#674 Autoimmune Hepatitis and Type 1

May 3, 2022Scott Benner

Emilio has autoimmune hepatitis and type 1 diabetes.

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DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, and welcome to episode 674 of the Juicebox Podcast.

On today's show I'll be speaking with Emilio. He is 18 years old at the time of this recording, has autoimmune hepatitis, type one diabetes, and has been through COVID. He is a remarkable young man, and you do not want to miss this conversation. Emilio, if you're listening, your file got kind of lost on my computer for a little while. I'm sorry this took so long to put out it was not on purpose. While you're listening today, please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan are becoming bold with insulin. If you're a US resident who has type one diabetes, or is the caregiver of someone with type one, in fewer than 10 minutes, you can help go to T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. Join the registry take this survey helped people living with type one diabetes, T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. There's like a tiny bit of space left here. I don't know what to do with it. Oh, well, it's gone.

This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by Dexcom, makers of the Dexcom G six continuous glucose monitor, get started today@dexcom.com forward slash juice box at that link. You can also find out more and see if you're eligible for a free 10 day trial. Speaking of free trials and the possibility that you'll be eligible for them, you may be eligible for a free 30 day trial of the Omni pod dash on the pod.com forward slash juice box. More details later on in the ads.

Emilio 2:08
I am from a little country in South America cold weather. I was diagnosed with type one diabetes on July 2016. But I'll go but it all goes back to when I was three years old. At that age, I was diagnosed with how autoimmune hepatitis my life was based on living in one hospital on to next one. And going back and forth in Ecuador and Argentina because at the time, getting good treatment for autoimmune hepatitis in Ecuador was very difficult. And the doctors in the country told my family that I will not leave for long here. So my penetrations recommended to seek treatment in Argentina, even that they were better equipped. So my life went through that until I was 13. And then I started to forget, I have headaches started to be allowed to drink a lot of water. Until one day I just finished school and then my family and doctors started to figure out what's wrong with me. And they really thought the problem was my co better because I had mural stones and the stones, the doctors finally remove it from when they did their blood work. They never tested for glucose. Okay, so I went through surgery and everything went well until I woke up in the recovery room, and then fainted again. They told me I started really heavily and I had a sort of compulsion. Then the nurses entered the room and they checked my glucose. My dad has a number on his head, he always told me it was 523. After that happened, they moved me into the intensive care unit when I woke up. And I remember I was surrounded by those doctors and how to sort of cables and tubes connected me to machines from that. From there. From that moment, things were not so bad. I started to recover. But I couldn't feel my rent like completely. Then the days passed. And I started to rain sensitivity in the upper part of my leg. But the other part was not working. So I had to use crutches to move on my own.

Scott Benner 4:22
So hold on one sec. I'm gonna slow you down. Yeah, I want to make sure I'm understanding. So also you did a great job of telling me about yourself. You never said your name. Do you want to tell people where do you want me? Oh, yeah.

Emilio 4:31
My name is Emilio. Sure.

Scott Benner 4:36
Okay, so, Amelia, we have a I want to make sure that I'm understanding everything that's happening. So two years old. You're diagnosed in Ecuador with autoimmune hepatitis, which, yeah, I have in front of me, a chronic autoimmune disease of the liver that occurs when the body's immune system attacks liver cells, causing the liver to be inflamed. Common initial symptoms include fatigue muscle aches are signs of acute liver for inflammation that include fever, jaundice, right upper quadrant abdominal pain is that now I know you were to then but that's a correct description of what? Yeah,

Emilio 5:09
that's sick. We're description and you may add there that you get yellow. You literally get colored yellow, your eyes are bright yellow. And you can tell it from that. You have seats. I used to do that with other people. It's a thing of mine. But yeah,

Scott Benner 5:28
here's the craziest part that this blurb here says that people usually get it between 40 and 50 years old.

Emilio 5:35
Yeah. And it's it's very common in women and not so common for men, but do happen. It does happen.

Scott Benner 5:42
Okay, yeah. And then growing up between your diagnosis with that and when you're diagnosed with type one at 13. What What's your life like with autoimmune hepatitis?

Emilio 5:54
was very hard because as I told you, it was like moving hospital to hospital. I never had like a normal life until I was like 1617, I think. Yeah, but it was always been the hospital, the hospital and because of the of the 3d and for the for the ultimate hepatitis, I couldn't see a lot of people. Because I didn't have my I didn't have an in a very hard immune system. So I was very delicate.

Scott Benner 6:21
Did you spend long chunks of time in the hospital? Or were you just in and out a lot?

Emilio 6:27
In and out a lot. Sometimes I used to spend a couple of months back and forth

Scott Benner 6:34
getting treatment or because you had a flare up? That was debilitating you getting threatened? Okay, what were the treatments? Like?

Emilio 6:44
Basically, they bump you up with cortisone. Like, ah, holder of cortisone to the vein. And,

and yeah,

Scott Benner 6:56
and that kind of drives it away. But it also has other impacts on you. Right, do you?

Emilio 7:00
Yeah, the the other impacts are very hard, very hard to because at that time, at the time being we did not expect the courtesan to do bad stuff to me. But it, it has done it through the time. So now I have a couple of things in my body for some people that have my vision is very blurry because of that. Also, a cortisone in the long term cause is organ failure. So But what basically, we thought that it was a the causes for the cause for Taiwan was the cortisol.

Scott Benner 7:44
Oh, really? Like the Yeah, the cortisone could have could have started the type one diabetes. Yeah. Yeah, that's interesting. When you're diagnosed with type one, you're back in Ecuador at that point.

Emilio 8:00
Yes, I was here. When six months after I was diagnosed, we went back to Argentina because we we always loved the Met the medics or the doctors there. So we went back there and they help a lot, but a lot. Also, I had when I came back from the coma because I was in a one week coma after I was diagnosed. I had neuropathy. I was I was falling. Yeah. So the thing that neuropathy does to your bodies is hard. It's hard to explain because your muscle memory doesn't work as well as if it's you have a healthy leg or a healthy body part that being is being affected by the neuropathy. So when they tested for these things, a hearing Nikola the best his current through your nerves. So my leg decided to remember the electric shocks at 3am for five months. So the pain was awful. So I was dealing with Taiwan, I was dealing with a neuropathy, so it was a very hard six months when I started.

But we went through it.

Scott Benner 9:15
So you get these like, like constant shocking pains that are Yeah, that go on for hours.

Emilio 9:22
Exactly. Yeah, they're like electric trucks. Wow.

Scott Benner 9:25
And painful to what degree like from a scale of one to 10 Where would you

Emilio 9:31
and I need I will think

Scott Benner 9:33
wow. And yeah, you're young boy at that point then too. Yeah,

Emilio 9:37
I was 1414 13 at the time. Yeah.

Scott Benner 9:43
Geez, what's I'm trying to figure out where to jump to but where does What does diabetes care? Tell me again? How old are you now? Now I'm making your 18 now, okay. Yeah. So, so how did your diabetes care start but what did they give you too? Who? Like how does it work in Ecuador,

Emilio 10:02
it works pretty pretty much the same way it does in the US and the whole world. But we are very analog here. So we use the blood blood checker meters and and we use Spence or, or fringes but because I have other friends that are very, very into the subject, they have introduced me into technology of of these and it's amazing now I am with the I am checking my glucose with the FreeStyle Libre. I don't know if you know knowing that device. I know it. Yeah. Yeah. And I have I had used the Omnipod. Also.

Scott Benner 10:45
Really? Yeah. How did I excel that I

Emilio 10:49
love it? But the thing with the Omnipod is that the the insulin reservoir is very low for me. Because I use a lot of insulin because of the cortisone because, and and yeah, it just works one or two days for me

Scott Benner 11:05
how it's used in about 200 units in a couple of days. Yeah, you're on the cortisone still to this day.

Emilio 11:12
Yes. We tried we try we did a lot of with a lot of other bills, but they don't work.

Scott Benner 11:18
Okay, doesn't work. Well, what's your diet? Like? What do you eat in the course of a normal day? A pretty

Emilio 11:24
much normal. Now I'm very control in my in the hepatitis thing. But I got COVID At the start of the year. And my, um, my hepatitis went crazy, but now it's controlled. But I never had like, a special diet or like, change. changed my whole life through it. Gotcha. It's

Scott Benner 11:51
so what so what's, um, tell me what average meal looks like in Ecuador just so people can understand?

Emilio 11:56
Well, basically, it's like rice. And pretty much every plate has rice, and depends on what else you want. Because a you have a sacred boil things like that. It's like a chicken stew. You serve with rice and plantains. Yeah. And that the chips. It's pretty much normal.

Scott Benner 12:22
It's a common meal. You know, I don't want to get too far off topic here. But yeah, I the Galapagos Islands are like my. That's my dream vacation. Like that's

Emilio 12:32
Oh, it's amazing. It's amazing. Yeah, you've been? Yeah, I have been there. I've been there.

Scott Benner 12:40
I don't know if I'm making more of it in my head than I think but it it's the one place I'd like to go that I've no,

Emilio 12:45
no, it's it's very beautiful. It's like this sort. It's pretty much that time doesn't doesn't pastor Yeah, you can spend hours in sovereign the time won't pass. It's very rare. I think. I don't know if it's my my thing. But when I was there, I think was doing soverom The time that we're past. When? Yeah,

Scott Benner 13:09
how often do you see a doctor for the type one? For the type one?

Emilio 13:13
I'm seeing a doctor every one month? Once a month? Once a month? Yeah, I'm pretty much control on it. And if I have a problem, I usually tax tax him and ask questions, but at the time now I'm very, very controlled.

Scott Benner 13:33
What are they measuring success with? Are they using an E one C or?

Emilio 13:37
Yeah, we usually in a onesie we you seen the? The glucose? Like the the amount of of test in the month?

Scott Benner 13:48
Yeah. And look at to look at that you looked at do you like how do you think of it on yourself? Are you trying to stay within a range? Do you?

Emilio 13:56
Yeah, I usually I usually stay within the range. My range is between 80 and 160. And it goes through that I have good days I have also have a Facebook. Yeah, pretty much the time it says

Scott Benner 14:11
how how active you are, are you able to be with the hepatitis like exercise a

Emilio 14:17
very, very active by the way. They they're they have recommended me and they always do that I need to do more exercise than I usually do. And they push me through it also because of the of the mixture between the cortisone and the insulin. I need to do more because my body tends to reject insulin. Okay. Yeah. For example, I am using also transceiver I don't know if you know more than insulin. I do like a long until RT one. I use 68 units of it every day. So I use a lot. How much

Scott Benner 14:56
do you weigh? A 150 Wow. Yeah, so that's a lot for the cortisol, then yeah, okay.

Emilio 15:04
Exactly. Yeah. So also they didn't have a rapid I use a half a cartridge every three weeks now, every three days, sorry, every three days. So, yeah, a lot of us suck a lot of

Scott Benner 15:20
how do I have a couple of questions, I guess how did all of this impact you going to school? Are you able to still go to school when you're young?

Emilio 15:27
No. Oh, my, my first years we ultimately hepatitis on the diabetes. I usually went, like 90 days of a year. I will think so. So I was not very, very active in school. I had lessons through a computer. Also, because I was not in the country. And making the trips was very, very difficult with paper. So we did it with a computer.

Scott Benner 16:01
Okay, yeah. So you did a lot of online stuff back then. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So have you graduated?

Emilio 16:08
Yeah, I'm graduated. And I'm going to start college there next year.

Scott Benner 16:11
That's what I was wondering what what are you thinking of going to college for?

Emilio 16:15
A business management? I think

Scott Benner 16:21
it's hard to know when you're 18, isn't it? Yeah. I think you just pick something that you're good at that you enjoy. And then you kind of hope that during college, you can configure Yeah,

Emilio 16:34
you're gonna you're gonna like, like, figure out if you can do it for the long run. Yeah.

Scott Benner 16:38
Or hopefully, you'll learn something that will give you some interest that you can follow along. How long? Was it a very expensive process for your parents the treatments over time?

Emilio 16:49
Yes. And no. The things we did in Argentina, they were out of pocket for my parents. But here as the insurance covers life in the 40% 50% of it, but it's it's not so great, because if we say leave it, the insurance doesn't cover it. They only bought the insurance doesn't cover it. Because it's not like Frasier here and Nick weather and getting the stuff here. It's also hard. What I do is like, I had a friend in Colombia, so in Colombia, they buy it from from a pharmacy and they send it through through plane, then someone needs to pick it up and then drive it here. Yeah, it's a process. With the Omnipod. I found a website I could buy them from because my insurance won't allow me to use it. I don't know why. So yeah, I need someone from the US to buy it and then send and send an airplane ticket.

Scott Benner 17:54
It's a lot. Yeah, yeah. When you were going to Argentina as a child, how did you go? Did you drive or fly? Or what was that like?

Emilio 18:01
Well, we will fly. Yeah,

Scott Benner 18:02
I'm just gonna say it's a really I mean, it would be an amazing trip. Yeah.

Emilio 18:09
It's eight hours, six hours.

Scott Benner 18:12
If I recall. Wow. What was one of your parents with you all the time when you were younger?

Emilio 18:20
Yeah, my mom used to be there a lot. But when we went the first time we went in Argentina when I was like, really bad with autoimmune hepatitis. My dad had a problem with the with the ID so he couldn't travel. So I was with a mom and the doctor and then the day we arrived, I had six months come, I went into the entrance, six months.

Scott Benner 18:46
Was that was that something that happened naturally? Or did they put you into a medical coma?

Emilio 18:52
It was a mixture because my body was like shutting down. They were trying to help me so they induced me into it,

Scott Benner 19:02
but it was a mixture of it. Wow. Six months?

Emilio 19:05
Yeah. My parents thought I was at so I was like, brain dead? I would think but yeah.

Scott Benner 19:12
Yeah, I was gonna ask you that that was actually going to be my next question. Which is have you since all this has happened now that you're older Have you ever spoken to your parents about all this and and heard their side of what was happening?

Emilio 19:26
We we have done it through the years we have speak of it because it's like my lifestyle. Yeah. But it's it's like a normal thing. Now. We don't view it as a different thing. Not a big deal. Yeah, not a big deal bug. My cousin's, for example, they do think that I was going to die. So now that I'm 18, and our body I'm getting out and living my life. They always tell me like, take care of it. We save you once. We don't want to save you twice. So yeah,

Scott Benner 20:01
It's enough for you. We're done. We're done helping you, right?

Emilio 20:03
Yeah, exactly.

Scott Benner 20:05
It's amazing. How do you Yeah. You said you found the podcast through a friend? How Yeah, how does that all happen?

Emilio 20:13
Because I was like experimenting with, with all this technology. I found a friend of mine who had who his son has, has become diabetic. And he he had the insurance to buy all the stuff. So when the first day he had like, well, the second week, I think that he has, that is another virus, they started getting the Dexcom and the Omnipod. Okay, so

Scott Benner 20:44
these are friends in Ecuador or friends in another,

Emilio 20:47
you know, in here and there where they do travel a lot, so they have the capability to buy it from there. Also, the insurance gave it to them, so it's much easier for them.

Scott Benner 20:59
Okay, so some people's insurance will cover it and some people's won't. Exactly. Okay. All right. What will happen? Will your your parents be able to continue to help you while you're in college? And what do you think about when you're out?

Emilio 21:15
Yeah, they are Joe helping me. They don't think they're gonna stop. Because I did sign being now I am working, but I don't have like, like a really hard job. So it's like a part time. Yeah. So yeah, they're they're still helping me. And they would help me until I was 40. So I don't think that's a problem. You

Scott Benner 21:39
don't think they're gonna bail on you?

Emilio 21:41
No, no, yeah. They're,

Scott Benner 21:45
I mean, like, I have to tell you this is no, no, I'm not making this up just because you're on. But for the last, you know, in the last year, or so, I've been wondering why I'm getting more downloads in Ecuador than I usually do. And I guess I'm figuring out that it might be you. So

Emilio 22:04
it might be me or my friend or a couple of friends that are diabetics that we will listen to the podcast because it helpful, it's helpful because of the, the juice box thing. Because if I don't know the correct amount of insulin, okay, I'm gonna add for use books. And that has been very helpful. Very helpful.

Scott Benner 22:27
Really, you might not understand the gravity of what I'm saying to you, but that I thought of something like 10 years ago in a gymnasium while my daughter was playing basketball, and then I eventually said out loud into a microphone that somehow reached you in Ecuador is mind blowing to me. And that you said, Yeah, it's amazing. Oh, man, it just gives me chills when you say it. Like, it's just it's absolutely crazy. Like, you didn't have diabetes, when I figured that out. You know what I mean? Like it's, yeah. And we are we live about as far away from each other as you know, somebody could. And it's just it's really some I know, you grew up with the Internet. Like, it's never not been there for you. Yeah, but I remember it not existing. And so it's really, it's an awesome thing. Yeah, that's

Emilio 23:15
a good thing for me, because I was like my escape in the hospital rooms. And so all the threatening was like watching videos for YouTube or internet or praying my phone. So it was, it was so it has always been a part of me.

Scott Benner 23:30
Yeah, that's excellent. Do you have any idea where your friend who told you about the show found out about it?

Emilio 23:37
A, I think through US Soccer. Because he also does a he also has freedom for his son in the US. And I think the doctor recommended to it.

Scott Benner 23:51
Okay, so when he was in the US visiting a doctor, the doctor told them about it. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. So well, that's really crazy. Okay. Well, what you said you think things are going pretty well for your for your care, like, what's your agency now

if you've been thinking about getting an insulin pump, but don't want all that tubing, you should check out the Omni pod dash, it's tubeless go to Omni pod.com forward slash juicebox. To learn more. The Omni pod dash is a number of things. You can use it let me tell you what you can do with it. Showering, swimming, that's all good to go. Exercise, weightlifting running around all good to go. You don't have to take it off for those things. Those tubes pumps often have to come off in scenarios like that leaving you without insulin, not good. Omni pod doesn't have tubes, so you can constantly wear it without interruption. On top of all this, you know you might be thinking alright, Scott, it sounds good, but How do I know for sure before I get started? Well, a free 30 day trial is a good, good place to begin. So you can try the insulin pump that my daughter uses without any risk@omnipod.com forward slash juice box. If you like it, it's simple to keep going. And if you don't want it anymore, you get to the end of the 30 days, you're like, not for me, no problem. Nobody's gonna bother you. That's the end of that. Nice and easy up to you. That's how long the pod wants it to be. For full safety risk information and free trial terms and conditions. You can also visit omnipod.com forward slash juice box Dexcom G six. What is it? Why do you want it? Let's dig in. The Dexcom G six is a continuous glucose monitor, monitor where there goes the axon. It's a continuous glucose monitor. There you go. It's a small device that you where it reports your blood sugars back to your phone or to a receiver. When I say phone, I mean Android or iPhone. Not the one with the rotary thing like your grandma had that. That doesn't work that way. But if you have an Apple iPhone or an Android product, it is very likely that the Dexcom G six will work for you. If it doesn't, it's okay. Use the receiver. Why would I do this? Or are you more specifically? Oh, I'll tell you the speed and direction and number of the blood sugar for the user. Just like this, I'm picking up my phone. You couldn't hear it because I'm stealthy. I've swiped up. And I've touched an app Arden's blood sugar is 71. So she's also diagonal down, which means her blood sugar is falling a little bit. She's in the shower, we've already taken care of it. How did we take care of it? Well, 10 minutes ago, she was 91 Diagonal down. And I said, Hey, get in the shower, we should probably do something about this. And we did that 70 one's going to stop. I'll watch it happen here on my phone. comfort and convenience, safety and security, health. These are the things that we personally get from the Dexcom G six. There are results, of course, and yours may vary. But if you'd like to find out more, get started today, or see if you're eligible for a free 10 day trial. Go to dexcom.com forward slash juice box. There are links in the show notes of your podcast player. And links at juicebox podcast.com. If you can't remember dexcom.com forward slash juice box and who could forget Omni pod.com forward slash juice box. So from the beginning when I said check out T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. Take the survey. I could do these links in my sleep to understand me. You could keep me awake for 72 hours and then say Scott, how do I find out about the Dexcom and I'd say dexcom.com forward slash juicebox. Right before I passed out from being so tired. Let's get back to Emilio.

Emilio 28:11
My aliens now, I don't know that my doctors know that. I usually don't look at it because I will get crazy of of the numbers.

Scott Benner 28:21
Okay. Is that something your parents pay attention to? And they don't

Emilio 28:25
know. I have to tell them evenly. They're even that dumb. Check my numbers. Let me take care of it on my own way. Because I don't want them to be preoccupied with a lot.

Scott Benner 28:39
You're worried that they'll they'll get consumed with helping you.

Emilio 28:44
Yeah, they had done it. So I don't want them to go through that again.

Scott Benner 28:49
Yeah. Are you trying to protect them? Yeah, yeah. Do you think it was hard on them? Oh, yeah.

Emilio 28:57
His son. Maybe that is some good died two times.

Scott Benner 29:04
Okay, low blood sugar. Yeah.

Emilio 29:08
Because, like, can you

Scott Benner 29:11
repeat the question I can send you did you almost pass from low blood sugars? Or because of the hepatitis? You just think your parents have been through enough in gym?

Emilio 29:21
Yes. And yes. Because of the hepatitis. Like they come on. I think the doctors you're told my parents I was I was gonna die. I was gonna die. He's not gonna make

Scott Benner 29:31
so they had all through that one time already.

Emilio 29:34
Yeah. And then the next time and the diabetes thing. I was very bad. Bear bed.

Scott Benner 29:42
Yeah. When when you were at diagnosis. Yeah, yeah. Well, it's like, oh, Amelia, this is crazy. I have to take this call. Hold on one second. I really apologize. I don't know where doesn't usually happen. I'm going to take my headphones off. We're not gonna be able to hear me.

Emilio 29:56
Nowhere to work. Hello.

Scott Benner 30:01
Okay, so sorry about that everybody. I got a phone call I had to take. And Emilio I apologize. What were we talking about when that happened? Because I got I got spazzed out when I saw my phone, right?

Emilio 30:14
We were talking about a thing. Like taking a taking a say with

Scott Benner 30:20
my parents. Oh, yeah, right. Okay, so you felt like they had been through enough so you're doing it. But now you also don't want to know, tell me more about not wanting to know you're a one say

Emilio 30:30
it's not wanting to know my IOC it's because they the calculus for that thing. A, I don't usually see the exams I just given to the to the doctor or my or their results just get sent to the doctor. So she checks. She checks if I'm okay.

Scott Benner 30:50
And just says you're okay.

Emilio 30:52
Yeah, basically. So I don't I don't get my mind into numbers. Because for one thing, I don't like numbers, and also get very frustrated if I'm not in my range.

Scott Benner 31:03
So if you Okay, so if you were to hear that the number wasn't what you wanted, it would be frustrating to you, it

Emilio 31:09
will be frustrating. And I will like, shut down and stop everything I'm making the fix itself. I say I'm just taking it easy with it.

Scott Benner 31:18
So you just think of it as keeping things between you do your best day to day to keep yourself in that range that you mentioned earlier. Yeah, exactly. Do you use any of the ideas from the podcast in your management?

Emilio 31:32
Yeah, so as I mentioned, you use the useful thing.

Scott Benner 31:36
A Pre-Bolus?

Emilio 31:39
Yeah, I do. Pre-Bolus Yeah, that's one thing. My mornings were awful. Because before that, because as I just wake up, my body reacts differently. My insulin sensitivity in the morning is even higher than in during the day. So for my morning, it's one unit for every three grams of carbohydrates.

That's it.

And if I inject a for the meal, it doesn't work. So I need to Pre-Bolus and add 10 more units or eight more units. depends on the amount of food I ate the day before. Okay. But yeah,

Scott Benner 32:17
so in the morning, your insulin ratio could be even stronger than one to three, it could be almost one to two or something like,

Emilio 32:24
oh, it's one to three and during the day, it's one to seven,

Scott Benner 32:28
one to seven. That is a big difference. Okay. Your Basal insulin, do you ever look at your graphs overnight to see if you're stable overnight? And, and, and other times when you don't have food to see where your Basal is? Could be at? Yeah.

Emilio 32:44
So if I have food at night, it tends to go high, and then drops on the state level. But if I don't eat anything, it goes straight. It's a straight AD AD. Oh, wow. That's it. Yeah. It doesn't move from there.

Scott Benner 33:04
I mean, you're doing a really good job because you're using me you're having to use a lot of insulin because of the cortisone. So that's, um, it's it's it's difficult, you know, like, do you ever have a time where you're not on the cortisone?

Emilio 33:18
A,

no have never been out of it. We have, like, tried to make the transition from it. But it hasn't, like work out.

Scott Benner 33:28
So it's, it's an everyday situation. Yeah, you get it by injection or by a pill.

Emilio 33:33
No, I take pills. five milligrams

every, like once a day, once a day here every night

Scott Benner 33:41
is Is there anyone else in your family with autoimmune issues?

Emilio 33:46
A my grandma, from my father. She has lupus. And we think it all came came from her. Okay, so it comes down because from my mother's side, I don't have anything and from my dad's side, my grandfather doesn't have anything. It's just my grandma.

Scott Benner 34:06
Okay. Do you have any other autoimmune issues besides the hepatitis and the diabetes?

Emilio 34:13
A No, no. Okay. No.

Scott Benner 34:16
Did they test you for celiac disease for thyroid issues, stuff like that?

Emilio 34:23
Yeah, they always do that. And it always comes right. I don't have anything of that. Excellent. Because I'm very paranoid of it. So I always like I'm checking to see versing well, because I have like the thing in my head that tells you you're gonna die, you're gonna die. So I always check

Scott Benner 34:40
is that is that really something do you feel like that frequently?

Emilio 34:46
Not frequently, but if something like I feel I feel like steak or something like that, I think should I? I may have even worse thing that I have now. So,

Scott Benner 34:58
so yeah, so if your arm starts to hurt Are you you're pretty sure it's gonna fall off that kind of stuff.

Emilio 35:02
Yeah, so I'm very paranoid of it.

Scott Benner 35:06
You play any sports? Yeah, I do

Emilio 35:09
was like normal sports. I don't do number sports, normal sports. The only normal sport I do is swimming. Okay. And then the other is i a scuba diving,

also. Oh, that's

Scott Benner 35:24
cool. Yeah. Yeah. Scuba with? Do you do it in in groups? Or do you do it?

Emilio 35:30
Yeah. In groups you can you can dive alone.

Scott Benner 35:34
Where do you learn how to do that? How old were you when you learn how to scuba dive?

Emilio 35:37
A it was around when I was 1112.

Scott Benner 35:41
Okay. So before diabetes, you knew how to do before diabetes?

Emilio 35:45
Yeah. And he was very helpful. Because, as I told you before, I didn't have my leg for like six months when I was in recovery. So I couldn't walk, but I could swim. And I could die. So that was a thing that, like, pushed me to go further. Was like, dive in. Oh,

that's interesting. Helpful. Yeah.

Scott Benner 36:07
So you could so part of your therapy or just to keep your mind, right. You would swim when you couldn't actually walk? So were you in a wheelchair for a while?

Emilio 36:15
Yeah. I was going through school in a wheelchair, using crutches to go anywhere.

Scott Benner 36:22
Do you have brothers or sisters? Yeah,

Emilio 36:24
I have brothers and sisters. Okay. Big Family. Ah, no. It's me. My sister and my brother are three three of it. Yeah.

Scott Benner 36:33
Are you the youngest oldest in the middle? Yeah, I'm

Emilio 36:35
the youngest one.

Scott Benner 36:36
Who the youngest? Are they much older than you? Are they just a little older?

Emilio 36:40
I mean, older. My brother is 25 and my sister's 21. I think,

Scott Benner 36:44
okay. Are they at school or on their own? Are they at home?

Emilio 36:47
Yeah, they are on their own. Okay.

Scott Benner 36:52
What about let's see what else you dating? No, I'm not. It's a good idea. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 36:58
it's better. Yeah.

Scott Benner 36:59
It's a lot of trouble sometimes. Exactly. Hold on a second. Give me one second.

Yeah, I know there's times I wish maybe I wasn't dating. Like the person I decided to date is bothering me right now. For instance, they know I'm talking to you still are asking me questions that have nothing to do with

Emilio 37:27
Yeah, also also, because now I like fixing my life in a sort of way. Because of the whole, like, current quarantine thing and all of that. And like starting my life again. Yeah. So right now I'm like, being amazing. And having my life and being next to someone. It's, it's not not a thing in a plant.

Scott Benner 37:47
Hey, I want to ask you a little bit about having COVID. So how long ago did that happen to you?

Emilio 37:53
That happened I think in February of this year.

Scott Benner 37:59
Okay, recently.

Emilio 38:01
Yeah, recently. And I, I gotta, I gotta ECU because I was symptomatic.

Scott Benner 38:11
Okay, so you are positive and didn't have symptoms.

Emilio 38:14
Yeah, but the sure thing was very bad, baby. But that was the that was the thing that made me realize, Oh, I'm maybe had good. Oh, okay. And then you got because then I got tested, and we all came back positive. Oh, the whole family. The whole family. Me and my father and my mother, because my brothers doesn't live here anymore.

Scott Benner 38:36
Were there vaccines available to you? Or no? Yeah, the word yes. Did you take

Emilio 38:42
a word? And because I have like a little card that says that I'm disabled. I had the Pfizer display servicing device or vaccine.

Scott Benner 38:51
Yeah. So you Okay, so you had the vaccine, but then caught COVID But we're asymptomatic.

Emilio 38:58
No, I covered before the vaccine. Oh, before

Scott Benner 39:02
the vaccine. Okay. So now you have Yeah, well, now you've got Yeah, yeah.

Emilio 39:07
Yeah. We got the vaccines, I think two months later than the US. Oh,

I see. All right. So it was like the whole time.

But having COVID We diabetes on my hepatitis was, was hard. Because like my ratio went from having one to seven to all the day to having one to five. I needed to Pre-Bolus like 30 minutes before.

Wow. Wow, it's sad. Really. The sensitivity of it was

off. So yeah, how long is also good? I'm sorry. I also needed to do a lot of exercise.

Scott Benner 39:48
Just to help bring your blood sugar down. Exactly. Yeah. How long did the COVID impact you for how many days until now? Is it been it's been all these months? It's been giving you trouble. Yeah. Oh, okay.

Emilio 40:06
With hepatitis because diabetes control now.

Scott Benner 40:11
You will that was gonna be my question like, how scary was it with the hepatitis to get COVID

Emilio 40:17
awful because we thought that I was I was gonna die. But he was the exact same opposite because my parents got bad and I was the one that was helping them. So I was 17 at the time. And I was like, driving the car from working, doing this doing the work. So for my dad like getting out and going out. We COVID trying to not get in touch in touch with people, but we need it to work. So that was the thing.

Scott Benner 40:49
How old your parents

Emilio 40:51
my dad is 54 and the mom is 47 I

Scott Benner 40:57
think it hit them very hard.

Emilio 41:01
My dad, my dad needed to use oxygen. And because I had like a like an aquarium hobby. I do have oxygen bottles here in the house. And I feel them up because I knew something in my head told me get the action in swaddle field if anything happens. So that was very helpful.

Scott Benner 41:23
You have what you have oxygen bottles because you have Did you say you have an aquarium hobby? Yeah,

Emilio 41:29
I have also crimes. Okay.

Scott Benner 41:31
And so you you gathered up extra oxygen in the house thinking that that might be an issue around COVID. Yeah, exactly. Is that's a pretty smart

Emilio 41:41
I that my dad use. I had three tanks and my dad uses in three days.

Scott Benner 41:46
No kidding. Yeah, he uses it. Are they recovered now?

Emilio 41:51
Yeah, they recovered now. They don't have they don't have backlashes or anything like that. I'm the only one who ever

Scott Benner 41:57
okay. And so it's stuck to you longer, but just what was your biggest problem? The impact that had on your blood sugar?

Emilio 42:06
Well, yeah,

the biggest problem was that because I, my my glucose was between 302 100 and they wouldn't go down.

Scott Benner 42:15
Oh my god. Wouldn't it though? For how long?

Emilio 42:19
For a month?

Scott Benner 42:21
No kidding. That's terrible.

Emilio 42:23
Yeah, I was awful. And I was feeling and I was feeling bad because of COVID. And because of having high blood sugar.

Scott Benner 42:30
Yeah. Well, yeah. Tell me about that. Like when you're that high for that long. It. The impacts on you are a lot, right.

Emilio 42:39
Yeah. So you don't want to get off your bed you are without energy to do anything and you cannot eat anything because it will go higher. And you cannot smell anything because of COVID

it was a whole flurry of things.

Scott Benner 42:55
And you had to but at the same time you were taking care of your parents. Yeah. Were your brothers and sisters home or was it just the three of you at that point?

Emilio 43:03
No. And my brother a my brother's girlfriend, mom also was bad. So my mom between COVID I'm feeling bad was also helping her.

Scott Benner 43:16
Wow, that's terrible. Parents. Did any of you ever end up in the hospital?

Emilio 43:22
My dad was about to go to it. But we call the doctors and they told us if he goes to the hospitals, he's gonna die. He's not gonna He's not gonna survive. He goes to the hospital. Wow. So it's better. It's better to keep it in the house. And keep the watch.

Scott Benner 43:37
You guys got really lucky, huh? Yeah, sounds like you. You had a big part of helping everybody get better to where you? You were you cooking and doing everything like? Yes,

Emilio 43:47
I was. I was cooking and all stuff. in quarantine. I like improve my core math skills. Miko but yeah, when I got COVID Also, I did that because I wanted to test what flavors could I like smell or feel? I gotcha. As a spoiler. No, no one. Neither of them.

Scott Benner 44:10
When you lose your sense of smell. Can you eat food that you don't like?

Emilio 44:15
I used to chew

Scott Benner 44:16
on garlic. Hoping to taste something.

Emilio 44:19
Hoping to say something. Yeah. Also no onions. And I didn't vote anything.

Scott Benner 44:24
No, that's crazy. Yeah, that's really something the doctors come to the house to see you or was it all over the phone?

Emilio 44:32
It was all over the phone.

Because we were we were we were in lockdown here. Yeah. And we had a curfew that started. I think at the time we had a curfew that started at 3pm.

Scott Benner 44:45
Okay. How How was COVID in Ecuador? Is it is was it a real big problem or did just get you guys or?

Emilio 44:54
Yeah, it was a really big problem because people used to body bodies. dead bodies appear on the streets. No one knows why the people like started to feel bad on streets. Well, they were they were piling up. And yeah, it was it was very awful scary. Yeah, very scary here.

Scott Benner 45:15
You've been through a lot in a short amount of time. Yeah. Do you ever think about that, that you've probably gone through more than most people will in their whole life? And you did it?

Emilio 45:25
Yes. And I use it. I use it as a push for my life like to keep going. Like, if I have fought this hard, why would I stop now?

Scott Benner 45:37
Yeah, that makes sense. Like, why am I here? I don't know if you've ever heard the phrase In for a penny in for a pound. But it's the idea of you went this far. You might as well not give up. Right. So yeah, that's that's really something, do you? I guess you don't remember yourself prior to any of this. Like, it's a very, you have a great way about you. And, and a great, you know, there's just a great feeling coming from you. So do you have any idea why you feel that way? Like why, like, why aren't you depressed and sitting in your room? Do you know what I mean? Like, why did you choose this path or

Unknown Speaker 46:12
a

Emilio 46:14
I had been depressed. When I was diagnosed, I did have depression was for like a month. But it passed me as I went through it. But like my mind works in a way that I usually see the better in things that are good. And things. I'm not that bad. Yeah.

Scott Benner 46:41
Your English is amazing. Well, thanks. Have you ever been to America? Yeah, I

Emilio 46:46
have been there. Okay. Sounds you?

Scott Benner 46:49
I mean, we've been talking for 40 minutes. And I've only said one thing once that you said, Can you repeat that? And I've I've not like, I haven't changed how I speak for you? Or do you? Not? I mean, like, I haven't taken words out of my vocabulary or anything like that. Where do you learn English?

Emilio 47:05
From school? My whole like, room, I have a Google Home and it's everything in English. So I push myself to speak English and is driving English and, and being English.

Scott Benner 47:18
What's the what's the language of Ecuador? It's what do you Yeah, I always dream about taking the pro tip episodes of the podcast and and translate into Spanish, but I don't know. I don't know how to do that. People tell me that there are so many different kinds of variations of the language that

Emilio 47:36
yeah, no, that's that's a particular thing here. Because we have like fried regions, right. So it's like the cost ghost thing. And then we have the highlands. And then we have the the jungle like the Amazonia. And every single, every single song has a different language has a different way speaking. Like Daniels, they speak in a very different way. They speak like singing and Queen canas. It's another part of islands they also speak very differently. So it's a mixture of

Scott Benner 48:11
is the voice is it so different that you would like when you go to Colombia or to Argentina? Do you have trouble talking to people in Spanish?

Emilio 48:19
Yes. And in Argentina, there are like, words we use in our vocabulary here near brother. We are very, very bad words in Argentina. So yeah, it's it's it's a shock. It's a culture shock. But it's amazing. Like knowing how they talk.

Scott Benner 48:38
Tell me a word. Use it. Use the word in English. But tell me a word you would use in Ecuador. That would be a bad word in Argentina.

Emilio 48:47
Like taking the boss here, it would mean like Cohoes Yeah, like, but in order to trust that we're not nagging Tina. Yeah, that will translate to a very bad thing with the boss. Okay. Yeah,

Scott Benner 49:05
let's all just wonder I don't want you to tell me well just leave it up in the air like that. Yeah, exactly. That's funny. What about friends? Like you're not dating? Do you have do you have close friends?

Emilio 49:15
Yeah, a close friend group. I have recently made friends because I didn't have a social life. I started my social life when I was 17. Yeah, I didn't have friends through all of this. So I recently have friends.

Scott Benner 49:32
Your vote? Do you find yourself feeling more mature than your other friends?

Emilio 49:36
Yes, I love a lot of it. Because I'm like the father of the group of my friends. I usually take care of them. I usually drive them I usually like give them advisors and help them work stuff.

Scott Benner 49:49
Yeah, you've been through a lot. I mean, in a way that that makes me feel like you're going to be very successful as an adult. I don't I can't imagine what else could happen to you that you wouldn't be able to deal with You know?

Emilio 50:00
Yeah, now I'm prepared for pretty much everything. Yeah,

Scott Benner 50:04
no kidding. I think you're, I think you're 100%. Right? Yeah. Is college going to be online? Or is it or is it something you're going to?

Emilio 50:15
I want to go with, because they want to choose. They had a nice campus and they had a pool and they had a gym and had a lot of stuff. But it's like, 10 minutes from my house. So it's so far.

Scott Benner 50:27
So you'll live at home, but go to college? Yeah. Oh, that's,

Emilio 50:30
that's sad path. That's the way it works here.

Scott Benner 50:32
Nobody lives at college there. Yeah, gotcha. Okay. My son just went back to school. And I miss him already. So it would be nice if he had to come home every day. I would like that.

Emilio 50:44
Yeah, that's that's the same. My parents appreciate a lot also.

Scott Benner 50:47
Yeah, no, I imagine. So. Do you imagine what as an adult that you'll live in Ecuador?

Emilio 50:55
No, I want to I want to get out of

Scott Benner 50:59
okay, where do you want to go?

Emilio 51:01
I want to go to Australia or Indonesia.

Scott Benner 51:05
Oh, I have. I have listeners in both of those places. So you can definitely keep listening to the podcast if you leave.

Emilio 51:12
Yeah, the situation here is it's very bad. Now we are next to Mexico in crimes. Okay. Also in like politics and other stuff. We're very big behind all the other countries.

Scott Benner 51:27
So politically, it's something you'd like to get away from.

Emilio 51:31
Yeah, also the violence here. People get killed in the streets every day. They get robbed them they get farther and it's it's awful.

Scott Benner 51:40
What makes you think about Indonesia?

Emilio 51:44
Because as I told you, I love crimes like like, the ocean. Yeah. I love it. So being like next to the ocean being like next to the, to the raves. It will be my dream life.

Scott Benner 51:56
Yeah. I just I'm thinking of a person that I just spoke to recently that lives there who listens? Who listens to the podcast? Man, it'd be two of you. You could find each other. Would you be able to carry on your medical care anywhere? Do you think?

Emilio 52:11
I think so. Okay, I think so. I don't know. I don't know how they how the insurance things work in other countries, because I hadn't never liked this. But I think I will Korea. And so.

Scott Benner 52:21
So for the for the hepatitis part. It's just the pill that you have to keep up with. Yeah, it's just a pill. And are you? I mean, extra COVID. Aside, are you extra careful about trying not to get sick, or is that?

Emilio 52:38
No, I don't usually do that. I used to do that. But now we went through a pandemic. So I don't I don't think we need to be debt now. So I was just keep going on

Scott Benner 52:51
start feeling like if you can make it through this then everything else. Yeah, pretty easy. Exactly. Do you wear a mask when you go outside?

Emilio 52:57
Yeah, I do wear a mask. But for example, if I'm with my friends, I don't wear a mask. Because we're all vaccinated.

Scott Benner 53:04
Oh, you're all vaccinated this point? Well, you have now you have the vaccine. And you have I imagine antibodies from actually having COVID as well.

Emilio 53:13
You're gonna we're gonna have the third dose here like ething instruments.

Scott Benner 53:17
You're gonna do? Yeah, you're gonna do the booster shot. Yeah, I am, too. I'm gonna I'm gonna take it as well. I didn't I didn't get Pfizer I got j&j But I'm gonna I'm gonna take a booster as well. Oh,

Emilio 53:29
I got a friend who got that?

Scott Benner 53:31
Yeah, it was actually. I mean, I mean, I guess I don't know how well it worked other than just how you I haven't had COVID. And, you know, did you did you get any other side effects of it? Or from the shot? No, I didn't have Yeah, I had no problems with the vaccine at all. Wow. Okay. My arm hurt for a couple of hours. But that was like,

Emilio 53:49
Yeah, really? Oh, I have friends who got very bad headaches spamming

Scott Benner 53:54
all those headaches after their vaccine,

Emilio 53:57
headaches migraines, they couldn't sleep the night began day one.

Scott Benner 54:03
Oh, I feel very grateful. That did not happen. Yeah, actually, my son and my wife had j&j as well, and none of us had an issue with it at all. And Arden had Pfizer. So she Okay, yeah, she did two doses of Pfizer and she didn't have any trouble either. Yeah, no, I

Emilio 54:19
didn't have any trouble with the Pfizer except for the first day. I like a lot of sleepiness. I felt very sleepy. But the next day I didn't feel like

Scott Benner 54:28
I haven't asked you the whole time. But I've been wondering what are the animals? I'm hearing? It's a dog right?

Emilio 54:34
Yeah, it's my dog. sorry. She's

Scott Benner 54:38
sorry. I just I've been dying to know like, at first I heard I heard birds in the beginning. Yeah, I also have birds. What kind?

Emilio 54:46
It's a Australian parrots.

Scott Benner 54:49
Really? Yeah. Collect a kid Amelia.

Emilio 54:54
Yeah, I had a lot of animals here also have clownfish and a reef tank and I used to get planted tank.

Scott Benner 55:00
That's nice. I used to keep saltwater fish when I was younger. It's just amazing. I love it. Yeah, this is very expensive. So eventually stop doing it. Do you actually do? Are you able to get fish from the ocean when you scuba dive?

Emilio 55:15
And technically yes, but legally, no,

Scott Benner 55:19
Amelia, you're telling me that you're not legally allowed to take fish from the ocean and put it in your face? Oh,

Emilio 55:23
yeah, here's your you know, you're not you're not allowed to do that. And in Santa in certain parts of of the coast. I say. Okay, because we have like reserves,

Scott Benner 55:32
and you would never do that. No, I will never course. Okay. Of course. Of course. We're very, very law abiding. Is there anything that we haven't spoken about that you wanted to? I want to make sure we don't miss anything is we're coming up on an hour.

Emilio 55:48
And I think we have talked about all the things you mentioned.

Scott Benner 55:52
Well, I have a question then what made you want to come on the podcast?

Emilio 55:57
I want to I want people to know that. A living here in Ecuador. It's not like living in the jungle. Because people in the US thing, that thing that we live near, we don't live in. We live in a city and we have a lot of things here. And also that having diabetes is in South America. It's not that bad. You can control it. You can live with it.

Scott Benner 56:18
Yeah. Do you have any trouble with the heat with keeping your insulin? Okay, and your pump?

Emilio 56:23
No, I usually don't. Don't put it in the freezer because I spend time in my room or spend time driving. And I pass in in air conditioner all

Scott Benner 56:34
the time. Okay. Oh, yeah. So your home's air conditioned?

Emilio 56:37
Yeah. My all my house everything because here the heat is the worst. Hey, they have failed these like 35 degrees. 38 degrees?

Scott Benner 56:45
Well, a second. I'm gonna figure out what that is in Fahrenheit.

Oh, okay, like 95. And I'm imagining the humidity like the the

Emilio 56:57
100%. Yeah, it's very high all the time. You can

Scott Benner 57:00
go swimming without going to the ocean maybe. So, is it a very indoor kind of existence then? Or do people know?

Emilio 57:09
We go out but usually, like, if I go out with friends, we go out to houses. All right. We didn't go to malls because of the of the whole biasing also. But yeah, and usually we go to the beach and spend time there or we go to the islands like,

Scott Benner 57:30
Yeah, okay. When you're living in a place with violence like that, like how do you protect yourself? Like, are there things you think you can

Emilio 57:39
add to that? You can love guns here are prohibited. Also, the cops are very like, a their own. They can't shoot people. If they do that they go to jail. So they don't do anything, basically.

Scott Benner 57:56
So is the is the violence mostly with knives?

Emilio 58:00
No guns. Oh, so

Scott Benner 58:02
people have guns, but you're not legally allowed to have a gun? Yeah, exactly. I understand. Okay. Much gang violence, or is it?

Emilio 58:10
Yeah, it's like, like are like a cartel thing. I say that. Yeah. It all goes up to Mexico and down. It's like the whole South America drug thing.

Scott Benner 58:22
I say, do your parents do you think your parents will leave when you leave? Or do you think they'll say,

Emilio 58:27
no, they're gonna stay here stay there. They don't have like, an idea of going to live somewhere else.

Scott Benner 58:33
I see. How about your brother and sister.

Emilio 58:37
My sister dream about living in Germany, but because of a situation. She's like, trying to figure out how how did she lives but yeah, my brother and my brother have has lived in Canada because of the of the college. And, but I don't think he has plans to go and live somewhere else. Okay.

Scott Benner 59:02
I think so. He's back in Ecuador now after? I say, Well, it's a big, big change Canada, Ecuador. I mean, just the weather alone.

Emilio 59:12
Yeah, he if it was for him, he will leave the the the thing with college is that he had like, like, I don't remember the exact word.

Scott Benner 59:24
Visa like a student visa. Yeah, like

Emilio 59:27
student visa from here. And part of the agreement is that he if he goes five years again, Allah He needs to work in its work here for 10 years,

Scott Benner 59:38
I think. So if you get to go away to college, you have to come back and take what you learned and and use it in Ecuador.

Emilio 59:43
Yeah, if you'd have worked, the government gives you work and all that stuff.

Scott Benner 59:48
So you'll be like, I'm gonna ask you a question that you might find silly but I want to understand are there any scary snakes or spiders or anything weird there that could kill me?

Emilio 59:58
A yes or no? depends on where you're going. For example if you're going to allow Amazonia obviously to the jungle obviously you're going to find like deadly things. But a couple of Sir Angela has nothing to worry about

Scott Benner 1:00:13
nothing to worry about. Okay, right. Never woken up with a snake in your house or

Emilio 1:00:18
something like that. No, no, I live in a city and

Scott Benner 1:00:21
there's no nothing there. Yeah, and you're very close to the to the shoreline as well. Yeah, hour and a half drive. Do you drive? Do you have a car?

Emilio 1:00:33
Yeah, well, not It's not mine, but it's from my dad when I use it.

Scott Benner 1:00:37
Okay. Do you take any special precautions when you're driving about your diabetes? You check more often?

Emilio 1:00:43
Yeah, usually I Korea juice box or Coca Cola? Coke.

So yeah,

I have I have had times when I'm driving and I I went to 50. And I did sub and during during the Cogan wait. Yeah.

Scott Benner 1:01:00
Do your friends like know how to help you? Have you ever had that comment?

Emilio 1:01:04
Yeah, I have. I have the conversation with them a lot of times because I have tell them if someday I fainted. You need to check my blood sugar this way and this way and this way.

Scott Benner 1:01:13
And they can do it. Oh, that's amazing. Good for you. Yeah, they are trying that array worlds. Right. So you found you found a good group of friends even though you you found them late? Yeah, that's encouraging. That really is great.

Emilio 1:01:26
Yeah, it's very nice to have them. No.

Scott Benner 1:01:29
Oh, Emilio. I I'm really happy that you came on and did this. Um, I? I learned a lot in the last hour. I appreciate you. Thanks. Yeah, no, it really um, I'm serious. It's a I've never heard of anyone who had an autoimmune hepatitis before. When you said that, you know, I just thought, wow, that's that. Some I've done this like 600 times. And somebody said something new to me today. Which shocked? Oh, that's amazing. Yeah, no, really, I'm I was really thrilled that you came on and share that. And just hearing how you took care of your family during COVID. And all that you had to go through as a child and that you're you're doing so well. It's really encouraging. And uplifting. Oh, thanks. Yeah. Do you not think of yourself that way? Or do you?

Emilio 1:02:18
Yeah, I just think of myself that way.

Yeah, but I usually like thinking a lot.

Scott Benner 1:02:23
Yeah, don't think it's too much because you'll end up sound like a jerk if you start saying nice stuff about yourself. But yeah, exactly. You're basically Superman to me today. I'm just Oh, saying it's amazing. I mean, like seriously, like, congratulations on, on on just being that kind of tough and sticking it out and not given up. Really is special.

Emilio 1:02:45
Yeah. That's part of the life. I think. That's part of life.

Scott Benner 1:02:49
Yeah, no, no, trust me. That's that's the whole thing. But a lot of people give up and you had enough reasons you could have, you know, it's really, really a really wonderful story. Tell your parents I think they raised a really good kid. Oh, thanks. I'm gonna tell them you tell them a guy from America on a podcast that that they'll be like shut up.

Emilio 1:03:13
They usually they usually they want people to tell them that.

Scott Benner 1:03:18
Yeah, I would imagine. I mean, I can't be the first person to think it. That's for sure. It's a really extraordinary what you've what you've

Emilio 1:03:24
Yeah, my last boss from my last job. It's like a cafeteria and next next to the house. I have to tell them that had told them that also. Like my uncle's when they get to know me Barrow, like you? They do tell them that?

Scott Benner 1:03:39
Yeah. No. You sound like a really special person. I'm glad to have met you. Thanks. Yeah. If there's nothing else, I'm gonna say goodbye. But I really do appreciate this.

Emilio 1:03:51
Yeah, I think we have speak about all the subjects we needed to speak on.

Scott Benner 1:03:54
We did good, right. We didn't miss anything. And I had a good time. Did you have fun? Yeah, a lot of them. Did you really? Okay. I'm glad to are you like, going to let your friends listen to this or no?

Emilio 1:04:05
Yes, I'm gonna send it to it. Excellent. That's really cool. Well,

Scott Benner 1:04:09
hello to everybody there. I hope one day to get to Galapagos Islands. I don't know if I ever will. The murdering stuff you said made me a little scared. But that's okay.

Emilio 1:04:18
Yeah, we were trying to figure out how to fix it.

Scott Benner 1:04:22
Yeah. You stopped shooting people and I'll come see this the turtles Oh my gosh. Alright, Amelia, hold

Emilio 1:04:29
on. This situation. The situation is in wackier. But in the Galapagos Islands, not not nothing else.

This stuff happens.

Scott Benner 1:04:36
I'll be away there. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah. It's back on my dream list then. I I really mean it. I have all the places that I

Emilio 1:04:46
you should you should come. It's it's a very special place is very

Scott Benner 1:04:49
nice. Yeah. All right. Okay, well, you've, you've made me feel good about it.

Let's see who were thanking Dexcom on the pod, Emilio. Oh, and guess what else? You for listening. Thank you so much to Dexcom for sponsoring this episode of The Juicebox Podcast. Don't forget, look into that free 10 day trial@dexcom.com forward slash juice box. You also may be eligible for a free 30 day trial the Omni pod dash, and the only way to find out is it on the pod.com forward slash juice box. Take the T one D exchange survey takes fewer than 10 minutes you help someone with type one diabetes, and you support the podcast T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. If you're looking for the private Facebook group, it's called Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes, answer you answer, you'll have to answer just a few questions to get in so that the you know the algorithm knows you're a real person. There are almost 25,000 members in that Facebook group. It's really a wonderful place full of helpful, lovely and dedicated people, you should check it out. Enjoying the podcast, why not leave a five star review. Wherever you're listening, five stars Check, check, check, check, check however many five is and then write like a beautiful review that people could read and go Oh, I see why this person likes the podcast. I will try it too. That's very helpful. But the most helpful thing you can do is share the show with someone else and subscribe in an app. So I don't want to say the most helpful thing. The two most helpful things you could do for the podcast is to share it with someone else. And to subscribe or follow in the app you're listening in. And if you're not listening in an app, it's possible you're over gonna say 65 and you're listening online like this web browsers amazing. You can hear words from it. If that's if that's what you're into. Don't let me stop you. It's okay. But otherwise, you guys should really check out a podcast that they're free and easy and make it a nice experience when you're listening. Don't forget to subscribe and follow, follow and subscribe. That's it for me. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast.