Diabetics Doing 58 Years with T1D with Key Payton

[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 to another episode of Diabetics Doing Things. We're telling the amazing stories of type 1 diabetics from all across the world. My very special guest today is Key Payton, calling from Southern California. Welcome to the show. Thank you very much, Rob. Key, you and I met last month when I was out in California on the Medtronic campus. and Krampus or Kampus. I can't talk today. So at the Medtronic campus. And I want to really dive into your story because after my presentation, you came up and talked to me and told me you've been living with type 1 for 57 years. So not to build this up too much, but you're now, you will be the person who's been living with type 1 the longest to be on the podcast. The previous record holder was 41 years. So, uh, well, that's a good record, I guess. Yeah, that's a good record to have. Um, so Keith, tell us a little bit about you, uh, and then, uh, your diagnosis story.

[00:02:56] Key Payton: All right. Well, um, I, uh, was born in 1956 out in New Mexico. Um, we thought it was fairly civilized, but it's relative, it was relatively remote at the time. And, um, when I was three and a half years old, I got really sick with the flu. and I don't really remember any of this except sort of through people recounting it after the fact. I'm three. I don't remember much of that at all. And so after about three or four weeks of the flu really bad, I seemed to have gotten over the flu, but I had lost a lot of weight. And so my parents started trying to fatten me up again. And we also had a gal that cooked for us fairly often as a kind of a friend. And so between her cooking and my mom's cooking, they were just putting all kinds of stuff in me to try to get me to gain weight again. And it wasn't working. In fact, I was going to the bathroom almost constantly. I was melting away probably a pound and a half a day just was disappearing. And so obviously my parents thought they were going to lose me. They didn't know what to do. They took me to a local doctor. That doctor didn't really know what to prescribe except he said, I think this might be the thing called diabetes that I've heard about. The nearest place you can get expertise on that is about 200 miles away. So my parents, I was their baby, third child, and the other two had been perfectly healthy. So they took the drive and went to a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, and found a doctor there who was actually diabetic himself. And they described the symptoms and introduced the doctor to me. And he was like, yeah, he needs to be on insulin right away. So I know you often ask people about their, the day of discovery and what the night before being discovered a diabetic were. I really don't remember. Sure. But I started on insulin, I think within about a week or a week and a half after all this, the flu was gone and the weight wasn't coming back. and naturally being a three and a half year old, I really didn't like these shot things that I had to start taking every morning. My parents waking me up and, you know, stinking me and convincing little three-year-old me that that was a necessity.

[00:05:34] Rob Howe: Well, and, you know, three-year-olds are not the most rational human beings of all time, right? So I always, always wonder, did you ever have conversations with your parents later on in life about, you know, those early days?

[00:05:48] Key Payton: Yeah, yeah. They described that it was really hard for them to give me shots and that I was very disagreeable about the whole prospect, but they really wanted to keep me alive. And this diabetic doctor had shown them he was, you know, in his 40s and pretty healthy. He'd had several years and was managing it with insulin. And so they stuck with it. They were very dogged to make sure I got through it.

[00:06:10] Rob Howe: And I think, too, that's, you know, you mentioned that sometimes I ask people about, you know, the day or the night before or that they were diagnosed. But I also ask a lot about bedside manner. And I'm sure you don't remember any of that either. But sort of a blessing in disguise, right, going from where you were from in New Mexico all the way to Lubbock, Texas. And the doctor was a type 1 himself.

[00:06:33] Key Payton: Right. Oh, amazing providence that I met somebody. Because like I said, the doctors in my town had no idea. They were sort of like, you know, back, well, we think that my grandmother, my father's mother, probably died of diabetes. We think that that's kind of the genetic path. But this was in the 1930s. And back then, they just called things like this consumption.

[00:06:57] Rob Howe: Right.

[00:06:57] Key Payton: You know, it was like, well, it's sort of like, we don't know. It's kind of a tuberculosis or maybe it's a really bad flu. We don't know what to call it. And so it was very fortunate, providential, that I found a doctor who knew what it was about.

[00:07:13] Rob Howe: And I think then you mentioned really 70, 80 years ago that there was no diagnosis, no knowledge share. I think now in the age of the Internet and the connected world that we live in, And it's been amazing all the resources that not only patients, but also doctors have available to them. But, you know, really for a long time in small remote areas, you had to rely on what your doctor knew. And especially for diseases like type 1 that don't affect the large majority of the population, there was really no one to point a finger of blame towards, right? You just don't know what you don't know. Right. But then also, you know, you from a treatment standpoint, initially, at least things are I'm sure were difficult. And do you remember sort of as they as you got older, how the how the treatment options, I guess, were more readily available or easier to use?

[00:08:16] Key Payton: Yeah. You know, people who become diabetic today or in the last probably 25 years are right away introduced with the concept of finger sticks and blood glucose meters. and it's really telling you very accurately up to the moment what your blood sugar is at that at that second in time when i was growing up the best thing we had was urine tests and uh we didn't learn until years later that those were three or four hours behind schedule they were showing me what my blood sugar was four hours ago but it's finally showing up in my urine and so you know the the vagueness about well where where is his blood sugar now really uh It's drastically diminished now because we have these up-to-the-moment blood glucose sensors. And then now with the improvement of having insertable glucose sensors, every five minutes you get an update. And that's just an incredible advance in the last 50 years. I'm actually going to be celebrating my 58th anniversary of diabetes in January. Wow. The technology has advanced incredibly over those 58 years.

[00:09:27] Rob Howe: And, you know, just to give, you know, you mentioned a few things, like just to give our listeners an idea of, you know, what it was like to treat your type 1, you know, 40 years ago, 50 years ago. You're talking about, you know, glass needles, right? And different insulin. and you mentioned peeing on the keto sticks and that was about as close as you could get to what your actual numbers were. For you, talk a little bit about those and then also talk about as you have now, you're about to be 58 years with type 1. What were those big milestones? What are those things that you remember from a technology standpoint and from a treatment standpoint along the way that really kind of gave you a little bit of relief

[00:10:14] Key Payton: or hope? Sure, sure. Well, yeah, I always try to be an encourager to those who are struggling with diabetes today because, yes, it's still a struggle, but the metal needles that they were using on me when I was three and a half to, you know, 11 or 12 when I finally started giving my own shots were bigger around than a mechanical pencil leg. So they didn't slide in easy. It was jolt when they went in and you had to boil them before every injection to keep them sanitized to keep them hygienic and again the clinic tests the urine tests were very vague and they were sort of based on a color scale a range and sometimes you couldn't really tell and so you were just walking in a murk most of the time a murky forest a lot of time about well how am I really doing. And over the years, as the testing systems improved, and it was a little more clear about what sugar range I was in, and also the frequency of injections. Because, you know, back then, one shot a day was considered pretty normal until they started to realize, actually, that's not how the pancreas works at all. Pancreas is giving insulin throughout the day at different times, so multiple injections a day is necessary. Now, as a kid with those very thick needles, I hated the idea. So somewhere in there came the almost hair-thin needles from Lilly, or the BD, I'm sorry, Becton Dickinson needles that were very slim, and literally they just sort of slid in. Oh, what a wonderful improvement that was. I didn't feel as jolt as a needle stuck in me. And so then multiple injections became a little more bearable. And, you know, like everybody, I didn't want to make a big deal of my diabetes. And so I tried to be discreet. And this was long before they knew about what we had access to insulin pens or anything like that. So I carried a little kid around, but I tried to keep it tucked away in a bag or something. And so those are big steps. And then in 1986, I was in my early 20s. I was living and working back east as a magazine editor. And I heard something about an insulin pump, I think from the Joslin Diabetes Center, which is on the East Coast. And I went to a doctor, an endocrinologist that was sort of an advocate for this insulin pump thing. And it was about a foot long and about three inches square, if you looked at it from the top. The size of an old-fashioned army walkie-talkie. And it had a fairly thick tube coming out of it. And the infusion set wasn't a very easy fit. And so they hooked me up with it because they thought, yes, you're a brittle diabetic, lots of fluctuations, ups and downs and so forth. So they fitted me up with it. But let me add to this context that I was a single guy, and I was really hoping to find a wife and get married. And there's really no conversation stopper like a footlong walkie-talkie hanging out your belt at all times. So I didn't last very long on that particular insulin pump. It didn't really matter how good the control might be. It was just such a bar to any kind of successful dating life.

[00:13:52] Rob Howe: Yeah, and I think that's – I want to focus on that too because I think that's something that we all sort of go through less nowadays. But especially when you're recently diagnosed, you sort of have to go through these adjustments of, okay, this is – I'm able to treat my life and I'm able to eat. and I'm able to be healthy, but then there's this whole lifestyle element along with it. So I love that story when you told it to me in California about the backpack pump, and I was able to go into the Medtronic Museum and kind of take a look at some of those really large, really cumbersome, very difficult to explain. So what was that like? I mean, at least, you know, coming up into your teenage and adult years, you know, having that dating life with sort of primitive technology?

[00:14:43] Key Payton: Well, you know, I did the best I could. And again, as life went on, I got to learn how to kind of minimize the profile of my insulin kit. And, you know, like jackets with inside pockets is a nice way to kind of tuck it out of sight. and got comfortable with sort of saying at a restaurant if I was at the underdate, excuse me a second, I have to go to the bathroom, but that's when I go and take my insulin shot for the dinner. And, you know, somewhere in there I began using like a combination of slow-acting and fast-acting insulins, and that definitely improved my mornings because I probably had been awakening with high 200-plus blood sugars for years because I have the Dawn phenomenon, and I tend to rise from about 2 till 7 a.m. My blood sugar just tends to rise automatically. So there were various improvements. Like I said, the overnight acting insulin-like Lantus or whatever it was at that time made a big difference. It helped my mood in the morning. Somehow I've managed to live in about 10 different cities from the time I left home at age 18 fairly independently. I moved away from my family in New Mexico and I lived in St. Louis and Portland, Oregon and Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. and a bunch of places pursuing a magazine publishing career. and you know my constitution I guess was inherited it was fairly strong I'm not like super athletic but my family seems to be generally healthy and so I was doing a little pump adjusting at the moment okay so I was managing to build a career in writing and editing and publishing and sometimes that involves some really long hours you know Sometimes when you're working on deadline, it turned into a 60- or 70-hour week to get things done on time and manage the diabetes through all that. But along the way, I did have three or four blackouts, a couple of them while I was driving. And so I was realizing, okay, you still don't really have this under control. You really need to find something better to keep it maintained. So I kind of was always on the lookout, but I didn't actually get on my Medtronic series of pumps until I'd already been married one year. So I met my wife with no pumps, but she heard about pumps and said, we need to get you on one of those.

[00:17:32] Rob Howe: That's cool. That's always interesting to see, you know, the recommendations when it comes from a partner. All right, we're going to try something different here about the midway point of 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. And you talked about your career, kind of jumping from city to city, pursuing a career in journalism. them. Now you're a little bit on the other side and, and you're adjusting your pump made me think of it. So you work for Medtronic. Um, and I believe you're in the research and development team, if I'm not mistaken. Um, so, um, among other things, that means you guys get to be on the cutting edge of diabetes research. So, um, I think we're really fortunate to have you doing that since you've seen the full spectrum of, uh, pretty much everything that every treatment option we've had since the beginning. And now you're on the 670G, if I'm not mistaken, right? So you're on the hybrid closed loop system. So how is that for somebody who's known their diabetes and been with, I guess, for 55 years probably before you got on the 670 at least?

[00:19:20] Key Payton: I've been on the 670G for about seven months. Previous to that, I had the 530G and the 630G, the 508, the 512, several throughout the years. It was really wonderful to be able to have insulin available at all times. and because of the basal rate approach that it gives you insulin constantly in a very small amount, which is much more like a healthy pancreas works, that made a huge improvement right there. It was that I had better mornings. I didn't, you know, it knew how to overcome my Dawn phenomenon. And so I was waking up with a pretty reason to blood sugar and I didn't stay high after meals that much. So it was helping. But they want to get on the 670G, which has this constant feedback loop between the sensor and the pump. And the pump has an algorithm built into it that helps the pump calculate when you need insulin, even if you're not even aware of it. And again, that's sort of how the healthy body works. in a healthy body the pancreas senses or the brain somehow senses okay, he's got a sugar rise, maybe he's anxious or stressed or he decided to have an extra big lunch and so we're going to give him extra insulin to overcome that and that's what the 670G does it's just an amazing improvement in terms of the sort of feedback loops that a healthy human body is built on, you know, all these interdependent systems working and relaying information back and forth. Well, this hybrid closed loop, it's not perfect as an artificial pancreas, but it's the closest thing so far. And it really has made a huge improvement. My A1C is now at about 6.2. It's gone down a full point in the last six months.

[00:21:25] Rob Howe: Wow. That's pretty incredible when you think about, and I mean, I'm sure you have this sort of viewpoint and context of a life with diabetes, obviously. Um, and you know, the, you know, the benefit that people like myself who have been diagnosed in the last 25 years or so, uh, it'll be 13 years for me on January 1st. Um, you know, that we have going forward, you know, that we have this feedback loop that's much tighter and much, uh, you know, more easily accessible. Um, you know, we can have those conversations with our doctor, with our healthcare provider very easily, and how that's going to impact the overall long-term view of life with

[00:22:07] Key Payton: diabetes. Right. And there's many more improvements afoot. I can't talk about them yet because they have to go through all kinds of testing and FDA approvals and all that sort of thing. But as we know with our phone apps, they're frequently uploading new versions, better versions, bug fixes. that's a hint at what the future version of Insulin Punks will be able to do.

[00:22:33] Rob Howe: That's pretty awesome. And because I know you can't give away any secrets or updates, just answer this question. Are you hopeful for what's coming? Does it get you excited about life with Type 1 for the future?

[00:22:46] Key Payton: Yeah, absolutely. I know you have some amazing athletes and folks on your show and yourself being an athlete. and it's great that that's much more capable. When I was a child, my parents were really afraid to let me run too much because they were so afraid that I would have a low blood sugar and there'd be no warning and I'd be too far away from them for them to get there in time. And nowadays, because we have all kinds of ways to keep track of our blood sugar and pause our insulin and we're not getting insulin stacked up in our system so we can exercise pretty freely and put the insulin on hold and then start back up on the insulin later. All these things are huge improvements, and I think that's going to continue to grow, to make diabetics more and more capable of doing anything, anything that a healthy person can do. And because this technology, I typically wear it out because I frequently look at my graphs on my insulin pump to see what they're saying, but it's small enough to fit in my pocket, to be completely out of sight most of the time, and yet it'll alert me, it'll vibrate if there's an issue with my blood sugar being too high or too low, and it's very discreet. So I think there's so many ways now that I don't think diabetics should keep their disease a secret. I think, in fact, that it's becoming so much more common that a lot of people are more interested in learning about diabetes as the amount of type 2 diabetes increases in our country and in the world. More people are like, you're diabetic? Tell me, what's that like? What's that about? They want to understand. And because they have information, they're also more knowledgeable about how to help me should I ever have a low blood sugar, which is a good thing. Yeah. But, you know, it's nice to have people around you that kind of go, okay, I know if you're acting really weird, I should probably give you a poke.

[00:24:45] Rob Howe: well and i think you know when you talk about just general awareness i think i mean type 2 is the driver for awareness right because uh there's so much more cases of it it's so much more um you know they i think there was there was a stat that said by like 2050 one third of the united states will have type 2 diabetes right so obviously a staggering number you know that's like I'm a hundred million, if that, if that's correct. And I'm not saying it is, uh, around a hundred million people. Um, obviously type 1 community makes up a small percentage of that. But, um, like you said, those conversations can, you know, um, you know, the awareness of people from a treatment standpoint, Hey, this guy probably needs help. He might have a low blood sugar. I'd love for that to be just sort of something that everybody knows. Um, you know, at some, at some point. For you though, um, was, were you always sort of outgoing and, and, uh, comfortable talking about your diabetes or did that come at a specific time for you? Um, you know, anywhere in the teenage years or as you were, you know, kind of going from city to city with your career, did you, was it always just a part of your life or was it more in the, uh, take a sort of a backseat?

[00:26:02] Key Payton: well i did not meet besides this doctor i did not meet a diabetic my age until i was nine years old and so the two of us in the same town felt very weird and isolated you know um but then when i was 12 my parents sent me to a diabetes camp where i met three or four hundred other kids with diabetes. And all of a sudden, I felt like, okay, I'm not that weird. And it was like one of the common teachings at this camp was, if you don't tell people you have diabetes, and that, you know, this is what they need to do to raise your sugar if you're acting weird, it was suddenly like, oh, this is kind of what my parents were telling me too. But of course, their parents, and don't listen to them. But the camp was a huge transformative thing because that's where I started learning to give myself my own shots and a sense of this is not something I have to tolerate my parents doing. This is me taking responsibility for my own treatment, my own health, my own care. So that's kind of when it became a little more out front, although I didn't go around advertising it until I'd had several low blood sugars and blacked out and people had no clue what to do and I had to pay extra money for the ambulance to the emergency room instead of the price of a Coca-Cola. So, you know, it was sort of, as the years went on and I realized, I want to pursue a full life and if I keep it a secret, the odds are higher that I will black out somewhere and people will throw me in a drunk tank, the police will throw me in a drunk tank rather than going, oh, he's got a diaper, he's got a bracelet on and people have already given him some coke and he's already coming too and he seems normal again. So I just realized it was just practical. To not keep it a big secret, not to advertise it, I don't brag about it, but at the same time, it's like, you know, if I'm deaf in one ear, I am deaf in one ear, I tend to tell people, I'm deaf in that ear, can you get on this side of me? It just kept the conversations going and life going more normally for me to admit a couple of tweaks in my health that, you know, I still want to be part of life and, you know, participate fully, but it's good if you know these things so that we can cooperate in making this conversation more congenial and equal. So that's kind of, it came to me really probably pretty fully by the time I was 23 or 24 to quit being too upset about it and admit too much. just you know so i'm not i'm not a fast learner it did take me about three years to get it but it uh once i did it was kind of like people are cool with that it's okay if they have a problem with it kind of their problem because everybody gets a chronic disease at some point in their lives

[00:29:00] Rob Howe: and i think it's just something that it just takes time to you know when you're 23 24 you're sort of becoming at peace with who you are anyway right uh where you're you're more comfortable hey this is me take it or leave it. Um, so I think that's a good time. And a lot of the type ones that I talked to are around that age and they're, uh, some of the questions that they have are, you know, very similar to, you know, to what you were saying. It's like, Hey, you know what? Um, I feel like I can say this now with my friends. I'd like for them to, you know, know that I have it under control, but if something were to go wrong, know what to do. Uh, when I was diagnosed, I remember my parents made it really clear and my doctor too, to have a conversation with my friends, and I sort of adapted that as I got through high school and went to college. It was like, hey, I have type 1 diabetes. All that means is I'm going to be fine all the time, but there might be a couple times where I'm running to the fridge to grab a Coke or I'm checking my blood sugar and giving myself an injection before we eat. So that's pretty much it. And you've been a sensor for a while, right? i've not i've only used the sensor now for uh you know really the last two or three months uh so uh i didn't you know it was a weird thing i didn't think that i wanted it i just didn't know it was one of those things you don't know what you don't know so i i didn't fight it but once it became available to me i was like oh okay well i'll put it off i'll put it off um and then as i got more involved in the type 1 community i was like well i want to see what this is like And I love it. I love having a sensor. And I cannot wait to have a sensor that's hooked up to my pump and can help me make decisions without my own input, which is going to be really exciting.

[00:30:50] Key Payton: Yeah, because the pumps and sensors are linked in such a way that they don't tell you at the moment you need to run to the refrigerator for the Coke. They'll tell you half an hour before. And that is such an advantage. I'm never so low where I'm like I gotta get a coke it's more like yeah okay I've got to wait at least 30 more minutes before I'm even gonna feel this and so I'm well in advance of it you know I don't ever feel those low effects the sensor is a big advantage

[00:31:20] Rob Howe: yeah and I think you know being able to look at it I always knew I'd have these moments where I was like okay you know whatever my blood sugar is I still feel like I'm going down or I feel like I'm going up and it's kind of cool to see those arrows or see the you know 30 minutes out to look at that oh yeah i was right i do know myself but also just uh you know being able to take some sort of action

[00:31:41] Key Payton: with it is always nice yeah it's great it's great yeah and and also because i've had diabetes so long my sensitivity to lows is not as great as it used to be um and so the sensor again is a huge a cyst because if I'm not feeling it that much, the sensor says it may not be, but it's definitely dropping. And often, you know, I'm like, well, let me give myself a blood sugar just to check and see. And sure enough, I'm at 65 and I didn't even realize it. But the sensor was telling me in advance of that. So it was kind of like, I don't want to listen to you. I'm busy. I don't want to pay attention. The sensor is sort of saying, you better. I'm warning you. And sure enough, it's right. So, yeah, it's a great advantage.

[00:32:26] Rob Howe: It's nice to have that as a backup, right?

[00:32:30] Key Payton: Yes, indeed, indeed.

[00:32:32] Rob Howe: So, you know, Key, you've lived a long life with type 1. You're very involved. You're on the front lines of research now. So I'm sure you have a lot of diabetes-related conversations. Do you ever or have you ever sort of experienced, you know, of what people call diabetes burnout or where you were just sort of worn down with the long conversations? I know it's something that a lot of people deal with, especially early on, I think more in their first 10 years or so, but how do you deal with those types of things? Well, yeah,

[00:33:06] Key Payton: it happens. It doesn't happen as much anymore, partly because with practice, I've learned how to explain things better. You know, when you're first asked and you're still kind of getting used to the whole concept. Because diabetes is such a combination of juggling numbers. You know, this has to be high and this has to be low and this has to be rising and this has to be dropping. And there's all kinds of different parameters that you have to keep in mind. So, you know, familiarity was one of the best things to sort of avoid burnout because I'm not guessing or fumbling my way through the explanations as much because I just study it up. And I'm by no means, there's brilliant scientists at Medtronic and all these other places that understand it so much better than I do. But I have a layman's understanding that allows me to explain it to people. And it's amazing how many people who aren't diabetic, but they still have felt some of the same symptoms. After you, you know, had a really hard workout and you've kind of been in this hungry, angry, hangry mode, that's a low blood sugar. And once I explain it to them that way, they're like, oh, that's what you feel like when you're low. I felt that. Or after you have a huge Thanksgiving dinner like a lot of us did recently, you feel kind of cranky and muscles ache and the joints are a little sore. And that's a high blood sugar. And so as time goes on, you kind of realize that everybody has some of these symptoms to some degree because we work our pancreases really hard in American culture. and so I become more comfortable explaining it to people as I find ways to connect with their

[00:34:49] Rob Howe: normal lives that's a great answer I think um I think oftentimes we're too hard on ourselves as type ones um just because that's just you know it's our human nature like you said it's something that I don't think I've ever heard before that in American culture we're very hard on our pancreases anyway yeah maybe that's how why so many of them are either overworked or wearing out right um And it's cool to see now that we have the technology and the research and just the, you know, we've got the time put in now of, you know, we know what, how a pancreas behaves, you know, that it's, that it makes adjustments, that it takes, you know, data. And I think that now that we have that, I'm really excited to see what the next 25 years of life with Type 1 in the U.S. and around the world is like and how it makes it better for the following 25 years after that. It's going to be really interesting.

[00:35:44] Key Payton: Oh, yeah. Who knows with robotics and advanced algorithms and IBM's Watson artificial intelligence and all kinds of things. I think we're coming closer and closer to an actual artificial pancreas. Maybe not implanted but still doing all the things that an artificial pancreas does. We just have to reload it with insulin occasionally. So yeah, I think the prospects are really great. and my wife is intending to keep me alive as long as possible so I may hopefully be around for the next 20 or so years of that research. Let's hope.

[00:36:24] Rob Howe: Well, yeah, I hope you are as well and looking forward to getting your thoughts on all the new stuff that's coming out. Yeah. Key, I ask this question to all my podcast guests. If you've made it to the end of an episode, I'm sure you've heard it. And here it goes. I'm really excited to hear your answer because I think you have had more opportunities for interactions like this than anybody else, obviously, on my show. So here's the context. You are in an airport, and they are about to close the door to your gate. So you have 30 seconds before they close the door to your gate, and you can't miss the flight. But you run into somebody who's either recently been diagnosed with type 1 or is struggling with their type 1. What's the one thing that you tell them in that 30 seconds?

[00:37:09] Key Payton: like how to get are they past the tsa inspectors yet oh yeah yeah they're past tsa they're just

[00:37:16] Rob Howe: walking by your gate just just as you uh just as you're about to get on the 30 seconds i have to

[00:37:22] Key Payton: give them uh definitely get in touch with uh the american diabetes association and the jdrf and And I personally have to recommend looking online at some Medtronic social media and other sources. And this is the best time in history to be a diabetic. So just do the research and live a very full life.

[00:37:56] Rob Howe: That's great. Is that 30 seconds? Yeah, that's 30. I will tell you that there are people who break my rule and they're like, no, no, no. I'm just going to miss my flight. I don't care what's on the other end. But I do like that. I love that answer. I think getting involved is something that I wish I would have done sooner. I don't think I realized because I'm pretty self-reliant. I don't think I realized that how much better it is to just share and know that there are other people around going through the same things. I didn't want to go to diabetes camp. I was much too cool for all that. Right. When I was 16 and I knew everything. So, you know, now getting involved and seeing what this community has to offer and getting involved with JDRF and Medtronic, I totally agree. You would not be remiss in looking for help or inspiration or just other stories there.

[00:38:49] Key Payton: Yeah, and really, there was a time when I was young where it was so unknown that most people would just look at you and either go, is that contagious? or I've never heard of that. But our information system is so improved over the years. The diabetes community has done a great job of communicating it. And I'm not heavily involved. I don't live and talk and think and breathe diabetes all the time. I like to live a very full life, still involved in some creative writing, as well as the writing I do at Medtronic and working in Hollywood a bit, trying to still keep some creative ideas out there. And so I'm not a fiend about studying diabetes all the time, but there's a lot more people now and in growing numbers that are living long lives with diabetes. And if you're a new one, don't short circuit yourself. Give yourself every chance by learning a little bit more about diabetics doing things because they really are. And I've lived a lot longer life than doctors ever imagined and had a lot more accomplishments than my parents could have ever envisioned. So thank God for that. But also thank God for organizations like ADA and JDRF and great doctors and companies like Medtronic and others, Becton Dickinson and so forth, because it's the best time in history to be a doctor. But the best is still yet to come.

[00:40:15] Rob Howe: That's right. I love it. I love your outlook key. It was so great to meet you, not only for this interview, but in person out at Medtronic. And the work that you guys are doing out there is so great. And I think as patients, we don't often get to see behind the scenes of that work. And I'm really grateful for that opportunity. And I'm excited, man. I'm scheduled at least for now to get my 670 sometime in January. So I'm looking forward to having another conversation with you when my Hey, Pump makes adjustments for me based on my readings. That'll be pretty cool.

[00:40:51] Key Payton: That's awesome. Yeah, you did a great presentation for us in California, and I'd love to visit again and take questions. If there's people that have other questions, I'd love to give feedback.

[00:41:03] Rob Howe: Well, we will definitely communicate any questions that we get from the interview. And, Key, thank you so much for taking the time to spend with us on this holiday weekend, and you have a great rest of your day.

[00:41:16] Key Payton: You too. My great pleasure, Rob. Thanks a lot.