For decades, people living with Type 1 diabetes have asked the same question: what would life look like if my body made insulin again? In today’s episode, Lauren sits down with Katie Beth Hand (13 years with T1D) and Chris (diagnosed at 10 months old, living 35 years with T1D), two of only ten participants selected for the first cohort of the Eledon clinical trial at the University of Chicago. As Patients 9 and 10, they received an islet cell transplant alongside the investigational therapy Tegoprubart, designed to prevent the immune system from attacking transplanted cells. Now, for the first time in decades, they’re watching their blood sugars rise and come back down on their own, coming off basal insulin, dramatically reducing boluses, and navigating what it means to trust a body that suddenly responds differently. This is not hype or a guaranteed cure, but it may represent one of the most significant shifts in Type 1 diabetes research in over 30 years.
WHAT WE COVER:
- What daily life looked like before the trial
- How they found the Eledon trial and what screening week in Chicago involved
- What actually happens during an islet cell transplant
- Why Tegoprubart may change the future of islet transplantation
- Mixed Meal Tolerance Tests, C-peptide, and what their data shows
- The transition off basal insulin and how they are “protecting” the new islets
- The emotional side: “Do I still say I have Type 1?”
- Current Blocks to Scalability and what the Islet Act Is
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Watch the full episode on our Youtube: Reclaim Your Rise
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