Reclaim Your Rise: Type 1 Diabetes with Lauren Bongiorno
Lauren Bongiorno is a Nationally Board Certified Health Coach and the founder and CEO of Risely Health. Featured on the TODAY show and other media outlets, Risely helps people and families impacted by Type 1 Diabetes take ownership over their health so they can transform their life with more freedom and confidence. Lauren has lived with type 1 diabetes since she was 7 years old and has experienced firsthand that when health transforms, so does everything else - our relationships, our time, our career, our families, and, most importantly, ourselves. Each week she will bring you lessons from her own personal diabetes experience, strategies that are key to understanding your body’s patterns, and guests who will speak to everything from advances in technology to all things hormones, exercise, relationships, and mindset. All of this so that over time, you TOO can reclaim your rise.
Reclaim Your Rise: Type 1 Diabetes with Lauren Bongiorno
170. What to Do When Your Adult-Onset Type 1 (LADA) Is Misdiagnosed as Type 2
In this powerful episode, Risely coaching graduate Mary McCauley shares her story of being misdiagnosed with Type 2 diabetes when she was actually living with adult-onset Type 1 (LADA). From being dismissed by doctors to ending up in DKA and sent home with no insulin, her story highlights just how dangerous misdiagnosis can be. Mary opens up about the emotional toll, the turning point of finally receiving the correct diagnosis, and the journey of reclaiming confidence and ownership over her health. If you’ve ever felt dismissed, unsure of your diagnosis, or like something just isn’t adding up, this episode will empower you to ask the hard questions and trust your gut. You deserve to be heard, supported, and correctly diagnosed.
Quick Takeaways:
- Navigating misdiagnosis
- The damage of stereotypes & importance of diabetes education throughout the entire world: medical bias is real
- Impact of the gaps in our healthcare system on people living with type 1 diabetes
- How the right support can change everything
Timestamps:
- [03:11] Mary’s journey begins: The first signs that something wasn’t right
- [04:00] “I will never know actually when this journey started or how long my honeymoon phase really has been.”
- [08:22] "I was labeled as non-compliant during that time."
- [10:05] “I still had never talked to an endocrinologist, like an actual endocrinologist, nobody had ever explained to me what all of this meant.”
- [10:44] “I went home and I didn't ever test my blood sugar again. Because that's what I was told.”
- [17:10] The ER experience: Misdiagnosis & dismissal
- [19:00] "I was losing my vision, what's happening?"
- [27:09] Finally receiving the correct diagnosis
- [29:53] “Being a LADA type one, it can feel a lot like you're in limbo.”
- [42:55] Advice for someone who thinks they have been misdiagnosed
- [48:09] "You don't have to suffer more to be valid."
- [50:58] “When we know better, we do better.”
What to do now:
- Follow me @lauren_bongiorno and @riselyhealth on Instagram to stay in the loop when new episodes drop.
- Apply for coaching and talk to our team so you can reclaim the life you deserve.
