How 35 years of Type 1 Diabetes influenced our decisions about COVID
Enjoying some time outdoors in North Georgia in 2022.
On January 13th, 1988, I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in Columbia, South Carolina. On 1/13/2023, I hit 35 years since my diagnosis (Diaversary, DiaBirthday, etc.). As I reflect on the last few years, I realize that my diabetes experience helped me make the right decisions for myself and my family.
First, I am NOT a medical doctor, scientist, or other licensed professional and nothing in this post can or should be taken as healthcare advice. This post is also NOT meant to shame or condemn anyone that made different decisions concerning their health. This is only meant to inform readers of my experience and hopefully allows them to make better health related decisions in the future.
BACKGROUND
If you would like to know more about my personal diabetes history, diagnosis, treatment opinions, the “backstory,” etc. feel free to read my other posts by visiting this link: DIABETES posts. If you would like to read my previous posts concerning COVID, you may visit this link: COVID posts.
TRIAL-AND-ERROR
All forms of diabetes involve an amount trial-and-error behaviors. The volume of those behaviors depends on the patient, their type of diabetes, their disease severity , their treatment plan, other healthcare complications, lifestyle choices, their peer group, where they get their information, and their willingness to try new things to see what may improve their life as a diabetic. For those “normies” (non diabetics), a single unit of insulin (1u of insulin) will affect each individual differently. Meaning that 1u of insulin will not provide the same outcome for all patients like 500mg of Tylenol, 10ml of loratadine, etc. The overwhelming majority of insulin dependent diabetics operate on some sort of sensitivity or correction factor, and this is normally something like 1 to 30… 1 to 50… 1 to 100… etc. This means that 1u of insulin will lower blood sugar by a certain number during most conditions. This correction factor is NOT always consistent and can be affected by puberty (hormonal or emotional changed), exercise, illness, injection site, injection method (pump, manual injection, inhaled insulin, etc.), and stress level to name a few. If you can fully process all of the above, this is just one example of the trail-and-error involved in attempting to calculate one of the most basic decisions for the life of any insulin dependent diabetic. There are 100’s if not 1000’s of these types of decisions that diabetics have to calculate and evaluate on a regular basis as they age with their diabetes.
After 35 years, it has been my experience that those diabetics that #1. Interact with and learn from other diabetics (especially as juveniles) and #2. Have a willingness to try new things, treatments, etc. for their diabetes navigate the trail-and-error process much faster and end up with better long term outcomes. They are also more adaptable to varying changes with their diabetes, travel easier, and are more prepared for potential new treatment methods in the future.
Trail-and-error decision making is a necessary part of a healthy life with diabetes. Most trail-and-error decision making processes are not dangerous as long as the patient understands the potential side effects, outcomes, etc. for the trial they are getting ready to perform and ensure they monitor their health during the trial to prevent severe reactions from occurring. As an experienced diabetic, I have tried new insulins whiteout visiting my doctor because my doctors know me, my experience, how I approach my diabetes, and in many cases, will ask for my opinion(s) at my next in office visit. Since most Endocrinologists are NOT type 1 diabetics, the best doctors ask their patients what they think, measure and determine their outcomes and use this information to make recommendations for other patients. This type of process has been present throughout medical history and is nothing new, but has become less common as increasingly more individuals rely more on licensed medical recommendations vs empowering themselves to make their own healthcare decisions. “A healthy and experienced diabetic will know more about their disease and what they need than any doctor. The best doctors encourage their patient’s yp achieve that status as quickly and safely as possible.”
A trail-and-error lifestyle as been very beneficial over the past few years as everyone was forced to make decisions concerning COVID (coronavirus). The remainder of this post will focus on my experience with COVID.
MY COVID EXPERIENCE
CHINA
Growing up in South Carolina, my best friend in elementary school was Glenn. He and I reconnected in our 20’s and were roommates for a short period of time when I was a golf pro in Columbia (SC). After moving to ATL, he went on to teach English in the Shenzhen, Guangdong region of China for several years. In the Fall f 2019, he and started corresponding over Instagram (IG). He had to use a VPN in China in order to access IG since the Chinese govt does not allow it. After not being able to locate any masks and things shutting down, he asked me to send him some N95 masks in February of 2020. On 2/4/2020, I sent Glenn a box of masks and a giant a pkg of Halls cough drops (he cant get those in China). The pkg got delivered around March 3rd, 2020. Since he was not allowed to work with the rest of the country, he and I would chat regularly about the “goings on” in China and how none of what he was seeing made much sense. Either way, he got paid to sit at home while the situation played out over the coming months and sent me lots of pics which are shown in the gallery below.
USA
Once things began to shut down in the USA, I dedicated time and attention to what was happening globally, nationally, and locally to better understand what to do next. Our kids were sent home from school and continued virtually, we began working out as a family at home, and did our best to continue life. I took a break from our company, went to work full time in April of 2020, and starting traveling to and from the office in North GA.
As the months went by, it was clear that something was happening to control the narrative in a particular direction. I did not trust the emerging narrative because most of it did not make sense (see below for a pasted section from a previous post). It was clear that COVID was dangerous and could be deadly, but I was not overly concerned about severe health consequences for me or my family if we contracted the virus. During this period, the courts system shut down. As a result, the adoption of our two (2) sons was finalized behind closed doors and without our participation. We were EXTATIC about having our adoption journey concluding, but needed to do something to celebrate. As a result, we rented a conference room in Canton (GA) at a local co-working space and had a mock adoption finalization ceremony with our attorney, our DFCS caseworker, and a few friends and family. Everyone stayed a fair distance from each other in the conference room and our tiny reception was outdoors, but we made sure the boys didn’t feel like it was restricted by the pandemic. See below for a few pics from our big day. While we were not concerned about COVID, we wanted to respect those that were and wanted to celebrate with our family.
As time passed, we met several family and friends that had contracted the virus. Several of them ended up in the hospital with serious side affects. Others had lingering issues weeks and months after they recovered. I asked a these folks a LOT of questions: how did they feel, did they go to the hospital, what was their course of treatment, how do they feel now, etc. and made a mental note about all of their answers. Most of the folks we met with COVID experience felt crummy for a few days (similar to the flu, strep, etc.) and then went back to normal life. Many people were scared and unsure what to do… We decided to live our lives as normal as possible, wore masks when we were asked to do so, and continued researching. In August of 2020, we decided to homeschool our children. Not because we were concerned about them getting sick, but at that time, we did not think that Cherokee County would be “in person” for schooling past Christmas. Since our kids came from the foster care system, we wanted them to have as much consistency as possible, and decided homeschooling gave us that option. After the Christmas break and no school closures, we sent them both back to in person learning. One went to a private school that allowed him to develop better socially and the other went to public school.
In conjunction, many new treatments were emerging like the potential vaccine and other, less invasive treatments. We originally learned about the FLCCC (Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance) from one of our favorite podcasters, Chris Martenson with Peak Prosperity. Since most of the original FLCCC prevention protocols (the current protocols pictured below) involved vitamins and several drugs that were developed many years ago, we agreed that trying the protocols made the most sense because there was little chance of any adverse side effects.
The most recent FLCCC I-PREVENT protocols are listed below. They differ slightly from the protocols from several years ago.
For whatever reason (this post will not discuss all of those possibilities), Ivermectin was being vilified. It has been my past diabetes experience that whenever the Federal Government gets into making specific healthcare recommendations, you should do the exact opposite. If you need any examples, just look at the food pyramid. “Eat this, it’s good for you” or my personal favorite, “Milk, it does a body good.” No, actually it isn’t or doesn’t… So we began to research how to obtain Ivermectin for ourselves. In June of 2021, we filled our first Ivermectin prescription and started the FLCCC’s prevention protocols. We did not adopt the full protocols for our kids other than the vitamin regimen because the data was clear that kids were not at serious risk of any adverse side effects. What kid doesn’t like a Vitamin D gummy…
At the same time Governments were preaching the wrong messages, the media also jumped on the skewed bandwagon. The next section is taken from one of my previous posts The Choice in Cherokee County Georgia is a small example of how the larger narrative was being pushed.
The Media
This past Saturday morning, 8/8/2020, I volunteered to speak with Benjamin Pu from MSNBC about our experience with CCSD. First, Ben was very professional, kind, inquisitive, and somewhat direct, great qualities for a reporter. After I answered his call, he introduced himself, and gave me the primary reasoning for the call. He did not speak as confidently at the beginning of our chat and mentioned that they were looking for parents that were having trouble navigating in person learning and/or digital learning through the county. He also talked around what he was looking for, a negative story. He then asked if I had kids in CCSD?
I mentioned that we had two (2) kids, 5 and 6 yrs old, that would have attended Arnold Mill Elementary this year, that our oldest attended the same school the previous year for kindergarten, had a great experience, that our youngest would have started this year, and both had been looking forward to the start of school. I then mentioned that we had elected to home school for the 2020-21 school year and not because of safety concerns, but because we as parents felt that it was irresponsible for us to force them through another transition. He then asked me to provide some additional details. I mentioned that we had recently finalized their adoption through Cherokee County DFCS and when they moved in with us in August of 2018, we were their 6th home. I discussed in detail how our kids, and most foster kids, deal with transitions and require routines and structure. All kids thrive on structure, but foster kids require it for developmental success. It also aids in building comfort and a feeling of permanency. I mentioned that our oldest does not deal well with change. When our oldest was abruptly sent home from Arnold Mill Elementary and our youngest from Woodhaven Academy (pre-k) due to the pandemic, we once again dealt with behavior issues and spent the months since then providing consistency, structure, and building routines. I informed Ben that we were active in our community and informed him that my prediction was that the Cherokee County School System would be all digital by Christmas time due to an increase in corona virus cases in the schools. Based on that prediction, we did not want to send our kids back to school to only have them come back home after a few months and elected to withdraw them from CCSD and home school. Fortunately, my husband is a former high school teacher, and was willing to take on this incredible responsibility. Despite having to make this tough decision, I told Ben that we supported the CCSD and appreciated that they provided the opportunity for all parents to choose what works best for their families.
Once I covered that information, he appreciated the detailed narrative that went into our decision, but MSNBC was not going to have us participate. They wanted parents that had kids enrolled in in-person learning and digital learning through the county and could show the challenges that they were facing. Essentially, they only wanted to hear the negative experiences. Even though I was very put off by the idea that homeschooling two (2) boys under age 6 is not “challenging,” I appreciated his time, and mentioned that if MSNBC wanted to tell the entire story, he was welcome to reach back out.
This means that out of the three (3) total options that CCSD presented, the media (in the form of MSNBC) was not even covering the third option: Homeschooling. I assume because it does not fit in with the narrative they are attempting to portray from our county.
COVID EXPERIENCE
In August of 2021, both of our children went back to “in person” learning at Arnold Mill Elementary (our local public school). Sometime shortly after going back to school, both boys came home complaining about sore legs. We did what any reasonable parent would do at that time and checked their temperature for the next few days and monitored their symptoms. Other than a minor headache one afternoon, they never had any other symptoms other than pain in their legs. At that time, we did not think it was COVID related since they did not have other symptoms, we assumed it was growing pains. On Tuesday of the following week, my husband called me after I’d already gone to work and mentioned not feeling well. My first thought was F&*), and suggested he go to the local urgent care for a COVID test. The test came back Positive. I notified my HR dept, packed up my office, and prepared to head home for a few weeks. We also called and notified our kid’s school. The school Nurse informed us that as long as the kids were not exhibiting any symptoms, running a fever, etc., they were allowed to come to school.
The next day, I began to exhibit symptoms and went to the local urgent care for a COVID test. They did not have availability that day but scheduled me to come early the next. The next day, my test came back positive and I shifted from the FLCCC iPrevent protocols to the iCare protocols. Here is a link to the most updated version of those protocols: iCare Protocols
At the time of our positive tests, Ivermectin, Vit D, Vit C, Quercetin, Zinc, and Melatonin were the recommended primary treatments. We also added Elderberry to the treatment regimen because of it’s well known benefits and Tylenol to treat the fever, headache, etc. I quarantined myself in our bedroom/bathroom and proceeded to rest, got work done on my laptop, and watched some Netflix. Over the next few days, my temp never got above 100.5, I had some mild dizziness, a mild headache, some minor congestion, and a minor cough. I also did not see a rise in my avg blood sugar which can be common to see when the body is fighting an infection. The following Saturday, I removed myself from quarantine after being fever free for 24 hours, and did some work outside. I felt somewhat weak but knew I needed to get up, get moving, and get some sun! I didn’t think I pushed myself too hard for the first day out and enjoyed a relaxing evening at home. The next day, I woke up with another 101.5 degree fever and went back to Tylenol. After seeing the spike in temp, I went back to resting that day, and was fortunate to wake up the following morning with no temp. Guess the virus had one last gasp left… After that, my temp remained normal and I remained home for the required time period prior to returning to work. During this same time period, my husband felt crummy for a few days, and then recovered quickly. It took me a few more days to kick the COVID.
I cannot prove whether Ivermectin was beneficial to us beating COVID, but it did not affect me adversely. So from my perspective, I see no reason why it shouldn’t at least be discussed as part of a COVID treatment plan. It cannot just be coincidental that the countries that had heavy Ivermectin use prior to the pandemic has better outcomes, so I would take it again if/when I get COVID again.
COVID SIDE EFFECTS
Around 30-60 days post COVID recovery, I began experiencing chest pains and shortness of breath. After not having it go away for a week or so, I called my primary care doc, and went in for a visit. He evaluated me and ran an in office EKG which came back abnormal. This abnormal result could have been COVID related or it could also be that I am a fit male which can cause some minor abnormalities to appear on a simple EKG test. My doc also told me that he’d seen other fit male patients complaining about the same chest pain and shortness of breath. Most of them saw their symptoms decline over a period of weeks but since I had type 1 diabetes, he and I both agreed that I should see a Cardiologist and get a chest x-ray. He also recommended that I NOT get vaccinated since I already had COVID and he was seeing similar side effects post vaccination.
That afternoon, I was getting my chest x-rayed and within a few days, I was at the Cardiologist’s office. My chest x-ray came back with good results, no issues with my lungs or heart. Over the next few weeks, I had an Ultrasound, another EKG, a stress test, and a nuclear stress test. After all of this testing, my heart was determined to be a great condition, had no issues or concerns, and I was formally diagnosed with what my doctor called “Myo-Pericarditus” with COVID as the likely causation. Myocarditis being the inflammation of the inner lining of the heart and Pericarditis being the inflammation of the outer layer of the heart. The doctor said they combined the 2 conditions into once since they were seeing an influx of patient’s presenting with the same symptoms and conditions and without cutting a patient open to look at the heart, they could not accurately determine which carditis it was, but the treatment was the same. By the time I received my diagnosis, my symptoms had greatly improved, but I elected to follow the docs treatment recommendations, and took a common drug called Colchicine to treat the inflammation. The Colchicine experience was NOT fun as one of the primary side effects is extreme digestive issues. If you ever need to get cleaned out and reduce inflammation, take Colchicine. During this time, I continued to work as normal, went to the gym as normal, and tried to live as normal as possible while dealing with the symptoms associated with COVID side effects. My Cardiologist also made several recommendations post diagnosis:
#1. Do not get vaccinated. Since the COVID mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) tell the body to produce spike proteins and those spike proteins cause inflammation, anyone with cardio vascular side effects caused by COVID should not get vaccinated and…
#2. You’ve already had COVID and recovered; therefore, you already have some level of protection that is more effective than any vaccine.
After a few months from their initial onset, the symptoms went away…. Unfortunately, I got COVID a 2nd time (Omicron) around 2 months after recovering.
After my 2nd positive COVID test, I again started the FLCCC’s treatment protocols which now included Hydroxychloroquine (instead of Ivermectin for the Omicron variant), Black Seed Oil (Nigella sativa), Aspirin, Fluvoxamine (optional for post COVID brain fog), Azithromycin/Z-pack, and a nebulized steroid inhaler. I attempted to use the steroid inhaler, but stopped after a few days due to a noticeable rise in blood sugar resulting from the steroid. Since I previously had longer term side effects from COVID, I was mindful about paying more attention to my body as it healed from my 2nd bout with COVID. Fortunately, other than a massive sore throat, I did NOT experience any other symptoms. Since then, I have not experienced any long term side effects and feel that we made the ride decisions concerning or COVID treatment choices and how we approached our lives during the initial 2 years post COVID introduction into the mainstream.
MY COMMON SENSE
When I saw this online, I thought.. “THANK GOD,” common sense is emerging…
When I first learned about COVID, it didn’t seem that bad, and I still remember jokingly, but also seriously, telling my husband that I wanted to contract SARs-COV 2 so I could experience it firsthand. This did NOT mean that I sought it out… Other than having Type 1 Diabetes, I am a healthy person, did not and do not see COVID as a condition in which I felt or feel the need to alter my lifestyle to avoid. This attitude has proven to be the right decision for me and my family as time has progressed and also understand that our decisions are NOT for everyone. Others in the population are more susceptible to fear based on logical concerns taken as face-value and/or exhibit irrational behavior in participating in the madness of crowds.
As a diabetic, I was previously told that carbs (carbohydrates) were good (1980s), then carbs were bad (2000s), then whole food carbs were ok (2010’s)… as the story changes, you have to figure out what works best for you regardless of the opinions of “educated” medical professionals. At the beginning of COVID, the world was scared of the viral boogeyman and the fear was stoked by a lack of information. We didn’t know what to think, how to act, or what was going to happen next… Our family was also unsure what to so, so we followed the advice and initially stayed at home. As we saw the story unfolding around the world and in our backyard, we made decisions, and went on living.
Now that more and more stories and studies are being released (if you haven’t seen them, let me know, and I will send them to you), I am 100% sure of these things:
Any COVID vaccine is not as beneficial as contracting and allowing your body to beat the virus on its own.
I will never touch, nor will I allow my children to receive, any COVID vaccine.
If our society wants to have a successful healthcare system, vaccine manufactures must be legally and financially liable for the side effects caused by their products.
Maintaining a active lifestyle, exercising, eating good and healthy food, getting outside (Vit D), and keeping stress at a low level is paramount for a long and healthy life.
Both Joe and I had friends pass away from COVID and from taking the vaccine. Either way, the respiratory virus is going to be with us forever. As much as I would LOVE to know where it came from and have anyone that was involved held accountable in the public square, I know that’s wishful thinking.
My Common Sense would tell the rest of the world to take care of your body, think for yourselves, do not fully trust information that asks you to do something for someone else’s financial benefit, and question everything.
If you want to have a constructive conversation about this or anything else, message me, and let's grab coffee or a beer.
Have a good one,
Dan
