WEBVTT - Case #22: Mila 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:14.480 I was making myself breakfast and I fainted and I 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:18.080 kind of like came to I was really confused, and 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:21.880 I was like, I don't know what just happened, but 0:00:22.040 --> 0:00:23.400 I know that's not normal. 0:00:23.920 --> 0:00:27.200 She was doing all the right things health wise, but 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:30.560 went through years of struggling that she probably didn't have to. 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:34.360 She had no way to comprehend what she had to 0:00:34.440 --> 0:00:38.640 do for her disease that affects every minute of every day. 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:43.040 And I'm like, I failed. I don't know how much 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:45.280 harder I could work. The only thing that I could 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:46.960 do is like be in a different body. 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:57.520 How terrifying would it be to fight an unknown enemy, 0:00:58.040 --> 0:01:02.000 one you didn't recognize and didn't coming What if that 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:06.600 enemy was coming from within a disease that even doctors 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:11.920 couldn't identify. Nearly half of all Americans suffer from some 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:17.919 chronic illness, and many struggle for an accurate diagnosis. These 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:25.440 are their stories. A Lauren Brede Pacheco, and this is symptomatic. 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:43.640 Mila's energy is unmistakable. She's driven, always one step ahead, 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:47.600 and her passion for her work is contagious. Her natural 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:51.760 confidence and ability to connect with others proved invaluable when 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:53.880 she faced daunting health challenges. 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:55.800 Tell me a. 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:58.560 Little bit about yourself outside of work. 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:00.000 What are your passions. 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:04.800 I am a total plant lady, So I love being 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:08.080 out in my terrace garden. I live in the middle 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:11.520 of Houston, Texas, so we're right in the center of 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:13.200 the city, and I miss my greenery. 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:14.480 So we have like a. 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:18.280 Little composting bin outside on our deck, and we grow 0:02:18.360 --> 0:02:20.600 some of our own produce and some of our own 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:25.040 food just as something that we found was actually really 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:27.720 simple to do and really gratifying when it comes to 0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:31.360 cooking and eating. And so I'm just like a nature person. 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:35.280 I love being out in nature, despite the fact that 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:39.080 I live in like the fourth largest city in America. 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:41.600 Have you always had a green thumb? 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:42.680 I have. 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:46.800 Both of my parents were working parents. They're both immigrants 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:49.560 from Jamaica, and so I spent a lot of time 0:02:49.560 --> 0:02:52.000 with my grandmother when I was younger. Like one of 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:55.280 my most vivid memories of childhood is going out with 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:56.799 my grandma to go. 0:02:56.720 --> 0:02:59.120 To our mint bush. We had this like giant mint bush. 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:02.239 It was probably like nine feet tall, and we would 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:04.440 pick out mint leaves for our tea and we would 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:06.880 sit and have tea in the afternoon and talk. So 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:09.240 if you can imagine like five or six year old 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:11.959 Mela sitting with her grandmother just like having a cup 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:15.200 of tea and talking, It's like one of my favorite things. 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:20.119 Fond childhood memories wouldn't be complete without Mela's best friend, Katie. 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:23.240 They first met in middle school as friends in passing, 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:26.880 but by high school their friendship deepened. Over time, they 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:30.560 grew inseparable, sharing LIFs, ups and downs together. 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:33.520 We were sitting there at your book and we were 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:35.080 on our computers next to each other. 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:39.680 We were journalism nerds, and so in our senior year, 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:43.000 we're so excited to be editor in chief and layout editor. 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:45.160 And we realized that we were both going to the 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:47.480 same university and we were like, oh, do you need 0:03:47.520 --> 0:03:49.080 a roommate? We said yeah, and it was just the 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:52.560 easiest decision. That kind of gave us a good platform 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:55.280 and foundation for our friendship now is that we've lived. 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:56.640 Together, We've seen it all, we've done it all. 0:03:56.680 --> 0:04:00.680 Like we've just lived so close that it's almost like siblings. 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:04.600 We jokingly say that we're always on the same wavelength 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:08.000 and we're always reading each other's minds because we're almost 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:10.800 thinking the exact same thing at the exact same time. 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:14.400 We have grown so close that we really consider each 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:17.440 other's sisters. I don't even tell people like, oh, that's 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:19.159 my best friend, Katie, I say it's my sister. 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:21.200 Now. 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:25.760 For somebody who hasn't met Mela, how would you describe 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:27.240 her and her personality. 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:33.720 She's so free spirited. She's creative and driven, and if 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:36.159 there is something that she is interested in, she will 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:37.800 stop what she's doing and. 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:41.160 Just investigate and dig in. And she wants to know everything. 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:43.080 She wants to help people. 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:46.400 She's very generous with her time, sometimes to a fault 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:48.800 where you know, it's let's take care of yourself before 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:50.640 you help others. 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:55.320 Mela quickly realized she needed to focus on herself when 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:59.240 she began noticing subtle signs that something was off. Katie, 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:02.640 as always, was there from the start, witnessing the onset 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:05.080 of symptoms that would mark the beginning of a new 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:06.720 chapter in Mila's life. 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:11.600 I was about twenty five when I first started to 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:16.400 notice some of my symptoms, and it really, for me, 0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:17.440 was something. 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:20.880 That I sort of brushed off. I was thinking, I'm young. 0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:24.919 I work out almost every day, I'm pretty conscious about 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:29.080 what I eat, I don't drink. I'm in probably the 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:33.120 best health of my life physically, but I just feel awful. 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:34.920 I feel really tired all the time. 0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:38.120 I feel like I just don't have any energy, and 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:41.920 that to me felt really odd and really strange, and 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:46.960 I remember ignoring those feelings for a long time. 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:50.200 She was working a really stressful job, so I think 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:52.360 that was a really easy way to kind of write 0:05:52.400 --> 0:05:55.760 it off as, Oh, I'm just becoming into myself as 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:58.160 an adult, Like it's stressful. 0:05:57.680 --> 0:05:58.400 I'm tired. 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:00.719 So it's really easy to chalk all of the things 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:02.960 up to that, you know, and even doctors when she 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:05.800 would go just for like a normal checkup, would be like, yeah, 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:08.360 get some more sleep, get some more exercise. 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:12.599 At the time, I was in my first real job 0:06:12.640 --> 0:06:17.080 out of college, and I was dragging myself through working 0:06:17.200 --> 0:06:20.400 fifty or sixty hour weeks at times, and I probably 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:24.080 need to take a vacation, I probably need to drink 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:25.920 more water, just take a. 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:26.760 Little bit more care. 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:30.440 And my partner at the time was really adamant, like, 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:33.520 this is not normal, and you probably need to go 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:36.760 and see someone at the very least to go get 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:38.320 a check up and see what's going on. 0:06:40.640 --> 0:06:43.679 Mila was drawn to her work at a nonprofit focused 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:48.760 on community development initiatives, where she tackled disaster recovery, health 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:53.760 care access, and immigration logistics. She faced these challenges during 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:58.839 one of Houston's most devastating events in recent history, Hurricane Harvey, 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:02.960 which brought fifty two inches of rain and widespread destruction. 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:07.520 We were running one of the biggest shelters in the city, 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:11.040 and that required getting information out so that people knew 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:13.960 where they could go, how they could be helped, what 0:07:14.000 --> 0:07:17.080 they could do if they just lost everything. And so 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:19.640 it was a really, really stressful time and I was 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:22.960 the only one on the team doing social media, so 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:26.760 I was working around the clock, and in that time period, 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:31.520 We're getting hundreds of messages every fifteen minutes about where 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:34.320 people should go, what they should do, and I am 0:07:34.360 --> 0:07:36.160 having to hop on that crisis response. 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:38.240 And so my job was like that all the time. 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:43.080 So you're on call basically twenty four to seven, reacting 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:48.560 in real time to crisis, which puts your life in crisis. 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:50.520 I'm sure pretty much. 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:54.600 I felt often like I could lay down and sleep 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:57.040 for twenty four hours and I would wake up and 0:07:57.080 --> 0:07:59.920 I would still be tired. No amount of rest or 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:04.520 sleep felt like it helped me stop being tired. And 0:08:04.560 --> 0:08:08.440 then I was also experiencing a lot of physical symptoms, 0:08:08.560 --> 0:08:13.040 so I was extremely thirsty and I could drink like 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:16.600 two gallons of water a day and still not feel 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:21.520 like my thirst was quenched. I was losing weight pretty 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:27.240 rapidly in mass amounts over time, and I at the 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:29.040 time was like, well, this is good, because you know 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:31.080 every woman is like, uh, you know, I'm losing weight. 0:08:31.120 --> 0:08:34.280 I look good, I'm fine, but I felt awful. The 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:37.480 other thing that I kept noticing was that when I 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:40.640 would sleep, I would wake up like drenched and sweat 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:45.359 my entire body. And I was just like, maybe it's anxiety, 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:48.600 you know. I kept thinking like, if I wait long enough, 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:51.480 it'll pass. It'll just go away and I'll be fine. 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:58.079 There is a kind of denial that's easier than proactively 0:08:58.640 --> 0:09:03.760 seeking answers. Or you decide I'm healthy, I am doing 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:07.200 the best I can and this will pass. What for 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:12.120 you was that wake up call of something's really wrong. 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:13.920 I have got to see a doctor. 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:18.920 I was in the kitchen cooking one day, and I 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:22.880 was by myself and I fainted and. 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:25.440 I came to I woke up. 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:28.160 I was really confused, and I was like, I don't 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:31.880 know what just happened, but I know that's not normal. 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:34.760 And so I told my partner about it, and he 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:37.720 was like, book the appointment, take the day off of work, 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:41.760 go to the doctor, and get checked out, because that's 0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:46.400 really scary, and like, it's not okay that that's happening 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:46.680 to you. 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:52.320 Yeah, and so tell me your first experience with going 0:09:52.360 --> 0:09:55.200 to the doctor and trying to explain what's going on. 0:09:56.080 --> 0:10:00.160 So I walked into the doctor's office and explained to 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:04.319 him my symptoms. I told him about fainting in the kitchen. 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:08.319 I told him about just how I was feeling overall, 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:10.839 and he said, okay, well, it doesn't look like you've 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:14.680 had blood work done almost ever as an adult, so 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:18.280 let's start there and kind of get the baseline and 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:22.319 see what's going on. And that same afternoon, I get 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:23.280 a call back from. 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:24.080 The doctor's office. 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:27.679 And I missed it, but I don't think that they 0:10:27.760 --> 0:10:32.040 call you if everything is okay. I was a bit 0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:36.120 nervous and anxious to make the callback, and when I did, 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:39.360 I talked to the nurse who had looked up my 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:43.600 chart and she said, your blood sugars are extremely high. 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:46.840 They are through the roof is at a dangerous level, 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:49.480 and you need to come back to the doctor's office 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:52.360 immediately so he can walk through treatment with you. 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:55.120 And so at that point, I had no idea what 0:10:55.280 --> 0:10:55.720 it was. 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:58.120 And I heard high blood sugar and I was just like, 0:10:58.160 --> 0:10:59.720 I don't even know what that means, Like I don't 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:01.920 even know how I would know my blood sugars. 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:05.440 Hi Mila spent the night grappling with a heavy sense 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:10.199 of uncertainty, her mind racing with questions, what could be wrong, 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:13.600 what could have caused all this? What is she supposed 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:14.280 to do now? 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:17.920 And so I rebooked an appointment for the next day 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:21.360 and sat down with a doctor and he tells me, 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:25.280 you have type two diabetes and this should not be 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:30.080 happening to you at this age, and this means that 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:32.360 you are not doing the things that you are supposed 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:35.000 to do to live a healthy life. And I was 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:37.319 just like, this is a lot. 0:11:37.160 --> 0:11:40.920 Of judgment, but also like, you have not even explained what. 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:44.720 This means to me, and I have no idea what 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:48.120 you're talking about, or how this even comes up, or 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:51.560 how you even determine this result. And so the first 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:55.559 conversation that I'm having about diabetes with this care provider 0:11:56.040 --> 0:12:01.280 is about amputations and about potentially losing my kidneys and 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:05.000 having to go on dialysis and all of these things 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:08.160 that are like so shocking and scary. And I walked 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:10.800 out of there thinking like, am I going to die today? 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:13.920 Like I had all of these questions, but I felt 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:17.440 too ashamed to ask them in that moment because I 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:20.560 was like, well, he's literally telling me that I have 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:22.839 like ruined my body and ruined my life, so I. 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:24.520 Don't really know where to go from here. 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:30.080 I just started bawling because I was so scared and frustrated. 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:37.199 After she was diagnosed initially, she said that you were 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:40.000 one of the first people she called. Can you just 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:44.079 tell me about that phone call and what you felt 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:44.959 the need to convey. 0:12:45.679 --> 0:12:48.600 I was like, I don't think that that's a condition 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:50.680 that you get when you're in your twenties. You either 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:53.040 have it when you're a little kid, type one or 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:56.760 older people usually are diagnosed with type two. That's weird, 0:12:56.920 --> 0:13:00.439 you're twenty six, Like, how is this just now happening 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:03.240 or happening already? And so I was like, I don't know, 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:05.640 that seems like that, right, you know, And she's like, well, 0:13:05.640 --> 0:13:08.559 that's what the doctor said, so you know it's probably true. 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:12.199 Mila left the doctor's office with a handful of her 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:15.520 shores and a deep sense of shame. Her blood sugar 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:19.120 levels were nearly double what they should be. She recalled 0:13:19.160 --> 0:13:22.360 watching her mom manage diabetes with insulin injections and a 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:25.720 careful diet. Suddenly everything became clear. 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:30.120 I was just like, I've ruined my life and now 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:32.080 I don't know what to do, and I don't even 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:35.600 know where to start and how to make this better. 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:40.040 I'm just terrified about all of the outcomes that my 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:42.120 doctor has told me, like this is what's going to 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:44.200 happen to you because of where you are with your 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:48.080 blood sugars. I just felt really by myself, and I 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:53.200 felt like I couldn't quite express what I was feeling. 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:55.240 But I knew that I wanted to write it down, 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:58.840 and I knew that I wanted to kind of document 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:01.400 what I was going through. And then I also wanted 0:14:01.440 --> 0:14:03.800 to find people who were like. 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:07.680 Me, and so she started Hank grew Woman, which is 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:11.200 her blog and YouTube channel and Instagram and everything to 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:14.520 create content to document and also like for her own 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:17.319 accountability her lived experience with diabetes. 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:20.480 I was wondering, like, how do other people my age 0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:23.080 balance and manage this? There are millions of people living 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:25.200 with diabetes. I'm sure somebody is my age and I 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:26.320 can find them and meet them. 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:32.040 On that note, being a self proclaimed journalism geek and 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:37.080 a communications gal, the Angry Woman, where did the name 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:37.640 come from? 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:42.280 So the name came from my partner because one of 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:47.640 the side effects of having diabetes is being angry. It's 0:14:47.720 --> 0:14:51.160 like needing and wanting to eat because your cells aren't 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:55.360 absorbing the glucose from your bloodstream, and so I, in 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:58.880 the early stages of my diagnosis was quite cranky all 0:14:58.920 --> 0:14:59.520 the time. 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:01.160 And so my. 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:04.040 Partner at the time had said, yeah, you're just like 0:15:04.040 --> 0:15:05.520 such a little angry woman. 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:06.680 And I was like, that would actually be just like 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:07.960 a really funny name. 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:10.360 And she got a lot of positive feedback from that, 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:13.440 but also there was a lot of negative feedback. And 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:16.160 you know, you can't judge a person by the way 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:19.560 they look, but people on the internet do so to 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:22.200 put herself out there in such an intimate way, like 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:25.800 your health, your numbers, being so public is brave. 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:31.440 With the diagnosis in hand, Mila finally had a path forward, 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:35.600 supported by a growing community desperate for results. She threw 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:40.400 herself into the fight with determination and focus. I can 0:15:40.480 --> 0:15:45.640 tell what a positive, driven, go get her mentality you have. 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:50.400 So you set out to be the best Type two 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:54.400 diabetes patient ever, and what happens. 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:59.840 Basically it gets worse. And so I am at the 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:03.960 point where I'm working my hardest. I'm working out twice 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:09.800 a day, running, walking, biking, skateboarding, like doing everything, getting active, 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:14.200 being outside and also changing my diet, and I was 0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:19.440 exhausting myself and not eating enough. I wasn't giving myself 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:21.960 enough energy to get through the day. I was still 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:25.920 just as tired, just as thirsty, just as sweaty. And 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:28.320 then I went back for my A and C results 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:32.920 three months later from my initial diagnosis, and my ae 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:36.000 C had dropped by one percentage point, and I'm like, 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:40.400 I failed. I don't know how much harder I could work. 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:42.320 The only thing that I could do is like be 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:43.360 in a different body. 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:47.880 The A one C test, also called HbA one C, 0:16:48.640 --> 0:16:52.120 measures your average blood sugar over a two to three 0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:55.480 month time span and is key for diagnosing and managing 0:16:55.520 --> 0:17:00.320 diabetes and pre diabetes. Mela's slight one percent drop is 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:04.280 now making her doctor skeptical. Back in the office, Mila 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:05.440 is under scrutiny. 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:08.840 My doctor said, clearly, you are not doing what you're 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:11.560 saying you're doing, because if you're coming in here with 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:14.480 your blood sugar logs that say one thing and your 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:18.000 AEC says something else, you are not doing what you're 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:20.439 telling me you're doing. And I was like, I promise, 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:24.200 I am, Like, I have my my Fitness palalog here. 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:27.360 You know, you can see everything that I'm doing, everything 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:31.359 that I'm eating, I'm tracking to my detriment. It's so 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:35.920 frustrating and so triggering and alarming to have to track 0:17:36.000 --> 0:17:38.679 every single thing you eat, have to prick your fingers 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:41.520 five or six times a day to draw blood to 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:45.160 get your readings. Like I'm doing the work, Well, there. 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:48.680 Comes that shame and guilt, you know, implying that you're 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:54.800 not being honest as to the actual steps you're diligently taking, 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:58.040 what went through your mind, your body. 0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:02.080 I think I was just angry, to be quite honest, 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:05.359 because I felt like with everything else that I had 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:07.520 ever done in life, I put in the work and 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:10.160 I get a good result, and I was doing everything 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:12.439 that I thought I knew how to do, and then 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:14.800 I got the result back and it was disappointing. 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:18.919 After seeing little improvement, Mila started medication to lower her 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:22.560 blood sugar. The medication only managed to drop her blood 0:18:22.600 --> 0:18:27.240 sugar by one more percentage point. Six months after her diagnosis, 0:18:27.440 --> 0:18:31.080 her levels were still not within a safe range. As 0:18:31.119 --> 0:18:34.800 the months turned into years with little improvement, Mila not 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:39.680 only faced physical challenges but also began internalizing the stigma 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:43.800 surrounding type two diabetes. Three months later, her levels had 0:18:43.840 --> 0:18:48.040 only dropped by another one percent, still far from safe. 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:51.920 I think we were ordering pizza, and this person, who 0:18:52.040 --> 0:18:56.159 isn't an acquaintance, not anyone close to her, said really, 0:18:56.200 --> 0:18:58.080 in a snarky tone, are you sure you should be 0:18:58.119 --> 0:18:58.480 eating that? 0:18:58.960 --> 0:19:01.120 And both of us with our head around, like, did 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:02.080 you just really say that? 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:04.760 Like, first of all, I don't think anybody should be 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:07.840 commenting on what anybody else is eating, period. I just 0:19:07.880 --> 0:19:10.960 couldn't believe the audacity of it. And I don't exactly 0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:13.880 remember what happened, but I remember that Mila's attitude towards 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:16.320 that moment was like it was shocked. But I can 0:19:16.359 --> 0:19:19.480 only imagine how hard that is to be already so 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:22.240 concerned about all of your data, all of your numbers, 0:19:22.280 --> 0:19:24.000 all of your blood sugars, day in and day out. 0:19:24.200 --> 0:19:26.640 That person doesn't know if she ate nothing for breakfast 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:28.400 and a salad for dinner, and this is what she's 0:19:28.760 --> 0:19:31.920 calculating to eat for lunch because she knows that she's out. 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:36.199 Katie, it was probably like the most supportive person that 0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:39.800 I could ever interact with in that moment, because she 0:19:39.920 --> 0:19:43.719 gave me understanding and kind of like hyping me up 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:44.720 like a best friend does. 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:48.760 Mila recalled another time when she tried to discreetly take 0:19:48.760 --> 0:19:52.000 her insulin while out to dinner, only to be accused 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:55.800 of doing drugs at the table. Sadly, this was becoming 0:19:55.840 --> 0:20:00.000 her reality living with type two diabetes. Interochronologist doctor Artie 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:05.399 Fungado strives to holistically understand her patients, recognizing the effects 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:11.240 of diabetes go far beyond physical symptoms. Do you remember 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:16.760 when you first cross paths and your first impressions of Mila? Yeah? 0:20:16.800 --> 0:20:20.439 So I had been following along her journey on social 0:20:20.480 --> 0:20:23.280 media for a long time, probably before she ever knew 0:20:23.520 --> 0:20:30.040 who I was. She so poignantly and clearly and honestly 0:20:30.119 --> 0:20:35.199 describes the patient experience, and as a physician, I just 0:20:35.320 --> 0:20:39.760 feel like that is so valuable and important for us 0:20:39.840 --> 0:20:44.159 to see, because the way our healthcare system is now, 0:20:44.400 --> 0:20:48.480 there's this huge divide between doctors and patients, and the 0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:52.199 time to build a relationship in the traditional healthcare setting 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:56.640 just isn't there. She just so clearly tells her story 0:20:56.760 --> 0:20:59.880 openly and honestly, and so it was several years ago 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:03.280 that I had heard of her, and then we were 0:21:03.320 --> 0:21:05.159 able to work together. 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:10.760 After four years of trials, setbacks, and frustration, Mila was 0:21:10.800 --> 0:21:13.880 still searching for a treatment that could bring real relief. 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:17.480 From battling dangerous blood sugar levels to dealing with the 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:21.280 social stigma of type two diabetes. She had fought hard 0:21:21.400 --> 0:21:24.920 every step of the way. With no clear solution in sight, 0:21:25.440 --> 0:21:26.880 Mila was growing desperate. 0:21:27.520 --> 0:21:30.800 I know it wasn't like intentional ridicule, but it felt 0:21:30.840 --> 0:21:34.159 like ridicule. It felt like I'm walking into this situation 0:21:34.359 --> 0:21:36.840 where I know I'm just going to be berated because 0:21:36.880 --> 0:21:40.520 my number is not good enough, and so here I 0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:43.679 am thinking like, Okay, this is exhausting, but I'm working 0:21:43.720 --> 0:21:46.480 so hard and I'm doing this and then I. 0:21:46.480 --> 0:21:48.479 Go and it's one percent lower. 0:21:48.960 --> 0:21:54.399 In that moment, I felt so almost embarrassed, and I 0:21:54.560 --> 0:21:56.560 felt stigmatized. 0:21:58.680 --> 0:22:04.480 We'll be right back with sometim a medical mystery podcast. 0:22:05.880 --> 0:22:15.480 Now back to Symptomatic, a medical mystery podcast. Mela initially 0:22:15.520 --> 0:22:19.960 dismissed her exhausting and debilitating symptoms as mere work stress 0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:23.719 before being diagnosed with type two diabetes at an unusually 0:22:23.840 --> 0:22:27.440 young age. Determined to lower her blood sugar levels, which 0:22:27.520 --> 0:22:31.919 were nearly double the normal range, she became obsessive. She 0:22:32.000 --> 0:22:34.840 worked out several times a week and meticulously tracked what 0:22:34.960 --> 0:22:38.160 she ate, but nothing lowered her A one C levels 0:22:38.200 --> 0:22:41.560 more than a couple of percentage points. Four years into 0:22:41.560 --> 0:22:44.800 her quest for relief, Mela had pushed her commitment to 0:22:44.880 --> 0:22:45.520 the extreme. 0:22:55.400 --> 0:22:58.399 There was one point where my A one C numbers 0:22:58.440 --> 0:23:02.159 were better, but my health was not. And it was 0:23:02.200 --> 0:23:05.480 this point where I basically stopped eating because I was like, 0:23:05.520 --> 0:23:07.240 this is the only thing I know how to do, 0:23:07.680 --> 0:23:09.480 and it's the only thing that I feel like is 0:23:09.520 --> 0:23:11.359