#1809 Gremlins
Valerie shares her LADA journey—misdiagnosed at 39, now thriving on the iLet—and how positive experiences helped her overcome a childhood marked by foster care and adversity.
Companies that Support Juicebox
Key Takeaways
- LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults) is often misdiagnosed as type 2 diabetes initially—Valerie lived with a type 2 diagnosis for 1.5 years before a dermatologist's lab work led to the correct type 1 diagnosis.
- High ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) scores can be counterbalanced by positive childhood experiences (PACEs)—Valerie scored 4 on ACEs but 7 on PACEs, which she credits with helping her thrive despite a traumatic childhood.
- The iLet bionic pancreas pump appeals to those seeking less daily management involvement—users simply announce meals as "usual," "more than usual," or "less" without carb counting, though you can still "fake carb" to add insulin when needed.
- Living alone can significantly influence insulin dosing decisions—fear of severe lows without someone to help may lead to more conservative approaches, even at the cost of slightly higher blood sugars.
- Self-advocacy in healthcare is crucial—Valerie found her own endocrinologist after being referred to retired or non-responsive offices, and manages her diabetes largely independently while using her endo primarily for prescriptions.
Resources Mentioned
- Juice Cruise 2026 - Week-long cruise for people and families living with type 1 diabetes, sailing from Miami
- Contour Next Gen Blood Glucose Meter - Highly accurate meter with SmartLight technology and second-chance sampling
- Medtronic MiniMed 780G System - Automated insulin delivery system with meal detection technology and multiple sensor options
- Omnipod 5 - Tubeless insulin pump system with automated insulin delivery
- iLet Bionic Pancreas - Simplified insulin pump requiring only meal size announcements (usual/more/less)
- Dexcom CGM - Continuous glucose monitoring system, including the upcoming 15-day sensor
- Tandem Mobi - Compact tubed insulin pump
- ACEs/PACEs Assessment - Adverse Childhood Experiences and Protective and Compensatory Experiences questionnaires (tool being developed for juiceboxpodcast.com)
- Juice Box Podcast Facebook Group - Community support for those impacted by diabetes
- Small Sips Series - Curated takeaways from the Juice Box Podcast voted on by listeners
- Wrong Way Recording - Podcast editing services
Introduction
Scott BennerHere we are back together again, friends, for another episode of the Juice Box podcast.
ValerieHi. I'm Valerie. I'm here to represent the LADA group of people who get diagnosed with type one in the later onset of their life.
Juice Cruise 2026
Scott BennerHow would you like to share a type one diabetes getaway like no other? Join me on Juice Cruise 2026. You may be asking, what is Juice Cruise? 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, Nevis aboard the stunning Celebrity Beyond. This ship is chosen for its comfort, accessibility, and exceptional amenities. You're gonna enjoy a welcoming environment surrounded by others who get life with type one diabetes. I'm gonna host diabetes focused conversations and meetups on the days at sea.
There's thoughtfully designed spaces, incredible dining, and modern amenities all throughout the celebrity beyond. Your kids can be supervised, and there's teen programs so everyone gets time to recharge. Not just the the kids going on vacation, but maybe you get to kick back a little bit too. 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.
You're going to have a terrific time. You can learn more or set up your deposit at juiceboxpodcast.com/juicecruise. Get ahold of Suzanne at cruise planners. She will take care of everything. Link's in the show notes.
Link's at juiceboxpodcast.com. 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. Please don't forget that 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 or becoming bold with insulin. Today's episode of the juice box podcast is sponsored by the Kontoor 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. 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 MiniMed seven eighty g system? You can do that at my link, medtronic diabetes dot com slash juice box.
Meeting Valerie: LADA Diagnosis Story
ValerieOkay. Hi. I'm Valerie. I'm here to represent the LADA group of people who get diagnosed with type one in the later onset of their life. I got this diagnosis.
You know, most people get the type two first, and then I got the correct diagnosis.
Scott BennerHow long ago was this?
ValerieExactly twelve years ago, and it was the same time of month, February. Because I remember I was working on the cruise ship in the medical department, and it was, like, the cruise from hell because that particular cruise had a norovirus outbreak.
Scott BennerOh gosh.
ValerieYeah. And I would only come on and fill in as the secretary. I would relieve the person for their vacation time, so I'd only be on for, like, eight weeks. But every time I walked on ship, I knew that there could be an outbreak. I was just always prepared for if it was gonna happen, just you had to deal with it.
Scott BennerAre you in the industry still?
ValerieI'm not the cruise. I'm still in medical. I've been in medical for decades, like admin, yeah, roles. I'm now back at the hospital where I used to work for. Then I went to work for the cruise line, but I worked in the corporate office, and then I ended up just filling in on the ship for the secretary. So I've worked for the cruise line for, like, fifteen years.
Scott BennerI wonder what they've changed about cruises that the those outbreaks don't seem to happen like that as much anymore.
ValerieThey're very vigilant on the washi washi of your hands. The people who walk on board, they know that if they present with symptoms, they're so hopefully supposed to report them and, you know, get the treatment. Don't, like, go to the buffet and spread your love, I would hope.
Scott BennerWell, you know, though, I I think you're you're onto something, though, because outside I've been on a few cruises recently, and outside of the restaurants are hand washing stations. On some cruises, there's a person there looking at you going,
ValerieWashing. Washing. Get those hands.
Scott BennerWash your hands. Don't walk past this. And and I actually noticed that on an it's funny. On a less expensive ship, there's someone there telling you to wash your hands. And on a more expensive ship, what I noticed is nobody doesn't wash their hands.
Everybody just sort of does it. And, you know, it's interesting. Okay. So twelve you say twelve years ago?
ValerieYeah. Twenty oh, I was '39.
Scott BennerYou were '39. Okay. So you're Yeah. '51 now?
ValerieMhmm.
Scott BennerOkay. Twelve years ago, do you have any people in your life who have type one diabetes, people you're related to? No. Nothing. What were your first symptoms?
How do you recall the whole thing happening?
ValerieI was only tired and thin because when you work on the cruise ship, it's, like, ten hour days. Like, I'm medical staff, but I don't you know, I'm not treating the patients. I'm just doing all the coordination of the paperwork. If they're gonna stay on board, not stay on board. That's all.
Yeah. I mean, I have family history of other diagnosis that I was worried that maybe it would yeah. But I didn't think I would yeah. I didn't know. And then all the years that I've reviewed medical records, it was rare that I ever saw a type one diagnosis.
Scott BennerHey, Valerie. What other family things were you worried about getting?
ValerieOh, the epilepsy. The one time I worked on a ship, this nurse came down and was, like, yelling at the doctor. And I'm like, why is she yelling at the doc? Like but she had to go deal with a medical emergency on board because someone had a seizure.
And then when the person woke up, got alert, oriented, she's like, oh, I took the amount of insulin that my doctor told me, and then the food didn't come out on time, and she ended up having a seizure. Oh. So I saw that before I even, like, got, you know, the wrong to right diagnosis. So I was afraid that I would, I don't know, have seizures or I don't know.
Scott BennerDid you mean family? Like, the other other medical issues inside of your family?
ValerieYeah. So the my father's already passed away, but he had the epilepsy.
Scott BennerOkay.
ValerieAnd then my mother has a mental, but now she's Alzheimer's. My mother had schizophrenia.
Scott BennerOh, your mom was schizophrenic. And but she's she's still alive now. She's how old is she?
ValerieYeah. She's early eighties, but, you know, in dementia state. I moved her back to Thailand.
Scott BennerOh. Oh, is that where you're from originally or they're from?
ValerieI was born in America, but I'm half Thai and half, like, Greek.
Scott BennerGotcha. Well, there's probably a story in there about growing up with your mom.
ValerieYeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm I'm one of those I I lived with my parents.
I'm fortunate to have, you know, the people see something, say something.
I was removed by CPS.
Scott BennerOh, no kidding. Yeah. At what age?
ValerieI thought it was eight, but it was seven.
Scott BennerSeven. Interesting. Okay. In the years leading up to your diagnosis, any medical issues that made you as an adult think like, oh, one day something's gonna happen?
ValerieNo. You just have, like, a little bit yeah. I guess normal level of anxiety. Like, I don't want to go see the doctor even though I work with doctors. You know what I mean?
So Okay. That's funny. That's I I think that's about it. Like, I just and then the cost. You get a medical condition and it's very expensive, or what I've had seen working in the roles that I had.
Scott BennerYeah. That's the kind of stuff you're worried about. Yeah. Initially diagnosed with diabetes, and you're just you're just run down and you're thin. Is that happening on the ship or is that happening on land?
ValerieOh, it happened on ship.
Scott BennerOkay.
ValerieAnd it was toward the end of the contract because I would only come on for, like, eight weeks. And then I would go home and I would get I would have another land job.
Scott BennerOkay. And then how how long did you stay on land before you went back to the ship?
ValerieFour months. So it, like, yeah, it would be two months on ship, four months off.
Scott BennerOkay. I was just talking to a guy that works on I was just on a cruise, and I was talking to one of the guys that works on a cruise, and he he was in the middle of, like, a six like, a five month thing.
ValerieOh, yeah. So most of the contracts are a lot longer.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. He was at the end of it, and he's like, we've had a couple of people I forgot what he said, but he was like, I'm thinking of signing on for an extra month. And I was like, so you'll be on this for
ValerieI would say no because you're so run down, and they would do that too. We would see that, but then they would just yeah. It's it's hard work every day. You're yeah. Sharing space.
Like, you don't really have any Yeah. Alone time because you're always
Scott BennerOn top of
Valeriesomething. Working or busy. Yeah.
Scott BennerCan I ask you, do you ever forget you're on a giant floating thing?
ValerieA little bit.
Scott BennerYeah. You ever walk through a door and go, oh, the ocean's there. I forgot about that.
ValerieNo. No. Not like that. I like, I had a inside cabin. It's not like I had, like, you know, a balcony or even a porthole.
Scott BennerThey didn't let me look outside, Scott.
ValerieYeah. No. Okay.
The Wrong Diagnosis: Type 2 Misdiagnosis
Scott BennerSo what again, first symptoms are tired, losing weight, you're on the ship. Do you get so sick you go talk to somebody, or does somebody say something to you?
ValerieNo. So I had a urinary tract infection Yep. And then I did the two courses of the antibiotic. And then when they repeated the urine after the second, there was sugar in my urine. Oh, gosh.
That's how they got the type two diagnosis.
Scott BennerI see. What do you think made them jump to type two?
ValerieBecause of my age. Uh-huh. And then they're like, oh, you know, there's, you know, medicines that's treat. Like like, I was I'm oh, I hate pills. So, like, it took a couple days and the doc is like, okay.
Then I'm like, fine. Write me the script. I'll go and get the medicine. But I don't, you know, I don't believe this diagnosis. Like, they did a lab draw.
We could do labs onboard. So when I saw the labs that put me into that kinda, like, pre diabetic diabetes stages, you know, and I was like, okay. Now I guess I believe I have diabetes, but I don't understand how I have diabetes.
Scott BennerHow long did you live with a type two diagnosis?
ValerieA year and a half. I would have always kinda, like, dermatological kinda stuff, and so how I got the specialist and the right diagnosis was the dermatologist. Because I would be like, okay. I'm not sure what's going on. He did labs.
Some of the labs were kinda off, and he's like, you should see an endocrinologist. I'm like, okay. Great. The people I worked with on the ship at the time, one of the nurses is like, oh, you should get an endocrinologist. I knew the doctor that I was particularly working with on board.
He would never write me that specialist, you know, because he's like, oh, no. You just take this med and that that's fine. You know? So I'm just lucky that I already had established dermatologist that did labs and I got the right diagnosis.
Scott BennerWhat dermatology issues did you have that that you were seeing a dermatologist that much?
ValerieIt would be acne. I would sometimes have eczema, but I I don't think I saw him for eczema. I would go, like, urgent care if I had a little, like, little bit of a flare up.
Scott BennerOkay.
ValerieAnd I always had great skin, and then I'm like, oh, this like or something. I and then that particular time I had, like, it's all over my back. Like, it's just these weird spottches, but it wasn't acne. Like, it's just like you're there's something off. I you know, I'm like, okay.
This is something's not right. Let's can I don't know? What is this? Tell me. Do I need to be on a med?
Scott BennerWas that a thing that happened only after the type two diagnosis?
ValerieYeah. I say so. Yeah.
Scott BennerOkay. Okay. Yeah. And then he got you to an endo?
ValerieMhmm.
Scott BennerThat and that's a year and a half later?
ValerieYes. Oh, no. So well, a year and a half later from the type two is when I got the referral to see Endo. And then that was a problem because he's like, oh, you know, like, he referred me to someone who had already, like, just recently retired.
The other two offices, no one sorry. No one worked in those offices or they never called me back. So because I would walk on the ship, and then in my role, I would help with the crew referrals. So I, like, I already knew how to advocate for myself or call the offices, be like, you know, I have these labs. It says I can see an endocrinologist.
Are you taking new patients? So I ended up finding an endocrinologist on a different island that I live on because no one in the offices on the island that has more endocrinologists had appointments or people even worked in their office. I don't know.
Scott BennerWait. An an island you lived on. Where were you living?
ValerieOh, so I live in Hawaii, and I yeah. There's a bunch of different islands I lived on. I live on the main island that has the majority of the people.
Scott BennerAnd where are you now? You still there?
ValerieYeah. Mhmm. Oahu.
Scott BennerTell people what time it is.
ValerieOh, it's yeah. 04:16 in the morning.
Scott BennerI mean, we could have, like, done this later in my day, which would have been later in your day. Why are we doing it at this time of day?
Sponsor: Medtronic MiniMed 780G and Contour Next Gen
Scott BennerUnlike 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 Force 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.
And don't forget, 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. Contournext.com/juicebox. That's the link you'll use to find out more about the Contour next gen blood glucose meter. When you get there, there's a little bit at the top.
You can click right on blood glucose monitoring. I'll do it with you. Go to meters. Click on any of the meters. I'll click on the next gen, and you're gonna get more information.
It's easy to use and highly accurate. SmartLight provides a simple understanding of your blood glucose levels. And, of course, with second chance sampling technology, you can save money with fewer wasted test strips. As if all that wasn't enough, the Kontoor Next Gen also has a compatible app for an easy way to share and see your blood glucose results. Kontoornext.com/juicebox.
And if you scroll down at that link, you're gonna see things like a buy now button. You could register your meter after you purchase it. Or what is this? Download a coupon. Oh, receive a free Kontoor Next Gen blood glucose meter.
Do tell. Kontoornext.com/juicebox. Head over there now. Get the same accurate and reliable meter that we use.
Early Morning Recording and Hospital Work
ValerieOh, because it's before work and it's less noisy. Because I live somewhere where the yeah. I live in town and the noise starts early. The fire station is two blocks away. Like, at some point, it is so noisy, like and I don't have, like, a quiet room.
Scott BennerI see. So that's why we're doing it this early.
Scott BennerAnd have you been to sleep?
ValerieI have. Yeah. I did. I only probably got, like, five hours asleep.
Scott BennerOh my gosh. What time do you leave for work?
ValerieI leave for work at six. Wow. I come in at 06:30 when the nurses are about to change over.
Scott BennerAnd you're still doing, like, clerical, psychotropic, that kind of thing? Yes. How has that changed with computers over the last ten like, how has your job morphed?
ValerieIt's the same, but now the role I'm in sitting at a nursing station, I'm constantly interrupted. Before, I'd have my own office or a cubicle. I'm constantly, like like, it you know, is it a facility thing I gotta report? Is it a IT thing I gotta report? Like, the, you know, computer on wheels is not working so the nurse can't administer meds?
Is it a biomed issue? Depending on what device ain't working? I gotta put in a biomed. You know? So it's
Scott BennerActually Yeah. You're also making me think about I was at the at the hematologist recently getting an iron infusion. And it's a office I've gone to for, like, many years. And all of their staff, the ones who were, like, parked at a computer a lot of the times, they are just in cutouts in the wall, basically.
Like there's no doors, and there's usually two or three of them in a fairly tight space. Yeah. Is that what you're talking about?
ValerieNo. I'm at a nursing station where it's wide open.
Scott BennerLike an island almost.
ValerieYeah. I Okay. Yeah. I sit in an island. Gotcha.
Okay. Where people walk behind me, they walk in front of me, they stare at me, and I'm on the phone.
Scott BennerWell, also, you're on an island on an island.
ValerieSo Yeah. Exactly.
Getting the Correct Type 1 Diagnosis
Scott BennerGet you one more. You might be floating. Okay. When you get the type one diagnosis, do you remember feeling any certain way about it? Was it disappointing, or was it
ValerieI do. I remember going I for some reason, I knew that my a one c had to be under seven. He told me that you don't need to be on insulin now, but sometime in the next five years, you will need to be on insulin. So I'm like, okay. So what are we waiting for?
So so I do remember that. And then I knew there was also a level of stress because he had to fill out paperwork that said that I can go back to work on the cruise ship.
Scott BennerMhmm.
ValerieSo I was just like, okay. Because that's a role I had before working for them is reviewing the records. Like, if you get ill on the ship as a crew, you have to get, like, a fit for duty, no restrictions, then you can go back to work on the ship.
Scott BennerSure.
ValerieSo I knew I was like, oh god. Can I go back to work? Like, I'm fine. Like yeah. Like
Scott BennerYou just wanted you wanted to get back to start making money.
ValerieYeah. Exactly. Like, it's that's, like, my insurance. You know, it's, like, pays my rent. Like, I'm like, oh, yeah.
No. No. No. Like, hopefully and then I'm like, okay.
Scott BennerAnd so your biggest concern was getting back to work. But, what I'm hearing that's interesting is that you get a type one diagnosis, but it tells you
Valerieyou On the LADA. It's the LADA. It's type one, but, like, it's a slower the slower Sure.
Scott BennerOh, no. No. I understand. What I'm saying is he was saying that he thought that onset would last five years?
ValerieYeah. I started insulin maybe a year later.
Scott BennerI was gonna say it didn't make it five years. Right?
ValerieYeah. No. No. No. No.
So I don't know. I did there's this group that would come here and do conferences. So I did, like, the type two track one year.
Scott BennerMhmm.
ValerieAnd then when I got the right diagnosis, I did the type one track. And then I'm like, okay. Well, if we're watching, like, I wanna do the Dexcom thing. So I paid for my own Dexcom before I started insulin because I'm like, what are we watching for? Like, I just I don't it's still to this day, my big concerns is that, you know, I don't wanna be a patient in the hospital with DKA, so that hasn't happened.
And I don't wanna have a seizure or have someone have to use glucagon on me. Okay. Those were my big kinda, like, concerns now, you know, having the right diagnosis.
Scott BennerHow did you know to get a CGM when they were like, hey. We're looking for stuff to happen. How did you figure to do it?
ValerieIt's because I went to one of the conferences, and this is go this type is a little different. That that's how I knew.
Scott BennerOkay.
ValerieBecause and then I was like, I don't like, I didn't mind finger sticking myself, but finger sticking myself, like, before meals, after meals, like, I could do it, but it was like, it just seemed torturous and why, like Okay. Yeah. Yeah. No.
Scott BennerOkay. Yeah. No. I mean, CGMs are fantastic. When diabetes shows up in full force
And it becomes what it is, you know is there a big shift from LOTA, or does it feel like it's such a slow progression that you kind of understand it slowly and so when it gets there I
ValerieI think it's still low. I went many years without lows and then a little bit more like, more. But still not too bad. But, you know, you treat it, it goes up. I've been on about the same amount of insulin from the beginning, so it must definitely be your body weight.
And it's just the timing of insulin, how much you're gonna eat, and trying to stay in range. And then I I'm like the opposite. Like, I'm not bold with insulin. I had always started giving myself, like, I don't know. I've always given myself, like, the least amount or enough to keep myself in range, but, like, I was just always afraid that I'll give myself too much.
Scott BennerDo you live alone?
ValerieI do. I do live alone.
Scott BennerIs that part of the decision?
ValerieA little bit. Yeah. Because I yeah. I would say so. Yes.
Scott BennerHow much more aggressive do you think you would have been or maybe still would be if you had somebody else around?
ValerieMaybe. Just because then someone would get me I'm just afraid of passing out one of the nurses. Like, did you ever go down? I'm like, no. Like yeah.
So yeah. Just if I yeah.
Scott BennerI understand. What what's your a one c right now?
ValerieOh, I just had labs, but I'm not gonna look at them until Wednesday. Like, now like, I've never cared for that. It was the last one was 6.4. Okay. Most of them were under five.
I did have a 5.2, and I had zero lows. So I've always gone by, like, the fluctuations in my blood sugar number, not the actual number.
Scott BennerValerie, how much how much more aggressive could you get with a mid six to a a five? Yeah. Seriously, what what do you mean by, like, I didn't I'm not more aggressive? Like, well, how would you be more aggressive?
Scott BennerYou know I mean?
ValerieYeah. True. I guess not. I just you know, after I eat, if it goes up, I, like, watch it.
I just look at the arrow.
Scott BennerI see.
ValerieI just you know what I mean? Like No. I do. I wanna understand.
If my blood sugar is in the low two hundreds as long as I have insulin on board, and then within that three hours, it slowly comes back down.
Scott BennerSee.
ValerieI'm okay with that.
Scott BennerWhat number do you go, no. I'm gonna have to do something right now?
ValerieOver 200. If the air like, yeah. If it's over 200 and the arrow is going up, I would consider announcing a little bit more. Because now I'm on the islet. I I changed pumps.
Scott BennerKnow what We're get we're getting to that. Don't worry. Yeah.
ValerieYeah. Okay.
Scott BennerSo yeah. Don't don't worry. We got the whole thing covered. So over 200 rising, you would have been a little more aggressive.
We're talking about after a meal?
ValerieMhmm. Yeah. I might looking at what my onboard insulin is, like, I have a certain number that I'm like, four is usually what I would want after a meal to continue, like, a stable
Scott Benneryou were thinking about it. Okay.
ValerieYeah. Or that you know, it's always been two to four for meals, maybe six in the morning. I think yeah.
From Pens to Pump: The Omnipod Years
Scott BennerWhen you're first diagnosed, I imagine you're using pens, but then do you get to a
ValerieOh, no.
Scott BennerYes. Right? And then to a pump, what was your first pump? The
ValerieOmnipod. And then I wanted to point out something because I've listened to you for a while. It seemed like most people were starting on that basal insulin. From the beginning, my endocrinologist had charted that. We're gonna watch her, and then we're gonna start her on mealtime insulin.
Insulin. So I had saw that because I would review records, and I made sure I got a copy of my record.
Scott BennerMhmm.
ValerieI started on the mealtime insulin, then I went to the Omnipod, and then I then I tried the basal bolus thing. That's my progression of trying
Scott BennerWait. Okay. Wait. So you started on just mealtime insulin?
ValerieMhmm.
Scott BennerAnd then they put you on a pump?
ValerieMhmm. Oh, I asked to be on the pump because I was against the pump in the beginning because I didn't want two devices on my body. But then I realized, like, the only way you can get insulin in your body is through the injections. And then I have to do this for the rest of my life, so I might as well get an infusion set to rotate.
It's either I'm rotating my injections or I have to rotate an infusions thing.
Scott BennerAnd you just figured, like, let's get a pump. Okay.
ValerieMhmm.
Scott BennerAlright. And how long do you use Omnipod for?
ValerieProbably, like, about ten years.
Scott BennerOkay. Alright. Yeah. So you're on a pump pretty quickly.
You've used it for a long time. And now and so Eyelet's a a recent switch?
ValerieYeah. So I've been on it about a year, and for me, it was just for me, it's always been about mealtime insulin dosing, and so that's and then I, you know, I I would count carbs, but I've I can only eat a certain amount of food in a setting. I've never been able to eat and eat and eat. So I wanted to see what that algorithm did and also see if I can get more days out of the infusion set because Omnipod is only that
Scott BennerThree days.
ValerieYou know, hard three day, eight hours.
Scott BennerSo Yeah. Two of your concerns are you'd like to wear a a set longer.
ValerieMhmm.
Scott BennerIt's not about your effort. Like, did you
ValerieIt is. It's like like every time you eat, you have to announce. Every time I eat, I have to inject, basically. So, like, what can give me less input? You know what?
Or, like, what I have to
Scott Bennerto be less involved at this point?
ValerieYes. Exactly. Okay. I want less involvement.
Switching to the iLet Bionic Pancreas
Scott BennerOkay. And so you see I let and you're like, well, this thing says I say small meal I I I I tell me. What are the three choices?
ValerieOh, yeah. So it is here, I'll look at it. It's usual, more than usual, and then less.
Scott BennerHow long have you been using it?
ValerieAbout a year.
Scott BennerAbout a Okay.
ValerieSo, like, yeah. I I'm getting my shipment this week.
Scott BennerYou might say breakfast more than usual if you're gonna have
ValerieMhmm.
Scott BennerA bigger breakfast or breakfast usual and same thing, lunch, dinner, that's it. Now and you're wearing your CGM, so you're seeing your outcomes.
ValerieMhmm.
Scott BennerOkay.
ValerieYeah.
Scott BennerSo now I don't know if people understand, but with an eyelet pump, like, you cannot make an adjustment. Right? You can't say I'm 200 and I'm I'm going up Nope. And I want more insulin. So But
ValerieI I've learned how to add more insulin. You just announce again. I I figured it out. I've you know, I file I was compliant the first three months. Now I do what I want.
Scott BennerYou're fake carving as they say?
ValerieYes. But it's not because yeah. My endocrinologist said that too, but I look at the I know how to look what the insulin on board is and I've always gone on what is the insulin on board and what does my CGM tell me.
Scott BennerOkay. So when you first get this pump and they tell you, like, announce your thing and don't touch it
ValerieMhmm.
Scott BennerWhat were your outcomes like after that?
ValerieI say it was pretty good. It couldn't figure out certain foods like sticky rice, but I did I I just let it go high, but then it would slowly bring it down and not like, definitely this one, less lows. Not like I had too many lows before, but I would have them. So the outcomes, I'd say, pretty good. They would be kinda high, and I would just kinda, like, let it be because it would come down.
But now I'm, I know what to announce to bring it down faster without having a crash.
Scott BennerI gotcha. What do you mean how how did you have fewer lows when you weren't having that many lows to begin with? Is it because it's going up and staying higher more more this time?
ValerieYeah. I don't know. I wouldn't have like, when I I don't know how I wanna go about this.
Scott BennerTake your time.
ValerieYeah. So I would have more lows when I was menstruating before. I would have, like, that one week where no matter what I did, it was just, like, all over the damn place. But and I would have to, you know, do something to
Scott BennerIs that the week you need more insulin, or the week you magically seem like you don't need very much at all?
ValerieMore. Right before would be more, and then after would be kinda it would stabilize and I wouldn't you know, I I would have less input or less, like, I have to fix this or less, like, why is it higher than usual and it shouldn't be that high?
Scott BennerOkay. Yeah. So you had when you were having a hormonal impact that was needing more insulin you were finding
ValerieAnd more fluctuations where it would be like, and then yeah.
Scott BennerYeah. And you were finding the islet more difficult then?
ValerieOh, no. So I started the islet after the, like that's when I was on Omnipod.
Scott BennerOh, when you were on Omnipod, that's how you had you were having trouble during that week. I see. And the islet's handling that better, worse, different, same?
ValerieI it's better. It's definitely better. I'm, like, less input, less, like, having to treat a low and be stable.
Scott BennerValerie, when you were on Omnipod, was it Omnipod five, or were you just using Dash and making decisions on your own?
ValerieOh, you know, Omnipod five, and I I would use it in manual mode.
Scott BennerOkay. So you weren't using the algorithm. You were you were making decisions.
ValerieI did a little bit. I tried it, but it just the meals, it yeah. I couldn't figure out the meals.
Self-Management and Endo Relationships
Scott BennerYou couldn't figure out helps you when you need help? Is it an endocrinologist office? Do you have a community around you?
ValerieSo, no, I have a endocrinologist, but they don't really help me. I'm the one that does everything.
Scott BennerYeah.
ValerieI just basically go in, like, I need these scripts. You can talk about my graph all you want, but I I don't I yeah. I've pretty much from the beginning, I've been doing it myself.
Scott BennerSo even when you're having difficulty
ValerieMhmm.
Scott BennerYou find their input less valuable than just guessing into the wind?
ValerieYes. Okay. I do.
Scott BennerNow you work you work around medical people. What do you take from that when you do you think you're I mean, what's the reasoning? Are they are they not valuable or do you work around medical people and realize they're just people too so you don't see them as special? Or, like, what's the
ValerieOh, what yeah. That's interesting. Maybe because what I see at the hospital where the two nurses have to sign off on the insulin, or maybe because my doctor was on another island and I just, yeah, I I just never wanted the input.
Scott BennerThe endo you have, if you if you went in if you went in tomorrow and sat down and said, hey. Look. I'm having a problem. I don't have any idea what's wrong. You tell me what to do.
Do you think they'd get you to a solution?
ValerieI guess so.
Scott BennerYeah? Yeah. But do you think it would take more than one visit or more than six months or what, like, what would your fear be?
ValerieI don't know. Maybe because of how like, I started the insulin. I don't yeah. I don't know. I don't I don't maybe because I had feedback from one of the they're like, oh, no.
You don't have to worry. But I I don't know. Yeah. I just
Scott BennerNo. It's interest it's just interesting you don't, like, you know, that something's not not leaping to mind. Okay.
ValerieMhmm. No. I just like I I know I have to do this for the rest of my life as long as no one's calling 911 on me and, like, they're not doing a wellness check, I think I'm okay.
Scott BennerThat's how it feel. Okay. I get no. That's what I'm looking for. It's like, how does your day to day I don't know.
Why are you laughing, Valerie? What are you laughing for?
ValerieI don't know.
Scott BennerBecause it's 04:30 in the morning?
ValerieYeah. Guess so. Yeah.
Scott BennerSo it's more about getting along, not passing out not having something horrible happen that's, you know, getting you out of here too soon. You're just trying to stay down the middle as much as you can without putting too much effort into it.
ValerieYes.
Scott BennerOkay. Yes. Are you dating? Do you date?
ValerieNot really. No. But I I am seeing someone that we've been friends for a while.
Scott BennerMhmm.
ValerieSo yeah.
Scott BennerDid you date more before the diabetes or no?
ValerieNo. No. I didn't even then. Yeah.
Scott BennerYou don't like people?
ValerieI have no. I I like people. I have friends. It's yeah. It's just yeah.
Not I have a good friend network. I just it's yeah.
Scott BennerYeah? Not You're not looking for it?
ValerieNo. Not really.
Scott BennerYou think it's because of the dynamic you saw between your parents?
ValerieProbably a little bit. I wish my mother had divorced him, but she stayed with him until he So, yeah, definitely. It's definitely the dynamics that I saw my, yeah, biological parents. Yeah.
Childhood Trauma and Resilience
Scott BennerValerie, you just shocked me a little bit. You're telling me that if if I put you in a room with your schizophrenic mom and your dad.
ValerieUh-huh.
Scott BennerYou'd boot your dad out first?
ValerieYes.
Scott BennerThat's a hell of a statement, isn't it?
ValerieDefinitely. That's
Scott Bennera hell of a statement. My goodness. What was his deal? Was he a drinker?
ValerieI don't know, but the adoptive mother made a comment that maybe he was, but I I don't ever remember that.
Scott BennerYoung. Yeah.
ValerieNo. I was young. And I knew he worked as an accountant in a liquor store. There was never any alcohol at home. I yeah.
Because I was so young, so he could have been, but I don't remember.
Scott BennerWhy were you so harsh about him when you thought about him? He hit you?
ValerieOh, it's yes. Yes. That's how I got removed from them was the abuse. Like, people saw it, and that's how I yeah.
Scott BennerThat's how I
ValerieIt's alright. I'm it it is what it is.
Scott BennerTime ago. I understand, but still.
ValerieYeah. Mhmm.
Scott BennerDid he hit your mom?
ValerieYes. I used to, like, kinda, like, intervene. Oh. I'd be like, no. Yeah.
I don't yeah. I'm that young, and I was like, yeah. No. That's not right.
Scott BennerOther, siblings or just you?
ValerieI have a younger sister.
Scott BennerDid they remove her?
ValerieThey did not. She stayed with them until both their medical and things got worse, and then she ended up, like, with a guardian, like, high school.
Scott BennerIt's interesting. You had a younger sister when you were seven or eight years old. CPS removed you and left her. What? Because they didn't hit her?
ValerieI think so. Yeah.
Scott BennerWhat a bizarre thing. And then where where they put you? Did you stay there your whole life or did you bounce?
ValerieI, unfortunately, bounced. I would've stayed with the first one, but she broke her back, and then that's what started the multiple homes after.
Scott BennerHow many homes do you think you were in till you were 18?
ValerieAbout 14. But I I the last one did legally adopt me. Oh. So I got, like you know, before I would be kicked out of the system, I the family adopted me.
Scott BennerDid they do that for you for to help you with insurance, or do you think it was a a love situation?
ValerieIt it was a love situation, but for me, like, because of what I went through, I I can't bond.
Scott BennerYeah.
ValerieI don't know. I bond, but I bond in my own way, if that makes sense.
Scott BennerOh, no. I I completely understand. I'm actually, reasonably fascinated with this and have been I'm making a series with Erica right now about the ACEs and PACEs testing.
ValerieOh, yeah. Adverse childhood experiences.
Scott BennerYeah. I was gonna say you probably know that acronym.
ValerieOh, I know. I I got a high ACE score.
Scott BennerI did.
ValerieI'm not
Scott BennerI was gonna say I bet you would ace the ACEs.
ValerieOh, yeah. I would.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. We, we just put together well, we're in the middle of putting together a series on it, and I'm building an online tool that people can use to take the quiz so that they can kind of
ValerieInteresting.
Scott BennerYeah. See where they are. Probably outside of the more mental health stuff that I do in the podcast, I don't talk about it as much in, like, conversations like this, but I am endlessly fascinated by what people do and why they do it.
ValerieMhmm. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
I'm I'm amazed I'm not a psychopath for what I've been through.
Scott BennerHey. Valerie, it's not too late. Don't worry. You still
ValerieYeah. I still get well. I see at the hospital on a daily basis, I'm like, I'm doing well. You do it?
Scott BennerIs that something
ValerieI'm doing real well.
Scott BennerYou look at other people and you're like, I guess I'm not doing that badly. Yeah.
ValerieExactly.
Scott BennerThese poor sons of bitches. Yeah. Well, no. No. No.
I hear what you're saying. You know, I'm I'm working on something now. I I I really I'm gonna put it on the website pretty soon. I think it's interesting how accurately for some people that quiz can kind of guess at what your future issues might be.
ValerieOh, I would like to yeah. Because I everyone has issues. You know I mean? So yeah. No one's perfect.
Scott BennerDo you find that beyond, like, you know, having trouble, like, forming bonds, do you have other issues as well? And how many of them impact your diabetes care, do you think?
ValerieOh, I don't know. Oh, maybe I don't think it impacts I maybe obsess over, like, food and nutrition. It doesn't it's just yeah. I'll spend too much time or I'll, like, I'll eat this and maybe not eat that or yeah.
Scott BennerOkay. You you said your mom is in Thailand?
ValerieMhmm.
Scott BennerYes. Was your father Thai as well?
ValerieNo. He, like a Greek European mix.
Scott BennerOkay. Where did they meet? Do you know?
ValerieMhmm. Yeah. My mother was a nurse in a hospital. They lived in the same apartment building, and I got from my younger sister.
Scott BennerYeah.
ValerieOr not that or just the backstory. So he was going to maybe marry someone else, but then he got my mother pregnant. So he ended up having to marry my mother.
Scott BennerOh, he's he's do you think he was angry at you then?
ValerieMan, I had no oh, so no. I I know he grew up abused. So when I got legally adopted they gave the family, like, social service records and stuff, and that's how I learned my mother's diagnosis and that my father was, like, one of five kids and the only one that survived out of the five. Then, like, how like, the abuse that he put on me was something that he had already saw.
He thought that was normal child rearing, I guess.
Scott BennerReally? Yeah. No. I I I'm not surprised. Listen.
I'm not surprised by that at all. That's what that's what all the that's what all the studies say.
ValerieRead that, I was like, oh, that's probably why she didn't leave him or, like, she has a mental illness. That's the reason why she stayed or Mhmm. Yeah. I don't I don't know.
Scott BennerYeah. She probably felt like she needed the help too. Right?
ValerieMhmm.
Scott BennerEven if it wasn't great help, it was probably better than I'm gonna guess how she felt by herself.
ValerieYeah. I think so.
Scott BennerIs it hard for you not to really I mean, what's it like to have known them and then been taken from them?
ValerieOkay. I would like, when I felt when I got older, I would kinda go visit occasionally. When I was younger and I had these forced visits, I would get really, like, sick. Like, after the visit, I would be, like, projectile vomiting or, like, why do I have to do this?
Scott BennerI don't upset.
ValerieYeah. Yeah. It was just it's too traumatizing, like, having to but I would have to go do these, like, visits.
Taking the ACEs and PACEs Assessment
Scott BennerYeah. Hey. Can I get your input on my on the website I'm making?
ValerieSure.
Scott BennerYeah. So it it puts up a question in front of you. You answer yes or no, but there's a small icon at the bottom that if you get overwhelmed, you can click on it and do a grounding exercise. Do you think that's a good idea?
ValerieYeah. Yeah. Definitely.
Scott BennerWould you answer the questions with me for a second? Sure.
ValerieYeah.
Scott BennerAre you sure?
ValerieYeah. Positive.
Scott BennerDid an adult often swear at you, insult you, or humiliate you? No. No. Yeah. Did an adult often push, grab, slap, or throw things at you?
ValerieYes. Yes.
Scott BennerDid an older person ever touch or fondle you sexually? No. No. Did you often feel no one in your family loved you or thought you were special?
ValerieI'm gonna say no.
Scott BennerInteresting. Did you feel often you didn't have enough to eat or no one to protect you?
ValerieYes.
Scott BennerWere your parents ever separated or divorced? No. Was your mother or stepmother offer often hurt or physically threatened? Anyone who used drugs or was an alcoholic? You're not sure.
Right?
ValerieI'm not sure.
Scott BennerWe'll say no.
ValerieBecause I lived in different families. They smoked, but they didn't really drink too much, like, the multiple families I lived with. So and if they did, they would only have one, you know, after dinner. We'll say wasn't like a like a habitual thing. So I'm gonna say no.
Scott BennerBut I'm gonna ask a question. Are some of these answers coming from other families, not your
ValerieNo. Most of them are coming from the biological families. But I'm kinda like, you know, the drinking one, I'm trying to like
Scott BennerThink through the rest of them.
ValerieYeah. Think think through the rest.
Scott BennerAlright. Yeah. Two, two more, in the set. Was a household member depressed, mentally ill, or suicidal? We got a yes there.
ValerieYes. Yeah. Yes. Definitely.
Scott BennerDid a house member go to prison? No. No. Okay. So now that's the 10 aces questions.
And then you can the way it's set up then, you'll continue on to what they call the paces. These are positive things that can kind of counterbalance stuff like that. So could you talk to your family about your feelings? Yes. Did your family stand by you during difficult times?
ValerieI'm gonna say yes.
Scott BennerMhmm. Did you enjoy participating in community traditions?
ValerieOh, yes. Definitely.
Scott BennerDid you feel a sense of belonging in high school?
ValerieYes.
Scott BennerDid you feel supported by your friends?
ValerieYes.
Scott BennerDid you have at least two non parent adults who took a genuine interest in you?
ValerieYes.
Scott BennerDid you feel safe and protected by an adult in your home?
ValerieYes.
Scott BennerSo this is interesting because you have, an ACE score of four, so four of the the first set, but you have a seven on the positive side.
ValerieMhmm.
Scott BennerSo it your capacity to, like, you know, is greater to maybe have success after. It's it's tough to use the words because words are tough, like, find but find happiness.
ValerieThrive. I am better at thriving. Maybe that's the word.
Scott BennerYou weren't you literally answered yes to every positive childhood experience.
ValerieMhmm. Even though I had, like, not such a great one.
Scott BennerExactly.
ValerieYou know what I mean? Like but I still yeah. I don't yeah.
Scott BennerYep. It gives you some things to kinda carry forward.
ValerieSo Mhmm. Oh, definitely.
Scott BennerYeah. You're no kidding. Actually, the website does too. And it indicates to you a couple of things that might happen to you. So if you see like a sharper kind of ambiguous tone in a text message
ValerieMhmm.
Scott BennerDo you have, like, do you have any kind of feeling towards that? Does it make you feel like extra vigilant?
ValerieYou know what? Right now, it depends on my mood and where I'm at in my blood sugar. That's what I've noticed in this progression of this
Scott BennerOkay.
ValerieDisease. I'm gonna say, I am good, but if I'm yeah. And maybe higher than usual or low like, yeah. I do notice that Yeah.
Scott BennerIt's more
ValerieMost of time, I'm good and grounded, but I do notice that sometimes I'll get a little bit more, I don't know, anxious or, like like yeah.
Scott BennerWell
ValerieMy my demeanor will be a little bit different.
Scott BennerIt's interesting. It really is. When you get constructive feedback at work, do you have, like, a or do you have, like, a defensive feeling about it? You're good about it. Boy, that
ValerieI'm pretty good, like, most of the time. I'm not a morning person even though I'm up this early talking just because that when that phone start ringing at, like, six I'm there at 06:30 and then the extra noises, I'm I get kinda irritated really fast.
Scott BennerSally, your story is really kinda uplifting. Really? Yeah. Well well, because if a outsider's from my perspective
ValerieMhmm.
Scott BennerHard to say otherwise, you had a pretty start.
ValerieMhmm. Definitely.
Scott BennerAnd that that bouncing probably took ten years to, you know
ValerieYeah.
Scott BennerOf that. But talking to you as an adult, you're a mostly positive person.
ValerieI am. I am. I don't dwell it's it's I think it's a waste of energy. And I I don't have depression, luckily.
Yeah. I just I, yeah. I do my best to move forward. I just I try not to dwell on.
Scott BennerDo you think that the experiences you had growing up after you were removed from the home were such that the positivity of them and the support that came from them was able to kinda counterbalance your beginning?
ValerieI think so. Definitely.
Scott BennerYeah. People's people saved you. Yeah. That's something.
ValerieYeah. Definitely.
Scott BennerAre you in touch with any of those people, like, along the way?
ValerieNo. It was interesting when I was still living in the Chicago area. I had one of the kids in one of the schools ended up in the school that I was in, so we kinda kept in touch then. But no. And I did try to go back when I still like, it was decades ago.
I've been out here, like, twenty six years now.
Scott BennerYeah.
ValerieThat the first family, I'd like I would've stayed with them if she didn't break her back. So I did try to reach out back to them because I knew where to find where they lived and you know? Yeah. But they had probably already moved to where they had, like, a farm up in Minnesota, so they probably had that was their retirement plan, so they're probably yeah. So I did try.
Scott BennerSo had she not gotten injured, you think that would have been your kind of forever family?
ValerieMhmm. Yeah. They would have been my forever family.
Scott BennerWow. How old were you when you were separated from them?
ValerieI think I was only there for a year, so eight or nine.
Scott BennerBut you still remember it kinda fondly?
ValerieMhmm. Oh, definitely.
Scott BennerYeah. Do you go to therapy or have you?
ValerieI do. It's mainly more for documentation purposes slash a sounding board when, like, my insurance ain't gonna cover something or yeah. So, yes, I do. I talk to someone once a month as yeah.
Scott BennerWhat do you mean when your insurance doesn't cover something?
ValerieOh, so yeah. Like, during the pandemic, I had to switch insurances to the other company, and then they were covering my Omnipod, and then they stopped covering my Omnipod. They were like you know, I used to it went from, like, a reasonable co pay to no co pay to, like, oh, if you want this device, it's now a thousand dollars. And I'm like, what? You know, like, certain times a year, the formulary or whatnot.
So I went maybe a year without the Omnipod, which is fine. Like, I can do injections. It's for me documenting stuff like that.
Scott BennerBut how does a mental health therapist help you with that? I'm missing something.
ValerieSounding board, it's there. Maybe if I did get more sick because I didn't have my device or whatnot, it's
Scott BennerOkay.
ValerieSomething that will hold up in a court of law. I don't know. Maybe because I used to do depositions. I don't know. It's
Scott BennerAnd do you find it help do you find therapy just helpful in general just to be able to kinda unload on somebody?
ValerieYeah. It's it's another viewpoint into whatever it is that I might have problems with or yeah. Mhmm. Yeah.
Scott BennerWow. That's really great. You are I mean, for how things started for you, you were an incredibly together person.
ValerieI am. I'm amazed.
Scott BennerYou never killed a bunny rabbit or pulled the wings off of flies or anything like that?
ValerieNo. What could No. I recently did kill a spider.
Scott BennerWhy? No. I'm just kidding. Because was it trying to murder you in your home?
ValerieNo. It was just like, yeah. Don't do a web here. Yeah. It's not very Buddhist of me, but I did recently kill a yeah.
Scott BennerYou were like, listen. I'd let you live if you weren't messing up the corner of my room.
ValerieSometimes I'll just scoop it up and stick it in the toilet and, like, you can have a watery grave, but Listen.
Scott BennerIf you can live through this and get to the other side, then god bless you on your way.
ValerieYeah. Definitely.
Scott BennerGod prayed Buddhist love the art.
ValerieI'll say a prayer for you. Okay. Go.
Scott BennerAre you Buddhist? Is that your religion?
ValerieNo. But that's because my mom from Thailand, like, I like their ritual and cultural stuff the most. Like, because I lived in different families. They did have different traditions. I did live with a Jewish family for a while, so we would have so every culture has their own kinda traditions to, you know And you gotta see
Scott Bennera lot
Valeriemothers the most, but I I don't claim any religion.
Scott BennerListen. I was gonna say, speaking to you, if if you told me you were religious, I would say that would have shocked me.
ValerieSo Yeah. No. I know. Yeah. No. No. No. No. No. No.
Lessons from Foster Care: Different Families, Different Perspectives
Scott BennerI'm assuming you gave up on asking into the darkness a while ago. Yeah. So 10 you're years old, you're like, you broke her back? Are you kidding me? Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. I know. My goodness. Yeah.
Oh, gosh. Yep. What have you taken away from being around so many different people? Like, is there something valuable from having kind of absorbed the way others see the world in so many different settings?
ValerieI guess so. Like, it's just to have a open mind and
Scott BennerValerie, can I tell you? Because I'm adopted. Right? Mhmm. But I was adopted as a baby.
Yeah. But the entirety of my life growing up with my family, what I would notice is that if something happened or there was, like, a decision to be made or people got upset or happy, Like, my response to a lot of things was never the same as theirs. So I had my response, but I was also able to see their response, which was often different Yeah. From mine. And I have brothers who I have brothers who are natural to my my adopted parents.
So, like, the four of them would almost react similarly. And I was over there going, like, I don't think this is the takeaway from this. But Yeah. But I found it, like, it's interesting to not feel like you have to adhere to something.
ValerieOh, yeah. Definitely.
Scott BennerYou know what There's, I like, family traditions or religious traditions or something like that. And you I was always able to kinda stand slightly off to the side of it and go, like, well, I'm just here because you you you rented me. Yeah. And I I never felt stuck to one thing because that and I felt like that gave me the opportunity to sample a lot of different people's ideas and I found that really helpful.
ValerieMhmm.
Scott BennerBut I was wondering if you were too busy being horrifyingly shipped around from person to person to appreciate that or if you took something from
ValerieI was okay with it because the families were good. They were trying to, like, do, like, adoption placements. Like, I had two, and those didn't come out as well. Maybe because they wanted another kid, but then their dynamics, they needed to work on stuff.
They and they thought maybe having an a child would help their dynamic, but then I was like, yeah. And then the last family, it just worked out. Like, I don't know. I was like, I wasn't planning or wanting to be adopted, but I'm like, okay. Like, this yeah.
Scott BennerWere you getting older at that point?
ValerieMhmm. Yeah. I was getting older, and I always did well in school and, you know yeah. And I was like, okay. This this could be the forever home.
Scott BennerDid some people have more difficulty being loving towards you than others, and did some not try at all?
ValerieWell, some overdid it a little bit. Oh. Yeah. Like, I don't know. Like, I was just like, where is this coming from?
Yeah. Yeah. No. And then some were, and then yeah. I just remember one, it was it was yeah.
I yeah. Yeah. Not good. Maybe I'm just wasn't accepting to the over of loveness. I don't know.
Scott BennerOh, they were trying really hard and you weren't open to it.
ValerieYes. Yeah.
Scott BennerI gotcha.
ValerieI'd say that's that that would be it.
Scott BennerYeah. Makes sense. I mean, as I'm listening and and after hearing you, like, answer those questions, like, I'm struck by how lucky you are that, you know, through that whole thing, like, nobody touched you inappropriately.
ValerieLike Yeah. No. Yeah.
Scott BennerSo lucky. When I You know what
ValerieI mean? Occasionally, I talk my sister would like, biological one. We talk, but we're still a little bit estranged.
Scott BennerMhmm.
ValerieAnd she has a different autoimmune. She has that PCOS, and then she's had multiple surgeries. And and then I try to get, like, feedback of what she remembers living with them for, like, the medical issues and that sort of stuff. Wait. What does she have?
Remember her saying that because she goes to therapy. She's like, oh, they think that, you know, that he touched us or whatnot. But I don't ever remember any sort of that going on at all.
Scott BennerCould have been after you left even. Yeah. Yeah.
ValerieYeah. So I you know, I'm pretty certain that didn't happen.
Scott BennerWhat autoimmune issue does your sister have?
ValerieOh, that polycystic ovarian syndrome.
Scott BennerShe has PCOS?
ValerieYeah. Oh, and And then, you know, they they get gross and then they have to have a surgery, and I think she's had at least two surgeries. And then she would get sick a lot. Like, I'm amazed that I don't really get ill very often. I would just have dermatology stuff.
Scott BennerYeah. Did those surgeries help her?
ValerieI think so. Yeah. Because they they get the growths off. But then, you know, few years later, then she has to
Scott BennerDo it again. Yeah. Yeah. That sucks. What would she have?
Like, real heavy irregular periods, pain?
ValerieYes. Exactly. Yes.
Scott BennerRight.
ValerieYes.
Scott BennerYou've had some skin how do have you ever had your thyroid tested?
ValerieYeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I think when I first got that diabetes diagnosis, like, got the labs. I have an internist.
I've seen him for a long time. And I'm like, are we sure that I like, I have diabetes? And then he redid the labs, and then he made a comment. He's like, oh, look.
It was, like, a little less than the labs that I brought in.
Scott BennerOkay.
ValerieAnd he's like, oh, look. You don't even have diabetes. But then I was like, oh, can we check other stuff? So and then the endocrinologist, he adds that on the labs. Yeah.
But, you know, for most medical things, unless you complain about a symptom, they're not gonna check it.
Scott BennerNo. Of course.
ValerieYeah. Do
Scott Benneryou still have, skin issues to this day, or are they something that's stopped?
ValerieOh, if they're kind of resolved, but, yes, I say, yeah, it does happen, but not too often. But it does happen.
Scott BennerOn your back mostly?
ValerieBack. Oh, yeah. Now recently, I have stuff all over my chest. It's like they're skin tags, and my dermatologist said it's like, oh, it's just like you're getting older. I'm like, great.
This is Awesome. Yeah. Mhmm. Great news. I'm gonna have to see you more regularly.
This is what happens when you get old. Like, I have to come see you more often. I don't wanna come see you.
Scott BennerI started to get, like, age spots in some places, and I was like, oh gosh. Maybe I should just give up.
ValerieYeah. No. I thought they were warts, but they're not warts because of where they're lying on my chest.
Scott BennerOkay.
ValerieThey're warts when they're on, like, your hands, but they're very similar to the stuff that were, you know, around my pinky. So I thought they were warts. They're not warts. They're skin tags that have to be burned off. Yeah.
Scott BennerDo you get them removed?
ValerieI am. Yes. I have another there's so many of them. It's ridiculous. It used to be just a little spot, and I'm not sure how they all multiplied.
Scott BennerMaybe they're like gremlins. You're not getting them wet after midnight, are you?
ValerieExactly. So I'm like, he did. He's like, I already done about 30. I'm like, yeah. The I don't have any expectation you're gonna get all of these, so just do whatever, and I'll see you in the next appointment.
Scott BennerDo they freeze them until they fall off?
ValerieNo. It's he's burning them. It's I don't think it's freezing. It's, yeah, it's a whatever device and
Scott BennerOh my gosh. And you said wait. 30 have been they at some points?
ValerieYeah. Mhmm. I have so much more. Like, I have my appointment next month. So Mhmm.
So he's not gonna get all of them. It's just that, hopefully, the skin will will renew and it will, I don't know, look better.
Scott BennerWhen you think about dating, do you does that concern you, or are you old enough you don't give a crap about stuff like that?
ValerieOh, yeah. I'm old enough. I don't give yeah. I don't care. Yeah.
Me at the nursing station, like, the docs come and, like, the nurse have to drop everything. They're juggling, like, four patients. They gotta drop everything, go deal with whatever at the bedside. I'm just like, yeah. You can wait.
Scott BennerMy gosh. Listen, we're getting
ValerieThey don't wanna deal with me. I'm like, no. You can wait. Do you see how this person running around? I'm like, mm-mm.
You can wait.
Scott BennerHer blood sugar might be high. She gets, a little surly out here.
ValerieYeah.
iLet Pump Review: Pros and Cons
Scott BennerSo let I wanna hear a little more. This is you know, we're getting up on an hour, but, like tell me any of your takeaways from using the Islet pump. What have you enjoyed? What have you not enjoyed?
Like, how would you explain it to other people?
ValerieI enjoy it. It is the algorithm, I say, I like better than the Omnipod. And if you do want to give yourself more insulin that you think you're too high, you can. You just have to announce again. But I say it it it is pretty good.
It just it can't figure out the carb count because you can't put a carb count in there, but it is yeah. It is pretty good.
Scott BennerGive me some becauses. I like it better than Omnipod because
ValerieOh, number one, it's the infusion set. I can get the three to four days out of it.
Scott BennerOkay.
ValerieAnd then it's always been around the flexibility about the mealtime dosing. I still sort of do, like, the pre bolus where I'll announce, and then I'll wait, and then I'll eat. But I know I don't have to, but I've just always had that kinda like, I know the insulin, it takes a half hour or more to peak that I rather you know, I have my food. I know what I'm gonna eat.
I just am patient and wait for the data to change and then eat. But I know I don't need to do it, but it's just already a habit that I do that.
Scott BennerWhy do you say you don't need to do it? Because they tell you not to?
ValerieNo. I'd say when I did the three months, I I wasn't pre bolusing, or I was just like, and it it did it did do well. You know?
Scott BennerSo If you don't prebolise with the islet in the first three months, where does your blood sugar go after you've eaten? And then
ValerieIt it'll go it would do the low two hundreds, but come down and no lows. This one, like, I never had my blood sugar up in the three hundreds. The islet occasionally would get it up there. But then I would just kinda like, I have no symptoms.
I'll just let let's see what the algorithm does, and it did, you know, bring me down.
Scott BennerBut if you wanted to avoid peaks in the two hundreds at meals, the pre bolus thing helped?
ValerieYes.
Scott BennerGotcha. Alright. Finish this sentence. I miss about Omnipod. What do you miss about Omnipod?
ValerieOh, that I could wear more dresses. This pump, I find I I have to clip it on. I yeah. The dressing part. Like, I I still wear dresses, but I it's I liked that I could yeah.
Scott BennerOmnipod was aesthetically easier for you?
ValerieYes. Aesthetically and just clothing. Here, like, I have to, like, make sure I dress this in a certain order of what I put on. Mhmm. Yeah.
Scott BennerHey. If, how long does the infusion set on the eyelet work for?
ValerieI can get three to four days because it's the amount of insulin that's left in the device, and then it'll remind you that it's you should change it out. But now I'm like, I still have 30 units and that will last me the two meals for today. Because I during work, I don't eat breakfast because as soon as I walk into the hospital, it's it's crazy.
Scott BennerYou're not getting that much more out of it time wise in the Omnipod?
ValerieNo. No. But do you like
Scott Bennerhaving extra time with it?
ValerieYes. Yeah.
Scott BennerOkay.
ValerieIt's just you know, you're like, yeah. It's I like I can't wait to get that fifteen day Dexcom. That's my appointment on
Scott BennerI see.
ValerieYou know, this Wednesday. Yeah. His domain he's like, oh, no. It's just gonna be a system upgrade. I'm like, no, dummy.
You need to write me another script. Mhmm. So yeah.
Scott BennerThat dummy.
ValerieYeah. Well No. Because he's, like, he's so, like, yeah. No. It's just gonna be, like yeah.
You yeah. Yeah. You're clueless. Like
Scott BennerWhat I around the diabetes, what I've taken from our conversation is that what's most important to you is ease of use, fewer touches on diabetes, less thinking about it.
ValerieYes. Yeah. Exactly. And that's that that was the marketing of the eyelet. So that's I'm like, okay.
Let's try this.
Scott BennerIt spoke to you on that on that level.
ValerieTo me. I'm like, I need I need less. I already gotta do so much in my daily life.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. Yeah. No. I hear that.
What's interesting is, like because a lot of people come on here and talk about, like, oh, I'm trying to get this number here. I'm trying to be specific about this. You're like
ValerieFor me? Yeah. Yeah. I I don't look at my a one c. I look, okay.
And then I remember one appointment I was just like, what a one c do you want? Because I'm not trying. I'm just trying not to end up in the hospital and
Scott BennerMhmm.
ValerieNot have Lowe's. That that those were always my goals from the beginning. Interesting. Yeah.
Scott BennerNo. I mean, everybody's got different goals. And, you know, it's interesting to hear your progression, your life, and where I think you're
ValerieLike, I I wanna see in ten years from now because progression. Like, I'm not really having many issues besides dermatology issues. So, like, yeah, I wanna see I don't know. Yeah.
Scott BennerDo you have any worries or concerns for the future? Not really.
ValerieWhat I see in the hospital is kinda disturbing. So, yeah, we'll see. I don't yeah. I wanna lose a part of my body. I yeah.
Scott BennerYou do see that that will
Valeriehappen, but, you know, I yeah.
Scott BennerBack of your head, you're thinking about it.
ValerieMhmm. Yeah.
Scott BennerWhat would make you change pumps? What would somebody have to
Valeriepresent smaller. I saw someone with that, the Mobi, and it's littler. I'm like, can you run that, like, on manual? Or yeah. I don't know.
ValerieIt was I liked it because it was smaller. And then you can, like, attach it to yourself kinda like the Omnipod.
Scott BennerValerie, I'm confused about one thing. Yeah. You are using a pump right now, Islet, that is so hands off. You have no control over it really other than to say Mhmm. It's breakfast, lunch, it's dinner, this is big, medium, small.
But you didn't run the Omnipod five in automation. And when you think about the Mobi, you wonder if you can run it manually.
ValerieYes. Yes.
Scott BennerWhat's wrong with you? Why can't Control. You
ValerieIt's just the control. Like like yeah. I want control, but then I want less. Like
Scott BennerOr none.
ValerieOr none.
Scott BennerYeah. I would talk to my therapist about that if I was you.
ValerieOkay. Okay. Sounds good.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah.
ValerieWell, I did try the Omnipod and the algorithm, but I just didn't yeah.
Scott BennerDidn't what? Yeah. You do that sometimes, Valerie. You don't finish your thought. You didn't what?
ValerieI I didn't like it. I don't I it it just would get too high, and I'm like, why isn't it changing the arrow when I know I can intervene and
Scott BennerWhy didn't you intervene?
ValerieChange that arrow. Because I thought the algorithm would do it. I guess I could have, but then I'm like yeah.
Scott BennerAnd when you got to the islet and it also wasn't stopping high blood sugars, you're like, oh, I'm gonna intervene.
ValerieAt some point, I finally did.
Scott BennerYeah. So this might have less to do with the system and more to do with your
ValerieYeah. I I agree. I agree.
Closing Thoughts
Scott BennerHave we missed anything that you wanted to talk about or anything that we, you know, anything I didn't remember to ask you about?
ValerieWe covered everything. Yeah.
Scott BennerYou happy that you did this?
ValerieI am. I am. Good. Yeah.
Scott BennerWhen you said you've been listening for a long time, contextually, is that years?
ValerieYes. Years. So as soon as I got the right diagnosis, I made sure to find the community and then just yeah. So I've been listening to you for, yeah, years and years.
Scott BennerYou've been listening to this for, like, nine, ten years?
ValerieYeah. I'd say so.
Scott BennerOh, wow. Thank you. Mhmm.
ValerieThat's very nice. Definitely.
Scott BennerIt's lovely to hear. Thank you very much.
ValerieEpisode. I just kinda come on and I look and I'm like, okay. Let's listen to this one. Yeah. No.
It's good to hear other people talk about how they're managing it and yeah.
Scott BennerNo. It makes me happy that it's there for you when you need
ValerieMhmm. Yeah. Definitely.
Scott BennerReally awesome. Well, Valerie, I appreciate this. I go ahead to work.
ValerieOkay.
Scott BennerLive your life as you will.
ValerieMhmm. I will.
Scott BennerI really do appreciate you doing this. Your story is gonna add to the podcast wonderfully. Yes. If you hold on for one second, I'll just tell you a couple things before we go.
ValerieOkay. Sounds good.
Sponsor Messages and Outro
Scott BennerThank you. I'd like to thank the blood glucose meter that my daughter carries, the Kontoor Next Gen blood glucose meter. Learn more and get started today at kontoornext.com/juicebox. And don't forget, you may be paying more through your insurance right now for the meter you have than you would pay for the contour next gen in cash. There are links in the show notes of the audio app you're listening in right now and links at juiceboxpodcast.com to Kontoor and all of the sponsors.
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 20 four seven. It works around the clock so you can focus on what matters. The Juice Box community knows the importance of using technology to simplify managing diabetes. To learn more about how you can spend less time and effort managing your diabetes, visit my link, medtronicdiabetes.com/juicebox. Thank you so much for listening.
I'll be back very soon with another episode of the juice box 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, oh, I'll probably send you a Christmas card.
Would you like a Christmas card? Have you tried the small sip series? They're curated takeaways from the Juice Box podcast, voted on by listeners as the most helpful insights for managing their diabetes. These bite sized pieces of wisdom cover essential topics like insulin timing, carb management, and balancing highs and lows, making it easier for you to incorporate real life strategies into your daily routine. Dive deep, take a sip, and discover what our community finds most valuable on the journey to better diabetes management.
For more information on small sips, go to juiceboxpodcast.com. Click on the word series in the menu. If you have a podcast and you need a fantastic editor, you want Rob from Wrong Way Recording. Listen. Truth be told, I'm, like, 20% smarter when Rob edits me.
He takes out all the, like, gaps of time and when I go, and stuff like that. And it just I don't know, man. Like, I listen back and I'm like, why do I sound smarter? And then I remember because I did one smart thing. I hired Rob at wrongwayrecording.com.
