Diabetics Doing Outreach with Tanya Conovaloff

[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. The more people I talk to, the more conversations I have about folks who felt they were all alone living with type 1 diabetes, and so they live their lives without ever really having a conversation with someone who understands what they may be going through on a day-to-day basis. I was no different. Until I started this podcast, I wasn't involved in the T1D community at all. But what's interesting is how everyone's relationship with their own diabetes shifts after they get involved, even if just on social media. I encourage everyone to reach out to their local JDRF or ADA chapter, even if it's just to ask for help getting pointed in the right direction. JDRF's Type 1 Nation event is incredible. It was the first time I had ever been in a room with over 100 diabetics. It was very eye-opening. I had a great time. This year, I'm moderating the teen panel at the Dallas event on April 23rd, so if you're there, be sure to say hi. Get involved. It'll change the way you live with this disease and can even make a difference in someone else's life. All right, now back to the episode. All right, welcome back to Diabetics Doing Things. My special guest today is someone who's become really my close friend over the last year or so is Tanya Conovaloff from JDRF Dallas.

[00:01:26] Tanya Conovaloff: Hello. Good job with the last name, by the way.

[00:01:29] Rob Howe: I cheated. Don't let her fool you. So this is a rarity because we are in person, so we're face-to-face doing this interview. Most of the time, those of you who have been on the show and those of you who have heard me talk about Skype problems, we're here in person today, which is a lot of fun, and I'm really glad that we're going to do this.

[00:01:48] Tanya Conovaloff: Yes, I am too. You had to come out through the rain to get here, but I appreciate it.

[00:01:52] Rob Howe: Oh, I'm glad to do it. So let's talk a little bit. Let's just start from day one, because I guess last year you celebrated your 40th anniversary, right?

[00:02:00] Tanya Conovaloff: Yes. Yes. So in a couple months, it's going to be 41 years, which is crazy because if you saw me, you'd go, clearly she's 29. How is that even possible? But yeah, so it's been 41 years. And as other people who have been living with us for a long time can probably remember, it's changed so much. When I was first diagnosed, the only way I could tell what my sugar level was at home was to do a urine test. So I would have to, my mom would call me in off the playground like an hour before it was time to eat. I have to go to the bathroom and then drink a whole bunch of water. And then right before it was time to eat, I have to go to the bathroom again. And there was this little chemistry set with like a test tube and a dropper. And you did all these things, You dropped a little pill into the test tube, and it bubbled up and turned a color, and you compared that to a chart, which was very mucky. It was orange to green was the color spectrum.

[00:02:52] Rob Howe: So super uplifting colors, right?

[00:02:54] Tanya Conovaloff: Oh, yeah, yeah. And they were all just like mucky, muckier, muckiest. And you'd go, okay, I think I'm between 150 and 200. Well, now we know that's two-hour-old information, so it wasn't really even that helpful. But it was all we had. And then I got my first blood glucose meter to take home, and that thing was literally the size and weight of a brick. And every time I used it, it was, you know, three-minute calibration, and then you had to get what was called the hanging drop of blood, which was basically a big drop of blood. And then three more minutes, and then you washed it off with water, and you patted it dry. It went on and on. But it was so much better than the urine test that it was exciting. So it's super exciting to see where we are now and how many advancements have been made. and how many tools are out there to help us now. I just didn't have that much back then.

[00:03:41] Rob Howe: It's great to talk to people who are running CGMs and who now are getting close to these closed-loop type systems and just seeing that even when in the last 10 years, how far we've come with pump technology and everything. It's just fascinating. It is. I'm really glad that we're all able to connect and share on those. Something that I didn't mention is that we're actually sitting here at JDRF Dallas headquarters. Yes. So, Tanya, tell us about what you do for JDRF.

[00:04:08] Tanya Conovaloff: So I am the outreach manager for JDRF Greater Dallas. And literally, this is the world's best job for me. I absolutely love it. I'm an outgoing people person. I love to talk. So this allows me to do that all the time. Obviously, I'm a type 1 diabetic. So these are my people. So I've been here for a little over three years now. and my role as outreach manager includes almost anything that allows me to interact with the families and introduce families to each other so that they have support networks and they know that they're not alone, which for me growing up, I was the only person I knew with diabetes, or at least they admitted it out loud. So I meet the families at usually the point of diagnosis. So we have two children's hospitals here. I go to a class called D101, Diabetes 101, and at the end of them learning about carbohydrate counting and insulin and just all the crazy things, exercise and all those things for a day, then I come in and tell them about JDRF. And I tell them my little story about being type 1 for 40 years and, you know, talk about the progress that's been made so far and how so much of that has to do with JDRF and all the research that we funded and then I give them a little research updates on some things that are right around the corner which are really exciting and promising and I can just see people's faces light up you know all of a sudden people get out pens and start taking notes and people will stop squirming so much and lean forward and want to hear what's going on and I think them seeing me being healthy and happy and you know doing well after 40 years gives them hope too. Many of them may think this is it. This is, you know, a sentence for my child to have a

[00:05:57] Rob Howe: short, you know, and fulfilling life. What's that like, you know, after, because you're in a very emotionally vulnerable state after a diagnosis, probably in the last couple weeks, you know, you're adjusting, you've got your stuff at home as a parent. And what's that like for you to see sort of hope kind of come out and, you know, the questions that they get after they've learned, after they see someone who has taken care of themselves for this long amount of time and is still 29 years old.

[00:06:26] Tanya Conovaloff: Yeah, very nice. You picked up on that. It's amazing. That's one of my favorite parts of my job. It's hard to meet newly diagnosed families, and, of course, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. But to see that I am making an impact and hopefully providing some hope, and to see families light up if I get to meet the kiddos and see them, Usually the kids are handling it so much better than the parents at that point. You know, they're confident and they're no problem, and the parents are, you know, kind of barely hanging on sometimes. But it is. It's so rewarding and fulfilling. And then what I'm able to do from that point is hopefully engage them in the chapter. So we have a program where volunteers who have been living with the diagnosis for a while will reach back out to newly diagnosed families, and I coordinate that. And so these new families are not alone. They get to hear from somebody else who's been living with it, to learn their tips and tricks and share their experiences and hopefully have some emotional connection too so they feel like they can share some of what they're dealing with. So it is, it's the most rewarding thing to be able to help these families and then see them later coming out to the walk or coming to an educational event or coming to Art Day and realize that they're doing great, you know, and their parents are handling it now, and the kids are making other friends with type 1, and like I said, it's the best job.

[00:07:49] Rob Howe: So cool. And I'm going to put you on the spot for a second because I don't know if you have these, like, numbers, but how many type 1 families would you say that you interact with on, I don't know, a monthly or a yearly basis?

[00:08:01] Tanya Conovaloff: Well, let's see. Some numbers I do have. Last year, I met 306 newly diagnosed kiddos in their families. plus adults with type 1, which that's a different number. So I would say maybe I met 400 new families last year. But then we have our existing chapter, which we just sent out an email newsletter to, and that went to 38,000 people. I clearly don't meet all 38,000, but I would say on a regular basis, I'm probably touching base with about 100 families every month that I know and I'm getting to know better and have relationships with.

[00:08:39] Rob Howe: And that 38,000 is type 1 diabetics just in the Dallas area or surrounding who lived here at some point?

[00:08:46] Tanya Conovaloff: Well, who have somehow opted in. Okay. So they have said, yes, I would like your newsletter. And, you know, our system gets rid of duplicates and things like that. So it's a true number in the greater Dallas area.

[00:09:00] Rob Howe: That's funny. You know, you just think about, I guess you always wonder. Because I, you know, I've now met, you know, five, I think, in my own little, like, outside of any sort of diabetes activities, five people in my real random life that are type 1. And I think, you know, you start to think, how many of us are out there?

[00:09:17] Tanya Conovaloff: Right, right. Well, these numbers, though, are probably, say there's two parents that have a child. So, you know, there's two right now, right there, and maybe grandparents. So that's probably not a true number for how many type 1s there are, although we certainly don't have the market on all the type 1s either. There may be people that don't know about us, and we want to make sure that they're included and involved. We have an adult meetup group here, and we call it YADA, and that stands for Young Active Diabetic Adults. And we have a meeting once a month, and we alternate between happy hours and talking about a subject. and that's a great way for me. I love that because I feel like there's not adults then hanging out by themselves, out there alone, not knowing anyone. So I really enjoy that. It's not necessarily part of my job, but it's a really fun thing and encouraging thing to be able to welcome adults.

[00:10:14] Rob Howe: Well, and that's something that in my conversations with other people, I think we talk a lot about community and how important it is to know that you're not the only one out there. And I think it's interesting to hear people talk about it because it's very similar to me. I was diagnosed when I was 16. I accepted the diagnosis, was like, okay, this is great. I'm going to just take care of myself and continue on doing my regular day-to-day life. But I never really connected with other diabetics. I didn't get real involved. I was in my teen angst year, so I didn't want to go to Camp Sweeney. I was like, I'm too cool for that. So I didn't get to go to camp, and I just never had interacted with someone and talked about it until I was a little bit older. And I think that's true for, I don't know about the majority, but a lot of people have that same experience. So how important is the community getting involved in that, especially early on?

[00:11:06] Tanya Conovaloff: It is priceless. It really, really is. And we're incredibly lucky here because we do have some camps right around here that enable kiddos to meet other kids. And I think that it just completely changes their lives. All of a sudden, they're not feeling alone or like they're the odd one or the, you know. I remember I just thought I was a freak, so I didn't tell anybody about it in elementary school and high school even.

[00:11:31] Rob Howe: You were just a secret mad scientist every time you had to eat.

[00:11:34] Tanya Conovaloff: I was. I was. I was trying to figure it out in my head. And, of course, back then, like I said, we didn't have a take-home blood test meter. So it was just guessing. But as soon as I started meeting people after college, little by little, and then I got a hold of one of the women here at JDRF, invited me to an adult support group thing, I was on cloud nine. All of a sudden, it was about five or six women that we all had lunch and just talked nonstop and shared all these things. I wasn't alone and that was as an adult. So if kids can find that sooner, or teenagers, or college age, that would just, I think, make all the difference.

[00:12:11] Rob Howe: It really does. And it was interesting for me, I think, last year was the first Type 1 Nation that I ever went to, which was great. I got to sit on the teen panel, which was super fun and great. And then seeing all of the kids just playing and interacting with each other and talking and kind of going through their sessions, which is tough to do as a kid, you know, meeting a bunch of new people. I think the little kids are better at it than sometimes the older kids or even adults because they just don't care about being embarrassed or anything. but seeing kind of teens who are going through a lot of stuff anyway talking to each other and having somebody to lean on like you said and just like hey I'm not alone I'm not a freak I'm out here and you know just just existing and thriving and you know I have questions or this is what I do tips and tricks yeah it's just kind of cool it's really an awesome thing to be a part of

[00:13:01] Tanya Conovaloff: I agree and one of the cutest things I just love seeing is I'll look over and there's a couple different age kids but you know if they're little kids and they're showing each other their Omnipod or they're showing each other their uh Dexcom um and you know there's just no that's just natural and they're excited that somebody else has this too and um gosh i i that would have been so weird

[00:13:24] Rob Howe: for me yeah so uh so what was it like for you uh you you know where did you i don't know where you where did you grow up and then um you know obviously being the only person that you knew with diabetes? Did you ever, do you remember your first encounter with somebody else with type 1?

[00:13:38] Tanya Conovaloff: Well, let's see. I grew up, I was diagnosed in Kansas City, Missouri, and then shortly thereafter, a couple years, we moved to San Antonio, Texas. There may have been one boy in my high school with it, and I think I found out about him, like, my senior year, but we weren't friends, so. I'm trying to remember who the first person, And it was at a job. Yeah, there was a co-worker at a job. And I was just, like, beside myself, could not wait to go meet her and talk to her. And she probably thought I was a little overwhelming. But we became fast friends and, you know, share about all of that a lot. But up until then, yeah, I just really didn't know anybody. And then my big introduction, of course, was when Deborah invited me to that adult group. And it was a regular group that meets. And so these were all friends and, you know, very easy to talk to each other. And does this happen to you? And, hey, this is happening. What do you think that is? And, oh, my gosh, that happens to me too. And it was amazing. Loved it. Loved it.

[00:14:41] Rob Howe: It makes such a huge difference. I think I was very similar to you. I had some friends that I grew up with that I knew that had type 1, but I didn't – we never sat down and talked about it after I got diagnosed. We just kind of existed in the same world, but we weren't really close friends. Right, right. And I think the first time anybody ever that I encountered someone, I remember a new Chipotle opened on my college campus. So there was this huge line outside because they were giving away free burritos. So free burritos and college kids. There was an angry mob. And I had shorts on and my pump tubing was outside kind of, you know, connecting from my stomach to my pocket. And somebody walked by and just pulled out their pump and said, hey, like, hey, what's up? and they showed me their pump and I just remember being like so kind of like taken aback and just like we just hugged and I'd never seen this guy before or I'd never saw him again but we just had this like weird thing in common it was like really cool and I just remember my kind of heart racing

[00:15:38] Tanya Conovaloff: a little bit and just feeling really good yeah yeah someone uh did that to me on an airplane once I was sitting down and my tube was kind of sticking out of my pocket and a gentleman walked by and said type 1 diabetic I looked up I said yeah he said yeah and he showed me his pump too It was just, yeah, like the secret club all of a sudden.

[00:15:53] Rob Howe: Yeah, like you're a card-carrying member.

[00:15:55] Tanya Conovaloff: Exactly, exactly.

[00:15:57] Rob Howe: Super fun. So last year, in a given year, you guys do a bunch of huge events for JDRF. Yes, yes.

[00:16:05] Tanya Conovaloff: So type 1 Nation is the biggie that you mentioned, for outreach anyway. So it's an all-day-long educational summit. All of the major cities in the U.S. have one now. and we have speakers come in from all over the country, talk about the different topics related to Type 1. I try to have a track for adults living with Type 1 and then a track for parents of kiddos and even some courses for alternate caregivers like babysitters or significant others or grandparents. And then we also have the whole day we have activities planned for the kids that are 5 through 11. We call that the T1D Superheroes Room. And then we have another room for the teen track, which is 12 through 16. And again, that's a great place for them to all get to meet each other. And we have all of our vendors come out and talk about the pumps and all the different things that are going on. And we invite any nonprofit groups in the area that somehow support type 1 diabetes. So like there's an exercise group here in town. I'm going to invite them to have a table and there's a camp camp sweeney here you know is going to have a table so hopefully it's a place where you can learn a ton of stuff about what's going on meet a lot of other people get inspired um you know i'm always looking for speakers that have something to say that you know inspires the rest of the community and makes them want to go out and and do big things in their

[00:17:32] Rob Howe: lives so yeah well and i think that's such an important part of this right um and i i obviously our target audience is other people with type 1 diabetes and I think sometimes it gets it's easy to talk about diabetes the whole time um but I think I always want to know and I'm always interested in the things outside of you know once you get past testing your blood sugar four or five times a day and changing your pump sites and you know dealing with highs and lows like you know what are the things that you love to do and are passionate about and like that really fill up your cup and and are inspiring to other people so right um it's so cool to meet so many people doing their own uh like very unique things and uh and i yeah that's what i love doing as well i love to just say hey what are you doing oh that's super cool i want to just talk about it right right i

[00:18:20] Tanya Conovaloff: love that well i'm probably gonna um pull you aside after this little discussion is over and find out about some of the other people you've talked to because um especially with the teenagers Like you mentioned earlier, you were on a panel last year. I would, in an ideal world, I'd love to have a young person come in that was an athlete and then someone who was a musician and then someone who was an artist and, you know, someone who was a brainiac and just all the different types of people out there so that these teens can see no matter who they are, they can relate to someone who's, you know, living life big is a type 1.

[00:18:52] Rob Howe: Yeah. It's so important because I think your first, whenever you get diagnosed, the first thing that pops in your head is like, oh, am I gonna, are my dreams still intact? Right. And I had a great experience at Children's, because Children's Medical Center in Dallas is, obviously, I'll never stop promoting how great they are, because I had an amazing diagnosis experience. But there are other people, everybody's different. Right, right. And at different times and different locations. Do you remember?

[00:19:21] Tanya Conovaloff: How long were you in the hospital when you were diagnosed?

[00:19:24] Rob Howe: I think four days I was there. Okay. So, but it was over the holidays. It was like New Year's Day I got diagnosed. And so like there was the holiday crew and everybody was just so accommodating and very nice. And it was kind of slow around the hospital. So I feel like I got a little extra attention because of that, which is nice. And then my mom made me go back to school on Monday, which like I didn't even miss any school, which so big shout out to her.

[00:19:48] Tanya Conovaloff: Yeah, when I was diagnosed, I was in for two weeks, went straight from, you know, the doctor's office to the hospital. and I remember a few things. I remember great care. I remember, you know, giving a shot to an orange and then the teddy bear and then me in the first day. I remember we had wheelchair races in the hallway with some of the other kiddos who were there. The only negative thing or, yeah, negative thing I would say about my experience is I remember leaving with some messages and I don't know if they were told to me exactly verbatim but I remember thinking my lifespan would be till about 35 ish and that I would definitely suffer complications you know something I could go blind or lose a foot or you know one of those terrible things and that I wouldn't be able to have children and so again that was 41 years ago and so everyone knows better than that by now I think but it was something that I had to slowly overcome as I met people that were defying that. And, you know, now I know all of that's just hogwash. Right.

[00:20:53] Rob Howe: But I think, you know, predispositions and, like, misconceptions about diabetes, I mean, there are entire, you know, social media pages with, you know, memes about what people say of, oh, diabetes is this, diabetes is that. And I think until they meet somebody, and really it's just ignorance is bliss, sort of, like nobody means anything harmful by it, I think. But, yeah, what are those misconceptions that you run into talking to parents or talking to new diagnosed diabetics or new people in the community? What are those questions that they come up with?

[00:21:25] Tanya Conovaloff: Well, the big one is always there's not an understanding of the difference between type 1 and type 2, and that's just prevalent. By the time I meet the families, they have kind of been through, you know, they've been diagnosed for a couple weeks, and that's probably the main thing that they learned. But, yeah, the difference between type 1 and type 2 is a big thing. And this is just people on the street that, you know, did you eat too much sugar? Gosh, you're not fat. How do you have diabetes? You know, just all of those types of things, which I know people just want to connect and relate. But it can also be really frustrating to hear comments like that. And to your point, you know, ignorance is bliss. And it just takes a moment to try to educate and share lovingly that, you know, that's not actually accurate. Let me tell you a little bit more about it so that, you know, going forward.

[00:22:10] Rob Howe: Well, it's hard to write because most of us. who are type 1 diabetics and are experts now in our own little field of the universe, we didn't know anything about it when we were diagnosed either. So I think it's very personal, and it's a personal journey. But I think, I don't know, I'm prone to give a little bit more slack for people sometimes just because they're just, like you said, trying to connect, trying to have something in common, trying to learn a little bit about you.

[00:22:34] Tanya Conovaloff: And I know if I was speaking to someone about the various types of whatever, cancer, for example, I wouldn't know the first thing about the differences And so I try to keep that in mind, too, that, you know, if you don't have it, how are you expected to know? Right. And then all of the jokes that are on TV all the time, as funny as they are, they just contribute to the confusion, you know, about just just what you've heard.

[00:22:59] Rob Howe: One too many Wilford Brimley jokes. Yes. Yes. Exactly. If I could only have a mustache like Wilford Brimley. You're getting close. I'm working on it. um so rewind three years ago um you've kind of gotten involved in the community and met some other adults with uh with type 1 and you're uh and you're at this point where you can get involved with jdrf from a career standpoint what walk me through what that was like so i had been volunteering

[00:23:29] Tanya Conovaloff: already for several years um which is how i knew deborah who invited me to that you know luncheon And over the years I had also volunteered by going to walks. Just, I remember in sixth grade, you know, going from door to door, knocking on the door and collecting quarters after I walked, you know, however many miles. But I was starting to look for a new job and I was in advertising before that. It was a great career, but I was getting a little tired and looking for something maybe more fulfilling. And I heard about this opportunity from Deborah and I just, I mean, jumped on it. And that was the most persistent I have ever chased a job. I hounded the executive director, pick me, pick me, I'm the one, pick me. And so it was, like I said, it was really just a perfect match. The fact that I was type 1 holds so much weight with all of these families, I think. And there's just a mutual compassion, you know, for the lives that we're all leading together. and then it just fits with some of my other skill sets which is you know like I said Mitch like I mentioned talking to other people reaching out connecting people keeping up with all that so it was just sort of a natural fit jumped

[00:24:44] Rob Howe: right in so awesome and I mean a great quality of an outreach manager is willingness to reach out so I think your persistence really paid off and is really awesome. So, you know, we're really glad to have you. Thank you. Let's talk about, you know, the importance of getting involved. If I'm in a community, maybe not in Dallas, maybe somewhere else around the country or even around the world, getting involved with JDRF, what do I do to do

[00:25:10] Tanya Conovaloff: that? Absolutely. I could not recommend it more highly, even if I didn't work here, I would say that because it is so important to find a community. We are not in every city in the country, So I would Google, you know, JDRF and see if we're in your local community there and reach out and get involved and find out, you know, if they have an adult support group or, you know, how you could get involved and connect with other people. One thing that we have for a lot of adults is our ride program. So there are destination rides every year and you can train in your own, you know, town or community. and then you meet all the other ride members at the destinations and ride together and make connections that way. So that's really cool. Some other things, we have YLC for young adults. So it's the Young Leadership Committee, and that's a great way to get involved. And, you know, beef up your leadership skills, and you can add this to your resume. It's something to, you know, to add to your marketable skills. But then if you're not in a community that's really close, you can again reach out and find out who the closest chapter is, but there's ways you can get involved and have your own little events. We call it JDRF DIY, do it yourself, and it's a website and you can get online and decide I want to have a bowling party. You know, you can create that, use the website, do some fundraising if you'd like to support with the mission of finding a cure for type 1 and funding research. So that's another way to get involved. But I would definitely go on the website as a first starting point because it has lots of information. There's also, I'm sorry, one more thing, there's also a couple online, like chat room and support groups through the JDRF website. So you can ask a question or get a conversation started and other people from all over the country can answer it. You can also look for perhaps other people in your area that way. And if there are other people that are close by, they would be able to join in that conversation. And there's volunteers that man that from a national perspective. So if you have questions, they could intercede and give you ideas or resources or whatever you need that way. So JDRF.org is a good place to start.

[00:27:31] Rob Howe: Fantastic. All right, I want to shift gears a little bit. All right. kind of go to our lightning round. Just quick questions. So I almost always ask this question unless they answer it without me asking, which is always really cool to see. But so if you could tell one thing to somebody who is recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, one thing at all for them to take away and for them to remember, what would it be?

[00:27:59] Tanya Conovaloff: Well, I do meet newly diagnosed so often. There's a couple things probably. The one that's instructional as I say no matter who you are always always always have sugar on you on you not by you on you so that's my little safety tip but other than that you know this is it's it's tough but there's also a blessing in this and you learn a lot of things about yourself and about your body and about your health and about your family and your community I mean there's so much more awareness that comes with this. I know for me, I have a lot of skills that I don't think I would have had if I hadn't had this diagnosis and a lot of qualities that I don't think I would have had. So there's definitely blessings in this. That would probably be my one thing.

[00:28:47] Rob Howe: That's awesome and very true. You know, it's weird to think of like, you know, hey, I'm great at data analysis because I have to deal with it on a daily basis.

[00:28:57] Tanya Conovaloff: in those spreadsheets. I am really good at that. Just like those logs. But I wouldn't have this job, for example. And I just really couldn't imagine being more happy and more fulfilled at a job. And so that's why this works so well for me. So there are definitely blessings if you

[00:29:13] Rob Howe: look for them, I think. My other question is, if you had to think of, if you had to pick one, like favorite moment from your time with JDRF, like, you know, interacting with somebody or or you saw something that just lit you up or overflowed your cup, as it were, what would you choose?

[00:29:33] Tanya Conovaloff: It would have to be one of the little ones because, you know, they're so cute. So there's this little girl named Lily, and she's six, and she was diagnosed, I believe, when she was a little over one. And she has just curly, curly red hair, just like Shirley Temple. and I met her mom and so I made sure that she got one of our Rufus teddy bears. So it's a little teddy bear with patches on its arms and legs so you can give it a shot when you're taking your shot. So I mailed her a Rufus for Lily and she took a video of Lily and sent it back to me and she's hugging this little teddy bear just as hard as she can and she doesn't have all of her teeth so she's you know I love my Rufus and I was like oh my god my job is the best ever and they've become really active in the chapter. They come out to the walk all the time now and Lily's growing up and she's just such a sweetie and you know her mom's having to go through a lot because they're in and out of the hospital quite a bit because she is so little but just watching her grow and watching her get to that point where pretty soon things will stable out I think is so fulfilling

[00:30:39] Rob Howe: and lovely and sweet. That's awesome and it makes a difference and yeah they really appreciate all the work that you do as well it's just it does make a difference and I think I think we all have some sort of experience like that we're like hey this made a difference for me somebody along the line and you know it's awesome that you get to do that for people you do have the best job I do I do and if

[00:30:59] Tanya Conovaloff: anyone wants to see that cute little video it's on our Facebook page for JDRF Dallas it's one of the videos right there it's a little curly haired blonde girl and you can see how cute she is so we'll definitely I'll definitely have to

[00:31:11] Rob Howe: post that in the show notes so that everybody can get a quick link to that. Well, tiny. Thanks so much for taking the time. This was really fun. it was. I appreciate it. And yeah, get involved with your JDRF chapter. I promise you it's super rewarding and you'll get to meet some awesome people. Yes. All right. Thank you. 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 diabeticsdoingthings.com.