Jaybird Byrne: Music, Golf, School & Living with Type 1 Diabetes
Meet Jaybird
Read how Dexcom Warrior Jaybird Byrne balances music, golf, and school while managing type 1 diabetes with confidence using Dexcom G7.
Why is music such a big part of your life, and what do you love most about it?
There are two reasons, firstly, I love the feeling that I get when I play music, I feel like the world stops and lets me and the music join together as one. Secondly, I love the challenge of expressing my thoughts and emotions in instrumental guitar music. It is harder than writing vocals because you have to find a way to let the listener feel and see what you feel and see, without words.
How do you balance school with staying active, especially your passion for golf?
I’m Autistic, so school and social stuff are stressful. I struggle to manage my stress at school, which especially matters as stress spikes my sugars. The thought that after the school day, I can go and hit a bucket of balls at the driving range calms me down and keeps me going throughout the day. When I am at the driving range, I imagine each ball I hit is a difficult social interaction I had that day, as I hit the ball, I let go of the social interaction as it flies 180 meters away. In essence, being active helps me keep going every day and enables me to focus during the school day.
How does Dexcom fit into your everyday life?
I can’t imagine a life in which I could manage my diabetes on a day-to-day basis without Dexcom G7. Dexcom seamlessly integrates with the rest of my daily life because it makes my condition so much easier to manage. The integration with my insulin pump allows me to simply enter carbs on a controller. Apple Watch integration allows me to glance at my watch to check my sugars without having to pull my phone out in class, when I am playing guitar or when playing golf. I can trust how I feel with my sugar levels, but I can’t give how I feel to a pump. Dexcom literally does that for me by constantly telling my pump my sugar levels.
What Dexcom features help you most when you’re playing golf or performing on stage?
Direct to watch has been a complete game changer for me; it has allowed me to watch and monitor my sugars. Whether I am playing golf or performing on stage, in both situations it is impractical to pull out my iPhone to monitor blood sugars and being able to check them on my wrist has been invaluable. Secondary to that, the urgent low soon alerts have been very useful. I am able to treat incoming hypos before they get to the dangerously low levels!
What’s next for you, and what dreams are you excited to chase?
My short-term plans are to continue my music career. I have two songs about the journey of living with diabetes and diagnosis, and the turmoil that I was in before my diagnosis.
After school, I want to go to medical school. I want to study medicine to go into paediatric endocrinology or psychiatry, both of which are fields where I can give back to the community and, most importantly, help people when they need help most. If I am unable to get into medical school, I am contemplating doing a psychology degree to allow me to bridge into medicine.
What advice would you give to someone who’s just found out they’re living with type 1 diabetes?
Firstly, hang in there, life does get better, and as much as the IV’s, injections, fingerpricks and information overload are totally awful, it will get better. Secondly, get a CGM. CGMs improve your quality of life very quickly because you do not have to worry about the constant finger pricks. Dexcom G7 is really good because of its accuracy and ability to connect to various devices, especially the Apple Watch. Thirdly, get a Sugar Pixel. Sugar pixels will scream at you when you go under a set sugar level, and I do not think there is anybody who could sleep through them. Finally, try to get on an Insulin pump.