Episode 7: Meet Brett

This week, we’re hopping into the medical time machine with Brett, who was diagnosed with T1DM back in his teens. Now in his 40s, Brett is giving us the real and unfiltered reality of riding the glucose rollercoaster for nearly three decades. We’re moving past the clinical charts to talk about the things your endocrinologist never cover, from navigating high school relationships with a brick sized BGL machine to surviving early morning hypos. Tune in for a nostalgic look at how diabetes tech went from "low-fi" to high-tech, and the lessons Brett would pass down to his teenage self.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Sweet Talk with Abby and Elise. Hey everyone and welcome back to Sweet Talk, where life, laughs, and type 1 diabetes collide. I'm Elise. I'm a credential diabetes educator and accredited exercise physiologist. And I'm Abby, a registered nurse living with type 1 diabetes. We're here to talk all things, diabetes, health, and real life, answering your questions, busting myths, and having honest conversations about what type 1 diabetes really looks like. We share evidence-based advice, practical tips, and real-world experience to make diabetes feel a little less overwhelming.

SPEAKER_03 0:37

We want to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land in that we're recording on and the Young and Bar people and pay our respects to elders past and present. Just a reminder that this podcast is for education and conversation only. For personal medical advice, always chat to your own healthcare team. Alright, let's get into it.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

This episode of Sweet Talk is proudly brought to you by Placecare, the distributor of SharpSafe. For anyone living with diabetes, managing daily health routines means dealing with Sharps such as needles on a daily basis. This is where SharpSafe comes in.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

They provide specialised sustainable Sharps disposal containers designed to the highest global standards to make the disposal of needles, lancets, CGM infusion sets, and syringes safe, simple and secure.

SPEAKER_02 1:24

To find out more about their range, head over to SharpSafe website or check out the links in our show notes. Thank you for Plazcare and SharpSafe for supporting the podcast and helping us keep these important conversations going.

SPEAKER_03 1:38

Oh, well, thank you so much, Brett, for joining us today. So welcome to Sweet Talk. Today we thought we'd get you in to have a little chat about kind of how you've grown up through the ages living with diabetes. So tell us about your diagnosis story first.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

Yeah, thanks for having me today. It's great to be great to be with you. So my diagnosis was interesting. I'm gonna give away my age here, but it was 1983. Basically, back then I was having a few problems. My my face would be very red a lot. I'd be sweating a lot at times. You know, sometimes I'd be a little bit incoherent, my my parents would say. Drinking a lot of water, those sorts of things. But the the doctors back then, they they didn't quite all know. So my mum is really into research, so she she started researching through it and suggested that's what it might be. And uh the doctors tested, and there you go, type 1 diabetes.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Can you describe to us, just to give us kind of an idea if we're comparing to the technology today? What was your first glucose monitor like? Was it like a brick? Did it take 45 minutes to give you a reading? Like how much has the technology changed now compared to yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

It yeah, back then it was yeah, it was strange. It was like a brick. It was, I think, yeah, probably about that size. And uh it was it didn't take that long in the end. I think it took about a minute, but the way it worked, you needed a lot of blood. So you had to prick and it was on. Sometimes you have to do it twice, and you put it on the test strip, and then you had to blot it. I think after 40 seconds, and then you had to lift the lid, put it in. 20 seconds later, it gave you the reading. And the worst would be if it came through and it said error, you know, that ER like that. If that came up, you had to do it again, and you think, Oh my god. So that was probably uh yeah, that would have been the the first one that I used. I used that for 10 years or so, and then over time it got a little bit better. Um, but apparently that was the second one uh out for home use. The first one was made in the 70s, and that one was apparently one kilo and even bigger. But uh to answer your question, yeah, close to a brick, it just it felt like that, but it was just crazy. And to you know, just to make sure it worked properly, you just had to continue to test it and make sure it was on track. And it was just uh it was just an experience. I never really wanted to do it.

SPEAKER_03 3:54

Did you take your brick on holidays with you?

SPEAKER_00 3:56

Right, yeah, I had to take it everywhere. It was embarrassing going out to dinner or something like that when you're on holidays or and bringing this big kit along. Like now it's it's still, you know, you've got to carry a lot of stuff, but back then, gee, it was uh it was crazy.

SPEAKER_01 4:11

So speaking of like taking it with you and having something like diabetes back then as a teenager, how did you handle like the cool factor that is very normal for kids and teenagers to care about? Like, did you ever use your type 1 diabetes as like a way to get it up, like gym class or exams? And find this, was there any like how did you manage that?

SPEAKER_00 4:34

I've got to be careful how I answer the the question because my kids will watch this and they'll say, You use this uh to your own advantage. I I wouldn't say I used it to get out of exams or anything like that, but just in terms of experiences back then, you know, people people were quite worried. They didn't really know how to handle it or anything like that. But I remember one thing that I was I kind of used it a little bit, but it ended up probably being a little bit more embarrassing for me is that we had this school assembly and and I was a little bit low, but I probably could have got my way through it. But I said to the teacher, look, can you help me? I need to go. But the embarrassing part of it, she wasn't quite sure how to handle it. So she decided, like I'm maybe nine years old, she decided that someone with diabetes like me, there was no one else, needed to be carried to Sick Bay rather than walking. So here she was trying to pick me up and carry me, and it ended up being such an embarrassing experience. So I kind of learned uh the mistake back then, maybe uh don't use it to your advantage because it might work against you in the end. But uh, yeah, anyway, it went from something that could have been cool to not so cool anyway.

SPEAKER_03 5:41

Yeah, we had one of our previous episodes, a mum come on and her son's seven, and he's living with diabetes since he was about 20 months old, and uh he sees it as his little superpower now. So, how things times have changed, like kids know all about his pump, like he's got this little bestie that says, Oh, yeah, don't you know that's his insulin pump? Like there's they're making out like ones, so it's it's good that it sounds like things have changed a bit, which is good.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

Yeah, I love that. All cool.

SPEAKER_03 6:06

Now that you're kind of being nine, it was a bit embarrassing. Now you're heading up into kind of teenage hood, I guess you could say, and you're a bit of a rebel, Brett. So tell me one thing that uh would have made your endo's hair turn a bit white, what were they what you did when you were managing your type one?

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Yeah, good question. Um my endo was so smart. Like I I would walk in, I was living in Sydney, so I walked in. It was uh there used to be Camperdown Children's Hospital, now it's uh Westmead, but I walked in and he wouldn't know just by looking at me, or he'd touch my arm and goes, Okay, you're low, aren't you? And I kind of always thought if I go in and I'm a little bit low, maybe my HBA1C might be better. You know, if if you're low at the time, it could, you know, that sort of thing, which was totally wrong in terms of my understanding of it. But I think one of the things that I did, and I did up until probably around 20 years ago, is I'm a little bit impatient. So a lot of the time from an education perspective, you need if you're low, even if it's right before dinner, you fix the low first and then you do insulin for dinner or whatever the case may be. And I used to be a little bit impatient and think, well, I can fix them both at the same time. So I'll do my needle now and then I'll do a big dinner, and then everything will be okay. And the the endocrinologist at the time would, yeah, he's not not happy with me at all. Neither was my educator. So uh I got in a bit of trouble for that. But uh otherwise.

SPEAKER_01 7:25

So obviously you've come a long way, learned a lot. How do you manage your diabetes now in like day-to-day life? Like, are you using technology? Kind of do you have a little trade secret that you could share?

SPEAKER_00 7:38

Yeah, so I was I was really lucky over time. My my parents would always try to stay, you know, current or on top of the game. So some of the things I used along the way, there was one thing that it didn't really ever come to market properly. It was called a pressy jet. And essentially the idea behind it was it would shoot insulin into you without using a syringe. I didn't use that for too long in the end, but uh, but anyway, for now, I am I'm using continuous glucose monitoring. I've been I've been using that for about 10 years. I just recently changed about two months ago to an insulin pump. I was on on the pens for a while. I was one of the people that thought, look, I'm okay. My my HBA1C has not been over six for about 10 years now. So I thought, well, you know, things are going okay. I was all right in terms of managing things, but you know, I've just changed to the to the pump, and the biggest benefit from that has been primarily overnight management. So it just stays consistent, not much movement. I don't have too many lows at all at the moment, especially overnight. And in the past, I would be probably low in the morning or low overnight, you know, a couple of times a week. So now it's pretty good. You know, managing it with the continuous glucose monitoring is great, having the pump is great. So everything's just working quite well. And I generally try to make life as normal as possible. You know, go to the gym, eat as healthy as you possibly can, and you know, stuff that every human being should do anyway. So I'm just trying to make sure everything's as normal as possible. So that's how I kind of do it now. Use as much tech as I can, but uh use anything that's available for me to get that everything under control.

SPEAKER_03 9:17

I think that will really resonate with a lot of our listeners because there's a lot that's still the same thing as you, and that you know, things are going well on the pen. So if it ain't broke, don't fix it, you know what I mean? But it's pretty cool to hear that you, you know, you took the leap and decided to try sounds like it's going well.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

It's really I should have done it earlier, I know, but anyway, it's done now.

SPEAKER_03 9:36

Yeah, yeah, we hear that a bit. But look, in the meantime, what's the biggest quality of life change win since you were first diagnosed? Do you think it was the CGM or the the jet insulin thing that your mum found?

SPEAKER_00 9:48

Definitely not the jet insulin thing. I'd probably there's there's three. Probably once you know glucose monitors got down to you know the small size and it takes five seconds. You know, that was probably the first first one. And the second was a CGM, and then the third being the pump. But the CGM's a life changer because you know, you kind of think from everything, stopping, putting all together, even if it only takes five seconds to read, it's still a process, you know. And especially when you know you're working and you've got big meetings and you might have a big presentation you're doing to someone, you can't kind of stop and say, Hey, do I do I do you mind checking if I check this quickly or whatever the case may be? You can just check your phone and it's there already. So but I think CGM's been the the biggest game changer for me, and quality of life since then has just been amazing. The 10 years, as I mentioned, with HBA1C being HBA1C being under that sixth level has all coincided with the CGM essentially. So it's been really useful.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

So we recently had our Between the Sheets edition of this podcast, um, and we think it's a really important conversation. So obviously, you were diagnosed as a child and then as have grown up. Um so how did you handle, especially as a male, having the talk when you started dating or started seeing a new interest?

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Yeah, it's uh it's kind of funny this one. You can't uh it's a little bit different from the school one. You can't use it to kind of well, you could use it to cover up, you know, maybe a performance thing, but uh you would you probably wouldn't go there. But uh anyway. Yeah, it's a it's a thing that I think that not many people would talk about, you know, and not many people would probably know about because you know, when when you're low, you've got low blood sugar, obviously things have an impact, you know, you're a little bit bit slower generally, you know, in terms of emotions can be higher, you know, it's things just don't work the same. And that's not just going for a run, it's not just doing something for work, it's also uh a bedroom uh thing. So people would need to be aware of that, and it's definitely not something that you raise on the first date, but you you can somehow hint at it if you like. So I would tell people pretty quickly, whether they're friends, work colleagues, or or I guess new new dates sort of thing, that I do have diabetes. And a lot of people ask, okay, what does that mean? Uh I definitely don't jump to that conclusion in terms of this is what could happen, because either you're presumptuous, but I think some things that I say is look, it does have uh have an impact in terms of how things happen, you know. So if I, you know, maybe you know, I might look quite pale, I need a little bit of sugar, or maybe I might not be talking, you know, the way I might normally talk or what you'd expect. So it can have an impact. And I think people join the dots on what could happen in that perspective, but uh yeah, it's not an easy discussion, that's for sure, or an easy experience when that happens. But uh having that understanding and sharing as as much as you can is the way to go. It's a little bit like that uh that movie Liar Liar, where they say the truth will set you free. You know, I just be honest and be truthful and and you know, people understand, hopefully.

SPEAKER_03 12:52

Yeah, I had a friend at uni who, you know, had a look, I wouldn't want to say one night stand, but they had some fun and uh they they they slept together essentially, and then the next morning he had a hypo and she was like, Oh my gosh, you've got you've got diabetes, and she was a little bit scared off by that. Now thinking about that, you know, I think they ended up seeing each other again after that. It didn't scare her off too much. But I I just remember thinking so shocked by that. But it's great, but like you said, attention. Oh, by the way, I got type one kind of in passing.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:21

I think this conversation for people before you kind of engage.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

Exactly. But the funny thing is, you've got so many attachments now, right? You've got the CGM, you've got the pump. So there's stuff going on that you need to kind of manage with that as well.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

Yeah, almost I mean, I certainly lucky or unlucky that my partner and I were already together when I was diagnosed. We it was something we both figured out together. Now he just does the what's he blank sugar? Because it is high and he's right, I am being moody, I'm like, leave me alone. Stop being right.

SPEAKER_03 13:53

I don't want you to be right.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

Yeah, I love that. That's good.

SPEAKER_03 13:57

If you could give a person who's not living with diabetes for a day, if you could give them type one for a day just so they could kind of understand a specific thing, what would that be? And again, I don't think you'd want to wish it upon anyone, but if you want something to relate to what you're going through, what could you what would you want that to happen?

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Yeah, I I think it's probably probably managing when you're low. I think so so people can understand that. Because I I think of it, I mentioned from a work perspective before, you know, sometimes you might go into things and it's a big meeting, like you must perform at an at a high level. And, you know, say you're on your feet for two hours presenting and you know, a CEO's, you know, asking you questions and this sort of stuff. One, you're nervous anyway, and being nervous is very similar to diabetes hypo, right? Because you're sweating a little bit, a little bit dizzy, and that sort of stuff. And are you hypo or are you, you know, are you just nervous and and that sort of stuff? So I think people giving people the understanding of when you're low, what happens, how you how you need to move through, but at the same time not making a big deal of it as well, because it can feel very embarrassing, you know.

SPEAKER_03 15:08

Your alarms go off, like in the middle of a meeting or something.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

Yeah, exactly. These sorts of things.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

But you're like, I might die, so I should probably deal with this.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

Yeah, correct, exactly. Yeah, but then you overthink and you think, well, what does this person think of me? They're supposed to be thinking I can manage everything, and now this stuff's going on. So I think it's just probably that, just um understanding that this is a very normal thing, you know, it's it's a short-term thing that I just need to work through, and just understanding that that, you know, I just need to get through that. So I think probably that feeling, just giving them the understanding of how it feels to have a hypo, especially when it's a pressure situation and a lot's going on. So I think some people, you know, everyone's got their own things that they need to work through. And I think for someone living with diabetes, I treat it as being something normal. You know, it's it's not crazy. We can work through it, we understand, but we just have to deal with maybe a little bit extra than then maybe others might need to do. So that that experience I think would be useful for people to know.

SPEAKER_01 16:07

Yeah, especially uh like probably symptomatic hypos. It's like you can knocks you around. I mean, I've had a few lows, especially being pregnant, I find them a lot more symptomatic. And it it's like it is like hours sometimes of like before you're like feeling quote unquote normal, or you're like, oh, that really rocks. But still, like if you're at work or you know, in a big meeting and you just try to perform, and you don't want to use it as an excuse as to why maybe you're not performing, because for us it is like normal day-to-day activity, like managing your blood sugar and treating it. Understanding it is a big deal, but it's not a big deal. It's kind of it is kind of like a weird thing that people who don't have diabetes or don't live or love someone with diabetes, they don't really get it. Like the concept of that, like it's important, but also it's like every day, it's unnormal.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

It's like yeah, yeah, absolutely. And it's something just on that point that that you can use as such a big icebreaker or talking point. So sometimes I've been in some pretty big discussions and I've started it with that. And I said, Hey, just so you know, I'm not checking my notes on my phone to answer questions. You I'm diabetic, so every now and then I just need to check. So, and then they ask they're like, Oh, how long's it been? Tell us about it. You talk about that for five minutes, and then bang, the rest of the presentation is so easy. So sometimes I to get back to your point earlier, I might use it as a bit of an icebreaker to help me in terms of some of the other stuff.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

What's uh like that one super annoying thing people say to you about diabetes or having diabetes? And what how do you tackle that? Are you one of those people who are not or try and educate?

SPEAKER_00 17:47

Yeah, so I I try to educate. So probably the biggest frustrating thing when someone new that I meet learns how to have diabetes, when they say, Look, what's going on? Were you were you fat or you eat too much sugar, or what what's going on? I'm just like, what? How how is that? And that seems to be more common than what it needs to be. And they just look at me in a very weird way. They're like, Why? What were you, what were you? I'm just like, I was a bad person, or what? I don't get it. Like, I don't understand, but yeah, it's weird that, you know, trying to think that eating too much sugar gives you type 1 type B's. It's just, it's just the you know, it's just people just don't understand. It's not they don't care. So I'd probably say that, you know, lack of understanding, uh, guess from from some people, but it's not it's not a big issue or anything like that. Um, probably the only other one is where people go overboard in terms of worrying and and that sort of stuff. But some they're coming from a good place, and I think I've mentioned it before. Like, I just a quick story from the past. I went to a birthday party when I was much younger, and at least I think I told you this story. I was only seven or eight years old. I don't know how I remember this, but it's just imprinted in my memory. But I walked into the party and they tried to cater for me as being someone with diabetes, so they had all the sweet stuff and you know, fairy bread, and then for me, they had vegemite bread. I'm just like, okay, vegemite's okay, but not quite as good. You know, the apple dunking your head in and that sort of stuff. But the funniest one was the big game back then was having string on a clothesline with a donut on it, and you had to put your hands behind your back and eat it. And anyway, all lined up, all these donuts, and then mine was a piece of brown bread with a hole in the middle. And I and the mum just said, Here you go, we're trying to, and I felt I felt a bit embarrassed because I had to do that. But secondly, I knew that she was just trying, she just didn't know. So it was like, Oh god. So here I am. I'm just like, I don't need to win this game, like, I'll just leave my bread donut there. But anyway, it was quite a funny experience.

SPEAKER_01 19:49

It is people don't realize that whether it's a donut or or a piece of bread, we have to have insulin. Exactly, you know, and I find I'm educating people like in my lap, especially my in-laws and stuff about it. Like my mother-in-law bless her, she always brings stuff over and stuff. She goes, Oh, but you can't have that. And I was like, I have to have insulin if I no matter what I eat. So please give me the chocolate.

SPEAKER_03 20:11

My cousin lives, and I remember she was saying, She's like, It's Easter time, please just get me no chocolate. I can get me sugar.

SPEAKER_02 20:18

Sugar free.

SPEAKER_01 20:20

Jon and got me a huge Easter basket with all this chocolate. I was like, What are you used to?

SPEAKER_00 20:27

You can manage it, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 20:29

Oh, inline, thank you so much for that. I've got one more question for you. So, what's your pro tip that you can share with our listeners from that you've learned personally that you just can't get in a pamphlet or with your diabetes educator or your endo appointments?

SPEAKER_00 20:42

Real life tip. Yeah, so I I'd probably say, you know, just live your life. Everything's manageable in the end, you know. It's living with diabetes, it's it's exactly that. You're living with diabetes, but you make your life what the best it can be. So, you know, don't let it hold you back. I know I will never discount the challenges that that we face, or for, you know, especially for families with young children that have just been diagnosed. It is tough. Totally understand that. But go in with it thinking it's something I need to manage, but I can do everything that anyone else can do. And I think that's a key thing to think about. You know, you can have an amazing life, you know, make it make it what you like. And, you know, it's like the Easter thing. We just have to manage it a little bit differently, but it's managing, it's not yes or no, it's just managing things in the right way. So that would be my pro tip. Go in. I know it's not too much pro about it, but go in thinking I'm gonna have an amazing life, and this is just something I've just got to work through and manage. But you've got great tools and great people, uh, great educators out there that can help you do this. And and that's uh, I think the best way to look at it.

SPEAKER_03 21:48

Yeah, I think you should tell seven-year-old Brady that he can have his cinnamon donut.

SPEAKER_00 21:54

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 21:56

Really appreciate your time, and you're such a trooper and a warrior for living through all these changes.

SPEAKER_00 22:01

No problem. It's great to join you. What you're doing is amazing, and I think it's really helpful for so many people. So thank you so much as well.

SPEAKER_03 22:08

This is your life, your body, and type 1 diabetes just fits into your schedule.

SPEAKER_01 22:13

Thanks for listening and join us next month for a whole new episode of Sweet Talk with Abby and Elise.