Episode summary
Michelle Lord, a PhD student in medical physics and YouTuber from Toronto, has lived with type 1 diabetes for almost 16 years. In this solo video episode, recorded and edited by Michelle herself, she answers the Tools of Type 1s questions on her own. She talks about using positivity to get through hard diabetes days, including a moment in ballet class when her blood sugar forced her to sit out. She covers her DKA hospitalization in January 2018, the independence her Dexcom CGM gave her, managing blood sugar during ballet, skepticism toward one-size-fits-all diets, and how she built a diabetes community and YouTube channel around her experience.
Key takeaways
- Michelle Lord says shifting to a positive mindset helped her get through a bad diabetes day during ballet class.
- Michelle says getting her Dexcom CGM about three years before this recording gave her more independence and less anxiety about lows.
- A DKA hospitalization in January 2018 made Michelle want to live her life more fully and appreciate her health.
- Michelle says no single diet works for every person with type 1 diabetes and pushes back on people promoting one diet for everyone.
- Michelle says connecting with other type 1 diabetics, mostly through Instagram, has been the simplest thing that improved her diabetes management.
Show notes
Name: Michelle Lord
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Tool: Positivity
Diabetes Devices/Treatment Methods: Medtronic Pump, Dexcom CGM
Questions this episode answers
How does Michelle Lord use positivity to manage type 1 diabetes?
She says that on bad diabetes days, consciously shifting her mindset to focus on what she's grateful for helps her get through the situation, as it did when she had to sit out of a ballet class due to blood sugar issues.
How has a CGM helped Michelle Lord manage her diabetes?
Michelle says getting a Dexcom CGM around three years before this recording reduced her anxiety about going out alone and improved her control by letting her catch highs and lows before they became severe.
What does Michelle Lord think about diets for type 1 diabetes?
She says no single diet works for every person with type 1 diabetes and is critical of people on social media pushing their personal diet, including a zero-carb diet, as the right approach for everyone.
How does Michelle Lord manage her blood sugar during ballet class?
She says she usually takes her pump off for most of the class but sometimes clips it into her bodysuit instead, and that figuring out the right approach took her three to four years of trial and error.
Full transcript Searchable, with timestamps
Rob Howe: Tools of Type 1s Podcast. We're 21 episodes in, and this is a very special episode done by a very special person who many of you are likely familiar with, Michelle Lord, who attacked this episode in a way that only she could via video and vlog. And she edited it so concisely and neatly and put a nice little bow on top of it that I just decided to not even interject any of my own questions. So what you're going to hear is a complete episode from Michelle. The full video is live on YouTube at youtube.com slash diabetics doing things. This episode 21 of tools of type ones, her tool positivity. It's something that she really lives out. And I think walks you through as well, how she manages that mindset in and around her busy lifestyle, both as a student and a person and an advocate for people with diabetes. So, Michelle Lord, I will let you take it from here, and I'll talk to you guys at the end of the episode. Hashtag tools of type 1s on Instagram. That's Diabetics Doing Things on the Diabetics Doing Things podcast. Without further ado, Michelle Lord, her tool, positivity.
Michelle Lord: Hey, guys. My name's Michelle, and I'm super excited to be here today to do tools of type 1s and answer questions about living with type 1 diabetes. Thank you so much to Rob for letting me be a part of this project. I'm so excited. And clearly this isn't a podcast. I decided to make a video because I'm a YouTuber, so I thought I'd switch it up a bit. Okay, so I have my laptop here to read off the questions, but before we start, I'm just gonna tell you guys a little bit about myself. So like I said before, my name's Michelle, I'm 28 years old, I live in Toronto, Canada, and I've been living with type 1 diabetes for almost 16 years. I am a PhD student, so I'm actually wrapping up my PhD right now and I'm in the middle of writing my thesis which has been the most challenging task I've ever taken on, but I am determined to finish and get that degree. I am also getting married in five months from today, so wedding planning is in full swing and I'm super busy with that as well. So my life is pretty crazy right now, but with all good things at least. So I'm a part of the type 1 community through my YouTube channel. My YouTube channel is called Michelle Lord. I know not the most original name, but it's kind of just a type 1 diabetes lifestyle channel. And the reason I started it was so that type 1 diabetics would have a place to go to to watch videos and not feel alone. So I do a variety of videos. I do vlogging through day in the life, week in the life. I do tips and trick videos. I do some technology videos. I even do some kind of beauty guru videos so I've done like a hair curling tutorial while I answer questions about diabetes. I also do some fashion videos where I show people how to style their clothes with their insulin pump. So it's really just a mix of everything on my channel. So let's get started with these questions for tools of type 1s. What is your tool of type 1s? What is the one thing that a person living with type 1 diabetes could learn from you or your experience? So I would say my biggest tool that I use for living with type 1 diabetes is positivity. My family has always told me that ever since I was a kid I've always been very positive and always trying to look on the bright side of things and I feel like applying this to my diabetes has really helped me day to day. I find that if you're having a bad diabetes day, just a matter of changing your mindset to a positive mindset can really help you get through that day. I actually just made a video about this on my YouTube channel, but I was talking about an experience that I had where I changed my mindset and it really helped me. So I was in my ballet class and I had to sit out for about half the class because my blood sugars just weren't behaving. And I was getting mopey and feeling sorry for myself. And I decided that that needed to stop. So I changed my mindset and I started thinking of the positive things about the situation. So I thought, okay, so what? You can't dance for half a class. You're lucky that you're able to dance in the first place. You're lucky that you're able to afford taking dance classes. You're lucky to be here with your friends and people that love you and care about you. I thought, I'm grateful to be sitting here in this situation, and at least I can sit here and watch my friends dance and enjoy that, rather than mope about how I can't join in. And just thinking about that really helped change the situation and turn it around for me. So positivity is like my top tool. I try to think positively in any type of situation. What is the simplest thing you've done that has helped you with the management of your type 1 diabetes? The simplest thing I've done that's helped me with diabetes management is made friends with type 1 diabetics. I think it's so important to have your D-buddy, as they call it or someone that you can just go to for advice or just to vent I've made a lot of type 1 friends through instagram I joined instagram in whenever it first came out 2012 2013 I don't know I found those friends have been the biggest support and a lot of people that I've become friends with actually live in my area and we get together and we do meetups and just when I'm having a bad day, it's amazing to be able to text these type 1 friends and they can give you advice or help you feel better about your bad day. Everything's just so relatable. You never run out of things to talk about and you just feel like you know each other so much better because you both live with this chronic illness. So that I feel has improved my management of my type 1 diabetes immensely by having this connection and this group of people that we can go to for support. What failures or apparent failures with type 1 diabetes have made you better at living the rest of your life or made you more well-rounded as a person? So I know this wasn't really a failure but in my eyes it was a failure. I had DKA in January 2018 and it really showed me that your health can turn like that. You can go from one second feeling great and then all of a sudden you're really sick and you're in the hospital. And when I was in the hospital, I thought, oh my gosh, like I just want out of here. I just want to be healthy again and it really makes you appreciate your health. So I feel like that really made me want to live my life to its fullest. Not that I wasn't already, but it just gave me a greater appreciation for my life and my health. What unusual or absurd opinion or approach regarding your diabetes do you have? I wouldn't say I have like a really unusual opinion but I'm someone who believes that having bad days will make you stronger as a person. I mean it's not like I think bad days are good but they just happen with type 1 diabetes so I feel like we need to use them to learn and to grow from these bad days and I feel like these days do end up making us grow and making us stronger. I don't know if that's like absurd or not. That's the best answer I got for you. What's your favorite thing? What gets you to smile or laugh almost every time? My favorite thing is ballet. I love ballet. I didn't start it until I was an adult so I was like 24 I think when I seriously started taking it so I was a bit late into the game but I danced before I'd done like jazz and tap so I just love ballet so much it makes me feel amazing when I'm doing it I love my studio I love my teacher she's so loving and caring and just a joy to be around and it's just my happy place the ballet studio is truly my happy place I'm not a professional by any means. I'm doing it just for fun, but I love it and that's all that matters. And something that makes me laugh all the time, I would say my fiance. He's a pretty funny guy and he's so sweet and caring and I feel like he can always put a smile on my face no matter what kind of day I'm having. In the last five years, what new adjustment to your lifestyle has improved your life with diabetes the most? 100% easy answer CGM Dexcom life changer I swear to god this thing like has given me so much independence I used to be afraid of going out on my own like I would be such a hermit because I didn't want to be out and about on my own and then have a really bad low that really freaked me out so I would have a lot of anxiety and then when I got the CGM when I got the Dexcom about three years ago I felt like a different person. I felt like I had so much freedom and I was able to do way more on my own. I also felt like my control was better because I could see when I was dropping or see when I was rising and kind of catch my highs and lows before they happened and obviously it doesn't give you perfect control but I think it really really helps with lifestyle so cgm like 100% game changer. What challenges related to type 1 diabetes did you encounter or have to overcome when you were doing your thing? So I guess I said my thing was ballet. That's my thing. So figuring out blood sugars with ballet is awful. It's so difficult. I like to take my pump off for the majority of the class but sometimes that doesn't work so I'll have to have my pump clips in my bodysuit which is super annoying and it gets in the way. Some days I just need it and honestly every ballet class I feel like is different and each class has its own challenge. It's always problem solving when it comes to dancing with diabetes because no class is the same but I do it because I love it so it's worth the challenge and I've kind of figured out what I need to do in certain situations at this point. It's taken me three years or four years to figure it out but now I would say I'm pretty confident with how to handle my blood sugars in a ballet class. What bad advice regarding diabetes do you see or hear that you'd like to address? I would say diet in general I'd like to address. I see it a lot on Instagram and YouTube and social media in general people like really pushing their diet that works for them on other type 1s and I just think it's absurd that people think that one diet will work for every single person with type 1 diabetes because we're all so different and I myself have had people really push the zero carb diet on me and that diet just doesn't work for me. I just don't believe that one diet is going to work for every single person and I feel like people need to kind of back off with pushing their specific diet or their specific lifestyle on other type ones. What priority are you focusing on in your own life currently? Finishing my PhD. I just need to get that thing done. Who is someone that you look up to and what have they taught you? How do you apply that to your life? I don't have a specific person that I look up to but in general I look up to my type 1 friends. I have a lot of type 1 friends that are really focused on healthy eating and just getting as much nutrition as they can. Like they eat a very well-balanced diet and they're not about like cutting anything like carbs or calories or anything like that but they're about just getting those macronutrients and I find those friends of mine really inspire me because they make me want to eat healthier and just put good things inside of my body rather than processed junk and I feel like they've really inspired me to do that and to take the time and cook good meals for myself and I find that it really does help me feel better and control my blood sugar overall when I eat well. What are you most hopeful for? Can be diabetes related or not? So in this age of social media, I really believe that we are spreading awareness about type 1 diabetes. We now have access to something that we didn't have before and through social media we are able to tell people what type 1 diabetes is, let them know the seriousness of the disease and how it's different from type 2 diabetes and I really believe that through this platform we are educating because I'm finding that now more and more people know what type 1 diabetes is and how it's different from type 2 whereas when I was a kid almost nobody knew what type 1 was so I feel like we are able to spread more awareness this way and it really brings me hope that more and more people are becoming aware and are realizing that this is a serious disease that we deal with every day and how important it is to raise money and to do research for our cure. What advice would you give someone who has type 1 diabetes and is trying to pursue a career in your line of work? So pretty much a type 1 diabetic who's a student because I'm still a student. Being in university with type 1 is very difficult and it's almost like having a part-time job well in university which is a very hard thing to balance. So I would say just go easy on yourself. I personally feel that I needed more time in university than other people did because I had to deal with this chronic illness at the same time. So I did take a reduced course load for a couple years just to kind of spread out my work more so I could focus on my health at the same time as my schoolwork. So that's always an option. Find ways to deal with stress because stress really messes up your blood sugar and stress comes along with being in university. So find activities that you like to do or relaxation techniques that help reduce your stress. What's the one trait that you think makes you uniquely you? Explain why. That's a very tough question. I guess something that makes me unique is that I have two very different sides to me. So I'm a scientist. I'm doing my PhD in medical physics, so I have a very strong physics and math background. I'm very science-y and almost like nerdy, but then on the other side I'm also very artistic. I love creating, I love painting, I love dancing and singing, and I feel like it's really nice to have both of those sides, like the academic and the artistic side at the same time. I find that I personally try to balance those and keep as much art and creativity in my life as I can while I'm doing my PhD. So I think that makes me kind of unique. I don't know. Okay, plug yourself. I'm supposed to plug myself now. So I think I already mentioned my YouTube video at the beginning and I told you what kind of videos I have on there. So you can find me on YouTube at Michelle Lord. Just google Michelle Lord Diabetes and my channel will come up for you. I'm also on Instagram. My Instagram handle is michello, M-I-C-H-E underscore L-O. Don't ask me why I chose that. I chose it a really long time ago. Bonus question. Where do you get plugged into the type 1 diabetes community the most? So pretty much like how did I get involved in social media? So I created my Instagram account like a really long time ago and just kind of started making friends on there and then I made my YouTube channel and the way that I got that kind of growing was I That is my fridge making that noise guys. Oh my goodness. Um, the way that it started growing was I kind of told people about it on Instagram and it kind of picked up from there But youtube is like a search engine So if someone's googling something about diabetes youtube videos will pop up And I think that's how my youtube channel started growing because people were googling like how do you get the dex come to stick? and then my video would pop up. So I think that is how it grew. There was no real trick that I used. It kind of just grew naturally. And yeah, that's it for my Tools of Type 1s. I hope you guys enjoyed. This is a super raw video. Normally, my YouTube videos are nicely put together and prepared and edited. So I hope you guys enjoy this raw version of me. Thanks again to Rob for having me. See you guys later. Bye.
Rob Howe: Thank you for listening to the Tools of Type 1s podcast. on diabetics doing things. I'm Rob Howe, and every Tuesday and Thursday in 2019, we are posting the next Tools of Type 1 episode. So follow us on Instagram, hashtag toolsoftype1s, or just on diabeticsdoingthings. We will post those regularly every Tuesday, every Thursday. My favorite type 1s are answering the questions I want to know the answers to. And hopefully, you'll learn a few things as well. If you like this episode, be sure to review us on iTunes. and if you didn't like it, go ahead and let me know that too. I want to know. All the feedback is good to me. Thanks again for your time. I value that more than anything you could possibly give me. Thanks so much. Bye-bye.
About Michelle
Michelle Lord is a PhD student in medical physics in Toronto who has lived with type 1 diabetes for almost 16 years. She runs a YouTube channel, Michelle Lord, covering type 1 diabetes lifestyle content including vlogs, tech videos, and tips.