'A mixed blessing:' How an Elm Grove family found social media fame while destigmatizing Type 1 diabetes

 

ELM GROVE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- At first glance, the three sisters standing in a bedroom arguing over the best lighting to film a TikTok video in doesn't seem out of the ordinary.

Izabelle Krueger, 23, is taking the lead -- attaching an iPhone to an adjustable ring light stand before stepping back in between 19-year-old Anaelise and 14-year-old Sophia.

"This is going to be interesting," Izabelle says laughingly. "And so, we begin!"

The trio is working on the latest piece of content for the family's social media accounts under the handle @kruegersplust1d -- a brand that was formed in the pandemic.

“During COVID I saw all of these posts getting promoted like on Instagram and I’m like why haven’t we done that?” recalled Anaelise. "I want to say it started with 500 likes."

But it isn't your typical family lifestyle content.

Izabelle, Anaelise, and Sophia are three out of eight total siblings -- six of whom all have Type 1 diabetes.

"It’s so rare that there’s six Type 1 diabetics in a family, especially because we were always told that it’s not genetic at all," Anaelise said.

The first in the family to be diagnosed was Ben, their second oldest brother, in 2001.

Then over the years followed Maddie, Nick, and Anaelise.

“My other siblings, most of them received their diagnoses before the age of eight," Izabelle said. “I was actually pretty late to the game as you could say I guess.”

As the fifth diagnosed, Izabelle said it was hard when Sophia, the youngest, joined the T1D club.

“With each diagnosis it definitely was like a little sad for all of us," Izabelle said. "I think about watching my little sister get diagnosed after I had it and it’s just like ugh, you have to go through that too.”

But through the years, all agreed "it has made us closer than ever imagined."

"It was just our everyday normal life," Izabelle said.

Their home is filled with medical supplies, including Dexcom continuous glucose monitoring devices and the Omnipod, a tubeless insulin pump, both of which are featured in the TikTok video the girls are attempting to film.

“I definitely am less shy about my devices showing which I think is amazing and I think it is because of social media and seeing everybody that has Type 1 diabetes showing their devices," said Anaelise. “Diabetes isn’t perfect, you’re definitely going to have bad days, and you’ll have good days, and you’ll have days where it’s the last thing you want to think about."

Sophia noted that having a built-in support group is key to staying strong.

“My pancreas doesn’t work but there’s other solutions to that," Sophia said. “I feel understood a lot and I feel that on some days where I’m struggling more with my diabetes, that I know there are people that know what I’m going through and that go through it each and every day just like me.”

For their father, Steve, having six of his eight children diagnosed is "a mixed blessing."

"It's not terminal, it's manageable," Steve said. "It's almost like second nature."

From a parent's perspective, Steve said he and his wife have worked on teaching their kids responsibility -- especially when it comes to tracking their medical needs.

"If we are helicopter parents, we're not going to give them the tools they need to succeed," Steve said. “As core to their being, it’s given them a lot of strength as a person.”

Over the years, the family has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of likes.

“The social media, especially TikTok, is getting people that aren’t really suffering from the disease and people that aren’t caring for diabetics a good understanding of what a day in the life is," Steve said. “As a dad I’m very proud of them. I mean they actually are taking something that’s pretty negative and turning it into a positive and also helping other people.”

They've seen so much online success that Izabelle has even switched what she's studying at college, going from something in the medical field to getting her marketing degree.

"I never thought we’d be in this world," Izabelle said. “Every Type 1 diabetic deserves to feel that way and feel that confidence with their life so to see that we’re making other people start to realize that and find that confidence again, it’s overwhelming honestly.”