I Could Have Seen This Coming
Her sister was diagnosed at twelve months. Three gestational pregnancies, a type 2 label and a C-peptide of 1.1 later, Jessica had to demand the antibody test herself.
Jump to a moment
- Type 1 was already in the house. Jessica's sister was diagnosed at twelve months old in 1991, and Jessica grew up helping with the glucometer and watching her mom pour maple syrup into a combative, low little girl. Their dad is still labeled type 2, but Jessica is "99% sure" he's type 1. The family history of autoimmune disease is long, which is why she opens with "I could have totally seen this coming."
- She had gestational diabetes in all three pregnancies — metformin in 2017, Levemir in 2019, and with the third, a type 2 diagnosis delivered over the phone while she sat at the library. By spring 2023 she was on the maximum dose of metformin, getting multiple UTIs a year and rashes on her knees, and a full lifestyle overhaul did nothing to her numbers.
- She paid out of pocket for extra labs. A positive ANA and a C-peptide of 1.1 didn't move her doctor, who read anything at or above one as normal. After a Costco hot dog sent her numbers flying, she went in and asked for all five antibody tests. Her IA-2 came back positive. The educator handed her a sliding scale of one unit at 200 and told her the rest was anxiety.
- Metformin plus insulin was dropping her low after dinner, so she figured it out herself and stopped the metformin. Half-unit pens helped because she's sensitive to insulin. When her endo invented a rule that she'd need a C-peptide under one to qualify for a pump, she found a new endo in the next big city, who asked, "You want a pump?" She's been on a Tandem Mobi since May, and the rashes cleared up once she was on insulin.
- She's a biomedical engineer who worked on pacemakers and now homeschools her three kids. Her advice for getting what you need from a doctor: know your stuff, and sometimes play a little dumb and ask questions so they arrive at the answer with you.
- Bold Beginnings Series — Getting a refresh and re-releasing in the feed, in order, starting around episode 2000
- Juicebox Podcast Pro Tip Series — Management fundamentals with Jenny Smith, episodes 1000–1025
- Tandem Mobi with Control-IQ+ — Tandem's smallest pump yet, now available for ages two and up
- US Med — Dexcom, Libre, Omnipod, Tandem, iLet and more — or call (888) 721-1514
Every word of the conversation
Welcome and Sponsors0:04
Welcome back my friends to the diabetes show that never ends. Remember this, nothing you hear on the juice box podcast should be considered advice medical or otherwise. Always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan or becoming bold with insulin.
Meet Jessica1:00
Hi. My name is Jessica. I'm 39 years old. I live in Upstate South Carolina. And unlike most of the people that you have conversations with, I could have totally seen this coming.
I
love that. I don't particularly enjoy you naming the episode in the first thirty seconds, but that's
That's like my housewife's tagline. I've been thinking about this for a while.
So That's really good. You just said something right before I hit record, and I said, hold on. Let me hit record, and then I'll answer you. You said, I'm a little nervous. And I was gonna say back, I think you'd be mentally unstable if you weren't nervous.
Like Right. You know what I mean? Like, you... It's not a thing you do. Right?
Right. I was thinking this is a thing you do the time. So you're just stepping right in, and this is new. But conversations are good to have, and they're good to practice all the time.
So Yeah. I think it's great. And, yeah, it would be insane if I was nervous.
I know.
But I I fully expect you to be. People will sometimes ask me, how come the the conversations... Like, some people don't like the talky part, so they they would prefer it if everything you and I just said to each other didn't exist. And you said, hi. My name is Jessica.
I have type one diabetes or, like... You know? And I asked you a question about your diabetes, we launched right into it. I think those those people don't take into account the fact that you don't make podcasts all the time.
Right.
And it would be nice to get you calm and relaxed and everything before we start talking. So Yeah. But I'm right. You're the one with type one. Is that right?
Correct.
Okay. Mhmm. Are... Let me find out a little bit about your background. Are you married?
Do you not have children have children? I'm I'm not gonna ask you if you own a home, but you know what I mean. Like, tell me a little bit about you.
Yeah. So I'm married... We'll be married fifteen years next month in October. Three kids. And...
Yes. And I got... And I have a weird diagnosis story.
Tell me tell me how old the kids are, and then I wanna hear about that.
So my oldest is nine. That's my boy. And then I have two daughters after that who's seven and newly four.
Nine, seven, four. Okay. Alright. Well, I mean, you you seem like you're ready. So how did you figure out you had type one?
Her Sister, Diagnosed at Twelve Months3:12
Oh, man. Okay. So you kinda have to have a backstory first of my sister having type one. She was diagnosed when she was 12 old. So right after her first birthday party, literally, when she had cake as an infant.
And I was three, so I'm the eldest out of the two siblings.
Mhmm.
So I've been around type one and exposed to everything about it my entire life. So it's not new to me, the the lifestyle, but it's personally affecting me came later. Right? So I have a pretty... I I told the pediatrician, have a cornucopia of autoimmune disease in my family besides the type one.
My mom had Graves' disease, so she had hyperthyroid disease. So she had her thyroid removed, has hypothyroidism now. Mhmm. Her mother on that same side had hypothyroidism, and she also has scleroderma, which is another autoimmune disease that affects the collagen of your skin, of your organs. She managed to survive all that.
Dad's Type 2 Label4:21
And then my dad, technically, he's still diagnosed as type two. But for having two daughters and he has diabetes, I've been begging him to get his antibodies tested. But he does have diabetes. So
Do you
that's my background there.
Do you think he's LADA and he doesn't know it, or you're just worried that he might be?
Oh, no. I think he's type one. I'm pretty... Like, 99% sure. And and when...
Before they locate... They relocated when he retired to where we live now, I mean, his his a one c's were in the tens. He was managed very poorly, and he's on some type two drugs now that have brought in, like, into the eight ranges, seven, eight, which is better. But he still has complications also related to neuropathy already, and he's... I'm not saying he's in in denial about it.
He just kind of goes with the flow and and treats those symptoms as they come. But I'm for sure convinced it's, you know, just undiagnosed type one.
How how old is he?
He's one in fifty four, so we can do that in, like, '72.
I I was gonna... I was I was so excited to try because I got 46 on the backside of 2,000, and then I got 26 on the other side. Right? So that's $66.72. Yeah.
You had it. Okay. Damn. Yeah. I was gonna really show off there for a second with my
Homeschool math.
My ridiculous math. So do you think... I mean, you know your dad probably as well as, you know, anybody who's not your mom. Right? So does he not wanna find out he has type one because he doesn't wanna feel responsible for your type one and and his other daughter's type one, or does he just
feel like He
What do you think?
He knows the answer is insulin, and I don't think he wants to deal with insulin and all that comes with that. Like, he'd rather just take a pill every day, which is what he does. But I was just telling him there's this technology all the time. Like, they have a weekly basal now that's coming out, which would probably be very helpful for someone like him. You know?
Well, if... And and if if he's getting by on oral meds and actually has type one, then that's not gonna go forever at some point.
No. I mean, it's not gone well. I mean, he's... He has, you know, pretty bad eye disease. He had Charcot foot the past couple years, and it was only one of his feet where basically the arch of your foot collapses.
And it's not painful, and you're not feeling it because of the neuropathy sort of thing.
Oh gosh.
It just kinda presented as a swollen red foot, and he had no idea why. And so it was more of a problem with walking and affecting your stability walking. And he finally had re... Surgery recently on that to basically just shave the the foot down because it was kinda convex in your shoe, which is very uncomfortable. Uncomfortable.
So... And all of those things compound to why I deal with my diabetes and the way I manage because of all those things, which my providers never really quite understood, right, coming from your experience.
I have to tell you, I feel like I could talk to your dad for ten hours based on what you just said. Like like,
I got We're big engineering family. We don't talk a lot.
I'm I'm just sitting here thinking to myself, like, he went through a surgery instead of taking insulin? Like, you know what I mean? Like,
that type of probably had to happen regardless. But... Yeah. No. He just wants to take a pill.
And my mom... I mean, nobody can tell him any different. Maybe a doctor could. But you'd think after seeing what I went through to finally get a diagnosis and how well I'm doing now comparatively, I thought I could convince him to get those antibody tests, but he still hasn't done it.
So It's fantastic. I have to tell you with the the life that I've had so far, and my daughter has type one, and if I... If my blood sugar starts to go up, I'm just gonna assume I have type one diabetes and go check.
Right.
You know? You know, I'd be like, oh, okay. I bet... Makes sense to me. Oh gosh.
Well, I feel I
feel I always told him the thing about the father too, how it's more likely passed from the father, and now you have two daughters with type one. Like, where's... The the logic leads you to one conclusion. You know?
Yeah. It's it's just... It's funny because the story hits me so much. I know at this point now, hope he never hears about it, but, like, somebody who I live near is 72 and, you know, doesn't have type one, but clearly has type two and, you know, neuropathy and all the complaints that go with, you know, higher blood sugars and everything. And then you just say, well, I think if you just tried the GLP, like, that really might help.
And they're like, wow. I mean, maybe after my vacation. I'm like, hey. You're gonna die. And I...
And and it... And
you Quality of life.
Yeah. What about that? Right? And and as you're having the conversation, everything makes sense. The next time I bump into him, I go, hey.
You start that medicine? He goes, no. Not yet. I'm like, oh, I don't know what to... Like, I don't know what to say anymore.
You know?
Yeah. Yeah. I know.
Anyway, well... Okay. Well, let's talk about... So you're... I don't want you to tell your sister's story too much, but twelve months.
Like Yeah. It was wild. Holy hell. From when
Is that in the nineties? Been told. Yeah. That's in the nineties.
Yeah. He was born in nineties, so this would have happened in 1991. Yeah.
Okay. And you... But I'm assuming you have no recollection of it. But I do wanna know about, like, your recollection of growing up with a sister who has type one. This episode is sponsored by Tandem Diabetes Care.
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Yeah. So I was three when it happened. So I only have... Well, my mom's told me about the diagnosis. Like, she was in a coma for a while, that sort of thing.
Growing Up Next to the Glucometer11:46
But I distinctly remember the old glucometer they had, and I would help get her... Retrieve her blood by using these old glass pipettes. I don't know if you've ever seen those. And we would prick her toes, and you could suck the blood out like a straw
Yeah.
And blow it out on the strip. And, like, I used to have so much fun doing that. My mom would actually let me do that. And I do remember... I mean, I didn't know at the time what was going on, but it was having bad lows.
She would get really combative. And I remember my mom having to, like, pour maple syrup down her throat sort of things. Other than that, I mean, she's been rolling old school for a long time. She had the old Medtronic pump for years and years. Even when you could upgrade, she just kinda stuck with it.
And she's three years younger than me. So it was only when she got pregnant with her son did she start a CGM, which is wild, which was only, like, three years ago.
Really?
Yeah. So she went through all of college, which was funny because, I mean, she wasn't managed that great, especially during college experience. My mom would have to call, like, campus police to go knock on her dorm room, and she had to bug her roommates all the time. Like, a lot of that could have probably been avoided with the CGM. But...
Yeah. I know she kind of... She grew up, you know, do... You know, reacting to things based on how she felt. And then she would, you know, check her blood, but she just, you know, stuck...
Not stuck in her ways, but that's just the way she was raised, and that's how she dealt with it. And so, yeah, she's relatively new to CGM, and she's on tandem as well, the t:slim
Mhmm.
Which is cool because I have the Mobi now.
Is she, like, aesthetically happy, or did it... Did her circumstances get so bad that she got drug kinda kicking and screaming into a change?
No. It was just kind of a slow progression. I think for her, she runs pretty low sometimes. And a lot of times, she'll say, that's just how I am or whatever. And and now knowing what I know, it's hard to have conversations because I just...
I'm a biomedical engineer. Like, I love how the body works. I tend to understand it pretty, you know, pretty well. And I've learned so much, you know, in the podcast, outside of the podcast. I'm just a sponge for information about this stuff.
Overeager to Share14:10
And so I'm almost sometimes, like, overeager to share what I've learned. Mhmm. And she doesn't take that very well. And I do it out of a place of love, but I think she she takes too much insulin. You know, we're just we're pretty thin.
We're small. She has, like, a lot of profiles. And I'm like, there are just too many variables at play to have all these, you know, preprogrammed changes throughout your day. And so she's... When I'm around her and she doesn't live in my hometown, she's just constantly low.
And I'm like, yeah. This could be a lot easier for you. And and I don't know if it's a settings thing transitioning from Medtronic to tandem, and I've sent her some podcasts about that. You and Jenny have talked about that, but I don't know she's listened too long. But, I try to kinda stay out of it sometimes
Yeah.
Because sometimes it just gets personal for her where she's like, well, you're you're not a real diabetic sort of thing. And and I'm just doing it out of love, and I try not to have my feelings hurt. But
Oh, no.
That's I'm different because I'm LADA. Right?
And Yeah. Jessica, this is terrible. This is this is this is absolutely terrible. And I do not think uncommon, by the way.
Right. Yeah. Right.
Right. So
With anything, not just diabetes.
100%. Yeah. There's no way that she feels... She'd feel any differently if you, I don't know, came to her and you were like, you've been painting your walls wrong your whole life. And Right.
Yeah. I... She'd be like, shut up. You know what you're doing. You didn't own a house as long as I did.
But, it Right. People... It is... I mean, you're telling a fascinating story of hardheadedness. I just...
But why don't
a good vocab word obstinately. I've taught my son recently. I'm a little stubborn. But I'll just... She doesn't have time for it.
She's a very busy life. She works full time. She'd just rather not. You know? Sometimes, I guess, you know, correcting the low is easier, and that's how she goes about her business.
Mhmm.
Time for what, though? Because what have you... Like, in your estimation, wouldn't it take her less time... Wouldn't it take anybody less time to do
it Yeah.
The other way?
I would. Time and worry. Like, my mom was so happy when she got married. She's like, I don't have to worry anymore.
Your mom was like, hey, buddy. Listen. Guess what?
We make fun of my mom. We're like, you're permanently unhinged because of living this life. So by the time I got diagnosed, my mom's like, you're on your own. Like, I can't
I can't do this again. I'm so sorry to tell you.
Yeah. It's kinda weird being doing this as an adult. Like, nope. Like, he really doesn't care.
Oh, that's horrible. Bye bye. Yeah. Oh my gosh. I know.
I I re... I was just joking with my wife the other night. She didn't appreciate it. When I said, do you remember when your dad said you can't bring her back? I was like, I know I know what he meant, and I can't wait to say it to the guy that gets ardent.
God bless my husband, and I... He scared me as well for all of my complaining.
In fairness, my mom easily could have said to Kelly, you can't bring him back. That's not my point. It's Absolutely. But it's just... It is very interesting situation.
What... Okay. So... Well, alright. You're diagnosed how?
Like, what... What's the first, I guess, inkling you have?
Gestational Diabetes, Three Times17:17
Very long thing. So my oldest was born in 2017. Or I gotta I gotta scoot back because my whole life, I have felt low symptoms my whole life, which now I have words to to kinda describe that as like a hype... Reactive hypoglycemia sort of thing. Mhmm.
Like, throughout our whole lives, my mom would just tell people, oh, she's just... She... She's hypoglycemic. And and because she had that terminology for my sister. But as you get older, like, is that really a thing?
Like, I don't... Most people don't get low all the time or shaky if they haven't eaten. And, I mean, this has happened my whole life from when I can recall, and it just was kinda normal. So I would just manage when I would eat and make sure that didn't happen sort of thing. Mhmm.
So it had always been that way. So I got pregnant in 2016, and so we just follow the normal progression of following a pregnancy. And basically, the oral glucose tolerance test I've ever taken, I failed, including the first one. So that whole world was new to me, the whole idea of counting carbs and proteins, and it was pretty overwhelming. And that one, I was just put on metformin for him, and maternal fetal medicine doctor followed my blood sugars, which I had to write down religiously.
It was kind of a hard experience because you're used to people being able to eat whatever you want during pregnancy. And so I was very bratty about the whole thing, the complaint the whole time. But we finally had him, and he was my only child that came out with low blood sugars. Because when you're in such a high glucose situation inside and it drops suddenly when you give birth and had C section with him because he was breech, their blood sugar drops pretty quickly.
Okay.
And so they had to monitor him for several hours, a lot of blood checks, and until he finally kinda regulated himself. My other kids didn't have that experience. So nothing was done after that. That's one of my biggest gripes is, like, people follow you so closely when you're pregnant and have any form of diabetes. And at that point, you know, it was labeled gestational.
Right. And
once the baby's out, they could really care less. And I'm not talking about, like, just having it or not, like, the actual blood sugar ranges that are appropriate. I never understood that. I'm like, if you're telling me you want me to get up to one forty, how is that such a bad thing when I'm not pregnant? Why why why all of a sudden does it jump to one eighty?
You know what I mean? Mhmm. I never quite understood that. But that was only my first experience of this. So then I get pregnant again probably eight...
Eighteen months later. I had my second in 2019, and I think they test you a little sooner if you've had GD before. And in the meantime, in that time span in between, I had never checked my blood. I was new mom. Didn't know what I was doing, learning new things.
I didn't have time. So with my second, we just decided to forego the metformin since it didn't work out that well for me the first go around. And they immediately put me on Levemir, the, you know, long acting basal. And and I found some old records the other day in an old folder, and my blood sugars were really well managed by them. They would kind of up my dose as the weeks progressed, and it was enough.
And I was well controlled, I was like, wow. Look at those numbers back then. Like, I would... I wish I had those now. And so she did pretty well when she was born, and her blood was fine and stable.
And again, they're like, oh, you're fine. You don't have diabetes anymore. And I kept living my life. But she was born June 2019, right before COVID. But leading up even before then that winter, that's when my thyroid kinda tanked.
The Thyroid21:02
And it was the kind of thing where your PCP test your TSH, and I was, like, right below five point o, I think. Like, right below what they consider
Yeah.
Abnormal. And it was ridiculous. I mean, it it led to me basically screaming at a nurse over the phone for an endocrinology referral. So that's how I actually ended up with endocrinology to begin with for the thyroid.
How did how did you know how did you know to be upset with the
With my first, it was... We were borderline. And so that's another thing with pregnancy. They're a lot more strict on the TSH. Right?
So they did treat me with Synthroid for both pregnancies. But by the end, they're like, you probably don't need it anymore, and they take you off of it. So I knew that it had to probably be related, plus with my family history.
Yeah.
And sure enough, I got to endo, and we'll get into her later regarding the diabetes. But she was actually helpful because even though I was kind of subclinical, she was like, wouldn't be in my office if you were okay. You know? Like, you wouldn't be making this effort. And so I...
My symptoms... I think a lot of that too was having babies back to back, you know, nutrient deficient, all those things. And then you go into COVID, and we had... I had terrible symptomatic COVID. And when I took the vaccines later on, my immune system was just not normal, I guess, when looking back, right, compared to my husband.
We say he has a superior immune system. Thank god my kids get half of what is normal from his side of the family. So then I got pregnant again. My second and third are three years apart. And for her, I talked about it this morning.
The Third Pregnancy22:45
It's so funny. They kind of threw the glucose tolerance test on me, like, ten weeks pretty early. And I think I'd had a high carb meal that morning. And I was at the library with my kids, and a nurse told me over the phone, well, you're you're just type two diabetic. That's what we're diagnosing.
And I'm like, you have the gall to to tell me over the phone you're gonna diagnose me with a disease. I kind of freaked out on her. Like, this is not possible sort of thing. This doesn't make any sense. I'm a really lean person.
I've been, you know, working out both before, during, and after all my pregnancies, it didn't make any sense to me. But again... So they at least went with the gestational diabetes label label at that point. I pretty much flat out reject the type two. I was like, no.
This is not... At the... Hi. Hey, Jess... Jessica Jessica, it's it's Kim from......
Kinda in the nearest big city for my first two kids, and it was too much to manage. So we live in a smaller suburb, and that's where my endocrinologist was. And for for that OB practice, they just shunt you to the endocrinologist instead of a maternal fetal medicine to manage your diabetes. So she was the one also managing my thyroid. And they do...
They did things totally differently with the sliding scale. They did give me long and short acting. But now knowing her and how she dealt with these clinical situations, I know that I was poorly managed for my third pregnancy.
How do you measure It's...
It was outrageous when you see what... How many units you would have you give before any kind of meal regardless of carb count sort of thing. It was all over the place. Jessica? And I I ended up having my beard a month early.
Had so Can you hear me at all?
Yes. That's that's ended up being okay. Her blood sugar was okay. And life with three kids, three young kids was... Oh, sorry.
Hey. Can you hear me?
Sorry. I can't hear you.
Can you hear me now?
Barely.
Test. Test. Test. Test. Test.
Sorry. My sound. Sorry. My sound got turned down.
That's okay. You can hear me now?
Yeah.
I went to interject. I think I might leave it in. Right? I went to inter... I went to interject once, and I thought
I'm so sorry.
No. Don't be sorry. I thought, oh, no. She's just on a roll. She maybe just doesn't hear me.
And then I then I Nope. Not at all. And then I go to say something again. I'm like, Jessica. Jessica.
Jessica. And I'm like, she can't hear me.
Nope. I've told the story a thousand times. Even know that.
It was awesome.
Oh, gosh.
Okay. Let me make my two jokes, then we'll keep going. I... I'm picturing you in the library, first of all, getting a phone call where the woman's like, oh, hey, Jessica. It's Kim from the doctor's office.
How are you? Yeah. The weather crazy. Isn't it? Yeah.
Oh, you're at the library? You guys thinking of getting a book? Right? You have type two diabetes. Mhmm.
Why She Didn't Buy Type 225:45
But what I wanna know is how did you reject the notion? Like, when you... I'd be... I know you rejected it to her on the phone, but how did you internally decide?
Because, I mean, for better or for worse, I have the stereotype of what type two is and the fact that it was lifestyle related that I could have caused it in some way. That's probably where my reasoning was going. And I also blame the pancakes that I ate that morning.
Because the other thing I'm trying to figure out is that... I mean, no no shade on anybody. Right? But you're having a different reaction to a health issue than everyone everyone else in your family has. So are are you...
Do you... Are... I mean, I I... Listen. I have this, but I'm adopted.
Right? Like, I I grew up. I watched my family have a reaction to something. My reaction would always different, or their reaction would be different than mine, however you wanna think about it. But did you have that situation where, like, everybody would talk about something?
You'd be like, that doesn't seem right to me. Or is it just around this health thing? And if so, I guess, why do you think that is?
I guess at that point, I actually trusted all the people who were responsible for my health care, which I don't anymore. I am very cynical now when it comes to that sort of thing. I had no idea what the path to type diagnosis would even entail. So I just never considered that type one could have been my thing. I just...
At that point, was like, we're just gonna go with gestational, I think. Okay. Just because it's
a thing that has happened to you before you're comfortable saying that.
Right. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
Keep going. Now I'm sorry.
So Okay.
Yeah. I apologize. But, also, I think this will be much better now that you can hear me again.
Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Please. Okay.
So I had my third. She was early, busy life. We started homeschooling. My oldest. So when my third was, like, three months old.
Spring 202327:32
So high stress, but good, but just a lot going on. And it was probably that spring, I randomly one day had terrible brain fog after lunch, and I don't know why... What compelled me to just check my blood sugar. I found my own monitor, and it was not extremely high, but it was high, what I would consider high now. Like, woah.
It made me think, like, woah. Something may be off here, which sent me back to my endo and the cascade of appointments after that. That was... That would have been spring twenty twenty three.
Mhmm.
And a lot of my diagnosis story with her is a lot of, like, self diagnosis in in tracking my blood sugar. So for that long while, I was finger pricking every day, getting a fasting, kinda getting two hours after every meal sort of thing, trying to give her a clear picture. I finally convinced her that my fasting was probably, like, 01:30, 01:40 sometimes at that point, and she just kinda diagnosed me on the spot with type two diabetes
Okay.
Which didn't make much sense. And just knowing that the whole theme related to her care was, well, you could just go low carb. You need to go low carb. And, like, I I had a tough time in all my pregnancy... Pregnancies doing that just because, know, my husband and I love to cook.
We love food. I don't like to eat food excessively, but I enjoy it. I enjoy the experience. But at the end of every pregnancy, I got to go back to that life. And so that was the probably hardest time for me because there were no more pregnancies.
This was just like diabetes.
Yeah.
And that was the probably hardest time for me. Plus, there was no other way to treat it except for diet, you know, from her viewpoint at that point. And I talked her into starting me on metformin, and I was, like, on the max dose of of metformin that you could take. And that lasted for, like, two years. And then during that time, all my symptoms kept getting worse.
UTIs, Rashes and Max Metformin29:32
I would have multiple UTIs per year, and I was just so sick of going to urgent care because I knew they were gonna actually help me find the cause of these things. Mhmm. And one time, one of the PCPs in the MyChart, he was like, well, you might need to go to immunology if this keeps happening. He never said that to my face, but I I got my wheels turning like immunology. What does that have to do with a UTI?
And that's where I just started on a rabbit hole of listening to all the health podcasts that were popping up at the time. Just about just lifestyle changes that could be made to... And, yeah, mostly to increase longevity is why they're so popular these days. But for me, I wanted to fix my blood sugar. Right?
Still, I was not connecting the autoimmune piece to any of this. I don't know why. I mean, it's so clear as day now. But that's when I started on the road of, like, every lifestyle modification that you can make, I did. My husband and committed to.
For better or for worse, like a lot of them, we still do now. Like, I started lifting weights. I had always done a lot of cardio. Still love to lift weights. I got into sauna, cold plunge.
We started milling our own flour to
get our god. Tell me. You definitely did methylated vitamins. Right?
MTHFR and the Lifestyle Overhaul30:48
Oh, of course. Because I have MTHFR, and I know that because I did the 23andMe to get my entire genetic sequence code.
I'm I'm not laughing at you. I'm gonna ask you. How many of these things actually... How many of these things were actually valuable? Nothing.
Nothing. Well, there... A lot of them are valuable still now. Like, these are good lifestyle things. It's good to have good sleep.
You know, these things are good for us, but that was our joke. It did nothing to my blood sugar. Not a thing. And, you know, I think my doctor wanted to label me, you know, for insurance purposes as type two. I think in the back of her head, she she did tell me, you know, like, this is probably LADA, but she had no treatment plan for me at all, which was very frustrating.
So that's why I had to do this on my own. Yeah. And my husband would be like, well, don't you just need insulin? I'm like, but if a type two diabetic diabetic is taking insulin, you're at the end of the road of therapeutics. You know what I mean?
So you you kept thinking was not me. Like, I'm a healthy person.
Yeah. You kept thinking you were going to do something that was going to change your insulin sensitivity somehow and prolong or make this better.
Right. Yeah. Okay. Because that's what the podcast told me. Yeah.
Not your Not mine.
Yeah. No. No.
No. No. Yeah. Yeah. So...
Paying for Her Own Labs32:02
And, eventually, I actually had to pay out a pot... Pocket for extra blood testing because I was like, my PCP is worthless for this. So I did the Function Health blood test, which was actually really helpful. I wanted to prove that my actual insulin levels were not high, like, that I did not have insulin resistance. Because my husband would always tell me that, and I'm like, well, we can't prove it.
And it definitely showed me that I really had low inflammation in general. I did have, like, a positive ANA, you know, which is indicative of some kind of autoimmune disease going on. It's not specific to anything. And I knew I had thyroid. I had thyroid antibodies.
So those were different snapshots along the way that were helping me Sure. Basically get to the diagnosis of type one. Because along the way, you know, the whole clinical team is not helping me Cool. And... Which was frustrating.
Yeah. Let me ask you a question. So even though, like, all the podcasts and all the ideas, you really do... Do you have your own cold plunge tub?
Yeah. We got one of the inflatable ones.
Do you
have a sauna? Actually... No. I go to the YMCA for that. It's me and a bunch of old men sitting in there, and it's...
I love it.
They're probably so thrilled they're probably so thrilled you're there. It's like, finally, a woman came in here. It it I'm
like, leave this up.
I know. Tired of looking at these guys' balls. At least they're covered up if you're in there. Right?
Rubbing their bellies, their sweaty bellies.
Oh Yep. But, like... But for all the things that, you know, make content creators, you know, make content, you can see why it happens. Right? Like, people are really desperate.
Yeah. They're desp... You're desperate for an answer, you're willing to do anything. You're willing to listen to somebody who says, like, you know, you probably... Your body probably doesn't handle methylation well.
And you're like, you need... And you're like, okay. Like, I mean, I guess
That must be good. Yeah. And I understand, like, I'd... And I see the other side from a physician's point of view. Like, they're overwhelmed.
They have a lot of sick patients. And granted, they're a lot sicker than I am. Right? I understand that. But it doesn't doesn't mean that my situation doesn't matter at all.
And that's Not
only that. You spent so much money that you probably didn't need to spend. And what and what test would have done it for you? Just to see peptide?
She had run that for me.
Okay. And that didn't
A C-Peptide of 1.134:16
Under one is technically abnormal. My lowest was 1.1, and therefore, I was normal to her... To my endo.
And and did... Does the endo know that your sister has type one diabetes?
Absolutely.
And they know about all the Hashimoto's and the other autoimmune stuff? Oh, yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah. Oh, yeah.
And and they got their degree in, where do you think, the back of a strip mall? Or how does that happen exactly?
I don't know, dude. I... It's it's so frustrating. I I have since switched. That's part of my story.
But, yeah, she, at one point, did run two antibodies that were negative. That led to me to my big Costco hot dog excursion. So... Because at this point, I'm also fasting a lot. I would I would have to bring food everywhere with me.
I would bring steak and berries, and it was just so annoying, you know, taking three kids around. We homeschooled. We're always together. We're always doing things. I had to bring my own food, and we were at Costco one day.
And at this point, like, my kids had had broken wrist last year, a bunch of other things. So we had met our deductible because that's related. And I had a hotdog at Costco Costco with my kids. And at this point, the Stelo Dexcom monitor had come on the market.
Mhmm.
Because I've been checking my blood for probably a year finger pricking, and I've been paying out of pocket for the Stelo for a year, which... It's inaccurate a lot of the times because you can't calibrate it, but it was useful. But... So I knew what my blood sugars were. And that was the whole thing.
Like, I knew it was getting worse, and yet the only way she told me I could control it was through metformin, which is she would all be like, always say, such a good drug. It's a good drug. Like, okay. But it wasn't doing... It may may as well have been a placebo.
Placebo probably would have been better for me, honestly. And so my blood sugar skyrocketed that day from the hot dog, and I just freaked out. That was my breaking point. And I got on that computer, and I just wrote a novel. Because at this point, cost did not matter.
I Want All Five Antibodies36:10
Right? And so I'm like, I want all five antibody tests. I want everything rerun, thyroid, everything. And at the time, I didn't tell her what my blood sugar was. It was high, but it was nothing like three, 400 or something.
I think it was just, like, two fifty for a really long time. And
It's pretty high.
Was funny. Then... And that's how I eventually got the type two diagnosis. I just told her what my fasting were. She she never did any work herself to prove any of these things.
Right?
Mhmm.
And so that was how I got all that blood work done. And eventually... So we had to wait for a lot of those. Some of them take a long time to come back. And in the meantime, she's like, well, you need to meet with a nutritionist to talk about insulin.
Like, okay. And I've been down that road before with GD. Like, I understand carbs and proteins. Like, you don't need to talk to me. Like, I'm a kindergartner.
But I was sitting there across the table with her, and she's basically like, well, you know all this stuff already. And then she would look at my CGM, and she she would say, your your numbers are so good, though. They're so good. And it's a very relative term in the diabetic world. I understand one eighty is still good to some people even for a long amount of time.
And I was getting frustrated with her and opinionated up. Because at that point, the endo did say because I freaked out with the hot dog that she was... She's like, I'll just order you some pins. Like, basically, to get her... Get me off her back.
A Sliding Scale and an Anxiety Label37:35
Mhmm. But in that meeting with the educator, they wanted me to take, like, the sliding scale, of course, one unit of insulin if going into a meal, my blood was 200. So I'm basically, like, laughing across the table at her. Like, is this a joke? Like, this is a cruel joke that you finally give me insulin, and now you give me no way to use it.
Mhmm. And that was before all the antibody tests had come back. Some had come back negative. And later on, that endo told me that that specific educator just told her that I had anxiety. That's what was going on.
And
These women?
Yes. Mhmm. See, I usually
just blame guys for saying that about women, but... Okay. You know what I mean? Like, because I... Like, it's easy to go, oh, yeah, guys are like, oh, you...
Honey, calm down. Like, you know what I mean? Like, that thing, but if women are doing that
if it's I don't know if it's an insecurity thing. I say that with my new window. It's kind of a pissing contest sometimes because I do understand a lot of these things. And I could have a great conversation, but I think they need to be the boss of the room. You know what I mean?
They need to exert their authority in some way, and that's how they knew it. Yeah. But during that time... So I wasn't using insulin at all. And I finally just messaged them one day just begging because at that point, I had found your podcast.
I knew carb ratios existed, and I was just like, can you please just give me a starting point, anybody, for a carb ratio and then just something I can start with basal with? Just... I begged. And this other lady, bless her heart, just based on my weight, you know, it's not a complicated comp... Calculation.
She gave me a carb ratio, and that's how I got going. And then at that point, I'm listening to a lot of your podcasts on dosing and basal, what all these terms mean, because it's different when you're not pregnant. Because pre... When you're pregnant on insulin, they tell you exactly what to do. You don't care about, like, the vernacular of what what bolus means, all these things.
They're just like, take this now at this time.
Yeah. There's no there's no thinking. Right? Because it's short term
Right.
And it's very repeatable.
IA-2 Positive39:37
Exactly. And that's... During that time, my IA two antibody, which is actually not as commonly positive, came back positive for me. So I... For, like, GAD 65 and stuff, I was always negative for those.
But my antibodies were positive for IA two. And based on what I know of a a lot of this, you know, diabetic standards, they actually treat an I a two positive... Positivity value as if you were positive for two antibodies because it's more aggressively if... Attacks your islet cells. Does that make sense?
Because normally for, like, Tzield and all this stuff, you have to have two positive antibodies. Right? Which I never had. I only had one. But this one is just more aggressive.
So, again, I do all these research on my own, read the papers on my own. I go to that endo. She's like, well, you you tested positive for that one, but it's not a big deal. So literally anything that I would learn, she would say the opposite
of of important. That the endo that said, hey. We're gonna test, and if it's over one, it's positive. And then it came back one point when they... She went, oh, it's not that far over.
Correct. Like, red flags. Red flags. But I just still dealt with it. You know?
And she would look her little nose at me, look under her eye... Her glasses and be like, well, you can just go low carb. And I'm like, I cannot be keto for my entire life. Like, I'd rather die. That's what I'm saying.
That's our... You know, it's it's a good time to pause for a second to say, like, look at what this did to you. Like, look what it caused you to have to do, learn... You know, it's nice to say I did my research, but what you're saying is is I went to a doctor. They didn't help me, so I decided to do their job for me.
And then once I did it, then they didn't like that I was doing it. And then I... Then eventually, had to come off as half out of my mind, and then they gave it to me just to shut me up. Yeah. That's horrifying.
And then I had some really bad lows come to find out because I was still she was like, you'll just stay on the metformin when I started insulin. And I started correlating how, like, I would get these lows after dinner when I took another large dose. And I think what happened was the metformin actually started working in the presence of insulin. Because before, it just wasn't doing anything. There was no insulin resistance to kinda correct.
Metformin Lows41:53
So whatever mechanism was there, it would tank me after dinner. And I was like, oh, no. Like... Because the endo would always be like, you're gonna go too low. You're gonna go too low.
And that's why she never wanted me to take insulin and... Or gave me that ridiculous sliding scale.
Mhmm.
And I only went too low because of metformin, and I figured that out on my own and just stopped it. And later on, I brought that up to her too. She's like, well, yeah, you don't metformin. I'm like, you told me it was a good drug before.
Well, that... By the way, that sentence that they repeat, that's the thing that's told to them. And so they Right. They hear it over and over, so they say
it over.
What's what's the sentence? Oh, this is a long term, really well tolerated medication, which which, by the way, is good news. It's good news that the population's been using something for a very long time, and no one's grown a horn out of the center of their head.
It's safe.
We're we're Not
safe for me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. That doesn't make it the right medication for you. Right. Right.
Like, confidence.
Yeah. Yeah. Well... But listen. What if you didn't have this, this doggedness about you?
You you know what I mean? Like, you're easily gonna... You're gonna be your sister inside of a year and a if if Yeah. Yeah. Right?
Like
And I was also just... All these things were not bad things. Like, I've been around type one my whole life. Insulin is not such a death sentence to me. Right?
Praying for Disease43:09
It's not the end of the world. I was... For these antibody tests, I was, like, praying for disease, you know, if you will. I would tell my friends I'm, like, in diabetic purgatory. I'm just stuck in this limbo land of not diagnosed, diagnosed, but I have all these symptoms.
I I had lost a lot of weight. I had all the UTIs. I had weird rashes on my knees. You can see old pictures of them. They were, like, white for years, and I knew it was related to the...
My blood sugar in some way. And with all the supplements and all the things, I was like, I'll know if it works if it clears those rashes. And sure enough, once I started insulin, they were gone.
This all goes away. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. And so it's just a weird place to be
Well, you're
telling what the answer is.
You're telling my wife's story about thyroid. You're just telling it about type one. It really... If you've if you've heard enough of the podcast. Right?
Like, just told forever and ever that, like, you're... You know, that's not true. This number's not high enough to worry about that. Oh gosh. Have you just tried this?
Maybe you're depressed. Maybe you're this. Yeah.
You know better. And then even when I brought up a pump after finally figured out how to use insulin pens, I figured out that half dose pens, you know, half unit pens existed because she didn't tell me that. Because, again, I don't need... I don't require that much insulin. Basically, if I wanna eat, I need insulin, but it's just still not that much.
I'm very sensitive to it. So half dose pens were very useful for me. But the more and more I listened to your show, I was like, I need more precision. I knew I needed a pump because I just knew how helpful it would be. And I brought it up to her, and she said, well, you can't have a pump unless your C peptide's below one.
So... And then you and Jenny did the the podcast on the 2026 ADA standards, which was so helpful to me. Good. When basically this year, they said everybody is... You know, everybody should have a pump who wants one, you know, automatic delivery.
Thing to say because I I get to sit evidence. Yeah. Well, also, I get to sit here from my perspective. I do a lot of, you know, I do a lot of business with the marketing side of pumping CGM companies. They're all desperately, desperately trying to get type twos.
Yeah. So, like Yeah. Yeah. How would the doctor not know that's happening?
She, like, made it up. She made that up. I There... It doesn't exist.
Oh, a 100 I I know that a good doctor who's working hard right now hears this and says, well, you know, the the visits are too short. We don't have that kind of time. It's hard. I don't know what you're hearing. If you're thinking that right now, I don't know what you're hearing so far in Jessica's story that tells you this is about time.
This is clearly about understanding and fundamentally being able to, like, add one and one. Right. Yeah. Yeah. That's how you're being let down.
You were just being let down by a person who fundamentally does not understand what they're talking about.
Why do you think I homeschool my kids? I mean, that's part of my personality. Right? I I knew better. I wanted this, and and you couldn't get it to me.
A New Endo and a Pump45:56
So that was my last straw because I I really wanted to pump, and I found a new endo in the bigger city where I'd had my first two kids. And I I had I had all these things prepared to give my full story, had all those ADA standards, and I literally go in the room. She's like, you want a pump? I'm like, are you for real right now?
Yeah. Thank you. Please. I'm gonna cry. You know?
Like...
I was like, yes. But... Well, it's kinda interesting. She's got her own quirks. I don't think any doctor is perfect.
Again, I think it's a pissing contest sometimes, and I listened to a lot of your podcasts about different pumps. I knew how algorithms work. I I work in pacemakers full time and now part time, and they're, you know, they run on algorithms. So those are interesting to me. And I knew which one would fit me best with my weird insulin needs because, like, I'm not totally insulin dependent in a way a person's pacemaker dependent.
Right? If we're... If you removed it, you'd get ketones. You would die pretty soon. My body makes just enough basal for me not to die, but I just can't eat sort of thing.
And so I knew how the algorithms, you know, for different pumps function. So I kinda knew that the Mobi was gonna do best for me, and she kinda would get confused sometimes. I'd be like, well, no. Omnipod doesn't work that way. I'm like, okay.
Cool. Also You go on.
I'm fascinated that in a in a world where they didn't wanna tell you to use insulin or help you use insulin, but with all of the the returns you were getting, no one tried to put you on a GLP medication? Is that because you're not No. It's because you're thin.
No way. She wouldn't put me on insulin. Yeah. Yeah.
It was fascinating. Because a low, low dose of GLP might have made a big difference for you. It's possible.
It could have prevented. Yeah. And for me, I wasn't scared of insulin. Some people were just really... I'm on some other Facebook groups just specifically for LADA, and a lot of the stories are heartbreaking and relatable.
And people were really scared to go on insulin. And for me, it's just different. I've just been around it forever, and I knew that was gonna fix it. And, you know, I don't know. I've learned to manage it.
The the pump is awesome. And I kinda... My husband's thing was always like, through the whole supplement and lifestyle thing, he's like, well, what's our goal? It's for you to feel good. Right?
Mhmm.
And I finally do. And we've kind of optimized my thyroid. I take, like, t three active hormone now, which I also kinda had to fight for once I figured that out. And... Because I feel good.
So now I can just go about my life not having to worry about all
these things. Of my kids take that.
Yeah. It's a game changer.
Yeah. Yeah. Kelly can't at all. Kelly wants to, she can. It makes her heart race.
Yeah. Because she she can't do it. But but she would... But she feels better when she's taking it right until her heart
Yeah. Starts to break. It's pretty cool. And you think you feel okay, but then... Wow.
Just when you feel better, it's it's pretty awesome.
I'll tell you. Your conversation is... It makes front of mind for me that I'm never going to completely understand how people think. Like, I Yeah. You know, I don't...
My body doesn't make enough insulin. Here's insulin. Well, I don't wanna use that. I... You know what mean?
If if I if I said to you there's not enough oxygen in this room, there's a tank with air in it and a mask that gives it to you. Would you go on that? I don't wanna cheat. You you know what I mean? Like Yeah.
I mean, it's scary. Doctors have liability. You know? At the end of the day, it's like, why are they telling you you're gonna go too low? You know?
They don't want it to come back on them. Like, I get that, but I also don't. Like, it's it's the best... It's your solution to the problem.
Why People Fear Insulin49:28
But how but how do people so quickly give up? When met... We've met with such a simple calculation. Calculation. I don't have enough of this.
Here, they make it, you know, you can put it in you with a needle. Here it is. Oh, I don't wanna do that. You'd rather your feet be numb. And Right.
Yes? Okay. I... Same thing with the GLP for me. By the way, I...
I'll tell anybody who wants to listen. I feel amazing. Okay? Mhmm. And it's not just because I lost weight.
I promise you. This is the best I've... This is how I imagine everyone is supposed to feel right right now, the way I feel. And still people say, well, are you gonna have to take it every day or every week forever? And I'm like, well, yeah, if I wanna keep feeling amazing, I...
That's so far the only answer I have now. Maybe somebody will come up with something different. I don't know. Like And
I'm fully convinced. Like, most women my age with kids, I mean, they probably have a thyroid issue. Let's be honest. I've... I know and love so many people who are just tired all the time, and they're still doing as many things as I am, but they just feel terrible.
And I'm like, yeah. There... There's so much more that can be done here. I mean, it just... It takes work.
Takes
pill once a day. Same thing, by the way, with hormone replacement for older women. Like, listen. I don't know if I don't say it the way that people like to be accepted. Nature clearly doesn't want women to live.
Like, do you know what I mean? Like, it would... It it it would...
Or, like, I am I am blind as a bat. That's why I kinda tell my friends. I'm like, okay. We have contact lenses and glasses to correct our eyesight. I'm like, I am gonna be on full onboard for estrogen
for this room. Jess, you're cheating with your glasses. You should walk into traffic and die because
died a long
time ago. Yeah. Well, estrogen patches, that kind of stuff, I I... You have no idea. Like, decades after I stopped making this podcast, it is very possible my wife and I are gonna be super old somewhere bouncing around like little jackrabbits because she's, you know, chosen to, like, you know, supplement her, you know, her her lady issues any way she needs to.
The GLP medications, thyroid stuff, like, your body is breaking down much more quickly than you wanna believe. And when you go see these... You know, we all end up at a birthday party where there's some old lady in a corner who is just a blob of a person. Right? Like, it just looks like they've been melting like a candle for forty years since they had a
No. And I... Can I feel for that? Yeah. You know?
Like, so empathetic to that.
But then you go look at another person in that same situation who found a GLP medication five years ago or found, oh, no. I take a thyroid pill. I take this pill. I I... You know, I've been supplementing my estrogen here and there, and they look completely different because these medications are fighting back nature's desire for you to die and get out of the way.
Like, I... And if you don't understand that's what's happening, I I don't know what to tell you. You... You're Yeah. Yeah.
You're taking vitamins. You're taking whatever you're taking, trying to stave off what time is doing to you, and it's happening much more quickly than you think it is. So Sure. Yeah. Yep.
I mean, listen. More for me if you don't want it. No. No. But you really should look into it and stop listening to people who say ridiculous...
When you go to a doctor, I don't even care if it's a doctor. Go anywhere with a problem that you're sure is a problem. Tell the person who's supposed to be in charge. And if they don't agree with you, then they probably don't understand. And then you need to go find a different person or figure it out on your own.
Playing Dumb at the Doctor52:54
Or if you do know a lot, and I hate that word advocate, but sometimes if you just play dumb and use keywords, you know, that pricks up their, you know, their logic where they may have an answer for you. Right?
Arden Arden have to do I'm sorry. Cut you off. You go ahead. I'm sorry.
Oh, you're fine. No. You go ahead.
Arden and I were at a doctor's appointment for her recently. And we left, and she was like, boy, you walked him right through that. And I was like,
yep. Exactly.
He didn't need to think. And by the way, he loved not thinking. He loved it. I walked in. I I asked a question.
I listened to what his, breath of knowledge is on it, and I go, I was wondering if it couldn't maybe be this. What do
you It takes a level of intelligence Yeah. To be just stupid enough in your eyes.
And, also... And I don't go and I don't go, I was thinking it's this. I wanna do this. I go, you know, I heard about this thing. Have you heard about that?
What do you think about it? Exactly. Puts them in the puts them in the position to be in the hero and going, I have heard of that. And you might
good questions.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You don't tell... You...
I don't know. I mean, is everyone not married and have kids? Do you not know how to manipulate people? What is going on?
Well, I always always did it in my job, like, working with physicians. You know, we're implanting a pacemaker, and you're never gonna tell them where to put it because a lot them don't have good hands, and you're not gonna embarrass them in front of the staff. Right? So you would have to coach them, but you had to know exactly what to say in a polite way. You know?
Mhmm. So, yeah, I had practiced on that.
I've said this on a podcast a number of times. I'm happy to say it again here. I'm tricking all of you into taking better care of yourself.
Yeah.
You're welcome. I mean, like, I don't I don't I don't know what else to say. You you know, like, you're welcome. And and you do the same thing when you get to the doctor's office. You trick them into helping you.
And if and if... Yeah. You know what I mean. I'm sorry. Go ahead, speak.
What were you gonna say?
Sorry. I was like, yeah. Like, especially with the podcast, I could see my story in a lot of people you had conversations with. So I would... I mean, I would listen...
Finding the Podcast54:51
I've been listening for years now, but I would specifically try to find the ones that were diagnosed later on in life. A lot of these women who had gestational diabetes, you know, all their experiences gave me more confidence to keep pushing on sort of thing. Yeah. And with the new endo that I have, it's kinda funny because, I mean, I'm convinced, like, if your doctor doesn't have type one diabetes, they're never gonna really understand the day to day circumstances, especially variables. Like, the other...
Few weeks ago, I started spouting off different variables that may affect a mealtime glucose value. And she looked at me like I was a deer in headlights. Like, what is she even talking about? About? Because she wanted to change my ratios.
Again, like, I I have, like, a 30 purse... 33% basal ratio compared to bolus. And and I understand fifty fifty might be ideal from a textbook. And in her eyes, she was just gonna change up all my ratios that I've tweaked. I'm very specific on based on what I tend to eat, when I tend to exercise, all these sort of things.
And she just wanted to completely change it. I'm like, you're absolutely not doing that. Especially since, you know, I was like, that's assuming you count the correct number of carbs in a meal. That's assuming that you took it at the right time. That's assuming so many things.
And she just looked very confused when I said that. I'm like, you know what? Just don't worry about it. I'm fine.
Just give me the script. It's time for me to go. Thank you.
I Yeah. Exactly.
Hey. I'm listening to you talk about this. You must love me. No? Like, you must really like this podcast.
I I just
Very valuable. And I I love... And I keep... And it... For one...
I didn't understand why I enjoyed it so much. Because, again, at the beginning, I was just looking for facts. You know? And I was like, man, that conversation was actually pretty cool. And and, you know, the more and more I'm I'm homeschooling my kids, it's a different way of learning and education.
It's talking through stories and experiencing all these facts in a different way, which you talk about all the time. You know, that's how we're paying attention and expressing the same facts over and over again. So it's been really helpful and entertaining at the same time. My husband thinks really funny too. He listens in the car when we're in there.
And... Yeah. I don't know. It's really invaluable. Highly recommend it to anybody I come across.
Thank you. I just realized while you were talking, I was like, oh, I'm like her Andrew Huberman. I'm like, I didn't realize... Yeah.
I... Oh,
I'm sorry. I talk... I talked over you, but go ahead. Say it again so people can hear.
Very niche. Very niche Andrew Huberman.
Yeah. Yes. Right. Right. Yeah.
And and I don't... I'm sorry. I'm excited because I am literally sitting in a spare bedroom of my house making this. And so Hey. It's very...
It's it's taking me so much longer to get my studio set up downstairs than I anticipated. I think between all the traveling I did for work this year and how old I am and the fact that I have children and a wife and a dog, I'm like, I don't know why I thought I could get this done so quickly. Mhmm. But but, nevertheless, like, as you were talking, I thought, oh, I am really providing a, like, a valuable thing for her.
It's very much added value. And I I would think about sometimes, like, you make people comfortable enough to be vulnerable, And that... That's a gifting in and of itself. You know? And, you know, you're very self deprecating, but you're an intelligent person.
You can communicate effectively based on who you're talking to. You know? And it's also based on your audience. And you do it so well with so many different personalities and parents of type ones.
Thank you. I found myself being very proud the other day that I I don't know who I'm gonna talk to. Like, you... This conversation you and I are having is a complete surprise to me. Like, I I don't have expectation for what I'm gonna do when I start doing it in the morning.
And I just got done listening to these these high minded YouTubers talking about how to make their videos more popular and and everything, and they spent a lot of time talking about how they have this, basically, an AI generated, like, questionnaire that weeds people out as guests in... And and their the guests they end up with, they want them to be so perfectly curated
for for Interesting.
Right? That they don't really care about what the person's going to say. They care if the algorithm will care about what they're saying so it can feed it to them. And I was like, oh, wow. I gotta keep doing this longer because I'm gonna outpace those people at some point because they're just gonna start...
Like, right now, the way they're talking about it is they're saying is is we wanna get more eyes, more views because that's valuable, and we can sell it. And I don't think what they realize is they're gonna create an entire genre of literally, like, verbal slop.
It's boring.
Yeah. Yeah. And and I am gonna keep I'm gonna keep doing exactly what I'm doing. And I
And it's not genuine. Like, you... People can see right through that.
Yeah. No. I know. But,
like of it.
But I swear to you, I was like, oh, I'm gonna I'm gonna outlast them. I was like, okay. Like, I... Because I said to a friend yesterday... Because I'm in my mid fifties, and I said to a friend, it's my age.
Doing This Forever1:00:09
I was like, do you think about retiring? And he goes, like, every five minutes. And I was like, oh, okay. I was like, it's not just me then. Right?
And he said... He's like, you don't wanna make the podcast anymore? I'm like, no. I wanna make the podcast. I just don't wanna do all of this.
Mhmm. And and he's like, what do you mean? I'm like, I don't know. Like, I'm like, the responsibility side of it. Like, I'm not gonna stop.
Like, don't get me wrong. But I daydream about just being able to sit down, talk to you, and then push this audio file out into the ether and let somebody else take care of it and let it show up somewhere. And I and I said, I... I'm vexed because I love doing this. I don't wanna stop doing this.
I also don't wanna spend nineteen hours of every day of the rest of my life doing it, which is about what I feel like I'm doing right now. I'm sure that's an over exaggeration, but it feels like like that. I was like, I just wanna get it popular enough that it can pay for the back end to happen without me. Like, I just... I don't wanna do the the wrench turning as much as I do right now.
Mhmm. And and he was like, alright. Fair enough. And he goes, and then you wouldn't wanna retire? Was like, no.
Then I'd wanna do it forever then. And and mainly because, a, it helps you. B, I I quite enjoy doing it. And, c, I think that I'm gonna get, I mean, just, you know, for my ego maybe, but I think I'm gonna outlast this social media trend. Like, I...
I'd like to still be around back when it was like, hey. We opened up a microphone and two people spoke for a while, and it was interesting.
Like Like you said before, some people come, get the information, and leave, but there's always more people coming on board. I have a friend. It was weirdly uncanny. Her son was diagnosed with type one kinda right before I was. And she's like...
And I like, was have you seen the Juice Box podcast? Have you heard... Listened to this? She's like, oh, yeah. It was great.
So I learned everything, but Scott's too much for me. But she's... You know, but she still got added value from it, and and she told other people about it.
Also, I expect that, and I'm fine with that. Like, I don't... Like, I'm not insulted by that at all. Like, it's... Yeah.
I I... As a matter of fact, I would tell her that I'm incredibly proud that we were able to put together, like, you know, bold beginnings or pro tips or that kind of stuff in a way that that she could they needed. Yeah. That she could describe as what she needed and very valuable, but that I was also able to keep the entertainment or more social... Psychosocial side of it, like, going, and it's just not her thing.
Like, who cares? Like, that's that's awesome. Like, I think that's a huge win.
And some people don't listen to podcasts. I have friends who don't. I'm like, well, that's how I do chores. That's how I spend time in the car. I just...
That's just something I tend to enjoy. I like to read books. I don't like to listen to books, but I just love podcasts. So that's like... It keeps come come...
I keep coming back.
I keep telling myself I'm gonna retire and read a book, but I wonder I wonder if I will. My whole plan is to get a house with a porch on the back that looks at grass and a tree and then sit there and try to read a book and see what happens.
Very nice.
Yeah.
Depends on the weather.
Well
South is pretty hot.
Don't worry. I'm... I I know that I'm... There... It's gotta be a time in this...
In the winter when you can do it. Right?
And you might get chickens. We have chickens now. They're great.
Alright. I'll get a chicken. It's fine. I I I... My wife my wife said no to a chicken immediately.
That was not one of my lifestyle modifications. We just did that because... But eggs were not gonna fix my blood sugar, it'd been nice.
So it's funny because I I can see that an entire section of people would hear what you were saying and be like, well, she's cold plunging. Like, that's still fair. It's popular online, but it's still a niche thing. Most people don't know what you're talking about.
And it's still... It will. It's really funny. It decreases your blood sugar very quickly, but it bounces right back. But it it really does temporarily.
Wellness Influencers1:03:44
It's it's interesting to see in light of what I do know now how some of these things change. Mhmm. But
Yeah. No. I mean, it's... I I don't think most people are listening to those podcasts. Like, I I know they're popular, but, like, there's, like, a billion people.
You know what mean?
They're not as interesting to me now. Right? Because I kind of fixed the problem. I solved the problem. So I still listen to them occasionally, but not as dogmatically as I was before.
So Have you had the the situation where you've listened back now and thought, oh, that's that's bull. I didn't realize that part was bull. Like, can you hear the selling in it, or do you not
Oh, definitely. Oh, definitely. Yeah. And because they're always selling something. And it's like you always say, and my husband says to you, they're just trying to take your money.
Right? And I always have that in the back of my back of my mind. But sometimes it's always in random podcast, you get one thing out of it. So that was my my idea. Like, if I just learned something new, we can keep going on and go to the next one and all compounds to make a bigger picture later.
But, yeah, they are being type one.
I don't want your money. I I I found a way to make money without you. Like, I think that's I... Yeah. Fuller.
Oh, you're... And by the way, again, you're welcome. Okay. I could have just, like, put together... I could have easily just turned the bold beginnings thing into a thing that cost $9.99 a month.
That's it. I could have done that easily and made all the money in the world, and then that... I I probably be I probably be... Have so much money right now. I'd just stop working.
I'd like, goodbye. You... But I just don't... It doesn't listen. I feel lucky to be able to say this.
I just don't wanna do that. It it just... It really feels like I've been... If you pay any attention to my social media right now, it is just me, like, railing against how everything works. I do it, like, kinda quietly, but I hate all of this pushing the cure at you, pushing the...
Their coaching services at you, pushing, like, everything that is being pushed at you over and over again. I have a PDF you can buy for $19. I have this. Would you like me to call you on the phone? Like, that's only $50 a month.
Like, I I hate it all. Like, I just
Nobody Talked About a Cure1:05:51
I I did not grow up hearing that around my sister. Like, my mom would never talk about a cure. That was not a thing, and I don't understand why it's such a big deal. Not maybe because technology is just expounding, you know, much more quickly.
No. It's only a thing because
something to cling to.
But It's only a thing because people trying to make money in the diabetes space are using it to make clicks. Yeah. Okay. So this is very simple. I make money by selling ads to people who know that they're gonna reach a lot of people who live with type one diabetes.
And... But my thing reaches a lot of people because it's actually valuable, not because I do clickbait stuff. Like, so now these other people are gonna try to do clickbait stuff to get the numbers to sell the stuff. Like, they're they're... In my opinion
And no solutions. You're still... You know, you still have diabetes at the end of the day. There is no period.
So And I think they'll fail at it because they're doing it backwards. Right? Like, those who would do it that way are trying to gin up numbers, and the easiest way to get numbers is to yell about, there's a cure. It's functional cure. It's a...
Nobody knows what functional means, by the way. They... You're saying cure to them. Right? It's a functional cure.
Here's a person. They don't have they don't have to take insulin anymore. All true. Very exciting. Love to hear it.
Think it's great. Doesn't need to be a TikTok or a short every thirty six hours on your feed. Okay? Like, you know, you don't need to show up every day in your scrubs and tell people, you know, that they just need to donate my... I'm sorry.
You're laughing. You probably know who I'm talking about. And, like, and, like... And it's all just ridiculous, and it's and it's shitty. And and and from...
In my opinion. That's all. And
Yeah. It's fake.
Yeah. Yep. So do what do what you will, but understand how you're being manipulated. It's very simple. If I was interested in manipulating you, I would not be putting out an hour and thirty five minute conversation with a lady from Peoria whose kid has type one diabetes.
Trust me. Right. I'm doing that so we can do what, you know, what you just said, Jessica. So we can talk, get comfortable, say something that might be valuable and is at least entertaining. And...
You know what I mean? And it will help grow slowly your understanding of this life that you're living. Yeah. Yeah. It's...
You're... Again, I'm just gonna keep saying you're welcome. I am really... I'm doing a public service out here, and I can't believe nobody noticed.
Well, that's why we came on the podcast. Eventually, my husband was like, well, are you gonna go on the podcast now? And this is before I started the pump. I'm like, is my story over? I I don't know.
On the Pump Since May1:08:16
But once I got comfortable... I've been on the pump since May. Mhmm. Because I I could I could only inject so long for eight months. I had...
And the pump has been such a blessing. And I was like, well, we're kind of in a stable place. Maybe I can do the podcast now.
You're fantastic. I... And your story is... I mean, should be shocking to a person who doesn't know this is how it works. It should be embarrassing to any medical professional.
And, you know, and it should be hopefully, you know, empowering to people who see issues with themselves and don't know what to do. Here's what you do. You gotta learn about it on your own and then find somebody who will either just push the buttons you tell them to push or find somebody who understands it.
Some people are afraid to speak up. Like, And, oh, how do I tell a doctor that? I'm like, you just say it. You you cannot be scared, especially in this day and age. Like, I'm sorry.
You know, confrontation is okay, and people don't like that sometimes.
Not me. I'm excited. Bring me to your doctor's appointment. I... I'd I'd love to yell at somebody for you.
I can be a new business.
Yep. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. For just $50 a month, I'll come to your doctor's appointments for you. Like I think
it's called health coaching.
Oh my god. Are you serious? Is it our thing?
Oh, health coaching is a very big thing. Yep. Basically, be a patient's advocate. Uh-huh. I was like,
I totally
do that. Yeah.
Let me just say it this way. You people, don't be suckers. Okay? Don't be suckers. If you wanna send somebody money, find a charity and send it to...
Go walk out on the street and hand it somebody who looks hungry.
Find a church.
Yeah. Don't give it don't give it to a pretty person on Instagram who says they have your answer. They don't.
Correct.
Yeah. And I don't either, by the way. I I would tell you that the answer probably exists in these conversations.
Yes. It takes work. It takes effort, and that is annoying sometimes, but that's what it takes.
Yeah. I don't know.
That's the cost. That's that's your cost.
Yeah. By the way, there's some stuff I know, but, like, you know what I mean? Like, I'm not an oracle. You don't come to me and and I'll just... If that's what you expect this to be, god, to...
For somebody just to lay out the... Well, I guess that is what everybody expects because I just listened to the guy today say, what you do is you put up a top 10 list or a top five list or you tease the thing. God, I heard the one guy say today
No. Everybody does that.
Yeah. You wanna get your thumbnail so that it looks like the person is in action. And then on the thumbnail, right click to unpause so that they get the feeling that something's about to happen and they're in control of making it happen. I was like, oh my god. Yeah.
You're all in trouble. You you know what I mean?
Like About social engineering. Yeah.
Oh. Oh. You were mad at Don Draper and mad men. Be really mad at these people.
Right. Exactly.
They just made you smoke cigarettes. That was fun at least until until the cancer. You know what mean?
Oh, I did jump on the nicotine train too. That was one... It did not lower my blood sugar.
Nicotine1:10:57
I don't think... Alright. I'll... Alright. Now I'll say something crazy.
I I don't mind saying something crazy. When you have a lot of health issues in your life, it's tough. Like, you're looking for ways, you know, out of stuff. The nicotine patches thing really helped break my wife through her
It's her her really is.
Her long COVID symptoms.
And you're not taking in all the chemicals that you would if you were vaping or smoking. So at the end of day, I treat it almost like a cup of coffee. You know? It helps my brain function when I need, you know, to be extra sharp.
Mhmm.
And it's really cool. And I don't require that much. Otherwise, I kinda get a tummy ache, but it's been really interesting. Me and my husband experimenting with the gum.
Did you? Yeah. I I don't... I I did it just to see because I was like, you know, she's... I'm asking my wife to do it.
I'll do it with her just to see what is. And I don't know that I felt any differently. I didn't I didn't feel like it did anything for me, but I didn't feel... Also feel like I had a specific... I have a ton of energy too, like, just generally speaking.
So so it's like, I... But, boy, like, I I have said this a number of times on here. Like, I overheard her on the phone giving me credit for her feeling better. And if my wife is giving me credit, I must have really done something. So, like Yeah.
Unconventional, but if it works, then
It was $26 to find out if it was gonna work. Right. You know? And then
And there's actually a lot of data on it too. It's not like there's no studies on this thing.
But I... Listen. At some point, I don't know. Like, you really think I'm looking for data when I take a vitamin b twelve? I don't know.
Like, somebody told me it's important to take. I took it. Like, what do you
want from me? Right. Yeah.
Yeah. So, I mean, I'm sure there's data on it. I didn't go looking for it anymore than I went to look for... I... Somebody's like, hey.
Try this. And I thought, oh, it can't hurt. Maybe it'll help. And if it doesn't help Right. Then you can just stop.
Like, you know Exactly. I wouldn't have said that if it was chemotherapy. You you know what I mean? Like, I would've looked... If they were like, hey.
Give yourself chemo. It breaks up the common cold. I would've been like, I'm gonna need to see a couple of papers on that
first place. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Anyway, I know you have to go because these children of yours need you.
To go
to dad. I I hope you appreciate. I I did wanna ask a little bit about about homeschooling, but I knew you were short on time, and it would've gotten off the path. So I appreciate you doing this. If you ever wanna come back, you were terrific.
So if you learn something a year from now, let me know. Okay?
Oh, excellent. I could reach out again. That would be cool.
Absolutely. Alright. Hold on one second for me, and I'll get you out
of Thanks.
It seems that the podcast you just enjoyed was sponsored by Tandem Diabetes Care. Learn more about Tandem's newest automated insulin delivery system, Tandem Mobi with Control IQ plus technology at tandemdiabetes.com/juicebox. There are links in the show notes and links at juiceboxpodcast.com to Tandem and US Med who also sponsored this episode of the juice box podcast. Get started with US Med at usmed.com/juicebox or call (888) 721-1514. Get your free benefits check get started today with US Med, the same place that we get our diabetes supplies.
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The juice box podcast has been in production since January 2015. And in that time, I have amassed just a fantastic catalog of information for you. Defining diabetes, bold beginnings, the diabetes pro tip series, small sips, fat and protein, algorithm pumping, mental wellness, ask Scott and Jenny, the diabetes variables, defining thyroid, after dark. There's even an Omnipod five pro tip series. Come on.
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