When Mom becomes a T1D activist

Sweet Talk for Parents of Kids with Type One Diabetes

What is the anecdote to the terror we feel when our kids are diagnosed with diabetes? Today’s podcast guest, Brooke, has one compelling answer: Activism When Brooke’s six-year old daughter was diagnosed, she was in the ICU and had a 24-hour period when it was touch-and-go if she would live. Today, three years later, Brooke feels like the doctors should have seen some of the signs earlier. But her solution isn’t to complain and get angry; her answer is to get out and spread the word, being sure that everyone around her knows what the symptoms are of T1D, as a way to help prevent this same kind of trauma from happening to others in her community.

While Brooke talks about how sharing her story helps her to heal the fear that she felt three years ago, we also look at the ways she’s still living in that fear, how it comes up with her two other children and her worries about them having T1D, how it shows up in her extreme expertise about diabetes. Through the conversation, we discuss ways that Brooke can go beyond activism to turn the volume down on her fears, and work through the trauma of her daughter’s diagnosis, from getting her other kids tested for antibodies regularly to the potential for therapy for herself.

In listening, I think we all recognize pieces of our own diagnosis story and the ways we learned to cope with the new challenge of diabetes as it entered our lives. Hope you enjoy the show!