Charity Dimas has spent her career in healthcare — EMS, medical assisting, nursing school, and now organ procurement, where she works with deceased organ donors and has learned more about the pancreas than she ever expected. She was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in March of this year. And the paradigm shift from knowing about diabetes clinically to actually living with it as a patient has been one of the most humbling and illuminating experiences of her life.

In this episode Charity and I get into what no one in clinical training ever teaches — that hormones, sleep deprivation, stress, elevation changes, and the context behind every blood sugar number matter just as much as the data itself. That compassion and curiosity are more powerful management tools than any device. And that understanding something intellectually and actually doing it are two completely different things.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Why clinical knowledge about diabetes and actually living with it are two completely different experiences
• Why compassion and curiosity are the two most powerful tools in diabetes management
• How grief after a Type 1 diagnosis is real — and why almost nobody talks about it honestly
• Why data without context is meaningless — and how to ask better questions about your own numbers
• What standard deviation tells you about your blood sugar that time in range never will
• The real state of the Type 1 diabetes cure — why three to five deceased donors are needed per patient
• Why the healthiest diabetics will be last in line for islet cell transplants — and why that’s actually the right outcome
• What the Islet Act is and why it still hasn’t passed
• Why Type 1 diabetics are not automatically disqualified from organ donation
• The three pieces of advice Charity would give every diabetic right now — trade judgment for curiosity, build systems for real life, and use your full care team

Your diagnosis doesn’t define your health. Your caring for your body defines your health. The cure may be coming — but it isn’t here yet. And the people who will be ready for it are the ones who took care of themselves in the meantime.

Additional Resources

• 🌐 Website: SimplifyingDiabetes.com
• 📚 The Diabetes Nutrition Master Course: Start Learning
• 💪 Work with me: More Than A1C — 1on1 Coaching
• 📞 Simplify Your Diabetes — Free Call: Book Now
• 🎙 Donate to the Podcast: Contribute Here

If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe and leave a 5-star review - it helps more people living with diabetes discover the podcast.

Drop a comment and tell us - are you someone who thrives on the pursuit of perfection, or does it burn you out? We genuinely want to know.

Podcast Disclaimer: Nothing that you hear on The Healthy Diabetic Podcast should be considered medical advice or otherwise; please always consult your medical TEAM before making any changes to your Diabetes management.

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Graham’s morning looked like this — woke up at 238, went for a run, hit 240, took two units, dropped to 69, had a fig bar, bounced back to 239. Meanwhile I woke up to a CGM reading of 267 when my finger stick said 160. A hundred milligrams per deciliter off. On day nine of a ten-day sensor.

In this episode Graham and I get honest about something that’s been frustrating both of us — CGM accuracy. Specifically the Dexcom G7. And not just the first 24 to 48 hour window that everyone already knows about. We’re talking about sensors that are off by 60, 70, even 100 points on day five, day eight, day nine — with no warning and no rhyme or reason.

We get into why Graham made the decision to go back to finger sticks and why for him it was less about the data and more about his mental health and stress levels. We dig into the business incentives — or lack thereof — that might be behind declining sensor quality. We talk about the class action lawsuits that have been filed against major CGM companies. And we get into one of the scariest implications of CGM inaccuracy that most people haven’t thought through — what happens when a closed loop insulin pump is making dosing decisions based on a number that’s off by 100 points.

This one is real, a little heated, and exactly the kind of conversation that needed to happen.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Why Ken has been experiencing CGM inaccuracies of 60 to 100 milligrams per deciliter on the Dexcom G7
• Why these inaccuracies are happening throughout the full 10-day sensor cycle — not just the first 24 to 48 hours
• Why Graham went back to finger sticks — and why for him it came down to mental health, not data
• The business incentives behind declining CGM quality and why there’s little financial motivation to fix it
• The class action lawsuits filed against major CGM companies for faulty sensors
• Why CGM inaccuracy becomes a dangerous problem when a closed loop insulin pump is making automated dosing decisions
• Why a backup glucose meter is non-negotiable regardless of how good your CGM is
• Why Ken is getting close to switching to the Libre 3 Plus or EverSense 365

Your CGM is a powerful tool. But it’s not infallible. And when it’s off by 60, 70, or 100 milligrams per deciliter, it’s not just an inconvenience — it’s a risk. Always have a backup. Always confirm when something doesn’t feel right. The meter takes ten seconds and it could save your life.

Additional Resources

• 🌐 Website: SimplifyingDiabetes.com
• 📚 The Diabetes Nutrition Master Course: Start Learning
• 💪 Work with me: More Than A1C — 1on1 Coaching
• 📞 Simplify Your Diabetes — Free Call: Book Now
• 🎙 Donate to the Podcast: Contribute Here

If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe and leave a 5-star review - it helps more people living with diabetes discover the podcast.

Drop a comment and tell us - are you someone who thrives on the pursuit of perfection, or does it burn you out? We genuinely want to know.

Podcast Disclaimer: Nothing that you hear on The Healthy Diabetic Podcast should be considered medical advice or otherwise; please always consult your medical TEAM before making any changes to your Diabetes management.

Hey Diabuddy thank you for listening to show, send me some positive vibes with your favorite part of this episode.

Support the show

Graham came in with a stat that stopped me in my tracks — 800 million people worldwide are now living with diabetes. That’s almost one-ninth of the entire global population. And cases have quadrupled since 1990.

But the number that is shocking is that about 11 million people in the United States have diabetes right now and have absolutely no idea.

In this episode Graham and I get into why the diagnosis crisis is still very real — why adults with Type 1 are being misdiagnosed with Type 2, and why the rise of GLP-1 medications may be creating a new layer of misdiagnosis that nobody is talking about yet.

We also get into something that matters just as much — what happens after the diagnosis. Because your doctor can get the diagnosis right and still leave you completely on your own to figure out how to actually live with this condition every single day. And that gap — between a correct diagnosis and real daily management support — is exactly what this podcast, and everything I do, is trying to fill.

And somehow we end up talking about running, mindset, kids who can’t catch their breath after five yards, and Toy Story 5. Because that’s just how it goes with us.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Why diabetes cases have quadrupled since 1990 — and what’s driving the explosion
• Why 60-70% of new Type 1 diagnoses are now happening in adults 23 and older
• How 11 million Americans are living with undiagnosed diabetes right now
• Why adults with Type 1 are still being misdiagnosed with Type 2 in 2026
• What the gold standard diagnosis protocol should look like — and why it’s not being followed consistently
• Why GLP-1 medications may become the new default response to elevated blood sugar — before a proper diagnosis is made
• Why your doctor can get your diagnosis right and still leave you completely unsupported in daily management
• Why mindset — not just medication — is the difference maker in long-term diabetes management

Additional Resources

• 🎯 5 Lessons You Can't Learn From Your Doctor — Free 5-Day Experience
• 🌐 Website: SimplifyingDiabetes.com
• 📚 The Diabetes Nutrition Master Course: Start Learning
• 💪 Work with me: More Than A1C — 1on1 Coaching
• 📞 Simplify Your Diabetes — Free Call: Book Now
• 🎙 Donate to the Podcast: Contribute Here

If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe and leave a 5-star review - it helps more people living with diabetes discover the podcast.

Drop a comment and tell us - are you someone who thrives on the pursuit of perfection, or does it burn you out? We genuinely want to know.

Podcast Disclaimer: Nothing that you hear on The Healthy Diabetic Podcast should be considered medical advice or otherwise; please always consult your medical TEAM before making any changes to your Diabetes management.

Hey Diabuddy thank you for listening to show, send me some positive vibes with your favorite part of this episode.

Support the show