Diabetes Connections With Stacey Simms | Type 1 Diabetes |

Scott Scolnick was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes more than 40 years ago. He shares his experience living with type 1 as a teen in the 1970s and the emotional moment when he walked his daughter down the aisle, knowing he'd worked so hard to stay healthy for that very special day. Scott was one of the first people to try the Bionic Pancreas. He talks about what it was like to not worry about his blood glucose and how hard it was to go back to "normal" after the trial. Scott now works with Dario and explains its new meter, which connections to a smartphone.

When you deal with diabetes you deal with a lot of numbers and a lot of data. This week's guest is Dexcom's Senior Vice President of Data Annika Jimenez. She joined the company in 2015 with a Silicon Valley background and brings us up to date on Dexcom's Clarity software program, developments to come and Dexcom's relationship with Nightscout and OpenAPS developers. In our Community Connection segment, Stacey talks to Sarah Harmon, founder of Poppy Medical ID. As a teenager, Sarah hated wearing a clunky medical bracelet, so she created a new line of ID jewelry. Poppy Medical ID is currently featured on Kickstarter. Stacey also explains that her contest continues. Leave a review and you could win a gift card. Details here - contest ends September 27, 2016

Next month, women from all over the southeast will gather in Columbia, SC for a unique JDRF retreat. The Women of Type 1 is a new conference for all women touched by type 1 diabetes: adult T1D women, teens with type 1, moms or grandmothers of kids with type 1 and women who are spouses and partners of people with type 1 diabetes. Stacey talks to Anne Sutton, who created the conference in early 2016 for the JDRF Greater Carolinas Chapter and Elizabeth McCrary who is organizing it for the JDRF Palmetto Chapter in October. Stacey will appear at the conference along with keynote speakers Moira McCarthy and Sierra Sandison. You'll hear from both of these powerhouse women in this episode as well. Stacey shares a bit about her presentation for moms and daughters called "She Just Doesn't Get It" and reminds you to enter our latest contest (click here for details).

This week we feature an outstanding family that lives life with never a dull moment. Meet Greg and Kristina Dooley, parents of triplets, Max, Mia & Isabella. Isa, as they call her, was diagnosed with type 1 just when she was two years old. At the time, the family was living abroad. We talk about Isa’s diagnosis, living with type 1 and raising triplets and how as a family they’ve reached out to, and been embraced by, the diabetes community. All three children started Kindergarten this year. This episode also marks a milestone, as the podcast passes 50,000 downloads! To celebrate we're giving away two gift cards, but we also want to hear from you! Please leave a review on iTunes or on the Diabetes Connections home page by 9/27/2016. Two winners will be selected by random. Full information at www.diabetes-connections.com and click on "Helpful Links" for this episode. Thanks for listening and for helping us share stories like that of the Dooley family to more and more people!

It's one of the challenges of insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors: how to keep them on in water, hot weather and sweaty situations. This week, advice from the experts and from listeners about what works. Stacey talks to Certified Diabetes Educator Lisa Foster-McNulty, the director of patient care and education for Integrated Diabetes Services. We also hear from listeners who explain what works for them in the pool, during hot yoga(!) and through sweaty sports. Stacey also gives an update on the start of middle school for her son and how their new communication system is working. 

Two very different guests this week, each of whom is educating about type 1 diabetes in their own way. When an FDA panel considered allowing a labeling change for the Dexcom CGM, 15-year-old Caroline Dorn testified about her experience. Dorn joined advocates and health professionals telling the panel why it should allow insulin dosing off the Dexcom G5 without a confirming fingerstick. Stacey talks to Caroline and her mother about why they traveled to Washington DC to do this and gets their reaction to the FDA panel approving the change (it now goes to the full FDA). Brandon Denson was diagnosed with type 1 as a high school senior and went on to play college and professional football. He also had an appearance on American Ninja Warrior, with his insulin pump site and CGM sensor in full view. Stacey talks to Brandon about how he continues to inspire and his work with children both with and without type 1. Plus, a close call for Stacey. What happens when the mail-order insulin box is mistaken for a frozen deliv

When the Miss America Competition gets underway on September 11, our eyes will be on Miss New Hampshire Caroline Carter. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 10, her first passions were basketball and theater. Pageants came along later and she found great success, becoming Miss America Outstanding Teen New Hampshire in 2014 and then Miss New Hampshire 2016 in May.  Caroline talks to Stacey about wearing her diabetes tech (pump and cgm) during pageants and how she prepares for the long hours and constant travel. She talks about her friendships with Miss America 1999 Nicole Johnson and Miss Idaho 2015 Sierra Sandison, both of whom have T1D.  You can vote for Caroline as the People's Choice for the Miss America Competition in the link below. The winner of this voting moves onto the pageant finals. Stacey also shares her advice for parents with children going back to school right now, including a letter/email she sent home to parents when her son was in elementary school.

After years of rejecting his family's love of running, Casey Boren "got talked into" a mini-triathlon and found his passion. He trained for and successfully finished an IRONMAN triathlon at the age of 35 but was almost immediately after diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. He talks to Stacey about learning to train with T1D and how he not only finished more IRONMAN races, but competed at the World Championship in Hawaii. Casey and other elite athletes with type 1 started the Diabetes Sports Project last year. It's a way to inspire and share stories in order to help others live active healthy lives with diabetes. You can vote for Casey this week in the Runner's World Cover Search contest. He is one of 100 semifinalists and needs your vote by 8/21/16. (Vote here) Stacey also talks to 16-year-old Canadian soccer phenom Michael Thornton. He and his family moved to Spain in 2013 to allow Michael to compete among the best in the world. He talks about learning the language and managing diabetes in a completely new enviro

Bigfoot Biomedical came on the scene in 2014 determined to change the way companies look at diabetes technology. They've moved forward quickly and are now starting their first clinical trial for their "Smartloop" automated insulin delivery system. Stacey talks to Bigfoot Chief Engineer Lane Desborough about what this system is, what the trial is testing, and how you can find out if you're eligible to enroll. Desborough is also the co-creator of Nightscout, the free, open source CGM remote monitoring system and is credited with coining the term "We are not waiting." Like all four founders of Bigfoot, Desborough has a child with type 1 diabetes.  

This week, the American Association of Diabetes Educators holds its annual conference. Do you have a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE)? We'll talk about the help they provide and how to get the most out of your relationship. AADE President Hope Warshaw shares her message to people with diabetes and to educators.  Hope is also the author of many books including Eat out Eat Well, the Guide to Healthy Eating in Any Restaurant and Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy. She is a registered dietitian, a certified diabetes educator and a sought-after consultant. This year’s AADE conference will see something new, a live Twitter chat hosted by DSMA. Diabetes Social Media Advocacy is a powerhouse when it comes to connected people within the diabetes online community. Stacey talks about DSMA and more with advocate and blogger Scott Johnson. 

Many parents of young children with type 1 diabetes have found childcare very difficult to navigate. But rarely are children with type 1 excluded, in writing, from daycare, camp and before and after school programs. That’s the case right now, though, in the US Military. An Army policy dictates that T1D kids can’t be cared for in those programs. Recently, the American Diabetes Association joined a lawsuit to try and change that. Stacey talks to Sarah Fech-Baughman, the director of litigation for the American Diabetes Association. Find out more about this case, what you can do if you have trouble finding childcare and Sarah’s unique connection to type 1.  

Imagine a social media network where what we say about our lives with diabetes actually drives research. It’s out there, and it’s called Glu. Outreach manager Anna Floreen explains what Glu, and the T1D Exchange are, and how they help researchers focus on what really matters to people living with diabetes and their loved ones. Anna was diagnosed with type 1 at the age of 6. She found great support at camp and recently took part in one of the Bionic Pancreas trials. She tells Stacey how surprised she was at how much of the mental burden of diabetes was lifted, and how difficult it was at the end of the trial to give that up.    

This summer, Nichole Nichols reached out to her state lawmakers for help navigating the system for her T1D daughter and other families having issues with Medicaid/Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) . Instead of guidance, she got a pretty rude response. Rep. Jeffrey Guice emailing "I'm sorry for your problem. Have you thought about buying supplies with the money you earn?" Nicki responded by publishing the email on social media and the diabetes community, then the national media, picked up the story. Rep. Guice apologized and Nicki received support directly from Medicaid and her state (but not from Guice). However, she says what happened next at the legislature was even worse. In this episode, Stacey also talks about the new UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes three years ago. 

Country star George Canyon was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 14. At the time, all he wanted to do was be a pilot and serve his country. His dream had to change, but he never gave up on flying. Just this week, and due in part to George's efforts, Canada changed their regulations, allowing people with T1D to become private pilots. George was the runner up in the 2004 version of the TV show Nashville Star, he’s had several huge albums since and a big career before, but he’s also been to medical school and has spoken out about diabetes since he was diagnosed. Stacey spoke with him at the Children with Diabetes Friends for Life Conference, where he performed for a very appreciative crowd. 

Rodney Miller is a power lifter and strongman competitor who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 4. Rodney’s story is all the more remarkable because he says he was always small for his age and only walked into a gym about 8 years ago. Stacey talks to him about the reasons behind his move to fitness and toward the extreme (like lifting cars!). Rodney also founded Bolus & Barbells, an event for people with diabetes who enjoy lifting and barbell sports. In this episode, you'll hear from many people who took part in Bolus & Barbells and wanted to express their gratitude to Rodney.  Stacey also talks about The Podcast Awards, Children with Diabetes Friends for Life conference and more!

Her videos bring humor, instruction and support to thousands of people with diabetes. Diabetic Danica, as she's known, has more than 14-thousand subscribers on her very popular YouTube channel. But she wasn’t always in a place to help others. When diagnosed at age 11, Danica needed a lot of help herself. We’ll talk about how she got from that scared 11 year old, to being a registered nurse and all those subscribers today.  In our community connection this week, we find out about Type 1 Diabetes Day at the Georgia State Capitol. Trip Stoner, who was diagnosed with T1D as an adult, talks about her effort to educate state lawmakers. She's joined by Dr. Jonathan Ownby from Atlanta Diabetes Associates. Stacey also talks about next week's Children with Diabetes Friends for Life Conference and a new post by Scott Hanselman called, "The Promising State of Diabetes Technology in 2016."

Amanda Jo has been a professional entertainer since childhood. She's done everything from sing the national anthem at huge stadiums to performing opera and stage musicals. Amanda Jo was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a teenager, just after she had decided to follow her passion into country music. Now a singer-songwriter in Nashville, she collaborated last summer with American Idol’s Adam Lasher, who also has type 1, on The Needle Free Song, a diabetes anthem. We’ll talk about how that song came about, how it took a while for Amanda Jo to feel comfortable talking about her diabetes and how she manages type 1 on the road and even on stage. Stacey also talks about Father's Day and how studies show that children whose fathers are more involved in their T1D management have better health outcomes. 

Dexcom has released a few new studies about how people use their continuous glucose monotoring systems. Stacey talks about them with Tomas Walker, Dexcom’s Director of Clinical Projects and a certified diabetes educator. The two studies, released at the American Diabetes Association's Scientific Sessions look at how people use a CGM in the real-world, outside of a clinical setting.  For example, the FDA does not currently label Dexcom for use in making insulin dosing decisions; we are supposed to always confirm with a finger-stick. Of course, not everyone does this and Dexcom wanted to learn more about how and why. Another study looks at how setting the threshold alerts (the high and low alerts) within the system affect how people use a CGM and whether their blood sugar outcomes and A1Cs are affected.   In this episode, Stacey also announces the winners of the Pebble Time Smartwatch Giveaway (thanks to all who entered)! She also talks about carrying supplies when in different theme parks, including going over

Ernesto Prado always wanted to be an astronaut but when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a teenager, that dream had to change. He found a way to work in the space program anyway, as a technical project manager at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. He says going to work every day is a dream come true, and he has even bigger goals for his career. Ernesto's journey wasn't easy, his family wanted him to keep diabetes a secret at first, and he had some very bumpy times in college. He shares what helped him get back on track, mistakes he's learned from and why he wants people with diabetes to keep pushing the boundaries of what others think they can do.  Our one year anniversary contest continues! Enter to win one of two Pebble Smartwatches at www.diabetes-connections.com. Contest closes on June 12, 2016. Please vote for us in The Podcast Awards! Diabetes Connections made the final 10 shows in the country for the Health category. Voting determines a national winner. Please vote at www.podcastawards.com

Jason Adams is the co-founder of CGM in the Cloud, said to be the biggest type 1 diabetes group on Facebook. With more than 18,000 members and still growing, it's a place to share ideas, advice and experience with sending information from Continuous Glucose Monitors into the cloud. In other words, moving the CGM information onto web-based devices so that BG numbers can be viewed remotely in a variety of ways. Adams explains how his daughter's T1D diagnosis led him to become the first non-programmer using Nightscout (the first open source program to "free" the data from a Dexcom CGM) and walks us through the founding of CGM in the Cloud. Adams says he initially expected the group to serve about 15-20 local friends! This episode also kicks off our one year anniversary contest! Enter to win one of two Pebble Smartwatches at www.diabetes-connections.com. Contest closes on June 12, 2016. Please vote for us in The Podcast Awards! Diabetes Connections made the final 10 shows in the country for the Health category. V