Episode 69: A Longboard Away From Love

On this episode we travel to Miami by way of Argentina so you will hear from my good friend Evelyn. Evy was diagnosed T1D in 2003 at 9 years young.

Evy has a dog walking business and is a recent college graduate in biology!! Evy got her first pump at 9 and truly had no clue what she was doing but had to self-manage. With her mom being an immigrant from Argentina, there were great barriers in understanding the language of diabetes. Today Evy has all the diabetes hacks! She truly

has invested her time in understanding her management and learning her diabetes.

Evy speaks greatly about how we should all know and have an understanding of the basics in diabetes care, even without technology. Evy recalls as a kid having to be the translator between her mom and the doctor. When her insulin pump would malfunction, even as young 9-year-old she would have to contact her diabetes care team all hours of the night trying to figure out what to do next.

In this conversation Evy and I talk about healthcare workers and proper bedside manner. We also speak about how we're not listened to when we enter medical facilities and instead, we often are forced into conversations that we did not ask for nor warrant. As Evy says, "Just show empathy," and show that the patient/client has value because we are already flustered with living with a chronic health condition.

We also speak about how culturally communities still don't understand that little 9-year-old Evy had nothing to do

with this diagnosis and how even 21 years later many still treat it as if it was and is her fault. Even as a kid she

was told that she needed to forgive to be cured of her diabetes. This put a heavy toll on Evy and her family.

Since her diagnosis her mom and her grandmom were her biggest supporters. Her grandmom would make sure that during family events there was always drinks and food options for her little Evy. Knowing that someone has your back makes it a little bit easier.

Evy is someone we should all get to know in the T1D space.

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