#1920 Jenna is 28 and Still Amazing
Jenna is 28 and Still Amazing
Cold open & sponsors 0:00
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Meet Jenna — sixteen years with type 1 2:17
Alright. Hi, I am Jenna. I've had type one diabetes for sixteen years now, and excited to talk more about my experience.
Sixteen years. And how old are you?
I am 28.
28. You've had diabetes for hold on a second. Since I'm doing it in my head. It's so you were 12?
Yes. 13.
13.
Thirteen. I think I'm, like, I'm coming up on sixteen.
Coming up on sixteen.
Maybe at the end of tail end of fifteen years. Wow.
That's an interesting time. 12, 13? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
It is.
I
mean, it's like it's one of those big transition times in life, and it is definitely interesting to walk into it with a chronic illness diagnosis.
So Yeah. Do you have any brothers or sisters?
Yes. I have a younger sister and an older brother. No one else with type one in the family.
Okay. Other autoimmune stuff for you or them?
I have hypothyroid, but it's not autoimmune.
Mhmm.
And no other autoimmune stuff in the family.
Are you take taking Synthroid or something equivalent?
Yep. Okay. Yeah.
And do you feel like that's managed pretty well?
Yes. It's much simpler to manage than type one.
I mean, are your are your levels where you want them to be? Are you having any symptoms?
No symptoms. No. I'm good on that front, thankfully.
Yeah. Were you diagnosed, as a child with that, or was it later?
That was about a year later.
About a year later. And you don't have kids. Right?
Very similar.
No. You know how I know that? How? There's a lightness in your voice. I'm not kidding.
That's hilarious. No. No. I'm not kidding. There's a I can tell you don't have children.
There's just that I don't know what happens, but you're but life just takes you down an octave after you've had to raise a kid. You just Wow. Well You can
I'll concern myself for Warren.
You can feel it in someone. You look around today. You you'll you'll see it real quickly. There's there's a lightness. It it says I don't have any real responsibilities, and I'm not worried if another person dies.
It's, it's some yeah. Yeah. That's something. Anyway, I knew immediately. I knew nothing about you.
I could tell as soon as you started talking. I was like, well, she doesn't have any kids.
That's so funny.
Yeah. And you're either not in a relationship or in pretty, like, lighthearted one that you're happy with.
I am not in a relationship.
Yeah. No.
Well, you're good, Scott.
Jenna, listen. It's a profession. It's a calling. You understand podcasting? It's not just it's just not just you don't just buy a microphone and you're a podcaster.
That's so funny.
Trust me. I know what's going on. Alright. Let's see what else I can figure out. What were the first signs of type one?
What got you and your family to a position?
First symptoms at dance camp 5:17
I was I was seeing rhythmics gymnastics at the time, and I I think the first symptom was drinking a ton of water. So it was summer camp, and I remember noticing that I was drinking a ton of water, but I thought that it was just, you know, I'm in summer camp, and I'm very active.
Yeah.
But then I started to lose weight. And then a couple months later, I was super, super tired, and then I was just falling asleep in the car, which it like, I'm not a napper. That's not normal for me.
Like an old you're like an old man on the sofa when you're, like, 13? Just nodding out everywhere? Gotcha. Okay.
Exactly.
I'm that old man. By the way, can I say I tried to stay up and watch something with my son the other night, and I just feel this, like, hand on my chest like this? He goes, are you asleep? I was like, it's after It's after midnight.
After midnight, that's definitely fair.
I thought it was fair. Okay. I'm sorry. So you're peeing, drinking, falling asleep. Keep going.
Mhmm. And I think it was actually I was in ballet at the time too. Was actually my ballet teacher who told my mom, like, she is not okay. Like, there's something wrong. And her brother actually also had type one.
Mhmm. I don't think she suspected type one, but she was basically who queued my mom into, like I think it's hard because my mom saw me every day. You know? She wasn't picking up on the changes as much. But I was like, we would do we would be doing some sort of dance routine, and I would just have to sit down.
Okay.
And my teacher was like, she's not okay. And then I also remember having a really bad heartburn, which I had never had before. So I
was gonna say it's not a thing, you know, a thing you usually hear a 12 year old talk about. Right?
Right. Yeah.
When when you say rhythmic gymnastics, am I talking about, like, ribbons on sticks? Or
Yes.
Yes. I got the right thing?
Yep. You got it.
Gotcha. You got it. Do you still dance as an adult?
No. I don't. I would like to get back into it, but I have not yet.
Is there a way for kid or for adults to do that?
Not rhythmic like, most adults don't do rhythmic tronastics because it's quite intense.
Because they you have break your old ass trying to do that. You know? Yeah. That
that would be tough. But I did baller and dance Oh. Later in my teenage years, and that's something I could do as an adult, which I think would be really fun.
Okay.
I haven't I haven't gotten back into it yet. I did do some swing dancing Wait.
What what
couple years Yeah.
What got you out of, like, all of that? Was it just age, or did diabetes slow you down?
With the
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Yeah. After I was I don't think ballet or rhythmic gymnastics was what, like, I truly loved.
Okay.
And so when I was diagnosed with type one, I think it did kinda set me on a different path in life in general.
How so?
And, well, it it definitely, made me much more focused on health. And, like, now I'm now I'm studying nutrition, and that's a whole another story that we can get into.
But Yeah.
I became very focused on my health and very interested in, like, psychology and the human condition and things like that. Okay. And I think so I think it's just kind of like
You pivoted a
little bit. Yeah. Yeah. I pivoted a little bit.
So is it fair to say that, you know, you were involved in these things as a child, and maybe it's something even your parents put you into or you had an interest in when you were younger. And then all of a sudden, when something slaps you in the face and your life shifted, you you cut away the things that didn't feel important to you?
Yes.
Yeah. Exactly. What happened? Okay. Well, that's interesting.
What was it like I'm so sorry. I know we've only been talking for five minutes, but, did you have a period when you were diagnosed, or does the thing you developed into type one ended that overlap with, like, any kind of a honeymoon? Or like, I'm looking for how you handled hormones through that time.
A six-month honeymoon without insulin 11:41
I had a honeymoon period for I actually had quite a long honeymoon period. So it was maybe, like, six months or so when I did not use insulin at all.
At all?
Yeah.
Okay.
At all. And I think I I very quickly also went on to a ketogenic diet, and so I think that helped a lot with that. But I had, like, a very unusual experience with the honeymoon period, and it's pretty long.
Okay. Well, I wanna hear about that, but I first, let me ask you. Who how'd you get to a keto diet? Like, did is that a thing your parents figured out or you?
A 13-year-old takes the reins 12:32
That was something that, I think my parents queued me into a little bit. I was mostly, I was mostly the one in charge, though, so to speak, because parents were pretty busy with work. And I I guess I was interested in taking care of it to a certain extent. I mean, I guess I would have to be to have taken the reins. But I think I just use a very simple logic of, like, well, if I eat fewer carbs, I need less insulin.
That led you to that idea.
Yeah. So that would make sense.
Is that a thing you still do today?
Now I eat let's see. It's basically like a low carb diet except for I add fruit because that gives me energy just like having some of those sugars Okay. In my system. But I I still don't eat any, like, grains or wheat or things like that. So
And that's just to keep the carbs down. It's not because you have celiac or anything like that.
Yeah. I mean, I don't I don't have celiac. I've been tested for it. I don't have celiac, I also don't feel good when I eat grains. Like, it gives me brain fog.
It makes me bloated. It makes me very insulin resistant. So it just it's never worked well for
me.
Okay. I don't know why, but because of that, I've always stayed away from
Avoided it.
From it.
Oh, it's yeah. Smart. It's cool. It's interesting that you figured it out as a kid too, you and you stuck to it like that. It's pretty cool.
Your parents were busy with work. Can we, like, pivot for a half a second? Was that bothersome to you? Did you need help and felt alone, or we did you feel comfortable? And if so, were you actually having good outcomes, or were you just having the outcomes of a 13 year old who was trying?
I I think it was overall good because I kind of learned how to take care of it myself really young, and that's always been my personality. Like, I'm very independent and like, to understand things myself and take charge of situations in general. And I don't think it would have worked well if my parents were, like, telling me what to do.
Is it would would that would that, give me some insight into the rest of your life with your parents, or was it just around the diabetes that you would have felt that way?
I think that would be true overall, but my parents are very good at not
Doing that.
Not, like, interjecting a lot. They give me a lot of freedom with
Is that
what I do
in a time. Is that because you pushed back so much that they learned, or are they just, like, into? It sounds like you might have beat them into submission. Is that was is that what happened? I
think no. Not quite. I mean, I have had some disagreements with them when there are when they have strong opinions because I also have strong opinions. But, in general, they have really given me a lot of freedom and flexibility to do kind of whatever I want, and I think that works really well.
Yeah. Can you talk a little bit about what it meant to you as a kid to have them listen to you and and kinda follow your lead a little bit?
Yeah. I guess, let's see. My mom has been the main one who has been involved in the type one management.
Mhmm.
I think, overall, I've I've always erred on the side of being, like, overly cautious with my management. And just because, like, my health is super important to me, of course, and I wanna be healthy as long as possible. And so I always really wanted to have my glucose numbers, like, as tight as possible. And I think that my my issue in relation to type one has always been more, like, being overly anxious about it, like, overly cautious, overly anxious. And so my mom in particular has been super great at, you know, helping me feel like, you know, it's okay.
Like, it's okay if your blood sugar goes into the two hundreds every once in a while.
Jenna, are you anxious in general?
I would say so. I would
say so.
Would say so.
Looking back, yeah, perhaps. Yeah. So your mom's not. Is your dad? Or is your mom, but she's just good at telling you it's okay?
I think that's a good question.
Oh, I know.
Don't worry. I don't think my either my parents are that anxious. I'm probably more anxious than both my parents.
How about your sister or your brother?
I I still think I'm more anxious than they are.
You win? I'm a I win, Scott.
I think I win.
I'm the winner.
I think I win on the anxiety front.
And you're the only one with type one?
Yeah.
Your anybody else have Hashimoto's or or I'm sorry. Hypothyroidism in your family?
My sister also has hypothyroid.
Okay. Is she anxious at all?
Not I wouldn't say, like, intensely.
Not intensely. Okay.
Alright. Yeah. Yeah. Like a normal level.
What is what's a normal level of anxiety?
I'd like you know.
I'd like you to describe that. That's awesome. Okay. So I I get I think I get the vibe, but your parents were a little hands off. You were doing a good job.
Were you a good student too?
Homeschool, then the shock of college 18:42
Yeah. I wasn't I wasn't all that, like, interested in school until college. I was homeschooled in high school. Really?
Yes. Do you prefer that, or did you had you have you ever gone to public school? Private?
I did not go to I was not in the public school system at all until college.
Oh, wow. What what was that like making that shift?
It was very shocking. Very shocking to the system. It was it was really it was hard. It was a hard transition. I was at a private school when I was younger, so really young, like preschool and grade years.
I went to the Washington Waldorf School in Bethesda, Maryland, and it was very much, like, focused on the arts and nature and things like that. It was very wholesome and very nice. And then I was I was homeschooled all throughout the rest of middle school and high school. And it was I think it was really good for me, especially in relation to type one because I really got to focus on my health I'm figuring that out.
Yeah.
And then when I went to college, I had I already kind of had it figured out. And, I mean, as much as you can ever figure out type one,
but Yeah.
It was much
more in the
background.
You knew what you were doing in the background, all that stuff. Was this shift to homeschooling, was that religious, political, like, situational? Do why did that was that just how your parents grew up? Like, how does that happen?
Well, it happened because my sister and I were doing rhythmic gymnastics when we were young, and, my one of my teachers one time got upset that I didn't do my homework in, like, fifth grade or something like that. And it was because I was at a gymnastics competition over the weekend. And she just she kind of disciplined me about it, and I don't think my mom loved it. And so
so mom said Okay. Oh, you're not doing that. I'll just teach the kids myself for the next seven years.
Yeah. Exactly.
So this is why you and your mom have disagreements sometimes when you said strong opinions. That's, I mean, that's a fairly do know what I mean? That would be like be like if I tried to park at the grocery store and I somebody, like, stole my spot, and I was like, that's it. I'm not eating anymore. I'll show all of you.
That's a big that's a big that's a big move. I would love to hear that from your mom's perspective. I bet you there was she probably was pissed for a while about something. It might have put her over the edge. It's awesome.
I think the school we went to when we were young is very much, like, in your early years, they tried to have it not focused on, like, doing homework and
Okay.
More focused on being outside and things like that. So I think my mom probably wanted to preserve some of that. So
Sounds like she did. And and Yeah. And you Absolutely. And you headed off to college with a real firm idea of how to manage your diabetes, and then you have that shock. I can you just tell me one thing?
Because you're like, it was very shocking. What's one thing about getting to college that really hit you in the face?
I think I just kinda felt like I was all of a sudden in this huge system that I had never experienced. And I I just I think if you're used to that growing up, like, you don't it's probably not shocking, but for me, it was like, oh my god. I'm in a class of now thousands of people. I really have to, you know, look out for myself, get help when I need it. Like, there's there's just like this
Everything about the way it everything about the way it works was just different for you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. And it was much more like I don't know. I mean
Did you enjoy it?
I did end up loving college. I mean, I found I found smaller communities within college where and that's how I got into research and some teaching and stuff like that. But, my first semester and maybe my first year was very, very much a shock to the system. I I had to adjust a lot.
Were you isolated?
I think a little bit because I went into college as a transfer student also because I was doing some community college on the side. Mhmm. And so
Little behind, didn't come in with a group, like that whole thing.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Hey. Did you maintain the person you are there, or did or is there, like, some crazy shift? Like, you know, some people get out of private school and, like, they cut their hair or grow their hair or do something crazy or, like, just start smoking or do you know what I mean?
Like, did or or you just did you just kept keep being Jenna?
I just kept being myself, but I very much kept to myself. So I think that's part of how that happened. I mean, I in college, I was literally always in my apartment or in the library studying. Studying. I was yeah.
Okay. Well, you sound, that's where I would want my kid, by the way, just hidden somewhere. But then you you like you said, you found your community branch down. Then what did you end up doing through college, and is that still what you're doing now as an adult?
Nutritional science, NIH, and a PhD 24:35
Yeah. I majored in nutritional science, and I also did some research on the side. So I was in a in a lab studying viruses, and then I was doing some research on the gut microbiome brain access, which was really cool. Interesting. I really enjoyed that work.
Yeah. And
I was thinking that I would go to medical school after college, but then I found like, I just found this passion for what I was doing in college, which was really research and learning and teaching. And I thought, you know, I shouldn't let this go if I love it so much. And so then I did a couple more years of research at the National Institutes of Health in their post baccalaureate program, and then I decided to do a PhD in nutrition, which is where I am now. So
You're working on your PhD right now?
I'm working on my PhD right now.
Jenna, have you ever had a job?
I am
not really so jealous. I'm so jealous. Let me just be jealous for a second, though. Oh my god. It's awesome.
I've been a student for such a long time.
Do you think you'll I mean, is it a thing that like, how do you how do you like, for people listening who don't understand that, like, is how do you finance your life during this?
Well, I guess I'm just very lucky with family support.
Nice. And then I hear what you're saying. Dad got bags. Yeah. Is that what you're telling me?
We're good? And then as
a PhD student, you do got a little bit of a stipend.
Oh, wow. What do you think how how do you believe this will all culminate one day? Like, is there something like, what have you learned? What are you interested in? How do you think you'll point it at the world eventually?
Who do you think you are? It's a
great question.
It's a great question. Jenna's like, better figure it out. I'm 28.
Studying hospital food and malnutrition 26:43
Yeah. Yeah. I I I do not know exactly how I'm going to point it. Yeah. I am doing my dissertation work on diabetes care in the hospital.
Mhmm.
Collecting data on nutrition in the hospital and shared decision making, which is part of person centered care. So that's kind of where my focus is right now, which I like. I I love being involved in diabetes research, and I've always kind of tried to give myself the space to not go into diabetes.
Mhmm.
But it always keeps coming back all throughout college. Like, in college, I did the College Diabetes Network.
Oh, they're awesome.
Yeah. Yeah. They're great. And then I did their fellowship in my gap years, and I did diabetes camp, and it's just been a continuous thread. So I I would love to stay in the diabetes space, but we'll see what happens.
Super interesting. How long did it take to collect the data about nutrition in the hospital? Eight minutes? Because there's
I'm still doing it.
No. Is I mean, what are you learning besides the food in hospital seems terrible?
So we haven't analyzed the data yet. I can't like, from seeing what they're serving in the hospital, yeah, it's very it's not ideal. No. But I started the study in November, and we're still collecting data. I enrolled the fiftieth person yesterday.
So Wow.
We're enrolling 80 people in that study.
Just to to and what's the goal of the study? Is it just to collect data and then you figure out what the data tells you afterwards, or does it have a specific goal?
So, yeah, the goal is really to just figure out what is actually, like, happening in the hospital because, right, there's not good there's there's data that says there's mountain there's hospital acquired malnutrition, and I think the latest statistic is around twenty five percent, which is really shockingly high.
But
there's no data on, like, why that's happening or how that's happening.
Can I float a theory? Is it because they're buying crappy food?
Yeah. I mean, I'm sure, but, like, there's no the thing about research is you have to show everything to change it.
I gotcha. So Well, then once you have that research, can you pressure hospital systems to do a better job? Like, how does the like, what's the back end of this world like? Like, you know what I mean? Like, once you have the information like, there's a I have a feeling sometimes that people put all this effort into something, then they publish the paper, and they go, well, there it is.
Do something with it, then nothing happens with it.
Yeah.
Yeah. Like, what
No. That is a huge problem with research.
Yeah. Like, so do you, like how do you, like, go into the like, as an example, like, you know, diabetes type two, for example. Like, people I've watched my mom in the hospital with type two or prediabetes, and everything they gave her was ridiculous. Yeah. And so, like, do you I don't know.
Like, do you how do like, do you go to the ADA? Do you say, hey. We've got this research? Like, I just wonder about, like, how do you and if you're not the person to answer that question, like, how do you meet a person who understands the other side of this, who can, like, take the research and go out in the world and, you know, use it as a cudgel and bang it over people's heads till they make changes?
Yeah. I think that's what I'm trying I mean, it's it's that's definitely something that our group is really trying to do, like, make sure that all the research turns into changes that are Yeah. Useful for people.
Action or something that somebody's using at least to make a decision down the road. I mean, it can't look. I'm just guessing, but I don't imagine the hospital believes that they're buying super healthy food and they're just being they're confused about it. In your research, they'll go, oh, no. We didn't know.
Sorry. You you know, like so it's gotta be about money. It's gotta be about
Yeah.
Preparation, about storage. Like, I'm imagining it's that stuff. Also, hospitals are, you know, don't think they're really what we imagine them to be, most of them. They're, you know, they're money making systems, and they they they have a product, and the product is trying to make you better. So Right.
You know, it's it's really sad. Have you ever had to be in the hospital yourself?
Thankfully, I haven't been in the hospital since I was diagnosed.
Nice.
I'm lucky in
that respect. Well so, like, when you can you make any pronouncements about what you see? Like, think about like like, let's take your professional life and kinda stick it in the background for a second. You're a type one. You've been living with type one for sixteen years.
You are you having great outcomes? Is do you have a one c's in the fives? Are you like, is your weight where you want it to be? You're metabolically healthy?
Yeah. Yeah. I am I am gratefully you know? I mean, I've I'm healthy. And my a one c has been in the fives and sixes for years.
I mean, I I don't I think I had some sevens and eights after I was diagnosed Yeah.
I imagine.
The most part.
Yeah. But what's your what's your as an adult now, the way you're living today, tell me a little bit about your setup. Are you using technology? How are you eating? And, you know, what would you if if you bumped into another type one and they were like, look, Jenna, you can't hurt my feelings.
Tell me what to do. Like, how would you talk about it to people?
Her setup today: Omnipod 5, Dexcom, “keto plus fruit” 32:33
So I use the Omnipod five, and I'm still using the Jack Dexcom g six, although
Not much longer. Soon.
Yeah. Not much longer. But the g six for me is, like, I I just prefer the trend line and stuff, but I will have to switch to g seven soon. But, yeah, I use Omnipod five and Dexcom. And I I think for me, nutrition is a super important part of my daily management.
And so I basically eat like a I would I would call it a ketogenic diet plus fruit. Mhmm. And for me, that works really well because it keeps the insulin resistance down. And I find when I eat grains and stuff, I just go high and stay high and it gets very sticky and it takes a lot of insulin to get down. And then once it does get down, I crash.
To me, it's just a whole disaster. It it doesn't work well for my body.
Okay.
I don't know if that would help everyone. You know? Like, I think it's really hard to give other people advice because
Yeah. I
think it could super
Jenna, I don't even give people movie reviews because I just assume they don't like the same stuff I do. Yeah. But but but Yeah. So interestingly enough then, so if you're saying that you can't tell people like, this is what I do, Go do it, and you'll be okay. What can they do to figure out what will work for them to give them similar outcomes?
I I mean, I just I would eat foods and see how it impacted things. If it wasn't in a way that I liked, I would avoid them. You know? I mean and I'm not perfect by any means. Like, you know, if I'm out with people or this or that, like, I might eat something that doesn't go perfectly.
But in general, I try to, like, tell myself, you know, okay. If it's on a daily basis type of thing and the meals that I'm eating on my own are going to be the ones that are, like, as good as possible for my health.
Can I ask a question about your can I ask a question about your eating?
Yeah.
Are there any things you're not eating right now because they don't work well for your diabetes or even how you feel that you're just in the back of your head like, god. I want one of those. Like, are you are you limiting yourself in a way that's uncomfortable but necessary? Or has it you know what I mean? Or has it changed for you?
Is it not a thing you think about anymore?
I think it's turned into a thing where I prefer the way that I feel Mhmm. And can function to such an extent with the way that I eat that I don't I don't want that stuff anymore. That kinda messes me up.
Yeah. Do you I I have to tell you. I've I I might have I I think I've lost track now, but I might have been on a GLP for, like, three years now. And Okay. I think that is one of the absolute, like, gifts that it has given me that now I can look at a at a food item and say, I know that's not gonna go well for me and not be tortured by it.
And, yeah, torture is maybe a heavy word, but not, like, give in and just have it because I like it or because it's there or something like that. Like, I will walk past food I like because it just doesn't feel like a good decision, and it does not feel like a burden. But I think in the past, it I would have had that feeling of, like, oh, something got, like, taken from me, if that makes sense. Yeah. But you just have that naturally?
Interesting.
I guess so.
Yeah. You don't know because it's just how you are. You should test yourself, see if your GLP levels are naturally high. Are GLP levels a thing? Somebody get in there and figure that out.
What do you, I mean, how is all this GLP medication impacting your research and your livelihood? Because it's fundamentally changing how people eat.
Yeah.
Yeah. Are you bumping into it? Is it is it is it interesting, valuable, problematic for what you're trying to do?
It is. It is. Well, I don't know. I'm not that focused on it, honestly, because No. Okay.
I'm more focused on the, like, what is being, given to people in the hospital. And I guess medication stuff isn't as interesting to me in general. And I I think that would be because my research is mostly on, like, the nutrition content of the food in the hospital. But I think that if I were more looking at, you know, like, what people are choosing to eat and not choosing to eat, that would be a much larger consideration.
Yeah. Okay. So it's interesting, actually, because I'm wondering if the GLPs I mean, there are now people in the hospital. Right? They get sick for other reasons.
They're on GLPs, and they probably haven't been eating a certain way. But then they all everyone at the at the moment, like, standard of care is, like, they make you stop taking it for most stuff that you go into the hospital for. And Mhmm. I want but I it's interesting to me. Like, if you don't have context for it, I'm thinking of a of a hospital like Trey.
Right? And right now, Scott, on day three of his shot, I don't think I could, like, stomach any of that. And I don't mean, like, it would make me sick. Think I'd look at it and be like, I'd prefer not to eat this. Right?
But if you took me off of that for a week or two threw it in front of me, I'd probably be like, oh, chocolate pudding. Like, you you know what I mean? And I and it would I wonder if there are people in the hospital who are, like, in there having lived one way, but now all of a sudden another way. And I wonder if that will drag them back in that direction when they leave or I mean, I don't know. It's not a question you can answer, but it is just interesting to think that, you know, like I don't know.
How like, I guess, let me ask you this. Like, what's the average hospital hospital stay for a person? How long is somebody average in the hospital for?
That really depends on why they're in and what's going on. I mean, like, if someone's waiting for a procedure, like a surgery or something like that, they'll be in longer. You know, if they're if, you know, they have something that requires, they wait for dialysis or I don't know. There are there are so many variables that impact that, and that's actually a very tricky part of doing inpatient research studies because my study has a requirement that they're in the study for two to ten days, and it can be really difficult to gauge, like, the the one day it might be saying they'll be in for four more days and then they end up, know, plans change and they're discharged the next day or they end up staying for ten days. Like, it's very variable, and it's it's a little it's a very tricky part of inpatient research studies.
Oh, no kidding. Yeah. I mean, it doesn't sound easy. How many people in your like, you have, like, a group of people doing this?
Yeah. So our group is maybe around, like immediate group is maybe around seven to eight or so people. But for my dissertation research right now, it's mostly me doing it. I have one of the postdoctoral researchers was helping me a couple months back, but now we have a lot of other studies going on.
And Mhmm.
So it's a it's a relatively small group, but then there's also a ton of collaboration. So that's that's kind of expands the number of people are that are involved, but those here are, you know, like, on the ground and doing the data collection as a smaller number of people.
I see. I wanna ask you in a second, I'd like to ask you about you wrote in your note about, how how you learn to advocate for yourself, and I wanna hear about the ways that that came up. But I'm gonna ask one last question about your research first thing and because based on what you just said about how the collaboration works, how much, if at all, are you using AI models to help you?
With the research right now, Not much. I do we are looking into, you know, like, AI to detect macronutrient content of food. That's kind of a big thing right now and maybe making some twists on that and developing a sort of app or something like that. But right now, not much.
But even the back end work about, like, keeping keeping everything straight or being able to query your own research or using it for any of that?
No. No? Not right now. I think in the, the electronic health record system, it's you know, they're very protective over
Oh, what you can attach it to. I see. Oh, oh,
oh, yeah. Yeah. There's a lot of, like, PHI considerations when, of course, when you're working with people. So it's you have to be really, really careful.
Tell people PHI? PHI means?
Protected health information.
Okay. Okay. So so I'm I'm pivoting here. But, like, what what happened in your past that you thought, like, I have to advocate for myself or I'm not gonna get what I want?
Learning to advocate for herself 42:12
I think that I learned a lot of that through I think through college was a big time for that for me when I was getting accommodations and talking to professors about it and just going through that process, I think, every semester with every professor, you know Mhmm. Emailing them and sitting down with them and telling them what I need. And, you know, of course, you have to, be willing to tell them what you need and not settle for anything less than what you need. And I think that was a really good experience for me.
I see. Just just having to, like, have the conversation. I have type one diabetes. This is what it might entail. I could use help here.
Did anybody ever push back? Say, well, I don't care if you have type one diabetes. Too bad.
I can't remember any experiences like that. No. It was great. I mean, I they were really, really awesome, and I would usually take my exams in the testing center where, you know, I could I could have access to whatever I needed. I think that having access to a phone with the CGM was always a little bit you know, people would ask about it, of course, which is understandable, but, I never got a ton of pushback on it.
Yeah. They were they worried you're gonna cheat. Right?
Probably. I mean, if you have access to an iPhone.
Yeah. And, Jenna, you would never cheat. Tell them.
I would never.
Of course not. This was didn't have to look at me. I was never going
to cheat.
Oh my god. What do you have you lived with and without a CGM or no? Have you always had one?
Five years as her own CGM 44:09
I didn't have a CGM for the first five years, which is now looking back, I have no idea how I did it. I mean, I would poke myself, like, 20 times per day. It was
Yeah.
It was very intense.
Yeah. No. Because you were taking, like, really careful care. You were younger. You were on your own, and so you were creating your own data points even then with your blood sugars.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I I I always joke around with people that I was, like, my own CGM.
Yeah. No. I know. I you know, we actually one time, it was during COVID. You know, everybody did this.
But during COVID, I would do, like, weekly Zooms with people. And at one point, they got a like, there's, 300 people in there. It was crazy. And this one lady, I don't remember her name, she was like, I I only have a meter. And we had her, like, draw out a graph and then just plot her blood sugars, and then she connected the lines.
And I'm like, it's not perfect, but it gives you an idea of which way your blood sugars are moving. And it was really helpful. It was, like, super helpful for her. Like, she came back the next week, and she's like, hey. That made a big difference.
I was like, awesome. But yeah. I mean, CGM I mean, it's another level, right, of of being able to see you know, get ahead of stop things before they happen. I mean, it's such a big deal. I I really hope that Yeah.
I I you know, I was listening to an interview with Lilly's CEO the other day where he he was talking about GLPs, but he was talking about that what he would like to do is get it to, like, more scale. Like, he's like, I don't know if he means what he said, but he was like, I don't need to make as much money on it. I need to get it more hands was the idea. And I thought, boy, I would love if if some diabetes device manufacturers thought like that. Like, maybe we can take a little less for it, but make the money up on, you know, on selling more of it.
That kind of thing. I don't know enough about business to know how to do that. But, boy, you know, you know, just imagine not have imagine if I came and took it from you right now. Like, how would that change your life today?
The CGM?
Yeah. I just come back. I go, you can't have it anymore, Jenna. There's no more CGM for you. What I mean, you lose your automation.
You lose all of your reference points. Your a one c probably goes up a point, I would imagine, and adds a ton more work to your life. Right?
I mean, I rely on the CGM, like, in a way where I cannot even imagine living my day to day life without it. It's it's a godsend. I mean, especially with sleep and, you know, my mom still follows me and being you know, running around on the hospital floors and, like, I just I have to have it. And then, yeah, with AID, I mean
Yeah. You just don't wanna lose it. You know what I mean? It's so awesome. Yeah.
Yeah. I was just thinking now. Like, Arden went out last night, so I'm I'm I I haven't looked. But did try to imagine. Like, I mean, she's 22.
Don't get me wrong. But she went out last night. I think, you know, she went to a club. She went with friends. Like, you know, like, she's, you know, she's out for a while.
I think she got home maybe around midnight or so. And I'm looking here. She got a little low before she left, and then she ate dinner around 06:30 or 07:00. And since then and now it's 10:00 in the morning. Her blood sugar's 71.
It has not been under 70 or over a 110 in the last sixteen hours. Wow. You know what I mean? Like and that's all just technology, really. It's it's Yeah.
Algorithms and CGMs and it's a it's just it's a it's astonishing how good it is.
No. It's so it's it's incredible. I mean, that's what allows it to be much more background for me these days too. I mean, part of the reason why I think homeschooling was good and, you know, it's great for my health is at the time, I was doing finger sticks and pen injections. And so, I mean, that just requires so much more oversight than having AID and
Oh, please.
You know, a CGM.
Oh my gosh. Hey. Yeah.
Thinking
about nutrition. So I don't know if you've ever heard it, but, like, Jenny and I like, Jenny's a CDCS, and she's got type one for, like, thirty eight years. Right? And she's a nutritionist too. I or whatever She I don't know.
She's RD, registered dietitian maybe. Mhmm. Sorry, Jenny. I've only known her for, like, fifteen years. I'll I'll commit it to memory eventually.
But but, you know, we've been doing these, like, bolus four episodes recently where it's a thing I avoided for a long time, but people are always like, just want you to tell me how to bolus for this. And, you know, so we kind of talk we talk our way through it. But as we talk our way through it, you know, we're picking through the nutrition of these items, like, online while we're doing it. And a lot of food is astonishingly horrible. Like like Yeah.
Really, like, genuinely. Like, I don't know. Like, sometimes I'll read the ingredients. Like, I don't know what any of this is. Like, any of it.
Or they're they sound like chemicals or, you know, binding agents or thickeners and stuff like that. It's just crazy. Right? Yeah. But my takeaway has been that, generally, I don't think that's what people think.
Like, you know what I mean? Like, when somebody takes a I usually say ho ho because I think it's funny. But when, like, someone takes a ho ho and takes a bite of it, I don't think that they're thinking, I'm eating thickeners and shelf stabilizers and colors and chemicals. And I know this is wrong and really unhealthy for me, but damn it. I'm just gonna do it anyway.
Like, I don't think that's I don't think that's how it works. So, like Yeah. I find myself thinking all the time. I don't know you have an answer to this because I don't either. It's like, I wonder how you could, like, meaningfully help people to understand what it is that they're fueling themselves with.
And if and even if they knew if that would would make a change for them or I mean, is it gonna take something like a GLP to change, like, the population's, like, addiction to, like, some of these foods? Do have thoughts about any of that?
Addictive food, access, and produce prescriptions 50:34
I mean, this I actually think about this a lot because it's it's it's a big impediment to people eating well, like the addictiveness of food. These foods are designed to be addictive. And, like, how do you fight that? Especially because a lot of the foods that are very processed and have a lot of ingredients that could be harmful to people are less expensive
Yeah.
And more available. And it just creates a situation where it's extremely difficult to know how to, help people eat better because a lot of it comes down to access because eating well is really expensive and inconvenient because it takes time, and money and stuff like that. So I I think that there needs to be way better nutrition education just to start. Like, that should be a part of education schools
Yeah. For sure. I I just I don't feel like it's going to be. Like, there's gotta be you're gonna have to reach people at a certain age before it's just, like, ingrained in you. Like, because look.
Yeah. I mean, listen. You you you have family events at holidays. Everybody does. And there's some stuff at these events, like, you know, when you start mixing your family, like, when you, you know, you get, you know, married or something, you end up at some, you know, some guy's house for Thanksgiving, and someone brings into the room I'll tell you the one thing that shocked me.
Sweet potatoes with marshmallows melted over top of it at Thanksgiving. Like, as an ex and as an example, like, someone brought that in like Simba. They were like, like, the it's here. You know? And everybody's like, And I was like, what is that?
Did you melt marshmallows on food? And, like, you know, like, they're just one of those things where I was like, and no disrespect to anybody if that's what they do or anything. My point is is that they grew up with it. They think it's an imperative almost. Like, not Thanksgiving if we don't if we don't soak sweet potatoes, a generally healthy food, in brown sugar and then melt marshmallows over top of it.
If we don't do that, then then the pilgrims lost. Like, is is you know, is that it's what did they do any of this for? And and so when you, you know what I mean? Like, when someone starts a thing and makes it part of your life, like, imagine Jenna comes on and goes, oh, don't eat those. They're gonna be like, go to hell.
It's Thanksgiving. And and I don't know that it's ever done on purpose. Like, I again, I don't think someone made the sweet potatoes with marshmallows and went, I'm gonna poison my family. Just like when my mom Right. Went to the to the dollar grocery store because we were broke and would buy a canister, and canister is the right word for it, of powder.
And then she'd mix it with a gallon of water and be like, here's your juice. Or it or they'd call it fruit juice or lemonade or something like that. And then, you know, like, you were supposed to put, like, I don't know, 10 scoops in for a gallon, but, you know, it was sweeter if you put in 12. And then, like, and then that just sat in my refrigerator for my whole life. And every time you were thirsty, that's what you drank.
You you know what I mean? If you go find my mom, Jenna, and say, hey. Did you know you were poisoning, Scott? She'd say, no. I bought it said, like, real fruit juice on the front of it.
Like, I swear to you, I don't think it's a thing she did on purpose.
Oh, for sure not. Yeah. No. It's what's it's what's accessible, and it's also very cultural and
Yeah. You know. It's just it's Social. I don't like you're beating it is what I'm saying. I I'm listen.
I'm I'm on board. Like, I've said it before. I'll say it again. I sprayed the GLP out of planes. Like, just just put it on everybody and and and give them a month of not, like, wanting that stuff and see if it does for them what it's done for me and a lot of other people, which is just, like, really I I can't I can't say it's rewired me because I I have not been off of it.
I wouldn't know what happened if I stopped taking it for a month. Like, if a month from now, I would just be like, I'm gonna eat a bag of jelly beans now. Like, I don't know. You you know what I mean? But I don't know.
I I just I wonder if there's an actual, like, pathway that goes education, you know, more stability financially for food. Like, that sounds nice. Like, it sounds academic. It doesn't sound real world to me.
Mhmm.
You know what I mean? Like, I don't know. But but maybe you'll figure it out. Is it gonna be you?
Yeah. It's very tricky. It's very tricky. I mean, there's a lot to work through. And if nutrition is always difficult because it's it's so cultural and
Yeah. No. For sure.
And then it's comfort and everything. But I think there I think there really is room. And, like, for example, produce prescription programs are a super great thing. I are you familiar with them at all?
I've heard those words, but if you explain it to me, I would appreciate it.
Yeah. So it's basically where people's doctors essentially can give them prescriptions to get a box of produce every week.
Oh.
And they're becoming more widespread. And when you talk to people who are in these programs, they really like it. Like, they they love having access to more produce. And so I think that people like it. It just needs to be prioritized at a higher level.
Mhmm.
And then, you know, there will be more access to that type of thing, and I'll be able to help people more.
That's what I said. Yeah. As long as they don't put brown sugar on the sweet potatoes that comes in the
Exactly.
I mean, honestly. Exactly. Brown sugar and marshmallows. Think about it. Sugar sugar and then a different sugar.
Like, we'll just put it on the potatoes. So what's the point? Just eat the marshmallows for god's sakes. Yeah. You pass it.
Come across that dish at Thanksgiving. I don't know that I've ever had it, but I have seen it.
Yeah. I know. Listen. I'm not a Philistine. I've I've eaten some crappy food in my life.
But, like, that was just one that, like, I'm using it as an example, did not exist in my life. And then I went to someone else's house and, you know, the the, you know, the takeaway was, like, this is this is Mecca right here. Like, we don't have Thanksgiving if this doesn't exist. I was like, oh, okay.
Well, exactly. That that's the cultural component. You know?
Yeah. Like, it's You know those crappy sorry for everybody who's there's, like, the, like, the the the you know, the the rolls that come in the roll and you crack them open and they expand?
Yes.
Yeah. Jenna's like, I know them. I don't eat them. But, like yeah. Yeah.
But, like and then there's some that are, like, more like cinnamon buns. They come with icing. Right? Mhmm. Yep.
The way my wife grew up, it was not the morning of a holiday if they didn't exist. Like, that was a treat in her life. And so now once we're married and have kids, like, well, we you know, it's Christmas morning. Like, we need to have these, like, poison bombs on Christmas morning. And then and then and they are tasty.
Like, I'm not gonna say otherwise. They're not a high quality, like, tasty, but, like, it's sugary and sweet and etcetera. And then Art now Artin has diabetes. You know? And every morning on Christmas, I'm, like, pre bolusing, like, while she's asleep and cooking the muffin things that when it comes out, I can actually, like, intersect the insulin with the the hit from the stuff.
And and I became really good at it. But point being is it would have been way way cooler if we didn't do it, but we couldn't stop doing it because it was like telling my wife it wasn't Christmas. It's really interesting. She's a bright lady. I if you met my wife and if you met my wife, talked to her for three hours, and then I told you that story about her, you'd be flabbergasted.
You'd be like, that intelligent woman thinks this about these muffins, but it's how she it's beaten into her head from growing up. You know?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No. I know.
It's tricky. I actually feel kinda bad for my siblings because after I was diagnosed, Christmas completely changed for us. My my mom was very adamant that we would do much less sugar. You know?
They probably looked at you like, that's the girl that killed it right there. She ruined it for everybody.
It was like we made a lot of changes right away and you know? So
We we you were happy about them. Everybody wasn't?
I don't know. Like, I don't feel I don't remember having a strong opinion about it at the time. Now, of course, I'm grateful for it. But Yeah. At the time, I don't remember having a super strong opinion about it.
And I I always used nutrition as a way to help myself through diabetes. So I think I just kind of saw what they do were doing and thought, okay. I should I should focus more on nutrition.
Has the diabetes been difficult for you over the years? And if so, in what ways?
I think yeah. I think that, of course, there's some anxiety associated with it. I don't know that it's more anxiety than you would really expect. I mean, if you're asking someone to live with a chronic illness that requires a lot of monitoring, I think it's normal to have some anxiety with that. So I think for me, it's probably mostly been a stress thing.
Like, I'm certainly carry more stress than I would otherwise.
Mhmm.
Although, I think it's hard to kind of parse it apart at the same time because I think it also gives me a lot more perspectives, and then I'm less stressed about small things. And so I don't know.
I I overall. I Yeah.
Go ahead.
I I I take your point being that, like, I don't freak out about little stuff anymore. Like, I feel like I've I feel like I've I've said before, I feel like I have the perspective of, a 100 year old person because of the diet because of the diabetes. You're like you're like, you know, something something other people freak out about. I'm like, oh my god. I don't even have the time to be upset about that.
So Yeah. Yeah. It it does that for you. But, also, what I'm hearing you say is that, like, the the focus is ramped up, and this isn't maybe how you would be living your life if it wasn't for diabetes. Or do you think you would've do you think this is who you are and you just would've pointed this at something else if it wasn't type one?
I don't think I would be as focused on, like, my goals to help people if it weren't for being diagnosed with type one. Like, it just I felt like I was a little bit lost. I mean, granted, I was, like, 13, but I don't remember having a super strong kind of focal point. I think it's giving me a stronger focal point in life in general
Yeah.
And a lot more perspective.
And that's a positive that's a positive for you. You don't feel like you were dragged down a path you wouldn't have chosen? You just you feel happy that it kinda showed it to you and you were drawn towards it?
Yes. Yeah. I do. I I'm really I'm really happy with what I'm doing right now. Nice.
So yeah. And, of course, it's it's challenging to live with in many ways, but, you know, there are also ways that it makes the rest of life less stressful. I don't know. It's it's interesting. I I it's very I always think type one impacts every single part of life, so it's hard to parse apart what's type one, what's life, what's me.
Because it's all the same it's all the same thing at
this Yeah.
Kinda gives you one hand takes from the other too. Yeah. Yeah. Has it you said you're not dating right now. Is that a type one thing?
Is that a time thing, or is that a preference?
Dating with type 1 — bring it up early 1:03:07
I think that's a time thing. I've just been, like, so focused on school for the past, I don't know, eight years or something.
Gina. Eight years? When's the last time you were on a date when I had a good time?
I go on dates. I go on dates.
You do? But Okay. You do those
me now.
You do it the way the kids do it nowadays?
Yes. Oh, absolutely.
You just swipe, and then you show up somewhere and you're like, you don't seem like you're gonna murder me and then you stay? That kind of thing? Is that about it?
That's about it.
Are you in are you in the DC area?
No. I'm in Atlanta.
Oh, you're in Atlanta? Yes. I was just there. I did a talk I did a talk for touch by type one there. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Nice. Nice. Yeah.
I my my son lived there for a year.
Oh, okay.
Yeah. And so you're at school there? Will you tell me what school you're at, or would you prefer not to say?
I'm at Emory. Emory University.
Oh, okay. Awesome. It's about to get hot there. You're gonna be alright?
I love the heat.
Oh, nice. Oh, you're I love the heat.
Here. Yeah. That's perfect. Yeah.
You think you'll stay there even after school?
We will see. We will see. I am not quite sure. I do really like it here, so I would I would be very happy to stay, but I'll have to I'll have I'll have to see what's going on at that point. I'll probably graduate in a year or two and then figure it out.
Let me ask you a very Atlanta specific question. Do you ignore the boys with the bottle of water, or do you buy them? Or do you not drive in Atlanta?
I ignore.
I do I do too. I look away. I feel better. Yeah. I think it's because they're holding a single bottle, and I'm like, I don't know.
Doesn't seem like it's in a package.
That's fair. That's That's fair. Fair.
No. By the way, I've seen the most horrendous traffic I've ever seen in my life is in Atlanta. And I once saw someone in a four wheel drive vehicle get annoyed at the pace of traffic, And they wanted to go from the middle lane to the left lane, but they went too soon, too fast, cut it too late, and drove up and over the back end of a small car. Leaving that car dis I swear to you, it all happened right in front Leaving that car disabled, they got in the left lane, zoomed away. About 200 feet later, I realized there was an officer in the middle.
I pulled over and I said, hey. I just I pointed. I was like, I just watched that truck hit that car back there. They're disabled, and you could get them. And I'd be happy to be a witness.
And he looked at me and he goes, not my job.
And I
and I was like, okay.
I know. The driving in Atlanta is crazy. And I kind of I'm lucky in that I don't drive that much, like, everything. I live very close to work and everything, but Atlanta does have a reputation for its traffic.
I mean, it's been my experience, and I was there going off a a number of times for a year. Also, there's that little open air mall where the theater is. You know what I mean? Like, that big AMC theater, and it's sort of like, am I
What area is that in?
It's right I mean, it's right near where they made The Walking Dead. That's all I know.
I think I know. I think I know what you're talking about.
Anyway, I like it. I think it's nice there.
Although, maybe not. I'm not sure. I like I feel like I only know school and the hospitals here.
No kidding. How long have you been there? How long have you been there? Jen, did I lose you? Oh, we lost her.
She's she's there, but she's not there.
Oh, sorry.
There you go. You're back.
One second.
You're fine. Can
you hear me?
Yeah. I can.
Okay. Yeah. Sorry. I got a call and everything went
a bit. That's okay. How long have you been in Atlanta?
I moved here in twenty twenty three, to start my program. So it's been about three years now.
Okay. Alright. Well, I want you I want you out in the world more meeting people, but, if that happens eventually are you interested in having kids, and do you ever think about them having type one, if so?
Yeah. I do like kids, and I guess it yeah. I I've thought about it, but it doesn't deter me. I don't know. Like, I what can you do at a certain point?
You know? I mean
You just gotta live.
Right? Do, yeah, if I do have kids with type one, at least I know how to manage it.
Yeah. No. I hear that. Do do Yeah. Put do when people okay.
So I have one last question for you, then I'll make sure I've covered what you wanna talk about, and I'll let you go. So when you date people and you meet them for the first time, you're not sure if you're ever gonna see them again. Do even tell them about the diabetes?
It usually comes up in conversation just because it's so tied into what I do.
Okay. And you're at a meal sometimes when this is happening too. Right?
Yeah.
Yeah. Now do coin flip, and I'm not trying to make it sound like you're going out with a ton of people, but, like, for every 10 people that you have a first date with, how many of them do you think go, oh, I'm not interested after they hear that? Does it shut some people off?
I don't know, but I you know, that's one reason why I like to bring it up early.
Yeah. Just you don't wanna
Because yeah. I mean, if someone has an issue with that, then I need to know ASAP.
So you don't waste time? Right. Yeah. Yeah. Gotcha.
Yeah. And then are there some people who over mother it? Do they do they get too interested too fast? You know, like, hey. Hey.
Hey. Easy. It's kinda private. I don't really mind it if someone has a lot of interest in it. So You wouldn't notice it that way.
Yeah. But, also, I don't
think I've had that experience too much. Most people are pretty pretty respectful about it.
So That's awesome. Yeah. That's cool. Well, I I always help people. Like, I think when you find somebody who really gets it, is interested, it's not off putting to them.
Like, that's a good indication you might be with a a reasonable person. You know? So Right.
Yeah. It's a good it's a good screening tool.
Awesome. Oh, it's it's pretty cool. Is there anything that I didn't ask you that I should have or anything that didn't come up that you'd be disappointed later when you think back on this?
No. I think we just about covered it.
Did you have a good time? Yeah. That was awesome. Oh, cool. Well, I'm glad.
Thank you. What made you reach out? Do you listen to podcast?
The reveal: Jenna was episode 34 1:10:02
I was on it when I was 18. And then, yeah, and then we were we did this, like, you know, ten year follow-up.
Jenna, how did you not mention that the entire time we were talking? What episode were you on when you were 18?
Oh my gosh. Which episode was it? Let me see. 35.
We were on the episode Jenna? Are you serious?
It's not. Wait. Is it the one before? It was 34. 34.
Wait. I'm looking it up on my website right now, which, by the way, has a new and improved search tool. Jenna is 18 and amazing. This is insane. I oh, you got you gotta give me a couple of minutes now.
Hold on. Jenna is an 18 year old college student who is diagnosed with type one diabetes at the age of 13. To say that Jenna has it together is, well, the understatement of all understatements. Seriously, I hope my kids turn out half as well. Heck, I wish her parents raised me.
That's what it says on the website. And now you're oh my god. Like, I'm so sorry. Like, you know in your note, you didn't mention that at all. Right?
You know I don't under you listen. You know I don't know what I'm doing. Like, you can't leave it I'm not an adult. You can't leave it to me.
I'm sorry, Scott. I thought you knew.
No. I have to tell you something. I like better that it went this way.
Yeah.
I I really do. Did you, at any point, while you were talking, think he does not remember me?
It's it crossed my mind.
Well, you were right. Oh my god. Well, how are you? How you been?
What You know, it's it's been crazy. It's been ten years, which is honestly bizarre. Like, I can't believe it's been ten years.
Well, not only that, but it was I mean, I have to look now to tell you when it like, let me find out when episode 34 went up. I gotta go into a different system to find that out, but give me one second. Hold on. Blah blah blah. Oh, a lot of downloads today.
Alright. I'm sorry. That's not why we're here. Wait one second. Good day.
Thanks everybody for listening. Episode 34. I've been making this so long. There's, like, 20 episodes that have the number 34 in it. You were holy hell, Jenna.
You were on this podcast in October 2015.
Isn't that crazy?
I started making it in January 2015.
Oh, really?
No. Kidding. How did you end up on the podcast back then? Do you have any recollection?
I think I reached out to you.
No kidding. You're a little go getter. Yeah. Yeah. I see what's going on.
Okay. And then oh my god. Like, you're making me feel, like, accomplished. I appreciate that. Thank you very much.
Like, it it it feels like I, like, did something, keeping it going and tying it back together like this.
Yeah. Yeah. No. You did.
Jenna is 28 and still amazing. It's definitely a good a good title for this one. What do you think you'll be doing when you're 38?
We'll have to see. I'll have to be back on, and we'll have to see.
Shannon, you don't have one guess? You don't know where you'll be in ten years?
I don't want to make any guesses I always see something I can't predict. But yeah. So I don't know. But I'm thinking right now to stay in academia, so we'll see. We'll see what happens.
You like teaching people, or you just like the learning part?
I like all of it. I like the research. I like the learning. I like the teaching. So yeah.
That's pretty awesome. Well, I'll be there. This is, like, such a genuinely nice little surprise at the end.
I'm glad.
Do you know if I wouldn't have asked you that last question, I never would have put this together?
That's so funny.
Okay. Well, I I mean, we started strong with me impressing you with my knowledge of your life just by the tone of your voice. And, we've ended it with, I would imagine, a fairly disappointing moment for my for my organizational skills.
It's all good.
Oh my god. That's awesome. Well, it's nice to talk to you again. Seriously, this has really been really cool. I, I I really do like that it happened this way.
I know most people won't believe that, but I like that it happened this way because I would have gotten I would have gotten too focused on the what's changed thing instead of just talking to you. So Yeah. Yeah. I fair. I really like this.
Okay. Well, I'm gonna have to re you know, let you go. You probably have, I don't know, hospital food to, like, vomit while you look at. I mean, what's the most vile what's the most vile thing they make in a they give in a hospital or somebody? What's the thing that when you look at it, you go, I don't understand why they would hand this to a person, let alone a person in a hospital?
Well, I I think the thing that always surprises me is the number of, like, white dinner rolls and desserts, like cakes, like chocolate cake or chocolate pudding for dessert.
Yeah.
Yeah. Like, the dinner rolls with
Yeah. You're you're not moving around. Your body's ill. You're shitting in a pan. Would you like a piece of chocolate cake to sit in your gullet for a while?
Awesome. But, yeah, you know, I wanna get out of the hospital. Thank you. What gets me out of here? Give me quinoa.
Yeah.
I yeah. I gotta go. I don't like quinoa. Don't know what the hell it is, but feed it to me and get me the hell out of here.
Oh my god.
That was fascinating.
It needs a lot of help.
So Well, I I appreciate your time very much, and I I I can't thank you enough for doing this. I guess I'll I'll see you in 2036.
There you go.
Alright. Let's do it. Cool. Put it
on the calendar.
K. Put it on the calendar. Listen. If I can keep this thing going ten more years, I would a 100% do that, first of all. And secondly, that would be quite an accomplishment.
Do do you know ever both. Nothing. I this podcast is one of probably fewer than 200 podcasts that has been going as long as it is and has as many episodes as it does. It's, like, really incredibly uncommon. So maybe I'm Congrats.
Yeah. Maybe I will do it. Although, I will be 64 at that point.
So I think you can do it.
I don't know, Jenna. Did I seem like the same person that this is a good example. Like, do you re are you experiencing me the way you remembered, or do you not have much memory of it?
I I feel like you're the same person. Yeah. Awesome. And I've listened to a lot of the episodes. So
Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Oh, that's how I make my listeners. I just have them on the podcast.
It's a it's a it's basically like a Ponzi pyramid scheme. I'm just I just I make listeners by interviewing.
I mean, it's a good way to do it.
Hey. What works works. You know? Alright. I will, hold on one second.
I need to talk to you before we're done. I'm gonna hit stop now. Thanks again.
Thank you.
Heck of an episode today, wouldn't you say? Let's thank Dexcom and the Omnipod five for sponsoring. That's right, my friends. We were sponsored today by the Dexcom gseven. Dexcom.com/juicebox.
Head over there right now. Look into that fifteen day Dexcom g seven. Fifteen days is a long time. That's like half a month. Don't check my math, but I'm pretty sure I'm right.
And let's also thank the Omnipod five. My goodness gracious. Omnipod five tubeless. That beautiful algorithm's updated now with that new 100 target. Get in there.
Find out more about it. Omnipod.com/juicebox. You want some tubeless insulin pumping? Yeah. You do.
By any chance, have you tried the small sip series? It's 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. Take a deep dive, 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 and then go oh, actually, we changed the website.
Let me see. Go to juiceboxpodcast.com. And from there, oh, there's these two little lines on the right side top. That's the menu. And click that, then click series.
Then there's pro there's small steps right there. Pro tips to top, bold beginnings, bold bolus four, asks that. There's a lot of them there. There's actually a little search there too. Could you just type small sips into the search?
Oh, wow. That search works great. Look at that. And then you could go right to, like, all results for small sips. Oh, and that takes you to the FAQ.
You should check out the FAQ page too. I think that's juiceboxpodcast.com/jbfaq. Seriously, that thing's amazing. Actually, the whole website is I mean, have you, like, seen it? You should you should go check out the website.
The website rocks. It is a potpourri, a never ending cornucopia of support for you and your diabetes journey. That's right. It really is. What else we got over here?
Oh, I don't like the way that works. I'm gonna fix that. Note to self. Change the change the masthead on the frequently asked questions page. Yeah.
I don't like that. Fix that. Oh, Claude. Oh, hell. I forgot to say thank you.
Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back again very, very soon. What is that noise? Stop it. Stop.
Can you hear that? It's my chameleon squeaking. Are you squeaking? Are you rubbing the branch against the don't tell people I have reptiles. They'll think I'm weird.
Thanks so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of the juice box podcast. Look at me. Get all deep in there with another episode of the juice box podcast. You can hear it.
What was that? Oh, I'm getting alarms and alerts on my phone. I was gonna get real deep and tell you about the juice box podcast.
- A ballet teacher caught what daily life hid. Jenna’s mom saw her every day — it was her dance teacher, whose brother had type 1, who said “she’s not okay” after watching her sit down mid-routine.
- She took charge at 13. With busy parents who gave her room, Jenna reasoned her way to fewer carbs, ran a roughly six-month honeymoon without insulin, and built the independent management style she still uses.
- “I was my own CGM.” Five years of 20 finger sticks a day before her first sensor — today she calls the CGM a godsend she can’t imagine living without, paired with Omnipod 5.
- Advocacy is a learned skill. Semester after semester of telling professors what she needed — and not settling for less — taught her to speak up, a habit she now applies everywhere, including first dates.
- Her dissertation targets hospital food. At Emory, Jenna is enrolling 80 inpatients to document nutrition and shared decision-making, chasing a startling statistic: roughly 25% of patients experience hospital-acquired malnutrition.
- Jenna is 18 and Amazing — Episode 34 — Jenna’s first appearance on the podcast, October 2015 — the episode this ten-year follow-up pays off.
- T1D Exchange Registry — US residents 18+ with type 1 can complete the survey and help move T1D research forward.
- The Diabetes Link (formerly College Diabetes Network) — The organization Jenna joined in college and served as a fellow with during her gap years.
- Small Sips — Bite-sized, listener-voted takeaways from the podcast on insulin timing, carbs, and balancing highs and lows.
