# 1789 Born to Run - Part 2

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Endurance runner, pharmacist, and foster dad Zach shares his adult LADA diagnosis, mastering insulin, exercise, and mindset—learning confidence, vigilance, and control just nine months into type 1.

Episode Takeaways

• Identifying Early Type 1 Diabetes Symptoms: Agatha describes her daughter Ava's T1D diagnosis story, where noticing frequent urination (even in parks) and extreme thirst led her to catch the condition early, despite initial medical dismissal based on the child "not appearing sick."
• Navigating T1D at School: A critical discussion on the friction between parents and school staff regarding "emergencies-only" management. Scott and Agatha emphasize the importance of proactive micro-bolusing to maintain time-in-range rather than reactive care.
• Global T1D Technology (Australia): Agatha shares her experience with the Ypsomed (YpsoPump) system and the Australian healthcare model, which often facilitates immediate pump training at diagnosis.
• Parent-Child Relationship Dynamics: A candid look at the "totalitarian" shift in parenting after a T1D diagnosis and the psychological weight of the constant "background noise" created by glucose monitoring during daily activities.
• Challenging the "Resilience" Narrative: Scott and Agatha explore why the word "resilient" often feels hollow to T1D families, reframing the experience as a forced endurance of difficult circumstances rather than an elective act of bravery.

Resources & Sponsors

Juicebox Content Mentioned

• • Algorithm Pumping Series: Detailed episodes on AID systems including Omnipod 5, Loop, and Medtronic 780g. (Search "Algorithm Pumping" in your player)
• • Texting Diabetes (Episode 4): Strategies for remote school management and caregiver communication.
• • Bold Beginnings & Pro Tips: Foundation series for managing Type 1 Diabetes.
• • Resilience Series: Discussions on the psychological impact and reality of T1D management.
• • Juice Cruise 2026: Community getaway for T1D families. juiceboxpodcast.com/juicecruise

Featured Sponsors

• • Contour Next Gen: Accurate and reliable blood glucose monitoring. kontoornext.com/juicebox
• • Medtronic Diabetes: Learn about the MiniMed 780g and Instinct sensor. medtronicdiabetes.com/juicebox
• • Cozy Earth: Luxury bedding and clothing. Save 20% with code JUICEBOX. cozyearth.com

FULL VERBATIM TRANSCRIPT

Scott Benner (0:00)

Friends, we're all back together for the next episode of the Juice Box podcast. Welcome.

Agatha (0:14)

Well, hi, Scott. My name is Agatha. I live in Australia on the East Coast in a place called the Gold Coast, and I'm the mom to Ava who has type one.

Scott Benner (0:25)

Check out my algorithm pumping series to help you make sense of automated insulin delivery systems like Omnipod five, Loop, Medtronic seven eighty g, Twist, Tandem Control IQ, and much more. Each episode will dive into the setup, features, and real world usage tips that can transform your daily type one diabetes management. We cut through the jargon, share personal experiences, and show you how these algorithms can simplify and streamline your care. If you're curious about automated insulin pumping, go find the algorithm pumping series in the Juice Box podcast. Easiest way, juiceboxpodcast.com, and go up into the menu. Click on series, and it'll be right there.

Scott Benner (1:04)

Nothing you hear on the Juice Box podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. Always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan. This episode is sponsored by Cozy Earth. You can use my offer code juice box at checkout to save 20% off of your entire order at cozyearth.com. Everything from the joggers that I'm actually wearing right now to the sheets I sleep on, the towels I use to dry myself with, and whatever else is available at cozy earth dot com. Just use the offer code JUICEBOX at checkout. Today's episode is also sponsored by Medtronic Diabetes, who is making life with diabetes easier with the MiniMed seven eighty g system and their new sensor options, which include the Instinct sensor made by Abbott. Would you like to unleash the full potential of the mini med seven eighty g system? You can do that at my link, medtronicdiabetes.com/juicebox. Today's episode is also sponsored by the Contour Next Gen Blood Glucose Meter. This is the meter that my daughter has on her person right now. It is incredibly accurate and waiting for you at kontoornext.com/juicebox.

Agatha (2:20)

Well, hi, Scott. My name is Agatha. I live in Australia on the East Coast in a place called the Gold Coast, and I'm the mom to Ava who has type one.

Scott Benner (2:30)

I really appreciate you doing this. Thank you. We do have to tell people what time it is for you.

Agatha (2:35)

I thought we could avoid this. It's early. It's 03:35 in the morning.

Scott Benner (2:39)

Three why did you wanna avoid don't want people to think you're crazy?

Agatha (2:42)

Yeah. Kind of. Even I think that this is a bit early. I'm I'm an early riser, I'm so not the type of person that would wanna talk to you at midnight my time. But Oh. Even 04:30 would have been slightly better.

Scott Benner (2:56)

I hate to say it, but we could have done it later if you wanted to.

Agatha (2:58)

Oh god. Don't. I don't wanna hear that.

Scott Benner (3:03)

Sorry. Okay. Okay. This was the only time I had available. There. Does that make you feel better?

Agatha (3:06)

Oh, good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Benner (3:08)

You have, how many kids?

Agatha (3:11)

I've got two daughters.

Scott Benner (3:13)

Oh, awesome. How old are they?

Agatha (3:15)

So Ava, she's five. She's my, my daughter with type one, and then I have another daughter, Isla, who is three.

Scott Benner (3:22)

Oh, pretty names. Very nice. Well, of course, when people hear Gold Coast, do they immediately if they're not from there, start asking about sharks and things like that? I'm not gonna do that. I just wanna know if that's what happens.

Agatha (3:31)

I think when people hear that you're Australian, you get asked about sharks and scary insects and spiders and things things like that. But the Gold Coast is beautiful. It's kind of our, I guess, version of Miami. Lots of beaches and warm, and people come here for vacations. So, a lovely part of the country.

Scott Benner (3:51)

Very nice. Awesome. Okay. So these two little girls of yours. When was you said Ava has type one?

Agatha (3:58)

Yes. She was two, nearly three. So April 2023. So we'll be coming up onto three years soon.

Scott Benner (4:08)

How did you find out? Did someone tell you, or did you figure it out?

Agatha (4:13)

I figured it out. I'm I'm pretty proud of that part. We had that day being at a birthday party. One of Ava's friends, we'd just been at a park, and it was one of those places where there were no restrooms about, and she just kept needing to use the bathroom. And so we kept finding a tree that she could go and, do a weave behind, and it just struck me as really unusual that we were there for two hours, and she just kept needing to go to the bathroom. So we came home from that, and I immediately jumped onto Google and started asking questions and put in there that she'd been drinking more water and using the bathroom more, and it popped up with Type One.

Scott Benner (5:00)

Wow. That so one day just one day's events got you right to Google? Was it just that one event? Like, did you literally figure it out from one day peeing on trees, or was there stuff before that that culminated?

Agatha (5:13)

I think that's kind of when it all crystallized for me. She wasn't terribly like, I listened to to your podcast, listened to stories. She wasn't, like, obviously unwell in any other way. You know, I think I had noticed that she'd been drinking more water. She just started day care. You know, it's one of those things where you rationalize behavior. Lots of kids are drinking more water. She's drinking more water. There wasn't a huge amount that I can point to that kind of felt like there was something wrong. It was really just that day. I just thought, okay. I gotta sort this out. Like, whatever's happening here, let's work it out. And so I took her to the doctor, and the doctor looked at her and said I hope this isn't type one, but, you know, I just wanted to get it checked out. The doctor said that if she had type one, she would be much sicker.

Agatha (5:59)

Didn't wanna finger prick her or do anything like and sort of gave me the choice as to whether we do that. And I said, well, we're here. Let's do it. Now when I think about it, it feels odd, but she finger pricked her heel even though she was I don't know. Anyway, I just now I think about it and just think I'm not sure if she had many people come in with this, but, you know, checked her blood glucose, and it was high. And then yeah. It that was it. Sent us to the ER and emergency room, and and it kind of all unraveled from there.

Scott Benner (6:30)

Is there, like, more to that part of the story? The doctor didn't wanna do it, but left it up to you. I always find that interesting when they say, like, well, I wouldn't do it. I don't think it's right. But if you want me to, okay. Like, what is that all about? You know what I mean?

Agatha (6:43)

Yeah. I I don't know. I mean, she'd done a, like, a a a test. Like, we had some of her, like, weigh in a cup, and she tested it. And I don't know why it didn't show up with sugar or why she couldn't get an answer from that and then didn't wanna do the finger prick. But I don't know. I mean, she she really didn't look unwell, and I think we caught it quite early. I can't remember what her a one c was on diagnosis, but, you know, it it that was kind of one of the things that was hard about the whole whole situation is she she seemed pretty okay. Like, you I went from having a kid that was at a birthday party that was healthy and well to having a kid, you know, who wasn't, like, pretty quickly and not with, like, a lot of a lot of significant physical symptoms that showed me that something was wrong.

Scott Benner (7:35)

How did that impact you and her, actually? I mean, is she she's not even, like, complaining about anything. She just peed a couple of times at a party. So, yeah, was that difficult to I mean, she was younger, but was it difficult for you to accept?

Agatha (7:51)

I mean, I think it was yeah. I think so. I'm grateful we didn't have the trauma of, you know, DKA and, I mean, all all this that I hear that can go wrong and and how far down it can go, but it was a real yeah. It was difficult. It was definitely difficult to just get my head around everything is different now, and we have to adjust to doing all these things we didn't have to do before and think about all these things and just kinda complicate life a little bit more. And my other daughter at the time was, I think, 10 old. So I was still kind of in that haze of looking after a newborn and trying to work out, you know, how to adjust to life with two small children.

Scott Benner (8:36)

Yeah. But do you work full time, part time, or not at all?

Agatha (8:40)

I do work at the time, I was on maternity leave with my my second, but I'm a lawyer. So usually, work. And since having both girls and going back to work, I I just work part time.

Scott Benner (8:54)

Okay. Okay. So you had been you had the baby and you were still how long did they give you in Australia after you have a baby?

Agatha (9:02)

We're we're pretty lucky here. I mean, I had I took a year off with with her and but I think I can't remember exactly how much you get paid. You you can either get paid by the government or you can get paid by your employer. Mean, the employer might give you a, you know, a better a better amount. But I think I had, like, three or six months paid off, and then the rest was just, you know, self funded 100 when you're time off with the baby.

Scott Benner (11:06)

When you said that everything's different now, did you mean just, you know, the nuts and bolts of diabetes is in your life, or did you mean that it's fundamentally changed other parts too?

Agatha (11:09)

I mean, yeah, it it's changed a lot. And, like, I don't know if that's a bad thing to admit, but it's changed the simplicity of doing things, you know, with the family. Going to a birthday party is really different now to how it was back then. All those all those little changes, and it it's I don't want to say this, but it it also kind of changes your relationship with your child in a way and not always in a positive way. And that's hard, I think, to adjust to as well, looking after her and sometimes having her do things she doesn't wanna do, that she needs to do to to look after herself or make sure that she's well, it does feel like a completely different life.

Scott Benner (11:49)

Changes your relationship with her because you are in more of a, like, a I don't I'm I'm gonna use the wrong word here, but, a totalitarian, like, you know, regime change kind of thing, like, where you're, like, you're telling her what to do now and it's not something you're happy about or something she's happy about? Or are you saying, like, how you see her interact with her or even feel? Or what what was it you were getting at?

Scott Benner (12:13)

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Scott Benner (13:24)

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Agatha (14:31)

I mean, I think kind of both, to be honest. It's definitely the okay. You need to come off the playground or you need to you know, I need to change the site. It's not working. I'm gonna pop in and and and do that, and then you can go back to the thing you're doing. And, you know, there's resistance to that, but, like, she's I think, like, all these kids, I hear people use the word resilient, but they just put up with it. They accept at this age at least that, you know, you're the parent and you're telling them what to do, and they do it, and they might protest to it. Mhmm. But then, yeah, I think it's also changed the relationship with her because, you know, when I'm reading her bedtime story, I'm also just having a look at her numbers and kind of thinking, should I be bolusing now? Because when she falls asleep, she's going to start to rise, so I need to get something going now, or should I wait a bit longer, or did she did she nap today? So is she going to fall asleep? Like, it just sort of is in the back of my head all the time, and it does, I think, impact then how you are with your child or at least it does for me. And that's something that I'm trying to work on because I don't wanna put any of that on her or affect how she relates to me or relates to diabetes in a a negative way as well.

Scott Benner (15:44)

Yeah. I'd I'd like to share with you that I I had that moment too. It took me longer maybe to figure out that you did, but Arden came home from school one day, walked through the door, and I realized that I didn't even see her. I just saw diabetes and the things that I was gonna and I, you know, I realized that every day she'd come home and I'd say, what's your blood sugar? Because there was no there was no sharing of of CGM data. And so Mhmm. I had this, like, background fear that she had left school. That was the last time I knew what her blood sugar was because she would text me before she got on the bus. Like, my blood sugar is this. I'm getting on the bus. And then, you know, it's it wasn't even that long. It was twenty minutes or so, and she got home. And that entire twenty minutes, I just thought, like, is she okay? And then when she walked in, I wanna make sure she's okay. And by the way, most days she came home, she was fine, and it still didn't take the feeling away. But then I had that thought one day. I'm like, oh my god. I'm not even seeing her. I'm seeing diabetes when she walks in the door. I I gotta stop that.

Agatha (16:45)

Yeah. And how do you stop that? Like, that's hard.

Scott Benner (16:48)

Yeah. I mean, I don't know. It's just time and and being aware of it and putting effort into, you know, shifting your feeling. But I honestly think moreover, it's about experience with the management and getting Mhmm. More comfortable that what you know is going to happen or what you hope is going to happen is actually happening. And then once you can feel comfortable that I made the decisions, I know how this works, I can close my eyes for twenty minutes and imagine where we are now. That was kind of how I how I tempered myself with it as I I started doing this thing where I thought, like, what do I think her blood sugar is right now based on everything I did? And the more I was correct about that when I looked, the more comfort it gave me that when I wasn't looking, what I expected was happening was happening. That makes sense?

Agatha (17:39)

Mhmm. It does. It's tough. You know, it's funny because what you were describing, it's almost like if you if anybody's ever been in the hospital and the nurse comes in, you know, the nurse is working. They have, like, things in their head they're doing, and they're charting, they're testing things, and you start chitchatting with them. Right? And you when you look back, you realize you're not having a full conversation with that person. That's a person politely interacting with you while they're doing their job, and it that's how it made me feel. Like, you weren't really reading the book. You're politely reading a book with her while you're thinking about the diabetes, and that part makes you sad, and it should. You summarized it perfectly. This is my job.

Scott Benner (18:36)

So what kind of technology did you get at diagnosis, and has any of that changed? Unlike other systems that will wait until your blood sugar is a 180 before delivering corrections, the MiniMed seven eighty g system is the only system with meal detection technology that automatically detects rising sugar levels and delivers more insulin as needed to help keep your sugar levels in range even if you're not a perfect carb counter. Today's episode of the Juice Box podcast is sponsored by Medtronic Diabetes and their MiniMed seven eighty g system, which gives you real choices because the MiniMed seven eighty g system works with the Instinct sensor made by Avid, as well as the Simplera Sync and Guardian four sensors, giving you options. The Instinct sensor is the longest wear sensor yet, lasting fifteen days and designed exclusively for the MiniMed seven eighty g. Medtronic diabetes makes technology accessible for you with comprehensive insurance support, programs to help you with your out of pocket costs or switching from other pump and CGM systems. Learn more and get started today with my link, medtronicdiabetes.com/juicebox.

Agatha (19:55)

We left the hospital with the pump. We have a DexComp g six, and we have a Yipso pump, which I I I don't think is available in America, but I know Yeah. People have it. Yeah. That's the one. Yeah. I know it, but I it. Yes. So we left with that. It's sort of interesting listening to you, and you hear how lots of people have to be on shots for a period of time before they're allowed to graduate to a pump, we were never even really given the option to do shots. It was like, this is this is the way to manage, and it was more, you know, here are the the three pumps that we, you know, that we suggest you consider, and and this was the one that was recommended to us as has the best algorithm and, you know, is cutting edge and and the best one available. So, mean, it was a really uninformed decision because we didn't really know anything about what we were doing and just trusted the educator when she said pick this one. I remember at the time being a little bit I I really hated the the part of her being connected to, like, the tube in my head. Mhmm. Because it feels really medical to have the tube, but it's been a a good pump, I think. I mean, I don't have anything to compare it to, so I don't I don't really know what the alternative would be, but she's she's fine with it. It doesn't bother her, and I think it's helped us a lot. I think it's helped us kind of maybe overcome get to where we are quicker, if that makes sense.

Scott Benner (22:26)

Congratulations to Australia for just saying, look. Take the pump. Does the government pay for it? How does that work there?

Agatha (22:29)

Oh, well, we have private health insurance, so I think that that helps us get the pump. So we didn't pay for it Mhmm. As far as I'm aware. And know that if if we had gone to a different hospital, we we would have had a different experience. It's just that we happen to go to one that has this particular educator, this is the way she operates.

Scott Benner (23:41)

If I just, like, came into the house all Grinch style tonight and snatched up all that pump and left, would you have the first foggy idea about what to do tomorrow?

Agatha (23:49)

I would panic. I I have pins. I would probably YouTube it and work out how to do it. Yeah. It's it's such a good point because I feel like if you if you're gonna give the pump, you you you do need to still educate on how to do it without it. And while I have, you know, given a shot to my daughter at an appointment with our diabetes educator, like, one time, like, I can't remember now. But I have a good friend who's who's has a daughter as well who has type one, and she did that for a long time. And they're now on Omnipod, but I would probably be calling her. I'm I would be on the phone to her and say, how do I what do I do? But, yeah, I've got the Levemir in the fridge, and I'd work it out, I guess. You know? And that's, I think, this whole thing, a lot of it is, like, you just sometimes have to work it out, not get caught up in the panic of, what do I do in this situation? You just have to sort it.

Scott Benner (24:52)

Do you know how much basil she gets a day? About?

Agatha (24:56)

Oh, so she goes through roughly in total between, I'm gonna say, fifteen and eighteen units a day. Basil, maybe maybe seven or eight. I'd have to check. I'd have to have a look at the statistics, like, off the top of my head.

Scott Benner (25:37)

The panic would come from what? Like, because it's not is it mostly about giving the injections, you think?

Agatha (25:46)

I don't even think so. No. I've I've dosed I've even you know, the the mini glucagon before. Like, if I need to do it, I can do it. Yeah. What's the panic? I mean, I would hope I wouldn't panic, but I'm probably and you might have gathered this because you talk to lots of people, but I'm probably a bit of a warrior and a little bit more sort of anxious and wanna get things right. And so it would just be, you know, not stuffing it up and, you know, I don't know, priming it or doing whatever I have to do when I haven't missed a step, and I've and I've I've given the thing, and I've given the right amount. And it's just that kind of I haven't done this before and have I ticked the boxes, and it's happened the way it's meant to happen.

Scott Benner (26:30)

I get that when you told me you had kids and you had a female name, knew you were a warrior then. I didn't really need to talk to you after that. Keeping those kids alive and safe, but it's also sometimes I'm like, I what is happening?

Scott Benner (27:35)

I always contended that, like, you know what to do. It's just the delivery system's different. And, yes, the pump's doing the math, but you can look at the pump and see what the math is and just I think the the it's just the change that would be frightening. Are you the main caregiver for the diabetes?

Agatha (28:52)

I would say so. Yes. My husband works full time. So I've I've got the the two days with the girls and then well, with with my my youngest and then my neighbor's at school. So she's in more kindergarten. She starts school this year. So our school year starts in a few weeks. I'm the one that will go to the school if something's happening, and I'm the one that communicates with the teachers looking after her, answers their questions, or ask them to do things if they need to do things. So, yeah, it's it's mostly me. And then and then my husband, though, obviously, very capable of looking after Ava if I'm doing something or I'm away, which happens occasionally. Mostly, it does sit with me.

Scott Benner (30:04)

In your note, you talk about, like, challenges of raising a young child navigating, in your words, school and friendships. Has that been a thing that you were worried about or a thing that was actually going wrong and difficult?

Agatha (30:18)

It's been difficult, but I think it's probably was always going to be difficult on some level. And when I say that, I mean, they're not in then, you know, she's not with me. She's with someone else. And the way that they wanna manage at school is having as little involvement with type one as possible so that they can focus on the teaching and the and the schooling part. Whereas when she's with me, there's a lot more happening, and it's kind of finding that balance when I'm not with her that she's still looked after and she's having good results. Because she could have bad results and not be with me, but that's not what I'm aiming for. And I guess because she's so little, you know, I can't text her and ask her to do things. I have to text the teachers. And we did have an in you know, a couple instances last year. Kind of it's the year before they start school, but they're in the uniform. They have a a, you know, a a kind of a a proper schedule to the day that kind of follows what they would do if they were at school. And and we had a couple instances where they were like, only text us in an emergency. I found that hard because I'm like, well, it's not an emergency now, but it will be an emergency in fifteen minutes potentially. And more so, I just don't want her day to be interrupted, and she has to sit down and not participate in gym class because she has to wait out a hypo rather than you just getting ahead of it now with something small Mhmm. And and and letting her continue with her day as normal. So it's that kind of balance between having them look after her, but also, you know, not just doing the bare minimum. So that's been a bit of a challenge, and and I think we do I mean, we do better when she's home than when she's at school.

Scott Benner (32:14)

Because you're more proactive?

Agatha (32:17)

Yeah. Yeah. I I I, like, I I engage with them more and I'm you know, there's more, you know, my you know, a small ball is here or or or picking up a a drop, that kind of thing. I don't know if it's the technology or if it's what it is, but, like, we we we can't go a day where I'm not having to catch a low at some point. I don't know what a typical experience is. Like, I think in an ideal world, you bowl us for the food. They eat it. The basil's right. You know? It's mostly okay, but it's just not that simple. We we if we if we wanna have numbers that are mostly in range, then it almost feels like we have to be in that situation where we're catching lows a little bit, and and that's annoying at school.

Scott Benner (33:07)

Is that around activity? Do you think do you think she's more active at school than she is at home?

Agatha (33:12)

We always have a drop off the back of breakfast, which yeah. I know I know that I'm sure that other people have similar experiences too, but it just feels like if I if I don't bowl us enough, she goes high. The algorithm kicks in. It pushes a ton of basil on her. It drops her low. If I bolus too much, it's the same effect in that, you know, basil's not bringing her down, but the bolus eventually brings her down. She goes low. So we we always seem to have a low in and around when she's about to have morning tea at school. And we've had a year at school this year, and I haven't been able to fix it. Some days, it's okay. Other days, it's not. It's that kind of thing. And then more generally, I mean, maybe it's activity. I don't know.

Scott Benner (34:51)

I don't know how many people could hear through Agatha's accent where she was like, it'd be nice if these motherfuckers would just listen to me.

Agatha (34:51)

Yeah. Totally.

Scott Benner (34:53)

You're but then the algorithm then she's getting a little high, then the algorithm is pushing again, and you think the push is where the low comes from?

Agatha (35:01)

I think so. I think mostly. When she's been home, like, over these holidays, I might do a stronger bolus for breakfast, and then that sort of a pre bolus kind of the the snack, if that makes sense.

Scott Benner (35:14)

Well, that's what I was gonna ask. I was gonna say, why don't you be more aggressive with the food? But you can do it at home. You have trouble doing it and sending her away. How much does she weigh?

Agatha (36:00)

Wearing kilos here. So she's nineteen kilos? I don't know what that is. Forty one. She's eight bags of flower. I was right.

Scott Benner (37:52)

Do you think she has any kind of a honeymoon going on still?

Agatha (38:09)

I don't think so. I don't think so. I mean, we did diluted insulin at the beginning, and and it almost feels like it was easy. It all felt like it was easier when I think she was in honeymoon. Like, everything felt a bit easier. I know people seem to have trouble with it, but it seemed easier. And then one day, it just felt harder, and, you know, we were getting more spikes. And so I don't think so. I don't think that's happening, but Okay. I don't know. I'm still new with it. So

Scott Benner (38:35)

No. Yeah. I mean so what you're really if I'm hearing this through through your stories, what you're really waiting for is for her to get old enough where you can converse with her directly and start managing things between the two of you. Right?

Agatha (38:46)

I think so. Yeah. And I'm thinking about this stuff because we're we're Judah had a meeting about how everything's gonna look this year, and it'd just be so much easier if I could just tell her, you know, which is what I do when she's with her grandparents or or even with my husband. You know, sometimes I'll message and be like, can you do this? And it's just much easier to just do it that way rather than have this document that says treat at this number, do this at this number, here are the carbs. Okay. Bye. Like, it just seems so light touch for what it needs, really.

Scott Benner (39:31)

And tell me why that bothers you. I don't disagree with you, but I wanna hear in your words, like because she's coming home alive, obviously. Right? So, like Yeah. It's not it's not the worst thing. And you can and I think I hear in your voice you understand their perspective too. Tell me about yours. Like, why why do you dislike this this method?

Agatha (39:44)

Mostly, it comes down to the fact that she's more likely to run higher, and the highs are not addressed as as quickly. And and I I I get nervous when I see the drops, and and I'm not there. And it just feels like we're doing too little too late on both ends. Mhmm. And it just makes it more stressful. Like, the day is much smoother when there is a little intervention here or there versus waiting for, you know, something, you know, quote, unquote, bad to happen or we're in a bad situation and then trying to address it.

Scott Benner (40:22)

Agatha, you're a winner, aren't you? You're a go getter. Right? Like, you get out in front of things. But they don't this is my perspective after sending my kid through school. She's out of it now. But Yeah. This wasn't about her health from their perspective. This was about not having a kid pass out at school. That's Yeah. That's really was their only goal. Like, if your kid doesn't pass out or have a seizure, then we call this a win, and we are not measuring health outcomes or happiness or anything else. Like, that's that wasn't their that but that's your pretty much your only concern. And you've Yeah. Figured out a way to, like, take care of it. And they and so they're not interested because they said you've pleased only in emergencies. If you put yourself in their position, were you being a pain in the ass from their perspective?

Agatha (41:29)

I think in the beginning, a little bit. Yes. Mhmm. And as soon as they pulled me up on it, I I took the feedback and was like, right. Like, in the spectrum of things I could be asking them to do, what what is, you know, an emergency or closer to an emergency. So I think I yeah. I was a little bit at the beginning and less so after that. Having said that, it is interesting of the two people looking after her. One of the teachers and all the schools here do it differently, but at my daughter's age, there's two teachers in the room. One's the assistant. One's the main teacher. The main teacher was was very, we don't wanna hear from you. But the assistant who actually did a lot of the stuff, did a lot of the bolus thing, did a lot of the, you know, hypo stuff, she would say to me separately, I actually really appreciate you texting me. I like that you're looking at it and that you see what's happening. And so I think there is an element of who is the person you get? What's their personality like? And are they more willing to come on the journey with you? And, you know, we're gonna we're going to face this every year. The way our school does it is every year, you get a new batch of people, and you have to train them up, and you start again. I have a friend, her daughter. They have one sort of assistant that just looks after the kids with with type one and will go out and and bolus and do the hypos and stays with them as they move into the different year levels. And that feels like a really good system Mhmm. Because it's continuity. It's one person knows them. You're not teaching people from the beginning. And I just feel the way we're going to be doing it is there's going to be that learning curve, and there's gonna be mistakes. And then there's me learning how they are. Some people are better at this than other people. Some people are better with tech. Some people are not as good. But I think it you know, it's it's it's probably just part and parcel of being a parent with with type one, and you have to sort out how you're going to deal with it at school. But they're there a lot. They're there a lot. Right? It's like a third of her life is at school, so it's important to get it right.

Scott Benner (43:40)

Mhmm. No. For sure. Did does it give you any comfort that you have the whole thing figured out already? Because you're right. Like, that's all what's gonna happen. You're gonna get good ones and bad ones and some that are interested and some that aren't and some that can't grasp it. Even this example here, the person who's hands on between you and your daughter sees the bigger picture because they're involved, and the person still in the room but slightly removed from it is like, ugh, why is this happening? It almost feels like if you put put that person on the other end of the phone for a week, and they could watch a problem stopped in its tracks before it can happen, that kind of thing, that they would maybe have more perspective or and maybe it still wouldn't matter to them. Maybe that personality wise, they just don't care. Yeah. You never know who you're getting. And and the problem is, for for my perspective, is that every year, everyone smiles and looks you right in the eyes and goes, don't worry. It's gonna be fine.

Agatha (44:36)

Yeah. Oh, I know. I hate that. I had one one teacher say to me, doesn't it make you feel good that we've all done the diabetes training? And I was like, no.

Scott Benner (44:44)

No. It doesn't make me feel good when I'm taking care of her. And I care a lot. I always go back to the principal of my first child's elementary school, and I realized after a while that if the building was on fire, she'd say, don't worry. We got it. She was a politician. She wasn't even a teacher at that point. Just you could not have said anything to her that she would not have answered back with, oh, yeah. Yeah. Don't worry. We got it. Mhmm. I was like, know you don't. I know you don't. Yep. I don't got it. I don't got it. And and I love her. You're just contractually obligated to take care of her.

Agatha (45:23)

Yeah. Exactly. Episode four of the podcast is called texting diabetes. Yeah. I've listened.

Scott Benner (45:33)

Not by mistake, but that was one of the first things that I thought was just transformational in how Arden's health was while she was out of the house and at school. So

Agatha (45:42)

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's just baby steps. Right? Until we we get to that, and she's a bit older and, you know, she's this year, she'll have her phone on her, not all the time, but when she's out in the yard, and that's not something that we've done before. It's always been a teacher holding her phone. Mhmm. And, you know, she's we've been practicing her carrying it on her in a bag, and, you know, it's just one of the various little things we'll do is we keep moving towards it, her taking on more and more.

Scott Benner (46:11)

Yes. You start texting her, like, from other rooms of the house or when she's outside watching a mongoose and a cobra fight or whatever happens outside. And then one day, you'll just realize like, oh, we have a little system here. It works. She's good at it, and I can trust it. And, you know, it'll it'll open up everything for you. It's a thoughtful conversation you're having. I appreciate how how granularly you're talking about and thinking about just this one aspect of it.

Agatha (46:39)

Yeah. I mean, it's sort of yeah. It consumed a lot of my day because I'm trying to work or look after my other daughter and then also do this, and there's just an easy way to make it not stressful for us and for them. Do you think I don't wanna make you upset, but, like, do you think that your younger daughter is getting a bit of short shrift because of the diabetes? Are there things not happening for her that you think would have happened otherwise?

Agatha (47:05)

I think that that doesn't make me upset, and it is something I've thought about because, you know, it's easy to just focus on the child that has type one. I think I don't think so. I think she she I mean, she's only three, so, you know, she's she's aware, but also just, like, living life as a three year old and and easily distracted by things. So she did make a comment to me the other day, though. I said something about, you know, Eva has type type one. We need to take care of her. And she said and she's three. And she said, well, I have a peanut allergy, and you have to take care of me too. And I said, of course, I would take care of you, and I take care of Ava, and we all look after each other. So she I I don't know if there's something in that, like, you know, don't just take care of her. Take me take care of me as well. But I try to be very mindful about that. And, like, to be honest, day to day, like, if we're out doing things, it's holidays now. We're off doing various things. Like, this does not like, I'm not focusing on Ava, like, you know, so heavily in the course of the day. Like, I'm looking at my phone. I'm making decisions. I'm doing things. But, like, I'm there with both girls, and we're we're all together having a good time doing whatever it is we're doing. And it's not a thing that I feel like I'm not paying attention to one in order to address something for the other.

Scott Benner (48:22)

Can I give you a great piece of advice that you'll ignore? It's not gonna matter. 100%. Do the right thing because it's the right thing, but don't think that it's going to completely stop the human side of the whole thing, you know, where somebody's just gonna feel like, I remember when we stopped to do a blood sugar and I stood there for twenty minutes thinking like, I don't wanna be doing this. And, you know, and then, you know, I again, having hearing my son say we were always involved with Arden's blood sugar and her diabetes And and thinking about, like, contextually how much time and effort we put into him, I was like, ugh. That was defeating. But then to look across the room and watch Arden go, what? We were always with Cole. I was like, you've gotta be kidding me.

Agatha (49:17)

But is that a bit validating? Because because you were putting an effort into both equally.

Scott Benner (49:24)

Yeah. And neither of them thinks they were getting any effort, by the way. But look, here it is. They're not using meth, and they haven't shot anybody. So I figure, like, oh, we're done. Like, we did a good job.

Scott Benner (49:38)

And people just wanna like, I I think that you're always gonna feel that way. You know, I was telling somebody the other day, it's a weird setup for the thing, but I'm a really good dad. I'm a pretty damn good husband. Like, I'm a good provider. Like, the whole thing, I'm very focused on other people, and I have no desire for somebody to say thank you to me about it. But no one ever says thank you to me about it. Like and I wonder, like, why does no one ever say thank you? And I realized, like, I'm that's just who I am. I run around I thank people all the time. But when it comes to this, like, my goodness. Like, just every once in a while, I wish someone would go like, you know, I got a friend whose dad is cheating on my mom his mom with 13 different women, and my this guy's over here sitting with me at the table talking about life and doing stuff and and then, you know I don't know. I don't know why people's minds work that way, but I guarantee you those two girls are gonna think you paid more attention to the other one when this is all over. Have you do you have brothers and sisters?

Agatha (51:23)

No. I don't. No. I'm an only child. So I'm everything about yeah. Well, yeah. I mean, there was no one else to like. So They were stuck with you one way or the other. That's it. That's it.

Scott Benner (51:38)

Did your husband learn about the diabetes sort of through you, or did he have his own path to figuring it out?

Agatha (51:44)

He was in the hospital with me because we were juggling you know, having the baby as well. He was often there, you know, learning how to fill a cartridge and, you know, do all that kind of stuff. Not that he remembered any of it. I I laugh because I think about him watching the DA talking through it, and he's nodding. And, like, I can see that he's not taking any of it in. He doesn't do a lot of that stuff at home. I do a lot of that stuff. But in terms of learning, you know, what she needs and when she needs it, I think, yeah, we've sort of done it together, and he's around enough that he can actually, like, learn it, like, and and do it. And there are times when I'm away and he has to do it. And so he he's he's kind of we've kind of done it together, but, like, I think I've probably moved on faster than him just because I do it more often.

Scott Benner (52:45)

When you're away, are you is it like a puppermaster situation, or is he doing it, like, on his own autonomously? Are you helping and, like, filling in gaps?

Agatha (52:54)

No. He mostly does it on his own. Like, I don't I don't tend to he's pretty he's pretty good like that. Like, he's like, you're you're doing the thing the work thing or the whatever thing, and and I'm doing this. So it might not look the same as if I were doing it. He also doesn't necessarily, like, bowl this dinner every night, and he doesn't know exactly the way I do it Mhmm. To get where we get to by the time she's going to bed, you know, where we wanna be, that kind of thing. So he he's sort of works it out himself, but he does a great job. He's a he's hands on and takes it on and works it out and kinda goes with it. And he's he's the calm one. Like, he's he's, you know, he's like, okay. You know, we'll this is happening. Alright. That's fine. We'll we'll address it this way. And he doesn't get too caught up in being worried or stressed or anxious about what might happen. Kind of a guy's guy about it like that.

Agatha (53:47)

Yeah. I think so. I'm conscious he's going to listen to this. So I'm thinking of how to respond.

Scott Benner (54:03)

Well, hold on. Before you respond, let me say this. I don't care about how your husband manages your kid. I'm trying to get you to decide whether or not what's happening at school is okay or not.

Agatha (54:18)

Ah, okay. I don't think that comes up always as good when he does it as when I do it, but they're not far off. Like, they're close enough. So and and, also, like, I so rarely do go away and and do do things where I need to be focusing on the other things solely, but I just accept it in those instances. Like, this is his thing. He's got it now If this is okay for two days. You know?

Scott Benner (54:44)

So then my question is, is is it a management issue? Not issue, but is it is it a question of management, or is it a question of control? What a conversation to have 04:30 in the morning. I know. You're really upping my brain. But see, like, I can I'm happy to relinquish control when he's he's doing it because I trust I trust him. Mhmm. I don't really trust these people at school.

Scott Benner (55:10)

Ah, okay. Is there a central person at school that we could make a trustworthy person? Like an overseer on-site? What about a nurse, though? Is there a nurse in the building?

Agatha (55:25)

So, I mean, we're we're still new to the school, but and this sounds very different to what I think happened in The US. But I don't think the nurse I don't think the nurse looks after these kids. Like, the nurse looks after all the borders. Like, I've never met the nurse. I mean, we've been there two years, one year part time, one year full time before she's gone into sort of the junior school, so more in their kindergarten program, and I've never come across her. She's not been involved in anything. It's it's been the teachers. I think it's odd too. If anything's if if anything happens to her, I go. When I say anything, don't mean anything. Like, if if she needs a slight change, like, she's pulled out her side or something, like, I go I go do that. Or if she's running well, if I just don't like the way something looks, I go sorry. You were asking a question then.

Scott Benner (56:26)

No. No. No. Hold on. I'm sorry. I think I left my phone off of silent. Listen. You're not gonna get me to judge you. I've run from the shower to the Yeah. I ain't judging you. But I was wondering, like, could the nurse not be a go between? Like, could you not go to the nurse and say, look. Here's what we're trying to accomplish. It's going really well. We just need some more touch points. The, you know, the teacher seems to feel like it's too much. I don't think it is. You know, I'm trying to I'm trying to have good health outcomes here, set up a standard for her so she feels well. Know, I'm not sure how much you understand about diabetes, but, you know, bouncing blood sugar, high blood sugar could change, you know, her the way she, you know, interprets the world and and how she learns and everything. Do you see a pathway here between this and the time when she and I can start texting directly and and take the teacher out of the loop? You know? Or is there a way maybe you could go to the teacher and explain that, like, what I'm doing is not insane unless the nurse looks at you and thinks it's insane? I'm telling you right now that that I believe that texting is the unsung part of the diabetes technology for for caregivers. That's very important because the the sooner you act, the fewer times you get low. The sooner you can bolus, the fewer times you get high. If you don't get high, you don't get low later. There's just a ton of reason to be ahead of the game just a little bit. And Yeah. That is a difficult thing to explain to a person who's just worried about you, like, falling over and not about the rest of it. But I I had an experience where when I explained the rest of it, I found some humanity. You know? And I said to people like, look, I know you think this is about today and about her not getting dizzy or passing out or having a seizure. But what I'm telling you is this is about how she feels about herself, how her body works, and what her life's gonna be like in ten, twenty, thirty, forty years. You can't just tell me I have a bunch of kids with diabetes running around the school, and they're all fine. Except I know some of them, and a lot of them are running around with nine a one c's, and that's not okay.

Agatha (58:33)

Mhmm. Mhmm. Well, I mean, I think that broader picture of the implications beyond today, that conversation. Like, I can have that conversation when I meet with them in a couple of weeks. Mhmm. That's the teacher, and maybe it's the sort of the head of the junior school. I can ask about if the nurse gets involved. But, yeah, I think I'm just pushing for this time when, you know, I can cut these other people out. It can just be me and her. I mean, we're nowhere near it right now, but it just feels like that will be a big game changer.

Scott Benner (59:31)

Oh, I happily agree with you. I mean, you're talking to a person who, like, put their kid on the bus and was like, I don't know who that person is driving that bus. I'm not distrustful, but, like, in in normal, like, life, I'm happy go lucky, live and let live. I'm not distrustful of anybody, really. It's when it gets around my kids' health or their safety, then I'm like, hey. I don't know where we're all coming from right now. And I don't think that's neurotic, by the way. I think that's fairly reasonable. People don't really understand it until they actually look after someone with it or have it themselves. Like, it's just not something that you can explain, and then someone really has a grasp, and they're good to go. Mhmm. Like, you know, I similarly don't trust anyone really with her If she has an extracurricular activity after school, I'm not in the room with her, but I'm in the car. Like, I'm nearby. I you know, I these teachers, they hold her phone, and they'll respond to a text that I send them to give her something, but I still don't necessarily fully trust.

Agatha (1:00:40)

But, you know, then it's just this bout like, it's it's just a lot. Right? Like, working and doing that and having another child. Like, it's like a lot on the plate to kind of get through and juggle it all. And then also, like, try to preserve Ava's mental health in all this and not push worry onto her and make her hers too.

Scott Benner (1:01:01)

Like, that's too late for that. You're fighting too many wars on too many fronts is what ends up happening. Yeah. You get stretched too thin, and you can't do a good job at any of them. And you don't know who you're gonna bump into when you explain this whole thing. Like I said, you might somebody who's like, oh, I get it. Yeah. Right on. Let's do it. And you might get somebody that looks seeing and waits for you to walk out of the room because this one's out of her mind. And, also, it it occurs to me that you have another concern that didn't occur to me right away, but you also run the risk of leaving the room and having somebody go, oh, lady lawyer's pushing us around. Do you worry about that too? Like, the idea of, like because when I'm pushy, it's assertive, and when women are pushy, it's bitchy. Or bossy or whatever. Right? And then and on top of that, you're an attorney. So people already don't like you.

Agatha (1:01:49)

No. I'm aware. You know, I don't I don't even really know if the teachers that I'm dealing with, like, that context or the the dance teacher or the whoever even knows that about me, to be honest. Like, I'm not it's not a thing I open with or a thing that I drop into the conversation. Like, I'm just Ava's mom and probably annoying. I don't make a habit of it, really. So I don't know. I think I think I mean, moms in general, I think, like, the same way we worry, and we can also be pushy and be pushing whatever it is we wanna push in relation to our kids. So I probably just fall into the same bucket as any other mom who's wanting a particular outcome for their child and and persistent about getting that outcome. So, yeah, I'm not sure if it's worked against me. Maybe it's helped a little bit when I'm having a, you know, shall we call it, discussion about things. But on the whole yeah. I'll use what I can to help me, but I'm not sure I'm not sure if all that much is helpful sometimes in the conversations.

Scott Benner (1:03:05)

The more conversations I have like this over the years, the more I'm certain that thing that helped me the most is crazy to say, but they missed something and Arden got really low on the playground when she was young. I think that bought me the latitude I needed to put everything else into place. And without that, I probably would have been stuck in this argument forever because, you know, I mean, fair to say I was fairly ahead of the curve on how people thought about type one diabetes, you know, fifteen, twenty years ago. And so Yeah. You know, like, they really were. The entire answer I would get was, hey. We have a bunch of kids in this school with diabetes, a lot of them have come and gone. They're all fine. I'm like, do you know any of them anymore? And they're like, no. I'm like, how do you know they're fine? Mhmm. You just mean they didn't die that day. Right? Like, is that what you mean? Because, you know, I know another person in this building, and the kids a one c is high, and I'm not okay with that. And, you know Yeah. And that they didn't care about that. It was the day that they that the system they put in place failed that I was able to raise a hand and go, I told you. Now now we're gonna do it my way.

Agatha (1:04:12)

We've had a bit of that. We have had a couple instances where something like the wrong amount's being bolus, like double the amount that's meant to be bolus Mhmm. For something. Like and but I've not made a huge fuss about it, but it has helped me get leverage with the teacher that's maybe been involved in that particular thing. And then they're then then I think that's helped them then listen to me and kinda go, okay. You know, I'm listening to you. Like, I'm glad you're watching this. I'm glad you're involved. But maybe it's a thought about whether it's something to escalate. Like, it's it's it's all you know, there's, like, politics in this too. You don't wanna put people offside. I don't want people to be like, oh god. Here comes this, like, this woman who's Mhmm. Difficult and painful. But, equally, I want people to do what I say. So where do you where do you, you know, where do you find that balance?

Scott Benner (1:05:06)

I mean, I if I do it the way I do everything else is the realization that everything is power and a negotiate a long negotiation. I'm in I'm in a I'm in a long protracted slow chess game with somebody. I that probably sounds so cynical. Do I just think that, you know, we whether you're considering your relationship between you and your kid's teacher or how you feel about global politics or anything in between, everything's pretty much power. It's power and it's who puts things in in position to work for them and you can't rush it. It has to go slowly. There's a give and a take and you can't out yourself as a lunatic while any of it's happening. So it it's it's just slow and steady and and try to stay stay a little ahead and a little on top. Every relationship you're having, people listening, whether it's between you and your mailman or you and your husband or anywhere in between, this is going on in in micro ways that you might not even or you may be completely aware of. So I mean, my wife beat me years ago. Like, I she she got ahead, and I was like, oh, hell. I lost the high ground. I guess I'm the grocery bitch. Okay. I'll go get the grocery. I said, you know, I thought I was just being nice. I didn't realize she was setting a standard. Damn it. Mhmm. Anyway, I like how reserved, but in in the I I feel like if you and I weren't being recorded, you'd be a completely different person.

Agatha (1:06:46)

I do think so too. It's hard. Yeah. No. I don't think so. I mean, I just wanted to also mention because I love how you do all those series on all the different pumps and things like that. And I guess because the one that Ava's on isn't as represented in The US, we don't hear as much about it. But I just wanted to, you know, mention that one as well, the the Ypsomed pump and and ask if you'd ever think about, you know, putting anything together about, you know, how to use that and how to set that up. I don't know if that's possible.

Scott Benner (1:07:38)

Well, it's not not possible. I would just have to reach somebody at the company. I actually just got done recording with Tandem about one of their device well, their device. And because it's more about their algorithm, really. But hold on. Yep. So I'll I'll see if I can find somebody. Because, I mean, the podcast is I sound like I'm I sound like I'm blowing my own horn here, but it's it's a pretty global event, this podcast. Alright. Let me see if I can reach out and find somebody that's willing to come on and talk about it. Alright?

Agatha (1:08:11)

Yeah. It'd be great. Like, just to learn a bit more about how the algorithm works and I mean, I've you know, I'm on Facebook, and there's groups, and and people share things, but it is such good information that you put out there around how the different technology works and how you can optimize it and think about things. It would be it would be brilliant for for this one as well. Looks like it's a company out of Switzerland. Like, I know there's huge uptake of it in Europe and The UK, and it's pretty popular here in Australia. So but I think that that's right. I think it's somewhere in Europe.

Scott Benner (1:08:43)

Okay. Well, I'm on their media page. I'll find, I'll find an email address and reach out to somebody. Let's see let's see how far, this this thing, works. Fine. Like, take it out for a ride and see what I got. Well, first of all, listen. You're very thoughtful. I really appreciate the conversation. Cannot tell you enough. Like, what did you do? Go to bed at, 09:00 and then get up at, like, three or something? What'd you do?

Agatha (1:09:05)

Yeah. I did. I think I went to bed at, like, 09:30 or ten, and then, yeah, I was up at three. No. Thank you. I'm I'm so pleased that I got the chance to speak to you. I put out a question on there was a it doesn't exist anymore, but there was a Facebook page of, like, mom's little lawyers. And I thought, these women, they're educated. They'll know, you know, can anyone recommend a good podcast? And yours came up, and and I've I've just been listening since then. And I I've probably emailed you a couple of times in in the last couple of years as well saying thank you. But it's been hugely helpful to us and really, like, supplemented what we've learned with our educators here who I think are good. Like, I think compared to what I hear of being people being told in The US sometimes about how things work. You know, we we left the hospital knowing we had to pre bolus like it was never a question. Even a a little two year old, right, we were pre bolus ing, that kind of thing. But really learning about how insulin works, how food work, how food hits, how it all interacts, like, to work out what my algorithm is doing. Like, I got that from from your podcast.

Scott Benner (1:10:32)

Oh, that's lovely. I I can't tell you how warm that makes me feel to just know that it's been helpful for you. I'm actually when I get off with you, like, I've been talking about on the podcast, but I've been going back and forth about telling people where they can find a calculator on my website that literally just takes your weight and breaks down what your starting settings might be. And then another calculator there that could take those settings and, you know, with a little bit of carb information, protein fat, give you a a reasonable pathway on how to bolus, and it's all there. And I just I I keep going back and forth about whether I wanna, you know, how do I present it, put it out. Like, I've, you know, written disclaimers around that. I'm not worried about that. It's I mean, they're similar calculators you can find anywhere online, but it still gives me pause. And then I saw a woman today online asking, like, she's, desperately, I've gotta reset my kid's settings and I don't know what to do. And I thought I'm gonna get a letter to see that thing and see if it helps her. So at this point, I don't even know how I see myself exactly, but I just feel like I'm drawing the conversations in and you guys are the ones helping everybody. I'm just sort of the I don't know. I've just got the the bullhorn at this point. You know? So it's pretty cool.

Agatha (1:11:42)

Got the experience. Yeah. We're talking to all these people too, you know, to bring it into the other conversations you have. It's it's been really useful, I think, and I think a lot of people get a lot of value out of it. And, hopefully, you keep making these for a long time. Because I know this conversation you and I have had is one that you had very early on in your podcast. Like, I was listening from the beginning. And, you know, people who are going through what we're going through now are thinking about these issues now. And, hopefully I mean, I'm not sure there's necessarily anything useful in this, but, you know, it's everyone's kind of cycling through these same issues just at different points in their lives with their kids, with their teenagers, with you know, as adults, and it it continues to move, and it's useful to hear these fresh conversations about how people are thinking about it.

Scott Benner (1:12:27)

Yeah. Million percent. Don't don't think twice about that because a couple of different things. So even if I've had this conversation two years ago, I've also had 600 since then, and I might interact with you differently, see a different side of it. You might say something differently, bring up a different perspective. And most of the people that heard the one two years ago aren't gonna hear it. Yeah. Those people are either gone and there's new people here and they're they're never gonna hear it. Like, that's the you know, it's not a you know, the podcast isn't a brain download. Right? So, like, you have to be an active listener when things pop up except for the you know, some of the stuff like pro tips and bold beginnings and stuff like that. Like, that people go find, but no one's going to find even a conversation from, like, you know what? Here's how I'll end. You brought something up earlier. The one thing I didn't think to bring up today that I really appreciate and I agree with. You said everybody calls the kids resilient, but you don't like that. I have the same feeling. And I think of it too when people say, oh, you're so brave. Like, I don't think anybody wants to be brave. I think bravery is the thing you're thrust into when you do or you die, so you act brave. But that that's not a decision, you know, that in these scenarios people make, not wantingly most of the time. And so telling people, oh my god. Kids are so resilient. I think it's a weird message. It to me, it falls on the same lines of, you know, god gave your kid diabetes because they knew you could handle. Like, oh, awesome. Thanks. It god. I hope that's not true. But at the same time, I understand the value in telling people kids are brave, kids are resilient, people are resilient. I think you're right, but I I I think it ignores the idea that you're being put through something that you would never in a million years choose to do. And if you had any way out of it, you certainly would get out of it. I don't know if it just rings hollow when people say it sometimes or if it's just the thing that maybe you say to make yourself feel better about what you're witnessing another person go through.

Scott Benner (1:14:47)

I think that about the whole podcast. Like, it's impossible for me to just come out every day into the world and go, oh my god. Here's all the stuff you should be listening to. Like, I can't do that. The only answer is fresh conversations. It's it's the only answer. It's what makes the whole thing going. So when you see someone online go, don't ask that question. It's been asked already. I'm like, woah. You do not fundamentally understand what makes this group valuable or the podcast. You want to continue to say this stuff. It's never gonna be out of style. So, anyway, I appreciate that you like it. Thank you. It's my pleasure. You were so measured in this conversation. Even if you gushed, I wouldn't even know. I can't wait to hear you stop, but I think you're gonna, like, curse for ten minutes and tell me, like, some crazy story. But thank you very much for doing this. I really do appreciate it.

Scott Benner (1:15:42)

I'd like to remind you again about the MiniMed seven eighty g automated insulin delivery system, which of course anticipates, adjusts, and corrects every five minutes twenty four seven. It works around the clock so you can focus on what matters. To learn more about how you can spend less time and effort managing your diabetes, visit my link, medtronicdiabetes.com/juicebox. Today's episode is also sponsored by the Contour Next Gen Blood Glucose Meter. kontoornext.com/juicebox. Head over there now. Headquarters, cozyearth.com. Support the podcast. Cozyearth.com. Use the offer code juice box at checkout.

Scott Benner (1:17:23)

If you're looking for community around type one diabetes, check out the juice box podcast private Facebook group. Juice box podcast, type one diabetes. But 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 Juice Box podcast, type one diabetes on Facebook. Join me on Juice Cruise twenty twenty six. It's a week long cruise designed specifically for people and families living with type one diabetes. It's not just a vacation. It's a chance to relax, connect, and feel understood in a way that is hard to find elsewhere. We're gonna sail out of Miami, and the cruise includes stops in CocoCay, San Juan, Saint Kitts, And Nevis aboard the stunning Celebrity Beyond. Your kids can be supervised and there's teen programs so everyone gets time to recharge. There's gonna be zero judgment, real connections, and a whole lot of sun and fun on Juice Cruise twenty twenty six. Please come with me. juiceboxpodcast.com/juicecruise. Suzanne at cruise planners will take care of everything. Wrongwayrecording.com.

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