shawn shepheard is an executive business coach, an avid hockey player and a natural storyteller. he also has
diabetes.
as an advocate, he helps people with the metabolic disease figure out how to live their lives to the fullest via his
youtube
and memoir,
life is sweet
.
healthing checked in with shepheard on what it’s like managing type 1
diabetes for more than two decades, and how he stays focused on the more important things in life.
this interview has been edited for length and clarity.
what are some of the things you needed to be brutally honest about when it comes to diabetes?
well, i couldn’t ignore it. it was a challenge. testing my blood, taking insulin, knowing absolutely everything i do affects my blood glucose, exercise, stress, lack of sleep, diet, you name it. there were no days off with diabetes. t’s 365 days a year, for life. but the flip side of that is there are so many things that we can do now. technology and everything has come such a long way. i’m just really, really grateful for the tools that we have now.
what’s the difference between managing diabetes today compared to a few decades ago?
so when i was first diagnosed in 1997 , i was testing my blood anywhere between eight to 12 times a day. so you can imagine a) the physical pain b) the inconvenience, and just how that would hamper your day-to-day. even if you tested your blood often, it was still incomplete information because it gave you a snapshot in that particular moment, but you had no idea if your blood sugar was going up or down, which is critical, especially if you’re taking insulin. fast forward to now and i wear the
dexcom g6
(an adhesive patch that i wear on my abdomen that measures glucose readings). going from from eight to 12 fingersticks a day to zero is unbelievable.
4 minute read
