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Elizabeth Elder knows what it means to carry a lot as a mother. Her two oldest children were born with a rare genetic condition, and in 2021, she lost her daughter Annabelle to complications of that condition at just eleven years old. About a year later, her son Clark, her third child, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age five. For Elizabeth, who had already spent years navigating the world of medically complex parenting and had even founded a nonprofit to support other moms walking similar roads, the diagnosis felt like one more heavy thing to hold.
In this episode, Elizabeth sits down with Risely's Director of Coaching, Abby Cooper, to talk honestly about T1D motherhood: the mom guilt, the pressure to get everything right, and the quiet weight of feeling like your child's numbers are a reflection of you. She shares what shifted when she joined our T1D Mom Coaching Program, from learning that you can't get an A in diabetes, to letting herself receive support for once instead of being the one who always gives it, to the community of moms who are still showing up for each other long after the program ended. It's a moving conversation about grief, grace, and finding a way to carry T1D that leaves room for you to actually live.
WHAT WE COVER:
- Why a stomach bug with no fever was the clue that led to Clark's T1D diagnosis at 5, almost exactly one year after Elizabeth lost her daughter
- What her 5-year-old said to comfort her in the hospital, in the middle of the scariest moment of her year
- The number 1 belief that helped to reduce mom guilt
- Why you can't get an A in diabetes, and the reframe that finally freed Elizabeth from treating every A1C like a report card
- How "time in happiness" became just as important as time in range, and the pediatric psychologist who introduced her to it
- Being the mom who holds everyone else together, and what it took for her to finally let herself be the one supported
- Clark's first-ever sleepover 3.5 years after diagnosis, the exact blood sugars Elizabeth watched from home, and how she let him go anyway
WHAT’S NEXT:
👩👧 Our 8-week T1D Mom Coaching Program is back, starting September 9th. It's live group coaching with Lauren and Abby, built for moms raising kids with Type 1 who are ready to trade the overwhelm for real confidence. Learn more and apply here.
🛒Use code RiselyHealth15 for 15% off discount at Lakanto!
📧Join thousands of T1Ds reading our newsletter every Tuesday: T1D tips and encouragement, straight to your inbox.
Stay connected with us:
Email us at: hello@riseyhealth.com
IG: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
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SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW
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