Alisa Weilerstein has been living with type 1 diabetes almost as long as she’s been making music. She debuted with the Cleveland Orchestra at age 13, played Carnegie Hall at 15, performed at the White House at 27, and at 29 was awarded the MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” fellowship. She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 9 and her first concern, of course, was for her fingertips! Alisa speaks to us from Berlin, where she and her family spend half their time.
In Tell Me Something Good we share stories about girl scouts stepping up and hearing a Dexcom alarm at the Supreme Court.
This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider.
Check out Stacey's book: The World's Worst Diabetes Mom!
Alisa mentions playing in concert while pregnant. See that video here
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Episode Transcription (rough transcription, not yet corrected)
Stacey Simms 0:00
Diabetes Connections is brought to you by One Drop created for people with diabetes by people who have diabetes by Gvoke Hypopen, the first premixed auto injector for very low blood sugar, and by Dexcom take control of your diabetes and live life to the fullest with Dexcom.
Announcer 0:22
This is Diabetes Connections with Stacey Simms.
Stacey Simms 0:27
This week, she was playing the cello before she went to kindergarten. In fact, when Alisa Weilerstein was diagnosed with type one at age nine, her first thought was her fingertips.
Alisa Weilerstein 0:41
I was already quite curious about the cello and the left hand, of course, it's the hand that goes on the fingerboard. And I remember saying to my doctor, I'm not going to click my fingers on my left hand, they won't be able to play.
Stacey Simms 0:50
She was certainly able to keep playing - Carnegie Hall at 15, the White House at 27 and at 29 Weilestein was awarded the MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant fellowship. She has quite a story. It was great to talk to her
and tell me something good girl scouts stepping up. And did you hear the Dexcom at the supreme court hearings?
This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider.
Welcome to another week of Diabetes Connections. I'm so glad to have you along. I am your host Stacey Simms, and we aim to educate and inspire by sharing stories of connection. If you are new to the show, I am so glad to have you here a little bit about me. My son was diagnosed with type one right before he turned two he is almost 16 now so it's been a minute, my husband lives with type two. I don't have diabetes, but I have a background in broadcasting and local radio and television. And that is how you get the podcast. I am always amazed when I meet and talk to people with incredible musical talent like our guest this week. To me playing music reading music, expressing yourself through music is like another language. I appreciate music. But I don't have that kind of innate understanding that a true artist has my old radio show co host when I did mornings in Charlotte, North Carolina, where I am now for more than 10 years. And he was also a musician. And they just have this natural ability. I mean a true musician who can write music and read music and play and play by ear. To me it really is something special. And I hope I did this interview with Alisa justice. Because of course we're interested in talking about diabetes, but we talked about music as well.
I also want to let you know, we are not out of November yet diabetes Awareness Month of course, we'll be doing some fun things on social media. I have a big sale going on for the world's first diabetes mom real life stories of raising a child with type 1 diabetes, it is on sale right now use the coupon code November, you've got to use it on my website at Diabetes connections.com. I can't do coupon codes on Amazon sorry. But this covers more than free shipping and everything else. So it's still a nice discount if we're doing $4 off for the rest of the month. So go to the website, scroll down, you'll see the book in the middle of the page there under the most recent podcast episodes. And to use the promo code, you're going to click order a signed copy. The other links take you to Amazon and you can't use a coupon code there. But if you click on order a signed copy, it'll take you to the right place. There's also a little teeny tab on top that says shop.
It's hard for me to believe the book has been out for a year. I hope you're not tired of me talking about it. I got one nasty email this year I will share. Somebody stopped listening to the show two weeks after I published the book because he was tired of me talking about it. I felt like saying to him, you write a book, see if you want to talk about it! (laughs) But I appreciate you you know putting up with it. Especially this year when the whole book tour was canceled. I was supposed to like many of you, right? We were supposed to travel and go places and do things so you know I get it. Of course everybody's in the same boat. But I am going to continue to talk about the world's worst diabetes mom because man it was so much fun to put together and I'm not ashamed to say the response has been fantastic. So if you want to get a copy promo code November at Diabetes connections.com
Diabetes Connections is brought to you by One Drop and getting diabetes supplies because a big pain you know that not only the ordering and the picking up but the arguing with insurance over what they say you need and what you really need. Make it easy with One Drop. They offer personalized test strip plans plus you get a Bluetooth glucose meter test strips lancets and your very own certified diabetes coach. Subscribe today to get test strips for less than $20 a month delivered right to your door. No prescriptions or co pays required. One less thing to worry about not that surprising when you learn that the founder of One Drop lifts with type one, they get it One Drop gorgeous gear supplies delivered to your door 24 seven access to your certified diabetes coach learn more go to Diabetes connections.com and click on the One Drop logo.
My guest this week has been living with type one almost as long as she's been making music. Alisa Weilerstein has a remarkable story she debuted with the Cleveland Symphony At age 13, played Carnegie Hall at 15, performed at the White House at 27. And then she was awarded the MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant fellowship when she was 29 years old. I found her Tiny Desk concert. If you're familiar with those from NPR, that was 10 years ago, I will link that up as well. She is currently in Europe where she and her family live for half the year. I spoke to her. It was back in September when she her husband and their four year old daughter had just traveled back to Berlin from San Diego. Elisa, thank you so much for joining me, it's so interesting to talk to you that you're in Europe, we've got a little bit of a lag here on the call. But thanks for coming in. I
Alisa Weilerstein 5:37
appreciate it. Oh, you're so welcome. Thank you for having me on your show.
Stacey Simms 5:40
Before we jump in and talk diabetes and music. Tell me a little bit about living in Berlin. You live there half the time now?
Alisa Weilerstein 5:47
Yes. Well, I mean, I'm a I'm a cellist I played classical music. Of course, in normal times, I play about 120 concerts per year. And they're split between Europe and North America with an occasional trip to Asia. Of course, during the pandemic, that's been radically changed, obviously. But that's my schedule during normal times. And so it was very important for both me and my husband, my husband, as a conductor, to have a base in Europe as well, so that we're not just constantly on transatlantic flights, more than we actually need to be. So we have a base in Europe, which is Berlin, and it's such a great Center for the Arts. And our daughter loves it here. Our daughter was actually born here four and a half years ago. And yes, that's one reason why we chose Berlin.
Stacey Simms 6:27
I'm curious what the flight was like, and what the experiences like traveling from the US right now, with everything that's going on?
Alisa Weilerstein 6:33
Well, it's interesting, because then we spent most of the pandemic in San Diego. So we were there from March 13. Basically, you know, that that the day that all of the all of the borders shot, and I actually traveled to Germany in June, to play a live broadcast in Hamburg. At that time, it was a two week quarantine in Germany. And so I can't even hear it here in my apartment in Berlin. And at that time, it was even more sort of wacky to travel at that point than it was a week ago, when we flew back here to San Diego with my whole family. At that time. I mean, there were there were so few flights, and there was practically no one in the airports. So I flew from LA to Newark, of course, you know, you don't take your mask off your face, obviously. And even though there were like 10 people on my site, and not more than that, and then I had 10 hours in Newark, and then I suppose from Newark to Frankfurt, and I got a test immediately upon arrival, they were even doing testing at the airport at that time. And then my results arrived within 48 hours. You know, I tested for the for the virus and also for the antibodies, which unfortunately, I didn't have the antibody, I was actually disappointed. But anyway, I flew back to San Diego to rejoin my family. And then my whole family to my husband, my daughter and and also our daughters many. We flew back to Berlin. Again, it was a very few flights to San Diego, Chicago, Chicago, London, London, Berlin with a four and a half year old, you can imagine what oh, my gosh. But, you know, we tested right before literally before he went to the airport, we went to a lab to test and then we got tested at the airport and in Berlin Tegel airport there. They're doing testing upon arrival. And those results came within 24 hours. And potential street for me got here. So my girl was able to go to school right away here, which made her very, very happy. Great. Yeah,
Stacey Simms 8:18
yeah, I'm glad. I'm sure you're all glad to be settled.
Unknown Speaker 8:21
Oh, yeah.
Stacey Simms 8:24
So let's talk about type one. You were diagnosed at nine. Do you remember your diagnosis story?
Alisa Weilerstein 8:30
Oh, yeah. Very well. Yeah, it was actually the month before my 10th birthday was March first 1992. And as you remember that, of course, like 92 was a kind of critical year in diabetes research, which definitively proved that tight control could ward off the risk of complications by you know, whopping percentage, and they are 66% less likely to get complications if the agency was 7% or below. So that was encouraging. But yeah, my diagnosis story was essentially, for the couple of months leading up to my doctor's visit, I exhibited the classic symptoms, I was urinating frequently with who had extreme thirst, and I was losing some weight. And I've always been a kind of muscular body type. And I suddenly became, you know, sort of like belly dancer and not like my energy was okay. And was was actually sort of normal until like, about a, I remember, like, a few days before I went to the doctor, and I was just feeling just sort of tired, which was very unlike me. And my mother took me to the pediatrician. She said, you know, maybe you have a bladder infection because I was, you know, going to the bathroom every hour or something like that. So I remember we got a urine sample from home, which the doctor had asked us to do that. And so you know, I peed into a jar basically. And then we went to the pediatrician and, sorry
Stacey Simms 9:52
It's a type one diabetes all the time.
Alisa Weilerstein 9:58
The diabetes podcast, so I'm your listeners are familiar with this. And anyway, I am submitted the sample. And then I remember the doctor who might like very much, I actually took my mother aside, and there was some whispering, which I didn't know about. And my mom looked very serious. And she said to me, Well, the doctor thinks the jar was contaminated. So just give her another example. And so I went to the Darrell bathrooms and gave her a sample from the sterile cup. And unfortunately, the result was the same, which of course, showed sky high glucose. And the doctor said, Well, you know, you need to go straight to the ER, and doctor told me, so do you need to get a blood test? And so I thought, Oh, my, you know, I don't really like and then I remember asking my mother, I said, well, Can I at least get some m&ms afterwards. And my poor mother, she, I mean, she didn't know much about diabetes, but she heard that word diabetes mentioned. And she knew that that meant a sugar issue. And so she just kind of looked at me and she opened her mouth, and she closed it again. And ah, and, you know, we drove to the hospital. And then the rest was really kind of blur. My father, you know, I remember my mom calling my father saying you need to get here now. And my, my little brother at the time was four. And I remember them all kind of standing around me and I was getting weighed. And then suddenly, I was like, on a gurney with IVs, and needles sticking in and out. And then doctors coming in saying, Yes, we think it's juvenile diabetes. And of course, you know, somebody was in examining my tongue to see how to hide it. And I might I, I might have been, and it was very kind of dramatic. My blood sugar was 464. At the time, they said that actually, we caught it relatively early. If you can believe that. I think at that time, some kids were coming in already, you know, the 800, or something like that, coming into with, you know, really, rather advanced ketoacidosis. And I wasn't there yet, I was throwing some ketones. It wasn't yet in kind of a dire situation. Anyway, I was then in the hospital for about a week just for the kind of diabetes education and it was kind of a crash course in how to manage type one diabetes. And at the time, my insulin regimen was NPH. And regular to the fast acting because it was it was even before the time of humalog. And my blood sugar meter took 45 seconds to read the blood glucose results and counting carbohydrates and all of that stuff. So this was my diabetes education.
Stacey Simms 12:16
At nine years old, you were already on your way to playing music and performing as you did anyone say anything? I had to fit your first question, right? Can I still do this? What did they tell you about your musical career?
Right back to Alisa, she's gonna answer that question. But first diabetes Connections is brought to you by Dexcom. And they have this great partnership with Tandem now with basal IQ and control IQ. And we started on basal IQ as soon as it was available. And this is the Dexcom g six tandem pump software program, and immediately started doing less work for better results. When we switch to control IQ, oh my gosh, even less work even better results with diabetes. I don't know if you remember, but years ago, they started with just putting the CGM information on the pump and it didn't communicate, it's just there. But this is something else, the whole system keeps spinning more steady. His time in range has increased significantly, his agency, you know, I don't share exact numbers, but it is the lowest that he's ever had. Of course, individual results may vary. But to learn more, just go to Diabetes connections.com and click on the Dexcom logo right back now to Elisa sharing what she was most worried about at her diagnosis.
Alisa Weilerstein 13:38
Well, this is why I say 1992 was actually I mean, if one had to be diagnosed with diabetes, you know, at any time, it was an encouraging year to be diagnosed. Because I mean that the doctors who actually were well informed said, If you manage this, well, you will be able to live exactly the life that you want to live. And that was the constant messaging from my doctor at the time, all the nurses around each month this is and and they were teaching me how to do things. And he said this is the reason you have to do this is so that you can live a full life and do all the things that you want to do and play the cello do go to school, see your friends, play sports, do all of these things. And I remember there was just one issue, where I kind of had to make a special accommodation, which is what the finger picking, because of course I was already as you say I but I was already quite curious about the cello. And the left hand, of course is the hand that goes on the fingerboard. And I remember saying to my doctors, I'm not going to click my fingers on my left hence I won't be able to play and I but however if I was able to prick my fingers on my on my bow hand that wouldn't have affected that. So I only used three fingers to prick and my whole life after that I only I only use the same three fingers to pick my finger, my test my blood sugar, and luckily they accommodated and they basically well as long as you do it and as long as you don't hurt yourself. Sure. That was the answer.
Stacey Simms 14:57
I was going to ask you about that. Because I couldn't imagine especially the amount of finger prick you had to do back then. Yeah, Listen, I've, for somebody who nagged her son for years to rotate fingers do a different thing. Yeah, you were able to just move it around enough so that you didn't have issues with just those three fingers.
Alisa Weilerstein 15:14
No, I didn't. And, and even at the time, I mean, the lancets were very good, very painless, and very thin. So I mean, there was actually there was never an issue. And I mean, at the time, the recommendation was to test four times a day, I remember at the time that was considered like being very responsible. Of course, now, we would probably say that's kind of bare minimum. But as I got older, and I tested more often, I mean, I was asked to test before the continuous glucose monitors were accurate enough to kind of rely on I was testing 10 times a day, and I was just using those same three fingers.
Stacey Simms 15:43
That's so interesting. And you've mentioned a couple times 1992, we should just step back and mention as you listen, if you're not familiar, we're referring here to the dcct trial, the diabetes control and complications trial, which was really the first time as you said, that they believed that you could make a difference. I mean, it's hard to believe that before that time, doctors thought, Well, that's it if you have type one or juvenile diabetes, as they called it, you wouldn't live past 30. And this showed that you could,
Alisa Weilerstein 16:09
yeah, and you would kind of have to go to an alternative doctor to get anything more hopeful, or any kind of agency with it's really yeah, and
Stacey Simms 16:16
I'll link up more information on the dcct. It was such a pivotal time and diabetes. And it wasn't that long ago, when you think about it now. Alright, so you're then on your way, you're doing what you need to do. You've got your family on board, you're playing music, Cleveland Orchestra at age 13. And on and on. And I have to say, when I watch someone play the cello, and please forgive me, I am so musically ignorant, except that I enjoy listening. It seems like it's very athletic. It's a very physical looking instrument to play. Can you talk about that? Is it I assume that
Alisa Weilerstein 16:48
yes, it is? Oh, yeah, yeah, completely. And especially I'm not very tall, myself, I'm about five to my posture is good. You know, you have to learn how to use your body in a very efficient way, like kind of a lot of Alexander Technique. And yoga concepts can apply very well to pretty much any instrument, but kind of the cello, especially in terms of the strength that it takes. And truly free with instruments, you have to basically use your body to know how to use the natural energy and not natural body weight very well. And of course, it just takes a lot of years of practice to build it up. I mean, there's no substitute for time really, with that,
Stacey Simms 17:21
you must have by now of routine and you you the physicality of it, you've got that down. But when you were younger, and first learning, what did you do? Did you keep tabs like in your chair, or in your case, you know, how did you manage diabetes and playing
Alisa Weilerstein 17:35
I mean, I kept glucose tablets pretty much everywhere. playing the cello itself did not cause low blood sugar, I mean, there were a couple of pieces that I knew were kind of workouts in a way and that I would sometimes eat a little bit or maybe drink a little bit of juice before, I mean, like the way you would before going for a run, just to have like a little bit of energy to make sure that you have a threshold that can kind of carry you through if you're going to drop a little bit. So it was a lot of trial and error. And I just found out kind of what worked in I mean, in terms of going on stage, especially before the pump, certainly which I got an A pump when I was 16. So that was 98. And certainly before the CGM, I would test before going on stage. I mean, I've just tested in general much more on concert dates than on other days. And I always like to get to the hall about an hour before so that I could slowly put the gown on. So they put me so they kind of put my ducks in a row in terms of playing and just warming warming up slowly and kind of just getting myself in the mental space. But it was also blood sugar wise, it was just important for me to be able to test one hour before, kind of every 15 minutes. And then like two minutes before I'd walk on stage just to make sure that I was not going to get low on stage. I mean, like if I was 170, or something on stage, it wasn't ideal, but it was better than being 65 when you're going on stage because of course below that, then you kind of start to lose coordination. I mean, my ideal number to go on stage would be like 130 because the blood sugar's maybe slightly on the high side, but it's good enough that I felt normal. And I had a threshold to drop, so that if I walked offstage, and I was 85 or something like that would be fine.
Stacey Simms 19:10
You mentioned there were a couple of pieces that stand out as being more physical or do can you share those with us? I'm curious, which anything stand out?
Alisa Weilerstein 19:20
Sure. There's a concerto, which means that there's a solo instrument with an orchestral accompaniment, and the composer is Prokofiev, who was a Russian composer who actually died the same day that Stalin died. Oh, my 1953. Yes, the same day. So of course, nobody paid attention when he died, unfortunately, because it was one of those really, really tragic ironies to add to so many tragic ironies of the time, but he wrote a fantastic masterpiece for each other an orchestra called the symphony concert count, which is a symphony concerto. It's a 45 minute kind of tour de force, for the cello and for the orchestra as well, but especially the solo cello where which is just Just wild, very, very, very physical, technically very, very challenging. And it's just kind of an endurance exercise. And I remember just being very sure that I was not going to get low on stage. So I did a few practice runs of that pizza. The first time I played it in public, the first time I played it in with the orchestra, I was about 16 or 17 years old, I did several kind of practice runs, just running through with it with a kennel reduction for friends and for for my parents and things like that. So I knew kind of what my blood sugar threshold was with that piece in particular, it's funny, it was
Stacey Simms 20:34
Prokofiev. All I know is Peter and the Wolf.
Unknown Speaker 20:37
That's what I think. Yes, of course. No, it's just what I pay for my daughter all the time. You're fantastic.
Stacey Simms 20:43
It's funny. Oh, yeah. That's great. Yeah, yeah, at this point, it's almost like a professional athlete. In terms of I assume you have a routine, you know, you know,
Unknown Speaker 20:52
look, at this point, you
Stacey Simms 20:54
know, what you're doing. I'm curious. But anything throw you for a loop in terms of diabetes. These days, I'm thinking about advice for, you know, younger people who are starting out in a musical career, or, you know, just anything like that. So what throws you for a loop, we're in there?
Alisa Weilerstein 21:10
Oh, well, sometimes I can have a very inconsistent response to stress or to nerves, because generally speaking, I don't get nervous on stage. But perhaps the kind of travel situation, especially these days can make me quite stressed out and, you know, say high strung and nervous and then my blood sugar just shoots up, sort of out of nowhere, or it can be like a kind of a sticky high, and I can't get below 185, no matter how much I mean, like I can be, like, feel like I've got an ID of insulin and nothing brings it down until I relaxed, that can just sometimes be really kind of flummoxing and very frustrating. And then of course, I get more stressed about the blood sugar. And then of course, the stress response doesn't go down. So that's something that I just find very frustrating. And something that I feel is kind of out of my control and less like kind of just force myself to do some deep breathing in a kind of airport travel situation, which is stressful. Other things that life can throw your way. unexpected things I just signed, you know, test test test, look at the CGM as much as possible. And then you can catch the kind of unexpected highs and lows much much more easily. And so that's my advice to anyone just test as much as possible. Or if you have a CGM. Just make sure that you're really aware of what's going on there.
Stacey Simms 22:20
Can I be nosy? And ask where you were your tech? Yeah, she during performance, of course, I'm trying to think of the body motion and where it's, you know, where it makes sense.
Alisa Weilerstein 22:29
Well, not on my arms. Probably imagine, I put my infusion set in the center of my stomach. And when I'm wearing a gown, there's, I'm not sure even which company makes any more. But I think there's the diabetes mole, which has something called the five thing and this kind of like a garter belt, and it has a pocket, which is where I put my pump, when I'm wearing a dress or a concert gown.
Stacey Simms 22:52
Right? You've mentioned your daughter a couple of times, if they did, were you concerned, I obviously, you know, it takes a lot of work when you're wanting to get tight control before you get pregnant. I'm curious. Sounds like your doctors told you from the get go that you'd be okay. Can you share a little bit about that journey in terms of, you know, deciding to have your child,
Alisa Weilerstein 23:10
it's something that was kind of hanging over my mind. And it was it that's a personal thing. It's just not to say that, oh, you get a diabetes diagnosis, and you worry for the rest of your, let's say, especially if your child 17th, whether you're going to be able to have a healthy pregnancy or not. But I did actually have that kind of worry. And I would say I spent probably two years before we decided it was the right time to try and conceive just kind of experimenting to see how tight I thought I could get the control, especially with an intense travel schedule. And I found that at the time, the CGM was getting better and better. Like as you know, back in, you know, 2008 2009, the CGM was maybe 40% accurate assess. I mean, it was just terrible. I was like throwing it against the wall sometimes because it would just as I took Tylenol or something, it would go up to show that I was reading 400 because it couldn't, it didn't react about this kind of medicine and other things. And it was fall off. And it was just awful. So I get back two years before, you know my daughter was born in 2016. So this was like 2014 or so. I mean, my agencies had been in the low sevens at the time, and then I got them down to 6.8 6.6. And I thought, Okay, I think I'm going to be able to manage this. Because I was doing a lot of fine tuning. And then as your son will probably relate to this, like, the more you pay attention, the worse you actually think your blood sugar is, but it's actually your budget is actually getting much better. You know what I mean? Yeah. And so this was something that I realized that my doctor was telling me I was doing it, basically. And I was like, Really? I don't think I'm doing and then I saw Oh, my average was like 129 Oh, okay, that's not bad. But I mean, of course, it needs to be better than that for pregnancy. But this is in range. I could finally envision, you know, having an average of you know, 110 or something like that. And so we got pregnant and of course, the pregnancy itself is the biggest motivator. And I, of course, I was poked and prodded more than I care to remember during the pregnancy because of course, I was classified immediately as high risk and I had to see the doctor, you know, all the time, but I was working and traveling until 35 weeks. Oh, well, you can find a YouTube video of me doing my second to last concert with our daughter, my daughter and my belly. I played Hindemith concerto with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony. And my belly was absolutely huge. And then like, I'm walking on stage with this thing. And I saw myself, wow. I mean, I remember what it felt like. But seeing it now as it was some distance. It's kind of kind of amazing to me that I did that. But it was important to me to keep going. And I generally had a very easy pregnancy until the very end, and I felt best. And my blood sugar was best when I was active. You know, I was under strict supervision of my doctors, but I managed to do that.
Stacey Simms 25:50
How do you talk about your diabetes with your daughter?
Alisa Weilerstein 25:52
What does she know? She knows, in a very general way, if she sees me drinking juice, she knows that I'm low, because I don't drink juice. Otherwise, she knows that I have diabetes, she knows the word diabetes, and what you know, let's say in a very general way, what it is, and she knows what my medicine is, and that she's not supposed to touch it. And she can watch me kind of handle it, things like that. But that that's this is only Mama's territory to kind of handle things like that. So sometimes she likes to kind of look at my pumpkin to know what it does and things like that. But other than that, she doesn't know too many other details.
Stacey Simms 26:22
One of the things that when we were talking about coming on the show, I noticed that you're working with he Genesis, can you tell me a little bit about what you know who they are,
Alisa Weilerstein 26:31
he Genesis is? Well, it's an amazing company, they don't only work on diabetes research, they work on kidney disease and liver disease. And really, they're kind of primary goal is to make sure that there are no organ shortages for anyone who needs them. And so what they're working on is Type One Diabetes islet cell transplants. So they have an incredible immunology team, which I've been in touch with a bit. And it's just, it's very, very exciting, the research that they're doing, and my association with them really is to kind of spread the awareness of what it's truly like to live with type one diabetes, and to stress the need for a cure. Because nowadays, with biotech, making such amazing advances, sometimes people around me who don't know me, so well look at me, and they they don't really even know that I have diabetes, and they say, Oh, well, you make it look so easy. And it seems like with the technology, you can live a very, you know, you What do you need a cure for in a way. And this, of course, is exactly the wrong kind of message that you want to send us and Well, yes, I'm a very positive person, and I manage my diabetes as best I can. And I have the technology and the knowledge to do that. However, as we were saying before, living with Type One Diabetes is a 24 hours a day, seven day a week, 365 day a year job. Even with the technology, there is not a moment that goes by that you can really relax about it, you always have to be paying attention. I don't know how to look at a plate of food and not count the carbohydrates. And I don't know how to go for a run without thinking, Okay, how is this going to affect my blood sugar is my pump actually going to react to that and say, if I if I go for a sprint, how many glucose tablets do I have? Am I gonna drop too low to actually finish it, that kind of thing. And that's even with the technology that we have now, not to say nothing of hyperglycemia, gun awareness and all of these other things that we know are dangers with living with type one diabetes, and you as a parent of a diabetic have a type one diabetic who is luckily very well controlled. This is probably something that that you were always concerned about hypoglycemic unawareness overnight and things like that. I know that this was certainly something that my mother probably lost countless hours of sleep over. And type 1 diabetes is, you know, to say nothing. Also at the expense of managing type 1 diabetes, we all know what insulin prices are, we know what the prescription medication needs are. And the fact that type 1 diabetes is actually the most expensive chronic disease to treat of any chronic disease. And so this is really why we all need to be lobbying this and countless other reasons. This is why we are all lobbying for a cure. Not treatment, pain, of course, better treatment, but in the absence of a cure. But the ultimate goal, obviously is is a real cure.
Stacey Simms 29:08
We didn't talk much about music during this interview. I didn't know you were here to talk about. Okay, that sort of thing. But you have been playing according to what I've read you really been playing since probably before you remember much right? Did you start playing cello at age four?
Alisa Weilerstein 29:23
I did. Yeah.
Stacey Simms 29:24
Is it still exciting? Is it still challenging? Is it still fun?
Alisa Weilerstein 29:27
Oh, yes. And I'll eat all of the above. Yes, challenging, exciting, fun, frustrating, wonderful. tear my hair out type of frustrating sometimes as well. But you know, is one of those things where there's no concrete goal, really, I mean, you just have to keep growing. And in a way, there's a kind of a parallel with diabetes management, there are two because as we know, there's no way to do it perfectly. And you have to just do the best you can. And so that's like being an artist. You're constantly striving to be better to be the most studiers to yourself. To the composer's to what you're trying to say, you know, you're always searching for ways to do that better and to do it more clearly. And to do it more Honestly, I'm always experimenting.
Stacey Simms 30:09
Well, Lisa, thank you so much for joining me and for making time to talk about this. It's been a crazy time we're living in now, but I wish you the best as you're now in Europe. And, but really, thank you so much for spending some time with me and my listeners.
Alisa Weilerstein 30:23
Oh, my pleasure. Thank you so much for having me on your show.
Unknown Speaker 30:31
You're listening to Diabetes Connections with Stacey Simms.
Stacey Simms 30:37
I will link up more information you've got here Elisa play. So I'll put a lot of that in the show notes, a couple of different links, including, you know, she mentioned that video where she was pregnant, I found that and she obviously looks great. But Josh, he plays with such passion in every video, I think you'll love it. So I'll definitely link those up. Whatever app you're listening to, if you're listening on an app, they always have show notes and you can often get the links there as well. But if you have any trouble as I always say just go back to the homepage and that will help you out. Tell me something good in just a moment. Did you hear the Dexcom at the Supreme Court we're going to talk about that. But first diabetes Connections is brought to you by g Bo hypo pen, and almost everyone who takes insulin has experienced a low blood sugar and that can be scary. A very low blood sugar is really scary. And that's where Jeeva hypo pen comes in. It's the first auto injector to treat very low blood sugar. Jeeva hypo pen is pre mixed and ready to go with no visible needle. That means it's easy to use in usability studies 99% of people were able to give Jiva correctly, I am so glad to have something new, find out more go to Diabetes connections.com and click on the G book logo. g book shouldn't be used in patients with pheochromocytoma or insulinoma visit Jeeva glucagon comm slash risk.
Didn't tell me something good. This week, let's talk about the Girl Scouts for a moment. This is all about Isabella. She was just diagnosed in April. And she is part of a Girl Scout troop. Her mom Carrie posted a photo and I wanted to talk to her about that it looked so great. And here's what happened. Isabella is part of a Girl Scout troop. And she did a presentation on diabetes for diabetes Awareness Month. But this went a little bit further than a lot of the presentations that we have seen. And Isabella let everybody or asked everybody to do a finger poke to experience a little bit of what she goes through. And I'm laughing because the photo that's posted and I'll see if I get permission to share this is Isabella poking an adult's finger, and the adult is looking a little apprehensive. But there's this little girl in the background who just is very concerned, she's got this look on her face. Like really? What do you have to do that all the time? You know, it's a wonderful picture to show the empathy, I think and really also, and this might sound a little bit flowery, but I mean, this the bravery of Isabella, it's not easy to show other people, all the stuff that you have to go through when you have type one. And you know, maybe her friends would be scared or maybe they would treat her differently to have the support that she has, I think is really special. So Carrie, thank you so much for sharing that. Isabella, congratulations to you for sharing all of that. And good on the Girl Scout troop. That's awesome. Our next Tell me something good comes from the highest court in the land. Last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments about the Affordable Care Act. This is the third time in eight years that the Obamacare as it's also known, has been in front of the Supreme Court. But what I want to focus on is Justice Sonia Sotomayor is Dexcom Yes, of course, many of you already know that. One of the justices lives with type 1 diabetes. If you haven't read her incredible biography. I will link that up in the show notes. And yes, she is one of my dream guests. So somebody helped make that happen for us. I reached out to the press office, I'm gonna continue to work it will get her on one of these days. But her Dexcom apparently went off crystal a prick. liano heard it. She is an incredible diabetes advocate. And she was the very first guest on this show. Yeah, back in 2015. And she tweeted out that she had heard it she thought it was her Dexcom going off, but it was Justice Sotomayor is and that sparked a little bit of conversation about why would it be going off as a clerk kind of bring her juice box? And is it frustrating that you can't silence all the alarms? And why would you want to silence all the alarms and it was interesting to hear people go back and forth about that. One thing that did come up if you do want to silence the alarms, and look, I know we want that urgent low to be going off, but you are grownups as you listen, and a lot of people do not want to blaring at their workplace or they want to have a different way of doing this. Right. We all want our DIY stuff. If you don't already know one workaround is to stick headphones into the jack on your phone and then the alarm will go off but it'll go off in the headphones and it won't bother anybody else at work. As a mom, I don't want you to turn your urgent low alarm off. I mean, come on. I'm a mom, but I get it. So that was one thing but came up. But isn't that interesting? I have all sorts of personal and prying questions for Justice Sotomayor. Maybe that's why she doesn't want to come on. And talk to me about, hey, where do you put your Dexcom? Do you use skin tack?
Unknown Speaker 35:12
We would have more important things to talk about. I
Unknown Speaker 35:13
am sure
Stacey Simms 35:14
if you haven't told me something good story, please send it my way. Stacy at Diabetes connections.com or posted in the Facebook group Diabetes Connections, the group. I feel like this month has been busier. And not just because it's diabetes Awareness Month. I'm actually I there's stuff going on. I'm doing panels. I'm taping things more than the podcast. So it's kind of fun. And I'm feeling more energized than I have been in a while, which is nice. This weekend. I'm participating in the healthy voices conference. This was supposed to be in the spring, I think we're supposed to be in Dallas. I mean, I can't even keep track of the number of airline tickets. I had to reschedule, like most of you. But I'm excited because I'm not just talking about diabetes. I'm actually not even talking about diabetes. I'm talking about podcasting. And I'm talking about teaching podcasting. And I will be teaching health advocates, patient leaders how to podcast and how easy it is, you know, not to be afraid of it, how their voices are so important, but truly, it's not an esoteric, you know why you should podcast or your voice matters, which it very much does. It is down and dirty. You plug this microphone into this program. Here's how you get your RSS feed on Apple. I'm thrilled to be doing this. And if as you listen, you know somebody who wants to hear more about that stuff. podcasting is obviously my passion and I love helping more people get started. As this episode airs. I believe it will be tonight, I am taping something that will be for air in December. It's the annual Wait, wait, don't poke me, which is a game show that I do for friends for life. It is a take off of the NPR show. Wait, wait, don't tell me. I love it so much. We have so much goofy fun, and you'll be able to hear that you'll be able to watch that, if not at the conference in December. Shortly thereafter, I'll make it public and we always have a good time. Please remember that all this month you can get the world's worst of diabetes mom real life stories of raising a child with Type One Diabetes for a big discount for dollars off at Diabetes connections.com use the promo code November, he makes a nice gift for the holidays. Boy, I'm so bad at this advertising stuff. But you can go ahead and read the reviews on Amazon. You can purchase it on Amazon as an audiobook or an E book or head over to my website and get the discount. And I forgot to mention if you buy it off my website, I'll sign it for you. There's a little form on the on the very bottom of the order form. When you fill it out. It'll say order notes and just put if you want me to personalize it, or anything you want me to write, assign them all but if you put it in there, I will personalize it for you. thank you as always to my editor john Buchanan from audio editing solutions. Thank you so much for listening. I'm Stacey Simms. I'll see you back here next week. Until then, be kind to yourself.
Benny 37:52
Diabetes Connections is a production of Stacey Simms Media. All rights reserved. All wrongs avenged
