Amaro (11:02):
Yeah,
Eric Ross, RN (11:03):
which college?
Ken Amaro (11:03):
FSCJ
Eric Ross, RN (11:03):
Okay, okay, I got a degree from there
Ken Amaro (11:09):
And so she retired.
And just as she's retiring, I'mthinking what can I be doing?
And that's how that evolved.
And she jokingly tells friends,I'm retired.
He's the one that went and gota job.
Eric Ross, RN (11:27):
This is again just painting a picture as we go
into.
Can I mention both companies?
I'm already seeing it on air,even though we can edit this.
So MedEvidence! is a showpredominantly Truth Behind the
Data, which I love.
taking very complicated topicsin health care on every, every
(11:49):
sector and section possible andpeeling it back and talking like
very complicated stuff, ENCORE,which is based in jacksonville,
is doing a lot of medicalresearch, um, which we'll get to
in a second, especially afterthe commercial break, because I
got questions.
I'm pointing over here.
You can't see this on the radio, so they set this up.
I love it because this is areally important conversation.
(12:10):
We're looking at a verysuccessful human being, right, a
father of four, a good husband,a man of faith, a sweet hat
wearer, now a grandfather.
You had something happen adecade ago.
Yeah, what was it?
Ken Amaro (12:27):
One day I was working and I'm sitting on the anchor
desk and I'm looking into the uhtele, uh, the teleprompter, and
and the words are jumbled umand um.
I'm, I'm puzzled, I am likewhat's going on?
I, uh, I can look at the paperand in front of me I don't have
a problem.
But I'm looking at the prompter
Eric Ross, RN (12:47):
and blurry or like jumbled words
Ken Amaro (12:49):
yeah, just, just, just blurry, like and um
Obviously I started, I becameconcerned as to what was going
on and and at the same time, Inoticed that I was going to the
bathroom more frequently.
Eric Ross, RN (13:08):
Peeing, let's say that
Ken Amaro (13:09):
Urinating yeah yeah, yeah.
Eric Ross, RN (13:11):
My kids would say number one, not number two.
Ken Amaro (13:14):
Well, it's like, you know, I went an hour ago and now
I got to go again and it'salways urgent.
You know, it was always urgent,
Eric Ross, RN (13:22):
Like right now.
Yeah, I got to go right now.
So blurred vision this goesback to like signs and symptoms
of it
Ken Amaro (13:28):
Precisely.
Which I was not aware of at thetime.
and so you know I take myhealth seriously.
And so I said I need to go seethe doctor.
And I went and that was thediagnosis type 2 diabetes
Eric Ross, RN (13:47):
Was it a, this is really designed for men who
take their health for granted orignore, ignore, ignore, ignore
and then something happens.
Was this a primary carephysician?
Ken Amaro (13:55):
Yes
Eric Ross, RN (13:55):
So you had a primary care physician, you call
them.
Mind you, this is 10 years agoNow.
Do you know what it takes toget into a primary care
physician?
Three to four months.
Ken Amaro (14:03):
Yeah, it's like.
It's incredible.
Eric Ross, RN (14:05):
We'll stay off that.
So you call your doc.
They say, let's get you in here, okay.
So you walk into the doctor.
What tests do they run?
What do you?
Ken Amaro (14:14):
Well.
First, the question was why areyou here?
What's going on?
Da-da-da-da, and I rememberdoing the blood glucose thing,
Eric Ross, RN (14:25):
fasting?
Ken Amaro (14:26):
well, no.
Eric Ross, RN (14:27):
Oh, on the spot.
Ken Amaro (14:33):
There was no fasting on the spot because I didn't
know I needed to fast.
You know, I made theappointment, yep, and I showed
up and went through a series.
I distinctly remember the bloodtest for glucose and then the
monitor said that my glucosenumbers were 300 plus.
(14:56):
I think 300 was the range of themonitor.
Eric Ross, RN (14:57):
If I know this is my experience in healthcare
right it says really high andtheir max number is 300.
Yeah.
Ken Amaro (15:03):
So that means you're over 300.
Eric Ross, RN (15:04):
You could have been sitting at 700.
Ken Amaro (15:06):
Probably Because it was beyond the range of 300.
Eric Ross, RN (15:11):
This is to paint a picture for men who avoid this
stuff, and I'm sure there'ssome guilty men in this room
that take this for granted.
You felt normal,
I did.
You were living day to day.
Ken Amaro (15:22):
I did.
I didn't have any, anythingthat would say your life, you're
heading to a diabetic stroke oranything of that nature,
nothing.
Except, the frequency of goingto the bathroom and experiencing
(15:44):
blurry vision when I was tryingto read.
So there were no other symptomsthat I knew of.
I'm one of those who believethat, regardless of your age, if
you have health insurance, youdo an annual exam.
I was doing annual exams andnothing was indicated.
So at some point from my lastannual physical until that
experience, something changed,and I don't know what it was.
Eric Ross, RN (16:06):
So you had seen a doctor.
That's great you were doingthat Some men will go years
without seeing a doctor.
Ken Amaro (16:13):
Oh no, I'm one of those who believe that if you
have insurance, go see the damndoctor.
Eric Ross, RN (16:17):
I love it.
If you have insurance, go seethe damn doctor.
That's a T-shirt, so I like tothrow out medical terms If Dr.
Koren was here, like so.
Polyuria, that means lots ofurination.
We say peeing often.
Ken Amaro (16:29):
Yeah yeah.
Eric Ross, RN (16:30):
Did you notice that before the blurred vision?
Like were you?
like man, I'm peeing a lot.
Ken Amaro (16:43):
It was like a couple of days, you know, and but I, in
all honesty, Eric, it was a fewdays before the blurred vision,
but I never connected the two.
Eric Ross, RN (16:48):
But this is a short span and pretty quick.
Ken Amaro (16:50):
Yes, okay, it's like within a week, week and a half,
of you know.
But I noticed I was going butnever thought why or anything
like that, just thought I wasdrinking too much or whatever.
And then all of a sudden thetwo connected.
Eric Ross, RN (17:08):
I just as we go along like how do you put an
emphasis on certain things,especially for MedE vidence! One
is frequent doctor visits,right, You're going annually.
There's so many men out thereguilty.
Yes, I went years withoutseeing a doctor.
Ken Amaro (17:21):
Well, if you feel you're healthy, you think that
you don't need I'm fine, right.
Eric Ross, RN (17:26):
So seeing a doctor is important, running
that blood work is important.
You had something that happened.
There's a lot of guys out therethat don't notice or don't
think about it.
You had two things thathappened.
So you go, you see the doctor.
They prick your finger how dothey test your blood sugar?
Ken Amaro (17:42):
Prick my finger
Eric Ross, RN (17:43):
Finger stick, high.
And what did the doctor say toyou?
Ken Amaro (17:46):
He said I ought to send you to the
emergency room, to the hospital, and then the and I can
remember it very clearly thefollow-up question or series of
(18:10):
question as to how do I feel, amI experiencing anything?
And he subsequently gave mediuretics and
Eric Ross, RN (18:19):
water pills we don't know who's listening Like,
diuretic helps you flush outwater A lot of people call it a
water pill.
Ken Amaro (18:26):
And then there was some metformin
Eric Ross, RN (18:28):
any insulin?
Ken Amaro (18:29):
No.
Okay, no, I don't remember himdoing anything.
Eric Ross, RN (18:35):
Metformin, water pill.
This is about a decade ago
Ken Amaro (18:39):
yes, and then I subsequently was referred to an
endocrinologist.
Eric Ross, RN (18:45):
What did that?
The endocrinologist?
What did that look like?
The appointments, follow-uptests.
Ken Amaro (18:52):
It was just a little bit more exaggerated than what I
experienced with my primarycare, and that led to a
treatment plan, if you will, andlater on it led to taking my
(19:13):
blood pressure changed as well,which apparently
Up or down.
Blood pressure went up
up up up
Eric Ross, RN (19:20):
no history of high blood pressure.
Ken Amaro (19:22):
No no.
And so today I take a bloodpressure medication once a day
to minimize the risk ofcomplications from the diabetes
and blood pressure, and I'm onMounjar o.
GLP.
Eric Ross, RN (19:44):
Oh, let's hit that.
The second half.
Sure
Ken Amaro (19:47):
I just started that treatment within the last month
and a half, and the success ofthat is that I have been able to
lose some weight.
How much?
I've lost about 20 pounds, and how long.
Five pounds in a month,
oh, my gosh
a month and a half maybe.
Eric Ross, RN (20:08):
And that's diagnosed for type 2 diabetes,
not obesity.
That's the biggest thing peopletalk about.
Ken Amaro (20:13):
Well, you know, part of my diagnosis, if I recall
correctly, was weight gain.
I'd always been a skinny guyand you know, you develop an
inactive lifestyle and all of asudden the pounds come on and
they don't come off like that,you know.
(20:34):
So I was.
Until recently I was walkingaround at 280.
What are you at?
Can you share?
What are you at now?
I'm at two.
Yesterday I had my visit.
I'm at 272.
But in November, when I went in, I was 287.
(20:55):
So I've lost 25 pounds.
Eric Ross, RN (20:59):
What are treatment measures?
Again, we're about to go to acommercial break here in a
couple minutes.
Ken Amaro (21:05):
My Endo would always say that if I can lose some
weight, it will improve, andit's one of the most difficult
things.
Eric Ross, RN (21:15):
You're not 25.
No, you can eat a whole pizzaat 25.
Ken Amaro (21:18):
Your?
lifestyle, you know.
And my other weakness is I'm abread guy, you know, I'm a—.
Eric Ross, RN (21:25):
Potatoes or just bread Bread.
Ken Amaro (21:28):
I go to the Italian restaurant or whatever
restaurant.
Now, where's the bread?
Eric Ross, RN (21:32):
Olive Garden, all you can eat breadsticks.
Ken Amaro (21:34):
Well, no, not sometimes there, but because I
like bread with texture and thebreadsticks are delicious but
they don't have texture.
Eric Ross, RN (21:43):
Oh, this is gold.
Ken Amaro (21:44):
They're a little too soft.
But I'm serious, I'm a bread guy, and part of my education with
this experience is that which Ididn't know was that carbs
become sugar and contribute tothe problem, and so I've learned
to back up on certain things.
Eric Ross, RN (22:07):
That is an incredible transition.
So the second half we'll talkagain on the podcast.
There will be no breaks, butfor the radio purpose I think it
helps just to have a littlebreak here.
I think second half is yourjourney with treatment, what
you've learned, how it'simpacted family in your life.
But I appreciate you sharingthat story, your journey so far
and I think, sharing this foranyone who's been diagnosed with
(22:29):
type 2 diabetes know someonewho has.
How do you manage it?
How does it impact your life?
Do you have fun so far?
Ken Amaro (22:37):
Yeah, yeah
Eric Ross, RN (22:38):
I, you know we got to make them laugh more.
There, it is there it is.
Ken Amaro (22:44):
This is the first time I've ever had a lengthy
conversation about diabetes.
Eric Ross, RN (22:48):
We'll get.
We're going to get real indepth the second half.
Okay, Any shout outs anyonebefore the commercial break.
Yo
MedE vidence! the Truth Behind the Data.
That's what the Health justhappened.
All right, welcome back to thesecond half of what the hell
just happened, special episodetoday brought to you by MedE
vidence! Truth Behind the Datawe are sitting down with.
(23:11):
Can I call you a friend?
Ken Amaro (23:12):
yet I'm okay
Eric Ross, RN (23:14):
we'll get there, we'll become friends.
Who is this guy?
K en Amaro Um, now in uh,politics right, city council
district one, arlington, was inbroadcasting for years.
Shared your story the firsthalf, but we're going to dive
pretty deep here on.
You were diagnosed with type 2diabetes about a decade ago.
How it's impacted your life.
You shared some of the firsthalf.
(23:35):
We're're going to peel back theonion, like I keep saying, and
get some Truth Behind the Data.
So, diagnosed doctor,endocrinologist, right, checking
your sugar, you got onmetformin and a water pill or a
diuretic.
Now you're taking Mounjaro,which is a GLP-1.
(23:56):
Thank you, my goodness.
How do I forget that term?
Which is help.
That's recent.
We're going to rewind a littlebit and talk about how treating
this has impacted your life.
Ken Amaro (24:07):
It's interesting because from the metformin, my
endocrinologist decided to use ahybrid drug, Janumet, which is
metformin and something else.
I don't know what the otherpart?
Eric Ross, RN (24:24):
Genuvia Okay.
Ken Amaro (24:25):
Okay, so I was doing that for a number of years and
it controlled my A1C.
The highest it's been is like7.8.
It's below 7 now, but not quiteto where I would like it to be.
Eric Ross, RN (24:51):
Can I pause and explain?
So A1C?
Right, If you prick your fingerand take your blood sugar level
, that's on the spot.
You've eaten, you've not eaten.
Your A1C is a longer version ofwhat your sugar looks like.
This is just whoever hears thiswhat is A1C?
What is your blood sugar?
So your A1C is a longer picture.
Ken Amaro (25:07):
It's a barometer that you want to monitor because
over, like I said, a 90-dayperiod, really what's going on
with your body and it's a greatat least I've learned it's a
great indicator if you'recontrolling your diabetes, and
obviously the higher the numbergo, then they have to use
(25:28):
different methods of treatmentand often that's how folks end
up on insulin when it's superhigh, if you will.
But anyway, I was on the Janumetand with the introduction of
the GLP drugs my endo keptinsisting that if I can lose
(25:48):
some weight it would somehowbenefit me and bring things.
Because he noticed that thingswere managed, if you will, and
if I can change my body massindex a little bit, it would
help.
And so after my visit inNovember, when my A1C was 7.1,
(26:16):
he got me on the Mounjaro andit's been working.
The weight loss has been verysubtle, not to me radical at all
, but noticeable, and I feelgood and my numbers are good.
(26:37):
And so he just had a visit thisweek and stated that numbers
are good and my endocrinologistis satisfied with the success of
the GLP drug, Mounjaro, andwants to kind of augment my
therapy with Jardiance, becausehis words were the benefit of my
(27:03):
heart, if you will, becausediabetes can be sneaky.
Eric Ross, RN (27:09):
It's like a ninja man
Ken Amaro (27:09):
yeah, yeah, yeah, you know you're looking at what's
going on that way?
Eric Ross, RN (27:15):
I feel fine, I feel fine, I feel fine.
And then, all of a sudden, youhave a heart accident
That teleprompter's blurry.
Ken Amaro (27:18):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and so I'm following the therapy
and my hope is that I can justget down a little bit more and
get my numbers.
Eric Ross, RN (27:32):
We'll go back to clinical in a second because I
think it's relevant.
You in the home front right,has this impacted time with your
wife, daughters, grandchildren?
Do you, are they, do theyunderstand the ramifications
Like how does your, how is yourfamily involved in this?
Ken Amaro (27:49):
My wife is involved my kids.
I have not had that conversationwith them and don't ask me why.
I don't know, I don't know, Ijust have not had that
conversation with them.
But she knows fully.
Eric Ross, RN (28:06):
Is your wife involved day to day, so you're
on aCGM, a constant glucose monitor.
Ken Amaro (28:13):
It's interesting because she's the one that
pushed me to get the CGM.
Eric Ross, RN (28:15):
She did yeah Good job wife, all right
Ken Amaro (28:18):
it was, and the reason she did that is because I
was inconsistent in my testing.
Eric Ross, RN (28:25):
Can you be specific, like what was
inconsistent Once a week?
Ken Amaro (28:28):
Well, once a week, twice a day.
Once a day instead of.
Maybe every other day or everyother week.
Eric Ross, RN (28:34):
Wow
Ken Amaro (28:35):
There is unfortunately when you're
feeling fine.
You guess you don't test.
Eric Ross, RN (28:45):
I like that line.
Ken Amaro (28:46):
And so I was in that place, I'm fine.
And so at the end of the week Isaid well, you know, I hadn't
checked my sugar all week, letme check.
So I'll test.
And I guess what got me to thatplace of comfortability, if you
will, is that I noticed thatduring the day my numbers would
(29:09):
be fine.
You know, I would test, and mynumbers would be 130, 110, 130,
110.
During the day, when I eat, itgoes crazy.
I go to bed at night and I getup in the morning and I test.
It might be 140.
(29:29):
It's been 160, that kind ofthing.
So I don't know what happenedovernight.
And so I got to a place thatmaybe I don't need to test every
day, just so often.
Eric Ross, RN (29:42):
You got comfortable.
Ken Amaro (29:43):
Yeah so having a monitor and having
it connected to my phone, I justlook
Eric Ross, RN (29:53):
Is your wife attached to looking at your
phone also?
Ken Amaro (29:55):
No, no.
It's shared with myendocrinologist.
Eric Ross, RN (30:01):
This is an example for men.
I'm telling you because I'm 42years old.
I can share similar stories inthis stage of life.
We've got two other gentlemen.
They don't want to admit thelast time they went to the
doctor.
But, like you said, most men atany stage 25, we're invincible.
35, we still think we'reinvincible.
But 40, like everything changes.
Oh yeah.
Ken Amaro (30:23):
The metamorphosis creeps up on you
Eric Ross, RN (30:24):
Until something's wrong.
So the point of this, I think,is recognizing it earlier and
taking care of it earlier, Sinceyou've been diagnosed and
you're treating it and itconstantly involves and changes.
What have you learned aboutyourself in this process?
Ken Amaro (30:39):
And that's one of the reasons I've become a strong
advocate for anyone that hasinsurance, regardless of their
age.
For me, it's not an age thing,it's the fact that if you have
health coverage that can giveyou access, go get yourself
checked.
Annual exams are earlydetection systems, if you will,
(31:00):
and so I become a strongadvocate for that because I
understood when I was workingand I had insurance, I took
advantage of that and I don'tknow how this crept up on me
like that, if you will, but itdid, and so now I'm living with
it.
Eric Ross, RN (31:22):
We don't have to get into this.
So you're comfortable talkingabout this with your wife.
You've not talked about it withyour daughters, you're clearly
comfortable enough to talk aboutit on whatever.
Ken Amaro (31:34):
And perhaps there hadn't been an occasion for me
to have this conversation withmy kids, because when we're with
each other, we're not talkingabout health, we're enjoying
life, we're talking about thisand that and everything else,
and so there was never anopportunity to discuss health,
(31:58):
if you will.
My oldest daughter as of late,she's always checking on me.
How are you doing?
How are you feeling?
I'm like I'm okay, Something'ssupposed to be wrong.
I'm fine.
Yeah, I love it.
We're fine, I'm fine.
The daily routine now.
You talked about medications,the CGM.
Yes, how often are you lookingnow?
(32:18):
You used to do once a week.
Are you looking daily now?
Yes, every day.
I look, not every hour
Eric Ross, RN (32:25):
but if it's high or low you get alerted on your
phone.
Ken Amaro (32:27):
Yes,
that's what's incredibleabout it
the alarm goes off.
Eric Ross, RN (32:30):
Let's talk about technology now.
This did not exist 10, 15, 20years ago.
Right, you stick your fingerwhere am I sitting and if you
don't feel like checking, you'renot checking.
Now you have these monitorsthat track you around the clock.
Ken Amaro (32:41):
I've had friends who were type 1 and have to live
with an insulin pump.
Some of them have had theprivilege of having some kind of
(33:04):
monitoring, if you will, toindicate you know hypo- or
hyper- experience.
It's interesting and I'm nottrying to be morbid here, but I
remember when I moved into myneighborhood, my neighbor Wayne
he was an old guy and he wastype 1 and showed me his insulin
pump and stuff and and he livedby himself.
Eric Ross, RN (33:23):
This is prior to you diagnosed or after?
Ken Amaro (33:24):
After, um, and and we had a conversation and and he
was talking about how he's livedwith this all his life and and,
tragically, one day he was inthe house and I guess his
glucose got so low he fellasleep in the chair and never
woke up.
Eric Ross, RN (33:41):
It's not morbid.
Ken Amaro (33:43):
And he lived by himself.
Eric Ross, RN (33:45):
No one there.
Ken Amaro (33:46):
No one there to give him glass of orange juice or
anything of that nature.
So I've always remembered that.
Eric Ross, RN (33:55):
Yeah, that's again the difference between
hypo or low and hyperglycemia,different signs and symptoms.
You said you've had noexperience really with low blood
sugar because you're gettingalerted.
Yes, when you hit 70, you getan alert and you know hey, I got
to put some sugar in this body.
Yeah, so you talked about bread.
Let's go back to that.
(34:16):
This guy loves his hats andbread His wife his daughters,
his grandkids bread and hats.
Ken Amaro (34:23):
If I go to a restaurant and there's no bread,
I'm like what up?
What's going on?
We're out of here.
What kind of restaurant is this?
Eric Ross, RN (34:31):
Have you noticed yourself limiting bread?
Ken Amaro (34:34):
I've become more conscious, yes, as to how often
it's like today.
I ordered a sandwich for lunch.
I decided just to eat half.
Eric Ross, RN (34:46):
Where was the lunch from?
Ken Amaro (34:48):
French Pantry.
Eric Ross, RN (34:49):
Oh God, love that .
You got good bread.
You got good bread.
Sorry, not healthy.
Okay,
it was rye, by the way
But this is a great example for other men who
hear this Like how do you makedecisions?
Ken Amaro (35:02):
You order this beautiful sandwich from the
French, and it was good, so good.
Eric Ross, RN (35:06):
You only ate half , only ate half.
Do you eat the second halflater today?
Ken Amaro (35:09):
I'm contemplating such yes
Eric Ross, RN (35:11):
But again, that's spread out what's on the
sandwich.
Ken Amaro (35:14):
And you know I mentioned earlier that during my
early diagnosis and mydietician at the time was said
be smart about what you'reeating.
Instead of, you know, consuminglarge portions, spread your
portions out and was encouragingme not to miss meals, things of
(35:35):
that nature, to try andmaintain a steady diet if you
will, because the reality isthat when you eat, your numbers
go up so you want to play safeand say I ain't going to eat, as
if that's going to absolutelysolve the problem.
Eric Ross, RN (35:52):
That might be even worse, yeah.
Ken Amaro (35:53):
Precisely so.
That was the reason for thateducation, and so I started.
What's interesting is, sinceI've been on the GLP drug, which
is kind of an appetitesuppressant, I don't eat as much
and it takes I'm satisfiedquicker, if you will, and so I
(36:17):
don't know if that's good or bad.
Eric Ross, RN (36:19):
Well, as I say the GLP-1 s.
That's hours and hours andhours of conversation.
Some people agree or disagree.
Why are you using it Again?
It sounds like it's working foryou.
That's great.
This is kind of a loadedquestion here and maybe you can
answer, or not?
So Can you think of a timewhere your diabetes has caused
physical or emotional stress,where you're like this is a
(36:41):
problem?
Ken Amaro (36:42):
No.
Eric Ross, RN (36:43):
See, that's a win .
I think there's other peoplethat happen.
You're in a sweet spot.
Is it because of education?
Ken Amaro (36:51):
Perhaps I think that's a piece.
I had a very good friend ofmine.
His name is Robert, and Roberthad been living with type 2
diabetes all of his life and wasnever able to control it.
Eric Ross, RN (37:10):
Lack of education ?
Didn't care?
Ken Amaro (37:12):
He didn't care.
Eric Ross, RN (37:13):
Which is common, which is common in men.
I'm fine.
Ken Amaro (37:16):
I shouldn't say he did not care, he didn't get rid
of the bad habits smoking,drinking, things of that nature
and his numbers were always Imean always his A1C was always
double digits.
Eric Ross, RN (37:33):
Not good.
What's the normal range for A1C?
6.5 or lower.
Ken Amaro (37:35):
That's right.
Eric Ross, RN (37:36):
And he was always double digits.
Yep, not good.
Ken Amaro (37:37):
Not good
Eric Ross, RN (37:38):
what's?
the normal range for A1C 6.5 orlower, and he's in double digits
.
Ken Amaro (37:42):
Yeah, he's in double digits.
So he's on insulin and then hestarted having diabetic wounds
in his foot and they could neverbe completely healed, just when
they were healed again, becausehis numbers were all skewed.
(38:03):
Then it led to gangrene, toesremoved, foot removed and he
lived in Louisville.
Eventually he passed away,which was interesting because he
passed away from a cancer thatwas in the liver, if I remember
(38:25):
correctly.
And I don't know if there's aconnection
Eric Ross, RN (38:29):
I was going to say that's you talk about
another dialogue.
everything's connected in ourbody, right, and if your body's
constantly in a state ofrecovery, recovery, we talk
about wound management.
So if you're having a hard timewith wounds healing constant
urination, blurred vision, likesome men just don't like ah,
it's fine, why is this wound nothealing?
(38:50):
That's why the test the primarycare physician going to get
looked at matters.
Ken Amaro (38:55):
My neighbor, he's, I didn't know.
He's diabetic and he he was um.
He had a wound on his foot anddidn't do anything and
eventually he passed out yeah,yeah, he passed out and and now
he's at um Cypress Villagebecause he's been, they had to
(39:19):
remove a section of his toes andyou know, the guy's about 80 or
something and he's now intherapy, and all that to be able
to learn how to walk.
Eric Ross, RN (39:29):
Was he treating his diabetes or just ignoring it
?
Ken Amaro (39:32):
It seemed I don't know, it just seemed like he was
not paying the attention thathe needed.
He's a good guy.
Eric Ross, RN (39:44):
I go back to commending you right.
It's been 10 years.
It's a diagnosis that somepeople panic and think of all
these things but it's a journeyand it changes from year to year
.
Ken Amaro (39:57):
There are times that when and these stories I'm
sharing about people I knowthere are times when they come
into the frame and they'remotivational that you don't want
to have that experience and soyou start paying closer
attention to yourself becausethe reality is, you know, if you
(40:19):
ignore, these are theconsequences.
Eric Ross, RN (40:23):
That snowball gets big real quick when you
roll it down the hill.
Ken Amaro (40:27):
When it gets to that place, it's even more difficult
to deal with what you're dealingwith.
Eric Ross, RN (40:33):
What would you so you don't have to share your
age but you look 10, 20, 30years ago?
What would you recommend toyoung men who aren't doing
certain things?
Because I love we can reinforceseeing a doctor at least
occasionally do blood work, butin your diabetic journey, give
some advice here.
Besides, buy his hats.
His hats are sweet.
Ken Amaro (40:53):
Well, you know, we're one of the things about the
beauty of life that we live asAmericans.
We have this choice to be ableto do whatever the heck we want
to do, when we want to do whatwe want to do, sometimes without
thought, sometimes withoutconsidering long-term effects or
(41:17):
anything of that nature.
And you know, I don't knowanything about dietary
guidelines or anything like that.
But my encouragement would beto seriously pay attention to
what you're eating.
I mean these.
You know you get to a place inlife and you realize that there
(41:38):
are, that what you put in arecontributing factors and if
you're not vigilant, you mayjust be putting junk in.
That that's going to-
Eric Ross, RN (41:47):
We're going to open a can here that I want to
talk aboutdo too, the American diet
disaster.
You said it right you, youlearn about yourself.
You have this diagnosis.
How do you treat it?
That's different.
But what do you put in yourbody?
And bread, like you love bread.
But you know, if you live offbread you're in trouble.
love bread and I love cakes.
(42:07):
I mean, that's tough.
Hey, I feel bad man.
Ken Amaro (42:10):
But but I don't, you know, I I've gotten wiser.
I don't eat cakes like I usedto.
I'm still consuming bread, butI'm trying to push back and be
selective in the types of breadand things of that nature.
I try to do whole wheat versuswhite bread.
Eric Ross, RN (42:30):
Have you alternated any other part of
your diet like eliminated sugarydrinks, increased protein
intake.
Ken Amaro (42:39):
I usually don't drink sugary drinks except, except
sweet tea again.
Eric Ross, RN (42:47):
It's like, how do you?
And I'll cry, I'll do a lot ofthings, but I am not eliminating
the sweet tea
Ken Amaro (42:53):
I didn't say that.
I said, uh what?
What I've done is I'd say, letme have an Arnold Palmer.
So I you know.
But if it's too sweet, if I goto a restaurant and I order
sweet tea and it's too sweet, Igo.
Ah, you know, yeah, right away.
Eric Ross, RN (43:12):
But five, ten years ago did you feel that way,
or you drank that and thought,oh heck, yeah, no,
Ken Amaro (43:15):
I'll probably drink it.
Eric Ross, RN (43:16):
Yeah, that's awareness, that's education.
Ken Amaro (43:24):
So what I do is I'll ask the server get me a glass of
water with some ice and I'lltake the tea and pour it in the
water with the ice and kind ofdilute it.
Eric Ross, RN (43:30):
Great tip these are low hanging fruit, right.
Ken Amaro (43:34):
And so I've diluted the sweet tea.
I still have the flavor, if youwill, but it's to a place where
I find it acceptable to mypalate and you've also.
Eric Ross, RN (43:45):
I love that example.
You recognize now, when youdrink a certain sweet tea you're
like oh it's too sweet.
Ken Amaro (43:51):
Oh yeah, yeah,
Eric Ross, RN (43:52):
but 10 years ago.
You're drinking two or threeglasses of that.
That.
Suck it down like it was-
and that's it goes back to the education thing
, right?
So you know how do you noteliminate bread?
We could get into a wholecomplicated conversation about
how the body works.
You know, increasing yourprotein and fiber intake before
carbohydrates, but for you,specifically, what?
(44:13):
Like low-hanging fruit?
For anyone that hears this,these are some things that I've
done that I've noticed made adifference.
The sweet tea thing I love thattip right.
Limiting your bread, constantglucose monitor.
What else have you done?
I've added more fruits into mydiet.
What kind of fruit?
Ken Amaro (44:28):
Grape, primarily.
I love grapes.
I do blueberries, super foodWatermelons, that's about it.
Sometimes pineapple.
Eric Ross, RN (44:40):
What about vegetables.
Ken Amaro (44:42):
I'm not that good he's like I want.
But again, for me it's anevolving thing, and so I'm doing
more salads than ever before,so I'm getting there.
Eric Ross, RN (44:54):
You know I'm getting there.
Ken Amaro (44:55):
I mean just the day before yesterday I was ready for
lunch.
I said I'm going to, you know,.
I said I'm going to get me acob salad and it was good
Eric Ross, RN (45:05):
10 years ago.
What would you have got at thesame restaurant?
Ken Amaro (45:08):
barbecue or something
Eric Ross, RN (45:11):
with an extra side of bread,
Ken Amaro (45:13):
a barbecue sandwich with some baked beans, and and
load up and again.
Eric Ross, RN (45:18):
We love free shout outs here in.
Northeast Florida.
So the French pantry.
Today you got lunch.
Ate half your sandwich, yes.
Do you think that's attributedto the Mounjaro or are you
learning stuff?
I think it's a little bit ofboth.
Okay, I think the drug which Itake on Mondays which is
interesting, today's Wednesday Itake it on Monday, it's a once
(45:41):
a week thing, but there'ssomething about it that it
sustains throughout the week andso it has this effect on your
appetite throughout the week,which I think it's interesting.
(46:05):
So it makes me feel full sooner
It is amazing, man, again.
Ken Amaro (46:08):
And maybe it's just psychological, I have no idea,
but it makes me feel full sooner.
Eric Ross, RN (46:13):
Okay, so here we are.
It's not a day over 21,.
Right, you've got another 20,30 years.
What?
do you envision the next 5 or 10years?
Look like treating thisdiagnosis.
Ken Amaro (46:31):
You know I'm 70 years of age.
Eric Ross, RN (46:32):
What?
Ken Amaro (46:32):
Yeah, I'm turning 70.
But I'm just looking for goodhealth until whatever.
Eric Ross, RN (46:39):
Okay.
Is there things you might havechanged if you knew now, 20
years ago?
Ken Amaro (46:44):
Yes, number one, I would have paid more attention
to my weight gain.
You know, I think one of my andI don't know if this would be
true, but when I was in my 20sand early 30s and in my teens, I
(47:07):
was always active, moving,moving.
Yeah, Ball, karate, just in somestrenuous sports that just kept
you going.
You know and I think my body Ikeep saying this that because of
those early years my bodybecame conditioned and so when I
(47:30):
got to the place where Ideveloped this sedentary
lifestyle that I had enoughcushion to and I don't even know
if this is a fact or anythingbut to bear whatever was to come
.
I say that to myself.
Eric Ross, RN (47:49):
You sound like most, men I know myself included
.
Yeah.
Ken Amaro (47:52):
Well, you know, it's if I was, because there are guys
who are in their 20s and 30sand they're not active, they
don't do anything, you know, andso I feel that kind of assisted
.
Eric Ross, RN (48:08):
Yeah, yeah, I love it.
We're down to.
We got about a minute and ahalf here.
We asked what you learned about.
What are you grateful for inthis process?
Maybe nothing Over the last 10years.
I'm actually thankful for thispart of this journey.
Ken Amaro (48:25):
Well, in reference to my health, as I reflect, I wish
I'd paid more attention.
I have no regrets really beyondthat.
If I had paid more attention, Icould have been a little bit
(48:46):
ahead of the curve, if you will.
I think that there's so muchthat we take for granted, until
you're at that crossroad andthen you realize the decisions
that you made, but for the mostpart.
I'm at a place in my life wherethere's a song that's been
(49:07):
played on the radios.
It's with these words
Eric Ross, RN (49:08):
Freebird?
Ken Amaro (49:08):
No, but it's become kind of a mantra for me, and the
words are it's good to be alive, but it's best to live.
Eric Ross, RN (49:16):
Oh, I like it
Ken Amaro (49:17):
And so I'm trying to live, yeah, every day and enjoy
what life has.
You know, I think it'sChurchill that said something to
the fact that during, you know,when Britain was at war with
Germany, he said some people aregiven opportunities and all
they do is look for difficulties, while some people, who are
(49:43):
faced with difficulties, try tofind opportunities.
Eric Ross, RN (49:47):
He's got some nuggets here.
Ken Amaro (49:50):
That's been my perspective.
Eric Ross, RN (49:53):
I don't know how to.
That's a first.
That's the alarm saying thetime's up Doesn't matter, Ken
Amaro, City Council, district 1,ex-broadcaster news guy,
husband, father, grandfather,sweet hat wearer, but I would
say type 2 diabetic, living thisjourney and sharing your story
for a lot of men who need tohear this.
So thank you for joining this.
Ken Amaro (50:15):
I hope someone takes something away.
Eric Ross, RN (50:17):
One person We'll take one.
If there's 100 or however many,it's great.
And that's that's a win.
Medevidence! thanks for settingthis up.
That's What the Health JustHappened.
Ken Amaro (50:27):
Thanks for joining the MedEvidence! podcast To
learn more head over toMedEvidence.
com or subscribe to our podcaston your favorite podcast
platform.
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