Meet Dana Slack! Dana’s first experience with the Breakthrough T1D organization happened at age 22 when she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D), and received a T1D Care Kit from her local Breakthrough T1D Chapter. When a position opened up in the local office, it was an opportunity Dana couldn’t pass up and she officially joined the team in February of 2017. Working at Breakthrough T1D combines Dana’s love of connecting people and supporting the diabetes community with nonprofit work. A Chicago native, Dana has been living in Colorado since 2013. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her husband and dogs, fostering kittens, reading, and travel.

Dana and her husband Jon recently found out they’re expecting a baby girl, due in May of 2022. Dana share more about her experience with pregnancy and T1D:

• Tell us a little about your diagnosis story and journey with T1D.
  • I was diagnosed with T1D at the age of 22 while I was in college. I had been incredibly exhausted and losing weight for a few weeks but didn’t think much of it. I finally went to my GP when I started developing some severe abdominal pain that I couldn’t ignore and my GP immediately sent me down to the ER. My blood sugar was over 800 and was originally diagnosed as type 2 diabetes (T2D) because it was assumed because of my age that I couldn’t have type 1. The ER event sent me home that night with just a friend to keep an eye on me with a CDE appointment scheduled for the next day. Luckily, the ER ran a diabetes antibody panel and I woke up the next morning to a call from the hospital asking me to come back and that I actually had T1D.

• Who makes up your health care team? What information was available to you when you found out you were pregnant?
  • My health care team is made up of my Endo Team at the Barbara Davis Center, and my Maternal Fetal Medicine team at the University of Colorado.
  • I had been fortunate to receive some counseling from my provider about the basics of pregnancy – things like desired A1C before conception and target BG range during pregnancy. And because of my job at Breakthrough T1D, I’ve gotten to know many Moms with T1D who have been willing to share their experiences with me so I reached out to several of them when I learned I was pregnant to ask for advice and support.

• Can you share some of the resources you’ve found?
  • I’ve been doing a lot of additional research about post-natal care/breastfeeding/caring for an infant and have found these resources at Beyond Type 1, who has an awesome alliance with Breakthrough T1D: beyondtype1.org/pregnancy/.
  • My endocrinologist Dr. Sarit Polsky just did a Facebook Live with Breakthrough T1D titled “Pregnancy with T1D: Before, During and After” and you can find the recording and additional resources in the chat here.

• How did you manage your T1D pre-pregnancy? How do you manage your T1D now?
  • I’ve been a big fan of technology for a long time. Pre-pregnancy I had been using the Tandem Control IQ system and doing a lot of “guestimating” about carbohydrate counts. I managed pretty well and had decent time in range (TIR) and A1C.
  • Now that I’m pregnant, I’m a lot more conscientious about how many carbohydrates I’m eating and the biggest change has been that I’m much more religious about pre-bolusing before meals or snacks. I still use the Tandem Control IQ system, but per advice from my doctor it’s in “sleep” mode all the time. This is so that my target BG is a little lower than in regular Control IQ. It’s a little bit of a pain to have to manually correct again since “sleep” mode won’t do it for you, but overall, I’m paying much more attention to my BG levels that it hasn’t been a big deal.
  • Breakthrough T1D has been critical in ensuring I can get access to the technology I need. I hadn’t consider pregnancy before I started on the Tandem Control IQ system because I couldn’t imagine the incredible work and constant monitoring that BG management would take. Breakthrough T1D has also introduced me to so many incredible Moms with T1D themselves and has given me a community and support system to ask questions of, share frustrations with and celebrate achievements together.

• What have been your greatest pregnancy and T1D challenges?
  • My greatest pregnancy & T1D challenges came in my first trimester because I was always sick! When you’re throwing up a lot for any reason, it’s difficult to manage BG – not knowing what you’ll be able to keep down or keep down low snacks was an added difficulty. I also had a severe hypoglycemic event in my first trimester that required baqsimi.
  • Control IQ suspends my insulin when it predicts I’ll go low so I’m sure it prevented more severe hypoglycemic events. Breakthrough T1D has also funded the fast-acting glucose technology like baqsimi which is a nasal spray rather than an injection, which was much easier for my husband to administer in a panic.

• Have you been able to participate in clinical trials during pregnancy?
  • Yes! I got to participate in a clinical trial to get two different CGMs approved for use in pregnancy. Despite the fact that many women use them during pregnancy, they still aren’t FDA approved during that time so it was exciting to participate in a trial to change that. It also meant that I got a sneak preview of some upcoming technology, which is a fun reason to participate in any clinical trial!

[Want to find a Clinical Trial like Dana did?Click here to match to clinical trials in just 60 seconds!]

• What do you want other women with T1D to know about becoming pregnant?
  • It is totally possible to become a mom with T1D and have a healthy pregnancy. If your care team doesn’t support you in your family-planning choices, find a different care team! My first Endocrinologist told me she’d never support a T1D pregnancy so I found another team. I’d also say that pregnancy is hard (and can be scary) for everyone and T1D just adds one more thing to think about, so give yourself some grace and know that you can’t be perfect all of the time.

If you have type 1 diabetes (T1D) and are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant, Breakthrough T1D has helpful resources for every step of your pregnancy journey – including bringing baby home! Click here to learn more – and check out some of the T1D and pregnancy myths Breakthrough T1D busts below:

• Myth: Women with T1D have big babies
• Fact: When mothers keep blood-glucose levels in range during pregnancy, the baby’s size will not be affected
• Myth: Women with T1D have a harder time getting pregnant
• Fact: A woman’s fertility is complex and related to many factors, T1D alone is not one of them
• Myth: You’ll have to deliver early and you will most likely have a C-section
• Fact: While it is common for women with T1D to be induced at 38 weeks, with good blood glucose management, you can have a full term, natural delivery
• Myth: Your children will automatically have diabetes
• Fact: Children of mothers with T1D only have a slightly elevated risk of developing T1D
• Myth: It is not important for men with T1D to have their blood-sugar levels well controlled while trying to conceive
• Fact: Poorly controlled T1D can affect sperm count, sperm health and erectile function. It is important to be as well controlled as possible while trying to conceive
• Myth: Having a blood-sugar level in the 200‒300 mg/dL range during the first few weeks of pregnancy (before the pregnancy is confirmed) will cause the baby to have birth defects
• Fact: It is true that the first six weeks of pregnancy are critical because your baby’s organs are forming during this time. Fortunately, birth defects are quite rare for women with T1D. However, they occur more frequently than the general public, and high blood-sugar is the main reason for the increased risk. Good control before a pregnancy and during the first trimester will reduce this risk significantly