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Speaker 1: I was making myself breakfast and I fainted and I

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Speaker 1: kind of like came to I was really confused, and

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Speaker 1: I was like, I don't know what just happened, but

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Speaker 1: I know that's not normal.

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Speaker 2: She was doing all the right things health wise, but

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Speaker 2: went through years of struggling that she probably didn't have to.

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Speaker 3: She had no way to comprehend what she had to

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Speaker 3: do for her disease that affects every minute of every day.

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Speaker 1: And I'm like, I failed. I don't know how much

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Speaker 1: harder I could work. The only thing that I could

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Speaker 1: do is like be in a different body.

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Speaker 4: How terrifying would it be to fight an unknown enemy,

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Speaker 4: one you didn't recognize and didn't coming What if that

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Speaker 4: enemy was coming from within a disease that even doctors

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Speaker 4: couldn't identify. Nearly half of all Americans suffer from some

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Speaker 4: chronic illness, and many struggle for an accurate diagnosis. These

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Speaker 4: are their stories. A Lauren Brede Pacheco, and this is symptomatic.

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Speaker 4: Mila's energy is unmistakable. She's driven, always one step ahead,

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Speaker 4: and her passion for her work is contagious. Her natural

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Speaker 4: confidence and ability to connect with others proved invaluable when

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Speaker 4: she faced daunting health challenges.

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Speaker 5: Tell me a.

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Speaker 4: Little bit about yourself outside of work.

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Speaker 5: What are your passions.

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Speaker 1: I am a total plant lady, So I love being

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Speaker 1: out in my terrace garden. I live in the middle

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Speaker 1: of Houston, Texas, so we're right in the center of

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Speaker 1: the city, and I miss my greenery.

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Speaker 5: So we have like a.

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Speaker 1: Little composting bin outside on our deck, and we grow

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Speaker 1: some of our own produce and some of our own

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Speaker 1: food just as something that we found was actually really

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Speaker 1: simple to do and really gratifying when it comes to

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Speaker 1: cooking and eating. And so I'm just like a nature person.

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Speaker 1: I love being out in nature, despite the fact that

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Speaker 1: I live in like the fourth largest city in America.

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Speaker 4: Have you always had a green thumb?

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Speaker 5: I have.

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Speaker 1: Both of my parents were working parents. They're both immigrants

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Speaker 1: from Jamaica, and so I spent a lot of time

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Speaker 1: with my grandmother when I was younger. Like one of

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Speaker 1: my most vivid memories of childhood is going out with

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Speaker 1: my grandma to go.

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Speaker 5: To our mint bush. We had this like giant mint bush.

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Speaker 1: It was probably like nine feet tall, and we would

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Speaker 1: pick out mint leaves for our tea and we would

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Speaker 1: sit and have tea in the afternoon and talk. So

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Speaker 1: if you can imagine like five or six year old

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Speaker 1: Mela sitting with her grandmother just like having a cup

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Speaker 1: of tea and talking, It's like one of my favorite things.

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Speaker 4: Fond childhood memories wouldn't be complete without Mela's best friend, Katie.

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Speaker 4: They first met in middle school as friends in passing,

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Speaker 4: but by high school their friendship deepened. Over time, they

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Speaker 4: grew inseparable, sharing LIFs, ups and downs together.

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Speaker 2: We were sitting there at your book and we were

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Speaker 2: on our computers next to each other.

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Speaker 1: We were journalism nerds, and so in our senior year,

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Speaker 1: we're so excited to be editor in chief and layout editor.

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Speaker 2: And we realized that we were both going to the

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Speaker 2: same university and we were like, oh, do you need

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Speaker 2: a roommate? We said yeah, and it was just the

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Speaker 2: easiest decision. That kind of gave us a good platform

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Speaker 2: and foundation for our friendship now is that we've lived.

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Speaker 5: Together, We've seen it all, we've done it all.

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Speaker 2: Like we've just lived so close that it's almost like siblings.

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Speaker 1: We jokingly say that we're always on the same wavelength

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Speaker 1: and we're always reading each other's minds because we're almost

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Speaker 1: thinking the exact same thing at the exact same time.

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Speaker 1: We have grown so close that we really consider each

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Speaker 1: other's sisters. I don't even tell people like, oh, that's

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Speaker 1: my best friend, Katie, I say it's my sister.

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Speaker 5: Now.

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Speaker 4: For somebody who hasn't met Mela, how would you describe

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Speaker 4: her and her personality.

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Speaker 2: She's so free spirited. She's creative and driven, and if

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Speaker 2: there is something that she is interested in, she will

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Speaker 2: stop what she's doing and.

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Speaker 5: Just investigate and dig in. And she wants to know everything.

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Speaker 5: She wants to help people.

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Speaker 2: She's very generous with her time, sometimes to a fault

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Speaker 2: where you know, it's let's take care of yourself before

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Speaker 2: you help others.

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Speaker 4: Mela quickly realized she needed to focus on herself when

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Speaker 4: she began noticing subtle signs that something was off. Katie,

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Speaker 4: as always, was there from the start, witnessing the onset

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Speaker 4: of symptoms that would mark the beginning of a new

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Speaker 4: chapter in Mila's life.

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Speaker 1: I was about twenty five when I first started to

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Speaker 1: notice some of my symptoms, and it really, for me,

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Speaker 1: was something.

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Speaker 5: That I sort of brushed off. I was thinking, I'm young.

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Speaker 1: I work out almost every day, I'm pretty conscious about

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Speaker 1: what I eat, I don't drink. I'm in probably the

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Speaker 1: best health of my life physically, but I just feel awful.

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Speaker 5: I feel really tired all the time.

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Speaker 1: I feel like I just don't have any energy, and

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Speaker 1: that to me felt really odd and really strange, and

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Speaker 1: I remember ignoring those feelings for a long time.

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Speaker 2: She was working a really stressful job, so I think

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Speaker 2: that was a really easy way to kind of write

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Speaker 2: it off as, Oh, I'm just becoming into myself as

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Speaker 2: an adult, Like it's stressful.

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Speaker 5: I'm tired.

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Speaker 2: So it's really easy to chalk all of the things

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Speaker 2: up to that, you know, and even doctors when she

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Speaker 2: would go just for like a normal checkup, would be like, yeah,

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Speaker 2: get some more sleep, get some more exercise.

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Speaker 1: At the time, I was in my first real job

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Speaker 1: out of college, and I was dragging myself through working

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Speaker 1: fifty or sixty hour weeks at times, and I probably

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Speaker 1: need to take a vacation, I probably need to drink

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Speaker 1: more water, just take a.

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Speaker 5: Little bit more care.

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Speaker 1: And my partner at the time was really adamant, like,

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Speaker 1: this is not normal, and you probably need to go

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Speaker 1: and see someone at the very least to go get

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Speaker 1: a check up and see what's going on.

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Speaker 4: Mila was drawn to her work at a nonprofit focused

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Speaker 4: on community development initiatives, where she tackled disaster recovery, health

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Speaker 4: care access, and immigration logistics. She faced these challenges during

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Speaker 4: one of Houston's most devastating events in recent history, Hurricane Harvey,

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Speaker 4: which brought fifty two inches of rain and widespread destruction.

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Speaker 1: We were running one of the biggest shelters in the city,

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Speaker 1: and that required getting information out so that people knew

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Speaker 1: where they could go, how they could be helped, what

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Speaker 1: they could do if they just lost everything. And so

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Speaker 1: it was a really, really stressful time and I was

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Speaker 1: the only one on the team doing social media, so

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Speaker 1: I was working around the clock, and in that time period,

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Speaker 1: We're getting hundreds of messages every fifteen minutes about where

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Speaker 1: people should go, what they should do, and I am

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Speaker 1: having to hop on that crisis response.

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Speaker 5: And so my job was like that all the time.

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Speaker 4: So you're on call basically twenty four to seven, reacting

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Speaker 4: in real time to crisis, which puts your life in crisis.

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Speaker 4: I'm sure pretty much.

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Speaker 1: I felt often like I could lay down and sleep

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Speaker 1: for twenty four hours and I would wake up and

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Speaker 1: I would still be tired. No amount of rest or

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Speaker 1: sleep felt like it helped me stop being tired. And

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Speaker 1: then I was also experiencing a lot of physical symptoms,

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Speaker 1: so I was extremely thirsty and I could drink like

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Speaker 1: two gallons of water a day and still not feel

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Speaker 1: like my thirst was quenched. I was losing weight pretty

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Speaker 1: rapidly in mass amounts over time, and I at the

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Speaker 1: time was like, well, this is good, because you know

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Speaker 1: every woman is like, uh, you know, I'm losing weight.

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Speaker 1: I look good, I'm fine, but I felt awful. The

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Speaker 1: other thing that I kept noticing was that when I

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Speaker 1: would sleep, I would wake up like drenched and sweat

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Speaker 1: my entire body. And I was just like, maybe it's anxiety,

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Speaker 1: you know. I kept thinking like, if I wait long enough,

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Speaker 1: it'll pass. It'll just go away and I'll be fine.

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Speaker 4: There is a kind of denial that's easier than proactively

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Speaker 4: seeking answers. Or you decide I'm healthy, I am doing

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Speaker 4: the best I can and this will pass. What for

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Speaker 4: you was that wake up call of something's really wrong.

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Speaker 4: I have got to see a doctor.

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Speaker 1: I was in the kitchen cooking one day, and I

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Speaker 1: was by myself and I fainted and.

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Speaker 5: I came to I woke up.

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Speaker 1: I was really confused, and I was like, I don't

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Speaker 1: know what just happened, but I know that's not normal.

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Speaker 1: And so I told my partner about it, and he

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Speaker 1: was like, book the appointment, take the day off of work,

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Speaker 1: go to the doctor, and get checked out, because that's

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Speaker 1: really scary, and like, it's not okay that that's happening

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Speaker 1: to you.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, and so tell me your first experience with going

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Speaker 4: to the doctor and trying to explain what's going on.

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Speaker 1: So I walked into the doctor's office and explained to

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Speaker 1: him my symptoms. I told him about fainting in the kitchen.

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Speaker 1: I told him about just how I was feeling overall,

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Speaker 1: and he said, okay, well, it doesn't look like you've

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Speaker 1: had blood work done almost ever as an adult, so

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Speaker 1: let's start there and kind of get the baseline and

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Speaker 1: see what's going on. And that same afternoon, I get

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Speaker 1: a call back from.

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Speaker 5: The doctor's office.

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Speaker 1: And I missed it, but I don't think that they

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Speaker 1: call you if everything is okay. I was a bit

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Speaker 1: nervous and anxious to make the callback, and when I did,

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Speaker 1: I talked to the nurse who had looked up my

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Speaker 1: chart and she said, your blood sugars are extremely high.

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Speaker 1: They are through the roof is at a dangerous level,

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Speaker 1: and you need to come back to the doctor's office

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Speaker 1: immediately so he can walk through treatment with you.

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Speaker 5: And so at that point, I had no idea what

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Speaker 5: it was.

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Speaker 1: And I heard high blood sugar and I was just like,

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Speaker 1: I don't even know what that means, Like I don't

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Speaker 1: even know how I would know my blood sugars.

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Speaker 4: Hi Mila spent the night grappling with a heavy sense

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Speaker 4: of uncertainty, her mind racing with questions, what could be wrong,

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Speaker 4: what could have caused all this? What is she supposed

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Speaker 4: to do now?

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Speaker 1: And so I rebooked an appointment for the next day

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Speaker 1: and sat down with a doctor and he tells me,

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Speaker 1: you have type two diabetes and this should not be

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Speaker 1: happening to you at this age, and this means that

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Speaker 1: you are not doing the things that you are supposed

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Speaker 1: to do to live a healthy life. And I was

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Speaker 1: just like, this is a lot.

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Speaker 5: Of judgment, but also like, you have not even explained what.

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Speaker 1: This means to me, and I have no idea what

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Speaker 1: you're talking about, or how this even comes up, or

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Speaker 1: how you even determine this result. And so the first

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Speaker 1: conversation that I'm having about diabetes with this care provider

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Speaker 1: is about amputations and about potentially losing my kidneys and

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Speaker 1: having to go on dialysis and all of these things

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Speaker 1: that are like so shocking and scary. And I walked

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Speaker 1: out of there thinking like, am I going to die today?

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Speaker 1: Like I had all of these questions, but I felt

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Speaker 1: too ashamed to ask them in that moment because I

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Speaker 1: was like, well, he's literally telling me that I have

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Speaker 1: like ruined my body and ruined my life, so I.

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Speaker 5: Don't really know where to go from here.

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Speaker 1: I just started bawling because I was so scared and frustrated.

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Speaker 4: After she was diagnosed initially, she said that you were

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Speaker 4: one of the first people she called. Can you just

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Speaker 4: tell me about that phone call and what you felt

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Speaker 4: the need to convey.

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Speaker 2: I was like, I don't think that that's a condition

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Speaker 2: that you get when you're in your twenties. You either

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Speaker 2: have it when you're a little kid, type one or

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Speaker 2: older people usually are diagnosed with type two. That's weird,

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Speaker 2: you're twenty six, Like, how is this just now happening

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Speaker 2: or happening already? And so I was like, I don't know,

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Speaker 2: that seems like that, right, you know, And she's like, well,

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Speaker 2: that's what the doctor said, so you know it's probably true.

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Speaker 4: Mila left the doctor's office with a handful of her

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Speaker 4: shores and a deep sense of shame. Her blood sugar

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Speaker 4: levels were nearly double what they should be. She recalled

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Speaker 4: watching her mom manage diabetes with insulin injections and a

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Speaker 4: careful diet. Suddenly everything became clear.

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Speaker 1: I was just like, I've ruined my life and now

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Speaker 1: I don't know what to do, and I don't even

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Speaker 1: know where to start and how to make this better.

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Speaker 1: I'm just terrified about all of the outcomes that my

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Speaker 1: doctor has told me, like this is what's going to

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Speaker 1: happen to you because of where you are with your

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Speaker 1: blood sugars. I just felt really by myself, and I

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Speaker 1: felt like I couldn't quite express what I was feeling.

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Speaker 1: But I knew that I wanted to write it down,

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Speaker 1: and I knew that I wanted to kind of document

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Speaker 1: what I was going through. And then I also wanted

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Speaker 1: to find people who were like.

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Speaker 2: Me, and so she started Hank grew Woman, which is

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Speaker 2: her blog and YouTube channel and Instagram and everything to

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Speaker 2: create content to document and also like for her own

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Speaker 2: accountability her lived experience with diabetes.

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Speaker 5: I was wondering, like, how do other people my age

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Speaker 5: balance and manage this? There are millions of people living

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Speaker 5: with diabetes. I'm sure somebody is my age and I

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Speaker 5: can find them and meet them.

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Speaker 4: On that note, being a self proclaimed journalism geek and

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Speaker 4: a communications gal, the Angry Woman, where did the name

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Speaker 4: come from?

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Speaker 1: So the name came from my partner because one of

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Speaker 1: the side effects of having diabetes is being angry. It's

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Speaker 1: like needing and wanting to eat because your cells aren't

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Speaker 1: absorbing the glucose from your bloodstream, and so I, in

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Speaker 1: the early stages of my diagnosis was quite cranky all

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Speaker 1: the time.

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Speaker 5: And so my.

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Speaker 1: Partner at the time had said, yeah, you're just like

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Speaker 1: such a little angry woman.

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Speaker 5: And I was like, that would actually be just like

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Speaker 5: a really funny name.

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Speaker 2: And she got a lot of positive feedback from that,

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Speaker 2: but also there was a lot of negative feedback. And

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Speaker 2: you know, you can't judge a person by the way

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Speaker 2: they look, but people on the internet do so to

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Speaker 2: put herself out there in such an intimate way, like

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Speaker 2: your health, your numbers, being so public is brave.

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Speaker 4: With the diagnosis in hand, Mila finally had a path forward,

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Speaker 4: supported by a growing community desperate for results. She threw

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Speaker 4: herself into the fight with determination and focus. I can

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Speaker 4: tell what a positive, driven, go get her mentality you have.

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Speaker 4: So you set out to be the best Type two

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Speaker 4: diabetes patient ever, and what happens.

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Speaker 1: Basically it gets worse. And so I am at the

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Speaker 1: point where I'm working my hardest. I'm working out twice

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Speaker 1: a day, running, walking, biking, skateboarding, like doing everything, getting active,

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Speaker 1: being outside and also changing my diet, and I was

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Speaker 1: exhausting myself and not eating enough. I wasn't giving myself

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Speaker 1: enough energy to get through the day. I was still

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Speaker 1: just as tired, just as thirsty, just as sweaty. And

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Speaker 1: then I went back for my A and C results

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Speaker 1: three months later from my initial diagnosis, and my ae

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Speaker 1: C had dropped by one percentage point, and I'm like,

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Speaker 1: I failed. I don't know how much harder I could work.

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Speaker 1: The only thing that I could do is like be

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Speaker 1: in a different body.

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Speaker 4: The A one C test, also called HbA one C,

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Speaker 4: measures your average blood sugar over a two to three

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Speaker 4: month time span and is key for diagnosing and managing

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Speaker 4: diabetes and pre diabetes. Mela's slight one percent drop is

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Speaker 4: now making her doctor skeptical. Back in the office, Mila

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Speaker 4: is under scrutiny.

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Speaker 1: My doctor said, clearly, you are not doing what you're

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Speaker 1: saying you're doing, because if you're coming in here with

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Speaker 1: your blood sugar logs that say one thing and your

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Speaker 1: AEC says something else, you are not doing what you're

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Speaker 1: telling me you're doing. And I was like, I promise,

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Speaker 1: I am, Like, I have my my Fitness palalog here.

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Speaker 1: You know, you can see everything that I'm doing, everything

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Speaker 1: that I'm eating, I'm tracking to my detriment. It's so

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Speaker 1: frustrating and so triggering and alarming to have to track

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Speaker 1: every single thing you eat, have to prick your fingers

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Speaker 1: five or six times a day to draw blood to

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Speaker 1: get your readings. Like I'm doing the work, Well, there.

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Speaker 4: Comes that shame and guilt, you know, implying that you're

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Speaker 4: not being honest as to the actual steps you're diligently taking,

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Speaker 4: what went through your mind, your body.

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Speaker 1: I think I was just angry, to be quite honest,

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Speaker 1: because I felt like with everything else that I had

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Speaker 1: ever done in life, I put in the work and

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Speaker 1: I get a good result, and I was doing everything

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Speaker 1: that I thought I knew how to do, and then

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Speaker 1: I got the result back and it was disappointing.

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Speaker 4: After seeing little improvement, Mila started medication to lower her

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Speaker 4: blood sugar. The medication only managed to drop her blood

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Speaker 4: sugar by one more percentage point. Six months after her diagnosis,

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Speaker 4: her levels were still not within a safe range. As

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Speaker 4: the months turned into years with little improvement, Mila not

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Speaker 4: only faced physical challenges but also began internalizing the stigma

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Speaker 4: surrounding type two diabetes. Three months later, her levels had

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Speaker 4: only dropped by another one percent, still far from safe.

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Speaker 2: I think we were ordering pizza, and this person, who

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Speaker 2: isn't an acquaintance, not anyone close to her, said really,

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Speaker 2: in a snarky tone, are you sure you should be

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Speaker 2: eating that?

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Speaker 5: And both of us with our head around, like, did

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Speaker 5: you just really say that?

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Speaker 2: Like, first of all, I don't think anybody should be

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Speaker 2: commenting on what anybody else is eating, period. I just

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Speaker 2: couldn't believe the audacity of it. And I don't exactly

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Speaker 2: remember what happened, but I remember that Mila's attitude towards

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Speaker 2: that moment was like it was shocked. But I can

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Speaker 2: only imagine how hard that is to be already so

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Speaker 2: concerned about all of your data, all of your numbers,

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Speaker 2: all of your blood sugars, day in and day out.

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Speaker 2: That person doesn't know if she ate nothing for breakfast

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Speaker 2: and a salad for dinner, and this is what she's

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Speaker 2: calculating to eat for lunch because she knows that she's out.

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Speaker 1: Katie, it was probably like the most supportive person that

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Speaker 1: I could ever interact with in that moment, because she

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Speaker 1: gave me understanding and kind of like hyping me up

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Speaker 1: like a best friend does.

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Speaker 4: Mila recalled another time when she tried to discreetly take

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Speaker 4: her insulin while out to dinner, only to be accused

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Speaker 4: of doing drugs at the table. Sadly, this was becoming

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Speaker 4: her reality living with type two diabetes. Interochronologist doctor Artie

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Speaker 4: Fungado strives to holistically understand her patients, recognizing the effects

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Speaker 4: of diabetes go far beyond physical symptoms. Do you remember

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Speaker 4: when you first cross paths and your first impressions of Mila? Yeah?

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Speaker 3: So I had been following along her journey on social

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Speaker 3: media for a long time, probably before she ever knew

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Speaker 3: who I was. She so poignantly and clearly and honestly

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Speaker 3: describes the patient experience, and as a physician, I just

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Speaker 3: feel like that is so valuable and important for us

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Speaker 3: to see, because the way our healthcare system is now,

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Speaker 3: there's this huge divide between doctors and patients, and the

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Speaker 3: time to build a relationship in the traditional healthcare setting

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Speaker 3: just isn't there. She just so clearly tells her story

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Speaker 3: openly and honestly, and so it was several years ago

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Speaker 3: that I had heard of her, and then we were

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Speaker 3: able to work together.

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Speaker 4: After four years of trials, setbacks, and frustration, Mila was

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Speaker 4: still searching for a treatment that could bring real relief.

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Speaker 4: From battling dangerous blood sugar levels to dealing with the

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Speaker 4: social stigma of type two diabetes. She had fought hard

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Speaker 4: every step of the way. With no clear solution in sight,

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Speaker 4: Mila was growing desperate.

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Speaker 1: I know it wasn't like intentional ridicule, but it felt

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Speaker 1: like ridicule. It felt like I'm walking into this situation

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Speaker 1: where I know I'm just going to be berated because

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Speaker 1: my number is not good enough, and so here I

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Speaker 1: am thinking like, Okay, this is exhausting, but I'm working

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Speaker 1: so hard and I'm doing this and then I.

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Speaker 5: Go and it's one percent lower.

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Speaker 1: In that moment, I felt so almost embarrassed, and I

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Speaker 1: felt stigmatized.

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Speaker 4: We'll be right back with sometim a medical mystery podcast.

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Speaker 4: Now back to Symptomatic, a medical mystery podcast. Mela initially

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Speaker 4: dismissed her exhausting and debilitating symptoms as mere work stress

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Speaker 4: before being diagnosed with type two diabetes at an unusually

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Speaker 4: young age. Determined to lower her blood sugar levels, which

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Speaker 4: were nearly double the normal range, she became obsessive. She

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Speaker 4: worked out several times a week and meticulously tracked what

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Speaker 4: she ate, but nothing lowered her A one C levels

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Speaker 4: more than a couple of percentage points. Four years into

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Speaker 4: her quest for relief, Mela had pushed her commitment to

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Speaker 4: the extreme.

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Speaker 1: There was one point where my A one C numbers

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Speaker 1: were better, but my health was not. And it was

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Speaker 1: this point where I basically stopped eating because I was like,

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Speaker 1: this is the only thing I know how to do,

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Speaker 1: and it's the only thing that I feel like is

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Speaker 1: going to work. And when I don't eat, my blood

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Speaker 1: sugars are in perfect range. So maybe that's what I

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Speaker 1: need to do. And I was literally like malnourished, Like

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Speaker 1: I wasn't getting enough food, I wasn't getting enough energy.

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Speaker 5: I was only drinking water or.

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Speaker 1: Tea or coffee, and my brain was just in a tailspin,

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Speaker 1: like I couldn't function.

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Speaker 4: What did you decide you were going to find when

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Speaker 4: you set out to find a new doctor.

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Speaker 1: I know that if I find someone who looks like me,

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Speaker 1: they will listen to me, and they will be more

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Speaker 1: likely to understand where I'm coming from, to understand my culture,

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Speaker 1: to understand where I am and what I've been doing.

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Speaker 5: And my doctor said, what did you do?

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Speaker 1: Like this is a drastic change, And I said, well,

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Speaker 1: I'm not eating anything and she was like anything and

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Speaker 1: I was like, I mean water I and.

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Speaker 5: She was just like no, no, no, no no no.

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Speaker 4: Was there at any point that you thought maybe this

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Speaker 4: isn't the right diagnosis.

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Speaker 5: I didn't, but my doctor did. She was incredible.

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Speaker 1: Once I brought my whole encyclopedia of Mila's diagnosis to

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Speaker 1: her and I said, this is the story, this is

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Speaker 1: what's happening. We tried a couple of different treatment options

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Speaker 1: and they didn't work, and there was a point where

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Speaker 1: she said, I think I might be at capacity with you,

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Speaker 1: And that's not because of you. It's because I don't

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Speaker 1: think that I know enough to correctly provide.

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Speaker 5: You a treatment plan.

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Speaker 1: And I think that you need to go see a

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Speaker 1: specialist so that we can get more information, we can

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Speaker 1: understand where you are, and they can give you a treatment.

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Speaker 1: And she was like, I'm happy to manage treatment with

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Speaker 1: you once a specialist really lays that out.

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Speaker 4: The doctor's willingness to listen to Mila's story, acknowledge the

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Speaker 4: limits of their expertise, and still take charge her treatment

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Speaker 4: gave her the confidence she needed. For the first time,

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Speaker 4: Mila felt she had found the right connection to finally

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Speaker 4: get some answers. She was referred to a new intercrinologist

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Speaker 4: to review her entire symptomatic record.

441
00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:17,720
Speaker 1: I was able to explain, I have this really long,

442
00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:21,359
Speaker 1: almost five year history of having type two diabetes, and

443
00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:25,200
Speaker 1: I have tried oral medications. I have tried not eating,

444
00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:29,840
Speaker 1: I've tried eating basically only lettuce, I have tried exercise.

445
00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:32,359
Speaker 1: I've tried everything that I know how to try, and

446
00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:36,000
Speaker 1: I am still not getting better. My ae C is

447
00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:38,679
Speaker 1: still not in the range that it needs to be.

448
00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:43,000
Speaker 1: And I am so frustrated and so he asked me,

449
00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:47,800
Speaker 1: you know, well, what's frustrating. He was so great about

450
00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:50,280
Speaker 1: just like asking me questions as a human being rather

451
00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:53,080
Speaker 1: than staring at my chart. After I told him everything,

452
00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:56,800
Speaker 1: he asked me when you were initially diagnosed, did they

453
00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:00,000
Speaker 1: confirm your diagnosis? And I was like, I did not

454
00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:03,040
Speaker 1: know that you could confirm it. I just thought you

455
00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:06,040
Speaker 1: get a number and you know whether you're in range

456
00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:06,520
Speaker 1: or not, if you.

457
00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:07,359
Speaker 5: Have diabetes or not.

458
00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:12,119
Speaker 1: And he said, no, it's pretty odd and off for

459
00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:14,640
Speaker 1: you to have a type two diabetes diagnosis, even though

460
00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:18,600
Speaker 1: you have a family history. It's strange for your age,

461
00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:21,680
Speaker 1: and so I want to confirm your diagnosis. And he said,

462
00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:24,840
Speaker 1: I don't think that you have type two diabetes. I

463
00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:27,000
Speaker 1: think that you have something else.

464
00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:31,720
Speaker 4: MELA specialist ordered a blood panel test for four specific

465
00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:35,600
Speaker 4: auto antibodies that appear in response to high A one

466
00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:39,960
Speaker 4: seed blood sugar levels. This test helps determine the type

467
00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:43,119
Speaker 4: of diabetes a person is dealing with and would provide

468
00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:46,000
Speaker 4: Mila with the clarity she'd been seeking for years.

469
00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:49,840
Speaker 1: I get the results back about a week later, and

470
00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:53,320
Speaker 1: it turns out that I have what's called LATTA latent

471
00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:58,200
Speaker 1: to autoimmune diabetes and adults. It's a slow progressing form

472
00:26:58,400 --> 00:26:59,719
Speaker 1: of type one diabetes.

473
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:02,560
Speaker 2: She was actually at my house and she opened her

474
00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:05,040
Speaker 2: phone when she got the results of the labs when

475
00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:08,040
Speaker 2: she got rediagnosed and that she did have the beta

476
00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:10,960
Speaker 2: cells that prove that she doesn't have type two. And

477
00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:13,240
Speaker 2: I could just see the relief on her body, like

478
00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:17,399
Speaker 2: shoulders drop, and it was just so frustrating because she

479
00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:20,639
Speaker 2: went through years of struggling that she probably didn't have to,

480
00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:23,399
Speaker 2: but also just so satisfying that like, Okay, well now

481
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:25,760
Speaker 2: at least I know, and I can probably change my

482
00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:28,960
Speaker 2: treatment plan in order to actually start seeing progress.

483
00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:34,240
Speaker 4: The exhausting commitment to treatment, the stigma, the mental roller coaster.

484
00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:38,560
Speaker 4: Mela's entire understanding of her health had been flipped upside

485
00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:43,200
Speaker 4: down by this new diagnosis. Doctor Artie Thungadou, the intercrinologist

486
00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:47,560
Speaker 4: Mela had worked with on diabetes education campaigns, explains the

487
00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:50,320
Speaker 4: various types and treatments of diabetes.

488
00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:54,200
Speaker 3: We are learning that there are types of diabetes that

489
00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:59,480
Speaker 3: we haven't even discovered yet. Diabetes is a complicated diagnosis.

490
00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:03,399
Speaker 3: To most common ones that we hear about are type

491
00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:09,200
Speaker 3: two and type one. Type two diabetes is more connected

492
00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:14,800
Speaker 3: with metabolic syndrome lifestyle related, but there are huge genetic factors.

493
00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:17,600
Speaker 3: It's not like people are choosing to have diabetes, right,

494
00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:21,480
Speaker 3: And so type two diabetes is caused by insulin resistance,

495
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:25,800
Speaker 3: so the blood sugar gets high and that can wreak

496
00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:33,280
Speaker 3: havoc on basically all of our organs, our heart, kidneys, nerves, feet, eyes,

497
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:36,760
Speaker 3: things like that. Type two is usually a more gradual

498
00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:40,840
Speaker 3: onset and if treated well and early, it can actually

499
00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:45,240
Speaker 3: be put into remission. So that is the most common

500
00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:51,719
Speaker 3: type of diabetes. And type one is autoimmune diabetes, usually

501
00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:56,240
Speaker 3: where the body has seen the insulin producing cells and

502
00:28:56,280 --> 00:29:00,840
Speaker 3: the pancreas as other and it targets those and destroys them,

503
00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:05,800
Speaker 3: so the body doesn't produce any insulin at a certain point.

504
00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:11,880
Speaker 3: And for these patients they usually present fairly acutely. Sometimes

505
00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:13,800
Speaker 3: they end up in the hospital with a very very

506
00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:17,600
Speaker 3: high blood sugar and they need insulin to survive.

507
00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:21,320
Speaker 4: That's a great breakdown of type one and type two

508
00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:29,040
Speaker 4: diabetes as we often understand them. So what specifically is LATA.

509
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:31,920
Speaker 3: With latent autoimmune diabetes of the adult, it's a little

510
00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:35,400
Speaker 3: bit more gradual, and so there's a lot of room

511
00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:39,040
Speaker 3: for misdiagnosis with type two, and then it just continues

512
00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:42,720
Speaker 3: to progress to the point of enough beta cells being

513
00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:48,000
Speaker 3: destroyed insulin production being low enough that patients end up

514
00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:51,840
Speaker 3: on insulin within a couple of months as opposed to

515
00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:52,880
Speaker 3: a couple of weeks.

516
00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:56,320
Speaker 1: When I learned that the way to get your diagnosis

517
00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:58,680
Speaker 1: confirmed was a blood draw like I had taken a

518
00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:03,440
Speaker 1: million times, was so mad because I was like, just

519
00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:09,600
Speaker 1: double checking could have changed the trajectory of my health overall.

520
00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:14,400
Speaker 1: And I'm so lucky because over that time I didn't

521
00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:17,880
Speaker 1: go into diabetic keto acidosis, which is when you don't

522
00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:20,800
Speaker 1: have enough insulin in the body, your blood turns into acid.

523
00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:23,520
Speaker 1: It's the way that most people get diagnosed. I didn't

524
00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:26,840
Speaker 1: have to go through that. I don't have any major

525
00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:31,200
Speaker 1: complications of diabetes at this point, but I could have.

526
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:35,239
Speaker 1: I'm just lucky that my doctor knew what LATTA was

527
00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:39,040
Speaker 1: and that he suspected it from what I told him.

528
00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:41,760
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, So at that point, for one sixth

529
00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:46,200
Speaker 4: of your life, basically you have been diligently trying to

530
00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:48,040
Speaker 4: treat something you didn't have.

531
00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:52,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, And that was mind blowing to me. I think

532
00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:55,600
Speaker 1: a lot about the time period that I went through

533
00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:58,560
Speaker 1: in terms of being diagnosed, And I wonder a lot

534
00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:02,719
Speaker 1: if I hadn't walked into the doctor's office as an

535
00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:06,960
Speaker 1: overweight black woman with a family history of type two diabetes,

536
00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:10,720
Speaker 1: would they have asked different questions to make sure that

537
00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:13,200
Speaker 1: I got the right diagnosis the first time? Or did

538
00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:15,600
Speaker 1: I just walk in looking like every patient that they

539
00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:18,320
Speaker 1: have ever seen who lives with type two diabetes?

540
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:20,360
Speaker 5: They said, the numbers match up. We don't really have

541
00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:20,840
Speaker 5: to check.

542
00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:25,920
Speaker 4: In the case with Mila, because she was diagnosed early

543
00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:30,680
Speaker 4: to mid twenties, Automatically, they went to type two. Is

544
00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:34,680
Speaker 4: that a common misconception because we've spoken about one and two,

545
00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:36,360
Speaker 4: but there are other types.

546
00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:40,120
Speaker 3: So if someone came to my office and they had

547
00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:43,880
Speaker 3: diabetes in their early twenties, there is no way type

548
00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:46,680
Speaker 3: one would not be on my radar because type two

549
00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:53,440
Speaker 3: diabetes is slow and progressive and so unfortunately in Mila's case,

550
00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:57,320
Speaker 3: and I don't agree with these things, but she had

551
00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:00,360
Speaker 3: a lot going against her right, she had race going

552
00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:04,400
Speaker 3: against her body, habit isst going against her, and gender

553
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:07,720
Speaker 3: going against her. To get great healthcare, I think we

554
00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:12,920
Speaker 3: know that certain racial populations, women women of color don't

555
00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:17,520
Speaker 3: get the same healthcare as our male counterparts are white

556
00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:22,680
Speaker 3: male counterparts, and so unfortunately she was in a situation

557
00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:27,640
Speaker 3: where we as a healthcare community don't do the best job.

558
00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:31,840
Speaker 4: Mila finally had the correct diagnosis, offering her both relief

559
00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:35,360
Speaker 4: and a clear path forward. She began with manual insulin

560
00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:39,760
Speaker 4: injections before eventually transitioning to an insolent pump for greater

561
00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:41,800
Speaker 4: control over her blood sugar levels.

562
00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:47,400
Speaker 1: Personally, it was finally that breath of fresh air, and

563
00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:50,800
Speaker 1: I over time built the confidence to be like, Okay,

564
00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:53,480
Speaker 1: I'm cool with wearing a device. I have my watch

565
00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:56,320
Speaker 1: on that like displays my glucose numbers and so I

566
00:32:56,360 --> 00:32:58,520
Speaker 1: can see what's going on and see how I'm.

567
00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:00,400
Speaker 5: Doing and where I need to take ks.

568
00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:04,320
Speaker 1: And I feel like, personally it's made me slow down

569
00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:06,400
Speaker 1: a lot, and it's made me take so much better

570
00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:10,440
Speaker 1: care of myself because I feel like I can actually

571
00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:15,240
Speaker 1: live a relatively normal life and not have to struggle

572
00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:18,320
Speaker 1: with eating or with over exercising, or with like this

573
00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:23,400
Speaker 1: shame of feeling like I have failed, and I actually

574
00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:25,760
Speaker 1: just like I get to live. And that's pretty cool

575
00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:28,240
Speaker 1: because I think about like that five year period where

576
00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:30,880
Speaker 1: I was not living. I was a shell of myself.

577
00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:33,000
Speaker 5: I don't feel.

578
00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:36,080
Speaker 1: Like I had like enough energy to just be myself.

579
00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:39,800
Speaker 4: But you seem to have pulled some energy from the

580
00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:43,480
Speaker 4: community you're created with Angry Woman. What has been so

581
00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:46,680
Speaker 4: rewarding about that outreach and response?

582
00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:52,160
Speaker 1: I think the best part has just been that I

583
00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:54,680
Speaker 1: personally have found that I'm not alone, and I have

584
00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:57,959
Speaker 1: found that other people are dealing with a lot of

585
00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:00,600
Speaker 1: the same things, and they're dealing with it in a

586
00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:04,800
Speaker 1: silo because they maybe don't have a friend like Katie

587
00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:07,360
Speaker 1: that they can talk to or family member who gets it,

588
00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:11,040
Speaker 1: or they feel that same exact stigma, and they're just

589
00:34:11,120 --> 00:34:14,080
Speaker 1: looking for somebody who understands and who's not going to

590
00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:17,200
Speaker 1: judge and who can really just like help them grab

591
00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:21,320
Speaker 1: their bearings. And I think one of the best things

592
00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:24,680
Speaker 1: that ever came out of creating Hungry Woman is the

593
00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:26,560
Speaker 1: community that I have.

594
00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:30,960
Speaker 3: It's connecting the dots and her story. It totally sucks,

595
00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:35,520
Speaker 3: but she has used it to propel her own life forward,

596
00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:39,960
Speaker 3: and she's also been such a vocal advocate for this.

597
00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:44,280
Speaker 3: And so social media is so great in that way

598
00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:48,279
Speaker 3: that there's a whole type one community and I know

599
00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:50,319
Speaker 3: that they hate on doctors all the time, but I

600
00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:54,160
Speaker 3: still love that there's a community out there supporting each

601
00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:58,000
Speaker 3: other who are living with this day in day out

602
00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:00,880
Speaker 3: and giving each other tips and t and support and

603
00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:04,000
Speaker 3: stuff like that. So yeah, it's just amazing to see

604
00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:06,560
Speaker 3: the level of advocacy that you can really do for free.

605
00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:06,920
Speaker 5: Now.

606
00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:09,960
Speaker 1: I do all this myself, and sometimes I'm like, why

607
00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:12,680
Speaker 1: do I even do this, Like doesn't even make a

608
00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:14,680
Speaker 1: difference to anybody, And then I get a message and

609
00:35:14,719 --> 00:35:17,719
Speaker 1: I'm like, Okay, no, I'm doing the right things for

610
00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:20,960
Speaker 1: the right reasons. And if somebody can walk away with

611
00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:25,400
Speaker 1: a diabetes diagnosis and they can feel excited about the

612
00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:30,040
Speaker 1: future rather than dreading what the future holds, then it's

613
00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:30,640
Speaker 1: all worth it.

614
00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:33,880
Speaker 2: She gets these stories back from people that you know,

615
00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:36,160
Speaker 2: the fact that you've shared this post or you this

616
00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:40,040
Speaker 2: video or this Instagram story is what made me go

617
00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:42,480
Speaker 2: ask the doctor about my own symptoms and I got

618
00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:45,080
Speaker 2: diagnosed and now I have knowledge. And stories like that

619
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:48,040
Speaker 2: are really like what keeps her going and makes her

620
00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:51,080
Speaker 2: feel so proud of herself for continuing to post.

621
00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:57,440
Speaker 4: What do you hope for the future of diabetes treatment?

622
00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:01,040
Speaker 3: I'll say my biggest overarching hope, because we could get

623
00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:05,080
Speaker 3: really nitty gritty here, but I hope that we move

624
00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:11,640
Speaker 3: to a more empathetic, patient centered approach to diabetes with

625
00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:15,520
Speaker 3: more access to specialists. And my hope is to make

626
00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:21,160
Speaker 3: endochronology a field that is desirable for clinicians to go

627
00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:25,200
Speaker 3: into and physicians to go into, so that we can

628
00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:30,960
Speaker 3: truly utilize our expertise to treat the most pressing chronic

629
00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:35,440
Speaker 3: condition of our time. Diabetes is the most expensive chronic

630
00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:38,960
Speaker 3: condition that we are facing as a country. It is

631
00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:44,120
Speaker 3: so prevalent. So I hope that we recognize the importance

632
00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:49,600
Speaker 3: of diabetes to people's lives, to the economy, and we

633
00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:54,280
Speaker 3: treat it in a specialist forward manner that is patient centered.

634
00:36:54,719 --> 00:36:56,399
Speaker 4: Mila, what do you want people to take away from

635
00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:57,000
Speaker 4: your story?

636
00:36:57,040 --> 00:36:57,680
Speaker 5: Particularly?

637
00:36:58,280 --> 00:37:02,680
Speaker 1: I think really it to fight for yourself and if

638
00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:07,160
Speaker 1: you feel like something is wrong, Yes, your physician and

639
00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:09,799
Speaker 1: your care team are experts, but you live in the

640
00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:12,839
Speaker 1: body that you live in every single day and pay

641
00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:17,120
Speaker 1: attention to those signs, and even if it's frustrating.

642
00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:20,920
Speaker 5: Don't stop pushing. Hopefully pushing gives you an answer in

643
00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:22,040
Speaker 5: less than five years.

644
00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:25,640
Speaker 1: But if something feels off, it's probably off, and it's

645
00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:29,719
Speaker 1: okay to say I disagree, and get another opinion, and

646
00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:34,160
Speaker 1: get another opinion, and get another opinion until either it's

647
00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:36,680
Speaker 1: confirmed for you that you are where you are or

648
00:37:37,239 --> 00:37:40,319
Speaker 1: that it really changes the trajectory of what your health

649
00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:40,839
Speaker 1: looks like.

650
00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:42,880
Speaker 5: And you get to be in a better place because

651
00:37:42,920 --> 00:37:43,160
Speaker 5: of it.

652
00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:49,160
Speaker 4: You can find more on Mila's story, her online community,

653
00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:54,120
Speaker 4: and many delicious recipes at Henrywoman dot com. In honor

654
00:37:54,160 --> 00:37:58,400
Speaker 4: of World Diabetes Day on November fourteenth, check out Worlddiabetes

655
00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:00,960
Speaker 4: Day dot org to learn how you can support and

656
00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:03,600
Speaker 4: advocate for diabetes awareness every day.

657
00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:08,239
Speaker 1: My name is Mela Clark and I was misdiagnosed for

658
00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:12,600
Speaker 1: five years and I was rediagnosed and properly diagnosed with

659
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:17,080
Speaker 1: latent autoimmune Diabetes in adults or LATTA, a slow progressing

660
00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:18,600
Speaker 1: form of type one diabetes.

661
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Speaker 4: Next week on Symptomatic, we're back with another edition of

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Speaker 4: Symptomatic House Calls. For this house call, we're revisiting case

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Speaker 4: number thirteen, Alisha from season two. For those who haven't

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Speaker 4: heard this episode, a quick spoiler alert. Alicia was diagnosed

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Speaker 4: with plaquoriasis, a chronic autoimmune condition that causes thick raised

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Speaker 4: patches of skin. Join us as we catch up with

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Speaker 4: Alisha to hear her latest life updates and learn how

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Speaker 4: she's continuing to manage her placksoriasis.

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Speaker 6: Self esteem and confidence and self worth are universal themes

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Speaker 6: that you really have to focus on in your life

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Speaker 6: outside of chronic illnesses. It's just so imperative to have

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Speaker 6: that love for you in confidence for yourself day to day.

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Speaker 4: As always, we would love to hear from you. Send

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Speaker 4: us your thoughts on this episode or share a medical

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Speaker 4: mystery of your own at Symptomatic at iHeartMedia dot com

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Speaker 4: and please rate and review Symptomatic wherever you get your podcasts.

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Speaker 4: We'll see you next time. Until then, be well. Symptomatic

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Speaker 4: is a production of Ruby Studio from iHeartMedia. Our show

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Speaker 4: is hosted by me Lauren breg Pacheco. Executive producers are

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Speaker 4: Matt Romano and myself. Our EP of Post Production is

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Speaker 4: James Foster. Our Supervising producer is Cierra Kaiser. Our writers

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Speaker 4: are John Irwin and Diana Davis, and our editor is

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Speaker 4: Cierra Spreen