Diabetics Doing Glitter Glucose with Paloma Kemak

[00:00:00] Rob Howe: Welcome to the Diabetics Doing Things podcast. We're back with new episodes in 2017 telling the amazing stories of type 1 diabetics across the world. I'm your host, Rob Howe, and if you'd like to get involved with Diabetics Doing Things, all you have to do is shoot me an email or reach out via Instagram. Hey everyone, before we get started, I just wanted to say thank you for listening. We had a great first year of the podcast, but none of it would have been possible without you and your support. I love getting messages, emails, and comments from type 1 diabetics all over the world. It really makes my day. So keep sharing, searching, and commenting, and I'll keep tracking down the people behind the amazing type 1 stories out there. This episode is sponsored by Tribal. A lot of you know that I frequently do Whole30s. I just finished my sixth one. And the hardest part is finding a Whole30 compliant way to treat a low blood sugar. Tribal makes delicious cold-pressed juices right here in Dallas, so they're local to me, and I thought I'd give them a shot. Not only are their juices Whole30 compliant, only real ingredients, no flavors or sugar added, but they're certified organic and super portable. I just toss a bottle in my backpack or gym bag, and I don't have to worry about getting caught with nothing to treat a low blood sugar. Check them out at livetribal.com or on Instagram at livetribal. That's L-I-V-E tribal. I drink it, I love it, and if you're in Dallas, you can too. They're growing, just like diabetics doing things, so if you're not in Dallas, just be patient and keep an eye on their Instagram to see when they're expanding. Thanks to Tribal for helping me through this Whole30 and for being a great partner. Now, let's get back to the episode. Hello and welcome back to Diabetics Doing Things. We're back with new episodes in 2017 and I'm very excited to introduce my guest to you guys today. Paloma Kemak is my guest from Phoenix, excuse me, not Los Angeles.

[00:01:53] Paloma Kemak: Hi everyone, I'm so excited to be here with Rob.

[00:01:56] Rob Howe: And some of you guys might know her better as Glitter Glucose on Instagram. Tell us a little bit about your Glitter Glucose brand.

[00:02:08] Paloma Kemak: Sorry my cat is being super loud right now.

[00:02:11] Rob Howe: We've both got animal technical difficulties today. It's the reality, animals like to party on a Friday night.

[00:02:18] Paloma Kemak: Yes. I swear my cat's a diabetic alert cat. Anytime I'm not feeling well, he stays right by my side. Anyway, so I have been known as Glitter Glucose Online for a little over a year now. I've been diabetic almost four years now, and I had no diabetic friends. I didn't know, you know, I just felt like I was going through it all alone. And I started searching the diabetic hashtag and I started seeing all these diabetic accounts. I'm like, I want to be friends with these people. So I created Glitter Glucose and I entered this whole community of diabetics. And ever since my life has just changed so much for the better.

[00:03:12] Rob Howe: Did you have any diabetic friends before you started searching for the hashtags or in your everyday real life, I guess?

[00:03:21] Paloma Kemak: No, I had never met another diabetic. I never chatted with another diabetic online, nothing. As far as I knew, I was the only diabetic in the world.

[00:03:34] Rob Howe: I have a very similar story. I think I was never ashamed or introverted about my diabetes, but I sort of just lived with it and kind of carried it along on my own. It wasn't something that I broadcast. And then I sort of did the same thing. I decided I wanted to get involved. And then I found this entire community that honestly is growing, I think, a lot. Like really over the last like six to nine months, it just seems there's a lot more people online sharing their stories.

[00:04:01] Paloma Kemak: Really? I feel the same way. So many people coming together. Everybody, as soon as I see someone who says like T1D in their name, I'm like, oh, adding, you're my diet buddy now. It's so wonderful that we can all connect and all feel like we have a space and we have somebody. We're stronger together.

[00:04:20] Rob Howe: We definitely are. What made you start and kind of go down that road with Glitter Glucose? Wow, it's a tongue twister too, Glitter Glucose. I'm struggling on that second L.

[00:04:32] Paloma Kemak: I've heard that before, that it's a tongue twister. well like I said I just felt so lonely for so long and I felt I don't want anyone else to ever feel the way I did so that's when I started reaching out to people talking with people sharing my story and like I always say I love to share me too's with other people because you know whatever's happened to you I'm sure I've been through it too and you know sharing I was not the most well-controlled diabetic you know in my earlier years I still am not a perfect diabetic but having those connections with all these people sharing tips and tricks it's it's so valuable to me and I just that's why I'm so active with Glitter Glucose and um any diabetic organization I can get involved with because you know we give and take from each other

[00:05:34] Rob Howe: yeah and i think you know the idea that um we all wrestle with sort of that self-acceptance that there really isn't a perfect diabetic um and you know we kind of are our own worst enemy or our own harshest critics at times because uh you know we think that we've got to have a perfect blood sugar all the time and it's so great to go out there and see somebody that you might think of as like a perfect diabetic or you know somebody that you look at or an account that you follow and they're like, wow, I'm having a tough day today. You know, woke up with a low blood sugar or I'm having a high blood sugar or whatever the case may be. And just kind of, like you said, sharing and saying, hey, me too. Like right now, I'm not even wearing my pump right now because I checked my blood sugar like two hours ago. I was 390. I have no idea why that's so high. So I corrected and clearly I overcorrected. So I was dropping super low. So I'm taking a little break from my pup right now. So it's a constant struggle. And I know other people go through the same. So why not share?

[00:06:39] Paloma Kemak: Yeah, it's funny. I'm on a low reservoir right now. I have about eight units left. So I was thinking about changing it. But my sugars have been really solid and nice and steady today. So I think it's going to run out a little bit later. I'm not going to eat anything. And I might just go insulin free for a couple hours.

[00:06:57] Rob Howe: Yeah. I mean, you can feel like you're not diabetic for a few hours.

[00:07:01] Paloma Kemak: Yeah, take a little pump vacation.

[00:07:03] Rob Howe: Yeah. So you mentioned four years ago. So you were diagnosed a little bit later than some other of my guests. Tell me a little bit more about your diagnosis and what that was like.

[00:07:20] Paloma Kemak: so I was 23 when I got diagnosed which you know for a lot of people you know they're diagnosed as kids I was a adult already I was just feeling so sick for a long time maybe I mean over a year I was just so fatigued so sluggish I used to beat myself up because I never had any energy I never wanted to do anything. And I just thought I'm a young girl in my 20s and have no energy to do anything. Like, why am I so lazy? And, you know, I just kept living that way. I would get home from work like six o'clock and I would go to sleep. And, you know, I just had no energy. So eventually, the extreme thirst came on. And then, you know, the frequent urination and that's what's like, okay I am something's off here so I started just googling and I went on WebMD and it said diabetes so I'm like oh great you know I eat too many Cheetos I drink too much soda and now I'm diabetic and I went to the doctor he's like well yeah you're diabetic he's like but um you're not diabetes is not what you're describing and he he really just said you know he didn't really explain it that well but he just said you know well now you got to start taking shots

[00:08:53] Rob Howe: and you'll be fine okay yeah and i mean really in a nutshell that's sort of that's sort of it in as many words um you're actually the second guest uh i interviewed someone uh very recently who also uh looked up their symptoms on on WebMD and kind of took them to the doctor um what was that like sort of i mean obviously every time you look up any symptoms on web md it always goes to like the worst thing possible so i have a headache and it's like you have

[00:09:25] Paloma Kemak: cancer. I didn't want to think I was diabetic. But you know, then I started thinking, you know, well, maybe I don't eat right. Or maybe I am like overweight. And that's what a diabetic is someone who eats bad and who's overweight. So maybe that is me. And, you know, I feel like that's why I'm so involved with glitter glucose because I hate the stigma of diabetes. And as soon as you say you have diabetes, you know, so many like, ignorant things start coming back at you like, oh, so you ate too much sugar? Or Oh, it's, you know, so many things that people say. And I was one of those people once upon a time. So now, you know, I want to make a difference and, you know,

[00:10:21] Rob Howe: change people's minds if I can. And because I think we're all sort of in that same boat. I mean, whether it's, uh, you know, we talked about cancer earlier, whether it's diabetes or cancer or any other sort of life threatening disease that comes on, uh, and is sort of widespread. Uh, we don't have a lot of awareness until it affects either us or somebody close to us generally. Um, so, you know, what is that? Have you been successful in doing it? And how do you, how do you say, you know, every time you educate someone on what type 1 diabetes is, you know, what are those

[00:10:55] Paloma Kemak: conversations like? How does that come up? You know, I feel like initially I was on the defense mode all the time. Like, no, it's not because I eat too much sugar or no, you know, I was so defensive initially. And, but now that I'm more comfortable with being diabetic, I think it's just a natural conversation of, well, I'm diabetic because it's an autoimmune disease, which means my body attacked itself, killed my pancreas. Now my pancreas doesn't work. So now I have to be my own pancreas, give myself insulin. It's a, you know, up and down roller coaster, but I'm doing what I can. I'm acting as a human body part. So, you know, that's what diabetes is, not, you know the cupcake that you ate or you know not you know someone who's overweight so you know I think through Instagram and I even have a lot of followers who aren't diabetic as I make sure to tag every picture that I post with T1D looks like me because I am what diabetes looks like I'm just a normal person you know living life and this is what diabetes is you know

[00:12:13] Rob Howe: I totally agree with you. I think, you know, I love that hashtag. I love that JDRF campaign. T1D looks like me because I think it's OK. And like giving permission to accept yourself as a diabetic, because I think a lot of teens, especially and people have a tough time initially just accepting that, hey, I have this and it's OK. I had a conversation with someone that I didn't really know that well, and I was telling them sort of about diabetics doing things. and they were this like guru charlatan terrible person but they uh they were saying oh well like don't define yourself by this and like you're putting yourself in this box and i was like no like i'm really not like this is who i am and i can't change it and i'm not ashamed of it i'm totally fine with it and i actually have found all these other people that i just automatically have something in common with and we're all going through life the same way and but you know it's hard to explain to someone it's easy to grasp the concept of type 1 diabetes but then all the nuanced things about going through a day where you might eat the same thing get the same amount of sleep the same amount of exercise and everything from one day to the next and have a totally different experience and I think that's that's what's so cool about the community it is and

[00:13:28] Paloma Kemak: And like you said, I would, um, oh, about being in the box of diabetes. I always say, I hate being diabetic. It's, you know, the worst thing that's ever happened to me. But also it's given me a purpose. It's given me, you know, I feel like it is my purpose in life to show the world. This is what diabetes is. you know, educate, raise awareness, raise funds, and, you know, break the stigma. And even though, like I said, diabetes is, it sucks. I, it has given me a purpose. I've gained so much discipline. I've gained so many friends from it. And, you know, I wouldn't change things. I'm still hoping for a cure, obviously, but, you know, diabetes has given me good things as well. Well, and I mean, wouldn't it be nice to just have a bunch of friends who used to be diabetic?

[00:14:37] Rob Howe: I think, I think that, I mean, I think we're obviously all holding out on that, but in the meantime, just getting as by, getting by as, as, as good as we can. Um, talk to me a little bit about um you know as you're going through and and interacting with people what what are some of the the stories or interactions that you've had with other type ones or with just other just regular i guess muggle people uh my friend my friend scriven shout out to scriven bernard who was on like episode uh two of the podcast uh he calls all non-diabetics muggles um but he uh you know what interactions have you had with those people? What are some of the ones that stand out?

[00:15:20] Paloma Kemak: You know, what I take a lot of pride in is that I'm really, really active with the American Diabetes Association and JDRF and Beyond Type 1. So I went from not knowing a single diabetic to all of a sudden I hold support groups for other diabetics with the American Diabetes Association is where I first got my foot in the door. They were having an event at their office. And, you know, I didn't know that the American Diabetes Association could help me or what they really do or what they're all about. And I showed up and they were just so welcoming and they knew about Glitter Glucose, about my blog. So they asked if, you know, I wanted to hold a support group for diabetic children who speak Spanish, and then a staff member would hold a support group for their parents. And, you know, I barely know how to manage my own diabetes. And here I am thrown in a room with other diabetic children who have been diabetic much longer than I have, even though they're younger than I am. And, you know, that was the first time I felt, that was the first time I actually met someone in person, even though I had already been glitter glucose for a while and talked to people online. That was the first time I met people in person. And it was just to see like another t:slim attached to somebody's body. Like I the amount of acceptance I felt in that moment it was just so rewarding I you know I've had a t:slim for a year at this point and I've never seen a device on anyone else so to be in a room full of kids wearing it kids pricking their fingers looking at their fingertips that are all, you know, beat up. It was a room full of acceptance. And, you know, I've continued to do that. And I've branched out with other organizations. And, you know, that for me is the best part of being good or glucose is being able to do those sort of things.

[00:17:42] Rob Howe: And I want to touch on something that you had mentioned, uh, just briefly there about kids and like growing up quickly. And type 1 diabetes really forces you to become an adult sort of in an instant, right? Because now you have so many other things that you're concerned with or worried about that you didn't have to think about before. And most kids like don't ever even consider. So what was that like? Obviously, you being diagnosed later in life, you got to see sort of the other side of it. and what did that reveal to you?

[00:18:20] Paloma Kemak: You know, I was 23, so at that point I thought I had my life all figured out. I know everything, and, you know, it was kind of like a slap in the face. It's like, well, now you have to change everything you know, change every routine you have, and I always say, you know, I live my normal life, but I have to pause so much in between. like I'll be with people and hanging out and it's like okay let me step away I need to do something you know diabetic related I need to check my blood sugar I need to eat whatever like you know I live a great normal life with so many pauses in between but seeing a kid who for example there was an eight-year-old kid there who has been diabetic since they were one years old, they've been diabetic seven years. And at that point, I had only been diabetic two years. And he's quizzing me. He's like, so do you know how many carbs are in milk? I'm like, actually, no, I don't. So, you know, it's just like these kids, you know, they're mini adults, they're, they know what they're doing, they count carbs, they inject insulin, they know the warning signs of lows and highs. And, you know, it was just a funny thing when he's like, do you know how many carbs are in milk? And I'm like, no, I don't. So tell me. So, you know, me being an adult, but still this kid, you know, knows so much more than I do.

[00:19:55] Rob Howe: So on a daily basis now, now that you're, you know, you've come out in the diabetic community and you've, you know, started to build relationships and start to just participate in the conversations. How did that affect your day-to-day? Like you said, you mentioned earlier just how happy you are, how much you love what you do with Glitter Glucose. Good Lord, I am struggling. Glitter Glucose. You mentioned how much you love it. What was that like? How did you, just finding all those people, just kind of walk me through that feeling and that

[00:20:28] Paloma Kemak: process you know initially it was me reaching out to people look asking questions learning from them you know taking advice from them and you know my network of people just kept growing and growing and now you know it's kind of reversed i get so many messages every single day so many comments like asking for advice or telling me like you know you inspired me to wear my pump on the outside or you know I never used to wear skirts and you wear skirts every day and now I wear skirts I'm not scared to wear a skirt with my pump and you know so now people reach out to me and I love being that you know point of contact because I know what it's like not to have anybody so I mean I have a full time job, but, you know, outside of the diabetic world, but I make sure that, you know, a few hours of my day are spent replying to these messages, replying to my comments, and, you know, making sure that these people who, you know, I don't know if they have a diabody in real life, you know, so I want to be their diabody. And I, you know, like I said, I know what it's like not to have anyone. And so I take a lot of pride in being that someone for somebody.

[00:21:53] Rob Howe: And you bring up a great point. Social media now, specifically Instagram, I think, and YouTube to a certain extent, such a great way to connect. Like you said, not everybody has a diet buddy. Not everybody has somebody that they encounter in their life. I knew some people when I was growing up that had type 1 and they went to my school, but I wasn't close with them. And we just never really talked about it. We just kind of had it in common after I got diagnosed because I got diagnosed when I was 16. So like two more years of high school, but then, you know, I didn't really meet anyone again for years that had type 1. And I'm fortunate now that I have a few friends that are, that are in my like friend group that made like four or five type ones, which is really cool and we have a lot of things in common. Um, and we have a, like our own Facebook message thread whenever we're having a bad day, we can just go in there and air it out. Um, but yeah, like, uh, what's that like to, to be able to connect and, you know, to potentially impact somebody who doesn't have anybody else to talk to about that. Um, I think it's super cool.

[00:23:01] Paloma Kemak: I think so too. Like I said, I know what it's like not to have anyone. So now that I have the opportunity to be that someone for somebody that's really important to me and now you know it's not just online now I have friends in real life like I just went to LA last weekend for a JDRF event and I I've met a lot of people in LA who have diabetes so I got to reconnect with them and And I went to, I was a counselor at camp, diabetes camp for JDRF. And I, one of the campers, she's in her teens and she loves photography. So, you know, we go out, we hang out, we go out to eat. She takes pictures of me for my Instagram and, you know, it's a good time. So it's nice to have the online connections with people around the world, but it's nice to also have, you know,

[00:24:00] Rob Howe: real life uh connections well you know what they say a friend who takes your photos for instagram is a friend indeed right hold on hold on to that friend that's really good

[00:24:13] Paloma Kemak: i gotta teach my husband he needs to learn my angles so i could be more active on instagram

[00:24:20] Rob Howe: that's very key that's very key my my girlfriend is an awesome uh photographer and she's been

[00:24:25] Paloma Kemak: helping me out as well. So you just got to train him up. Yes. So, uh, so he's learning.

[00:24:34] Rob Howe: So, uh, let's talk about, let's talk about something from a, like a message standpoint, uh, for you, uh, when you were diagnosed and, and, you know, obviously already an adult, um, do you remember how you felt? And like, you know, besides the doctor saying, Hey, just give yourself shots and you'll be fine. The overall message that did you have in that moment, a sense that you were going to be just fine and that everything in your life was going to be

[00:24:59] Paloma Kemak: available for you just like it always had been? Well, my diagnosis was a slow learning process. When I went to the doctor, I self-diagnosed myself. So when I went to the doctor, he's like, well, now you're going to take, you check your blood sugar once a day in the morning, and then you take 20 units of Lantus at night and that's it. So he never mentioned counting carbs or checking my blood sugar every time I eat or giving mealtime insulin. So initially my life didn't really change at all. And I really didn't know. Honestly, I didn't know if I was type 1 or type 2 diabetic. He didn't tell me that. So I post on my Twitter. Back then I had a Twitter. I post like, OMG, I just found out I'm diabetic. And people were asking me, oh, type 1 or type 2? And I'm like, oh, I don't know. I just know, you know, I take a shot every day. So, you know, that's how I lived my life for a year. And I noticed I wasn't feeling any better. I still was super tired and and you know, I wasn't even checking my blood sugar because what difference did it make if I Pricked my finger in the morning at night. I still take 20 units of Lantus anyway, so In that year, I probably checked my blood sugar a total of three or four times so You know, it was I wasn't feeling any better and I went back to the doctor and I told him, you know, I'm still not feeling better and he's like okay let's bump it up to 22 units of lantis i'm like okay i'm still not feeling any better so my sister at the time thankfully was in school to be a nurse and she's like you know i think we can be doing more i think you can be feeling better let's see a specialist so then we you know I had never even heard of an endocrinologist before and here I am a year into being diabetic and she took me to an endocrinologist and I she's like so what's like your regimen I'm like I take 20 units of Lantus every night and she's like that's it that's all I do she's like do you count carbs no do you take mealtime no do you check your blood sugar no so my doc my endocrinologist was floored she couldn't believe that I had been living that long um that way so immediately she put me on the pens and then you know I still kept on with Lantus and she kind of taught me about counting carbs and you know from that point forward I was thinking this is a little more serious than I initially thought so why don't I start you know taking it upon myself to learn and that's when I started my Instagram and that's when I I had never seen or even heard of an insulin pump before so all of a sudden I start following diabetics and I see a device on them I'm like what is that so I went to my doctor and I'm like I see these people online they're wearing something for diabetes why aren't I wearing one and she set me up with a pump company and I'm like oh so this is a lot more serious than I thought so you know it's been a slow learning process for me and you know going from oh this is no big deal to, okay, this is serious. Oh, this is really serious. I need to make some changes.

[00:28:55] Rob Howe: It's, you know, it's been a learning process. That is an unbelievable story. Wow. Yeah. I bet you felt a lot better after you got some fast acting insulin, right?

[00:29:07] Paloma Kemak: Yes. I wasn't feeling like a slug anymore. Wow. Yeah. That, that is unbelievable,

[00:29:13] Rob Howe: But it goes to show you, right, like even doctors in some cases don't have as much awareness on how to properly treat type 1 diabetes because it is more serious than just some Lantus at night. yeah I think yeah that's a fantastic story and it absolutely validates the reason why I do this podcast because I think the first time I learned that not everybody has a great diagnosis experience like the one I had which was like I might as well have been diagnosed at the Four Seasons and you know as soon as I realized that not everyone had that experience I knew that it was important to spread the message of positivity and with that I want to lead into my last question for you and this is the big kicker if you had one thing to say to someone who has just been diagnosed with type 1 just one thing what would you tell them?

[00:30:14] Paloma Kemak: that's a tough one I would say see a specialist right away This is not a joke. You know, you're going to be okay. You're going to live a normal life, but you're going to take a lot of pauses in between to check your blood sugar, to count carbs, to do so many things, but you're going to be okay. But make sure that, you know, you get educated first.

[00:30:47] Rob Howe: That's fantastic. Yeah, I think that's the message, right? You're going to be okay. and yeah and I think you know you went from WebMD to a doctor thinking that you you know and then still weren't feeling well and then to an endo I think that represents you know that's an extreme example of trusting the process but yeah that's yeah I think that's that's the key right just every day is a learning experience and it will be okay it will well Paloma thanks so much for coming on the podcast. I really appreciate it. It was great to meet you via Skype and after interacting with you on Instagram for the last year or so. So yeah, just really thanks. And if our followers want to and our listeners want to follow you, where can they find you?

[00:31:38] Paloma Kemak: They can find me at GlitterGlucose on Instagram or GlitterGlucose.com.

[00:31:44] Rob Howe: Fantastic. All right. Well, thanks so much for coming.

[00:31:47] Paloma Kemak: Thank you.

[00:31:48] Rob Howe: thanks for listening to diabetics doing things subscribe to our newsletter for weekly emails and behind the scenes content and if you or someone you know has an amazing story to share send an email to rob at diabetics doing things.com