Diabetics Doing Voice Acting with Kristen McGuire

[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. What's up, everybody? Rob Howe here. Just wanted to throw some gratitude your way this afternoon because we just crossed over 25,000 downloads all time for Diabetics Doing Things. and I owe that all to you. So thank you guys so much for listening. It totally makes my day whenever you tell me that the podcast has affected you positively in some way. So keep listening. I appreciate you to the max. All right, let's get back to the episode. All right, welcome back to Diabetics Doing Things. We're interviewing new guests all the time with Type 1 and talking about everything that they do outside of just having Type 1. So my guest today, I'm very excited to uh to introduce you to is Kristen McGuire. Kristen thanks for coming on the show. Thank you for having me. You're absolutely welcome. I'm really excited about this interview because I think the interviews to me when I get when you got referred to me from a mutual friend of ours and I think when people hear about diabetics doing things who are maybe friends of mine or just come across it in social media and think of someone who would be great on the show i always love to meet those people so um yeah it's it's fantastic to just uh you know the world is really small and i love that the diabetic community reaches out and connects people

[00:01:37] Kristen McGuire: i i agree completely and like uh i haven't i haven't been diabetic as long as a lot of type ones i was actually diagnosed as an adult but one of the things i always thought was like when i was diagnosed like well this sucks but i'm not gonna let it keep me from doing the things i want to do in life like I've got dreams and I'm gonna do them and so I think it's great that there's a show that focuses on what diabetics can achieve because I think there's a lot of misconceptions about it and what you can and cannot do and things like that when in fact like

[00:02:12] Rob Howe: you're just as capable as anybody totally agree and I think with that I definitely want to focus a little bit on uh you know what it's like for you as an who was diagnosed as an adult uh sort of those misconceptions and like learning that on the fly. But first, let's talk a little bit

[00:02:28] Kristen McGuire: about your diagnosis. Okay. What do you want to know? Just give us the full rundown. I mean,

[00:02:34] Rob Howe: what obviously like the usual symptoms, right? Like weight loss, going to the bathroom all the time, always being thirsty. But just paint us a picture. So my story is kind of unique because

[00:02:46] Kristen McGuire: I was actually six months pregnant when I was diagnosed. And when I, six months is about the time they do the test where they have you drink like the orange juice and they check your blood sugar. They check you for gestational diabetes, which is different because it always goes away after you have the baby. And so I did the test, but right before I did the test, the only thing I had noticed that was different was that I was waking up in the middle of the night really thirsty. Like, I would drink like two glasses of lemonade, and I'm like, and I'm still thirsty. And I just thought it was a pregnancy thing, because I'd never been pregnant before, and who knows, and pregnancy is weird. And so when I went in to do the test, the doctors asked me, they're like, whoa, your blood sugar is really high. You know, are you having any of these symptoms? Are you tired all the time? I'm like, well, yeah, I'm pregnant. And they're like, were you going to the bathroom a lot? And I'm like, yeah, I'm pregnant. And so like all of the symptoms that most people have when they're diabetic are also symptoms you have when you're pregnant. And so the only thing that was weird to me was the, uh, the thirst and I wasn't losing weight because I was pregnant. Um, so I didn't have any symptoms other than extreme thirst. I mean, thankfully, the only reason we caught it was because I had to do that test. But even then, when you're pregnant, you know, you have to maybe take a little bit of insulin or a lot of times it's controlled through diet alone and it couldn't be controlled. And so they ran a test and tested my antibodies and that's when they're like, whoa, you're actually a type 1 diabetic and pregnancy has just jump-started it. Wow. And that's when I got diagnosed. Well, actually, you know, you're right.

[00:04:39] Rob Howe: Your story is pretty unique. You're the, that's the first one, a diagnosis story of that kind that I've heard on, uh, on diabetics doing things. So you're right. It is unique and, and what a challenge, right? I think especially, uh, adult diagnosis are tricky enough, um, you know, with, uh, you know, type 2 and misdiagnosis and, um, all the nuances that are associated with, being older and diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, but specifically when you're pregnant. So what was your reaction, you know, during that day where they were doing the test? You're like, now, oh, I'm thirsty. Now I'm a diabetic. What's the deal?

[00:05:18] Kristen McGuire: Well, it took a few days for them to realize that it was type 1 and not just gestational. They ran the test because my doctor was suspicious that, you know, you're not, he's like you're a skinny girl and so it seems really weird that your bloodshed would be off the chart um i literally just look like i had a basketball in front of me like i exercised i work in a hospital so i walk like constantly like i'm very very active um so he's like this is just weird and that's when he took it on his own initiative to run the antibodies um and it turns out that my biological dad who i i don't even know i found out later that he's also a type 1 diabetic, but they didn't find out until he was in his 30s. So the good news about all that was, while it was, of course, very shocking, the good news is they caught it so early that I never had to go through that horrible hospitalization stage that a lot of adults go through when they figure things out. And when I gave birth, it went away and then came back and it went away and it kind of like would go in between. And by the time I had my second daughter, it was like permanent. But once again, we caught it so early. I've always had really great control over it because it never just happened. Like it was, it's always been very gradual. So it's gradually, you know, gotten worse over the years, like it often does, where you have to take more insulin and things like that. But compared to most type 1 diabetics, I'm still on very little insulin.

[00:06:55] Rob Howe: well that's interesting because like i think you know like you said there's so much so many stories out there where it's a stark difference or um you know i have to take a lot of insulin because my

[00:07:06] Kristen McGuire: a1c was 15 you know um oh my god mine's never been over like 6.3 great so yeah i i think like

[00:07:14] Rob Howe: and that's important too that like not all type 1 looks the same uh and i think that's what's so great about that JDRF campaign, hashtag T1D looks like me, because it's purely for awareness's sake and people put that filter over their photos. But, you know, it's to show that there really isn't one size fits all when it comes to type 1. And I think, you know, as people look and especially with the advent of social media and how popular it is, you know, it's easy to see all only the good things that people post or only the, um, you know, without, without any of the struggles. Right. So I think that's good to like be open about like, Hey, like, yeah, I I'm still type 1, even though, and I deal with the same things, even though I don't have to take as much insulin or my honeymoon period has lasted

[00:08:06] Kristen McGuire: longer than most people's or whatever the case may be. Yeah. My, my doctor frequently tells me, he's like, you have the best honeymoon period of anyone I've seen. I'm like, yeah, it's lasted

[00:08:15] Rob Howe: like 10 years hey just keep riding that train whatever you got whatever you're doing keep

[00:08:22] Kristen McGuire: doing it uh my biggest problem was and it's not as bad as it used to be because you know as all all honeymoons must come to an end and mine has slowly started to end but once upon a time especially when i was pregnant my pancreas still made its own insulin so occasionally it'd just be like you need this now and you're like no no pancreas i don't know okay i'll take it right now um so that would i would randomly bottom out like i i had way more problems with bottoming out than i did with high blood sugar because i would take my insulin like i was supposed to and then like an hour later my pancreas is like here you go and i'm like no i didn't need

[00:09:01] Rob Howe: it no thank you that's so that's so frustrating right because there's no way to predict when

[00:09:07] Kristen McGuire: it's going to happen. Exactly. It's not as bad as it used to be. Cause I guess like I've, like said, I've written that honeymoon period as long as I could and it's out of insulin now. I don't know, but, uh, I have a lot less lows than I used to and now more high. Oh no, no fun. Highs are the

[00:09:25] Rob Howe: worst. So I want to talk real quick. Um, because, uh, you know, as you were a diagnosis type 1, And we've had a few mothers on our show talking about their journey with pregnancy with type 1. What was that preparation process like for you given the circumstances of when you were having your first baby, you weren't type 1, then your second child, you were?

[00:09:52] Kristen McGuire: I want to say it was actually easier the second time around because I knew what I was doing at that point. With my first one, the biggest problem I had was that we tried to control the diet and that didn't work and then we had to go on insulin, settle on how to take insulin for it. And it was the thought that everything I do doesn't affect just me, it affects spay me. And I actually lost weight after I was diagnosed because I drastically changed my eating habits. so I lost like six or seven pounds when I was pregnant when most women are like putting on weight I was losing it uh and with the second one you know I already kind of knew what to expect and I knew what I could eat and I knew what triggered what and so it wasn't as bad other than the fact that you know I had like six months of trying to figure out like hey I don't want to mess up this baby instead of just like three. The worst part for me is I'm like five feet tall. So I'm like really tiny. And both of my children were like really large. They were like, the first one was eight pounds, one ounce. And the second one was eight pounds, 12 ounces. So that was the biggest problem as, you know, diabetes causes children to be born with higher birth weights.

[00:11:12] Rob Howe: Oh, I didn't know that actually. That's interesting.

[00:11:16] Kristen McGuire: yeah uh do you know big babies when you're diabetic do you know why that is um i really i really don't uh unfortunately what's weird is that both my children are very petite like me so even though they started out as like big babies like they're the smallest kids in their class so they just came they just came out ready to go they're like this is me yeah um but usually when you're diabetic, you have to have your baby induced because they grow larger than normal babies. So both of my babies were induced a week ahead of time, and they still came out like eight pounds. So if they, like when you're pregnant in the last trimester, your baby in your stomach puts on an extra pound like per week. So an extra week would have made it a nine pound 12 ounce baby yeah yeah exactly so you can see why the doctors are like

[00:12:13] Rob Howe: we're not gonna let that happen my uh my brother and sister uh were my sister was like nine pounds 11 ounces and i think my brother was 10 pounds eight ounces or something something big old babies but my mom but my mom's like 5 11 so um so she was a little bit bigger than you were so that's

[00:12:35] Kristen McGuire: lucky for her yeah it's not a cakewalk when you're only five feet tall

[00:12:42] Rob Howe: it's not and i think uh you know back to sort of type 1 diabetes looks like me um you know diabetes diabetics come in all shapes and sizes like i'm like six six and like i'm huge i'm not i'm pretty at least i said i was big to someone the other day like you're not big you're just tall and I was like okay well that's fair but um yeah I think there's I've met over the last year and a half or so so many different people from so many backgrounds like that are all different shapes and sizes and um and I think that's so unique about this sort of family that we found ourselves in is that there is no like typical blueprint of what a type 1 looks like

[00:13:22] Kristen McGuire: it could honestly be anyone it could be and you're absolutely right there and my favorite thing is when people look at you and they're like, but you're so skinny. And you're like, yeah,

[00:13:34] Rob Howe: if only that was what mattered. Right. If only it wasn't my beta cells, if only my beta cells were alive. So I want to talk a little bit about what you do for your career, because I think it's super interesting. And I know you work at Funimation here in Dallas, but why don't you just tell everyone what um you know what you do on a day-to-day basis what's the day in the life

[00:14:00] Kristen McGuire: of kristen mcguire like okay um well i am a voice actor i'm also i'm also a comic book artist i'm also a script writer um i actually wear many mini hats and i'm a mom um so what i do is i voice act for anime when they bring it uh over from japan and they license it for english they need someone to be those english voices so i will be that english voice we like to kind of jokingly call ourselves you know a dvd option or the spanish homer simpson um mostly we act like i act like teenage girls a lot and sometimes little girls and sometimes little boys um or currently i'm playing a parasitic alien that lives in a boy's chest but you know okay all right hold on what

[00:14:47] Rob Howe: That sounds cool. Alright, not to put you on the spot, but, like, so if you're gonna do, give us, like, a typical anime character. Just, like, I don't know, do a voice.

[00:14:56] Kristen McGuire: Okay. Well, when I play teenage girls, they usually sound like this, and they're a little bit younger, and they're usually really happy, because that's how anime girls are. But if I'm a parasitic alien, then he kind of sounds like this, and he lives in a little boy's chest, and he looks like a little, like, cat creature that lives in there. or if I play a boy which I've done on several occasions he's just pretty scrappy I call it my Ash Ketchum impression from Pokemon but it's like you know hey guys after this let's go out to the pond and catch some frogs it'll be awesome

[00:15:35] Rob Howe: that's good you had me convinced that reminds me right just like Ash that's fantastic so thank you for doing that thank you for putting up with that I didn't mean to put you on the spot there but I felt like we had to hear that. So what's a typical day like for you? I imagine, and you sort of prefaced me with this beforehand, like your hours are atypical from a typical 9-to-5 person. So what's a day like for you and from a diabetic's perspective? So how do you prepare for your gigs?

[00:16:12] Kristen McGuire: I mean, like I said, my schedule's all over the place. Because most of the time, most of the time, I wake up and I check my blood sugar, and then I take my long-acting insulin. I take that in the brain, and then, you know, I'll eat breakfast. Usually, like, I'm really cheap when it comes to insulin. I don't like taking a lot. So when I eat breakfast, I try to find something under 15 carbs so I don't have to take insulin. It's like just one less Coke in my day. and then uh depending on what i have to do like if i have to write a script you know like i'll sit down and read a video and i'll write that's not that exciting uh but if i have to act then you know it takes me about an hour to get ready i usually take a snack like a green apple uh because it won't mess up my vocal cords and you know it's not like chocked full of carbs and i'll usually eat a snack right before i go in because a typical recording session is going to be you know average around two hours sometimes more sometimes less but average two hours and there's nothing worse than like recording and then you know bottoming out in the middle of recording um and then it just depends because we record anywhere from 10 a.m to 10 p.m so it's very much like trying to figure out food options and when to eat and things like that are the biggest obstacles or sometimes I travel for conventions and that's just like a whole different that's a whole different ball games you know traveling to a different state and having all your supplies and I just traveled recently and I left my test kit at home and so I had to buy one of the cheap ones at like Walmart and it was like it's not the one I usually use and I don't like it right and it's got the different shaped test strips and it's like yeah I couldn't figure out I was like but that's not

[00:18:03] Rob Howe: how it works oh i have to turn it around and i kind of want to walk through as well like i i think you know obviously like traveling and any sort of day-to-day activity you have to prepare that one extra step uh than than a regular person right and uh make sure that you have your sugar on you and make sure you have all your supplies or if you don't you know i remember when i used to work in events i ran out of ran out of test strips like halfway through the event and i was well, I got to go call my prescription into a new Walgreens.

[00:18:33] Kristen McGuire: Oh, God, that's the worst, too.

[00:18:35] Rob Howe: It was tough. But for you specifically, what if you have a low while you're in the studio? And I think you prefaced this a little bit in our conversation before, but there are certain foods that affect your voice. So talk about how would you treat a low in the studio versus a low at home?

[00:18:57] Kristen McGuire: So, you know, a low at home, usually I like to, when I treat a low, I like to treat it with something that also has protein in it. So it's not just going to slide back down. So, you know, I'll have like a protein shake or I'll, you know, eat a protein bar or something. But when I'm in the studio, like dairy is all off limits. You can't have dairy because it creates a film in the back of the throat, and it's very Hershey sounding. It makes you have to clear your throat a lot, which you don't want to do when you're recording. So the best option would be to have an apple or something, but the studio doesn't have that. So unless I bring it myself, it's not going to be there. They have a vending machine, and at that point, my only option are chips because chips are one of the few things you can eat that aren't going to affect your voice. Like you don't want to eat like a bunch of peanut butter or chocolate or something like that because it gets stuck in your throat and it causes you to have mouth noises. And so, right.

[00:19:59] Rob Howe: You don't want all your characters to be like,

[00:20:02] Kristen McGuire: or Skittles, maybe, you know, if you're like really hard up. Yeah. And things like that. I never thought of before I became a voice actor, but I'm like, Oh, these things are really important.

[00:20:15] Rob Howe: Well, and I think, you know, for all of us, right. You, uh, There are nuances to every person's walk with type 1. Whether it's long hours. I was just watching a documentary the other day. It was at a big event that went all day and no one would get up and leave. I was like, man, for a type 1 in there, not only are these people not eating, but they don't have time to get up or move around. How do they do it? What do we not know? how many purses are out there filled with snacks or backpacks that you

[00:20:52] Kristen McGuire: mentioned that because it just had a flashback to my college graduation it was like a four hour long ceremony and we're not allowed to have our purses or anything on us and I'm just sitting there like you know in this ceremony of like however many people are graduating the sea of like you know black cap and gowns and I'm like oh god I feel it like you know the dizziness and your ears are ringing your palms are sweating you're like oh no what do I do like I'm so embarrassed I'm in the middle of a ceremony and I'm gonna die like I go to get up and they're like ma'am no leaving and I'm like I'm dying they had to take me like backstage to find a vending machine I don't have any money on me and like so the guy had to like front me like 75 cents to get like a candy bar or something out and he's like all right go back to your seat i'm like seriously okay i'm gonna go finish this out

[00:21:51] Rob Howe: it's like please don't ruin this ceremony with your life

[00:21:56] Kristen McGuire: really your disease is messing it up uh it was funny i think like everybody's been in a situation

[00:22:02] Rob Howe: where they've had to ask for someone for extra change or like a dollar to buy out of a vending machine just because you're so low. You're just in dire straits and you just need something really quick. It's always like an interesting conversation.

[00:22:16] Kristen McGuire: I've started keeping granola bars in my purse just for such an occasion. But then by the time I need it, it's all smushed and gross. And I'm like, well, here we go. Happened anyway.

[00:22:25] Rob Howe: Right. This is for survival. This isn't fun. uh i one time was in uh i'm not sure if i told this story before on the podcast but uh i was in japan tell it again right we're telling it here uh in 2015 i was in japan and i was climbing uh in i went to kyoto for the day and i was looking at all these temples and i like um i'm thinking of like it's at the arches the arches at like i think it's inero station and And so like I'm, you know, I'll correct that in the show notes if I'm wrong. But the, like I climbed it and like the diagram looked like it was just like a, like five story climb. Like just super simple, like up some steps. Like it's this beautiful like nature preserve and these arches are everywhere and it's gorgeous. Beautiful day outside. Come to find out it's like a mile and a half hike. So I got all the way out and it's like mostly up, like up a side of a cliff. and you get to the top and you can see like all of uh of Kyoto and like the coast and it's beautiful but I like got all the way up there and I hadn't really had anything to eat and um I had no and I like oh man I'm having a low and I had I ate my granola bar but it like didn't really do much because it was I was still so low so luckily in Japan there are vending machines literally everywhere so I'm like a mile a mile and a quarter in I'm like almost to the summit of this like historical landmark and i come up some stairs and there's these like fox idols and altars and it's like very cool and then all of a sudden there's a coca-cola machine like right there and i was like yes like yes i can have an ice cold can of coke in japan on top of this altar mountain and you're

[00:24:10] Kristen McGuire: like i'm gonna worship this kind of coke give me two seconds yeah it was it was fantastic i was

[00:24:15] Rob Howe: like oh wow this is uh this is perfect i'm so glad this is a thing i'm so glad vending machines are everywhere because otherwise this would have been a tough hike back down i'd be dead right now

[00:24:25] Kristen McGuire: the worst part is like when people don't understand what's happening because i've often said people like having a low is kind of like being like your brain is fine and your brain knows what's going on but your body just will not cooperate and like i was doing a panel once at a convention and i feel my blood sugar like bottoming out and i was talking and i kept losing my train of thought. I don't know if that happens to you. And you're like, anyway, you know what I mean. And you're like, anyway, um, the thing is, um, and like, you can't form a thought. And finally the girl doing the panel with me, she'd never met me before. And she looks at me and she's like, are you drunk right now? And I'm like, no, I'm not. I swear. I'm just, I'm just dying. I'm not drunk. I'm just on the verge of death. I think most people who know me would,

[00:25:17] Rob Howe: would say that I don't, it is not me zoning out or losing my train of thought has nothing to do with my low blood sugar, just with the fact that I'm distracted all the time. But now I'm going to blame it on that. So thank you for that. It's really, I really appreciate it. Something that people, something that other guests have mentioned when they come on the show, especially when they're telling like a longer story with like multiple like Pete parts and are kind of getting really into detail is that if they, if their blood sugar starts to drop, they'll just start rambling and they like won't realize how long they've been talking and that someone else on their end, for me, it's great because this, you guys hear me every week or, you know, basically every episode. Uh, and so there's only a limited amount of stories that I have. But, uh, so for me, when they go and they start rambling, it's fantastic. Cause I get more information. Uh, but then like someone on their end will see them or hear them or be in the same room as them. And they'll give them like the, hey, your rambling symbol, which is just really funny.

[00:26:15] Kristen McGuire: I don't think I typically ramble. I say um a lot. Like I'll tell people, I'm like, if I start saying um a lot, or I can't finish the thought, that means things are bad. But another thing that happened was I briefly worked at a daycare, and I went into the infant room because we put all our ice packs in their fridge like the dog got hurt. And the door to get in there, the handle's on the other side, so like the little babies can't climb up and accidentally open the door. It's like a half door, you know, it only goes up to your waist.

[00:26:45] Rob Howe: Okay.

[00:26:46] Kristen McGuire: You have to reach over it and open the doorknob from the other side. And I reached over and I'm looking and I could tell my blood sugar's low, but it was one of those days where it was like really, really busy and it just hadn't had time to eat. And I'm like reaching for the doorknob and I can't find it. And I'm like looking, I'm like, where's the doorknob? And one of the teacher looks over and she's like, are you okay? And I'm like, no. I'm like, I can't find the doorknob. She's like, it's on the other side. Like, it always has been. And I'm like, well, I could have sworn it was right here. I can't open the door. Good times.

[00:27:20] Rob Howe: It is, right? It's just like, oh, don't mind me. I'm just being myself.

[00:27:25] Kristen McGuire: We'll be okay. Just need a Snickers.

[00:27:29] Rob Howe: So in the, and I kind of want to shift gears here a little bit. But as you have been, obviously, with your family, with your children, how do you talk to them about your diabetes?

[00:27:44] Kristen McGuire: I don't really talk to them about it. It's just always been around. I mean, it's been around since before they were born. We don't really – occasionally, if I have – if you have one of those days where you have multiple bouts of low blood sugar, you don't kind of run down. Your body's going through it so many times. you know like I'll explain to them like hey you know I'm having a little blood sugar right now I just don't feel good and they'll kind of like give me that space until like it comes back up and they're really good about you know if I'm like hey go get my test strip or can you get my insulin like they know what to look for and things like that but I wouldn't say it's really affected them you know that much other than you know if we do go on like outings together or something I'm like oh hey my blood sugar's low so we need to stop and get some food and they're just like yeah food

[00:28:32] Rob Howe: yeah i think it's it's interesting like being the non-diabetic child of a type 1 you begin to like associate good stuff i know one of my friends uh has two gorgeous little boys and she uh every time if she gets like kind of upset at them sometimes they'll just ask her like mommy are you having a blood sugar or they'll uh they'll start to use like oh i'm having my blood sugar is

[00:28:58] Kristen McGuire: low i need candy mine haven't tried that with me yet they're uh they're now eight and ten um but it's it's funny you mentioned that uh kids are i i don't know like it's never really hit it from them so i think for them it's just very normal and every day and it's not anything special uh and that's cool you know the worst part is like when you're on a new medication or something Like, I had an allergic reaction to something recently, to an antibiotic. And to get over the reaction, I had to do a steroid. And the steroid, like, really messed with my blood sugar. And so then for a few days, it was like I needed them. You know, I told them. I was like, hey, I really need your help. Like, my body's really messed up right now. And, you know, they were, like, extra helpful and things like that. But they're really great kids. So I can't complain. They're awesome, especially when it comes to things like that.

[00:29:55] Rob Howe: And yeah, I mean you mentioned steroids are the worst, right? Because they'll send you just sky high.

[00:30:01] Kristen McGuire: Oh my gosh, so high.

[00:30:04] Rob Howe: And yeah, I recently had surgery and they put a bunch of cortisone in one of my ankles after they did the surgery on it to help with the pain. But my blood sugar was super high for like three days. It was the worst.

[00:30:17] Kristen McGuire: And you feel off.

[00:30:19] Rob Howe: Oh yeah. it's the like i cannot describe even like 20 minutes uh of being above you know 200 or so like makes me feel so bad just just the worst um and even you know get any higher than that

[00:30:34] Kristen McGuire: it's even worse i don't think i've been on a steroid like in for a really long time i don't remember the last and i don't think like the new doctor and i don't think like he thought to tell me it was going to happen. And so when I took it, like I didn't, for the first day, I was like, what is wrong with me? I'm like, God, like, I know I didn't eat that much. There's hardly any carbs in this meal. I know I took the right amount of insulin. What's going on? And then you play that mystery game of like, all right, let me go through my day. What did I eat differently? And I was like, oh, it's the steroid. So as soon as like my reaction was better, I actually stopped taking the steroid because I was like, I think this is worse for me than, than to take it because my blood sugar is so high.

[00:31:25] Rob Howe: Well, and it is like, it just, doesn't it feel, it makes you question, you know, medical decisions. And like, I always obviously like talk to my doctor and he's like, you know what? Some people, some people have the reaction of high blood sugar and some people don't. I think it's just kind of back to what we were talking about earlier that everybody's so different.

[00:31:42] Kristen McGuire: Yeah, that's a good point.

[00:31:45] Rob Howe: So I think kind of while we're on the subject of medication, like there's so much good research coming out. There's new medications that have been in human trials and are sort of starting to release and a lot of new pump technology. You mentioned that you're on long-acting insulin. What are you excited about for the future of your life with type 1?

[00:32:06] Kristen McGuire: I think that, I think honestly, and maybe this is me just being kind of too hopeful, I don't know, but I think that there will be a cure for diabetes the way we're advancing in medicine. I think there will be a cure for it, you know, within our lifetime. I'm not actually on a pump because I'm three veins, and I would rather just, I take the insulin pens, you know, that I'm just like around. Love them. So I don't have a pump. My doctor is like, you know, I'd really like you to get a pump. He's like, you do fine on your own. Like my average A1C is like 5.5. Jealous. I work really hard. But he said, you know, he's like, obviously, he's like, if there comes a day where I think you really need it, like, I'll let you know. I'm like, I'm not that vain doc. Like if it's ever comes to the point, like life or death, like I'll take the pump. I'm not so vain that I would die over it. Uh, I'm like, but let me know when they come up with a patch, you know, like if I can just slap a patch on my shoulder,

[00:33:12] Rob Howe: that'd be fantastic. Right. I think that, that was my initial, like I've had a pump for eight years, uh, my Medtronic pump. And I think I'm about to get a new one fingers crossed because my warranty is about to be up. So yeah, keep that, send those good vibes. But, um, yeah, At first I was like, wow, this isn't cool. This isn't sexy at all. I didn't want this. I was like, nope. I was wrong. Not that it's super cool and sexy, but it's totally incognito. I love my pump.

[00:33:44] Kristen McGuire: You should make it sexy. Just draw a heart on it. Look how sexy that is.

[00:33:50] Rob Howe: Just give it some cool clothes. I think we had Emily Emblem from Pump Heels was on the podcast. pump peels is a great way especially for kids to uh to dress up your pump and kind of get that individual uh you know stand stand out from the crowd kind of look on your pump so um plenty of options out there for for people to bedazzle their pumps in cool ways but yeah i

[00:34:15] Kristen McGuire: totally get it sorry i cut you off oh i said i think that's awesome like i've never had a pump The closest thing I had is, what do they call it? Is it the Dex? You know? Yeah, yeah. The, like, 24-hour, like, blood sugar monitoring.

[00:34:32] Rob Howe: Yeah, the CGM and Dexcom.

[00:34:34] Kristen McGuire: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I had it probably about a year ago. They had me try to try to draw out some discrepancies, you know, and I'm like, when you do that, it's all the time. And he was like, oh, it's little. He shows me this, you know, he's like, it's this big. He's like, look how tiny that is. He won't even know it's there. And I'm like, okay. What he didn't tell me was that the case was going to be huge. And so, like, it's on, you know, the back of my arm. And I'm like, it's ugly. I don't like it. Like, everyone can see it. And it's Texas and it's hot. And I wear tank tops all the time. And everyone knows it's there. It's like a big, ugly technology wart. And I was not, when we had it out, they're like, so do you want one all the time? I'm like, no, I don't. Thanks, Phil.

[00:35:26] Rob Howe: Yeah, I think it's like, you know, again, no type 1 is the same, right? Everybody has their own preference as to what it is. And like you said, like if your control is good, like have whatever you want. You know, I think for the most part, it's about split, probably 50-50 people who are on my podcast who do either daily injections or have a pump. So I think it's I don't know what the numbers are, you know, nationwide, worldwide or what have you. But, you know, what does stand out is that nobody treats their diabetes exactly the same.

[00:36:01] Kristen McGuire: That's true.

[00:36:03] Rob Howe: So kind of with that in mind, you know, this is a question I always ask all my guests. If you could if you could tell a recently diagnosed type 1 diabetic one thing and just one thing, what would it be?

[00:36:18] Kristen McGuire: Your life is not over. I know it feels that way. It feels that way when you first get diagnosed and think everything's different and you're like, it sucks, like now I can't have margaritas anymore. But your life is not over. And I feel like, yeah, diabetes is one of those hidden diseases. Like, you don't know people have it. You pass it up on the street and, you know, all the same. One of them is diabetic. You know, your life's not over. You can still do all the things you want to do in life. And it just means that you have to be a little more careful with your diet and how you treat your body because the decisions you make about your body now will affect you in the future. And the one thing that really helped me when I was first diagnosed, because there's all these scary, you know, things about being diabetic and how you're going to have your foot amputated at some point and things like that. You're going to go blind and your kidneys are going to fail and it's scary. And you're like, I don't want that to happen to me. I like my feet. What helped me was I was working at a hospital, like I said, and I met patients and one of them was somebody that didn't control their diabetes. And she was that patient. She was like had her foot amputated and she was blind and she was on dialysis and I was like oh my god that's really scary and then I met another patient and she was type 1 diabetic and she had great control and I was like well how long have you been diabetic she's like like 25 years and I'm like really and she's like yeah and I'm like and you're not like blind or anything and she's like no she's like I see fine my kidneys are fine I have all my limbs she's like I just control it and to me that was like, all right, if I do well, like I can be this woman, I can be 50 and still be healthy. So I don't know, it was a rainbow, but I think I got my...

[00:38:14] Rob Howe: You did. I know your, your point is well taken and I think you're absolutely right. I think, you know, your life is not over and you can still do whatever you want and, you know, keep your feet because feet are great. Feet are awesome. And, you know, I, I haven't, you know, I'm totally willing to, and I, you know, if someone's life is out there and diabetes has taken their feet away from them, I would love to talk to them, but I haven't talked to any type ones, uh, yet that have had, uh, that have had any amputations or anything like that. So I think that's just a, um, you know, sort of managing by exception. Like people say, you know, this could happen, but anything could happen, you know, it's just, um, you know, all the research and technology is so great today and doctors are so awesome talk to your doctor listen to him and you know you can

[00:39:02] Kristen McGuire: do whatever you want just like you said yeah and it's going to Dallas area I don't know my doctor is awesome very very helpful and he's seen me for like the past seven years and I always feel like I'm going to see family when I see him like he always knows what's going on with my life he's happy to see me maybe it's because I have like a really good a1c maybe I'm the easy patient that day I don't know but I think part of the reason why it's so good is because I've had somebody help manage it all these years and keep me on track and the moment I'm scared about something you know I can talk to him and he's gonna lead me in the direction you know the right direction that's best for me and I've been diabetic 10 years now it's like my 10 year anniversary

[00:39:50] Rob Howe: Yeah, what day were you diagnosed? What day was your 10-year?

[00:39:55] Kristen McGuire: I don't remember the exact day. I know that sounds crazy, but I was pregnant at the time. But it was probably about three months ago. So I want to say it was like December, sometime in December, because I was six months pregnant at the time, and that's about the time frame back then. But I was 21. 21. You know, I remember because I got pregnant, uh, right before I turned 21. So I was like, well, I couldn't drink cause I was pregnant. And then I became diabetic. I'm like, man,

[00:40:24] Rob Howe: there goes all the good drinks. I laughed when you said, Oh, I can't have margaritas anymore. That's the first thought that comes into every diabetic's head, no matter what.

[00:40:33] Kristen McGuire: Oh, I'm just stuck with a Roman diet coke forever.

[00:40:38] Rob Howe: Well, Kristen, thanks so much for coming on the show. Uh, it was fantastic to meet you. And I'm our friends in common, our mutual friends introduced us.

[00:40:49] Kristen McGuire: Oh, thank you so much. I'm sorry. I like to talk.

[00:40:53] Rob Howe: Literally, my show is based on diabetics who like to talk, so please don't apologize for that.

[00:40:59] Kristen McGuire: You should change it to that. Diabetics who like to talk.

[00:41:02] Rob Howe: I'll have to think about it. I'll have to think about a sub show where we just all have low blood sugar and ramble.

[00:41:09] Kristen McGuire: That'd be great.

[00:41:11] Rob Howe: Kristen, if people want to find you online, do you have like social media profiles or do you keep a pretty low profile

[00:41:18] Kristen McGuire: actually no I have because of my acting and things like that I have a bunch of social media thankfully it's all under the same name so it's easy to find if you find me on one you can find me on the other my twitter username is KrisComics and it's the same for Facebook it's the same for Instagram so that's private so you shouldn't have me there And my website is kriscomics.com.

[00:41:45] Rob Howe: Awesome. Well, Kristen, thanks so much again. And looking forward to staying in touch and keeping up with all the awesome stuff you're doing.

[00:41:54] Kristen McGuire: Awesome. Well, thanks so much for having me on. It was a lot of fun talking to you.

[00:41:58] Rob Howe: Thanks again for listening to Diabetics Doing Things. I'm going to try a new thing. I'm going to start sending out a Friday newsletter with just my thoughts for the week and some questions that you guys have asked either on social media or that you emailed me. So if you want to do that, just subscribe on the website, diabeticsdoingthings.com. See you again next time.