#1917 Around the World
Around the World
Bella was diagnosed at four and spent two decades at an A1C near ten, with an endocrinologist whose method was yelling. She also bet Scott he couldn't guess what state she's from.
Jump to a moment
- Twenty-plus years at an A1C around nine or ten, and it was never a motivation problem. Bella was diagnosed at four, giving her own injections by six and doing her own carb math by eight. She bolused for every meal. What she did not have was direction — she describes an endocrinologist whose method was yelling, a lot of demands and very little instruction, and a household where the doctor was the professional and you did not question the professional.
- “Magical thinking” is her own term for how the numbers drifted. Working from a fixed carbs-per-meal plan and perpetually hungry, she would round a portion down in her head so an extra item would still fit the allowance — and she was never taught that she could simply take more insulin to cover more food. It is one of the most honest descriptions of how good-faith carb counting quietly comes apart that this show has had.
- The endocrinologist accused her of an eating disorder she did not have. Once she hit puberty he began attributing her build to anorexia. Bella is emphatic that she never had one, points out that her parents' builds explained hers, and adds that a persistently high A1C explains thinness too. She carries an obvious grudge about it, and describes years of being told she was doing it wrong without ever being told what to do instead.
- Three things moved the needle, and none of them were being yelled at. A CGM, a community post about a pre-meal timing heuristic — wait roughly a tenth of your glucose number in minutes before eating — and then learning that protein and fat are not free, and working with the Warsaw method for higher-fat meals. Her A1C is now 6.2. Her summary of it is that she just needed information and tools. Settings and dosing changes belong to your own care team.
- Better numbers came with a cost she is candid about. As her A1C fell she gained weight, which she found genuinely hard, and she is clear-eyed about why — higher blood sugars had been keeping her thinner. She also describes childhood verbal and emotional abuse, depression and anxiety she did not have language for until she read the definition in a college textbook, and PMDD she was diagnosed with much later. She names therapy, medication, her faith, and her own long work on herself — and explicitly warns against the idea that meeting the right person fixes any of it.
- Rule of 10 — The pre-meal timing page Scott announces on tape — divide your glucose by ten for a starting lead time in minutes.
- 30/60/90 Forecast — Companion page: where a glucose number and a trend arrow may be heading.
- Reading Your CGM Trace — The third page in the set — what the shape after a meal suggests about timing.
- Diabetes Pro Tip series — The fundamentals series with Jenny Smith that Bella found after the Facebook group.
- Mental Wellness series — Episodes with therapist Erika Forsyth on depression, anxiety, and the emotional side of a lifetime with type 1.
- MiniMed Flex — Sponsor of this episode — app-controlled automated insulin delivery.
- Juicebox Podcast Facebook group — Where Bella's nurse pointed her, and where she saw the post that changed her management.
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — Free, confidential, 24/7. Call or text 988 in the US. Outside the US, Find A Helpline lists services by country at findahelpline.com.
Every word of the conversation
Welcome & Sponsors0:07
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.
Hey. My name is Bella, and my god.
It's hard to introduce yourself, isn't it? 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 Next Gen 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.
It really is.
Try this. Hey. My name is Bella, and I have type one diabetes.
Perfect.
Okay. How long have you had type one, Bella?
I have had it since I was four, and I'm 30 now. So I guess that makes it twenty six years.
Look at you doing the big math. That's excellent. Excellent. Excellent. Excellent.
A Challenge: Guess the State1:59
So you you've you've thrown a challenge down to me before we've began. You said, I wanna see through the through this conversation if you can figure out what state I'm from.
Yeah. Alright.
We'll we'll see what happens.
Yeah. Absolutely. You have this huge catalog of so many people that you've interviewed. And the last person that I've heard you interview, you were able to identify, yeah, the birth order that she was in. Oh, that no.
That that's right. They, What was her name? She's 19.
19 year old.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You can tell by anyway, I can tell. Alright.
Well, we'll we'll see what I I I feel a lot of pressure right now, but that's okay. I and it's good for me. Keeps the morning moving. Let's figure out why you came on the podcast and a little bit about your story. So I mean, I'm gonna guess you don't remember a ton about being four years old.
Is that right?
Yeah. Pretty much.
Well, that's that's fair. When's the first time in your life you remember having, like, conscious thoughts about I have diabetes and it's part of your story now?
Diagnosed at Four3:03
Yeah. I would definitely say it was when I was diagnosed, when I was in the hospital, actually.
You do remember that? Yeah.
I do.
Go ahead.
It was, you know, a little traumatic, as I would say for most people.
Kinda kinda thing that sticks with you, Pella, a little bit. Yeah. So you don't make sure I understand. You don't you don't remember a ton about being four years old, but you do remember about being diagnosed?
I do. Yeah. Go ahead, Tara. So I asked my parents, and they do bring it up from time to time. Because I went in four days before my dad's birthday, and then I came out on his birthday.
So happy birthday, dad. So my mom says that I was you know, had the typical signs of drinking a lot more. And so in the typical fashion of the day, she gave me juices Mhmm. Which was such a great idea, right, but she didn't know any better to satisfy my thirst. And I was four at the time, so, of course, I was potty trained.
And but I started wetting the bed, and she was like, what's going on? And she said I was cranky and which was not, like, my typical behavior Yeah. Not my typical typical mood. And she was like, something's going on. And, you know, I looked tired all the time.
So she took me in, and the story goes that she took me to the doctor. They tested my blood, and they looked her in the eyes and said, you need to go home, pack for a week, and take her to the hospital right away. So she's packing. She's crying. She's trying to get ahold of my dad.
She can't get ahold of him, And so she called my uncle. He says that he'll get ahold of him, and I guess he was, like, working out on the track. And
On the on the track, your your uncle's your father works out on the track or your uncle?
He my dad was just working out on the track. He was just running.
Oh, okay. He was out running.
Yeah. He was out running.
What time of year was this? You remember?
July.
July. Okay. Yes. I was hoping that it was a winter month so that I could I could narrow down the states you live in to warm weather states. I was trying to trick you.
Okay. Yeah. Very smart.
We'll see. How many brothers and sisters? Do you have any?
It was July 8.
July 8. Okay. Do you have brothers
and sisters? I have an older sister. She's nine years older. She's my half sister.
Okay. Okay. So a nine year
old sister. Estranged.
You don't talk to your sister?
I do not.
Do you talk to your dad?
Yes. I do. Actually, he's supposed to come and see me in a tomorrow.
Nice. I guess I gotta ask, do you speak to your mom still?
I do. Yeah.
You do.
So just I have a good relationship with mom.
The sister then.
Just the sister.
Okay. Okay. Alright. So your mom gets a hold of your dad out there working out trying to be thin or no? Does she head off to the hospital by herself with you?
So he gets the voice mail once, you know, once he's done working out, and, he meets her there at the hospital. And, that's that's kind of all I have of the story there.
Do you And then think, Bella, do you think that story is your memory, or do you think it's been told to you so many times that you remember it?
Oh, yeah. For sure that
Okay.
The latter.
Right. Right. So then when the the actual hospital stay, they told you to be ready for a week. Were you there for that long?
I definitely remember being there for multiple days, so I could see it definitely being a week. From what I remember, there was a nice nurse, and we were doing some arts and crafts. And I actually had one of those arts and crafts for a long time. I don't remember if I eventually turned away when I was older, like a like a angsty teen, like, I don't need this anymore. But
You wish you had it
now? Maybe.
Maybe. Well, okay. Yeah. Alright. So what about growing up with type one?
I mean, is it I mean, twenty six years ago is what year? It's 2000.
It was 2000. Yeah.
So my god. You were, okay, you were diagnosed at four years old the year that the year my son was born. That's interesting. So I'm putting myself back in that space and that situation. That's Mhmm.
Six years before Arden was diagnosed. When Arden was diagnosed, they only gave you so were you getting would you have, like, Humalog and Lantus? Or do you were were you still the back end of regular and Miles per hour? Do you remember?
I genuinely don't remember.
Okay. Alright. What's the first time you remember, like, how you managed? Like, when you look back, do you think, like, did you give yourself your own shots at some point? Were you
Giving Her Own Shots at Six8:21
on a pump? I was my parents and I were really proud. So I was six years old when I started giving myself my own shots. Nice. My own injections.
Yeah.
And how often how often did you do them?
For every meal, of course. And then, I had, morning and a nighttime long acting.
Okay. Alright. So you were using probably Humalog and Lantus or something like that?
Probably. Yeah.
Okay. And so are you doing the math at your meals at six or no? You're just your parents are handing you a needle and you're you're doing the the work?
I would say probably at eight, I was doing the math. I remember distinctly being very proud, at winning, like, around the world. I don't know if you know that game, like, school game, around the world in math class.
I thought that was a guessing game. So I guess I don't know what you're talking
about. What?
I thought that I thought that wasn't that like a party game? Like sorry. No.
Thinking of, like, seven minutes in heaven?
I don't know. Maybe. Is that what I'm thinking of? I can't believe you just pulled that out, like, it was a real thing. Is that when they shove you in a closet?
Yeah. Okay.
Alright. I don't know what I'm thinking of then. No.
Absolutely not. Obviously, it's
not what you were doing when you were eight years old. That's not what I was saying.
Not in the not in the math classroom. No.
Not in the math classroom. Okay. So you remember go ahead. You were very proud. Sorry.
So, basically, the teacher would hold up a flashcard, like a multiplication flashcard, and one person would stand up next to, like, the the front row desk. And so it was, like, one person against the other student. And whoever got the flashcard correctly would move on to the next student and then the next and the next. And, if you got, like, you know, through all of the students, then you won around the world.
And you won this because your math was so excellent. Your math
was so excellent due to diabetes.
There you go. And today, you're an accountant.
My mom is, actually.
Oh, no kidding.
Today, I am a special education teacher.
Oh, that's lovely. Look at you. Okay. Alright. So you had you had some nice moments growing up.
Do you know what your outcomes were like or even what goals were were set as? Like, what did healthy mean to you when you were younger?
An Endo Whose Method Was Yelling10:49
Yeah. Healthy meant just playing sports a lot. I really love just being outside and playing sports with my dad and my cousin. And, yeah, I just I just loved being outside. And then going I hated going to the endo, honestly, because he his form of doctoring was yelling.
Really? And yes. And then once I hit puberty, his form of doctoring well, that's that's such a great verb, was accusing me of being anorexic.
What were
Which
Okay. Were you? Were you?
No. No. No. I never actually had any form of ED, and which is so funny because you can tell I have a bone to pick with him.
So I can't you know, I'm I'm trying to get to it. Don't worry. Go ahead.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My mom is a very petite woman, and my dad is very tall. So I'm just like, sir, the math is right in front of your eyes.
Like, I don't understand why you think me being a skinny tall girl, like, is an issue.
Oh, so that was it. It was your body style that made him think that? Yeah. And you're saying he could have easily looked at your parents and saw that you had a tiny mom and a really tall thin dad and thought that makes sense that she's built this way.
Yeah. I mean, my don't get me wrong. My dad was not thin. He's he's he's a big boy, he's also very tall, and my mom is very thin and tiny. And, also, as an endocrinologist, he also should have seen that my blood sugars were very out of control.
And, obviously, we all know that when you have a high a one c, you tend to be skinny.
So, also, you're, what do you mean out of control? Like, how where were your a one c's at?
I mean, about 10.
Pretty consistently? Like, stably 10, or did they bounce around?
I mean, nine, ten. It was it was pretty bad.
Okay. Why do you think that was?
Magical Thinking and a Sixty-Carb Rule13:16
I think lack of education. You know, the we didn't have the juice box podcast. So
You just think we just don't think you like I mean, but but seriously, like, you miscounting carbs? Are you even being told to count carbs? Are you not injecting for everything you eat? Are you, like, forgetting the basal?
I I was not pre bolusing long enough. I did I did bolus on, like, every single time. Mhmm. And I also, with reflection, believe there was a lot of magical thinking because I was so hungry all the time. Like, I was I had a, like, a high metabolism for sure.
So we have, like, a set like, you eat 60 carbs at every meal type of deal.
Okay.
And so if I wanted, like like, 20 more carbs, but I was at, like, 50, I was like, oh, well, like, that might have only been 45 and, like, so maybe I can have this biscuit that's 20, but, like, 15 carbs is not so far from 20. So it's okay.
You start lying to yourself about the the truth about the math of what you're eating.
Exactly.
And then so eating more, but then not giving insulin later for that.
Yeah.
Okay.
Because you're not because I wasn't really taught, you know, to give more in those situations so that I can cover the carbs. It was just like, oh, no. You only have 60 and, like, this is how much.
Okay. I gotcha. But then you go to the doctor and your a one c is higher. Does that not say to you, I must not be using enough insulin?
I think the culture that I grew up in, my parents and I, we were just taught, like, the doctor is the professional, and you listen to the professionals, and that's that. Like, you don't question. You don't you don't get creative.
What what culture? You did this
I see what you're doing.
You did this spelling, not me. Go ahead. What culture? I mean, I can see I can you know what I mean? Like, I I I can guess, but it's so if you can tell me, it'll it'll go quicker when I tell you probably live in California.
But go ahead.
So they grew up my mom I guess, like
You don't wanna say?
Screw up.
You don't have to say. No.
No. No. No. No. No.
I at first, I I didn't wanna say because then it would give you a hint as to if he grew up.
Listen. You can't you can't defend. I get to ask questions. Questions. Go ahead.
Yes. Yes. That's true. Okay. They both grew up very, very low income, like, you know, stamps and all that.
Mhmm. So I think that has, like, a huge impact on, you know, having great respect for those who have a much higher education than you. And then, also, they both grew up Catholic. And, again, like, that's, like, rule following and all of that.
Okay. So by culture, you mean, maybe looking up to people who have, you know, achieved more than they feel like they have and Mhmm. That they were Catholics, so there was a lot of you do what you're told.
Right.
Okay. Little do what you're told, little bit of that. I got you. So then but then if the doctor's yelling that you're I'm assuming that yelling was your a one c is 10. Right?
Mhmm.
Okay. Then why didn't we then not do what we were told and take care of it? Was it because you didn't get actual information about what to do next? You know what I mean? Like, sometimes they're like they're like, just fix it.
And then you're like, well, how? And then there's no answer to that.
Yeah. I mean, from what I remember, that's basically what it felt like.
Okay. So a lot of demands, not a lot of direction.
Mhmm.
Okay. So how does that strike you then when you're a kid? Like, you're being told you're doing the wrong thing. Meanwhile, you said your your bowl is synced for all your food. You feel you probably feel you probably feel like, hey, I'm putting a lot of effort into this.
I'm not I'm not getting outcomes. You're telling me I'm wrong, but you're not giving me any direction. So what does that, like, turn on yourself and makes you just feel like you're messing it up?
Yeah. It just felt very stressful.
Okay. Constantly. I would I would imagine. Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, like, I grew up as a kid that was very placating, just for the way that I grew up.
What do you mean by that? So
What Was Happening at Home18:28
both my parents were abused in different ways, and my dad especially let me know, and he probably should not have because it took a toll on, like, my mental health. And so and then he kind of, like, passed down some of that to me.
So your father so your father was abused. He he abused you and told you about what was done to
him. Right. Okay.
And
Which kind of, like, was an excuse.
For what he was doing. Mhmm. Okay. And how and I'm sorry. We got to that kind of, like, oddly.
So I started off by asking you if you're being told what to do and your family's a bunch of rule followers, how come the out the outcome isn't different? And I think we get to it's probably because there was no actual direction about what to do. Just you're not doing well, like, do better. And then what happens? Does your dad do the same thing?
He tells you do better?
Mhmm.
Okay. And again, you're a young kid and you don't have any context for what do better means. So the doctor doesn't tell you what to do. Your dad doesn't tell you what to do. Everyone's yelling, some people are hitting you?
No. No. It's it's just verbal and emotional abuse and it's just like trying to figure out how best I can please people.
So you're being badgered and that turns you into a people pleaser?
Mhmm.
Gotcha. Is that still a problem for you today?
Yes. But I have grown quite a bit this past decade once I figured out that that's what was going on when I was a kid.
Yeah. Did you go to therapy to figure it out?
Finding the Words for It20:32
I started going to therapy in high school when I realized I was depressed, but I didn't figure out that I had been experiencing, like, verbal and emotional abuse until college when I was when I took, like, a psychological class and was reading, like, the definition and symptoms in a book. And I was like, oh my gosh. Like, that's me.
Yeah. Oh, isn't that something? You you found out in a book what was happening to you?
Yeah. Well, that's
was that really
They call it
Good.
They call it Sorry. They they call it something when it's, like, co co something. It's it's not normal where, like, a parent relies on the kid.
Oh, codependency.
Codependency. Thank you. Mhmm. And that's basically what was happening. Like, the like, my dad was relying on me as, like, his therapist, and he and we shouldn't be doing that.
Yeah. No kidding. When you read in when you're in college and you read about like this thing that you're like, oh, that's my life. Is that relieving to you or is it is it just tell you, gosh, I probably have some things to figure out? Like, where do you go from there once you read that?
Yeah. I I'd say it's both. It was it was definitely like a relief. It was it was like, wow. This this makes a lot of sense as to why I am the way I am.
Meaning people pleasing? Yeah. Depressed too?
Depressed, people pleasing, anxious.
Describe the depression.
Well, it's it's difficult because the anxiety and depression, like, kind of work together. Like, the anxiety will push me out of the depression to, like, go and, like, work so hard, but then, like, to get good grades and, like, to overachieve and things like that. But then the depression is like, oh, like, all these people hate me and, like, I I suck at, like, everything even though, like, I've achieved so much. So it's
You're doing well.
It's really negative self talk.
Yeah. Yeah. You're doing well on the outside, but you're you're telling yourself well, you're not telling yourself, but yourself is telling you that it's a failure and people don't like you. And so all that Mhmm. All that is likely from how you were treated at home, you feel.
Yeah.
Yeah. And then you go to a therapist and but they go, like, magic wand. Right? And then it just goes away. Or do you talk for That's okay.
You talk for a number of years till you get through it?
No. No?
Did did are you married now or dating or anything?
I am. Yeah.
Did you meet a meet a guy that was helpful with you for this stuff?
Yeah. I mean, I I I don't wanna say that he I don't I don't want anyone to think that, like, you if you're in my situation, all you gotta do is, like, go out and find the right person. They're gonna fix you because that's not what happened. Like, I worked on myself for so long, and I found out as well that I have PMDD, which is premenstrual dysphoric disorder. So my depression actually gets worse around that time of the month.
So it is also, like, hormonal as well.
Yeah.
So I found, like, the right medication to help me through that. And
Very nice. What what what medication helps with that?
It's Lexapro.
Okay. Hey, Bella. I'm sorry. Is there a fan on behind you or something that's making a consistent noise?
No.
No? Okay. Lexapro, how long you've been using that?
Four years.
Okay. And describe what it's done for you.
It has helped me with mood swings and helped those negative voices, like, help me check those negative voices.
Any value for the anxiety? Any value for anything else that you're seeing a benefit anywhere besides that?
Yeah. I would say the anxiety has quieted as well. I no, baby. My cat wants to go on my lap right now, but I have my laptop open. Yeah.
I would say it's turned my PMDD into regular PMS symptoms.
I gotcha. So you went from bad to
yeah. Yeah.
That's not bad. It's a good that's a good reduction in Absolutely. Yeah. How about the way you deal with other people? Was that ever an issue or did was most of this internal for you?
Like, did you well, my question is is did you lash out at other people the way you probably should have fought back against your parents?
I would sometimes snap, and I don't know if that was oh, oh, hello. Can you hear my cat burn?
No. Don't listen. That people will find that delightful if they can hear your cat burn. Don't worry about that. I'm actually worried about I I think I should take a five second break and go feed this lizard because he's running around like crazy, making all kinds of noise.
And he's just
Oh, I can't hear it.
He oh, you can't? Good. He is just desperately looking for a bug. And I feel like if I just gave him one, he would relax a little bit. Oh.
Sorry.
You should do that.
Do you want me to do that? Alright. Hold on one second. I'm actually going to because I think it'll help me, to not have to worry about it. Give me one second while I pause.
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Alright. I'm back. We're being recorded again. What I just did can only be described as horrifying, but it's what they eat. So now it'll it'll take I said him.
It's her. I feel bad about misgendering the lizard.
How dare you?
But she's gonna start, like, walking around. She's flicking her tongue. She's figuring out, like, there's something in here that smells like food. She's doing it right now. Like, she slowed down completely and is, like, is now, like, kind of instead of running around, she's I wish you could see her.
She's like a snake with legs. Here she goes. She's climbing up the side of the wall. Up. She's by the cup.
There's there's there's more flicking flicking. They're in there. Go ahead. Go get them. She she she doesn't understand English.
I and I don't know any other languages. So, I mean, if she
That's a shame.
Yeah. If do do you speak any other languages? Okay. There we go. We're getting there.
I'm also learning Romanian.
Romanian?
Yeah. For what? My husband's Romanian. Oh, go and visit the old the old country.
Oh, very nice. Your husband's Romanian. You have a little Spanish. I got I okay. I mean, I I
I can I can converse in Spanish, actually?
You have a very clean, American accent
Thank you.
Which which trends West Coast. Am I right?
Okay.
Like, okay. I think I hit it early and you just you don't wanna say.
I will tell you that I have a lot of international friends.
Okay. You have a lot of international friends? What does that mean? You live near an airport? What's going on there with that?
Okay. So Maybe. So your story is it's interesting. When we started talking before we recorded, you were like, you know, I have something to share, and I don't think it's really an after dark. But so far, you've talked about a lot of I mean, I don't find it to be after dark's a weird thing for me because I don't particularly enjoy calling the episodes after dark.
It's just a way to let people know we're gonna be talking about stuff like this. Mhmm. But I don't see this as anything different than anybody else's, you know, day to day struggles or lives or whatever. Yeah. It's just stuff that happens.
So Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
So let's make sure we understand where we're at here so far. You are a young girl, back in our story. You're going through a lot. You get to college. You start figuring out what's going on.
You go to therapy. You move through those things. But through that time, is your a one c changing at all? Or are you in college at a nine or a 10?
I think I got it down to like an eight. I am like like moving all around a lot more, of course. Ow, gosh. She just headbutted me, my cat sugar.
The cat's coming for you.
Yeah. I mean, like, in a good way. She just wants attention. She's so sweet.
But I
can Don't you find it ironic also that her name is Sugar?
Well, you have diabetes.
Yeah. But I didn't name her. She chose me.
Oh, you you when you got the cat, it already had the name Sugar?
Yeah. I adopted her and she was like she literally reached her paw paw out to my mom and she my mom's like, oh my gosh, she wants us. And I looked at her and I was like, I
don't know if
I want a gray cat.
Well, here it is. So you get it how do you get it down to an eight? You think it's just activity, like walking around? Was a big campus you were walking around all
the time? Think it yeah. It was a big campus. I think I just was walking around, and I started to utilize the gym more. And I started boxing, so, like, I was lifting weights as well so I could get stronger.
Mhmm. And
so just activity alone, did you change how you ate at school versus home? I
was I was working, and I didn't wanna ask my parents for money. So I was eating, like, cans of peas and, like, salads and stuff, and I was not eating super healthy.
Why didn't you wanna eat why didn't you wanna excuse me. Why didn't you wanna ask your parents for help?
Because they just worked so hard, and I and I don't know. I just didn't wanna, like, take from them.
Okay. So they grew up broke, but as you were in by the time you were in college, were they still on the broke side?
Were middle class.
Middle class by then. Okay. So they could have afforded to help you eat.
Yeah. For sure.
No one ever said, hey. What are you eating? Do you need a do you eat 50? Nothing
like that. My dad would come up and buy me groceries, but I just hated to, like, use their money. So I would just kinda rely on the money that I got from working on campus. Okay. And I also just hated to, like, go to the store using the bus.
You're like, listen. I was hungry, but not hungry enough to get on the bus. Okay? That's all. I I the I've got a line.
So you're eating cans of peas?
These are good.
Yeah. I know. But that's happened more than once. You're like, for like, I'm hungry. I'm gonna crack open a can of peas now.
When the Injections Stopped Working33:59
Yeah. Also, Scott, this was the time that my legs were just and my stomach was were just, like, rejecting shots.
What do you mean?
Like, they were rejecting the the needles. I was trying to poke myself, like, up to five times and having such a tough time. Like, my skin was becoming tough.
Were you injecting in, like, the same areas over and over again?
I would go, like, all around the world.
So so you it's not that you were, like, injecting one, like, small area over and over and it got, like, scarred. No. You what do you mean? What would you do were you bit by a radioactive spider at any point in that time? Or, like, what do mean your your skin?
But that doesn't make any sense.
Yeah. I don't know. I just couldn't find, like, any space in my body that, you know, I
was supposed to go in?
Yeah. Where the needle would go in. It was getting crazy. And so finally, I was like, this is ridiculous. So I started looking into an insulin pump by then, and I wish I had done it sooner because it's changed my life as I'm sure thousands of people, can attest to.
So insulin pump takes your eight a one c to where?
The Pump, Then the CGM35:22
Now I'm at a 6.2.
And did you have a CGM in college?
No.
Do you have one now?
I do.
Okay. How long have you had a CGM?
Let's see. I got the CGM. Which one did I get first? Well, anyway, I got them about the same time.
In somewhere around college time.
So I got the insulin pump in 2017, I wanna say, or so.
Okay.
And then I got this actually, I got the CGM much later. I got it in, like, 2021.
Oh, so you've only had a CGM for about four or five years?
Yeah. Because I remember teaching and the and I had to, like, check my blood sugar and the kids all literally, everyone just stopped. You coulda heard a pin drop, and they all just looked at me. And I was like, I'm I'm fine, guys.
Just look at him and go, hey. Listen. My dad was abused. Do you want me to tell you about that? Alright?
Oh my gosh. That'll that'll that'll that'll shut you up, kids. But you hear the stories that I was told. You're getting off light watching you're getting off light watching me test my blood sugar.
They were so kind, though.
Oh, that's nice. So so you've had a CGM for five years or so. Are you automated now or you automatic? You are. What what system are you using?
So I'm on the Dexcom Mhmm. And Omnipod five.
Okay. And before Omnipod five, you were using Omnipod dash?
Right.
Okay. So you've only ever been Omnipod?
Only Omnipod. Yep.
Okay. And that took your a one c from the eights down further. And then were you getting low a lot with out of CGM, or how did you were you testing a bunch? How did you manage your your, you know, understanding what your blood sugar was?
No. I would say I was still kind of high, honestly.
Even with okay.
Yeah. Even with the Omnipod, I was still kind of high. I guess my set like, I I was scared to, like, dial in my settings too much.
Mhmm. How do you
Until I got my CGM.
So you got your CGM. And how long have you been married?
Our first anniversary was June 14.
Oh, you've only been married a year?
Mhmm.
Oh, congratulations.
Thank you so much.
One year's paper. What did you get? Was there a gift? Listen. I'm gonna be married thirty years in, two weeks.
I haven't gotten my wife anything. The only thing that's making me feel better is that I know for sure she didn't give me anything. So I'm good.
We we went out and we had a great time at Dave and Buster's, and which is what we like to do. We prefer experiences. But I also made him he likes those ranking videos. I don't know if you've seen those on YouTube.
What do you mean?
Like, you rank like, a lot of a lot of people, they'll rank, like, their favorite movies, and it'll be, like, a b c d e. Yeah. Or, like, there's an s tier. And so I did that, but, like, with our dates. And so I had pictures from, like, a lot of our dates this past year.
And so I just ranked, like, the dates based on, like, romance, food, funny moments, and things like that.
What a nice night date.
Then did, like, a like a overview of them and he loved it.
That's really cool. What did he get you?
I don't remember.
Oh my gosh. This is where guys go wrong. We're not good at gift giving. Women are much better, I think. I'm generalizing.
I believe women are much better at gift giving than men are. You know, big big picture.
So You know what? Yeah. He was also working nights, so I understand.
Yeah. Working nights in the hospital?
Yeah.
Okay. What kind of doctor is he?
A hospitalist.
And did your well, I guess I should ask you. You've been married for a year, but how long have you been together?
We started dating ow. She just bit my neck.
Sugar bit your neck?
Yeah. Is
she a vampire cat?
She's not Romanian.
I was trying to get to that, Bella. How come you didn't let me get to it?
She didn't I'm quicker.
She didn't whisper in your ear, I want to suck your blood. Nothing like that happened first?
No. No. She was she was being very sweet actually, which is, I guess, very vampirical.
What if your husband is a vampire and he's just setting you up?
That's a long setup. How
long have you been together now? What you were getting ready to say when the cat attacked you?
Yeah. June '23.
Okay. So twenty four, twenty five, twenty so you've been together about three years?
Mhmm.
And how long have you had a CGM for?
Since, like
About five years.
'21. Yeah. Five years.
And when did your a one c start coming down?
Oh my gosh. Oh, well, it really came down in '20 in, like, January '23
Okay.
Or or late twenty two.
So a little after you had a CGM?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
And what did what changed?
The Post That Changed Everything41:15
Well, I got the CGM, and I was actually looking to move out of state. And one of my nurses that I've had since I was diagnosed, she suggested your Facebook group. And so then I started listening to your podcast, and I was convicted to start prevo listening. Actually, no. No.
No. Before that, I saw a post by someone. I don't remember, so I apologize to that person, but thank you. They told me about the 10% rule to prebolise 10% of your blood sugar, and I have followed that, like, bible since. That's working.
That's working. That person.
Mhmm. No kidding. So to explain it explain it to people.
Yeah. So if your blood sugar is, like, 100, then you're going to pre bolus by ten minutes. So you're gonna wait ten minutes, and then you're gonna start eating after you take your shot.
Well, I'm interested that you brought this up because I have added pages to my website about this. I haven't told anybody about it yet. So can I tell people about it now?
Please do.
Juiceboxpodcast.com/rule,rule,101zero. It's not like a rule rule, but it's it's what I it says right on the website. Rule is just what the community calls it. A juice box idea for thinking about pre meal timing divided b g by 10 starting lead time in minutes. So there's a little thing here.
You can, like, click in. Let's say your blood sugar is one fifty six, then your pre bolus should be sixteen minutes. If you're above your target, if you're in range and you can like it's so you can there's a little slider here. Right? And it will tell you, like, you can slide up and down your BG, you can type your BG in.
So 135 is an in range blood sugar. Fourteen minutes is an illustrated illustrated start window, and that's it. Now it explains kinda what the the rule. I know it's, like, not really a rule, but they it's a mental shortcut for pre bolus timing. And then when you're done with that page, if you want to continue on, at the bottom, you can go to the thirty, sixty, 90 forecast.
And once you get to that page, it'll tell you where possibly your blood sugar will be in thirty minutes. So it's an interesting way to, like, before the bolus, after the bolus. So again, you put in, like, a one fifty six blood sugar and then attribute an arrow to it. Very fast rate up, fast rate up, slow rise, all that stuff will call it a slow fall. So if you have a one fifty six blood sugar with a slow fall, a diagonal down arrow, in thirty minutes, your blood sugar might be about one twenty six.
It just kinda shows you what fall rates can it's just it's just so that you can kind of visualize those arrows direction and where you might be headed. Does that make sense?
That is so cool.
Thank you. And there's like a little slide here you can like change to mess with it. It's to kinda help yourself like visualize things better.
I love that. Did you make that with AI?
Of course, did. And it's it's my ideas that I turned it into hold on. Then there's the thing at the end that's called after. So it's like, it's before the rule of 10, during the thirty, sixty, 90, and then after reading your CGM trace. And then you can sort of do this.
It it gives you little things like you saw this. You saw a BG spike then came back down on its own. The timing clue about that is that the insulin eventually caught up, and brought glucose back in range, which suggests the dose was probably about right. But the spike tells you the insulin wasn't working yet. When the carbs arrived, the insulin didn't get enough of a head start before it had to compete with the meal.
So what you can explore is whether a longer pre bolus window fits a similar meal, blah blah blah. So, anyway, it gives you, like, you saw a BG spike, then it came back down on its own. You saw a BG went low within an hour of eating. BG went up gradually and kinda stayed there. BG shot up and stayed up.
BG went low two to three hours after eating. So there are three different web pages that all connect to each other and kinda help you before, during, and after your meal. I was I've been working on that for a while. I can't believe I haven't told anybody about that yet. You guys there's so much on that website I never tell you about.
I apologize. But it's called it's called rule of 10. It's in the menu at the top if you wanna go to it. Rule of ten, thirty, sixty, ninety forecast, and reading your CGM trace. So those are three new pages on the website.
And I can't believe it's a
thing. Amazing.
Thank you. You'll check it out. You'll love it. But but you but you saw somebody talking about that online, and you're like, oh, that's a a rule of thumb that I could probably make sense of.
Protein Isn't Free, and the Warsaw Method46:19
Yeah. Absolutely. So I started doing that, and things just started getting better and better. And then, you know, people were talking about your podcast. I was like, like a lot of people say, I'm not a podcast person.
But I started looking around, and then I started doing other things and learned about how protein actually isn't free carbs like I was told when I was a kid.
Mhmm.
And then recently heard about the Warsaw method, and I've been implementing that. And I really appreciate whoever made the website, the calculator. So I've been implementing that, and I'm telling everybody about it.
I The the one on
my only half.
The one on my the one on my site? The the the estimator on my site? Is that what you're talking about? Or you talking did you find a different one?
I, no. It's a different one. I I apologize.
Don't you have to apologize. You can I'm
It's sure the Omni calculator.
Okay. I'm sorry. I'm assuming they're all based on the same math. Yeah. Wait.
But if you want, you can check mine out too. When you're when you're on the site later, take a look at it.
I will.
Yeah. But the Warsaw method of understanding how to cover fat with insulin, huge help.
Oh, absolutely. Yeah. It's crazy. Especially with pizza, I'm like, oh my gosh. I'd literally every time I eat pizza, I'm like, oh my gosh.
I stay within range.
It's awesome. So what you're basically telling me is that you just needed some tools to figure out how to do this stuff. A little bit of information, a little bit of tools.
Yeah. Basically.
So yelling at you was never gonna get you to understand that fat can impact your blood sugar.
Crazy.
Fascinating. Who knew?
Right. Knew?
Knew? Certainly not me. I am really touched and thrilled that this podcast has been so helpful for you and the group and the community around it. And I would say to people who say I'm not a podcast person, I think you're just not a crappy podcast person. And I understand.
I've I've heard some bad podcasts in my life, but this isn't one of them. So, you know
Yeah. No. I greatly appreciate it. If you're you know, even if you set it, like, on while you're cleaning, you'll still glean, like, a lot of great information. And I really wish that I'd found it sooner.
I appreciate that. I'm glad and I appreciate you taking the time to tell people that too because
Oh, yeah. I tell everyone that. Like, anyone I meet who is either in the health care field or has diabetes, whether it's type one, type two, three c, whatever, you know, I tell literally everyone about your podcast, about the Facebook group. I tell them about the Warsaw method.
Look at you. You know, when you're out there spreading the good word as they say.
And the actual good word as well.
Finally, something actually, based in Catholicism is happening to you Catholic.
I'm not Catholic, actually. Oh,
you what they call a reformed Catholic? Or
No. Absolutely not.
No? You just ran from the whole thing when you saw your parents?
My parents are not Catholic, actually. They were raised Catholic, but if you don't mind
Oh, they they they they're reformed Catholics. Gave it up. They gave it up way before they had you.
So they stopped going, but I if I may Mhmm. I could not have gotten through my childhood situation without, like, the holy spirit guiding me. And, like, with the the abuse and the the diabetes and just everything, I really felt like the holy spirit was guiding me.
You you found another church, or you just found
I I continued to go to, like, protestant churches, and then eventually, a friend from high school invited me to his church. And that became my home church for twelve years until I got married, and we had to move for my husband's job. But I was very involved. I had helpless food pantry and went on a mission trip and helpless children's ministry. And, oh my gosh, I love my church so much, the way they're involved in the community.
That's beautiful.
Amazing. Like, they I'll just say the Lord saved my life.
Oh, that's wonderful. I'm that I'm thrilled for you. I'd I'd be happy to hear that anything saved your life. That's a fantastic thing. So you even though your parents didn't give you, I mean, they they seem probably disenchanted with their religious upbringing.
But even though they
They come to Christ. They did. They they were always they were always Christian, just not Catholic.
Gotcha. I gotcha. No. I I understand. Well, that's really fantastic.
And you're still practicing now?
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm very, very much involved. Very, very enchanted. Lovely.
Lovely. And
you have kids or no? I didn't ask.
Not yet. We're waiting for him to be done with residency.
Oh, and then we're gonna start I was gonna say bang them out, but that's what I meant. You're gonna start you're gonna you're gonna have a bunch of them or you're have one. What's your play?
Probably about four.
Four? That's one for each appendage. You'll have to hold two with your feet, two with your hands. It's gonna be something.
He also has two
Oh, no.
No. Two arms.
No. We we we can't help with that stuff. There's football on. Do you understand? No.
He can't he really can't wait to be a dad.
That's awesome. How old are you again? You're 30?
We're both 30. Yeah.
About 30. Well, you better I mean, I don't but, you know, it's it's time. You know what I mean?
Trust me. I know. It's hard to wait, but at the same time, like
You're waiting for money? Like, the for things to stabilize?
No. No. No. No. We're not waiting for money.
No? We're just we don't wanna be so stressed. You know?
I mean, I I know. I I've got two kids. I know exactly what you're talking about.
Yeah. You totally understand.
Yeah. I do.
Because, like, he he'll be working nights and then also, like, twelve, fourteen hour shifts, and it's just why when when we have the ability to wait, not everyone a lot of people don't have the ability to wait. But, like, when we have the ability to wait, why not take that advantage?
I mean, it's it's smart to do it when you think it's best. That's all. Yeah. That's that's awesome. So he's what?
He's in residency still?
Yeah. Yeah.
But not much longer.
He has two more years. So, like, next year is when we'll start.
Yeah. Yeah. That's right. We only he only needs about three day break after residency before the baby comes. So Exactly.
Yeah. Yeah. Plus, it would give him something to be excited about that last year.
Exactly. Unless
you get pregnant immediately and ruin it, which I do, which does happen sometimes. You know? Talk to so many guys and they're like, we're gonna have a baby. I'm gonna have sex all the time. And then they're back, like, five minutes later, like, well, she's pregnant.
I was like, I don't think you're supposed to do it the first time, but it happens the way it happens. You know what I mean? Take all the fun out of babies. But if you're gonna do four, he'll at least get three more tries after that.
That's right.
It's gonna be fantastic. And are you gonna continue working when you have kids, or are you thinking about staying home?
So, you know, I'll take care of them until they're school age. So I'll stay at home until they're school age and then go back to work Nice. As a special education teacher. So, yeah, I'll keep up with my, professional degree
Nice.
In that way.
And you are prepared for I mean, it sounds like to me like you're fine with your blood sugars, but, know, you if you're having hormonal fluctuations already, you're prepared for all that. You you know the you know the playbook. You're probably gonna need more insulin when you're pregnant kind of thing. It's gonna ramp up and then suddenly you give they say you pass the placenta and your needs almost immediately go back to where they were before you were pregnant. It's great.
Like Really? Yeah. You gotta listen to some of those pregnancy episodes. Get get get yourself ready.
After the A1C Came Down54:37
I actually have been on a weight loss journey. So I I did kinda wanna talk about this a little bit. So when I when my a one c went, like, crashing down to 6.2, which I was very, like, amazed by and, like, happy with, but I gained, like, 25 pounds immediately. And then over the past year, I gained another, like, 15 pounds. And that's been, like, really difficult mentally
Yeah.
Because I've always been finally started
you finally well, you're not for nothing. You're probably skinnier because your blood sugars were higher.
And Exactly.
And now you're taking the right amount of insulin. And what'd you learn that you were probably eating more calories than you needed?
I think a little bit, but yeah. I think probably a little bit more, but not like an excessive amount. Okay. I also think that this is probably the weight that my body prefers. And as we all know, like, the scale doesn't tell you how much muscle you have, and I know I do have, like, quite a bit of muscle.
Yeah. But at the same time, it's just difficult Mhmm. To, like, look in the mirror and not see, that that
Who you think you are?
I'm not, like, saying that I'm, like, a model, but I'm saying, like, my body was, like, that model size.
And now So what are you doing? Are you exercising, changing how you're eating, what you're eating?
I am. I'm counting my calories. I'm counting my fat and protein. I'm sorry. My fiber and protein, and I'm weightlifting.
And so I actually have increased my weights recently and noticed that I am going low a lot more often. So I'm currently in a state of, like, recalibrating, you know, my my settings and all of that. So I bring that up because I'm like, well, I will continue to weight lift when I am pregnant in order to, like, offset the
Kinda keep your needs
from there. Yeah.
Yeah. Oh, that that's fantastic. And, yeah, I mean, if you have you lost weight as your weight as you're working out too?
Not that I can see. No. Just more activity. Stable.
Okay. So you think your insulin needs have changed, but your weight hasn't changed?
Right.
Okay. Oh, it's interesting. Have you considered the GLPs or you you think you're gonna be able to handle it the way you're handling it?
The I don't qualify for the GLPs.
Because of you're not
because I'm not heavy enough.
Your weight your weight's not.
So I am five nine and I weigh one seventy four.
That should get you a GLP. No? No. Okay. Well, I I assume they're going to be prescribing them for type ones the next I mean, I don't know how soon, but it's gotta be sooner than later because there are studies going on right now for it.
So if it's something you're interested in, it it might be it it might be something that's prescribed just, you know, to help with type one diabetes in the in the near future, which I think would be awesome. Well, that's cool. I mean, it's it's good if you do, like, see what was going on, make changes, work towards stuff. I mean, that's Mhmm. That's really fantastic.
Twenty Questions58:09
So now is it time now for us to guess where you're from? Yeah. Alright. So I think I unfairly know your last name, which is right. That kinda gives me a hint about your ethnic background.
Does it?
That isn't that my married name that you know?
I how is that possibly your that's the Romanian last name?
Is it the one that starts with a v? Which one are you looking at?
Yeah. The v.
Yeah. That's my married name.
That's your married name. Oh, now I don't know what's going on. Okay. So so you have okay. So you have, like, a clean accent.
So I don't hear any I don't hear Midwest. I don't hear Southern. You're not from around here. You could maybe be no. You're not a New Yorker.
Alright. So you're not from New York. You're not from Texas. You're not from the Mid States. You're not from the Midwest.
I think you're from Arizona or California. You talked about moving. You talked about I don't know. I'm going why are you giggling? This is not funny.
Is so fun for me.
It's fun for you. Okay.
Yeah. It's like taking a BuzzFeed quiz, but like
Yeah. Well, a little bit more difficult with nobody no questions being asked. I gotta come up with the questions and the answers.
You can ask more questions.
Well, I don't wanna turn do you wanna turn it to 20 questions?
If you want.
Wait. Unless unless you wanna like, don't like, if I've if I've already guessed it correctly, you have to tell me.
Okay.
Okay. So have I?
No. No.
Alright. 20. Oh, alright. Ready? I guess I'll ask 20 yes or no questions.
We've never done this before. So you and I doing this together for the first time.
Are you I love it.
Are you on the are you on the left side of the country? Like, let's first like, knock the country right down the middle. Are you on the left side?
No.
No. Alright. Florida.
No.
No. You're on the right side of the country. I did one time here, Michigan for a second, but it wasn't it wasn't a lot. Plus the husband's probably got an accent. It's probably ruining your accent.
You are a little giggly. Could be Rhode Island. You're not from Virginia. Alright. Ready?
You're not from Virginia. Right?
Correct.
Why are you having so much fun? I I don't hear Pennsylvania. I'm just gonna use up my my this way. Right? No Pennsylvania?
No Pennsylvania.
No Pennsylvania, not Florida, not Virginia, not god. I'm just gonna say New York in case you're from Upstate.
No. No.
Not Michigan. Right side of the country going to Maryland?
No.
North Carolina?
Yeah.
I don't know. You didn't say anything that gets me to figure it out. I think you were holding stuff back that would have helped me figure it out. You did.
No. I was not.
You were not. You in the beginning, you didn't wanna answer a question. You're like, well, I don't wanna give you any answers. Alright. Well, you don't live in the state that you were born in right now.
Is that correct?
I I do live in the state I was born in.
So you moved out and moved back?
No.
I thought you moved at one point.
No. I said I was I wanted to move.
You wanted to move. Alright.
But there were some things that happened. Hurricane Ian happened.
Okay. So you couldn't move?
Correct.
You're not from New Orleans. I don't I mean, what am I missing here? You're not from Alabama. I mean, you said your parents were broke. I guess you could be from Kentucky or Alabama, but I would think you'd have an accent then.
You just have to tell me I give up.
Oh, Scott. Oh, Scott. You were so close.
I was so close. Oh, wait. I do hear
So many times.
There's so there's a little southern in there now. A tight oh, is South Carolina? No. What is that? Oh, and I hear it.
Where is that from? Just tell me.
Michigan1:03:17
I'm from Michigan.
I said Michigan.
You said not Michigan.
No. No. No. No. No.
I I said, oh, I talked myself out of it?
You talked yourself out of it so many times.
Damn it. Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn.
Damn. Accent, broke parents. Mhmm. I was right there. Not the way
You're so close.
You're not you don't you don't have any Spanish background?
No? No. I mean, I've been to Mexico
That doesn't count.
Taught myself Spanish since I was a kid.
Well, you threw me off knowing Spanish. And I and that married last name, I don't He stole that from somebody. That's not that's not Count Dracula, whatever that is.
That's from me. No.
No. It's not. Stop it.
Yes. Is. Look it up.
Look it up. I don't have
Are you familiar?
I don't I don't have time to look it up. Okay? Today is Arden's birthday, and she is texting me Oh my god.
About Happy birthday. No.
Thank you. I'll let her know. She's texting me about, like, are we going? Are we going we're supposed to go pick out a cake for to take to dinner with us tonight. So Alright.
I can't believe I had because I got Michigan early on once I split the country in half, and then I gave up on it.
You did. You kept saying not Michigan.
So I know it. I I just wanna say I know everybody in Michigan is not broke. There are broke people everywhere. Just like I by the way, I was completely broke growing up when I was in Pennsylvania. I don't know.
I was just generalizing trying to find something. You know what I do. I can't believe it didn't work this time. That's fine. Will you win?
That's fine. Yeah. The thing that I didn't wanna tell you earlier was that my dad's side is Irish, and my mom's side is mainly English German. So I felt like that would have told you Michigan. Or at least if you know anything about Michigan, then that would have
I know.
Given you a hint.
I know m and m's. Car industry used to be there. I know these things. I know the I know every
Our industry is so here.
I know everybody thought the lions were gonna be good, but they still suck. What do you think of that? You care about comments. Alright. Listen.
Go make a bunch of babies with that doctor boy of yours and and
I will.
And go forth and prosper. I appreciate you doing this with me. Hold on one second. Okay?
Okay.
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#1916 Chilly Reception
Chilly Reception
Christina has had type 1 for fifteen years. Her son William was diagnosed in DKA on a ski team trip to Chile, in a hospital where the care was entirely in Spanish — and the hardest part came after they got home.
Jump to a moment
- Adult-onset type 1 found her at 36, and the celiac link was news to her. Christina had been dragging for months with two children under three and put it down to exhaustion. A friend who is an ER doctor told her to get bloodwork; the result came back at 748 while Christina was driving her to the grocery store. She had already had celiac for a decade and gestational diabetes with her first pregnancy, and says no one had ever mentioned that celiac and type 1 travel together.
- A diagnosis abroad is a different event entirely. William was diagnosed in DKA at 10,000 feet in Chile, evacuated by ambulance to Santiago, and spent his first days in an ICU where the care was conducted in Spanish. Christina could not get a flight for two days. She got through it on Google Translate, a bilingual physician from a credit-card assistance service, friends conferenced in to interpret, and strangers who stepped in — and her own conclusion is blunt: arriving at that with no prior knowledge of type 1 would have been debilitating.
- “You made it look too easy.” Christina had spent fifteen years being private about her own diabetes and deliberately not burdening her kids with it. William’s response after his diagnosis was that she had made it look easy and never told him it was this hard, and for a while he was openly resentful that it had come from her. She started playing the podcast in the car on the way to ski races so the information would reach him from someone other than his mother.
- She names the mental health piece as the thing she would go back and change. By her account William was self-medicating within months, and what looked like unexplained overnight lows turned out to be the visible edge of it. She is direct that she was focused on the physical side and did not put support around the emotional side early enough — and she describes it as grieving the life he thought he was going to have. She is not offering this as advice, only as her own hindsight.
- Finding treatment that would accept a type 1 adolescent was its own ordeal. Program after program told her he was too high-risk to take. One asked whether insulin could be misused and had no protocol for storing it. She eventually found a place in Arizona, 2,200 miles from Brooklyn, that had cared for several people with type 1 and could tell her exactly how. That gap — between the care a family needs and the programs willing to provide it — is the most concrete thing this episode surfaces.
- Mental Wellness series — Episodes with therapist Erika Forsyth — the part of a diagnosis Christina says she wishes she had addressed sooner.
- Bold Beginnings series — The newly diagnosed series, for the first weeks she describes.
- Small Sips series — Short, curated takeaways — the series Scott plugs at the close.
- Juicebox FAQ — The searchable question bank on the site.
- SugarPixel — The bedside glucose display Christina sent to the ranch so staff could see his numbers from a distance.
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — Free, confidential, 24/7. Call or text 988 in the US. Outside the US, Find A Helpline lists services by country at findahelpline.com.
- SAMHSA National Helpline — Free, confidential, 24/7 treatment referral and information for substance use and mental health — 1-800-662-4357.
Every word of the conversation
Welcome & Sponsors0:08
Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Juice Box podcast.
So introduction, how how do you how do you should I I guess I haven't thought about that. So I should just introduce myself as a type one diabetic and a mother of a type one diabetic. Is that how it goes or where I'm from? Or
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. I've got two OG sponsors for you today, Omnipod five and Dexcom. That's right. 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. At that link, you can get yourself a free starter kit right now.
What did I just say? Free. Terms and conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox.
You'll find those links in the show notes of the podcast player you're listening in right now and at juiceboxpodcast.com. It's so it sounds reasonable to me. One person, last week just went, hey. My name is Bill. And I went, hey, Bill.
And that was it. And then he's so I would say open your mouth, start talking, and then wherever you end up will be okay.
Got it.
You're ready? Well, I'm ready when you're ready. So go ahead. Next word to me here.
I'm ready.
Okay. Next thing we hear is you saying hi.
Meet Christina2:19
Hi. My name is Christina. I am a type one diabetic, and I am also the mother of a type one diabetic and a resident of New York City.
Okay. Do you have other children other than that other type one?
I do. I have an older son who is 18, and my type one is 16, almost 17.
Okay. How old were you when you were diagnosed?
I was 36.
How old are you now?
I am turning 51 tomorrow.
Oh, happy birthday.
Why, thank you.
That's lovely.
So yeah. So I got I got through having my two children before I was diagnosed, but I did have I did have gestational diabetes with my first child, Sebastian, who is my 18 year old, and I did not have it with my second child that was eighteen months behind him.
Okay. Oh, 18. Yeah. Yeah. Very nice.
You were diagnosed when you were 36. So what was that like? I I I I imagine that's an age where you kinda don't imagine that's gonna happen. Right?
“Just a Little High” — Diagnosed at 363:20
No. Yeah. I so it's it's sort of an interesting story. I knew something was wrong with me, but I thought I just was tired because I had two kids under the age of three. I just thought that I was really tired and what nothing was right and dragging and dragging.
I had bronchitis. I couldn't shake it. And I had a friend who was an ER doctor, a mom. And I kept on going, What do think's wrong with me? Because why would I go to the doctor?
I thought she could just diagnose me. She was like, I think you should go get some blood work. I think you should just go get some blood work. So I did, and funnily enough, I got my blood work back when I was in the car with her. I was driving her to the grocery store because she was on bed rest with her third child.
They're like, Oh, we got your blood work back. Your blood sugar is a little high, so we want you to go get some more blood work. She whispers to me, she goes, Ask them what the number is. And they said, oh, you're at you're at seven forty eight.
Just a little high.
Just a little high. And she goes, ask them to have it have your blood work sent to you and pull over. And so she had
to pull over. You driving me and my unborn child.
She goes exactly. She goes, I'm gonna drive you, and we're gonna go to the you we're gonna go to my ER right now. And she drove me to the ER, and she admitted me into the ICU.
Wow. Just a little high.
And was in
That's fine.
Yeah. Full full DK had been going on for a while.
We might wanna just get you a little more blood work to really nail this down. Yeah. So
so and I was like, I don't think I need to go to the hospital. She's like, you do, and you're gonna go. So so, you know, right where she was in the right place at the right time, and I was doing the right thing at the right time taking her to taking her to the grocery. I'm like, but what about your groceries? And she goes, it'll be fine.
You got good karma came right back at you for helping her.
And it it did. It did.
So how how long were you in the hospital?
I was only in the hospital for a couple days, because I had had gestational diabetes. I sorta knew the drill on, how to, like, manage my diet a little bit. I also I I have celiac, so I'd had celiac for ten years. So I kept on saying, well, I don't have any nobody in my life has diabetes. I don't understand why I have it.
And they said, well, said, well, I just have celiac. And they said, oh, well, there you go, which I never knew there was the connection.
Other, autoimmune in your family line or celiac?
Yes. Yeah. So since, my mom has celiac, my mom has fil a lago, and my sister has celiac, and she has colitis.
Are you guys Irish?
Yeah. Sorry.
Yeah. It's just easier if I generalize.
I didn't I didn't know. You know, I've had I've had celiac since, you know, for twenty five years. It's been a really long time. So I I just never I never knew the connection. No one ever told me.
What do you do for your celiac? Or, like, has that changed since you've had diabetes, or do you just kinda maintain the same process?
I sort of maintain the same thing. I will say it's like, you know, a lot of like, the sort of awareness around gluten is a good thing, so there's a lot more availability. But at the same time, you know, now you have to sort of be clear that it's an allergy, not a preference. But when I was first diagnosed, it would I'd be like, in a restaurant, does it have this? But I'm like, do you know what gluten is?
It's anything that you'd have to sort of explain, and now it's like you go into a restaurant and there's gluten free stuff on the menu. And so it is a lot easier. I eat sort of a I shop from the outside of the grocery store, so I eat a lot of fruit, vegetables, protein.
Yeah.
Not a ton of carbs, not eating a processed food.
Interesting. You have to declare that it's a allergy, not a preference. Is that what happened when when the whole world decided they were they had
to they had to yeah. They're like, well, Oprah Oprah and Gwyneth Paltrow thinks it's great to be gluten free. I'm like, yes, But they're not allergic, so that's a difference.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So you can't mess up. It's a different situation.
Correct. That's interesting interesting wording. Okay. So how do you begin to I mean, what are we looking at here? Thirty six, forty six, fifteen years ago, What what kind of gear did they give you on the way out the door, and how has your management changed over the years?
Celiac, MDI, and Coming Around to a Pump7:17
I started on MDI. I was very like, I don't want anything attached to my body. And they kept saying, oh, you get a pump. You get a pump. And was like, I don't want one.
So I was pretty resistant on that. And then I ended up meeting with a work friend who was celiac and type one, and she'd been type one since she was two. And she kind of introduced me to the world of a CGM because dexcom had sort of just kinda come out not that long ago. So I went on a I think it was a three. It was big.
And I had the little, like, adapter that I would it was pink that I would carry around. So I I started off with that, and that worked really well. And then I started traveling a ton for work. I was going back and forth between London and San Francisco and just dealing with the time change and the long acting insulin, it was it was really hard. So I went on the first tandem, and I've been on a tandem ever since.
No pump.
A tandem.
Unless I get a pump. How long did it take you to go from no pump to pump?
About two years. Okay.
Well, do you think that that journey was valuable for you, or do you think that if somebody would have strong armed you into a pump sooner, you would have been happier?
I think my honeymoon phase lasted a long time, so I wasn't I wasn't using a ton of insulin. I didn't eat a lot of carbs. I was very active. So I I I managed my a one c was really low. I managed it really well.
It was when I started traveling that everything kind of went upside down, and I just struggled. I'd go to London one week, and then I was in San Francisco the next week. And just the time change, my sugars were all over the place. So they were like, well, when you have a pump, you change the time, and it just sort of it adjusts a lot easier. So I embraced it.
You know, I still sometimes wonder if I could ever go back to MDI, but I've been on the pump now. It's so easy. I I don't know if I could ever go back.
Are you on like, you're using Control IQ?
I am using Control IQ, and I'm on the and I love the Moby. I've switched over to that about a year and a half ago, like, when it first came out. And that's been sort of game changer for me because it's just so small.
Describe to me what would have to like, what would have to be the the, the win for you to go back to MDI?
I think I just sometimes get I like everyone. I think I get tired of having something attached to me.
So that's still an issue for you. So you knew yourself pretty well when you said I don't wanna get a pump. I don't want something attached to me.
Yeah. I feel like I'm pretty active, and I think it just felt like, you know, it's the, you know, the moments I have where, like, it catches I it catches on the doorknob or it's I run out of power. It's just kinda thinking about it.
Mhmm.
I would love to not have that have that. But now it's sort of just a way of life. And, you know, every now and then, like, I went to a meeting the other day, I realized I left my pump on the charger. So that was a little bit of that was a little bit of a whoopsie, but, you know, it happens.
You left the house and the pump was at home?
Oh, yeah. Still on the charger until I was, like, looking at my numbers. I'm like, what's going on? Why am I going up enough?
How did you manage that? Did you go home? Did have somebody bring it to you?
I tried to get someone to bring it to me, but ultimately, I just went home.
I had I met somebody recently who had a a similar situation. They just didn't do anything about it. And they had had diabetes a really long time. And I was like, what do you mean? Well, I got to work and, you know, I ran out of insulin.
Was kind of a a similar situation in their pump. And I said, so you went right home and got more? I said, no. I just kept working. And then, you know, six hours later, her blood sugar was 400.
And they're like, I can't get this to come down. I'm like, really? Fast fasting.
I went home immediately. Yeah. Yeah. And a friend of mine was like, why don't you just go to the pharmacy? She you know, she she's a nurse.
She's like, I'll call you in. She's like, I'll call you in the script. I'm like, no. I'm just gonna run home on the subway. It's fine.
She she wanted you to, like, inject some insulin to get you through the day?
Yes. She was like, are you sure you wanna wait? I'm like, I'm fine. I'm fine.
I'll I'll write you a script. Is that it was the doctor this friend?
Yes.
Yeah. So listen. I know you think you've oversimplified this, but it's at my house. I just gotta go get it.
Yeah. And I had just taken out my backup pen because I've been traveling. I just took my backup pen out of my backpack that morning. It was just so usually I usually I do carry a backup backup supplies with
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Whoo. Thirty minute warm up time. That's right. From the time you put on the Dexcom g seven until the time you're getting readings, thirty minutes. 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 that on top of 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. Actually, 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. It has alerts and alarms that are customizable so that you can be alerted at the levels that make sense to you. Dexcom.com/juicebox. Links in the show notes.
Links at juiceboxpodcast.com to Dexcom Omnipod and all the sponsors. But you can remember it. Dexcom.com/juicebox. Check it out. Yeah.
Yeah. Okay.
Yeah. I'm in Brooklyn.
Thirteen Years Later, William13:24
So Gotcha. Alright. So how long after your diagnosis is your youngest diagnosed?
So he was two just turning two when I was diagnosed, and he was diagnosed at 15. 15.
Oh, okay.
So thirteen years. Yeah. So he had kinda grown up with me. You know, he didn't know anything else besides me, having diabetes.
And this so this is a more recent diagnosis for him?
So he was diagnosed in August 2024.
2024. Okay. Describe what that was like. Like, you're you're a person with type one diabetes. I wanna know, like, did you spend every day that your children were alive looking at them thinking they were going to get it one day, or did it kinda I
did think about I did think about it, and I was actually more worried about the celiac disease with you
because, like,
with Luvs, like I just like the restrictive of food I thought was harder. And they never showed any signs. And I you know, when they were younger, I think I was a little bit more paranoid and, like, definitely fully have tested their blood one or two times, both of them, when I thought something was up, and they were always fine. And then when they got older and sort of teenagers, I guess I sort of just let it go and didn't think about it that much, which I have thought about a lot because I feel like leading up to William's diagnosis, I should have seen the signs, but I just didn't see them.
Christina, let me stop you for a second because I know you're wearing AirPods. Is there any chance you have long hair that is sometimes covering your AirPods and sometimes not covering them?
Yes. It is. Let me pull my hair back. Thank you. So yeah.
So I think that that part that part was hard that I feel like I should've I should've known the signs. I didn't see the signs, and I continue to sort of think, like, I would have avoided a lot of headache.
Well, what kind of headache came?
So so William was diagnosed with I'm trying to find this hair tie, so hold on one second.
William
was diagnosed while he was traveling with his ski team in Chile. Oh. Yeah.
Christina, I didn't know we were talking to a proper fancy white lady. You're you're I got it.
Oh, yes. Yes. Yes. So he was, you know, Scott, I'm gonna put you on hold for one second. I'm gonna go with this hair tie because otherwise, this is gonna be
You're fine. We'll put an ad right here. Don't worry about
it. Okay.
Rob, you want me to look? I could just, like I don't even know if I know the ads anymore. I'm trying. Oh, well, I can do you as oh, sorry. I was trying to you know, I used to read back.
Christina, I used to read the ads into every episode. Like, I would I would freestyle the ads into every episode. So, like because I used to do the editing myself. So, like, I'd record the conversation with somebody, and then later I'd yank out that that recording, and I'd kinda splice it up. And then I'd get to the spot, and I'd I'd I'd freestyle like an ad.
I could be like, you know, let's say I'm gonna talk about US med, and I'd start doing that. And then one day one day, I was like, oh my god. This is gonna kill me. And and people with real jobs are like, oh, yeah. Sure.
That'll probably kill you saying US med ads. But I recorded a number of different versions, got them you know, like, the companies were like, these are good. And then we just rotate them, and I have an editor now, the editor drops them in. And so just now, like, when you walked away for a second, I was like, I can freestyle on that. And I was like, oh, no.
I can't. I was like, couldn't I I used to be able to do them in my sleep, and I just sat here thinking like, Omnipod? And then anyway.
No worries. I'm back, and my hair is out of the way.
Awesome. Thank you. Okay. So, back to William.
A Ski Trip to Chile17:11
Okay. So William so William was William, you know, he was it was between his freshman and sophomore year of high school. He had been at boarding school for the year before. So he's home for the summer. He was playing tennis, working as, like, you know, sporting tennis, you know, outside every day, really active.
He's total athlete. He's a very competitive ski racer. He skis on the New York State ski team, and he his team was going down to Chile to train for for two weeks, because it's winter and summertime. So he he was scheduled to go down with, you know, 15 other kids. It's a twelve hour flight.
There was three coaches that went with them, so I dropped him off at the airport. He went off on his way with, you know, three sets of seas, all sorts of stuff. He's there for the first day, and it's very, very high altitude. So they get there in Santiago. They drive, like, three hours from there up to Valley Nevado, which is at the base, I think, about 10,000 feet.
He has the first day. He's skiing. He's like, mom, it's amazing. The snow is awesome. I'm having such a great time.
The next day, he wakes up. He calls me and says, you know, I don't know. I feel a little sick. I feel like I got a cold. You know?
I was like, well, could be altitude. Drink lots of fluids. You know? Get out there. Go skiing.
He's like, okay. And it just for a couple days, it just progressed. Like, I really don't feel very good. Then he's like, I'm vomiting. I can't stop vomiting.
I'm not gonna ski today. I said, okay. We'll hang out in the room. I go, why don't you go get a Coke or something? Like, get yourself some caffeine and just some sugar in your body.
It'll it'll help give you a little energy. So he's doing that. He's trying to drink Gatorade. Then finally then I start texting with the coach, I was like, this isn't like him to be this sick, but there had been other kids that were sick. Other kids were struggling with altitude sickness.
Other kids were just not feeling great. So he he skied this was on a Saturday. He skied Saturday. He skied Sunday. Monday, he didn't ski.
Tuesday morning, he's like, I I'm gonna go out for a little bit, but I don't know how long I can do it. Then finally, on Wednesday, I said to the coach, I think he needs to go to the clinic and be checked out because he's just really not at his full energy.
Right.
The Clinic at 10,000 Feet19:26
The coach is like, okay. At lunchtime, I'll bring him to the clinic and see how he's doing. They bring him to the clinic. He's in his ski clothes, and they have a clinic at the top of the mountain because they were staying at 10,000 feet, then they would go up to, like, 24 like, 17 to 24,000 feet to actually ski. Mhmm.
And so they bring him to the clinic, and, you know, there's people on oxygen there because a lot of people struggle with the altitude sickness. And they do a chest X-ray of him, and they discover that he has an air pocket outside of his esophagus, which is apparently very dangerous. And they say he needs to be evacuated immediately. He needs to get down to sea level. So they put him in an ambulance.
There's two ambulances. There's the mountain ambulance and then the city ambulance. So he goes down these switchbacks to get down to the mountain and gets down in into Santiago, and where they take him to the hospital. And the coach is going with him. And so we kinda get a you know, we get a text message.
Hey. They want him to they're they're worried about this this air pocket. They want him to get down, but they think it will correct itself once he gets to C level, but he needs to go now. So we're like, okay. Seems a little scary.
We'll wait. We'll stand by and see what's going on. So then they get him down to the hospital. And in the meanwhile, I have texted my pediatrician who I have a good relationship with, I was like, Is this a big deal? Should I be starting to make plans to go there or should he just come home?
She said, Give me the ski coach's number. My daughter's home from college with her friend from Spain. Are you okay if I call and have her help me translate to speak to the doctor? I'm like, okay. Sure.
Yeah. Thank you.
I said, sure. Great.
Yeah. Awesome. Come clean my house. You're fantastic.
And I've known and I've known her forever. She's been the kid's pediatrician since since they were born, and she kind of went through my whole diagnosis with me. And so when I was diagnosed with type one, so she so she so then she gets through to them. She calls me back, and she said, the air pocket's not what we need to worry about, Christina. She goes, he's in DKA.
Oh, gosh. Did your heart sink?
My heart sank, and my husband was, like, out at the pharmacy for me because my pump had failed that morning. We're just like, everything was going wrong. I was like, I don't even know what to do with this information. And I said so I called the ski coach. I said, have they told him?
And he says, well, everything's in Spanish, but he kept on hearing the words diabetic diabetic. And so he is aware of what's going on because they came after the coach to say, you never told us he was diabetic. He goes, well, he's not. And they said, oh, yes, he is.
Jeez.
So that like, the whole world kinda stopped in that moment. And, originally, my husband was gonna go down and pick him up, and then we changed roles on that one. And so I got myself together, and this was now, like, five, 06:00 at night on a Wednesday. So there's only one flight that flies to Santiago a day at a JFK, and it leaves at 10:00. So I couldn't get on that flight.
So I had to go on the next day flight. So I had to wait two days to get there. And then you fly all night long, and you get there at, like, 06:00 in the morning. It's a twelve hour flight. So I scrambled around.
Getting There22:47
I got all the supplies I could think of. I brought dex coms, I brought pens, I brought vials, I brought everything because I didn't know what I was walking into. And I flew down there and I got down there two days later. He was still in the ICU. And we were there for a week and there was one endocrinologist for the entire hospital.
She had spent a little bit of time in The US, so she spoke a little bit of English. But otherwise, our care was entirely in Spanish, And I do not speak Spanish. So it was Google Translate to kinda understand. The the doctors would come in. I said, well, what know, you did an endoscopy.
What did you see? And they would just sort of smile at me.
And We don't speak English, you don't speak Spanish. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. So I was I would conference in friends that were I have, you know, I have friends from Spain, I conference them in and have them help me. I did, through my credit card, I did have sort of global rescue. And what they would do is they would they provided a physician that spoke both languages, he would get on the phone with me and he would read the reports and translate them to me.
My gosh.
Whole thing. So then I'm sort of inserting myself and kind of managing him because I can't understand what like, the nurses would come in and they would feed him. And I said, well, how many units are you giving him? And they would just sort of smile and I would be like over their shoulders. So it was really hard because it was total control.
It was not I did not have control. He was really freaked out. He was still very, very sick, because he still had this air pocket that all of a sudden became not as big of an issue.
But still an issue.
It's still an issue. And so the the trauma of being in a hospital where no one spoke English and going through all of this so far away from home
Yeah. No. I mean
that, you know
He's not in the hospital for two days, just him and the coach. Right?
Yeah. Yeah. Who didn't speak who didn't speak who didn't speak Spanish either. But it turns out his girlfriend is a pediatric ICU nurse, so she was helping him on the other end.
Wow. But but he has no he has no feeling for diabetes either. Well
None at all.
None at all. I I realized it in the moment when everything's going by the way, when you said everything was going wrong, I thought that's the name of every one of our biographies. Everyone listening, we could all like, if we needed a biography title, we could just go with everything is going wrong. So, but but does he, oh, what's happening? Hold on.
I hear a loud noise. Do you hear a loud noise?
No. I don't hear a
loud noise. Well, then I shouldn't have brought it up. Sorry. I I just think it like, those two days must have been crazy for your son. Like, really insane.
Like, because you're also, like, flying. It's not like he could call you or talk to you or anything like that. Right?
No. And I got on the flight to fly down there. There was no Wi Fi on the flight. It was a twelve hour flight. And I just was like, okay.
It make you insane? Like, be seriously, were you, like, out of your mind, or did you handle it well?
I was I was very, like, mission focused. I was like, just need to get there. That was sort of my you know, once I get there, I can address the issue. I I was, I guess, trusting. I said, okay.
He's in a hospital. I did the research on the hospital. It's you know, it very good health care there. It was not like it was not some, like, country like, it was a city hospital, modern. They just were short staffed, and there was not a lot of English.
And you're a level headed person, it sounds like. So you weren't busy. You're not anxious. Right?
No. Not particularly.
Yeah. I was gonna say, were you because you didn't you didn't spend any time worrying about things that were out of your control.
No. I I you know, we got once I once I was there, I was much better. I was definitely a little bit comatose getting there. But once I was there, I was feeling much better just being in the same room as him. You know, I had some confidence from, you know, it's amazing your network can get really big and really small very quickly.
And, you know, I had friends that were like, hey. Here's here's a friend of ours that lives in Santiago. They have had they have connections to hospital. Get on the phone with them and talk to them. You know?
So I did talk to a lot of people that reassured me he was getting really good care.
Mhmm.
And so I just had to put a little bit of trust in it.
Okay. Let's pivot here to his experience. So once he's feeling better, I mean, is the first conversation about, wow. I I'm sorry you have diabetes. Like, do you get to that?
Or how how does the that more interpersonal part play out?
He was very upset. He had a lot of why me? Why does this happen to me? Why not why not my brother? Why does this have to
happen me? Why couldn't it have been him? So
Pretty much. Pretty much. He was like, why does Seb never have anything wrong with him? He had had like, during COVID, he had a ruptured appendix, which was really and he got stuck in the hospital for two weeks with that. So he had a little bit of hospital trauma going into this.
Mhmm. And he just you know, this was supposed to be a trip of a lifetime, and it just went really wrong really quickly. And I don't think he really wrapped his head around what it means to be a type one. I think what has come out since then is he told me that I make it look too easy, and you never told me it was this hard.
Oh, yeah. It's your fault. Yeah.
Yeah. So
Welcome to being a parent there.
Yeah. I was like, I'm sorry. I just tried to never burden you with what was going on with me. And he just was he was really resentful for that. You know, Chile presented some other challenges because he was supposed to travel in and out with his ski team.
All his paperwork was attached to his his ski team. So when I went to go leave with him because I didn't have documentation from my husband saying I could travel with him
Mhmm.
They wouldn't leave let us leave the country.
Oh, okay.
So we got stuck there. Yeah. And they have an anti trafficking laws there that are very strict, which I think is good. But because I didn't have an original document notarized with an apostille on it from my husband, they wouldn't let us leave. So he had to get that processed up in New York, and then DHL did down to us.
So we got stuck waiting there for three days for the paperwork to arrive so we could actually get on an airplane again.
Sounds like a tourism scam to me. They're just trying to make more hotel money off of I don't know.
So we had some time. So, fortunately, while we were there, I was able to get in touch with an endocrinologist in New York at at NYU Hospital, she was fantastic and really helped us prepare. He got on the phone with a diabetes educator. We had a game plan in place. And so when we arrived back into to New York, we literally landed, went home, showered, and went to the endocrinologist.
So so that was that would gave us some time to plan.
Does he go right on a pump and a CGM and all that stuff?
Back to Boarding School30:01
Yes. So the the next big question so we get him home from Chile. So that was, like, ten days. We finally get back, and he goes to boarding school. And it's middle of August, and he is scheduled to go back to boarding school in September.
And I'm like, I don't know. I got on the phone with the school, and one of the nurses, her son just graduated from the school that he was at and has been a type one since he was 12 old. And I was like, am I crazy to even consider this? She said, Nope, we've got this. We can really support him.
It's a super small school. It's a school for kids with ADHD and dyslexia.
Really
supportive and like, We can do this. We know school's important to him. We want to make this work. So they were all all in and talking to us while we were in Chile and kinda giving us the sort of votes of support there. So we got back.
They we he we gave him the choice with the endocrinologist, what kind of pump do you wanna go on? He said he didn't wanna be on my pump, so he chose the Omnipod because he didn't want a tube.
Why why did he not want why did he not wanna be on your pump? He's like,
I don't know. He didn't want a tube.
By the way He wanted tubeless. If I was one of those cheesy podcasts, I would do a voice over at the beginning of this one. It would go like this. Would be like, Christina had diabetes for fifteen years when her son suddenly was afflicted on a ski trip in, abroad. He he eventually blamed her for making diabetes look too easy.
It could be said that she received a chilly reception. And, and then I if only I was douchey, I would definitely do that. But, anyway, this is for Rob. Let's call this one chilly reception and then and move on. Go ahead.
Stop. Jesus. I love that he's like, not her pump. Not her.
So No. He was he I think he want you know, I think he was you know, he's 15, and was wanting to assert his own control.
Sure.
And he's like you know, when he was in Chile, I couldn't get the Dexcom to work, so I had to go buy a I I bought a Libra three because you can just go buy one. So I went and bought them. So he was on that while we were in Chile. You know, they don't send you when you leave the hospital, they don't send you with any insulin. Thank god I brought it.
They were, like, wrote me a prescription on a piece of paper. They're like, we'll go to the pharmacy. And I was like, I can't do this.
I don't speak English. Not from Chile. Could I just have a vial of insulin, please? Yeah. I was
like, where where's the long acting? You're not giving me any long acting? Oh, well, he finished the last pen. So just go to the pharmacy and picks him up. I'm like, can I move him to this long acting, which is mine?
They're like, oh, yeah. That's fine.
Well, it's nice to know that the standard of inconsistent care is worldwide.
Yeah. You know, Scott, the scary thing is is that I went into that situation with a lot of knowledge. So I knew how to manage. I knew I had supplies.
But
if you were brand new to this disease, it would have been absolutely terrifying and debilitating. You you didn't like, there was they were trying to explain carb counting in Spanish, and I was like, I got it. It's fine. But it was real it would have been really, really hard, And I don't know how someone would have gotten through it.
No. No. I I don't either. Did you did you did it occur to you just to pick up your shirt, show them your pump, and be like, we're we're good? Or
They they did. They did. I I kept on saying, I I am too. I kept on going, I am too, and I would show my show my stuff, and I had all my, like, suitcase. Like, I had a cooler full of stuff with me.
Yeah. And, like, I would definitely insert myself. And this endocrinologist who was super sweet, she gave me her own personal phone number. I would WhatsApp with her and she would help. She's like, I have three boys.
Do you need clothes? Do you need a place to stay? You know?
That's lovely.
Of the amazing there was so much community that came through for me in that. I didn't even have a hotel room when I showed up in in the airport, and I said, well, I'm just gonna stay in the hospital. End up speaking to this woman in line who's who's Irish and was working for the embassy and living in Santiago, and I go to go through customs, and she goes, they're not gonna let you through because you don't have a place to stay. She jumps in and she goes, she's staying with me. She's my friend.
Oh, yeah. See, that's lovely.
Just yeah. So the the the the you know, as hard as it was, there was a lot of, you know, good faith in people that came came through for us. But, yeah, it was it it would have been really scary. Like, even my husband who's knowledgeable, but he's not that knowledgeable on this stuff because I never really
But you hide it from everybody apparently, Christina. You're a you're a terrible, terrible person who doesn't wanna burden can we talk about that for a second? Do you really not wanna burden people, or are you private about your diabetes?
I'm I'm pretty private about it. I think I'm less private now that William and I are in it together. But leading up to it, I just was like, I'm kind of a put my head down and just get it done and and deal with it. And I don't I don't sort of make a big deal of it. I don't really share it with a lot of people.
A lot of people were like, you're a type one. I'm like, yeah. I go, well, you know, it's because, you know, he it's not uncommon for us to like, where did this come from? I was like, well, you know, I am a type one diabetic. They're like, what?
Like so a lot of people don't even know.
Prior to to his diet
I just
I'm sorry. Cut you off.
Just don't share it that much. I don't know.
I'm sorry. I cut you off, then I caused confusion. Prior to your diagnosis, like, what was your a one c? Over to his diagnosis, what was your a one c?
So my a one c always hovered around six, 6.1.
Okay. And has it anything about your care for yourself changed since he's been diagnosed?
Yeah. I I've got myself down to, a 5.4.
Why do
much more dialed in on it.
Is it because you're trying to be a good, like, I don't know, shepherd for this whole thing, or you just wanna be a good, you know I don't I don't know. Like, how does that happen, do you think?
So I think part of it happened because I would sort of just it was, like, kind of figuring it out. I think once I had to learn it once I had to be able to explain it, you know, to him, I had to just learn more. Right? Like, I don't eat a lot of high fatty meals. I don't you know, like, all of a sudden, didn't I knew what it was like to be, you know, a a 50 year old woman and diabetic.
I didn't know what it was like to be a 15 year old boy and be a diabetic. It's a total it's two totally different worlds Yeah. Just from the food consumption and the types of things. And we actually William and I, because of the ski racing, we did a lot of driving. So we'd actually listen to your podcast a lot because it was my way of, like, giving him some information that wasn't coming from me so he wasn't as resentful about it.
Yeah. Let him resent me.
Exactly.
Yeah.
And so and so I, like, learned some tricks. I was like, oh, okay. Let try me this. Let me try that. And that definitely helps some things.
Cool. That's awesome. I mean, you're obviously you know, an a one and c and the sixes is, you know, to be celebrated, obviously. But I've heard from other people that their kids get diagnosed, and then they really, like, pull themselves together in different ways. Like, it it's interesting how it it kinda shakes out.
Did he ever do you think he blames you for the diabetes, or is that something you guys have spoken about?
Oh, we've spoken extensively about it, and he definitely does blame me for it.
Oh, how nice. So did you explain to him that somebody gave it to you? You weren't asking for it either?
Yeah. You know, it's I think it's you know, we've we've been on this really long journey, and there I think he's come more to peace with it. And I kept on saying to him, just get through six months. If you can do six months, you're gonna be so much better. The first six months are the hardest.
His doctor would be like, get through the first six months, William. You can do this. I think for him, where he really struggled the most is that his body you know, he was such an athlete, then all of a sudden his body was so much more complex.
Mhmm.
And just had to think about things that never crossed his mind. But, you know, we gave him the option. Do you wanna go back to school? You know, you can take a break. You don't need to go away to school.
No. No. No. That's where I wanna go. That's where my that's where my friends are.
It's where I wanna be. So we sent him off to boarding school. I will say his endocrinologist is amazing, and their diabetes educator came up to the boarding school, which is in Connecticut, so like two and a half hours away. She gave a presentation to all of the administration and anyone that's sort of all the athletics. They recorded it about like how to manage a kid with type one diabetes out like, here's here's what you do.
Here's what our protocols are. And and really, they recorded it. They shared it with people. She made herself available to the entire nurses team so they could text her if she had any questions. So, like, I did feel like we were going into school.
He didn't really well set well set up. Mhmm. But he wasn't in my house. So, like, I didn't know what he was eating, and he would sometimes send me pictures and be like, well, what would you what would you count this for? What would you think this is?
You know, we we definitely struggled with him not bringing supplies, you know, like the usual Yeah. Usual stuff. But the school kinda did everything for him, so he didn't have to do as much. You know, they were the you know, the coaches brought the go bag with him everywhere he went. He had supplies, you know, stashed all over campus that he could go to if he needed it.
So school was actually not not that not that hard from a management perspective. And, you know, with technology, I could see what his numbers are. We definitely had to get creative. The one thing the school said they wouldn't do is they would not do the overnight monitoring. So that was on us.
Yeah. They didn't wanna be responsible No. I would imagine. Did the six month thing work out? Like
No. No. No.
What happened next? No.
What the Nights Were Telling Her39:30
So it was September. So we went into September. We're going okay. So we had to definitely figure out what you know, how to get him up at night. So he would sleep through a lot of alarms.
So we'd have the phone stuff. I put an Amazon Alexa in his dorm room, and so I could drop into his room and just talk to him in the middle of the night and kind of wake him up, which was which was really key. So I'd be like, William, you gotta get up. Your numbers are down. I'm gonna call I'm gonna call the the dean you know, the dorm parent, and they'll come into the room if not, but I'd like to avoid doing that.
We only had to do it twice. You know? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
I'm awake. Okay. Can you okay. Can you do a finger like, we would just talk through it. And I was like, okay.
You can snooze a little bit. I'll I'll stay awake. I'll watch what your numbers are doing. So we we would just chat back and forth through the Amazon Alexa because he didn't have to pick the phone up. He would hear my voice.
How did I not know it did that?
It's great. It's an amazing thing, particularly if you're managing a kid far away.
Can I just put one in my wife's office so I can just, like, yap at her all day? That would she would Yeah. Yeah. She'd unplug that.
Yeah. Yeah. You try to say, like, drop in William's room and all of a sudden it starts happening and, you know, and then I'd be in and I could see into the room. I could see if he's up. Okay.
Stand up. You know, and it was good.
It a camera?
Has a camera.
Yep. You're lucky you didn't see a girl.
Yeah.
Yeah. Well,
yeah. He did he did not like it if he said it felt like a, you know, a monitor, a baby monitor, and, you know, there was a lot of conflict over it.
How did you argue that? Because it does seem like a baby monitor.
I said, William, you you gotta tell me that your numbers are okay, but his numbers weren't. He was tanking out at night a lot and having these incredible lows. And what we realized sort of four months in is that he was self medicating with alcohol and THC and really was not okay with his mental state. We gave all the doctors help, but we really didn't support the mental mental health side of it.
So he wanted to go to school maybe more to so that he could do things like that to get through the the psychological tragedy that he'd gone through more than anything else, maybe maybe less about his
I don't think that's why he wanted to go to school. I think once he got to school, someone was like, okay. And he was like, oh, this feels great. I don't have to think about anything. Yeah.
I'm really bummed at my life, and this makes me feel better.
So a lot I'm sorry. You said THC, a lot of weed?
Lot of weed Mhmm. That progressed into other things as well, but it was a lot of alcohol at first. Alcohol was sort of the first thing, and, you know, was we know, like, it's not great not great for your blood sugar. So he we were seeing the highs, then he would have these terrible lows. And he was just basically passed out, and that's why we couldn't get him up.
Remind me again. He was 15?
15.
Okay. Was he, do you think he was smoking weed prior to this and it was just accelerated? Do you think he was drinking prior to this? Do you think this is something he all took on in that situation?
What he told me is that he was definitely trying stuff around trying stuff, but not, you know, dissimilar to other kids. So he was trying it, and he said and once the diabetes started, he's like, I just really couldn't stop. He's like, I just wanted to be in that state all the time.
Okay. So he was depressed from the diagnosis, do you think?
Yeah. Very, very depressed.
How how do you deal with that then once you figure it out? And how'd you figure it out, first of all?
So, you know, he got caught at school. So they were like, we understand he's going through a hard time, so we sent in you know, he did, like, an after school program there that they recommended sort of, you know, therapy and working through sort of what the challenges were. He seemed to do well on that. So that was around Christmas time, and then he came home for Christmas break. He went back after in January, and things were going okay.
He was on the honor roll. He was doing really well at school. Things things seemed to be okay. He was ski racing every weekend, so I would while he was at school during the week, during the wintertime, he would come home every weekend because he was skiing with us. I would pick him up from school, we would travel all over New York State.
We got a fair amount of looks at him, but he was still he didn't want it was a lot of conflict between him and I when he said that all I wanted to do was talk about his diabetes and talk about what he was doing with it, which was which was hard. Can I ask
was that true? Did did is all you did were you talking about it too much, or or do you think that was just him trying to avoid talking about it by saying that to you?
I think it was probably a little bit of both. I think I was terrified, because I would see these lows at night, and I would see these terrible lows that would step for a long time and not being able to get him up at night. It was hard. He was resistant, and I just like, I couldn't it was sort of a loss of control, so I couldn't see what he was eating. I couldn't see what he was doing.
And I was kind of putting my faith in those that were around him to kind of help him figure this out. He went off to school. He'd been diagnosed for three weeks. He's a 15 year old. I was like, why were you so high?
And he was like, don't know. I ate a bag of Goldfish, then I had some candy. And I was like, okay. Did you did you treat for it? And he goes, no.
I kinda forgot. And it's like, we'd have a lot of those kind of conversations.
Is that how he ate prior to this, or do you think that was part of his, like, tumble?
I think he was had a big appetite, but he ate pretty well. He was a snacker, though, so he was a perpetual snacker, and I think that's what caught up on him. And I think what kids do in dorm rooms at night is, like, someone orders a pizza or they go and get ice cream. Like, there's a lot of late night eating, and that was what was happening.
Okay. Can you talk for a half more second about, like, when you you said it was hard for you, but can you contextualize that a little more for me?
No. I think for me, where the challenge was is that I couldn't see what he was doing. So I didn't see what went into his body. I didn't see how much, like, how much insulin he was taking or how where he was starting off because he wouldn't tell me when he was like, I didn't know when he was eating and stuff. So I would just sort of I was, like, an hour or two behind on everything
Mhmm.
And just would see the results and trying to get him you know, like, I would I would even go as far as to, like, oh, William, I looked at what's on the menu today. Here's what's for breakfast. Here's what's for lunch. Like, what do you think you're gonna have? Do you wanna talk about how you might manage these?
Because he didn't, you know, he didn't know how to count carbs. Mhmm. You They gave him the apps. We tried different things, but he just he was very embarrassed. He didn't want anyone to see that he was doing it, so he would tend to take his insulin after he's eaten.
The power of the pre bolus was something I kept on and said, If you're pre bolus, it's going be a lot easier for you if you have that half pie of pizza. And he just didn't want to do it. So for me, it was just the lack of control and the lack of insight to kinda see what he was doing. And once I got him home on the weekends his weekends were always very good because I'd be like, here's your meal. And he'd like, how much should I do this?
And so we there was a little bit more of education there.
Mhmm.
But I think he was just really hiding it.
Yeah. Would you mind or if you wouldn't mind, just tell me to go to hell. But, like, you said it started with weed, but did it where did that progress to?
Well, he you know, so he so we started with weed and alcohol. Alcohol was kind of his favorite thing. He so he went to this program in during the Christmas break and before Christmas break, and we thought, okay. It's like an IOP intensive outpatient. So you go a couple times a week after school and they do exercises and a little bit of therapy.
We're like, okay, that should work. No problem. And then he went back to school in January he got because by that point, he had to do sporadic drug tests at school. That was part of their thing because you got caught once, here's your second shot. And so he failed a drug test and they said, Well, we're going to run it again, but probably he just needs to come home for a couple of days.
Coming Home47:45
This school was incredibly sympathetic to his situation. They knew he was struggling and they were trying to work it out with him. By the time, you know, came around to end of February, he failed another drug test and the school basically said, we are terrified. We do not think we can support him anymore. He needs to come home.
He can come back next year if he gets some help, but he needs he he needs to be in a place that that we can that we can
We can't be responsible for this.
Yeah. Cannot be responsible for it. He needs to be in a place that that has better responsibility for this. So we said, okay. No.
Not ideal, but we'll bring him home. And we brought him home. And honestly, Scott, I didn't know what to do with him. I said, I don't know where to send you to school. I don't know where to send you for help.
None of this makes sense. And I sort of, you know, went into crisis mode and just kinda started calling around and talking to people. And then it became very clear that he probably needed a residential program to really figure out what was going on with his mental health because it was really crashing.
Mhmm.
I said, okay. Alright. So I got some names, and so I started calling them and saying, okay. You were highly recommended to me. I go through his profile and I said, and he is a type one diabetic.
Oh, no. Oh, no. No. No. No.
We cannot take that. Nope. Nope. So I could not find any program that would take them. That's that's too high risk for us.
We just can't manage it. And so that was really hard because I said, okay. He needs this help. You know, a lot of people, you know, there's, like, you know, outdoor stuff. There's in like, I knew he couldn't do any of the outdoor therapy sort of resets because just given where he was.
But I you know, but being newly diagnosed, no one would touch him. So I finally found a place that took our insurance and would take him in Connecticut. And the big caveat they said is we'll take him, but he needs to be off his pump on MDI for minimum of two weeks and stable, which his endocrinologist to this day, she's like, I don't understand. She's like, they should have just taken him right away. But so I said, okay.
We'll do that. So we took him off the pump. He went on to MDI. He was living at home with us for two plus weeks, and then we dropped him off into a program in on 03/13/2025, where he spent sixty three days at it was a residential treatment center. It was a lot of therapy, a lot of figuring out what was going on.
It good. It wasn't great. There was definitely a lot of shenanigans still going on inside the place, but it definitely stabilized and it revealed that there was a lot bigger problem. He had progressed to psychedelics. There was a lot more drug use in place, and it was constant.
He really had a problem, and he was severely depressed. I Again, the world comes together in different places. The clinical director there had wrote her thesis on type one diabetics and addiction. She knew all about it and she said, I am not surprised he is here. She said, Learning disabilities, medical trauma completely makes sense that this is where he showed up.
And ADHD is the other he has ADHD, and that's the other x factor that really drove it.
Okay. How do those things precipitate and and create more of a a belief in her that he would end up in this situation? Like, how does ADHD, apply to this, for example?
So, particularly, in adolescence and don't quote me on this sort of the the medical stuff, but ADHD is a predominant trait for, kids that struggle with substance abuse. It's almost a hundred percent.
Okay. And so ADHD lends to substance abuse? Yep. Do you think
because they tend to self medicate.
Do you think that this ends this way for him with or without the diabetes? Like, would something else have come up in his life, do you think? Or do you think it had a little bit to do with timing and age as well?
I think it could be. I've tried to not go there because I don't know. It doesn't really matter because he has the circumstances he has, whether diabetes is a part of it or not. I think maybe it triggered it earlier. Maybe it would have presented itself in college.
I don't know. I never will know. But the challenge is is that you're using and you're a type one diabetic. All of a sudden, the consequences are a lot higher because as we all know you know, as we know, like, the just the side effects are bigger.
Mhmm. So what do they do? They treat the ADHD to help it, like, not be as impactful? Is he on something for that now?
He's had ADHD since he was a little kid. He has severe dyslexia, so he's always been on he's been medicated for ADHD since he was in first grade. So that wasn't so much the difference, but it just happens to be a trait that a lot of them walk in with. You know, while he was at this RTC, they they really you know, they took a type one. They were great.
Again, the world comes together in a major way. One of the nurses there is a type one. She's on a tandem. She was like, I got this. I will make sure he's okay.
I was terrified dropping him off because I couldn't I what happened, I couldn't call him. He didn't he lost use of his phone. So they were managing his stuff a 100%, and they would monitor his blood sugar there. They would, we got them to accept his phone to run his Dexcom if we shut off everything else and locked it. You know, there was definitely some some agreements that we came to, but his numbers were actually okay while he was there, you know, because they he they had nurses around the clock, so they were really working towards you know, they're all about safety.
So at night, they would go and check his blood sugar every thirty minutes, and they keep a log every night.
Jeez. This this is a lot. Like, how long ago was this now? Like, and where is he at?
So this was at this was in March 2025. So he was there for sixty three days, and we thought he would be coming home after that. And it became very evident that he needed more, that really the mental health stuff hadn't hadn't been addressed enough. He was going to come back to Brooklyn and he'd probably be back using within two weeks is what they told us and said he needs longer term care. They had a place that they would recommend.
Finding a Program That Would Take Him54:15
They recommended, two different places, and I being the, you know, the control person as you're learning. So I was like, alright. Well, I'm going to visit them. I'm not I'm not I'm not just sending him there without this.
Yeah.
And so I got on an airplane, and I went and visited a program in Utah that was, a program they said, oh, we've had a type one before. I said, okay. Right. So we're about what the protocols are, and and then they asked me the question. They were like, well, can anyone you know, I was like, well, where do you store the insulin?
How do you how does he get stuff? And they said, well, can you abuse insulin? And I said, well, if you wanna kill yourself, you can. They're like, oh, so we should lock it up. And I was like, yeah, probably a good idea.
And they just really didn't have a good hold of it. Then I went to another program that was in Arizona about an hour and forty minutes south of Tucson. They said, We've had many type one diabetics. The most we've had at once is three. We understand what you need.
Here's how we do it. And it was like this huge relief that came over me because they actually really got it.
Is he there now?
So he went so he went there May 2025, and it's a it's a a horse ranch in Southern Arizona, all for for all boys. And it combines you there's some work, there's school, and there's a lot of therapy. And so he was there for ten months. And then in March, he graduated to their transitional living program. So he is now living in Tucson in sort of a group home where he goes to school and lives with other boys and is kind of figuring out how to be in the world without a lot of, you know, what they view you know, when you're on the ranch what they call the ranch.
You're on the ranch, and it's this amazing place, Align Adolescent Recovery, and they it's very closed container. So it's on 350 acres. There's nothing around you. Like, there's you can't get into anything. Yeah.
And once you kind of sort of graduate and sort of do the things that you need to do to graduate, you move to this transitional living, and it's more of an open container. All of a sudden, you're in Tucson, you can leave the house, you have your phone back, you can do things. And so we're seeing how that goes, which I think the biggest change for William is now he's really having to manage his diabetes on his own because there's no one there kinda hovering over him.
Yeah. And tell me again how old he is right now.
He is 16.
Who's who pays for all this?
So, we've been paying for it. Then because he because it is a school, we he's and he's been in specialized school since you know, for years and years. We, sue the Department of Education of New York City for reimbursement for his education, and we go through this whole process. And they are reimbursing us for his for his schooling because it's it's a therapeutic boarding school.
Gotcha.
That's outrageously expensive.
Well, no. I I I I'm I'm trying to imagine, but I don't I don't think I am probably imagining it exactly. It's it sounds like a $20,000 a month sort of situation, but I don't I don't know.
Not that bad, but it's
close. Yeah. Yeah. And is do you and you think that without that, he'd be addicted and just rudderless?
I think without that, he probably would end up dead.
Because it because so he's from zero to a 100 miles an hour in in no time at all?
He went very quickly. Okay. And that's what they've all said. It was it was a it was a real steep fall off of the cliff.
I see. Did he make it to cocaine, heroin, meth?
No. No.
No. No. It stuck with weed, alcohol, psychedelics.
Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. And when you sit and you even sit and talk to him about it, or or is he getting
We talk all the time. Yeah. So we you know, part of the amazing thing with this program is the family is very involved. So there's intensive family weekends. There's weekly family therapy.
He's in weekly therapy. Everyone's in therapy. But you have these really honest conversations and our relationship is really close. There's not the secrets. That's why I know he's really resentful about the diabetes.
He was angry and that I passed this on to him, even though I didn't mean to do it, but it came from me. Then it became a big basis of what our relationship was, was this sort of struggle of trying to keep him you know, my was trying to keep him alive, and he was like, it's not that big of a deal. And I he just couldn't really wrap his heads around the consequences if you don't manage it well.
Yeah. And you think even if you would have been completely hands off, this happens about the same way, though. Like, if you would have been like, whatever, your blood sugar's fine. Like, we'll it will let you, like, ease into it, and you'll get low and but, like, you still he ends up here because he's he's medicating himself almost immediately after this happens.
Yeah. Yeah. He was very you know, for him, it was, my body's not as strong. I have this deficiency. You know, I he it was, like, even when he was ski racing, it was, like, figuring out, like, it's really cold and, like, that would do funky things.
And then the adrenaline would kick in and then he would drop. Like, it was it was we had to figure it out.
Yeah. It's a lot.
And and not knowing the answers, you know, right away. Like, sometimes it was trial and error and, like, figuring out the Amazon, like Amazon Alexa, how do I use that to help you out? Like, how like, what are the sort of tricks that work? You know? When he went to the ranch, I got SugarPix pixels that I put in the ranch so they could see what his like, so he'd be out on the you know, working with the horses, and all a sudden, the alarms were going off, so they would scurry out to him.
Mhmm. They would keep you know, they would do the night monitoring. You know? I would, like, call I would text the night guy at the at the ranch and be like, I see his number's down. I I need you to go back in if he needs another juice.
And he was like, are you sure? I'm like, I'm a 100% sure. And they were great Yeah. And really open to it and all about keeping him safe and and just sort of surrounding him with a lot of love. Then there was another type one who came onto the ranch for a bit with him, and so he felt like he wasn't you know, it was nice for him to know somebody else.
Yeah. Hey. We should tell people that William's okay with you using his name and telling his story and all that stuff. I've realized we didn't say that before.
Yes. He is he is he is he is open to share his story. He is not ashamed. He is you you know, we are extremely proud of what he has done, and he is not you know, he doesn't shy away from it. He is really open about his struggles and where he's at, and will tell anyone about it.
You know, I think that is something we've learned through this is that this is really hard. And if you can do this and share share your story with others that others can learn from it. Like, I wish I knew that I needed it. When this all happened in Chile, I wish I put better mental health support around him. Would he have maybe ended up in the same place?
I don't know. But I think it was something I was so focused on the physical side of things that I didn't really think with the mental health thing, and it is hard. Sixteen's really hard.
Yeah. Hey.
It's not when you wanna be doing this.
Hindsight, and as honest as you can be, prior to his diabetes diagnosis, did you see any of this pathway for him, or did you think my son's athletic and he's a ski racer and he's, like, gonna go to college and everything's gonna be great? Like or did you could you smell any of this prior to that?
I don't think so. I think looking back, maybe a little bit here and there, you know, I think he's got some anxiety, you know, pretty high anxiety. You know, the ADHD, anxiety, learning disabilities are definitely a pathway to this to this challenge. It's not something that's not within our family. So I I think he could have ended up there.
I think this probably put us on a fast track, which in which in a way is actually good because he's under 18, so he's under our care, and we're able to get him the right care and hopefully, you know, builds really strong resilience and give him a lot of tools for the rest of his life.
I take your point. If he was 20 and in college when this happened, you it would have slipped away from you quickly. You would have had no control over what happened next either.
100%.
Yeah. Yeah.
But it's not over. It is like a journey that he is gonna be on for a long time, and he you he's not home yet. We're hoping he'll be home in the next couple of months, but, you know, we don't know. I think it's up to him. And and, you know, he I do think he has come to terms with his diabetes.
I think, you know, like everyone, he has moments where he's like, this sucks because it does. But he it's not what he leads with anymore. He doesn't have the resentment with it. He's managing it fairly. You know?
He and so now the program he's in right now, he has to do all of his own cooking. So he goes to the grocery store each week, and he has to make his own meals. And he's eating a lot of pasta, and we're definitely seeing a lot more highs than he used to see. But he's like, mom, it's easier. I was like, I get it.
Mom, I figured out how to boil pasta. Oh, good.
Yeah. I'm like, I'll throw a little protein in there. Just a little protein will go a long way.
Is there not a grill at the ranch somewhere? Could you make a steak? Yeah. He
he he does have a there is grill there. He has been grilling. He's like, oh, I got some steaks. I'm like, great.
Nice.
And, you know, what I've also learned is, like, I can tell how he's feeling about himself. So, like, when he was early days when he was at the ranch, he was eating without telling anyone. He wasn't dealing with his numbers. His A1C went to we were like 7.5, and now he's back down in the low sixes. We did introduce part of the challenges is that we introduced lots of different medications.
Steadier Ground1:04:13
So one of the medications, he gained a ton of weight on, and was really upset about that. But his endocrinologist, he's now on Wegovy, which has been a game changer for him.
Oh, yeah. It's probably helping with his insulin use and everything. Right?
Helping with the insulin use. It also helps with addiction. It's it's it's got a lot of good things, he lost all of the weight, so he's feeling pretty good about that. So his numbers are great.
Is anxiety any better?
He he takes medication for it. His anxiety is definitely much better. Good.
Wow.
But he you know, he's he's it's every, you know, every change you make has sort of ripple effects, and, you know, his numbers are good. But he was going know, there was one stage he was taking like, he was on, like, a hundred and ten units of insulin a day. I'm like, oh my gosh, William. That's a lot. And now I think he takes twenty.
So it's like he's a huge difference.
Wow. And he's making a lot of progress for sure.
Yeah. And he's back to working out and taking care of himself.
Yeah. Any addiction in your family line or your husband's?
Yes. In my husband's side. Uh-huh. And my and my and my side too. It's definitely it is not you know, it is in our family.
I mean, I heard you say Irish. So Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But and how about that anxiety, the ADHD?
Does that all can you, like, look at your family line and see it?
Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's, you know, his his the the ADHD is definitely prevalent in our family, and, and so is substance use. So it's it's it's all there. All the pieces are there.
I think we just unfortunately had a little bit of the perfect storm that brought it together.
Yeah. It it lit a wildfire for you, really. Like, out of like, you went from just a calm day till the wind picked up and a spark hit the ground and, woof, and just Yeah. Off and running. You guys do you feel like you're handling it well?
I think we're in a better shape now. I think I for I had a lot of anger about trying to find him treatment, and nobody would treat him because of he was a type one diabetic. Just the amount of no's I got, no, that's too risky for us. No, that's too risky for us. I said, what am I supposed to do?
Oh, we don't know. Fine. We'll do it on a case by case basis. Then I had he was early diagnosed, so he hadn't lived with it for a long time. So that was, like, another red flag in that part.
And, you know, scouring the Internet, trying to find places that would not only support a type one diabetes, but an adolescent. And the combination of the two was really, really hard.
Difficult. My gosh. Well, you get you
Twenty two hundred twenty two hundred miles away. He's in Arizona. I'm like, why you know, no one wants to send their kid to Arizona, but they were the place that opened their arms to me and were like, we get it. We understand, and we're gonna and it has been a really great experience. And the therapy and the experience he has had there has has been amazing.
Well, you found the right fit then. And and the way you got to it probably wasn't ideal, but maybe if somebody else would have said yes, he'd be at some, you know, place that wouldn't have been as valuable for him. So maybe it worked out well.
Yeah. Yeah. I guess.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Everything's going great, Scott. Thanks.
Is this tough on your marriage?
It has its moments. I think, you know, Chris and I are pretty my husband and I are pretty aligned on how to address this. I tend to do a lot of the legwork, but, you know, we've been in it together. I think, you know, we just sort you know, we just want him to be healthy. We want him to live a long life, and sending him away at first was really hard to swallow.
It is you know, he has been gone for a really long time.
Yeah.
And, you know, when he was on the ranch for ten months, there's no phone. We spoke to him once a week.
So you have this feeling like he's gonna come back a different person. You're gonna have missed it. Right?
Yep. And he's just growing up, and he has a different perspective on life. And, you know, meanwhile, his older brother is graduating high school and gonna go off to college, and he sort of missed this time together, but not, only talking to him once a day. So I have 15 with him and I would have to have almost a script and say, Okay, I'm not going to ask about the blood sugar. I'm not going to do this.
I'm going to just bite my tongue on it. Did fortunately, the medical person on-site at the ranch, him and I became very close friends. And so I would, you know, I would text him and be like, I don't know what's going on between 2AM and 6AM, but something's happening. We need to make an adjustment. So, you know, we would we would so we were sort of a team, and they were good at delivering some of the news that I wanted to to deliver, and they would deliver it through him.
So that was helpful.
Hey. Did, they tell you what not to ask him, or did you figure it out?
We would work together on it. You know, they were working with him, and they would say he's really he doesn't want to talk about the diabetes stuff. He really wants to make sure that it's not coming from you and that's the only thing you want to talk about. Now he's come a long way and he prefers it when I text him about something versus using it as our phone time. And he's you know, I'm sort of also I've learned to kind of just step back and say, you know, okay.
You you have to figure it out. You you wanna be healthy and you wanna, you know, you wanna live your life, so you you've gotta make choices. But, you know, eating pasta for lunch every day is not gonna solve things. But I've also learned to let let it go. Like, I can't, you know
What You Can and Can't Decide for Someone1:09:39
I think maybe the most difficult part of this conversation is that it's not like it's not like he, you know, he it's not like he wanted to be a a short order cook and you wanted him to be an attorney, and you think it's gonna change his life. It's it it's about health and and and maybe an immediate, like, you know, I don't know, health issue that could be that could be emergent. Right? And so you've got that pressure. But if he doesn't see it the way you see it, there's not a lot you can do about it.
Nope. Yeah. It it's really a it's a it's a valuable lesson for everybody listening whether they have I mean, your situation is obviously is is different. Right? It's bigger and and maybe more explosive.
But, like, in small moments, day to day stuff, I find this to be the most difficult part about the diabetes, which is that my desire for it isn't necessarily her desire for it, and that there's really nothing you can do about that. Like yeah.
And we each have to manage it our own way. And so what what I do is differently than him, and he's gonna do stuff differently than me. I want him what the only thing I am trying to get him to have is to have the information and knowledge to make choices.
Yeah. I mean, I think, like, for me, bigger picture, like, you whether the person you're supporting is, like, you know, I count my carbs, and I do everything right, and I exercise, and blah blah blah. And that's really their desire all the way to the spectrum of, I don't care if this kills me. I don't care. Like and everywhere in between, it's not your decision.
You can't you you there's nothing you can do about it. Like, you can't decide how another person feels or or deals with their life. And that's probably the most difficult part of parenting, I I think. You know, like, they're so much easier when they're younger because you could just make them do something. And they're like, okay.
Absolutely. Yeah. And then there's a moment And
he and he yeah. And he was definitely in a moment where he didn't care if he lived or died. You know? He was like, I didn't care. And he's very open about it.
He's like, I just hoped some mornings that I just wouldn't wake up, and that's awful to hear.
Yeah. No kidding. But I think that everyone who has type one or other, you know, chronic illnesses in general, I think they they all live in a spectrum of that feeling somewhere. Like, somewhere. Like, I don't you hear people say it, like, in different ways.
Like, I didn't wanna wear I didn't want something attached to me. Or, you know, I can't remember the pre bolus or, you know, my a one c is seven and a half, but it's okay with me. Like, there's that's the way you hear them talk about it. But, like, I don't I don't know that I'm doing a great job explaining this, and I wish I was doing a better job of it. But it it it lives in the idea of you don't know what influences another person has when they're making a decision, and it's possible that they're depressed and that they don't care if they live or die.
It's also possible that they're not depressed and they feel that way. Like so Yeah. You just don't get to you don't get to tell people how they feel about something. And when you care about them and it seems emergent like this because it is, I I I don't know how you're not drinking, like, I guess. It's it's my point.
Yeah. And it's it's it's been stressful for sure. But I think at the same time, I also you know, one of the reasons I wanted to come and chat with you, like, I do think mental health is super important for someone dealing with this, and there is a lot that goes into it. And I think there's a grievance that you you grieve the life that you thought you were gonna have.
Yeah.
And and that coming to terms with that, and I think that's where he was. He was grieving the life that he thought he was gonna have. He loves to play tennis, and he was like, I can't just go play tennis. Like, the first time he played tennis, he had low after low after low, and he was and he was not paying he was miserable. He's like, I well, I guess I'm never doing this again.
And I said, that's not the truth. I said, you're two weeks in. You gotta give it a minute. And he just was really impatient about it and and just felt like his whole thing was I don't wanna be different. I'm so tired of being different.
You know, he's dyslexic, he's like, I've always been different in school. Why do I have to be different like this? Why is this another difference?
What do you think the answer is medically? Do you think it's inflammation? Do you think it's, like, an autoimmune thing? Like, he obviously has a lot of different issues, but they all center around this core. Right?
I mean, do you think the did you see everything get a little better with the Ozempic? Or what do you
A little bit. You know, he's been on it while I'm not with him. So, I think it has gotten a little bit better for sure. I'm not I'm not a 100% sure. You know, he feels a lot healthier to me, like, way he talks, the way he thinks about himself since he's been on been on that and lost the weight.
But I don't know. Is it because he lost the weight? Is it because he's working out more? Is it because his numbers are better? Is it because he's just further along in his journey of recovery and therapy?
Maybe.
Is the answer yes, though? Like, all those things are helping?
Yes.
Yeah. Yeah. I don't I mean, listen again. What I understand about science fits into a thimble. But I again, my entire life, people have been talking about inflammation.
Inflammation's bad. It's bad for this. It's bad for that. We don't understand inflammation. We don't know how to get it down, like, you know, blah blah blah.
And then this medication comes out, and it produces people's inflammation. You're you know, you you pick up the the paper, which is not a thing anymore. I guess I should find a a new colloquialism for that. But you, you know, you look at Google News and you hear about, PCOS, anxiety, addiction, all kinds of things that, you know, that people are are feeling like a lessening of, and and they don't know why. Like, they're just still studying it and trying to figure it out.
But, I mean, it sounds like it it helped them, like, with a lot of different things. Huge. A lot. Yeah. Yeah.
So and it you know, you because you can make the, like, the I mean, I think a doctor would look and go, well, yeah, we lost weight maybe, and so maybe hormonal balance is better. Yeah. Okay. But what else? And, you know, the from a hundred and ten units a day down to twenty units a day of insulin.
Crazy. What an improvement. Nuts.
Yeah. Yeah. Totally nuts.
Yeah. And he
see you know, he seems healthy. He seems stronger, and his voice is brighter. And but it doesn't mean that it the other things he doesn't still struggle with at times.
No. I'm not saying it was like a magic wand. I'm just saying, like, they it just it to me, it feels like if he was under a weighted blanket that weighed 30 pounds, the weighted blanket might weigh 25 pounds now. And Yeah. Isn't that better?
Yeah. A 100%. He does have some weird side effects with the GLP one. He definitely gets some, like, nausea, which bumps him.
Yeah. No. Of course. Like well, listen. Nothing's perfect.
Nope. Yeah. Is there anything that we didn't talk about that we should have or anything that you think we missed? Keeping in mind that I have to be at my dentist office in fourteen minutes.
Okay. I don't think there's any I don't think there's anything else. I think the big thing is just, you know, the mental health and that there are these places out there that will support these kids and finding them is hard, but they do exist. And that's really my big thing is that if this branch in Tucson, which I never thought I would be at, didn't exist, I I don't know what I would have done because nobody else there was not another program that would have fit him in the same way.
I I will add to what you said by saying that even though all of you out there are probably not experiencing this level of calamity in your life, I think you are experiencing some level of it. And the mental health part of type one diabetes is, is not to be ignored even if it's minor. Therapy, you know, I don't know what I don't know what you'll do, but I I think ignoring it's a is a big mistake. So
Yeah. Yeah. And I wish I did a little bit more of it early on. Like, my hindsight is is I wish I put that in place earlier in the diagnosis. A lot of things there was a lot of things that went right, there was a lot of sort of angels along the way that helped him.
But I wish we had just gotten in front of that mental health stuff earlier. Not to say we wouldn't end up where we are. I just think it would have maybe shortened our journey a bit.
What about for you, though? Like, I mean, you're now involved in, like, therapy, like family therapy and stuff like that. Has it helped you? Is it unburdened you at all with your diabetes?
Luck of the Draw1:18:11
I you know, the strange thing is I've never, like listen. I maybe it's because I make the diabetes look really easy. I've never been super depressed about it. It just sort of is what it is, and it's just who I am, and it's how I manage my life, but I don't think about it that much.
Luck of the drawl. I I I so I've been thinking this about you the whole time we've been talking. It is luck of the drawl because you really do have that attitude. Like, you and that's a I think it's probably baked in. Like, you're just like a like, we'll take care of it.
I'll do the next thing that needs to be done. I'm not gonna get drugged backwards by this. Like, that's just dumb luck. You didn't no one taught you to be that way. It's just how you are.
Right? Yeah. Yeah.
And I just kinda care you know, maybe it's because I got diagnosed when I had two little kids, and I was trying to figure it like, it just I was like, I just gotta keep myself going and standing. I couldn't wallow in it.
I don't know. I bet you
days have I had days where I'm like, oh my gosh. This sucks? Yes. Of course. Yeah.
But Everything seems to go wrong, but no. You know, as a whole, it just it is what
it is.
It is who I am.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Hey. If I said to you, hey. We have to pick up and move across the country, it has to happen. You would just do it. Right?
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You have there's a vibe about you that is, like, you're just lucky to have it, I think. I I I have it, and I'm I feel incredibly lucky to not be burdened by things when stuff like this comes up.
Because you even handled the thing in Chile the way I would have. Like, you know, I I'm gonna get on the next plane. Can't get on that one. I'll get on the next one. I I'm not gonna worry about what's happening to them right now because it'll probably be okay.
And if it's not, there's really nothing I can do about it anyway. And then the if something bad goes happens, then the situational change, then I'll pivot, and I'll follow the new situation and do what I can do to support that. Like, that's how your brain works.
For most for the most part. There's definitely parts of me that, like, I, you know, I do have a little bit of, like, stuff. Like, my hackles will go up on something, and I'm like, I need to look into this because I feel like this isn't going down the right way, but usually, I'm right.
And you and you can bend it to your will. Right?
Yeah. Yeah. I try.
Yeah. You and I wouldn't be good always work. You and I wouldn't be good together. I just wanna say that. So Okay.
Good to know. Good to know. We'd out there just like like, we'll just fix it all. Like, So
I am a fixer and get it done person.
No. No. I I figured you out in the first ten minutes. I know. But it was easier to figure out because I think you and me might be the same person.
Awesome. I really appreciate you doing this. I'm gonna float this out there, and nothing has to come of it. You you shouldn't mention it, obviously, now. But if you ever if he's ever saying that he'd like to, like, share his story later, I'd be thrilled to talk to him about it.
And I would also be really interested to get a a maybe a check-in from you in, like, a year or so.
Yeah. I'll let him know. He's excited I'm doing this. So he's definitely like he's like, this is really cool, mom. I can't wait I can't wait to hear your how you tell the story.
So he's
proud of it.
Well, William, listen. If you're listening, man, I would I'd love you to come on here and tell your side of this. So, thank you very much. I am literally nine minutes away from having to be in a dentist chair, so I'm gonna go now. But thank you very much.
Okay. Bye.
Thanks so much to Dexcom for sponsoring this episode of the Juice Box podcast. Get your Dexcom g seven right now with my link, dexcom.com/juicebox. And, of course, that Omnipod five has the new 100 target. You want it, trust me. Omnipod.com/juicebox.
Get over there right now. Use the links in the show notes. Use the links at juiceboxpodcast.com. By any chance, have you tried the small sip series? It's curated takeaways from the juice box podcast voted on by listeners as the most helpful insights for managing their diabetes.
These bite sized pieces of wisdom cover essential topics like insulin timing, carb management, and balancing highs and lows, making it easier for you to incorporate real life strategies into your daily routine. Take a deep dive, take a sip, and discover what our community finds most valuable on the journey to better diabetes management. For more information on small sips, go to juiceboxpodcast.com, and then go oh, actually, we changed the website. Let me see. Go to juiceboxpodcast.com.
And from there, 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 steps right there, pro tips at the top, bold beginnings, bolus four, asks that.
There's lot of them there. There's actually a little search there too. Could you just type small sips into the search? Oh, wow. That search works great.
Look at that. And then you could go right to, like, all results for small sips. Oh, and that takes you to the FAQ. You should check out the FAQ page too. I think that's juiceboxpodcast.com/jbfaq.
Seriously, that thing's amazing. Actually, the whole website is I mean, have you, like, seen it? You should you should go check out the website. The website rocks. It is a potpourri, a never ending cornucopia of support for you and your diabetes journey.
That's right. It really is. What else we got over here? Oh, I don't like the way that works. I'm gonna fix that.
Note to self. Change the change the masthead on the frequently asked questions page. Yeah. I don't like that. Fix that.
Oh, Claude. Oh, hell. I forgot to say thank you. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back again very, very soon.
What is that noise? Stop it. Stop. Can you hear that? It's my chameleon squeaking.
Are you squeaking? 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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#1915 Island in the Sun
Island in the Sun
Eloise was diagnosed in DKA at seven, with a blood sugar of 750, while her family was between insurance plans. Her mom Eden talks about the bill, a school with no nurse, and finding her limit.
Jump to a moment
- A late diagnosis can hide behind an ordinary busy season. Eloise was losing weight, wetting the bed, drinking constantly, and had turned irritable — and the family read it as a seven-year-old going through a phase during travel-baseball season. Eden’s mother, a nurse, was the one who said out loud that the child looked unwell. Eden texted her husband “I think she has type one diabetes” before anyone confirmed it, and still hoped the hospital would say something else.
- Knowing type 1 up close is not the same as being able to see it. Eden’s husband grew up with a father who has type 1, and was a Navy corpsman and a medical lab technician — and by Eden’s account he was in denial right up until the fire station’s meter read error. She frames it as fear rather than ignorance: he had watched his dad seize and could not accept it happening to his daughter.
- The financial hit landed in a thirty-day insurance gap. The family changed jobs and gambled on a month without coverage; Eloise was diagnosed inside it. After applying for hospital financial assistance they were still left owing tens of thousands for a stay of under twenty-four hours, and retroactive COBRA would have cost more while disqualifying them from that assistance. Eden’s point is simply that this arrives overnight, with no warning and no good option.
- A school with no nurse pushed the whole load onto one parent. Eden teaches at the school two days a week and drives there the other three to give lunch insulin, and says plainly that she is reaching her limit. Scott’s suggestion on tape: use the summer to move all of Eloise’s bolusing to text message even when they are together, so there is a written record and the child builds confidence before the next school year. Anything involving doses belongs to your own care team.
- Comparison is the tax, and Eden names it. Predatory DMs arrived within forty-eight hours of the diagnosis post; a family friend could not work out why the sensor had moved arms; a neighbour assumed a college diagnosis meant the young man had not taken care of himself. Eden also describes the quieter version — measuring her parenting against other type 1 parents online — and Scott’s answer is that no one else has to live your family’s day, so their opinion cannot be a factor in your decisions.
- Eversense 365 — The one-year-wear CGM; sponsor of this episode.
- twiist — The twiist AID system powered by Tidepool; sponsor of this episode. Note the spelling has two i's.
- Bold Beginnings series — The newly diagnosed series — where Eden started, and what she found in the ER.
- Diabetes Pro Tip series — Insulin timing and amount, basal, corrections, and variables.
- Small Sips series — Short episodes for the newly diagnosed; the series Scott references inside his 21-day practice.
- Mental Wellness series — Episodes with therapist Erika Forsyth on caregiver anxiety, guilt, and burnout.
- Juicebox Podcast Facebook group — The private community Scott mentions at the close — 86,000 members and everyone is welcome.
Every word of the conversation
Welcome & Sponsors0:07
Hello, friends, and welcome back to the juice box podcast. If you don't love today's episode, we can have your money back.
Hi. My name is Eden. I'm from Greenville, South Carolina, and I am a mom to three. And my eight year old, Eloise, also known as Weasy, is living with type one diabetes.
You should not, in any way, shape, or form, take anything you hear on the Juice Box podcast. As medical advice, I'm talking about medical advice, regular advice, any kind of advice. This is a 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.
I cannot stress that enough. Today, we've got a great podcast, and it's sponsored by great advertisers, US Med, the Eversense three sixty five, and Twist. You know about Twist? It's an insulin pump. I'll tell you all about it in a I'm having an on body vibe alert.
This episode of the juice box podcast is sponsored by the Eversense three sixty five, the only one year wear CGM. That is one insertion and one CGM a year. One CGM, one year, not every ten or fourteen days ever since cgm.com/juicebox. This episode of the podcast is sponsored by the Twist AID system powered by Tidepool that features the Twist loop algorithm, which you can target to a glucose level as low as 87. Wanna learn more?
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Meet Eden and Weezy2:23
Hi. My name is Eden. I'm from Greenville, South Carolina, and I am a mom to three. And my eight year old, Eloise, also known as Weasy, is living with type one diabetes.
God bless you. Let me call this episode moving on up if you just say one heartfelt thing. That's right. Oh, gosh. You call her Wheezy?
That's awesome.
We call her Wheezy. We were like no nicknames before she was born, and yet here we are. We call her Wheezy or Weezer.
Weezer's awesome. Hey. She doesn't have, like, like, breathing issues. No asthma. No asthma.
I knew that was coming.
Well, I mean, that would be rude is what I'm saying.
No. No. No. We just live in the South, and Wheezy and Weezer is easy.
That's awesome. Weezer, I think, with an accent, must be an amazing nickname.
I feel like I don't have a crazy southern accent, but then, you know, I had these people who are around me who were like, Weezer. Come on, Weezer. Come on, Weezer.
Well, yeah, you're not all the way there. I hear you tail off a little bit, but you're not thick like that in the middle. But I I'm just imagining people in the grocery store calling her, like, oh, it's awesome. Look. There she is.
It's Weiser. That must be amazing. No disrespect. I think that would be fantastic. Okay.
So wait a minute. You got three kids. You're married. Right?
Yes.
How old are the kids again?
They are 12 12, nine, and eight.
12, nine, eight. Which one has type one?
Eloise is the youngest, eight year old.
Eight year old. Okay. Any other autoimmune in the family?
Unfortunately, yes. So I have Hashimoto's. My mom has Grays. My mom has psoriasis, and then my husband's father has type one diabetes also.
Woah. Woah. Yeah. This was always gonna happen.
Yeah.
Yeah. Look at you. Did you know any of this going in? Like, when you got how long you've been married?
We have been married for about twelve years this no. Thirteen years of September.
Okay. When you're dating and and hooking up and getting ready to get married, do you does anybody say, like, oh, I have Hashimoto's and you're not thinking about any of that. Right?
Absolutely not. Like, I knew my husband's dad had diabetes, but I didn't even know what kind of diabetes he had. Like, I always joke. I'm like, so you brought diabetes to the marriage.
Listen. I'll tell you right now. If you're out there dating and your boyfriend or girlfriend can't make it from the restaurant to home without looking for a toilet and you have autoimmune, I'd skip it if I was you.
That's right. Think think again. Try again.
I'll tell you what. My dating app would look way different than other people's
That's exactly right.
I'd be like, you have eczema behind your ear? Sorry. My my grandmother has Hashimoto's. We're not doing this.
Swipe left. Swipe left or whatever it is. Tinder was before my time. Swipe the way that you don't want them.
I don't know which way I would I don't understand the swiping either.
I don't either. It was before my time. My husband and I met before online dating was really a thing. We were he was in the navy and I was in the air force, and we were just like, hey. You're a cool guy.
You're a cool girl, and here we are.
Wait. He was in the Navy, and you were in the Air Force too. Did you land a plane on his boat? Is that how you meet, or what what how do
you meet? Absolutely not. We were just going to get physicals, and he actually was telling me about his 100 pound weight loss before he joined the navy. And I was like, okay. Well, this guy, he's, like, he's ambitious.
So But he's definitely not hitting on me because
Absolutely not.
It's not a thing you usually lead with. Hey. Do you know I used to weigh much more than this?
That's right. That's what that's exactly what he led with. But yeah. So he his dad had type one, and I Alex, I didn't even know I didn't even know the difference. I just knew his dad had diabetes.
Mhmm.
And, you know, hindsight's always twenty twenty. Even, like, the first few years we were married, he obviously, his life revolved around type one, and he is old school. He's he's 54, 55 now. I remember, like, he had his syringe and his his vial. I'm sorry.
His vial of insulin and his his syringe, and he carried them everywhere. No pump, no CGM, nothing like that. And I was just I didn't even, like, put two and two together that it was insulin. Like, I had no idea.
You're freaking me out. Your father in law's my age. How old are you?
I am 35, and my husband's 33.
Wait. Oh, thirty three forty three. Wow. Okay. So your father-in-law had your husband when he was, like, 20?
Yeah. They were they were young'uns.
I gotta tell you that.
Got started early. We have a middle schooler, and my husband's 33. Weird.
I gotta tell you that makes me feel a lot better because I felt very old for a half a second. I was like, wait a minute. Because you don't feel like you're that much younger than me, but are you? And then okay. Alright.
I feel better now. So you so you're aware now. You're dating and you're aware of the of the father-in-law and his diabetes, but he makes it look a little bit like you just have this with you and this needle and pop yourself some insulin once in a while.
Yeah. I just kinda just didn't really think much about it. I mean, we go on, like, vacations with them and, you know, I he his management style, I think, is is different than than how we manage our daughters. And, you know, I he had a couple seizures and things like that. And I was kinda like, oh, that's probably not good, but didn't really piece together that it was because of the diabetes.
Like, I was just like, oh.
He's like he's like, draw it up, jamming, and let's go. We'll see what happens.
Yeah. Just didn't really think anything, which hindsight, you know, I'm like, man, I I really should've I should've learned more earlier, and I should've maybe taken it a little bit serious more serious because our daughter, you know, fully was in DKA when she was diagnosed.
Okay. Did you notice, like I mean, did your did your husband see any of the signs, or how did you figure it out?
I think I think he did, but I think he was in major denial. You know, his dad was a single dad growing up, and and he really saw the rough side of diabetes. You know, saw him have several seizures as a kid and saw how difficult it was for him to manage. And even my my husband was a corpsman in the navy, so like a medic. And when our daughter was diagnosed, he was a medical lab technician.
So, you know, he knew all of it, but just kinda still didn't put it together.
Have you guys talked about that since then?
Not really. You know, it's it's only been a year and a half since
I had to communicate. You really, he needs much better. Not. Just Let him have his feel let him have his feelings. Look at
I do sometimes, like, send a screenshot, and I'm like, remember this text message I sent you? Remember this where I said, I think my daughter has diabetes?
Is that how you fight me?
Sometimes. Yes. He is the nicest guy you'll ever meet in your life, and I'm probably not the nicest person ever. So I'll about to remember this.
I have a saying. I and I believe this to be true that my wife is still mad at me for the first thing that I did wrong to her.
Absolutely. You can never forget that.
And I don't know what it is, I guarantee she doesn't either. But I know she's still mad about it.
You have to you have to remain mad about all the things and then bring them up, you know, when the time presents.
I just love you with, like, digital receipts, sending screenshots to people.
A 100%. No. I No. No.
I'd Feel like a 13 year old arguing with their friends.
Absolutely. I'm like, I have the receipts right here. I have the receipts.
Hey. You're not in charge of any of the rockets or anything like that, are you, on the planes?
No. I'm not in the air force anymore. I've been out for nine years since our since I got pregnant with our middle son.
Okay.
No. So I teach preschool now. So
They don't love you pregnant in the air force? That that it's not not helpful.
It wasn't wasn't really a great situation. I always say if the if the if the military wanted you to have a family, they would have issued you one. So both of us being in was a little a little tricky. And, I mean, again, hindsight is always twenty twenty because if I was a working parent and I had a child with type one and three kids and I was my ADHD self, it would be terrible. Like, the blood sugar would be horrible.
It'd be awful.
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The Symptoms That Snuck Up12:11
Teaching preschool two days a week is is a much better fit.
You have ADHD as well?
I would guess. I would guess. You're formally diagnosed, but I would guess.
Are you anxious?
For sure.
Yeah. For sure. But I
don't know how much of that is from the diabetes, like, just not from me having diabetes, but from watching like, it's definitely gotten worse since her diagnosis.
It has.
But yeah. I mean, diagnosis wise, going back to her diagnosis story, it was it kinda snuck up on us. You know, she was losing so much weight, and that was kind of my first. She's tiny anyways. Like, she's eight now and maybe weighs, like, like, fifty pounds.
So she's she's tiny. But I noticed she was losing weight, wetting the bed, you know, the classic symptoms, drinking excess water.
Mhmm.
She was super irritable. Like, she was kind of she was getting a bit annoying the summer leading up to it. And, we were kind of like, is this because we have two boys, and then it's our first girl. And I'm like, is this how girls are? Like, I remember my sister being like, she's really bratty.
About you? Or or no. About your daughter? Your sister pulled you aside and said, hey. Your kid's a problem?
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. We're we're just like that. You know? It's so it's just like, she's kind of, like, getting super bratty.
And I was like, yeah. You know, she really is. And all these things were just adding up. And conveniently, we were between insurance at the time. My husband had had taken a new job and it's gonna be, like, thirty days in between, and we're like, it'll be fine.
Like, the worst that happens is, like, one of the boys breaks their arm or something. It'll be fine. We did not expect a picky visit.
And that's something But that but that is Yeah. Just really is how things work.
Yeah. Murphy's Law. But we we had to see my parents in a couple weeks. My mom is a nurse, and we go to a football game where my son's playing football and and Eloise is cheering. And my mom was like she kinda looked at me and she was like, she looks really bad.
He didn't like, you know, you need to you need to take her in. She her analogy was that she looked like Bella from Twilight whenever she was, like, really sick.
Honey, get out in the sun. What what's going on? Hey. She was actually
doing good.
Can I can can I ask you, how's your relationship with your mom? How'd you take that when she said the kid didn't look good? Do you take it as helpful, or do you think that she's sticking her nose into your business?
We're we're we're super close. I took her to help look in. She's a she's a nurse. She's a mom of four, a grandmother of eight. So I was like, she probably means well.
Also, you know, most of my family's in health care, and they're they're usually pretty spot on. But I think all of us were still really in denial that it was type one.
Okay. So when your mom tells you, hey. The kid don't look right. And at that point, does your husband have an inkling? And has he shared it with you yet?
No. I I had texted him the night before. He was working, night shift. And I said, I just like, something's just this isn't right. And she was having UTIs, constipation, all these things.
And I said, I'm gonna go to CVS and buy a glucometer. Mhmm. I go to CVS and I'm like, I'm not spending $40 on a glucometer. Like, of course, you know, so I'm like, I'm good. I go back home and I again, I have the receipts where I texted him.
And I said, I think she has type one diabetes. And, he's like, no. It's it's anything else. It's not type one. But my mom is
like You think he just didn't want it to be. Right?
Absolutely. I think he would he just was like, I cannot handle you know, I've I've seen this with my dad. I cannot have a child with type one as well.
And your mom what did your mom say? Your mom backed it up?
Yeah. She was like, no. I think she was begging for a Fanta at this football game. She's cheering and she's begging us for a Fanta, probably because she was so thirsty. And we're like, sure.
You can have a Fanta, which is like, I don't know, 50 carbs. We give it to her and, you know, just looking at her, she looked terrible. So we we she cheers the football game. We give her fruit snacks at the end of the football game
Mhmm.
And we go home. And then at, like, 10PM, my or my mom, before we left, she was like, my dad has type two diabetes. So my mom's like, take your dad's glucometer. I think you should test her blood sugar. And I was like, well, that's a waste.
It's not her blood sugar, but whatever. So we go home, we stick the finger, and it just reads error. And I text my mom, like, this is a bad glucometer. It's broken. But I see this look on my husband's face, like, oh, this is not Mhmm.
This ain't good. So I don't for whatever reason, we're my brother-in-law is a firefighter. We're like, let's go over to the fire department, use their glucometer. We get there. They took the finger, and the fireman's like, is she again, we're in the South.
Bless his heart. He's like, is she afraid of of needles? Can I stick her finger? And I'm like, yeah. She's sick.
Of course, she's afraid of needles, but sure. You know, let's test the blood sugar.
I haven't met anybody who looks at a needle and goes, oh, awesome.
Right. So I was like, okay. So their glucometer just retie. And I I in that moment, that was the moment, like, I see on my husband's face, like, he knew. He a 100% knew.
The ER, and a Blood Sugar of 75017:00
So we go to the ER, and I'm I'm still, like, in denial. I'm still texting with, like, my mom, and I'm like, could this be anything else? You know, trying to convince myself. And finally, on the way there, my I I look at my husband, and I'm like, if you saw a patient like this, they have these symptoms, blood sugar's reading high, what would you say? And he just, like, looked at me on the way there and he was like, she has type one diabetes.
Yeah.
And, I still thought, oh, we'll get to the hospital. They'll tell us something else. So we get there. We, you know, we do a little triage and everything and ER doc comes in and she's like, how long has she had diabetes? Like
About twenty minutes? Since now. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. So blood sugar was seven fifty. I didn't even realize she was as sick as she was. You know? I I I like, I can't even look back at her labs because they're so bad.
How
about visually? How much different did she look a week later?
Oh my gosh. Just night and day. Like, she looked horrible. And now that I look back, like, she looked awful. She was skinny.
The eyes were sunken. Just awful. Isn't it That was
isn't it something when you stop and you quantify it and you realize, like, oh god, she was dying?
Like like Like, I can't even look back at the labs because they're so terrible.
Yeah. I I hope that when I bring that up, I hope that people take from it what I mean for them to take from it, which is health slips away. And even when you're like like, try to juxtapose it for a second. So, like, here's the situation where your kid is, like, her body's trying to shut off. Right?
And it's and it's going to in in a couple more days probably. But just imagine when you have just, like, small illnesses or a little infection or something like that. Happening. Yeah. What what's going on in your body and why it's so important to pay attention to stuff like that?
Or even what you know, when your vitamin d is low your vitamin b is low or or your iron's low. Like, it just it's not the same life that you get if things are optimized. And this is a this is a really, you know, a dire situation, and still the body's trying to make it through it. Like,
that's Absolutely.
Kind of amazing. You you know what I mean? So
It is. Yeah. It's amazing. It's also just, so sad and that you get that parent the parental guilt, I'm sure everybody feels, you know. How did I let my kid get this sick?
My boys both play travel baseball and, like, the season was kinda ramping up, and we've been really busy.
Mhmm.
But I had gotten her dressed that morning, the the morning before the morning before we took her in, and I was like, wow. Like, she's so skinny. You know? But, yeah, just just super sick when we got there, and they said we can't even treat her at this hospital. We need to we need to move her somewhere else.
We'll take her by ambulance. Like, they wouldn't let us take her. And, of course, conveniently, because we're in between insurances, like, yes, you're thinking, oh, this is horrible. But you're also like, how am I gonna pay for all this?
Yeah. We're selling the house now. What's going on?
Yeah. This is terrible. I mean, you know, as a result, like, we we were left with some pretty heavy medical bills and, you know, that's overnight. That's just one of those things that happens overnight. But what do you what do you do?
You know? It is what it is.
Would you do if if you're comfortable and if you're not, just tell me no. But would you put a number on that? Like, what did you end up owing?
Oh my gosh. I think we applied for financial assistance through our hospital here and and did get a little bit of that, but it was still over $50 at the end of the day. So we just kind of been slowly paying that off.
Yeah. Now you're a young family too. That's a that's a huge hit. You know?
It it is. And and and again, what do you do? You You know? We we thought about going back and retroactively getting COBRA, but, you know, the premium there was still, like, almost $2, and then you're still gonna have medical bills on top of that, and you can't apply for financial assistance. So
Oh, they yeah. Oh, then that 50 turns into what? A 150 or something like that?
Exactly. Yeah. So it's like you don't really have a choice. We we were in and out of there in less than twenty four hours, because we were, I think they I think they had too much faith in us, honestly. Like, they were like, oh, you guys probably got it.
They're in the military. It'll be fine. I I heard the guy say something medical. You get out of here, you kids.
Yeah. They were like, y'all probably y'all probably are fine. And we're like, don't think so. But I think they also knew, like, hey. These people are here, you know, uninsured.
We need to get them the heck out
of here.
Finding the Podcast in the ER21:12
Oddly enough, whenever we were still in the ER, like, I think this was maybe ten minutes after we had gotten the diagnosis, I'd already found the podcast.
Really?
Immediately turns to the Internet, of course, because, you know
Why not?
Millennials. Immediately turns to the Internet, and it's like juice box podcast. And I'm like, well, I'm probably not gonna need that because they're gonna tell me this is a joke, but whatever.
I Yeah. Just wanna point out, it's $50,000 for twenty four hours. That's $2 an hour. It's not bad work if you can get it.
I know. Alright?
Well, so you wait. So you are panicked, I imagine. You don't know what's going on. You're like, I know what'll help. I'll go to the place where email and porn lives.
That'll probably straighten it out for me.
A 100%. Yeah.
Yeah. And and you were and you were like, hey. What do you do you Google? Do you go right to a podcast app? Like, what's your inclination?
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I think I had just typed in, like, type one diabetes on Facebook and or TikTok. I don't remember when the podcast popped up. And then my husband's got a buddy who's, like, his age who has type one. He's like, hey. You should you should really listen to this podcast too.
But, again, Fully was convinced, like, I'm not gonna need this because they are gonna tell me that this is an incorrect diagnosis.
Can I tell you a funny story? Was driving through South Carolina once on 95. Hold on a second. I swear to you, I'm going, like, 85 miles an hour, 95. I'm going north.
I'm in South Carolina. And this guy pulls up next to me in traffic. And you know how like, I don't know if you do this, but I'm I I look everybody in the face, like, while I'm driving.
Sure. Yeah. Right. Intimidation.
No. No. No. No. Just left, right.
I don't know. I I wanna see what people look like. I'm fascinated by people. So I left, right. I look at this guy.
He makes his weird face at me. And then we look back and forth, he kinda pulls forward, but then he slides back, like, equal with me again. He looks over, and he points at me. And he makes the little heart thing. And he and he points to himself, and he goes, I heart and then he points at me, and I went, what is happening?
Like, am I getting hit on? Like, by the way, if I've got that kind of gay, like, magnetism at 85 miles an hour, I probably picked I might have picked wrong. You know what I mean? I was like, because I don't see ladies chasing me around like this.
That's alright.
But then it hit me, and I I went podcast, and he nods really, like like and I was like, oh my god. Am I famous? I might be famous. That's what I thought. You are famous.
You are. And I was like I was like, this is really insane. Anyway, I waved and I said thank you, and he sped off.
I thought you were gonna tell me he had, like, a dupes of hazard, like, horn or something.
Listen. If I had to complain about you people in South Carolina, you you people can't drive. Like, that highway cannot drive.
So I just was like, he's gonna give some kind of South Carolina stereotype. I will preface this by saying my 12 year old and my nine year old son both have mullets, like intentional mullets.
On purpose, they're like, mom, can we get it like this, please?
They do. I don't know if it's, like, living in South Carolina or them playing baseball, but, yeah, every four weeks, I just walk into the Great Clips, and I'm like, can you trim up the mullet?
Get this thing clean for these boys. No. But seriously, like, I don't know why I brought that up other than it makes me sound great, and it was a South Carolina reference. But, but, no, I I was stunned by like, I'm I'm I guess I'm being serious. I wanted to bring this up to you, and I'm using this to say it.
Twelve Years and Still Surprised26:00
I've I've made a decision this week to stop acting surprised that people know about the podcast.
You should. You should stop acting surprised because all week, like, anybody, oh, I talk to, I'm like, I'm going on the Juice Box podcast. Especially if it's, my diabetes friends, like, they're like, what? I'm like, please, guys, try not to be too jealous.
Like, I
am a local celeb.
Step back, please. Don't get too close. But but seriously, like, it it so I wanna first say, it's genuine for me, but I've I've I tried to step out of myself the other day cause I found myself saying it to somebody. And the way it was how she responded back to me, she goes, oh, come on, Scott. Like, almost like she was like, don't do false modest here.
And I wasn't I wasn't doing false modest. I really am stunned by it still. But I I just said to myself, I'm like, I gotta get past that part.
Like You do. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Like, that's twelve years now. I I I think I it's okay for me to, like, be okay with the fact that it's a thing. So anyway, to get help me get past it, I've been working on a graphic for, for my social media.
And what I've learned is that this is the number one diabetes podcast in the world by download or by It is. By ranking. And if you then go to search results for type one diabetes inside of Apple Podcast, it also ranks in, like, a 175 other countries or some crazy number like that. I'm working through it right now. But, nevertheless, I'm like and I'm doing that.
I mean, honestly, I'm doing it business wise. It looks good when the people say it online. But, like, but the but the other thing is, like, I really have gotta stop myself out of going, oh, no kidding. You found the podcast? Like, because that's how, like, the little fat kid inside of me feels when you say it.
Right.
Like, I can't
I tell you how my husband felt when he met me, like, you know, all fat kids.
Well, no. He was probably like, is this girl really talking to me? Thank god I did that sit up. This is awesome.
But you do have to talk yourself out of that because, like I said, I literally found it in the ER. I mean, it was one of the first things that came up Mhmm. And was listening to it, like, on the way home from the pick you.
How was it was it helpful? Was it overwhelming? Did you just jump in and grab an episode? What what
I started at the beginning, like, went to the very beginning, your first podcast. And I think the first episode you were talking about, like, how it gives you a different perspective. And I was like, yep. Already. Like, I have a totally different perspective on just life in general.
Yeah. Oh, no. For for sure. Immediately. Like, I feel I've I twenty years ago, I felt like I was 70 years old.
I felt like I understood the world. Like, it strip it strips away all the nonsense in life. It does. From from
me, It totally does. Yeah. Even like the I'm very much a person who my family loves to remind me of this. I think I care too much about what people think.
Mhmm.
And I've had to let go of so much of that when it comes to diabetes, because people are gonna judge you either way, you know.
Yeah. I I I'll tell you. I don't know if I've I've it's not a thing I would normally wanna say, but the day before Christmas last year, I had to run out to get one last gift. And I definitely haven't told this in the podcast because it's So I go out to the out to the garage. I open up my garage door.
I noticed that my son is parked in an odd place behind my garage door. And I literally say to myself as I'm walking around and getting in, like, I'm gonna have to be careful of his car. And I'm backing straight out. And as my eye line clears the the garage, so I'm I can kinda see outside of the garage now, this Amazon truck comes flying into my driveway and comes to an abrupt stop. And, I mean, the guy's he's clearly like, he's rushing around like crazy.
Right? Like, you know, the day before Christmas. And god bless him. That's what we all want him out there doing. But, anyway, the timing was such that my eye cleared the garage.
He was, like, doing that rocking to a stop thing in a big truck, and my brain just went, what the hell is that? And in the split second that it took me to go, oh, that's a big truck. It's a delivery truck. It's not gonna hit me. I hit my son's car.
No. Yeah. Yeah. Because it was that close. Like, we were right.
It was close tolerances. Right? I wasn't going fast or anything like that. It was literally I listen. If I
just Listen.
If I just messed up, I would tell you. It was it was that it was just the confluence of what happened right then and there. Right?
Yeah.
Anyway, I'm telling you this because I get out, my bumper's trash, his hood and his bumper need to be replaced. And I went, And then I pulled forward, backed up, and went and did the shopping, came back home, walked inside. My son came down, I said, hey. I got bad news. I hit your car.
I'll get it fixed. Don't worry about it.
Yeah. Because, like, what are you gonna do? This is it is.
And I'm telling you that before diabetes, I would have had a meltdown.
Same.
I I would have thought about the money and the time and how irritated I was with myself and how let down I was and I felt stupid and the guy in the Amazon truck, why is he driving? So and I just didn't think about one of those things because I think I have a different perspective than I used to have.
No. For sure. It it definitely does. I used to be like my kids call it a crash out. Mhmm.
That's the term. Mhmm. They're like, mom's like the biggest crash out ever. They oh, sorry. They call me a d one crash out.
I love that.
Oh, those boys wanna play baseball in college. That's nice.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, a division one crash out. But, like, now, just some of this stuff, I'm like, this is just not this serious.
I mean Yeah. Like I said, they both they both play travel baseball and, you know, the mornings of these these these tournaments are crazy because you're trying to get your son ready and, you know, do they have the right pants and do they have the iBlack and what battery you're swinging today? It's not that serious because I'm also like, hey. If your sister doesn't have like, if her side's bad this morning, she could be in DKA by the end of this tournament. So it doesn't really matter.
She might ruin the whole day, like, one way or the hey. You know what, too? I'll I'll tell you something and to try to find a a silver lining in this. When you pay that 50 k off, you're gonna think, We paid off $50,000. I bet you we could save $50,000.
A 100 yeah. It totally puts it into perspective. It totally does. Well, even, like, the price of diabetes supplies, like, you know, it puts it in perspective. I'm like, well, overnight, you have to find the money for this overnight.
Like, one day, you're like, I got this, you know, whatever. And then the next day, no. No. No. No.
No. And people think, like, your insurance covers everything. I don't know what what the misconception is there. Like like, I'm like, no. These little fun over patches that she needs for over her Dexcom, like, yeah.
We can go without those, but Dexcom's gonna fall off in forty eight hours.
Mhmm.
I'm the one paying for those. I'm not asking, you know, my insurance to do that. I'm the one paying for them.
What the Diagnosis Reframed32:31
Yeah. Yeah. I I I absolutely I just think it really does shift your focus about what matters. And if you let it For sure. You you have to let it.
But, it's such a gift. Like, I can't believe I'm saying this, but it is one of the best gifts of this diabetes thing Is that I just I feel more centered.
Yeah. I mean, I definitely feel more centered and, you know, we are we're we're Christians and we're big believers, and my husband and I have plenty of days where we just sit down and, like, cry over diabetes. Yeah. And I'm like, this is the worst diabetes of day ever. But my husband's always like, you have to find a silver lining.
And most days, it comes down to, I think our family is supposed to educate as much as we can. Are my daughter's the first one in her school that has had type one. We also do not have a school nurse at our at our school.
Yeah.
So that's a whole another, you know, a whole another pot of things that we deal with. I teach there two days a week, but the other three days, there is no trained medical staff there. It's a lot of texting with me and the teacher Mhmm. Which is fine. Like, we we've figured it out.
We're in our groove. She's only in second grade. So she is not self managing. The teachers are really good, but there are days where I definitely have my moments of panic of, like, could they handle an emergency?
I mean and you're gonna educate them as they go. Listen. I I don't know if if somebody put me in a position like you think. I don't know that I believe that or it doesn't matter to me one way or the other. But I can tell you that, yesterday, I had, a moment where I went out with, I met a friend.
I'll just I'll just be I'll just be clear. Right? I met a a buddy of mine at a reptile show. And sorry. That's just something.
I'm still embarrassed. But but and his name by the way, his name's Frank. He's a great guy. And if you wanna buy reptiles, you should go to Living Art by Frank Payne. He has some of the most I
will absolutely not be doing that.
Right? Some of the most unique little lizards that he that he breeds and sells. Really lovely guy. Anyway, I get there a little early. I pay.
I get the stamp on my arm. I go, oh, I gotta go to the bathroom. But as I'm walking through the place, I have this feeling. And I go, I I think I look terrible. I shouldn't have picked the shirt that
I picked.
Your shirt.
Your shirt. I read the I read the post.
You read the post. Okay. So so I'll give people context who are listening, but then I'll tell you why. So I'm, like, pulling at it. I'm like, it's grabbing me weird.
I think I look I you know, in my head, I'm like, I think I look fat. Like, I can't believe I picked this shirt. Like, blah blah blah. And I and I so I go into the bathroom to use the bathroom, but also to figure out, like, how can I mitigate this, the, you know, abject disaster that is so that I'm not walking around feeling like this the whole time? And I look in the mirror and I go, oh, yep.
There it is. Like, look at my and then I looked harder. I was like, what am I talk like, this is ridiculous. I look fine. Like, I don't just look fine.
I look like anyway, I I thought, you know, a lot of people must be feeling this now. I know there's a lot of people using GLPs in the community. Like, I'm gonna take a I took a picture to prove to my actually, I took the picture to show my wife to go, I think I have a mental illness. And, like, you know, but I looked at it. I'm like, I'm gonna put this on Instagram, and I'm gonna tell people how I feel because other people must feel like that as well.
And then you get back hundreds of people who are like, oh my god. I feel the exact same way. I've and then I realized, like, yeah, that just helped a lot of people. And while they were responding, a lot of them would start by saying, Scott, I've lost a lot of weight in the last two years because I listened to your weight loss stuff.
Mhmm.
And it's funny because I saw a number of people online making fun of me about that weight loss, the content that I made, you you oh, when I first started doing it. And and it and, you know, so one person looks at it and mocks me for being open or whatever they who cares? But two years down the road downstream, I'm looking at 50, a 100 people just who saw that picture yesterday. Not necessarily the only 50 or 100 who are like, my life is much better off today because of the thing you learned and said out loud. And I think you can do the same thing even if it's just in your school or in your neighborhood or your community.
And you guys, everyone listening could be doing that. You could be moving things towards a better place. You could take your bad thing and turn it into something good. You know?
GLPs and Better Family Choices36:45
That's absolutely right. And you do. You kinda have to deal with with diabetes. Talking about GLP ones, my husband and I are are both on one, as are my parents. My brother loves to make fun of us.
Like, he's like, no one's eating at the family's option because we're all on GLP.
Yeah. It's how we're saving money for retirement. We're not buying food.
We have to pay off these medical bills.
How how am covering this 50 k if I'm buying if I'm buying Oreos? I gotta make a cut somewhere.
And we have two boys who are playing baseball, so we gotta, like, we gotta cut back. No. I'm kidding. But, no, mean, those those have been life changing. And, honestly, like, leading into her diagnosis, I was only one on a GLP, and I had made a lot of livestock changes.
And not like we don't make her eat like she's on a GLP, but, like, we try to make better family decisions.
Sure.
Probably decisions that I couldn't have made for our family before a GLP one.
Yeah.
So that that totally feeds into it. My mom is the same way. My mom had had she'd had gastric sleeve, and she tried all these things, and and she'd been on a GLP leading up to Eloise's diagnosis. And it's just helped us make better choices at our family events. Mhmm.
You know, like, we don't need to have a cookie cake, ice an cream and all these things. Like, let's try to choose a low carb option, not because we make her eat low carb. You know, I know
is supernatural. Say low carb. How about, like, why don't we just mitigate how much sugar is in the food we're eating? You you you know?
Like, let's just not go we call it hard in the paint. Let's just not go hard in the paint while we're eating, you know? None of us need to do it. Exactly. We all say that we have a TTC, a tendency to chunk.
So let's mitigate that TTC and, try to do better for her. You know, she I tell her all the time, like, you're probably going to be healthier than your brothers at the end of the day because you make better choices.
Paying attention to your health more so than most people do.
Right.
Yeah. That that's one of the things I've brought up to people before is that just by, you know, by proxy, you have to pay better attention to yourself if you have type one. And it probably has a ton of downstream effect after that.
For sure. I think that's the that's, you know, that's the whole huge picture of it. And we want our boys to be healthier. Yeah. You know, so our family kinda we we kinda dial in a little bit more and things that we wouldn't have done ten years ago because we just weren't thinking about it.
Mhmm. It totally makes me feel insensitive to my father-in-law who was, like, trying to make good choices. And then, you know, we're all, like, let's have spaghetti every single day.
Yeah. Let's have spaghetti every single day. Well, it's cheap. Listen. You know, there's a a fair argument.
I've I was listen I'm listening to an interview this morning, with this doctor in England who's talking about how, you know, he was managing a bunch of people with type two and how he blamed them and tell them, like, you know, eat less and and move. And then when they didn't have success, he blamed them. And then he said, do you he's he's telling a story about how one of his one of his patients comes in one day and just kinda chastises him. He's like, you don't even understand. Like, I I moved to a lower carb diet, and I'm off my metformin now.
And look at my blood sugar and blah blah blah. And the guy, he actually looked up and and paid attention and and and took, you know, took responsibility for the things he was saying to people and stopped saying it to them. And, you know, it's just real and but in the course of him talking, he, you know, he talked about how just by cutting some carbs out of your life makes you less hungry. So my point is you don't realize that you're on on a hamster wheel. Like, you know, like, somebody gets you started and, you know, you're eight years old and someone's giving you soda and something else, and then your body craves it.
And then it just keeps going and it perpetuates and perpetuates, and you grow you wake up fifteen years later. And, you know, you're you're 25 years old and you're 70, and you can't stop eating. And people are like, just, you know, just eat less. You know, like, I can't, like, you know
Oh, okay.
Yeah. Yeah. Thanks. You're just caught at that point, you know.
Yeah. I mean, I got super excited listening to you talking about Arden, and I think you said she microdoses hers. But I was like, wow. That's amazing because by the time Eloise is an adult, like, they're going to know more about the correlation between GLP ones and type one diabetes. And, you know, that's that's amazing for her.
Yeah. Lots of studies are going on now. So you we'll we'll wait and see. And, hopefully, maybe I mean, just they put that Ozempic out in a pill. I mean, my my brief unders that.
My brief understanding of it is that it I think they have to hit you with a lot of it because it's going in through your stomach, and it maybe is causing some some problems for people. But, you know, maybe they'll figure that out. Maybe they'll figure out better ways to inject it. Like, I don't know. You you know?
But at least people are talking about it.
For sure. I mean, there's so much stigma around it. I don't really know why. Mhmm. I just Why?
I do know why.
I just bullied my neighbor into it, two days ago. Let me get a drink. I'll tell you. So he's an older guy, and, you know, he's got issues, but he's got you know, he's probably prediabetic or has, you know, type two. And I got him a meter two years ago, and I don't think he used it.
And, you know, I've been I tried an he's you know, I'm not related to him. I tried a number of different ways to explain it to him, and he's like, you know, he's got some neuropathy in his feet already. He's, you know, he's gaining weight. His his energy is low, blah blah blah. And I'm standing outside with him the other day, and he's like, I got these terrible body aches.
They put me on a a statin. And I'm like, what well, I said, what are on a statin for? And he goes, oh, he starts talking about all the reasons the doctor put on the statin. I said, I I gotta tell you, I'm stunned they didn't just try to give you a GLP.
Right.
And he goes, oh, no. They did. And I went, oh, did you start using it? He goes, no. I'm not gonna do it.
Oh.
And I'm like, why? He goes, side effects. And I said, what what are those side effects? And he goes, I don't My wife said there's a lot of side effects. And that was kind of it.
And and and so just like that, he wasn't gonna do it. So I pulled out a photo of myself from three years ago, and I went, come on, man. Like, look at this. Like Yeah. I I he said, well, don't you have side effects?
I was like, I'm awesome. I was like, is that a side effect?
Was like The side effect is I might live a little longer.
Yeah. Yeah. How about I'll live longer? How about I I said it's it's dissolving fatty liver disease for people. It's you know, your weight will go down, but then it's interesting to hear me.
He goes, well, I don't really need to lose weight. And I'm like, sure you
do.
I was like, what do you and and you just you realize that people get comfortable with that or don't see themselves the same way. So then I just shared with him. I said, man, when I started doing this, I thought 20 pounds. And I lost 20 pounds. I stood in the mirror, and I was like, what in the world made me think I only needed to lose 20 pounds?
And then I thought, well, 30. You know? And then I got the 30, I was like, that's not enough. And then I got the 50, and I was like, oh my god. I thought I needed to lose 20 pounds.
I'm at 50. It's not even I'm no I'm nowhere near this yet.
Yeah.
You know? So I was like, you need to lose weight. I'm like, it's gonna lower your a one c. You're gonna I said, your brain you know, I started going over things. I was like, you have brain fog?
He goes, yeah. I'm like, that's gonna go away. I'm like, it's gonna it's gonna it's gonna, like, balance your blood sugar. I was like, I'm like, what do you think? And he goes, well, but what about the side effects?
I said I said, the side effects you're having now is you're dying.
Right.
Yeah. I was like, I'm I'm like, I don't know what's gonna I I can't. I don't have a crystal ball. I was like, I don't know. Maybe you'll get diarrhea for three months.
Okay.
What are you going out? Like, go to the toilet. Like, I said, your body will regulate. It'll it'll get better. I said, maybe you'll get constipated.
Take a little magnesium oxide. You'll be fine. I was like
That's interesting, GLP journey for us because my provider originally put me on it. My insurance would not touch it unless I had a type two diagnosis, which is probably the case for most people. And so she called it and compounded, did that for about a year, lost, And then my insurance or I'm sorry. The the compounding pharmacy that I was going to stopped carrying it. Mhmm.
So I like, what am I gonna do? Like, you know, once you're on it, you're like, what am I gonna do? Yeah. So I don't know if I could say this on the podcast. I guess I can.
My husband and I started compounding it ourselves. You know, you can order the peptides, which I I know is is controversial.
You really?
Yeah. So he just, like I said, he was a a lab technician before this, so knew enough scientifically to be able to do it. So he just, orders the orders the peptides, and we do it at home. And it's he's lost. He gained a ton of weight when he got out of the military, but he's lost a 150 something pounds.
Good for him.
I have stalled out at about 45, but I think I need to up my protein. And I I really think managing Eloise's diabetes makes me so much. It makes me more conscious of what I eat, but we're so busy that I don't really dial into my own nutrition.
Yeah. You do have to keep eating and and and the nutrition has to be I I have found that if there sometimes if I'm cut back on food too much, I don't lose weight.
And that think what's happening to
me.
Yeah. Really do. I'm so focused on her and, like, right now, a huge thing is figuring out breakfast. Breakfast has been just a huge disaster for her. I think her basal maybe needs to be turned up a little around that first hour or two of school.
Mhmm. I mean, today, she sat at, like, three like, 02:50 for, like, two hours. And, of course, I'm not at school. The school cannot give her a bolus of insulin. She's on the tandem Moby, so it'll give her those automatic boluses.
But sometimes they're just not enough.
No School Nurse, and the Daily Lunch Drive45:59
Why can't the school give her insulin?
I think it's like a I think they don't want the liability of of administering it. And, again, it's it's from the phone.
Can you just text her and be like, hey. Give yourself a bonus.
I think next year, we'll probably end up doing that. I have a lot of nerves about doing that right now. Again, we're only, like, a year and a half in. Yeah. She's pretty responsible.
Thank goodness it's her, not the boys, because she's way more responsible than them.
The mullets?
But the mullets would not be, like, the most responsible with it. But so yeah. I mean, next year, I think I'll probably be able to text her and say, hey. Give yourself a correction. But right now, she's she's she's super smart, but she has her moments where I'll be like, Eloise, bullish yourself 20 carbs.
And she'll just, like, type in two and administer her. And I'm like, that yeah. We can't and, you know, we have a limit set on there, but you can't give yourself 200 carbs as opposed to 20.
Yeah. You think you just don't think she's quite ready for it yet?
Not quite. I think in about a year, probably will be.
Fair enough.
But right now, she's just kinda meh. And I get the school. You know, that's a huge liability on them.
But can I make it an easy right now? Can I make an easy suggestion?
Yeah.
Summer's coming. Right? Right. So just do all of her bullsing through texting even when you're with her.
It's a great idea. Yeah. That is a really great idea.
Yeah. Just say, hey. Look.
We're gonna swing of it.
Yeah. We're gonna practice this here at home, and then we're gonna be all ready for school next year. And then we're gonna try to eliminate, you know, nursing visits and your blood sugar staying high all day. And, you know, we'll we'll practice, like, you know, when you need to drink a juice or have a gummy or whatever you're gonna do. Like, we'll do it all by text so then you can go back and look and see what she did until you're comfortable that she's gonna be good with it.
That's a a great idea. And I think, you know, the the phone is used way more than we ever wanted to use it. Right now, I primarily will just text the teacher and be like, two gummies, half a juice, and her teacher's great. Last year, when we went back to school, I did not know what we were gonna do. I I remember telling the the PICU doctors, like, look, we don't have a school nurse.
She has a male teacher who's in his twenties who is petrified of blood. Like, how are we gonna do this? And we go back to school and I'm like, shout out to our teacher last year. I love him. He's great.
But I said, hey. I need you to practice. She wasn't sticking her finger at the time. So I said, need you to practice helping her stick her finger. And he's like, yeah.
I got it. Young guy. No kids. Give him the alcohol wipe, and he wipes his own hand.
You know, like, uh-oh.
So that's not right. So we had to we had to really fine tune that a little bit, and, you know, she she does great with it. She just I think she needs to build a little more confidence with it and doing it herself. I know she'll get there. She and her brother will be in the same class next year.
It'll be a combined third and fourth grade class. So I'm a little bit nervous that either he's gonna feel I I feel like he's gonna feel too responsible for her next year.
You don't wanna put a lot him either.
Yeah. That's a whole emotional side of things where, you know, I I don't want him to feel like you're responsible for your sister, but I do think he will ultimately feel that way. It's taught both of the boys just a ton of empathy. They they know if we go on a family walk, like, they're gonna they're gonna be smart enough to stick fruit snacks in their pocket.
Mhmm.
So they have that, I'm I'm super impressed with, and I'm I'm proud of them for that. I had a bad mom moment last week. We went on a family walk or not family walk. It was just Eloise and I. She's on her scooter.
We leave the house. Blood sugar's, like, two fifty. We had pizza. We're gonna get the blood sugar down, we have some insulin working. All of a sudden, Dexcom's, like, 70 double arrow down.
No problem. We drink a we drink a juice box, sit down on the curb for a second, and then it's, like, 58 double arrow down, and I had no more low snacks. So I'm like, great. Okay. We're gonna hang out on the curb.
We're, like, we're probably half a mile from home at this point. My husband's not home. So we just sit on the curb and blood sugar was not coming up. So I called my sister, and I'm like, you're gonna she lives ten minutes away. I'm like, you're gonna have to come get us.
Bring food. Do what? Bring food.
Well, literally, I'm like, that's I think that's why I felt so bad. I'm like, how am I so dumb to just leave home with one juice box? So I go home at night, and I'm just I'm sobbing because I'm like, this is a terrible diabetes parenting moment. Like, I just didn't have it together. You know?
Yeah. But that's just kinda the way it goes. You have those days.
It's happened to all of us, if that makes you feel better.
Yeah. I just I felt so terrible. I was like, how am I? And then if you even tell that story to somebody who is not a type one parent, they're like, how could you? Like, do you know your daughter has diabetes?
How could you not load your back down with 13 juice boxes before you go on a walk?
People being bad to you or do you is that just your fear?
I think it's my internal thought. I do. I think peep I think I, like, I pride myself on being the best mom ever. Whether or not I am, I don't know. I think if you if you are worried about how your parenting style is, you're probably doing a good job.
At least you're paying attention. Right?
Right. At least you're paying attention. So but no. I mean, even, the mornings when we go into school and she has a crazy high blood sugar and I'm talking to people and I'm like, oh, she probably has this high blood sugar because she had a waffle this morning. I feel like they are thinking, why would you give your daughter who has type one diabetes a waffle?
Yeah. Because they're
Probably not. Yeah. They're probably not. Probably don't even know, like, what the carb count is in a waffle. They probably don't think that.
But that's my own, you know, my own thoughts. Mhmm. I don't want her to have those thoughts, and I'm trying to help her get to the point where she does not like, like, she had a low blood sugar at at gymnastics the other day, and I'm like, why didn't you come off? Like, why did you not look at your coach and say, my blood sugar's low. I need to go treat.
And she's like, I don't know. I just didn't wanna stop.
Why Kids Don't Stop to Treat51:47
Yeah. It's, it's super simple. Like, just it's not a thing. Listen. I've been watching it for twenty years, and I've had countless conversations with people.
It it's not as easy. Like, when it's you Yeah. When it's you, it's not as easy as, like, oh, these are the rules. We follow the rules. They they feel a certain way.
They don't wanna be inconvenienced or and it's not even that conscious, I don't think. I think it's just that, like, it doesn't even occur to you. You don't think of yourself as diabetes No. From what I can tell from talking to people and watching Arden. You know?
Like, I and I'll say to her sometimes, hey. You gotta, like like, now's the time. Like, if you do something right now, you won't get low. And some and sometimes she just won't. And and then she'll get low.
I'm like, Arden. And she's like, yeah. But it's not I don't know how to put it exactly. It's not them ignoring anything. It's it's just part of, like, the human side of
it. Yeah.
You know?
That's so tough. And, you know, I see that with my father-in-law, and it's it's made me reframe how I view him and his diabetes management. He is I would say he handles his diabetes management differently than we do for LOEs. Like I said, he's not on an insulin pump. He was on one in the nineties, and I guess it gave an automatic bolus and he had a horrible seizure.
And, you know, since then, he's like, I I don't wanna go through that again. I think maybe we'll be able to to to change his mind when he sees Eloise's success with it.
Oh, you might wanna assume that thirty five years later, something's changed.
Right.
Yeah. Yeah.
But, you know, even this past Christmas, we're sitting there and he and my husband were playing a board game and my husband realized, oh, his blood sugar is low. He's, you know, getting a little silly and, he had a pretty bad low that day. One of the one of the South Carolina family members hands him a Diet Coke. And we're like, okay. Probably not that.
Give him a diet Coke and get him get him some beef jerky. I've heard that's helpful too. I will need
anything but that. Maybe the box of honey buns over there. But anyway
Well, you know what
you should
do is just open up a chatbot, like, window or, you know, like, I don't know, get AI on your phone, open it up, and let him talk to it for ten minutes. Tell him, hey. Look. Have a conversation with us about something you don't understand. And then when you come back, instead of talking to him about that, go, can you imagine how much better insulin pumps must be by now?
A 100%. Yeah. Yeah. Do you know, did does he have a CGM?
He has just started wearing a Libre. Good. And he, I don't think is in love with it. Like, I think he's like, this is cool, but not that impressed. But yeah.
So he's having this he left his phone outside at Christmas, so he did not realize his blood sugar was low. And then it it got pretty bad pretty fast. You know, he was probably seconds from having a seizure when my husband stepped in.
Mhmm.
And I'm watching my daughter watch this happen. And, you know, she's seven, and I can see on her face, she's petrified, like, petrified. And, you know, I asked another family member to take her outside, but it's it's tough to I can't imagine being in her shoes and watching that happen knowing, like, this could be you. So it's it's just that's tough. That's tough to explain because I'm I think he has a lot of, like, diabetes burnout, and I never I don't have diabetes.
I don't know what it's like to live with it for decades. But I'm sure that there's a lot of burnout there, but I also want her to see, like, you don't you need to do better because we know you can do better. We know we can do better.
Yeah. No. It's hard for I mean, it's gotta be hard for her because there's part of her is just probably worried for him, and the other part of her, if if not in that moment later, she's gonna think, oh, like, is that gonna happen to me?
Yeah. She's brought that up a couple times. She had probably her worst low blood sugar this past summer. We had gone to a pizza buffet. And, not my favorite place under the sun, but we've gone, come home, she's jumping on the trampoline, and I don't remember what I was doing, but I was busy.
And somehow her blood sugar had gotten into the forties, and we sit her down. And I like, I could tell by looking at her face, she was very, very low. My husband comes in, like, I have the glucagon on standby, and my husband is holding her face to try and get her to drink. And she does. And afterwards, we're both just, like, sobbing.
You know? It was so scary. And my husband's like, I think I'm more upset because I've seen how bad this can get with my dad. Yeah. And I asked him.
I was like, is it more traumatic watching your child or your parent? He's like, a thousand percent your child. You know?
You know it's the trampoline. It's trampoline. Dad. You know it's the trampoline. Right?
It's a 100% the trampoline. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. A 100%.
Like, I hate the trampoline anyways. But, yeah, she goes out there and and that's just that's I I I wish the trampoline would have blown away in the hurricane two years ago, to be honest with you. I was hoping it would, but all that all that was lost was the net. She goes out there and she knows it's a whole thing. She's a competitive gymnast and she knows what jumping does to her blood sugar.
She knows all that, but she still asked and I go out there and I feel bad because before she can even go out there, it's a discussion of what is your blood sugar. Your phone needs to be close by so you can get your blood sugar reads. It's a whole thing for her to even go on the trampoline, you know. And I think people don't realize that. Like, you know, she wanted to go swimming with a friend yesterday, and I'm like, oh, you probably can't go.
I can't just send you. I don't know if this person I don't know how comfortable they are with your diabetes, and we gotta disconnect the pump, and we gotta wrap the CGM. And you feel terrible in those moments.
Yeah. Are you Because
you want childhood to be normal, but it's not. It's not the same.
What do you think makes that more normal? Because there obviously, there are people do you think it's time? Like, what's gonna get you to the point where you go, go ahead. Go swimming now.
I think her getting more mature and, you know, just her taking more more control of her diabetes, I think that's gonna help a ton. Mhmm. But, like, that's the only thing I can think of. You know? We're not at the point where I can send her to a vacation bible school or a cheer camp and be like, oh, I think she's gonna be fine.
Like, I have to know who's there. Do they know how to handle the diabetes? Is she in enough control? We're just not there yet.
An Endo Who Has Type 1 Too57:48
You know, there's a camp in, Texas called Camp Sweeney. That's a diabetes camp. Yeah. That one might be good for her.
I've heard of it, and we kinda looked into that. Our local hospital here does a daytime camp. It's three days. Her endocrinologist actually, like, helps work it. Nice.
Shout out to him. He's on your, like, list of great providers. He's amazing. He also has type one diabetes.
Oh, cool. Juicebox.i just wanna say. Yeah. Yeah.
He's on there, and he didn't even tell us he had type one until, like, four visits in. Oh. He was just casual guy. Like, yeah. I'm telling him
Yeah.
But you know the first couple visits.
You don't wanna give it all away in the first episode.
Absolutely not. You know, we're we're it was the the first few visits, I'm like, I cannot take this kid home. I do not got this. This is terrible.
She lives with you now. Bye, sweetie. I'm like,
you I'm like, can can we just she's with you. But, like, the fourth visit, she was on a pump within three weeks. The fourth visit, he was like, this is the insulin pump I wear. Would she like to wear this one? I was like, oh, that guy also has type one.
So it's kinda nice. Yeah. You know, he's not just speaking from a he's not just speaking from a textbook. He's speaking from personal experience.
Yeah. No. I mean, you've gotta you've gotta imagine that that's a value. I think that, you know, most people I hear who who say that, oh, my endo or my nurse practitioner, somebody has type one, it is a huge benefit for them. So
Yeah. Absolutely. He's and he's not judgmental towards any of the questions that I have. Like, he's very, he's like, no. I get it.
But, you know, I I think going into this next year, my biggest fear for her is she has she's going into a different class. It's an older grade. I want her to have better management, but this is there's gonna be 20 kids in her class this year and, you know, no nurse. I'm like, how's it gonna go? How's she gonna do?
You'll be okay. I'm telling you, practice over the summer. You start texting with her about it. You'll be surprised.
I really love that idea. I think that's gonna be and that's tangible right there. You know, I can look back to the text messages. So I think that's that's a great idea.
Well And even if you're, like, even if you're panicked in the beginning, like, she could snap a picture of the screen before she gives the bold there's a lot of things you could do to make yourself more comfortable and to get her feeling confident and focused so that she's doing the right thing. Like, you don't wanna like, listen. She needs to understand. You don't wanna scare the hell out of her, but she needs to understand. Like, if I say two, it's two.
It's not it's not 20 or, you know, or, you you know, that kind of thing. But and stick stay with where she's comfortable and what and what you're comfortable with. But in your situation specifically, where the teachers are squeamish, the school doesn't wanna be involved and there's no nurse, like, what she just gonna run around 02:50 all day?
That's the thing. Like, that that can't be a thing.
No. Right. No. No. You gotta figure out something else.
And and you can't be driving over I mean, I don't know where you live. You probably live
I drive every single day to the school for lunch insulin. So I work there two days a week. It is insane. So I work there two days a week, and the other three days, I drive to school every single day for lunch. And it has been fine, but I'm getting to my limit, if that makes
any sense. No. That's gotta come to an end. That
that's Like, I'm I'm totally getting to my limit with it. And
Wait. Someone in the office won't act as a proxy? Just look over her shoulder while she's doing it?
So once or twice. And by one of the times, my husband was supposed to go and he forgot.
Hey. Listen. We have a lot in our minds. Okay?
Yes. So I had to text her. I had to be like, hey. I don't know if you know this or not, but our daughter needs insulin to live. He's like No.
I didn't say that. I nicely said, he sounds so incompetent to this podcast. He is not. He is the most involved dad you'll ever meet.
Listen. He figured out how to compound GLPs in his house. I figured oh, also, let me just say, nothing you hear on the juice box pocket should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. Always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care It I feel like you just made it in the kitchen. It's fine.
Well, listen. It's you know? Anyway, sorry. He forgot to give her the insulin. And what was the rest
of that story? To give it to her. So that day, the teacher just FaceTimed me and was like, hey. I'm going to physically let her plug it into the phone. I'll look over her shoulder.
You double check via FaceTime. And that was fine. Like, that worked. You know, I just it's it's exhausting. Like, my whole day revolves around diabetes, and that's you know, that's not including, like, I gotta fill the prescriptions every four weeks.
I gotta call for the prior auth. I gotta make sure I'm making the endo visits. It's just
it's just a a way also alive and you have a job and those you have two other kids and a house and everything else. Yeah.
Well, that's the thing. People are like, why don't you just work at her school five days a week? And I'm like, who is cleaning our house?
Why don't we just text each other and figure this out? Like, that's fine. And by the way, this this teacher, he's in his twenties. You could talk him into it in three seconds. He doesn't know anything.
Just be like, look. We did it once at work, man. Let's keep going, baby. And it doesn't have to be FaceTime. I trust you.
You know what a two looks like. Right? Come on. Get in there.
I love all the young teachers at her school, though, because they're, like, they're the best. They're like, we're gonna learn this. And they whenever they do a great thing, like, sometimes I'll I'll see her trending down, and then she randomly will study out, and they'll be like, just so you know, I gave her two gummies. And I'm like, wow. Like, they are getting it.
Yeah. They got it. And I'm so proud of them too.
I gotta tell you, it's not a there's not that much to it. It's not it's not it's I mean, it it seems reasonable that people should be able to understand, like, you know, sugar in place of low number, you know, high number gets insulin.
You would think. Yeah. You would think.
Well, I know.
Still say super dumb things, you know. They they still people still say super dumb things. People still like, I went on a walk last week and a neighbor said, how's Eloise? I said, she's doing great. And she said, my my nephew was diagnosed this past year in college with type one, so he obviously wasn't taking care of himself.
Because
he was in college? Oh, wait. She thinks oh, this person thinks they were diagnosed
diagnosed with type one.
Oh, they think they they think the kid got type one because he was away in college.
Well, because he wasn't taking care of himself.
Oh, you know how that goes. Type one. You know how when you don't eat chicken, you get type one diabetes.
Right. And Eloise was standing right there, and I just said, and some days, you know, you're like, it's my job to educate. And some days, you just wanna be like, can you shut the hell up?
Yeah. I'm not doing this with you right now. Yeah. You can't listen. You can't tell everybody.
Also, it's not even like, it's not their fault. Like, I I used to say a lot before. We could make a long list of things I don't have any meaningful understanding of. And, you know, and if you did, you might mark me as, you know, as uneducated or ignorant or something like that because I don't know about a thing you know about, but just not how it works. So In
the South, we just say bless your heart.
I know what you people do. I I've been there.
No. But if we say bless your heart, we mean that. But if we say bless it, that's very condescending. Like, that's not a good thing.
Oh my god. I know when you when you look at how some people react to things, I'm just like, I don't know. I I don't even know how we're all still here. You know, like like, there's a post up now where, you know, where I it's I I I I I mean, it's not a big deal, but, like, I listened to the, the financial call that Dexcom put on the other day, they announced some, like, product stuff. And so I kinda did a breakdown for it online.
And, you know, like, look, It's gonna g eight's gonna come out in the next year or so. It's gonna be smaller. They think there's gonna have improvements. Here's what they're shooting for. Blah blah blah.
Now, you know, some people are like, that's enough of all this. Just cure this.
Oh my gosh. You're like, oh, is that it? Okay. Cool. Oh, you're right.
Why didn't we think of that?
Say wild things online now. Like, things. And it I'm not gonna lie. It's usually, like, the demographic of my parents' age. It's kinda like the whole, like, AI making themselves into different people thing, and then they take the compliments for it.
I don't know why. Why are they doing or one person said, it it looks bigger in the picture, not smaller. And I'm like, those are AI representations of what they might look like one day. Like, you really don't know that, do you? That's fascinating.
Like, you think
don't make yourself into, like, an AI character and then have everyone be like, Scott, you look so good. And you're like, thank you so much.
Can you imagine that someone doesn't, like, realize that something that doesn't exist yet, if you have an image of it, it isn't actually the the thing?
They can't. Like They cannot. They can't.
How do you not be able to make that leap? Like, I don't understand.
Those are the people who are not finding the podcast early enough, though, also because they don't know how to use the Internet.
I don't think this is a bigger problem. Like, there's the thing that doesn't exist yet. It'll be out in two years. Here's a graphic because, by the way, if I don't put a graphic with it, then Facebook isn't gonna show it to you. So I have to And do and and so, like and now you know about it at least, and that's good, I think.
But I don't know. They're like, that looks bigger than the other one in the picture. I'm like, yes. Well, they're not this.
Oh my gosh.
They're in my head.
People get so tripped up. Even yesterday, this, like, this guy that he's a family friend, and we love him, but bless his heart. He came up to Eloise and he said he was pointing to her Dexcom and he was like, why is your thing not on the other arm? It was on the other arm at church last week. Like, he could not he couldn't process what was happening.
I was like, oh, you know, we move it every 10. And he thought that was her insulin pump and, like, she doesn't even bother to explain anymore. Like, she's just like, mom, take the wheels on this because
Your friend is annoying.
That's exactly how she feels. And I think now we've realized that little boys do not really care that much about the devices. It's the girls who do, and they will ask her every question under the sun.
Mhmm.
Every question. And she gets so perturbed. Like, she's like, please stop. But the boys don't care.
And boys don't well, I mean, your your husband didn't remember she ate insulin for lunch, so we don't really we don't really think about they think you think you do.
Care. They don't care. They're just like, this girl has a computer on her, and we don't really care. But the the girls, they're like, what is that? And telling you, these little girls now are so mean.
I don't know what you've been through with Arden, but they're all mean.
They're all like I've seen
a couple sequence.
I've seen a couple of mean ones over the years. Not usually about the diabetes, It's interesting.
And that's like well, and that's where I have to ask myself, like, am am I thinking that they're being mean or are they actually being mean? And, like, just now, Eloise is to the point where, like, this summer, the other day, we went to the pool and she was like, I wanna wear a one piece bathing suit instead of a two. And it it slowly clicked with me. She knew she was gonna be around all these girls and she didn't want her sight showing. Mhmm.
Which is fine. You know? I'm sure she's gonna have those days where she does and she doesn't. So, like, trying to help her with that, but also, like, I don't want her I try to always tell her, like, if someone is making a rude comment about your diabetes or, like, that they can catch it, whatever, that says more about them. It's not personal towards you.
They're probably just having a bad day. Move on.
Yeah. I mean, once you can I mean, that's tough as a kid? But once you realize that what other people are saying or doing is not any impact on you, it's a it's a pretty freeing moment in life. I don't know. It takes people a long time to get to it sometimes.
I'm sure, like, you know, the the way that everybody has contact with each other now. Like, I've I've mentioned to people in the back. I'm like, you you know you have a text chain with a bunch of friends where you make fun of other people. And they're like, no. I guess we definitely do.
Yeah. And I'm like, right. Right. So, like, when that's going on and you know those people are, you know, like, you know, I'm not in their texting. I'm I'm I'm sure they're talking about me in there.
But you gotta
be You probably have so many people with text chains about you because you're on a podcast.
Oh, I would imagine a lot of people hate me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, but I would never think about it, to be perfectly honest with you.
No. You have to get past that.
You have
to just say, okay. Well, that's on them. What what other people think of me is none of my business.
People try to come to me. By the way, I've even come to believe that those people aren't don't have like, they'll come to you and be like, I don't know if you know this, but this person's saying something about you online. I'm like, I don't care. I'm just
like I literally do not care. I'm on the Internet. I don't care. You have to just let it I struggle with that. And even, like, I've made, like, a couple TikToks where it's, like, informational things about diabetes because a lot of my friends do watch them.
But then I'm like, what is so and so from high school thinking about, I don't know, my hair length? You can't care about that. You cannot care about that. The other day, a lot of people are very curious about, like, glucagon. And I'm like, I should probably, like, either share something or repost something that kinda gives an overview of glucagon should she ever need it.
But I'm like, I can't record that because what if my house is not clean enough, You know?
Yeah. I don't
I will have to go to a deserted island.
I don't think about anything like that at all. As and listen. In the end, it I think the podcast is valuable because I am just sitting here like nothing's planned out. I am just talking off the top of my head. And I'm certain that I say something that annoys people every five seconds.
I I don't know how I couldn't possibly otherwise. If you wanted me to sit here and sanitize this to the point where no one would ever have their feelings or no one would ever disagree, then what this would be is not valuable. And it would and yeah. And so then it's just it's gone. I listen.
I I was contacted the other day by a person who I don't know that well, who I think probably thinks I know them better than I do, who I have a really, like, solid feeling about. Like and it's the best way I can explain it to you. Like, I know if they heard this, they'd probably be like, oh gosh. Like, you know, they're they're minimizing how much they know. I really don't know them.
You you know what I mean? But I I'm aware of them. I've had some short interactions with them.
They're a fan. They're a fan.
I I don't know even that. I but what I can tell you is I really genuinely I like this person. And this person comes to me and is like, I don't appreciate what you said. And I'm like, I I don't even know what you're talking about.
K.
Like, I I I really don't even know what you're talking about. Then they're more clear, I'm like, I don't remember that. And I was like I'm like and I I don't and then I then I get to drill down to figure out what it was I said, and then I was like, that's I meant that positively. Like, I don't now I don't even know what to do. I'm confused by this whole thing.
You know? And then I tried to talk to them about it, and then they they they clammed up about it. So they they come to me, like, kind of aggressively, and I'm like, hey. Like, let's talk. I don't I guess I don't know what you're talking about right now.
I have nothing but good feelings about you, so this might really just be a misunderstanding. I'm not sure. And now I can't get them to interact. And I'm like, ugh. I'm like, what do you I I don't know what you want from me.
Like like
You do a good job though of keeping it real. Like, even in the past when you I don't know. I love when you kind of passively talk about someone who is either trying to be an influencer or trying to, like, sell something diabetes related. I love when you call that out because that's gotten out of control.
I don't love the the the selling part. I don't care if you wanna be an like, if you wanna be an influencer, I guess, I don't really I don't care about that. Like, I think it's another way of, like and by the way, what does it matter what I think? But, like, but, like, I think that's just another way of getting information out there. And if someone's gonna come along and offer you an ad for something or something, then god bless you.
Like, I have no trouble with people making money at all. Like, that's the I again, nothing I I think it's fantastic. I I have it I have trouble with the coaching stuff.
Predatory DMs, Forty-Eight Hours In1:12:44
But Yeah. Within forty eight hours of my kid being diagnosed, like, I had posted something about her being diagnosed. I get this inbox from this person who actually seemed like, their profile seemed a little bit organic and the conversation seemed organic. And then the next thing was, okay. You should buy this horse.
I am forty eight hours into a life changing diagnosis Yeah. And you're trying to get me to buy something.
It's predatory.
It is.
Yeah. And
I just thought, what?
Well, I'll tell you what I've been doing. This is pretty recent for me, so there's no way for me to talk about it yet. But I have right now, have 50 people doing like, demoing a thing that I made. So Okay. What I so what I did was is I looked up and I I looked at these like, what are these people selling people?
Right? They're selling them courses, and they're not necessarily medical. They're almost more support like.
Yeah.
And and I'm like and then they're selling them for, like, thousands of dollars. And I'm like, I why don't I just make one of them and just give it away? That's what I was thinking.
And so gonna be real bad at yourself.
I don't care. So I made a 21 here, I'll tell you about it. I made a 21 let me see how I can explain it to you. So it's basically, like, the pro tip practice. Right?
It's, twenty one days plus an extra day, and you just agree to it and then, you know, go to day one. I'll reach you day one. It says most people come into something like this thinking they're catching up. They're not. There's no schedule for understanding type one diabetes.
There's no syllabus you missed. Whatever you know on the day you start is the right amount to start with. Whatever you don't know is what the next three weeks are for. And then it says today's idea, time with type one isn't the same as fluency with type one. There are people who've lived with type one for fifty years and still don't understand basal insulin.
There are people newly diagnosed who are already seeing patterns. Their their care team has missed it. The two often have nothing to do with each other. What separates the fluent from the time served is whether they've ever moved from passively receiving information to actively noticing what's happening. The pro tip series puts it this way, and there's a little quote from the series.
And then it says, today's affirmation, I'm not behind. I'm starting. Then today's notice, notice how you feel when you check your CGM today. Not the number, not the the feeling. Curiosity, is it dread, is it tiredness, nothing.
Just notice it. And then it gives you a link to a small sips episode. It says, if you want to listen to this short episode. And then there's an evening reflection. What did I notice about my relationship to the CGM today?
That's it. And when you mark that complete, it moves you on to day two. And this goes on for
That's so helpful. Yeah.
Yeah. And it's and then then day two is name what you've been carrying, and it goes on from there. And so I have 50 people right now. God bless these people. Very nice.
They're demoing it. 50 people with type one diabetes who are demoing it right now. They're going through the twenty one days. They're gonna give me their feedback. I'll make it better for them.
I'll find ways for it to do other stuff, and then I'm gonna move on, and I'll do an onboarding that'll that'll lean more on the bold beginning series. And I'll make a bunch of different things that people are selling you for thousands of dollars, and you can just have them. And that's it.
Wow.
Yeah. So it it just I don't know. Like, again, if you if you have a coaching thing and you're making money on it, like, that's great. But when I start I don't know. Like, I I interviewed somebody recently who was like, I paid $3,000 for a course.
And I was like, did it help you? And they went, not really. I was like
Absolutely not.
I was like, oh, god. Like and, you know, then why'd you do it? Well, I was lost. I was stuck and blah blah blah. Or I'm like and, you know, I don't know.
And listen. Everyone's not running around paying thousands of dollars for courses, and I'm sure that people are doing it or most of the people can afford to do it. And I don't and I I genuinely don't have a problem with somebody making a dollar. Like, I make money. You know?
I I I sell ads, But I I don't know. Like, it feels wrong to me to, like, charge somebody money to teach them what a pre bolus is. Or For sure.
And, yes, that's happening.
Yeah. And it just I mean I mean, okay. Like but but even that aside, that I even understand. Like, you're forty eight hours out of being diagnosed and someone's creeping in your DMs and be like, hey. I know everything.
Blah blah blah. I'm so sorry for you. Oh, hey. Buy this. Are you fucking kidding me?
Like
That's exactly what happened, and I was pissed. Yeah. And then, like, the next day is literally somebody in my inbox who was like, have you paid attention to her gut? I guarantee this has started in her gut. And I'm like, dog, I'm literally just trying to keep this kid alive.
I'm just
gonna sleep right now. Yeah. Your gut biome's off. This is happening. That's happening.
You know, we have these these pills that'll take care of the everyone is just like, listen. I'm gonna give you some advice that I've been giving my wife for thirty years. I said that's our money. Everyone's trying to get it. It's your job to defend your defend it.
You defend our money, like, because somebody's coming for it. And Yeah. That's just what's gonna happen. The Internet is it's way fuller of people trying to take a dollar out of your pocket than it is trying to help you out for for nothing. And listen.
Again, I was able to figure out how to do this. Okay? And fair enough, maybe everybody can't figure out how to do it so that it's free for the people listening. But, you know, I don't know. I figured it out.
Like, you could probably make a living without, like, reaching your hand in people's pockets. Like, try to,
like Without conning people.
Yeah. Yeah. At the very least, just offer them something legitimate, and they can make a decision about But don't come to them when they're crying in a in a hospital.
Yeah. It's no. That's exact and that's exactly what it was.
I didn't even know that was happening. That's terrible.
It it was it was I was so upset about it. Yeah. And I know you have mixed feelings on this next topic, but we're in the process of a service dog right now. And I don't know how much you know about that, Scott, but that is a wild and crazy and interesting market. Let's put it that way.
Listen.
I We can leave it at that.
I assume it's another opportunity for decent people to do a decent job and shitty people to rip you off. Like, it
That's exactly right.
Yeah. And and also, I mean, from I'm not gonna tell you what to do. I don't think you need a service dog. Like but if you want one, then go get one. I mean
I know it's I know it's it's got its goods and its bads and, you know, you have to you have to I will say this much. If you are, like, a newly diagnosed parent, do not jump two feet into it. Like, it's kinda like what she was saying in the the Boggs family when they were on a couple weeks ago. You know, do your do your research. Like, this is not a dog who is going to solve every single one of your problems.
Like, that is not the case.
Well, did you hear what she said at the end of that about the dog?
I think I remember her kinda being like, I don't know that I would've done this.
Yeah. That's my recollection that she was like, I don't know that we needed a service dog. So somebody definitely go listen to be sure, but that's how I remember.
Yeah. We've really we've really we've really put a lot of thought into it. And, you know, I'll say this much. We had a really generous person who is funding it. And I think it'll be great for her.
I think it'll be great in situations like, hey. You wanna go jump on the trampoline or you wanna, you know, go in the backyard by yourself?
I'm sure it will great.
Yeah. It's gonna be, you know, an extra line of defense at night for her when she's like, she's still sleeping in our room at night, and that's we're we're getting to our limit on that.
The Service Dog Question1:19:56
Really? Why is she sleeping in your room?
Her room is upstairs. Ours is downstairs. And, you know, it started out as, okay. We gotta wake up and do the finger sticks before we were on the CGM. And now I think it's just I think it's an extra peace of mind for me.
If we're going up and down the steps is annoying. But I I think we're getting to the point where I'm like, I want her back in her room. I think she's getting to that point. And maybe it'll make me feel a little better when we have this dog just you know, maybe it can work the night shift, and I don't think it's gonna catch every alert. It doesn't have opposable thumbs.
Like, it can't go get a juice box.
Maybe you should be talking to a therapist.
Right. Yes. I think that's lot of it. I think a lot of it is just being anxious about her at nighttime.
Yeah. Have you tried weed? They say that helps.
You know, the way being a teacher set up
Oh, then you're not allowed to smoke weed in South Carolina?
I don't even know. I think I think we actually have way more lapse laws here than other places do.
Mhmm.
But I I mean, for me personally By
the way, I'm not suggesting it. I'm just asking what you've done. Yeah. Yeah.
So yeah. I mean, I I think I think at the end of the day, it's know, you we just need another lot of defense for us just for me to feel a little bit better at nighttime. But this is still, you know, a pet that has to go everywhere with us. So it's gonna be a whole a whole lifestyle shift, but even that people ask stupid questions about and make stupid assumptions about. Mhmm.
You know, like, they just like I said, they think it can go, like, open their refrigerator and get a juice box. I'm like, it doesn't have opposable thumbs.
Listen. If you're looking for everybody not to be stupid, I think you're gonna you're gonna get let down there. But, listen. For me, I wouldn't want it. Like, I just I I I would think of it differently.
Like, I I hear all the positives you're saying. What I think is, can you imagine having to take a dog to the airport with you to the grocery store?
Think that will not be I think that will probably not be what our life looks like that this dog will go everywhere, which for some reason really offends people. Like, if you say, we're getting this service dog, but it's not gonna go every single place we go, they're like, what?
Yeah. Listen.
The animal will stay at home some? I'm like, I have three kids.
We're gonna make a list of things that people are offended by and will be done by the time I'm 350 years old. So be offended by whatever you want. It it doesn't matter. I'm gonna tell you that if she doesn't want people looking at her pump when she's at a pool party, I wonder how good she's gonna be with the dog with the vest on laying next to her.
Yeah. And we definitely had some discussions about that because I'm I'm curious to see we've talked a lot about that. She's a huge animal lover. So, again, if this comes to us and this is a very glorified pet, I wouldn't be shocked. I think she'd be okay with that.
Huge dog lover. But, yeah, I think I think you have to think about all those things and people don't. They just think, oh, I'm gonna get this dog and it's gonna solve all these problems or kind of like what Shannon was saying, like, they're like a less of a type one parent if they don't. No. Like, that's not the case.
And and that's kind of everything with diabetes tech and, you know, dogs and everything diabetes related. Do you feel like you I guess that's parenting in general. You have to go get all these things and do all these things or you're less of a parent or less of a caregiver? No. At the end of the day, you do the best that you can as a parent.
You you know, I don't I can't wrap my head around feeling that way. I really I'm I'm listening to you and I I I commiserate that you that you feel that way or that other people have, but I I don't understand, like, why you care what anybody else thinks.
Yeah. No. I mean, you're exactly right. You're exactly right. I've had conversations with other parents who who have children with type one diabetes, and sometimes it does feel like a little bit of a comparison game.
And I'm like, look. Everybody's just doing their best. You know, this is enough.
I'm unaware if like, I'm sure people are doing that constantly. I am completely unaware of it. And and I Scott. Well, I'm is that what it is? It's because I'm a guy?
That's probably part of it. I think I think moms, you know, they they have those comparisons.
I'd be like, fuck you. Trust
and believe that's what I'm thinking in my mind a lot of days.
I just wouldn't think about it after that. I'm I'm busy. I got stuff I wanna do.
Yeah. No. You're exactly right.
I can't imagine letting someone else make you feel a certain way. I already
just have to be like, I'm doing the best I can.
And my brain's already doing it to me. I don't need it done for me by somebody else.
My husband says the exact same thing. He's just for lack of better words, you know, he's like, screw them. Like, they we're doing what's right for our family, and that's what you have to do at the end of day. Diabetes has limited some perspective to that too. At the end of the day, nobody has to walk in your shoes.
Nobody has to be in your family situation, so you gotta do what's best for you.
Yeah. I boy, I have such a hard time wrapping my head around that. I don't even know how to properly think about it because it sounds insane to me that you're concerned with it.
Yeah. I mean And
I don't mean let me be clear. I don't mean you're insane. I mean that I I can't I can't grasp the idea of of of letting someone else's ideas, thoughts, things I imagine they might be saying impact my decisions. I couldn't possibly care less.
Yeah. This has definitely been one of the best things for me just to
Good.
You know, say it is what it is. It like, again, nobody else has to wake up with her when her blood sugar's low. Nobody else has to, you know, do all the things that come along with diabetes. Nobody else has to have the two mullets sitting right there.
Listen. Even down to, like, if you think of service dog's a good idea, you shouldn't, for a half a second, think about what I think about it.
That's right.
Yeah. That's meaningless. No.
No. No. No. I tore I you're exactly right. You know?
No. Your lifestyles all look so different. And that's a lot of diabetes too. If people think that their management style has to look like other people's, I want you to do what's best. I want you to care about your a one c, but I don't like, you don't really have to care about what other people are doing.
I know.
You know? Because lifestyle is different.
You Don't Have to Do It My Way1:25:44
Yeah. The first time somebody said to me on the podcast, they were like, I'm so sorry. Like, I tried so hard to follow all the things you were saying. I was like, you were trying to follow all the things I was saying? I was like, that that didn't even occur to me.
I was like, you're not wait. What? I was like, you thought I was laying out a a, like, a a list of rules? Was like, this is the stuff that I find that works for me, or it's been valuable.
Helpful. It's still helpful.
Listen. What, you don't have to be nice to meet you. Obviously, I've done an amazing thing for the world, but that's not the point. Like like but my point is is that, like, if you hear me say 10 things and five of them are valuable to you, then awesome. Like, you don't have to go find a way to shoehorn the other five in.
Like, this go make your own thing or or, you know, like, make your own stew out of, like, the carrots and the potatoes that I left you. Like, you know, like, you don't have to, like, anyway, my point is that I it never occurred to me that somebody would be like, oh, I have to mimic this exactly. Like, I really don't
social think media is a huge part of that too.
You think so? How how? What does that do?
I think, you know, it's like it's like with anything with social media. You see, oh, well, the person's handling it a b c way. And you're like, well, I I should probably be doing that because that looks really good. Everything looks good. You don't show the bad things on social media.
Right? Like, everyone's life looks great and fantastic. So if them handling their diabetes this way looks really good, I probably should be doing that.
See, think that's so
That's not the whole picture.
I think that's a lack of self confidence.
Probably.
Like, I think when you look at somebody else doing something and you think, oh, they must know what they're doing. They're taking the time to show it to me, first of all. And secondly, they don't appear to have died at the end of it. Like, then then you think, well, they must know and I don't know. I'm telling you, like, I've said this enough, but, like, if I could just take a little bit of my healthy narcissism and give it to all of you, I think you'd be better off.
Because my
expect Sometimes I do feel that I get secondhand narcissism from you. I think I know more because I'm like, I listen to the podcast.
I'm glad, by the way, because because, like, you don't I mean, listen. You you said it earlier. Right? Like, they they go to give you the kid afterwards. Like, I can't take care of this kid.
Like like, I but look at you. You're doing it. Right? I had the same feeling when, you know, when Cole was born, and and the nurse, like, brought him back in and left the room. Was like, where are you going?
You live with us now. You you you know, like like, I can't that kid's gonna be dead in twenty minutes if you leave this room. And turns out it's not. Turns out he's 26, and he's really awesome. He has a great job, and he's a good person, and blah blah blah blah blah.
Like, turns out I figured it out. You you you know? And and the rest of you can figure it out too. And you don't have to do it the way I do it. You don't have to do it the way somebody else does it.
Do it the way you think to do it. And just it's not hard. Like, put other people before you. Make make make reasonable decisions. Plan for the future a little bit.
You know, that it it that's it. Like, it's not that hard. And then and just be just be a reasonable person. I would try not coming home and getting loaded every day. That's a probably a great Yeah.
You know
what mean? That helps.
Yeah. Don't do coke in the bathroom at your at your retail job. Okay? Like, I know the Target sucks, but a rail's not the answer. Okay?
And, like, like, little stuff little stuff I I know what you're all doing out there. I'm I'm aware of what what's going on in the world. Okay. Like so, like, that's just just I don't know. Get up with a reasonable, like, sense of purpose in the morning.
Do your freaking best. Get some decent sleep, have some protein, do a sit up. It's you're fine. Like like, it'll be it'll be your version of perfect.
Yeah.
Yeah. You know? And if and if I don't like it or somebody else doesn't like it or you even perceive that I don't like it in the case of my story from earlier when I actually don't have a freaking opinion about it at all, like like, just who cares? Yeah. Not me.
For sure. You're the only one who has to put your shoes on and
yeah, do I'm okay with what I'm doing. So you know? And it and I've proven it out in the world. Like, I think generally speaking, most people would agree that I'm I'm a I'm a net positive.
And Absolutely.
Yeah. I'm not I'm not perfect about everything, certainly. But, you know, you you do more good than bad, then that's it. Look at you. You pushed everything forward a little bit.
And you can do that in
your That's that's so true. Yeah. And that's that's life in general, you know, being and that's really what, like, our our philosophy for our kids is. We're like, oh, yeah. I don't care if they don't do anything else.
I hope they're not a holes. At the end of the day, that's the only thing that they are. We've done our job. We did a great job. Right.
You know? We want them to know want them to know Christ first and foremost. That is the most important thing to us. Our job is to get them into heaven and not Harvard. But I hope that they are good people.
That is my hope.
I think you could probably do both, but I hear what you're saying. And I don't know how great Harvard is, but, like, you know We
are in South Carolina, they have mullets.
Well, it doesn't mean anything. They I'll let you
know how it pans out.
Are they smart boys?
They're very they're both super smart boys. Our fourth grader go our third grader goes ahead of grade for math. He's so smart. Our middle schoolers at a an academically rigorous middle school, they're they're both incredibly smart. They got it all from their dad because, you know, he can mix up the things.
Stop it. Stop it. He can mix up the things. He didn't know not to lead when I lost a 100 pounds when he was hitting on you. I I see you were like, oh, look at it.
He puts his mind to things. I'd be like, what is going on right now? This guy has no game whatsoever. It's ridiculous. Like, do you
think He had on that blessed heart. He had on a he had on, like, a plain polo and jeans because he thought he was gonna impress his drill instructors. I don't I don't okay. Whatever you do, guy. Whatever you gotta
do. I don't know why you let him near you. But okay. So well, listen. You were fantastic.
Wrapping Up1:31:19
I really do appreciate you doing. Is there anything we missed or left out? I think you might have a two parter. We might have gone so long.
I can totally do a two parter. My husband was really jealous, and he was like, I want to go on and talk about my childhood trauma with type one diabetes.
Oh, tell him to come on. I'd love to do that. I have by the way, I have other military spouses who have had who have their own episodes.
Sweet. I'll have to listen to those.
Yeah. Tell him to tell him to do that. I'd love I'd listen. You trash Jim. Let him come on and trash you.
And he will. He'll be like, she's so anxious. He took her to the lake last weekend without me, and he was like, everything went so much better without you there.
He was You know what's know what's making well, listen. Take I mean, is there any truth in that?
There's a 100% truth to that. Like, I'm so I'm so type a and so controlling. But, like, literally, it was, like, my best friend, my sister, and him. They were all at the lake, and I was at a baseball game with our other son. And they all said, she had a great day because you weren't there.
Her sight got ripped off and blood everywhere, and we were all cool, and we changed it, and it was fine without you.
Look. I'm gonna tell you right now, I think that me being a stay at home dad is having been a am I still a stay at home dad? I guess I'm not now.
You're a working boy.
I yeah. I me having been a stay at home dad for so long, I do think was valuable because Yeah. Just honestly, my general nature and and the boy thing where you're just sort of like, hey. They'll probably be okay. Like, let's hold off this yeah.
Let's hold off.
You know, he's so smart. He understands the science of type one diabetes, but he is so laid back. He's like, she's fine. Yeah. You need to chill out.
No. No. We had this I mean, you probably if you've listened, you know, like, my son played baseball from the time he was three.
Oh, I love listening to those.
Yeah. Three to, like like, till his last, you know, his last game in college for four years. And, there's times when they were little. Like, I remember this one mom, like, the kid got he got hurt, and she jumps up. And we all just put our hand out and, like, sat her back down.
And we were like, listen. Just give him a second. Like, let's see if he can get back.
Being that mom.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Or I have it to my wife one day, and my wife's like, oh my god. I'm like, sit down.
I'm like, if he's dead, he's dead. There's nothing we can do about it. And I was like That's right. But if he's not dead, his mom running out on that field is not gonna be a positive thing for
him. You are going to mortify him. I don't I don't run on the field anymore. Like, I'm like, they're fine. Like, I'm like, where the pitch, you know, all of that, I'm good with.
But her, I'm like, this is it. Today's the last day on earth?
It's probably not, though. You know, there's a I mean, listen. Here, may I make sense to you? Your father-in-law is still here.
He is still here. He is still here, and you're exactly right. He's a very successful professional. I'll I'll give give you you that that much. Much.
Like, Like, he he has has a a great great job. Job.
Well, I'm just saying he's not nearly as covered as she is. He's got a she's wearing a CGM. She's got an she's got a pump on that's trying to stop her from getting low. You know? And he's and he didn't have any of those things, and he's okay.
I mean, point is that she's probably fine.
You're exactly right. Now everyone listens to the podcast is gonna be like, see, we've been telling
you. Mhmm. Well
They're all gonna be saying it.
Not a way that I've been very no. No. No. He was like, no. No.
You're missing the point. She's gonna die. I gotta do something. Okay? She's not going to.
She's gonna be fine.
The only thing fun and we will I I'm totally fine with a two parter, and my husband would totally come on with me.
Tell him to well, no. No. I mean, yours is so long, Rob will probably turn it into a two part episode.
So you want him to have his own. Okay?
I want him to come back. I don't need you, lording over him while he's trying to share his truth.
You're exactly right. That's exactly what he would say. So I will he'll be thrilled.
I know what he I know I know how the pressure works. I have I've been married. I I and and married. I've been married. I've been married a long I know how it works.
I know when I look across the room, I go, I'm not gonna get to see boobs again for a while. Awesome. That's exactly Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
I don't need that problem. Listen. Should we call this episode Island in the Sun?
Yeah. I I love that song. We love Weezer.
Yeah. Well, I mean
That's great. She will not get the reference because she's so young.
Well, that's her problem. She can grow up.
That's exactly right.
Maybe that's it. Although just Weezie is such a good one, though.
I think either one will be absolutely perfect.
Yeah. It doesn't tie into the Jeffersons at all, but that's fine.
It does not.
What a great TV show. I don't know if anybody saw it.
But never That was before my time.
So Well, they owned a, they owned a dry cleaner, and then it took off, and they, then they got a deluxe apartment in the sky. It was fantastic.
My mom loves it. I couldn't tell you anything about it.
It's a great Sherman Hemsley was hilarious on that show. Anyway, this is neither here nor there. I appreciate you doing this very much. I don't know what we're gonna call it. Rob will probably just pick a title out.
It'll be like, you should have called it this. At one point, you said your your, your husband had major denial or or something like that. And then when you told me what rank he held, I was like, oh, I wish she would have been a major because we could have just called this major denial. Would have been awesome.
No. He was just a corpsman in the navy. So his highest rate was like a h m three is what they call it.
Mhmm. Nice.
So no. Nothing that would tie into that.
You guys are you happy, generally speaking, that you were in the military?
Yeah. I mean, like I said, it was I got out when I was pregnant with her second. It said that my husband used his GI bill and went back to school. He was in the medical profession, but now he's a cybersecurity engineer, used his GI bill. Best thing he could've done.
It's given us a lot of discipline.
Yeah.
You know, some days it's sad because I always was like, oh, I'd love to be in the air force like you, mom. And I'm like, well, as of right now, you can't. So that kinda sucks. But, it was a great experience, I think, where people should do it.
So that GI bill is why he knew to get you the microphone that you have right now and why you sound so good.
He that's exactly right.
Yeah. Finally, military is coming through for my podcast and everything. Alright. I'm actually gonna stop with you, and then I'm gonna ask you to tell me what microphone that is because it's it's you said it's a one ear earpiece.
It's a one ear earpiece. I'm looking at the little
It's awesome.
The charger for it right now, and it's just like a basic Amazon thing.
Sounds terrific. He's Rob, am I Listen. This I'm talking to Rob in the future, but I'm right. Right? She sounds fantastic.
This is funny too because he's about he's been texting this whole time. Do I need to go get her lunch and so on? Do I need to get her lunch and so on?
Say think a little bit. You don't need me for but you know what? This can I Ian, can I give you a a a third party perspective here?
Absolutely.
If he knows what he's doing at the lake and he's texting you asking what to do now, you might have him a little scared.
Okay. And?
Well, don't do that.
No. He's he's the greatest guy
ever ever. Didn't say he wasn't a good guy, but do you have him a little scared? Is he afraid to A little bit. Yeah. Well, don't do that.
That's a
little That's my that's my marriage advice for everybody. Okay. When we get when we get
watching his truck back out of the driveway right
now? When we get scared, we shut down a little bit.
No. We've we've worked on feelings. We've we've worked on talking
about scared of you. You know that. Right?
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. We've we you know, that you know, that's another good thing about diabetes.
We handle diabetes differently. So there are some days where we have to be like, look, this is not how I do it. I know you do it this way, but this is not how I do it. Yeah. There was one day where we went to Jersey Mike's and she really wanted like, she can never go anywhere and do all these cool drink machines
Mhmm.
Because a lot of them don't have diet sodas, but this one did. It had a bunch of different diet sodas, and he would not let her take it with her when we left. And she was so distraught. Like, it broke her heart. And when we got home, I was so mad about it.
Like, I was so angry. And I said, you realize she can't just go get all these cool fun drinks wherever because sometimes they don't have diet options. And he was like, I never saw it that way.
Yeah. Also, I don't know what happens when you get below North Carolina. It's Like, okay to have diet soda. I mean, what's wrong with you people? Like, it's Okay.
Yeah. I know. Well, like, it's a it's a whole huge thing here. And, our family has a TTC, the tendency to chunk, so we have to be like like, our boys will, like they think diet soda is terrible.
Well, listen. I don't know if diet soda is good or bad, but I'm telling you that, like, there's a lot of sugar in soda. And, you know so much. And there there's literally a line when you're driving south where diet soda just disappears.
Yeah.
Yeah. I mean
A 100%.
I don't know. Listen. I it's not I can't fix the whole world. Alright. Let's get off so you can tell me what this microphone is, and then I'm gonna go actually, you know, I'm gonna go help my daughter's, very good friend buy her first car.
That's what I'm gonna do right now. Fun. Yeah. Okay. I'm gonna say goodbye.
Okay? So but you don't go anywhere. I'm just gonna hit stop.
Okay.
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