(upbeat music)
Hello, everybody.
Jess Stainbrook here
with the Invisible Disabilities Association
with another podcast, "InVisible InCourage".
And I've got DeAndre Carter from the Las Vegas Raiders
and a visitor as well, Kristen, from...
It's called, what?
Beyond... Beyond Type 1.
Beyond Type 1, where we're talking about diabetes.
So DeAndre, give me a little bit of background,
and maybe, how you got on the team, what it's like,
a little bit of football stuff,
since we're here at Super Bowl Media Week.
Yeah, for sure.
I'm going on year 10 in the league.
Came out of Sacramento State.
Got then drafted to Baltimore.
It's been a journey ever since.
I've been on a few teams,
but excited to be here at Vegas now.
Well, and as I understand it,
you're dealing with type 1 diabetes, right?
What's that like, man?
How'd you find that out,
and tell me about your experience with that?
Yeah, so I was diagnosed type 1 when I was 14 years old.
Wasn't feeling too well,
was losing weight pretty fast and,
like, peeing all the time, a lot of urination.
Couldn't really quench my thirst, which is, like, the signs,
you know, early signs of diabetes.
Well, and we wanna talk about that,
'cause some people don't know.
Exactly, exactly.
And that's kind of what our mission is here this week
and with Beyond Type 1,
is just to bring awareness and information
to people about symptoms they may be experiencing,
so we can catch it early enough.
And also, if you already have it,
or something like that,
just different resources and things
that you can reach out to,
that you can use to, you know,
help your diagnosis go a little bit better.
You know, it's interesting too,
because type 1 is the one that if you have it, you have it.
Type 2, you can actually usually do something
about changing with diet, right?
Yeah, and I think that's kind of like a common,
I don't wanna say misconception,
but I think a lot of people know a lot
about type 2 diabetes.
I think that's somewhat the more common one.
Like you said,
you can kind of get rid of it with diet and exercising.
I have type I, which is, there's no cure for it.
I'm insulin-dependent.
And so, Kristen, actually,
can go into a lot more better detail about that than I can.
(DeAndre giggling)
Well, let's do that.
Kristen, what do you got for us?
Sure.
So Beyond Type 1 is an organization.
We're really working to make sure people have access
to this information, the tools,
resources they need to be able to thrive
with type 1 diabetes.
And so, this campaign we're doing
in partnership with the NFL Alumni Association,
it's called "Huddle for Diabetes",
and it's all about just bringing awareness
to these signs of diabetes.
We know that
about 300,000 people have lost their lives unnecessarily
to not recognizing the signs of diabetes,
and that's just not acceptable.
We have so many people in this country
who are walking around,
living with type 2 diabetes and don't know,
or they're at risk for type 1 diabetes and are unaware.
And unfortunately, if people don't notice the signs,
particularly in the case of type 1,
you could end up in the emergency room
and what we call DKA, diabetic ketoacidosis,
and you could lose your life, I mean,
very quickly to type 1, if you don't recognize this.
The average onset age is 13.
So these signs are easily missed.
You know, you're a kid, like DeAndre was,
you're playing football, you're playing basketball,
you're losing weight.
They don't think that's a big deal.
You're thirsty all the time.
They're just easily missed.
And diagnoses in general are missed constantly for diabetes,
for type 1 and for type 2.
And so, we're really excited about this partnership.
I'm so thrilled to have DeAndre as our ambassador,
out spreading awareness around this.
It is a truly lifesaving thing.
So, everyone just needs to know it's really easy.
He said it, right?
That frequent urination, excessive thirst.
Like, we've got all these images
of people like pouring water, you know, down their throat.
Like, you can't get enough water, right?
Exhaustion.
You're really tired all the time, right?
That unexplained weight loss.
So, all of those things, if people could just remember them,
share them in your sphere of influence.
Others can become ambassadors, just like DeAndre.
So, if you're watching this, you can go to our website,
beyondtype1.org.
You can sign up to be an ambassador,
and we'll send you posters you can distribute
in your community,
all kinds of resources to spread awareness of these signs.
Well, and I do wanna say that, obviously,
you're a professional athlete living
at a high level, still playing a sport that you love.
I think you need to encourage people
that stuff goes for you.
Yeah, and that's kind of been like my main mission,
you know, this week,
partnering up with NFL Alumni Health
and Beyond Type 1,
to just encourage kids and let kids know that,
as long as you stay on top of it, manage it, right,
follow the plan that your doctor lays out to you,
there's nothing that you can't do.
I'm going on year 10 in the NFL.
And so, the sky's still the limit.
It's nothing that will stop you from achieving your dreams.
That's great, man.
Well keep that going. Yes sir.
How do they find out about your organization?
Yeah, again, they can go to beyondtype1.org.
Just a plethora of resources that you can find.
Everything that DeAndre just said
about being able to operate at the highest levels,
that's what we're all about as an organization.
Really trying to change the conversation
and the dialogue and the perception of what it means
to live with diabetes.
And again, DeAndre's such a good example.
When you have the right information,
the right access to resources and tools,
you can really thrive, and you know,
still be able to accomplish your dreams with this diagnosis.
And so, we wanna see people living beyond diagnosis
with type 1, and it starts with seeing the signs.
And then, you know, if you are diagnosed,
check out our website, get those information,
the resources so you can manage it and thrive like DeAndre.
Well, there we are,
Jess Stainbrook with "InVisible InCourage" podcast
and go ahead and check out the screen.
You'll find where to go for Beyond Type 1
to deal with diabetes.
Certainly, fits within the realm
of us talking about people living
with invisible disabilities.
So, thanks for being with us.
We'll see you on the next show.
(upbeat music)