#1878 Drunk Bunny
ER nurse Lisa shares how her seven-year-old twin’s Type 1 diabetes diagnosis prompted a pivot to school nursing. Discover how community support helped her overcome clinical fears of insulin.
Key Takeaways
- Career Pivots for Caregiving: Lisa transitioned from her career path in hospital nursing leadership to school nursing so she could be more present and better aligned with her son's schedule following his Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis.
- School Nursing Disparities: Despite being a registered nurse herself, Lisa found that the level of clinical education and support in some school districts didn't meet the standards she was used to in hospital settings, prompting her proactive approach to her son's care.
- The "Mother Doom" Instincts: Lisa's clinical background and "Mother Doom" nickname from the ER helped her quickly identify her 7-year-old son's symptoms (frequent urination, extreme thirst, weight loss), leading to a diagnosis before DKA set in.
- The Power of Community and Podcasts: Hearing real-life applications of diabetes management on the Juice Box Podcast (like "dosing for sushi" and being bold with insulin) helped Lisa overcome the strict, fear-based clinical rules she learned as a hospital nurse.
- Fostering Independence: Just eight months after diagnosis, Lisa's 7-year-old was already recognizing when his pump wasn't in automated mode and changing his own pods at diabetes camp, showing the value of involving children early in their own management.
Resources Mentioned
- Touched by Type 1: touchedbytype1.org
- Tandem Mobi System: tandemdiabetes.com/juicebox
- Eversense 365: eversensecgm.com/juicebox
- US Med: usmed.com/juicebox or call (888) 721-1514
- Omnipod 5 Starter Kit: omnipod.com/juicebox
- Juice Box Podcast Support & Lists: juiceboxpodcast.com/lists
- Wrong Way Recording: wrongwayrecording.com
Introduction & Sponsors
Scott BennerWelcome back, friends. You are listening to the Juice Box podcast.
LisaHi. I'm Lisa. So I'm a I have a type one, first and foremost. I have seven year old twins, one of which was diagnosed with type one 11/24/2024.
Scott BennerHey. Do you need support? I have some stuff for you. It's all free. Juiceboxpodcast.com.
Click on support in the menu. Let's see what you get there. A one c and blood glucose calculator. People love that. That's actually, I think, the most popular page on the website some months.
A list of great endocrinologists from listeners, that's from all over the country. There's a link to the private Facebook group, to the Circle community, and we have a a fantastic thing there. American Sign Language. There's a great sign language interpreter who did the entire bold beginning series in ASL. So if you know anybody who would benefit from that, please send them that way.
Just go to juiceboxpodcast.com and click on support. While you're there, check out the guides, like the prebolising guide, fat and protein insulin calculator, oh gosh, thyroid, GLP, caregiver burnout. You should go to the website. Click around a little bit on those menus. It really there's a lot more there than you think.
Nothing you hear on the Juice Box podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. Always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan. This episode of the Juice Box podcast is sponsored by US Med, usmed.com/juicebox, or call (888) 721-1514. Get your supplies the same way we do from US Med. A huge thanks to my longest sponsor, Omnipod.
Check out the Omnipod five now with my link, omnipod.com/juicebox. You may be eligible for a free starter kit, a free Omnipod five starter kit at my link. Go check it out. Omnipod.com/juicebox. Terms and conditions apply.
Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox.
Meet Lisa: ER Nurse & Type 1 Mom
LisaHi. I'm Lisa.
Scott BennerLisa, that was easy, wasn't it?
LisaPerfect. Alright. Perfect.
Scott BennerYesterday, the lady said to me, what do you want me to say when I introduce myself? And I was like, I don't know. I would just introduce yourself. Yeah. So some people say, hey.
I'm Lisa. Some people go, hey. I'm Lisa. I'm a this, that. Like, it's really you know, it's interesting to see where people start.
Alright. Well, Lisa, why are we having you on the podcast? What looks like you might have a kid with type one diabetes. Is this correct?
LisaSo I'm a I have a type one, first and foremost. I have seven year old twins, one of which was diagnosed with type one 11/24/2024. And I think I'm got a little bit of a unique perspective in that I'm also a nurse. I've been a nurse for over twenty years. And then to kinda tack on to that, I also recently entered the school nurse world to kind of because we don't have, like, a big circle.
Right?
Scott BennerMhmm.
LisaYou know, of people that stepped up to, you know, kinda help out with our guy. So I left the hospital full time, stayed there as needed in the ER. So I work in the ER just to keep life a little more spicy. Mhmm. So I do school nursing, so I see that whole side of type one kiddo management on top of the normal stuff at home that we deal with.
Right?
Scott BennerLet's figure it out, and let's hope that I can stay focused. I missed a spot shaving this morning just right under my lip, and I'm, touched it.
LisaIt's gonna irk you off.
Scott BennerWell, I'm gonna fix it as soon as you and I are done. Don't don't worry. I'm just hoping I can let myself off the hook right now and stop touching it because it's meaningless. If I don't put my hand on it, I don't know it's there. Anyway, this is not the point.
Twin seven year olds, boy girl, girl girl, boy boy. What do got?
LisaScott, they're they're boys. I'm gonna be cleaning up pee for the rest of my life.
Scott BennerNo. They'll figure it out in their thirties, I imagine.
LisaOh my god. They can't they can't get a Target to save their life.
Scott BennerIt's Yeah. That moment where you're like, it's on the wall. How to get on the wall?
LisaNo. It's this is this is my life every day. If I'm not, like, dealing with pee at work on the ground or on me, it's at who?
Scott BennerPeople are just peeing everywhere. Well, there you go. Two little boys, and one of them I don't wanna you know, we're not using their names, I imagine. But, like, what happens with the one? What what's the first thing you see?
Does does being a nurse help at all or not not at all?
Catching It Early: The "Mother Doom" Instinct
LisaYou know what? So my husband, and his friend had a nickname for me, mother doom, because, you know, working in the ER, you tend to see some pretty crazy things. And we had, like, a week where I was like, this kid is drinking a lot. But, you know, like, they're crazy boys. They're always running around.
But then he started having some accidents at night, which he didn't normally do. And the day before I tested his blood sugar, we were down at the penitentiary, down in Philly. And this kid was like, I need water. I need water. And I was like, kinda getting frustrated, you know, like mom of the year.
Right? I'm like, dude. I'm like, okay. I'll get you water. I'll get you water.
So, yeah, the next day, we got home from church, and I'm like, something is not right. And, yeah, definitely, those spidey senses were going off. Like, and he also looked like he lost weight. Like, that was another big, like, kinda key thing for me. I had tummy surgery years ago, so I had a glucometer at home.
Oh. Yeah. Okay. So just happened to be at home. And so I tested my blood sugar, my husband's blood sugar just to make sure this, like, dusty thing still worked.
And, like, ours were normal, and his sugar, it was, like, four thirty eight. Oh god. And I'm like I mean, it's I mean and, know, you went through it with your daughter. Like, it's that like, you'll never forget that moment because I just knew exactly what it was. And I looked at my husband, and I just went upstairs, closed the bathroom door, cried for a couple minutes, and then I called the pediatrician.
And we landed down at CHOP, and thank goodness we caught it before he was in DKA. So we had, like, the shortened non ICU version of diagnosis. Yeah. Since then, we also had his twin we, you know, we went through, like, the auto Autobody testing.
Scott BennerThrough, like, TrialNet or something like that?
LisaYeah. TrialNet. Yep. TrialNet. Easy peasy.
So interestingly enough, what we ended up finding out so he does not have any of them yet. Hopefully, never. But my side of the family, I have Hashimoto's thyroid, which is autoimmune. My mom has the Michael Jackson disease, vitiligo.
Scott BennerYep.
LisaSo that's autoimmune. And as of last week, I noticed this patch on his brother that I am most certain is vitiligo as well.
Scott BennerSo Oh, okay. So Don't you think
Lisaruns strong in the family.
Scott BennerIf Michael Jackson was still alive, he'd be thrilled that you thought of him that way and not the other way. You know what I mean?
LisaRight. Right. Right. Without the fentanyl.
Scott BennerWell or or the little boys or whatever. Like, yeah, there's a lot of like, he he it's a big win for Michael Jackson right now when you when you said that. Right. You're really making it feel like I could listen to a couple of Michael Jackson tunes in the car this spring. Well, are you around here?
You say you went to CHOP?
LisaYeah. Yep. I'm actually right outside of Philly.
Scott BennerYeah. Okay. Well, then there you go.
LisaYeah. Yep. So amazing resource team. They, like, right away, kind of invited me into, like, the, diabetes camp world, which was very interesting, Scott, because I learned that I do it for my son. I do it for the kids that are there.
I love, I'm the official, like, boo boo nurse, the med nurse, so I take care of everything nondiabetic. Okay. So and it's, like, a beautiful thing because they take the follow. Like, the like, I unfollow him. And so I have this week where I hear 50,000,000 alarms going off, but it's not on my phone.
You know?
Scott BennerWell, you know, I don't know if I wanna call you boo boo nurse or or mother doom. I'm not sure where this is gonna go. Are you also running around, like, every time somebody sneezes, you say tell them what's wrong with them? Is that that nickname wasn't just around this diagnosis, was it?
LisaNo. You know what? I like no. But Okay. If you've had the like, if you've had it for, like, three weeks, I'm like, okay.
Maybe you have pneumonia. Maybe you need a chest X-ray. You know what I'm saying?
Scott BennerAnd, like Okay. Yeah. Okay. So the peeing and the weight loss, does your brain go diabetes, or does your brain go something's wrong, or you think diabetes pretty much up front?
LisaSo, initially, before I put him on the scale, to be honest with you, like, it was just like, know something's wrong. I know something's wrong. But, you know, in the nursing world, like, you type one, you take care of them maybe for a couple hours in the ER, and then they go whether theyre being, you know, shipped to CHOP or, you know, if they're adults, they're being shipped up to ICU. So the type one piece definitely was not on my radar, but something was like, check his blood sugar. So deep down, I must have been like, okay.
You read this in a textbook somewhere.
Scott BennerOh, it's interesting. Oh, that's really cool. Well, how how'd it go? Like, who was it a bigger adjustment for? You, your husband, your son, his brother, everybody?
Scott BennerHe
Lisahe was just he's a he was a rockstar. Like, he was a rockstar from the get go. And I think for me now my husband is also in health care. He, at the time, he was X-ray, but now he's MRI dealing with the big magnet. But I think it was more of an adjustment for him, for, like, my mother-in-law who, you know, takes care of him.
You know? Because he they'd never shot somebody with, you know, an injection before. Okay. Like, for me, like, I had one moment while he was still in the hospital where, like, I was like it just kinda all came, like, crashing in. I'm like, oh my god.
I'm doing this for my this is, like, my kid. You know? This isn't somebody else's kid. This is my kid. And, like, the enormity of this is the rest of, like, his life.
You know? And I will say his name. Farron, who was the nurse that day, must have just, like, saw the look on my face, and he's like, go take a walk. I got this. And that's what I needed.
I just needed that space for a minute. But, yeah, definitely the people, you know, who have never, you know, had to give injections, like, you know, never dealt with insulin and all that good stuff. Definitely a huge learning curve for everybody.
Scott BennerOkay. So it's it's more about the the trying to, like, figure out the management stuff at first. It's overwhelming.
LisaRight.
Scott BennerOkay.
Overcoming Fear & The Hospital Disconnect
LisaWhich, I just gotta throw this out there. Like, I, listening to bold beginnings, listening to you and Jenny, listening to the stories, not trying to be a suck up, but, like, for real, like, that's what got me through that period because, you know, like, there's so there's only so much information you get from the hospital. Right? From your endocrine team is technically, they're available 247, but not everything's a 911 call. You know?
Or you know what I'm saying? Yeah.
Scott BennerYou're you're not always up
Lisato Right.
Scott BennerOther stuff. Right.
LisaBut, you know, from like, I I laugh. Like, that's how I learned to dose for sushi was through juice pop.
Scott BennerOh.
LisaYou know, not being afraid to give those big doses because, you know, you have to remember, like, as a nurse, insulin is a two person sign off in the hospital because it's you know, you could kill somebody
Scott BennerYeah.
LisaWith it. Right? So, like, getting out of my own head that it's okay. I'm not gonna kill my kid. You know?
And that's honestly, like, what this podcast did for me for sure.
Scott BennerListen. I'm I'm thrilled that it did that for you, but don't let that stop you. That the the honesty that shouldn't stop you from sucking up if you want to. Yeah. So, I mean, that Make
Lisasure you shape your face there, Scott.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. Oh, so yeah. Anytime I get a little too full of myself today, you'll be like, there's a patch of hair under your lip, Jack. You just missed it.
How do I miss it like this? I tried to shave in the shower.
LisaIt happens.
Scott BennerI'm usually good at it, though. It happens. Yeah. Oh, it's a little disappointing. So let's talk about that bit a little more.
Right? Insulin's a two person sign off in the hospital.
LisaMhmm.
Scott BennerAnd what does that do to you? It it reinforces the fear?
Sponsor Break
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LisaYeah. Like, now in the ER, things, like, are a little scaled back now. But, like, for me growing up as a nurse, like, anytime you were giving a corrective dose in the hospital, yeah, you had to find a nurse. Like, you know, even if it was down the hall. Hey.
You see this? I'm given seven units. Sign me off. You know? But, yeah, it was very, even Lantus.
Like, don't judge me for this. But, like, I was more paranoid about the Lantus. Like, even though in my brain, I knew I mean, he's on the pump and everything now, but, you know, I would give the Lantus. I'd be like, oh my god. Is he gonna drop right away?
But, like, I know better. You know? But, yeah, it's definitely, like, you know, if you're giving if somebody's on an insulin drip, which, again, like, thank god he didn't need that in the hospital. But, like, even just the injections, I mean, it's just it's programmed in your head. It's a high alert medication.
You know, you could kill somebody with this and yada yada yada. And so and now here I am unsupervised. Like, here's my like, god bless them, but, like, my X-ray tech husband. I'm like, Tony, can you double check this? You know?
Scott BennerI love that you're from Philly and your husband's name is Tony.
LisaYeah. Literally. It's awesome.
Scott BennerLet's just get it out of the way now. Italian. So which cheesesteaks do you prefer?
LisaOh, no. You know what? Oh, Dalesandro's.
Scott BennerOkay. It's a it's a newer choice.
LisaYeah. Dalesandro's. They're not as greasy as the other ones.
Scott BennerYou know, never went to Pat's once.
LisaNo. It's
Scott BennerThe place across to them that we used to go to a lot. What was it called? Gino's. Gino's. Yeah.
LisaCheese fries, though. They have good cheese fries.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. It's interesting. See, people know. Yeah.
That's all. People go to Philadelphia, while they're here, they're like, I'm gonna get a cheesesteak for sure while I'm while I'm here.
LisaOh, yeah. Or Steve's. Steve's is good too.
Scott BennerTell people how amazing it was when the Eagles beat the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
LisaWait. Can I tell you something funny real quick?
Scott BennerGo ahead.
LisaSo I was six months pregnant with these these children,
Scott Bennerand my husband say monsters.
LisaWell, that too.
Scott BennerThat's a lot people. Pause. I'm like, is she just pivoting from a word right now?
LisaAt this time, they were still quiet and not arguing with me or trying to kill each other. Okay?
Scott BennerI knew.
LisaYeah. Yeah. So I was six months pregnant with them, and my, like, hardcore eagles fan husband, they won the Super Bowl. And there I am take because we have an older son too. I should have told you that, Scott.
I have a 23 year old.
Scott BennerOkay.
LisaAnd six months pregnant with twins, taking the older one down to the parade, which I probably should have done in hindsight, like, you know, technically geriatric pregnancy, like, you know, twins. Yeah. And, yeah, like, down there, you know, everybody's indulging in different things, drinking, smoking, and there I am with these twins. And I'm like, oh lord. Is that how I ended up giving my kid type one?
Like Nah.
Scott BennerI don't think so.
LisaJust kidding.
Scott BennerBut I did just wonder, do they pee in you while you're pregnant too? They don't pee while do babies pee while they're oh my god.
LisaDo they Everything's all in that amniotic fluid. Yep. Yep.
Scott BennerYep. Wait. Wait. Hold on. Hold on.
Hold on. On. Do fetuses pee? Let's just go there for a As soon as you were talking about pee and then pivoted the kids being inside you, I was like, oh my god. Do they pee while they're in A fetus starts making urine during pregnancy, and that urine becomes a normal part of the amniotic fluid.
And the fetus allows also swallows amniotic fluid, and the fluid gets recycled that way. Dear god, what's wrong with everything?
LisaThere it is.
Scott BennerMay I just say right here? When people say, isn't life amazing? It's it's it's an obvious obvious decision to say there's a god. I say, if there was a god, why would he have developed it like this? Do you know I mean?
Or unless he is a man, and he just came up with the first thing he went with. And he was like, that's fine. They can pee and then drink it.
LisaThere it is. But then that's why we have the placenta to keep it nice and clean.
Scott BennerI mean, you say. But but I I do think, like, a female god would have said, like, oh, why did we do it like this where the pee goes back into the baby? Why don't we find another way to, like, port that out? You know what I mean?
LisaThere definitely would have been a cleaner system once they're born.
Scott BennerThis is horrifying. Placenta is doing the main waste filtering work, not the fetus going to the bathroom the way a newborn does. It sounds strange. Well, yeah, it does sound strange. A womb that is a normal part of the I mean, normal.
What's normal?
LisaNothing. There's nothing normal anymore, Scott.
Scott BennerAnyway, point being, that kid's been peeing on you since day one.
LisaDay one. Since day one. Absolutely. That's awesome. Absolutely.
Scott BennerNothing like being a mom.
LisaNo. And you know what? Like but that also kinda goes back, like, I so we I would take them to the car show every year. We would go down to see the lights at oh, what's it called? Wannamakers or whatever.
Yeah. Macy's. Yeah. And Wannamakers. We
Scott BennerThat was an old reach back to your mom.
LisaI just ate it myself. Oh my gosh.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. That's awesome. You had vinyl wait. You had vinyl chairs in your kitchen at some point.
I know for sure.
LisaIn '81, Scott. Take a deep breath.
Scott BennerI know for sure. Wadamakers. That's awesome. We used to go to Clover. Oh, Jess, shut up.
Go even.
LisaOh my gosh. Hey. My friend's mom was a hairdresser at Clover.
Scott BennerI met my first I met my first real girlfriend at Clover. She was a Aw. She was a cashier there. I went through I'm gonna let you get to this in a second. I went through a line.
I was just there getting something, and this girl was so pretty. Like, and I just froze. Like, when I got up to her, I wanted to say something, and I didn't. And I thought, that's okay. She works at Clover.
She's a she's a registered person. I by the way, this used to not be called stalking. I just thought, like, I'd go back and, like, I'll see her again. I'm gonna ask her out. You know?
It got to the point where, like, it didn't matter how many times I walked into that store. Like, she was never there.
LisaOh, no.
Scott BennerAnd then it turned into, like, a thing where I was like, well, am I gonna stop? Or you know what mean? Because it's, even felt creepy to me at that point that, you know
LisaShe was gone.
Scott BennerOh my god.
LisaNever existed.
Scott BennerAnyway, I rolled through there one day, and she was just standing there, like, running that cash register. And I was like, oh my god. I like, there was, like, attached to this little mall, and I ran into the mall. I grabbed, like, a single flower from a flower shop. I got in the line.
I waited, it was my turn. I said, hi. I saw you here about six months ago, and I wanted to ask you out. And I didn't, and I've been coming back into the store ever since. This is the first time I've seen you.
And I was like, this is my name. This is my phone number. Like, if you wanna connect You want me was a that's my own damn Tinder or whatever it's called.
LisaRemember those days? Oh my gosh.
Scott BennerAnd I dated that girl for a year before she cheated on me and broke my heart.
LisaOh, well, you know what? And now you have your beautiful wife and family.
Scott BennerShe and she can break my heart every day. She's been doing it for three decades. She's so good at it. I mean, honestly. Arden was giving me crap the other day, I went, hey.
Hey. Hey. Hey. Mom's already got this covered. Yeah.
That's right. Was like, you you don't need I don't need a backup. Okay? Right. Right.
LisaNo. She's she's like the junior, the missus junior.
Scott BennerI was like, your mom's doing a great job. I'll let you know if she dips in production. You can step in and start giving me crap. Okay? But, like, for now, this the your mom's a pro.
She got this.
LisaYeah. Yeah. Oh my god.
Scott BennerAnyway, Michelle, if you're out there, I'm sorry if I ever did anything wrong to you, but I had a really good time. Nevertheless, let's move on. Sorry.
LisaOh, that's his start.
Scott BennerWhat Well, there's a story that's never been in the podcast before.
LisaAnd what a what a throwback to
Scott Bennerget in one, Lisa. There you go. Like, not all and people don't always get good news stories. Sometimes you're like, this guy telling this one again?
LisaNo. That's a good one.
Scott BennerYeah. That's a good one. It's such a nice can I tell you one other nice thing I thought I did for her?
LisaWhat? What did she do?
Scott BennerIt was her it was her birthday. She was working at that Clover still. Basically, we were young. Our lives were, like, working, having sex, and going out once in a while. Like right?
Like so Right. It was her birthday. She's working at Clover. She gets off at, like, late at night, like, 10:00, and she's supposed to come to my house afterwards, you know, for her birthday. Earlier in the evening, I went I'm gonna sound insane for a second.
But
LisaI can't wait.
Scott BennerWent out and got me and my buddy got a bunch of balloons, and we blew them up and, like, enough to no. Don't oh. Enough to fill her car with front seat, back seat, floorboards, dashboard, everywhere. And then we had a video camera, and she she I was way ahead of the Internet, by the way. I just wanna say.
LisaOh my god.
Scott BennerSo she wanders out of work, and she used to have to do the books at the end. If I remember rightly, like, she was going to school to be an she might be an accountant now. I don't know. Because she did cheat on me before she got to, codify that decision. But I but so she stayed late if I remember, like, doing, like, TILs and stuff like that.
So she wanders out into this big empty parking lot, just her and a couple of, like, stragglers that worked there. And she could see her. She was smoked. I remember, like, she came out. She lit a cigarette.
We're watching from, like, a a vantage where she can't say us with a camera, and she's wandering across the parking lot, she's smoking her cigarette. She looks like she's had a pretty long day. If I'm not mistaken, like, she probably went to school all day before that, you know? Oh, my gosh. And you see her pull her key out.
I know you guys don't know about this, but there used to be, like, a key you put in the side of your car and opened it.
LisaNo. They don't.
Scott BennerNo. No. They have no idea. And I see her look up, look in the window, and you could even though we were maybe 70 yards away from her, you could feel the what the look on her face. You know?
And then she's like she opens the door, stares for a second. You can see her contemplating what to do, and then she just starts pulling the balloons out, and they're, like, all over the parking lot. Oh, I probably killed so many dolphins that day.
LisaThat's okay.
Scott BennerAnyway That's okay. I thought she was gonna find that endearing, but I don't think she did. That was the it was the gesture. Oh, she did enjoy watching the video afterwards. I just thought it was funny.
Anyway, that's all I got for you.
LisaI love it.
Making the Switch: Moving to School Nursing
Scott BennerAlright. On our way. We're on our way now.
LisaWe're on our way.
Scott BennerOkay. So this kid of yours has diabetes. You're overwhelmed a little bit, but what do you do to pull it together? Right? So you have support at the hospital side.
You are a nurse. You're getting through your fear. Right. You find the podcast. Like, you start to settle in.
Like, what's moving forward look like once you're settled?
LisaSo okay. So there was a couple things. So there was you know, twelve hour shifts was fine before that Oh. And before my husband's job changed because then he ended up going to evening shift. And, you know, again, like, unfortunately so my the kids had gone to an extended care program at the school, but, there were some issues and challenges with, them.
You know I don't wanna say taking care of him because, you know, like, we don't expect people to take care of our kids' diabetes like we do. Right? Like, you're essentially just keeping them alive, troubleshooting them. But, unfortunately, like, we had a not great situation where someone that was ahead of the program was like, well, you know, we can't do that here. We can't, you know, we can't check his blood sugar.
Well, anytime if it alarms, we'll just call 911. Now, Scott,
Scott Bennercan call 911 if your high alarm were off?
LisaI swear to god. Can you imagine? I was horrified. But you know what? Me being me, I'm like, I know this is not, like, the case.
So here I go on the district website because it's, you know, a program from the school, and it clearly says we accept kids with disabilities and yada yada yada. Yeah. Copy and paste that. And, like, I sent it to her boss. I'm like, I just because now you have to remember, Scott, he was still in the hospital at this point.
Like, I was, like, not messing around because we were on Thanksgiving break, and I'm like, I need to get all this situated. You know, of course, once I got the boss involved, they're like, no. You know, we can you know, we'll we'll learn. We'll figure it out. But, like, at that point, I'm like, the boss isn't there.
Right? Like, it's this woman and some you know, a couple other people who that that they were phenomenal. I'm like, do I really wanna leave my kid with you? You know? Thinking that that's your, like, first reaction is you're just gonna call 911 all the time.
Scott BennerFirst reaction is we don't wanna be involved.
Lisa100%.
Scott BennerYeah.
LisaAnd that was just kind of the tip of the ice berg that I learned. And I know it's not just our school district, but in school districts in general. So I had to make a move, and I now my trajectory was nurse nursing leadership. Like, I was a patient safety officer, risk management. Like, I did so much stuff, like, for big health care organizations in our city.
And I'm like, okay. Two master's degrees, certification, all that's on pause because I gotta take care of my kid. Right? I gotta make sure my kid's safe. I don't want to put him in a situation where people don't wanna take care of him or learn to.
So that's how I ended up making that switch to school nursing so, you know, I could be off when they are and all that jazz.
Scott BennerSo Are you telling me you have two master's degrees, or you were going after them and you stopped doing that to
Lisado this? I I I I finished them.
Scott BennerI did them. What do you have master's in?
LisaSo one's in, nursing administration, and the other is from Temple. While I was working at Temple, I did my health care administration.
Scott BennerMakes people hear our accent and just think we're stupid. You know what I mean? I know I know people right now in the Midwest are like, that girl's got a degree? That's amazing. How'd she do that with her obvious mental disabilities?
Yeah. It's because we talk funny. It doesn't mean we're not smart. That's all.
LisaI know how to I know how to write a paper. Okay?
Scott BennerWell, that's really cool. Oh oh, wow. But so, well, listen. It's been what? Year four months now since diagnosis, something like that?
Mhmm. You obviously did this, but did you do it recently to switch to school nursing? I mean, I know you're still in the ER once in a while, but when did you make the switch?
LisaSo last March, I went per diem for the school district. I just to get my foot in the door and see if I would be able to survive. And then, yeah, and then when my husband made his little change, I'm like, you know what? I'm just gonna do it. I'm just gonna do it.
I'm gonna go full time. Financially, we'll figure it out because nobody goes into school nursing for the pay.
Scott BennerIt's a hit. Right? I mean, you you lose your overtime and, like, all that stuff. Right?
LisaYeah. And if you don't, like, if you don't work, you don't get paid. So, like, talk about, you know, a financial culture shock for my family, but we're figuring it out.
Scott BennerI gotta tell you. Most jobs, if you don't work, you don't get paid. I just wanna say that. True story.
LisaTrue story. Absolutely. Absolutely.
Scott BennerMy question is, though, how long has it been since you made the decision?
LisaTo to go so it's been a year.
Scott BennerA year. Okay.
LisaIt's been a year. Yeah.
Scott BennerMy question is, did you need to do it?
LisaYou know what? Yes. Okay. I'm gonna say
Scott Benneryes Because I there are times I feel like I don't know if I say it every time because I I don't wanna hurt people's feelings, but, like, I think every time someone tells me, for example, they have, like, a a a diabetes service dog, I
Lisago Mhmm.
Scott BennerDid you need to do it? Right. And, like, because I know the feeling in the beginning of I gotta quit my job. I mean, people the people whose kids get diagnosed with diabetes, they've done homeschool after that or
LisaRight.
Scott BennerThat's that's not a small number of people. That happens a lot. Right? The nurses that switched to school nursing, not a small number of people. But I always wonder if they look back in hindsight and go, it would have been alright if I didn't do this.
LisaDid I you know what? I I think because so I was so career focused most of my life that this kind of was a I don't even know how to describe it, but it was just this huge, like, wall for me because I'm like, I wanna keep things as normal as I can for my kid, for my family. And, you know, and my husband, like, god love him, like, he really he, like, he will he will tell you. Like, he will say, like, I'm not good at this stuff. You know?
Like
Scott BennerI feel when when the god love them came out, I figured we were, you know
LisaYeah. Was gonna be a little a but.
Scott BennerWe love him. You know? You know?
LisaYeah. But he owns it. And
Scott Bennerthat's Tony. It's wonderful. That that's my
Lisathat's my Tony. Right? My Tony. But, like, he owns it. And, you know, I just kinda I was not really fulfilled.
Like, I left leadership, Scott, because I just, you know, I didn't really fit
Scott Bennerin. Mhmm.
LisaLike, I was one of those people. I was one of those managers where I would switch up my hours, and I would would work night shift and day shift and both shifts to, you know, to keep my staff from going out of ratio and things like that. And, you know, when you have even if it's not that, you know, diabetes, but, like, you know, when you have a kid that requires a little extra both my kid have IEPs, ADD. You know, the ADDs are a little coin term now or whatever. I just felt like I needed to be more present.
And being in those leadership roles, I couldn't do that. So yeah. So for us, I felt like it was I really wanna be here and be present.
Scott BennerYeah.
LisaIf that
Scott Bennermakes sense.
LisaOkay. Yeah.
Scott BennerHold on one second. I'll tell you what I'm doing in a second.
LisaWe shaving our face.
Scott BennerI wish it was that. Hold on. I don't know how this happened. I got a message I got a message that I had to answer, which Yeah. Which made my which made me pick up my phone.
Right? So I replied to the to the message. And then somehow, I clue I'm I'm old, so I close apps when I'm done with them. Of course. In fairness, my wife is not old, and there's currently 875 apps open on her phone.
2,500 of them she's never used before and doesn't know what they are. I think it's more
Lisaof a woman thing than an age thing.
Scott BennerI mean and there's gotta be 17,000 emails. I just delete them all. It doesn't matter. Those emails to me are the digital representation of the stuff in my basement that also we'll never look at again. Nevertheless, I swiped up on iMessages and got rid of it, and it brought up my Facebook in front of me.
And Oh. There was just a new message in the group, and somebody said, I'm currently crashing and feeling horrible. My husband's not waking up. I took four glucose tablets forty minutes ago, and it's not getting better. Should I just keep taking tablets even though it's clearly not working?
LisaMom at that point.
Scott BennerYeah. So she's heart. She's 67. She's obviously I I and so I actually I thought, like, I thought, you know, I'm working. I I can't say and then I thought it would help if she thought to post this, like, I'm gonna respond.
Lisa100%.
Scott BennerSo I just said juice, high sugar drinks, swish them in your mouth, then get something substantial in. So hopefully
LisaBless our hearts. 67.
Scott BennerAnd other people, yeah, other people are popping on now. Anyway, if you're not in that Facebook group, you're making a mistake.
LisaExactly.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. Never although somebody the other day asked a question, and one of the respondents was, you should ask a doctor that. And I was like, this is a online community.
LisaLike I can't.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, of course, she's probably gonna ask her doctor that. She's she's probably, like, information get also, she's an adult.
Also, shut up. Right. No. It just feels like you know, here. Listen.
I'll give you an example. Yeah. I know some of you buy groceries at Target. I think that's abhorrent. I think Target is for crap, and the grocery store is for groceries.
Right. When I walk through Target and I see you buying your groceries, I don't run up to you and go, you should be shopping in a grocery store.
LisaRight.
Scott BennerLike that's to me, like, the same thing. Like, abhorrent by the way, abhorrent was probably too strong of a word.
LisaNo. No. But fair. Fair.
Scott BennerI don't like that there's a ream of notebook paper so close to bananas. I don't think it's natural. Okay? I'm not kidding. So Or your
Lisahemorrhoid cream right next to the oranges.
Scott BennerI don't know why you chose that, but yes. Now, I I would say this. I would say, like, it's a weird thing to come into a group where people are asking each other's opinions. They go, don't ask these people their opinions. Like, what are you doing here?
Like, I don't under
LisaI anyway. It's the keyboard warriors, though.
Scott BennerStop. I don't even think it's that. I think it's a little Oop its day. You know what I mean?
LisaYeah. No. Yeah. Yeah.
Scott BennerYeah. It's it's okay. Well, I'm so sorry.
LisaNo. You're good.
Scott BennerI don't know where the hell we were because the thing happened with the kid and the thing. What were you talking
Lisaabout? Talking about career.
Scott BennerOh, I'm sorry.
LisaHow no. No. No. Yeah. How I went into school.
Yeah.
Scott BennerOkay. So you think it was a good idea because
LisaTo be present.
Scott BennerYeah. Just to be to be around there and to be helpful. Alright. So you're in their school?
LisaSo I'm actually not in their school, but I'm literally, like, five minutes from there, which is amazing.
Scott BennerSo it's more about balancing your schedule with their schedule then?
Lisa100%. And you know what else? Like so back to, like, when he was first diagnosed. So I don't know how it was, like, when Arden was diagnosed, like, with the school, but, like, it like, I went in myself and showed the nurses in his school, you know, the pump. Well, at that point, he was injections.
But so we did injections teaching. We did pump teaching. We did, you know, the glucometer. And wait. Don't laugh.
But in the hospitals, we're used to, like, these big, like, industrial glucometers.
Scott BennerYeah. Sure.
LisaSo, like, you know, when you get into, like, the community and you're you see these, like, little ones, you're like, oh my god. What the hell is this? Like so and that was, like, another kind of little drive for me, to be honest, because I'm like and the girls that are at his school are amazing. I actually used to work with one way back in the day at Jefferson. Like, amazing nurses.
We're very fortunate. But that's not everywhere. And I, like, I know, like, the the podcast about, like, the the error that that, you know, nurse me. I'm like, I can totally see it because these so I went in, Scott. Like, I'm a nurse.
Like, can you imagine, like, a parent with a newly diagnosed diabetic who's not health care, who's, like, still trying to figure it out, having to go in and teach somebody, like, a nurse? Like, it's crazy.
Scott BennerI take your point. Can I take the opposite side of this?
LisaPlease.
Scott BennerAlright. Right now, there is a girl, I'm guessing in the shower at my house because she's gotta be at school in, an hour and a half. And she's gonna be 22 this summer. Mhmm. Her current a one c is why does it take so loading to load?
5.5.
LisaOh, that's awesome.
Scott BennerIn the last, however long this app is is chain you know, tracking this thing. She's been in range 92.2% of the time.
LisaIt's amazing.
Scott BennerYeah. And so, like, my question is, is that, like and she's about to get a degree in psychology. She's got three more classes, then she's gonna go off and get an advanced degree because I don't think she wants me to stop working either. Everybody gotta keep me moving, you know? And she's fine, and I'm not a school nurse, and I and I I'm I don't know.
Like, I I mean, the only thing I can tell you is that my schedule did match up with hers, and I could be available during the day, which I think is really valuable.
LisaRight.
Scott BennerBut the rest of it, it I mean, I ran into everything you did. Right? Like, you know, in was it when did they try to kill her the first time? I think kindergarten. I think they tried to kill her the first time in kindergarten.
We stopped it. We made a little more inroads in explaining things to people.
LisaMhmm.
Scott BennerI spent time explaining and re explaining things to people, getting on the phone, walking them through it when I couldn't expect them to know it. Right. It worked. Now I'm not in a factory. I can pick up a phone when I need to in the middle of the day, like, stuff like that.
Back then, in fairness, I don't even think I was right. I wasn't making the podcast. I was I mean, I was a stay at home. Was basic I was basically cleaning the the laundry. And shot I did other things, by the way.
Okay. I don't wanna dig into everything I did or, like, you know, don't I don't want stay at home people, man. You're
Lisaa busy bee, though.
Scott BennerI was a stay at home for a long time. I know how hard it is. Don't worry. There's a lady downstairs still doesn't know what day the trash goes out in thirty year. She'd be like, is it Tuesday?
Nope. Not Tuesday. No. Okay. She don't know.
If I leave the house for too long, I think they start considering just throwing the dishes away. But but I did have act so I I was available or could make myself available. I do think that was a really big deal. I wouldn't Right. I wouldn't undervalue that.
But Right. I don't know. Like, it's it feels like a lot just to pivot your life around like that.
LisaWell and and here's the thing. Like, the one thing I I like, my so I'm very fortunate. There's actually another type one mom that I work with. She's a nurse too. And in every other health care setting, right, like, you wouldn't walk into a hospital and be like, hey.
You know, let me show you, like, let me show you how you should check my blood pressure. Right? Like Yeah. And I get, like, they the nurses can't know everything. It's impossible.
But every other health care setting, like, there is a level of clinical education. Right?
Scott BennerAnd
Lisathat is not the case in in the school districts. And, you know, I'm in, like, the different school district groups and you know? So I know it's, like, not just us. And I'm like, wait a second. Like, this is, like, probably the most at risk setting.
Right? Like, you're in the community, whether it's your diabetics, your seizure kids, you know, whatever else. There's a million different kids with different issues we take care of. And so, like, why is that not the same? Why is that bar not set as high as it is in other settings?
So
Scott BennerSo I agree with you. And I and and I I'm trying to, like, kinda kinda say both sides, like, of this because I don't want I because I also would tell you that I sent my kid off and I thought the very same thing. I thought Right. If this nurse knew what she was doing, wouldn't she work in a hospital?
LisaRight.
Scott BennerYou know, the guy's driving a school bus. Like Yeah. Like, if he's a retired guy or somebody whose best job they could get was driving a school bus And now they're in charge of the health, like and by the way, I I don't think I could get a job driving a school bus. So, like, I'm, you know, I'm like, I'm not you know what I'm saying? Like, it's no knock on anybody.
I'm just saying that this is school bus driver, not a not a medical person. And it feels like there's gonna be medical issues everywhere, but they're not really, though. They're like, for the most part, I find the most part, like, managing diabetes is, like, being ready for when it happens, not
LisaRight.
Scott BennerTaking care of the thing that's always happening because it's not always happening. It's Correct. You know what I mean? Like and but there's no way to know that in the beginning. Right.
So it feels the way you're describing because I felt that I felt that way too.
LisaRight.
Scott BennerWhat I'm saying is, I mean, what gear is the kid using there? They got, like, a pump?
LisaYeah. So we got the Omnipod at DexCom.
Scott BennerIs it an is it an automated system? Mhmm. Yeah. I mean, you know, they're he's probably okay. You know I Like right?
Scott BennerRight. And the day's pretty I mean, except they move their schedules around sometimes, like, they're trying to kill you. Like, you know, like, the days are pretty structured. Right? Right.
Like, you know, when you're putting in food, you know, when you're putting in insulin, etcetera.
LisaExactly.
Scott BennerI don't know. I fixed it with texting. Right. Had your fear too, and I was just like, here. This is a phone.
You and I are now talking.
LisaRight.
Scott BennerAnd, you know Right. By the way, now she don't want you know, if I if I texted her now about her diabetes, she'd like, I didn't see that. I'm like Right? Okay.
LisaWell and you know what? He's in second grade, and bless his heart. Like, he actually was the one that identified we had one day that was just because oftentimes, I'm the only nurse at the school I'm at. Mhmm. So, like, I can't just, like, get up and leave usually.
Sure. And we were having these highs, and I'm like, okay. Like, this isn't making sense. Let's dose him. Blah blah blah.
And then I'm like, okay. Something is is definitely the site needs to be changed or something. So I'm, like, coordinating another nurse to come to my school for the fifteen minutes it's gonna take me to get to his school and change everything and come back. And he actually texted me, Scott, at seven years old and was like, mom, it's not in automated mode.
Scott BennerGood. I was like, I was so proud of him.
LisaI'm like, oh my gosh.
Scott BennerYou were do you didn't think, oh, hell, I could have kept my job at the ER?
LisaYeah. Seven years old. I was so proud of him.
Scott BennerI'm like That's awesome. But that's my point is that's gonna keep happening. It's just hard to believe that in the beginning. Yeah. You know?
And for people that it doesn't happen for, well, then Right. Right on. You you know what I mean? Like, if it if it becomes an issue. But you brought up earlier that episode of the podcast that I did with a woman who if I'm remembering it correctly, the school nurse gave the kid, like, a hundred and fifty units of insulin or some crazy thing.
Like and people are like, how is that possible? Like, trust me. You gotta go listen to it. Horrific. There's this this crazy, like, stream of events that leads to the mom, like, saving the kid.
And, like, it's a it's a crazy story. It's so popular on the podcast because why? I think it's I think it's because it it's a little bit of that, like, true crime feeling a little bit, and people love that. I actually, we should really dig into the psychology of why that is, but, I don't have time right now for that. And but the other reason is I think it, like, cements people's fears.
LisaRight.
Scott BennerThey're like, I knew that school nurse was gonna kill my kid. Right. You know what I mean? And look at almost but what I would say to that is Right. That kid didn't even die.
LisaRight. Yeah.
Scott BennerRight. How many, you know, how many times you turn the news on and hear about the school nurse killing a kid? Like, it doesn't happen that frequently.
LisaNot not
Scott Bennerfrequently enough to upend your life, I think. Right. You know what I mean?
LisaAnd you and, like, I guess, like, for me, like, having the patient safety background, like, again, like, I always have to be mindful. I'm not in a hospital. I don't have, like, joint commission or department of health. Like so I have to scale myself back. But the one thing that I think about is being proactive.
And I do think that our districts do have the duty to make sure, like, if you're gonna if you're gonna be putting nurses in these schools, you know, you better make sure they can safely take care of them. You know? Why are you laughing, Skye?
Scott BennerLong have you been alive?
LisaWhy are
Scott Benneryou laughing, long have you been alive?
LisaForty four years.
Scott BennerPlease go ahead and name me all the places you run into where people are rock solid and their jobs are doing what they're supposed to do.
LisaKnow. But we can do better. We can do better. Better.
Scott BennerWe could.
LisaWe can do better.
Scott BennerNo one's going to. They
Lisacould. To me. Me and my girl, we're we're gonna be we're we're gently pushing because we don't wanna get fired. We're gently pushing from inside. Like, this is what we could do.
Like and and in schools, think of, oh, this is, you know, not diabetes related, but this is awful too. Like, think about have you ever heard of stop the bleed training?
Scott BennerThe what? Oh, god. Wait. Stop the bleed training?
LisaYeah.
Scott BennerWhat's it got something to do with pressure and tourniquets?
LisaExactly.
Scott BennerYeah. I need I don't need that. I got common sense. But go ahead. What do got?
LisaThere we go. But think about, god forbid, school shootings, like, things like that. Like, again, like, just basic little things that, like you know, just making sure again, no one's gonna be comfortable in that situation. Right? Like, Like,
Scott Bennergonna be comfortable, you're saying.
LisaExactly. Yeah. Just give them a basic just give them a foundation.
Scott BennerAre you telling me that school nurses don't have stop the bleed training?
LisaNot all of them.
Scott BennerOkay. Well, I'm gonna tell you that I think once the shooting starts, you're not I mean, it's not a it's not a field tested, you know, battle ready medic out there. Like, you're gonna get what you get out of people.
LisaExactly.
Scott BennerI do think that there's something to that, by the way, that it's nice to plan. And I'm not saying you shouldn't have some some Right. Basic knowledge. Like, I I think that's a great idea because maybe when the panic hits, you'll remember something and do it. Right.
I mean, even there's a where what the Yankee game the other day? It's like the beginning of the baseball season. Some guy has like a MI at a at a game.
LisaRight.
Scott BennerAnd this dude comes over, and they're looking at him, this guy's gonna die. And this dude comes over and just starts doing CPR on him. Right. Well, guess what? Motherfucker never did CPR in his life.
He didn't know what the hell he was doing, but he kept him yeah. He kept him alive till the rescue squad got there. Right? That's so cute. The yeah.
And then the great story is is, like, he literally does chest compressions on the guy till till EMS comes, hands him off. He goes back to his seat, sits back down, starts watching the game again. People watched him afterwards in a world apparently where everybody wants to be on camera or do something. He watched the game, clap for the game. The game ended.
He stood up and walked out of the stadium. Aw. He wasn't looking for anybody or nothing. See. But my yeah.
But see, my point is is that when push comes to shove Yeah. Some people are gonna have it and some people aren't.
Lisa100%.
Scott BennerAnd you can and by the way, I don't I I've never heard the word stop the bleed before in my entire life. But if you get shot near me and I don't flip out Right. I guarantee you, I'm gonna put pressure on the wound.
LisaYou're gonna press
Scott Bennerdown can't stop it, I'll tourniquet because I've seen Grey's Anatomy and I lived through ER on that old. Okay? So I've seen
Lisawatch The Pit.
Scott BennerYou know what? And I watched The Pit. I've been through three major medical television shows in a lifetime. I guarantee you, if I don't cry or shit myself during the shooting that you're describing, I am gonna be valuable. But and no one's ever told me how to stop the bleed.
I also bet you that in that same situation, there are gonna be people who have stopped the bleed training who pee themselves and cry in the
Lisacorner. Right. 100%.
Scott BennerWhat are we prepping for? Right?
LisaRight.
Scott BennerThat's all. Let me you'd be much better off if you didn't eat ultra processed foods and went for a walk than worrying about this stuff.
LisaLook. True
Scott Bennerstory. Make too much sense today. I feel like
LisaI gotta start it. In common,
Scott BennerScott. Come on now. Church. Don't you think I'd be great? I think once you wind me up, it doesn't really matter what you say in church is what I've noticed.
So Oh. You just start talking in a direction and, like, being loud once in a while. It really works.
LisaNo. It's therapeutic.
Scott BennerI mean, I think I'm good at it. Yeah. I would
Lisathink so. How many followers? I'm just
Scott Bennernot tall enough. That really does slow me. Actually, I feel like I could be the governor of a major state if I was taller. But without the height and the handsome, you're not pulling it off.
LisaJust get some, like you know, those chunky soled shoes. You'll be alright.
Scott BennerYou want me to Tom Cruise the whole thing? That's not a reason walking around he's walking around in cinder blocks. I'll tell you that right now. I saw him on a red carpet the other day. I was like, why is he the same height as that person he's standing next to?
I know that ain't right. Yeah. Yeah. I don't have the looks for the height for that.
LisaOh, stop. I don't Well, you have kind of the hair, though. Right? You do great hair.
Scott BennerI have to tell you. My hair is fantastic. Actually, I just did a, I'm finally allowed to talk about this. I did some social media for Omnipod. Yes.
And it went up yesterday.
LisaYeah. I saw it. Yeah.
Scott BennerAnd listen. If you didn't like, comment, and share, I don't wanna hear from you. Okay? I got need know I did. I need to move it around.
But but it popped on. Like, I had to settle up, and there's things I had to do behind the scenes with the video. Right? And it it's weird when a video starts playing and it's you. I'm not gonna lie to Like, it's strange.
But as it was playing in the background, like, you know when you're setting up stuff on Instagram and the audio is just playing, you're like, shut up so I can finish this. Like right? Well, just imagine it's my own voice. And Oh my god. But I did stop at the end.
And I, I texted the person that I that I, you know, kinda spearheaded the production of the videos with. And I said to her, was like, you know, this is gonna sound weird coming from me, but I do have a really great voice for this stuff.
LisaWait. No. I'm telling you, like, those in those, like, beginning, like, weeks and days, like, this is gonna sound so creepy, but, like, yours and Jenny's voices were just, my comfort. No. I'm glad.
Scott BennerOh, that's wonderful.
LisaSounds so weird, but No.
Scott BennerNo. I appreciate that. And I and I seriously, I I that means a lot to me. I'm just saying I have a nice deep voice network in the video. And it it's the only thing it struck me about besides the fact that I knew I was wearing makeup.
So I was like,
LisaOh my god.
Scott BennerFelt a little weird.
LisaI know your shave was perfect that day.
Scott BennerI was very well shaved that morning. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like a baby's butt.
But but I got the they you know, the you get there and the makeup person, like, you know, does your makeup and everything, and you're like, oh my god. Like, actually, Arden did a bunch of stuff for them that day too. So you'll see some Oh, good. You'll see some stuff from Arden, but Arden didn't like her hair. So she got done with it, and and my wife's like, how did it go?
And she's like, my hair looks terrible. Aw. And and Kelly's like, didn't you say something? She's because the makeup lady did it. I didn't care.
And I was like
LisaYeah. She's like, I didn't care much.
Scott BennerBut I had to tell you, we all have to mature into the kind of confidence that Arden has
LisaRight.
Scott BennerTo show up somewhere, have someone style her hair a way that she's not comfortable. And she didn't give a crap. She just went out, stood in front of a camera, did a thing. She'd never done that before in her entire life.
LisaThat's amazing.
Scott BennerThe first thing she ever did was what they asked. Like, that's the first job she's ever even had. You know what I mean? Like yeah. And she just stood out.
She's never done that before. She stood in front of all those cameras and, like, on a set with all these lights, and she was just doing the stuff they asked her to do. It's pretty cool. We had a really nice day.
LisaBut that's, like, that's, you know, a testament to, like, what you and your wife have built for her. Yeah. You know?
Scott BennerDon't know about that. Pretty good on her own. I don't think she needs us too much. But and don't tell Omnipod this. Like, I had such a nice time with Art and I would have they didn't Aw.
They didn't even have to pay me. But I will if we do it again and ask for money. Yeah. I just wanna say. So but, no, they came out really and hopefully, they help because I'm seeing from people, they're like, this is good foundational information that I forgot.
Like, I I had a woman tell me yesterday, I use Omnipod five. I know this. It's a thing I forgot, and it's good to be reminded.
Lisa100%.
Scott BennerYeah.
LisaAbs it is. It's great. It's just like the high level, like, snapshot and definitely good reminders.
Scott BennerAnd it's hard to it's you know, I I sent this per I don't wanna say her name here because Yeah. She's not looking for that. But, like, the person who I, again, like, did this work with, I texted her yesterday because I was really pleased with it and how people were responding to it. And I think it's really important to remind people over and over again. And, you know, you can come to the conclusion that, like, well, it's foundational information.
Like, we we already said it. Like, we can't say it again. And I said, I think of it the same I think it the opposite way. I was like, you should be saying this constantly.
LisaRight. Right.
Scott BennerAlways new people showing up. Always new people diagnosed, always people forgetting. It's really valuable to to repeat this stuff for people.
LisaAbsolutely. Yeah. And it does. Like, I like what you said about forgetting because there's so many there's, like, a billion things going on, and it could be like that one little, like, oh, crap. Yeah.
I could do that.
Scott BennerYou know? Happens to me.
LisaAll the time.
Scott BennerYeah. Like, I it happened to me. I mean, yesterday, Art like, you know, you guys know if you're listening pretty consistently, Arden has a pretty significant needle phobia. So there are times when she just can't bring herself to give herself for GLP medication. Mhmm.
And, you know, she'll do it for weeks in a row and everything's great, but then sometimes she's like, oh, I can't like, she just can't bring herself to do it, and she starts to put it off. And once you put it off, it kinda it it don't stretch into weeks. You know? And she did it again recently. And I said, hey.
You're gonna have to change settings, you know, but we're gonna have to change them again in a few days and take down insulin to carb ratio, make it weaker. You're gonna have to make basal weaker. You're gonna have to make instant sensitivity weaker, like, all this stuff. And all day yesterday, I was like, why does she keep getting low? I mean, like, she just shot that med, like, four days ago, and I know what's going on.
And trust me, if you ask me, I can explain it to you pretty well. And I forgot, like, thirty, like, six hours throughout the day, like, it didn't occur to me until finally, I, like, smacked myself in the head. And I walked into her, I was like, what's going on? She's like, I'm low. And I'm like, yeah.
I'm like, your settings are all wrong.
LisaRight.
Scott BennerBecause you took the GLP, so we put them back. She slept overnight. Perfect blood sugar.
LisaSee? Yeah. Because life happens. Right?
Scott BennerThat's exactly right. And so, anyway, there's a ton of value in repeating things that might seem basic to you. I would give that message to people in the Facebook group too who can sometimes get frustrated like, oh, this question's been asked already. You don't wanna stop. You let people ask those questions as many times as they want.
You know? Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, what have we not talked about, not done?
What have we missing? I wanna make sure we don't, like, pivot too far away from things you want to do. Anything at all? No.
LisaI think we talked about we talked about the beginning. We talked about school nursing. We talked a little bit about diabetes camp.
Scott BennerYeah. No. You're doing good.
LisaHit a lot.
Scott BennerSo what do you see for the future here? Like, what are your goals for your son in the in the interim? These next couple of years, like, where are you hoping for him to get to with the diabetes?
LisaYou know what? He already wants to be, like, very independent with it, and we just keep building on that. When we were at Camp Freedom last summer, he changed, like, his pod himself for the first time. I mean, at that point, November, December, January, February, March, April, May, June. He was only a diabetic for eight months at that point.
I just I want him to keep that spirit of just, you know, rolling with it, you know, independence. He loves, like, he loves him and his brother both actually love teaching people about it. So just getting yeah. Like, keeping that momentum and you know? Of course, he's he's still seven.
So, of course, he gets, like, upset sometimes and especially if we have to take a little break of, you know, whatever activity because he's low. But we signed up for the triathlon the district's having, and I just want him I wanna make sure we lay the foundation for him that he knows. You know?
Scott BennerHe can do it.
LisaHe can do whatever the heck he wants. You know? This is just something that's part of him that, you know, we have to continue to address, but it's not gonna stop him. Right. You know?
Scott BennerYou said in the beginning when you realized he had type one, you went upstairs and cried for a minute. Have you cried since then? How do you manage the anxiety and the stress of
Lisathe COVID? Scott, I had a full blown panic attack for the first time in my life.
Scott BennerDid you?
LisaOh, I'm not even kidding. It was, like, six months after he was diagnosed. So and it was the stupidest thing that triggered it because at that point, he was on injections. He was, like, high, but not crazy high. And I didn't know if I should send him to school or wait a couple minutes and talk to chop.
Like and it was all right about when school was starting. It's like, I went through everything. He went to school. Everything was fine. And I was getting fingerprinting done because I was actually gonna be starting at the school.
And I started getting, like, real trembly, and I'm like, what is wrong with me? And I got home, and I just lost it. I called well, talking about neighbors. I called my my neighbor, Nikki, and I was, like, crying. I'm like, I feel like the world's closing in on me.
Like, it was I like, I when people come into the ER with panic attacks, like like, I now, like, understand what that's like. You feel like you're dying, and it was all triggered because I just I was like, do I do I send him late to school? Do I keep him? Like, it was stupid. It's not even like my kid, like, had, like, a seizure or, like it was, like, the most stupidest thing that triggered it.
Scott BennerSo Just just worried.
LisaThat's what Lexapro's for, Scott. So life's been great since.
Scott BennerI like to point out to the producers of the HBO series, Task, which I did enjoy, that we, where you just did you know, you heard Lisa say home just a second ago. And sure sure, she went home a little bit when she said it, but it wasn't the way you got everybody on the TV show. And that would you remember Kate Winslet one where she was like, she'd run around every six minutes? She'd going like, I gotta go home. And I'm like, we don't talk like that.
You were ruining it. I like Kate Winslet. And every time she went home, I'm like, come on. That's a little too much. Oh my god.
That's sad. They did it in task too. It's almost like they're, like, right home into the script every three moments so we know we're in the Wissahickon area.
LisaRight. Right.
Scott BennerWhich, by the way, is a word, like, most people are not gonna understand.
LisaRight. Right.
Genetics & The Klinefelter's Twist
Scott BennerAnother question apropos of almost nothing. How disappointed or let's say heartbroken was your husband when the boys were twins and he couldn't call one of them Anthony Junior?
LisaWait. Okay. So real quick. So we initially because I'm, like, older and it was multigestational.
Scott BennerYeah. Did that come the old fashioned way, or did you guys do a insemination? Or
LisaSo just FYI. So women over I forget if she said it was 30 or 35. We drop we start dropping eggs like crazy. So the chances of naturally
Scott Bennerbunny. Your uterus is there just like, I don't know how many she needs.
LisaDropping. They're coming. They're coming hardcore. Right? And, yeah.
So that that was it. Naturally occurring because of, you know, being old. So they told us we were having a boy and a girl. It turned out we went for our first anatomy scan, and clear as day, Scott, there was two penises. Like, even me who can't read a a ultrasound.
I'm
Scott Bennerlike I see. My gosh. Yeah.
LisaSo the blood test was wrong. And what ended up what we found out was so they asked us, the company said, can you send cord blood after the boys are born so we can figure out why our test was wrong? Hence, we found out his twin has Klinefelters. So traditionally, they just read two chromosomes, so XX or XY. So they thought maybe they read my DNA in it, but it turned out Jason is XXY.
So What
Scott Bennerdoes that
Lisaof that, now they read three chromosomes over.
Scott BennerOh, you guys fixed the test.
LisaYeah. Hopefully.
Scott BennerYeah. The now it's called the Jason test. But, like, wait wait sorry. Wait. What how what does that mean?
The whatever you said he has. Klinefelters. Yeah. What is that?
LisaSo, essentially, you know, like, normally, your x x or your x y. Your x y if you're a boy, your x x if you're a girl. So Klinefelters is when you have an extra x chromosome. So it varies in severity. Like, the more you have, like, if you had, like, three or four, like, there can be some more, like, serious issues.
Scott BennerOkay.
LisaBut for Jason, the only thing he has, which it doesn't ever stop him, is, like, a little bit of a low muscle tone.
Scott BennerOkay.
LisaBut later in life, there could be some challenges, like, you know, reproductively. So we're actually part of a study at Nemours called the x x y study. They just do they check his hormones, like, once a year just to make sure. So when he does start going through puberty, if he needed a little extra of whatever, he could get it. But just because there's so many, like, older people having babies now, it's kind of coming up a little more frequently than it used to
Scott Bennerback in
Lisathe day.
Scott BennerBut it's incredibly interesting. I'm I'm glad we touched on that. I do wonder, though, was I right about the Anthony junior thing, though? Like
LisaNo. 100% because we were supposed to have a junior, Scott.
Scott BennerI mean So now are Italian. You're from Philly. You would definitely call that kid Anthony junior. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
LisaSo we split it, and I don't care. I'll say the name. So we have Anthony, and we have Gson. So yeah.
Scott BennerBut you didn't you couldn't make him a junior, though. Right? Or did you?
LisaNo. Because we didn't want the other one to have, like, lifelong, well, why wasn't I a junior?
Scott BennerYeah. It's definitely because the Klein Schloppers. That's why they didn't pick me. That's our whatever. Klein touchers, feelers.
LisaThat's alright.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. I'm not gonna remember exactly. Well, I'm just very impressed with myself that I knew for sure you wanted to name one of those kids, Anthony. No.
That's not in any of the notes. Just want everyone to know that I was all over that. There's no way that that wasn't what's going on. Listen. You know, you younger people, you think that generalizing is bad and it's rude.
I'm telling you. It's a quick way to get to the answer.
LisaThat's right.
Scott BennerYou know? Yeah. Everyone doesn't follow the same pattern, but a lot of us do.
LisaYep. Yep.
Scott BennerThat's pretty much it. We learned a lot in this episode. I'm definitely calling this episode you're never gonna guess, actually.
LisaOh, I I can't even imagine.
Scott BennerI wanted Mother Doom, but it just didn't go far enough. And you said it way too early in the episode. You said something after that that I really liked, but I forgot what it was, so I must not have liked it that much. I'm definitely calling this one drunk bunny in because of your fallopian tubes just throwing those eggs all over the place.
LisaThat's the best.
Scott BennerThat's it.
LisaIt's called
Scott Bennerdrunk drunk bunny. That's what I'm doing.
LisaI love it. I love it.
Scott BennerI hope that right now, people who listened all the way through are like, what a rip off. And by the way, if you did, I got you suckers. You're still here. Okay. So
LisaThat's great.
Scott BennerAnyway, it's a good conversation. I appreciate this.
LisaNo. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.
Scott BennerYeah. Tell all the people how the Phillies are letting us down right now in the beginning of the season. Just in case we'll mark this as a time capsule. It's very upsetting. Explain be serious for a second because you work in the ER.
Uh-huh. If this is something you're aware of, if it's not, you just say, Scott, this is the end of the conversation. I have no idea what you're talking about right now. But talk about what you see in the mood of the city when the sports teams do better versus when they don't do as well.
LisaSo it's so okay. It's not so much as to how they're doing, but the timing of games. Right?
Scott BennerOkay.
LisaSo what happens is, you know, especially the men, no offense, but I am clumping you together. Yeah.
Scott BennerThat's fine.
LisaY'all need to get in before the game. Right? Oh, I'm having chest pain. Let me make sure, but I have to be out. I need all these I need everything grand.
I need to be out by 01:00 when the game starts.
Scott BennerPeople ask you to push their labs up because they gotta go watch the Phillies.
LisaOh, well, what how long am I gonna be here? The game's on. Or after the fact, after the game too. I've had chest pains since before the game started.
Scott BennerBut the eagles were tied in the third quarter. I didn't wanna leave the house.
LisaBut and it's the same thing. It's it's not only the games, but sometimes, not so much now. But, like, there used to be a time where it would be dead during the game. You know?
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah.
LisaBut same thing with holidays. Everybody waits till afterwards.
Scott BennerYou ever go to a grocery store during a football game and there's just women walking around?
LisaIt's amazing.
Scott BennerThat's the
Lisabest time to go. Yeah. Senior citizen day, whatever. Right.
Scott BennerYou don't mind getting hit by a cart.
Scott BennerI don't mind that. That's so much. But you don't see anything where, like, violence, goes down when sports teams are doing better? Like, No. No.
It's not a thing you see on your level.
LisaOkay? Alcohol on board, they don't need to win or lose. People just do silly things and yeah.
Scott BennerWell, that kid fell off that light pole and died last year.
LisaThat was awful. Yeah. Was awful.
Scott BennerThey greased the light poles to keep them off, and that kid still got up there.
LisaNot a yeah.
Scott BennerYeah. I
Lisamean, when you're young. Right?
Scott BennerLet's let's listen. We'll end this with a PSA. If you're drunk, the last place you wanna be is 50 feet in the air on a greasy pole. Okay? It's just not a good idea.
Alright. We've gone over a lot of things today. Thank you very much for doing this. I really do appreciate it. Hold on one second for me.
I'm gonna tell you a couple things after we're done recording.
LisaAlright.
Scott BennerSee you.
Outro & Sponsors
Scott BennerUS Med sponsored this episode of the Juice Box podcast. Check them out at usmed.com/juicebox or by calling (888) 721-1514. Get your free benefits check and get started today with US Med.
A huge thanks to my longest sponsor, Omnipod. Check out the Omnipod five now with my link, omnipod.com/juicebox. You may be eligible for a free starter kit, a free Omnipod five starter kit at my link. Go check it out. Omnipod.com/juicebox.
Terms and conditions apply. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.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 subscribed 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. Alright. Let's get down to it. You want the management stuff from the podcast. You don't care about all this chitting and chatting with other people.
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