#1593 Two Toasters
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Stephen, 55, has lived with diabetes for 41 years and now drives innovation as the COO of a fast-moving startup in central PA.
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DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.
Scott Benner 0:00
Welcome back, friends. You are listening to the Juicebox podcast.
Steve 0:14
Hello. I'm Steve. I'm in central Pennsylvania. I am 55, years old, been a type one diabetic for 41 years. If
Scott Benner 0:26
this is your first time listening to the Juicebox podcast and you'd like to hear more, download Apple podcasts or Spotify, really, any audio app at all, look for the Juicebox podcast and follow or subscribe. We put out new content every day that you'll enjoy. Want to learn more about your diabetes management. Go to Juicebox podcast.com. Up in the menu and look for bold Beginnings The Diabetes Pro Tip series and much more. This podcast is full of collections and series of information that will help you to live better with insulin. 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 or becoming bold with insulin. This episode of The Juicebox podcast is sponsored by Omnipod five. Omnipod five is a tube, free, automated insulin delivery system that's been shown to significantly improve a 1c and time and range for people with type one diabetes when they've switched from daily injections, learn more and get started today at omnipod.com/juicebox of my link, you can get a free starter kit right now. Terms and Conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox, the episode you're listening to is sponsored by us. Med, us, med.com/juicebox, or call 888-721-1514, you can get your diabetes testing supplies the same way we do from us. Med, I'm having an on body vibe alert. This episode of The Juicebox podcast is sponsored by ever since 365 the only one year where CGM that's one insertion and one CGM a year, one CGM one year, not every 10 or 14 days ever since cgm.com/juicebox
Steve 2:24
Hello. I'm Steve. I'm in central Pennsylvania. I'm a CEO and VP of sustainability for a startup here in in Central PA I am 55 years old. Been a type one diabetic for 41 years. So wow,
Scott Benner 2:45
41 years. How old were you like in your teens, like 14 when you're when you're diagnosed, my 14th birthday present, literally, on your
Steve 2:52
birthday, I had the cake, and the next day felt terrible. Was drinking a lot. Of course, the typical story you hear, drinking a lot, peeing a lot. Lucky for me, my older brother had type one, oh, and so he immediately was like, I think you're type one. And so went to the endo and was diagnosed. So for him, he's about, what is he about? Nine years older than me, eight years older than me. He was diagnosed when he was 11, but essentially, they didn't catch it. He was in a coma for three days and survived. So, so, yeah, so, so yeah, that was my, my 14th birthday. And yeah, yeah. So it was obviously not a, not a great birthday president. So,
Scott Benner 3:43
yeah, geez, I'm sorry your brother is okay afterwards. Yeah,
Steve 3:47
yeah, he's, he's still alive and kicking and doing well. I'm trying to think now he's probably had type one for 50 some years. So, so, yeah, yeah.
Scott Benner 4:00
How long had he had type one before you did
Steve 4:03
trying to think 11, I would say probably 1112, years.
Scott Benner 4:09
Okay, so he'd had it for a decade or more by the time you were diagnosed, yeah, all right, yeah, I believe so. And your parents saw it coming maybe a little better the second time.
Steve 4:19
Yeah, yeah. I mean, he saw it like, you know, immediately. And then my mom's like, oh yeah, this is a problem, yeah. And then went to the Endo. So for me, luckily, at least they knew the routine. Had an endo already, because my brother John had already, you know, gone through this routine. So, yeah,
Scott Benner 4:37
okay, okay, all right, so your diagnosis. Do you remember much of it at all? Or is it a thing that's kind of lost in your memory? It's, it's
Steve 4:45
pretty lost. I mean, I remember doing the, you know, the injection in an orange and that kind of stuff, and the mph and regular routine and that kind of stuff. I think we remember correctly. I think we, we start out. We both were kind of doing the peace stick, and then we just got a blood glucose meter, like, right around when I was diagnosed, and it was like, looked like a brick. It would take, I don't know, a couple minutes for it to actually read your your blood sugar. So, so yeah, I was kind of the front end of it when it comes to technology. So okay, did you find it difficult to grow up with? You know, I did at the time, because I've got three older brothers, so my the next oldest who is not a type one, playing football, baseball, other things. And at that time, without CGM and without pump, it was, you know, most kids, you're type one, you're not playing sports. So that was somewhat of a disappointment, but, but outside of that, I think I did a pretty good job of just, you know, making it through with did a lot of hunting, fishing, that kind of stuff, outdoor stuff, yeah, instead of the typical sport route, for the most part, I kept it under my, you know, I didn't really talk much about it with other people, except for close friends, and then it was a little easier to keep it somewhat under the radar, because you didn't have a pump and those types of things beeping and, you know, make alerting people to it. So was
Scott Benner 6:15
it important for you that people didn't know and, I mean, is that something that you learned from your brother, by any chance?
Steve 6:21
No, I, I mean, I think it was from a standpoint to keep it quiet. Was was in my head, just from the standpoint of I didn't want people to think less of me or think that I couldn't do things because I was type one. So I kind of, you know, that wasn't the first thing that came up. Now, once I get to know somebody, and, you know, had a conversation, I had no problem telling them, but it was more of a, you know, just someone new you talk to, I'm not going to throw it out there and start talking about my type one and what I'm doing.
Scott Benner 6:53
So I never know exactly how people mean it, like, you know, I've super closed off. Nobody ever knew. I wouldn't tell anybody. Or I just, you know, you're not one of those people who runs up to somebody. I was like, Hi, it's nice to meet you. Guess what? I have diabetes, right? Yeah,
Steve 7:07
yeah. And even, I mean, I was, I was kind of interested. I haven't listened to the podcast you had you posted, or the person who did it, woman did a recording not long ago about living in corporate America. And I did that as type one, yeah, and I, I did still. I mean, I keep my pump, my sock, I don't, you know, have it hanging off my bell. I don't try to show it off. And part of that is, I think, because I'm I don't want the first thing to we talk about to be about, you know, oh, what's, what's wrong with you, what's going on, what's that thing attached to you? So I'd rather meet the person, talk about me, and then, you know, as they get to know Him, then, yes, yeah, yeah. And type one, get
Scott Benner 7:49
them to know you before you start introducing this thing that they don't have any context for.
Steve 7:55
Yeah. I don't want a pity party. Is mainly what it comes down to. I don't want people thinking, Oh, poor you so, yeah, that's so I don't, I don't know if it's, it's not that I'm ashamed of it, and in many ways, I'm proud of it, just from the standpoint of, you know, I, I know I lived through it. I've got a BS, I've got an MBA, almost an MS. Been in corporate America, and so it didn't inhibit me from, you know, from doing anything I wanted to do, from a, you know, a career standpoint. But I just don't like it being the first, first thing out of the gate. It makes a ton of sense. I completely understand. And then later it's okay you can like you, let the people in you want to let in. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Is it that after they know you, you feel like, after they know you, they see you're a capable person, that maybe they won't jump to those same conclusions. Yeah, I guess that might be part of it. Not even a thing you're thinking about that closely. No, no. I mean, you know, once I'm, you know, once I get to know you and we start talking, I might, I might talk to you about it the first time I meet you. If there's something that pops up that, like, of course, if, if the CGM is screaming and, you know, there's an alarm, oh yeah, by the way, you know, type one. But it might be a couple weeks if, until, you know, I get to know the person we're talking at work, or whatever, and I might just mention to him, like, look, type one, if you hear beeping, that's probably my pump or my CGM. And you know, just, you know, also, just know if, if I'm incoherent, you know, you probably need to call someone or please help. Yeah, yeah, although my wife would probably, you know, get the alert and be, you know, texting me. Are you okay? So I've got a funny story about that. It was, I had to fly to Italy for for work, and got there, and I don't know what happened. I think was just wonky where I don't know if Arden has dealt with this, or if you you've run across it, maybe you've heard stories of it, but, but the time change, the time change going from here to Italy, and then the pump, you have to reset the time. And I think I have the dawn phenomena. So I have. Got a lot of basal in the morning, and I think it hit me, and then I reset the time, and it just screwed up my my blood sugar, so I just crashed. I was like, you know, like 50, and I'm sitting on a train and Italy, and everything's beeping. I'm down in glucose tablets to try to get back up. And it was like two in the morning in the US, and my wife's, like, texted me, are you okay?
Scott Benner 10:26
Oh so, so you had a more aggressive settings for morning time that suddenly it wasn't morning time anymore for you. Yeah, yeah. Well, that's interesting, because, because those impacts come from your your sleep rhythm, yeah, oh, yeah. I never thought of that before. That's really interesting. Yeah.
Steve 10:45
What was cool to me is like, okay, my wife's sitting in Pennsylvania, and I'm in Italy, and she knows what my blood sugar is, and you know, it's telling me I need to eat something. So
Scott Benner 10:56
I know I'm on a train. I'm eating a seat in front of me. I don't know what to do.
Steve 11:01
Yeah, that was about it. That was one of those real lows where you're like, sweaty, you're you're shaking, you're like, Okay, this is, this is a bad one. I need to start, you know, settling up and getting the sugar in me. So,
Scott Benner 11:11
yeah, wow. That's interesting. It really is. I was gonna ask that was gonna be my next question. When you met, when you mentioned your wife, like, we talked about, like, how do you tell people around you, but like, how do you decide when you're dating people? Like, is it a similar cadence about, like, let them get to know you a little
Steve 11:26
bit first? Yeah, yeah, I think so. I mean, it's, you know, it's been so long since I've dated someone so but, yeah, I'd say that in the early days that was, that was part of it to, you know, kind of somewhat keep it on the down low initially, and then, and then bring it out and make sure they're aware of it for many reasons. One, just because they they need to know and and you need to be honest with them. But two, also from, from a medical, you know, emergency reason. You know, back then I've had lows. So
Scott Benner 11:54
did Lowe's used to come more frequently before CGM and stuff like
Steve 11:58
that. Yeah, before I got on the pump and had CGM back in the mid trying to think now, mid 90s, I had two significant, significant events where one, I was unconscious. My wife had to call the ambulance, and that's a funny story, because we were on a third story of a house, and they came up. My wife had already started giving me sugar, and I was eating it. And by the time they got to the house and came up, I was conscious, and I was feeling fine. I think it was up to like, 60 by the time they got there. And they're like, Well, we have to stick to the hospital. I'm like, No, you don't like, I'm fine. And they're like, No, but it's, it's, it was, I don't know if it was a legal issue back then or if it was just their liability side of things. But anyway, so they put me in a stretcher and took me down three flights of steps, and I'm like, Look, I can walk down by myself. You guys are gonna drop me down the stairs, yeah. Also, I think you're just taking me so you can bill me for the ride well, and that was, that was an insurance story, and that back into that one word. So they did that. I get a $600 bill in the in the mail for the ride, yeah, and so, and I have insurance, so I called the insurance and I'm like, this should be covered. And she's like, Oh, explain it. And she's like, Oh yeah, that should be covered. And that was my first, you know, dealing with the insurance company deny first, and hope you, you know,
Scott Benner 13:22
yeah, hope you go away. But also, at $200 every flight of stairs is a little steep, and
Steve 13:30
that was like, probably 90 what? 96 maybe. So I would have told
Scott Benner 13:35
the insurance company, listen, you do what you want. I'm not paying it. But I told him I didn't want to go. So you want to fight with him. You can go ahead and fight with him about it. You it. Yeah, exactly. That's crazy. You have some notes here that are interesting, like you have a bunch of different allergies. Today's episode is brought to you by Omnipod. We talk a lot about ways to lower your a 1c on this podcast, did you know that the Omnipod five was shown to lower a 1c that's right, Omnipod five is a tube, free, automated insulin delivery system, and it was shown to significantly improve a 1c and time and range for people with type one diabetes when they switched from daily injections. My daughter is about to turn 21 years old, and she has been wearing an Omnipod every day since she was four, it has been a friend to our family, and I think it could be a friend to yours. If you're ready to try Omnipod five for yourself or your family, use my link now to get started. Omnipod.com/juicebox get that free. Omnipod five Starter Kit today, Terms and Conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full Terms and Conditions. Can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox, you've probably heard me talk about us Med and how simple it is to reorder with us med using their email system. But did you know that if you don't see the email and you're set up for this, you have to set it up. They don't just randomly call you, but I'm set up to be called. Old if I don't respond to the email, because I don't trust myself 100% so one time, I didn't respond to the email, and the phone rings the house. It's like, ring. You know how it works? And I picked it up. I was like, hello, and it was just the recording was like, us. Med doesn't actually sound like that, but you know what I'm saying. It said, Hey, you're I don't remember exactly what it says, but it's basically like, Hey, your orders ready you want us to send it? Push this button if you want us to send it, or if you'd like to wait. I think it lets you put it off, like a couple of weeks, or push this button for that. That's pretty much it. I push the button to send it, and a few days later, box right at my door. That's it. US, med, Comm, slash, Juicebox or call 888-721-1514, get your free benefits check now and get started with us. Med, Dexcom, Omnipod, tandem freestyle, they've got all your favorites, even that new islet pump, check them out now at us. Med.com/juicebox, or by calling 888-721-1514, there are links in the show notes of your podcast player, and links at Juicebox podcast.com to us, med and all the sponsors,
Steve 16:07
yeah, and, and that was the primary reason I wanted to get on, you know, mainly just to kind of inform people, just if they run into something similar, because it was pretty crazy for me. Fast forward, so 90s, I late 90s, I went on, I think was IRR 1000, the Animus, the first animus pump on several animus then jump to T slim and CGM, so Okay, was monitoring and doing pretty well of my my blood Sugar over the last probably 1012, years and in 2000 I suppose 2019 late 19, I started having situations where, like I would go out to eat or even eat at home, and like my blood sugar would spike to 300 400 like after dinner, and I could not get it down. I was dosing and dosing and dosing. Finally, I realized that the the inset site was just getting overloaded, so I started actually adding shots to the, you know, I use the pump and and shots to try to get me back into, you know, somewhat a range, but it would, it was almost impossible. And it was the first time in my life where I felt like, okay, there's something wrong, like, insulin isn't controlling this that went on for about two months. And then I started out some other symptoms, and I started writing them down. And so then I started Googling, like, okay, high blood sugar, diabetes, these symptoms, flush. Remember what else I typed in and up, pop celiacs. And so it's like, Oh, that's interesting. So did some research and cut out gluten immediately. Okay? And, like, a week in two days, and boom, blood sugar is fine. I thought, Well, I must have celiac. So, so went to my Endo, who I had, really good endo at the time, he tested me for everything. I didn't have the genetic markers for celiacs. Tested me for a million other allergies and different issues. Couldn't find anything. And he's like, Well, if cutting out gluten is working, that's good. But he said, I don't know what what the issue is okay. So went gluten free, and was doing really well in about, like, right five, six months later, I started have issues again, and they weren't as drastic, but still having situations where I'd eat, it would spike, it'd be bad for a couple days and then come down, okay. And then finally I figured out a I made myself pesto and had gluten free pasta. It was basal garlic and olive oil, and I put walnuts in it, and I knew I had eaten basal garlic and pasta all time, gluten free pasta, and had no problems. So then cut out tree nuts, and it reduced the problems further. And then I've been really good for the last, I'd say, four or five years, but once in a while get I'll have some issues where I'll go out to eat and something will happen, and I'll think I've gotten glutened, and then it'll be a couple days and it'll go away. And finally, figured out from another experiment that it was also onion powder, which made absolutely no sense to me, because I eat onions all the time, and that doesn't impact it.
Scott Benner 19:29
But the powder, like just bought at the store, shake on onion powder, yep, okay,
Steve 19:33
yep, yeah, and it just is bizarre, but, but yeah, so. So from the standpoint of, like, if I eat at home most of the time and I regulate everything I put in my blood sugars are, are great, you know, probably be below the sixes. Anyone see right now? I'm in mid sixes, and that's because once in a while, yeah, I got to eat. I get something that. Doesn't agree, and then I'm for like a week, I'm fighting it, you know, bring it back down. So a week, it's, if it's gluten, it's a week, it's like, I could almost time it. It's like a week in two days, and I'll be dosing a ton of insulin to keep it in check, and then I'll send them crashing, because at that point where I go from having the gluten impact to it finally going away. Then, of course, then I'm overloading, you know, because I actually up. I have a different basal program setting for from when I get gluten and then when I come off it. I gotta make sure, you know, of course, I go back to the original program. So,
Scott Benner 20:40
that's really interesting, that you have it down to such a science when it happens. This episode of The Juicebox podcast is sponsored by ever since 365 and just as the name says, it lasts for a full year, imagine for a second a CGM with just one sensor placement and one warm up period every year. Imagine a sensor that has exceptional accuracy over that year and is actually the most accurate CGM in the low range that you can get. What if I told you that this sensor had no risk of falling off or being knocked off? That may seem too good to be true, but I'm not even done telling you about it yet. The ever since 365 has essentially no compression lows. It features incredibly gentle adhesive for its transmitter. You can take the transmitter off when you don't want to wear your CGM and put it right back on without having to waste the sensor or go through another warm up period. The app works with iOS and Android, even Apple Watch. You can manage your diabetes instead of your CGM with the ever since 365 learn more and get started today at ever since cgm.com/juicebox, one year, one CGM.
Steve 21:53
Yeah, it is. And the interesting thing about is, when I think about the fact that if I didn't have a CGM, I'd have no clue what the heck was going on?
Scott Benner 22:00
Well, you lived without them, you know what it is to Yeah, yeah.
Steve 22:05
So, so that's and that's the thing like you you're doing three, four sticks a day, and you wouldn't see the ups and downs and where things are dropping and and where I could look at the clarity and, like, watch it, you know, and look at what the data says, and say, Okay, I ate at this restaurant on Sunday night. It spiked to 300 and then I'm fighting it for the next week and couple days. The other thing that I haven't figured out yet, and I think this is the case, is all it's it's almost like it delays both the insulin and the sugar acting. And so, you know, I'll eat a 40 carbs, and, you know, put in, you know, depending on what what it is, put in, you know, four units to offset, and then it'll spike. But then also, no, go low later. It's like the insulin doesn't actually hit my bloodstream till later.
Scott Benner 23:05
But it also feels like the carbs aren't doing it as well. Yeah, yeah. Everything feels like it's happening more slowly.
Steve 23:13
Yeah, yeah. It's weird. It's weird. Have you ever spoken to
Scott Benner 23:17
other people like, do they signal to you that that's happened to them?
Steve 23:21
No. And I've, you know, I've, I'm trying to think about, I've talked to, I guess, two different endos and a couple primary care people, and I, you know, they don't, they've never heard of it. And essentially, what, what I've come to is, I think I'm gluten intolerant, because I actually did go through the endo endoscopy and, you know, and verify whether there was damage, and they didn't find anything. And so, so I believe it's not celiac, I think it's a sensitivity, which a lot of people, I guess, for a while, were questioning whether it was real or not. But I you know, clearly, there's data that shows there's something going on with my body that's real,
Scott Benner 24:01
yeah. I mean, it's not your imagination. Like, especially when it's so repeatable, like that, I would imagine, yeah, you feel like, you feel pretty confident you're seeing what you're seeing. How often does that happen to you? Like, are you able to avoid the gluten for the most part, or is this the thing that happens with some frequency? For
Steve 24:16
the most part, I can, and it's, it's something that I've become, like fanatic about it, like we have two different toasters. We've got two different jars of peanut butter, different butter, because my wife, you know, of course, eats bread with gluten in it. I do not and and it's the with gluten free. The definition is below 25 parts per million, which is a very tiny, tiny amount of gluten okay? And so I just have decided I've had issues the those first couple of years where I think I'm I'm gluten free, I'm gluten free. Why am I having problems? And I start thinking about, like, okay, she just put her bread in that toaster, and I put my bread in that my gluten free bread, and the same toaster right out. After irwal, it's actually getting contaminated. Yeah, it's getting cross contaminated. So we just need to be cognizant of that and put together the right ways to get around it. So yeah, I'd say in the last two to three years, I it happens maybe once every four months or so where I'll go out to a restaurant and you say it's gluten free or whatever, and most likely it's cross contaminated somehow. So you
Scott Benner 25:25
know from your blood sugar first,
Steve 25:29
yeah, yeah, yeah, that's, that's the teller. Is
Scott Benner 25:33
that exhausting? Or have you set up a system that pretty much allows us to not be overwhelming in your life?
Steve 25:39
That part is exhausting, from the standpoint, I have not figured out yet how to adjust the pump to counter the what happens, right? Yeah, so that week, in a couple days, it's a Yo yo, of like, you're, you're, you know, you're 300 you're, you know, you're 40, year, 300 year, 40 year. And in trying to get the right insulin to carb ratio, or time it the right way, like I Pre-Bolus. I was Pre-Bolus, and well before I listened to the podcast, and I still do it, but then when I do it with when I'm gluten, I don't know that might be the wrong thing to do. I don't know. That's and that's
Scott Benner 26:23
all over the Yeah? Like that Katy Perry song, you're right when you're wrong, you're you're out, you're up when you're down, you're black, when you're white, you're wrong when you're right. Is that Katy Perry? Sorry,
Steve 26:33
I don't know, but, but I that is, that's how it feels. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, so, yeah, it's definitely a roller coaster of, hey, do you
Scott Benner 26:44
have kids? Yeah, yeah. How many kids
Steve 26:47
you got? One? Zach, he's, he's 31 Oh,
Scott Benner 26:52
does he have any issue? I don't know why I thought your kids would be younger, but okay,
Steve 26:56
we, I hadn't had him when, when was young. So he's, he's He's fine. He just had his daughter's two and a half years old. So we're, I'm kind of like, holding my breath right now with that, because obviously nervous about, you know, it will it manifest with her. I mean, I think that the weird part with us, within the family is we never looking back, both on my dad and my mom's side, we can never figure out what side it came from, because no one had type one that we know of. And even on the you know, I listen to the podcast pretty, pretty often, and I know your typical questions are like, okay, but you know, what about other autoimmune and I, other than arthritis, I don't know of anything else on either side that
Scott Benner 27:44
no one else has, like the celiac stuff or the sensitivities,
Steve 27:47
none of that. None of it. And that's what's it's just bizarre. Yeah, yeah. So my assumption is my parents mix some genes together that usually don't get mixed together and cause major problems.
Scott Benner 27:58
So listen, of all this. All I hear is that when you're toasting bread, you don't have to wait. Like, you have two toasters. There's no waiting. Oh, do
Steve 28:08
you're trying to spin the positive on it. Scott, yeah, that. I mean,
Scott Benner 28:11
honestly, like, there's got to be some good that comes. Also, what a great title for a podcast episode, two toasters, no waiting. Stevo, you have to say something pretty good to get me off of that. All
Steve 28:22
right? Well, I'll try to think about something as something to come up with that's, that's sexier, yeah,
Scott Benner 28:27
it's wordy, so it might get me, but, um, but that's just, I mean, I just, I feel terrible, like, when you hear people talk about their other issues, I'm not ordering them in my mind. Like, this one sounds worse than this one, but eventually, like, you've got diabetes, it's enough already, you know what I mean. And then you mean, and then you got, you know, another thing, and I got two toasters, and you're getting gluten, I mean, you know, and then you got to live with people who don't believe that's true. I would imagine, right? Like, there's enough people in your life for been, like, you're not a large gluten Shut up. Like, right? Doesn't that happen too?
Steve 28:56
I have not heard anybody say that directly your face. And I think usually when I tell people about it, I tell them, like, look, here's what happens with my blood sugar when this happens. And it's, you know, here's the real data. It's not, yeah, me just saying, Oh, my stomach kind of hurts, right, right? And I'm sure that happens to people, and they're being totally honest, but I think it's a little harder say, oh, what happens? Oh, my stomach hurts when that happens. Well, I just,
Scott Benner 29:20
you know what I mean, man, like, it's like, it's like, one of those things. Like, it's bad enough. Sometimes you say diabetes to people, and they go, what'd you do to get that? And then, you know, you're not really alert. Nobody's allergic to bread. Shut up. Like, there's people who think that. Like, even, like, you know, I've had conversations with people I'm like, Look, you know, unmanaged thyroid could really lead to, like, you know, some depressive stuff. And like, you know, I don't even know how to put it, like, you can make people short tempered stuff, like they have no that's just them, not like taking responsibility for themselves. Like, it's just, it sucks having so many things that open you up to that stuff, even if you don't get doesn't get said to your face, you know, at some point somebody's turned their back and been like, Steven thinks he can't eat
Steve 29:59
bread. Yeah, it's. Yeah, that's well, and that is the thing with type one is, as you know, back when I was first diagnosed, there wasn't many people had type two. You didn't hear much about type two, right? So to back then, it was like, Okay, you have juvenile diabetes. You know what they called it then, and versus type one today. But as you got into the 90s and early 2000s it was like, Oh well, you're a diabetic. Oh well, you should, you know, eat better and lose weight, and you'd be fine. You'd be like, Yeah, awesome. Not, yeah, it's not,
Scott Benner 30:31
that's great. So my life's not taxing enough. I gotta listen to this from you now. Yeah, thanks, doctor, whoever. So, so you're a grandfather. That's crazy because you, I think it's that you sound young, Steve, that's what's throwing me off a little bit.
Steve 30:45
I yeah, I there are times where I pinch myself and say, oh my gosh, I'm a grandfather, but,
Scott Benner 30:52
but it's in your head you're worried about that baby. Now, is your son worried? Or do you think it's a thing that's on you? Mostly
Steve 30:59
they don't seem as worried as I am. And I think both my wife and I were both like, Oh, are you going to have kids? And you know, they're like, oh, yeah, we're
Scott Benner 31:08
Why don't you just get a parrot?
Steve 31:12
Yeah? So, so yeah, they seem to be fine. And you know this, I think the cool thing now is the fact that, like, when I think back with my my a one, CS, when I was, you know, first five to 10 years, were probably in the sevens at best, and probably the eights. But it was mainly because you're testing three times a day. I didn't take the glucose monitor with me because was a big, you know, machine, and hump it around, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I was taking two shots a day, and, like, I think about that now and think this is just nuts that I survived. So I think now if, if she were to get it, at least there's the solutions, there's the devices, the technology to to make the Yeah, yeah. Because I think about, like, I'm, I'm starting to see some of the wounds don't heal as quickly, and my my eyes aren't as good. I go every year, and they say they look great. But I think about, you know, like, like, with Arden it, you know, the way you've, you've treated it, and she's treating it, she's not going to see any of the complications that that I could see. So that's where I don't get as nervous about it. Now,
Scott Benner 32:29
yeah, you don't have any, like, diagnose complications. No,
Steve 32:33
no, but I've got the typical stuff where, you know, it's just things don't heal as quickly. I get sick easier it I don't get as well as quickly. And some of that's just getting
Scott Benner 32:44
old. Yeah. How old are you? 55 so I don't know, like, it could just be that we just went on this cruise together, like a bunch of listeners, yeah, I saw it was awesome. Yeah, it was awesome. But, you know, like when we were setting it up, it was, hey, you know, people would like to sit and have dinner with you. And I said, Yeah, I'll sit every night and have dinner with people. And we did right like i Five o'clock rolled around, and I sat down at a table with 10 people, got to know them, and ate. And you know, a sit down meal. It was, you know, five o'clock to is about two hours. Usually, you sat there, and then, you know, the person coordinating the trip said to me, Look, there's more people that want to eat with you than we have space. Would you eat twice a day? And I said, Well, I'm on a GOP. Like, I'll sit with them, but I don't think I can, like, I can't eat, and then just like, pretend I didn't eat and eat again. Like, I can't do that. So, you know, I said, but yeah, let's do that. Right? So turned out, then it was five o'clock, sat down, spent a couple hours talking to people. Get a 15 minute break. 715 sit down. Another hour, 45 minutes talking to people like, and I was like, that'll be great. Like, I can absolutely do that, but I would get up, like, I got up on Monday morning. We got on the ship, right? You hustle on. You set, set up your table. Intake, people, see everybody, blah, blah, blah. Like, do all that stuff, meet out on the deck, like, you know, chat with people everything. I was tired when it was over, but it was fair enough. It was good day. I got up on Tuesday, I spoke for three hours, then I went to lunch, sat with some people at lunch. Then I went out on the deck, sat with a family for a little bit, just chatting like it wasn't crazy. Then I had a two hour talk, and then I went right to dinner, and then I did the second dinner, and I got back that second night, and I thought, Uh oh, 30 year old Scott answered the question, are you going to be okay doing this? Not 53 year old Scott. Because in my mind, I'm like, Yeah, I'm just, you know, I could do that. Well, man, by Friday night, we were talking, like, privately, and she's like, Hey, listen, you know we're gonna do this again next year. We're gonna spread your time out a little better. And I was like, yeah, she's like, You look tired. And I was like, I'm exhausted, and I'm just talking, and you know what I mean, and it still takes a lot out of you, like, sitting, engaging people. You. Really listening to them, accessing your memories, talking, et cetera, like I felt like, if there was a meter on me that said calories on it, you could have watched it drop while I was speaking. And normally, you lay down, you wake up the next day, and you're like, right on, let's go again. But I got zapped, I guess is the way to put it so then, in the middle of the trip, when everybody had time off, and they're like, we're gonna go aboard, like, you know, we're gonna go here, we're gonna go there and do their excursions. I gotta be honest with you, I canceled my excursion, which broke my heart, because I was going with people I really wanted to be with and meet and spend more time with than I was able to so far. But I slept the whole damn day instead, like everyone's running around all over Mexico. I'm in that cabin just asleep, like trying to catch back up again. So maybe it's just, you're old man. Well,
Steve 35:48
there's the age thing. The other thing I'm assuming you're probably pretty extroverted. I mean,
Scott Benner 35:54
yeah, being around people doesn't make me tired. No,
Steve 35:57
not at all because, because that's I'm I'm kind of more introverted. We do, yeah, well, we do some testing on the business side of like, okay, what are your temperaments? And I'm kind of right in the middle. And I do know when we go to conferences, and there's just conference we go to in San Francisco, and it's like three days of it's like speed dating, but you're like, you're going talking to investors. So you do, like, 20 minute, you know, gig with an investor, tell them what you're doing with what you need. That, by the way, in my boss is, is one of the best in the world at it. But even he at the end of three days, and he's a lot younger than than me, actually, he's the same age as my son. He's exhausted too. Like just kind of talking to people constantly, just tends to
Scott Benner 36:46
take it out of you. So on the last night, they moved the meal times, and this one couple didn't get the text, so I'm done with my meal. I'm gonna go up to my room, pack my bag like it's over, like I'm gonna go pass out, wake up, get off the ship the next day, and I'm walking out of the restaurant, and they're walking in, and I made eye contact. I was like, Hey, what are you guys here getting dinner? And she paused, and she goes, Yeah, with you. And I was like, Oh no, no, no, no, no. But I was like, okay, like, let me go up to my room. I gotta pack my bag up real quick. Let me get changed. Let's go meet like, I think there was a Starbucks on the ship. I'm like, Let's go sit like, I can sit like, let's talk. You know. I'm like, you guys go grab something in the interim, because I I'm not eating again. And so we did that. And when I got down to them, the first thing I said to them was like, Look, I'm running on adrenaline at this point. I was like, so I'm gonna say some crazy while we're sitting here, maybe, and maybe not. I was like, just take it all with a grain of salt. Like, if I say something crazy, wave a flag at me or something. I was like, because I am now just, like, I'm on autopilot now, like, just running, like, purely on adrenaline, I take your point. Like, it's, it's not easy, yeah, yeah. All right, well, you're old. That's what we got to on
Steve 37:59
that. Yeah, old and diabetic. I think the diabetes does have something.
Scott Benner 38:04
I'm sure they both are having an impact. But what are your outcomes like now? Like, where does your a 1c sit? Like, what are your excursions look like after your meals? The
Steve 38:11
last one was six, five. I'm typically in the low to mid sixes. If I keep, you know, if I keep the gluten in, in control? Yeah, I can dial probably some things in better, probably just the basal better. I'm got some wonky stuff with it in the afternoons. Right now, I'm trying to figure out. But you it's just, you know, you just gotta keep playing with stuff and trying to right, nail it down. You've
Scott Benner 38:35
said a number of times, like, I listened to the podcast, or before I listened to the podcast, like, when did you find it? What is it brought for you?
Steve 38:42
I probably maybe it was two years ago. I don't know how I ran across it might have been. It was either Facebook or, I don't know. I can't remember for sure. Yeah, I started listening to it, and it was kind of funny. And then hopefully you don't take this the wrong way. But when I listen to some of the early ones, it's like, Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You haven't dealt with a diabetic that's, you know, in his in his 50s, and some of the stuff going on, I can't remember what the exact one was you're talking about. And then, as I've listened to the later ones, you definitely have have, I think after you've probably talked a lot of people that have had diabetes for a long time, you know, make better, understand some of the long term issues, but, but, yeah, I listened to it pretty consistently when we were redoing a house that we were moving into. And then now, like every day, what I try to do, I try to walk three times a day, because that also helps the blood sugar, breakfast, lunch, dinner. And usually at lunch, I'll do an like, a half hour walk and listen to, you know, the next podcast. So, I
Scott Benner 39:47
mean, I know that when I started, I really just thought, if you've heard this, I'm sorry. But for other people, like when I started making the podcast, it was January 2015, and my. Initial idea, which was terrible, was that I was going to take my most popular blog posts and just read them into a microphone. Because I thought, like, Oh, these blog posts, everybody says these are the helpful ones. Like, these are what really helps. Like, I'll just make them available on audio. That was my first thought. I did it. It was stupid. Like, I think I got 20 minutes into the first one, and I thought, oh my god, I wouldn't listen to this. Why would anybody else listen to this? Like this is just ridiculous, you know? And then the kind of Craziest thing happened before I could even re consider what I wanted to do, I got a guest. This guy, Adam Lasher, was on American Idol, and he had type one, right? And his uncle's, like, Carlos Santana, and I somehow got him to be on the podcast. And so then I was like, Oh, I I talked to I don't know how good or bad it is, like, I have no idea it's, like, the first time I've ever interviewed anybody in my entire life. And so, like, I did that, and I thought, oh, there's value there. Like, he said things I didn't know. But I think that if you go back from the beginning and listen through it, which, I mean at this point, might take you a bit, yeah, but I think what you hear is me just, you know, like a stone, like rolling down a hill, collecting moss. And, you know, I'm just, I'm hearing things and expanding what I understand about all this. And just happens. It happens almost a little slowly, but hopefully, if people came along for the ride, then they they learned right along with me. I almost sometimes see myself as like an avatar, like, for you guys, I'm learning while you're learning. Like, yeah, you
Steve 41:35
know. And I agree. I think the big thing that I typically, I mean, what I like about listening to it is stuff. What I was hoping with, what I brought up today is just some person out there that's like, you know, people think they're crazy because they're talking about gluten. They're like, Yeah, this is happening to me, and maybe have some better ideas how to handle it or what to do with it, but, but it is, I think that's what I like about listening is you hear different type one stories about how they're diagnosed, what their agencies are, how they're managing it, what's working for them, what's not working for them. And I think you ask the right questions. And, you know, to your point, I think it's with any job, it takes you a good year or two to kind of get your feet, you know, settled, and figure out exactly how best to do it, and then you start really, I think, excelling. And probably that that was the same with you of when you went from the blog to the podcast and took you a while to get settled and figure out, oh, how do I really run
Scott Benner 42:31
this? Yeah, what is all this? It took me, I'm going to tell you, like, it's 200 episodes. And when I got 200 episodes in, I thought all the information, generally speaking, people need, you know, to take care of themselves at a base level, is in these conversations somewhere, yeah, you know. And then basically, I pulled them all together, and I just made that Pro Tip series, because I started thinking like it's unreasonable to ask somebody to list the 200 episodes, to call out all the information they need. And I started becoming aware that some people are podcast listeners. They just like hearing people talk to each other. Some people are just like, No, I heard, if I listened to that Pro Tip series, like my a, 1c, will go in the sixes, like they don't give a about the podcast. They want to hear that information. And I was like, Oh, we got to start gathering that together in places. And now, you know, I looked up the other day, I have 26 different series that are filled with different information, like in places, and I'm proud of that. I can't believe that it's come as far as it has. As a matter of fact, Steve, I'll tell you something, you know, sometimes I say something while I'm recording, so that I'll actually do it all. Right? So here's the thing only you're gonna know until it happens. It happens. Ready, okay, all right, I'm gonna start a second podcast that just going to have the management stuff in it, and I'm gonna make each season of the podcast one of the series to try to get around the limitations on the Apple podcast thing. Because right now, you'd have to go find episode 1000 to hear the first episode of the Pro Tip series, and then the next one, the next one, the next one. You know they're in a line because I reposted them in order, but most of them aren't like that. They're spread out. So there'll be a second feed that will probably start with bold beginnings, I think, and I'll put that series up maybe twice a week until that whole series is up. I'll call that season one, then I'll go to season two, put up the pro tips, they'll go to season three, put up a different series, and I'll just keep doing that, like moving forward, and then people can just go back to their app, go to the different season and that's how they'll be able to get to the different series.
Steve 44:40
I think that will be helpful. Matt, just, just with gluten and celiac, I was trying to, like, dig through what you had. I don't have enough, by the way. Yeah, there was, I think I only found, like, three or four episodes,
Scott Benner 44:54
people come on to talk about it, yeah. I wish more people would, hopefully they'll reach. Out, that's what I
Steve 45:00
was curious, whether they have similar issues as me, if they do get glutened, I just, you know, I don't know it's, it seems like probably do, but, but I don't, I'm not sure, yeah, so
Scott Benner 45:12
tough, because it is, I mean, it's a niche inside of a niche inside of a niche, you know, yeah,
Steve 45:16
exactly. There's probably, like, point 00, 1% of people you know that have all the same issues. So us lucky ones, I'm not lucky. So, yeah, so, well, I think that's good idea. I think it'll be interesting to to follow it.
Scott Benner 45:33
Yeah, no, I just think it's going to be also for the people who really don't want to hear me talk into you know, they don't want an after dark episode, like, right? They don't care. I know you like it. I think you're smart, by the way. I think this is a pretty good podcast, whether it's about diabetes or not, you know. And I do hear from a lot of adults who tell me that just listening keeps them the way they keep putting it to me is it connects them to diabetes without making them focus on diabetes. And they find that their outcomes are better, but they don't feel like they're spending a lot of time thinking about it, and that listening to the conversation somehow makes that whole thing cohesive for them. And it sounds like you might be doing the same thing actually, because you listen pretty regularly.
Steve 46:15
Yeah. I mean, I think there's just just a lot of different ideas. I mean, everybody thinks no one knows all the answers, right? And, and I think the, I think you, you probably know it well, is that there are so many variables in this thing we try to control that it's, it's almost impossible, right, to address everything. And then you start hearing different ideas about, like, Okay, this how I handle stress, versus this is how I handle gluten, or whatever the topic is, and you get different ideas, and you're like, oh, yeah, I never thought about that. I need to adjust my whatever basal Bolus carb ratio. I think that the one thing I didn't really fully understand my new protein actually, I guess I knew more about fats than protein, and like listening to that stuff, like, oh, okay, I didn't even think about, you know how to adjust the for protein. I just did my carb counts. And, yeah, it wasn't really fatty. I'm good, right? Then you end up like, you're high or you're low, and you're trying to figure out, like, why? Yeah, I did the carb counts. What's going on. So
Scott Benner 47:16
it's always something like, listen, the other day, Arden was like, I'm not a tic tac bender. I'm like, you know, they have carbs in them, right? Yeah. And she's like, what? And I'm like, she's like, they're just, they're little. I think she said they're little. And I was like, I know, but there's a, there's a, there's some car value for each one of them. Like, don't get me wrong, like, pop in three Tic Tacs in your mouth is, you know, I'm really not going to be a big issue one way or the other. But if you get on, like, a, you know, on a Jag, and the next thing you know, over the next handful of hours, you've done a box of tic tacs. I was like, which, by the way, now, you remember Tic Tacs used to be 79 cents. They're like, three bucks now, or something like that. But, um, so if you can afford Tic Tacs, and you're and you're going crazy on them, I was like, you know, that box could end up having a fair amount of car presented. And, yeah, you know, so yeah, if you don't hear somebody say stuff like that, you don't always think about it. It is,
Steve 48:08
yeah, it is. It is kind of interesting. Because, I mean, when I think about my parents weren't, how do I put it? They weren't that involved in my, you know, my treatment. Maybe, you know, they took me, the endo said, Okay, you got to take your shots. Here you go. Yeah. And the way, my mom, my mom's Italian, so of course, she's all about the food and so the way, instead of, like, trying to figure out, okay, how better do I adjust your insulin or make sure you your blood test, your blood test is right, or whatever, she would just cut sugar from everything, oh, probably saved me from a lot of complications later in life, because we couldn't, you know, you couldn't control it as well then, because you didn't have the pump and didn't have the CGM. But that was her method. Is like, Okay, cut sugar out everything. You're not eating sugar. And I remember probably the early 90s, I ran into a kid who had just gotten a pump, and he was, like, drinking a sprite. And I'm like, What are you doing? He was type one. And he's like, Oh yeah, he could eat sugar. You just gotta, you know, dose, right? And I'm like, You're crazy. Like you're gonna die young. You're kind of, it was my thinking, you know, and, and really, of course, he had probably a good Endo, and kind of pushed him on the pump early and understood carb counting. Yeah, exactly, exactly. So, yeah, it was kind of interesting, living across these different segments of the research going well, then the doctors catching up to it, the endos finally starting to push it, and then, you know, gets to the patients. But that's, I mean, the endos I've had, of the what five I've had, like, only one of them was good, you know, the other, the other ones were either marginal or just terrible.
Scott Benner 49:53
So did you learn things like listening to this podcast? Did you like learn management stuff that you're like, I've never heard of that before. Sure. I think
Steve 50:00
by the time I started listening a lot of it, I had down. I think there's just different nuances. Like I said, the with, like, the protein, the fats, that kind of stuff, that's a little more on the edge. But I had the carb counting down. I had the basal down. My basal is pretty good. And as you know, if you get those down, that's at least, it's the baseline
Scott Benner 50:23
game, yeah, I mean, I It's my expectation, because you just said you started listening maybe a couple years ago. I'm like, I don't know how, like, a guy in his mid 50s diabetes, since he's 14, like, at some point this has got to, like, intersect you somewhere. You know what? I mean,
Steve 50:36
what's ironic is the one end of who was a real asshole, like he would, he would just you go in and be you know, why aren't you doing this? Why don't you do that? You're gonna die. You're gonna it was just like, by the time I left the doctors, I just felt like, well, I was gonna just go put a bullet my head. Because, you know, this guy says I'm gonna die next week, because I'm I'm not doing it exactly his way, you know. And and in some ways, I couldn't stand the guy, and the other ways it did kind of push me, like, to start thinking about this stuff and and probably about that time was when I got on, done on the Animus and started that, and I did the I had Dexcom two for a while, and I'm so mad that I didn't stick with it. I had it for I tried it for a couple months, and I just like, I'm so I hate having one thing. You had an early CGM, and you bailed on it. Yeah, yeah. And I kicked myself to this day, because that was probably late 90s, early 2000s so if I had stayed on and I definitely would have been in much better management shape. And then, from the pump side of it, I was on the pump for quite a while. And I kept, I kept harassing my brother. I'm like, Look, you got to get on a pump. He's like, you know, he's still doing, doing the shots. And finally, I think I got the CGM. And then I went like, Sean, I'm like, Look, John, this is, you know, you got the CGM communicating with a pump. It's, it's like, this is rocket science compared to what we were dealing with. And he finally jumped on and I think he got a Medtronic and
Scott Benner 52:08
he's still using stuff now today. Yeah,
Steve 52:10
he jumped over the T slam because he was having a lot of problems with the glucose sensors the old Medtronic one. Yeah, I called him the one day, and he's like, Yeah, I finger stick myself like 15 times today. And I was like, Okay, I'm on the Dexcom, and I think that last time I fingers stick was, like, three months ago for calibration. But like otherwise, I very rarely have to get, you know, a blood sample.
Scott Benner 52:38
They were so far ahead of the curve with that CGM they they got out there, and it changed so drastically when Dexcom came so and they were kind of, yeah, they were up behind for a while. I guess right now they're getting ready to, like, launch that simple era CGM in in, yeah,
Steve 52:53
the endo just told me, he's like, I he's like, I'm not gonna tell you what pump to use, but he said, I really like the Medtronic. And I was like, wow, I, you know, I like the T slam, I'm good. Where I'm at, I'm, you know. And it was funny, because I was talking to him about, and there's, you know, it's, this is consistent, I think, throughout your show. So I forget what I was asking him about, I guess we were talking about GLP and and some other things. And he's like, Well, look, Steve, you don't need to do anything like you're, you're great. And I'm like, Well, I'm, you know, in the mid sixes, I'd like to be below six. He's like, look, anything below seven, you're, he's like, you saw the one sees of mostly other people that come here, like, you're like, knocking out of the park. And I'm like, Well, I don't feel like, I
Scott Benner 53:37
don't play. I don't understand that at all. I'll tell you, like, I don't understand the idea of like, Don't worry, there are people doing worse than you, so you don't have to try what exactly, yeah, also, you know, God, you said something a minute ago that, like, really made me think about something, and then I didn't want to cut you off, so I let you go, and I let you go, and I'm not going to be able to remember what you said immediately, just how it made me feel. So I am always thrown off by the things I don't know, like, I don't understand, if you're not sitting here right now thinking, like, there's so much happening that I'm unaware of, like, how to do things, different ideas, better thoughts, like that kind of stuff, like, and then you learn something in the future. I think it was probably about the CGM, right? You said, like, oh, I kick myself now because, like, you had that thing in your hand, like it was there, you know what I mean, and then, okay, you made a decision, like you didn't have enough information. Maybe it wasn't where you thought it was supposed to be yet, and then you lose all that time in between. I find myself thinking about that so much like, what could I be doing right now that I am going to regret not knowing about the future. I don't know if that's a mental illness or what it is, but like even that's why I think when and now I'll open myself this up to somebody complaining at me on Instagram or something like that. I see all the bad parts about what AI might be like. I really do. I promise you, I could sit and complain about it and tell you it shouldn't be another thing. Control of rich people and blah blah guy. I have all the complaints everybody else has too, but when you stop and just think about it, like, imagine knowing more. That's all I'm saying. Like, and being able to integrate it quickly, like we all think we know everything. Like, that's a human it's just a human fact. Like, no people walk around doubting themselves all the time. When they do, that's almost a mental illness. You know what I mean? Like, yeah. Like, you just, you believe, you know everything. Just like when you reach 16, you're like, I'm the best I've ever been. This is awesome, yeah? And I just think, like, can you try to imagine how your personal conversations, how your business life, how decisions about things you're doing around your house? Where to hang out. I don't know where to hang something. Where to, you know, put up a new wall. If you're putting up a wall. Like, if you had all the information and it was quickly accessible to you and made and you could just have a question, and the answer would come, how much better things would go, or at least how much more accurate they might be. And, like, just imagine, like, back then, if you would have, like, I don't know, said, like, Hey, I'm gonna stop doing this now, and a voice would have come to you and went, No, no, no, no, keep doing that. Yeah, yeah, that's that's a bad idea, yeah, yeah. And here's why I know you think you know you know everything, but, uh, here's four things you don't know. And I don't think that's very specific to diabetes. It is just sort of the way my brain works. I'm always wondering, like, what is it I don't understand, you know,
Steve 56:28
and I'm the same. I'm the same way. Now, in that that case, what exactly turned me off? I can't even remember at this point, and I think my maybe part of it was and I do get annoyed with it. Now, my wife was asking me something the other day, like, Okay, what, you know, I was, I think it was, it took shower, and I had to change out a sensor or something. She's like, how do you, how do you, like, they track all this and like, well, you know, the the insets you're, you know, three days, maybe you could stretch to four that, you know, the sensors are 10. If I fill the T slim, it's 300 and I go through this a day. So that's like, you know, six or seven. She's like, do you have like, a spreadsheet? No, I don't, but my
Scott Benner 57:14
blood sugar starts going up, and I think my sets getting old.
Steve 57:19
But that's I do. I do, I tend to wonder whether that was part of it, where I was just like, I just don't want another thing to have to, like, track to me. And at some point you just mentally get exhausted of like, Okay, I gotta, I gotta do this. And when I travel a lot, it was, it was a real pain in the butt, because I worked for a Sugar Company, and I was traveling all over in Europe and US and and like, it's like, okay, what do I need to pack? What do I need to take with me? And I had a couple issues where, actually, this one was more recent, where i i went to Canada grab the bottle of Novolog. But I had grabbed the the new bottle, and I had grabbed another bottle that I had taken it down to, like, I don't know, like, 40 units in it. Okay, so get to Canada, my pumps just about out. Go to refill. I'm like, Oh, I don't have enough insulin to get me, get me through the week. So I'm freaking out. Call the endo in Baltimore, he calls up to a pharmacy in Montreal and and says, you know, puts in the prescription. And this is the cool part. I heard you talking to Canadian last week on the podcast, and you were kind of harassing them about, you know, what, what insulin do they have? But on the other side of the coin I walked down, bought a month supply of insulin cash, yeah, for like, 50 bucks. And I was like, you know, this shows how crappy that old medical debacle is in the United States
Scott Benner 58:59
of America, that it's so, just so inexpensive, right? Yeah,
Steve 59:03
it just shows you, like, if they can make a profit off 50 bucks, and they're charging 300 you know, to insurance carriers, and yeah, it's just,
Scott Benner 59:12
it's just, yeah, my daughter's had diabetes for a long time now, and I've been around in this space for a long time here in that complaint, the same complaints, like, they're very valid complaints, you know, about how everything works. And there's people like, oh, it's gonna change this time. It's gonna change that time. I remember, was it back in 2016 or 2020 when did they screw Bernie Sanders? I forget, but like, Bernie Sanders is getting ready to run for president. He's out, like, stumping about, like, insulin prices. People like, now it's going to change. I'm like, No, it's not. It's not, you know, like, it's just it should, and I want it to, I'm with you, but it just doesn't seem to work that way, you know, like somebody, somebody is going to get in the way of this and put a stop to it along the
Steve 59:58
way. There was, I won't say, the. Company, so I don't get myself in trouble. But one of the insulin companies posted something on LinkedIn. This is only, like, five years ago, six years ago, and this woman, you know, was like, Oh, we get affordable insulin to people who need it. And and I, I got it, and I was like, Look, I've been a type one for what at that point me, it was probably, like, 35 years, or whatever, and this is BS, because you you guys, are taking advantage of people. And you know, you've got lobbyists in place that that influence the politicians who put the laws in place that allow you to overcharge for for insulin, and the post was taken down like within seconds. And I never saw anything again of that company trying to say they were, you know, they were taking care of people, because I was right after that. I don't know if you heard about the kid who was, think he was a dishwasher, like Perkins or something, didn't make much money. Was type one couldn't afford insulin.
Scott Benner 1:00:59
He's the boy that tried to move, he tried to move to Florida, and he and he passed away there, yeah, yeah, the young guy, yeah, he's, I remember that,
Steve 1:01:06
yeah. And it's like, it just that just makes you sick, like you just think about the fact that, because of the way the laws are written and what the companies are allowed to do to make massive profit, you're killing people literally.
Scott Benner 1:01:22
And my point is, is that if you think that that's just, that's just a switch, somebody has to throw, like, there's a tangled web around that, around everything political and, like, I mean, all this stuff, like, to your point, like there's money and power at the top of the of the pyramid, right and then, and it's just so convoluted, purposefully convoluted all the way down to us that you start thinking like, well, if I unravel this, all this has this has to happen. That happens. You can't make all those things happen. Because every time you try to push a lever one way, there's somebody else on the other side of it making money, who's like, oh, no, you can't do that. Well, I make money there, or that's what's keeping this business open. And then, I bet you, if one of them was willing to come on here and speak freely, they'd say, look, we got to make money too. Like you want the medicine. Like, I bet you that would be the argument at some point. Like you want it, we got to make it, and I got to hire and also you got to hire bright people, and those people want more money. And, like, it's, I mean, you could probably argue with six different ways from Sunday. Is my point. That's not my point. My point is you're not changing the way this works.
Steve 1:02:24
You could say it's the DS or it's the RS or whatever, but it's, it's all of them, and it's the lobbyists that are able to do what they do, and no one's going to change the laws because they are. Whoever's in power gets the benefits of that. And so yeah, that's why I said
Scott Benner 1:02:41
power and money, because the powerful people want to remain powerful, and people with money want to keep their money. Yes, yeah, yeah, and make more of it. And there's no end to more. And if you and listen, I agree with you, like the success of etc, but if I came to your house today and I was like, Steve, hey, I'd like to give you $1,000 you'd be like, All right, that's awesome. I go. Unless you want 2000 you wouldn't go. No 1000s. Good. No two makes sense to me, and I will, would you like $200,000 now here's the catch, if I give you $200,000.55 people you don't know are going to lose, you know, money, you might be like, Oh, no, I don't want that, but I do need $200,000 like, it's just everyone's got a line. And I think when that's the truth, like thinking that you're going to stop the way this all works is like saying you're going to stop people from wanting money or power. And I think the whole world's run off of money and power. So yeah, it is. I just think it's, I think you're, you're saying, If only those people who were powerful and rich would stop wanting to be powerful and rich. But I also think if I made you powerful and rich, you'd be like, I want to be powerful and I want to stay like this. So I don't know like, I don't know how to like. And there are some people who don't feel that way. I saw an article the other day about some woman, old, old, old lady in her 90s. I wish I knew any of her details, but I guess her husband was a billionaire, and he's gone, and she left like his money to some medical facility, medical school, and now people who need it like perpetually, forever and ever, will go to the school for free because of that. And I was like, Man, that's awesome, but you notice, but you notice she didn't do it till she was 90, yeah, which
Steve 1:04:32
is, which is kind of funny, because that's where you start. Like you started thinking about, if I had a billion dollars, like you could, there's no way you could even spend it within the rent of your I do
Scott Benner 1:04:43
really believe that. I think there's a I'm gonna sound like a hippie for a second here, but like I do think there's a cap on how much money makes a difference to you. Yeah, you need to be able to pay your bills. I think most people would agree. If I could pay my bills, have enough of a cushion where I wasn't worried, maybe I could go on. A vacation once in a while, maybe my car doesn't have a big hole in the floor. My people around me are safe. We're eating quality food that we can afford. I don't need more than that stuff, you know. I want a safe place to live, like, that kind of stuff. Like, I'm not saying like, I don't think people are like, No, I want to go out and buy a Lamborghini tomorrow, and then next week, when I get tired of it, go buy a different color Lamborghini. I don't think most people care about like that. Yeah, you know, yeah, but I don't know, but, but enough people do. And those people are, man, they're playing for keeps. They got it all, you know,
Steve 1:05:35
and they're in the news every day. So, yeah, it's hard to ignore. It really, is it, is it, is it is, oh, I the one thing I was kind of laughing about when you're talking about, ai i, one of the talents I had and still have, is I am very good at figuring out what keywords to put into Google to find something quickly and accurately. You
Scott Benner 1:05:57
have what they call Google. Foo, yeah, yes, yes. And
Steve 1:06:01
my, my boss is, like, the one day we were this is, you know, four or five years ago, he's, like, it was just amazed. I just like, you know, did something, found it so quickly. And so we were talking about AI a couple months ago, and we're talking about how to implement it at the company here. And I said, you know, my one talent is being taken away,
Scott Benner 1:06:24
because that's No, no, no, your your new talent is going to be talking to AI in a way that gets you way quicker, gets you Yeah, it gets it doing what you want it to do. You can talk to it wrong and not end up where you want to be.
Steve 1:06:36
That is true. You get, you got to say no hallucinations, so you make sure it's actually accurate information and not just what someone typed
Scott Benner 1:06:42
in. Don't make anything up. Don't do this, but not even that low. Like, I don't mean ask it a question to get the answer you want. Like, I'm not trying to say, like, trick it into saying what you want it to say. I'm telling you. Like, there's a way to, if you use it enough, you'll see there's a way that you have to talk to it to make sure that it's thinking the way you're thinking. It's almost like, how do you translate your desire to it, to understanding
Steve 1:07:05
the way our IT? Guy explained it to me is, is, is, have a conversation with it. Don't, don't be doing keyword like, you know, yeah, talk to it like you would talk to a person, which actually, then you should be pretty good at it too. But that's, you know, that's, that's what he said to me, like, you know, look, you want to ask it questions, like you would, uh, you know, you're, you're across the table and, you know, having a cup of coffee, versus, here's the five keywords I want to I want to know.
Scott Benner 1:07:32
So I agree with that. I think that's kind of a beneficial way to do it, all right. Well, I'm going to stop the recording, but I have another question for you about about something and then we won't bore people with but I appreciate you doing this very much. And thank you very much. I think it was awesome. I appreciate you reaching out if other people have knowledge about celiac or want to talk about it. I hope they reach out and come on. So
Steve 1:07:52
yeah, yeah, great. Talking to you, yeah. And definitely, all the people who have gluten issues definitely call Scott. Speak up. Yeah, tell our story.
Scott Benner 1:07:59
Awesome. Hold on one second. For
me, the podcast episode that you just enjoyed was sponsored by ever since CGM. They make the ever since 365 that thing lasts a whole year. One insertion every year. Come on. You probably feel like I'm messing with you, but I'm not, ever since cgm.com/juicebox this episode of The Juicebox podcast is sponsored by Omnipod five. Omnipod five is a tube, free, automated insulin delivery system that's been shown to significantly improve a 1c and time and range for people with type one diabetes when they've switched from daily injections, learn more and get started today at omnipod.com/juicebox of my link, you can get a free starter kit right now. Terms and Conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox this episode of The Juicebox podcast was sponsored by us, med, us. Med.com/juice, box, or call, 888-721-1514, get started today with us. Med, links in the show notes. Links at Juicebox podcast.com. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox podcast. If you're not already subscribed or following the podcast in your favorite audio app, like Spotify or Apple podcasts, please do that now. Seriously, just to hit follow or subscribe will really help the show. If you go a little further in Apple podcasts and set it up so that it downloads all new episodes, I'll be your best friend, and if you leave a five star review, ooh, I'll probably send you a Christmas card. Would you like a Christmas card if you're looking for community around type one diabetes, check out the Juicebox podcast. Private, Facebook group, Juicebox podcast type one diabetes. But every. Everybody is welcome. Type one, type two, gestational loved ones. It doesn't matter to me, if you're impacted by diabetes and you're looking for support, comfort or community, check out Juicebox podcast. Type one diabetes on Facebook. Hey, what's up everybody? If you've noticed that the podcast sounds better and you're thinking like, how does that happen? What you're hearing is Rob at wrong way, recording, doing his magic to these files. So if you want him to do his magic to you, wrong way. Recording.com, you got a podcast. You want somebody to edit it. You want rob you.
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