Episode #39: Amanda Goldberg
Amanda Goldberg was born in Northern New Jersey and now resides in Eastern Long Island. Leo Baby, Warrior, Former Athlete, 4th Generation Business Owner, and current Type 1 Diabadass.
During tennis tournaments, Amanda Goldberg’s insulin pump was sometimes mistaken for a beeper. For Amanda, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age nine, it had become second nature for her to explain to people that she was diabetic, and that wearing her insulin pump was not optional. Her condition didn’t stop her from pursuing a tennis career, but sports injuries eventually forced her to leave tennis and join the family business, Goldberg’s Famous Bagels. On today’s episode, Amanda and I talk about how tennis helped her develop the ability to really listen to her body, and how that’s helped her navigate the health hurdles she has faced over the last several years. We also chat about the value of having doctors that you trust, and how Amanda juggles her health with her growing responsibilities at a family business she loves.
“I was very in tune with my body, and tennis made it that way.”
Here are some of the things Amanda and I chatted about:
Learning that she had diabetes, and being told that it wasn’t a condition that doctors could cure
How her mom supported her, including introducing her to people who had the same condition
The comfort that comes with seeing a doctor who knows your story and all your health details
Using an insulin pump, which functions as an artificial pancreas, as part of her treatment
The challenge of managing her diabetes while also being a young athlete who was competing
Her sense that something wasn’t right, which led to her diagnosis of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
Transitioning from her tennis career to a fourth-generation member of a family business
The many surgeries she had, and the ways her doctors got innovative to give her solutions
Developing symptoms of puffiness, and being asked by doctors if she was a “closet eater”
The doctor that spent over three hours with her, which led to her insulin resistance diagnosis
What it’s like to need to rely on conventional medicine, despite her mixed feelings about it
Navigating running a business and managing her health, and how she’s always learning
Channeling her “self-proclaimed health freak” side and opening Hamptons Beach Bowls
Being an open book when it comes to her health, and the impact she hopes that has
“If I can’t be healthy, and I can’t take care of myself, I’m no use and no good to anybody.”
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