#1992 If Jarvis Was Real
If Jarvis Was Real
Scott and Jenny use AI live on air to teach you how to use it. A pizza talked through out loud, the Warsaw math run in real time, and eight prompts to steal.
Jump to a moment
- The pizza walkthrough is the whole lesson in one segment. Two slices of sausage pan pizza: roughly 65 carbs now, plus about 32 carbs' worth of fat and protein arriving over the next four or five hours. Low first, then a climb you can't catch. Same total insulin, wrong schedule.
- Jenny's verdict was that it covered everything she would teach — and her caveat matters just as much: no insulin ratio was ever given, and the device already on your body can do that math for you.
- The useful shape is a loop, not an answer. Describe the meal, reason it through together, go eat, watch what happens, come back and say what the line did. The postmortem is as valuable as the plan: drop in a graph and ask what happened.
- Where the line sits: interface help, log analysis, pulling one section out of a device manual, understanding a setting you were told to change but never understood. Not insulin dosing. Jenny notes the developer community cautions hard against the data-and-settings use, even as people report success with it.
- The 504 Builder at juiceboxpodcast.com/504-builder started as Scott cleaning up Arden's old plans for someone in the Facebook group. It now builds a plan by clicking, explains why each item is there, shows its sources, makes a substitute-teacher one-sheet, and writes you an argument when the school strikes something out.
- 504 Plan Builder — Build a 504 by clicking, see why each accommodation is there, and get an argument back if the school strikes one
- Episode 1943: Oliver — Fifteen years of being told his A1C was fine, then he pointed a model at his own Loop data
- Juicebox Podcast Pro Tip Series — Management fundamentals with Jenny Smith, episodes 1000–1025
- MiniMed Flex — MiniMed's smallest pump yet, the size of two stacked vials, controlled from an app
- Contour Next Gen — The meter Arden carries — second-chance sampling and a downloadable coupon at the link
Every word of the conversation
Welcome and Sponsors0:03
Friends, we're all back together for another episode of the Juice Box podcast. Hey. Nothing you hear on the Juice Box podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. Always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan. This episode of the podcast is sponsored by MiniMed and the Kontoor NextGen blood glucose meter.
MiniMed, of course, the innovators behind the MiniMed flex system, a small, sleek, and discreet insulin automated delivery system controlled from an app. Nothing comes close to freedom you can feel. To learn more, visit minimed.com/juicebox. There is one blood glucose meter in this house, the Kontoor Nextgen blood glucose meter. That meter is on my daughter's person right now and at all times.
It is incredibly accurate and waiting for you at kontoornext.com/juicebox. Okay. Let me say this to you when you're being recorded. Do you wanna do something fun?
Let's Do Something Fun1:41
I would like to do something fun. Alright. That would be lovely.
Friday, we're gonna do something fun. Normally, we jump on here and don't know what we're doing. Today, we're gonna jump on and double, triple not know what we're doing because, normally, I have an idea, and I don't tell you about it. Today, my idea isn't even a fully formed idea, and I have literally no idea how this is going to go, but we are gonna step through it together. So my idea is that you and I...
Don't disconnect right away. Keep listening. You and I are going to use AI to teach people how to use AI to help themselves, and we're somehow gonna fold it into the things that are in the pro tips and the podcast and stuff like that. But I don't know how yet. But I'm gonna use your brain to prompt my AI to figure out what would be valuable and is accomplishable within this forty five minute period.
You don't even have to understand what I'm saying. Just answer questions when I give you questions. Okay?
Okey dokey.
If Jarvis Was Real2:45
Okey dokey.
Sounds fun.
I am starting for people who understand this a little bit. I don't know if I'm even counting myself as one of them. I'm starting a project right now in Claude using Fable. I said, let's brainstorm ways to use AI to teach people how to use AI to help themselves with type one diabetes. So it's thinking about that right now.
Now I'm asking you, what do you think that's very reason and math related? Like, let's rattle off some things about diabetes that is... If Jarvis was real... Right? You know Jarvis?
Yes. I know Jarvis. Just said that. I thought man. Alright.
Alright. Okay. If Jarvis was real and you had type one, what would you ask Jarvis in the course of a day? Now I thought right away bolusing for food. Right?
Because I know people are gonna be like, oh, it'll be wrong or just just just hang for a minute.
And if Jarvis is truly as, let's say, intelligent Mhmm. As it seems in the movies, if you've ever, you know
Right.
Heard the things that have been asked of Jarvis. I mean, god, probably everything. That's a gigantic brain dump. I know. That's a...
Like, that's all of the inner monologue that people with diabetes have. A 100% could be dumped into this to be able to say, hey. I'm eating Chick fil A such and such right now, and I need your suggestions. Now the lovely thing that AI... It would be great if it could have your information, and you wouldn't even have to tell it your information.
Right? Hey. This is what my information has. I've got this much IOB. My trend is looking like this.
This is my program that I'm using. This is the algorithm so that it understands all of the pieces as Jarvis would.
Uh-huh.
Because he's that smart.
Now you're getting it.
All... And then all you have to say is, hey. I'm eating Chick fil A these items. Please tell me what I should do with this bolus. Oh, and...
Right? I'm gonna play soccer for two hours after this.
Right.
And? So factor that in.
Good. See, Jenny. I knew your brain would start to work. Okay. So all the things that you ask yourself when you're thinking and helping people, wouldn't it be cool if they could just help some...
To ask something, and it would even point them in the right direction? And I'm not talking about, like, bolus exactly this much insulin. Like, I'm not talking about it like that. I mean, I'm at... Hey.
I'm walking into McDonald's, and I'm gonna get a number four. Okay? It's gonna have a diet soda with it. The number four is the two cheeseburger meal, blah blah blah. I don't know what to do.
Right? Like, I I I don't know what to do. I'm I'm... Every time I go to McDonald's, I mess this up. Like, that kind of stuff.
I'm not telling you I'm gonna build a tool that I'm gonna give you. I'm telling... I'm trying to think of ways to help people talk to this to get responses back because I also... Let me tell you the background behind this. I believe it will help them talk through it on their own even when they don't have something like this with them.
Right? Like, because Right. Because it's not so much that it's not so much that people don't have answers. I think oftentimes, it's more about they don't know what questions to ask.
I would agree with that. Because even as I've played with Claude Mhmm. I have to think about I have to think about all the things that are in my brain Yep. That I then want it to also consider in relation to the topic. Right?
And the more you feed it, the more detail you give it. And I know that this is a hotly contested sort of topic even for, like, carb counting using AI. But, honestly, I have truly found that if I give it as much information about a meal that I'm gonna eat as well as a picture of what it is Mhmm. And I give it some portion ideas, like this chicken curry with vegetables, for example, which I wouldn't eat, but that's just my example. It's a fist sized portion of rice and a fist sized portion of these vegetables, and the chicken looks like it's the size of the palm of my hand.
Yep. Right? Give me the macros for this. Again, is it gonna be a 100% precise as weighing, measuring, blah blah blah? No.
But at least it's giving you an idea to start with, and that's much better than the typical swag.
Right. And we... And you and I do that all the time. Jenny, can I ask you, is the cat bubbler on, and could we shuttle off if it is?
I don't think that's
not?
That's okay. Me check.
I hear a little noise behind you, and I wanna tell people while you're looking that
I will be right back.
I said I said I've told Claude that we're live building something while we're recording. I would like to make a tool that people can use when they're done. And then, it started to think more about my website. And I said, stop thinking about my website so much and think about helping people to use you and other AI. So it's working through there right now.
Was the bubbler on?
The bubbler wasn't on, but the fan in the bathroom down the hall was on.
Thank you, Jennifer. I appreciate it very much. And everyone listening appreciates it too, except for all the people who will later send a note and say, I could not hear the fan, Scott. But I could. I'm I'm not gonna listen.
I was thinking about it. Okay. Alright. So we're building now. Content first page is a lesson on how to talk to AI with type one diabetes.
It's a subject matter of building. So it's building. It's been at it for about a minute and a half. But I wanna... Before it does that, I wanna do what you just said.
Asking It to Explain Itself8:33
I like meal... I think the meal talk through is a great idea.
Okay.
Okay? So I'm gonna hope this works. Hey, Claude. We're gonna do the meal talk through. So I'm gonna record your voice while you're talking so everybody listening to the Juice Box podcast is listening to you right now.
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Download a coupon? Oh, and receive a Contour Next... Oh, there might be a free meter on this page. You have to go check it out. Contournext.com/juicebox.
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A Pizza, Talked Through Out Loud11:12
Happy to. Hi, everyone. So here's the thing about a meal. The hard part isn't the carb count. It's everything around it.
What time you start the insulin, what the fat and protein are going to do two hours later, whether you're walking after dinner. And most of that never gets talked through with anyone. That's where I can help. Describe your meal to me in plain language. Pizza, two slices.
I'm at 90 flat. I usually spike around an hour after. I'll ask you a couple of questions, and then we'll reason through it together. Not a number I hand you, the thinking behind the number. Then you go eat, and you watch what happens.
And next time, you tell me what happened, and we adjust. That loop is the whole game.
Let's do that right now. Use that meal that you just said and ask me the follow-up questions.
Right. Let's do it. Two slices of pizza. You're at 90 and flat. First one, what does your insulin usually do at this time of day?
Is dinner a time when you're pretty sensitive, or does it take more than you'd expect? Second, last time you had pizza, what actually happened? Did you go high fast, or was it fine for two hours and then a slow climb that wouldn't quit? And third, are you sitting down for the evening after this, or is there anything active coming?
So normally at dinnertime, I'm pretty good. My settings work pretty well, but I had a pretty hard day at work today. So I was pretty active, and I am a little worried about that. But normally, when I have pizza, I think I get... I don't know what I'm doing wrong really, but normally, I get low before the pizza seems to, like, impact me, and then I end up getting high afterwards.
Ah, okay. That pattern tells us a lot. That's the classic pizza shape, and you're not doing anything wrong exactly. It's a timing mismatch. Here's what's likely happening.
You dose for all the carbs up front, but the fat is slowing the whole meal down. So your insulin arrives on schedule and the food doesn't. That's your low. Then hours later, the fat and protein finally show up. Your insulin's mostly gone, and you climb and can't get it back.
The fix isn't more or less insulin. It's spreading it out. Less upfront, more behind it, and the active day matters. I'd lean even lighter on that front portion. What are you doing for insulin right now?
Pump or pens?
MDI.
Okay. That changes the shape of it. You can't extend a bolus, so you split it. Something like, take a smaller dose upfront for the carbs and then a second smaller injection maybe two hours later for the fat and protein. That second one is doing the job an extended bolus would do on a pump.
And given the hard day at work, I'd go conservative on both and lean on the fact that you can always add later. You can't take insulin back. Does splitting feel doable, or is a second shot a nonstarter for you?
No. I'd be willing to do that.
Great. Then that's genuinely your answer for pizza going forward.
Well, now...
So tonight...
Hold on. Before you go on, now I'm a little worried that I don't really understand how much is in the pizza. I'm at Pizza Hut right now, and it's a sausage pizza.
Ah, good catch. Let's ground it. Two slices of a Pizza Hut sausage pan pizza is roughly 60 to 70 carbs and something like 25 grams of fat and 25 of protein. If it's hand tossed rather than pan, knock the fat down a bit. That fat number is the whole story, by the way.
That's why your pizza behaves the way it does. Want me to run the Warsaw math on those numbers so you can hear roughly how the split shakes out?
Yeah. Sure. Let's do that. I don't know what the Warsaw math is, but I'd love to hear about it.
Sure. The Warsaw method is a way to account for fat and protein. Let me actually run it. Okay. 25 grams of fat times nine calories plus 25 of protein times four, that's 325 calories.
Divide by a 100, you get about three and a quarter fat protein units, and each unit gets treated roughly like 10 carbs. So your pizza isn't 65 carbs. It's 65 now plus about 32 carbs worth arriving slowly over the next four or five hours. That's your low then high in one sentence. Same total insulin, wrong schedule.
Okay. So I really do appreciate this explanation and talking through it's been helpful. But I'm at the pizza place. I need to know what to do, and I can't have all this chatter. So can you just lay it out for me really quickly?
Right. Quick version. Take about two thirds of your normal pizza dose now and go a little lighter than that because of the active day. Eat. Then set a phone alarm for two hours.
When it goes off, check your number. And if you're flat or climbing, take the rest. That's it. Go eat.
Thank you. I appreciate this.
Anytime. Go enjoy it. And let me know tomorrow what the line did.
Jenny Grades It16:52
Alright. What'd you think?
Right. I mean, that's everything that I would teach somebody.
Jenny's like, I'm looking for another job right now.
No. It is. I mean, that's that's the the gist of education is pulling the stuff apart to give you a baseline. And then the majority of what I do is I get in the nitty gritty and actually discuss the what happened and the over and over and the actual kinds of food and all of the variables. I mean, 40 plus variables that we have.
Right? Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, in general, that was broken down very well. And the fact of the matter is, in this example, there was no insulin ratio given.
Yeah. I I purposely didn't
ask. You a guideline.
Yeah. I mean, listen. You... It's up to you if you wanna ask, but, I mean, I I genuinely believe if you told it your ratios and your settings, it would would have hammered that out pretty quickly as well.
It could have, but you could also then just use the device that you have, which is the technology you wear on your body. And that can easily figure all of those things out for you.
Right. Also, as it's talking, I realized you could use it as, a postmortem. You know, you could go back... You easily could have opened up that window and said, hey. I I went out last night for pizza, and Mhmm.
Here's what ended up happening, and I have no idea why it went this way. And it and it really could kind of, like, go backwards at you. I... And on the other side, I... I've...
I asked Claude to tell me how to talk to it. It was very clear. It says, tell me the whole story. Make it think out loud. Make it ask you questions.
It's talking about itself. Make it ask you questions. Tell it what not to do. Push back. Be conversational.
It's not... You know, AI is not perfect. It doesn't know everything. So go back and forth. I just...
I think it's a great situation for if you don't have someone to talk to about
Who's Actually Using This18:49
it. Correct. Yeah. I also think it's important to consider those who might be using these AI platforms to start with.
Mhmm.
Now you've talked with Claude a lot
I do.
Already up to this point. Yep. And with that being said, Claude has gotten to know you, and the things that you've fed it are very diabetes specific, are very in-depth diabetes types of things. And so it has... It's it's got kind of its own library to work from.
Well, that's just a chat. It's not using any of my information.
And that wasn't
using connect it to anything that I have. I I do stuff like that on my own where it has access to all of our conversations. Conversations and... But it's not a thing I've made public or know how to make public or know that I should or could. But but I can do it on my side for that.
That was just Claude using... I don't even think... It only went to the Internet once. That was just general... Like, I think that's just generally, like, how it responded.
Okay. Could have asked it to dig deeper, and go online, cite sources, but I I didn't want it to get boring for people. But you could do that yourself. You could say Yeah. I don't understand the Warsaw method.
Explain it to me. Then you could say, explain it to me. I didn't understand that. That was too difficult. Like, break it down.
Give it to me in sixth grade
for it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.
Like, keep moving it in that direction. I mean, in the end, when you and I do a bolus four, which we're gonna do right now, like, very quickly, all I do to get those numbers for people, and we'd say it really clearly while we're talking, is, like, throw in some food and tell it to go get us the macros for it. Mhmm. And it comes back to it. Then you do the the talk through on how to bolus for it.
But I usually, in these episodes, also let it talk it through to see where it matches. It's generally... I never really say that out loud while you and I are recording, but it agrees with you normally. So
Yeah.
Oh, or you agree with it, or I don't even know how to talk about that at this point. But keep thinking for a second. Like, what would you... Like like, now let's pretend for a minute that it's perfect. Okay?
What Jenny Wants It to Do Next21:11
And we can trust it a 100%. What else do you hope, like, in the future it does?
Oh, well, in the future, I think future, the big hope is that it can actually take a collective look at your data and give you true feedback on adjustments Yeah. Really. Right? Because right now, we have such a large amount of technology that we use. Whether you're a pump or MDI, there's a lot of information we're trying to piece together so that decisions like this particular meal
Mhmm.
Becomes something we can draw on historically in our mind, but also that we can make changes when we notice something is trending not the right way. And we haven't changed anything, but our needs have changed or a trend is new, that a system could actually truly pull that out and give you feedback as to what to adjust on an individual level. Not pulling it from the broad spectrum of, well, this is what the books say to do. No. No.
Yeah. This is my data. Look at everything that's been going on in my data and tell me what to adjust and why to adjust. And then a deeper step there even goes into... I've mentioned it many times, like female health.
Female hormones, man
Mhmm.
Are a struggle
Difficult.
To navigate around. At all stages of life, there is something different for a female going on with hormone fluctuations, and that directly impacts blood sugar. It directly impacts food intake, activity, energy levels, all those kinds of things. So a most beneficial AI would absolutely be able to pull all of those pieces together
Yeah.
And say, this is your plan. This is what you should do.
I would
And we're not there.
We're not... Yeah. Either we're not there or nobody's thinking about it that way right now, but I don't see how you couldn't just... Even just to drag a CGM graph into it and say, what do you think happened here? I...
And, like, I don't, like, I don't know what happened here. Could you ask me questions and try to figure it out? And imagine that. Imagine if you threw your graph in and you also knew the information about when insulin went in or what you ate or something like that and we're able to talk it through and go, yeah. Well, I had a banana at 10:23.
What do you think happened here? I mean, based on what it just said, I would imagine it could say
It could say something like, well, gosh. Your banana, you spiked way high. It looks like there wasn't enough insulin or enough time between the insulin and when it looks like you actually start to eat, to eat, or look. You were low. Gosh.
It looks like your insulin to carb ratio is wrong because you bolus, and it looks like the time was fine, but your blood sugar never actually rose after this banana. You just crashed.
I mean, that's gotta be a reasonable thing to ask and for it to to do a good job at. I I... It just doesn't... I can't see how that's not a possibility for somebody to do. And and by the way, I have an episode coming out in a couple of weeks.
This guy, he'd he'd, like, took the code from, like, his his his, like, a... His his AID system and, like, fed and fed it into it and was just like, hey. How does this work? And now that you know how my my system works, how can you help me answer some of these questions? I don't...
And then it helped him. I don't... Listen. He's gonna tell his own story, but he dialed his settings in Mhmm. That...
You know, on his... Doing that. And he said he's never had better, like, better results.
And that's the interesting thing because in the I've seen many people... Many being a good amount in terms of what I read in the online world, which is not very often, but it is what it is.
Yeah.
Who have commented to the positive of doing just that. While on the absolute opposite side, there are a lot within the development community that really caution
Don't do that.
Using Yeah. AI that way.
And I'm
Very heavily caution.
It's where I'm... It's... Listen. I'm not telling anybody to do anything. I'm wondering out loud.
And I've talked to those same people, and I don't disagree with them either. But, you know... So listen. It's gonna be episode nineteen forty three. Either it's out already or it's coming out.
Oliver, and the Settings He Found25:48
So to your point, Oliver, who is an engineer, spent fifteen years being told his a one c was fine. Then he pointed an AI model at his own loop data and found out what his settings had really been doing, changed his settings, and he'll tell you his story. But to your point, Oliver is an engineer and might have had a better idea of how to talk to it. And so Correct. A a person who gets in there and asks the wrong questions or leads it or something like that could end up with ink...
I mean, listen. If you don't talk to it correctly, it could tell you the wrong thing for sure.
Right. Because it's very directed by how what you ask You... The direction that that goes.
Right? You you could impact it too by by saying something that you believe that isn't true, and it's going to accept what you said is true. May... And I don't know. Maybe you could push back on it and get it to, like, figure out you're wrong, but I don't know how many people would have the wherewithal to do that either.
So this isn't me telling you, like, you know, it's all just perfect and go... Just go ask the thing. Because if you just ask the thing, you're very likely gonna get the wrong answer back. But my point is is that can someone not harness it in a way where it would be impossible for you to get that kind of an answer back. I'm imagining more of something where it keeps asking you questions that you can't say in a way that will miss...
That it could misinterpret. And that
Sure.
Well above my pay grade. But, like, I... That's my idea there is that that's gotta be reasonable to do. Absolutely. At some point, I just think some...
One of... Companies or people online or something... Somebody's gotta, like, just go for it. And I'm sure... By the way, I guarantee there are people like Oliver who are doing it for themselves already.
You know? It's it's just an interesting idea, though. Like, I keep I keep thinking about what he said. Arden, you know, is using Trio. Trio is code you can download off the Internet.
Could I not just give it to it and say, explain how this works to me better?
Right.
Yeah. I I... There's settings on this. I don't know what they do. I know it's online somewhere, but...
Yeah.
Here's a month of the data, right, from NightScout or whatever database you're using. And now that you know the algorithm, what do you see?
Yeah. Yep.
What are your first inclinations to what you see from this database? Right?
Right. Because having the algorithm should, in theory, if I'm right about this, let the model understand how the decisions are being made, and then you could tell it what's going wrong. And maybe it could just say to you, oh, that's clearly this setting here or this time here. I don't... I...
Listen. Again, I don't know.
But Yeah.
But people are gonna be picking through this more and more, as as time moves on. There are people who I've been... Who had told me they would never look at... Use AI who I now see using it. So, like, you know, six six, twelve months from now, I don't I don't know where we'll be at that point.
Well... And I can say as somebody who looks at an awful lot of data, right, professionally, I can look at a database before I have a visit with somebody and have some idea of what we need to adjust or look at or discuss.
Mhmm.
But it really is in the discussion of that data that true adjustments can be made.
Okay.
If I... And I think that this is the the stepwise difference really between what you might get at a very... Typical endo practice that has short time frame to look, give you the gist, and then give you some suggestions, whereas longer visits are necessary. Because just as you would need to direct AI by feeding it more of your personal variables to truly assess the data the right way, when I visit with somebody, that's what I need. I can absolutely get an idea of how to look at the data.
But unless I know that person and why they eat and what their schedule is for, you know, PE classes or Zumba in the morning or whatever, I may not be able to pick out a pattern, or I might be seeing the wrong thing to adjust because I didn't know there was a variable there that wasn't marked. Mhmm. Right? So it's a really important thing to consider not only as you work with an educator or your doctor, but also as we lean more heavily towards these automated systems that can give us more more information. As we started out, you have to give it the right information.
Yeah.
You have to tell it a lot of detail in order for it to actually generate the right suggestive move.
Mhmm. Yeah. No. I don't I don't think we're there, but I think it's I think it's coming at some point. Like, I Mhmm.
Two years ago on the podcast, I was like, I can't imagine that one day one day your pump won't just have this all baked into it, you know, at some... And be making these decisions, I would imagine, fairly autonomously without you thinking about it. If someone has the wherewithal and the technology exists, etcetera, I just mean, theoretically, it's possible. So I don't know if somebody will try it or not, but I don't see that it's not... I mean, it's a lot of math.
Right? Like, think about your algorithm. Like Mhmm. That's a lot of a lot of... And not and not difficult math, by the way, from what I understand when you're talking to people.
Yeah.
Once you really look at the algorithm, the math really is not that difficult. And this is where it always goes... My comment always goes back to, if we can put a man on the moon or send one or two or three around the moon and back to Earth and they land and they're alive and functioning.
Right.
What the heck?
Yeah. Like, come on.
This is not rocket science.
Yeah.
That one. Come on.
You're Not Stopping This32:00
I I I just think I agree. So... And I... Listen. I...
This isn't really a conversation about whether or not AI is good or bad or up or down or water used or electricity or anything like that. It's
how to use it the right way.
I just think... Look. It's... My my expectation is, like, people are gonna use it. If you're on the side of, like, it's taking jobs or it's wasting water or whatever it is, I don't I don't even know how accurate any of that is.
I'm just telling you that, like, you're not stopping this. It's happening, and it'd be awesome if people used it in in ways that would help other people. And, you know, it's... I I get people's arguments when they're like, you know, please don't don't don't waste my electricity, making a picture of your rabbit holding a basketball. I I Sure.
I get you. But, also, listen. I'll... I won't get on a soapbox, but Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, is probably just an AI company that sells ads now. Okay?
I know people think of it as, you know, more of a a community app or somebody. It's a... It's an AI company that sells ads. And if you're on Facebook complaining to people about them using AI, I don't know how to break it to you, you are also using AI. So if you're on Instagram yelling at somebody about it, you are also using something that is really using a lot of AI.
And and don't do the disservice of going to AI and asking it all the things in the world that use AI that you're unaware of because you're gonna get a list back about 300 things long, and you're gonna go, oh, I'm using most of this stuff in my day to day life. Mhmm. So if that's happening, my point, let's do something cool with it. Like, let's do something helpful with it. That, to me, makes more sense.
A Friend Stranded at the Port33:44
Make it beneficial.
Yeah. So let's real quick check-in. You guys don't know this, but a friend of Jenny's is at a port in... We're not gonna use her name. She's at a port getting ready to get on a cruise, and she said, oh, she...
She's looking for... She got... Somehow got to the port, and she thinks TSA lost her infusion sets. Is that right?
Either that or she left them or
Somewhere.
She has she has them she has them not.
Yes. She doesn't have them.
She is on her last
So we're trying we're trying to get people to, like, literally run to the port and give her a infusion set. So so Jenny Jenny offered to help people for free, and and and the person jumped on and said, oh my god. Thank you, Jenny. Not only that, I'll I'll send a care package. So let's see if it...
What... If this actually gets to somebody, and helps her. I hope that she's getting on that ship pretty soon. I just wanted
to Yeah. Sometime in the next, what is it? Like, probably hours, I think, is when her cruise is technically supposed to leave port. So she's... Just needs some sets for her twist pump.
That's
That's it. Got everything else.
By the way, Jenny, that's Twist with two i's. That's visit.twist.com/juicebox. Yay.
Happy to support a commercial.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They're an advertiser. So while you were chatting a minute ago, I downloaded the code from a DIY system Mhmm.
Feeding It a DIY System's Code35:15
Dropped it into a project, and had it, like, you know, absorb the entire thing. And I said that I asked it to write a user... I just said, write me a user manual for adjusting settings. So all I said because I I... I'll be honest.
There are settings in Arden's AID system that are set because someone else told me turn this to that. And people who are learned know how to do it, and they've been right. But I don't know what I turned, and I don't know what it is. And so I'm not... I I would just like to understand it better.
That's an actual use. So I built something. I'm in the middle of building something right on. But I... Amy, again, my friend Claude, who, by the way, they changed his voice.
He used to be more British last week. And I don't know what happened there. He jumped on, and I was like, that's not what expected him to sound like. Oh. And so, like, just so it's not for public consumption.
It it asked me, do you want it on your website? I said, no. I just wanted to use it for myself. So I... I'm interested to see how long it'll take to build it and what I'll get back.
But what I'm hoping is for me to be able to go through... And by the way, I'm sure that this system already has a user manual online. But Hopefully. But it's... I don't know.
Like, I I... And I'm not that... I don't know how to explain that. I'm not the person who would go look for it. I would just have a problem and then go, I guess it'll be okay.
And... Which I think is what most people would do. And I'm not doing this... I'm... I I may be doing it more to illustrate what what AI could probably do
for you. Do.
Yeah. And and you take this example and go apply it to other stuff in your life. Like, for example, there's, I'm sure, a user manual online for your insulin pump. Like, right, how great would it be if you just said, look. Take this manual and break it down to the things you think I really need to know.
Here's some problems I'm having. Where in this manual should I even look to get this answer? It... You know, that that kind of stuff is... It's here.
If you don't think it's here, you're probably listening to the wrong news.
I was gonna say another way to use it would be because the user or owner manuals are online for all of the approved devices. Devices. Mhmm. If you were having a particular issue, absolutely, you can just say, I use this device. Can you look in the user's manual and just tell me what the directions are for for this thing?
Like, how do I set a temp basal? I've never done it before on my tandem pump. Yeah. It'll just suck that section out and give you just that rather than you having to thumb through PDF file after file and find that section of the user manual. It'll just pull it forward for you.
Yeah. No. So... I I... Well, listen.
Build Me a Warsaw Visualizer37:59
Here... Here's a a super inter... I'm just gonna... While it's doing that, I'm gonna open up another window. Right?
Build a visualization tool to help me understand how the Warsaw method works.
I I would have it do
Go ahead.
It at eighth grade level.
Okay. Eighth grade level.
Which eighth grade now is probably, like, a senior years ago.
I don't know. Jenny, don't be don't be mean to the young generation.
Grade level. I... You could do eighth grade and then see what it does different for a fifth grade level too.
I want sliders so I can see how... I I wanna be general with it. How settings, measurements, timing, impact.
Mhmm.
Insulin. Insulin. What's that word you use when, it's a fancy word for insulin going away? Is it desecration? Oh.
When when insulin breaks down, what's that word you use all the time?
Now that you ask me, decay.
Decay. Thank you. How insulin decay and, I don't know, food impact hits. That's as plain language as I could come up with and and very... Like, almost vague just to see what you get back.
I'm assuming what we're gonna have back in five seconds is an HTML page where I can type in letters, numbers, etcetera, sliders. But I don't know what's coming, so let's wait and see what happens. Cool. Yeah. Are you using it all in your life?
I don't imagine you use it too much, but I'm wondering where you've thought to look or not look at it.
AI? Yeah. Oh, I will absolutely use it to get a... I mean, I'm pretty good at carb counting at at estimation. But if it is something truly different or whatever, I'll use it to look food up just to get a idea whether my estimation was pretty close or also do it kind of for fun just to see how close I can get to something.
Just kind of fun to do that. I also do use it. There's a professional sort of AI that I also use to put together references that have research base to it. Mhmm. When I'm putting, like, articles or something together or I'm putting a teaching tool together that I want it to have definite reference to be able to highlight kind of at the end.
I'll use I'll use an AI online professional Oh. Program.
Eight Prompts You Can Steal41:03
I... So so now everybody's heard everything we've talked about so far. I just scrolled down on something that I didn't see. Remember I told you earlier it said it gave you, like, five ways to talk to it, push back, tell the whole story, etcetera? Yep.
Yeah. I didn't scroll down. It said, here's a toolkit. Eight prompts that people can steal. Copy, paste this into any AI, fill out the orange parts with your life information.
It gave it gave a prompt for pattern detection, a meal talk through, a what just happened postmortem, the curve ball planner, sick days, time zone changes, long flights, days at theme parks, the appointment prep, how to get ready and dampen your frustrations going to the doctor, settings, change journal, the oddball food decoder, a food with no playbook. It talks through what the carbs, fat, and protein, but the each handoff builder, oh, turns your routine into a clean one pager for a school nurse or a grandparent or a babysitter. They turned it into a web page for me to put on my website when I when I wasn't looking. So, I'll have to go look harder at that. Actually, maybe we'll...
I don't know how much time you have today, but maybe we should grab one of these prompts and see. Do you have to go?
Sure. No. I've got, like, ten, fifteen minutes.
Do you? Oh my god. It just built my settings manual for the, DIY AID system. Oh my gosh. It's extensive.
It... I don't even know how to explain this to Settings before features. The order is basal insulin, carburetral, and sensitivity always diagnose patterns, what you see, what to touch about settings. The pattern, drift up overnight or between meals. No food on board.
Likely culprit. Basil's too weak in that time block. Auto sends ratio pinned at point seven or 1.2 for days. Underlying setting is wrong. Auto sends is maxed out covering for it.
I don't know if any of this is right. It's just, it goes
But what you'd have to compare it to is what the docs say for the actual
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You'd have to go look and check and see and test and etcetera or talk to people about it, your doctor, whoever.
It breaks down, the core profile settings as basal carb ratio, insulin sensitivity, glucose targets, duration of insulin action, insulin curve, and peak time. Talks about all the safety limits that are built into it, explains SMB and u m... UAM. She tells you the math around how SMB is disguided. I mean, this is like...
Goes on forever. So, I mean, the Mhmm. And that's... And this is... It's at the eighth grade, and it's still really Okay.
Like,
detailed. Still pretty detailed.
Yeah. Oh, actually, no. I'm sorry. The manual, we didn't do at eighth grade. We did the...
We did... Which one did we do at eighth grade? The
I don't know. Okay.
I tell you, I got it. I got it. We're saw methods visualization tool.
Okay.
It's still working on the visualization tool. Alright. Let's do one of the prompts then while it finishes the tool. Hold on. Scottie's jumping around Okay.
So let's take the prompt that says, oddball food decoder or hand... Even the handoff builder is a nice idea. Sure. Yeah. You wanna try that?
Yeah.
Alright. I've copied the prompt. I haven't looked at it. I'm starting up a new chat. I put the prompt in.
I need a one page handoff sheet for a school nurse, grandma, sitter, let's say sitter, so I'll delete the rest, leave sitter, who will be watching my child with type one diabetes for an evening. It also gives, like, school day, so you could, like, here... Here's our routine and my own messy words, everything I can think of, devices and what the alarms mean from what a low looks like. Oh, I see what it wants you to do. What a low looks like for your kid and how to treat it, snack rules, mealtime routine.
So it wants you to talk that into it. Just blabber away about everything that you do and then turn into a calm, clean, one pager in this order. Okay. Ready? I'm gonna give this a try.
Yeah. This is what I usually do again with with people who want... I I call it a decision matrix, essentially. Yeah. A one page, if this, then that.
That's all people need to know. Very simple and easy.
Alright. Well, I haven't done this in a long ass time, thought about Arden like this. So hold on a second. Let me put the... It says devices, what alarms mean, what a low looks like for your kid, how to treat it, snack rules, mealtime routine, bedtime, who to call, what order, anything always that can that can confuse new people.
Alright.
Wow. That's a lot.
Let's find out if my microphone will work with both at the same time. I don't think it will. Right? No. Because my mic's being used for this now.
It's not gonna work for that. Okay. I'll tell you what. When I'm done recording with you, I'll do this and add it into the recording and see what it comes up with.
Cool.
Alright. That's... So that's that. And let's see. I can't believe that they just threw out all those prompts like that without asking.
I'm I'm just hoping that it's okay.
It's asking If you if you really understand that online world is... It is endless. Like, there's never an end to the information string. So this, in particular has been discussed many platforms, many places, all the questions. There are plans online that people share.
So I'm expecting that what it does is it just pulls from the most things that people put on online resources, and it's asking you to put it together.
Jenny, I... While it's... So it was asking me a question about the Warsaw, like like Mhmm. Visualizer that I didn't answer. So that's why it's taking so long.
How the 504 Builder Happened47:24
So while that's happening, because I now answered the question, let me tell you that the other... This is a week and a half ago. I was sitting here editing the podcast, and on my other computer to my right, I often do, like, q and a's in the Facebook group while working, like, because I... You know, because why would one thing be enough to do? And so I'm doing a q and a.
People are asking me all kinds of, like, silly questions, poignant questions, like, personal, like, whatever. It's a nice thing to do to to chat with people. In the middle, some person, I think a gentleman said, like, I need help with five zero four plans. And it made me think, oh, I think I have a couple of Ardens somewhere. Let me try to dig them up.
But problem being is that older, and when I used to hand Arden's five zero four points, and I handed it in on a piece of paper. Like, you know, like, I don't have documents, but I had a... I thought, oh, I do have... Maybe I have a couple of them as Word documents. I'll give them to him.
And then I thought, oh, that's, like, ugly. I said, let me just throw it into AI and clean it up. I'll turn it into a PDF form real quick and send it over. So it's a little, like, more visually appealing and maybe etcetera. And then I was like, I don't know.
Like... So I started a project, and I was like, you know, like, I wanna be able to share these five zero four plans, my daughter's five zero four plan with somebody online. Can you clean it up? And it cleaned it up, and I was like, you know, could you make it so that, like, he could type in his, like, his kid's information where it says school and, like, name and stuff like that. I swear that's where I started.
And then it was like, yeah. I did that. I said, is this up to date information anymore? My daughter's older. And then it started looking, and then it pulled in, like, the ADA and, like, all these online online things.
And I was like, screw it. Was like, can we make a five zero four builder where people could put in their own information? We could take... It could reach out to all these places. Blah blah blah.
If you go to juiceboxpodcast.com/504-builder right now, you are gonna see an insane and simple to use five zero four builder. You you just answer questions by clicking. You can read up to... I mean, there must be nine there must be nine headers with, like, nine questions underneath of it or nine ideas of what could go into the fit. If you don't like the one thing, uncheck it.
It takes it out of your five zero four plan. Check it. It puts it back in. It explains why. It shows you where it gets it.
I I mean, honestly, Jenny, like, it's insane. It makes a one sheet for a for a substitute teacher if you need it. It asks you if if they deny you something, it'll give you an email to answer back about why it's important. If they try to strike something out of the five zero four, you can go into the five zero four, click on what they struck, and it'll give you an argument to get it back... Put back in.
It's... But, you know, I promise you if I spent thirty six hours on it, maybe. And it's a it's astonishing how well it works. So that's the kind of stuff I'm saying. Like, when I see people get online and go, like, I don't know how to make a five zero four plan.
Guess what? The Internet knows, and and you just need to be able to, like, pull it all together quickly. So when people are, like, it's useless, it doesn't do it. When I hear people complain about it like that, AI specifically, I think, boy, they just don't realize what it could do. I think people are stuck in the idea of, like, you know, people asked it to make a picture last year, and it put seven thumbs on a hand.
How does it not know that a hand doesn't have seven... Right. We're well beyond that now. And I don't know where we're gonna be in six or twelve months, but I think it's gonna... I honestly believe that you're gonna get to a point very quickly where you don't even have to...
I'm already hearing coders talk about it. Some of them with glee and some of them with sadness that, like Right. The... You're not gonna sit down and write code anymore. They're already talking about their keyboards being obsolete, that it's gonna be...
That you're just gonna talk, and you're not gonna need to even put input in that way. And so if you can if you can explain your idea in plain language, I think you can get a reasonable response back.
Response.
You know? And and then from there
mean, it boils down right now, as we've said, it boils down really to feeding it the information that you really need it to consider.
Yeah. No. I mean, you can sit down and give it your history if you want. You could... I've talked about that before too.
Like, I don't... I I think people should sit down and just talk their health history out to
it. Yeah.
And then when you wake up one day and this hurts or that hurts or this is happening, it's not just thinking about that. It's thinking about everything you've told it in the past and say, look. Apply this to my health history and tell me if there's a a... What do I call and tell my doctor right now? Because I don't know what's wrong.
And maybe that's gonna help there. Maybe... Listen. I don't know. I make a podcast.
I could be completely wrong, but I'd check it out. You see, I could
be completely wrong.
I could be... Listen. It's a high likelihood that I'm completely wrong. But I'm just telling you what I'm noticing, what I'm seeing, what I'm doing in my own life, and and what people are coming on here and talking about. I mean, I had that conversation with Oliver.
He... He's a guy who's had... He's a smart guy. Diabetes a long time. He was not having outcomes he wanted.
And lo and behold, you know, he's like, I need help with my settings. Is. Yeah. That's it. So Yeah.
Or Just Hire Jenny52:50
Anyway, if you're afraid of AI, just hire Jenny instead. She'd be happy to talk you through the whole thing.
I'll be happy to help. Yeah. I will try to help.
I will. She... Listen. Jenny, at this point now, in these poll is for episodes, you toe to toe every time I ask you a question about carbs and something or how to bowl us for it or whatnot, and then we, like, check it against Claude. You're you're always you're always a 100% right.
So Yay. You're you're my AI is what I'm saying.
Aw. Well, thanks.
Stop it. Alright. I'm gonna let you go while this is finishing up, and then I'll jump back on and finish this.
Awesome.
Thank Something new just arrived from MiniMed. It's the MiniMed Flex system. Think about everything people love about MiniMed technology, designed for great outcomes, helping keep you in range, and made to be easy to use. Now in a pump that's the size of two stacked vials of insulin. MiniMed Flex is fully controlled from an app, designed to stay tucked away, empowered by the proven automation that helps over 600,000 people manage diabetes day and night.
Order today. Minimed.com/juicebox. Having an easy to use and accurate blood glucose meter is just one click away. Contournext.com/juicebox. That's right.
Today's episode was sponsored by the Contour NextGen blood glucose meter. It's the meter my daughter uses. She has it on her right now, and you're one click away from having it too. And don't forget using juice box podcast links helps support the show. Friends, my diabetes pro tip series is about cutting through the clutter of diabetes management to give you the straightforward practical insights that truly make a difference.
This series is all about mastering the fundamentals, whether it's the basics of insulin, dosing adjustments, or everyday management strategies that will empower you to take control. I am joined by Jenny Smith, who is a diabetes educator with over thirty five years of personal experience, and we break down the complex concepts into simple actionable tips. The diabetes pro tip series runs between episode one thousand and one thousand twenty five in your podcast player, where you can listen to it at juiceboxpodcast.com by going up in the menu. If this is your first time listening to the juice box podcast and you'd like to hear more, download Apple Podcasts or Spotify, really any audio app at all. Look for the juice box podcast and follow or subscribe.
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#1991 Something in the Water
Something in the Water
Brie Amazoned a glucose meter, forgot about it, then poked her daughter's finger for fun: 595. Three other girls on the swim team have diabetes too.
Jump to a moment
- Nothing was alarming on its own. Weight loss that everyone called growing, bathroom anxiety at a new school, mood swings, gassiness, constipation, and a kid swimming two and a half hours a day six days a week who never put on any muscle. Brie kept telling her husband something felt off.
- She ordered a glucose meter off Amazon because she wondered whether her daughter was metabolizing food properly — she was not thinking about diabetes at all. The package sat unopened until one Monday night at bedtime. The reading was 595. Everyone else in the house tested in the 80s and 90s.
- Four different people asked her why she tested: her husband, the on-call nurse, the ER, and her own daughter. The hardest part wasn't the number — it was being treated as though finding it was the problem.
- Three other girls on her daughter's high school swim team had type 1 last year, and three girls in her eighth-grade class have it now. That coincidence is also the reason the family landed inside a group of people who already understood.
- She asked her endocrinologist to pin down exactly when it started so she would know when she began being a failure. A year later her daughter's A1C is 6.3, she has gained back more than thirty pounds and grown two inches.
- Tandem Mobi with Control-IQ+ — Tandem's smallest pump, with its newest algorithm
- Eversense 365 — One insertion a year, with unlimited data sharing through the Eversense Now app
- Touched By Type 1 — Annual conference, D-Box, Dancing for Diabetes and local kids' dance programs
- Bold Beginnings Series — Built for exactly where Brie was a year ago — the newly diagnosed questions, answered plainly
- Juicebox Podcast Pro Tip Series — Management fundamentals with Jenny Smith, episodes 1000–1025
Every word of the conversation
Welcome and Sponsors0:03
Hello, friends. Welcome back to the Juice Box podcast. 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. Today's episode is sponsored by Tandem Diabetes Care, the Eversense three sixty five, and touched by type one.
There are links in the show notes and at juiceboxpodcast.com to all the sponsors. When you use those links, you are supporting the Juice Box podcast and helping to keep it free. The Eversense three sixty five is a one year wear CGM. That's one insertion a year. That's it.
And here's a little bonus for you. How about that there's no limit on how many friends and family you can share your data with with the Eversense now app? Eversensecgm.com/juicebox. Now let's talk about Tandem Mobi, the impressively small insulin pump. Tandem Mobi features Tandem's newest algorithm, Control IQ Plus technology.
It's designed for greater discretion, more freedom, and improved time and range. Learn more and get started today at tandemdiabetes.com/juicebox. Touched by type one is my favorite diabetes organization, and they're sponsoring this episode of the juice box podcast. Please take a moment to learn more about them at touchedbytype1.org. Also, follow them on Facebook or Instagram.
When you get to touched by type one dot org, check out their many programs, their annual conference, the d box, dancing for diabetes. They have a golf night. Gosh. They have a dance program for local kids. Go check them out at touchedbytype1.org and see what they're up to.
Meet Brie2:27
Well, here I go then. I am Brie. I am, the mother to a... Well, this is funny. My kids just started, school this week.
So my daughter who is going into eighth grade and son who just started fourth grade, and I've been married somehow to... For seventeen years. Not somehow against him. He's amazing. I'm just, like, thinking doing the math, and I'm like, really?
Seventeen years? That's why
I come
that that could be.
I I was following you. You were like, you know, I can't believe we've been married for seventeen years already, but it really did come out. Like, I don't know how I've allowed this man to stay in my house this
long out of my mouth, I could hear it, I was like, yeah. No. That sounds that sounds a different way than I intended. So
Anyway, nice guy. Couple of kids, fourth and eighth grade. Yes. What are you, like? I
am 42.
Okay. That's fine. I didn't know you're a professional person. That's fine. I didn't add in the four years of college.
I'm sorry.
Yes. Yes. Good call. Yes. And that is a a good point.
Professional wise, I do work full time. I work in... I've spent my career in nonprofit management, currently overseeing fundraising at a large nonprofit here.
Wow. You must Minnesota. You must make tens of hundreds of dollars a year.
Yes. Mhmm. Well, know, it's all good for the heart.
Well, no kidding. Right? I don't know one person that works, does work like that that doesn't feel great about their job. They always
They
talk about how they don't have any money, but they do. They're always like, I I love the work. I gotta get out of this.
The difference is... Yes. The difference we're making is... Yes.
Yeah. I wanted to buy a sofa and found out that was not economically feasible. So
Well, there's the buy nothing page on Facebook.
Oh my god, Brie. Are you a... Are you on people's front steps taking lamps?
No. I'm actually absolutely not. I'm horrible at buy nothing. I'm bad at all of that. I don't do Facebook marketplace.
I wish I would. People... It's an art that I wish I had. My friends are amazing at it. I'm not on people's steps.
Right? No kidding. Some people who are just like, where'd you get that, you know, art deco piece? And they're like, oh, yeah. That from a lady who needed a pack of cigarettes three towns over.
No kidding. It's amazing. Amazing. Exactly. Exactly.
I just like... When you're down... I won't say this because there might be... Anyway, we'll skip through that. Okay.
So
So that's my intro.
I haven't self censored myself in a while, but I was like, no reason to annoy a bunch of people all at once, Scott. We'll probably do it later in the podcast. Why do it in the first three minutes? That doesn't make any sense. This, these...
Of these two little children, which one of them has diabetes?
So my daughter has diabetes. Oh. And she was diagnosed... Will be coming up on a year in twenty eight days.
Oh, wow. You still have good energy.
Do I? I've had a lot of coffee.
I was gonna say, what what what happened? What... Are you ignoring the child completely? How come you don't sound tired? How's she how's she doing?
Oh, not well.
Yeah. No. No. She's... Yeah.
She's doing horribly.
Yeah. We don't talk to her. That's how I ignore the problem. She lives in a hole in the wall. So...
No. Wait. So tell me... Let's go back through it a second. She's diagnosed just a year ago.
Is there is there diabetes in your extended family or reasons why you might think this was gonna happen?
Yeah. So, my extended family, I'm going to say a very cryptic, like, I don't think so. I, both of my parents have passed, unfortunately. So it's one of those things where it's like, you know, if they were around now, I would really kinda poke at that and be like, are you sure? Did, you know, did you have a cousin or something, that that had diabetes?
But nobody in, like, our immediate or would it be my immediate extended
Hey. Hey. Both your parents are both your parents are gone?
Both Her Parents Are Gone6:27
Both my parents have, yeah, passed away. My mother passed away in 2008 at 55 from... I mean, ultimately, from cancer. Oh. Yeah.
She had lung cancer, went into remission, and then it came back, and then spread to her brain. And she passed away in 2008, and then my father passed away in 2020 at four. He was diagnosed diagnosed, not diagamost, at
Sorry. There's something ridiculous there's something ridiculous about you saying that in the middle of, like, a discussion of your parents' death. I don't know why.
It's so it's so classic. This is something I do. I'd be like, what? And then I threw in this... Yeah.
Telling this heartfelt... Oh, my my poor mother. By the way, was she around cigarette smoke, or was she... Is it genetic?
Yes. I mean, she was definitely somebody who, like, smoked when it was cool to smoke of that age Yeah. And, you know, and then stopped, when she was older. But, she also... It...
It's interesting. Who knows? They're also... She grew up, in an area that is known for kinda high radon areas as well. That could be a factor.
Ironically, her parents both, smoked up until, like, the day they died, my grandma, until, like, her nineties, so that was interesting.
Your grandmother... Talking to your mom. She's like, she gave up. Yeah. I...
Yeah. Yeah.
Right. No. She was just like... Well, she was actually like, well, this is ridiculous. You know?
She should've tried smoking through it. I think it was...
Yeah. Yeah. Your biggest mistake was Quentin. Okay. So, yes, back to the diagnosis Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. For my father. Right. So he was diagnosed with Lewy body disease or sometimes called Lewy body dementia Uh-huh.
Which is a disease that impairs, you know, physically, mentally, behaviorally, often early diagnosed as, like, Parkinson's or early dementia, but it's really something that impacts your whole body. So, ultimately, you know, he got sick with pneumonia and ended up passing away from that,
but due to
complications from that.
Brie, this story, everyone in their forties has been putting money in their four zero one k was like, what am I busy saving this money for?
You just
you just bummed out a bunch of people. They're like, ugh.
I know. I know. But still but still do your four zero one k.
Yeah. Yeah. Because with your luck, you'll live forever and be broke.
Right. Exactly. And, also, we know you kids spoke into your nineties and live, so I
don't know. Yeah. Why... Don't be such a baby. My grandma did it.
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What lesson do you wanna take from this?
Listen. My my buddy's grandmother, I've said this before, but it it it begs saying again. Like, we'd go visit her every once in a while. She was living on pound cake and cigarettes. That was it.
She'd get up in the morning. She'd have... She'd smoke all day and pick at a piece of pound cake throughout
the day. And that's just what's sustaining you throughout the day.
Oh, she made it forever on it. It was crazy.
Yeah. Okay.
What do you know?
Lupus, and a Meter She Never Threw Out11:24
Here we go. So no diabetes.
So no no type one, you're saying?
No type one. My mother did have lupus.
Okay.
So that, is something. I, while I believe this is not considered an autoimmune disease, I think maybe it's considered autoimmune, activity. I had gestational diabetes with my son. Oh. So there it's...
And and that was interesting. That came kind of out of nowhere. I had, you know, none of the the risk factors or anything that would point to it. I had failed the first glucose test that you that you do, and I remember even the midwives were like, oh, yeah. That's probably just a...
You know, you'll do the longer one. It's so unlikely that you would have it, and then it came back. And they're like, oh, yeah. Well, this is why we test people. And they're like, we don't we don't know why, but you have it.
And, and then the day I gave birth to him, it was gone.
Did they tell you that is an indicator for something for you down the line perhaps? Or
I... You know, they had said at that time that it could be, like, I could be more susceptible to type two Mhmm. Down the line. I I feel like they had also said that maybe my son would be more susceptible to diabetes, but then another pediatrician told me that wasn't true. So I don't know.
Oh, pediatricians, they're just above dentists. So you should... By the way, that's from a pediatrician. My buddy's a pediatrician. He's like, I'm not I'm not a doctor.
I'm a pediatrician. Yeah. And then he goes... And and he points to his father who's a dentist, and he goes, he's really not a doctor. And I was like, okay.
I'm like, okay. I mean, your words, not mine. Well, if I was you, I'd start drinking GLP right now. Have you started putting it in your food? Do you spray it in the air in the house just to...
You know?
No. No.
No. You're like, no. I'm gonna risk it, Scott.
I'm good. I did do the, you know, the antibodies test. My son and I both did after my daughter was diagnosed, we came back clear, which I know is not a a given, but,
what a peace of mind. I'm saying if I was you, I would do whatever I could to mitigate my type two exposure.
Oh, the type... Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
So, nevertheless, that's between you and Jesus. When you said my my parents died, unfortunately, I thought, I wonder if they were hit by a truck full of chickens because that would be unfortunate. That would be. No. You you had a worst story.
So do you think about your longevity since your mom went young, or do you do you kinda... In your mind, do you tie that to her cigarette smoking?
Oh, no. I I I think about my longevity, yeah, quite often. I think almost... I I... Well, I've told my therapist before.
You know, I'm like, I've written myself off at, like, 50. You know?
My moose done.
Yep. Yep. We're getting there. I know. And...
But also... And then, you know, turns out every time I go in, yeah, I'm pretty healthy. So, yeah, I'm I'm all good.
That's awesome. Well... Okay. So what did we see with the diabetes? Like, was it, I mean, pee peeing, drinking, that
kind of stuff? Yeah. I mean, do we... Do you want me to go back to the hindsight or to the
Oh, oh, no. Yeah. Tell me about your guilt that you tell the therapist. What about the hindsight? Yeah.
What Hindsight Looks Like14:52
Yeah.
Yeah. Ahead. Yeah. Let's go through that. Mhmm.
You know, like, if I think back... So she was diagnosed, like, a month into school, seventh grade year. If I think back, I I can think back to fifth grade, and, you know, who knows? I don't know why I or I'm sure many other people feel the need to, like, tie to an exact date. You know, when she was in the hospital, like, I asked the endocrinologist.
I was like, can you tell me exactly when this happened so I can know when I started being a failure? You know? Like, it was like that sort
of Gotcha.
Feel. Why do we need to know? And they're like, no. We can't really.
They're like, six months. How am I gonna beat myself up and torture myself if I don't know exactly when to start it?
Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Give me more to ruminate on, please. I'm not doing enough.
But if I think back to, like, fifth grade, I I remember a specific time when she was going on a ski outing, and you had to weigh yourself to, like
because of the plane? Wait. What?
No. It was for the skis. I don't know.
I know
it. So I know. I I don't know. I don't get it, Scott. I grew up in Minnesota.
Everybody skis, and I don't. Something about the type of skis, I I don't remember. Okay. And I just even remember, like, ugh. Like, you know, I just don't like anything about, you know
Skiing? Getting
cold. Weighing in, yeah, in the cold. No. I have no idea why I'm here. I don't like anything about the idea of weighing, right, like, especially with kids.
But she did, and then I was like, oh, that's interesting. That was lower. But also... So she's a swimmer. She swims club and was swimming a couple days a week.
And I was like, well, you know, she's super active, so that's probably why. And I was like, but this... You know, that's interesting. And and she's tall. Right?
Bathroom Passes and Mood Swings16:34
And she keeps getting taller. Okay. So then, you know, hindsight also throughout sixth grade, She was very concerned about, like, going to middle school, starting to pass classes, you know, all the time throughout the day, and having time to go to the bathroom. And I was like, well, you know, I'm a high functioning anxiety individual, so I get that. Right?
Like, I probably also would think through, you know, what are my bathroom opportunities throughout the day? And, you know, am I gonna make it in this five minutes of passing time? I hadn't really paused and been like, well, how many times are you going to the bathroom? You know? And they're carrying around water bottles.
I'm like, oh, she's probably well hydrated. It wasn't until, like, the summer heading into, seventh grade that now I can think of sometimes some some really, I'd say, big, like, mood swings. She'd get... And she's just, the sweetest kid, kindest. Just everybody knows her as, like, the sweetest, kindest kid.
And at home sometimes, I mean, just very angry, angry at her brother. It would, like, kinda spike, and then later she'd feel awful about it, which then was even worse. Right? She kinda wanted to just stick around home more often. And then she was having some, hopefully, she won't listen to this.
She's gonna hate this. But some, like, GI issues, like some gassiness. Okay.
She was farting a lot, you're saying?
She... Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. That's fine.
And I went to... We brought her to the pediatrician, and I just said, like, I don't know. You know? Like, she's in middle school. Like, what do we do?
Like, we gotta... She she wants this. And she did ask a lot of questions about, like, you know, do you go to the bathroom often? And, you know, she did talk about how she does go to the bathroom, but they were cons... You know, more on, like, the constipation side.
But she did talk about it. She gets up to pee, and, she just didn't seem too concerned, the pediatrician. I had also flagged, you know, I'm like, she keeps losing weight, and she asked some questions. And she's like, well, you know, she's growing, and she's still, like, within the, you know Mhmm. The norm of growing.
And, you know, she's tall and, very active at that point. She had joined our high school swim team, so you could start that, in seventh grade. So she was swimming, like, six days a week, and this is, like, a year ago now that I brought her in. Yeah. And then she was like, yeah.
You know, we... We'll just put her on some sort of, I don't know, Metamucil or something like that. Yeah. And maybe that will... And I was like, alright.
Interesting. I just had this, like... In the back of my mind, I would... And I would tell my husband. I was like, something just feels off.
Like It's a little...
A lot of little things.
A lot of little things. Right? And, also, I'm like, she she eats all the time. Right? She eats and drinks all the time.
And she's just... She's so... And she's, you know, thin. And then other people would be like, well, yeah, she's a tall, thin, young woman. You know?
And I'm just like, ugh. And I hate commenting on that. I'm like, I just don't know that everything's just that everything's okay. And... But she seemed okay.
Right? I mean,
she went practice.
Tell me something, though. Is is this, like, a real, like, you sitting down hammering through it thinking this all doesn't add up, or is this just your anxiety telling you there's always problems. This must be a problem too.
I would say it's... There's always problems. This must be a problem
too probably
at that
point. You're like, I'm I'm also worried about 19 other things, Scott. Like, in that moment. Like, the
Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay.
I mean, like... Yeah. I mean... But I do have, yeah, a million things all the time going on. I had just...
You know? Like, I, like, diagnosed our dog with a thyroid issue and then brought her into the vet, and they were like, oh, yeah. She sure does. I was like, see? You know?
So, like, it's it's it's horrible for, you know, high functioning anxiety to be like, see, but I was right.
I told you.
I'm basically clairvoyant. Yes. So... But, yeah, little things piecing together. It's just like...
She seems so tired after practice, and it's like, well, she was also practicing two and a half hours a day. So, like, I mean, I'm not swimming that much. Like, I'm not swimming at all, but I would be tired. And I was like, so that makes sense. Right?
But, also, I was like, at some point, shouldn't she be putting on muscle? She did do, like, this girl's after school weight training thing and, like, no muscle. And I was like, yeah. It's just... Is she just burning more calories?
And then I was like, is there something about... And this sounds so stupid. Like, is she not metabolizing food correctly? I remember I... This is what I told my husband.
I was like, I'm just concerned about her weight. And should we bring her to, like, a sports nutritionist? Like, is she just not getting enough calories of what she needs? Because, like, I'm nervous. She's doing all this activity,
and like...
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like...
Except she's gassy, and she can't go to the bathroom. Like... So the... These are not exactly the outcomes you're expecting for the activities that she's involved in.
Right. Exactly. Fair enough. Exactly. You know?
And I was just like, yeah. I just... And and she's so tired. But, also, at that point, you know, she just started school, and she was practicing. And then she started, like, getting up during the night, to go to the bathroom, and then I could hear her, having a, like, a glass of water when she would get up.
And I could kind of write that off as well because I was like, well, they really... At swim, they push you to drink a lot of water because kids don't realize they're sweating while they're swimming. So I'm like, well, she probably also has to pee because she's full of so much water. And I just had this, like, inkling in my head. I'm like, you know, maybe we should just test her blood sugar.
Alright. Where does that come from? Where does blood sugar come from? Because you're gestational?
Yes. So I still had a reader from gestational diabetes. My best friend also has a child who was diagnosed, oh, four or five years ago as well. But still in my head, this is so bizarre for me to think now. It feels so dumb because of all the knowledge I know now.
I thought I could test her blood sugar, but I did not think anything about diabetes. I was like, and maybe that would be an indicator of something about how she metabolizes food, which... Yeah.
Oh, that's fascinating. You thought to test your blood sugar, but not to check for diabetes.
Right. I wasn't thinking that that, like, one would... I mean, I knew it had something
to do with what they call an idiot savant, I think.
Oh, absolutely. Right? How stupid did... You know? Like, how did I just admit this on this podcast?
Like... Yeah.
Also, that's what I am, so I know what you're talking about. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
So So we're in good condition.
Right. Right. Yeah.
Just for Funsies, I'm Gonna Poke Your Finger23:19
So I looked one night for, like, my glucose meter, which I still have, you know, like, nine years after having gestational diabetes.
Why would you throw it away? Hey. Why would you throw it away, Brie? You might need it someday.
You might need it someday. Ironically, I couldn't find it. So then I was like, well, you know what? I could just Amazon one. So I did that, and then I forgot about it.
And then one night, it was a Monday night, I'm going out to the car to get something. Everybody's getting ready for bed. You know, my daughter's normal night. She's brushing her teeth. My husband's reading to our son, and I see the Amazon package.
Was like, oh, that's right. So I open it up, and I was like, hey. Just for funsies, I'm gonna poke your finger. And I did, and it came back $5.95. Oh.
I was like, well, that can't be right. So I send a picture to my best friend, and she's the most amazing person in the world. And she's empathetic and just, like, a wonderful support system. So happy to have her in my life. And she's...
But she's also a person, like, she would... You know, back when Oprah's on TV, like, she'd tear up at, like like, a commercial for, like, a preview of Oprah. Right?
I cried the other day because my son picked up his baseball glove. Go ahead.
Yep. Okay. See? Yep. That's how...
And I'm kinda like I'm like, here's this wall. Right? I'm like, here's me making a joke talking about my dad's dying diagnosis. So we're... Like, so I reach out to her, and she's like, you you have to test again.
And she gets, like, real serious. Right? She's like, wash your hands. Test again. So it did, and it came back five ninety.
And I was like, well, this has to be wrong. And I test my husband and my son and myself, and we're all, like, you know, eighties and nineties. And I was like, well, crap. So then I send it to her, and she, calls me and, you know, is very serious, which is just not like her at all. And I I can't sense any emotion in her voice, which, again, is is not like her.
And she's like, you're gonna go to Walgreens, and you're gonna get these ketone sticks. And I was like, what the hell is that? So I'm telling my husband, and he's like, what? And I was like, I don't know. I'm just...
You know, Nicole thinks it's, I said her name. She's okay with it.
Okay. I Hey, Nicole. What's
up? Yeah.
There you go.
She's gonna love that. She loves the show.
Oh, okay.
Big fan. I went and got these, and then, I mean, it came back. Like, I I had my daughter, you know, do it, and it looked, and it was super dark. Right? And then I sent it to a friend, and she calls me.
And she's like, you need to call the online nerd... The the on call nurse, and you need to prepare to go into the emergency room. And I was like, what is happening? Like, she's just brushing her teeth. So I tell my husband, and he's like, what?
And then he's like, but why did you test? And I'm like, oh, well, I can't go through this right now.
If we stop looking for problems, Bree, there won't be any problems. I've tried to tell you a million times. Don't look at the bank account. It's fine. Exactly.
Is your husband one of those guys? Like, why are you looking?
Well, you know, I think he's more just like... What... I I think he was, like, scared by it.
Like Son. Yeah.
Yeah. Like, why why? You know? Like, it... We're...
Like, you know, like, in an eerie way. I do think my daughter, especially in the initial days, was more like, why did you? Because if you wouldn't have, we'd just be going on the way she had been because she just had been. Right?
Like I understand.
Calling the On-Call Nurse26:53
She she adapted to, you know, however she was feeling. So I called the on call nurse, and I explained. And they're like, well, how long has she had diabetes? And I was like, she doesn't have diabetes. And they're like, oh, well, why did you test her blood sugar?
And I was like, I I don't know really. Like, I just
I wasn't sure if her body was metabolizing food. Okay?
Right. Yeah. I mean, I'm I'm starting to, like, word vomit all this stuff, and I was like, you know, and I thought she had, like, lost some weight, but, you know, the pediatrician said it was kind of okay. Like, you know, like, I... Just all of this.
And they're like, okay. Well, I need to call this into the on call doctor. So then they call me back. It's, like, nearing, like, 10PM. And they're like, well, who's your endocrinologist?
And I was like, what's that?
What's that? Yeah.
And she's like, who does she see for her diabetes management? And I was like, oh, she doesn't have diabetes. And she's like, what what are you calling about? And I was like, well, my best friend told me her blood sugar's five ninety five. That's real bad.
And she's like, oh, yes. Well, why did you... You know, and do do you have one at home? And I was like, well, yes. Well, kind of.
I couldn't find it, so I Amazoned one.
You know? Like, I'm just worried about the the whole thing. I don't swim, but the kids do. And she's tall, but I don't like when they comment on her weight.
You know? And they... Some people of a certain generation are like, oh, you're so tall and skinny. I'm like, ugh.
Oh, you got a thin one. Good job. Yeah. Yeah. I know.
Exactly. And she's just like, okay. Okay. Well, typically, this is a pretty concrete sign.
I can't diagnose you over the phone, but trust me, this kid's got diabetes. Okay? Well, you know what's the saddest part of this story aside from your family's tragedy is that I wonder how many times the person on that phone takes a call from someone who has established diabetes whose blood sugar is 600. Yeah. I bet you that happens a lot.
I think of that often now too because it's terrifying. Yeah. It's terrifying to me. It's terrifying to me to think about how long she had been, you know, at that level. I mean, I...
I'm I'm thinking her high activity and swimming two and a half hours, six days a week probably got her down. You know? Long do you think it
was going on for before that day?
I don't know. I mean
Weeks? Months?
At least weeks. I I... I'm I'm guessing, like, it started escalating during that summer.
And you feel guilty about this? Oh, yes. But you just... I mean, listen. That was a...
First of all, you used up your whole podcast explaining that, but it's okay. And I... Because I liked listening to you go through it, and I'll tell you why. Because I didn't see you do anything wrong. Like like, from the ex...
From the aspect of a person who has no knowledge about diabetes, who's not a medical professional, who has no reason to know about any of this, you had reasonable concerns. You pressed towards doctors. You continued to ask questions. You proactively bought something to check on something with. You immediately contacted another person who had some knowledge you didn't have, and you went right to a doctor.
What did you do wrong?
Yeah. I mean, I know. Like, logically, extract.
Let it go, Elsa. I mean, that's the end. Yeah. Right? It go.
You seen those have you seen those edits where they take Frozen and then they cut out... Like, they bleep out certain words, and it sounds like they're being incredibly sexual with each other? It's very
How have I not seen this?
I see everything. Incredibly funny, I just wanna say.
I'm sure it'll pop up on mail.
Especially with the snowman and, like, the the vaguely gay, like, guy. You know what I mean? They're talking and every. It's really fantastic. Alright.
So, anyway, check it out if you don't. If you're not using Instagram the right way like I am watching... I... By the way, I still don't know how I even saw that. I was like, why is this in front
of me? I just... I'm sure it'll pop up.
Yeah. I I sometimes think my algorithm's like, that's enough reptiles for you here. And, like, it pushes me to something I have no interest in. And then and then suddenly, I'm like, this is fantastic.
Oh, yeah. I got one the other day that was like, here's some... Here's a spell. And I was like, oh.
Wait. To, like, turn something into a toad or something?
Well, kind of, but more... I mean, I think it was more like if somebody in your life is... Well, you know, like... And I was like, oh my gosh. Does does Instagram think I'm a little witchy?
I I I don't understand my wife's algorithm at all. She spends so much time watching judge Judy yell at people. It's hard to put into words.
I kinda like that too.
And then sometimes she'll, like, do it while she's falling asleep, but then it just keeps... I'm like, Kelly, how many times are you gonna listen to that video? And she... Oh, I fell asleep. I'm like, well, I'm still listening to it.
So
I've got it memorized.
Could you stop? And and why would that girl do what she did to those people?
So Yeah. Exactly. Now I'm invested.
Anyway, I... My my feed's more like reptiles and people street fighting and getting tased. I do like watching a person get tased.
Oh, okay.
I like how they just fall over. Nevertheless, that's between me and Jesus. So did you have actual conversations with your daughter? Like, was she like you did this by figuring it out, or is that she pissed?
Why Would You Test?32:24
So... Sorry. My cord got tangled there. So, you know, my daughter was, like, super confused going in. Like, we went to the emergency room.
And even then, like, I was like... Before that, I was like, tell my husband, we've got, like, an ER that's, like, less than a mile from our house. I'm like, I think we should go to the children's specific one and talking it through. And he's like... And I was like, but nothing's really gonna be wrong.
Right? And he's like, yeah. You might as well just go to the one closest to our house. And I was like, well, that's obviously the wrong answer. I'm gonna go to the further one.
Sorry, buddy. Wrong again.
Don't even know why why I wrote
the mortgage and stop trying to be involved in other stuff. Okay? There you go.
It's just like, okay. He's like, I still have no idea what's happening. And they... You know, we get to the ER, and I, you know, get up, and I'm like, oh, man. There's so many kids in here.
This is gonna take forever. And then... I'm like, yeah. So they told us to come in. Her blood sugar is five ninety five, and they're like, how long she had diabetes?
I was like, she doesn't. And they're like, why would you test? I'm like, why are you yelling at me?
Why is this happening again? Why? Why why is my husband sitting in that chair thinking, when are the Vikings be good again? Because I know that's what he's thinking. And by the way, tell him the answer is apparently never, but go ahead.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. So he is a Packers fan.
But Oh,
you have
to be. At some point, you gotta give up. Right?
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. We're used to this episode. Also, you're going through this... It is really interesting. Like, you're confounding the number your daughter has and the situation she's in confounds the expectation of the health care professional.
Professional. And so this... They start asking questions because they don't understand you were diagnosing something they imagined. Anyway, I think it's pretty obvious. But but the second or third or fourth time somebody asks you, it's really
Right.
You're like, what the hell? Come on.
Yeah. In my... You know, like, I think how I'm replaying it in my head is is different. If we looked back, maybe the woman at, you know, admission at the ER was... You know, had a halo above her head, and she was just like, welcome.
And so, you know, it's great that you came. Instead in my head, I'm like, why are you yelling at me? I don't know. I did it.
And can we just It's not my fault. I didn't do this. Okay?
Do we cut too? Like, why is everybody so mad at me? And they got her back right away, and at that point, took her blood sugar, and it just said high. So they said it was over, you know, they just knew it was over 600. Did a couple tests.
An A1C Over Fourteen34:48
Her a one c came back to greater than 14. And they said, alright. We're gonna admit you to a hospital, in a different town over where the, in... Endocrinology department was, and, you know, you have diabetes. And she just...
My daughter just, like, broke down. I mean, she was terrified. She's like, what? Like Yeah. I mean, I went to school today.
I... You know? Like, I was just getting ready for bed. Like, why did you do this? Like
Yeah. That sucks.
What is happening? Is she
is she in a better mindset now? How long did it take her to get to it?
Yeah. I mean, I think all things considered, she's she's always been doing great. Right? Like, I I think she's incredibly responsible, I mean, to the point where I did try initially. Like, we had to try to take some more things from her because I didn't want her to get, you know, fatigued.
And she was doing... I mean, she was tracking really well with, like, the injections. We got on a Dexcom, like, that following Monday, Omnipod by the next month. And I'd say she adapted very well, but she still... It...
It's gotten less so now, but, I mean, definitely, like, periods of anger. Right? Like, you can... You know, like, the days where it's like, oh, two pods in a row failed or, you know, something where it's just, like
Yeah.
So odd that she's just like, I hate this or, like, her sugar would be high during school, and she would text me and be like, my blood sugar hates me. And I was like, oh.
No. That's not hate you. Yeah. What do you do in that situation? Be...
The other day, I actually... I was sharing this with you before we started recording, so you have odd context for this. But Arden, like, texted me in the morning. She's like, can you come rub my knee before I get up? And I was like, oh, that sounds like fun for me.
So I I went in, and I was, like, rubbing her knee, and her pod appears to just... It just shuts off. Right? Yeah. And she's like, ugh.
Like, why? And, like, it was just... Like, she's immediate... Like, why does this stuff happen to me and, like, that kind of stuff. Right?
And I picked it up and looked at it, and I said, Arden, this Omnipod lasted for the full eighty hours.
Oh.
It shut off after you woke up in the morning, not while you were asleep.
Yeah.
And, and you have time before you have to go to your next thing to change it. I was like, honestly, like, this is kinda perfect, isn't it?
Yeah. That's the dream.
Yeah. You know what I mean? I was like, this all worked out exactly as you hoped. You got to sleep through the night with a good blood sugar and ride a pod out to its last possible second, and it's expired at a time which apparently you weren't prepared for because it sounds to me like you're not, like, forecasting this stuff ahead. And, no matter how many times I've asked you to do that, it doesn't seem like that's what you're doing.
It's fine. And and yet it... It's still fitting into your life, but it was interesting. She didn't... Like, I said, Arna, a lot of things are about perspective.
And I said, a lot of stuff just went right for you just now. I said, I think it would be beneficial for you to look at this as all the things that went well. I understand that it stinks contextually that you just woke up, and I gotta change this pump and everything. I was like, but you're gonna take your dog outside while he's running around outside, fill a pot up, and put it on. Yep.
You know? And then that was it. We didn't talk about it anymore, and everything was fine. But my point is is that even when something went really great, it felt like, ugh. Come on.
Yep.
Yeah. And so when stuff's not going great, how much double or triple ugh. Come on. Isn't that?
Yep.
I would imagine a lot. You
know? A lot. A lot. Yeah. Absolutely.
I mean, I just... I feel like I spend a lot of time, like, validating and being like, yeah. I mean, like, that does... It it it does.
It does.
It sucks when your pod starts screaming in the middle of class, and, you know, you don't want the attention anyway. That's a raw deal. I will say... I mean, so this is interesting. It's lovely, and it's odd.
Something in the Water38:52
So she actually, so on her swim team... So coming back to the high school swim team, which the doctor cleared, they're like, oh, yeah. She could go back, like, next week. I was like, what? You know, she's got this disease.
And they're like, we want... You know, whatever is making her happy, we wanted to make sure that we're... You know?
Trying to facilitate that. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. You know, diabetes needs to adjust for how you're living, your life. So there were three other girls on her swim team with diabetes last year.
What the hell? Maybe you gotta get them out of that pool. What's going on with the pool?
There's something in the water. Right? So...
Oh, what a great title for your episode. Oh. There's something in the water.
That's
There's something in the water. Good job. Well to go, Brie. Yeah. Look at you contributing to the to the back end process of the podcast.
Well done.
Well done. So, yeah, I mean, that was interesting. There was one, who was a senior and then two other girls in her grade. So right now in her eighth grade, there's three, girls at the middle school, with diabetes.
No kidding. Is it is it built on a, like, an ancient burial ground, or is it, like, like, in that poltergeist film? Or what what... Do do you have any context for that? Is it always been that way?
I mean... So one of, one of her friends was diagnosed, I think, four or five years ago, but then another, like, as a baby.
Oh, but you're in Minnesota too. It's a bunch of Nordic people? Like, yeah. You got a lot of those, like, from, like, Norway, that kinda, like, part of the world. Right?
Oh, yeah. Those those people have a lot of autoimmune issues because they're so pale. I don't know why. I just made that up. Sorry.
I'm not dropping things.
I was like, that is true? We are really pale. My daughter's very pale.
Are you very pale?
I am very pale. Yes. Freckles the whole night.
Yeah. Your vitamin d?
Oh, yes. Of course. Yes.
Okay.
Yes. And my daughter is taking vitamin. She had a big deficiency this past year too.
I bet. Yeah. I bet she she had a number of deficiencies after being diagnosed.
Right. That is not the... That wasn't the standout story this past year, it turns out.
Did she put weight on after, getting insulin and everything?
She Gained It Back and Grew Two Inches41:11
Oh my gosh. Yes. Yes. Like, quite a bit. She was, I mean, she was down to, like, one ten when she was admitted into the hospital.
She's currently, I think, like, in the mid, like, one forties. Yeah. She's she's grown two inches.
How tall was she when she was diagnosed?
Five three.
She's five five now. Why are you calling her tall? Because she was young?
She's always been, like, on the tall end of her, like, age.
You think five three is tall? What do you... Where where are you at?
Well, no. For for her age, she was. She's always, like, the, like, 90, whatever.
Alright. Was she literally taller than her friends?
Yes.
Okay.
For a lot of them.
Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
She was in, like, the 90... Well, I think she's in, like, the ninety first percentile for, for height now.
Well, being a Viking isn't what it's all cracked up to be, apparently. No. Five five five's a a reasonable... How tall are you?
I'm five eight.
Oh, look at you. Husband? Yeah. Oh, your husband's... What is he?
Like, five ten?
He is six feet.
Six. Like, a real six or the six with shoes? It's a
good question. As it was coming out my mouth too. I was like Yeah.
Six with
shoes. Driver's license 6 or is that
a Yeah. I've... Yeah. I'm five ten too. Woo hoo.
And so, my wife's like, you're shorter than me. I'm like, that's not true. And and then Orton's like, it's
a can't be true.
100% true. Okay. Alright. I got it. How about the boy?
Is he, popping up? Or
Yes. Yes. Yeah. He... Two...
What is he? He's, maybe five one now. He also is in, like, the 90 whatever percentile.
So Okay. But he's in, like, fourth grade.
So He's in fourth grade. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. I gotcha. Alright. Okay.
It'll be fine.
So we'll see. Yeah. We'll see if she... If it slows down now or or what. But to your point, I mean...
And that hurts my heart too. Like, I think her body was so starved for, everything.
God, Brie, are you worried that your daughter's not gonna achieve her full height because you didn't figure out her diabetes faster? I How... No. I was gonna... Because how many days a week are you seeing that therapist?
Because not enough is the answer, if that's what you're thinking. You're okay?
You're okay? Yes. No. No. One one day a week.
Thank you. She's amazing. No. I, I would prefer for her to be five eight. I'm just kidding.
I have no idea. I I just
need her to be taller, Scott. Yeah. No real reason.
Full tall potential. No. I do not care. For me, it was more of, like, you know, was it just like her muscle was being taken? You know?
Was her body so depleted that then when she started on insulin and the... And it was like... I mean, because it goes back to where I was just like, it's just weird. It feels like stuff isn't sticking. Right?
Like No. I hear what you're saying. You're probably right, by the way. I mean, not in contextually, you weren't right, but, like, the... What was the end result?
Like, stuff's going in, and she's... Her body's not building the way it's supposed to. It's because she was, well, in fairness, it's because she was dying. And so, like, yeah, that takes a lot out of you dying, apparently. So...
But... And you figured it out. Now she's good, and she's on her way. Right?
Right. Which is things I say now. I was like, yeah. Turns out she wasn't... You know?
Yeah. I don't know. Oh, she's just tall and thin. She's a beautiful girl. Was like, she was dying.
Thank you very much. But
Yeah. Well, it's interesting, isn't it? Like, what... There's a tipping point you... Where you don't see it, and then all of a sudden, it's just
Yeah.
It's so obvious to others, not to you. Yep. And then, you know, it's just a... It's how it happens. You know?
Yep. Oh, exactly. But you had asked earlier how she, you know, how she's doing. I think, oddly enough, with that, you know, what's in in the water, scenario, you know, unfortunate that she's got people around her with diabetes. Unfortunate for her.
But, also, it meant we kinda launched into people who get it Mhmm. Having that around us, including for me, my best friend whose son has diabetes as well.
Before because you don't know your daughter.
Until... Before my daughter. Yeah. And I had spent years being like, man, she... It's like a part time job she has, keeping an eye on this.
And I thought I had empathized, and I obviously did not until I was in it. And then I was just like, holy shit.
People talk about that a lot, about, like... I had a woman on... Was diagnosed later in her life, but her sister had diabetes growing up. And she's like, have terrible guilt about not understanding what her life was like.
Oh, it's so much.
Yeah. It's interesting, isn't it?
It's so much. Yes.
Well, I mean... Okay. What's she managing with? She have a CGM, I heard you say, a pump?
Yes. She's got a Dex Com and Omnipod. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I think she's...
Again, all things considered, she's managing great. We just went through this past month, like, some some hormone changes. So, you know, it's definitely Mhmm.
Fear in your voice. I just want you to know. Yeah. Yeah.
You know? Which is what I was chalking the, like, temper tantrums up to be, like, a year ago.
Wasn't that then. But Wasn't that. Now it is?
The Binder Doesn't Cover This46:36
But now it is. Now it is. You know, it's it's it's always changing. I think, you know, for me at the hospital and then the first appointment, they give you this binder, and I'm just like, alright. I'm gonna be the best diabetic parent ever.
Right? Like, I've read this thing front and back. And then when, like, it doesn't follow exactly, and I'm like, what what do you mean? I'm doing exactly the thing. That's been a real growth opportunity for me this past year.
You know, being
like A real growth opportunity?
A real growth opportunity.
What what part is the growth opportunity? Accepting that the information's not everything you need or that you didn't have it together the way
you thought? That I... No. I mean, I obviously had it together, Scott. No.
I'm kidding. I think it's the... Like, you can do exactly what, you know, you're quote, unquote supposed to be doing. Right? Like, very type a.
I'm like, well, yeah. Here's here it is, and here's the settings, and here's what we've seen the patterns do. So I'm gonna adjust the carb ratios to this. And then, you know, two days later, things can go completely awry and not for anything you might be able to exactly pinpoint to.
Figure out.
Yeah. And I think, you know, I've I've had to adapt to that. And, I've had to adapt to, like, sharing that with others too because people just kinda automatically assume if you don't know, right, that they're like, well, so how is this? Is it just super manageable now? You know?
Are you in a good pattern? Everything just kinda
You got it all figured out now. Has it regulated? Has her has her diabetes balanced out?
Yeah. You know, we're thinking, like, there's this perception from some people that's like, oh, she's on a pump. That means it just does everything. Right?
Like, knows the Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Mouth, and it just knows what to give you. So, you know, also adapting to, you know, educating people along that as well.
Who Actually Needs the Education48:26
You bother with that? You you you... What do you mean? You mean family? Are you talking about extended family?
Yeah. Yeah. More family. I think, I'm starting to bother less with it. Is that a saying?
Yeah. Sure.
Because I'm like, it... Does everybody need to know? I don't know.
I don't I don't care what anybody knows. I'm fine. Yeah.
I Right. I... You mean, I think I need to come on on on that side.
I was standing with a friend the other day, and he's like, well, I was gonna get that, but I'm... I, you know, I I don't think that would be received while I'm trying to, like, talk around somebody's details. But they were like they were like, I don't think that would be received well where I work. And I thought, oh god. I I would never even think of that.
You care what other people think? Was like, oh,
that's a perspective.
Yeah. I guess that's one way to do it. I don't... I couldn't possibly care less. Yeah.
But I I don't know. Like, I don't... I've never been compelled to explain it to people. Like, I really don't care what people think.
I mean, that feels healthy. I think
Does it? I mean, it doesn't seem antisocial to you where I'm like
I I know. I mean, I go back and forth. We did, like, a diabetes, walk here this this summer, you know, and part of, like, the fundraising and everything. I was posting, and I was just really on this, like, track of, like, you know, people need to be educated more. And then sometimes I'm like...
Or... I don't know. Is that something I need to take on? Does everybody need to be? Who's everybody?
Everybody?
Yeah. Who's everybody? Where do I stop? Why is it my job? How much of my life am I gonna give away to it?
How much of my, like, my, calm and and Yes. Mental health am I giving away to, like... Listen. And then where do I stop? What else don't people understand?
What else don't I understand? Oh, no. Who... You you know?
Right. Exactly. Where are my blinds... Blind spots to everything else?
I'll I'll tell you I'll tell you what we told my wife during COVID. Stop watching the news.
Oh, yeah.
K. The world's still gonna move on whether you know what you think you know or you don't know. I don't know how to tell you. You're not in charge of any of this, just so you're aware. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Was rough. But even moving forward, like, same thing. Like, it's...
It was that. Then later, she's like, oh, you're right. She stops watching it. And then it's five minutes later, my son's like, are you watching political news now? Like, why are you doing that?
Like, you're not in charge of this. You you know? Like, stop stop filling your head with, like, the... Like, thinking that your knowledge will... Like, I don't know what's happened to all of us.
I guess the Internet. Like...
But I know.
No one cares what you think, and no one's listening to you and stop. Like, just go live your life. Yep. Compost your food. That'll be a nice way for you to spend an hour.
Take your banana peels out. Put them in a pile with some grass clippings. Yeah. You just... You don't know about that because the ground's frozen where you live eleven months of the year, but other people do stuff like that.
Also, why wouldn't you move? I mean, dear lord. You live
I know. I... So both my older brothers are still, in this state as well, and I will comment to them, because I love them so much. And often, I'll be like, you know, don't move because of you. Right?
And, like, I love my nieces and nephews. And, like, are you worth it? Are you worth it this year?
Could you idiots go somewhere warmer, please?
It's freaking freezing here.
I know. Football team. Why would they bring in Carson Wentz when he was cooked? The Vikings make no sense whatsoever.
One big heartbreak every... Except for women's sports.
What do you got going on there with the women's sports?
Oh, the links are great.
What's that? What's that? Basketball?
Basketball.
Yep. Alright. That's awesome. I like that. I'll tell you.
The only thing I know about women's sports is I love the, I love the blonde girl who seems to push people around and act rudely.
Oh, Sophie. Yeah. Yeah. She's awesome. That's Sophie Kanell.
Yeah.
Yeah. She's funny. I don't know if I care about it in context of basketball, but I do like it in the context of everything else. Yeah. She's good.
And that one girl shoots like crazy, but it's hard to build a whole league off of her, isn't it? Yes. Yeah. That sucks.
I also... Because we're in Minnesota, should say we have an amazing, women's hockey team as well at the frost.
Oh, hockey. Yeah.
Yep. Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
You're almost Canadian, aren't you, honestly?
Basically, we're like... Yeah.
I mean, Okay. Well, alright. I mean, I'd get the hell out of there very quickly if I was you. I just don't understand what you could possibly be thinking. My...
When my brother moved to Wisconsin, he's like, you know, they have plants where they melt snow here? And I was like, leave immediately. Okay. He's like, no. They're trucking the snow somewhere and melting it into the lake.
And I was like, oh my god. Yeah. Get out of there. Yeah. I mean, bizarre.
It it would be like if you were like, oh, are we in a cabin where these Jason movies were filmed? I'm like, back in the car.
Back in the car. Those, first of all.
Yeah. Not not if you're gonna get murdered in the cabin. You gotta go.
Yeah. The summers, though, are beautiful. Amazing.
I mean, whatever. How long are they? A week and a half?
It's, like, days. But
What are lake flies? Do they live in Minnesota?
Lake flies?
Yeah. That's the thing my brother talks about in Wisconsin all the time.
Mayflies?
Maybe. Yeah.
Oh, yeah. I can't. Yeah.
Well, again, I don't know what you're doing.
I grew up in a town that mayflies, they would come, yeah. There would be a snow plow would have to come out to get them, off the bridge that crosses from Minnesota into Wisconsin.
I am telling you that if people would listen to me, I would gather together four or five families. I'd go buy 20 acres somewhere, put houses on the four corners of it, and just get the hell out of here. Yeah. But people don't listen to me.
Yeah.
Yeah. So it's
I'll think about it. Yeah. You'll think about it. Summers... Yeah.
I mean, they are incredible. It's fun. You know? Like, you think of, like, scary Sundays, like, of work. Like, our summer's, like, one big scary Sunday.
What is... Wait. Scary Sunday. What are you saying?
You know, like, scary... You okay? Scary Sunday is like, oh, the week's about to come.
Oh. Ahead of me. Oh, you have that... Let's talk about that for a second. I'll start with this.
Your mom anxious person? Were the were the cigarettes for the anxiety? Probably.
Okay. She would never have said she was an anxious person.
No. I'm asking you.
Yeah.
Yeah. She was Yeah. Okay.
Yeah.
And then... And you have the same thing? You and her are pretty vibey like that?
Yes.
And what do you do instead of the cigarettes?
Sweary Needlepoint and a Boxing Gym54:42
Well, I've taken up, well, so I garden in the summer. Like, I mean, I just... It's like flowers everywhere.
And then
the other forty nine years? Not working. I work a ton.
Yeah.
And then in the winter, what I've started doing is some, some sweary needlepoint.
You're doing needlepoint with curses on it?
Yes.
That's awesome.
And that's what I do instead of smoking.
And that... And and that's what you do. I mean, I'm being serious. Is that what you do?
That is what I do. I also, I belong to a boxing gym. I go boxing.
Well, that's good. You're trying to get your, like, get your energy out in other places.
Yes.
When when you don't do those things, what's that look like for you?
I mean, because I'm just so busy. I mean, it's like kids, sport. I mean, I'm I'm usually just moving around. It's like coming from work, going to a swim meet or a football game or anything. So I think, you know, I'm just
Are you really busy, or is the anxiety making you feel like you need to move like that?
Oh, it's a little column a, a little column b. I am really busy, but also if we had a weekend where we're sitting, I'm like
You're okay with that too?
Oh, no. I'm I'm not.
Oh, you're not?
No. My husband's good with it. He's, like, catching up on shows in the morning, and I'm like, well, it's 08:30. We're halfway through the day.
Come you haven't how come you haven't waxed the linoleum yet? Yeah. Has anyone wiped the walls down? The what? Exactly.
Okay. Well... Okay. Exactly. You're you're proper crazy.
I like that. And now did that fall on either of the children? The boy?
Not so far.
Not so far. The daughter? Not so far.
Not so far.
Which one of them has your personality?
Oh.
It's usually flip flopped. It's usually the girl gets the dad and the boy gets
the girl. Actually think you're right. It is. Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah. Well So we'll see.
Keep an eye.
I'm a very masked anxious person, very high functioning masked headstand.
Like it. You said it earlier, high functioning anxiety. What does that mean? Did did did people would just call you, like, if it was, like, thirty years ago, like, she's so type a. She gets everything done.
Like, is that kind of thing?
Yes. Yeah. Totally.
Okay. Do you like that about yourself, or do you wanna sit down and catch up on TV shows?
I think I'd like to get to a point where I'm catching up on TV shows Mhmm. At at some point. It is interesting. It's like I start thriving when there's a lot of chaos, and, I think that was cool up until, like, I hit 40, and then I was like, well, this might not be
Tired? Yeah. I don't wanna do this anymore. Yeah. Okay.
So, your thyroid okay?
My thyroid is okay. Awesome. So far.
Yeah. So far? No celiac? No. No.
Else? No, no vitiligo? Nope. Nope. Okay.
Alright. Just this thing.
Just this thing.
And your impending death, which you think is coming sooner than later.
Yeah. No. I'm getting I'm getting better about that.
Good. Is your husband just like the chillest? If I met him, would I just be like, oh, this is a very relaxed guy?
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, if I'm to a fault on one side, he's kinda, like, way on the other end.
Are you pulling each other to the center or no? Is your gravity not that strong to
get We are when I let it happen, and I don't just
take anything. Honest, Brie. That was very honest.
Well, yes. I'm working on it. Yeah.
So you'll come to the center when you let it happen. He comes to the center because if he doesn't, you will be very angry at him. Truth. Okay. Yeah.
I understand how everything works.
Yeah. Truth. I'd I'd need to be more aware and be like, oh, yeah. So there are things. Like, here's some things that we can do together instead of like, well, or I could do all the things.
Yeah. I I shared with you before we started that everything that everyone else wants supersedes whatever I want. Mhmm. And then if there's ever time left, I'm allowed to do whatever I want. But, usually, they're all done with me by so I get to do it by myself.
Yeah. Yeah. I got it. Yeah. I hear you.
Well, this is interesting. You're not gonna have more kids. Right?
No. Mm-mm.
No pets? Oh, yeah. A cat?
I have a dog. Mhmm. She is amazing. Yes. Her name is Jane.
She told me it's okay to use her name. And she... I've been nervous the whole time. She's... Because she is such a potato, and she's usually sawing logs next to me, but I think I think we
escaped it. Been chill. I'll tell you what. The idea of, like, you thinking, I understand being worried about where the bathroom is, like, fascinated me earlier. I've...
I don't think I've ever once in my life wondered where there's a bathroom.
Really?
I mean, we live in America. There's one somewhere. Don't you think? It's like it's like when we leave the house, and my wife's like, well, are we prepared? I'm like, well, we have a credit card, and this is The United States, so everything should be fine.
Okay. Wild. So you're not just, like, walking in mental mapping, you know, like, alright. So when I have to go, there's the bathroom, and that would be the plan. You're just,
A Man With No Plan59:35
like Tuesday. Happens? It is Tuesday at 11AM. And on Thursday at noon, my wife and I have slated ourselves to get in the car and drive twelve or thirteen hours away to just randomly look at houses. I don't...
I haven't packed a bag. I don't know what I'm bringing. Oh. I don't have any houses picked out to look at.
Oh, wow.
I am gonna see a realtor on Saturday.
Okay.
I just assumed she'll have houses to take me to. I don't I don't worry. I I have not booked a hotel. I'm not sure if we're gonna do the drive straight through or stop.
Okay.
I don't know where I'm driving to.
Okay.
I couldn't possibly care less about any of those details.
I love this
for you. It's all gonna be fine. This does this make you nervous?
Absolutely. It's my nightmare, but I do love this for you.
It's my nightmare. But, Scott, you're going to die. Is that how it feels? Like, I'm gonna be fine, by the way. I'll be back on Monday.
Oh,
yeah. You are gonna be fine. I think in my head, it's like, how are you having the fun? Like, isn't it much more relaxing to know the plan? And then you're like, we got this all set, so we have the plan.
And I do know, again, like, logically, what you're saying is all correct. I get it. Yeah. Like... Yeah.
I also have notes. Like, the realtor goes like, are you, like, ready to put an offer on something? I'm like, what? No. I was like, no.
I'm just coming to look around. I'm trying to get an idea of, like, an idea. Yeah. And and having said that, I could easily get on this podcast next week and be like, hey, guys. I'm moving.
I bought a
house. Guess what? I bought a house.
And, like, we're we're leaving. We're... I've... I told my kids to get out. My house has been sold already and will be gone.
Like, I wouldn't... Oh god. Planning for it? Yeah. No.
No. No. I don't I don't understand what you're saying.
Okay.
Everything you like about this podcast is not planned. Wow. Nothing. Nothing's planned. You know how I talk about a whiteboard that I have?
Yeah. It's like... It says 2024 at the top of it.
Okay. I
mean, I don't know if you know it's 2026. It's almost 2027. I sometimes look at it, and I think I should change that. And I go, oh, why? It doesn't matter.
I I have everything I needed. It's got a list of my advertisers so I remember to do the right thing that I'm supposed to do because I've signed contracts with people, and it seems important to, like, do what you say you're gonna do legally. And then, there's a note up there that says Arden is my favorite child. It's written in Arden's handwriting, in case you're wondering. I have all the stuff that I went through with Jenny and Erica for the last couple of years that all went the way I expected it to, and I'm still building off of that stuff.
So I don't really need any new ideas for that just yet. Oh, there's a note down there from, like, two and a half years ago that I should probably get the rights to my book manuscript, but I don't really care. And
Oh, dear.
Yeah. I don't give I don't give a shit. It's fine.
No. It's good.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's really... It really doesn't matter.
I know there's something I said I was gonna do this week, and I remember on Sunday thinking I should write it on a piece of paper so I don't forget. Yeah. Yeah. Come back up again. And then when I do it, that'll be the right time to do it.
Sure. Yeah. Yeah. And if it doesn't, it probably just took care of itself.
If if if things don't happen, they didn't matter. Yeah. Oh, woah. Yeah. What...
Right?
Woah.
Okay. You know how people say that, their doctor's office... Like, I don't know how other people's doctor's offices do this, but they'll send you a bill before they run it through insurance.
Yep.
Right? So you you get a bill that says pay us $75.
Yep.
And I always, and this is a rule, throw that bill away at least twice before I pay it. Okay. Because eventually, it shows back up and it says, don't owe them anything. Yeah. Or it shows back up and says, I owe them $75.
And I think, I've seen that a couple of times. I'll pay that. And that... That's my system for that. Okay?
Because I started paying the bills on time, and then I'd get a... I... Then the doctor's office would call and be like, we owe you $75. And I'd be like, keep it? Like, you know, can you can you give me, like, a credit?
I'll be back. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Can you just
put it on my tab?
Oh, no. No. No. We're gonna send it to you. The federal government sent me $11 the other day.
I was incensed. Ins... It was in an envelope on a beautiful check. It... I mean, I know for sure it cost
more than was a beautiful check.
I... It was. It's got... Yeah. Have you ever seen a check from...
The government doesn't send you money very often, so it's hard to figure out what they look like. But there's a... It's got, like, color through it and everything. Yeah. I know somebody's making, I'm gonna guess, 50% more than they should to do the job that sent the checkout.
Right? There's probably 17 people in that department. Probably cost them a thousand dollars to send me back this $11 that ten days later, owed them again.
Yep. Yep. Yep.
And I was like, what is... I I don't... Just if we... Of this... I don't know how to explain life to you.
Most of this is just minutiae to keep people from killing each in the streets. Okay? They were just trying to keep people busy. And I get it, but I'm not getting involved in it. But you can't suck me into your little matrix.
Any part of this.
No. I'm not getting involved in your little matrix thing where we all pretend we're doing something. I know what's really happening. I got food, and I'm warm. I'm good.
Okay? I travel through other states. Once in a while, I see things concerning. I don't go back that way again. Like, that's all.
Like, I go... That that part's not that's not for me right there. I don't go there. I've told my story about the time my car broke down, and there was a shooting across the street while I was waiting for the tow truck guy. Uh-huh.
You know what I do when I drive past that exit now? I go faster. That's all. I go... That's not a place I anymore.
That's that.
Live and learn.
Yeah. My car breaks down now again there. I'll stay on the highway. Yeah. That's fine.
I'll hang out out there. Or... By the way, it's just a car. I'll walk. Like Sure.
Yeah. I ain't dying for that car. That's you... I I wish I could give you some of this.
Yeah. Me too.
All you anxious people, I would love to give you a tiny bit of this. Like, get in the car and drive to another state that you randomly chose because the Internet said it might be a good idea.
Yeah. That's wild. I love it. Okay.
Well Where would you move to if you were gonna move?
I... See, that's the thing. I have no idea. I gotta get out more.
I'll help you. Ready? Yeah. Warmer or colder?
Warmer.
Okay. South. You just said south. I'm gonna move south. Okay.
Do do your politics matter to you? Do you need to be around people who agree with you?
Yes. I would prefer.
Okay. And you're in Minnesota.
Mhmm.
And you're Caucasian. Mhmm. And you have a job and you went to college. Mhmm. Alright.
So you're a democrat. You don't have to say. I just got it. Don't worry. It's fine.
And, and then... So I'm gonna put you in South. Let's go south. You would probably do well in, certain parts of North Carolina. I could put you in certain parts of Tennessee.
I could put you in certain parts of Texas. I could put you, I mean, there's... Would would you like to live with some old Jews? You could go to Florida.
Sure.
Yeah. Okay. Alright. Like, there... Usually Okay.
I'll go pick one of those places and leave. What are you doing? Okay. How... Do you do you work from home?
A couple days a week.
Oh, this job you gotta go to.
I know.
Have you considered starting a podcast? No. So Kelly's like Kelly's like, you know, people can't just move. I'm like, I can.
I sure can.
She's like, well, I have a job. And I was like, well, brothers, she's holding me back, Brie. Like, I... I'd get the hell out of here in two seconds if I didn't care about Kelly and all.
Oh, and there are nonprofits everywhere. So
Oh my... What kind of nonpro... You don't have to give me details details, but what kind... Like, what's the overarching part?
Oh, I can. It's a children's museum.
Oh, that's lovely.
Yeah. I've worked in the disability sector. I've worked in animal welfare. So I
Wait a minute. You work in you work... Hold on. You live in Minnesota.
Mhmm.
Your your... Is your husband, like, independently wealthy? I don't understand. How are you paying for those kids in that house? I...
Swimming sounds expensive. What's going on?
Swimming is expensive. I know. Well, you know, I I would say Minnesota does a great job of making sure people are compensated equitably. It is nonprofit, so you don't get things like, bonuses or stock shares, but salary is is pretty common.
Salary is good. It's holding me up.
That's enough.
Well, I mean, if you want people to do work like that, you can't underpay them and then ask them to live in San Diego. You you know what I mean?
Oh, right. Right. Absolutely.
Which I
I mean, that's a, yeah, a big thing in in, yeah, nonprofit. Cut... It's come a long way too of being like, if you're expecting the same type of role as you are in a for profit, you can't just... And the same talent, you can't be paying people that.
Yeah. You could be doing another job is the point.
Yep. Either
you'd be good at and successful, they gotta accomplish. Alright. Well... And this thing... So you need to be near this children's museum.
I do.
Well, this is gonna ruin our our exodus idea.
You can't know. Unless
I leave
at some point.
Unless you leave at some point. Oh, I see. Is this a is this a negotiation move right now through a podcast? Unless I go.
It's a Minnesota passive aggressive note.
And then good luck with what's her name running the whole thing.
Yeah. Exactly.
She's drinking. You know? I just wanted to say. Good luck. Good luck.
I really wish... I... Do you think I could start another podcast where people come on and are more honest? I I want people to come on and be like, I work with a woman who is drunk all day long, and then I wanna talk about that and their life. That...
This diabetes thing is holding me back too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
I kinda like that. There might be something there. Weren't there, like, books years ago where people would just, like, sent... Was that post secret where you'd, like... This is when I was growing up.
Okay. What is it?
People would, like, send, like, letter or would just be, like, honest things. Like, they'd write and be, like, I wronged to this person by blah blah blah. Oh. I think this was a thing.
Oh, I would love that.
Could do that in podcast form.
Oh my god. Is someone not doing that already? Am I ahead of the curve on that? Do I
I don't know.
Do I owe you a producing credit now? Like, what's going on? I mean, I'm not gonna... I don't wanna get involved in in cutting the money up with you. Yeah.
You know? So some of these podcast ads pay $10. You know? So you don't wanna... I don't...
I mean, I... After taxes, I'm gonna owe you $3.75, and then and then and then I gotta write the check. And then as you know
say, I don't get bonuses, not profits. A $3.75 is a $3.75.
Yeah. I'm taking it. You... Can you sell that to me? I'm definitely...
I'm not gonna do what the government does. I'm definitely sending it to you digitally.
I can do it electronically.
Yeah. You're not getting a colorful check from me with a picture of Thomas Jefferson on it or what... By the way, it's on my... But if the federal government can hear me, it's on my refrigerator. It's not even enough money for someone to deposit, and I'm pretty sure I could deposit it with my phone.
And still and still, no one's been like, hey. Let's get to that. Yeah. You sons of bitches. Like, why would
they send you a letter asking if you received it.
Why would they send me $11 back? Unreal. Like, it's not even, like... You know, when sometimes you get a 0.25 in a check or, like Yeah. Or...
My my wife has this little thing at her job. It's this tiny bit of little, like, money that we moved from one account to another one, but she moved it one day and it left behind, like, 37¢. Like, seriously. And then every, like, once a year, they send a note that the 37¢ has grown to, like, $4, and they want... And they wanna disperse it.
And she keeps... She's like, listen. Stop doing this. Let's just close the account. Keep the money.
Leave... Because she... For, like, literally three times, she's had them cut the check. But in the time they cut the check, they always Yeah. It grows again by a couple more.
Oh, that's hilarious. They can't make it stop. Stop this madness.
My great grandchildren are gonna receive 37¢ from this thing for, like, rest of time. No one knows how to stop it. Wow. And that's my point. Is that someone's job?
Yep. That minutiae that's meaningless.
Yep.
I don't know. I don't know how I got on that, but it's very bothersome to me.
Yeah.
Just everyone go home. Can you just let the computers take over? I'm a... It's enough of all of you already. You're doing it wrong.
I can tell for sure.
You're doing it wrong.
Yes. Let's see if the computers can do it right. And if not, we'll just all blow up. I mean... But, like, this isn't working, clearly.
So, I mean, I saw people fighting in the street on Instagram yesterday. Yes. That is where my algorithm is right now as I've mentioned earlier. When the cops started pepper spraying, it didn't make anybody leave. And I thought he just hit that guy in the face with bear spray.
You're staying? Why is... I don't understand why there's still people standing around. No one has common sense. It's it's ridiculous.
Like like,
just wild.
If someone gets pepper... Manhattan, they shot a lady in, Times Square yesterday. Sorry. Left turn. So she clearly, was not a stable person.
She's got two knives, one in each hand. She stabbed a man and killed him, a man in his sixties. She stabbed another woman, and she's in in, you know, terrible condition. They they they get around. They're in Times Square.
I mean, you can imagine it from the Spider Man movies. It's pretty accurate. Okay. Like, so she's out on one of those wide sidewalks like Wolverine. I don't know why I'm doing so much Marvel right now, but she's got two knives in either hand.
That was my Wolverine reference. She is not particularly adept with the knives. There is party that makes you think, like, I think they could just smack her with her hand and she'd fall. But, like, fair enough. She's holding two knives.
She's already killed somebody. Like, you know, this is the new situation we're in. Yep. They're trying to talk her down. It's not going poorly.
Like, the video gives you the idea of, like, hey. They might get... I think... I... I'm watching a video where they're gonna talk tonight.
Oh, no. Then she starts, like, snickety snag moving them all around. That was a Mallrats reference. And, like... And now they're going all over the place these knives, and she starts moving forward.
Now in fairness, not athletically. Okay? Like, it... There is an argument to be made that someone could have came up behind her, just snatched her over on her ass, and it would have been over. But instead...
And god bless him, and I'm with him. That guy pulled a gun out, and he was like, boom boom. I ain't doing this. And, like, he's like he's like, I ain't getting stabbed by your crazy ass, and she's gone now. And so, anyway, this is very tragic in the...
Maybe a thousand different ways. That's not why we're here to break it down. I I lay this out for you because there's hundreds of people standing around while my man is popping caps and no one runs away. I'm like, what are you all doing? He's shooting her.
Leave. Nope. Everyone's got their camera out. You could see 95 different views of this on on on Instagram, on YouTube now. And all that tells me is there's 95 people that don't have the good common sense to run away when someone's shooting a gun.
That's I saw. That's all I saw. I was like, you're unbelievable. Anyway, I'm done with all of you people. I'm gonna let the computers take over and see what happens now.
I... It's gotta go better than this, don't you think?
I do think. Okay. I also need to point out that Mall Rats was filmed in Minnesota.
It was at the Mall Of America.
Was it?
Yeah. But it... Because it
was Was it Mall Of America or Eden Prairie Mall? I don't know.
Oh, no. It was Eden Prairie.
Okay.
Yeah. Because it was closed down, and so they filmed it there. You're right. Look at you. What'd you watch?
The Laserdisc, extras on that?
Oh my gosh. I I I don't... I do not know. I do not know where that Mallrats knowledge came from. I...
You just made it, and I was like, oh, that's right. Are you not minutes since I watched that. Maybe we should do that tonight.
Are you not a Kevin Smith fan, but you just know Mallrats?
I'm a Kevin Smith fan. Yeah.
Alright. You prefer
That had to have come out, like, what, in the '90... Nineties?
God. I'm, so Mallrats. When did I get married? Why am I asking you? I
You wouldn't.
How did I just ask you when I got married? I got married thirty years ago, '96. So Okay. '96 or '97, I was at... Oh, here's a story known of you now.
Mallrats, Jersey Girl, and Calling Out Sick1:16:29
This is interesting. Okay. So I'm working at a credit union. Okay. And I'm doing collections for them, but it's a credit union, so it's like friendly collections.
My day is basically spent, like, calling people going like, Brie, you didn't pay your car loan. And you're like, I didn't? I'm like, no. And she's like, oh, can you move it out of my checking account? I go, sure.
That was it. It was... That was what collections was at this place. I had done credit card collections before. That was horrendous.
That was my husband has cancer. My house is on fire. I don't care if you don't send $36 for coming and taking your sofa. Like, that was not good for my soul. I was good at it, though.
So I got out of that. I got into the friendly collections. And one day, I was sitting there contemplating my life, thinking about throwing myself out of a window because this was my life, and I really did not like it Yeah. For a number of different reasons. And they're on the Internet because the Internet was new, and you could just use your computer at work, and nobody knew you were doing it because Sure.
Yeah. It was awesome because nobody... IT wasn't really a thing.
Yeah.
And so I'm on the Kevin Smith message board, and Kevin says, hey, guys. This, this afternoon at my comic bookstore in Red Bank, New Jersey, I'm filming the DVD extras for Mallrats. Oh. And you can come out and, you know, hang out while I'm doing it. And I thought, oh my god.
So many people are gonna do this. I can't believe that I'm older now, and I have this dumb job, and I can't go do this thing. And then I called my wife, and I said, hey. I'm gonna go tell my boss I'm sick. I'm gonna come home, get changed, go to Red Bank, and check out and check out this thing.
So I go up to my boss, and I go, hey. I don't feel good. I'm going home. And he's like, yeah. And I'm like, yeah.
I don't... I'll be... I'll I'll probably be fine tomorrow. And and I left. I drove home.
Took me, like, twenty minutes to get home. I changed clothes real quickly. I grabbed my camera, and I drove to Red Bank, New Jersey, which is about an hour from my house.
Okay.
Okay. I get to Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, the old location, not the new location. And I get there, and I am a little... You know how you hear me say sometimes, like, I'm a little ahead of the surfboard sometimes? I'm a little, like...
Right. Well, I'm literally the only person there because the the immediacy of the Internet didn't really immediacy the way it does now. So so I'm probably one of 20 people who saw it and one of one person who was like, oh, I'll just call out of my job, risk my livelihood, and drive across the state. And so Yep. And so I did that.
And when when I get there, the guys are like, hey. What's up? And I'm like, I don't know. Kevin put it online that this was happening. Like, I thought there'd be, like, a thing, and they felt so bad that I was the only one that showed up that instead of making me stand outside, they let me in.
Aw.
So I came into the closed comic book store, and I was there with the film crew and I met Jason Lee that day. Do you know Jason Lee?
Yes.
Mhmm. I met, I met Kevin Scott Moser, who's Kevin's producer back then. Scott Scott, like, made the last, Grinch movie now. Like, these... You know, like, the...
You know? Who else was there? Brian Johnson, who still makes that podcast, What's Up Steve Dave with Walt Flanagan, who was also there. Kevin was there. Bunch of...
It was just it was like, Jason Muse was there. It was great. Right?
Oh, this is crazy.
Yeah. Yeah. So I was in this little, like like, very small space while they filmed all of the extras the Mallrats DVD. I was the only I was the only outsider that was there, and I was taking pictures the whole time.
No way. Yeah.
And later, I shared the pictures with Kevin, and he has them now and, like, all that stuff. And so, like, I was there for hours upon hours, and then eventually, it just became, like... You know, like, you you know, when, like, your your, like, your niece and nephew and their... You know, and your brother, like, they don't leave on Christmas. And Yeah.
And you're like, they're gonna figure it out in a minute get the hell of here. Right? Like... And so I had that feeling. Like, I'd been there too long.
And I I I... I'd gotten... You know, these are... You know, it's a... It it it was a very private thing that I was just led into.
And I just, like, said the people I was... I was thinking I was talking to Jason Lee at the time. I was like, you know, I've been here long enough. Like, this is really awesome. Thanks, you know, to everybody.
Like, I looked up at Kevin, and I just waved, and I said thank you, and he gestured to me and and said thank you back. And then I I just left. That was that was it. So I'm the only outsider that was at the filming of the Mallrats, the extras on the DVD.
That is a crazy awesome story.
Yeah. I have a lot of stories like that. But Wow. Yeah. I'm not gonna tell you about the time I was on a prop plane with Stuttering John from the Howard Stern show, but, that'll be for another time, maybe.
Anyway, it's that kind of attitude that gets you to Tennessee on... I don't know. Maybe we should move south.
Yes. Alright.
And why circle. And why I don't have anxiety.
Okay.
So I'm sorry.
I like it.
The... I... How much does that... Does it impact your life?
I mean, it's, I mean, ironically, I'm pretty successful Mhmm. Because of it
Okay.
Which, is not like, you know, pro ad... Pro anxiety. But think just over the years, it's been, you know, how to take that for the good, and then trying to to, like, reset, right, and take time to also take a breather
Okay. As well. So you so you you you manage it then?
Oh, yeah. Mhmm.
Okay. And, does it hold you back in any ways?
I don't think so. No.
Okay.
Yeah. I know this sounds like a ringing endorsement for, for anxiety, but it really does... I mean, I don't know. Like, you'd seen, like... See, like, Inside Out too?
Yes. You know, with, like, anxiety in there. Like, I feel like that... Like, you think, like, oh, somebody who has, like, a ton is walking around, but they're probably, like, looks like a mess, right, or is just, like, all over the place. And it doesn't interest, like, a lot, you know, in...
Internally. But I, no, I feel like I
You do okay with it? Well, so Yeah. I... So when I tell people I don't have anxiety Yeah. I think I I think we all have anxiety.
Oh, sure. Absolutely.
I'm just not like... I I don't sit around thinking, like, where's the bathroom? And what... You know, like, that... Like like, I'm not worried about things.
Right. But I would also tell you that last night at 10:45, I was like, I guess I should stop working now. Yeah. You you know what I mean? Like, I was like, okay.
Now now is probably a good time to stop working.
Yep.
And then I got in bed, and I was like, oh, there's still other things I would like to do. Yeah. Yeah. And... But but I'm still able to just close my eyes and
go sleep.
To. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
But I am a 100% upset that sleeping is a part of being human. I hate that my life is only going to be, you know, eighty years long, hopefully, right, like, kind of vibe. Although my wife says we're all gonna live to be a 100 now. Oh,
cool.
Yeah. I mean, she seems to know something, but I I mean, she, you know, she could be dead now. I haven't seen her in hour and a half. I don't know. You you know what I'm saying?
So I mean, that'd be crazy if I was just I know. It's like, if I got on here tomorrow, and I was like, remember when I said my wife said we could live to a 100? She was dead in the kitchen. Oh, shit. And now and now all the, like like, the anxious people are like, you can't kid about that.
I can. I'm not in charge of when my wife dies. Do you know what I mean? Like, I
don't Yes.
Yeah. I I can say whatever I want. Like, I'm not in charge of the universe. So Yep. But but at the same time, I have to have, like, a low level of, like, really focused, valuable...
I mean, you can call it anxiety, but, I mean, I have a feeling of, like, I wanna keep moving forward. I don't wanna stop. I'm Yep. I'm... I love sitting and watching television, but, I mean, I don't do it.
Right.
You know what I mean? Like, I... If I put a baseball game on, I'm doing something else.
Something. Yeah.
Yeah. I'm not gonna just, like, watch a baseball game. Like, that's crazy. I tried to find the mole rats pictures for you online, but I apparently also took pictures for Kevin at something called vulgarthon ninety eight. So you can...
Okay. You ready? You can go to viewaskew.com/vthon98/images.html, and there is a list of pictures that I took. I mean, they're... God.
They're so old.
Oh, this is crazy.
Look at... Are you looking?
I'm trying... Was it view
Oh, okay. Hold on. Know you're gonna look. Give it a second. Viewaskew.com Okay.
/vthon98/images.html. And when you get there, you should see something that says beautiful pictures from Scott Banner.
Oh, no way.
Yeah. I took... I guess I took those in 1998.
So That's crazy.
Those images got to Kevin because he he has a film festival that I get... They call Volgathon. Actually, if you look at the little Volgurathon, like, logo at the top with all the people, those are all photos I took in there. So way. Really?
Yeah. Yeah. I I remembered, like... Yeah. I remember taking all these pictures, but they're not the ones from the Mall Rats DVD, which I guess aren't online anywhere.
Sorry. And so I used to take my camera with me for stuff like that and took a bunch of pictures, and I had a lot of them. And it was back before the Internet was the Internet, but Kevin was really, like, on the Internet. Like, a lot of what Kevin Smith did, like, informs a lot of how I think about running my community around diabetes. So...
Yeah. So... Because he had, like, a web board before that was a thing. He was talking he was talking to people online back when you were like, oh my god. That guy's a movie director, and he's online talking to people, and that's very strange.
So I took all these pictures, and I got them developed. And I had all these great photos, so I sent them an email. And I was like, do you want them? And they said, yeah. We would love them.
You know, how do you wanna get them to us? And I said, I could just bring them to your office. And so I took a day, and I drove out to the office. And I ended up there, you know, just there with the office person or whatnot, and nobody else was there. I dropped them off.
I said thank you. And as I was walking out, Kevin and Scott pulled up, and I think I could say this now. Like, Kevin was driving, like, a Jeep, like, Cherokee, I think. Like, it... Like that.
And they were on their way to Pittsburgh to make dogma.
Oh, no way.
Yeah. Yeah. They were literally leaving. Like, that... They came to the...
They came there to do something, and then they were gonna drive to Pittsburgh to film Dogma.
Wow.
Yeah. And so I just kinda walked by, and they... He's... He recognized me enough because I'd been to a couple of events. And he waved, and I I I I...
Your pictures are upstairs. And he said, thank you. And then later, if you look at if if you look at the one on that list that's just called Scott Mosher on the big screen
Yes.
So for a long time, that photo, Scott Mosier had that photo. And before Kevin
a cool photo.
Thank you. And before Kevin was married to the woman... To his wife, he was dating a woman who is in one of these pictures. I don't remember which one. But I took a photo of of Kevin's girlfriend that he actually had in his, like, in in his, like, in his possession that he used.
Oh, that's crazy.
Yeah. So... But their Internet, you know, wasn't quite the same as it is now.
Yeah. I love these. They're just, like, captioned links.
Yeah. Just... Yeah. It's not the way the Internet works anymore. Like, you have to click on a link to get to a photo, and it
I love it.
Yeah. It's pretty... It's it's a fun time. Like, we... Me and my friends used to go and do stuff like that all the time.
But, nevertheless, that that was pretty much that. I love that. Sorry.
Please are great.
'98... Hold on. 2008... '18. Oh god.
That's twenty eight years ago. Well, listen. There's a... There's something to be learned in that story somewhere because I was collecting debts for a for a credit union. Yes.
And I was like, this isn't right for me. I don't... This... I know this isn't right.
Yep.
You know? So if you're doing a job you think isn't right, don't just quit it, but, you know, keep trying.
And now you're best friends with Kevin Smith.
Well, I'm not. But, I do believe that if he and I saw each other, he would recognize me as that has happened to us a couple of times throughout my life. So at one of those events, he he was very... He was really lovely. Like, he...
You know, as you filed into the theater to see... He'd stand outside and say hi and shake everybody's hand going in and everything. He's just really lovely. And, you know, after we'd done a couple of these film festivals, like, you know, every year, I, one day, like, know, was going into one of them, like second or third or whatever, and I started feeling old. Like, know I mean?
Like like, maybe I shouldn't be doing this. You know what I mean?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
And so he's... You know, we we come face to face. He goes, oh, hey. How are you? And I went, good.
And I said, would you do me a favor? And he said, sure. I said, if I ever show up at one of these and you're thinking, yo, man, you're too old for this, would you tell me? And he goes, yeah. If you promise to tell me.
And I went, okay. And we kinda had a moment left because I think we're about the same age ish.
Yeah.
And and I... And we laughed, and I went in. And, you know, maybe, like, four or five years later, we were somewhere, and he recognized me again. I guess this is a good time to tell you that my wife and I were extras in Jersey Girl.
Oh, I love Jersey Girl.
Yeah. And so, you know, at the end when they do they do Sweeney Todd
Yes.
At the school play?
God, that's good.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Look at you.
So there's those moments when everyone's horrified and stands up and starts clapping.
Yeah. So
I... My wife and I, we were there for... We were... Oh my god. Alright.
Yeah. I guess... Do you have time?
Yes.
Alright. So I come to my wife one day, and I'm like, hey. Let's go be... So my wife and I were extras in private parts before we got married. Okay.
I guess to get the Jersey girl, you... Sorry. You gotta get the private parts story. So my wife and... It's the summer before...
It's the summer that we get married. Okay. And I and I said, hey. Howard Stern is filming an outdoor scene of private parts in Bryant in Bryant Park in Manhattan, and they need to fill the park like it's a concert. And I was like, we should go.
Like, it's just a day of, like, hanging out and standing in a crowd and Sure. You know, watching and everything. And she, to her credit, it's not a thing. My wife's not like... Like, back then, that was not her vibe.
Okay? I don't know if it's her vibe now, but she is going to Tennessee with me on Thursday. So maybe I got her eventually. Yeah. The crazy thing is is we had to get on a train into the city, get off, walk, go get our tickets to be there the next day, and then leave, and then come back the next day and do it again.
Wow. So we we, after work, got on a train, like, rushed into the city, rushed to this production's, like, place that they had set up, got our got our tickets. They checked us, made sure we were... I mean, what that meant. We were standing up, and we...
Two eyes on our head, I think. And, like, you know, and they were like, come back tomorrow. Be here at this time. So we were up in the city. I mean, it's, like, four hours to get in the city, get the tickets, and get back out again.
Then we went home, went to bed, got up super early in the morning, and then went back and spent the whole day there. Oh my god. I'm gonna tell you the story. Uh-oh, Kelly. Here we go.
So we get there, and if anybody's seen private parts Mhmm. It's It's
been a minute, but,
you know ACDC is playing at an event that Howard's, like, I don't know, ceeing, and then his wife goes into labor there. And that's how they get from that scene to, like, the hospital scene or whatever.
Yep.
And so you're there all day while they're, like, you know, filming things. People are talking. You can't even hear what's being said on stage, and then all of a sudden ACDC starts to play, then they stop, and they start... It's over and over again. And this park is full of people.
Right?
Yeah.
And at one point towards the end, Gary comes out. Gary, I guess, would be Howard's producer. And he says, hey, everybody. You know, for this for this take, we just want to invite any women who'd like to, you know, unburden themselves of their tops to do so. And I think, oh my god.
What a great day. We've had such fun, and now I'm gonna see boobs. Like like like, what a what a lovely nightcap to this this this event. You know what I mean? And I'm, like, looking around thinking, like, I wonder who's gonna do this.
And when I turn, my wife is taking her bra off under her shirt. And I'm like, woah. Wait a minute. You're not doing this, are you? And she goes, I'm gonna get up on your shoulders.
And I was like, what's happening now? Because not her vibe, not a thing in a million... If you would have told me right then and there that the devil was gonna pop out of the ground and kill me or Kelly was gonna take her bra off, I would've went, oh my god. The devil's coming. Okay?
Like, I mean, I... There... I had no way to know this.
Yeah.
She's like, I'm gonna do this.
Gosh.
And I'm like, okay. Like, where are you at now? Like, we're just... Like, we're not married yet. Like, I mean, I'm not in charge of her.
I'm like, oh, okay. So she gets up on my shoulders, and ACDC's playing, and the cameras are panning around. And Kelly grabs her shirt and, like, whips it up over, like, your head. You know what I mean? And you all don't know my wife, but my wife's got substantial boobs.
Okay? And so and so I'm like, what's... Like, I could see people on the stage that were like, oh my god. Like, thank you. Like, you you know what I mean?
Well, this this is also kind of a humble brag for me I'm seeing now. But, like, but I didn't mean it that way. And so, she's she's told people, by the way. Is not a secret.
Good for her.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, anyway, like... So now you're, like...
You're... You're just, like, the whole time after you do it. Like, once you do it and it's over, you're like, oh, and then you realize, oh, this could be in a movie. Like, in a major motion picture in, like, like, you know, like... And you're like, oh, I probably have done...
I probably shouldn't have done that. So by the grace of god, in in... For reasons I don't understand but very much appreciate, as the camera pans around in the movie and you see my wife, as she's pulling up her shirt, it cuts away to another view. No. Yeah.
You don't really, like
Wow.
You don't really see it. And and, like... So she got the experience of doing it without the necessity of being, you know, on camera without her shirt on.
Okay.
Anyway, we
had I'm happy for that for you for right now since you just told that story.
Yeah. Also, my wife's got, like, a, like, a real adult job now and everything. And so... And... But but, nevertheless, like, I don't know.
We were... Listen. I married that... I tricked that girl into marrying me. She was, like, 21 or 22 when we got married.
Like, I mean, honestly, she shouldn't have legally been able to buy a car. Like, I knew her back then, but, you know, whatever. And so, anyway, we had been extras in the private parts. And then Kevin got online and was like, hey. I need extras for a crowd scene for Jersey Girl.
And it's a one day thing, and you just... You know, it was like, I don't know, an hour and a half from our house by car. She was like, whatever. So she took a day off from work, and we drove down. And the the day ends, and they say, everyone in this room, we need you back again tomorrow.
Yeah.
But we're like, no. You... This was one day. And and Kelly's like, I took a day off from work for this. Like, I have, like, a real job in the city.
Like, my wife had, like, a real, like, job at that point. You know? And she's like, well, I'll take off one more day. She takes off another day. And on the second day, they get done, they go, listen.
You guys are up front. We really need you to come back tomorrow. Oh, no. We spent five days
What?
In the auditorium of a middle school in, like, South Jersey. But in those five days, we got to meet... Ready?
Oh my.
Ben Affleck. Yep. Oh my gosh. We got to meet George Carlin.
What?
I had a long conversation with the DP of the movie who is, like, an incredibly... Like, I think Milos Forman or something. Like like, some incredibly, like, famous, like... I have to look to to find out who it was at this point. A really great conversation with him.
We met... Oh my god. Who else was there? I'm I'm gonna go through the list because
Liv Tyler?
Yes. Liv Tyler, we met. We met the guy who's, like, in office space that everybody loves, who's in all kinds of stuff that people like. God. What is his name?
Oh, Steven Root.
Oh, yep. Yep.
Mike Starr was there. We met so many famous people. Like, it was it was insane.
That's awesome.
Yeah. It was a great week, like, once it was over. But while it was happening, she's like, I'm gonna get fired from my job. And, like... And no kidding.
At some point, we thought she is going to get fired from her job. Yeah. But we persisted. She missed a week of work.
Oh my gosh.
It was the worst miss... Like, she was so mad at me. And, like... But at this... And meanwhile, for those of you with anxiety, it didn't matter at all.
It was fine. Okay.
So Yeah.
Like... Yeah. Absolutely fine. Did not matter at all. Nobody got in trouble.
It didn't matter. We had a great time. Oh, the cinematographer, Wilmos Sigmund. He was just, like, really... Like, he had shot a bunch of cool movies.
Yeah. And so, like, he got to talk to him, about all the movies he... He's... He shot close encounters of the third kind being one of them, the deer hunter, like, like, continuing... I...
I'm I'm on his page now. Like, he shot a lot of really great movies, like, things that were just, like, you know, iconic. Anyway, like, it was a... You know, we got to see Kevin and Scott, like, do all this stuff. But more importantly, my wife and I are literally front and center in a lot of those cutaways in that scene.
So if you watch
I have to go watch.
If you watch Jersey girl, we are clapping in the front.
That is so cool. Yeah. Your life is so cool.
It's not, really. But, like, I've just... It really isn't. I just... Periodically, I see something cool.
I'm like, oh, I'm gonna go do that now.
You just shared, like, three epic things.
Did I? Alright. Yeah. I won't tell you about the time I flew to Albany with Stuttering John on a private airplane, though.
My gosh.
But how does these how do these things happen? You just gotta be open to stuff. Like, I... I'm not a person who's, like, living around, like, like, fantastic things that are happening all the time. You know what I mean?
Like, I just... I see an opportunity, and I just go, oh, that's an interesting thing. We should try to do that.
That's cool.
Yeah. Alright.
That's cool. That's not gonna happen. Lesson for the day. Plan plan less.
Yeah. I'm gonna What are you doing? Like, you're... I mean, how's it going, all these plans? You know what I mean?
Well, not meeting famous people. Yeah.
It's awesome. Anyway, that's... It's been a long time now. And most people listening to this who are under a certain age are like, I don't know who Kevin Smith is. I mean, like, Jason Lee.
Like, yeah, man. Like, my name is Earl? Like, come on. You know my
name is
Earl. Yeah. Yeah. And if you're older and a hippie now, Jason's just a guy on Instagram taking pictures with, like, a Polaroid camera, like, selling books
or something like that.
Yeah. I mean, I just had so many really cool experiences from That is cool. Not caring and just doing stuff. Yeah. You know?
So, anyway
Alright. I get it.
Alright. That's enough. We're done. Oh, your kid, like, you know, diabetes. If...
You know, whatever. We didn't really get back to that, but, you know, I assume she's okay.
Six Point Three1:42:03
Whatever. She's good. She's great. Yes. No.
She is good. She's... Last time we were at the doctor, she had a a a one c of 6.3.
Oh, awesome.
Yeah. Oh, well,
let's take a half a second since it's gone so long. Yeah. Podcast helpful for you?
Oh, yes. Yes.
Oh.
Yeah. How did I not say that at the beginning? So of the community that we came into, I mean, I heard from so many people just right out the gate, including one of the moms, of one of the girls on swim team with diabetes, my best friend, and then some other people as well had just said, you know, right away, check out the Juice Box podcast and the Facebook page because it's super helpful. My best friend actually said, like, you know, take take a few days because she knew that she was... That I was bound to, like, jump into things to just take it head on.
But she's like, you know, read the stuff you're gonna read from the doctor and... You know? But when you're ready, jump in because it's a super helpful
Oh, I'm glad. Resource. Did you find it overwhelming at first? I just got a note from somebody the other day. It's like, looked.
I can't... I don't know where to start.
I did only because of my own, like, how can I absorb everything so quickly?
Okay.
But then I found... It must have been... I think there was a post that, like, kinda said, like, we're gonna hit it. You know, start here
Yeah.
When I looked back into into post.
So Okay.
That's awesome. But, of course, I wanted to be like, how can I do the very, you know, best and right things right away? So for me, it was more just like, how can I get it all in my head?
It's personality driven for you. You were always gonna, like, put that kind of effort into something.
Absolutely. Yeah.
So that's the thing.
Medicated, and Not Cheating1:43:46
I should also say... So back to me saying I'm... I manage well with diabetes. I'm also medicated, so let's let's give a nod to that. Or not diabetes, with anxiety.
I'm not medicated for diabetes.
What are you using? What what... What's working for you?
I'm on a fun mix right now that is Zoloft and Wellbutrin combo. Apparently, call it Welloff.
Well... Oh, that's... People are lovely sometimes when they come up with things. Yeah. Wait.
So depression?
In, yes. And I and, I know. Hard to believe. Right? Because I'm just
Were you before, or did the diabetes push you there?
Before. Before. Before. Yeah.
Okay.
No. This is all. And, ugh. Yeah. Yeah.
I know. I don't even tell you this. But, you know, in Minnesota, it's also super dark for a ton of time, and there's the seasonal aspect really gets to people too,
which... Yeah. I told you about my wife's boobs. You can tell me about your seasonal affective disorder.
I was just saying Fair. It would be, like, you know, more of a case that I need to leave. But
So you, it's a little worse in the wintertime?
It is. Yep. Yep.
Okay. And how does it... Without the medication, how does it present? Like, how do you feel?
I'd say just like a constant dread.
Okay. That's Just that's fairly terrible. But we constantly impending doom. Before your mom passed, did you feel this way?
I think it picked up probably around then, but definitely, like, sinking back as, a kid, on, like, the anxiety side, I definitely had some anxiety then. But on the depression, I'd say more. So
Listen. Not that not impending not that impending doom doesn't paint a picture, but, like, what does that mean? Like, you get up in the morning, does it feel like, why am I bothering?
Or Oh, yeah. No. So not like that. That's it. Yeah.
That does paint Yeah. That that picture. Or just like... I know. You know, just like you ever felt, like, a heaviness?
Like, ugh. Everything... It's like it's just so much. And not like you don't wanna be around or anything, but I don't know. It's just like a heaviness on your shoulders all the time.
So it's like
You don't wanna end
You know, what am I finding joy in?
You don't wanna end your life, you were about to say, but you didn't say that. Okay. You don't have that feeling.
Yes. No. No. No. No.
No.
But... Yeah. But at the same time, what's the point Right. Everything is just what?
It's another day. Yep.
Really? Okay.
Yeah. That's not how I feel now.
And that's not how you feel now?
That's not how I feel now. No.
Now you feel like
Just normal normal annoyance with everybody. Just kidding.
Scott, I just look at pictures of people being shot in in in timeshare, and I think, why aren't you all running, you freaking idiots? Like... Okay. Well, I think that's a a reasonable level. Your husband noticed a difference?
Yes.
Okay.
Yeah.
Such that he would tell you about it or just that he looks less scared?
Yeah. I think I am. Probably less scared. No. I've told them before.
I mean, like, during times where I've been like, I am. I'm just feeling bummed out. And I think it's tough because, I mean, with a lot of mental health things, like, what people think one would look like if they're, like, depressed or something, you know, it's like, oh, they're shut into a room and won't come out. Not like, oh, there's somebody who's social and... You know?
Yeah. I'm at a children's museum making a thing. I'm like,
yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And I and love laughing with people and every...
Right? Like, it's just a completely... Yeah.
Are you telling me that we don't know what people are going through?
That's exactly.
Yeah. Turns out. It sounds like a thing Oprah would have said.
Turns out.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, I'm glad you're doing it. How long you've been using it?
This has been a couple years now.
Okay. Cool.
So... Yeah.
Listen.
It's good.
Better living through, through science.
Yeah.
Yeah. I'm I'm, like, literally... I I mean, my my life has been saved by, like, you know, by JLPs. So Yes. I I mean, I don't care.
You don't feel like you're cheating anybody by taking your medication?
No. I mean, I'm a big science person. I have a... Went to college. I have a science degree.
I, like, I... And I think that's also where I sometimes struggle with, like, ambiguity or, like... You know, when I say logically what you're saying makes sense. So I don't know why my insides are feeling different. You know?
Because, like, mathematically, this tracks.
I'm I'm just, like, I'm interested. Stun is not the right word. I'm interested that so many people will hear, you took a and you're healthier now, and they go, oh, you're cheating. But That's interesting. Nobody says, oh, you're depressed and you took something and you're not depressed anymore.
Nobody goes, oh, you're cheating. Didn't it? Yeah. When your heart stops pumping correctly and you have to take a pill to bring your blood pressure up a little bit, nobody goes out. You're cheating.
It's interesting. Right. Yeah.
Oh, you got the flu shot.
Oh, what are you? Cheating? You Cheating. Just get the flu like everybody else and see what happens. Let the chips fall where they may.
What do you mean your heart doesn't work as well? Then die.
Yeah.
I... I'm fascinating. Anyway fascinating. Anyone who says that to me... Just so you know...
Just so you're out there, you know, anyone who says that to me personally, I immediately deduct, like, 20% of my respect for you. I think, wow. You're incapable of thinking this through. That's fascinating. So That is fascinating.
Yeah. Yeah. What are you cheating exactly? Like, you know what I mean? Like, Google things.
What do you... Why don't you go get a book and read it? Stop cheating.
Yeah. Stop cheating.
Yeah. Yeah. You. Why don't you... Hey.
Listen. Get in a wagon and go find California. Stop cheating, idiots. I bet you'd all stand there and watch that lady get shot. I'd be halfway across the Hudson River if I saw somebody pull out a gun.
Goodbye. Gotta go. Gotta go. I'm not getting shot. I gotta get out of here.
By the way, god bless Mental health is a serious thing. This poor woman was clearly
Yeah. That's very sad.
Yeah, Struggling. So Yeah. And that... It's a shame that this happened. I'm not saying otherwise.
Also, it's a shame that she stabbed and killed a man. So Right. Yeah. I mean, you stab people, you're probably gonna get shot. Yeah.
I just wanna say. Yep. Yeah. All things said. All things all things like that are gonna happen for sure.
The... What do you do when you have the brothers and you have that feeling? Do you go to them and say, hey. You guys feel like this too? Do you...
You're doing anything, or do you not talk about it?
Oh, we talk about... We're we're actually, we... All three of us have, some mental health journeys of similar, anxiety Mhmm. As well. So...
Yeah. I mean, that's nice. We can bounce off and and just know if there is a period of time where, like, man, this is just hitting me hitting me hard, or, you know, my doctor recommended going on this. Have you tried that?
Give this a whirl. You you watch the kids together? Like, are you looking for it in your kids?
I am pretty hyper looking at it for my kids. Yeah.
But then what do you do, though? Like, because, Brie, like Yeah. So you you have the experience of your lifetime, and you know and you know all the time you struggled and then what helped. But I guarantee you that if I said be proactive about it, get ahead of it, you'd think, well, I don't wanna give them medication if they don't need it.
Oh, right.
Yeah.
Right. If they don't need it. I mean, I think if it's it's acknowledging, you know, if there is, you know, things that just talking through. But I'd say if it if it got to the point where I think it was... Oh my gosh.
I can't come up with a word for it, like inhibiting their day or, you know, like preventing them from doing something or their quality of life. I would I would encourage therapy. I mean, that's not something I started until a couple years ago, and I never really thought it would help. I'm like, what am I just gonna talk to somebody, and then I'm gonna... You know, that's gonna help.
But it does. It helps process some things. It helps name things. Helps validate things. And I think sometimes there's a lot, it's helpful to have it not be, you know, somebody super close to you as well.
It's... It helps for somebody to say something to you who's not super close to you?
Yeah. Or just voicing or, like, a soundboard. And I was thinking, like, with the kids, I would say if they needed it, sometimes not talking to a parent is great, turns out.
Well, yeah. I mean, you gave her diabetes by testing her blood sugar. I remember the story. Yeah. Yeah.
Well, yeah, I mean, it's it's it's right up there with... You know, if if your if your son or daughter is pitching, you... You're not the one that visits the mound to tell them that they... That they're, not throwing strikes. You you send somebody else you send somebody else out or that turns into, like, a a screaming match.
Every time my son goes up to pitch.
You're like?
I'm like, I can't. Yeah.
See, you know, it's funny when people would say, aren't you nervous when your son pitches? I go, no. And not because I thought he was great, just because I was like, this... None of this matters. Do you not know none of this matters?
Totally. Yeah. Again, logically, also what I say.
This... None of this matters. I I always think it's interesting that of the... Literally, like, dozens and dozens and maybe hundreds of kids that my son played baseball with from the time he was three years old till the time he graduated from high school. Most of those people, if you would have talked to them at some point along the line, would have said to you, oh, my kid's gonna play in college.
And Really?
No. Oh, no. Everybody at some point or another believes it's happening. Right? And there's kids that some of them had the opportunity to or the skills, but it didn't work out or whatever.
I would say of the maybe four, five, six kids that, like, of those hundreds, you know, that we knew really close, and then maybe another another 20 that, you know, we, you know, didn't know well, but, like, I, you know, like, I I know the kid went off and played here or there or whatever.
Yep.
You never in a million years, based on my attitude, would have thought my son would have been one of the kids because I didn't do any of the things that people were saying. Yeah. Like, they were like, this is so... I remember somebody saying one time, this is really important, and I went, no. It's not.
Yeah.
This this isn't important at all. I was like, this is practice. You're practicing right now. Like
It's youth sports.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
This is
this is meaningless. Like, you're trying to stay in it long enough to see if you're actually a good dis... Like, choice once it's time to make the choice. Yeah. And they had it in their head that, like, winning when they were nine or 12 or 15 or whatever was gonna make or break it.
My son sucked. Like, not sucked. He was skilled, but he wasn't
Yeah.
He wasn't producing all the time like the bigger kids. But I was always like, well, that's just because they're bigger. Like, his his skill when he gets bigger will balance out, and then that's exactly what happened.
Yeah. Yep.
That's all. Like, you you know, like, it's... Sometimes you just have to have the courage to trust that what you know is gonna happen is gonna happen.
Right.
Maybe maybe you guys can see where some of the podcast comes from now. But, like, you know, like... So, anyway, those people, they... And they beat their kids up on the way, like, emotionally and physically. And kids are having surgeries and
Oh my gosh.
Screaming and yelling and crying, and it just It's
so sad.
Yeah. It's terrible. But, anyway, what's gonna BLB? I think there's a song that starts out Yeah. Yeah.
That's all. Alright. Listen. You and I... I'm not even gonna make this two parts.
I'm just leaving this all together. I love this. Your your episode's gonna be two hours long.
It's good.
It is.
You should go back and just title it word vomit because I feel like that's what I did.
No. I talked way too much in this way. I'm gonna... I will totally get yelled at online for this. Have you not seen the reviews?
He... People say oh, it it... There's a great review of the guy. The woman's just like, he talks too much. He he...
Have you never... I made a song out of it. Have you never heard this?
Oh, the song. No.
I did just...
Yes. The... You put it to the... Yeah.
That was hilarious. Yeah. Broadway. But, like, at at one point in in her review... By the way, I just assume it's a her.
I could be wrong, but it Oh, I I think I know. And so, it's... He talks too much. He talks too much. And then there's this line in it about, like, he he...
You say something, and then he tells a story about himself or something like that. And I thought, oh, I I definitely do that. But, like, is that bad? It's a podcast.
I don't think so. Yeah. I don't think so.
What do you think people think podcasts are?
Right. I mean, that is...
Yeah. Don't know. This is you and I talking on the phone, and they're listening.
Right.
Yeah. Yeah. I I... A podcast is not... Like, I don't have you...
Like, you're not a you know what I mean? Like, it's not it's not like I've have on the leader of the World Bank, and I'm like, explain world economy to me, and I just shut up while you talk. Like Right. That's not a podcast. That's me recording what you know about the world's economy.
This is a conversation. I mean, I was making words up. Yeah.
I... Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I remember back when you were trying to describe the passing of your father Yeah.
Two hours ago.
Two hours ago, and he's diagonal.
He's still dead. Yeah. Yeah. I'm so sorry about your mom. I...
It must have been terrible. I mean, you you... You're lovely to share that and and talk about... I was looking at a photo of my mom, while you were telling your story about hers. I will tell everybody the thing I've decided to do my mom is the photo I have up is her...
It's her senior portrait from high school. Aw. Because I just feel like it's before I knew her, so I can look at it without getting too sad. Yeah. It, like, reflects her, like, when she was at the beginning of her life, and she had, like, nothing but, like, you know, time and opportunity.
I love that. I love that. Yeah.
Absolutely. I don't like to see her when she was sick too much. Plus my phone my phone is great at putting up pictures of my mom while she was struggling. It's Yeah. It's fantastic.
It's like, remember this? And I'm like, I I do remember chemotherapy. Thank you.
Yeah. Exactly.
Yeah. Awesome. How did this happen? Why is that the photo you chose? Yeah.
Yes. Thank you. So Let's put it in a collage. Great. Thank you.
Exactly. It's also... It's before it's before life hit her. It's before my dad was bad or... Like, you know what I mean?
Like Yep. I die... If I'm gonna think about her, I I wanna think about her like that. So
I love that. I actually, somebody from, that I'm friends with on Facebook that was friends with my mom growing up will send me photos occasionally when she'll see them, and she'll be like, oh, here's your mom and I in high school. You know? Like... And I'm just like, wow.
It's so lovely, right, to see that and be like... Yeah.
Yeah. That's what I do. Life. I say hi to her sometimes, like, under my breath, like, you know, or, like, if something goes really well one day. The other thing that I've I've started doing is that my mom didn't drive, so she couldn't come to my house as much as she wanted.
And and I have a lot of, like, flowers planted around my house. So, like, as they bloom, I would take pictures and send my mom the flowers.
Aw.
And, obviously, I can't do that anymore because she died and left me here. She abandoned me. And and I... So I send them to my brothers instead. I and I text them, and I was like, here's the picture of this flower that mom would've gotten today.
Yep.
You know? And then I just... I... They never answer me back about the flowers. We talk about other stuff back and forth, usually not about the flowers.
So Yeah. Anyway
I'm sure they
I don't know. They might think I'm an idiot. They might be like, I've seen these lilies last year. I'm like, I know, but they came back. You don't wanna see them again?
Did you expect them next year?
Yeah. That's all. Trust me. We're we're gonna go to a... My my brothers and I are going to a concert together in a few months.
I think we, like, don't do usually, and everybody is, like, super excited. So
Aw. Yeah. That's fun.
Yeah. We're gonna head out to Vegas and see... I'm... We're gonna see Metallica in the sphere.
Oh, no way.
That's awesome. Yeah. It's gonna be pretty cool.
I bet you're gonna meet somebody famous again too.
Well, listen. We might be getting to the point where maybe somebody will meet me and think, oh, I met somebody famous.
Oh, true.
Yeah. Full circle event.
Full circle. You are the famous person.
I just... I'm really only famous in diabetes events. My fame doesn't translate outside of them. So
Well, I think that's something.
Once or twice on a bus. You know what I mean? But
Oh, that's cool.
Alright. Hold on a second. I really do genuinely appreciate you doing this with me. I'm not sure what happened today. I think it's the knowledge that I'm not recording for a few days.
It's got me chatty. So thank you. I really do appreciate this.
And you got me after being off of work for a few days.
So Oh, you're relaxed and rested?
Yeah.
Awesome. Did you take the day off for this, or are you supposed to be working?
I'm going I'm going in.
Alright. Well, I apologize to your employer. Although, you know... Shut up. How many people are trying to work in your children's museum?
Leave her alone. She's doing a great job. Right, Brooke?
I love my job. Yeah. You're great.
Give her a raise too. By the way, you've said nothing bad about your employer all. But still, I think you deserve maybe 10%.
Well, thank you.
No. You're very welcome. Hold on a second for me. Today's show was sponsored by Tandem Diabetes Care, the Eversense three sixty five, and Touched by Type one, who you can learn more about on Facebook, Instagram, and at touchedbytype1.org. Head now to tandemdiabetes.com/juicebox and check out today's sponsor, Tandem Diabetes Care.
I think you're gonna find exactly what you're looking for at that link, including a way to sign up and get started with the Tandem Mobi system. I'd like to thank the Eversense three sixty five for sponsoring this episode of the juice box podcast. And remind you, if you want the only sensor that gets inserted once a year and not every fourteen days, you want the Eversense CGM. Eversensecgm.com/juicebox. One year, one CGM.
If you or a loved one is newly diagnosed with type one diabetes and you're seeking a clear practical perspective, check out the bold beginnings series on the juice box podcast. It's hosted by myself and Jenny Smith, an experienced diabetes educator with over thirty five years of personal insight into type one. Our series cuts through the medical jargon and delivers straightforward answers to your most pressing questions. You'll gain insight from real patients and caregivers and find practical advice to help you confidently navigate life with type one. You can start your journey informed and empowered with the juice box podcast.
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#1989 Total Eclipse of the Heart
Total Eclipse of the Heart
Amalie's son was diagnosed the day of the eclipse. She asked the doctor if they could watch it first. Then he told her he'd be dead in a month.
Jump to a moment
- Her son Daniel was diagnosed at twelve, on the day of the solar eclipse, in the path of totality. The pediatrician's urine test came back and they were told to go straight to Children's. She asked whether they could see the eclipse first, and the doctor said yes. They watched it, then drove to the hospital, where his blood sugar came back in the 800s. He was not in DKA. They were discharged that night.
- The warning signs read as nothing at the time. He had lost ten pounds over a winter and two people told her kids plump up and sprout up. On a nine-hour drive he drained a 20-ounce bottle before they crossed the bridge, and they made him pee in McDonald's cups rather than stop. It only landed when he started crying on a walking tour in St. Augustine because he was so thirsty — she had never seen anyone cry about being thirsty.
- The line that reframes the whole episode comes on day one of diabetes education. Staff give Daniel the standard speech — this doesn't limit you, you can do anything you want. He answers, "Well, I can't go in the navy." Amalie is a fourth-generation naval officer, her husband served, her daughter is tracking to the Naval Academy, and the family line runs to the 1800s. Her reaction was to look around the room and think: he already knows.
- He keeps naming his own mortality casually. In Costco she suggested skipping a doomsday prep bucket and he said, "I'll probably be dead within a month or two, so we don't need one." At pump changes he would say this is what keeps me alive for the next couple of days. She is clear it isn't depression — it is matter-of-fact, and it started almost immediately. Scott's read is that the feeling is identical whether a person jokes about it or never says it out loud.
- Her actual agenda was money, and it is a specific plan rather than a worry. She is a federal employee with good coverage and still finds the system deliberately opaque — prior authorizations, tier exemption forms, a prescription that costs $250 for thirty days but $80 for ninety. What she wants is a trust, so that Daniel is not choosing a career by its benefits package at twenty-two or absorbing a few hundred dollars a quarter out of a first paycheck the day he ages off her plan at twenty-six.
- Bold Beginnings Series — The newly diagnosed questions answered plainly — for anyone leaving the hospital the way Amalie did
- Juicebox Podcast Pro Tip Series — Management fundamentals with Jenny Smith, episodes 1000–1025
- Juice Cruise — The trip Amalie is trying to talk her fifteen-year-old into — payments available
- Dexcom G7 — Now in ten and fifteen day wear, with a twelve hour grace period and up to ten followers
- Omnipod 5 — Tubeless automated delivery, updated with a new 100 mg/dL target option — free starter kit at the link
- T1D Exchange Registry — Eighteen and over, type 1 or caregiver, US resident
Every word of the conversation
Welcome and Sponsors0:03
Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Juice Box podcast. On today's episode of the podcast, there will be nothing that you should take as advice, medical or otherwise. So please, please consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan or becoming bold with insulin. If you're looking for carb counts for your favorite Halloween treats, look no further than the front page at juiceboxpodcast.com. And while you're there, vote for your favorite candy.
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The episode that you're about to enjoy was brought to you today by Dexcom and the Dexcom g seven, the same CGM that my daughter wears. You can learn more and get started today with my link, dexcom.com/juicebox. And this little slice of podcasting perfection is also brought to you today by the Omnipod five. The Omnipod five is a tube free automated insulin delivery system that has been shown to significantly improve a one c and time and range for people with type one diabetes when they've switched from daily injections. You can learn more and get started today at my link omnipod.com/juicebox.
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Meet Amalie2:02
Hi. My name is Amelie. I have a son, Daniel, who was diagnosed with type one diabetes in April 2024.
Amelie, you have one of those names that when it's spelled and I look at it, I think to myself, I'll just have her say her name, and that way, I won't have to wonder. But then once you said it, I thought, oh, yeah. Well, how else would you say that? Like, does that happen in your life a lot? Do people...
Yes. My name is mispronounced all the time. I get a lot of Amalia, Amelia. So I always say, my name is Amelie, like a homily just without the h.
Just get everybody going. And, you know, it's funny. Now that you said Amelia, I can see I can see how my brain would fill that in incorrectly. But at the same time, that's not at all how your name is spelled. And I'm now realizing I don't know how to spell Amelia.
Switch the e and the a.
Oh, you're... Switch... Oh, we... Oh, is that it? Yeah.
Oh, no kidding. What's your mom's name?
Amelie is the French name for Emily, and my father, was from New Orleans. So my maiden name is actually very French. So...
I see. I see. I met you... Did did your did your... Does your first name, like, really, like, rhythmically go with your maiden name?
You don't have to say it, but is
it just... Well, I'll just say it. It's Amelie Chardonnay. So... Yes.
It does. Yeah. What what... What's the... Oh, yeah.
Look what you married. Okay. That must have been that must have been disappointing for a couple of years.
Which is actually surprising because when I married my husband, I was like, oh, this is so easy. But it's really not because my last name starts with an f, which is often, people confuse it with, a v. Like, my grandmother thought for four years that my last name started with a v, and I showed her my driver's license. I was like, no. It actually starts with an f.
I don't know how long we were married when Kelly came home one day and just said, are people gonna call me Brenner forever? And I went, probably? I was like... She's like, that's not the name. I'm like, I don't think it matters.
So Yes. Anyway, thank you for indulging me with that, Amelie. I am Mhmm. And also a little behind this... The scenes.
I did this great conversation yesterday with this university student from Canada. I'll just say it here because they'll probably line up in the app... In the, you know, in the podcast somewhere. She said her name at the very beginning, and it was different. And I didn't clock it correctly, and then I spent ninety minutes talking around her name because I didn't wanna say it incorrectly again.
And I felt bad because I had a really nice connection with her, and I wanted to address her by her name a couple of times. I found myself just not doing So, anyway... Alright. Daniel. Right?
Yes. Dan. Okay. I see you went the other way on the names.
Did. We have a Peter, Anna, and Daniel, so they're easy.
Is this what... Is this like if they raise you as a democrat, you become a republican? If they raise you as a republican, you become a democrat? Like, they give you I
don't know.
They give you omelet, you go Dan. Okay. So how old was he when he was diagnosed?
He was 12.
And that's just a couple years ago?
Yes. He's 14 now, about to be 15.
The other kids have any stuff going on?
No. Not at all.
Any autoimmune on the husband's side, on your side?
So I was actually texting with my sister-in-law this morning because I was... I knew that you were gonna ask this question. And I... And his sister had some sort of thyroid issue Mhmm. Where she had her thyroid shrunk, but I don't know what exactly it is.
He's like, I don't know if it was thyroid cancer or the beginnings of cancer or just... So she had that shrunk, so she has to take some pill every day. But that's really it. There's no type one diabetes in our family. There's no type two diabetes.
Four Generations in the Navy6:01
I was a fourth generation naval officer. So, you know, in the military, there's a lot of, you know, no... You can't really have any medical issues and things like that. My husband was in the navy. So we're both, like, you know, fairly healthy.
Mhmm. My father's sister was in a car accident when she was 16, and she developed rheumatoid arthritis. But that, I guess, is... You know, was triggered from breaking her back in the car accident, and she eventually passed away in her mid forties.
I'm sorry. She she eventually passed away from what in her mid forties?
Rheumatoid arthritis.
Really? My
god. This was in the eighties. So she was fairly bedridden. You know?
God. That's crazy. Hey. You know, iSneaki iSneaki might be responsible for families talking about their health, but more than I think I am. I I I think I get a lot of people to go talk to their extended families about their health.
Yeah. Yeah.
Oh, look at me. Just doing good in the world. Okay. That's all I heard
from you. Husband's parents are, like, you know, approaching their nineties. Very help... Like, healthy, live independently, can still drive, like, mentally on top of stuff. His mom is, you know, maybe a little a little cognitive, you know, deterioration, but, I mean, they're doing great.
My mom is 77 and in Portugal right now on, like, a fifteen day trip with a bunch of people. My father sadly passed away from ALS, but that was service related in the Navy. So...
He was exposed to something?
Well, they don't know. But it is... When you go through the VA disability stuff, it's an automatic considered service related. So an interesting fact about ALS is, I don't know if, like, all the diagnosed cases... I...
My percentages are probably off because I haven't said this in a while. It's, like, fifty percent or sixty percent are military. And then of that 60%, like, 80% are navy. So there must be something on the ships.
Oh, that's crazy. Isn't that interesting? My gosh. Well, well, thank you for doing that and, you know, risking your ALS and everything. We we...
Is that, like, a thing that, like, you know, are them... Are midshipmen walking around going, are we gonna get ALS, or is it not a thing you think about while you're serving?
I don't think you think about it because you're young and healthy and...
Feels like how could this possibly... Yeah. I gotcha. Yeah. Were you on a...
What kind of ship did you serve on?
My first ship was a sprint class destroyer. So, you know, a smaller ship, about 300 people. And my second ship was a big deck amphib. So it's like a... Like an aircraft carrier, but it's amphibious, so it carries marines.
So that's about 3,000 people, you know, fully loaded.
And you hate going on cruises or you like them? The Dexcom g seven is sponsoring this episode of the Juice Box podcast, and it now comes in ten and fifteen day wear times, so you can go two weeks on one sensor. That's pretty great. It also has a twelve hour grace period, so you can swap your sensor when it's convenient for you. All of that on top of it being small, accurate, incredibly wearable, and light.
These things, in my opinion, make the Dexcom g seven a no brainer. The Dexcom g seven comes with way more than just this. Up to 10 people can follow you. You can use it with type one, type two, or gestational diabetes. It's covered by all sorts of insurances, and this might be the best part.
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Actually, I haven't been on one since I went with the Navy.
You've never you've never been on the... You're like, that's enough of this? Is it like when I stopped working at a bakery, I was like, okay. I'm not gonna have a cinnamon again. Is that, like, different?
I would go on one. My husband is not interested on going one, and I've actually been talking to Daniel about the juice box cruise. And I was like, well, is this something you'd be interested in? And he's like, yeah. Maybe.
You know,
but he's 14, 15 years old.
So Yeah. We had...
Going on a cruise with your mom isn't, like, high on his list of things to do.
We had a we had a few kids his age on the last one. I think one of them's coming on soon as a guest. I would know if I wasn't running this entire thing by myself. I actually sat here this morning and I thought for the first time, do I need an assistant? Because I feel like I'm I feel like I'm drowning.
So... You probably do.
Yeah. I was like, jeez. Anyway, well, I hope I hope I see you guys there. And by the way, if anybody wants to come, and this was not planned at all, but juiceboxpodcast.com/juicecruise. Come with us, I think, July next year?
End of June? Yeah. Yeah. July. Can't remember when the hell we're doing it.
It's it's, like, seven months from now. I'm not I'm not on top of it yet, but you should be because you can make payments, and then it's easier. I'm
a bit I'm talking to them. I'm trying to...
You know, it takes a while
to convince them to do things you want them to do.
So... Well, I'm just laughing because I'm a terrible salesperson. And and I'm just I'm just like, oh, gosh. It's embarrassing. Okay.
A Nine-Hour Drive, and a Water Bottle12:31
So how is how is Daniel diagnosed? Does it come on very quickly? Does it sneak up on you?
I guess it came on quickly for us. I'll just tell you a quick short version of the story.
Yeah.
We were, it was... He was 12, and we started noticing he was losing... I mean, it's all the tip... It's a very typical story. I was listening to the double pancreas episode or something.
I was like, oh my gosh. This is, like, just like our story. But was losing weight. I take him to the pediatrician. They say, no.
This is, like, totally normal. Like, you know, he's probably growing. So, you know, they kinda plump out and then sprout up and then plump out and sprout up. So I was like, okay. Then I remember one of my best friends is a nurse.
I was like, do you think I should be worried? I think Daniel's lost, like, 10 pounds in the past two or three months. And she's like, no. Same thing. You know?
Plump up, sprout up, plump up, sprout up. And I was like, okay. You know, when your children get to a certain age, you don't see them naked anymore, like, because you're not putting them in bathtubs. You know, you're not helping them in the toilet. So this was over the winter.
And then in April, we went on a spring break trip, and we are driving. We are, you know, we are going to see my in laws, and then we were gonna go to this resort in Orlando, and then we had a wedding at the end. And in between that, my husband and our oldest son were going up to the Naval Academy for a funeral. So it's like everybody was going everywhere. We live in Cincinnati, Ohio, and we were leaving, which is, like, forty five minutes from Kentucky.
So we, you know, get in the car. Everybody's got water bottles, and they're those Gatorades. So they're, like, 20 ounce water bottles. And before we get over the bridge, you know, on this nine hour trip, he had drank his entire water bottle and was saying how thirsty he was. And, of course, being the good parents, we are really, you cannot drink all that water.
Like, run a nine hour trip.
Shut up. Like, we just got in the car.
It was. We just got in the car. And then, of course, he drank all this water. He's like, well, now I have to go to the bathroom. I was like, dude, we cannot stop.
Like, like, we're hardly into this trip. So we stop. My husband, like, loves McDonald's. So we stop at a McDonald's, and he gets those giant Cokes, Sean does, to, you know, drink and then chew the ice, which is also... Anyway, as the trip goes on, Daniel is drinking a lot of water, and then we're making him pee in these McDonald's cups so we don't have to stop on the trip.
So we thought that that was strange. Then he was fine at my in laws. When we were at the resort, I noticed he started getting up a lot to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and then he was starving. But he's, you know, like, newly 12 years old, so he's, you know, not on the kids menu anymore, and he wants, like, a regular hamburger. But it's also you're on vacation, so you're eating, like, lots of candy and eating crappy food and drinking sodas and all this stuff.
Long story short, when it really clicked with me, Sean and our older son had gone... Had left for the funeral. And I took the two younger kids, the 14 and 12 year old, to Saint Augustine, Florida. So it's hot, but it's not Mhmm. Miserable.
He Started Crying Because He Was Thirsty16:05
It's still April. And we were on this tour of the city, and we had gotten off this bus. And we were walking in Saint Augustine, and he started crying. And he said, I am so thirsty. He was crying.
Yeah. And in in your life, have you ever seen anybody cry over being thirsty? You know what I mean? Like, what a... It's an aggressive reaction to that.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yes. And I was like, this is so weird. And so I pulled out my phone, and I googled, like, weight loss, really hungry. You know? It's like type one diabetes.
I was like, what? So I I remember I called my sister. My sister and I are very close, so I called her first. I was like, do you think Daniel might have diabetes? She's like, well, calm down.
She's like, maybe just call the doctor and see.
I was like, do think I need to take
him to the hospital? So I'm going through all this stuff. We eventually decided... I called his pediatrician, and I said, I know you guys don't wanna hear this, but I Googled his symptoms, and I think he has diabetes. And they were like, well, it could be a lot of things.
And at this point, he wasn't... I guess he probably was really sick, but we didn't think he was really sick. Mhmm. And I said, no. Just finish your trip.
Go to your wedding. Because we are going to a Reading in, like, very rural Georgia. So I was concerned about, you know, access to a hospital and stuff.
Oh, I've been in a Savannah hospital. You should have been concerned about that. So does this end in a hospital in Savannah? Because if it does, this story is how your son died. No.
It... Oh, it's not a story of how your son died in a Savannah hospital? Because I thought my daughter was going to. Go ahead. Alright.
Sorry. And whatever hospital, I'm not gonna say the name of the hospital, but I mean, absolute So go ahead.
Yeah. No. So we went to the wedding. At the wedding, he was definitely lethargic, and he's like, my stomach really hurts. Again, we're on...
We're at the tail end of this vacation. So we were just like, we're going home. I set up a pediatrician appointment with him. It's actually the the day of the eclipse. So it's, like, August 9, and he's kind of a science nerd.
Diagnosed on Eclipse Day18:19
So I was... Worked in the morning. His doctor's appointment was, like, 01:00. So we went. They just do the urine test.
And I'm like, yep. He has type one diabetes. I was like, oh my gosh. They're like, you need to go to Children's Hospital right away. And I said to them, I was like, well, the eclipse is at 02:15, and he's really excited because we were in the area of total, like, totality.
You're gonna get to experience it. Yeah.
And I said, he's, like, really been looking forward to... Like, all the schools were out here. You know, it was, like, a big thing.
Mhmm.
You know, people were meeting up, and they said, okay. So we went to the eclipse, and then I went straight down to our children's hospital in Cincinnati, which is fantastic. And Sean was traveling for work in, like, these, you know, big important meetings, so I was not been in touch with him. Yeah. And we were admitted to the ER.
He was... Thank god he wasn't in DKA. So we... I don't... I guess I started to get emotional because I'm still at this point don't really understand what is going on.
Like, I mean, I know that he has... That he's been diagnosed with diabetes, but I don't know that much about it. And then, you know, all these people are running in. They're, like, running all these tests on them, and I'm just sitting there by myself. I've got my two other kids at home, like, not sure.
You know, thankfully, we have a really good community up here. So my neighbor, you know, got my daughter and took her to do nails and stuff. My older son had gone to the movie with a friend. And...
What... When you said......
Were discharged that night.
So... Emily Emily, when you said I started getting emotional though, but I didn't understand what I... So can you talk just a second about what what the emotion was there?
What the Emotion Was20:10
Well, you're in the hospital with your son, and you know that this is a big deal. Like, he has type one diabetes. And I remember when they pricked his, you know, blood sugar, he was, like, in the eight hundreds. And then just with the urgency that the medical staff was attending to him was, like, very overwhelming to me.
It just felt... And and you're... For clarity too, you're a person who is trained and spent time on a floating rocket launcher. Right? So Yeah.
Yeah. And so do you think that you... Like, could you feel any of that? Like, I even love that you called your sister and she said, just calm down. I was like, that's awesome.
I I thought, oh, I should have married into a military family. That would have been good for me. I would have enjoyed it if people would have been just like, calm down, buddy. I'm like, oh, okay. Can I talk to you like that too?
This is awesome. But, I mean, did the... Did it help you? Like, did you find yourself fighting your own urge to be upset, or is there a is there a drive to hold it together for him? Like...
Because you sound a mute... You... You're... You've sounded very measured through the whole conversation, but your voice is broken in the last couple of minutes. I don't know if you're aware of it or if you're hiding it or...
But you've... You're upset now.
I'm aware of it. Yeah. I'm not... I just... Like, when you're reliving that sitting there...
And, of course, you wanna be strong. It's just me and him in there, and he's obviously scared and, you know, getting poked. And they're coming in, and they give you an insulin pen, and they're like, you know, give him an injection. And it's... It was just...
It was very overwhelming. And then the amount of people that were... You could tell it was serious by the way the doctors were reacting. And they were like, you know, we're gonna test them for DKA. You might be admitted.
You might not. And you're like, on your phone, like, what the hell is DKA?
Hello, Google? Like... Yeah. Yeah. I always wonder if people working in, like, emergency rooms or places like that hear these stories when they're told and then think, oh, we don't do the good job of helping people not to feel freaked out.
Because it is... It's... I mean, look, it's tough to... It's not their job to help you not feel freaked out. But at the same time, you hear the same thing over and over again.
I was running around spouting out a bunch of jargon. Like, you could be a little, No. There's there's ways to help. So, is he upset? Is he just out of it enough that he's going with the flow?
He was actually very... I mean, he was very lucid. Like, he wasn't, you know, like... I keep saying he wasn't super sick. I know he was super sick, but he wasn't
Acting it?
You know, like... I mean, he was, like, kind of... I think we caught it early enough that the symptoms were starting to show up, but he wasn't... Like, you know, some of these horrible stories. It's like, you know, I'm bringing my, like, almost comatose child into hospital.
Like, he was he was very alert and aware of what was going on. So...
I just talked to a I just talked to a lady who said she... Like, her 18... I guess, then 18 year old was so, like, aggressive during the the... Out of con... Like, not how their personality is at all.
Like, she said they started considering, like, how they were gonna even be able to get them to the to the physician because the person's like that... Because they were over 18, and they were like, I'm fine. I don't need them. They're just really, like, not acting like themselves at all. So...
Yeah. No. I wouldn't say he was that. I mean, one
thing about Daniel's personality is he's... He is a very easy breezy, chill, like, relaxed person. So he takes things in stride very well. And even... He's been like that his whole life.
I remember when I was pregnant with him, like, I would go to the doctor because it was my third... I was like, I have not felt him move. Like, I was so afraid he had died, like, in utero.
He was chilling even before he was born? Yes. He never moved around, and I was like, are you sure?
Like, this is weird. I'm seven months pregnant. Like, I should be feeling him, like, all the time. And they, you know, they finally gave me a heart rate monitor. Like, listen.
When you're getting freaked out, listen, and you'll be able to hear him. So so I always tell that because that is how he is as a person. He is, like, so relaxed and chill and easy breezy. Some might call it lazy. We choose easy breezy.
So...
Some might say it looks like he's sleeping when he's awake. But... Well...
So he was definitely... He got a little emotional, but I think he was trying to process just as much as me. So...
Yeah. He doesn't know what DKA means either. Mhmm. Wow. Yeah.
That sucks. Okay. So do they... I I... By the way, I love your...
Like, you... I know people know to some degree that I take, like, the tiniest little intake form. It's usually just a couple of sentences. But Mhmm. I was sitting with Arden last night, and she's not been feeling well the last couple of days.
And so we were hanging out together. And I said, hey. I gotta get to bed. I have a recording at 10:00 tomorrow. And then we do the same...
We joke all the time. Like, somebody goes, like, 10:00. These people not understand. You make a podcast. Why so early?
You you know? And and by the way, don't think 10:00 is wrong. But, but we're... And I pulled it up, and I saw your note, and I said, oh, this is new. Like, no one's ever written this in this forum before.
So I'm... It's kind of a bummer, the thing you wanna talk about, but at the same time, I think it's a really interesting conversation. So I wanna hear... I wanna kinda fast forward through the next couple of minutes, like... And...
Because I'd like to get to that conversation. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So just real quickly, they leaves the hospital.
Do they talk to you about CGMs, pumps, insulin pens? Like, what's your understanding of technologies you're leaving? What's your understanding of your goals? How how...
Leaving the Hospital Knowing Nothing26:02
My understanding was, like, nothing. I... We left that night. My husband came home, so I had the conversation with him. So we're like, what the hell?
I was like, so we just took a week off work. Like, you need to clear your schedule for the next couple days because we are going to diabetes school. So when we went into the hospital, we were outpatient. So we were in the hospital during the day, and then we would come home. He left on MDI.
The... They, you know, like to approach it, like, out your carb counting, all of that stuff. And then he went on a pump, I think. He was diagnosed in April. And we went on the Omnipod Dexcom pump in September.
Well, I'm sorry. He went on a c... He went on the Libre CGM. That's... Don't get me started with insurance, but that was a whole another...
Figure out diabetes, then you also need to figure out your health insurance. So he went on the Libre CGM pretty quickly, like, within the week. And then, obviously, we had to switch to Dexcom when he went on the Omnipod.
Don't let the bastards get you down, Amelie. By the way, we already have maybe, I think, the greatest title for an episode ever. I've not said it out loud. I... Oh.
I'm so worried that if I don't say it, it won't somehow get captured. But it's gonna tie into something you've already said and something that I believe you're about to say. It's so good. I'm so excited to tell it to you. Okay.
But I would...... To hear it. Everyone listening already knows it because they saw it on their player. It's a weird world, but I I don't want you to know yet because...
Okay.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So he gets he gets technology. You guys go to diabetes.
I said, I I love that idea of, like, take some days off. We're going to diabetes school. It's like, awesome way to spend our free time. Does does Daniel come with you to that class, or is it just for the parents?
Oh, no. No. He's with us.
He's there. Okay.
Yeah. So we we were inpatient in the hospital for four days, not spending the night. We would, like, show up at 07:00 and leave at five.
Oh, like a proper job. Yeah. Yeah. Mhmm. They give you a break of fifteen...
I think legally, you gotta get a fifteen minute break and a thirty minute lunch. Did you did you get all that?
You do get lunch and all that. I mean, they were feeding him lunch. It's it's like the fire hose, you know, just
Yeah.
Explaining what diabetes is. You know? I mean, he he was a trooper. Like, it it was kind of sad. So I know my topics are mortality, and I don't wanna jump ahead.
But I told you we are we are a family of, you know, navy military people. My brother was in the navy. I was in the navy. My dad was in the navy. My grandfather was in the navy.
My husband's in the navy, you know, all the way back to the eighteen hundreds. And so our our oldest son was not interested in military. Our daughter is tracking to go to the Naval Academy. And then so when Daniel was diagnosed, like, literally, that first day of diabetes camp, they're like, not camp, but school, like, in the hospital. The...
Well, I Can't Go in the Navy29:14
You know, they they prop them up, and they're they're they're saying to him, you know, you you can do anything you want. This doesn't limit you, you know, that whole speech. And he looked at it. He goes, well, I can't go in the navy. I just looked around and got, like, a little teary eyed, and I was like, he already knows.
Yeah. Yeah.
How does he know that? I don't know.
Well, it makes sense. It's funny when I see people argue about it online. Maybe we'll take a left turn here because since your entire family has been fighting for America since before it was America, it sounds like. I see people argue about this online, and I have to tell you, like, I understand, like, from the, like, from the people, like, people can do anything. Like, I get it from that point of view, but it makes sense not to have somebody on man made insulin fighting.
Right?
It's... The the military is not set up to accommodate those types of illnesses, and it's not when you're in America on a base. It's when you're on a ship in the middle of The Gulf and you're stuck out there. You know? I think the Abraham Lincoln was at sea for two hundred and thirty days.
I don't know if you saw this. Like, they're just not set up to accommodate those things.
Well, they were... You're talking about recently in the Strait Of Hormuz?
Mhmm.
Yeah. They... Like, a couple guys threw themselves off the ship in protest. Like, they'd been out there so long. They were...
That's that's a real story. Right? Like, I'm not I'm not making that up yet.
No. This, like, happened this summer, and then it was funny because the the ship was gonna pull into Phuket, Thailand after two hundred and thirty days at sea. And I've... I I mean, Thailand is... We pulled into Thailand after...
It was our first, you know, port stop, and then people go crazy. The drinking, the prostitutes, the... You know, it's just... You know, there's always an outbreak of some sort of STD when you get back on the ship. And I was like, oh, Phuket's got it coming.
Here we come. Here we come. Is that where that place gets its name from? Because everybody... The the ship boards and everybody...
Docks, everybody thinks, oh, Phuket. Let's go. And this I don't know. Oh my god. That's crazy.
Don't know.
Yeah. But your point but your point is is that as as much as you like to think, well, my deployment's gonna be this long and it's gonna be measured. It doesn't always... It probably never goes exactly the way you expect it to. And what if you're out there for that long?
And what if you have a problem? Or... You know, I mean, listen. It's...
And it's just the nature of the work. I mean, you're working twenty hours a day. You're... You know, in... If something happens to the ship and you go into general quarters, you know, where the ship is under distress, you know, you're in a gas mask and stuff for eight to sixteen hours.
Like, I mean, how do you manage, especially something like type one diabetes, but really any health thing?
Anything. Yeah. Well, I mean, I I I... Again, I really do get the intent when people are like, oh, they shouldn't limit people, and I get all that. But, like, I don't know.
It's just... I think when I hear that story, like, I'd... I... Listen. I watch people tell me they can't go to the gym.
Like, I I go to the gym and I get low. I'm like, what about when I need you to run over here and save my life? Like, know what I mean? Like, I I... That's not a good time for you to go, hey, guys.
I'm sorry. I need a gummy. You know? Like, it's or I've... Or I'm, you know, I'm nauseous because my blood sugar's been high because I haven't been able to tend to it or, yeah.
I mean, listen. It all makes sense to me. But I just wanted to see what you thought having, of course Yeah. You know, served apparently as a child. It sounds like you were in the navy when you were four.
I swear it's got nothing to do with this podcast, and I'm not gonna derail this. But I so wanna know what it's like being a woman on one of those ships, especially married and, like, it must be insane. Am I wrong?
No. I was not married when I was on the ship. Oh. It was fine. It was...
I was... Yeah. I mean, I... So I, you know, joined the navy right after college. I was in the navy for seven years.
I got married when I was in the navy, but I was done with my ship stuff. So it was fine. My first ship was, I think, 30% female, and it had an integrated crew. So that, you know, it had female male officers, but it also had female male enlisted folks. And then my second ship was...
I was in the engineering department, which was about 900 people. I was the only female, like, in the leadership role, but it was fine.
You don't feel like a cheeseburger walking through a room of hungry people? I did not. Oh, wow. That's very nice. Look at that.
Good job.
I I was on
Good job, boys.
Interested in... Well, do... I also... I did not, like, you know, date or, you know, mess around with anybody on the ship. So...
Gotcha. Oh. Yeah. I see. Alright.
I just... I don't know. I I know a lot of guys, and I think if... I... I'm just imagining throwing them on a boat for a long time.
And...
Maybe I was I was fairly naive too. So, I mean, maybe I just missed a bunch of stuff. I don't know. Never really felt unsafe or anything.
Would be great to run a documentary back on you and everybody watching hard going, how does she not see all this?
I don't know. Yeah.
That's awesome. Anyway... Okay. So I'm gonna... We'll get back to Daniel a little bit.
But, like, your note just says I'll just read it. It just said children's awareness of mortality and medical trusts. That's all you put. So I am... I'm interested in what makes you, you know, what's happened in your life that makes you wanna talk about people's understanding of the, you know, the limits of their life.
What Happens When He Turns Twenty-Six35:03
I... So Daniel's only been diagnosed for two years. The insurance per... And I'm a federal employee, so I have really good health insurance, you know, through the government. And it's, you know, one of the better plans, you know, fairly low premiums and stuff like that.
I find the insurance so difficult to manage and figure out. And then I have just seen the cost growth over two and a half years. I switched our insurance this year from, like, Blue Cross Blue Shield because they went to that co pay... Insurance co pay versus the insurance deductibles.
Are they called when you... Out of pocket?
Not even... Like, I don't even have that high of out of pocket. It's, like, $350 or something. But, I guess it's the co pay. You know, when you go and it's like, oh, you got antibiotics.
It's $5. Mhmm. You know, now they're going to these formulas where it's like, oh, well, now you're gonna have to pay 30%, not just, like, the set amount, which really scares me because we probably spend a couple $100 every three months. His his prescriptions are filled every three months for the insulin, the CGMs, and the pumps.
Yeah.
And I've read people that stayed with this other insurance. They're spending, like, a thousand bucks every three months
Yeah.
To fill those prescriptions. And what I worry about is, you know, I have a son in college. I know your kids are older and, you know, entering that stage of life. I don't want Daniel to graduate from college, go on his own insurance, and he's already eaten up $300 of his probably minimal, you know Mhmm. Take home pay paying for this stuff.
Yeah. This happens to a lot of people. It certainly does. I mean, the amount of money we spend is insane. Like, you know...
And then you put on top of that the, you know, the glucagon. Yeah. I mean, that's, like, a $175. You know? And, hopefully, you don't have to use it.
So my husband and I have talked, and, I mean, we're fortunate that we're in a financial position, you know, where we're talking about retiring in the next ten years and setting up all that stuff. And it's like, I really wanna set up a trust for him because I don't want him to be financially burdened with this disease. Yeah. And it's, you know, however things go, I... Maybe we'll all be dead in four years, right, with the AI taking over the world.
Yeah. Then won't be worried about it. That'd be awesome. I'm sure the AI will come and get Daniel and the other type ones first. They'll probably farm you guys for something.
I don't know how it's gonna go exactly. You know what I mean? But you'll probably get rounded up in the first wave, I would think, or they put you to work. Who knows exactly? I don't know.
Yeah. I I I I have to tell you, like, it's it's funny because as you're saying this, I think... And you're fairly... Like, I... Listen.
Amelie, listen. I wanna be clear. I'm not a person who runs around calling me or anybody else or even using the word privileged because it feels like it feels like virtue signaling to me to some degree. But,
like Uh-huh.
I still understand that people are at certain levels of ability. Right? Like, some people make more money. Some people have better insurance. Like, even the the numbers you're spouting, people at home are probably like, I have insurance.
I wish that's all I was paying. And, like... So, like, there's levels of out of pocket on this down to people who... It doesn't matter what their out of pocket is because they... They don't have it anyway.
But, having said that, we are in a very similar situation. You know, I'm older than you, and I and my wife are... I mean, we just we just got back two weeks ago from, like... We were down south looking for places to move just trying to find a way to save a little bit of money in the last years of our employment. And it's not so that we can, like, you know, go on some, like, world trip.
Like, we're trying to figure out a way to put money in a pile and put it in a trust so that Arden can pay for medical stuff. If she if she turns into, like... Like, I don't know. Like, what if she gets sicker, or what if she is an eardwell, or what if she marries some guy who, you know, screws her over? Like...
Yeah. I mean, like, all the things are... Like, what if she just keeps shopping at the rate she's shopping at it right now? You you know? Like like like, you know, like, what's going to, like, you know, like, I don't want her to look up one day and go, no.
I I can't afford a CGM. I'll stop wearing one. And then the the downstream effects of, you know, well, now my AID system doesn't work, and now this happens. Now my... You know, like, I just...
We'd like her to not have to worry about at least that. But that but that means that we're gonna have to work much further into our lives than we were anticipating too. And Right. And I would be nice to know if we were all gonna get wiped out in a couple years because I really would stop trying so hard. I just wanna be completely clear.
If you could tell me that the Terminator thing was happening, I'd give up right now. I I... And Dan would just be sitting around whatever he does all day. I'd do it with him. With the
You watch YouTube videos with him.
Oh my god. I would love it. Tell him I'm on my way. So... Anyways...
Yeah. But it's a space that I'm interested in, like, really exploring, you know, because... And I read a lot of posts on, you know, your Facebook group and other things, and it's these children also have to, like, really consider, like, what jobs they can take based on the benefits plan, which, I mean, we all do. But when you're 22, it's like, you know, we'll have to get, you know, a job in this field because I need a good benefits plan. And I just I just...
You just don't want them to be constrained so much. So if there's something that we can do to help him that he doesn't have to worry about, you know, that stuff once he turns 26 and gets kicked off of our insurance.
Then that would be nice to do. Yeah. Right. Mhmm. Oh, please.
Insurance Is Built to Make You Give Up41:12
And you said you find it confusing. I I... I'm reminded all the time when people tell me, like, oh, I have a great doctor, but they were never sick before. So then they go back and they're like, maybe it's not as great as I thought it was. And and people say that about their insurance.
Oh, I have great insurance because you've never used it. You wouldn't know. Like, the five times you needed it, it paid for something, and you're like, oh my god. I have great insurance. When you really need it, like like, autoimmune need your insurance, then you find out how good your insurance is.
And it's, a lot of
people sneaky. I think it's sneaky, and it's not, like, forthright. So I don't even know how, but, I mean, I told you as a federal employee, and I stumbled upon this Facebook group that's like federal employee health benefits for type one diabetes. And I'm telling you, if I did not find that group, I wouldn't know what a pre authorization was. I wouldn't know what a tier exemption form was.
Like, I... You know, it's like... And so I go on there every January after open season. I was like, this is what I figured out, guys. You know, this is the health care plan.
You know, you have to... You know, in order to get, you know, the ninety day, rate, your doctor can't write a prescription for thirty days. Otherwise, it's gonna be three time... You know, why would a prescription cost $250 for thirty days, but then you only have to pay $80 for ninety days? Like, make it make sense.
It doesn't make sense.
Sure. Because everything is a... It's a trap to catch you and to... It's for them to save money somehow.
That's what it feels like.
Yeah. How could it not be that? Like, I mean, it... Because otherwise... I mean, as...
You know, joking about AI aside, how easy could it be to just, like, take the rule book from the insurance company, drop into AI, and say, look. Make this easier. Or... You know what I mean? And because it's...
You know, stuff gets layered on top of stuff as as businesses get built. Right? You start with an idea, then suddenly, like, well, we have to make an exemption here. We have to make a change here. And before you know it, it's, you know, thousands and thousands of pages of rewrites and changes and exemptions and o...
Only... Not if you have red hair and you're six feet tall, then it's this. You know, like, that kind of stuff. And then it just gets lost, nobody goes back to look through that stuff. And then you hire somebody who just knows that these are the rules, and then they apply the rules like that.
But at some point, the people at the top, the people making the money and, you know, trying to make the value for shareholders and all that stuff, Those people know that's how they make money. And I I fully 100% believe that making this podcast has made me sound like a conspiracy theorist a time or two, but I think if you really think about it, maybe no. I believe it's set up to try to get you to give up. That's how I think it's set up. I...
It's set up exactly the way my wife sets up sex. She just puts up enough blockades that I'll just eventually go, you know what? I'm good. Like I'm alright. Yeah.
I guess I'll just stop. But I think they do the same thing with that. I think they just... It's like, well, no. You, you know, you have to get a form or you have to do the...
How about the thing where they send you a bill? You pay the bill, and, like, sixty days later, you get the money back. And they go, turns out you didn't know this. Have you ever... Yeah.
Have you had that happen? So I now have... By the way, I'm not giving anybody financial advice, but anytime I get a bill, I don't pay it now. I make them send it to me twice. And if you have any idea how many times the second bill comes back and it says paid zero on it, happens so many times.
Because I got tired of sending... I got tired of loaning my money to the insurance company. So I was like, I don't let it get to collections, but I'm not giving it to you till I'm sure I owe it to you. And I am not gonna spend the time on the phone to find out if I'm sure or not because that's not my job either. So I just...
I think the whole thing is set up in in ways for them to sit on cash, to get you to give up before you ask for reimbursement, to not go get care to begin with. You know how many people have health insurance who just don't go to the doctor because of all this? Because they just don't wanna be involved in it. You know? So I think it's on purpose.
And if it's not, I'm wrong, but really feels like it. So No.
It does. And even... I mean, to your point, like, my daughter said, you know, goes to a dermatologist, and I was looking at the explanation of benefits. And I've been paying a co pay of, like, $35. And then when I get that explanation of benefits, it's like, portion's $10.
And I'm like, what? So do I have, like, a credit at the dermatology office? And it's like, I can't deal with this. It's, like, $20. I don't know.
You know what else can I? I'll I'll I'll complain about another thing. These FSA cards, that's gotta be a scam somewhere too. I can't I can't take... You know, you know, you put a certain amount of money in this every month, and, like, it's a credit card that you can use for medal ex...
Medical expenses. I... You know, you don't have to send in receipts. It's all... Oh, awesome.
And then every six months, I get a note from them that's like, hey. You know, you spent $900 at the dentist. Oh, that's not something you could use on the card. I'm like, of course, it is. I've used this card at the dentist a thousand times.
Well, yeah, but We need paperwork, and we need this. We need... My wife's just like, just mail them $900 back. We'll spend it somewhere else. Like, they...
Even that, like, we get asked for our... They... We give them our money, then we spend it appropriately, and then they tell us that we need to give it back or prove it. And I'm like, I don't know. How do you need me to...
It was a dentist, though. What do you... They don't sell cars there. I don't know what to tell you. It's...
Every... Everything I did there was medical. Like, you you know what I mean? Like, oh my god. I hate everything.
I'm really... I'm getting to that age. How old are you, Amelie? How are you?
I'm almost 49.
Oh, you're almost there. You're gonna hate everybody too in a couple more years. I am so sick of all of you. I'm gonna move to a field.
Yep. Pretty much.
So, and it's not... It's... By the way, it's never people in my life. I love the people around me. It's the it's the machine.
It's just got... I... I'm done. You you know what I mean? Like, I I I don't wanna do this anymore.
Like, whatever this is, I'm done. Thank you. Yes. Yeah.
And every January, when you have to send in your new prescriptions and, you know, it's... But we can't fill it because we don't have a prior authorization. They're like, is Daniel still a type one diabetic? I'm like, yes.
Yeah. And then now you're talking to some poor idiot. No offense to those people. But, like, know, I've had the job for five seconds. They don't know what type...
They they just know they're saying it out loud. Arden had to go into urgent care yesterday. I'm trying not to give her details away. And, we're sitting there, and and it's just the intake. And the intake nurse, and I think I'm being generous because I don't imagine the person's actually a nurse, asks the most off the wall question.
I don't even remember what it was. And both of us, Arden and I looked up like, what the hell did you just say? And all she replied was, sorry. The computer prompts me to say that. Was like, uh-oh.
We had a funny story when we... I mean, it's a little off topic, but I took Daniel in just for, like, a sports physical or something. He had this fairly new doctor. You know, at this point, I'm like, I just gotta get this paper signed so I can upload it so he can, you know, try out for sports or whatever. He's going through the thing, and he said, does Daniel have the phone?
I said, yes. And he starts going on and on and on about how he doesn't think kids this age should have phones, and it's really, you know, disruptive and the screen time and blah blah blah blah blah. And I let him go on for a while, and I'm just like, yeah. I know. I agree.
But he's... I felt he probably didn't intend to... And I think he was, like, freshly out of medical school. I don't think... It was coming across to me like, your 12 year old should not have a phone.
Yeah. You should have said to him, I, really appreciate you giving me a preview of your new TikTok channel, but could you shut up and just sign the paper, please?
No way. I finally just looked at him and I said, I totally agree with you. I was like, but he's a type one diabetic, so there's no way around it. And he got so flustered.
Yeah. We would, except his pancreas lives on it. So we don't know what else
to do. He needs it to deliver insulin. I mean, I was just like
We could start sharpening needles again maybe and give those to him if you like. Or he could just wither away. It's up to you, really. You think the phone's really causing a problem, do you? By the way, like, also, I get it.
Like, I I actually think that the, the pediatric society or whatever the hell that is probably tells them to talk to you about the the ills of, you know, phone exposure, which by the way, like, I'm with you. Like, I I believe I believe all the data about how bad your phone is for you. I'm I'm in. You got me. I...
I'm I'm with you. But, I mean, at some point, like, what are you going on for? Also, later, don't tell me that we don't have enough time to meet with people about their illnesses if you're spending eighteen minutes giving me your political opinion about cell phones in my in my doctor's appointment. Right. Maybe you're just not using your time wisely.
Okay?
Right.
They used to say thanks for coming to my TED talk, but, you know, that's, now I just... I I I would have said, like, he should get his own podcast, but even that's passe at this point. So he should get his own TikTok where he can yell for eight seconds at a time about this, and people only watch five seconds of it. Good luck, everybody. Sorry.
Okay. So we want this kid to have money. You're gonna work towards that. Insurance stinks. Does he come to you with the mortality thing?
Is it a thing you're worried about? Is it conversations you've had already?
He doesn't, like, wanna sit down and talk about it, but he will make comments that, I guess, they were just so surprising to me initially that children... I mean, that he, like, now has this disease where that's, like, in his headspace. The first time he did it, we were in Costco, and they have the, you know, those buckets of food, like, doomsday preparation things.
I I only know because I've seen crazy people sell them, but I... But go ahead. I didn't know I didn't know who
were Costco. And so we're walking around, and he's also... He's hard to go shopping with because, you know, he wants 8,000,000 things. And I told him eventually, was like, you're not allowed to get anything at Costco anymore because I don't want, you know, 500 of these things that you tasted and decided that you didn't like anymore. So
Will someone eat this yogurt?
A Doomsday Bucket at Costco52:01
Right. So we're in Costco, and they have those doomsday buckets. And he goes, mom, he goes, let's get one of these. I was like, I do not wanna doomsday. I was like, I don't want a doomsday bucket.
And he looks at me. He goes, yeah. He goes, I don't know. He goes, I'll probably be dead, you know, within a month or two. So, yeah, we don't need one.
And I, like, looked around. I, like, looked away from him and started crying because that was the first time he'd... Like, he'd said that. Like, I... Like, he knows he would not survive an apocalyptic event type of a thing.
Everyone Has a Plan to Break Into a Pharmacy52:38
Yeah. I was talking to, John who makes the Sugarpixel. We were chatting, and he just... He so offhandedly said to me, doesn't every type one have a plan for how to break into a pharmacy if things get upside down? And I was like I was like, I've already thought about it.
Like, I've I've thought about it in detail. Like, so much so that I'll be prepared to fight you when I get to the Walgreens if you're there too. And it's it's yeah. I mean... And and still, like, the sadness that hits you, like, even if I went to the Walgreens and I took every vial...
First of all, I'd feel terrible as I was taking it. Right? Because I would know that there's somebody else on their way that needs it too, and it would still hit me like that. Even if I took every vial of it. I mean, how long would that keep Arden going for?
Year, maybe? You know what I mean? Right. How
much is not a
Yeah. It's not forever.
There's no endless supply. Right. Right. I mean, we do the same thing. Like, you know, our prescription is three bottles, three vials, you know, a month.
He doesn't use that. And I said to my husband, I said, maybe I just won't fill it this month. He has no fill it. He was... We stockpile insulin.
Yeah. No. It's insane. I have some downstairs that I actually thought the other day I I should try to find somebody to give this to. And then the next script comes up and you're afraid not to fill it because you don't want the insurance company to say, well, why didn't you need it that time?
Right.
You know what I mean? Like, there's a whole, like, fear of... Everyone... Listen. Everyone with insurance and diabetes is nodding along right now.
They they know. They... They're like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
No.
I know. Does everybody stockpile the insulin? You know? I... Probably.
Yeah. Of course they do. If they have the ability to do it and they're only... And it's $20 or in a co pay or something like that, no one's saying no to it whether they need it or not. Like, if somebody...
Some... Jenny told me the other day, she's like, know, the g six got sundown and now it's only g seven. Mhmm. She's like, I got enough g sixes for, like, six months. I was like, okay.
You you know, like... Or... And so the people who have, like, the ability to do it or, you know, get their... Or, like... I mean, listen.
I have enough Omnipods to, like... I could wallpaper at least the back of my door with them. And it's because Arden has... Is written... Her script is written out that she might need to change it every two days.
And we do that sometimes, and sometimes we don't. And when you don't, you have an extra Omnipod. And, like, and those pile up over time. It's just... It's the fear.
Everyone's got the fear. But he now... But but you now realize in Costco, which... Of all the places. In Costco, you're like, oh, my son knows that if stuff gets upside down, he's just gonna die.
Like, that's crazy feeling. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Is it the only time he said it?
No. No. No. He says stuff like that. A lot of times when he does a pump change, he doesn't say it so much anymore now.
You know, 12, 13. He's still... You know, now he's trying to be super cool because he's almost 15. But,
no, he'd come down. He'd be like,
oh, gotta change my pump if
I wanna live another three days. Like, you know, stuff
like that. And I don't think it's, like, depressive from him. It's just, like, very matter of fact kind of joking around, but he's like, oh, you know, this is what's gonna keep me alive for the next
couple of days. So I'm
gonna get on it and do it.
Every... And I think everyone's aware of that, if they're aware of it. And absolutely, I think I see people either joke about it or quietly, like, let it eat themselves up inside and they don't talk about it. But I don't think the feeling's any different whether you're the joker or the person who doesn't say it out loud. Like, it's...
It... You are you are constantly... Like, I mean, listen. We're all in a situation where we know our life is finite, but nobody has ever said to you before, like, you know, by the way, if you don't do this one thing, it's gonna be over in a couple of days. Like, that's not a that's not a a scenario that most people live in.
You you know? And then suddenly you get diabetes and you're struck with that. Like, this stuff keeps me alive. You take this away, you take away alive. You know?
And I just think that's... I... Maybe, like, children diagnosed... I don't know. Your daughter was diagnosed as, like, a baby pretty much, you know, before, like, 18.
Two?
She was two. Yeah.
Okay. Two. I wonder if they... Does does she have the same thought process as, like, then being die... Diagnosed when you're 12?
So you've lived twelve years without it, and then all of a sudden, you know, you're very involved in realizing that you have this disease. And The
first time I was...
In the mortality.
Yeah. The first time I was aware of how, like, aware she was, we had a friend who had a child who was... Is pretty significantly dismay... Mentally disabled.
I heard you tell this story recently.
Yeah. And she and she told me she'd prefer to be him because at least he can't die. Like, that's... That was pretty early on. She once told my my sister-in-law was babysitting her one day and her birthday was coming up.
And she told my sister-in-law that she wasn't gonna have diabetes much longer because it was gonna go away on her birthday. Yeah. That one was tough. That wasn't about dying. The rest of it is...
Like, I've seen, like, your your son's big... You know, oh, this thing's keeping me alive or I'm gonna go or when the zombies come, I guess I'll just run towards them. Like, that kind of thing. Mhmm. She says stuff like that a few times a year, you know, like, for for a long time.
Arden's Worst Day58:22
Yesterday, I'm gonna try to, like... So yesterday, Arden Arden has been not feeling well for a couple days. She's been in pain. And I'm gonna try to keep it like that that that, like, private. But we ended up yesterday at urgent care, her and I.
And a shout out, by the way, because the urgent care doctor is a listener of the podcast, and she's awesome. So, by the way, that's that's a heady thing one day when you're in an urgent care and the doctor's like, what's your name? Do you make a podcast about diabetes? I have type one. I'm like, oh, hey.
How are you? So we're there yesterday, and it's been a long couple of days. Like, she's been, you know, pushing through, going to work, going to school, but in pretty constant pain first for a thing. And, you know, we go there really kinda hoping that the doctor's gonna give her one medication. She gives her a different one, which I think might be working, which is great, but, like, not the point.
And, like... So she's sitting there in pain, like, exhausted from the pain. And then she gets the script. It's not the script she's hoping for, so she's... Now she's really, like, let down.
Then we have to stop at the drive through at the Walgreens on the way home, and she goes, why are we stopping? Is it gonna be ready? And I said, no. It's not gonna be ready. But if we don't stop, it'll never be ready.
And she's like, won't they just fill it? I'm like, yeah. Maybe. I'm like, but we can't take that risk. So we pull up to the thing.
We sit there forever till someone comes out. Like, we're, like, sitting there going, like, she sees us. Hello? Like, you know, she she comes out finally. Right away, it's met with I can't find it.
I don't know what you're trying to do. It would have just been called in the last twenty minutes. Here's where it came from. This is the doctor's name. Are you...
Is this your store code? It is like... And, like, she walks away and Arden goes, you're doing her job for her. And I said, Arden, the number of things I'm doing other people's jobs for related to people's health, not just yours, would floor you. And I said, so I'm like, if you don't do these things, it's not gonna work out.
If... I said, if you leave it to that person right there, you're not getting this medication today. I was like, we are going to explain to them what we need and what they're going to do. And so... And I said, gonna be very polite about it.
Nice. But I'm here to make sure they do what they're supposed to do. And then I said, okay. Now I'm gonna take you home, then I'm gonna come back and pick up the drug. And Orden's like, you do this all the time?
I'm like, every time. For you, for Cole, for mom, like, we need something. Like, this is how it goes. So it's a little demoralizing. So much so that she actually said to me later in the evening, I'm really sorry for wasting your day today.
And I was and I was like, you didn't waste my... She said, I'm sorry for ruining your day. And I said, Arden, honey, you didn't ruin my day. You ruined my life a long time ago. I was like, it's fine.
And she looked at me. I went, not about the diabetes, just in general. I said, don't worry about it. I said, actually, you didn't even do it. Mom did it to me back when she said, sure.
I'll marry you. And I said... So, I was like I was like, don't worry. I'm like, this is this is what I do. Like, it's okay.
You didn't ruin my day. I said, was happy to go to the doctor with you. I'm happy to sit here with you now. And so we sit down to do Allego together last night because she starts feeling better. She's pepping up a little, and we start doing Allego.
I swear to you, we're sitting there for ten minutes. I'm gonna tell you the absolute truth. We're sitting there for ten minutes. Her Dexcom loses its connection.
Oh my god.
As she's trying to eat and her blood sugar is going up and we're trying to like bolus for it. Okay. It'll come back. No big deal. We're sitting there a little longer, and she's trying to push Allego down.
And her finger slips. She has a gel nail on. The gel nail catches the end of Allego. It rips the gel nail off of her actual nail and rips a hole in her nail down to the down to the to the the cuticle underneath of her nail. It's insanely painful and doesn't come completely attached.
Now we are standing in the kitchen using a pair of nail clippers, slowly chipping... I'm slowly chipping this nail off trying to get down to the part that I need to see so I can get it off of her. So it's so she stops getting stabbed in her nail bed by her own nail that was literally ripped out a hole in the middle of her nail. Like... And she's just like, I can't believe this is happening.
And she's like, I've just like... I... And you could just see. She was like, I can't believe this is happening on top of how bad I have felt for the last couple of days. Right?
And I'm like, no. No. It's okay. We're gonna get... She's crying.
Like, you know, like, it's... She's clearly done. You know? Like, she's cooked. She's like, I I...
At one point, goes, just kill me. She goes, Jake, seriously. Just she's like, just just kill me. I'm done. And I was like, no.
I'm gonna get it off. And I'm like, all up. I'm like, don't worry. It's fine. You know?
Like, and we're clipping it off and everything. I'm trying to joke with her. I'm like, you better hope your boyfriend's handy because you see here, I'm putting a lot of effort into this. Like, I'm clicking around and everything. Should we get done?
We sit back down. I swear to god. We sit down and her pod goes beep and just expires. So her pod Seriously? Pod just shuts off.
It's, like, three minutes after we get the nail off of her. And she's like, no. Like, it was like she was talking to the universe. She was like, no. And I was like, Arden, no big deal.
I said, look at the high side. You rode that pod all the way to the end. It gave you eighty hours. She goes, that is not comforting right now. I was like, well, always look on the bright side of life.
This thing worked all the way out to eighty hours for you. I was like, isn't this great? Blah blah blah. Right? No.
Swear to god I'm not lying. So, like, so I... I'm like, I'll fill a pod for you real quickly. I filled the pod. Blah blah blah.
Gave it to her. She's letting the dog out. She comes back in. She says, I'm gonna put the pod on my leg. So she pulls her pants down, which, by the way, until your kid has diabetes, you never think you're gonna see your adult children without their pants so much, but just put diabetes in the world.
Everybody's asses out all the time. And so she pulls her pants down. As she pulls it down, and Arden wears her CGM on her hip. I said, oh, I know why your Dexcom doesn't have a signal. Her underwear got behind the sensor and pulled the sensor off.
It was... It pulled it away from her. I said, honey, your sensor's pulled off by your your your underwear. Pull it off. And I thought she was just going to just, like, literally shut off.
Like, I thought she was... I just gave her a hug. I'd like, now I'm hugging my daughter. She's not wearing her pants. The dog's outside.
The pump is laying
on the like, you got a naked shower today. Take it all off. I'm gonna take a bath.
She didn't have the the wherewithal to get a shower. And I'm like I'm like, it's gonna be okay. I'm like, we're just gonna get you set up, and we're gonna keep going. We're just gonna keep moving. It's gonna be okay.
And so in that confusion, she puts the pod on but forgets to prime it. And then she's like, did you not prime this pod? I said, no. She goes, I didn't either. And then the...
And the disappointment just kept piling up on top of itself. Right? So she puts that on. She stands up. My son comes down and goes, hey.
What's up? She goes she goes, I'm having the worst day of my life, and I think she meant it. And then she's standing there. She pops the new CGM on. I I said, see, we're all done.
Everything's good. Like, everything's good. And, like, let's down. And then we put together a couple more steps of the Lego, and I said, Arden, I really think we should go to bed. I said, I think the best thing that we could do to this day is put it out of its misery and start again tomorrow.
Don't you? And she said, yeah. I think so. And I was like, okay. So we packed up and and went upstairs.
I swear to God, I don't know. I mean, something... A plane would have had to crash into the house for something worse to happen during that, like, couple of hours of her life. It's really horrifying. And the diabetes made it worse and worse and worse and worse.
At the same time, she's gonna wake up today and be okay. You know? So it's just the thing you live with. But are you It's
so much sometimes.
It's it's it's way too much. It's absolutely terrible. Nobody should do it. And I told her when we were done, I said, look. I'm not gonna give you a lesson here.
I say, but I've interviewed people who... Whose parents had to sharpen needles in their kitchen. I said I've... And I've interviewed... I...
That's they they were born when they literally... Had to buy... You got one needle and one syringe, and when it got dull, you had to sharpen it. Every time you used it, you had to boil it to use it again. I was like, this is way better than that.
But but the unspoken part is, you know, what would be better than that? Not having a bunch of autoimmune issues. That's what would be way better than that. And I don't, you know, and I don't find that there's any way to be comforting about that part. I don't know.
Like, I don't have a, like, rah rah story for that one. You know what I mean? So... I know. Yeah.
So what you're learning, in my opinion, is that you get a diagnosis and life fundamentally shifts. It's not undoable and it's not it's not impossible to be happier to live great, but the set of expectations you get when you come sliding out into the world and the ones you get when you get diagnosed are... They're different. Sucks. A
100%.
I'm sorry. Really is terrible. No. I'm sorry too. I mean, I'm
sorry for everyone that has to deal with it. And I know it's hard on us as parents as a mental load, and it's really hard on them for a mental load. I try... I do... We do try to encourage.
He Doesn't Want Him Burdened1:08:18
I do it more than my husband does because he's like... One of the things we argue about is, like, does he really need to carry that bag around? You know, if he's going down with a friend and it's gonna be forty five minutes or an hour away, I was like, well, I guess he doesn't need it unless he needs it. Like, unless he passes out and needs his glucagon, he don't need it. Like, I mean...
I don't know how to plan for that. Your husband, is it is it because --...
What I mean?
Is it because it doesn't look masculine or because he thinks it's a...
Oh, no.
No. No. She doesn't
want him to be, like, burdened with diabetes at all. But the fact of the matter is is he will be. And so, you know, I'd be like, well, don't take the bag, but throw this in your pocket, you know, with a couple packs of gummies.
Well, I... So a couple things. You can't go anywhere without a way to save yourself. That's just not okay. But Arden started a new job.
It's, like, twenty minutes from our house. Right? And for the first couple of weeks, she leaves every day with this little... It's a little bag. The bag's got insulin in it, an extra couple of pumps, couple extra CGMs, extra stuff.
Right? And she carries it back and forth and back and forth. You know, she doesn't... It's and she's just one day she goes, I'm not bringing this anymore. And I was like, okay.
I was like, what are you gonna do if your pod expires unexpectedly or you have a problem with one of your devices? And she was, I'll just come home. And I was like, well, Arden, it's a job. Like, you can't just tell them like, hey, my pump stopped working. I'm gonna leave now.
That probably won't be okay. It'll be okay. It'll be okay. It'll be okay. It was like two weeks later, get a text.
Hey.
Can you bring me a pump?
I need a pump. And I was like, yeah, you do. And well, luckily for you, by the way, I make a podcast. So I'm sitting here working on something. I can stand up and leave and come back forty minutes later and keep working.
Nobody's gonna yell at me. But I walked in with that pump and looked at her, and I didn't say a word. I was like, here you go. She's like, thank you. And I was like, no problem.
Like, I didn't, like... I didn't give a crap about it or anything like that, but she was already like... As I walked in, she... I could tell she was thinking, oh, this guy is thinking I should have brought that bag with me. So I tried not to telegraph, and I don't think I did.
I think she just knew. So, I mean, if you can't get back easily, you gotta have this stuff with you. And and listen, I can tell you all the stories you want, and you're gonna ignore me. You know what I mean? But I was in an event last year, and it was...
It's a it's a private diabetes event that I do every year. And and this... And it... It's spent... It's a lot of time people just coming up to me and like, hey.
I noticed this thing. What do you think of this? Like, they just kinda wanna stuff through in the downtime when I'm not speaking. This person comes up to me and she starts off... My blood sugar was over 400 today, and I'm having trouble getting it down.
And I was like, wait. Well, I don't understand what happened. Like, wearing she's a pump. You know what mean? I'm like, I don't know what happened.
You had diabetes a long time. How did your blood sugar like magically go to 400? And it tells me the story. I was on my way to work. I realized I only had like 15 units left, but I thought I can make it through the day on fifteen units.
And then got to work, bolus for my coffee, ran out of insulin, blah blah blah. And I was like, well, then... I guess then what you probably... There's a gap of time when you went home to change your pump and everything. And she goes, no.
I just never did that. I just finished my day at work. I was like, you lived at work for six hours without insulin? And she's like, yeah. It's no big deal.
And I'm like, no. It's an incredibly big deal. I was like, you can't do that. Like, don't do that. And as I was talking to her, I thought, oh god.
I wonder how many people do that. That's all I could think. It's like, oh, it's just three hours. I'll probably be okay. Like, it's an hour till I get home.
I probably... Like, that... That's probably happening all day long. Then she gets back, puts the pump on, but doesn't have any fundamental, like, skills to bring it down. She just puts the pump back on.
So the pump just starts delivering her insulin again. She's not on an AID system. It's just given her her basal. She's like, I've made a couple of big boluses. I asked how much.
She told me, I asked her settings. I was like, that's not nearly enough insulin. She goes, how do you know? And I'm like, well, this is how long you've been without insulin. So then you've been without your basal all that time.
And I was like, so that amount is missing. And I was like, and you have to move the number. And then you're only putting in this much. She goes, oh, diabetes for, like, you know, twenty years. And then, you know, I get her set up.
I get... I I bring her blood sugar down. Like, I'm like, listen. I'm not a doctor, not advice. This is how much I put in.
She puts it in. She comes back here forty minutes later. She's like, oh, my blood sugar is falling. I'm like, yeah. How about that?
And then she tells me a story about how in her community, she's the person who newly diagnosed people come to for advice. And I was like, oh, that's how this stuff happens. I'm like, okay. So, I I mean, tell your husband he's gotta take his stuff with him, and his friends should know how to use his glucagon. You know?
Because you don't plan for something to
go wrong. He does. He's one of the hardest thing of parents is, like, trusting other people. So Daniel's 14. He's 12.
Like, we only let him sleep at one other person's house. Mhmm. But whenever they wanna, you know, hang out and sleep over, I was like, why don't you do it over here? Why don't
you do it over here? Yeah. Our house...
And it's really because, you know... And every time I write the parents, was like, hey. If Daniel's
gonna spend the night, just keep your phones on, please, in case I have to call you. Okay. Yeah. No. Now you're that way.
I'm gonna
show up at your house in the middle of the night.
Hi. Hi. Hello? Come in. Hello?
Open the door. Open the door. I... Listen. I once...
I... I've told this before, but Arden once stayed at a person's house, and the father... I I showed up in the morning. He's bleary eyed, holding the coffee out of his mind. I'm like, hey.
You alright, man? He goes, didn't sleep. And I was like, why not? He goes, I... How do you sleep?
And I'm like, what? He goes, I I I I couldn't sleep because of Arden's diabetes. It just freaked me out. And I was like, oh, yeah. You you gotta get over that.
I was like, is it weird? Or you'll never sleep again. She never went back there. Yeah. I I didn't I didn't see the next invite.
He was nice to do it, but, like, it was more than it was more than he was bargained for.
Yeah. This friend's dad's... His friend's dad's best friend is a type one, so he kind of understands everything.
That's nice.
Self-Managing in High School1:14:41
But, yeah, it's super stressful. Daniel's transitioning... Or he's transitioned into high school. So that's been, you know, with the high blood sugars, really, really hard. I mean, I am an analyst.
Like, you know, my job, I I majored in math, you know, engineering. Like, this is... Like, I work in numbers all day long. I analyze trends and stuff. Die...
You know, having Daniel on diabetes, like, really forces you to pull back a little bit. And I finally stopped checking that glucose, you know, where they give you the trends and stuff because it was stressing me out so much to get, you know, to the 90% in range and, you know, not make his life so miserable being like, you know, you're high. Correct. You're high. Correct.
You're high. Correct. And so when when he was in grade school, the nurse was very involved. She had a a sugar mate and would track... I think there are four kids in his school.
She tracked them all. We had each other's numbers. I could just be like, hey. He's going low or, hey. He's high.
Can you... You know, like, she was, like, Yeah. Very, very involved. When I took him to high school, they do have a nurse on staff full time, which I'm so thankful for. And she's like...
I was like, oh, you're gonna... Yeah. Just seeing what their process was. And she's like, no. They self manage here.
Like, if you want me to do something else, I will. But Daniel and I have taken it as an opportunity for him to try to become independent. Because if you remember, he's super easy breezy. And I don't know if he's not checking his numbers. He's eaten spaghetti and chocolate milk every day for lunch.
Jeez. I just don't think those things go together. That's all. I was like, that's crazy. At his school, you know, you have
to pay for the meal service. Like, it's not an option.
Mhmm.
So he... So we spend the money. So it's just... And I said, you know, maybe make better food choices or you're not giving yourself enough insulin. But he was sitting around two seventy five after lunch until he got home.
Oh.
But terrible. Right?
Yeah. And that makes you feel horrible too on top of everything else. Not does he... He feels horrible. You feel horrible.
Like, you know, you you...
I am so stressed out, and then he is not answering my messages. And I don't know.
I know.
The other... So I think it was this Monday. He was finally, like, at 01:15 all day long. And I said, I said, you did a really good job today. I said, what did you what did you eat for lunch?
He goes, spaghetti and chocolate milk. I was like, what? He goes, yeah. I said, how'd you keep your blood sugar down? He goes, oh, I pre bowls before lunch this time.
I was like, oh, were you not doing that before? Because we had the conversation 8,000,000 times. Like, make sure your... Whatever class you're in, like, maybe set a little alarm on your phone and, you know, at least put some units on board so you get something going. Yeah.
Yeah. I'm doing that. I'm doing that. So just dealing with, like, a 14, 15 year old and trying to give them the space. Yeah.
And you know it's not gonna be super easy, but I think it's a really good learning opportunity for him because I can't do everything and then send them to college in three years. Like, how's that gonna go?
Yeah. It's tough because you find yourself wondering and worrying, but the truth is is it's... You're just gonna have to keep just saying... It's parenting. Right?
Just keep saying this stuff over and over again, and hopefully, it'll stick to him. And look. He had a good outcome there. He he was two seventy five enough times after lunch. He was like, I guess I could do that thing, she said.
You know? Right. And he try... He was he was tired of... I mean, he was sick and tired of being sick and tired probably.
So Yeah. That's it.
It's encouraging.... Hard space to live in, and I know people do it with everything. Everything you do is that you have to watch your children fail so they can succeed because they have to learn on their own. And I'm not gonna go to college and live in this dorm room. Like, I mean, it's just not gonna happen.
Well, I... You know, it... Your point your point is is absolutely true. Like, everything is like that. They they do something.
It doesn't go right. They learn a lesson. They... Sometimes they don't learn the lesson. You know, sometimes it's something small and not a big deal.
Sometimes it's heroin. You know what I mean? Like... And... But Yeah.
But how frequently is it something that makes you feel like, oh, it's gonna kill them right now? Like, that's not... Like, you know what I mean? Like, you don't have a lot of things about that crossing the street when they're driving, you know, finding the right people to hang around. Like, there's stuff where you're like, okay.
Well, that's more immediate danger stuff. But until it's diabetes, and to this point of this conversation, until it's like, if I don't take this, something really bad's gonna happen to me, like, pretty fast. Like, that's... Those are different those are different table stakes at that point. You know what I mean?
It's not just like, oh, I'll let him date that girl and he'll find out. You know what I mean? Like, it's it's... It'll it'll break his heart a little bit, but he's young. He'll be alright.
Decisions You Can't Take Back1:19:51
He'll get over it. That's not that. And and at the same time, if... For many of you, it is that because most of you are gonna get through it and come out the other side okay, but the unknown... I was just talking about this with my son the other day.
I said the worst part about being a parent is making a decision and not knowing how it's going to turn out. Because once it turns out, you can't go back and do it again. It's too late. That thing's set in stone already. I don't know about you.
I think that's the worst part about being in charge of another human being is that I'm...
A 100%. Yeah. A 100%.
I'm gonna say something. And when this is over, whatever the outcome is is on me and it's irreversible. And that's Right. Yeah. That's leadership, I guess.
That's parenting. And it's it sucks, especially around health stuff because, oh, it's okay for your blood sugar to be one eighty for a little bit. Like, let's let him be a kid. And that's all well and good if everything's fine after that. But if you wake up 69 years old from a phone call from Dan who's like, hey, mom.
I gotta get this laser treatment in my eyes. You're gonna, like, go, oh, that was my fault. I did that. Like... And whether that's true or not, it's how it's gonna feel.
So that's why all this sucks.
It will.
Yeah. Go up kids, suckers.
I know. We dropped our oldest son at college a couple, like, in August. When I was hugging him goodbye, I said to him, I was like, don't start a cocaine ring and don't get anybody pregnant. And he looked at me. He's like, why would you say that?
I said, because at least I've said it out loud. So if you do it...
Not my fault.
I told them not
to do it.... That kid. Also, by the way, did you see they just busted a cocaine ring at Penn State? Yes. That's why I said it to him
because this all happens. There was that cocaine ring in Penn State, and then there was something else in Ohio where they busted a cocaine ring at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. So I said, I'm just saying it out loud so you know that I'm telling you not to do this when you're at school.
Did you see one of the kids' names was, his nickname was Pablo Pledge Cabarr? No. Yeah. Because they made the pledges, like, run the drugs or something like that.
Oh my gosh.
It's kind of it's kind of horrible and a little hilarious. Pablo Pledgekabar, who... Hey. Listen. If you're listening, whoever came up with well, I do...
I I mean, if you can hear this in federal prison, it's a... Good job. That's that's a good nickname. I don't know if it's worth the time you're gonna do, but good nickname. Yeah.
Oh, listen. I told... I've said on the podcast before, I I pulled my son aside. I said there are only a few things in life that are uneffable. And he goes, what?
I said, once you f them up, you can't uneff them. I was like, there's just a couple things. I said, you cannot kill somebody. Car accident by mistake, whatever. I said, even if you get away with it legally, it'll haunt you for the rest of your life.
I said Mhmm. You cannot get a girl pregnant by mistake. I said, that is a thing you can't undo. And I was like, just I said there's only a couple things. Just look for those things that are...
That you can't, you know, you can't tie back up when they get untied. And and avoid those things, you'll be okay. Please. Yeah. Like, that's it.
I I... And good luck. You know what I mean?
Good luck.
Yeah. I hope you enjoy spending my money on whatever it is. And then coming home in four years and telling you, this was a complete waste of time. I didn't need this college education. Like, oh, awesome.
That's great. Thanks. Yep. Yeah. Then he pivots, by the way, and for a 300 on...
We sent my son to school where he came back with a quantitative econ degree and a mathematics minor. And inside of nine months says to us, I don't really think this is the way I wanna go. And we were like, okay. And he's like, I'm gonna learn to code. And I was like, okay.
He goes, I think there's a pathway there for me. And I was like, you're going to learn to code? This kid up until then, I don't think knew how to open his email and didn't know... Didn't... Like, he had a laptop, but, you know, to run word documents on.
Like, he didn't know anything about computers. My wife's like, he's gonna learn to code? I'm like, that's what he said. And so he buys a $300 online course and nine months later has a job.
I believe it.
And I thought...
Well, he sounds super smart.
Mean, he's making that. So... But, Amelie, that's not the point. The point is I was like, oh god. He was right.
He didn't need that degree. That's all it made me think. I was like, this whole thing could've cost me $300. And I was like, ugh. So...
No. He still needed it. I know. Grew up immature and the experiences in college.
Yeah. I mean, I know, but you know what I mean? My goodness. Hey. Do you ever get to push a button to make a missile fire or anything cool like that?
No. But I got to oversee it.
That's awesome. They make...
Gunnery Officer1:24:42
So I was... When I was on the destroyer, I was the gunnery officer. So we had the vertical launch systems, you know, the tomahawk shootout from the ship
Jeez.
And go.
Is it...
We don't actually shoot tomahawks that often
Yeah.
Like, unless you're at war because they're expensive and stuff. But we, I mean, we would do exercises.
Have you ever been in a, like, a a live fire, like, actual situation?
Like, enemy fire? Yeah. No. Okay. I think when we were on the ship, we were in the Straits Of Hormuz, which is that, you know, very little space when you're coming out of The Gulf.
Mhmm. And it's it's intense going through there. And they they call them dowels, but they're the little boats, you know, in that area. And I think our captain, like, shot fired. They were...
He was uncomfortable with how close they were to the ship. So he, like, fired shots... Warning shots. Because when I deployed, it was right after the USS Cole had been bombed in Yemen.
Oh, jeez.
So, I mean, people were, like, a little bit nervous.
Yeah. I...
We're a lot nervous. Yeah. A lot nervous about that, you know, because one of those little boats just drove into the side of the USS Cole and, you know, blew a huge hole Yeah. In the ship.
That's crazy. Oh, I don't know how you do that. That's... I... Even being, like, in a tight space or incapable...
Like, I have a friend who, like, sings on a cruise ship, and she's like, this is... I can't... It's hard to do. Like, yeah. And she's, you know, not exactly doing all the things you just said.
Do you have to learn to fire a weapon even though you're not gonna be around one? Like, are you, like, range trained and stuff like that?
Yeah. Most people in the military. At least, like, a nine millimeter and a shotgun
Mhmm.
Or a rifle. Is it Sorry. A rifle.
Was that a thing that was, like, natural to you, or were you... While you were doing it, you were like, I can't believe I'm doing this.
No. I was the gunnery officer, so I've shot a lot of weapons. You shot a Even the big, you know, the giant ones, you know, where you're holding on with both sides, a 25 millimeter gun. Yeah.
Do you still do it now, like, to keep, like
We have been, like, to the gun range and shot, you know, pistols and stuff. We like our kids to know how... Like, just what a gun is and, like, how to shoot it. So in a very space, you know Yeah. Safe space Because I think those are, like, really powerful, and they seem to be around all the place.
So at least know how to handle and use it, but don't ever actually do that. You know? The same thing. Like
Yeah.
It's a powerful weapon. You don't wanna accidentally kill somebody or do anything like that. Mhmm.
Wow. What a thing. Oh my gosh. Well, are you happy you did this?
I am. I was was excited. I didn't tell anybody. So when I bought the mic, like, I what is this for? I said nothing.
He... But he's relentless sometimes with that. And so
I said, well, I have
an interview. And so then we were in the car.
Yeah.
But what interview? And Sean's like, what interview are you going on? I was fine. And Daniel goes, I know what you're doing. You're talking to that juice box guy.
You should have said it's for OnlyFans and just not spoken another word to him. Oh my god. Would have mortified him. He would have been like, oh my god. I'm not gonna ask her any more questions about anything.
My god. Well
I was excited, and you're very, very easy to talk to. I was a little bit nervous this morning, but, yeah, I mean, you are very easy to talk to and make people feel really comfortable. I know people have told you that, but you're amazing at what you do. Oh, thank you. That's awesome.
I know you're a big fan of Howard Stern. We were big fans of Howard Stern. We listened to him for years. And I can say... I mean, it seems like he's really easy to talk to too.
So that long form... This long format interview process, it's it's really good. It works for you.
Appreciate it. Yeah. You just really need to be, like... I mean, you have to actually be interested in people. That's the first thing.
You can't be like a... You know, you can't be reading from a list and you can't have no thoughts. You have to, you know, have follow-up questions. But I find just being interested in people to be the... And it'd be the really, like, the most important part of...
I've said this before. I'm not embarrassed at all. Like, I once listed Howard Stern interview ish, a porn star for, like, two hours. He never once asked her about what she did for work. And, like...
Yeah. And I don't
He's amazing at what he does, and it's really interesting.
Yeah. Just talk to her like she was just an average person that he snatched up off the street, and her life was incredibly interesting and layered. It was interesting to see how she had impacts. Like like, her upbringing had impacts on her life that she didn't recognize. It was interesting to watch him not tell her about herself, but ask her about herself and watch her learn about herself while she was answering.
And I've just... I've... Since then, I probably heard that when I was, I don't know, 18, 19 years old, something like that. And it's just always stuck with me that everybody is really interesting. So I I...
All the time all the time people ask me, like, do you interview? Like, famous people? This... I'm like, I just I generally end up talking to people who've never been interviewed in their entire life. And I was like, I I find it much more, like, fulfilling to have a conversation like this.
Plus, it's good it's good for me. Like, I get to meet more people, especially as I get older and don't wanna be around anybody. This is good to keep me connected to society. My wife is standing outside with me the other day, and I... And we're, like, looking at this house that I'm I'm pitching is, like, the place where we retire.
And she goes, what do you find attractive about this? I said, stop talking for a second. Do you hear that? I was like, it's nothing. I I never hear nothing.
I was like, this is what I wanna do. I wanna be able to walk outside sometimes and not hear anything. Said, that's all I care about. And I... She's like, well, who's gonna cut this grass?
I said, I don't care. We'll figure that out. I'm like, I don't... I... Yeah.
I don't care. I don't care. Let it grow high, and we'll we'll... I said other people around here seem to just bail it and sell it for hay. Let's do that or let's not.
Oh, you can hire the farmers. They'll come over and do it for you.
Exactly. And then they just take it away and they sell it. I'm like, there's a way. Like, everyone hears grass is cut. There must be a way to handle it.
I was like, I am getting out of... I... We gotta go. I... The amount of times I say we gotta go to her.
Yeah. I think I won't.
My parents bought a big farm in Virginia, like, as their retirement. They're not farmers, but they do. I mean, the farmer down the road comes and plants and hauls that stuff away. So it's, you know...
You're making
sense to ways around it.
You are making sense to me. Your parents did that at what age?
I was in college. So, I mean, they were probably our age. And my dad's best friend from the navy, they kind of had followed each other around for, you know, twenty or thirty years, and they found this beautiful piece of property on the Potomac River on the, you know, outside of DC. It's, like, super country. So it's in a little town called King George, near Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Sure. But that's gorgeous. Yeah. They bought, like, a 100 acres. So...
I don't need that much. I just need to go. I I I can't I can't... I just can't... Can I tell you, I'll finish this thought up?
I I I oddly use this as a reference a lot. Like, I... I'll say a lot of times, like, when you go to get new tires, like, you expect them to know how to use the lug gun and stuff like that. I don't know why that's my example as I don't buy tires that often. But Mhmm.
Having said that, I need tires. And so yesterday, in the middle of my daughter being in pain and, like, me trying to, like, do my job and all the other things, I really need to order a set of tires. And I think I try to call someone on the phone. It doesn't go well. I try to do it online.
You can't get a straight answer about how to, like, where to ship them. I'm like, okay. Fine. I'm just gonna drive to the tire store. So I drive to the tire store.
I go in. I am ignored summarily for twenty minutes, I would say. And then finally, someone comes up to me and is like, are you being helped? And I was like, no. And what I'm thinking is no.
And you've walked past me 18,000 times, but I appreciate you asking now. So I said, I need the size tires for this kind of vehicle. And the guy takes me over to the computer and types something and then turns around and wants me to browse them. And I'm like, okay. I'm like, well, I don't...
I... I'm like, I don't really know which ones I'm looking for. He goes, well, you have the option of all these. I'm like, well, what's the virtue of any of them? He has no idea.
And then I'm like, okay. I was like... And so, like, now I'm off to the side. It's me and my friend ChatGPT trying to figure out what tires to buy. I come back.
I go, I'm gonna get these. He goes, okay. We don't have those. I was like, they're right here on your website. He goes, yeah.
I don't have access to them on this system. It would be easier if you ordered them on the website. And I was like What? I'm like
Oh my god.
Oh, okay. And I was like, and then have them delivered to you. He goes, order your house, and then you can bring them here. I was like, but I could have them delivered to you. Right?
He goes, yeah. He goes, no. But once they say they're delivered, like, give us a couple days. And I'm like, uh-oh. And I go, I'll I'll be back.
I just leave. I'm like, okay. Now I get... Now I figure out I'll call a different place. I get this place on the phone.
I said, their guy, these are the exact tires I want. Can you can you do these tires? Maybe. And now he's clicking around. He comes back.
He says, well, they're this much money. I said, well, on this other website, they're this much money. I heard you guys price match. Oh, yeah. We price match.
Hold on a second. Clicks around a little bit. He goes, I can't find them. I'm like, I'm looking at them. I could send you the link.
Goes, I'm not set up for that. I'm like, I don't I don't even know what you mean by that. I'm like, you're on the website. Right? And he goes, yeah.
I said, well, how about if I just read the model number? I'm gonna transfer you. I was gone. And then this this woman answers the phone and says, hey. How can I help you?
And I don't know. I'm like, I was I was like, I was just talking to a guy at a location. I was trying to get him to... And she goes, oh, you know what probably happened? She goes in this long explanation about what happened.
I was like, yeah. Yeah. That's probably it. And she goes, okay. Well, I can transfer you.
I'm like, wait. You can't help me? She goes, no. I have to transfer you to another person to do that. I have now talked to three people whose job it is to find out if they can knock $30 off of each tire for me.
And all I could think was, what if we just fired two of you and made the the tires cheaper? It's all I could think. But I was like, okay. So I... I'm I'm...
Trust me. I'm upbeat. I'm polite. I'm not... It's not like I am now.
I'm on the phone with this guy for twenty five minutes. And at the end, he goes, I guess we can't do it for you.
Really?
I swear to god. And I was like, I just spent the last ninety to to two hour... Ninety minutes to two hours trying to get somebody to give me tires. And then my wife calls me from work, and all I could say to her was, like, we... I started explaining this to her, I stopped myself.
I said, hey. How's your day going? And I said, tell me about your day. And she goes, okay. And she's like, you alright?
I'm like, if I start telling you about what just happened to me, it's gonna end with me saying, we gotta get out of here. And I was like, and I don't wanna do that again. I was like, so, like like, just how was your day? She told me some nice things about her day. And she goes, are you alright?
I'm like, I just need tires. And
so You need to go to Costco and get tires.
Last night, I just bought them online. They're gonna show up at my house today. And then I'm just gonna drive to places and go, here. Put these on my car. And and and what I'm gonna end up doing is taking the part out where the other people think.
Like, I'm gonna think for them so they can do the thing. Because every time I ask someone to help me, they seemed incapable. And so
really hope they don't tell you that they can't put them on because you didn't buy the tires for them.
I don't. I I don't... I assume I'm gonna have to pay them extra. I don't even care. Now it's funny.
I went from trying to save money to caring what the tires cost. I just need the the book to go on my car, please. It was it was... Anyway, like, that shouldn't be like that. Do you know what mean?
They're modeling the insurance company.
I swear to god. Why would you need to send me to three different people to see if you can knock $30 off a tire?
I don't know.
I don't either.
That's frustrating.
Oh my god. But it's not just that. It's everything. And I sound crazy now. But if I sound crazy to you, you just haven't been alive long enough.
Give it two more decades. Give it two more deck... I mean, if the robots don't kill you. It's fine. Everything's gonna be fine.
I'm like, don't you worry. The robots are definitely gonna kill us. Okay. So
I hope not, but
we'll see. At least I'll have a great website while it's happening.
I know. My cousin was in the marine corps, and he posted something on Instagram the other day. He's like, I've got three years to train. And everyone's like, three years to train for what? He's like...
And then he posted a video of Terminator. I was like, okay. There we go.
I actually heard a thoughtful person say yesterday, I keep hearing this number. There's a 10% chance that AI is gonna, like, wipe us out. And the person said, I don't know if that's gonna happen or not, but I would like to change the messaging to there's a 10% chance that the people that own the AI companies are gonna wipe us out. And I was like, oh, thoughtful. Yeah.
Yeah. So, anyway, I don't know what's gonna happen. You don't know what's gonna happen. But No. We'll all have a plan for breaking into a pharmacy when it goes down.
Total Eclipse of the Heart1:38:10
Oh, and I'm gonna call the episode. Do you wanna guess, or should I just tell you it's pretty long now? I can just tell you.
Well, I assume that has something to do with the navy?
No. Sorry.
Oh, I don't know.
I'm gonna call it total eclipse of the heart.
Aw. I like that.
Isn't that nice? Yeah. And he got to see the the eclipse, but then things got sad afterwards.
I will always appreciate the doctor being like, yes. You can do that.
Yeah. I mean, you got...
Because it was cool. It's like a once in a lifetime experience, and I guess she recognized he was an entire Yeah. Like, health, you know, concerns that, yes, go do that with him before we ruin your life in other ways.
In other ways. Alright. Hold on one second for me. I have to, like, button this up, but I I gotta hit stop here. You were really terrific.
I appreciate you coming on. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Yep. Heck of an episode today, wouldn't you say? Let's thank Dexcom and the Omnipod five for sponsoring there. That's right, my friends. We were sponsored today by the dexcomgseven.
Dexcom.com/juicebox. Head over there right now. Look into that fifteen day Dexcom g seven. Fifteen days a long time. It's like half a month.
Don't check my math, but I'm pretty sure I'm right. And let's also thank the Omnipod five. My goodness gracious. Omnipod five tubeless. That beautiful algorithm's updated now with that new 100 target.
Get in there. Find out more about it. Omnipod.com/juicebox. You want some tubeless insulin pumping? Yeah.
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For more information on small sips, go to juiceboxpodcast.com and then go... Oh, actually, we changed the website. Let me see. Go to juiceboxpodcast.com. And from there, there's these two little lines on the right side top.
That's the menu. Then click that, then click series, then there's pro... There's small sips right there. Pro tips top, bold beginnings, bold... Bolus four, asks that.
There's a lot of them there. There's actually a little search there too. Could you just type small sips into the search? Oh, wow. That search works great.
Look at that. And then you could go right to, like, all results for small sips. Oh, and that takes you to the FAQ. You should check out the FAQ page too. I think that's juiceboxpodcast.com/jbfaq.
Seriously, that thing's amazing. Actually, whole website is... I mean, have you, like, seen it? You should you should go check out the website. The website rocks.
It is a potpourri, a never ending cornucopia of support for you and your diabetes journey. That's right. It really is. What else we got over here? Oh, I don't like the way that works.
I'm gonna fix that. Note to self, Change the change the masthead on the frequently asked questions page. Yeah. I don't like that. Fix that.
Oh, Claude. Oh, hell. I forgot to say thank you. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back again very, very soon.
What is that noise? Stop it. Stop. Can you hear that? My chameleon squeaking.
Are you squeaking? What are you rubbing the branch against the... Don't tell people I have reptiles. They'll think I'm weird. Thanks so much for listening.
I'll be back very soon with another episode of the Juice Box podcast. Look at me. Get all deep in there Been another episode of the juice box podcast. You can hear it. What was that?
Oh, I'm getting alarms and alerts on my phone. I was gonna get real deep and tell you about the juice box podcast.
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