#1527 Love Nibbler
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2024 Service Sweetheart, Hashimoto’s/BPD warrior, T1D mom, leads Derek’s Defenders.
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Scott Benner 0:00
Welcome back, friends. You are listening to the Juicebox Podcast.
Chelsea Morgan 0:16
I am Chelsea Morgan, the International Women of service sweetheart for 2024 Derek's mom and also the owner of my own small business and a non profit of Derek defenders.
Scott Benner 0:32
The podcast contains so many different series and collections of information that it can be difficult to find them in your traditional podcast app. Sometimes. That's why they're also collected at Juicebox. Podcast.com, go up to the top. There's a menu right there. Click on series, defining diabetes. Bold beginnings, the Pro Tip series, small sips, Omnipod, five ask Scott and Jenny. Mental wellness, fat and protein, defining thyroid, after dark, diabetes, variables, Grand Rounds, cold, wind, pregnancy, type two, diabetes, GLP, meds, the math behind diabetes, diabetes myths and so much more, you have to go check it out. It's all there and waiting for you, and it's absolutely free. Juicebox podcast.com, nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare plan. This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by the twist aid system, powered by tidepool that features the twist loop algorithm, which you can target to a glucose level as low as 87 Learn more at twist.com/juicebox. That's twist with two eyes.com/juicebox. Get precision insulin delivery with a target range that you choose at twist.com/juicebox, that's t, w, i, i s t.com/juicebox. You this episode of the juice box podcast is sponsored by us. Med, us. Med.com/juice, box, or call 888-721-1514, get your supplies the same way we do from us. Med, today's episode of the juice box podcast is sponsored by the ever since 365 the one year where CGM that's one insertion a year. That's it. And here's a little bonus for you. How about there's no limit on how many friends and family you can share your data with with the ever since now app, no limits.
Chelsea Morgan 2:37
Ever since. I am Chelsea Morgan, the International Women of service sweetheart for 2024 Derek's mom and also the owner of my own small business and a non profit of Derek's defenders. Wow. Okay, hold on a second. How old are you? I am 30 this year. I just turned 30 in January, almost twice
Scott Benner 2:58
as old as you. And I haven't done that many things, and the whole time I've been alive. So let's figure some things out. Do you have type one, or does a child, my son, Derek? Derek does. How old was Derek when he was diagnosed? He was four years old. How old is he now? Seven and a half. Okay, about three and a half years any other kids I
Chelsea Morgan 3:17
do? I have a six year old now. He just turned six in January as well.
Scott Benner 3:21
Awesome. Any other autoimmune in the family? I have
Chelsea Morgan 3:25
Hashimotos, but that's it. My husband's side is very clean when it comes to their health. Is
Scott Benner 3:31
that how they put it? We're clean over here. I put it
Chelsea Morgan 3:35
that way because I have a lot of issues mental health, physical health, and my whole family has always had some issues, but Ryan never he only went to the hospital one time his entire life for what he broke his collarbone snowboarding one year, and that was when he was dating me. So I make the joke that I did it to him.
Scott Benner 3:53
You'd never been to the hospital till you met Morgan. Yeah. Kelsey, Morgan gets people to the hospital.
Chelsea Morgan 4:01
I catch phrase. I'm so gonna tell him that when he comes home. Don't you
Scott Benner 4:05
worry. Let's go meet some other people and see if we can't get them sick. What do you mean? You have other stuff going on?
Chelsea Morgan 4:10
I actually have borderline personality disorder, and so that's been a long struggle my adult life, coming into that diagnosis and learning how to deal with it. But I also have had a total of eight surgeries, which a lot of times. I have more surgeries than adults who are twice my age. And it's not just from, you know, my appendix, I did have my appendix or my wisdom teeth. I've had knee surgery. I've had two shoulder reconstructions. I run the gamut
Scott Benner 4:40
interesting. Go through your surgeries with me very quick. I'm gonna see if I can keep up. I'm gonna try to keep up. Ready
Chelsea Morgan 4:45
Go ahead, sure. And ninth grade, I had my appendix term. Moved in 12th grade, I had
Scott Benner 4:49
wait Chelsea, hold on one second. I think we gotta, I think we got a game here. Let me just clear off a little space. Go you. You got appendix? I got appendix. Go ahead. What's next?
Chelsea Morgan 5:04
Wisdom teeth in 12th grade. Oh, wait, hold on, nope. Meniscal repair in 10th grade.
Scott Benner 5:10
Where's that in your knee? Yes, all right, I haven't had a meniscus repair, but I've had my knee repaired. Go ahead. Okay,
Chelsea Morgan 5:16
then I had both wisdom teeth, or all rose stem tooth removed. I guess it's four.
Scott Benner 5:21
I've had mine removed, but not during surgery, but we're still gonna check it three for three. Go ahead, I
Chelsea Morgan 5:27
had 3c section. Well, one DNC and 2c sections. Oh,
Scott Benner 5:31
I think you got me on this one. I do not have that. Go ahead, and
Chelsea Morgan 5:35
I've had both of my shoulders repaired or reconstructed.
Scott Benner 5:38
I've had my right shoulder repaired. Not your left yet. Well, I gotta be honest with you, there's days when I think maybe I ought to go get that looked at, but not yet. But I have had my toe repaired. You have your toe repaired. I
Chelsea Morgan 5:52
haven't had a toe. You can take that win. Okay,
Scott Benner 5:56
how about an ankle to ever tear an ankle up and have to have surgery on it? Nope, not that one, neither Scott, he's pulling ahead carpal tunnel syndrome. I do have carpal tunnel but I've not had surgery for it yet. Oh, baby, I have Okay. Now let's see. Hold on one second. I want to be fair about the carpal tunnel. I had carpal tunnel surgery, but I didn't have carpal tunnel syndrome. As I look down at my left hand, putting my thumb top my finger. So I'm like looking down my hand, kind of the thin way, there is a scar that goes from between the second and third knuckle of my thumb almost to my wrist that, oh, my goodness, I opened my hand up with a box cutter, not on purpose, well, no, and it left a lot of damage inside and tightness that was released by carpal tunnel surgery.
Chelsea Morgan 6:42
Oh, well, that stinks, because I've heard how painful carpal tunnel surgery can be. Though I
Scott Benner 6:49
watched it on the monitor, I only had a local block. They blocked me from my shoulder down, and I realized, I was like, What's that for? And they said, Oh, it's we do a lot of the surgery on the monitor. I was like, Oh, can I say it? And the guy was like, seriously? I'm like, yeah. So he turned it towards me, and I watched the surgery. It's pretty cool. I just had a double deviation fixed in my nose. I had broken cartilage, double deviation and some other stuff from a fall when I was younger. I couldn't breathe anymore, and now I can breathe like a baby. It's awesome. Okay,
Chelsea Morgan 7:19
I'm gonna be so weird. Have you seen the Facebook ads for the breathe right strip that is like metal and it opens the nose. All I can think is that you took that first deep breath and was like, This is what breathing is. Oh, that's amazing. I don't know how to handle this right now. Chelsea, I
Scott Benner 7:38
wanna tell you something. It was so bad over the last couple of years, right? So I had, I couldn't sing in the car anymore. I'd get out of breath. I'd get like, Oh God, I'm not okay. Out of breath. The editor of the podcast was having to every time I finished speaking, he'd have to edit out where I would go afterwards, because I was, I hold my breath when I'm speaking, usually. So like, think of if you really listen to the podcast, think about that. I go off for a minute or so, not breathing. It's not even fully healed yet, and it's 1000 times better than it was. I'm still obstructed from the natural process of the healing, and it's already amazing. I did have that feeling, though, when it was not just when it was like, Oh my gosh, this is incredible. But prior to the surgery, I actually said to a couple of people, the surgeon being one of them, genuinely, sincerely embarrassed, but I said, how do people breathe? And the guy looks at me real strange. And I was like, like, you know, like, air comes in and it goes out. Where does it go in? Where does it go out? And he goes your nose. And I said, People breathe in and out through their nose.
Chelsea Morgan 8:43
Oh no.
Scott Benner 8:44
And he looked at me so sad. I was like, and I think at first he thought, like, is this guy mess? I'm like, I didn't that really, ha, that's how people breathe. I was like, that's awesome. Do you think I'll just naturally do it, or will I have to teach
Chelsea Morgan 8:57
myself? Well, what was it? Did you have to teach yourself? I
Scott Benner 9:00
find myself doing it without thinking about it, which I find very encouraging in the first two weeks. That's awesome. Yeah. So anyway, I didn't realize that people, I guess everybody, could, like, insert their mouth, breathe their jokes here if they want to. But I did not realize that people inhaled and exhaled through their nose. I thought it was one or the other, and I just didn't know which it was.
Chelsea Morgan 9:19
I have a weird thing about my face, because I have TMJ, so I scrunch my face really hard. If I'm petting a dog, I can start crying because my face starts to hurt so bad from grinding my teeth just petting a dog. It's like one of those things that is like, how do people just sit here and pet their dog without doing that? I totally understand what you're saying, and I know that's weird thing to say, but it's something I think about too. It's something
Scott Benner 9:43
I think about too. Not at all. Okay, so now the other part, would you say borderline personality? When does that get diagnosed? I
Chelsea Morgan 9:50
was diagnosed with that. I believe I was 23 or I might have just turned 24 I'm sure many people say, you know, I'm by I'm acting. Bipolar with the mood swings, but bipolar has more of the mood swings that take longer time frames. So you're going to be happy for a few months, maybe even for a few years. It's not the automatic swing within hours. For me, I can go from zero to 100 and then right back down to zero again. And that was a learned process. I did extensive outpatient therapy for over six months of four days a week, three hours, three, four hours a week, a day. Sorry, just learned how to how to be. I'm going to say normal, air quote, normal. I have these emotions that are really big, and they come out, not always at the best time, but I've grown. I've grown in the last six years, so much from that and continuing therapy, my medication cycle, all of those kinds of things. What's
Scott Benner 10:49
the medical understanding of how that happens? I don't
Chelsea Morgan 10:52
know that. I've done a whole lot of research into the why? Because it's like bipolar, where you get diagnosed as an adult. It can be a chemical imbalance. I do know that I still struggle, even though I'm on really great meds, and I do have really good days. I'm have more good days than I have bad days now. But I do know that a lot of it can be environmentally impacted, so depending on your family, how you were raised, you know, if you come from an impoverished area. I'm not saying that I did, but a lot of trauma. I did have a lot of trauma growing up, and that spurred me into not knowing how to handle my emotions, and I think a lot of that caused me to need to grow and and learn how to have healthy emotions, which wasn't something I was so good, always good at
Scott Benner 11:40
would you be comfortable sharing what some of those traumas were? I My
Chelsea Morgan 11:44
parents divorced very when I was very young, but my dad lived in Maine while my mom lived in Pennsylvania. And as a single mom, my mom's life wasn't always easy. She was also in the military, but Army National Guard, so full time. You know, we moved around a whole, whole lot. That makes it hard. I didn't know how to maintain relationships with people from a lot of those things. And this is growth, you know, I have talked to my mom about a lot of this, so I am, that's why I'm comfortable talking about it. And then my stepdad was deployed when I was 16, and he was a big rock in my life, and it wasn't so solid when we when he came home, things were tumultuous, because it was Afghanistan, and that is what it is. And then me myself. I joined the Army straight out of high school, because they always said, and I love them for it, because they wanted me to have goals. They said I had three options. I could go to school full time and not pay rent. I could work full time and pay them rent, or I could join the military and go explore the world. And so I chose to go explore the world because I didn't quite know what I wanted to do with my life. Despite going to school for culinary and baking, focusing on baking as a teenager, and having a full ride scholarship to Johnson and Wales and Rhode Island, I gave all of that up so that I could serve my country. I was a fifth generation. I can trace it back before the Second World War of my family. Yeah, I am not comfortable talking about the trauma that happened in there, but I'm sure that you can imagine the things that happened.
Scott Benner 13:15
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Chelsea Morgan 15:17
Yes and No my mom, oh gosh, the day I told my mom I was joining the military, we got into a really big fight, because she wanted me to go to college. I had the will, I had the drive. I was an extremely good student, and I had a really big, promising future that I fought for to get there. And she's like, why are you giving this up? And so she didn't understand. But for me, I knew I would. I didn't want to spend all my money on school if I wasn't ready, and I wasn't making enough to even live as a teenager, so that's why I went that route, pride, yes, but a lot of like, get myself out in the world and get some real world experience. And it was great, because I became a paralegal. And when I became a paralegal in the army, I come out of the army and I've got a job right away. I had served in South Korea as a confinement facility paralegal, working with those enlisted who were dealing with incarceration and getting them home. I worked with the South Korean government and taking care of our soldiers who were confined there things like that. And it was such a life experience that when I came home, I had job opportunity. I right away, went into being a paralegal and getting my degree as a paralegal as well.
Scott Benner 16:34
I see awesome so you don't regret the not going the bacon cooking route.
Chelsea Morgan 16:40
Sometimes I wonder how my life would be different. I can't say I'd regret it though I wouldn't have my children, and that was the whole reason I didn't want to be a baker, was because bakers get up really early and they have to work on the weekends. And I knew I wanted children, and I wanted to be there for them, and I couldn't see myself getting up that early, and you know, not being there for them at that time, I
Scott Benner 17:03
have to tell you, it's what made me stop doing it. So really, were you a baker? I had no idea. So when I headed into high school, your options were go to high school or you could go to technical school and high school. Yeah, I only went because it was a day away from school in middle school, like, you could go visit the tech school and look around. So I went for the day off, if I'm being perfectly honest, you know, they're, they're touring the building. And, I mean, it was interesting, the way it was set up and everything. But nothing like, really sparked my interest. I was like, oh, like, there was actually a class where you just made school lunches and served them, like, like, right, there was, that was and it was a class. It was a three year course. And there was a three year class where, like, you ran the school store, like it was retail, and there was a hairdressers, and there was small engine repair. I'm trying to remember everything that was in there, metal shop, like, like, that kind of thing. And I was like, I don't really care about any of this. And then, if I'm being 100% honest, I enjoy cooking, baking more so, but just, you know, recreationally at home, but there were a lot of pretty girls in the baking class. And I was like, Oh, I guess if I was going to do it, I would do this, but I still had no real interest in it. And then at the end, at the, you know, they, they're kind of explaining everything at the end, and then they explained the schedule. And as soon as they explained the schedule, I was like, I'm coming here to avoid going to high school. Like, this is awesome. The schedule was two solid weeks at high school and then two solid weeks at the technical
Chelsea Morgan 18:31
school. Oh, y'all. Did it differently? Well,
Scott Benner 18:35
in a three year period, because my, I think my middle school went to ninth grade, so I was in ninth grade. So I was in ninth grade when that was happening, so I figured I have three years left. I have to go to high school for three years, or I have to go to high school for a year and a half. And I was like, cha ching. That makes a ton of sense to me. So I spent three years every other week, or excuse me, every two weeks, and we ran like an industrial bakery, and then we sold to the community, yes, and I was incredibly good at it by the time it was over, and I enjoyed it. And then I got a job at a bakery, and I was like, wait, I have to be here at 1am I swear to you, I may have done it for a week. And then I said, I'm so sorry, but I can't do this. And I stopped. So I
Chelsea Morgan 19:21
went to in our high school. Every ninth grader goes and sees our CTC, and I went with everybody. And I I loved cooking with my stepdad, and he's a phenomenal cook. Still is to this day, really great cook. And I said, you know, I want to learn more about this. My parents saw me going to Harvard and becoming a lawyer. I said it for years that I was going to and I was like, you know, I kind of want to give this a try. They were upset. We talked about it a lot for a long time, and then they agreed to let me join. And I think it was my third or fourth week. And because we do culinary and baking, we're all together, so you learn both skills. And they needed somebody to compete at a regional level for baking and pastry. And they asked me, because I don't know, I just struck them as somebody who might be interested. I was a 10th grader who knew nothing, and I loved it, and I took off with it and went to state level for competing and everything, and it's a lot of fun. Now, it's great because I choose to cook different foods for Derek. Sometimes it's not all the time, but when I do, I have a knowledge, a baseline knowledge, of what I need to do thanks to my time there.
Scott Benner 20:37
I do think I'm I'm just generally speaking better in the kitchen because of it, yeah? And even, like, Arden enjoys baking, and so I'll help her sometimes, and but we used to do it at scale, like, I didn't make a loaf of bread, right? I made 150 loaves of bread, yeah? And like, you know, you didn't make cinnamon buns, you made 1000 cinnamon buns, like, it was that kind of stuff. So it was a great time. I really do remember it fondly. And the girls were pretty and so that helped I once was we had our own, like, locker rooms with bathrooms like, you know, for for the bakery, and we makes it sound like everybody, but a few of the we used to, used to, like, congregate inside of them, but it wasn't a unisex situation. So, you know, a lot of times you'd be in the girls bathroom, talking to the girls, so they'd be in the men's room, or, like, that's kind of how it just worked. I was suspended one time because I got caught in the ladies room. Oh, no, I was there invited. I just want to say, I think some of the girls were smoking and we were talking about, like, what? I don't know what the hell we were talking about. I guess the teacher realized that we were gone and probably smelled the smoke coming from the girls room, and like, kind of came in and said, I'm coming in. Blah, blah, blah. And I was like, Oh my god. So I literally, like, out of a bad movie, was in the stall, standing up on the toilet trying to get away with it, and I did not get away with it. So I got it, got a couple days off. Ironically, I went to tech school to get time off, and they gave me even more time off. Yeah, I was just gonna say, how'd it work out? It's very nice of them, honestly. Okay, so tell me a little bit about learning about your son's diagnosis. That
Chelsea Morgan 22:14
was hard. I love talking about my story with Derek, and he loves me talking about it, so I'm gonna give it to you as plain as I give to everybody else. I got really sick, but before I got sick, Derek would walk up to me and he'd drink 16 ounces, like from a water bottle and ask for more water. And I was like, That's so weird. This is a little weird. So I googled it. Is it a sign of a growth spurt? Because I know when you eat a lot, you grow but I was like, maybe, maybe I just don't know anything fair enough growth spurt. No, that's not what Google said. But he had, he still does. He has a lot of issues going on now. He's been diagnosed with ADHD, and he has a language disorder and anxiety disorder. At the time, we thought he might be autistic, and we did have him tested. So weird things are going on. If I tell somebody that I think my child has type one diabetes, they're going to tell me I have Munchausen, because I'm always trying to come up with something for him. And that's not accurate. It always came that something happened, but it made me feel crazy, like I thought we were going to have this normal childhood, and it was just turning into so much more. So fast forward, I get a stomach bug, and I was very sick laying on the couch. I was having a hard time. Couldn't even stand up without needing to run to the bathroom. And Derek starts vomiting, and I'm like, Okay, well, he's got my stomach bug. No big deal. Well, we'll we'll monitor, make sure he's getting his fluids. And my husband is home. He's a gamer, and he's gaming, and he's like, Yeah, Derek. Derek fell asleep underneath, under my computer, and he'd wake up and he talked to me, and he just fall right back asleep. But every time he drinks something, within 2025, minutes, he's throwing up and it's not staying down. I said, Okay, I think at this point you need to get him to the hospital. He's dehydrated. We need to make sure he's going to be okay, because it's a lot of throwing up, yeah, because it's COVID time in 2022 still, you know, they're so strict on the precautions, I knew I wasn't going to be allowed to go in because I was sick too. So Ryan takes him, and I text him a while later, and I'm like, Hey, what's going on? And he goes, they took his blood sugar, and it just said, Hi. And he like, just put h i so I'm like, What? What does this even mean? What are you talking about? And he goes, I don't know any more than that, because he's a guy, and he's not the most adept at being in the hospital and advocating for what he needs. So I call him, and I say, put the nurse on the phone. He's like, you don't have to do that. I said, Yes, I do. And I and she puts him on the phone, and she tells me, and I said, Wow. She goes. We think that he was actually passing out all those times he was falling asleep. He was actually passing out. And so I come into the hospital, they're going to transfer him. We use chop because we're outside of Philly, and they wanted us to go to Penn State. And I am not talking Penn State. I'm sure that they are great over in Hershey. But I said chop is number one for endocrine. We are going to endocrine. I don't care if we have to wait. We're going there. So I have time to make it in and and tell my baby how much I love him and how sorry I am. And the doctor pulls me aside and he goes, Miss Morgan, if you would have waited two more hours, your son would have died. Oh my gosh, how high was his blood sugar. He was over 1000 his a 1c, was 10.3 but he looked like death. He looked like a skeleton. I have pictures of him. I mean, it was pretty bad. He lost in his little 38 pound body. He went down to 30 pounds. And so he was, he was pretty sick for a while that I didn't recognize. How long do you think it was going on? For probably a month, maybe a little bit more. And I kill myself for that, you know, hard to
Scott Benner 26:02
say. It felt so bad, you know, I understand it happened to us, and I understand how you feel. My gosh. Okay, so now you're a thought, you're sick and at the hospital, and you guys are going to chop like, What's the process like of getting him from where he was to being healthy? I used to hate ordering my daughter's diabetes supplies, I never had a good experience, and it was frustrating. But it hasn't been that way for a while, actually, for about three years now, because that's how long we've been using us med. Us med.com/juicebox, or call 888-721-1514, US med is the number one distributor for FreeStyle Libre systems nationwide. They are the number one specialty distributor for Omnipod dash, the number one fastest growing tandem distributor nationwide, the number one rated distributor in Dexcom customer satisfaction surveys. They have served over 1 million people with diabetes since 1996 and they always provide 90 days worth of supplies and fast and free shipping us med carries everything from insulin pumps and diabetes testing supplies to the latest CGM like the libre three And Dexcom g7 they accept Medicare nationwide and over 800 private insurers find out why us med has an A plus rating with a better business bureau at us med.com/juicebox, or just call them at 888-721-1514, get started right now, and you'll be getting Your supplies the same way we do.
Chelsea Morgan 27:41
He was in for four days. He responded really well to the insulin, so they didn't have to keep him in for too long. He didn't have to go ICU either, which was amazing. He started on a on a potassium drip, and was receiving insulin and they, you know, had to do all of our education. So within a day, I was feeling better, so I came down the next day and stayed with him and learned all of the shots and stuff. He was so amazing. Now this is before it was with daddy, so he would just lay there. They put IVs in him. They're giving him insulin via syringe. He's just laying there. He's not, not complaining. The moment I walk in that room, the child's Water Works turn on, he is back to himself. He is like my mom is here, and I can tell you exactly how I'm feeling, and it ain't good. So we had a lot to work through and learn. His finger pokes. Never a problem. But giving him the insulin. I mean, there were times where I was one leg over his body, my other arm holding on to him, and I'm just trying to put insulin in his arm where I can it was quite the fight, but initially he was really good in the hospital, a really good listener to what the doctors were saying. He is extremely intelligent, so I'm not surprised, but at that time, we didn't realize how smart he was, so we it was just really he was a good kid. I can't complain.
Scott Benner 29:05
That's awesome. How did it make you feel awful?
Chelsea Morgan 29:09
I thought I was killing my child. I held a lot of regret, because I felt like if I would have caught it earlier, maybe something could have been different. And realizing now all my research now, I know nothing would have been different. We just would have known sooner, and he might not have had to stay in the hospital as long, but I felt like I failed my child, and he had enough going on. Why am I doing this to him too? But I have rule, and I still have this rule to this day, I get 24 hours, 24 hours to feel really bad about myself, to kick my butt, to to feel the guilt and cry as much as I need to, but after that, 24 hours, we're turning it off. We're going into mom mode, and we're gonna figure out how to live our life with this disease or whatever it is that we have going on, like our ADHD stuff going on. I feel guilt over all. These things as his mom, I'm not bringing that to the surface. That stuff is going to stay, you know, I might talk to my therapist about it, but I'm not showing my child this. We're going to be strong, we're going to get through it, and we're going to do it as a family. And I recognize his emotions. I'm not telling him not to have them, but I don't dwell, because if I do that, you know, the mental health stuff starts to pick up and I can't that's not good mom. I'm not gonna be a bad mom. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna shove that down a little bit, and I'm gonna handle business. Are
Scott Benner 30:29
you able to do that for yourself as well, or is it only control that you can assert when it's for the kids?
Chelsea Morgan 30:36
That's a really good question. At this point. I don't know that. There's a whole lot that would make me lose my mind. The way that I I lost it about Derek and the guilt that I felt even competing in pageantry, I at the end of the day, you know, if you don't win, that can be tough. But I, I don't hold on to that. I just go, Okay, what's next? And and move forward. Yeah. So
Scott Benner 30:58
I learned a skill. Did a therapist teach that to you?
Chelsea Morgan 31:02
No, I think that's a life experience, not so much a therapy experience. Give
Scott Benner 31:07
yourself 24 hours and then that's that, right? Does it ever not work? Do you ever wake up on the 26th hour and go, Hey, what the hell
Chelsea Morgan 31:15
I don't even know that I gave myself a full 24 hours for Derek's diagnosis. So sometimes I think I'll give myself an hour here or there. You know, the burnout does happen, but for the most part, no, I don't. After I've set my mind to this is what we're going to do, I'm very hard headed. We're having a discussion about what we're doing for our vacation, and I'm like, This is my plan. This is it. We're not deviating. This is Chelsea's plan. And Ryan loves me for that. He's not an overly emotional person, but he also doesn't want to plan everything. So I get the plan, I set the plan in motion, and we all just follow, and they're happy to do that. So when it comes to all things, I tend to just find my way as I think is necessary, because I put on a really good front for people. I might break down, you know, and this is for diabetes. This is for relationships with other people. This is all of it. At nighttime, I might give myself time to cry. I might become very vulnerable. But in the daylight, I try to be as strong as possible, because I've learned one that not a whole lot of people care if you're sad, if they have their own things going on, they don't necessarily want to hear what you have going on all the time. There's a lot worse going on in the world, and not everybody wants to listen to my my sob story all the time. It's very, very adult of you.
Scott Benner 32:38
Oh, thanks. It took a while? Yeah, no. I mean, it's a big leap for people to make. How do you start off with managing is it? I mean, it's really little. Did they try to give you pens? Did they talk to you about a CGM? I'm interested in how that went. Chop
Chelsea Morgan 32:53
is very big into requiring you to have an extreme amount of time understanding how to work out the math for giving insulin. So we did not start off with, well, I will say pens. I don't understand because we didn't have them. So I can't say, like, I don't know how much you can control that, compared to syringes. We've always used a needle syringe, but they say that you have to have six months of Dexcom, free pod, free time, so that you are capable. Three to six. I'll say three to six.
Scott Benner 33:27
Shout out chop, which was Arden's Arden's hospital growing up. Yes, absolutely. That's not right. There's no reason to keep somebody from a CGM for six months. I understand the idea and everything, but that's my opinion. I think that's wrong. But go ahead,
Chelsea Morgan 33:42
now that we're here, now that we have it, I totally agree with you. But sorry, cats biting me. What
Scott Benner 33:49
just happened? My cat
Chelsea Morgan 33:50
was biting me. He's a love nibbler. He wants it's his way of saying, like, love me. I didn't know
Scott Benner 33:58
I'd have anything in common with your cat, that's awesome. Do you think we can call this episode Love nibbler? Because I believe we're going to, oh yes, unless you can sum up with something better. I was actually stuck on 25th hour because I don't know how the hell I jumped over 20 from 24 to 26 when I made my my comment earlier, but we're gonna go with love Nibbler for now, go ahead. I'm sorry,
Chelsea Morgan 34:21
that's fine. By the way, our cats names Christoph and Elsa. So Christoph was the one nibbling he's my nibbler. So anyway, so top has this like, you know, they they want us to wait. And I was okay with that, mainly because Derek didn't want it. And body autonomy is extremely important to me for my children, especially with all that he's had going on. So he sees these things sitting on people's arms. He doesn't understand what they are, because he's four going on five, and he's like, No, this is no, I'm not doing this, but we were still fighting the needle. Levels. And it wasn't until I went to a friend and was talking to her and she she had done a lot more research into the diabetes than I had, I kind of took it step by step. I took what chop was giving me, rather than I didn't join, like, I didn't join groups until he was eight months into his diagnosis. I did research, but I didn't go so far into like diet changes or anything like that. I wanted to know the why behind it more than the what to do with it at that moment, and that's just how I dealt with it. But anyway, so she tells me, Chelsea, body autonomy is important, but he is five years old, and he doesn't understand that these are life saving devices and they're going to make all of your lives easier, because we were still at the point where I was holding him down to give him insulin, and he was choosing not to eat so he wouldn't get insulin. It wasn't all the time, but you know, he would rather not have a snack when he's a little. He was 35 pounds, just so tiny when you think about it. I took my friend's advice. I went and I pushed to get the pump. We were probably five months in when we got the pump. We were four months in, I believe when we got Dexcom. Can I be honest about something that that I didn't that I was a bad parent for but I didn't know it was bad parents, please. I didn't know that parents that don't have their kids on CGM wake up at like 2am and check their kids blood sugar. I didn't do that,
Scott Benner 36:22
by the way, chop gave me that advice 20 years ago. I said, What about testing overnight? They said, don't worry about it. I said, well, the why is it important if I test during the day? No answer, right? Yeah, go ahead.
Chelsea Morgan 36:32
They didn't tell me. I had no idea. And so I'm sleeping through the night. And my mother in law is going by the way, my mother in law is my best friend. Her name is Sherry. She is very supportive of us. She learned everything to take care of Derek immediately, because they have weekly sleepovers. And she's a wonderful advocate for Derek as much as I am, so I have to give her all the props and shout out for this. But, you know, we get him on the Dexcom, and she's like, you know, everybody says their kids go low overnight and and we don't know that. And I was like, yeah, he wakes up. I mean, he wakes up. So I clearly I'm not doing anything wrong. He's alive, right? Get the Dexcom. And I realized how much he's waking up, and I'm going, oh, did I almost kill my kid? How much did my child almost die? And I had no idea. And that was very eye opening for me. So then we pushed to get the pod, and we get the pod, and that gave us more control, because he's he was little, and he still does this. He's peckish. He doesn't always eat when he wants to, or says he's going to, doesn't eat all of it. So, you know, giving him insulin hasn't always been easy, but they also didn't tell us about pre bolusing when he was in the hospital. They're just like, well, give him insulin once he's eat. And I'm sure their thought is, well, he's little, so he may not eat everything. The problem is, he's little, and he eats everything, like everything in sight. So learning about pre bolusing once we have the Omnipod. And why didn't I know these things? Where were these things when I needed them, and it gave us a huge sense of freedom. And Derek felt it immediately, and the need for him not to have it went away. He wasn't uncomfortable. He willingly took the changes, even when they were hard. The biggest thing for us was learning that we needed to get Goo Gone, or we were using unisol, and now they don't have the liquid unisol, so getting that kind of stuff so that we can get them off, that was the worst part. Was getting them off. I was just ripping them, tearing his skin off. Tell me
Scott Benner 38:31
now with hindsight, if chop comes to you and says you don't you need six months of learning the math, what would you say to
Chelsea Morgan 38:38
them? Pound sand.
Scott Benner 38:42
Why? Why are they wrong?
Chelsea Morgan 38:43
You can do both things. You can learn the math, and you can have the tools that you need. Giving him the Omnipod gave him better blood sugars immediately. It wasn't over time, he still was not having good agencies. He was eight. He was in the eight. And I get it for some people, that's great. His a 1c is 6.3 right now, we are not having crazy lows. I mean, sometimes, but that's a god bless my son, by the way,
Scott Benner 39:12
you would have had those lows without the CGM too, right? Here it is, in a nutshell, having a CGM or a specific way of delivering insulin and or both, even perhaps, and understanding how diabetes work. Those two ideas are not mutually exclusive. It is not an either or situation. You can actually do both at the same time. Crazy.
Chelsea Morgan 39:34
I appreciate the knowledge that they gave me. Listen
Scott Benner 39:38
how nice you are. Go ahead.
Chelsea Morgan 39:40
I know that they're number one. I fully support them being number one for other things too. My friends have different problems with their endocrine systems that I've learned a lot about, and chop has been very good about and helping to handle I think that the handling of this is wrong and. And I give my friends all of my information. I mean, I mentally unload. There have been a total of five. And I know for you, you've probably do you, I don't even know if you keep count of how many people you've saved by sharing your information, like sharing Arden
Scott Benner 40:15
story. I wouldn't know how to count that. But I I wonder. Sometimes I
Chelsea Morgan 40:19
started Derek's defenders, which is our soon to be nonprofit, so that I can share Derek's story more and give people things, even small things. Like, I want to give out eyelet ports. Are you familiar with them? The injection ports, right? Yes, yep. I want to give those out to people when they're when they're diagnosed with, like, kids get getting diagnosed with diabetes, because the pain that my son felt doesn't have to be there, like, let's you know, things like that, but I share Derek's story through Derek's defenders. And the reason I do that is because I don't want a doctor walking up to my friends or to strangers, I don't know, saying two more hours and you would have killed your son. I don't want that for anyone. I don't want them to feel those things. So that's why we talk about diabetes. I go to schools. I go to on I get on the news as much as I can. You letting me talk about this right now? I mean, I'm sharing Derek's story. You're sharing you share Arden story all the time. These are ways that we are saving people and and that's just what I want. That's and that's Derek's goal too. He became a JDRF Ambassador this year, so he can share his story more. It's lovely
Scott Benner 41:21
that you're getting out there and telling that story. That story. I think that just sharing what's happening, you know, in real time is valuable and let people, you know, figure things out for themselves. Like, what if, instead of somebody telling you this is how it has to be, they said, This is how it could be. It could also be like this. We could also do a mix of these things. What do you think sounds right?
Chelsea Morgan 41:41
Yeah, you know, I live that life right now. I'm sure you hear this all the time because of your community on Facebook about, you know, carbs, no carbs, wheat, no wheat, all those kinds of things. And we choose the mixture of lifestyle, you know, sometimes we do and sometimes we don't, and and I think that that's important for people to choose how they want to have their life, but I think that, knowing that information, I think that chop should share how people are going low carb as an option. They're not saying you have to do this. They're just saying, here is an option for you.
Scott Benner 42:14
No, I don't think anybody has to do anything. And I don't actually, I mean, I've said this 1000 times, maybe on the podcast, but I think that we get to where we are, you know, slowly, historically, meaning, you know, 20 years ago, it was probably a great thing to say to somebody like you really need to understand this before you get a pump, because, but what's the rest of that for? Because back then, their concern was, if you inject a basal insulin. Then even if you don't Bolus for your meals, even if you get your carb counting super wrong, you'll have some background insulin happening. You won't end up in DK, that is what they were hoping for, right? Like, so if I put somebody on a pump and they don't know how to use the pump, maybe they won't get their basal delivered correctly, or maybe the pot or the pump site will go bad and they won't change it, they'll end up in DK, like I get, where the the idea started, and how it progresses through technology. But the problem is, is that 20 some years later, they're saying the same thing, and the game has completely changed, right? Right? It's a different game, and you're using old rules, right? That's all
Chelsea Morgan 43:17
I do. Think about the people too, when it comes to the basal and Bolus, who dose themselves with the wrong one, and I see it daily in the group's help, I gave myself 34 units of quick acting insulin for sure. Oh, my God, I can't do that on my pod. Thank God we can't do that, that kind of stuff. Also,
Scott Benner 43:41
what a great opportunity to learn about, like, how the food impacts the insulin versus how the insulin impacts the food. Thank God, they come online and talk about it, because, first of all, they get great, great feedback, right? If people are like, look, just reverse engineer, like, what you do 10 units? Like, you know, what's your car ratio? Oh, your carb ratio is one to 10. Wow. You can eat 100 carbs right now. Like, I bet you haven't done that in a while. Like, yeah. Like, go get, you know, that kind of thing or and then they learn and, you know, other people get to see it happen, and hopefully it stops them from doing it. I'm just telling you that we should not be talking about things now based on problems that existed in the past, that generally speaking, don't exist anymore. I agree. Okay, I give you a pump and you don't know how to use it. You get insulin. Well, if you were also wearing a CGM, then the thing would beep when your blood sugar got high, right? Problem solved, you know, so. And you get all of the myriad of benefits that come with seeing your data in real time, which is absolutely expensive anyway. How's he chugging along right now? Like, How's Derek making out? Well, we just had COVID last week. So retro of you, that was a learning
Chelsea Morgan 44:45
curve. He's never had COVID before, especially being sick. So that was quite the learning curve for his insulin needs, but he's great. Last night, we had a pod that was very uncomfortable. He came in upset because it was you. Digging, and it cracked. The whole pod cracked and was digging into his skin. So we changed that. But anyway, that, I mean, that's day to day stuff. He's great. He wears his pods out in public for people to see. He tells everybody he'll walk into a room and be like, I have type one diabetes, just so everyone knows for so that he can be safe and so that he can talk about it. He's so cute with it. I love him. He's different. If you met him, he you would love him too. I know it. He's just a really great kid, and he doesn't let it hold him back. He does baseball. He's in Cub Scouts. He plays outside every single day with his friends, or inside if it's cold, because we live in Pennsylvania and the weather doesn't know what to do with itself right now. He lives his best life. He's gone to diabetes camp, not really wanting to go this year, but that's okay. He's gone to other summer camps that in our area are willing to accept type one diabetes, and I love them for that. I keep tight control when he's there so and I make sure he's not too far that I couldn't come If there was an emergency. And he lives his very best life. I think that Derek is going to have a great life, no matter what he chooses to do with it. He's gonna go very far.
Scott Benner 46:08
What if I met him and I didn't like him? Wouldn't that be awkward?
Chelsea Morgan 46:11
It would be really awkward. But I don't know how you would do that. You'd have to like, really not like kids. He's just
Scott Benner 46:17
like, oh my god, your kid is terrible. I hate this kid.
Chelsea Morgan 46:21
Well, I will say that ADHD makes some things hard. He doesn't always know how to stay still, and is very technology obsessed, which is hard, but we work on that, and he's come a long way in the last two years with with everything that he's got going
Scott Benner 46:38
on. What does technology obsess mean? He likes his phone. What are we talking about here? He wants
Chelsea Morgan 46:42
to play Minecraft. 24/7, he will play I don't know. Do you have an iPhone? I'm sure you have an iPhone. I'm looking at one right now. All right, so if you download game pigeon on your phone, play games with people through text messaging. It's bad, but you can play beer pong. They call it cup Pong, but you can like beer pong on your phone with somebody that's forever away, and there you go. You're playing games battleship. They play checkers and chess. He does love chess, so he'll play chess on his phone. He loves we're a very big Disney family, so we watch a lot of Disney movies. He wants, he wants a screen in his face all the time. And I know that's a generational thing that they're seeing that, you know, kids, we were not an iPad family. He did not have that kind of access, but he wants that TV on all the time, and I think it helps his brain calm down. So he's pretty tech
Scott Benner 47:36
obsessed. Awesome. Listen, I loved technology when I was growing up. I mean, it wasn't really technology back then, but I really did love it. So I had an Atari, you know, like people were like, What is this magic in your house? Like, it's a video game in my house, my friend, my
Chelsea Morgan 47:51
husband, is very big into gaming. He has a very nice setup upstairs. He streams with his friends, and so he sees his dad doing it, playing these hardcore games that he can't, you know, you can't get out of because if you stop playing, I don't know what's gonna happen, but something's gonna happen. They might come and find you. That's my theory.
Scott Benner 48:12
I had a robot when I was a kid, and it was a few feet tall, honestly, like two and a half feet tall, and it was on a base, and it had like treads under it. And everything you had to program it like there was the little buttons on the front and it they were just forward, left, right. And so you would just, like, hit Program, and then go, like, go 123, segments forward, then make a left turn. One segment, then go forward, two segments, make a right and then it would walk through the house. That was technology. Like my first remote control car had a cord between the remote control and the car. What? That's a thing. I'm old. Yeah, my first video game was a knob on the side of my television. On there was a knob on either side, the left or right side, so you could play Pong. Oh my gosh, you'd throw a switch on the TV, and the TV would shut off, and this blue, screen would come up, and then you had you turn the dial LEFT or RIGHT, and the paddle, which was just a block, like a bar, would go up and down the right side of the screen, and the one on the left side of the screen, and then a ball would come out, but the ball was square, and then you would touch it, and it would bounce, and then ricochet, and the other person would try to stop it from going off their side. That was it. I mean, that was a real thing we had. So do you like game? Do you game now? No, no, I stopped when I became an adult.
Chelsea Morgan 49:31
I hope my husband listens to this. I'm gonna
Scott Benner 49:33
tell your husband what happened. I had a kid. One day I bought him Madden, and he loved it. And I realized I'm an adult and I have things to do, and I never played it again. Oh, yeah, that's all. Also he was way better at it than me. It was very frustrating,
Chelsea Morgan 49:52
right? Derek does play he does play college football on the TV with his dad that he likes to do that too. But Ryan still. Bottom on that. I think we've got at least another year before Derek starts beating him at all games. Yeah,
Scott Benner 50:04
I don't know. I just I've gotten to the point in my life where I don't have enough time to like, like, sometimes I find myself going, Why? Why won't I go pee like, I think when you get to that point, you're not like, you know, we should do we should settle in and play Madden. So I just don't have that kind of time anymore. I don't know if I did have that kind of time. Truth is, I do something else with it too.
Chelsea Morgan 50:25
So So I do over 600 hours of community service this year alone. I'm at 600 and it's a lot of work. So when I see them playing, I'm like, go find something to do, find somebody who can, who you can help, or at least go find a friend to talk to. Why? Why are we playing this anymore? But I tell my kids this, don't yuck. Someone else is yum. So just because I don't like it doesn't mean they don't have to, and I will be as respectful as I emotionally can handle that day. That's fine. I'm
Scott Benner 50:58
gonna regret not asking you this, and I feel like I might regret asking you this, but you say you the 2024 what
Chelsea Morgan 51:05
I'm the International Women of service, sweetheart. I won an international pageant in July of last year, and so I competed and won, and the sweetheart is our age division. Thank
Scott Benner 51:18
God you said it again, because for the life of me. I kept thinking, you saying sweet, tart. And I was like, I don't understand. Like, well, I mean,
Chelsea Morgan 51:25
I am sweet like that. You might pucker up. It's okay. Remember, love nibbles. What is that we focus on community service. That's why I started. I did not start pageantry as a young woman. I well as a young as a child, I started pageantry as an adult a few years ago through they were originally American women of service, but have since escalated to being an international pageant that focused on community service and the women as a whole. So you won't see us on stage in bikinis or things like that. We are a Scholarship Pageant focused on who we are as women and young children, because we do have a child's division as well. We come together, we do a lot of community service and focus on those who need more than us, or whatever our passion is, because for me, my passion raised type one diabetes, but really it's the medical community and supporting them, however, I can where my sister, Queen Kathy, is in Las Vegas, and she loves working with goody two shoes, who give shoes to children of all of their schools in Las Vegas, which is so cool. I love her platform focusing on that. And my other friend knits hats for babies in the NICU or somebody going through cancer. And another friend, you know, all of these different things that we do, we come together and we celebrate that through our pageant experience, I still get to look beautiful in a dress. Interview is the highest point. So I have to talk to people and explain who I am, what I what I focus on, and where I plan to go, and then we get to rock that stage in whatever we choose. That's
Scott Benner 53:04
awesome. That's a great way to shine a light on community service being done.
Chelsea Morgan 53:07
Yes, we I love it. It's a huge part of who I am. I did not do a whole lot of community service throughout my childhood. Wasn't really sure how I could get into that, even in my adulthood, where to look for that. So when somebody I saw or somebody I knew through Facebook won a pageant, I was like, oh, that sounds like fun. And I was in the middle of my diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and really needing to find who I was again. So I said to Ryan, hey, I think this is something I want to try. And he's such a supportive husband. He's like, Okay, please don't ask me to come. They came but and they loved it this year. But he's he's just been so great about it, because I now I have all of these contacts, and I do so much. I work with the Adelyn Rose Foundation. I work with Ronald McDonald Make A Wish Foundation, and a lot of different opportunities, uh, warm blanket Hugs is somebody to do a lot of work for. So I love the ability to get out there and talk about diabetes, but also see where other people are and meet them with what they need, or just a shoulder to cry on. Well, Your husband
Scott Benner 54:14
must is really supportive because he's giving up his College Game Day time to come out and watch you. The kids come watch you do it. Derek
Chelsea Morgan 54:22
did come and watch. Blake was still a little young. He's five and a half at that point, and we didn't think he was gonna sit through a whole day. Derek didn't do the best sitting still, but when they put the crown on my head, the whole room was quiet. You know, they had cheered for me already, so they were quiet, just waiting for me to take my first walk. And Derek yells out, good job, Mama. And just the whole place there wasn't a dry eye, including myself. I pulled him up on stage with me because I told him this one was for him. I share his story all over the country because of him, so that people know what diabetes looks like ahead of time to save, to save that life if they need it. And and so he knows that this is as much for me as it is for him. Yeah,
Scott Benner 55:04
that's really wonderful. There is something here in your notes that I wanted to ask you about. What a weird thing for me to keep to the end. I guess I don't understand exactly what you mean when you said you just said medical bullying.
Chelsea Morgan 55:14
Oh yes, when I entered those Facebook groups initially, I saw a lot of families posting, and if you remember, I waited a long time to join those groups on purpose because I couldn't. I knew I wasn't going to be able to handle all the information at one time, but I saw a lot of parents posting because it was the back to school time that their child dealt with somebody smashing their phone or being taunted, don't play with them, because if you play with them, you're going to get diabetes or not inviting them to a party, because there's going to be sugar. And mom didn't understand that said child could have sugar as long as they were dosed for it. And that broke my mom heart, because I don't want Derek to be treated different. I know he is different, but I don't want him to be treated that way. I want him to have a whole life experience that is filled with love and care and support. So the focus on medical bullying comes around talk bringing diabetes to the kids, explaining what it is. I give it. I basically say, and people might crucify me for this on the internet, but I say, for a five year old, I will tell them he's allergic to sugar. Oh, we understand what that means. I'm allergic to bees, I'm allergic to gluten. I'm, you know, they can understand that at that level, but the older they get, I'm giving them more information into what diabetes really is, and by doing that, Derek doesn't face bullying. He's not left out of anything. Parents actually send in treats that are de friendly, because they know we don't give cupcakes. It's just our personal choice. They'll send in something else. And he doesn't know any different life than any other child. I think that a lot of the bullying that happens, and this isn't just for diabetes, it's for all things, is because you don't understand. So if you're watching a child get diagnosed or deal with an autism diagnosis, and they're getting bullied because of it, kids don't understand it. And so I bring that information to them, but I also share it with parents and teachers and faculty, because they might treat him differently without meaning to it just creates this safe space. That's what I want. I want to save space. I don't want Derek to come home with broken things. I don't want his heart to be broken either. So that's why we do medical bully. Tell me some of the things that you've heard directly. I heard about a child. This one sticks with me like I can read it in my mind, a third grader being pushed in the playground that the child then grabbed the pod. The bully grabbed the pod off of the child and ripped it
Scott Benner 57:44
off for what, like, what gets said during that? Do you have any idea? I don't
Chelsea Morgan 57:49
remember the exact words, but I know it comes that. I mean, that's mean, that is an extreme source of bullying, right? But I've also heard of kids that break phones, and that's a jealousy thing. It's not fair. You get to have a phone at school, and I don't. I'm gonna break it. And that's, you know, it might not always be jealousy. It could be truly just a bully being a bully, but those kinds of things happen. And I think the lack of knowledge is why
Scott Benner 58:17
I ran into a lot of that, not not the pushiness, but, you know, thanks a lot for getting your kid a phone. Now, my kids asking for a phone, I was like, I'm like, Listen, you think a I wanted to get my kid a phone? I think I was like, oh, you know what I should really give my kindergartener, right? You know? And be like, it's just because of diabetes. Like, if you find a way to make the diabetes go away, I'd be, I'd be thrilled to get rid of this phone, like I found, explaining it to people put an end to it. But I guess you meet people who are just like barbarians, and they're, you know, and they, they just, they're not gonna be reflective enough to understand the situation. Just you have a phone, I don't I'm mad. Or, you know, what is that on your arm? Give it to me, I don't know, right? It's crazy. Well, I
Chelsea Morgan 59:00
went into the classroom when Derek was about to get his phone, because he got it in October. So I guess that was six months. Wow. Holy cannoli. We had we were six months without Dexcom or Omnipod. I didn't realize that. I thought it was sooner. So I went into the classroom to explain why Derek is getting a phone, because I thought kids were going to be like this, especially with what I had seen. And I said to them, how many of you have a cell phone? Do you know? Almost every single kid raised their hand nowadays. It's
Scott Benner 59:29
not a problem. I'm talking about 20, you know, I'm talking about, like 15 years ago. So I'm
Chelsea Morgan 59:33
the mom that said my kids weren't going to get a phone until I was 13. God, had other plans. He said, haha. Let me show you what my plans are. And you know now he's had a phone since he was five, and I had to, I've had to navigate that. But I was so shocked, because I was the mom that was like, nope, 13, that's it. Nope, everybody, and most of them had it in their backpack. And the teacher was like, you have it in your backpack. What? What you know shocking, shocking things that have happened that you don't expect.
Scott Benner 1:00:03
I'll tell you. What if using an iPhone meant you had to hit the forward button three times, the left button once, the forward button, again, again, then right, then forward, forward, right, right, forward, forward, back, back, left, forward. Nobody used them because that's cool as I thought that robot was going to be. It was a pain in the ass.
Chelsea Morgan 1:00:25
I do have a cousin, a set of cousins, who, with their parents, have always said 143, and that was shorthand for I love you, or something like that. I love you, yeah, I know, yeah. That stuck with me, but I can't say that. I want to go back to an analog situation like that. I'm good. I'll take my laptop.
Scott Benner 1:00:46
Listen. I think, Chelsea, we could sit here for 25 hours and argue about all the things that technology is making worse, but I could sit here and tell you about all the things it's making better too. And I don't want to go backwards, right? I don't think you can go backwards and you know, it's going to be what it's going to be, and hopefully, like well intended people, will hopefully try to make some valuable things out of that technology. I mean, so far, that's not what's happened, but, I mean, I can hold out hope. You know, if you just right now, just go open Tiktok as an example, and I'll charge you with spending a half an hour scrolling through it, and then don't touch it again for a week, and then go sit down and write down all the things you saw on Tiktok. You will not you won't think of anything. You just won't remember. It's so empty calorie. I don't know like I feel like I sound like an old person saying that, but there are definitely better ways to spend your
Chelsea Morgan 1:01:39
time. I appreciate technology for the things that I specifically look for. You know, recipes, book recommendations, but the fluff I do without. I'm busy enough with the volunteer. I own my own business, I have my kids, and they're all in their own sports and all of those things. So I totally agree with you 100% I think that the fluff needs to go,
Scott Benner 1:02:04
Yeah, I also think that what kind of ruins it is, what kind of ruins everything? I'll say this, and then we can say goodbye. Sure. Once something becomes popular,
Chelsea Morgan 1:02:15
then people
Scott Benner 1:02:16
come along and try to copycat it, because they want either the popularity or the money or whatever comes along with it, which I completely, I'm not gonna tell you I don't understand, but that ends up ruining things sometimes, like, there are some things that were in the world that were awesome that got ruined by everybody glomming onto it. And I know, like, who? Who's the gatekeeper? Who gets to say, who does it and who doesn't like I understand all the arguments, and I know why it goes the way it goes. I'll just give you my best example is in 2007 January, I started a blog about being a parent of a child with type one diabetes, and at that time, I swear to you, the Internet was so fractured and not what it is now, that I didn't even know if anybody else was doing it like. For all I knew I was the only person in the world doing it like I seriously I would have no way to know. I later learned my best understanding where there were probably two or three other type one blogs that existed either around the time mine started or or in maybe the year or so prior to that, like, right? So, but to say that I had one of the first type one diabetes bugs is an absolutely true statement. Okay, it's not a it's not a brag or anything. It's just, it's for the story. The time it took from blogging to explode to when it fell apart, it happened so quickly. It was crazy to me. There were people sharing, like, really awesome stuff, like, like experiences and stories, and you could see the value in all of it. There were a couple people blogging who weren't very good at it, and that's fine. Their blogs didn't get a lot of traction. And, you know, they would kind of die on the vine again, like, I think that's very natural. And when that's 10 or 50 or 100 like, that works. But when you look up some five years later, and some study that was presented to me tells me that there were close to 4500 diet, type one diabetes blogs being written, I was like, Well, what the hell that's not necessary and but then, you know, how do you prune that tree? It's nobody's job. Like, you know, some of this stuff might be and what if some one person's writing a blog that's valuable to six people? Like, that's awesome. You think, okay, that's awesome, until you realize that when you flood the space, it destroys it, right, right? And so eventually it gets so fractured that you as the reader don't have time, and you start acting like, oh gosh, like I'm going to go, like, I want to try this one and that one and this. And then eventually you don't do any of them, and it all falls apart. Then any of the value that it was bringing is gone. Now you can see that replicate over and over again throughout time right now it's huge on YouTube, right? Someone makes a YouTube video, and it's super popular. And you know for sure 1000 other people are going to try to copy that video, and you know what I mean and like and some of them might be really good, but what ends up happening is, is that when you finally go into YouTube and search for whatever it is you're searching for, the returns are so great and so varied in quality that you just end up giving up. And now, instead of there being a few people who were like, delivering quality stuff, there's 1000 people, 909 100 of them are garbage. 100 of them are awesome. And you can't find the good ones from the bad ones, and you flood the market, and it ends you lose that thing. I actually am watching. This is such a weird example. I'm so sorry. It's okay for people who listen, they'll probably know that, like about a year ago, like my family bought me a chameleon, is like a surprise gift. I didn't know what I was doing. I had to learn about it, et cetera. And so I found my way through that world to get information very quickly. And I found a handful of just incredibly insightful, good communicators who had great information. Right there they are, but it got so popular. Reptile videos got so popular, probably during COVID, that everyone flooded YouTube with them. And now there are people who make awesome content that nobody sees anymore. The algorithm doesn't know what to do with it, and you know what I mean? And so instead of seeing five videos in a month that are just incredible, you know, if you try to search for that, what you get is 1000 videos that are garbage. And then I go, Ah, forget this. And I'm done with it. And aside of of that, like, what it does there, I think it's the the draw of monetization, like, and then so the first five people that did it were like, I just want to write a nice type one diabetes blog. Like, I wasn't like, Oh, I'll get a Google Adsense ad and make $50 a month. Like, I didn't think that, like, you know, and I don't think that the first person who was like, Hey, this is me feeding my reptile, and this is how I take care of it. And you can take good care of yours too, if you do that. I don't think they were thinking, like, I think one day I'll get paid by this, but then eventually they do, and then everybody runs up and they're like, I'm gonna do it too. I'm gonna do it too. And they're gonna and they're going to ruin it. Like, I've seen it happen over and over again. I've seen really, like, great content creators that can't get their stuff seen anymore, which is insane. That kind of like, mad rush to get paid turns into like, well, now I have to push out a ton of content, right? And it's turned this space into that, like, it's turned all these space into now suddenly, like, you know, you're like, Oh, my favorite creator has put up a video, and you watch it, and you're like, he just put this up because he needed to put up a video on Thursday. Like there's nothing here, like there's nothing here, and now he's trying to satisfy the algorithm. I hear what you're saying, if you're saying, Scott, you put up a lot of content. Podcast apps don't work the same way, right? So whereas YouTube says, make content, make content, make content, and will serve if people watch your content, will serve them more of it. Believe it or not, podcast apps don't work that way. You can listen to three episodes of this app podcast in a row because you love it, right? And if you don't choose the fourth episode to be this podcast, it will push you to something else, right? I don't make a lot of content for that reason. I make a lot of content because I think we just have a lot of we have a lot to cover, and I want there to always be something there for people that are interested in listening. I also think that if I put one episode up this week, and it's about a certain topic, and you don't like that topic, I don't want there to not be anything there for you like so I like you to have I don't expect you to listen to every episode every all week long, but I like you'd have an option anyway. I just spoke way too long. But notice at the end of it I'm not gasping for air. So pretty big way go you. Yeah. Super excited. Good. Sorry.
Chelsea Morgan 1:08:45
I see that. I see that in the in my business industry, too, and with all forms of textiles or anything that you want to make, you know we love our do I want to say the word? Am I allowed to say? I'll say it. Timu Shein, however you say that, you know we all love that, but the quality that you're getting is not the same as somebody who I own my own small business. I do this work every single day, day in and day out. I'm actually sitting in my office right now, my quality compared to what you're going to get from a third world country is going to be very different, yeah, but there's so much saturation that people are just going, I just want to save the most money, so I'm going to see what I can get. And then, oh, it didn't work out. I guess I have to go to the person who paid. I have to pay a little bit more for and it's happening through all industries, really. And I don't disagree with you. 500% agree
Scott Benner 1:09:38
with you. Somehow the internet opened up the world and is crushing it at the same time. Like, absolutely listen, like, If a guy says, I'm gonna build a tank to put a crocodile skink in, I don't know. I'm now making up some words, and I'm not. And he makes, you know, $1,000 from that video. What that allows him to do is to make a follow up video, uh, six months from now, go, Hey, look, this is how the setup is working now. It's actually working, and it actually becomes valuable for you that way. It's not just eye candy, but if everyone's making this is how I set up the tank for my crocodile skink video. Then none of them make money, and then none of them can afford to, like, continue to make quality content for you. Like, I sell ads, and so I can afford to sit down two years ago and say, I would like to take some like core ideas from the podcast and turn them into shorter content, and then two years later, put out the small sip series. And you don't know how much effort and time goes into going out to the audience and saying, first of all, give me a complete list of everything that's ever been said that's been said that's been really impactful for you. And not like, big ideas that we all know, but like, was there a phrase that stuck in your head? Like, is there an idea that really left you forward? Like, to and we took that list and then called it down, and then went back and re listened to that stuff and said, Oh, this is what got them here, and then put it back together again. And then sat down with Jenny and and, you know, recorded that whole new series of, like, 21 episodes, which took weeks and weeks and weeks because Jenny, that's not what Jenny does for a living. So I get her, when I get her, you know, then it goes out to an editor who makes a living editing this podcast, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and, you know, who's trying to kill that? And they don't know they're trying to kill it. The 110 people who have launched a type one diabetes podcast since I launched mine, now they're all gone. There's a handful left. I don't want to lie to you. There are some that exist, but I'm telling you that 110 or more. It's probably 150 at this point. I stopped looking at it years ago. People were like, Hey, that guy has ads on his type one diabetes podcast. Now, some of them might have been like, I'd like to sell ads. And some of them might have just been like, I have a story I'd like to tell, which is awesome. Some of them might have been like, Hey, that guy sucks. I can do it better. Like, all these reasons are great reasons to start, and maybe they're right and maybe they're wrong. In the macro view of all this, stepping back like it's to some degree important for people with type one diabetes is going to sound incredibly pompous. It is important, to some degree that I make enough money to live so that I can think about making you a video for six months from now about how the tank held up. It doesn't need to be me, somebody, like, that's important. So everything can't be so, like I was saying earlier, like just empty calories, all your content can't be empty calories. Like, some of it actually has to be valuable. And I don't know, sometimes the flowers get choked out by the weeds. Now, sometimes better flowers grow. And I'm all for that, like, if somebody can come along and knock me off and do a better job, I hope they do well, I don't hope they do, but I think that would be wonderful if they were out there helping people. But instead, what ends up happening is you have 75 podcasts where somebody gets on and tells the same goddamn story. Yeah, and that's what happened to the blogs? There used to be this thing. I actually, I thought it was lovely, but it was called diabetes blog week. Maybe they still do it, I have no idea. But once you're up to 1000s and 1000s of blogs, and they do this thing called diabetes blog week, and they give you a writing prompt right to this on Monday, this to Tuesday, I did it a couple of times, and then one day, I was like, well, that person wrote almost the exact same thing I wrote, which told me that, like, our experiences weren't that much different. And what that led me to think was, well, if that person can write that and I can write it, I don't need to write it, they'll write it. Like, you know, I mean, like, like, what do we need? 75 of the same story for it's good for the person, and it's also it's great for the people that they are able to capture. And maybe that person was found, you know, found that blog wouldn't have found mine, or vice versa, or whatever. But the unintended ending to this, every time I've seen it, my life is eventually you'll over saturate the space and kill it.
Chelsea Morgan 1:13:59
So when you go looking for anything online, it's going to go based off of SEO, of course, and you're going to have, how many views are you getting? So the one who gets the most views gets to be at the top of Google's search engine, and almost every time when you click into whatever it is. Example, right now, I'm working on a project for Read Across America, and I am searching for cute little crafts that I can do in my son's room with paper plates. And I so I type in paper plate fish, and I click on it. I can't even read through most of the blog because it is ad after ad after ad, because all these people are seeing is monetization. But if I go to the exact same the next one underneath it is almost word for word, the same wording too. Yeah, that is. The other problem with blogs is that people are stealing content. Oh, I think, personally,
Scott Benner 1:14:47
yeah, that was, that's been going on forever. And, you know, with AI too, they'll scrape your stuff and then rewrite it and just put it out as their own. That's going to happen soon, too. But listen, I no shade, right? There's a per, I won't say anybody's name, but. There's a person who talks about chameleons online. Their content is rock solid. It is, it's awesome. It's it's a person who pays attention has been in it for decades. Everything you learn from them is valuable. They continue to teach themselves more and bring it out to you. It's awesome. One problem, delivery, not great, but it doesn't matter, because I say to myself, well, that's the information. I'll sit and listen to it, right? And I don't care if it's not exciting, or if it's not visually appealing, or if even, like, audibly, you're just a little like, once in a while, you're like, man, get to it. You know. I mean, what's there? Is awesome. The other day, I tried to find a specific piece of information about one of my animals, and this person's video came up. It's like an hour long. I listened to it everything I needed to know, done, explained. Well, awesome, yeah, but the video's got a few 1000 views. Underneath of it is a video with 857,000 views. With a girl talking about the same animal, but she's doing it with a top that just shows a little bit of cleavage, and she's very well made up, and her background is lovely, and it's all lit well. And I thought I'm going to click on this, and I clicked on it, and, man, she gets almost everything wrong about that. Oh my gosh, the credit of the community. They jump in and they go, that's not right. This is wrong. You're saying that like, blah, blah, but it doesn't matter. 900,000 views with bad information, cuz pretty girl, 3000 views on the absolutely great information, because it just doesn't fit the way the algorithm feeds it to you, or the way your brain wants or whatever. But like, you know, you don't go into a college course and sit down and say, like, oh, this, this very learned person who's telling me this information, she's boring, but it doesn't matter. I'm gonna listen like all the information is great. Like, you sit and do that because you're in college, but when you get out into the world, like, this doesn't work, which is why I've had to do, you know, I've been criticized sometimes for, like, like, why does he talk about diabetes in such a lighthearted way? Like, I mean, surprise, I'm tricking you into listening to information about diabetes. Like, because if I just came out and did what that guy did, you'd click over and go watch somebody else who's, you know, clavicles are showing and then you wouldn't know how to, like, I don't know Pre Bolus for your dinner, and so I don't know it. Just anyway, I don't know how we got here, other than to say, like, I'm all for people making their stuff. I'm really not a gatekeeper. I think that everybody should try. But what it does is it gives me an extra job, like my job now is to, like, innovate, stay ahead, not let the space crash around me, and
Chelsea Morgan 1:17:46
provide the good content that you do provide already doing my bully,
Scott Benner 1:17:50
yeah, so I don't know. Again, I have no idea how this happened, although I am shot out of a cannon today, this is awesome and unfair to you. Chelsea, I apologize. Oh, gosh, no,
Chelsea Morgan 1:18:00
it's true. I live this life every day, so you're not alone in your thought process. It's a conversation I have all the time with people, so I appreciate the conversation I was read. I actually read your post about stuff in your Facebook group about how you're going to be pushing out information, because it was very I love information. Information is how we are as a society, supposed to grow and thrive and all those good things, and so I appreciate the information. If nobody else wants to listen, they know how to turn it
Scott Benner 1:18:28
off. Yeah, again, that's awesome. Just don't listen. It's cool. Like, I, you know, trust me, there's enough people listening. I'm okay. But, like, you know, but what you're referring to is that I've built up what I think is an awesome online like, private Facebook group, right? Like, I think now it's 58 or 59,000 people in there by the time you hear this, I can almost tell you, because it grows so consistently, it'll grow by about 150 every three days. You'll won't hear this for like, six months. So whatever that math is, awesome group people are. It's a genuinely great place. It does about 120 125 new posts a day, likes or hearts, over 9000 a day likes, hearts or comments, 9000 a day absolutely, absolutely valuable for people. And
Chelsea Morgan 1:19:16
I think in your group, though, I do have to say this, you, your group, has some of the most. I want to say light hearted. I don't know if that's the exact correct term for this, but you're not going to get bullied in your group or put down because of your belief, because we all know, you know, we're all coming from different walks of life. Instead of saying you have to listen to this one way and you you foster
Scott Benner 1:19:37
that we very carefully moderate for kindness. That's how we handle it. And I think the group follows my vibe, which I think is also helpful, but but the problem is, is that if I have an episode that goes up today and I'm like, Oh, look, I'd like to tell people about this, I make a nice post up, I put it together, and here it is for you. You can do whatever you want with it. The algorithm won't feed it to people, even though it's my group, it. Just doesn't like. So the only thing Facebook out the Facebook algorithm, enjoys is hot guys with animals. It's good with that. It's good with arguing that. It's very good at if I were to, if I were to write a post that said, hey, you know, Anthony Fauci gave you the COVID. And by the way, today's episode is about blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, then, then 57,000 people would see it. But if I just write today's episode was about Chelsea, and she came on to talk about this, this and this. It's not that people aren't interested in it, it's that the algorithm literally won't show it to them. So what you were referring to earlier is I'm going to get a endeavor for a month to see if posting the same thing slightly differently more frequently, helps for people to see it. I have to be honest with you, I don't imagine it'll work, but I'm going to try. It's been one of the bigger frustrations of running the podcast and the group. I don't understand how Facebook doesn't know that if 60,000 people are following you, they're interested in what you're saying.
Chelsea Morgan 1:21:04
I know that you will also lose people. Never highlight and at everyone, even though that's an option, don't do those things. That's like, a huge No, right?
Scott Benner 1:21:14
Facebook's Like, here, here's an everyone tag every time you you say everyone, 30 people are just like, Oh, don't tell me what I should be looking at. And then they don't
Chelsea Morgan 1:21:23
Yes, and then you're gone, not coming back. Cannot Win, is the answer. I think that you're doing really, not that my opinion matters. I am not a professional in any like you, but I do think that you are doing well, because I do have the experience of the SEO I used to do, copywriting and all those kinds of things. And I think that what you you put out is good, and as long as you keep it good, I will listen if that matters at all. Well,
Scott Benner 1:21:47
it matters Absolutely. I really, I very much appreciate it. Well, I these are just some of the back room, like, difficulties that make, like, telling you about, you know, diabetes difficult. Like, you would think it would just be as easy as like, here's the information about diabetes. Oh, you want to follow me, you'll see it. Yeah, the small sip series is just the latest thing that's, you know, frustrating, because this is a thing people ask for. And I'm not kidding you, it took two years to get it out and do it correctly, and now here it is. And you go, Okay, here it is. And people say, Oh, I didn't know that was available. And I think to myself, I posted a half a dozen times over the last like, three weeks about this. Like, you didn't see one of those? And I go back and look at the post? No, nobody saw those posts. You know, it's in the podcast feed. You didn't see that there. Well, I'm more in the Facebook group. I don't really like I go listen to the podcast, but I'm not subscribed to it. Like, Okay, that's fair enough. So there's another way. I can't get this information. So here's information people want. They've asked for it in droves. And you go, Okay, here it is. And then the algorithm says, No. But if you'd like to argue about tipping culture, that we could make sure everybody sees, you know, if you want to put up a post about how some you know, girl in New Zealand died because her religious parents didn't give her insulin, I can make sure everyone sees that for you, like, like, that's the kind of stuff. Like, if you want to argue or say something sad, that algorithm will push it at you in two seconds.
Chelsea Morgan 1:23:09
You said something earlier about how people can't believe you, make it all light hearted and all I can still think. It's still in my brain. I hope you don't mind me bringing back up is that? What do they want us to do? Because if we were to sit in our room crying for the next three years because we're dealing with this, we're talking about how negative it is, they're not going to listen either. They're not, you know, they don't want to be a part of that. And I get like death is a mystery, and so people are intrigued by it, but you make people want to continue living. Isn't that a worthy cause? Like, people should be praising that.
Scott Benner 1:23:43
Well, I think most people enjoy it, but the people who don't like the mix of medical and light heartedness that it really makes them upset. Like, don't joke, it's serious. I'm like, I mean, it's serious, but like, what are you gonna listen like? You're not gonna listen to that. Are you like, if we get on here and go, like, hey, Chelsea, so your three year old has diabetes. How's that feel? Well, Scott, I'm thinking of throwing myself out of a window. That's not a podcast. Like, you're not gonna listen, and then we're never gonna get to the part where you're just like, Oh, that's interesting. That's interesting. That's helpful that I know. Like, I guarantee you that plenty of people have opened up a microphone and said really valuable things about diabetes into it that nobody's ever heard because it's boring and like, but there's a line between making it not boring and making it empty calories. Like, I don't go empty calories, I just make it light hearted enough that you stay engaged with it. Hopefully, you know, like, that's the goal, and everybody, there's always going to be somebody complaining about something. I mean, that's just gonna happen, right? And I can't be for everybody. I also appreciate that some people maybe just get on here and go, like, I don't like that guy, or I don't want to listen to somebody who doesn't have diabetes tell me about diabetes. Like, there's a lot of reasons not to listen to me. Like, I get all of them. Overwhelmingly, it works for people you know, who who vibe well with me and. So, you know, you just try to keep making it. I'm just telling you that as a person who does not see themselves as a content creator, but obviously is the system that exists to get what I make to you, it could not possibly be fighting me more if it tried. And I mean on Facebook, I mean on social media, I mean in the podcast apps, Apple has made changes to their algorithm over the last two years, or the way YouTube will like demonetize somebody for saying a word they shouldn't say, or, you know, in truthfulness. And this has nothing to do with my feelings about COVID, but the way Facebook, over the last couple of years has, you know, lorded over us and made sure that nobody's mentioned COVID or nobody's like, and if they, if they do, then like, their posts are ripped away, and then it turns the algorithm towards your group. And if the algorithm decides your group is full of whatever, it'll just shut it off, and there's no recourse. Like, so you've spent years just moderating people being like, don't say that. Don't say that. Don't like, not that. I give a if you talk about it, but if you say that, then this space isn't going to be here for other people. Like that is in the way
Chelsea Morgan 1:26:06
even Venmo is doing it. I My friend got me this is a joke for another friend got me a crocheted butt plug. It's not for real life. It's just a haha. Like, if it says, Let me tell you what it says, because you're gonna think, what the hell is she this girl? No, no, I'm feeling a bit uptight, or just down in the dumps. Perhaps you've had to deal with a lot of time here, and I've got your back when it feels like life is a real pain in the ass, I'm always all in like, just a haha, right? So I went to send her money for it, and I put the word, but in the thing wouldn't let me send it. Wouldn't even let me send the word. But to her, I gotta
Scott Benner 1:26:41
tell you, I can't believe you're bringing this up because I have the crochet No, no, no, no, no, no, I No. I'm being serious. I can't believe you're bringing this up because I'm gonna go to my my pictures so that I can get an actual date on this. Because I believe it was Yes Two days ago, I was in the Walgreens two days ago, trying to get nasal gel that Isabelle told me to buy to squirt my nose to help my nose heal. Okay, yeah, and I I'm standing there looking for them. I can't find what I'm looking for, so I start going up and down, up and down aisles. And No kidding, I ended up taking a picture and sending this to my wife. Hello, cake. Buzzy butt, a vibrating toy for backside play. It's a butt plug at Walgreens. Stop it. Oh my gosh. It was next to the little sucky and I don't want to tell you what that does. I'm not kidding there. There were, like, sex toys out on the I guess I don't care. But I was like, Is this how Walgreens is making a living we'll censor
Chelsea Morgan 1:27:41
you online, but hell if we censor you in person, all
Scott Benner 1:27:45
I'm saying is that you know when you're listening to something that's helping you just know that I climbed over 17 different digital mountains and avoided 200 people trying to over saturate the Space 17 other impediments that you wouldn't even know existed, that, by the way, I didn't know existed. The first day, I was like, I think I'll make a podcast tell people how we manage diabetes. So it's a job in itself to navigate the system that brings you the content. You could easily say like, oh well, Scott, just like, you know, put it on Patreon, or do this or do that. Like, it's a nice thing to say, but like, you're not going to reach as many people that way, and even if you made it free, like, you know, but put it on one of those, like, more private platforms, which is the answer, by the way, like, Listen, I have a circle group for diabetes, and it's going to take me forever to grow. I think it's got like, 1000 people in it right now. It's a private group that I pay the server space on, but it doesn't have to go through Facebook. But the problem is that everyone's on Facebook, so that's where you want to be. You know, I could send you the podcast other ways besides in podcast apps, but that would severely limit the ability for me to to grow it, and then it would just end up being a private little thing for a handful of people, and they'd have to pay for it and I'd still make a living, but like then nobody else would get it. And I don't think that's right either. I think that these social media channels, they've taken me and people like me, instead of being a tool that amplifies what we're trying to share with people, we become the thing that they sell so that they can make ad money. I'm not a podcast, I'm not a YouTube channel, I'm not whatever you end up being. I'm just content to draw on your eyes, and then they want to keep you there so they can feed you ads, right? And so that's the game and and you know what I do is I take that, I take that crocheted plug in exchange for hopefully reaching some people, but not nearly amount of people that we could if it was a less, if it's a more unfettered system, I guess.
Chelsea Morgan 1:29:49
I don't know if it's ever like crossed your mind, but if you do make content for something like Tiktok, you could post videos of you recording this, just a snippet, and be like, watched. Chelsea coming up on blah, blah, blah, and have your little it doesn't
Scott Benner 1:30:03
Chelsea. First of all, I am not hot enough. My clavicles are not going to pull that off and and the other thing is, I can't talk while I'm bouncing my like. I've tried, and it just that doesn't work. But no, but the real thing is, is, like, I'm old. I'm not right for tick tock and tick tocks, not right for actual dissemination of information, like, it's, it's like, something that grabs your eye, and you go, Oh my god, that's amazing. And then, like, it's over. Or like, wow, that was fun. And then it's over, oh my god, that guy just fell off a mountain. Nobody goes, oh my god, that guy just fell off a mountain. I would now like to hear 35 minutes about mountains. So even if you collect eyes on Instagram reels or tick tock or something like that. It doesn't actually translate into anything else. Yeah, yeah, okay, that's what
Chelsea Morgan 1:30:47
that's sad. I mean, they try to tell you that it does. That's why I say it. Because, you know other people that medical talk is a thing. It's become a thing that people go searching for information. I watch this one. I will This is how I got Derek into being okay with pods and Dexcom on his leg is that I showed him somebody else doing
Scott Benner 1:31:05
it? Yeah, no, I agree. And listen, I might take the short sips and hammer them down to 60 seconds, but, I mean, I don't know what I'm going to tell you in 60 seconds. It's really going to change your your life that much, you'd have to hear that and then go find the podcast. And I think that what ends up happening is you're talking to people who are not podcast people, and then they will don't go any further, and they're not going to go any further, and then they're just going to hear me say, like, did your blood sugar go up really high? You should crush it and catch it, and then not have any of the salient details about that, and then go do something dangerous, because they don't understand what they're doing. So like, I don't want to be part of that, you know, and I don't want to be part of the outrage culture just to get eyes, because they're also, there are people trying to do that for diabetes. It doesn't work for them either, right? Outrageous outrage, it's not diabetes. It's just like, I had a company tell me one time, like, do you see this Instagram diabetes? Instagram influencer. They're huge. And I went and looked, and it was a girl in a bikini. And I was like, she's not a diabetes influencer. I mean, she's influencing something, but it's not diabetes. And like, God bless her, she looks awesome in that bikini. But, like, I don't know what that's got to do with you understanding when to use your glucagon. You know what I mean, right? Yeah. Like, so I think the platforms tell you that so that you'll go make them content, so they can sell people your their ads, not because they think you're going to flourish in that situation, right? I think that's a
Chelsea Morgan 1:32:30
lie they tell you anyway. I will keep that in the back of my brain when I'm thinking about it, because with my business, I have to think about all the angles too. Good luck
Scott Benner 1:32:38
and good luck to anybody who wants to try it. But what I'm going to tell you really is I have one thing on my I have a couple of things on my side, but one of them, that's the most important, is I have something called Second mover. So there were, prior to my podcast, two or three people doing blog talk radio shows about diabetes. Oh, it was before the technology really existed, so that I sound nice and clean to you right now, right? And so people would literally pick up their their home phone and call each other on a number, and the blog talk system would record that, and then it was available at a link. So you could go to a web page and listen to it. It sounded like, okay, and it was often run by people who I think are awesome, but they were bloggers. They weren't really audio, like, slick, like, so it wasn't interesting to listen to, you know what? I mean? Like, it was, it was, it was very boring. But I had been on a number of them, and those people would report back to me, like, wow, people listen to yours way more than the other ones. And I was like, Oh, okay. And then one day, years years later, I was like, I think I'm gonna make a podcast about diabetes, and I just happened to be first. So most people would call that first mover, like you got there first, so you kind of like, you fill the space. But I honestly think of it as second because those blog talk radio shows were before me, big Fair's fair. And I actually think the ADA has had a podcast about diabetes longer than me. But in fairness to them, I think they just celebrated a million downloads, like, last year, like, after like, a decade or more. And like, you know, I get a lot more. Yeah, so I wasn't first, but by being second and skipping over the bad technology and coming in when technology was better, for when the distribution services were better, I was there basically first, but without all the mistakes that everybody made before. And so, like, in fairness to everyone else who's tried and failed. Since then, I've absorbed the space that principle of first mover says that basically what happens is like you launch a business selling whatever, or you make a reptile YouTube channel, or whatever you end up doing, all the eyes go to you. And there's no eyes left for anybody else. So even if someone comes in next and their products better, or their podcast is better, or their content is better, no one's ever gonna see it. So I also try to stay aware of that and not rest on my laurels and continue to innovate, so that I'm not just the old guy who's got the eyes because I got here first. You know what I mean? I'm gonna
Chelsea Morgan 1:35:19
be so controversial, and I'm going to say it's just like with MLMs, but we don't have to talk about that. Wait, it's like with what MLM multi level marketing. What is that? If you, if you're one of the first ones to join one of those pyramid scheme, yeah, well, I don't want to say that, like I used to sell that stuff, so I won't say scheme. But if you're not first, then you're last, you're not, you're not going to be up there. Yeah,
Scott Benner 1:35:44
it's cryptocurrency. It's like, Hey, I'm going to sell you this thing. You give me all your money now you go sell this. Now we'll try to sell more. Oops, we didn't sell anymore. I got all your money, right, right? But it's a similar idea. It's just, it's for a, you know, not for a nefarious reason. I just dumb luck, decided to do it. Had enough experience that I was like, Oh, it's a good idea to talk to people this way, but I think the people the way they're doing it right now doesn't work. I'll do it my way. And so I did it my way. My Way seemed to be popular, also not for nothing. Chelsea, I have a nice, deep voice. Doesn't hurt, yeah. And I'm also like, I'm just, I'm a confident speaker. I don't know everything, but the things I know, I'm willing to be like, do the like, Oh, well. I mean, you could try to Pre Bolus, but like, you want to be careful, because, like, it's possible, like, Don't Pre Bolus pizza. Like, I, you know, there used to be all these blogs, and there's people who knew what they were talking about, and I've said this 1000 times, but like, you can't write a paragraph about why it's scary to Pre Bolus and then spend two sentences telling me to do it. You've already talked me out of doing it before. You told me you should I should try it and like so they spent so much time covering their ass that nobody could take them seriously in a lot of those blogs. I know I'm mixing up stories at this point. I'm all over the place, but anyway, I'm gonna let you go. You're you've given me way more of your time than you anticipated. So I
Chelsea Morgan 1:37:06
do have a question. Oh, please, am I allowed to share a photo that I was doing a blog with you today? Or is that a no? Thank you, not until it's posted.
Scott Benner 1:37:14
Oh, no, you can do that. I don't care. That's awesome. Yeah, cool. Yeah. Please. Like do it. I
Chelsea Morgan 1:37:19
appreciate you. Thank you so much for this opportunity and for letting me ramble when I did, Chelsea, it's been so much fun. I just
Scott Benner 1:37:26
talked for a half an hour. So you're very kind, but thank you very much. I appreciate it too. Hold on one second.
Arden has been getting her diabetes supplies from us med for three years, you can as well us, med.com/juicebox, or call 888-721-1514, my thanks to us, med for sponsoring this episode and for being longtime sponsors of the Juicebox Podcast. There are links in the show notes and links at Juicebox podcast.com to us, med and all of the sponsors. The episode you just enjoyed was sponsored by the twist a ID system powered by tide pools. If you want a commercially available insulin pump with twist loop that offers unmatched personalization and precision or peace of mind. You want twist, twist.com/juicebox, are you tired of getting a rash from your CGM adhesive? Give the ever since 365 a try, ever since cgm.com/juicebox beautiful silicon that they use it changes every day, keeps it fresh. Not only that, you only have to change the sensor once a year. So I mean, that's better, okay, well, here we are at the end of the episode. You're still with me. Thank you. I really do appreciate that. What else could you do for me? Why don't you tell a friend about the show or leave a five star review? Maybe you could make sure you're following or subscribed in your podcast app, go to YouTube and follow me, or Instagram, tick tock. Oh gosh, here's one. Make sure you're following the podcast in the private Facebook group as well as the public Facebook page you don't want to miss. Please do not know about the private group. You have to join the private group. As of this recording, it has 51,000 members in it. They're active, talking about diabetes, whatever you need to know, there's a conversation happening in there right now, and I'm there all the time. Tag me. I'll say hi. If you or a loved one is newly diagnosed with type one diabetes and you're seeking a clear, practical perspective, check out the bold beginning series on the Juicebox Podcast. It's hosted by myself and Jenny Smith, an experienced diabetes educator with over 35 years of personal insight into type one, our series cuts through the medical jargon and delivers straightforward answers to your most pressing questions. You'll gain insight from real patients and caregivers and find practical advice to help you confidently navigate life with type one. You can start your journey informed and empowered. Record with the Juicebox Podcast, the bold beginning series and all of the collections in the Juicebox Podcast are available in your audio app and@juiceboxpodcast.com in the menu, the episode you just heard was professionally edited by wrong way recording, wrongway recording.com, you.
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