#1424 Para-Cyclist, Type 1 Warrior, Paralympian
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Kate Brim is back with another compelling story of living with type 1 diabetes as a person with quadriplegia.
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Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends and welcome back to another episode of The Juicebox Podcast.
Kate brim is back sharing her story of what's happened to her since we saw her last. It's uplifting and a portrait of how to not give up. Please don't forget that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan or becoming bold with insulin to save 40% off of your entire order at cozy earth.com All you have to do is use the offer code Juicebox at checkout. That's Juicebox at checkout to save 40% at cozy earth.com if you're living with type one diabetes, the after dark collection from the Juicebox Podcast is the only place to hear the stories that no one else talks about, from drugs to depression, self harm, trauma, addiction and so much more. Go to Juicebox podcast.com. Up in the menu and click on after dark there, you'll see a full list of all of the after dark episodes. If you're looking for community around type one diabetes, check out the Juicebox Podcast. Private Facebook group, Juicebox Podcast, type one diabetes, but everybody is welcome. Type one, type two, gestational loved ones. It doesn't matter to me if you're impacted by diabetes and you're looking for support, comfort or community, check out Juicebox Podcast. Type one diabetes on Facebook. Us. Med is sponsoring this episode of The Juicebox Podcast, and we've been getting our diabetes supplies from us. Med, for years. You can as well us. Med.com/juice, box, or call 888-721-1514, use the link or the number, get your free benefits check and get started today with us. Med, today's episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by the contour next gen blood glucose meter. This is the meter that my daughter has on her person right now. It is incredibly accurate and waiting for you at contour next.com/juice
Kate Brim 2:15
box. Hi. My name is Kate brim. I have been a type one diabetes Since 2021 I was a pretty late diagnosis, and a lot has happened between now and then, and even before then, Kate,
Scott Benner 2:30
you were on episode 819, January, 2, 2023 Yes, and you're back. What made you want to come
Kate Brim 2:41
back? You know, a lot has happened since then. I've been to the Paralympic Games. I, you know, had some pretty crazy, crazy things happen in lead up to the games and stuff. And you know, when I was first on with you, back in 2023 I for sure, was still so so new to the diagnosis, and little did I know there was going to be so much more learning and discovery and challenge and triumph and stuff. No, it's been an absolute whirlwind of the last couple years.
Scott Benner 3:17
So if people want to get the because we really dug through it in your first episode, but if they want to go back to check, I think it's incredibly interesting. You were very open, but you're a quadriplegic. Do I have that? Right? Yep, yeah. So we discussed a lot about how you, like, you know, live your life, get through your days, stuff like that. If you really want to know more about that, 819, is the place to go, because I don't feel like we're going to get too far into that this time. So let's just give people a high level overview. Though you're an athlete, tell people what you do. Yeah.
Kate Brim 3:47
So I'll give like a very dumb down intro to myself. December of 2017, I underwent a pretty routine surgery for her needed disc that ended up leaving me a quadriplegic, so I was living a very stereotypical life. I was at university, going to school for construction management, was super proud of myself, thought I had my life set. Career was figured out. I knew what I was going to do the rest of my life. And then this injury happened, and it completely flipped my life upside down. I define new a new path of life, which is very hard the first couple of years, just rediscovering myself. And you know, what does my abilities look like? What am I capable of? And thankfully, I was sent to an amazing rehab hospital whose whole mission was getting people back to doing the things they love, whether that be the community or through sport. And for me, it ended up being through sport, doing cycling and hand cycling and wheelchair rugby. Yeah, I became very in love with hand cycling and wheelchair rugby. Hand cycling in particular, because it was the one thing that I felt like. Like, you know, I got into the bike, and in many ways, I just, I felt normal, you know, I could go out on the road and just go, go super fast and have the wind going through me. Feel good, feel powerful, like I'm capable of stuff. And was doing group rides and stuff with others who are in very similar situations, and it was kind of the intro and just the beginning of rediscovering myself. And so, yeah, I fell in love with it. Eventually, a few years into hand cycling, I finally decided to take up racing, and did my first race, absolutely fell in love with it, hired a coach and went to my first para cycling specific race, which qualified me for the final World Cup and World Championships. Everything happened very quickly, you know, I I went from okay, this is a race where I'm going to figure out what hard looks like to now you're going to go to one of the biggest stages in the world and race at the international level. And it was absolutely incredible, a very quick start to an amazing, amazing journey. And so, yeah, I went to that first World World Cup and World Championships. Ended up getting gold in all the races that I did, which was just unheard of, and it was absolutely huge. And then after that, I moved out to Colorado Springs, to the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center, you know, have just been fully taking on what being an elite, elite level athlete
Scott Benner 6:42
takes. How long have you been at that piece of it now?
Kate Brim 6:45
So I've been out here at the training center about two and a half years now. Wow, getting ready for, getting ready for the Paralympic Games. Yeah, you know, at the when is that is my question. So it just happened this past September, it was in Paris, France, yeah, so I moved out to Colorado Springs, and then shortly after moving out to Colorado Springs, as many know, there are anti doping rules within elite level sport, and we have To follow under what's called the water guidelines and stuff going into racing. I had thought that all my duction were in a row and all the paperwork that was needed, I thought it was all there. It happened to not be there, so I got put into the testing pool on the US side, and they came, come to my door, common drug test me. I disclose all the medications that I'm taking, one of them, Which of was human log. And they come back to me a month or so later and say, Hey, we see you're taking. We see you declared use of human log. You do not have a therapeutic use exemption. And I was very shocked. I didn't even know what to say. I and they, they had said, okay, we can apply for what's called a retroactive TV and in this situation, all should be good, give a letter of explanation, make sure all the medical documentation is there, and we should be good. So I do exactly that. Write my my statement, you know, just explaining, hey, I thought all the ducks were in a row, and I really don't know what happened, and they granted me a retroactive tea I raced the whole next year for them to then reverse their decision of the retroactive T, U, E, oh, gosh, yeah, at this point, I'm in Europe at our final World Cup, when I get this notification that they have reversed the decision of the TV and I am just chatter to pieces, because I I know The consequences of this, and I know the severity. Mind you, we were little less than two years out from the games. And fast forward, they disclose to me what the consequences are going to be and how we're going to have to go about this. I had two options. I could appeal it, but appealing couldn't take up to four years to do, or I could serve a one year backdated sanction from when it was initially granted.
Scott Benner 9:31
Can I ask a question here on this one? So obviously you have type one diabetes, so yeah, the problem isn't that you don't require insulin, it's that you didn't have the exemption for the requirement of insulin Correct, yes. And how were you supposed to know that?
Kate Brim 9:46
You know, I still, still have wonderance To this day, because, like I said, I went into this thinking I had all my paperwork, and I did that whole first year of racing, letting everyone know, hey, I'm type one diabetes. Vedic, this is what needs to be done if this happens. You know, especially around low blood sugars when racing and stuff, they can be very, very severe. I was very open, very public to every single person I came across on the international stage and within my team, on us prayer, cycling around my diabetes and the precautions that we need to take. So I thought all the ducks were in a row, and they very clearly were not, and because of the time frame we were looking at, I just had to bite the bullet and take the sanction, knowing and it was very hard for me to swallow, because I took that sanction was stripped of all the points that I had earned that previous year and not allowed to compete for the next six months.
Scott Benner 10:46
Did you lose your any your medals, or your wins, or anything like that? I lost
Kate Brim 10:50
all my points. Yep, exactly. So all the earnings that I had had made, I lost them. You know, I looked at this, you know, I was very fortunate in that we were able to keep me afloat for the time being, that I could not race. But the thing that really hurt me was I looked at this as, look, this is not someone who is trying to go out and dope up and get some benefit. This was there was some logistical errors and stuff that happened. Right? Mistakes happen, and I was very fortunate here in the US, we were able to keep me afloat. But for some other countries and some other people, this could literally mean the end of them, yeah, ever competing
Scott Benner 11:33
afloat, meaning that you have to make money somehow while you're not racing.
Kate Brim 11:38
Yeah? Yep, you know, thankfully, I was still able to have a roof over my head and, you know, health insurance and stuff, because in a lot of situations, that would all be stripped, because that is the one thing is my health insurance is dependent on my performance. If I'm not on national team, I don't have health insurance. And so, you know, I was very fortunate to be able to still at least have health insurance and a roof over my head. How did
Scott Benner 12:06
you work that out? Who stepped up for you? The usopc, okay, yeah, if you can't say I understand. But is this targeted? Like this was somebody coming for you? Because what a weird thing, like insulin, yeah, a type one,
Kate Brim 12:19
yeah, no, it's exactly there's been, you know, lots of doubt around that. And like I said, it's just it shattered me in so many ways, that we have such a fraud system that they're going to pick a bone over a logistical error for someone who is using a medication to keep them alive. But then we have people within our system, who you can see a violation for using performance Hansen drug. It be the same violation, the the same violation, but their penalty every single one is different. One you'll see is three months. One you'll see is just a little slap on the wrist warning. One you'll see is a year. One you'll see is four years, all for the same violation. And so there's just this lack of consistency and this picking and choosing, and how do we go about, you know, these violations and stuff
Scott Benner 13:09
you got screwed for winning too much, huh? Yeah, yeah, you think so,
Kate Brim 13:13
that's what it felt, felt like at at times. It's interesting. Do you have any, like,
Scott Benner 13:17
is there any proof that that happened, or is it just a feeling? It's just the thing. It's hard to get rid of. It's just
Kate Brim 13:22
a feeling. And it's, you know, one of those things I in the moment because, you know, I wanted to make the Paralympic Games. I had to bite the bullet and now live with this label on me. Of okay, I had to serve a sanction. And, you know, I'm very fortunate in that, like everyone I've come across, both on the international stage, UCI, usopc, everyone that I have talked to, and even USADA, our anti doping agency here, has been, this is absolutely insane and just completely ludicrous. Does
Scott Benner 13:56
insulin have a performance benefit? Like, why can't somebody, like, why is it on some list somewhere? What does it do?
Kate Brim 14:03
I haven't completely looked into it, but there's some talk about it being enhancing and like, track and field and weight lifting. And I just look at it, and I am like, no, never in a million years would I ever see this, like it's a drug that if you take your body doesn't need, you're going to bottom your blood sugar out like it's absolutely mind blowing to me. And you know, from day one of me being diagnosed, I was very unique case in that, like I my life didn't stop. I kept riding my bike and I went into the deep end, as far as figuring out management. Saw some really scary highs, saw some really scary lows, like I from day one, have fully understood the dangers of insulin, even when you have good management. Yeah, it's absolutely ludicrous. It's very sad, but yeah, so I serve that sanction. So
Scott Benner 15:00
can I tell you? Like, what I'm getting here is that a non diabetic athlete can misuse insulin as a performance enhancing drug to increase glucogen storage and improve endurance. However, this is dangerous, because without diabetes, additional insulin can cause severe hypoglycemia, coma, death. That's the whole bit of it, I guess. Yeah, yeah. And so it's in your system, and so it's on a so it's on a list somewhere, because at some point somebody did this and cheated, and they're like, Okay, well, we'll put this on the exemption list, but without a plan for what do we do? Well, I guess the plan is you have to get your exemption far too often. We accept the blood glucose meter that someone hands to us. The Doctor reaches into a drawer and goes, Here, take this one. That is, that is that the one you want, is it accurate? You have no way of knowing. But if you want accuracy, and you want to be confident in the blood glucose readings that you're getting from your meter, you want the contour next gen. It's incredibly easy to get the same meter that Arden uses. Just go to contour next.com/juice box, that's all you have to do. The contour next gen is easy to use and highly accurate. It features a smart light that provides a simple understanding of your blood glucose levels, and, of course, Second Chance sampling technology that can help you to save money with fewer wasted strips. Contour, next.com/juice box. I have always disliked ordering diabetes supplies. I'm guessing you have as well. It hasn't been a problem for us for the last few years, though, because we began using us Med, you can too us med.com/juice, box, or call 888-721-1514, to get your free benefits. Check us med has served over 1 million people living with diabetes since 1996 they carry everything you need, from CGM to insulin pumps and diabetes testing supplies and more. I'm talking about all the good ones, all your favorites, libre three, Dexcom, g7 and pumps like Omnipod five, Omnipod tandem, and most recently, the I let pump from beta bionics, the stuff you're looking for, they have it at us. Med, 88887211514, or go to us. Med.com/juicebox, to get started now use my link to support the podcast. That's us, med.com/juice, box, or call 888-721-1514,
Kate Brim 17:28
exactly. Yep. You have to have A, A, T, U, E, on file. And
Scott Benner 17:32
now that all that's happened, and I'm assuming you put it on file correctly now, is that right? Yep,
Kate Brim 17:37
yeah. Now it's on file, and every four years you have to reapply, which is awful. Another absolutely ludicrous thing. I'm like, It's type one diabetes. You know, the pancreas checked out. It ain't, I ain't miraculously getting cured.
Scott Benner 17:51
If it goes away, we'll all know, don't worry. Exactly, yeah, I want to point out here for people that doping with insulin for performance reasons is insanely risky and like, please don't even look into it or do it. I mean, I'm looking here. I've asked our little friend online, and he's telling me or she I guess it doesn't matter, telling me about it, suppressing cortisol, faster post workout recovery, increased glucogen storage for endurance, enhanced muscle growth and recovery. How about that? I'm so sorry that sucks, especially because you got off to such a nice start you were doing so well, you know, yeah, how did you find the management of type one while you were competing with, like, you know, you see people online talking about exercise and type one all the time. And you know, how hard some people find it. So, like, how did you find it to be
Kate Brim 18:40
at first, it was very hard. I really struggled with it. There was times where I would be riding and I'm like, Man, why is my blood sugar just stuck here in the three hundreds, even despite me, you know, increasing my basal rates and stuff. And, you know, it was figuring out a fine balance of like, okay, because when I'm on the bike, I'm taking in carbs while I am biking to reduce the effects of post ride, essentially crash or glycogen burnout, you want to keep the carbs coming in. And so figuring out how to be able to take carbs in while on the bike and also managing the blood sugar was is a huge challenge. It's something, yeah, I struggled with greatly at first. And at first I was like, Oh no, I'm I'm burning calories, so I should need less insulin. And for me, a lot of the times it actually is, I need more insulin. I have to increase my basal rate while I'm taking in these cars. Now, this is something that, as we all know, it's very different for everyone as far as management, when it comes to activity and not not activity and stuff. And for me, even it, it ebbs and flows and stuff. But it was a lot of trial and error. It was a lot of, you know, comparing my CG. Am data to real life data, sitting on the trainer and testing my blood sugar several times throughout the ride manually and stuff to see what what is happening, figuring out what's happening when I'm doing efforts and stuff, and how I need to to react to it. I feel like, for the most part, failed fairly dialed in my first probably two, two and a half years, there were times where I had some really scary lows, and, you know, I saw the number and I was like, Holy crap, this is not good. And also, I do not feel my low blood sugars. I've been damn near close to single digits and still fully conscious. And just looking at the numbers like, this is not good. All
Scott Benner 20:41
right, before we move forward, I'm gonna ask you a question. I don't want you to be shocked by it, but I'm gonna ask it because I think people are listening, and it might be incumbent upon me to ask, did you ever use insulin to cheat? No, okay, I just wanted to put that out there on the record that's all because, I mean, you're explaining what happened to you, but there's somebody hearing it going, you know what I mean, like, so I just want to, if you're comfortable saying that, I yeah, I just wanted to ask you, that's all I appreciate, just such a situation, honestly, no,
Kate Brim 21:10
it really was because I, like, when I first served, accepted that sanction. You know, I for many days, just one, I was just angry over the situation and hate, like had a lot of resent and just frustration towards diabetes and stuff because I was sitting over there like, look, I'm going in, day in and day out, busting my butt to have remotely good management and be able to ride my bike and live a fulfilling life and live a healthy, safe life with this diagnosis and with my spinal cord injury and stuff, and now here I am being punished for using the drug that's keeping me alive is essentially how how it was looked at for me, and it was really, really, really hard bullet to to bite. But, you know, like I said, thankfully I had amazing support to get me through it. And coming back to racing, it felt really, really good, and I was happy to be able to come back to racing. It was definitely hard, and it still is very hard at times. You know, it crosses my mind a lot of like, you know, I just want to see change around this type of situation where logistical errors happen. People make mistakes all the time, as far as paperwork or forgetting to do something all of us do that. Every single one of us do that. Were
Scott Benner 22:36
you mistreated based on how they treat other people who also try but get it wrong, trying to do the right thing. Were you hit more harshly than other people have been in that situation? Or do you not know it
Kate Brim 22:49
feels like I was hit more harshly, especially because, you know, I did. I did go down that rabbit hole of pulling up the published sanctions and stuff, and I'm looking at some of these violations, and I'm just like, What in the world? This is a little slap to the wrist for a true violation of using a substance that someone shouldn't use. And then I'm over here, you know, with with the medication that I need to keep me alive, how much
Scott Benner 23:14
time did you actually have to serve? Because some of it was time served already, right? Yep,
Kate Brim 23:18
yeah, it was a backdated one year sanction, and I had to serve an additional six months with no racing. And so
Scott Benner 23:25
did it put you behind, like athletically or in competition? No,
Kate Brim 23:31
I Well, it did points wise, because, like I said, all my points were stripped, so when I came back to racing, all my competitors had had a year and a half worth of points into the quad. And when I say quad, so each Paralympic Games, there's typically four years where people are earning points to get slots to make the Paralympic Games. So my competitors had about a year and a half's worth of points, whereas when I started, I had zero points. So there was a lot of pressure when it came to that, as far as knowing, hey, I'm starting from ground zero and way behind everyone else. So it was a lot of having to work really, really hard and be very diligent on my training and stuff and racing and really, really just being on top of, you know, performance management. When the sanction happened, I still continued to train. I was more so taking those six months, I went a bit looser on the structure. As far as training, I was not very strict. As far as you know, making sure to get intervals in. I just I took that time to, like, okay, look, the sanction sucks, but like, go back to square one of why I ride the bike. I love the bike and everything it's provided me the independence that it's shown me, what it's shown me I'm able to do, you know, with my disability and stuff. Yeah, that's what I turned to. And. Was very, very helpful, and I saw a lot of growth just naturally happen doing that. And so, yeah, that was definitely what, what got me through. I
Scott Benner 25:10
was wondering, because you hadn't been doing it that long, but you did have great success, and you did, I mean, you called it freeing, you know, so I didn't imagine you just walk away from it, but it had to be difficult to find something that was helping you, that you were good at, etc, and then have it taken from you, and then to keep up the momentum to get through the six months, I was wondering how that was, yeah,
Kate Brim 25:31
yeah, it's it was solely just turning back to riding the bike like I did those first couple years before I started riding, which was writing, because I love riding, and that's been, like my biggest message within racing on the big stage is great, but for me, it's not the metals and the glory and the podium and stuff. It's like I said, it's the message that it's brought to me, and the message that I've been able to bring to others, as far as showing like, what is truly possible, even despite really challenging circumstances. That's been the reason, reason I ride, and the reason I race, and why I, you know, continue to continue to race, even despite all the challenges I've had. Yeah, your
Scott Benner 26:13
situation is so specific. Are those accomplishments something that you want to share with the world, or is it just something you need to get through.
Kate Brim 26:21
I have never been a big one for, like, gloating my success. Every single race I go into, I've always gone on it with, like, a learner's cap. Like I still feel like it's day one so many times. And every single race I've done, we're going on three years of racing under my belt, I still feel like I'm going into the race saying, okay, what can I take away from this race and learn to better, improve myself for next time and strategy and stuff? And there was a lot of that, especially this last year, leading into into the Paralympic Games. This last year was the year, the most important year of the quad, as far as making the Paralympic Games, and it was very stressful, but it was also very, very fulfilling and just incredible. Like everything that I learned throughout, you know, I told, told myself, leading up to the games, you've got the performance, you've got the drive, you have all the training under your belt right now. It's, it's staying consistent, staying on top of training, but most of all, staying healthy. I did that and got through our world cup season. Did amazing. Was loving where I was seeing my performance, the one thing that I was chasing so the Paralympic level, the UCI level. We all have classifications based upon our disability. So for the hand bikes, it goes h1 through h5 h1 being the most disabled and h5 being the least disabled. I'm an h2 athlete at the U, C i level. We all race our own individual classifications. I'm racing other h2 is h3 is a racing h3 is H fours are raising H fours. But at the Paralympic level, there is only a certain amount of metals that can be dispensed amongst all the sports and so what ends up happening is categories get combined. So for me, I was racing against h2 h3 and h4 when people like, look at it, you're thinking, well, how, how is that even remotely fair racing against people who have a lot more ability than you like, I had that thought, and I had that frustration, definitely, but it was just my driver to work that much harder. I looked up to the h3 and the h4 girls as the girls that I needed to chase, and I started working towards that. And you know, when it came to our road races, we have two big events, the time trial and the road race. The time trial is a race against the clock. We all have our own start time, and whoever has the fastest time at the end is the winner, and it goes down from there as far as times, whereas the road race, think of it like a marathon. We all start at the same time. Whoever crosses the finish line first is the winner. Time Trial is the the race of strength, whereas the road race is the race of strategy. You know, I was looking at the age three and age four girls times being like, Okay, I want to, I want to work towards this, and I want to do all that I can to get as close to those girls as I possibly can at the Paralympic level. Our Time Trial, we had what was called a factor. Think of it like a golf handicapped card. So the lower the classification, the higher the factor percentage you got. And so we were going, based off of that, to kind of look at my training and stuff and the goals to chase. And like I said, I was just put my head down. Did the training worked as hard as possible? And. And the three World Cups, I was getting closer and closer to those girls the road races. We pushed for me to start with the age three and age four girls, because typically they stagger at the starts. And I was able to, you know, keep up with the girls. And I was loving seeing where things were going. It felt absolutely amazing. And I left that final World Cup feeling really, really strong and really, really confident in you know what I was going to be able to be able to do if I make the Paralympic Games? Mind you, I left that World Cup, the World Cup season, still not even knowing if I was going to make the Paralympic Games, just because of how our point system worked. It was absolutely crazy how the points were dispensed, and very stressful. So the World Cup season is over. Now we have the very final event on the US side, which is our Paralympic trials open event that was held in Loma Linda, California. That was the last event to get ready for before they announced the team. The weeks leading up to that I was training, everything was going great. It was about two weeks before we were supposed to be going to the event that I discovered my bike that was barely a year old, the whole back end of it, the carbon fiber was cracked. I was very stressed in the moment, because I was like, we have two weeks, and the whole back end of my bike is cracked, making it not race legal. So I was calling around all of Colorado as far as places that could potentially repair it, and nobody wanted to touch it, because they were afraid that it was essentially where the crack was, was going to impact the structure of the bike. It was a special essentially, if this cracks anymore, you're going to break the spine of the bike and it's going to crumble underneath you. So nobody wanted to touch it and like have the liability of
Scott Benner 31:58
that take replacing it is how much for the whole bike? Four grand.
Kate Brim 32:02
Okay, so I last minute find a prosthetics company who does a very quick just on the spot job. He epoxies the whole end of it, and we got it so that the draft bar would stay in, which is the bar that protects the back wheels, so in case someone hits you, they're not hitting you, they're hitting this bar. We got that in place. It's very shortly, epoxied together. I'm like, okay, the bike is at least temporarily fixed. You know, if I make the team, I'm going to have to figure out a permanent repair as far as this. And so get ready to go. Let our director know and our mechanic know, hey, this is the repair job that we got. And then I'm let know your bike could potentially not pass inspection. Come race day, be prepared for that. Mind you, I'm hearing this news as I'm on the plane to Loma Linda, California with my mom, and you know, she's very excited for the trials, very anxious. We're all, you know, like, Okay, this is the final event. This is the last, last chance to get get the points needed in order to make the team. And I get that call, and I'm just sitting in there on the plane, reminiscing over the fact, holy crap, I have a bike that could not be race legal. I may not get to start, and like we all had to do that race in order to even be considered for the team, regardless of how many points you have, we land. My mom and I happen to not be sitting next to each other, I kind of stay silent at first, and I'm just trying to, like, be as calm as I can. Just all I can do is show up, show up, race day, and whatever happens, happens. I let my mom know of the situation, and it kind of just like, really set in. That set in, then the severity of the situation of like, wow, this is actually a really big deal. Again, she and I both agree it's out of our control. At this point. We got the repair that we could get. I just have to show up race day and be ready. So to say I was nervous was a huge understatement. Performance and numbers that was all out the window. Me, it was, am I going to be able to even race or not? And so time trial day is there. I show up to the start line, the bikes inspection starts, and it's the most nerve wracking moment I had in my life. They typically biking inspection is very fast. They do a couple measurements to make sure that we're within the specs and you're on it's done within 15 seconds. They start banging around on my draft bar and stuff, saying it's too close to the wheels, the heights wrong and stuff. And then they let me know, hey, we're going to let you race today, but in order for you to continue racing, a better repair job. Up. Needs to be done. This is this is not safe. So I get into that star pen knowing, okay, I'm going to be let race, but I have a bike that's not race legal. I tell myself, okay, it's out of my control. All I can do right now is just get the race done and we'll take it from there. So the race starts. I get it done, I complete the race. It goes very well. We finish after that. They do the podiums and all the awards and stuff. And then is the dreaded everyone has to wait the whole next day to receive the call on whether or not they made the team or not made the team. So my mom and I and her friend, we go out to lunch. We're just trying to, you know, stay calm in the situation. Just enjoy the time that we're having in California. Find some nice restaurants. And I get the call from Ian, our director, and he lets me know, hey, congratulations, Cate, you made the Paralympic team. Gives me some logistical stuff, as far as, like, what to expect over the next couple of days. And I just froze. I couldn't even express excitement, because I was so stressed in the moment, and I just went straight to business mode. And I said, I need a bike. No, that's literally what I said you did. Yeah. I said, Okay, I'm very excited, but my bike is not race legal. What do we what do we do? We have less than a month and a half to figure out a race legal bike. And so, yeah, we go immediately to business mode. He's like, Okay, I'm gonna contact carbon bike, the maker of my bike, and we're gonna get this, get this figured out. Can
Scott Benner 36:39
I ask a question? Do you wear any devices like an omnipot or a libre or a Dexcom or an eyelet or any of that stuff?
Kate Brim 36:47
So I'm on the tandem Tesla next to, okay, they haven't
Scott Benner 36:51
talked about maybe throwing you 10 grand a year to sponsor your bike or something like that. Yeah.
Kate Brim 36:56
No, I so my one big sponsorship is Novo Nordisk, actually. Okay, so, yeah, they've been a huge support. As far as, just like helping me with my diabetes management, you know, just helping me with my mission of, you know, showing people what's possible and stuff. Absolutely Are you allowed
Scott Benner 37:15
to have two sponsors? Yeah, right. You want me to introduce you to somebody?
Kate Brim 37:19
No, it was absolutely insane. So yeah, like I said, Ian contacts carbon bike, they get back to us initially tell us, okay, this is what it's going to cost for a new frame. They originally told me they wanted me to pay the full price, which was close to eight grand. And I said it's four grand to replace it. That's the original price was eight grand. And I said, Look, this is my situation. This bike is not even a year old. Has never seen damage, has been taken care of, like, miraculously, I didn't run into a wall or anything. Exactly, yeah, yep, the bike should not be cracked in barely a year's worthy. Is there a warranty or something, you know? So that's what we initially had tried going for. It was like, hey, a warranty route, but it didn't happen. So we had to dump four grand on a new frame. Originally, they had told us. So my bike is very customized to my disability. To shift the gear system, I shift with two blip buttons that sit right behind my ears that are attached to the frame of the bike, and then I break with my elbow. So it's a very unique system. It's not something that you can just go to a run in the middle bike shop and and fix. They initially tell us, hey, this is when we can get you to the frame by which was, like, a couple days before we were supposed to be leaving for my Orca, our training camp. And I, I just looked at Ian and Steve, I was like, No, we need the bike sooner than that. We have to completely move all the components over to a new frame. And so thankfully they they got it to us quicker. We got everything figured out. I have a new frame. All is good, and then I end up getting sick.
Scott Benner 39:04
Kate, listen to me. Have you been cursed by a witch? Like, what's happening? The quadriplegic thing should have been it like the the universe should have went like, all right, you know what? She got her whole load right there in the one thing, we don't have to do anything else. Like, no kidding, does anything go right? I'm not even I'm not being funny. Like, have you had a moment where you're like, oh, that worked out. Yeah,
Kate Brim 39:25
it was. It was two days after Loma Linda, not even two days actually got back from Loma Linda had the whole stress of the bike and stuff, and we were getting that figured out. I rode the first day that I got back. Notice my heart rate was little higher, but I was like, it's just stress, getting back to altitude, not going to sweat. It still felt fine, riding on the bike easy. It didn't feel feel terrible. And then about two o'clock in the morning, I woke up with a really high fever and the worst pain in my life ever. And it was just that light switch where, you know. If something is seriously wrong, there's no if ands or buts about it. It's code critical, like you need help, and so I end up going to the hospital. At first they tell me, Oh, it's just a bad UTI. We're gonna keep you a couple nights, do some IV antibiotics, and you should be good. Well, it ended up being two weeks later that I got out of the hospital because I ended up going to my kidneys. So here I am, you know, just having finished the trials and get this serious infection, I lost a ton of weight, got down to 97 pounds, being almost six foot tall, and had been stuck in a bed, unable to do anything for myself for nearly two weeks, and now I have to, you know, be ready to race in a matter of a few weeks,
Scott Benner 40:51
a common quad problem
Kate Brim 40:53
within spinal cord injuries, they can be Now, the thing that was Very shocking for me is I fortunately have not had many UTIs at all I did when I was first diagnosed with the spinal cord injury and stuff. I had issues with it, but it was just figuring out a regimen that worked for me, and then I didn't have UTIs for a super long time. Up until this recent one ended up in the hospital for two two weeks, it affected so much. It was more than just my kidneys. It completely destroyed my gut. Ended up being on a feeding tube and stuff to try to get food into me, because I was just throwing up constantly and couldn't keep anything down. Was sent to rehab for a couple days and then discharged. My body just got completely depleted from this infection, and now I have to go be ready to race on the biggest stage in the world. It turned into me just having to essentially trust that I have spent the last two and a half years working my butt off in training, and I was sick for two weeks. But it doesn't mean that I am completely destroyed. And I didn't want to count myself out. I said all I can do is the best that I can do. And that was the mentality I went into it. We went to our my orca camp. I rode very well. You know? It felt good to be getting back on the bike. Was definitely rough the first couple of days. The one thing that I was still dealing with, and still am to this day, was GI issues, as far as, like, what I couldn't, couldn't eat and stuff. I was having a lot of dead like, just digestion issues and things not
Scott Benner 42:31
was that after the antibiotics, yeah, yep,
Kate Brim 42:35
it was. So it started when the infection happened in the hospital, and has just persisted. That was, like, a really big challenge, was getting, like, fuel in me and stuff, and refiguring out just the whole eating aspect. And so, yeah, training camp happened. Felt good. We're now in the the Paralympic village in Paris, and it's, it's setting in, like, holy cow, I'm here on the biggest stage in the world, and you know it's gonna be go time in a matter of a few days. You're not your best self at that point. No, I'm definitely not. And but like I said, all I could keep reminding myself was, look, all you can do is the best that you can do. And I had to just go back to the roots of like there's something that we try to use a lot, a lot within racing, which is relative perceived effort, which is just when you're riding, listening to your body as far as how you're feeling. And that's exactly what I did come that race day was very challenging. Believe the days leading up to it, you know, there wasn't for me. I felt like I did not have the true, you know, village experience of like mingling with others and meeting a lot of people is lots of days in Sports Med and really keeping training controlled and checking in all the time and just making sure I'm feeling all right and things are going okay. And then, yeah, race day is here, and I'm now on the biggest stage in the world. And I mean that start pen and you know, very similar to Loma Linda, I said, I have to just put everything behind me, all the stress, all the worries, all the concerns, and I just have to go out there and give it my all the time trial is a unique a unique race. And we, when we're racing, we get a headset and we have what's called a follow car, which is essentially a coach who is following behind you, letting you know, hey, yep, you're doing good. Effort wise. Is your time? This is how far you are from the person behind you or in front of you. They they're able to, like, let you know all that information. And that was one of the biggest helpers that time in getting me through that. Race was just having that voice of like, you're doing awesome. Keep pushing, keep pushing. You're doing great. And just like that one time hearing those words was never like, more beneficial, yeah. So I did that race, and I was like, Okay, I did everything I could. You know, the numbers, the numbers were lower than they typically had been, but I still was able to go out there and do an amazing performance, and I crossed the finish line. And the unique thing about the time trial is when you cross the finish line, you typically have to wait for everyone else to finish before you know your result. Cross the finish line say, Okay, I did as good as I could, and then it probably wasn't even a minute later, my director, who was also in my ear piece, comes running out of the car and lets me know, Kate, you did it. You got first place. You're a Paralympic gold medalist. And I just froze like in the moment to think everything that had just happened over that last month, between the bike falling apart, having to get a new bike, ending up in the hospital for two weeks, I did it. I got Paralympic gold by nine seconds. And it just felt so surreal. I just froze in the moment. I was just so proud of myself for like, pushing through everything that had been thrown at me, and it was just that huge reminder of like, through the tough battles we can accomplish. So freaking much so so freaking much if you just, like, believe in yourself and you trust in the support that you have and lean on those that are helping you and stuff that was exactly what happened that race. Kate,
Scott Benner 46:47
what's the secret, though? What is it about your experiences that allows you to stop and say, I'm just not going to think about all those other things. You know?
Kate Brim 47:01
That's a good question.
Scott Benner 47:03
Everything you've said, I don't know that. It's not common sense. It's the doing it that's hard. You know what I mean, like? And so there's so many people listening, and they're like, Yeah, I I was upset. Like, I was upset this morning, Kate, because the company that cleans my gutters missed a part of it. And I was like, What now, I gotta call them and, like, and you're out there, like, Oh, my bike broke, and then I got a UTI. And, by the way, my legs, you know, they don't really do a whole lot. And, like, this is happening, and that's happening and, you know, and I got, I got kicked out over here, and I had to sit for six months, and, you know, I get into the shoot, and I'm like, Okay, I'll leave that all behind me, and I'll race this race, yeah, as a metaphor for life and day to day activity. And, you know, hardships and how come some people can get in that shoot and it just eats them alive, and they can't race. And some people get in and and just start with a fresh slate. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I'm trying to figure out where you get that slate, that clean slate, from. I think
Kate Brim 47:59
for me, especially this last year, it's been the support that I've had. You know, the team that's been around me continue to tell me, like between my coach and all the usopc staff, from sports medicine to sports physiology, strength conditioning, like, if people believe in me, believing in me, and just that reassurance of like, you are capable of doing this immediately after that was like, one of the first things that came out of my mouth is it would not have been doable had it not been for the team behind me. You know, cycling, so often in the public light, is viewed as an individual sport. It's the work that that athlete puts in, how much they're doing on the bike, what they're eating, but at the same time, I looked at my situation and I said that, yeah, there's definitely the self performance and self drive portion of it, but it is also that team behind me that helped me be able to do that and push my limits and find the strength and stuff to, like, get me through that race, like I explained, you know, having having our director in my ear just reassuring me, like, you're doing amazing. Keep going. Keep going. You've got this far left, and next, you know, I cross the finish line, and I've done it. It's definitely the team behind the
Scott Benner 49:21
team. Were you this person before your spinal cord injury? Or do you think this cascade of problems would have hit that Cate? Would you have just been like everybody else and like that sucks, and I'm getting screwed all over the place and I give up.
Kate Brim 49:33
No, I definitely, I definitely was not that way before. I was a lot less confident in life. I was very much, so I keep my feet planted on the ground. Didn't really try new things, but my injury happened, and it just the one thing it taught me is like we just have so much to be grateful for, and we take so much for granted. Getting outside of my comfort zone and you're pressing the limits and. And doing things that make me uncomfortable is just taught me so much and just continued to, you know, fuel that fire, as far as, like, pressing the limits and just showing myself and allowing me to be able to show others even what is truly, truly capable in life.
Scott Benner 50:17
So you had to lose something to gain that. Or do you think you could have found it through a different Pro, like, I'm trying to find out, did you get look? I'm not saying, You know what, I mean, like, your spinal cord injury was, like, lucky, or anything like that, but I'm saying, Is there, like, did you have to go through so much to give yourself that perspective? Do you think that you gained two lifetimes worth of perspective and one injury? Or, like, how do you feel, like you made the leap?
Kate Brim 50:42
I think it was me getting knocked on my, quite frankly, knocked on my ass, that showed me that perspective. And, you know, it's one of those things I have asked. I'd like, Why does it take some of us having absolutely detrimental things happen to us for us to learn, you know, what is truly, truly possible, or, you know, what greatness we we have and don't even realize. But for me, yeah, it, it took getting knocked on my knocked on my ass, to really realize what is out there and what I'm capable of, and the limits, and, you had the benefit of trying new things and getting myself out there. It's
Scott Benner 51:25
not that you're not impacted by bad luck, like it hits you still, like we heard that through your whole story, right? Like, it's still like you're like, Oh my God, this happened. This is happening, and that's happening this step, but it's when the rubber hits the road. Oh my god, literally, when the rubber hits the road. Sorry, I didn't mean to do that. I wasn't trying to make a pun, but when that happens, then it's time to give it away and just go exactly right, yep, huh? Well, you ought to bottle that and sell it. I think you could buy like, 1000 bikes. Yeah, wow, that's really crazy. Good for you, not, awesome, yeah, when you wake up from that surgery, you didn't know you're going to be this person. You know what? I mean? Oh,
Kate Brim 52:05
100% never in a million years, would I have imagined myself moving out here to the Olympic and Paralympic training center to be an elite level athlete. Yeah, never even being able
Scott Benner 52:14
to tell this story from your perspective now is just new. Yeah. Can I ask you a question that you may or may not have an answer to? I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Yeah, you get diagnosed with type one diabetes. Somebody does anybody right? Somebody's kid, they do, etc. It's clear to me, in hindsight, if you're a ship on a course, this is a wind that blows you in a different direction. Then there are some people who say, like, well, I want to get back to normal. And there are some people who say, Well, this is my new normal. I think I'm of the opinion that once you're blown in a different direction, there's different impact, there's now different variables to your life, like you're never getting back to where you are. I think the truth is, is that you wouldn't have stayed on that direction anyway, like other things would have changed in your life, changes constantly, so but it happens very abruptly with type one like you get, boom, there's a diagnosis. Bang, my, you know, my course has been changed. How do you accept that course? Because I don't think that it's so much that the one course or the other is necessarily better or worse than the other one. It's just this one's different than what I expected, and it happened so quickly that I didn't have time to adjust to it. So when, if this is all making sense, so if, when your course is abruptly changed, what's the secret to accepting it? It's
Kate Brim 53:33
a question, especially in the last several months, since the Paralympic games have been over, that I have asked myself a lot. I've had that question a lot of like, you know what? What is it truly that is keeping me, keeping me going, and keeping me dealing with all this just straight up bullshit that many would look at this situation as, like, What
Scott Benner 53:56
stops you from putting a fork in a socket? You know what? I mean? Like, yeah, yep, it's been a
Kate Brim 54:02
question I've had a lot recently because after the Paralympic Games, my team completely shut down my training and said, We've got to get get this gi stuff figured out. Because at the Paralympic Games, I was living off of smoothies and Cape farms Supplemental Nutritional drinks and still throwing up constantly and dealing with nausea and stuff, and I'm still dealing with it to this day, and we've been trying to figure it out. I've been absolutely thrown through the ringer as far as diagnostic testing recently, and it has been a very, very big thought of mine, of like, God, what does keep me driving? Because, you know, like I said, they shut down my training. They said no riding the bike until this is figured out. Just due to because I was dealing with autonomic dysreflex You, which is essentially with a spinal cord injury, the body saying, yo, Code Red, something's wrong. We're going to shoot your blood pressure up super high. And so I was dealing with that and stuff. And. I said, We got to get this figured out. You have to take a take a step back from the bike, which was very hard for me to digest, because, you know, like I explained to you earlier, the bike, for me, it was very freeing. It's very it's been a huge role in showing me what I am capable of, but also on the physical aspects of it. It was a huge part of my specificity and pain management. I deal with neuropathic nerve pain due to my spirit spinal cord injury and specificity due to your signals being sent incorrectly down the spinal canal to the injury. And it also was a huge role in my diabetes management. So having all that taken away, it was a huge bullet to bite because one pain, spasticity, diabetes management all started getting a little worse, and it was very hard for me to eat. And I just, you know, I was, like, really realizing how much, how much the bike has helped me deal with all this. And, yeah,
Scott Benner 56:09
it's purpose, right? Like, the one thing people need. It doesn't matter what the purpose is. People need purpose, yeah, you know, it took me a long time my my mom is gone now, right? But she worked. My mom worked, you know, as a kind of jobs that she tripped into when she was young. She was a stay at home mom for a very long time. Eventually, she had to go back to work. She took a retail job. She was basically just at a cash register in a in a pharmacy. But if you asked her about the job, the job was like helping people. It was talking to people. It was having conversations, and, you know, building communities of people who came in there and being supportive. And like, if you talk to her about her job, she wouldn't have mentioned the the exchange of the of the cash back and forth at the cash register, right? Like that, wasn't it? I think if you take my mom at the end of her life and say, hey, you know, you tell me your impact of your work life on the world. She would have spoken about it really lovingly, yeah, about like, you know, kids that worked there, and she'd help them with stuff and overwhelmed pharmacists that really, you know, were being asked to do too much. So people would pick up the slack and give people their prescriptions on time and, like all this other stuff. But in the end, what my mom had was, and it doesn't matter how you measure, she had some level of purpose and, and, I mean, I do the same thing, and I get up every day and I think, Oh, I'm gonna go try to help people with type one diabetes. Say that's, that's a purpose I have, right? I yeah, I raised my kids. It's a purpose. You know, people buy pets, they take care of them. They feel purposeful, like you lose the ability to walk. And I can see how very quickly your sense of purpose would just turn to self care, and that eventually you'd turn in on yourself, and there wouldn't be anything outside of you. And I think that could be difficult for somebody. So the bike, to me, is it's a hill to conquer.
Kate Brim 57:59
Yeah, yep, 100% it's the bike to me, has definitely been my, my purpose, you know, it's been my, my STI and my diabetes management. And it was very hard for for the few months that I had to completely take off the bike, of just having to sit there and taken the spasticity and really increased nerve pain and also all this gi stuff going on, and not having any outlet, I realized that my me riding the bike and me doing wheelchair rugby was my outlet, as far as managing all that, and it was very, very hard, and like I said, we're still to this day, searching for answers. I just had a colonoscopy the other day that went absolutely haywire. You know, she's been this test after test after test as far as trying to figure out what is going on, but just not having any answers. And so it's been hard to digest because, you know, so often I feel like I felt like I've just been in this big black hole of uncertainty with all this of like, okay, this is a really big issue as far as me being able to, you know, get in the nutritional support that one needs and stuff, but we just don't have any answers. You know, especially in the sports world, someone breaks their ankle, okay? Here's the surgery, here's how long the recovery is going to be, and this is what coming back to training is look like. It's pretty concrete as far as what the Road to Recovery looks like, whereas me, it's just been this big black hole of uncertainty since the infection back in July, and trying to figure out answers which has been, I think, a big reason why I've struggled so much to one step away from the bike, but also just cope with it and accept, like, Okay, this sucks. These are, these are my symptoms. What are the answers? You know? How do we move? Move on with this? And. And if this is my new normal, how do we approach it and how do we deal with it? Because right now, it's definitely I, in many ways, have felt like my life has just been completely shut down, and it's been super, super hard. What a doctor say about the gut stuff, there's kind of wonderance of gastroparesis. We did a gastric county study, but they weren't able to do it like they typically want, because the majority of the stuff had dairy in it.
Scott Benner 1:00:26
Kate, can I make a suggestion? Yeah, yeah. Let me make a suggestion. You haven't had type one very long, right? So the idea that you have gastroparesis because of poor diet, like type one insulin used or controlled, it's pretty unreasonable. So do they think it's because of the injury? Or Has anyone talked to you about the fact that, you know, a lot of type ones just have digestive problems? Yeah.
Kate Brim 1:00:51
So that was something that was looked at. Looked at they looked at like the pancreatic and liver enzymes within blood work and stuff. When I was in the hospital, they did a small bile duct study, they did an endoscopy, and it's just we're in this big black hole of uncertainty. And I'm actually currently awaiting a call today, hopefully to figure out what our next steps are, because I've just gotten to the point of it, of like, you know, there's some things in life we may never have a complete answer to but the one thing that just has not happened for me recently has been okay. I want to search for answers, and I want to figure out what's going on, but I want to address symptom management as well. Yeah,
Scott Benner 1:01:33
but wait what? What's happening is your stomach just hurt. Are you just not your meals aren't moving through you as much nausea
Kate Brim 1:01:40
and vomiting, throwing up meals six hours after the fact of eating them, as if I just ate it.
Scott Benner 1:01:46
Okay, listen, I want to be very 100% million percent clear. I barely graduated from high school. Okay, yeah. I'm definitely not a doctor, but I think you should take a couple of minutes just to look into a simple over the counter digestive enzyme, yeah, which helps a lot of people with type one.
Kate Brim 1:02:04
Yeah, it's so that has been mentioned, and that is something that I'm I had brought up with GI and is part of the call that I'm awaiting, yeah, but it's just yeah, figuring out the the right course to go about it and stuff, also, with all the anti doping stuff, because I can't just go pick up a bottle of digestive enzymes and just take
Scott Benner 1:02:26
it. You have to make sure. Don't want to reopen that can of worms. Yeah, exactly. Do you listen to the podcast at all? Yeah? Yeah. 792 episode 792 is called owner of a useless pan grace. It's me and Jenny talking about the other things that your pancreas does, besides, you know, insulin. And in that conversation, you'll hear me talk about how I, at some point had to add digestive enzymes to Arden's diet because she was having the same problems you're having, not the throwing up, but a lot of the other stuff, right? Also, I'm not saying you don't have gastroparesis. I'm just saying that these digestive enzymes are over the counter. If you look at the you know, I obviously would want you to really, really, really look at the ingredients. There's nothing in them that I can imagine off the top of my head. That would be a problem for you. Yeah? Yeah. There's a couple of companies that make really good ones. I'm looking at the label right now for one that I'd be completely comfortable telling you is valuable. Amylase, protease, protease six glyco my lace, lactase, lipase, beta glucanase, invertase, Celia alpha galactosidis, protase three, Fauci and hemo cilia. I don't know, I don't know what any of that is, okay, but, like, I do know that. I've seen it help a lot of people, yeah, yeah, a lot of people. I sometimes they just take them with, like, high fat or meals or like protein, you know, like, like meat. I don't know how you eat even, but if you can go use those without it being a doping issue, yeah, if they work for you, you'll know really quickly, yeah, like, it's not a thing you got to do for months and go like, well, I don't know. Like, you know what I mean, like, in a couple of days, you'll just be like, Oh, this is helping, yeah, and it kind of gives your gut a chance to maybe heal. Then at that point, yeah, I don't know. Like, by taking some of the load off of it, I honestly, I'm just using, I'm using phrasing and words from my experience watching it happen for somebody else. Like, obviously, there's nothing medical about what I'm saying, but I'm telling you, like, it's a really, really strong possibility that this is the only problem you have. So anyway, I would listen to 792 Yeah, before that diet. And if you, if it really, you know, catches your attention, you think, Okay, let me, let me look more into it. There's 767, where I just talk briefly about everything that Arden takes as a supplement. And honestly, if you go to Juicebox Podcast com and just search the word digestive, you'll get a. Lot of episodes where people are talking about it, yeah,
Kate Brim 1:05:02
no. It's, it's something that I have been very familiar with and, like, aware of good and it's, yeah, that's definitely kind of the next route that I am kind of going. I
Scott Benner 1:05:13
think you need an easy answer once in a while. Is what I'm saying? Oh, 100%
Kate Brim 1:05:18
Yeah. No. Like I said, it's especially after this colonoscopy, I just have felt so burnt out, as far as you know, going into these, these tests and just not getting answers and stuff. Yeah,
Scott Benner 1:05:32
no, no, of course. Listen, my my daughter, who's a 1c has been between five two and six two. Now maybe what she went off to college. So five, two and six, five for, like, I don't know, I don't even know, like, a decade, right? Yeah, and she's got, you know, her stomach hurts, and you know, you do all the things I'm sure you've gone through too, and then eventually she ends up at an endoscopy, right? So down there, looking in her stomach, doing a gastric emptying test and everything. And the doctor just comes back to us and says, Arden has gastroparesis. Yeah, that doctor might just mean slow gastric emptying. That's not a thing you say to the parents or a person with type one diabetes, because we have a completely different perspective on what that might mean, right? Yeah. And so I'm like, standing I'm like, that's not possible, but maybe it is, like, who knows? You know? And if I didn't have Jenny to talk to privately, who was like, listen, Arden does not have gastroparesis. Like, let's look into other stuff. And they gave her this gastroparesis diet, which Kate was terrible, and didn't help any. She did it religiously for a month, and it just didn't change a damn thing. And I'm not, I'm not lying to you. Like, this is exactly what happened at the end of the month. She goes, I want a cheeseburger. I don't care if my stomach hurts. I'm done with this stupid diet. It's not helping. Yeah, I remember this, right? And she's just like, My stomach's gonna hurt. And I guess this is my lot in life. And I was like, All right, I'll get you a cheeseburger, but you have to go to the health food store with me first. And we went to the health food store, and all I did was took the crunchiest lady in the place who looked like she was in like, good shape, and I told her what happened, and she gave her a digestive enzyme, and she took two of them and ate the cheeseburger, and she was okay, yeah,
Kate Brim 1:07:13
no, it's definitely something I am wanting to, like, explore, yeah. And have have brought it to the attention of the GI because, like, the thing is, it's been a very good experience. He has done a very good job being very thorough and stuff on the diagnostic side, but where we're lacking is just the symptom management side. And so it's yeah, now I'm to the point where I'm like, Okay, we what can we try and like something
Scott Benner 1:07:41
you can buy on Amazon and have at your house today? Yeah, I mean, keep in mind this, and I'm not bad mouthing anybody, but like the doctor you went to can't make any money if he just gives you a digestive enzyme and says, Oh, your belly hurts. Try this. He's got to do a test. He's got to stick a tube in your butt. He's got a lot of things he's got to do if he wants to charge your money. So, I mean, what I ended up doing was listening to a lady who, in the end, I believe, might have been a wish doctor. That's fine. She's just this lovely hippie. And, you know, she was just very helpful. Now she has said stuff to me too that I've been like, okay, focus, focus. Thank you. Yeah, and I don't listen. But on this one thing just really worked out, you know. So anyway, I wish you a ton of luck. Is there anything we haven't talked about that we should have we're getting
Kate Brim 1:08:26
a little long here. I don't think so. No, awesome. Think we hit the nail on the head.
Scott Benner 1:08:30
I appreciate you doing this again. I love you're such a good shepherd of your own story, which some people aren't. I like this. I like talking to you because I really, genuinely think, and I say this to people once in a while, like I could have said, everybody, this is Cate. She was on the podcast. Kate. She was on the podcast before I could have gotten a sandwich and come back, and I would have been like, are we done, Kate? And you'd been like, yep, told my whole story. And I think, Oh, you're just very good at it. So thank you. I appreciate it. No, I really appreciate it. That's a pleasure. Can people check you out online somewhere?
Kate Brim 1:08:56
Quad Cate on Instagram. Nice. You.
Scott Benner 1:09:05
This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by us med. US med.com/juice, box, or call 888-721-1514, US med is where my daughter gets her diabetes supplies from and you could too use the link or number to get your free benefits check and get started today with us, met Ardyn started using a contour meter because of its accuracy, but she continues to use it because it's durable and trustworthy. If you have diabetes you want the contour, next gen blood glucose meter. There's already so many decisions. Let me take this one off your plate. Contour, next.com/juicebox
Are you starting to see patterns, but you can't quite make sense of them. You're like, Oh, if I Bolus here, this happens, but I don't know what to do. Should I put in? A little less, a little more. If you're starting to have those thoughts, you're starting to think this isn't going the way the doctor said it would. I think I see something here, but I can't be sure. Once you're having those thoughts, you're ready for the diabetes Pro Tip series from the Juicebox Podcast. It begins at Episode 1000 you can also find it at Juicebox podcast.com up in the menu, and you can find a list in the private Facebook group. Just check right under the featured tab at the top, it'll show you lists of a ton of stuff, including the Pro Tip series, which runs from episode 1000 to 1025 if you're not already subscribed or following in your favorite audio app, please take the time now to do that, it really helps the show and get those automatic downloads set up so you never miss an episode. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast. The episode you just heard was professionally edited by wrong way recording, wrongway recording.com, you.
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