Podcast 2 Transition Years Melissa House But I don't think people truly understand the complications that can come from diabetes. You know, you don't have to be perfect. I don't think there's anybody that's ever going to be perfect and have complete 100% control, you know, you're gonna have times when you slip up, and things are going to happen. Jennifer Van Syckle We all know how difficult teenage years can be not to mention those first few years out in the real world as a young adult. But did you know young people with a chronic illness have the greatest risk for decline in their maintenance of their health and their health in general during those transitional years. Thank you for joining me for today's episode of Talking Health in the 406, where we're one community under the Big Sky. I'm Jennifer Van Syckle, your host, longtime health care worker turned health educator. This is our second installment with Melissa House. Melissa is a type 1 diabetes survivor and double organ transplant recipient. She also happens to be the Diabetes Program Manager for the state of Montana. And let's listen back into her story as she discusses her struggles and successes during those transitional years as a person with type 1 diabetes. So it sounds like in your younger years, you were learning how to control diabetes, how to live well with diabetes, and then tell me about your teenage years. Teenage years are hard for everyone. I can only imagine adding diabetes into the mix must have been interesting. Yeah, Melissa House I you know, I think those first few years after diagnosis was a lot of learning, a lot of growing, you know, figuring out how to manage things. And then you know, that high school time frame hit. Like you said, there's a lot of things going on, there's a lot of changes going on. The fitting in, you know, meeting new people, meeting new friends, gaining some independence. And it was a struggle, it really was the first few years of high school. You know, I can kind of say, and I'm sure my mom can back this up, but I kind of rebelled in, you know, taking care of myself. Did I completely give up? No, I can't say that I completely gave up. But were there missed doses of insulin? Sure. There was occasions where it was like, Oh, I haven't checked my blood sugar, you know, as frequently as maybe I should be. But you know, I tried not to let it get completely out of control. Things that I noticed was I had more sick days, there was you know, more time where I was sick, I had more ups and downs. So more low glucose, and you know, and then drifting high. And so it was kind of that up and down, up and down. Jennifer Van Syckle And what does a sick day look like for a person? Were you home vomiting? Or did you just have a headache or not feel well, what Melissa House I think it was a combination of all just, you know, dependent on what was going on? If my blood sugar got high for a few days, you know, you've run the risk of going into ketoacidosis, which is pretty severe. Yeah. You know, electrolytes and everything changing within the body. I did experience a couple of occasions of that, where it started with what looked like seemed like a stomach flu. And ended up in the emergency room. I remember the one time you know, my blood sugar was 727. And I was in and out of consciousness. And this was probably, you know, one of the first serious episodes that I had, and it was the summer between my freshman and sophomore year, I think of high school, had blood changes that yeah, a lot of changes felt like it was the stomach flu. And it just kind of led to being in the hospital on IV fluids and trying to get all of you know, that figured out, get on a new plan a new, you know, kind of treatment plan and following through that. So, you know, there was times that things were really well. And there were times that, you know, I struggled I just wanted to be a normal teenage kid and not have to take the time to worry about it. Right. Jennifer Van Syckle And diabetes is a 24/7 chronic disease. It is a tackle all the time. Yeah, it's incredible for a teenager to have to add that in. Yeah, it's it's tough and Melissa House you know, just any normal teenager, what they're going through, you know, trying to find their place and who they are and you know, where they fit. And then you add a chronic condition on top of that, just I think it makes it, you know, even worse is, you know, just trying to figure out how you deal with it. And, you know, if you don't have, you know, a lot of friends that know or understand that makes it more difficult too and I think things are different these days again, you know, diabetes is not as taboo when people talk about it. And you know, you know, some people just like yeah, I have diabetes, and this is me, and it's a part of me and but you know, when I was in high school, it really wasn't the case. Jennifer Van Syckle And today there's apps, you know, we have the continuous glucose monitors that can be just scanned by your phone. A lot of hands on tools, yes, really, really help instead of having to stop, prick my finger, check my blood sugar, and go round and round. Right? How was college then? Did you finally find that you kind of evened out? And we're doing better in college? Or how did? How did that next transition in life go? Melissa House Yeah, I think college was a turning point for me. Um, you know, the end of high school into college, I had really met some amazing friends that, you know, supported everything they wanted to learn, they wanted to, you know, grow with me. And I think that transition from the end of high school into college was a really growing and learning experience for me, you know, just the direction that I was going with where I wanted to go with my career, I met my husband or my future husband at the time. And he was very interested, and he wanted to learn, and he wanted to be a part of that. So, you know, I was working at the clinic, while I was going to college, where my provider was, so I was learning a lot there. You know, and just being able to kind of dive into it from a little bit different perspective, for more of that clinical side just gained my interest. And this is when you know, insulin pumps were starting to come out, continuous glucose monitors, the first ones were coming out. And so I had the opportunity to kind of experience all of this and try it and see how it would fit for me and what that looked like. So I did a lot of things on diabetes for you know, A and P classes, and, you know, all of my classes, I incorporated what I was living with, into my classes to help other people learn. And so it was a really kind of exciting opportunity. As far as my you know, overall, well being it changed too, drastically, my A1C's, you know, now we're like in perfect control. My glucose levels were great, I wasn't seeing the ups and downs, I was healthier overall. So it was, it was a big transition. And I think for a lot of people, there comes a point when, you know, especially as a young person, there comes a point when you you hit that like stage and you're like, Okay, I'm ready to make a change. It's just like some, if somebody's trying to lose weight, or quit smoking or start exercising, you really have to want it. Yep. And you have to take it on yourself, you have to do it. Exactly. You have to, you know, put in the effort. And, you know, I think you mentioned earlier, you know, diabetes is 24/7 365. And so it's just putting in that effort, you know, there's hundreds of decisions you have to make throughout the day. So, yeah, I think college was a great learning opportunity, not just for, you know, starting my career and getting more independence, but, you know, taking care of myself, and, you know, being again, really stressing the importance of being an advocate. I don't know that all of my doctors liked me, because I came in with a list of questions. But it was a way where it wasn't just that you get in and get out. You know, the doctor actually spent time answering my questions. So Jennifer Van Syckle you advocated for your own care, you make sure your care happened, right, because you came with those questions, which is a great, great thing to remember. So was it always smooth sailing? In our introduction, we introduced you as a double organ transplant recipient. Tell us about a little later in after your college years or end of college years, how what else happened? What's the rest of your story? Melissa House Yeah, um, you know, I think I've been very fortunate in my life and the things that have happened, but I don't think people truly understand the complications that can come from diabetes. You know, you don't have to be perfect. I don't think there's anybody that's ever going to be perfect and have complete 100% control, you know, you're gonna have times when you slip up, and things are going to happen, but I don't, especially when I was younger, and growing up, the risk of complications was like, Oh, that'll never happen to me. You know, those things like that. So, you know, I really gained control in college and like I said, that's when I met my future husband and we were together and he was a big part of you know, growing and learning and as I you know, got out of college moved away for the first time so we both got jobs in Winnemucca, Nevada, okay, so moves, you know, to Nevada and now is really of okay, now you're kind of on your own and, and how do you Yeah, you know, you're figured that okay, I'm an adult. Now. I have to grow up and manage things like an adult. Yeah. So things were fine at first. You know, I had the insulin pump. I had the continuous glucose monitor. Which, funny story, my husband made me get rid of because I became a control freak. And, you know, I couldn't have one little blip in my glucose waves had to be a perfect straight line. And he finally hid it on me and said, No, no more of this. But yeah, things were going well, the first few years, and I look back now. And there was signs a couple of times when I was sick, they had put me on different medications. And at the time, I didn't ask questions, didn't know what they were all about, and what they were doing a couple of times when I was sick, really dehydrated, you know, going through some things. You know, I didn't understand fully at the time what was going on, throughout my body that you know, diabetes is just not the pancreas and it you know, there's a lot of other things, blood vessels and other organs that it affects. So didn't think much at the time. Work was great. I was busy loving my job, but it was a lot of early mornings, you know, I hopped on the bus to go the mine sight at 5:40 in the morning, sometimes I didn't get home till 10 o'clock at night, working on the ambulance, both of my husband and I were EMTs. So sometimes we would start our shift at 6:30 in the evening and work till midnight. You know, and then if the the the tone went off at 11:58, we had to go and sometimes it was two-three o'clock in the morning we get home. So I thought it was just stress. I had really severe headaches, and really didn't know what was going on, you know, went in for my three month appointment just to see how things were going. Three months prior, you know, I remember I had like an A1C of 6.2 everything was great labs were all great. Went in and you know, they were going through stuff. And my blood pressure was of concern. And I can remember, you know, things like this just stick in my mind. But it was 200 over 180. Wow. And they High, high, high. Yeah, and they were like you're gonna have a stroke. And I remember I was in the clinic for about three hours with them just trying to bring my blood pressure down. And that kind of started down the tunnel of changes that eventually led to the double organ transplant. Wow, wow. But yeah, it was just like, you know, what's going on. And so they, you know, sent me to specialists, just to try and see what was going on. I had a kidney biopsy, because when they ran the the labs, it showed that my kidney function was being affected. So they were like, does she have a blockage in, you know, one of the arteries or something to the kidneys, what they called renal hypertension at the time. So they did a biopsy, they did scans just a lot of different things, trying to figure out what was going on. And they really can't pinpoint exactly what was going on. Some of it was the, you know, long history of having diabetes, from childhood on, you know, and the ups and downs that I had, that definitely played a part in it, but it really wasn't, you know, 100% the reason so I'm still one of those people, they don't know exactly what was going on, but that we couldn't get my blood pressure under control. And it took about six months. I think at one point, I was on six different blood pressure medications. I had a patch, I had ones that I took in the morning ones that I took at night, Jennifer Van Syckle in addition to dealing with diabetes, diabetes medications now you had blood pressure medication, right. Melissa House Yeah, so kind of adding that on top of things. And, and then this is common, this is very common for people with diabetes who have had it a long time, you know, blood pressure, high cholesterol, things like that kind of go hand in hand. So it was just one of those things that, you know, I didn't think I realized or when you get that diagnosis, you don't think about the future and and what could potentially happen, right? And I think that's important, you know that people think about that. Because during that six months, where they were trying to get my blood pressure under control, my kidney function just started to Jennifer Van Syckle decline. So you're talking diabetes, you're talking high blood pressure, and now you're talking essentially going into kidney failure. Exactly, you know, triple it's incredible. Thank goodness you went in and went to the doctor, you know, that's one thing to always keep in mind is diabetes as we talked about 24/7 365 but getting those checkups, go see a Care and Education Specialist when when should a person do that? Do we need to be doing it yearly? If a person has diabetes, when should a person what schedule should they be on? Melissa House Yeah, there's you know, several important times that you should see a Diabetes Education specialists one of course upon diagnosis, there is such a learning curve and so many ins and outs and everybody is different. Each individual is very, very different. So, you know, annually after that, so anytime you go in to see your provider on an annual basis, check in with your diabetes care and education specialists, any changes that you have, so, you know, changes in medication, changes in lifestyle, you know, changes in your insurance, you move anything like that, so went off to college, okay, anytime, because there's so many things that can affect, you know, what's going on. And then anytime that you're not meeting her treatment goals, goals, things change, you know, sometimes you have to change medications. You may have to, you know, shift what you're doing, as, you know, we age and as life stressors happen, you're going to have to make those changes. It's not like one and done. Okay, this is the dosage dosage that I'm going to be on. You know, for the rest of my life. There's lots of changes. So yeah, there's four key times that you really should see a diabetes care and education specialist, Jennifer Van Syckle It's not a disease where you can just slap a bandaid on it and keep going. Right, exactly. Absolutely. Thank you to Melissa for sharing this amazing chapter of her life with us and for the reminder that chronic diseases and conditions need constant care and maintenance. For more information on chronic diseases and their care in Montana and diabetes specifically, check out diabetes.mt.gov and be sure to tune in for our next podcast, which is the final installment with Melissa where we learned about her transition from being a person with type 1 diabetes to a double organ transplant survivor. It's an amazing captivating tale. Until next time, take care Transcribed by https://otter.ai