San Diego Padres pitcher Michael King, and his wife Sheila recently launched the King of the Hill Foundation, dedicated to delaying or preventing the onset of Type 1 Diabetes and other autoimmune diseases by promoting access to screening, innovative research, and cutting-edge therapies. M&F sat down with the caring couple to find out more about their relationship with the each other, and living with the serious disease.
Sheila King was first diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 2019, just a few weeks after receiving two cortisone injections prior to running a race that she ran with her dad in order to help raise funds forthe very same condition. After suffering with some common symptoms of the ailment herself such as fatigue, weight loss, vision issues, insatiable thirst, and frequent urination, Sheila first put those problems down to a busy lifestyle. Still, a family history of the disease meant that her mother was understandably concerned, and advised her to get checked out. As a result, a urine test showed that Sheila was in a state known as diabetic ketoacidosis, a potentially life-threatening condition where a lack of insulin causes ketones to build up in the blood.
“I cannot prove this, but I likely had the markers, the antibodies for Type 1, and they were probably sitting dormant inside of me. The doctors think the cortisone was potentially that trigger that lit the fuse for my diagnosis. So, I ran the marathon for Type 1 Diabetes and I ended up getting diagnosed with it,” she shares in a cruel twist of fate. Despite the difficult times that would prove to be ahead, the father and daughter team raised more than $15,000 dollars from their run, and sparked a fire in Sheila that had her wanting to do more.
Differences Between Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2
Because more than 90% of diabetes sufferers have Type 2, the medical and technological advances for Type 1 have been slower to emerge. So, what’s the difference? T2D is often caused or exacerbated by lifestyle factors such as obesity, whereas T1D is an autoimmune condition that tends to come on more suddenly and is likely to be associated with genetics. Other factors that cause T1D are still not fully understood.
“I had no idea of the differences between Type 1 and Type 2,” says Michael, who is also championing the cause. “Not until I kind of became a caretaker of Sheila, and then, as we started living together, and seeing how she operates with it. I’ve said it a bunch, but seeing her handle the disease makes me believe that she’s a superhero.”
No doubt, living with a T1D sufferer has been an education for the Major League Baseball player. “When we first started dating she was carrying around a syringe the whole time because she had to inject herself with insulin, literally 24/7. In the middle of the night, if (her blood sugar) spikes high, she has to give herself insulin, or if she bottoms out in the middle of the night, she has to eat fruit snacks immediately, and it’s just a crazy process that I don’t know how I would handle it, but I’ve never heard her complain.”
The lack of awareness about T1D in the general population was another driving factor for the couple launching the King of the Hill Foundation. Mike has long been an advocate of using his platform for good, and along with Sheila, they hope to help prevent or delay the onset of T1D and other autoimmune diseases by raising funds that could make early screening more accessible, discovering new triggers for the illness, and supporting the scientists that research and develop potential new therapies.
Why more needs to be done to support sufferers of Type 1 Diabetes
New monitoring apps have come along that allow you to see your blood glucose level in real time, but there is still a huge obstacle to treatment when it comes to the cost. “If you’re publicly insured, I mean gosh! The cost of insulin is insane,” explains Sheila. “It’s sky rocket high, and the Dexcom continuous glucose monitor and the pumps, they’re so expensive that a lot of people just don’t have access to insulin or the right technology that can make their life easier.”
Indeed, a recent study found, shockingly, that U.S. insulin prices were at least 5 to 10 times higher than in other countries. “We’re working with a lot of different partners out here in San Diego,” says Sheila. “There’s a children’s hospital out here that has a Type 1 Diabetes ‘At Risk’ clinic. We’re working on access to screening, because screening is how you know if you’re at risk, and then if you’re at risk, you can be monitored. And, if you’re monitored and show symptoms, then you may qualify for some FDA approved therapies. So, that’s specifically what we’re hoping to help with, is paying for screening.”
Just like Sheila, Mike has seen how the right treatment can be game changing. “One of the [King of the Hill Foundation] board members, Mason Miller, who is Type 1 Diabetic, when he was in college, he did not know that he (had it), and he was throwing like 88 miles an hour, which is not very fast, he wasn’t doing well, and then he got diagnosed Type 1 and got his sugars in-check then all of a sudden started gaining a ton of good muscle mass, and was throwing like 105, and now he’s the closer for the A’s. So, it’s things like that where he didn’t even know that he had it, and then after the diagnosis his life got totally turned around.”
Five years on from her own diagnosis, Sheila says she has run a couple of half-marathons, one alongside her father, but hopes to once again complete a full marathon. “It is a goal of mine, and maybe for our foundation!” she says.
For more information on the King of the Hill Foundation click here!