This week’s episode of The Diabetic Mammy Podcast introduces a new gentle mini-series called The Things We Were Not Taught which exploring some quiet curriculum gaps that shape life with Type 1 diabetes.
Drawing on her research with parents of children diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, Catherine reflects on how much education arrives at times when learning simply isn’t possible. Overwhelm, fear, and exhaustion mean important ideas are often missed : not through inattention, but through timing.
Exploring clever insulin pumps without promotion, she explains what has quietly changed and how many families were never taught the shift in thinking behind modern systems.
Catherine revisits the basal–bolus model and then explains the quiet revolution of modern pumps: systems that link a pump, a CGM, and an algorithm to respond to trends early, with small, frequent adjustments. Diabetes doesn’t become easy, but it can become a little less loud.
The episode also names what clever pumps don’t replace and highlights that while the work doesn’t disappear, the mental load shifts from constant vigilance to quieter supervision.
Finally, Catherine explores the emotional layer many families weren’t prepared for: guilt, grief, and the feeling of having “failed before” when numbers improve with technology. She gently reframes this, reminding listeners that needing support isn’t weakness, and that good diabetes care isn’t measured by devices, but by safety, sustainability, and whether life remains liveable.
This episode sets the tone for the mini-series: compassionate, contextual, and deeply human, offering not more rules, but a kinder understanding of the things we were not taught.