#1861 Fight the Power
Gillian discusses teenage rebellion, living with necrobiosis lipoidica, and a legal battle against medical school bureaucracy over a false-positive alcohol test caused by high blood sugar fermentation.
Key Takeaways
- Urine Screen Alterations via Glucosuria: Elevated blood glucose levels can cause sugar to spill into the urine (glucosuria). If the urine specimen contains high amounts of glucose, ambient yeast or bacteria can ferment the sugar post-collection, generating ethanol within the sample cup and causing a false positive on alcohol drug screenings.
- Critical Device Proximity for AID Systems: Automated Insulin Delivery (AID) loops depend on persistent Bluetooth connectivity between the continuous glucose monitor (CGM), insulin pump, and smart controller. Severing this connection by confiscating or moving a device can immediately trigger system failures, place the pump into a limited backup mode, and prompt dangerous, rapid hyperglycemia.
- ADA Rights to Classroom/Testing Accommodations: Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), academic and institutional environments are legally obligated to provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with Type 1 diabetes. This includes immediate, non-penalized access to glucose monitoring technology, corrective fast-acting carbohydrates, and fluids during lecture and examination periods.
- Understanding Necrobiosis Lipoidica: Historically termed Necrobiosis Lipoidica Diabeticorum (NLD), this rare, chronic inflammatory skin condition primarily causes shiny, yellow-brown, or deep reddish plaques on the lower shins. The condition involves underlying microvascular changes and collagen degeneration, frequently making the skin thinned, thinned over the bone, and susceptible to severe ulceration.
- Combatting Burnout with Strategic Dosing: Navigating systemic institutional barriers can compound psychological diabetes burnout. Re-establishing basic management fundamentals—specifically practicing precise meal pre-bolusing and consistently evaluating baseline basal profiles—remains the most effective tactic for resetting glucose time-in-range metrics.
Resources Mentioned
- Juicebox Podcast Website Support: juiceboxpodcast.com
- Omnipod 5 Automated Insulin Delivery: omnipod.com/juicebox
- Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitoring (Dexcom G7): dexcom.com/juicebox
- Professional Audio Production & Editing: wrongwayrecording.com
Childhood Diagnosis and Teenage Rebellion
Scott BennerWelcome back, friends, to another episode of the Juice Box podcast.
GillianMy name is Gillian. I am a type one diabetic of, I believe, it'll be twenty three years. In April, I was diagnosed at five.
Scott BennerCheck 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 BennerWhile you're listening, please remember 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.
Scott BennerThis episode of the Juice Box podcast is sponsored by Omnipod five. Omnipod five is a tube free automated insulin delivery system that's been shown to significantly improve a one c and time and range for people with type one diabetes when they've switched from daily injections.
Scott BennerLearn more and get started today at omnipod.com/juicebox. At my link, you can get a free starter kit right now. Terms and conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox.
Scott BennerToday's episode is also sponsored by Dexcom, the Dexcom g seven, the same CGM that my daughter wears. You can learn more and get started today at my link, dexcom.com/juicebox.
GillianMy name is Gillian. I am a type one diabetic of I believe it'll be twenty three years in April. I was diagnosed at five. And my diabetic journey slash life has been very interesting in the last two years.
Scott BennerCan we find out a little bit about the beginning part before we get to those last two years?
GillianYeah. Absolutely. What do you—
Scott BennerI don't know, but you said diabetic journey. And the other day, Arden said to me, dad, this is my health journey. And I was like, is she being sarcastic, or does she mean that? So—
GillianNo. I I don't know. I think of it, you know, we all talk about you see the memes on Facebook and everything, and it's like, it's another job. It wasn't until this whole instance really became a thing that or I should say until, like, 2020 when I started working in the medical field, it really hit me that it wasn't a second job or anything. Like, this is my life. Okay. I was pretty bad teenager, rebellious against it. I went on the pump, I got just really lazy with the Medtronic.
Scott BennerHow do you rebel well, first of all, you're diagnosed at five. Right?
GillianYep. Yep.
Scott BennerYour, parents are married?
GillianParents married. No other diabetic in the family. My grandma is a type two. Now she treats it more like a type one, but I don't—nothing to her. I just don't consider her like a full on type one.
Scott BennerWhat the way she's doing? How about brothers, sisters?
GillianNo sisters, no brothers, only child.
Scott BennerOh.
GillianMhmm. What was—I was a in vitro, I believe, baby. So it took my parents a few—a few years to have me.
Scott BennerAh, that was enough. Yeah. Get—get you out was, enough work.
GillianI always joke because they were like, oh, you were—you were healthy. You were a good kid. We decided not to have any more. And I was like, you guys jinx this. You guys jinx this.
Scott BennerThis one's good. What do we need another one for? Right.
GillianRight. So—
Scott BennerAlright. Yeah. So growing up twenty three years ago so Arden's had diabetes since 2006. Was this just, like, 2003?
GillianYes. Yep. Okay. I had just turned five. So my birthday is in March, and then I was diagnosed 04/07/2003.
Scott BennerOkay. So your management in the beginning was what? Like, just injections and a—and you had a little meter. Right?
GillianYep. Yep. Yep. Carrying ice boxes—or not an ice box, but, you know, like a cooler around with us. And parents really always have—always been involved with it.
Scott BennerWhat kind of experience did they have managing it? Like, do you know what your a one c's were back then when you were little kid?
GillianOh, yeah. They were—I was very independent, actually, until, like, the whole reason I'm on this podcast with you. I never had to have, like, school accommodations or anything. One, school really was just like, if she knows how to manage it, we're cool. And my parents wanted to be as, quote, unquote, normal as possible. They didn't want me to have this, like, overwhelming, like, chip on my shoulder that I'm excessively different because my pancreas just doesn't wanna work.
Scott BennerOkay. So—so you're telling me what—you did shots when you were a little kid Yeah. on your own?
GillianI did shots up until I was 11 years old. I was a very active horseback rider, and I was very tiny. And the Omnipod back then, I remember it being, like—looking at it, and I'm like, I don't want this giant, like, brick being on my body.
Scott BennerIt used to be bigger. Yeah. Yeah.
GillianYeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I was just like, well, what if I, like, hit it on a barn door or, you know, I had a horse that he liked to nibble. And I was like, well, what if he rips it off? And it just made me really scared, so I didn't want the tube pump either. But then I had a nurse practitioner that came in and just, like, literally beat the crap out of his pump site, and that was game changer for me because I was so afraid that it was gonna hurt if I fell off and it got ripped out. And then I at 11 years old, I switched to the Medtronic pump.
Scott BennerBecause someone showed you, look, you can be rough with it. It's okay.
GillianYeah.
Scott BennerYeah. So in that time between 11 and diagnosis, are you one of those little kids who's, like, giving yourself shots, or is your mom and dad—you're doing it yourself. Right?
GillianI was at school full, I believe that—I mean, right around diagnosis, like, my memory wasn't isn't the most great about it. Yeah. But I believe that they would help me, like, they learn taught me how to count carbs. I was very hands on with my nutritionist at, you know, Nationwide Children's Hospital. I really—they would always ask me, how much do you think for this? You know, how much would you give for this? And it was pretty easy because my carb ratio was, like, one unit per 15 grams.
Scott BennerYeah.
GillianSo it was just counting in 15.
Scott BennerYeah. The math is pretty—pretty easy.
GillianYeah. So Yeah.
Scott BennerWhat are outcomes like? Do you know what your a one c's were? What—what are the first ones you're aware of?
GillianI don't remember those as much. I know I was really well controlled.
Scott BennerOkay.
GillianI had no issues.
Scott BennerBecause the doctor would say, hey. You're doing great? Or—
GillianYes. Yes. Okay. And they would even show me the graphs. Like, the older I started to become, they would show me the graphs and be like, oh, what happened here? And I'd be like, oh, maybe I just forgot to, you know, give myself an extra half a unit because I wasn't sure. Right. You know? I had lunch at school this day. I wasn't sure, so I gave myself half a unit less so I wouldn't go as low or something like that.
Scott BennerSo you're on the Medtronic pump at eleven. Did—do you have their CGM at that point too?
GillianI don't think so. I think I was on Dexcom at first.
Scott BennerOkay. You liked having a CGM?
GillianI loved it. I started feeling even more free. My—you know, I used to have, like, these really dark circles under my eyes, and I was always really pale. And I started, like, looking not as much of a zombie. And family and friends used to be like, oh, she looks so much healthier. You know?
Scott BennerWhy do you think that is? Did you have more stability, you think?
GillianI think it was more stability, and I think it was—I have always—even when I've had a pump issue over the past couple of years, and I go back to shots, not getting that insulin, like, not manual, the automated or the closed loop system—
Scott BennerMhmm.
GillianI just feel like trash. I feel like my bones—I have no fluid in my body, and everything is just sandpaper. And I don't know if it's because it's not, like, injections every second that I feel that way, but it just doesn't feel like I even take my Lantus when I take my Lantus.
Scott BennerYou feel better on a pump than you—
Gilliandid—Yes.
Scott BennerAt MDI. Okay. Alright. So how do we get from this little girl who's like, I feel more free and this is better to—like, when do you become a teenager who's like, I'm gonna rebel and I choose diabetes to rebel against? When does that happen?
GillianI think it happened around puberty at the age of 13. I started realizing that—I changed schools, and it wasn't the school thing, but, you know, boys, whatever. And I wasn't like—it was always my horse. Still is always my horse.
Scott BennerWere you gonna say I wasn't boy crazy?
GillianI was not boy crazy. I just started becoming, you know, like, puberty. Okay. It's things of, like, oh, well, maybe this girl has a boyfriend because she doesn't have diabetes, or maybe they're getting to do these things because, you know, they're—these kids are going to go to sleepovers, but my parents don't necessarily trust their parents to wake me up at 2AM in the morning—Okay. to make sure that I'm not double arrows down Gilly and then at forty two.
Scott BennerThen you're very aware of your diabetes and the impact it's having on big and small things in your life.
GillianYes.
Scott BennerSo you shove it away to make it go away?
GillianYes.
Scott BennerOkay.
GillianI was like, I don't want any part of this anymore.
Scott BennerWhat does that look like functionally? Like, not taking care of it? Or how do you—Yeah. How do you move it aside?
GillianI remember I wouldn't change my pump sites for ten or fourteen days at a time until they became so—not infected. Thankfully, I never had to go to hospital for an infection. But until they became so sore or my dad, like, was like, look. You are going to change this pump site or we're having a family intervention.
Scott BennerDo you look back now and see, were they scared of you?
GillianThey weren't scared of me. They were scared of what would happen to me.
Scott BennerBut it—but why didn't they just come to you on day whatever? It was supposed to be changed and say, hey, today, Gillian, today's the day. We're gonna change your pump site today.
GillianThey did, and I completely ignored them. Or I would tell them I changed it, and I wouldn't. And so I was that little teenager that didn't rebel on anything else except for my diabetes because I was so mad that I was a diabetic and I was different from others that it—I was just gonna completely ruin my life about it.
Scott BennerAnd did you realize that was happening? So while you're making the decision not to change your sight or to bolus or whatever you were doing. Right? Yeah. Do you have a conscious thought? Like, I am trading health for being able to ignore this, or is it not the way it seems to you is at that age?
GillianWhen I got older, yes. Right around the time I started driving and, you know, I grew up in Ohio. I lived in Ohio for most of my life. My family is still there. Mhmm. It wasn't apparent until I had to have my doctor sign off on my driver's license to say that I was healthy and safe enough to drive that I realized, oh, somebody can actually take more control than me. And I didn't like that.
Scott BennerOh, Gillian, I mean this in a—in a lovely way, and I mean this as the father of a—of a 21, almost 22 year old, girl. Are you, what they call stubborn?
GillianA little bit.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. Okay. Uh-huh.
GillianI yeah.
Scott BennerI am too, by the way. I just wanna—I just wanna point out, but do you look for arguments sometimes?
GillianNot all the time. I think a lot of my family would say yes. I have this—do have this tendency—
Scott BennerI disagree with them. Yeah. I just—
Gillianhave this tensed—tendency to question a lot of things because I'm so over analytical about literally everything in my life that it sometimes comes off as questioning, and it comes off at—or to me, it's questioning. But to them, it's I wanna argue.
Scott BennerAre you anxious?
GillianNo. No? Not really. I just—
Scott BennerDo you have thyroid—do you have thyroid? Mm-mm. No?
GillianNope. I only have one other disease from this that's essentially the way doctors explained it to me hooked on to my diabetes. At 11 years old, I had mono. And I went from riding horses and dancing six to seven days a week to complete bedridden for three months.
Living with Necrobiosis Lipoidica
Scott BennerAnd then you got diabetes a little bit after that? Or no? No. Oh, you were older. I'm sorry.
GillianSkin disease. I got this skin disease called necrobiosis lipoideica.
Scott BennerWhat the hell kind of a name is that?
GillianYeah. And it basically, you have to have an autoimmune disease. Back then, it was necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum, but they kind of dropped the diabeticorum because it doesn't just affect diabetics.
Scott BennerI've heard this one before. What is this? What is what—
GillianIt's basically a collagen disease. It's very common in females, especially diabetic females, or there's another common disease that it's more common in. But it affects skin cells and skin tissues within the collagen level down below the knees. And it kinda looks like I have burns. Some people, they're not as bright red. Some—for me, mine are very bright red. You can see my veins going through them. It sucks as a female because I swear they grow hair faster than anything else on my body.
Scott BennerWait. The veins or the—or the—
GillianThe—the lesions.
Scott BennerOh, the—oh. And are they—are they raised?
Scott BennerThe Dexcom g seven is sponsoring this episode of the Juice Box podcast, and it features a lightning fast thirty minute warm up time. That's right. From the time you put on the Dexcom g seven till the time you're getting readings, thirty minutes.
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Scott BennerToday's episode is brought to you by Omnipod. We talk a lot about ways to lower your a one c on this podcast. Did you know that the Omnipod five was shown to lower a one c? That's right. Omnipod five is a tube free automated insulin delivery system, and it was shown to significantly improve a one c and time and range for people with type one diabetes when they switched from daily injections. My daughter is about to turn 21 years old, and she has been wearing an Omnipod every day since she was four. It has been a friend to our family, and I think it could be a friend to yours. If you're ready to try Omnipod five for yourself or your family, use my link now to get started. Omnipod.com/juicebox. Get that free Omnipod five starter kit today. Terms and conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox.
GillianYes and no.
Scott BennerOkay.
GillianWhen I was younger, they were really bad, and I had, like, no tissue. They were just up against the bone.
Scott BennerOh my god.
GillianYeah. And if I would touch them, they would break open, and it would be horrific.
Scott BennerHoly hell. Is there a treatment for it or no?
GillianThey're starting to get more treatment. The most promising thing right now is having, like, steroid injections in them, which I refuse to do because it—I just don't wanna deal with the blood sugar issues.
Scott BennerWell, how long would the steroids help for if you got the injections?
GillianPotent—they're—they're not sure, but, potentially, the rest of my life. But I would still have them. They just wouldn't be as red.
Scott BennerDo you know how—how long the injections would last for?
GillianNot really. No. Say they save the rest of my life. Some people don't. I'm more afraid of the—not the blood sugar issues, but the blood sugar issues with having them, like, injected into and potentially them ulcerating. I don't want an ulcer. They're closed. I'm cool with having bull's eyes on my shins.
Scott BennerGotcha. You have, like, the greatest collection of, like, tall socks in the world?
GillianI do. I do. I love my compression socks. Love them.
Scott BennerOh, compression socks help with it?
GillianMhmm. A little bit. I use a all natural, like, self tanner—
Scott BennerMhmm.
Gillianthat in the summertime to blend in some of it. And that, I honestly think, helps the most because there's a lot of essential oils and natural things in there that helps keep them, you know, moist and not so scaly looking either.
Scott BennerI didn't wanna have to look this up because I don't want the embarrassment of typing it in, but I—is it an autoimmune issue?
GillianNo. It only is present with people with, like, an autoimmune disease, but that was also, like, ten years ago. Now I'm, like, on a Facebook group, and there's some people that don't even have diabetes, and they're getting this.
Scott BennerWhat's it called again? And go slow, please.
GillianNecrobiosis.
Scott BennerNecrobiosis.
GillianLipoidica. Hold on.
GillianYou're good. You're good. It's l i—
Scott BennerIt—it changed it to lipstick. Lip—
GillianOf course. Auto correct.
Scott BennerYeah. Lip lip good. L i—
Gillianp i Mhmm. d i c a, I believe.
Scott BennerOkay.
GillianAnd then diabetic, and then on the end of that, o r u m. So diabeticorum.
Scott BennerMore commonly called necrobiosis lipoidica is a rare inflammatory skin disorder. It usually shows up in shiny yellow, brown, reddish plaques. It is not clearly established as a classic autoimmune disease. The exact case is still uncertain. Current references describe it as involving inflammation, collagen, degeneration, and blood vessels of microvascular.
Dating, Transparency, and Medical Ambitions
Scott BennerAre you married, did you say earlier?
GillianI am. Yep.
Scott BennerIs this hard for you? Like, because you talked about not let—you didn't kinda didn't want people to see as having diabetes when you're younger. Was this hard?
GillianIt was interesting. That's for sure. I was actually engaged before I've met my current husband, but that—it was definitely hard, like, opening up my insecurities to him.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. I don't think you're supposed to call your husband your current husband. It makes it sound like—
GillianI can't—no. Yeah. Yeah.
Scott BennerIt makes it sound like there'll be another one at some point.
GillianWell, well, I never—I never plan on being remarried or, you know.
Scott BennerHow long have you been married?
GillianAbout a year and a half.
Scott BennerA year and a half, and she's like, I'm not doing this again.
GillianNo. No. We are very difficult people and we challenge the crap out of each other. I am good. I am good on this.
Scott BennerI like how you start off by going other people say I'm difficult. And ten minutes later, you're like, I am a difficult person. I just wanted to say.
GillianYeah. Yeah. So okay. So tell me a little more about that though, like, opening yourself up. Like, how was that difficult? So—
Gillianhe when I met him, it was very interesting. I was very, like, I was very over dating. I had been on dating apps, you know, peak COVID. How else are you gonna meet people? Mhmm. And I was just, like, kind of just really open. I was like, hey. I have these scars. We're starting to hit summer months. If you can't deal with this and you can't, you know, be there to help me, like, to help reassure that I'm much more than these scars, then I don't really want to partake in this. Like, I'm a diabetic. This is very much my life. If you can't handle it, let me know now. No harm done. We can other people.
Scott BennerHow long does it take you to get to that point? Like, do you realize you like him and you don't wanna be let down if he's gonna let you down so you kind of preemptively have that conversation?
GillianKind of. Yeah. Okay. I always—like, I went on dates with people that it went really great, and then the next thing you know, I never get a respond back. And I never knew why. But with him, it was very different because we had talked on the phone for, like, four hours at a time up until, like, 2AM in the morning—Mhmm. like, two or three times before we met. And it was just very different. I felt very open with him, but at the same time, I was like, I kinda don't care if he doesn't like me because there is a person out there that is gonna like me for who I am.
Scott BennerThe online dating thing, what does it—make you cynical after you people ghost you a few times?
GillianA little bit. I just didn't understand, like, why would you be on a website if you're not gonna at least tell a person, hey. It was a great time. I just don't think you're the person for me. You know?
Scott BennerYeah. It wouldn't seem difficult to me to just go, hey. Look. I appreciate going out with you last night, but I—I'm—I'm not feeling it. And, you know, I—I just wanted to let you know.
GillianYeah. Yeah. I just never really understood that, but I'm also a very blatantly honest person.
Scott BennerAre they a lot of them just trying to get laid?
GillianYeah. Like,
Scott Benneris it as easy as if you don't put out the first time then no one's gonna get back to you? Jesus.
GillianLike, I was very open with my mom about this because I was, you know, living at home, and I was like, hey. I'm going on a date. This—this, you know, this is this person's phone number. This is what it looks like if—you know, that was the deal between her and me is she was very supportive about it, and she was like, hey. I need to know where you're going, who you're meeting, the picture of this person, and their phone number. So if you don't come back, cops are gonna be. You know?
Scott BennerWe have somebody to—somewhere to point this at.
GillianYeah. Yeah. I know. And she was just, like, looking at me after a few times, and I'd come home and be like, oh, this was such an awesome date. Like, we talked about this and we talked about that, and then nothing. Yeah. And then she would be like, well, I think it's because you're kind of a good girl in the sense of you don't do that. And I was like, no. I have way more self respect for myself, and that's the problem.
Scott BennerWell, yeah. Because then if—if you did that anyway, if that's not—if that's not all you were looking for also, by the way, I just wanna be, like, you know, supportive of both genders. If you were just trying to get laid, like, whatever, that's fine. But, like, if that wasn't your situation and you—you kinda bent to that pressure, and then you're either going to be the girl I messaged to have sex with, or I had sex with you and I'm not gonna message you again. Like, that—those are—there's not a lot of wins in that for you if that's not your goal.
GillianYeah.
Scott BennerRight?
GillianYeah.
Scott BennerOkay.
GillianYeah. And I knew people from college that had met their significant other online. And I had just gotten out of such a bad relationship that I was like, I need to feel good about myself again and not get the attention from men that, like, you know, you do want to have or the opposite sex that you do wanna have. Mhmm. But I just need to feel good about myself, and I need to meet people, and I need to have people my age that I can go do things with. Even if—
Scott BennerYeah. I—Eat a dinner.
GillianYeah. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, even if it's like a date and we're like, oh, we really don't wanna date each other, but we're better off as friends, like, least I have somebody to go do things with.
Scott BennerWhat's it like to sit down at a—on a—it's basically a blind date and whip out your pump to give yourself insulin? Like, do you see—do some of them recoil? Are there—are there levels of, I don't know, responses that you see?
GillianYeah. A lot of times, it was just like, oh, I didn't know you were diabetic. And I was like, I keep it hidden very well. You know, I had a PDM still at the time and because I'm now on the Omnipod—
Scott BennerYeah.
Gilliansince college. And it was very easy, you know, winter months to keep it hidden. And if not, I just—I just kinda didn't care because I worked in the medical field. I was in podiatry at the time, and I worked with diabetics day in, day out. And it was something that was an identifier of me that you're gonna—if you're gonna be with me, you're gonna be with that too. And it's a very big aspect of my life, and you're just gonna have to get over it.
Scott BennerI—I don't see another way around it, honestly.
GillianYeah. Yeah. I'm like, I don't know how there's some people that keep it hidden from their spouse or their significant other for months at a time. If you go out to eat, you're gonna have to give yourself a insulin—
Scott Bennerfor the woman on here who grew up with a mom who had type one, and the mom tried to hide it for, like, over a decade?
GillianI did not hear that about—
Scott BennerAnd the mom thought she was hiding it, but I think the—the woman I was interviewing, her sister—I guess her sister got pinched by her mom one day for lying, and the sister just turned it back on her. It was like, like, how are you telling me about this when you try to pretend you don't have diabetes? The mom was like, what? Diabetes?
GillianThat's wild to me.
Scott BennerThat's those girls were like teenagers when that happened, like, teens. Wow. It's crazy.
GillianThat's wild.
Scott BennerYeah. Anyway alright. So I feel like we have a good setup for who you are. Yeah. Now I wanna know why you wanted to come on the podcast. So what happened to you? Like, walk me up to what happened and take me through your experience.
GillianSo due to diabetes, due to just what my dad did for a living in the medical field, I decided at a very young age, I was going to go in the medical field, and I was going to be some form of a doctor. Okay. And then older I got, I was like, I wanna be a surgeon. I love this. Partially because I have a bougie mindset, and I grew up in horses, and I needed some to pay for those suckers.
Scott BennerI was gonna say, you have—you rode horses as a kid because you were an only child. If there was one more sister or brother, that wasn't happening.
GillianMy—my parents remind me. Were like, oh, you are always open to adopting another type one, like, another diabetic, but we told you that you'd have to—it's either the horses or a type one sibling. And I looked at them, and apparently, I was like, well, it's gonna be a horses. Screw the other type one. I'm not sharing this with anybody else. So—
Scott Benneryou were—you're pointed at—at health care coming into college because you have diabetes, something about your dad's business, but I'm not sure And then—and, of course, you were looking to make a reasonable income.
GillianYes.
Scott BennerOkay.
GillianYes.
Scott BennerWhat happens next?
GillianSo I get through college, COVID hits. My senior year was a little lost, applied to med schools. Hey. Your grades aren't good enough. Then I found podiatry, and I fell absolutely in love with it. There was nothing—everything just set in stone. I shadowed an amazing doctor in Columbus, and he would take me to his surgeries. And one day, he made a joke at a conference that he invited me to. He was like, oh, we're always hiring. And I said, are you hiring for real? And he said, yep. And I said, can I send you my resume? And next thing I know, I didn't even have an interview. I just got hired as his medical assistant.
Scott BennerMhmm.
GillianAnd everything just fell into place. He invited me to one of the surgeries that—it was really funny. I got to schedule all of his surgeries, so I always made them at the time that, like, I could be there as a student.
Scott BennerWonder how many people realized that was happening to them.
GillianWell, he had a two hour lunch break to do surgeries at the hospital next door.
Scott BennerYeah.
GillianSo I would just make sure that, like, I didn't have an appointment to go to that day over, you know, my lunch break or whatever. Yeah. And I would go to them, and he looked at me one day and he said, do you wanna do this surgery? And I was like, hell yes. I wanna do this surgery, but I was scared, absolutely—Uh-huh. and he said, walk me through it and then walk me through it backwards. And he said, alright, kid. You're—you're good. I'll make the cut, and then I'm right here. You, obviously, he didn't let me do everything by myself.
Scott BennerMhmm.
GillianBut I ended up assisting and doing every surgery with him from there on out.
Scott BennerWow.
GillianAnd it was just like magic falling into place. Everything that I had ever been through just came down to these moments, and it was like those magical moments in Grey's Anatomy. And I know that's really stupid because the medical field is nothing like Grey's Anatomy. But in those intros where she's just talking about how surgery and life and, you know, the appreciation for it, it just all clicked.
Scott BennerAnd it felt good.
GillianIt felt—yeah.
Scott BennerWhat part of schooling are you in at that point?
GillianI was postgraduate for my undergrad. So I received my diploma in the mail like all the COVID babies did.
Scott BennerMhmm.
GillianAnd I was just in the job field just trying to make money, figure out what I needed to do to get into medical school.
Scott BennerOkay. Hey. You being involved in these surgeries, was that legitimately okay, or was this guy—Yes. Yes. Was—
GillianBecause he was always there. He put me down as student, and I was essentially his staff member slash intern.
Scott BennerHow about that? That's cool.
GillianYeah. And some of these—some of these patients, you know, we would do surgeries in the office and because of—oh my gosh. I'm blanking on the name. The loss of feeling in our feet. Neuropathy?
GillianYes. Thank you. Neuropathy. Some of these patients would have neuropathy so bad that they would just feel like, you don't have to numb me up, and she can do it. Yeah. She can do my ingrown. She can, you know, cut this tendon on the bottom of my toe to make my toes straight. I don't care. You know, doc, are you gonna be in the room? He goes, yeah. And so I would just get to do, you know, the procedure right then and there.
Scott BennerYou were cutting out people's ingrown toenails?
GillianYeah.
Scott BennerYeah. Can I tell you Arden had one one time, and I went with her? And for people who don't know, like, they just numb your toe up—Yep. and then stick basically like a scissor underneath your toenail all the way back and just chop off half of it almost and yank it out of the side. Right? And I saw it happen, and I I bet you if I brought up the order right now, she'd be like, oh, yeah. That was wonderful. Because I made a noise and recoiled, and—and she's like, oh, thanks a lot. Right. Right. Yeah. But it was horrifying.
GillianOh, yeah. I don't think—like, I try to take care of—I have one ingrown toenail that will repeatedly come back from just years of riding horses, and I refuse to go and get it taken out just because—
Scott Bennerfine.
GillianYeah. Yeah. Don't want the—I don't want the needle in my foot. I had foot surgery, and that's honestly where the podiatry thing started.
Scott BennerOkay.
GillianAnd I had a bone removed. And I remember I went into my follow-up, and I was like, hey. My stitches are really infected. And she's like, well, we're gonna have to numb you up. I'm like, can you do it without numbing me? I really have high pain tolerance. Do it without numbing me. Get this suture out of me. And then she ended up having to numb me, and it was horrible.
Scott BennerI had surgery on my big toe on my right foot. Like, I think a, like, a ligament or a tendon kinda came detached, and then they went in there and, like, did micro needling on the bone to get it to grow back again. Yep. It's been a couple years—it really worked. Yes. Yeah. Crazy. Yeah. Any—I'm sorry. Anyway, what—No. You're good. So doctor lets you do this stuff. You fall in love with it. What happens next?
The False Positive Urine Test and School Bureaucracy
GillianSo I get into my classes. I didn't need biochemistry, but I needed physics to go into podiatry school, get into that. And couple years later, you know, I didn't really do well in that physics class because we were still in COVID, and they just—the class wasn't set up well at all. And I didn't do well like I needed to to get into podiatry school. So I transfer out of the job because it just wasn't paying. I think it was making, like, $13.50 an hour, and I was driving in two hours a day to this job. Fast forward, meet my husband in the meantime, and I tell him, hey. I wanna do this. Like, I wanna do this. Go back to school, get all the other prerequisites that were too old at the time, like my gen chem and things like that.
Scott BennerYeah.
GillianAnd then I get in to school. I apply. Everything falls into place. You know? I apply, and then I get into—not my top school. I get waitlisted on that, but I get into a school right down the road essentially, like an hour and a half away. So within a half day drive home, and then I get a scholarship too. And my husband and me, we fell in love with the town. It was very small, little, like—Hey. You think maybe we can move there? I can go to school. This will be okay. Right?
GillianYeah. Cheap houses, safe houses, safe area—K. Be great. So we—not quit our jobs, but we find a house up here. We decide, hey. We're gonna take a month long vacation before the next four years of hell, and we're gonna spend a whole month together up here in the summer. Okay. And in the meantime, after we move out of—and at that point, we were also we owned a duplex together. So we lived in one side, and we rented out to the other—Sure. to decrease our cost of living and just have income. So we move out of there. We come up here. We get all settled down. We're having a great time up here in the summer. And I wake up one morning, and I get a phone call from the school. And they're like, hey. We received your drug test. There was a discrepancy on it. We need to talk to you about this. Now I took the drug test in May, and I knew that there was a disc—and a discrepancy on it. It was actually about alcohol, but I had to take Benadryl the night before due to an allergic reaction. I sought nothing of it. I sent it in. I was like, I'm not gonna get this retested because the school's already paid for this one. They're just gonna see it. Might as well send it in. And I was 26 at the time, 25, 26.
Scott BennerOkay.
GillianI'm legal. What are you gonna—essentially, what are you gonna do about it? You know?
Scott BennerFor clarity. Yeah. The test did not actually show you weren't drunk or drinking or something. No. It was about—
Gillianthe—It just showed positive. That's it.
Scott BennerOkay.
GillianAnd urine analysis tests can show up to, like, three days later on an alcohol test. And I think I took this, like, on a Tuesday morning or something. So there could have been a time that on Saturday night, you know, I go on a date with my husband, and we have a drink. Wasn't uncommon.
Scott BennerOkay.
GillianAnd—but I'm not an alcoholic, and I never have been either because it's not worth my health. So I go into the school, and I'm like, I'm not even calling them back. Can I meet with you in person? I wanna discuss this. Going to the school, and they're like, well, we're gonna get your entire, like, life story. And I meet with the psychologist, and he's, like, asking me all these questions. Have you ever thought about killing yourself? Have you ever had to have therapy? All these questions. And I'm like, how the hell does this pertain to me having a positive alcohol test?
Scott BennerRight.
GillianAnd I, you know, I tell him, I said, yes. I've been in therapy before. Two years ago, I was assaulted by a coworker at my job. I went to therapy. They said I was good, and I graduated out of therapy. I learned how to cope with it, and I moved on.
Scott BennerOkay.
GillianAnd he goes, well, you're gonna have to call the physician's health program, PHP, because any student that we have at the school that has any sort of yes answer to these questions, you have to go for further evaluation through this mental health program. So I called these—these people, and I'm answering all these questions, and they're asking the same thing. And then they asked, have you ever been to therapy before? And I said, yes. Told them the exact same reason why. At the end of the phone call, they said, well, instead of you just coming in for, like, a four hour, like, intervention or discussion or therapy group, we're probably gonna suggest that you go to an outpatient rehab center because you've been to therapy for an assault before and you have a positive alcohol screening.
Scott BennerWhat? That—wait. What's going on? Wait. Are you—
GillianAnd I go, what the hell? I don't—
Scott BennerYou're planning to get into medical school. Right?
GillianRight. Right. Right. I'm—I'm—I—we dropped our entire life, both his family and my family back in Ohio, dropped the jobs that we did love to come up here and focus on my dream, and you're telling me this two weeks before school started, mind you.
Scott BennerBecause of Benadryl?
GillianBecause of—well, we'll get further down into this and how it applies to diabetes. At the time, I thought it was Benadryl because my dad, was a medical lab assistant tech in the medical field, and he used to do work on analyzers, run all these tests and everything. And he goes, did you take anything the night before? And I said, Benadryl. And he goes, you might wanna look up and see if that can affect a positive alcohol screening in your urine.
Scott BennerOkay.
GillianAnd it can contribute to it much like other things like ibuprofen. High levels of ibuprofen or steroids or anything can throw any of these, like, drug analysis tests off.
Scott BennerMhmm.
GillianDidn't know that. Because I've had to take these tests a million times before to work in the medical field for a new job. So I get off the phone, and I call my mom. I am panicked. I am in tears. Just what the hell does a diabetic have any business? Like, the horror stories of not being able to give yourself insulin or anything in a rehab center or mental facility is just horrifying.
Scott BennerGillian, I wanna be clear right now. Like—Yeah. They wanted you to go to a rehab center?
GillianYes. Eight, like, eight hours away for a weekend to monitor me to see if I was detoxing or withdrawing from any substance.
Scott BennerIs happening, are you saying, listen. I'm not an alcoholic. Yes. And this is completely unreasonable. You have no right to ask me about this. Yep. But did you consider doing it because you felt stuck because you moved?
GillianI didn't consider doing the rehab. I knew that it was easier to not to comply up to a certain point and be honest because if I was honest, then there's less that they can, like, get me in—I could—there's less that I can get myself in trouble with because I don't have anything to hide. I'm not an alcoholic. I'm not a drug addict. I've never done drugs. You know? I'm an adult. I'm allowed to drink. It's—
Scott BennerI don't know. You guys—your—your whole generation's way too honest. Like, you—you asked me that question, that situation. Have you ever been to therapy? I'd go, no. Because none of your business.
GillianI was just really afraid because we had to send in, like, medical records and stuff of everything. Find—
Scott Bennerit somewhere?
GillianAnd I thought that they could find it because the place I went to therapy with was also the same place my endocrinologist was with.
Scott BennerI love that they're doing this to you, but I've interviewed somebody in the last three years who worked in a doctor's office where they were selling massive amounts of narcotics out of the back of the office. Yeah. At the doctors, by the way. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
GillianSo I—my mom is like—my mom and my husband and by the time—by the way, my husband and I were planning our wedding through this, married. They're both like, you need to call the ADA. So I call the ADA, and I get on the phone with them, and they put me through to the state's lawyer, essentially, that works with the ADA. Mhmm. And they're like, well, we'll call you back. And I'm like, no. I need to escalate this because school starts in two weeks, and they're not sure if I'm gonna be able to start. I need to know my rights. I need to know, you know, everything about this because I have never—I've never had to have accommodations for diabetes. Typically, it's just like, oh, yeah. No worries. Just, you know—
Scott BennerYou're not used to work. You're not used to doing any of this at the—at the moment is what you're saying. Okay. Right.
GillianNone of this. Never had to have any issues. And so I call them, and they call back with me, and we get this ball rolling. And they suggest, hey. You should call the base—not the analytical center, but the center that your essentially p was sent out to to be analyzed for all this stuff. And I call them, and I speak with the medical review officer, and it comes to find out that when you're a type one diabetic and your glucose is over a 100 at the time of a urine analysis test, you can pop a false positive for alcohol because of the way things are fermented in your body. I did not know this. And I asked her, I said, can you—well, at first and I forget about this. They were like, nobody reached to you about your results. And I was like, no. I just got an email saying that they were done. I sent them in. And she's like, well, has anybody told you that your—your glucose was two ten at the time of test? Have you ever been tested for type one diabetes? And I just, like, break out laughing. I'm like, I've been a diabetic for twenty one years. And she goes, oh, okay. That's good. And she goes, your glucose was two ten at the time. So there's a very strong possibility that it's not actually alcohol, like, from a bottle, but it's alcohol from your body that caused this positive. You need to tell the school this. So I go through. I tell my lawyer, and I am meeting with these people emails. I have, like, over 200 emails between the psychologist and me about all of these things. And they're like, well, you still need to go to the PHP, like, outpatient program. And I'm like, no. I need to retest. I'm allowed to have a retest. It's federal law that you're supposed to accommodate for me, a reasonable accommodation. So I'm essentially demanding you to give me a blood alcohol test where you draw it from my vein. It's the same amount of testing time.
Scott BennerWas this first one, like, a breathalyzer?
GillianIt was—it was—I peed in a cup.
Scott BennerI went to a center, and I peed in the cups, gave it to them. They checked my temp, and that was it.
GillianOkay.
GillianI said, no. I wanna—I wanna retest. I want a blood alcohol test. And they're like, well, how about this? We're gonna do—they spoke with the psychologist from the school, and the now social worker that I was assigned to at PHP said, oh, well, we're requiring you to do a Peth test. So a Peth test is a test that is very commonly used in the court system for, like, child cases where one parent might be a drug user and the other one's trying to get parental rights for them, and they're trying to prove that they have used in, like, the past four weeks, six weeks.
Accommodation Denials and the Disrupted Pump Loop
Scott BennerAnd Who did you piss off at this school, by the way? Did somebody just hate So,
Gillianbasically, what happened was I questioned it, and I wasn't just—I hate using this term because I know there's some people don't like it, but I wasn't a sheep, and I just wasn't following the rules.
Scott BennerOkay.
GillianI wasn't complying to them.
Scott BennerMhmm.
GillianI was questioning, and I was fighting for my rights because I was like, it's diabetes. It's not like I have something that's gonna infect every person I ever touch. No. Like, get over yourself.
Scott BennerLet me pause you for a second here. Yeah. I have—just in case people are listening and like, she was probably loaded and making up a story. For a urine alcohol test, a high blood sugar can indirectly lead to a false positive result. What happens is not that the glucose looks like alcohol in the test, it's the glucose spilling into the urine can be fermented by yeast or bacteria after the sample is collected, producing ethanol in the urine specimen. This has been specifically described in diabetes, and glucosuria can set this up, especially when the urine has a lot of glucose. Yeast, bacteria, or contaminations make it more likely. Delay in getting the sample tested can allow even more fermentation and rise the urine ethanol result. This is why positive urine ethanol results by itself can be misleading. Confimatory markers like ETG and TTS—
Scott BennerETS are often used to help sort out true drinking versus sample fermentation. How about that? Mhmm.
GillianAnd I had no idea about any of this.
Scott BennerThe more you know.
GillianYeah. And—and when I told my dad, you know, he used to run all these blood and urine sample tests, he was like, that makes sense, but I never knew that either.
Scott BennerHow about that? That's really—that's what a weird thing to run into. See, your blood sugar was high, and that's why all this happened.
GillianYeah. And I remember having an iced chai latte from Starbucks that morning because I was going to go walk dogs on my part time, and it would keep me, you know, more elevated throughout the dog walk so I didn't crash with a client's dog.
Scott BennerIt's—it's interesting though, isn't it? Because, like, your brain right away goes to, I had Benadryl, and then and then then you get stuck going like, well, I—maybe we did go out to dinner a few days ago. Maybe I had a drink, and then you start sounding like you're lying when you're trying to figure out what's going on, and then they smell you lying, and then this all starts happening even though you were just generally confused.
GillianRight. Yeah. Yeah. Right. They want me to have do this Peth test instead of this blood alcohol test. And I was like, whole—like, pump the brakes here. This is going back six weeks ago in my life. I didn't even know that I had been, like, truly, really accepted into this school because I still was getting all of, like, my shot records. I mean, I was getting everything put together.
Scott BennerMhmm.
GillianNo. That's—that's not okay because that's not a—I'm asking for a reasonable accommodation. You were wanting even more out of—
Scott BennerAnd the only accommodation you're asking for is I have diabetes. We've now learned that a high blood sugar could have impacted the test. Just give me a blood test to check again. Yep. That—I mean, that's the accommodation you're looking for?
GillianYeah. That was it.
Scott BennerDid you have any feeling that the person you were talking to was what they call a—a little dummy?
GillianWoah.
Scott BennerWere you caught in one of those situations where you're like, I cannot believe the person I'm talking to is this them? Yeah. No. You don't wanna say. Go ahead.
GillianThey—yeah. Yeah. That—that—that's the—that that's the most, PC way to say how I feel about this entire situation. But what the kicker was was the lawyer that they put me with was also a type one diabetic on the tandem.
Scott BennerOkay.
GillianAnd she was like, this is ridiculous. And I'm like, no Like, I've never—thank you for pointing out the obvious, but how can we, like, proceed? So the school's lawyer gets involved with my lawyer, and now we're just starting to talk lawyer to lawyer. And my lawyer is essentially like, if they let this continue and they don't give you, you know, the accommodation or anything, then we're gonna truly pursue legal action. And there's essentially no way that the court's not gonna look at them and be like, you need to apply—you need to comply.
Scott BennerYeah. You're messing this up.
GillianAnd I was providing, you know, all the documents. I was documenting everything. And I was just fearful of, well, what are they gonna do to me on my first day of school? Because I'm supposed to go, and they're not even sure if I'm supposed to go.
Scott BennerOkay.
GillianAnd that was my biggest question was, okay. Can we continue all this bullshit on the side? But can I show up on my first day? Because there's no reason that I can't.
Scott BennerIs there no reset button to hit? Like, can you just go everybody, hey. We've gotten way out over our skis now. I have type one diabetes. My blood sugar was high. Here you have the testing lab that says that could throw things off. Let's test me a different way. I'm telling you I'm not a drinker. Right. You know, do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?
GillianEssentially. And—and even in my, like, interview, my, you know, my statement to enter the school, I've made it abundantly clear that the reason I wanna do podiatry was because as a diabetic, I feel like this is my true way to give back to my community and to take care of people that need taken care of without being an endocrinologist because I don't wanna be part of that world.
Scott BennerGilly, in the side of that, who cares what your motivation is to become—I don't care if you just wanted to be rich and you don't care about people at all. Still, your right to get into the medical school if you—Right. You applied, you were obviously accepted, and it—it doesn't matter what your motivation is. Yes. This shouldn't be so hard. Right. Yeah.
GillianSo, essentially, they—during some point in this, I can't remember if it was, like, one or two months into school after this had all started, I get a call from—he's not at the school anymore, but I get a call from—I believe he was the assistant clinical dean or assistant—assistant somebody, really top dude in this school. And he's like, it is important that I meet with you, blah blah blah blah blah. And if you don't, there's gonna be serious repercussions. And I'm sitting at lunch, and I get this. And I've told one friend this entire time because I needed somebody at school to know why I was scared to walk into this place every second of the day. And I just start shaking, just absolutely full blown panic attack.
Scott BennerOkay.
GillianI'm calling my mom. I'm calling my lawyer. I'm—I'm like, am I even allowed to talk to them? Is this even good to talk to them? And they're both like—my lawyer was like, go talk to them. See what they have to say. I went in, talked with this man, and I find out there is the interim dean of my program and the psychologist also in this room. And I'm the only female in this room. And this discussion continues, and he's like—it just starts talking about this whole situation. He's like, well, why do you feel like you need to have a blood test, but you won't have a test? And I'm like, because it's against essentially my cons—like, not a constitutional right, but my right. You're breaking a federal law here. You're not. You're wanting to take this further than it needs to be, and I'm just asking for a reasonable accommodation. And he's like, well, why do you feel like you need to talk to a lawyer? And I—in a very politically correct way, I looked at him and essentially said, because you're beating around the bush and you wanna play games. I can't get it through to you that I have this right and this is all I'm gonna stop at and I don't need to go anywhere else.
Scott BennerIn the end, you don't care about the PATH test. It's not like it's some very invasive thing. You just were saying, like, this is not necessary, and I shouldn't have to give myself over to this.
GillianYep. And Okay. I actually boot camp, which was the first two weeks of school, it's basically like a test run for medical school. Nothing counts towards your grades.
Scott BennerYeah. Just to make sure you're not gonna pop. Yeah. Right. Right. Right. Actually leave one day, and I actually go get the Peth test done to see where my results were. Because at the time of all this, I'm like, I'm done drinking because I'm not gonna give them any reason to potentially do a—
Scott BennerFollow-up or yeah. Yeah. Send you a therapy. By the way, how much when you—and not that this should probably matter, but, like—Yeah. When you drank socially, how much were you drinking?
GillianLike, one or two a night.
Scott BennerOkay. Okay.
GillianAnd it—and it's not like a night. It was Not every night even.
GillianYeah. It was—we would go out on a Saturday night, and I would have one or two at dinner.
Scott BennerYou are my kind of difficult, Gillian. I wanna say that. I—I love that you said, no. I'm not getting the test. You can't make me get it, but I'll get it on my own.
GillianYeah. Yeah. Well, I was like, well, I need to see where this is gonna go.
Scott BennerI don't know if everybody can appreciate this or not, but that is the exact kind of difficult that I am right there. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah.
GillianI was like, if I'm gonna fight this, I'm gonna fight this to the end.
Scott BennerI'll do it. You can't do it.
GillianExactly. And so I get the test, and, of course, it comes back negative because it's not been a full six weeks since I haven't had anything.
Scott BennerRight.
GillianWe're in this meeting, and this dude literally looks at me and says, well, I can tell by the way that your body language is you're gonna be a problem during this whole entire thing. And I kinda wanna look at him like, dude, I'm already a problem, and this is just gonna be—I'm just gonna be a bigger problem for—no idea.
GillianI'm willing to take this all the way that I need to take this in order to shut you up because this is so wrong on so many levels.
Scott BennerYeah. I—there's this thing I shared with my wife when we were first together, and she still brings it up. So it must have—it must have really stuck to her. I told her. I was like, you should not with somebody who's willing to go farther than you. Yeah. It really is, like—and it's such a—I don't even know how to put this. Like, I feel like in—for me, personally, I'm a perfect American. I have a right to this. Yeah. We can argue about this to the end of our lives if you want to, but I'm not giving into this even though I don't care about it. And Right. there's something about being forced or told or compelled that I find abhorrent. I would not Mhmm. I would not let it happen either. I'm with you. If he told me I look like I was gonna problem, the first thought I would thought was, well, now I'm gonna be. And Yep. like, yeah, you and I are right together. Sure we would murder each other if we were married to each other. You're handling this Yeah. even though it's causing problems, and I bet you there were off ramps. I bet you there were off ramps for you.
GillianOh, for sure.
Scott BennerI would have done what you're doing too. So—
GillianI considered, like, a million times. Alright. Fine. We're gonna go to this—we're gonna go to this stupid detox program, and I'm gonna just be like, what the hell? And just essentially do my thing and get out and pray to God that I don't die and go into DKA because they refuse to give me insulin or whatever. But in the process of all of this, they're also—they called me in for this meeting to talk about this and to also deny me of any of my accommodations that I requested because the school that I was going to at the time would not allow food or water in the classroom. I—I knew it at the time because I had the PDM. They weren't gonna allow me to have my phone or access to it easily to do my exams. Mhmm. So I was like, hey. I need to be able to check my glucose and give myself insulin if I need to or eat a snack, and I need to have food and water in the classroom because I can't control this without it. I mean, we're in the classroom up to nine hours a day, and we get a thirty minute lunch break. I need to have this. And he goes, well, your—your accommodations are denied. And I go, okay. Like, essentially, well, we're gonna discuss more about this with my lawyer in the backhand. Let me take a mental note of this conversation. Further down this process afterwards, I remember it was like this conversation took about an hour and a half, and they were just like, why won't you just comply? And I am like, I am complying. I'm complying because I'm a person that falls under the ADA, and you're breaking about three of their laws right now. I'm complying. You're not. And I went back to class, and my face is beet red, full of tears, and everybody's just like, what the hell just happened to Gil? Like, Gil doesn't show emotions like this.
Scott BennerMhmm.
GillianI talk with my lawyer. I finished the rest of the day, come home, talk to my lawyer, and she's just like—I don't even remember the next steps because I was so flustered. But, essentially, she discussed with the lawyer, and the lawyer finally got them to agree that I was going to take the blood test and that if it came back negative and this is just—this is not the PEP test, but just the blood test, that if it came back negative, I was going to be scot free essentially. This was not gonna be a problem and that my accommodations would be met. Well, you—
Scott Bennerdropped and you just move forward.
GillianYeah. And I go, alright. I got this three hour window on Wednesday morning. Tell me a time to be at this place. And it got to the point that they wanted me to go to the school's hospital to get his blood test, and I didn't like that because I was like, what if they do something? Like, this isn't below these people to do something to my test or not give me my results or whatever. And my lawyer was like, well, if they're gonna go that far, I mean, this—this is a case that's just gonna be progressively worse because you can always go get another test afterwards to show that you weren't positive—
Scott BennerYes.
GillianAt the same time.
Scott BennerHow long ago was all this?
GillianThis was in twenty twenty four fall.
Scott BennerIs it all worked out now?
GillianYeah. I withdrew from that program because at the time, I was dealing with the lawsuit and in my first year of medical school full time, so my grades weren't the best, but their shenanigans kept going. They dropped everything after my blood alcohol test came back negative like I knew it was. Mhmm. And I had accommodations. I was allowed to leave my phone and PDM within six feet away from me in the classroom and have a juice or whatever I needed. And I just had to show them my screen when I was, you know, bullicing or checking my glucose or whatever. I just had to show them that. And I was fine with that. It was like, that is reasonable.
Scott BennerYeah.
GillianYeah. I understand. But they also—like, they wanted me to send my PDM off for lab testing to make sure that I didn't have any recording devices in it. And I was just like, you are out of this world.
Scott BennerLike Listen, if I can build a recording device in my PDM—
GillianI wouldn't be in med school. I'd be freaking rich.
Scott BennerI might be doing something else, you know. Also, don't I get credit for knowing how to do that? Like, cut me a break. So you think they were just picking back with you at that point?
GillianThey were—they were just—anything that I was trying to gain, it would be 15 steps backwards.
Scott BennerOkay.
GillianAnd it was just absolutely exhausting. So I did end up withdrawing. But in the second semester after everything died down, my professor—we tested in another classroom because all of the campus was testing that day. And my phone was set in the window sill behind me, and I had my phone, like, go on do not disturb. So only my Omnipod and my Dexcom app would light up the screen at 07:55 on the dot for testing days. And it wasn't 07:55 yet, and my screen lit up or something. And my professor walks over, and she picks up my phone and she looks at it, and she sees that I keep getting a text message or something on there. And she carries my phone out of the classroom. And my Bluetooth disconnects, and my pump goes haywire, and it puts me on limited mode. And I start—like, my glucose just starts rising, and I can feel it. And I wasn't allowed to, like, recalibrate my pump or anything that day. And I failed the exam because my blood sugar, I think, at the end of the exam was, like, over 400.
Scott BennerOh gosh.
GillianAnd this was, like, a four hour time. And by—I only failed the exam by one point, which was one question, and they wouldn't let me retake it. Everything was on camera, so I had to reopen the case. And then my lawyer was like, is this really worth going to this school? And I was like, you know what? No. No. It's not.
A New Path in Bedside Nursing
Scott BennerYeah. So what—what ends up happening? Do you, like—did you—do you just drop the whole thing and leave?
GillianAfter they agreed to everything, you know, my—my—they got an actual dean at the time, and the dean was like, I wanna rectify this. Like, you have the empathy. You have—you know, you can go really far in this career. And he finally got my papers for accommodation. I applied for accommodations in May '24, and he finally got my—my accommodation letter on—in February 2025 to protect me. And I was finding out that students were getting extra bonus points on their exams to pass, but I wasn't. And it's just because they were asking or, you know, they had a parent that was in the field that was very high up in the field too. And I hate playing that field, but my—neither of my parents are doctors. And my dad's now a school bus driver, my mom works in a corporate field. I was not getting any sort of, like, "oh, your dad's a doctor" sympathy.
Scott BennerYeah.
GillianLike some of the kids did. And they were curving some kids, like, 10 or 15 points to meet their quota because the school was also not accredited at the time—Okay. and still isn't. So they had to have a certain number of students to pass to meet the accreditation.
Scott BennerYeah. So they can get the accreditation.
GillianThey essentially was kind of forcing me out because they could keep the other students, and it was very apparent that if they weren't gonna give me a bonus, you know, an extra point because this professor carried my PDM without—Yeah. my eyesight me.
Scott BennerI see what you mean. Yeah.
GillianYou know, I don't really wanna be here.
Scott BennerAnd
GillianI was just absolutely just miserable. I think it's funny because my a one c dropped, like, over 2% the entire time of all of this. I was like, that's really funny.
Scott BennerWhat did you end up doing? Like, did you go back to school or you—did you give up?
GillianSo I—I withdrew. I started working at a local hospital, and I found actually that I would love a career as a nurse because I'm at the bedside, and I'm physically helping people. And not all doctors, you know, just sit behind a computer and write prescriptions, you know, or orders all day, but most of them, unfortunately, do. I have decided to go back to nursing school. I start in August and work up to be a CRNA for a nurse anesthetist.
Scott BennerGood for you.
GillianI love my job. I love—you know, I—I joke with my husband that I'm a professional butt wiper, but at the end of the day, I'm the one that is at the bedside holding family members' hands, helping them eat or whatever. I work in a trauma and neuro ICU.
Scott BennerYeah.
GillianAnd I absolutely love it because I'm physically there. I don't have insurance issues telling me I can't do this surgery on a, you know, an older lady that is gonna lose her foot in two days because she doesn't have the right insurance or whatever. And I just—all I have to worry about is that patient in the room or on the floor and get them the help that they need.
Scott BennerWell, I'm glad for you. I'm glad for you you found something that you—that you think you've enjoyed that is not fighting with you the entire time. Also, it's only my butt, but I—I—I wipe a butt at a professional level, I believe.
GillianYeah. Yeah.
Scott BennerYeah. I think I'm good. Yeah. That's what I'm saying.
GillianI mean, we all do it, whether it's our own or others, you know.
Scott BennerCan I ask you, did wiping other people's butts make you change how you wiped your own? Did you learn anything through the process where you're like, you know what I should be? I should be folding this paper instead of crumpling, or did you have any thoughts like that? Not yet. No professional takeaways?
GillianNot—no. None yet. Mhmm. But, you know, it—it does suck because I spent my—a very long time chasing after this career.
Scott BennerWell, yeah.
GillianBut the way that this school was teaching us to act and teaching this—us to have this mindset that, you know, we're god. And I know not every school's like this. I tell my story almost to every person I can get a chance to, especially in the diabetic world because we do have our rights, and we need to—you know, it definitely has changed the way that I have looked at what school do I wanna go to. Are you gonna give me backlash for having accommodations, or are you gonna be cool with it? Because if you're gonna be cool with it, we have no problem. If you're gonna be an asshole about it, we're gonna have a problem because I've already been down this route, and I know exactly what to do.
Scott BennerWell, I'll say this. Even though you didn't win, like, quote, unquote win, sometimes you gotta fight the power. You know what I mean? Like, sometimes you just have to be obstinate and stick up for yourself. And I mean, really, this is advocating on a different level. We're telling people to advocate all the time for themselves with their diabetes. You know?
GillianAnd I think that's all I ever wanted to do was advocate for people, especially for people who—I mean, it—even if for people who don't have the confidence just to stick up for themselves over how they look. You know?
Scott BennerOr whatever.
GillianYeah. Whatever it is. I've never been about bullying because with diabetes and being the only kid at school, I was bullied. But I had the mindset of if I can move a thousand pound horse, I'm not gonna let you tell me and be an asshole of me. It was—I—I think the point where I knew that I won was right after all of the blood testing issues happened. The lawyer actually—the school's lawyer actually came into one of our classes. It was, like, the fundamentals of podiatry, and it was all the not fun stuff, like the paperwork side of being a podiatrist. And he came in and had a class with us. And in front of my, like, 23 other classmates, he looked at me and he said, "I am so sorry for what my aunt and my uncle and my school has done to you" because he was the nephew of the school's dean and owner, essentially. And he goes, "I'm so sorry for what—that we have put you through and what we've done to you."
Scott BennerSo this is a small institution that was trying to get on its feet. And—Yeah. Yeah.
GillianWell—oh, it—it—it's actually the one of the largest for its scope of field. You know, you have your MD and your other types of medical school, and it was the largest. Their other program had, like, over 400 students of it, and they've been a school for years, I think. It's not like they needed this, but I don't know why they did this. I know that the dean that threatened me in my career, he actually lost his medical license because he was selling, cocaine and threatened to kill his girlfriend in front of cops and then was made the dean of the school.
Scott BennerListen. I will tell you that these two things aren't related, but my daughter went to the, Savannah College of Art and Design for a couple of years, and the—the fury that I saw at that place was insane. So—Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Not every school's a school. Sometimes—sometimes it's just a business. And, you know?
GillianAnd—and that's what it is is, you know, my dad made—my parents taught me two things. You're never gonna leave high school, and I really hate that my mom is so correct about that because the—that people do. And then my dad was like, everything is a business. Medicine's a business. School's a business. Everything. Like—and if you're attending a school, you're the client. But it's really funny because my husband graduated high school and then immediately went into the military and was deployed in everything. And he's like, "I will never go to school." And, you know, I was just like, "oh, well, maybe—maybe you'll find something that you, you know, would want, like, an associate's degree." And now—and now after I've been through all this, he's like, "that."
Scott BennerI am—
Gillian"never going to school because the amount of bull you had to deal with since in the three and a half, almost four years I've known you, that."
Scott BennerWell, I—I think what I've learned—I don't wanna sound cynical, but what I've learned is that everything on some level is money or power.
GillianOh, yeah.
Scott BennerAnd, like, you know, I've said this on here a million times, but, like, just for the—to kinda button this conversation up. Yeah. The same crap that I saw when my son was playing baseball in Little League when he was seven happened in his senior year of college playing baseball. Yeah. It's all just money and power. Mhmm. So, anyway, I really appreciate you telling me this story. I have to jump. But this was awesome. I appreciate you out there fighting for yourself and that you took the time to then tell other people about it to get in there.
Scott BennerI'm so happy you found something that you enjoyed.
GillianYeah. Well, thank you for letting me join and be a part of this.
Scott BennerNo. It was awesome. Are you kidding? I appreciate you reaching out. How did you find me? How did you—
GillianI listened to you when I worked at Amazon in 2020. We were allowed to listen to podcasts, And I—your podcast was a big role in me switching out of that rebellious teenager phase. Oh. Awesome. And then meeting my husband, definitely. Those two things were a big part of—Yeah. I found a community within your podcast. So I was like, oh, I'm not the only one that goes through this bull—
Scott BennerOh, I'm glad to know that. I had no idea. That's—that's wonderful. Yeah. What's your a one c today? Can you tell me?
GillianMy a one c was 7.6. And when I entered medical school, it was, like, 8.9.
Scott BennerAnd are you still working on it? Like, is it a thing? What's—
GillianI am. I've been in burnout the past couple of weeks, so I've not been—I actually don't have a sensor on because I just needed a break. But I really would like it to be, like, a six point five because I want kids.
Scott BennerPre bolus every one of your meals in a month from—a month from now, it'll be six point five.
GillianYep. Yep. I need to get there.
Scott BennerReevaluate your settings. Pre bolus your meals. That's Okay. That'll get you there.
GillianAwesome.
Scott BennerWell, I'm so happy you did this with me. Thank you so much. You—can you hold on for one second after we hang up here? Excellent. Hold on one second.
Scott BennerThis episode of the Juice Box podcast is sponsored by Omnipod five. Omnipod five is a tube free automated insulin delivery system that's been shown to significantly improve a one c and time and range for people with type one diabetes when they've switched from daily injections. Learn more and get started today at omnipod.com/juicebox. At my link, you can get a free starter kit right now. Terms and conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox.
Scott BennerDexcom sponsored this episode of the juice box podcast. Learn more about the Dexcom g seven at my link, dexcom.com/juicebox. Okay. Well, here we are at the end of the episode. You're still with me? Thank you. I really do appreciate that. What else could you do for me? Why don't you tell a friend about the show or leave a five star review? Maybe you could make sure you're following or subscribe in your podcast app, go to YouTube and follow me or Instagram, TikTok. Oh, gosh. Here's one. Make sure you're following the podcast in the private Facebook group as well as the public Facebook page. You don't wanna miss—please, do you not know about the private group? You have to join the private group. As of this recording, it has 74,000 members. They're active talking about diabetes. Whatever you need to know, there's a conversation happening in there right now. And I'm there all the time. Tag me. I'll say hi.
Scott BennerHave 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.
