As athletes and patients, Badasses often have complex views of their bodies and their conditions. This week, I enjoyed talking with a Badass whose understanding goes even deeper: Dr. Jordan Hoese.
Jordan was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 12. Aided by her father’s work with Medtronics and her interest in science, she shares that she didn’t experience much of a learning curve in managing her condition. In fact, Jordan’s T1D management was dialed in enough that she was able to run her first marathon when she was just 14 years old.
Browsing RunnersWorld.com one night—back when she was running just a mile or two each day—Jordan read about marathons and declared that she’d run one. Her father said that he’d sign her up a race if she trained. Armed with research, Jordan began training with her dad. They stashed Gatorade and snacks along their preplanned routes and manually checked her blood sugar every three miles. During the race, she ran with an early-model continuous glucose monitor (CGM).
Since that first marathon, Jordan has run six others, generally using a CGM. She shares that the most important insulin management strategy for her runs is to be mindful about management during the rest of the day. “What I have really found is that your decisions and actions and what you’ve done with your insulin in the hours preceding the run really sets the stage for how that run is going to go.” Furthermore, Jordan emphasizes understanding the principles behind the management of a condition, rather than just superficially addressing issues as they arise.
Now, Jordan is in her first year of medical residency as a family medicine physician. One of my favorite portions of this podcast is when Jordan speaks candidly about what she’s learned about the medical field as both a patient and a physician. She has witnessed the existence of a disconnect between patients and doctors, and she suggests that demanding workplace standards are partially to blame. Jordan shares, “I have not met a single doctor who doesn’t ultimately want what’s best for their patient. It’s just about bridging that gap so you can reach that conclusion together.” One way we can make strides to close that gap is by striving for open and honest communication with our medical team.
Links from our discussion:
- Jordan’s Instagram, Twitter, and email
- When Doctors Don’t Listen
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- How Doctors Think*
- What Doctors Feel*
- Stay Fit Running Belt
* (*These are affiliate links; as an Amazon Associate, our nonprofit earns from qualifying purchases.)
- The Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine
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* (*These are affiliate links; as an Amazon Associate, our nonprofit earns from qualifying purchases.)To contact us about the podcast or your own Badassery, email podcast@chronicallybadass.org. And, for your daily dose of Badass athletes who are redefining what it means to be chronically ill, follow @chronicallybadassclub on Instagram and Facebook.
Podcast music by: Caleb Ritchie