From shock to strength — staying active after surprise type 1 diabetes diagnosis

Kayla Brown had no expectations of a type 1 diabetes diagnosis when she went in for a doctor’s appointment in early 2024. As an active runner with no family history of the disease, the 33-year-old showed none of the signs. However, with a blood sugar level of almost 300 mg/dL, more than triple the normal level, there was no doubt about it - Brown had diabetes.

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a chronic disease in which the pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin or the body cannot use the insulin it produces. According to the American Diabetes Association, 1.2 million Americans are diagnosed every year and 11.6% of Americans have diabetes, as of 2023.

There are two types of diabetes. Type 1 is when there is deficient insulin production, while type 2 is when a body stops properly using insulin. Type 2 diabetes is preventable and usually found in older adults. Type 1 diabetes usually begins in childhood and has no known cause.

As an active adult, diabetes was the last thing on Brown’s mind. However, doctors think it was her active lifestyle that held the symptoms at bay for so long.

“Because I was very active, [the doctor] said that that might have kept it at bay,” Brown said. “After going to the endocrinologist, they say now that I could have had a virus or something that would have triggered diabetes to come up. Apparently that’s a new thing that hasn’t been a cause in the past. Other than that, they don’t really have an answer.”

Daily life

After 33 years living diabetes free, Brown’s type 1 diagnosis has changed many aspects of her life.

“Every time before I eat pretty much anything, I have to give myself insulin. I started out with shots and I have now upgraded to a pump,” Brown said. “My pump is connected to me and I just enter in how many carbs I’m eating and give myself the insulin, let it work and then I can eat. Instead of just grabbing something out of the drawer and eat whatever I want, I have to wait for the insulin to kick in.”

An insulin pump is a small wearable medical device that supplies a continuous flow of insulin, called basal or background insulin, to the wearer. When a person is about to experience a rise in blood glucose, such as with eating, a larger, single dose of bolus insulin is given through the pump.

While Brown is mostly acclimated to adjusting her insulin with eating, she still has issues when exercising. When running outside, Brown said she sometimes forgets to program her pump for such activity. She now keeps mints with her in case of such occasions in order to keep her blood sugar at the appropriate level.

“If I’m running on the track at the Y or doing weights, I do disconnect it. I have a sensor on that pairs with my pump, but other than that, it’s pretty much always connected,” Brown said. “Another thing that’s been hard is swimming. I have to disconnect the pump from my site on my belly to go swimming and it’s too much water and sometimes that will affect how all those pieces that are connected to me, how they work and how long they stay on my body.”

However, none of it has kept her from continuing to stay active and healthy, something she encourages in everyone.

“I am a big advocate for exercising. I do like my sweets, but I also know how important [exercising] is. There’s nothing more frustrating to me then when people want an easy fix, they want a shot or something quick instead of just being healthy and doing things in a more mindful and healthy way,” Brown said. “I’m a big advocate for that, just knowing that you might have something, but just keep moving and think about your health and how important it is.”

Community

Brown isn’t the only person in her life who has had to adjust and learn due to her diabetes diagnosis. Not long after her diagnosis, Brown said her daughter was concerned on what to do in an emergency.

“My little girl, she is really aware of my diabetes. If anybody has it, just having the people that are with you a lot know what to do if something were to happen,” Brown said. “That was a big thing from the get-go. She was very concerned about me, so she knew from the get-go what to do if she saw me get shaky or if I went down; she knew what to do to help me.”

Brown said that after her diagnosis, she also noticed many more people around her with an insulin pump or glucose monitor.

“It’s very interesting now that I have my sensor, how many people that you see when you’re out and about that have one of those monitiors, just people acknowledging you,” Brown said. “I was at Costco one time and this little girl, probably not even past 12 years old, she came up to me and poked me on the arm and pointed back at her Dexcom [glucose monitor] like, ‘look, I have one too! She was so happy; we were connecting.”

What are the signs?

While Brown is generally adjusted to her new normal, she never would have guessed she had diabetes. She said her only symptoms were a dry mouth and more urination than normal.

“Because of the time of year, I figured I was thirsty. That was like a really big thing and I thought, well, it’s dry and my mouth is dry and I’m just thirsty. I didn’t think anything about that,” Brown said.

Other common symptoms include blurred vision, feeling tired and losing weight unintentionally. Over time, diabetes can damage blood vessels in the heart, eyes, kidneys and nerves.

Diabetes Awareness Month is acknowledged each November, and various organizations are working to keep people educated on the symptoms of diabetes and dangers of undiagnosed diabetes. This month, the American Red Cross is offering free A1C screenings to help test donors for diabetes or prediabetes.

While the cause of type 1 diabetes is unknown, healthy eating and an active lifestyle can help prevent type 2 diabetes. The World Health Organization suggests reaching and keeping a healthy body weight, staying physically active with at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week, eating a healthy diet and avoiding sugar and saturated fat and not smoking tobacco.