Diabetics Doing T1D Like Me with Jacob Kaufman

[00:00:07] Rob Howe: Welcome to the Diabetics Doing Things podcast. We've been telling the amazing stories of type 1 diabetics all across the world since 2015, and we have over a thousand years of living with T1D on the podcast. The interviews range from incredible feats to everyday victories, and we celebrate them all just the same. Thanks for listening, and if you want to get involved even further, just send me an email at rob at diabeticsdoingthings.com. This episode is sponsored by Health IQ. What's Health IQ? Health IQ is a life insurance agency, but with a very modern and cool twist, Health IQ is making life insurance fair by unlocking the value of health consciousness for the 50 million Americans who take responsibility for their health. This is especially relevant for me because as a type 1 diabetic, I've been denied life insurance coverage by other providers. Even though my A1Cs are in range, I eat Whole30 and can still kill guys 10 years younger than me on the basketball court, which is super frustrating. Health IQ can give people exclusive rates through their Health IQ quiz, and they even take into account data points from things like Fitbits and other trackers. You can learn more about Health IQ and get a free quote at healthiq.com slash DDT. That's D-D-T, short for Diabetics Doing Things. And if you're like, Rob, I am not really in a place where I'm thinking about life insurance, I'll tell you this. When it comes to retirement and planning for when you're not around, there's no time like the present to at least learn what you qualify for. So give it a shot. Go to healthiq.com slash DDT and get a free quote today. Hello and welcome back to another episode of Diabetics Doing Things. We are telling the amazing stories of type 1 diabetics from all across the world. My very special guest today on this lovely summer afternoon is Jake Kaufman. Jake, thanks so much for joining the show.

[00:02:00] Jake Kaufman: Thank you so much for having me, Rob. Pleasure to be here.

[00:02:03] Rob Howe: And it's my pleasure to have you, my man. I think you and I have chatted back and forth a few times this summer and a little bit earlier in the year as well. why don't you give our listeners a little bit of background on you because you are the founder of T1DlikeMe.com and then just kind of give us the intro to your diagnosis story

[00:02:26] Jake Kaufman: Alright, so I'm Jake Kaufman, I'm from Geneva, Illinois it's about an hour west of Chicago I'm a 21 year old college student, I will be attending North Central College in Naperville, Illinois I run the website and page T1D like me. We are on Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter. The goal of the page is to share stories of success and community from T1Ds like myself and yourself to inspire and empower other diabetics. We currently have over 30 stories and are looking to get more. I am also an assistant cross-country coach at my old high school, and I volunteer at JDRF Illinois whenever they need extra help. I am also a huge sports fan.

[00:03:09] Rob Howe: Oh, yeah? Who are your sports teams?

[00:03:13] Jake Kaufman: So I like all the Chicago teams. I like the Bears, Cubs, Bulls, Blackhawks. I've been a Duke Blue Devils basketball fan since I was three years old. And, yeah.

[00:03:26] Rob Howe: I love it. Well, you've been kind of a big year for you guys in Chicago sports, right? Your Cubbies got their first World Series win in forever.

[00:03:34] Jake Kaufman: Yeah, that was insane. like I mean I remember that night so vividly it was like I they won the World Series probably at like one o'clock in the morning I didn't go to bed till three or four because I was just in shock like I just was like I can't go to bed I'm too excited and then I had an 8 a.m class the next morning that I just decided no one's gonna be there anyway so you know didn't go to that but it was just crazy I mean city lit up for it and uh yeah it's been crazy and they're the only really

[00:04:05] Rob Howe: good team in Chicago sports right now. Them and the Hawks. Right. I think we'll definitely have to talk a little bit more about some Chicago sports later in the show because he keeps coming up on my, just in interviews, I keep kind of talking shit about him as Jay Cutler. So we got to talk about our T1D brother, Jay Cutler, for a little bit. Before we do that, let's talk about

[00:04:24] Jake Kaufman: you and how you came to join the T1D family. So I was diagnosed actually on Halloween 2015. I was actually at Eastern Illinois University about three and a half hours away from where I am now. So the night before, I was actually coming home from Eastern to watch my old cross-country team run in the sectional meet. It looked like they were going to maybe make it down to state, so we wanted to see it. uh so the train actually on the way up hit a car that decided to go under around the um around the gate that was closed oh no yeah but of course you know i wasn't diagnosed yet i was still undiagnosed t1d so i you know a three and a half hour train ride turned into a six hour train ride and i think i went to the bathroom about man i lost count after like 20 it was bad But, you know, I was coming home and then I think I got home eventually at one o'clock in the morning. Next morning, my friend picked me up for the meet at like seven. So I didn't get any sleep that night either because I was going to the bathroom all night. And a friend picked me up. We went out to breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. And then I went to the meet and I, again, was going to the bathroom tons of times and went to the meet. They unfortunately didn't make it to state, went home, and, you know, I had had the symptoms for a while. I was drinking a lot, peeing a lot, always tired, you know, the old classic symptoms. So we went to the doctor, and they checked my blood sugar, and my sugar didn't even read on the meter. So it was at least over 600, and I'll never forget this moment. The doctor takes me, and he goes, you guys, you know, you should go to the hospital. Do you want an ambulance or anything? And my dad's like, no, because the hospital wasn't that far away. And I'd lived at 600 for so long and, you know, lived at a high blood sugar for so long. So he's like, OK, well, if you're just driving to the hospital, go stop and go stop, get something to eat real quick, because I don't think you're going to be eating the rest of the night. He was right. I had a fasting blood sugar. I had to do a fasting blood sugar the rest of the night. So doctor was kind of on my side with that one. um and then you know that night I was in the ICU and they did all the uh you know checking stuff I had an IV I had potassium they did all the tests stuff like that um I'll never forget though when I went to the hospital within maybe two minutes of me being there I had like three nurses on me you know pricking me with stuff and uh so I knew something was up and uh yeah And honestly, my first reaction was I was really hungry the next morning because I fasted. As soon as she told me, as soon as my endo told me, I was like, okay, well, can I have breakfast now? Because I'm really hungry. So I got that. And, you know, I think, honestly, I was more relieved than anything because I had been feeling so bad for so long. And I had a 17A1C.

[00:07:34] Rob Howe: Oh, boy.

[00:07:35] Jake Kaufman: Yeah. So it had been a few months.

[00:07:38] Rob Howe: At least, yeah.

[00:07:39] Jake Kaufman: So they were like, yeah. So I mean, I was relieved and I was kind of just ready to take it on. And yeah.

[00:07:48] Rob Howe: That's funny that that was your reaction. I think, you know, it's like, oh, glad something's wrong with me. Can I get some food? Because this is inconvenient, right?

[00:07:57] Jake Kaufman: Yeah.

[00:07:58] Rob Howe: I remember having like a similar reaction because I was in denial for a little bit, like on the car ride over. I was diagnosed technically at a emergent care. And then I drove to Children's Hospital here in Dallas. It was about 20 minutes away from where I lived. Yeah. So pretty traumatic car ride, like really upset. Get to the hospital, they get me back. And then I get back there and they give me like some saline to give me some, to give me hydrated and then some insulin. And I just remember feeling so much better right after that. I felt the same way after I, you know, started like I, you know, peed everything out. But yeah, I felt so much better after I got all that insulin in me.

[00:08:34] Jake Kaufman: Yeah.

[00:08:35] Rob Howe: And I think like, you know, you're, you mentioned being an athlete. Like I think, you know, when you're an athlete, you're more in touch with maybe how your body feels and like your performance.

[00:08:44] Jake Kaufman: Yeah.

[00:08:44] Rob Howe: And I think just, just like the hydration piece was so like, I didn't even realize how dehydrated I was. And because I had been drinking so much water all the time and I think I drank my body just like soaked up two big bags of like IV fluid in about 15 minutes. And like, I remember people commenting on it at the hospital, like, Oh my goodness, you're drinking this so fast. Yeah. But, but, uh, you know, back to, back to that point of just like knowing, like when you feel good, you know, you know that you feel good. I just remember after getting all that insulin, I felt so great and I was very relieved. I was like, wow, this really must've been what was wrong with me. Yeah. And another reaction I had, and it wasn't the immediate reaction. it was when I got diagnosed type 1 diabetes I was unfortunately like the rest of America and the rest of the world really is I didn't know there was a difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes I'm like wait how does the skinny you know I'm skinny I lost weight how did I get diabetes you know like I was a runner in high school you know and then you know my doctor you know she told me like listen do anything to deserve it it's just just kind of happened and uh yeah but I was like more like, you know, cause I didn't know any better. I was like, well, how the hell did I get diabetes? I'm one, I was like one 15 at the time and I'm a, I'm a pretty skinny guy. And I was like, this doesn't make sense to me. But, um, yeah. So, well, and I think like the, the thing about that too, like, cause it used to make me upset. Um, but I was in the same position as you, even though my mom was a nutritionist and owned a curves for, uh, for many years, uh, like a women's workout place. And like, so she interacted with type 2 diabetics all the time. And so she, you know, treated them, you know, knew about blood sugars and A1Cs and things like that. But yeah, you know, I, there's no awareness if, unless there's something like close to you, or you have a friend or a family member immediately affected by it, the awareness level of the difference between type 1 and two, just sort of, there is none, right? And I think sometimes it's easy to forget like what we were like before we were diagnosed because you know

[00:10:53] Jake Kaufman: there was no there's no need for us to know and it's exactly that's what my mom always tells me because my grandpa he has a lot of you know he has a lot of friends that are type 2 diabetic and I don't think he really understands the difference because you know he's old and you know he's like well my friend doesn't even need to take you know insulinized shots and you know pumps and stuff like that they take like pills or something and it's like um you know why aren't you doing that and you know I tried to explain to him he's like well you know I mean and my mom just tries to explain me he's like you just got to remember how you were right before you know if you heard the first you know first word was diabetes you would think of first thing you'd think of is you know a fat old guy basically so it's just I think it's just the way the media portrays it and just how society kind of looks at the word diabetes and that's immediately what you

[00:11:43] Rob Howe: think of. Yeah. And I think, you know, there's so many different, um, premeditated, I guess I'm trying to, the word is escaping me right now. It's been a long day. Um, but the, there's so many things that people think of like diabetes as a, as a stereotype, you know, they're like, oh, well you must be this, you must not exercise. You must take a pill. My grandma takes a pill, whatever but you know really who's to blame are these doctors that name the disease the same thing back and they just took the easy way out we're like oh well it's kind of similar let's just uh let's just name it diabetes mellitus or whatever yeah and so something right you say i'm sorry we didn't get that you cut out for a second it's it's some latin name right like mellitus or something

[00:12:30] Jake Kaufman: yeah and it's just like you know uh so of course the uh us plebeians we just are like oh yeah type 1 or juvenile diabetes or did you were you born with it is that the one you were born with

[00:12:40] Rob Howe: um yeah but yeah that level of awareness isn't there yeah it's my favorite one is that the bad one i'm like well is there a good one right would you would you choose one over the other even if you had a choice yeah um so yeah i i also want to talk about um going you're going to the bathroom story because i was laughing when you uh when you said you were on a train for like six and a half hours and lost track account uh lost track of how many times you went to the restroom at 20. Um I had a similar experience the week before I was diagnosed like before I went to the hospital a friend and I went to go see The Aviator which is like a two hour and like 45 minute movie um and I got to see about 30 minutes of it because I was back and forth to the restroom so much and I just remember I was like god what is wrong with me like why can't I like not stop going to the restroom and I was drinking like a coke so like a big like movie coke so I was just back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth so much that I just like hated the movie like I talked trash about that movie for like years afterwards about how bad it was and turns out it wasn't that bad it was just I had a terrible experience yeah it was it was funny because my parents had came for family weekend a couple weekends before and I think I made us may have seen two quarters of the football game because I was you know drinking you know iced tea or coke or whatever going to the bathroom it was like it was just a cycle like constant and i also felt bad for my college my freshman year roommate because he told me he eventually got used to me going to the bathroom like five times a night because i just would get up and you know yeah and it sort of just becomes routine at that point yeah i go i'm going to class well i probably have to go to the bathroom because i always have to go to the bathroom so yeah yeah it's just like it becomes a thing you do it's so strange yeah um So let's talk a little bit about cross country, because I know you mentioned, you know, you were diagnosed after high school, but I imagine that you run, you know, just as either a leisure runner or just for your regular exercise. And you're obviously still very interested in it. What are your what are your long runs like? Because you're doing, you know, one of my really good friends in college was on the cross country and track team, and he would go for sometimes 20 mile runs at a time. And he was a freak. But, you know, at the same time, like preparing for those types of things and, you know, how do you treat? How do you make sure that you're going to, you know, have a successful run both as an exercise and, you know, with your blood sugars and making sure you're not debilitated afterwards?

[00:15:13] Jake Kaufman: Yeah. So I'm actually an assistant coach on my cross country team right now, my high school team, because I'm pretty close to home and stuff. And I had a really good relationship with my coach. But I, you know, I run with the kids all the time, too. and uh one thing that really i actually recently got an apple watch which connects to my dexcom which is really nice because i can kind of just when i'm running i'll look down and be like oh my blood sugar is still doing good um one of the things i do is there's a couple things i try to do and it kind of varies if i'm going on a longer run i will have my pump on and i will do like a uh temp basal of like maybe a 75 percent um because it running will bring my blood sugar down fast and you know i don't want to crash or anything um another thing i will do is i'll eat something like a granola bar or peanut butter crackers just to kind of get my blood sugar up because right before i'd want to run i'd probably want to be about one anywhere between 180 and 200 because it drops that far um and then obviously i carry those uh they're like called glucose gels or runner's gels i don't know what their the proper name for them is but um if i ever feel low i will

[00:16:25] Rob Howe: just kind of take a sip of those and it brings me up. Well, and I think, you know, exercise is such a hot topic for T1Ds because A, you know, we're supposed to do it. It's really great for insulin absorption, you know, insulin sensitivity and, you know, maintaining a healthy lifestyle. But there's so many challenges associated with it, you know, in many different ways. For example, I don't do a whole lot of long runs so I do a lot of like high intensity workouts so my blood sugar will spike during a workout but you know over a longer period of time like you said setting a temp basal and making sure that you know all your sugars are in line so you don't crash you know what do you what was the biggest learning process for you when you're saying okay I like to do these types of workouts I'm going to be training with a team of high school athletes who are in great shape. How do I keep up? How do I make sure that I'm not going to have any problems? And even beyond problems, just like something that inconveniences a workout. There's nothing that frustrates me more than like crashing really low or high in the middle of a workout, having to stop, treat, and then get back on. And then try to get back warmed up or loose to keep working out. All right, we're going to try something different here about the midway point. this interview. We talked about it at the beginning of the podcast, but I just wanted to give another plug to Health IQ. Really, Health IQ is just like car insurance, but for life insurance. And let me explain. It's like if you're a safe driver, you get more competitive rates. That makes sense. Health IQ just takes into account an overall healthy lifestyle and passes those savings along. It's that simple. Plus, it's good for you. The American Heart Association reports that an overall healthy lifestyle is associated with nearly 60% lower risk of mortality by cardiovascular disease. That's always good news. So get the rewards for living that healthy lifestyle. Check out healthiq.com slash DDT today. And now we'll get back to the episode.

[00:18:28] Jake Kaufman: Yeah, I think one thing would be, you know, just making sure that blood sugar levels that like I would never go for a run if I was my blood sugar was at 80 or I could look at my Dexcom and I see an arrow going down I would never do a workout at that like a run like that I'd be like well you know like a long run like that I think um always you know when I used to run in high school the only thing I would need is a watch and my shoes and that would be it I think now you know I have to remember the gels and I have to check my blood sugar you know used to used to be I could just get up and run but now you know there's a whole nother routine with it uh one of the guys on my website sean forrest he's um he's actually a long distance runner i think he runs professionally and he was one of the first guys i've talked to i talked to about running with diabetes he was such a big help for me he's like everyone's kind of different like long distance runners yes they drop but some people drop faster some you know it all you know it's kind of differently how your body reacts and stuff. And, you know, that was kind of a big adjustment for me. And it was kind of like a trial and error type of thing, if that makes sense. You know, I was, you know, maybe trying this temp basal and seeing how that would work or, you know, what should I eat before I run? And I finally, you know, this didn't raise my blood sugar enough before I ran. Let me try something else. And it was definitely a long time. I would say probably about six months of just trial in there and seeing what would work and what would not work.

[00:20:01] Rob Howe: Well, and I think experimentation in, and I use that word carefully because, you know, you don't want to experiment with your health or with your body. And like, I, you know, obviously we're not, we're not doctors, but, and so you obviously need to be very careful and to consult your doctor if you ever have any real questions. But, um, it's so much of experimentation and trial and error is just part of type 1 diabetes, right? It's just part of that journey where you like, ah, you know, my sliding scale is this or my carb ratio is this, but you know, I'm going to do this. So I'm going to try it out. And that can be frustrating for people at times.

[00:20:37] Jake Kaufman: Oh yeah. Last summer was really frustrating to me because, um, I, I, I had the honeymoon phase before that. I don't know if you've heard of that, but, um, so I had the honeymoon phase pretty shortly after I was diagnosed. And then during the summer it stopped like unfortunately. unfortunately so it stopped and then you know it was frustrating because I'd go to the doctor she and of course my doctor was going she wanted to be cautious with it because you don't want to be giving me too much insulin because then I'll you know go could go really low so she was kind of being very cautious with it and I kept getting high numbers and I mean I was at her office every two weeks I think last summer just trying to adjust it and that's why I decided to not go back to eastern Illinois I was at my community college because I wanted to stay close because it was just kind of crazy as far as adjusting. And I think, I think you're right. It's like

[00:21:31] Rob Howe: trial and error almost like you don't want to use the word experimentation, but that's kind of what it is. Right. And I think, you know, I remember my honeymoon phase, when it ended, I think it was probably my freshman year of college completely. Because I remember there was a there was a time where we had like off campus lunch my senior year of high school. So I was like, you know, real cool and we all went to Chili's one day. Yeah. But I left my, I normally kept my insulin in the school office during the day so I could keep it like in the refrigerator because, you know, back then I thought I had to be in the fridge all day. Yeah. So, and I didn't bring it with me to lunch and I was like, oh no, like how am I going to get my, like, you know, do my food. So I was like, I'd never missed a meal before at that time or injected after a meal. So I was like freaking out. Anyway, I was in the middle of my honeymoon phase and I ate this like burger and meal. And then when I got back, I like tested my blood sugar. It was like totally normal. And I was like, what is going on? I had no idea about the honeymoon phase. And so then I would, you know, that would happen occasionally. I'd never happened that extreme, but, you know, I would feel those like valleys or go low in the night because my body was making insulin. And then I remember suddenly when it was over, I was having a lot more highs and I was having to adjust a whole lot more. So I had to, you know, increase some of my insulin. And I kind of like resented myself a little bit for it for a while. yeah yeah so um let's talk a little bit no yeah no we got the connection now let me mark this here yeah we're good now okay good um so let's talk a little bit about your you know you mentioned that you didn't have a lot of awareness after you were diagnosed um were there people close to you or in

[00:23:13] Jake Kaufman: your life or in your area that had type 1 or that you sort of looked to for help or were able to kind of include you in a community uh yeah so there's a couple people actually so uh the golf i like to golf too and the golf pro at the golf course my grandpa's belonged to for god i want to say 30 to 45 years i mean he's been there forever the pro there has been type 1 since he was 19 the same age i was diagnosed and uh he had been he's uh had been through you know kind of when the pump got developed and stuff like that. And he, he had, you know, he started out in shots, and he kind of has seen the evolution of diabetes care. And I think I went into his office one day, and he talked to me for two hours about, you know, how to take care of yourself. You know, he basically told me that it's not it really doesn't have to change you. It's just something you got to control. And he kind of real that was kind of like one of my moments where I was like, I can do this, you know, he takes care of it. I didn't even know he was diabetic until he told me. Another person was my friend Danny. He's on my website as well. He kind of helps me run it. And he was, I had known Danny since I was five years old. And he, we had played baseball together forever. And he got diagnosed a year before I did. And he used to be a pretty big kid. and then he lost all the weight with diabetes with uh being diagnosed and everything he never got it back and I remember he came over and we just sat down and watched the game and he told me about the pump and told me about all this other stuff that um you know you know how he takes care of himself and even when I got the pump that was such a big adjustment for me from shots because I had just gotten used to shots and everything and he really helped me with that as well um

[00:25:05] Rob Howe: And so he was really cool about it. So, yeah, definitely. Well, and I think, you know, where I'm kind of going with that is that, A, you know, those T1D connections and people who have that experience are so vital early on. And like just understanding that you're not alone in this. Yeah. And I know people who are diagnosed in situations where there's nobody really around and the only person they can talk to is their doctor, especially early on. You mentioned you were diagnosed in 2015. So I was 10 years before that, before social media really kind of caught fire. So now there's a lot of resources that you can reach out and connect. Back then there wasn't. So a lot of people grew up feeling that they were alone. And I wanted to know, as you set out to start T1D Like Me, what sort of inspired you to do that? and how did you kind of come up with the idea and the process

[00:26:00] Jake Kaufman: to connect other people with type 1 to each other?

[00:26:04] Rob Howe: Yeah, so this will kind of segue into the whole Jay Cutler thing we'll talk about.

[00:26:08] Jake Kaufman: Awesome, because I can't wait for that. So when I was in the hospital, there were a couple of things. One time, so a nurse came down from another floor, actually. Like she wasn't even working on my floor. And I think my nurse, Matt, he was really cool. sent this other nurse down to me and she you know talked to me she was diagnosed in college as well and you know she was just a great help to me and she was another person that helped me not feel alone and uh this my dad always laughs at this story so like I said I'm a huge sports fan I'm a big fantasy football player so of course you know I got diagnosed on Halloween in 2015 it's the height of fantasy football season so I'm in the hospital and they're you know pricking me and everything. And I'm checking my fantasy lineup because I needed to win that week. And, you know, I remember, you know, thinking to myself, like, you know, I wonder if any, you know, there's any athletes out there that play with type 1 diabetes. And I looked it up. And, you know, being a big Chicago sports fan, two names really stuck out to me. Jay Cutler, obviously. And what was cool to me about Jay Cutler was that he was diagnosed at the age of 26 while he was in the NFL so that made me feel like well I guess you know you don't get it from being fat because if you're NFL quarterback you're pretty good shape I would think uh and Ron Santo played for the Cubs for a while and he's a hall of famer and uh I think and then I just remember like being in the hospital watching videos about Jay Cutler uh you know what he does to the diabetic community off the field and stuff like that, how he plays with it. And he was, you know, I remember just watching the Bears on that Sunday because I got diagnosed on a Friday or a Saturday. No, I got diagnosed on a Saturday. That next day I'm watching Jay Cutler and I'm like, you know, that guy's playing in the NFL and he's diabetic. I can, you know, if he can do it, I can do anything. And, you know, I think just reading people's stories online and reading about Jay Cutler, reading about guys like Max Domi, Bobby Clarke, Jordan Morris, stuff like that. I just wanted to, and then I was talking to my uncle, and I told him kind of like what I wanted to do, because I definitely want to do something when I get older involved in that type 1 diabetic community. I kind of told him about guys like Nick Jonas who, you know, not only do stuff, you know, they do a lot of stuff off the field, and it's really inspiring, and it really helps me out. And he's like, well, why don't you make a blog or a website or something like that? And I'm really good with that stuff. I can help you out. And I knew a couple people that I thought would like to contribute a story or that I think would be inspiring. And it just kind of took off from there. And I think it really helps other people read these stories and be like, okay, you know what? I can do this.

[00:29:05] Rob Howe: And, uh, yeah. Yeah. And I think, you know, the similar to what we do on this show, right. Just humanizing the stories and, you know, relating to the people who you may not have met and may not be people like Jay Cutler who were, had very unique stories where they're in the NFL and, um, you know, had these very public diagnoses and, you know, make it through with a lot of help seemingly without out a whole lot of uh you know obstacles right in a lot of public uh you know he continued playing he didn't he didn't have uh and i think that's really inspiring from from one end uh but on the other there's so many untold stories that are like people who struggled or where there was a misdiagnosis or yeah uh you know chased their dreams in in you know really hard adversity right

[00:29:53] Jake Kaufman: yeah so i actually i'm gonna get this guy's story later once the season's over he pitches for the White Sox, but he was Kris Bryant's roommate at, um, Kris Bryant, who's a Cubs player, he's Kris Bryant's roommate at, uh, University of San Diego. And this guy, he was diagnosed, he got drafted in the first round of the draft, he was diagnosed, and so he, you know, stopped, because I think the team that drafted him dropped his pay a little bit. So he stopped, went to college, he was roommates with Bryant, and Bryant had said he, you know, that guy's one of his biggest inspiration is just to see how far he's came from doing the insulin shots and struggling through all that stuff and uh that's another guy and he's kind of made his ways around the papers locally so i'm hoping he can get uh you know more national attention yeah because there's so many stories i think of a guy um you know it was interesting um that denver sports at that time you know when when jay cutler was diagnosed there was another guy who was playing for the nuggets I'm trying to think of his name right now Gary Forbes he's on my website

[00:30:57] Rob Howe: oh is he so he told a story for you guys

[00:30:59] Jake Kaufman: yeah I've never spoken to him I think we follow each other on Instagram but we've never exchanged stories but I remember hearing his story and living in Colorado at the time being like oh there's another guy who doesn't get a lot of pub and he's not extremely forward about his diabetes I guess I've never really seen a whole lot of articles

[00:31:21] Rob Howe: what uh what did he say about his diagnosis uh let me look it up real quick but he uh basically

[00:31:27] Jake Kaufman: said you know he was diagnosed in college just like me which was which i thought was really inspiring um knowing and he went on to play in the nba too right so he was at the university of virginia and he got diagnosed then he transferred to umass and he made it i think he he beat my blue devils and uh tournament i think that year too which was love hate but uh but you know he went out there and played professional basketball and uh you know i don't think he really um you know i think he had the same thing i did like i'm a college i'm a division one college basketball player how the hell did this happen you know um so i think you know he's not as forward about it as some other guys but it was really cool to read his story and uh i think he was the first like professional athlete of the four major sports i got on my website so that was really cool

[00:32:22] Rob Howe: that's pretty awesome he uh he's a pretty giving dude i imagine so i'm glad to hear that he's out there and telling that story a little bit because i think a lot of people need to hear it um let's talk a little let's shift back to jay cutler for a minute because we're on the sports topic um yeah so the reason i am harsh on jay cutler uh this so back to my hot take i recorded an interview with a uh with a doctor from uh the denver area a couple weeks ago uh so when that episode comes out you'll hear that my little sort of hot take on how jay cutler just you know could be doing so much more i think using his platform for good instead of evil which he seems hell bent on um jay cutler is a he himself not a not my favorite sports quarterback personality um so i sort of hate that he represents our our type 1 uh brothers and sisters in the professional sports world but big news this week he's back in the nfl so um what are your thoughts on him i'd love to hear that as a chicago sports fan and as a type 1 diabetic um and uh and and then we'll

[00:33:29] Jake Kaufman: kind of go from there so my take on jay cutler is before i got diagnosed being a diehard bears fan i kind of hated him i'm not gonna lie like you know i wanted him gone and i still think they should have traded him a long time ago they shouldn't have given that contract i'm gonna be honest he's not that great of a quarterback i don't think there's bears fans that you would think the guy is actually like actually satan like you know right like bears fans think he's the worst person to ever walk the face of the earth he's the worst quarterback to ever walk the face of the earth which I don't think it's true I think he's just average like he's not good he's not great he's just you know whatever um my take on him is you know I uh you know he always have a special place for me because he was kind of the first athlete I read about to play with the disease he was diagnosed shortly after me and weirdly enough and I felt this the weirdest thing Like, on my anniversary this year, he had, like, a career game. I was like, okay, this is weird. Like, and my friends were texting me. They were like, man, you got to get diagnosed with diabetes more often because if you played like this, we'd be fine. But, you know, my take on it is he gets a, I think he gets a bad rap. You know, people call, there's Bears fans that will call him, like, you know, he's not tough. I'm like, well, he gets sacked more than anyone else in the league because the Bears offensive line was just atrocious. You know, I think, you know, and even some diehard Chicago sports radio guys will go, you know, he plays a type 1 diabetes. He's a pretty tough dude. Like, you know, they'll give him the tough that they'll give him the tough pass. Stephen A. Smith won't. But that's a whole nother story. um but you know i think his time with the bears should end it a long time ago uh and as far as the personality thing you know i kind of get what you're saying where he's not really vocal he's kind of quiet all the time and you know kind of always looks like he's pissed off um as far that i think i might be just making an excuse for him i just think that's his personality i just don't think he's very he's just not a social guy and i do agree with you he could be doing a lot more but I think there is stuff that we don't hear about. Like I remember watching a video, he has a foundation, the Jay Cutler Foundation, where he will give, you know, he will try to get diabetic supplies to young families and stuff. He has a camp in Tennessee where people, you know, like any other diabetic camp, they'll go around and kids can feel not, you know, like, you know, they're not alone and stuff. So I think he does do stuff. I just don't think you hear about it as much because, And you definitely don't hear about in Chicago because he's the number one enemy.

[00:36:14] Rob Howe: So I will make this bold prediction here on the podcast. In front of you, you are my witness and whoever listens to this episode. If Jay Cutler will come on this show or talk about all the great work that he and his foundation and his camp are doing in the world for type 1 diabetes, because I think that story needs to be told. I will forgive all of Jay I will forgive Jay Cutler he will be number one in my book I will give him that distinction of NFL of athletes with type 1 diabetes he can unseat Adam Morrison at the top of my list because ammo is my number one all time so I will make that prediction if we can get Jay Cutler to come on and talk about all the great work he's doing and publicize that and tell that side of the story rather than the Stephen A. Smith side of the story then we can uh you know if that happens you know anything's possible yeah and i will give you and i will give you full credit for making that happen

[00:37:17] Jake Kaufman: when it happens yeah um it's funny because my friend danny the kid that i live right by and i played baseball with he feels the same way about jay cutler like people will be bashing him and me me and danny will be like number two number one and two jay cutler defenders of all time and we and danny will admit that he is we don't defend his playing ability like it's not like you know i'm not gonna say he's gonna be better than Aaron Rodgers tom brady he's not like that's you know those guys are insane as much as that hurts me to say Aaron Rodgers is a good quarterback because he's on the packers like yeah but um yeah we will defend him and uh that's good um

[00:37:57] Rob Howe: but adam morrison's your favorite t1d athlete yeah he's my guy because uh he was at gonzaga

[00:38:03] Jake Kaufman: when I got diagnosed. And so I was like, you know, all in. And I was a basketball player and played in college and a little bit later in the pros. And he, so I was always like, you know what? If Adam Morrison can do it, like I'm all for it. I'm all in. Because when you search for type 1 diabetic athletes back then, he was like the number one result, like back in 2005, 2006. So he's a huge ammo fan. And then I got to meet him last summer. I have some really good friends in Spokane Who are big Gonzaga alums And I got to go up there Last summer for Spokane Hoopfest And that's where he lives and I got to meet him And he actually agreed to come on the show We haven't done the interview yet Because he is like the most Media sketchy person of all time But he did agree to it I'll hold him to him

[00:38:52] Rob Howe: I think he makes Jay Because what I've seen him about media When you say that I think he makes Jay look like Media personality

[00:39:00] Jake Kaufman: right he is he's like the he hates to me like doing interviews and things so uh it's not his style i think he'd much rather just like be out on his land like playing golf yeah um another big athlete that um i don't know if you've heard of him jordan morris he's a soccer player yeah yeah he just scored that goal the other day in the uh in the team usa game so the funny thing was is i you know i was watching the gold cup because i you know i you know it's really inspiring to watch him even you know yeah for the united states soccer team national team and i was watching this game down in my i was watching this game downstairs everyone's asleep it's like 10 30 at night 89th minute Jordan Morris scores the game winning goal and i just scream jordan and i wake up my whole house yeah that's wild yeah i uh i was super hyped because i have a bunch of friends who are diehard like soccer fans too so yeah it was like a nice mix of seeing like the t1d community celebrating and uh you know just my like friends who had no idea that jordan morris has type 1 diabetes they just love jordan morris yeah because he's a good i mean he's a really good player too he was college player of the year i think i think it would be really i'm really hope i'm crossing my fingers he makes the world cup team next year because i think he seems like the guy that will you know he's very open about his diagnosis he's very open about his disease and stuff and i think if he makes the world cup team you can kind of get a national national media attention on it yeah i think that would be huge huge for the t1d community and you know for for kids out there especially who are you know trying to chase their dreams and be athletes or be

[00:40:37] Rob Howe: whatever they want to be i think that would be an awesome story yeah i think it would too um yeah well jake i want to i want to make sure that we uh that i get this question sort of before we before we wrap up um i ask it on all my episodes so um if you and i gotta set the context so if you're in an airport you can't miss your flight like you've got to be on it and they're about to shut the doors in 30 seconds so you've got 30 seconds to say whatever it is and you run into someone who is either struggling with or been recently diagnosed with type 1 what's the one thing you say to them what's the one thing you leave them with one thing i say to them um

[00:41:20] Jake Kaufman: you know uh you're not alone i think that's the big thing i would say to him is you're not alone uh there's tons of people that are going through what you're going through it's um you're not alone it's not your fault you didn't do anything to deserve this uh you'll you'll get through it and um just you know enjoy the little things i guess you know because that's one thing i really found out after i got diagnosed is like you know, I, you know, after I got diagnosed kind of eye opening, like I started enjoying the little things more. Um, but you know, if you're newly diagnosed, you'll get through it. Um, take care of yourself. It's like Ron told me, it's not something that defines you. It just, you just have to control it. It's, you can deal, you can do it. So there is actually a funny story that goes along with it. My dad was in Denver, I think a couple of weeks ago and he met, um, And he saw a mom with like, he knew it because her bag had all these diabetic supplies basically overflowing out of it. And my dad's like, well, I knew the son, I knew the kid was newly diagnosed because that's how we were right when you got diagnosed. So he talked to her, showed her my website. And, you know, I've been emailing her back and forth. And the kid's a hockey player. And one of the guys I've been talking to about coming on my website, He's actually on that Bike Beyond team with Beyond Type 1. He talked to him and talked to the kid on the phone. And actually, when they were going through Denver, he got to meet the family and stuff like that. And it was just really cool for me that I kind of got to connect them. And I was really glad they got to meet because I think the kid was kind of struggling. Like, how am I going to be able to play hockey and all that stuff? So it was really cool.

[00:43:09] Rob Howe: yeah man it's it's amazing how just finding the right person to connect with makes the biggest

[00:43:15] Jake Kaufman: difference exactly yeah i'm really grateful to have those people and i think more than ever now like to look up to that there is someone like you out there with type 1 and um and we're all in

[00:43:26] Rob Howe: this together and you can do it yeah and uh yeah definitely well jake man thank you so much for

[00:43:33] Jake Kaufman: coming on the podcast thanks uh for reaching out you know a few months ago and getting me on T1D like me Check out T1D like me dot com And I think you said the same thing on Instagram Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr The whole spectrum You can follow us at T1D like me And the website is actually T1D like dot me

[00:43:53] Rob Howe: Okay that's right But again yeah You're making a huge difference out there And I really appreciate The work that you're doing and the heart that you have To give back to people And proud to have

[00:44:07] Jake Kaufman: you in the t1d family man yeah same to you rob thank you so much for having me it means a lot

[00:44:12] Rob Howe: well happy to do it um and if there's anything i can do for you please feel free to let me know