Welcome back to the Healthy Diabetic Podcast . I'm your host , as always , coach Ken . As always , before we get started , please remember that nothing that you hear on this podcast should be considered medical advice or otherwise . Please always consult your medical team before making any changes to your diabetes management . Also , I want to remind you to make sure you like or subscribe to the podcast . Whether you're now listening on video or watching video or listening on your iPhone or a podcast player , please make sure that you like , subscribe , leave a five star review . It really helps to show continue to grow . Thank you to all of you who keep continuing to listen and now watch every single week . All right , let's jump into today's episode . Today I got to sit down with Leland and his mom , leah . Just a fabulous conversation I have with these two individuals .
Speaker 2Caretaker of a young diabetic . Leland's been diabetic for about a year just a little bit more than a year . I first met Leland at camp . I've been doing a lot of episodes about Camp Hamway and he's also from camp . If you're tired of the Camp Hamway stories I hope you're not because there's still more to come but if you're tired of those , this is not going to be a Camp Hamway story . It's going to be more of Leland's journey and how his mom's been able to help him on that journey as the caretaker , some challenges that they've faced , some successes that they've been able to overcome , or some things they've been able to overcome . So this was really just a really powerful episode that I'm really excited for you guys to listen to . So , without further ado , let's get with Leland and his mom , leah .
Speaker 1What's up ? Leland , what's up ?
Speaker 2What's up ? What's up , man Cool . So thanks for joining me . It's been a time here since I saw you at camp , but I'm super excited about this conversation to get your perspective and to kind of hear your story , because you're pretty new to the diagnosis and you're pretty new to the diabetes community . So why don't you just start with your ? Tell everyone your name , for those who are listening to you and not watching the video ? Tell us your name and then what your diagnosis story is . Okay .
Speaker 1So , hey everybody , my name is Leland Riley and I was diagnosed July 17th 2018 . I was eight at the time , so I've had it for about five years and it's a pretty interesting story . So one time so I was laying on my couch just watching YouTube and then I wasn't feeling good .
Speaker 1My dad noticed I was like really pale , so then he like I wasn't feeling , like I was really sick to my stomach . So I got up a couple of times and I couldn't puke Like I was trying to puke and it was like it really hurt , and so I ended up having to go to the hospital that night and I got . It turns out I was diagnosed with diabetes because I had a couple like I had a lot of symptoms of it , Like I was peeing a lot , and I remember when they put me in the room they put the IVs on me . I was really scared , but she was like it was funny because she like , as they were putting the IVs in both of my arms , the lady was like here here like play on the iPad , and I was like I was like I can't I can't wear arms .
Speaker 1I mean I got IVs in them . It hurts . And so then I remember after that , like an hour later or maybe 30 minutes , we go up at the elevator and I go to bed and this was when I got my first shot . I got a basic lower shot in my arm at that night and I was scared . But it turns out , the first time it didn't really hurt . So I was just it didn't hurt that bad , but I mean it was . It was just a scary experience at the start , you know .
Speaker 2Yeah , just like , just like anything , it's like brand new and it's like you know , you don't know what's going on , like you're unaware , like all these different things . So , yeah , I'm sure it was very scary .
Speaker 1What was ?
Speaker 2overall , besides the fear part of it like what was ? How was your experience in the hospital ? Did you have a good experience in the hospital ?
Speaker 1Surprisingly , I did actually . So the next morning I was , I woke up , right , and my parents , like they bring me a bunch of gifts and everything . My dad brought stuff , so I can , you know , be entertained . And so they also had this cool room where , like there was like like it was a bath , like you know , those basketball , those little basketball things , yeah . But the next it's a it's hard to describe , it's one of those mini games , but it was like a mini basketball hoop and I always shoot and it was really fun . I liked doing that and I remember I met this one kid . He had like a heart disease , but he was really cool kid . We hung out a lot in the art room . It was pretty fun . I remember him , but I don't think I do have something really funny .
Speaker 2Okay .
Speaker 1So so when ? So my see , he's even laughing , the little guy here . So when my IVs were in my arms , my little cousin was like I was Lily at the time , she's seven now . She was like three , she was like she was two , she was two , so she's seven now , but she was two . And so she got angry at me and she hit my IV and it hurt and I was . I just I remember that for some reason and yeah , I know , but I mean my sugar it was pretty high too .
Speaker 2So how long did it take for your sugar to come back down ?
Speaker 1It took . How long do you think it took ?
Speaker 3Um what it was hours .
Speaker 1It was hours . I was in the hospital for like three days .
Speaker 3Um , maybe two hours . It's an insulin drip .
Speaker 1They put me on insulin drip or something .
Speaker 2Yeah , that's typical . That's what they'll do to just because it's subcutaneous . It's not subcutaneous , it goes right to the bloodstream . When they put those IVs in , they can bring your blood sugar down a lot faster .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , so what ?
Speaker 2did you have Like um ? Did you go through any type of education when you were at the hospital ? Like tell me about that .
Speaker 1Yeah , so me and mom I don't really remember much , cause it was a while ago , but I remember me and mom we'd go downstairs and they'd teach us about it . We'd sit in this room . I think it was like one time I was in there , but it like a while after . I learned a lot about it . You know , like once I got out of the hospital and it was , it was really like it was devastating for my mom too , cause she was really worried . You know , cause I mean I was , I was dying . I mean like I was in the hospital and I was like really pale and were you technically DK ?
Speaker 2you weren't . You weren't passed out or anything . You weren't DK or anything , were you I ?
Speaker 1Wasn't passed out , but I wasn't DK , okay , okay .
Speaker 2Okay , and so it took a couple days for your blood to come down . You were getting some education in there . Did they tell you right away after you , you know , when you were in the process of leaving to go see an endo or go see a specific specialist ? Did they like kind of educate you on that ?
Speaker 1Um , I think , Really okay , really the only thing I remember them like educating . I was younger , so it was like yeah it was hard to process all of what's going on , and my mom my mom knows a lot about that part of the story .
Speaker 1Yeah so that's why it's good he's here to talk about it . So I remember , like about when I was on insulin shots instead of the pod they would Like tell me about like you can't keep injected , like switch sides and everything , or they should be like a model , like the bumps that would happen and taught me . I remember I got the Rufus , the bear , the bear , the teddy bear . You know what that is . Yeah , I still have that . It taught me how to inject and stuff . But one day , one day I just I was at my aunt's and I had a shot and I was like you know , I'm gonna learn how to do it . So I just I just did it and I was proud of myself for doing that .
Speaker 2That's awesome , man yeah yeah what ? What is the biggest impact that diabetes has had on you right now , like it , you know you're five years in . What's the biggest thing that you've learned ? That's really helped . Um , and then , what have you kind of like struggled with , or what are you still kind of struggling with ?
Speaker 1Well , the thing , it's helped me a lot because you know sometimes , sometimes you'll be , you'll be different , you know . But uh , it's okay . It's okay to have like those struggles , you know , because there's other people . I I realized when I went to camp that there was other people like me . Yeah , and it really helped me because now I have friends and , like that , have the same Thing as me and it's pretty cool to learn , you know .
Speaker 1Yeah and I , sometimes I just struggle . You know , it's like getting to realize I have diabetes . You know , because you get that feeling where you're like you don't want it , you want to be , you want to be just normal . But you know what ? You're still normal , you're just . You're just a little different . You're a little different . It's You're still you , that's all that matters .
Speaker 2You're still you yeah , you're , you're still normal . You're not any different than anyone else ,
you know . Think , think about all the kids that have to take , you know , other medications , or other other kids that you know have cancer , other kids that have some other affliction . Right , they have to do specific things One to stay alive , but two also just because it's part of their , it's part of their journey , right . So it's one of those things that you have to . You have to , like , think about diabetes in that aspect of it's not , you're not any different than anyone else , you're just yeah , I I also , um , I just thought about a really like important thing .
Speaker 1So I there's other people like that , there's other people that are dealing with more like Severe things , like how I was hanging out with that one kid in in the hospital . I met him in the art room . He had that heart disease and it made me realize like he's got something more severe than me . You know , and you should still be grateful that you , you know , don't have something really severe , because sometimes people are dealing with much harder , harder things , you know yeah , for sure , for sure .
Speaker 2Um , what's something that you can kind of tell Another kid that's listening . What's it ? Some a piece of advice that you could give another kid that's listening ?
Speaker 1um , uh , so Don't let other people , don't let other people tell you you're different or let you let you down , or if you want to play a sport , you do that because you just put your mind to what you want to do . You know , because I , I know there's there was a diabetic quarterback and you know it's . There's a lot of , there's a lot of people like that are that have very , that are in sports and all that really hard jobs and they still have type 1 diabetes . And you know they , they , they know they . Sorry , it's hard to explain . Um , you know , just don't let people tell you that you can't do this because you have diabetes . Be , be , be , be confident , be confident .
Speaker 2There you go .
Speaker 1There you go , that's the word . Confident you are confident , that's the key .
Speaker 2So because that , when you think about confidence , when you think about confidence , what do you think about ? What does that mean ?
Speaker 1I think it's all . It means step up and if you want to do something , do it . If you want to , if you want to Be in the NBA , do it . If you want to be an astronaut , do it . Do . Do what you really want to do . You know you can't . You can't look in the mirror and tell yourself I can't do this . You know Because you can .
Speaker 2How do you uh , going off on a different space here , like , how do you feel like this has all been on your mom ? I'd love to hear this From your perspective because we're getting ready to talk to her in a second . Um , but what ? What do you think ? How do you think , emotionally , your mom has dealt with all this ?
Speaker 1When I was diagnosed , um , she was very like , heartbroken , she was Devastated , like she was Breaking out in tears . She did not know what was going on and it scared her , you know , and I get it because she's my mom and you know I told her when I was in the hospital it's gonna be okay , because I was in the hospital and I trusted my doctors , you know , and she was scared , but Now , now she knows , now she knows a lot about it and she it's like she's smarter than me about it now and it's just yeah it's amazing .
Speaker 1Yeah , she's good , she's smart in you for a while , you know yeah yeah , she , she's .
Speaker 2She's the caregiver , right ? She's gonna be smarter than you Because she has to right now .
Speaker 2But your job is to continuously learn and keep Communicated , like we talked about before . Keep communicating with her about things like why do you think we should do this versus this ? Keep communicating about your actual feelings and how you are feeling about things Not just physically but also mentally . You know that communication path between the both of you is going to be so key . We talked about that before . So it's just you . You really have to hone in on that and that's how you will ultimately take take the reins on your management from her .
Speaker 2Is by communicating with her and continuously Cool . I love that man . Um cool , let's get your mom in here . I want to talk to your mom too , and all right , and and get her perspective .
Speaker 1All right , well , I'll be , I'll be right back . I'm gonna go get my pod real quick .
Speaker 2Okay .
Speaker 1We need to sit down All right hello .
Speaker 2Hi , how are you ?
Speaker 3I'm doing all right . How are you ?
Speaker 2I'm doing good . I'm doing good . Thank you for doing this . By the way , I know you got a lot of stuff going on right now , lots of stuff .
Speaker 3For sure . Oh , you know , stuff never ends , so I'm Glad to participate . I'm glad you've reached out to Leland . He had a blast at camp this summer and I know he was really glad .
Speaker 2Yeah , it was fun . There's a fun time . There's a fun time . I'm glad he got to meet some new , new friends . I'm glad he got to experience all that for those two weeks . It was . That was awesome . Um , tell me about his diagnosis what , what was going on in your mind ? How was the experience at the hospital ? We heard it from his perspective . Um , I'd love to hear , like , what your perspective is on his diagnosis , the symptoms , how everything went down .
Speaker 3Sure um . So Going back to this memory , um , you know , after five years , it's a little bit easier to talk about now , yeah , um , but it was definitely um A very , very , very tough um Thing to deal with and go through , you know , watching your child Be ill but then , but then also um Finding out that it's a A chronic condition that there's no cure for at this time . Um , and and really just learning about it , um , I've met a lot of people in my life and , honestly , didn't have had never met a type one diabetic . Yeah , didn't know anything .
Speaker 2What type of very yeah , very small part of the population . It's like what less than 3% or 4% or something like that of all diabetics . It's a crazy . It's crazy number . Um Interesting . Yeah , so you didn't really know anything about diabetes or anything like that when he was first diagnosed and um .
Speaker 3No , no , I was familiar with diabetes , as most people are familiar with . You know type two and the symptoms of that um as well as you know , yeah , the basic um process of management . You know um For that condition , but I didn't know anything about type one specifically . I had heard of juvenile diabetes , but again I didn't know what it really was .
Speaker 2Yeah , what , what's been the , what's been the most impactful thing that you have learned ? That's helped you as a caregiver , help him with with his management .
Speaker 3Gosh , it's been a learning experience . Thankfully , the Children's Hospital in Columbus they did do a wonderful job with helping me understand management .
It did take some time , I would say after we returned home from the hospital after about three days , I think .
Speaker 3I didn't want to leave the house for about a month solid . I was afraid to leave the kitchen and well , I guess I should say I didn't really leave the kitchen . I was afraid to calculate wrong A matter of three carbohydrates and I thought that I was messing up the calculation and I was going to harm my child . The anxiety that I experienced was very tough .
Speaker 1Hey , mom , did you tell me about the needle in the window ?
Speaker 3No , I haven't mentioned that . Well , let's answer these questions .
Speaker 2We'll get back on the end .
Speaker 3Did you want me to talk about the day that he was diagnosed ?
Speaker 2Yeah , I'd love to know more about that too .
Speaker 3Yeah . So he was visiting his father and he was living about 45 minutes away at the time and Leland had a little watch where he could reach 10 people on it . So I called him on his watch that morning and he told me he was not feeling well , that he was vomiting , and just I could tell by his voice that he was really not well . So I told him do you want mom to pick you up ? I know that when he's sick I'm there and I wanted to be there for him and he said no , mom , I want to stay . He wanted to visit his dad . So then I called him back about I don't know , maybe 20 minutes later , if that and I told him I was on my way . He said he was still vomiting and so it took me about 45 minutes to get there .
Speaker 3When I got there he was dry , heaving . While waiting , we were getting in the car and outside of the vehicle he was dry , heaving and pale as I've ever seen him . Lips were real , just no color . So he was dry , heaving and then we got in the vehicle and he was very out of it , very lethargic , and we went directly to his primary care physician , as they advise we do . I wish at that time I would have just gone straight to children's hospital because we were close by . So yeah , we drove all the way back and they checked his sugar and it was 350 , I think somewhere around that area , and they said , well , it could be that he has diabetes . So his father mentioned the same thing to me because that's fine , he could have diabetes .
Speaker 2There's no empathy behind that statement whatsoever .
Speaker 3Yeah . And then here I am saying okay , well , how did this happen ? Why didn't we see this coming ? They did even mention to me that prior his previous appointment which we were always timely about making it to his checkups and regular doctor visits and they said his blood sugar was a little bit high then and I was a little surprised by that comment because they never mentioned it to me .
Speaker 3And then also , with it being such a chronic illness , I've thought since the day he was diagnosed , why wouldn't parents be aware of these symptoms that seem so not normal ? But your child is urinating frequently and has excessive thirst and I think Leland lost five pounds . Why , as a parent , why am I not aware of these symptoms ? Because I had no idea we were . Prior to this diagnosis , we were at the grocery store a few times and every time Leland would be in tears because he had to use the restroom , like four times while grocery shopping . We'd have to go all the way back to the restroom and I asked him . I said Leland , are you hurting , Thinking it's some sort of bladder infection , and he just told me no , and I always carried a water bottle with me and he would drink it down in a minute or two , the entire water bottle .
Speaker 2So yeah , it's just . The very interesting piece is like when you think about diabetes , because you're making the comment of like why didn't I see the signs , why didn't I see all the signs ? And it's like , why would you see these signs and think like , oh well , that's what it is ? Because so many of us , when we're diagnosed , we don't know what the hell diabetes even is . So , like being able to , I would say , like give yourself grace .
Speaker 2Give yourself grace as a caregiver of like going through that process , because you're not going to know what the signs I mean excessive urination could be mono , it could be like a strep throat , it could be so many different things outside of just diabetes . So it's like that's a very interesting , and you're not the only parent I've ever heard that from too . So it's an interesting thing to me because I've even thought about myself as like okay , why , why did this happen ? Why did I go through this ? And like I had mono twice the same exact time when I was in high school , two years in a row . And it's like one of these things . It's like you just don't know .
There's not enough information out there to the general public to be able to tell us that this is possible symptoms for this specific disease .
Speaker 3Right , yeah , and that's exactly it . You know there should be more awareness , especially when it comes to children , because they don't know how to communicate what's going on with their bodies . You know I'm feeling dizzy , I'm feeling weak and all these side effects that they can't verbalize .
Speaker 2But not even just that . It's also that everyone's symptoms are different . That's the other thing that we have to think about here is like myself , I only had excessive urination and thirst , that's it . That's it . That's all I had . I didn't have to go to the hospital for DKA and have all these crazy high blood sugars . I didn't feel like crap when I was high . I didn't feel like crap when I was low . So it's like everyone has different symptoms . So even for physicians and endocrinologists to sit here and say , oh well , these are the symptoms of diabetes , like , okay , well , I can only have one of those or I can have all of them , you know , so it's like it's one of those things that , like , even if I have one or two of those symptoms , which the most common are excessive urination and thirst , even if I have both of those symptoms , those are the same exact symptoms for other illnesses that are just viruses , you know , so it's yeah .
Speaker 3So it's hard to differentiate what's going on . But I still feel that being aware that these symptoms that seem so , I guess , mild are actually can be indicative of something that's so serious , you know , that does escalate so quickly . Yes , so it's a type one you know and can turn out , if not caught in time , it could be a very bad situation . Yeah , so , yeah , being aware , but we were not . And you know , for us it was summertime , he had just turned eight years old , it was hot outside . He was . I just thought he was shedding a few pounds , because it wasn't so extreme , Like I said , it was about four or five pounds and , you know , drinking a lot of water . I'm thinking , oh it's , you know , he's summertime , he's very active . Yeah , he was . You know he's very healthy . He wasn't overweight by any means . There's just nothing that told me that he was ill . Now I do recall , prior to when he was diagnosed , the few , the couple of weeks leading up to his diagnosis and him being very ill .
Speaker 3That day we went to the movie theater and I bought him a slushie and popcorn and candy , yeah , and I just wanted to make it the best experience for him , you know , buying the junk . So of course he was excited and of course he , you know , put it all down the hatch and by the end of the film , Leland was in tears because he wanted me to buy a bottle of water . And you know , I'm going to say this on air I guess I wanted to save $4, . You know , movie theater , water bottles .
Speaker 1Yes , we were at the end of the film it's like just fine , I was begging to go to the bathroom because , like I was like , well , I need to go to the bathroom . I like so much , I had to go so much times , Well .
Speaker 3so yeah , we went to the restroom , but then he needed to go again and he wanted me to buy water and so we went to the water fountain but he wanted to keep going back and he was just begging me for a bottle of water and just I remember just crying tears , so I didn't realize what was going on . Then , Of course , after he was diagnosed , I felt terrible about that .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 3You know , felt like I was putting my child in danger . But I do recall , you know , since his diagnosis , I tried to , you know . Naturally I wanted to know what caused this , and the hospital , the doctors , they kept reassuring me that this was not something that I did , I didn't cause this . But I did my research online and I do recall he was very ill in January . So he was diagnosed July and I recall this flu that he caught , because he was sick for a solid week , I mean , and when I say sick , he was not leaving his bed . In fact he asked me to bring him a bell for when he needed it .
Speaker 3Really .
Speaker 1Really A bell . Wait , okay , time out .
Speaker 2How old were you at this point ?
Speaker 3Because this was five years ago right Seven , Seven Okay .
Speaker 2I'll give you a pass on the bell at seven years old man , a bell , come on .
Speaker 1A bell dog . I was little . I needed a bell so my mom could hear me , because every time I'd yell for her she would be upstairs , because my room was . It was a room in the basement .
Speaker 2Yeah , that's why you said that .
Speaker 1I was in my bed and she couldn't hear me when I yelled for her . So I was like mom , I need a bell because it hurts when I yell .
Speaker 3All right , but he was very , very sick . Yeah , Now was that the time , leah ?
Speaker 2was that the time that you went to the doctor and they said his blood sugar was elevated ?
Speaker 3They . So we would have gone to the doctor yes , around that time , and I would have to go through my records in order to find the date . But if they did recognize it , between January and July when he was diagnosed , I was not made aware that there was any increase in the A1C it's so interesting because normally for a checkup whether you have a cold , a flu or whatever it is they're not doing an A1C check .
Speaker 2They probably not even doing a blood sugar check because there's no reason to . And the interesting piece is like , if they're saying it's elevated , what tests did they do ? They did do a blood sugar test , they did an A1C test . And if they did an A1C test and it's elevated like that should be right now , okay , we're trying to figure this out . We got to do some experimentation to figure this thing out .
Speaker 3Yeah , I don't know what exactly they did , but for some reason they were confident in saying that they were aware that it was a bit higher than , I guess , the normal , which was surprising , yeah , yeah . So we went directly to children's hospital after that and they told us to go straight there . By the time we got to the ER and they had the IVs in . Well , I should back up and tell you on the way to the hospital he was just laying in my arms . I wasn't driving and he was just laying in my arms , drained white as a ghost . And I remember I was just crying and looking things up online per the information that the doctor gave me possible diagnosis of type one . So I'm looking this up and I'm just crying and thinking back , of course , to the movie theater and candy and sugar , and Leland is very out of it , but I do remember he woke up and he said Mom , does this mean I can't have candy anymore ?
Speaker 2So he did hear that .
Speaker 3Yeah , but yeah , we were there . It took them quite a while . They wouldn't let him have any water . Eventually , after taking his blood for testing , which was basically all through the night , it was probably , oh , we got there in the afternoon . Well , we got there , probably sometime around six , somewhere in maybe the early morning , they admitted him . So that's how long the testing took . They wouldn't let him have any water . They would just give him the little sponges on sticks and , like I said , he was drinking .
Speaker 2That's so weird to me , because if you have an elevated blood sugar , you would want to give water . Maybe they don't want him to continuously have to go to the bathroom . Maybe that's why , because water is going to help flush that stuff out .
Speaker 3Now , if they have them on an insulin tip too , the only thing I can think , and unfortunately I don't recall at this time , is that they wanted to have an accurate test . I don't know , because he ended up going into diabetic ketoacidosis and they had to put him on an insulin drip .
Speaker 2Which is so crazy because if he's coming into the ER at 350 or above , you need to get that down . That's the first step insulin drip right now . That's so crazy that that was the sequence of events .
Speaker 3It is crazy and I think part of it is them trying to rule out what exactly is going wrong . Even that is such a risk in itself . You know , because if you're not tending to the matter , you know as quickly as possible because he was not yet diagnosed , they didn't follow the protocol for him being a type 1 diabetic . I've had numerous experiences at this point where the emergency department staff and not talking down on anyone children's hospital is wonderful , but not everyone is familiar with managing type 1 diabetes and how you need to act quickly . You know , I sat and watched for hours and thought why are they not doing this ? You know , because I know what you're supposed to do , but then they do something entirely different .
Speaker 2At this point you're what a couple hours into this process . Yeah , you've done some research online , but they're medical professionals and , yeah , diabetes isn't their specialty , but they're still medical professionals and they should still understand the signs . I just can't believe that if he's coming in with a high blood sugar right now , I'm giving that individual a small drip of insulin because I have to understand how fast that thing is going to come back down . So it's just it's mind boggling to me that , if this is the case , this is the world that we live in , that hospitals , medical professionals , family practitioners how on the rampant to type 1 diabetes has become over the even just the past three years , how many more people have been diagnosed from young age to adulthood and we still are not going through this process ? Maybe it's . I mean , we're kind of obviously splitting hairs because we're talking about five years ago when he was diagnosed , to now , but even to now , like people I've talked to that have been diagnosed in January , still are having these experiences .
Speaker 3Yeah , maybe it comes down to the availability of the medical staff at the time that this is happening . And you know , again , some people , if there's not a diagnosis on the paper , they're not going to , you know , attend to it , as you know , urgently , as it needs to be tended to , because he's not yet , you know , they're not yet diagnosed . But , yeah , I agree , it's very interesting that it's not approached differently and it was very frustrating because he was so ill and I had no answers . And you know , it was like I said , it was probably somewhere around three , four , I don't know , in the morning . It was very early in the morning that he was in his finally in his room on the endocrinology .
Speaker 2Yeah , they got it .
Speaker 3And then I remember it was hours later , of course he was on the insulin drip and he was sleeping , and it was probably later that evening the following day it had been July 18th that a team of doctors came into the room and they told me that he was being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and that I would need to cancel all my plans because I would be there for the next three to five days learning how to take care of my child .
Speaker 1We were going to yeah , we were going to go to Disney World that day too .
Speaker 2Well , I got cut down , I got , I got it canceled .
Speaker 3I know I've never been there before . We had a full yeah , we had a planned trip , we had booked flights and everything . Never been there ever in my life . We were , we could have went there .
Speaker 1In Disney World .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1But I also wanted to . Can I tell you the story now , this part now ?
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1Sure , okay . So I wanted to tell you this story . So I was at the eye doctors this was before I was diagnosed Like how long was this ?
And you had the eye doctors .
Speaker 3This is about between January and July .
Speaker 1Yeah , between January and July I was sitting in the window and there's an insulin needle there . I don't see it , but it pokes me in the arm and I get poked by an insulin needle and it's a weird coincidence because after that I get diabetes . Like it's really weird , it's an insulin needle . Like I remember Insulin needle .
Speaker 3Someone left a dirty needle in the window .
Speaker 2Was there like a while of insulin next to the needle , because that would have been a really interesting coincidence .
Speaker 1No , it was the , it was the like , the homolog pen . Like the pen , the pen needle the pen needle and I don't know it was . It was pretty , it was weird . It was weird .
Speaker 2Yeah , we definitely got back to that that's a fun , interesting coincidence , right .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2It's like Leighlin . Maybe you were supposed to be diabetic man , yeah .
Speaker 3Yeah , that's a coincidence .
Speaker 2Like maybe you were supposed to be diabetic .
Speaker 3It's like Spiderman , spiderman Right .
Speaker 1That's a good one .
Speaker 2Right , yeah , leah , what ? What's been kind of the biggest impactful thing that you've learned about diabetes that you maybe can share with another parent that might be starting out the journey or in the journey . What's something that you that's been impactful , that you've learned that's really helped him ?
Speaker 3Well , I wouldn't like to touch base on the honeymoon phase , because that is your first experience and so , as I was told , I'll say to everyone else it does get better , it does become more manageable , yeah .
Speaker 2The beginning .
Speaker 3The pancreas is just it just sporadically decides to work and then it doesn't , and you have no patterns to go off of , you just have no idea .
Speaker 3I will say that I'm glad that I've done things because of my own , because of my own fears and my concerns for my child .
Speaker 3I'm glad that I didn't just go strictly by advice . For example , you know , oh , you know , set an alarm and wake up at 3am and check the blood sugar . You know , there were times and not to be discouraging , but the first , I think it was five months for us before we had a continuous glucose monitor because of insurance that I had to prick his finger and that was the only way I knew his blood sugar and that was so challenging during the honeymoon phase because , again , you know , I didn't know there were no patterns and I was also just starting to learn about diabetes and managing blood sugar . But I'm glad that I would wake up in the night and check him anyway . Yeah , regardless of , you know , just the basic advice of checking him once throughout the night , because , as I woke up and his blood sugar was , I think , the lowest , it was somewhere around 54 , it's 54 . And that was , I'm glad , I got out of bed and checked .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 3Now , I don't know , maybe everyone's different . I'm a paranoid mother . I'm not a helicopter mom .
Speaker 1I don't know about that .
Speaker 2But it's okay to be a helicopter mom who cares , like you got to do what's right , what you believe is right for your child . 100% believe that .
Speaker 3Yeah , I'm glad I did . I'm glad I checked him , because numerous times I had to give him juice or something like you know , a complex carbohydrate in the middle of the night . So yeah , and then we got the continuous glucose monitor . It did make things a lot easier . Have continued to set alarms regardless .
Speaker 1Where somebody forgot that Basically our was in school and I got 16 years .
Speaker 3We don't have to talk about every experience brother I .
Speaker 3Got it so it's so , but I would say the most so . The , the Omnipon , is what we have we use as an insulin pump . That has made a significant difference . I am still learning About that device and how , how to use it best . We both are . Yeah , you know it's , it's challenging because it just doesn't stop . You know you can't just take a break . It's every day , all day . You know , and you know it's Don't . You know , give yourself , be a little more confident in your calculations , because a Matter of a couple carbs is not going to , you know , throw things so far out of whack . I guess is one thing I would say Eventually realized , because again , I was glued in that kitchen and afraid to leave the house .
Health and mindset is so important and that's what I hope we can Progress . And is you know how Leland Embraces the condition , how he can embrace the condition , and I think that mental freedom and acceptance will Allow him to to live a healthier life .
Speaker 2Yeah , I , yeah . I think there's two really good key points that you kind of are talking about here and that's like With it , with a young person that has diabetes , a Lot of times the prop part of the issues become with the confidence piece . There's also this thought process of being able to just be a kid , and I think that so many parents get wrapped up into that and and those those two things clash , of the parent wanting to be able to Be able to do things for the kid , be able to let them be kids but then still keep them safe and keep them healthy , and and those two do clash . And being able to find the balance of those two clashes Very , very important for a caregiver and and I think that that's a very I'm glad that you brought that up because it's a very important piece .
Speaker 3Yeah , that's been a huge part of it over the years . Again , he was diagnosed at eight . He was now 13 . You know , just , I'm his mother , I , you know , often a child will lean on their parents in those Moments where they're very emotional about something and as the parent you want to be able to fix things for your child and it's it is .
Speaker 3It is a very , it's a very hard thing to not be able to change that for your child . You can't just get rid of this thing that has changed your lives and you know you just don't know what to even say . You know , trying to remain optimistic but then also dealing with things how it's affecting me , you know , and trying to be strong for him , but also Just the lack of sleep , the anxiety , the frustration . I mean you know you don't want to put that on your child , but then it's also hard to to help them really understand how serious it is . And and then , on the other hand , how you know , every holiday and in the United States at least , it's just based around sugar and sugar everywhere Learning to go around that and still make the holidays fun , when all the other Experiences in the past were , you know , it was okay to indulge like everyone else . And , yeah , you know my , my way of thinking has changed since his diagnosis and oftentimes I've told people Really we should all be eating like a diabetic .
Speaker 2That is so funny that you say that , because it me and Graham , my previous co-host of the of the show , used to say that all the time that you , the way you eat and the way you should be thinking about food and how your body reacts to food , is how Everybody should be . I love that you brought that up . That's hilarious .
Speaker 3Yeah , yeah , I mean , I , I just I truly believe that . And it can be so challenging , you know , with All the food that we have here and and the and the norms , but I think it often , if it's not type one or type two , you know it can lead to other medical conditions that you know it's just . You know , being healthy is so important . What you put in your body , what you , you know , expose your mind to , you know it can seem overwhelming , but it all , it all affects a person .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , I think about it . Yeah , I think I think about it as values , right ? So what are my values ? And then also , when we talk about food , what are my food values ? What do I value when it comes to food ? And that's how I base my decisions on what I'm actually going to consume . And the diabetes piece comes a little bit into those values , as part of those values for me , but it's not everything .
Speaker 3Absolutely yeah . How do you want to feel ? Do you want to feel tired and sluggish and miserable , or you want to feel good ? Yeah , but again , it's . It's a challenge and we live in a society that you know it just doesn't slow down and there are all different sorts of norms and social Exception says and things that you know you think you're missing out on when you don't live that lifestyle , and it's just about creating the lifestyle that best suits you .
Speaker 2Yeah , and we don't have to . We don't have to necessarily live that lifestyle . I think that is a a big thing , that a lot of people it's like they they're Engulfed in these different lifestyles but then they don't value those specific , you know different types of lifestyles . It's like , what is what do you value in the lifestyle that you live ? What's up ? Little one , I love it . Cool as , as we close here , is there any other like pieces of advice that you could give a parent in terms of like you know what's been successful or what hasn't been successful or what things ? Anything else that you want to add as we close up ?
Speaker 3I mean there's , there's just so much information . But really you know , educating yourself and knowing that In times where you feel overwhelmed with it , be patient with yourself and Give yourself credit for the things that you're learning . Don't be so overwhelmed and that's easier said than done . But you know every , every type one diabetic is also different , like we mentioned , and you know you'll learn . What works for you it might not work for another type of diabetic . You know best . You'll learn more about how your body responds to things . Just be patient . I'm still learning after five years . If you you have you know , if you feel like you're in front of a medical professional and you know so much about this because you've had so much Experience , don't doubt yourself for the questions that you have .
Speaker 2We don't have the questions prepared , we don't , we haven't been tracking things and like we just blindly go by what they're saying , because they're just looking at a Small picture , not the whole entire story , and you have more of the story Then they do so . Yeah , I love that .
Speaker 3Yes , and I will just share one thing . I Mean I wish I had more to give you and I'm sure after this conversation I'll think of something that I wish everyone could hear about , but Just sharing something fun because of the holiday coming up Halloween . I did find a way around that and resources like Social media groups with other type one parents or type one diabetics is helpful . But as a parent , you know Halloween came around and of course , leland always enjoyed the candy . But we made Our way around that by having him trade in his candy and leaving it for the Halloween quote-unquote fairy , and Then the fairy would come collect the candy and then he would get like a pretty awesome toy in exchange . So he didn't really mind , yeah .
Speaker 2I'm gonna try it on my kids this year . I've heard of this . I just heard about this last week .
Speaker 3Yeah , yeah , and I Tried to still let him have a little bit of fun . I would leave like if he was you know he's eight years old . I left eight pieces of candy and then we just I let him eat those in moderation . So yeah , it was fun .
Speaker 2That's awesome .
Speaker 3The fairy is not real . Well , I probably shouldn't say this . Very retired from this house and yeah . Yeah so now I've got a teenager .
Speaker 2Yeah , I love that , that's about a year . Yeah , that's all . That's awesome . That's awesome . Thank you so much for doing this . I know it's scheduling . We've been trying to get this scheduled and and I know both of our schedules are crazy , so I Appreciate you both coming on and doing this . It was an absolute pleasure , you know , being one of the individuals in charge of his care for five , six days . He's an amazing young boy and I can't wait to keep watching him grow and and succeed with this .
Speaker 3Absolutely . It has been a great talk into you , ken , as always . We really appreciate you and thank you for reaching out to hear from us .
Leland had a blast at camp . I would recommend any other other type one children or even adults to partake in a camp and , you know , meet other fellow type one diabetics , because I think , yeah , just as everyone else , you should have a network of people you can lean on and you can learn from . So that was a great experience and we look forward to future experiences . Yeah , so thank you .
Speaker 2Yeah , no , thank you . Thank you both for coming on . Leland , thank you for coming on . It was a pleasure seeing you and talking to you , and we'll be in touch for sure . Keep in touch .
Speaker 1Yeah , ubi says bye .
Speaker 3We will talk to him , looking forward to .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2Bye , bye .
Speaker 1Thank you guys . Boxland media think big .