Reclaiming freedom after adult diagnosis: Justin Eastzer on Diabetech and becoming a global nomad

After six months of trying to treat his type 2 diabetes diagnosis at the age of 30, it was tech content creator Justin Eastzer’s TikTok followers that helped him to realise he’d been misdiagnosed.

But the very condition that threatened to hold Justin back has since propelled him into a new niche, and today Justin's career is dedicated to speaking to his hundreds of thousands of followers about the latest and greatest in diabetes technology via his Diabetech platforms.

In this episode Justin reveals how his adult type 1 diabetes has changed the pace of his life, what he loves about being embedded in an industry that is constantly innovating, and how he’s managed to reclaim some of the freedom he lost after diagnosis by packing up his life in New York to travel the world.

CONNECT WITH JUSTIN
Follow Diabetech on Instagram. 
Discover Diabetech on TikTok.
The Diabetech YouTube channel.
The Diabetech podcast.

Type 1 Travel Essentials YouTube video.
My chat on Justin's podcast.

JOIN THE TYPE 1 ON 1 COMMUNITY 
Come and say hi @studiotype1on1 on Instagram.
Visit the Type 1 on 1 website.

DISCLAIMER
Nothing you hear on Type 1 on 1 should be taken as medical advice. Please consult your healthcare team before making any changes to your diabetes or health management.

SPONSOR MESSAGE
This episode of Type 1 on 1 is sponsored by Dexcom. Using Dexcom CGM has given me so much confidence to make informed diabetes treatment decisions in the moment.

You can choose to wear it on your arm or your abdomen, and all Dexcom CGMs have the share and follow feature even when connected to an insulin pump, so family and friends can see your glucose levels and get alerts, giving that extra bit of support when needed.

Head to Dexcom.com to request a free Dexcom ONE+ sample.

Always read the user manual for important product aspects and limitations. Talk to your doctor for diabetes management terms and conditions and terms of use. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This episode of Type one on one is sponsored by Dexcom.
More on that later. Just to say, as with every
episode of Type one on one, nothing you hear within
this podcast episode is intended to be nor should be
taken as medical advice, and you should absolutely seek the
advice and guidance of a healthcare professional before making any
changes to your diabetes management. If you want to come

(00:21):
and say hi, you can do so at Studio type
one on one on Instagram and I'd love to see
you there. Hi, everyone, and welcome to Type one on one,
a podcast that delves into the obscure, complex and challenging
world of life with type one diabetes. I'm Jen Greeves,
and each week, with the help of some brilliant guests,

(00:44):
I'll be showing that there is no normal when it
comes to handlingk this whopper of a chronic condition, because
we're all pretty much figuring out the messiness of day
to day life with diabetes as we go, and most
of all, even though it doesn't always feel like it,
we are absolutely not alone. A medical diagnosis can often

(01:04):
be shocking or confusing, but imagine being told by your
social media following that you've in fact received the wrong diagnosis.
That's exactly what happened to today's guest, Justin Isa, better
known as Diabetec to his hundreds of thousands of followers online.
He has his TikTok audience in particular to thank for
getting the correct diagnosis of type one point five diabetes

(01:25):
or ladder, six months after he was misdiagnosed with type
two at the age of thirty. But far from letting
it hold him back, Justin's faced his diagnosis in a
way that has propelled him forward through his career and
now literally, as he's currently in the middle of what
he calls a digital nomad moment, sharing the latest updates
in diabetes technology from far flung corners of the world,

(01:47):
all while of course managing the condition itself. And I'm
very happy to have caught him today and we're even
on the same continent, So welcome Justin to type one
on one.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
Thank you. I'm glad that you could nail me down
during my digital mad moment.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
Yeah, I really thought for a minute that you were
just going to be, you know, moving too fast for
me to catch you. But we've made it happen and
I'm very happy about it. So thanks for joining me today.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
Of course, I'm happy to be here.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
And where do you join us from? Paint us a
little picture.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
I am in Lisbon right now. I've been here for
a week. I was in Floripa, Brazil just before, and
I'm going to Valencia in a few weeks.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
Yes, we're hopefully with crossing paths, We're going to make
some fun content. I'm going to have, hopefully at the
time that this goes out, a nice little special something
something on my YouTube channel. So yeah, that'll be linked
for you to go and check out. Because we have
both done the digital no Mad moment and I'm a
bit more grounded now, but the adventure with type one diabetes,

(02:47):
it's all possible, so we're going to get into that.
But you're loving it, right, that's the headline.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yeah, it's it's great. There's been challenging moments, but it
would be challenging for anyone with or without diabetes, just
some different challenges, you know, with the diabetes. And I'm
so glad that I'm on your show because we we
kind of connected in Amsterdam about our you know, travel
experiences and stuff, and there's a lot of overlap there too,

(03:16):
which is cool.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, really cool. Yeah, so we'll come back to that
for sure. But as I mentioned in the intro, you
were originally diagnosed with type two four years ago, and
it was in fact your TikTok following that alerted you
to the fact that this might not be quite right.
So i'd love to, first of all, know what you
thought when you first saw those messages, because you're obviously

(03:38):
kind of getting to grips with one diagnosis. So did
you take note or like, where were you at in
all of it in terms of like, what on earth
is this right?

Speaker 2 (03:49):
Yeah? Well, at that point, I didn't have much of
a following on TikTok. At least I was a creator
in the tech space, so I had a following on
like YouTube, but on TikTok, I just I had some
videos and I was trying to establish myself there, and
I just put some videos up about this diagnosis I
had in my blood glucose monitor, which I thought it

(04:10):
was so cool that that sent the readings to my phone,
so I wanted to show that off. And so as
I made these videos and took people through you know
what my doctor kind of had me doing. Over time,
this community found my videos and the videos blew up
and got all these comments saying, you know, you have

(04:31):
type one point five, you have type one, You should
get a pump, you should get a CGM, you should
get an endochronologist, you should get tested for type one
the auto antibody test, And you know, maybe on the
first video, I was surprised. It like blew up and
I was getting all these comments. But I was like, oh,
let me just like keep following my doctor's advice, like
I'm taking care of it. But after I made a

(04:52):
few and then the videos still continued to get all
of this response, I had to act what the community
was telling me. So I went and got the auto
antibody test thanks to them, and it came out positive
for type one. And it was an ENDO who I

(05:12):
got that gave me that test. So I had the
ENDO and I finally could get the help I needed.
But it had been six months of misdiagnosis at that point,
and I was feeling so sick, and so, yeah, I
mean I followed their advice pretty soon after I started
like searching for solutions.

Speaker 1 (05:32):
Yeah. So with that, with the fact that you weren't
feeling it much better, or you certainly weren't feeling yourself.
Did you have an inkling that maybe this wasn't quite
what it was or what you thought, or was it
just as a lot of us do. We looked to
the medical experts for the advice. We get the advice,
we get the medication and the diagnosis, and if we
go trying to figure it out. You know, how had

(05:55):
that all come about?

Speaker 2 (05:56):
Yeah? You know, I thought I was addressing the problem
because I was doing what my doctor had me doing.
And yes I was feeling sick and fatigued, and I
was aware of it. But it was like a slow process.
I lost a lot of weight, and I didn't realize
I lost so much weight. It wasn't until a few

(06:18):
friends had told me, Like the first friend whatever, I
was like, oh, thanks, like I'm looking skinny, cute. But
then after I had a few people say it, I
was like, wait a second, there's something wrong because multiple
people are saying I look one person said I look
sick skinny. So and then I finally weighed myself and
I was like, whoa, Okay, I lost a lot of
weight and I've done nothing to do this right, Like

(06:40):
I just I haven't been like eating more healthy or
anything like or working out anymore. So I was concerned
when I when I noticed that, and yeah, I was fatigued.
Yeah I was peeing a lot, but I don't know,
because I didn't know what the signs were. I was

(07:00):
just like, Okay, this is a phase I'm having right now,
but I'm addressing the problem and it will get better.
But it didn't get better, So I don't know. I
just feel like I was so in it it was
hard to see. And I feel like so that happens
with a lot of people's They wind up in DKA
right like they didn't realize. It's not until it gets
really bad that you know, they're like, oh, okay, maybe

(07:22):
this is something.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
Yeah, and when it's gradual like that, I think it
becomes your norm and you can explain away these things
as adults with busy lives all of it, you know,
or just you know, I'm feeling a bit underweather at
the moment, I think it's completely understandable. Yeah, of course,
how did you feel being kind of confronted maybe isn't
the right word, but the diagnosis of type one and

(07:44):
the information that came with that, in comparison to the
Type two diagnosis. Did you feel very differently or was
there a sense of relief, like do you remember?

Speaker 3 (07:54):
No.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
I think it both sucked. Both diagnoses diagnoses sucked. I
think like I wasn't excited for either of them. I
think at least with Type two, when they were like,
just take this pill, I was like, okay, all I oh,
I have I have Type two diybies. I just need
to take a pill, like it's that simple. So yeah,
I mean maybe that was just like, oh, I'm just
popping these pills every day. It's like it's it's managed.

(08:17):
And then with Type one, when I first got insulin,
like that was a big moment, A big scary moment,
an emotional moment. I cried. I was afraid to inject myself.
This was a new normal taking a pill. I'd taken advil,
I you know, I'd taken pills before, but an injectable
a needle, that's scary, having to do it yourself. That

(08:40):
was the first time I ever had to inject myself
with something or put a needle through my skin. So
so that was scary. And then I guess, yeah, hearing
that I would need to take insulin with all of
my meals that was another layer of like what do
I have to do? Like I'm thirty years old, Like

(09:02):
how do I No, I shouldn't have to do this.
I'm so young. It felt surreal to be told that
it was a whole world that I didn't know existed.

Speaker 1 (09:13):
Did you have any connections? I'm just conscious that you
were diagnosed as an adult, which is a story that's
quite different from mine. So as an adult who's kind
of very independent, living across a different side of the
country to your family, did you have any kind of
reference point for what Type one diabetes was. Did you
have any connections that could help you kind of Obviously

(09:37):
online is one thing, but going through this day to
day and needing kind of that support of family or friends,
were you able to access that.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
I feel very fortunate to have had a few people
in my life that had Type one and I never
really knew much about it. It was not something we've
talked about. But as soon as I was diagnosed, within days,
I was texting all of them because I didn't want
to overburden any of them with questions. So I was
like I could go to each one of them for

(10:08):
different questions that I feel like cater to that there
are my relationship with them. I mean one of my
friends that has Type one actually one of these people
very close friend. So this added a whole new layer
to our friendship, which is kind of awesome. But but
the other few we weren't as close. But it was
like so when I worked with, so when I met
on a dating app, so when I went on dates
with and then my best friend. Between all of these people,

(10:31):
I was able to engage with them and be like,
you know, what's the tech you're using, who's the doctor
you're seeing? And I got my ENDO from one of them.
I got I was told about open source DIY systems,
aid systems. It wouldn't be like I wouldn't have started
that if it weren't for this friend that told me,
you're really techy, you should look into that, you know,

(10:53):
automated insulin system. And then I talked to another guy
who's gay, who I had met him on a dating app,
and I asked them about like dating and how's that feel,
you know, confidence and insecurities there and how do you
manage these things in different situations. So I'm so thankful

(11:13):
I had some community built in and we could all
talk about this thing that we never spoke about before
because it just it wasn't a point of conversation in
our relationship, and it wasn't really a norm. They didn't
seem to be always talking about it either in anyway right.

Speaker 1 (11:33):
And it strikes me there, from what you've said and
the way you kind of instinctively approached it, that you
have this innate curiosity and a quest to find information,
which I think for a lot of people can be
very overwhelming to even know where to begin to approach.
And it's amazing that you had those sources of support.

(11:53):
Was there ever a point where between the information you
were getting online, the information you were getting from an endo,
the information you were getting from friends about everything from
aid which a lot of people don't come into contact
with for a while two things like dating and all
of this is type one, as everyone listening knows. Did
that curiosity help or did it ever? Was there a

(12:16):
time where it was just like, Wow, this is overwhelming.

Speaker 2 (12:21):
It was overwhelming at first, but not because of the technology,
but because of this new lifestyle I was going to
have to follow, like carb counting and monitoring activity and
all of these lifestyle things. The technology excited me I
mean it did from day one. When I had that

(12:42):
blood glucose monitor, I was like, oh my god, this
is so cool. It uses Bluetooth. Then it sends my
numbers to my phone and I could see a graph.
How cool is that. I didn't realize that I was
living like five years prior, you know, in technology, but
I thought it was cool. So when I heard about
like continuous glucose monitors and that I could track your
glucose every five minute, it's like, I was like, sign
me up. That sounds awesome. And I want to talk

(13:03):
about it, and I want to tell people about it,
and I want to test it out, and I want
to make videos on it. And then oh, there's there's
insulin smart, insulin pens. I want to try that. I
want to test it out, I want to make videos,
insulin pens, aid systems, you name it. I wanted to
get my hands on it so that it could make
my life better. I can ask questions about it, and
then I could create content to help other people understand

(13:27):
it more and go through that learning experience with me.

Speaker 1 (13:31):
Yeah, so jumping into the tech a bit prematurely. I'm
going to kind of dial back in a minute. But
having already built an online presence around technology, how quickly
did this become very type one diabetes focused or diabetes
technology focused? And did you already have an awareness that

(13:52):
not everyone felt like you in terms of being able
to feel comfortable exploring different technology systems, different things out
there that actually you could help because it's something that
you were excited by and enjoyed.

Speaker 2 (14:09):
Yeah, I didn't know much. I knew nearly nothing about
the community and what was out there. I had my
YouTube channel, justin Tech, and I kept doing that separately.
I never brought diabetes content onto that channel because that would,
you know, isolate all of my following that was following

(14:29):
for a very specific reason and not diabetes tech, right,
So I wanted to keep that the way it was.
I continued making content there, But what wound up happening
was that this TikTok that wound up going from justin
tech to diabet Tech, and I just created content only
on TikTok at first, and I did that probably for

(14:49):
at least a year before I started any other pages.
I was just focused on justin Tech as my main thing,
and diabet tech was a hobby. It was just something
like whenever I had an idea for a little video,
I'd make it and post it, and then as it grew,
that's when I eventually kind of flipped it. And then
I started a YouTube channel Diabetech and all of the

(15:12):
other pages that I have now. But as I was
receiving these technologies, yeah, any videos I was making about
these devices and sharing about them was only on TikTok
at first, and it just resonated with people. I was
getting messages of tips on how to use them, or

(15:32):
thank you so much for this video. I feel empowered
to now go where that things like that and this
response and my entire diabet Tech brand has been guided
thanks to the community. I created a content or product
for people to watch, and then they helped mold it

(15:56):
and then allow it to evolve into what it is
today because I've learned learned what the needs are for people,
and I continue to learn what the needs are, and
I continue to ask questions about you know, what do
you want? You know what I'm capable of? What do
you want now? You know? So I try to check
in with everyone often or like read the comments and
find out, you know how I should grow.

Speaker 1 (16:17):
Nice and did it help you process your own diagnosis,
do you think, oh, does it continue to do so? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (16:23):
Oh yeah, absolutely it did very much in the early days,
right whenever I had a question or a scary low
or whatever, or cried or had a breakdown, right like
my first bad low during one of the most fun
weekends Pride in pump Springs and having a really bad low,
and just the traumatic experience that that felt like I

(16:45):
wasn't able to be like having fun with everyone because
I was having this terrible experience. Being able to make
a video about that and then hear that I'm not
alone and that other people have experienced that too and
tell me that was there very helpful, and then being
able to provide that for other people has been helpful too.

Speaker 1 (17:05):
Going from that quite vulnerable time, and I think type
one diabetes well personally in my experience, continues to make
me vulnerable at points when I'm least expecting it. But
that particularly intense period of learning where you're feeling things
for the first time, like the hypos, etc. That you've
never felt before, you know, thirty years into your existence.
You sit here in front of me today, very confident,

(17:27):
very comfortable, And I'm not saying that you don't have insecurities,
and I'm sure will come on to those, But you're
entenced in the community with fellow type ones, with diabetes companies.
You're in the business of diabetes for people listening who
wish they could feel kind of a bit more empowered
or a bit more confident about this thing that is
frustrating and challenging, Like, how have you built that confidence

(17:52):
in what strikes me as a relatively short space of time.

Speaker 2 (17:56):
Well, I haven't just built this confidence while having diabetes.
I've been building it my entire life. So I've said
it before that I feel very grateful for being diagnosed
so late in life, because I had the years to
build up the confidence in dating and relationships and saying

(18:19):
yes or no to things that I don't want to
do well before this diagnosis. And I've learned that communication
is helpful in relationships and growth. And so all of
these lessons that I've learned over time, including other health issues,

(18:45):
have given me context and the growth I needed in
order to feel comfortable talking about all of this stuff.
I am this. I'm also this type of person. I
like to talk about things with people like this, Like

(19:05):
I don't feel the need to hide these experiences from people,
and I think I'm I think I feel more empowered
to share these because of the effect that I've seen.
I don't think I didn't set off to create content
that takes people into a vulnerable moment, but I knew

(19:27):
that I could get a lot by posting it online
and get some support. And then the more I found
that it was helping other people, I felt more confident
in creating these videos. There are moments where I, you know,
I make a video and it's very vulnerable, and I
and I and I'm going to post it. I'm like, oh,

(19:47):
it's a little weird that, like some companies that I
work with on a very professional level, like are going
to see this. But it's like it's who I am
and what I do, and I'm fine with that. And
I would never post something that I didn't feel really comfortable, like,
I would never make something that I didn't think felt right.
So I don't know if I'm able to help at

(20:08):
least one person tackle some sort of struggle or obstacle
they have with this video that took me fifteen seconds
in a vulnerable space space, like I think it's worth making.

Speaker 1 (20:22):
Yeah, absolutely, And it's the humanness that we need when
we're talking about diabetes tech and what it can do
for us. There are humans attached to these devices, and
you know, that's a really important reminder for anyone involved
with creating these tools. With the ux of these tools. Yes,

(20:45):
the tools are amazing, but it's about what they do
for our lives and how they make us feel a
lot of the time. So, yeah, you're absolutely doing a
service there. I'm wondering as someone as someone who was
diagnosed as an adult, and you don't have to answer
this speaking of vulnerability, if it is too vulnerable. Was

(21:06):
there a feeling of having to let go of a
justin that existed pre type one? Or is this more
like an evolution where you've added this layer of like
as you say, you had health things before, it's like
greater perspective, layers of resilience, things like that.

Speaker 2 (21:25):
Yeah, that's probably the hard part about getting diagnosed. I
think later in life maybe and maybe at any age
where you were able to remember a large portion of
your life and like the way things were before. I
do look at photos and in a way where I'm like,
this is before diagnosis, and this is after diagnosis, and

(21:47):
I hate that I do that. I don't hate that
I do that. It's just the way I look at photos.
It's a combination of diabetes and then long covid, which
is another thing I've struggled with, which is like pretty
in line with the diabetes, like they affect each other
so much, and that's something that I'm growing through and

(22:10):
hoping to get better from. And it's it's been a journey.
But I don't feel and as it relates to the
diabetes goes a hand in hand with the lung covid too.
Though I don't feel as free as I used to.
I feel like I'm in like invisible shackles, handcuffs, and

(22:34):
that I can't just go be the way I used to.
And that's hard, you know. I look at pictures of
myself at Coachella before diagnosis, and I just like, and
I see myself smiling in those photos, and it just
hurts a little bit because I know, like how I

(22:55):
felt in those moments. I felt like I could just
do anything and you smartly and not have repercussions, you know,
And so that's been an adjustment for me for sure.
That's been I don't feel like even a even a

(23:15):
night out on a Friday is the same as it
used to be. So that's tough.

Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yeah, thank you for sharing that. I appreciate that. And
I'm sure a lot of people listening who were diagnosed
as an adult can absolutely resonate. And you know, hey,
you on that one. What has helped you move through
kind of adjusting to this condition the new quote unquote normal,

(23:41):
And how do you stay focused on the more positive
aspects of things?

Speaker 2 (23:48):
Well, what's helped me move through? It would be just
rolling with the punches, becoming more of a spontaneous person
or reactive person. I'm very proactive and you and it's
helpful to be proactive with diabetes. I mean you should
be proactive with diabetes, but also it innately is a

(24:10):
reactive disease. You have to react to things because you
could just walk outside and Lisbon and five minutes later
the hills made you go low and you weren't prepared.
This has happened many times.

Speaker 1 (24:23):
So you just have to be like, do not play around.

Speaker 2 (24:26):
They don't, they don't, and so you have to just
be like, all right, like this is the situation. We're
going to slow down. We may sit down, eat some
low snacks and chill and relax. You have to take
life a bit slower, which is something that I've always needed.
So it's not the worst thing that's happened to me

(24:49):
in that case, Like, I'm glad that diabetes has helped
me slow down a bit, and I I think what's
helpful for me is communicating to the people I love
and the people I spend a lot of time with
how this disease works, because then they will know how

(25:14):
to handle those situations and not be like, oh, Justin
wants to slow down again. If they understand what like
that I'm not in control of that, then then they'll
be fine. Right, They're not going to make a fuss
about that because it's out of my control. So I
think that that's really important for people in order to

(25:37):
feel like you're not burdening people and slowing people down,
which is often a feeling that you feel, and then
when you're low, you're getting even more paranoid and anxious.
By communicating with these people about how diabetes works and
how activity and food and insulin and sugar all of
these things are part of it that will make you

(25:58):
and has made me the most comfortable in these situations.
It's not perfect. There's still moments where I feel these insecurities.
But especially because my friends watch my content, They've learned
so much and they'll even they'll even be proactive and

(26:18):
be like, you know, like are you did you pre
bowl as yet? Or are you know? Or we're gonna
where the food's going to be here in twenty minutes
if you want a pre bowl liss or like I
got some snacks where you like really supportive things. Yeah,
they My friends often surmize me with the things that
they say. And I have some good friends like they
don't say things. They also learn like what not to
say through my videos. So I feel really fortunate to

(26:40):
have these people in my life that go out of
their way to watch some of my content and learn
and apply them in our friendship.

Speaker 1 (26:49):
Yeah, that's lovely. Have you found it easier to let
people help you? You struck me as someone very independent
and a go getter has that kind of response being like, oh, okay,
they do understand this to a point, or they are
helping me, or this it is okay to ask for help.
Has that has that kind of become easier?

Speaker 2 (27:11):
If you like, yeah, it's tough to ask for help
for me. I think I want to be as independent
as possible. But you kind of have to be okay
with asking help for help, like otherwise you'll pass out
literally like and then, and that's not going to help anyone.
So you have to just feel okay with asking people

(27:35):
for what you need in the moment, if you really
need it. And so I try to put myself in
the situation where I won't have to ask for help.
I try to carry more low snacks than I think
I'll need something, you know, whenever I can. I try
to think ahead and put myself in these situations. But yeah,

(27:55):
diabetes can be so unpredictable too. You do need to
just be okay to ask for help, or you know,
let a friend know, Hey, I'm really I like can't
talk right now. Let's just can we just sit down,
or can do you mind like going to grab me
some orange juice? I need to just sit down for
a second. Or I was on a hike in Lisbon
and someone you know, I ran out of my little snacks.

(28:16):
I didn't realize the hike would be so intense, and
I had two people in the group give me snacks.
I didn't ask and I felt that accepting them, but
I did because I knew I needed them, But it
still felt like I was relying on these people and
that if they weren't there, I wouldn't have been Okay.

(28:37):
So I don't like that feeling, but you accept it.

Speaker 1 (28:43):
Yeah, And I found I've had similar experiences halfway up
mountains and on boats and goodness knows where. But I
think in that moment, as I've shrunk into myself and
maybe given myself a bit of a minute about how
did you get yourself into this situation or whatever within
the blur of a hypo or whatever it is, actually,

(29:04):
then the best of humanity comes through and I'm like,
this is unbelievable, Like people are good, And I kind
of take a lot of heart in that reminder. I
don't know, because it's not about me. In that moment,
I can just, yeah, take some comfort in that in
what is an uncomfortable situation. Maybe not at the time,
but certainly pretty soon after my clucas has come back.

Speaker 2 (29:25):
Yeah, yeah, Yeah, it's hard to think straight, like you're
you're the paranoian. Anxiety is rushing in, like these thoughts
are not real, Like don't let them control you. Remind
yourself this will pass. I think that that's important.

Speaker 1 (29:41):
Do you ever get that in a hypo where you're like,
will this feeling ever end? What your hyposymptoms like? Are they?

Speaker 2 (29:47):
They know it will end. I know it will end
because it ends every time. It always ends. I mean
they can get. The worst is like, you know, sweating
just close to feeling like passing out, very anxious and
paranoid and you're so nervous and you're scared dizzy. I

(30:11):
think those are about the that's like the worst skeats,
which is pretty bad. But if I keep eating those snacks,
I'll be fine. And I try to do the math
like I try to do the math as best as
I can, is like how many grams are going in?
And I'm I've gotten really good at not like not

(30:31):
overdoing it, which is you need to also remind yourself like,
don't overdo it, like you're gonna be okay.

Speaker 1 (30:39):
Yeah. That took me like literally decades, probably more because
they weren't cgms, so I didn't realize I was overcorrecting.
But looking back now, I'm like, that is so obvious.
I'm staring every time, just on the road caase stuff
This episode of Type one on one is sponsored by
dex Com Use It. DEXCOMCGM has given me so much

(31:02):
confidence to make informed diabetes treatment decisions in the moment.
You can choose to wear it on your arm or
your abdomen, which is so great to give those sites
a break. And all dex commcgms have the share and
Follow feature even when connected to an insulin pump, so
family and friends can see your glucose levels and get alerts,
giving that extra bit of support when needed. Head to

(31:23):
dexcom dot com to request a free Dexcom one plus sample.
Always read the user manual for important product aspects and limitations.
Talk to your doctor for diabetes management terms and conditions
and terms of use. So let's talk about your journey
with the chech personally before we go on to kind

(31:45):
of helping others. What's the journey been like for you
with tools and management? Did you start on pens as
you mentioned, you know, you're introduced to things like automated
incident delivery very quickly. What's the journey been for you?

Speaker 2 (32:00):
Yeah, so I started on like insulin pens, just just
typical ones, no brains to it, and then three months
into diagnosis, and at this point I would I had
my ENDO and my diabetes educator, and my diabetes educator
played an integral role in preparing me for all of

(32:24):
the tech and getting me excited about it and telling
me about all the things that were available because she
knew what I was doing already and then wanted me
to continue doing it and try out all these things.
So three months in I started using a smart insulin
pen in the end pen, and that was an awesome
device because it had it's it's an insulin pen that

(32:45):
connects to your phone and has like the brains of
a pump there's it has all of your settings and
can give you can tell you how much insulin to
take based off of your glucose level, so it's kind
of giving you this like aid a little bit, but
like only whenever you like go to inject, and then
you can do corrections too. So that I use for

(33:09):
three months, and then I started on omnipod, the omnipod
that didn't have automated insulin, and used that for one
month to train myself on how to use it and
also for my diabetes educator to understand what my settings
are on that pump. Then after that month was when

(33:32):
I started on diy loop, which is an open source
app that's created by the community with automated insulin delivery,
and at the time it was one of the it
was the only automated system or maybe Tandem may have

(33:54):
had THEIRS at that point, but Omnipod didn't. Omnipod Vibe
wasn't out yet or like was a it was about
to release. Yeah, yeah, it wasn't out for another like
eight months. So I was able to get omnipod with
automated insulin with this system, and then there are a
bunch of other settings that are really cool in it,
and I talk all about it on my channel. People
go to my YouTube they can like watch videos about

(34:14):
it and learn and so that was a really cool
way to get into it. Though I got like kind
of the the best automated system out there that was
on you know, you just had to find online and
my diabetes educator really helped me out with that. And
then since then, I've tried a lot of systems because
that's kind of what my main goal is now is

(34:35):
to try all the systems and be able to talk
about them. So I tried another open source app called Trio.
I've used tandem Moobi. I recently just did that and
put out a bunch of content on that. And then
I also have tried Omnipod five with the iPhone app,
which is awesome. So and then next I want to
there's a bunch of pumps I want to try. I

(34:56):
want to try out the Twist, Metronic and Beta Bionics
are a few that I'd like to try out.

Speaker 1 (35:01):
Next with one of those pumps and these different companies
and everything. Where do you recommend people start if they're
curious about pumps? What sort of questions should they be
seeking to find answers to, and like where to begin
apart from your YouTube channel obviously.

Speaker 2 (35:20):
Yeah, it was like the first place you gotta go
do is diabetic? Well, I think that there are a
lot of things you need to keep in mind, like
form factor, right, Like you want to search the different
you want to like think about what your lifestyle is
and how these different insulin pumps in a form factor
way would interact with that. Like you know which ones

(35:43):
are waterproof, which ones are tube bliss ones, which ones
are tubed, which one can it be adhere to the
body in different areas. Which one has the best algorithm
for me and my lifestyle and the features that allow
me to work out really hard and and seamlessly, you know,
adjust for that. Which ones have a system that allows

(36:08):
me to forget about my diabetes more. They're you know,
different systems you interact with differently, and some may be
able to be you know, more in the back of
your mind. Like with data bionics, you don't have to
carb count. It's a different way of thinking. So there's
a lot of different there's a lot of different things
to keep into account when you're when you're looking when

(36:29):
it comes to you know, the physical look of the
device and the feel and the way you're wearing it,
and then the system, and then an algorithm and the
and the feature that that algorithm brings, and then which
phone it works with. There's a bunch of things to
look into and videos on my page and like comparison
videos can help you kind of figure out, you know,

(36:50):
at least a good way to start to see, like, oh, right,
which one should I consider first? Which one you know
kind of goes with my lifestyle best?

Speaker 1 (36:58):
Yeah? And three your trials for you personally, has anything
surprised you about those things you mentioned, the different features,
the different algorithms, where you've thought, oh, this doesn't suit
me quite so much, and maybe give us a reason
as to why, because I think, you know, there's obvious
like tube less and tubed that are clearer, but there's

(37:19):
a lot of I think, lifestyle things, you know, having
to buy new clothes for pumps or does it fit
under like am I big exercises? Like you said, has
anything surprised you that you've sort of been confronted with?

Speaker 2 (37:33):
Yeah, a couple of things. I think that I'm surprised
by how limited most FDA cleared pumps are when it
comes to exercise features. When I run, I become very
insolent sensitive, and if I don't put on or change

(37:58):
my settings in a certain way an hour before my run,
I will go low every time. And the only system
that's been perfect, nearly perfect at preventing me from going
low and keeping me in range in automode is our
open source apps. And so I think that FDA cleared systems,

(38:23):
all of them, have a bit of a ways to
go to get there, and I'm hopeful that they get there.
Tantem just made big moves with their new algorithm control
like q plus which allows you to be in temp
basil in automode, which is great, and they also have
a activity feature you can turn on too. I tried
that out a bit. It wasn't perfect, but it was better.

(38:45):
And then another thing that surprised me recently, what with
form factor, was I tried Moby for a few months
and it was the first time I had ever used
a tube pump after using omnipod for three years over
three and it was a challenge for me to wear

(39:08):
this pump and have tubing because of all the ways
that the tubing interfered with daily activities, whether that's using
the toilet, showering, swimming, getting dressed, sex like whatever. It

(39:28):
is like all of these different areas of life where
I was like, oh, I have to hold my pump
as I'm trying to put underwear on, or I have
to take this off, you know, as I'm going to
in the shower. I need to charge this. I need
to charge my pancreas like I wasn't used to that.
And there are so many pros to this device too,

(39:51):
and two pumps in general, but for me, I've become
it's become so normal to wear a device that I
just can move around with and not realize as it's there.
It's just kind of on me and I and having
a pump that would pull and tug and need to
be held in oftentimes and often in different situations was

(40:12):
challenging for me. But I'm glad I did it, and
I'm going to continue trying out tube pumps, but I'm
not a fan of tubes.

Speaker 1 (40:22):
And I think it's important that it's okay for us
to feel that feeling, because like, I didn't go on
a pump for so long because I just was so
put off by the idea of having something attached to me.
This was pre CGM when I think it was much
less of a common thing as well, just where I
was in my life stage my own personal confidence around

(40:43):
my body. And I'm completely okay with saying that it's
not a vanity thing. I mean it kind of is,
and that's okay. Do you know what I mean That
I didn't want the idea. I didn't like the idea
of something attached to me, So thank you for saying that.
And I think these are really practical considerations as well.

Speaker 2 (41:01):
And that was another thing, like I hate to say it.
But when I was wearing my Speedo on the beach,
I didn't feel sexy with the moby the way I
was wearing it. That the tubing coming out of the speedo,
the adhesive patch with a tube coming out of it,
it just didn't work for me and what I was
used to. And I'm so glad that people can have

(41:24):
found ways to wear it in ways that they do
feel confident. And yes, I would get confident over time
with it, but I just in those first in those
few months that I wore it, I just never felt
like it was my style what I wanted to wear.

Speaker 1 (41:42):
Yeah, there are different types of car people. You might
use an Android or an iPhone. It's you know, people
wear different styles of clothing. It's within this world that
we've got. We are entitled to have our opinions and
feelings about them. Should every one who has the access

(42:02):
to it be using diabetes technology in your opinion?

Speaker 2 (42:07):
I mean CGM? Heck yes do if you have the
ability to wear CGM and you're not, you need to
look at that. You need to reevaluate at that. I
think because even though yes, you have all this access

(42:30):
to information that you didn't have before and maybe that
will make you anxious. You can train yourself to not
be anxious about it and really just use it and
listen for the alerts because they are so helpful and
will prevent you from having more lows, will keep you
in range more often, and you'll feel better physically. So yes,

(42:52):
you should really look at that. If you have access
pumps and smart pens. I think have completely changed my life.
Even though I went to them pretty quickly, I know
what things were before and having to inject all the

(43:12):
time or not have automated insulin and not have this
cushion protecting me from highs and lows. Having that has
been really helpful. And I think that everyone can find
something that will be helpful to them. And if you

(43:32):
try one and it doesn't work, well, don't just shut
yourself off to all of it. Look at what else
is there. Create a plan to allow yourself to try
a few different ones. Try on you know, demos, whatever
it is, have the conversations and the research, but it
will make your life easier. And you even if you're
listening and you're like, no, it won't like but you've

(43:54):
never tried it. You don't understand until you do it.
Did you what was your Like, I know this, you're
interviewing me, but like, did you have that you know
switch where you're like, WHOA.

Speaker 1 (44:08):
From pens to.

Speaker 2 (44:10):
Before automated, before automated?

Speaker 1 (44:12):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. My first instant pump, I
went straight onto omnipod because it was the tube Bliss
that kind of tipped me over the line in terms
of let's give this a go. And my thinking was always,
if you don't like it, you can go back to PENS.
That's what got me over the line, and it was
the tube Luss, Like my consultant kind of held out

(44:34):
the two options that were available at my hospital at
the time, and it was one tubed one and this
white box was just like unfolded in his hand and
I was like, oh my god. I didn't even know
that existed. And from there I was like, yeah, okay
that adjustment. When it actually came to go onto the pump,
I was actually quite naive. I am someone who feels

(44:56):
my way through and I thought I could do the same,
but I maybe should have done a bit more, re said,
And I was embedded in the community at the time,
you know, so I was probably more up to date
with the possibilities of insulin pumps than other people. But yeah,
I didn't know until I went into that appointment that
I was about to give up my long acting insulin,
for example, And just like in terms of getting used

(45:17):
to how slowly that's I remember my first meal and
the drip of the dose, the bolus just taking forever
compared to my pen and I was like, yeah, what's
going on here, But you know, it's obviously accurate dosing,
But yeah, it took. It took. Like I got very
frustrated at first because the settings were off, and it
just goes to show with these like little tweaks that

(45:39):
can place it in place, and then it clicked and
off I went. And then I was expecting the same
kind of difficulties going on to automated insulin delivery, and
I just like, and I know this isn't everyone's experience,
so apologies for that, but it just clicked. And I
think that's maybe because my basil settings were down from
being on the previous iteration. But I just skipped out

(46:02):
of that door watching it make these decisions on my behalf,
and it was like wild to just look at it
doing all of that work that I've been doing for
so long.

Speaker 2 (46:12):
Yeah, And I feel like oftentimes people will try something
for a month and be like, no, didn't work for me.
I tried whatever, And that's not how diabetes tech works.
It takes a lot of It takes time months, maybe
three months, to really nail down settings and working with
your team an educator who can help you fine tune

(46:34):
all of that. Even with MOBI, I tried MOBI for
like it was two and a half months. I think
I actually needed three months, maybe four months to really
get it down, but I didn't have that time because
the return period that I was thirty was ninety days,
so I had to give it back. But I wish
I had more time with it, just to nail down
the algorithm more. But just know that really is that,

(46:59):
Like it will take time to feel normal and to
feel secure with it.

Speaker 1 (47:07):
Yeah, and the confidence thing I think takes some getting
used to as well. Like I tried a bunch of
different sites and figured out which ones I liked versus
which ones I didn't, and then I kind of stuck
to a mini rotation within the ones that made me
feel better than the other ones. You know. It's those
kinds of things I think yeah, I give yourself a
bit of time with that. And actually, I think any

(47:33):
kind of new tech, my experience has always been, well, this,
this is exciting, this is interesting, this is different. Like
we live in a techie world, Like I'm not, you know,
super super technology focused. Obviously it's your passion, but even
for me, I'm like, oh, this is fun. What does
do I didn't have this before. You know, you spoke
about being intrigued by the glucometer. I remember, like back

(47:55):
in the nineties picking out a blood glucose meter from
a magazine and being so excited because it was jade green.
That was the only difference from my one that the
hospital had given me on diagnosis, and I could not
wait to get my hands on this jade green glucometer.
We just love like the new and the shiny. So

(48:16):
I'm wondering of all the announcements and releases and trials
that you've got your eye over at the moment, Like
what are you most excited about that's being worked on?
And you spoke about the hope of things continuing to
improve in the way that they are, Like, what's what's
exciting for you?

Speaker 2 (48:33):
And is your question what devices that have been announced
that are coming soon or is it like technologies that
could come in the future.

Speaker 1 (48:42):
Yeah, I think technologies that could like where all this
is going essentially.

Speaker 2 (48:46):
Yeah. Yeah, So technology wise, I have reported on work
that's been put into a combined CGM and pump, and
I'm very hopeful for that because putting having the amount
of technology that we need to rely on from CGM

(49:08):
and pump to one only one device that can fail,
you know, one device that can fall off, whatever it
may be, that will make things just so much more simple.
So I think that that would be a great technology.
I know that that is the direction many other companies
are looking at. I don't think it's like a right

(49:31):
around the corner. I think that there's a few iterations
of devices that are coming first. But the nia A
pump from Pharmacens, which is the smaller company that has
this technology. They have a few pumps that they've put
out demo units that I've seen and wrote about, and

(49:54):
those are cool, and I'm hoping that that's lighting a
flame under all the other companies are like, Okay, we
need to we need to make this. So that's a technology.
I'd really like to see one other like it's not
a technology, but it's an innovation that I'd like to see,
which would essentially like kill all diabetes. Tech we wouldn't

(50:17):
need anymore. Would be smart insulin, insulin that only activates
when it's needed, so you would just take like say
one injection a week, and you'd give yourself, you know,
five hundred I don't know, one hundred units of insulin
right that one hundred units of insulin would only be
used when it's needed. It will only activate when it

(50:37):
senses it needs to be and then it will just
like filter through your system. So whether that's one shot
a day or one shot a week, like that would
be it. That would be all you needed and you're
not wearing anything, you're not testing your blood sugar because
it's managing it. Like that would be amazing, So you know,
I want that.

Speaker 1 (50:51):
I actually can't fathom it, like I believe it because
you know, these things are out there, and I've been
so kind of founded by the progress that's been made
since I was diagnosed, but just not the day to
day of this all, like you know, yeah, oh wow, Yeah, Okay,

(51:11):
well that's hopeful for everyone. Well we'll hold on to that.
So yeah, speaking of hope and possibility and adventure, let's
talk about the digital nomad moment. So you're traveling full
time right now, and you know you're continuing with all
the content creation and the interviews and the work stuff.

(51:35):
So tell me where the idea came about festival in
terms of packing up.

Speaker 2 (51:41):
Yeah, well, I never planned to travel for as long
as I have. So I was living in New York
the last three years, and I think just the city
had become a lot to handle, especially through like long
COVID fatigue and feeling like I wasn't getting like the
best bang for my buck living there and not doing much.
So I needed a break from the city. I needed

(52:02):
a time and a better place to heal. So I
put all my stuff in storage, and I was like,
I have a few trips coming up, Like why not
just use those trips as a means to like have housing.
And so I kind of bopped around from place to place,
and then that led me to December when I went

(52:24):
to Mexico City. And when I was in Mexico City,
I wound up through a friend meeting someone who was
traveling the world with a group of people. They were
all going originally through a company that you know, and
you traveled with Remote Year. Yeah, well, the week before

(52:44):
they went to leave, Remote Year went bankrupt and their
trip was canceled. So this group of people decided to
run the trip themselves and reach out to all the
city managers in every country they were going to. And
I met this guy and he's like, yeah, we're going
to medicine next. People are like, friends are going, like

(53:07):
you could go? And I had already wanted to go
there next in my journeys, like I had really been
thinking about it. And when he said that, I was
like okay, and he's like, he's like, I never thought
you would actually go. So I that's where it started.
I went there and then I loved the group and
mesh really well with them. So from from Colombia, I

(53:28):
went to Brazil. From Brazil, I came here to Lisbon,
and then from next I go to Valencia and I
may you know, meet up with them again throughout the year,
and it's been a really just spontaneous situation that I
did not know what was going to happen. I just did.

Speaker 1 (53:46):
I mean, I love it, but I mean Mexico is
where I started my nomad adventure. With remote Year and
then I went I went to Guatemala, I went to
Columbia and Peru. That was my remote year portion of
the journey. So yeah, I changed my life and I'm
so excited to have met another Type one on this
road or be it in a slightly different guise, but yeah,
it's incredible. Did you find once you'd packed up and

(54:09):
made that original kind of break to Mexico City that
actually making the next decisions in relation to being someone
with Type one diabetes actually you've done the hard bit
or was that a bigger consideration in terms of, Okay,
how am I going to carry all my supplies for
this amount of time and those kinds of questions.

Speaker 2 (54:29):
Yeah, I think it was only like it was a
quick thought. It was like, all right, like I'm going
to do this, and how am I going to get
my medication? Okay, I guess I'll just get a three
month supply and then I you know, I'll go to
New York at this date and then I'll pick up
another three months. Like that's really the main consideration when

(54:51):
it came to like am I going to do this?
Like cause I don't know, I feel like I can
I can be or go anywhere. I just have to
have supplies with me. This is my new home. My
home has a closet with supplies here, you know. So,
and then worst case scenarios, I can walk down the
block to the pharmacy and I can get some insulin

(55:12):
for forty four euros of ale I just asked, or
a censor that last two weeks for fifty euros, or
a box of one hundred needles for seven euros. A
lot of this would be free if I had insurance here,
but it's cheaper than even It's cheaper than America even
with insurance, right.

Speaker 1 (55:33):
Yeah, And I think you know, when you only know
your own routine and your own reality with type one diabetes,
of course this is intimidating, especially if you're going to
a country with a language barrier. But like you like,
one of the first things I would do when I
got to a new place was scope out of the
pharmacy and see what types of insulin were available and
what was on offer on the shelf, and you know,

(55:53):
whether I needed a prescription for anything more out of
curiosity as well. And then I realized, like everyone, there
are people teche diabetes in every country, like there are
ways to do this, and it made me more relaxed.
And I don't know, maybe you can speak a bit
to your experiences. The more I did and the more
I overcame, including dramatic and drastic high post halfway up

(56:16):
mountains where you know, there's a brief moment where I
thought I might need it to be helicopter down, but
you sort of have. I mean to me, it really
proved what I was capable of, and none of it
needed to be perfect. I don't know what your relationship
is to perfection, but like how this experience has been
for you.

Speaker 2 (56:36):
Well, what I was going to say is like those
are the challenging moments, like the adventuring moments. Those would
be challenging anywhere, even if I stayed home in New York.
But I went up state and I went hiking, right,
So it's not the activity of traveling or being in
your city that's challenging. It's the things you're doing that

(56:56):
you don't typically do, eating new foods that you don't
need to know to carb count, or eating and then
going on a two hour walk or jaunt that you
just you know you're not doing every day. You just
need to think ahead with all of that stuff, going
on a hike, going, you know, to the beach, and
then you're like, oh, to get to the beach, you

(57:16):
have to hike through this jungle by the way, and
you didn't know and you're like, oh, well great, let
me figure that out. But learning like, oh, ask the
questions ahead of time, Like there's been a lot of
lessons that you learn with each new adventure, whether you're
traveling or not.

Speaker 1 (57:34):
Yeah, And that was kind of a lot of my
reasoning as well. Not that I ever thought twice about
packing up and going from a diabetes perspective that was
never going to stop me, but you know, I went
through a period where I was completely kind of contained.
I sort of routined myself, cotton walled myself up, and
the quality of my life like it was. It was boring.

(57:55):
And on top of that, I was still having hypos,
I was still miscalculated my carbs. I was like, I
might as well get out there and live and live
the life I want to live, because this stuff kind
of happens anyway. I don't know if you've found that.

Speaker 2 (58:09):
Exactly, It happens anyway. You're gonna eat something you've never eaten,
before at a Brazilian restaurant in New York. Well, then
just go to Brazil and eat the same thing. We
need the same thing, like you know, like you just
I think it's so easy to psych yourself out or
get overwhelmed or scared about something that's new, but you

(58:31):
need to remind yourself that people without diabetes are feeling
the same way about the same thing, and just maybe
in a different way, but they're nervous about it in
just another way, because doing things that are different and
challenging yourself is not a comfortable thing. There's risks, there's excitement,

(58:51):
and it's about again, like I said earlier, rolling with
the punches and listening to yourself and thinking ahead. And
you can do anything as long as you're doing that.

Speaker 1 (59:06):
Yeah. Nice, And what's the kind of strangest, weirdest, most
surreal experience you've had? And maybe type one diabetes came
into the picture, maybe it didn't, but I think just
in general, since you've been on the move.

Speaker 2 (59:22):
Let me think about that for a second. Besides, like
spontaneously just like okay, I'll travel the world with you. No, yeah, yeah,
I mean I think that I guess one of the
biggest lessons that I've had is I kind of I
guess said this, but I've gone on some incredible hikes,

(59:47):
but I didn't realize how challenging the hikes would be
with diabetes, because I don't think I've done in the
four years that I've had diabetes, I don't think I
have actually done many adventure hikes during that time period.
But because it was COVID also, so the first year

(01:00:08):
of my diagnosis was COVID roughly, so that leaves three years,
and then those three years, I wasn't like doing all
these adventures. So I've gotten to do the coolest you know,
hikes up to a cliff, overlooking a beach, down, having
to hold onto trees as you're like going through places,

(01:00:30):
finding waterfalls, going swimming in those waterfalls, almost slipping and
like or doing things that like you're like, I could
die if I slipped the wrong way. Diabetes aside, and
that's been so cool and diabetes wise is like I
have underestimated low snacks to bring on these hikes, and

(01:00:57):
the reason why they were underestimated is because I had
underestimated the activity level of the hike. So you know, yeah,
I brought forty five grams worth of sugar. Well, that
doesn't matter much because if you set your day, if
you just go and do this hike and you have
no idea, it's going to be intense, You're going to
be low, and then you likely will go low and

(01:01:19):
low and low and low again. You can make changes
in your treatment a little bit after and do the
best you can, but I feel like it's so easy
to set yourself up for a disaster if you don't
plan an hour ahead your treatment. So yeah, So those
are some of the coolest things I've done, these hikes

(01:01:41):
and outlooks, but they're also some of the most challenging
things I've done with diabetes.

Speaker 1 (01:01:47):
Yeah, I think I would agree that I did so
much more than I have a thought possible. But the
times where I was really like, oh, is because I've
been living in cities for so much of my life life.
Actually going out into very remote places combined with physical activity,
like you say hiking, is where I've been quite kind

(01:02:11):
of confronted, and not in the vulnerability way, in a
in a very physical like that.

Speaker 2 (01:02:17):
Shit, there is dropping and there's no there's no corner
DELI to like go grab some candy. Exactly you are.
It's desolate. You only have what you have in your bag,
and thank goodness you have friends that have snacks.

Speaker 1 (01:02:31):
Yeah, there you go. Okay, So is there any kind
of travel gadget or someone who's into kind of techy things,
not necessarily diabetes technology, but is there a travel gadget
that you've been really like, Wow, I this is this
is a hat? Maybe one or two?

Speaker 2 (01:02:47):
Yeah, there definitely are. I'm like looking around my place
right now. I'm like, what's so cool that I have
that's a travel Oh dang, I can't show you. Well,
I don't know if it's a travel yes, okay, so
I don't travel around with like my nice camera on
these trips, I bring my iPhone. So right now I'm

(01:03:09):
using my iPhone to film and it's pretty good quality.
And the way I'm able to use that to film
and it connects to my computer through continuity camera. I'm
using this little clip called a mag safe clip. It's
from Belkin, and it allows you to mag save it
to your phone and then clip it to the top
of your laptop and use that as your web camera.

(01:03:33):
And like, this is my favorite device, especially on the go.
I've kind of like really put together my my equipment
for traveling on the go. I've got my Sure microphone
that is USBC. I've got an el Gatto keylight that
is like super flat. It's heavy, but that is really helpful.
So like between these three devices, I'm able to create

(01:03:55):
my own little studio and that's pretty compact. But this clip,
I think it's like twenty five bucks, but it's worth
every dollar, every eu ro and it's great for like
video conferences or recording anything really. And you can like
have your notes on your laptop as you're filming too,
and you can shoot in both vertical and in horizontal.

(01:04:18):
So and then I'm also wearing this withings watch, which
I love. It's like a fitness tracker and it's tracking
all my steps, my heart rate, activity distance, body temperature.
And you also get alerts from your phone. So when
I get like highs and lows, I get high and
low alerts on it, which is pretty cool.

Speaker 1 (01:04:37):
Yeah, I love it. The business of content creation in
the diabetes world, I think people will be really fascinated
by it, and especially in relation to being on the road,
if we can just dive into that just for kind
of interest. I think people you know listening who have
jobs that are very different would be so curious as
to how this is kind of taken off and like

(01:04:59):
whether you have having fun with it? And do you
have a typical day? What's your favorite part of content creation?

Speaker 2 (01:05:06):
Wait? What's the question? Like, what's the question? I was like,
I don't know where to start.

Speaker 1 (01:05:14):
Sorry, I'm conscious of taking up your time. So just
for people who aren't in the world of content creation,
as a diabetes content creator, I do think people are
fascinated by this lifestyle. So like, do you have a
typical day? It seems to me with the content you're
putting out you're having fun with this as well, which

(01:05:36):
is great.

Speaker 2 (01:05:36):
Yeah. Yeah. What I've loved about traveling the way I
am is like I land in each place for a month,
so I am able to create a routine. So in
every place I've gone, I've had a co workspace, and
I think that that's been a pretty important part of
the places I go because I don't want to just
be hanging out in my apartment all day. I don't

(01:05:58):
even like do now when I'm at home, So having
a place where I can go be around people, the
people that I'm traveling with new people that I can
meet has been great. So a typical day, will you know,
I'll start, I'll go to a cafe. I've found a
cafe that allows laptops, because a lot of them in
Lisbon don't, which I like. I like that they're like no, like,

(01:06:21):
look at people, talk to people, make new friends, converse
and have coffee. Don't just open your laptop and use
our space whatever. So I found a place that allows
for laptops. But I've even like I'll eat and drink
my coffee and then I'll take out my laptop after
and like type a little bit, and then I'll leave,
like I'm just still conscious of it, which I like.
Start at a coffee shop. Then I go to the
co workspace. The one here in Lisbon is phenomenal, Like

(01:06:45):
it's just so beautiful the view, and I have a
great lunch for ten euros. They cook all the food
for you, really healthy. And then after, you know, working
at the cowork space, I'll go to the gym and
and then I'll go home and either meet up with
some friends or just chill. And I like a lot

(01:07:05):
of I like just hanging out at home at the
end of the night, and then on days where I'm filming,
I'll still do the cafe in the morning, and then
I'll come back to my apartment and I'll film a
bunch of videos. I try to bulk film. I think
that that's super important in content creation because if you
don't bulk film, you'll spend half of your work time

(01:07:27):
setting up the camera in light. So if you can
set it up and then film as much as you
can during that, just keep changing your shirt and then
like shave in the middle of it, or like do
your hair, you know, whatever it is. So I try
to just bulk film on those days. So I try
to give myself a filming day, like every week one day.

Speaker 1 (01:07:50):
And were you full time content creator before you were
diagnosed or was it something you were doing alongside who
you were.

Speaker 2 (01:07:57):
I worked in Hollywood for almost a deck and then
I started my own brand, Just in Tech, which was
all tech reviews.

Speaker 1 (01:08:06):
What is the coolest thing about working in the diabetes
technology space as a content creator?

Speaker 2 (01:08:14):
I think getting access to the tech earlier, getting embargoed news,
or like being able to go. My favorite thing is
going to the conference is and having more candid conversations
with the people that work at these companies and what

(01:08:36):
they're thinking about on future devices, you know, getting walk
like walked through exactly what these new features mean that access.
I think I really enjoy it and it pushes me
to provide even more information and have more insight when
I am putting out this information.

Speaker 1 (01:08:58):
And apart from your diagnosis, what's the biggest thing that
you think you've learned from the community that you serve.

Speaker 2 (01:09:05):
I think that it's to rely on community, that the
community is there for you. But I had never been
the only other community that I really felt like I
was part of was the gay community, which was phenomenal
and helpful and helped me come out and feel comfortable
to being myself, which is fantastic. But the diabetes community, like.

Speaker 3 (01:09:28):
Is just so strong and I think really nailed it
into my head of like, community is there to help
you engage with that community, and everyone should if they
need help or have a question.

Speaker 1 (01:09:46):
Amazing for people who aren't yet following you, where can
people find you? What can they expect to find and yeah,
just tell us where they can connect with you and
say hello.

Speaker 2 (01:09:57):
Yeah, all across my platfor you'll learn about diabetes technology
research innovations, interviews with people who are, you know, the
leads at these companies or diabees, educators who talk about management,
or people using the technology themselves. And I also do
reviews on technology and even just like lifestyle things in

(01:10:20):
life with diabetes. My handle on almost every platform is
dia bet underscore Tech, da be underscore Tech, and I'm
on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube threads, Facebook, LinkedIn, and I have
a blog, diabet tech dot info, where I put out

(01:10:43):
like like that's where you'll see like as soon as
like news drops, like that's where the news goes first
and then siphons out elsewhere.

Speaker 1 (01:10:53):
Amazing, thank you, And I'll put all of that in
the show notes. I've seen your work great, I've seen
your dedication, I've seen your motivation. It's phenomenal, and I
think you're doing such a service because I mean, I've
been living with this for twenty nine years and the
tex still goes over my head and I'm using it.
So thank you for what you're doing. What's the goal, like,
what's what's coming up for you in the next kind

(01:11:14):
of weeks, months, years.

Speaker 2 (01:11:16):
Oh, And I also spring out to say I have
a podcast and you're coming on the podcast. Yeah, so yeah,
like everyone needs to go listen to that. So the
Diabetic podcast. What's next in life? I don't know. Stability,
I would love that. I would love a home and
a husband and three kids and money for that uh

(01:11:36):
and a partner. I don't know. I do see myself
landing somewhere soon. I mean, I've loved Lisbon. It would
be so cool to live here, So I'm like looking
at visas. So that's I don't know the answers. I
have no idea what's going to happen in a month
and a half from now, And that's kind of just
how I'm living my life. But I'm able to and

(01:11:59):
I feel very great for that that my job allows
me to explore and not stay put and learn about
myself and be challenged in so many new ways. So
all I can tell you is that the answer today
is different than the answer tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (01:12:15):
That's such a cool note to end on. I think
not having the answers and just putting one foot in
front of the other is well, it's how I have
lived my life, but it's also how I kind of
handle my time ONBET So thank you. Yeah, there's only
so much we can know right well, you just have
to move on forward. Thank you so much for this

(01:12:36):
inspiring chat. And I'll see you in person in Valencia.
And to make that meta and join the dots. There
will be more content coming from me and the So
I'm very excited to get into some travel gems over
on YouTube.

Speaker 2 (01:12:49):
So yeah, I'm excited to hear all your stories. That's
going to be great.

Speaker 1 (01:12:52):
Oh there are some stories. Yeah, and for you guys listening,
that should all be live on YouTube. All being well,
I should say that with more certainty that is now
live on YouTube. If you head over to miss Jen
Grieves you will find it there. But I'll link everything
where you can find Justin where you can find our
content in the show notes. So thank you so much
Justin for joining me today.

Speaker 2 (01:13:12):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (01:13:14):
I hope you enjoyed this episode of Type one on one.
Please remember that nothing you hear on this podcast should
be taken as medical advice. I'm definitely not a healthcare professional.
If you like what you hear, hit subscribe and do
leave a little review on iTunes if you have time.
It really helps to spread the word about type one diabetes,

(01:13:35):
and thank you so much for listening