#1784 Someone Peed in My Bed
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Britney discusses her son’s T1D diagnosis, the importance of flexible insulin management, and using Trio. Plus, Scott unveils new calculators for baseline insulin settings and the Warsaw method.
Key Takeaways
- Mistaken Identity: Britney recounts the stressful month leading up to her son's Type 1 diagnosis, where his increased urination was initially blamed on the family cat.
- Clinical Perspective vs. Lived Experience: As a former ICU nurse, Britney discusses how hospital training focuses on "do not die" advice, which fell short during her son’s first illness, leading her to seek actionable management tools.
- Prioritizing Flexibility: Britney explains why being willing to try again after a high blood sugar and adjusting insulin aggressively to meet the actual need—rather than sticking to rigid clinical percentage increases—is foundational to their success.
- DIY Looping and A1C Success: Using the Trio DIY looping system, Britney’s son Henry has achieved an A1C range of 5.6 to 5.9, demonstrating the power of automated insulin delivery when combined with correct settings.
- Vibe Coding and Calculators: Scott previews a weight-based settings calculator designed to provide a realistic mathematical starting point for basal rates, carb ratios, and correction factors.
Resources Mentioned
- • Omnipod 5: Request a Free Starter Kit
- • Dexcom G7: Start Your CGM Journey
- • Cozy Earth: Use Code JUICEBOX for 20% Off
- • Juice Cruise 2026: View Workshops and Staterooms
- • Bold Beginnings & Small Sips Series: Foundation for Type 1 management.
Welcome back, friends. You are listening to the Juice Box podcast.
BritneyHi. My name is Britney. I am the mom of an eight year old who has type one diabetes.
Scott BennerHow would you like to share a type one diabetes getaway like no other? Join me on Juice Cruise twenty twenty six. It's a week long cruise designed specifically for people and families living with type one diabetes. It's not just a vacation. It's a chance to relax, connect, and feel understood in a way that is hard to find elsewhere. We're gonna sail out of Miami, and the cruise includes stops in CocoCay, San Juan, Saint Kitts, Nevis aboard the stunning Celebrity Beyond. This ship is chosen for its comfort, accessibility, and exceptional amenities. You're gonna enjoy a welcoming environment surrounded by others who get life with type one diabetes. I'm gonna host diabetes focused conversations and meetups on the days at sea.
Scott BennerThere's thoughtfully designed spaces, incredible dining, and modern amenities all throughout the celebrity beyond. Your kids can be supervised and there's teen programs so everyone gets time to recharge. Not just the the kids going on vacation, but maybe you get to kickback a little bit too. There's gonna be zero judgment, real connections, a whole lot of sun and fun on Juice Cruise twenty twenty six. Please come with me. You're going to have a terrific time. You can learn more or set up your deposit at juiceboxpodcast.com/juicecruise. Get ahold of Suzanne at cruise planners. She will take care of everything. Links in the show notes. Links at juiceboxpodcast.com. 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. The episode you're about to enjoy was brought to you by Dexcom, the Dexcom g seven, the same CGM that my daughter wears. You can learn more and get started today at my link, dexcom.com/juicebox.
Scott BennerToday's episode is also sponsored by Cozy Earth. You can use my offer code juice box at checkout to save 20% off of your entire order at cozyearth.com. Everything from the joggers that I'm actually wearing right now to the sheets I sleep on, the towels I use to dry myself with, and whatever else is available at cozyearth.com. Just use the offer code juice box at checkout. The podcast is also sponsored today by the Omnipod five. And at my link, omnipod.com/juicebox, you can get yourself a free what'd I just say? A free Omnipod five starter kit. Free? Get out of here. Go click on that link. Omnipod.com/juicebox. Check it out. Terms and conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox. Links in the show notes. Links at juiceboxpodcast.com.
The "Cat Crime Scene" and Diagnosis Story
BritneyHi. My name is Britney. I am the mom of an eight year old who has type one diabetes.
Scott BennerGood morning, Britney. How are you?
BritneyI'm doing well. How are you?
Scott BennerYou know, honestly, fantastic. Yeah. You know? Seriously. I don't know how it gets better to be perfectly honest with you.
BritneyWell, you don't have COVID.
Scott BennerSo I shook the COVID in, thirty six hours. Like, it was nothing. Couldn't stick to me. Maybe made my nose a little drippy. That was pretty well. That's not true. I had a I got a little woozy there once, but I was okay. Little yeah. Head pressure. You know what I'm talking about. Yeah. But I got through it pretty fast. What I was talking about more is it's the holidays. I had a nice holiday season. The family was around. I got a nice year coming up, planned. Hopefully, things go pretty well. I've buttoned up a lot of things with my health, so I'm feeling in tip top shape. And I, I make a podcast, so my life is not what I would call taxing by standard, standard measurements. So, yeah, I'm doing okay.
BritneyYeah. That's great.
Scott BennerTook me a long time to get in this position. For all of you who are like, you know, I work hard. I wanna tell you about the time, in my life for four years when I got up at 05:00 in the morning to drive to my job in a sheet metal shop where I made $4.50 an hour and had to ride a motorcycle because I couldn't afford car insurance, and that was even in the winter. So I put my time in. Alright? Now Scott's gonna put his feet up and make this podcast. Everyone else calm down. Stop complaining—I'm already imagining people complaining to me. Britney, why why you wanna come on a podcast and make the chitchat? What's going on?
BritneyI really love the podcast, and I would say it's probably the most helpful thing that I've encountered since my son's diagnosis. And not that I have anything groundbreaking to say, I don't think, but I really love listening to everyone else's stories, and maybe someone will like listening to mine is what I'm hopeful for.
Scott BennerBrittany, that's awesome. Also, I don't know that you won't say something groundbreaking, and don't tell them that upfront. They might switch off to another one. You know what I mean?
BritneyYeah. I have some really big news. How about we'll go with that?
Scott BennerYeah. Britney has the secret to what? Painless periods. Right, Britney?
BritneyYeah. Yeah. I do. I don't have painful periods, so that's great.
Scott BennerAnd we're gonna talk about that right after the ads. So how old was it? Was it your daughter? I'm sorry. My son.
BritneySo my son yep. He's eight year olds now, and he was diagnosed when he was seven and a half, so November 2024. Very fresh. Just over a year ago, and it's been kind of a wild ride.
Scott BennerOther kids?
BritneyI have an older son who is 11.
Scott BennerIs there a boy you're allowed to live in the house with you?
BritneyYes. I'm married and have been for, I I don't know, like, years, I think.
Scott BennerI don't know, like, thirteen years, I think.
BritneyI think. I I don't know. It's 2013, so I guess we're coming up on thirteen years.
Scott BennerYou think he hears that and he thinks, awesome. That's awesome.
BritneyHe has no idea—absolutely not.
Scott BennerWhich one of the boys did you get? Did you get the, the sweet ones with the facial hair? Did you get the one that can throw a ball real far and make money? Did you get the one who's dirty all the time, but somehow, like, gets everything accomplished? Which one did you get?
BritneyI think the third. He's, like, dirty all the time. He get he gets things done. He's very tall, so that's kinda great.
Scott BennerIs that what got you, the tall?
BritneyI think so.
Scott BennerDo you ever look back and think, I had so many more, like, feelings about my my intellect, what I what I what would get me. And you're like, you one day, you just look up and go, boy, that boy's tall. Yeah. Yeah.
BritneyThat's what I was going for. So—
Scott BennerI looked at Kelly, and I was like, her hip to waist ratio is awesome. Let's go. Oh, since then, I've learned other stuff about her that I like. I just—
BritneyYeah. I've learned other things about my husband that I like too, so that's great.
Scott BennerIs one of them that he makes babies with diabetes?
BritneyYeah. Turns out he has a lot of autoimmune in his family, and I didn't really think much of that until recently.
Scott BennerYou didn't bring that up on the first date, I bet.
BritneyNo. No. Definitely not.
Scott BennerCan I make a guess? Let me just guess. Okay. I propose nothing. Let's think. Well, his mom definitely has Hashimoto's.
BritneyI don't I don't think so.
Scott BennerWell lupus?
BritneyYou know, she had something with her thyroid, but I don't know if it was Hashimoto's.
Scott BennerOh, so I got thyroid. You how can you take that point for me? That was crazy, Britney.
BritneyOkay. Fine. You can have that.
Scott BennerAlright. Alright. Let's see. We have a cousin once removed with celiac, maybe type one, and a lot of people are anxious.
BritneyThere is no type one, but there are a few cousins with celiac, a cousin with MS, and then his dad, before he passed away, was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis.
Scott BennerWhat now?
BritneyMyasthenia gravis. I I don't really know what it is.
Scott BennerThat makes two of us.
BritneyBut I I know it's autoimmune.
Scott BennerAlright. Well, we'll try to figure that out. Nobody's anxious? Bit of anxiety all over the place?
BritneyI mean, yes. But, like, nothing diagnosed that I'm aware of. But I don't know if everyone's going around letting everyone know they're diagnosed with anxiety.
Scott BennerYeah. I mean but you can see it at Christmas is what you're saying. They used to call it type a.
BritneyYeah. Mhmm.
Scott BennerMG is a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease that causes muscle weakness that worsens with activity and improves with rest. So that doesn't set you up for a fun life. What's actually going wrong? Your immune system makes antibodies that interfere with communication between nerves and muscles, specifically at the neuromuscular junction. The signal gets weaker, so muscles tire out quickly. Common symptoms would be drooping eyelids, double vision, slurred or nasal speech, trouble chewing or swallowing, weakness in arms, legs, neck, fatigue that gets worse as the day goes on. Jeez. What makes it—Yeah. Better or worse? Exertion, illness, stress, heat, certain medications make it worse, better rest, sleep, proper treatment.
BritneyRight.
Scott BennerHow old was he when he passed?
BritneyLike, 75, I think. And I think he was diagnosed at 74. So it wasn't a long run with it, or maybe it was he had it going on and it wasn't diagnosed till later. I don't really know.
Scott BennerYeah. Do you have any idea if it impacted his life?
BritneyYes. Yeah. I don't know exactly how. We weren't super close with his dad, but—
Scott BennerHow could you be the guy who was resting?
BritneyYes. He was resting a lot.
Scott BennerOkay. So that's all happening. Now you make these babies. Everything's going along pretty well for a while. But then what happens? How do you notice the situation, and what steps do you take afterwards?
BritneyI guess we started noticing things a month prior to his diagnosis. The first thing was my husband wanted to get rid of our cat because he thought that the cat was peeing on the floor in my son's room. And it was happening a few times throughout a couple different weeks, and we finally came to realize that although he still wanted to get rid of the cat, it wasn't the cat's fault, and my son was waking up in the middle of the night thinking he was going to the bathroom and peeing on the new carpet in his room.
Scott BennerHere's the question. How big is the cat?
BritneyI mean, he was pretty big. He's since passed away too. But—
Scott BennerOh, are we making air quotes around passed away? Because it sounds like your husband wanted to get rid of this cat.
BritneyI mean, he really did pass away. It was unfortunate, but the cat was pretty big, and it wasn't always a ton of pee that was on the floor. Oh. But there was enough where, like, I would notice it in the morning and run upstairs with the little green machine and clean it before my husband noticed because I didn't want him to get pissed about the cat. So—
Scott BennerYou're the lawyer for the cat. You're like, we gotta fix this crime scene up so our guy doesn't take the fall here. Yeah. Because who would think that your kid's popping out of bed, whipping it out, and peeing on his rug?
BritneyYeah. Yeah. I mean, we're like, there's no way. And then one night, Henry, my son, came down into our bed, and he's like, somebody peed on my bed while I was sleeping.
Scott BennerMhmm. That's what I just said too.
BritneyOh, I'm like, okay. I think that maybe it's you. So, you this know, is kind of early in the school year. We're like, maybe he's stressed out. You know? I don't know what's going on. We went down to Boston for a Bruins game, and he was drinking tons of water. My husband said, I think maybe he has diabetes. And I said, like, you. He doesn't have diabetes.
BritneyAnd he's like, well, you feed him so many sweets. And I was just really offended. Oh my god. Jesus. Yeah. You guys were all revved up from the game. No. It was ridiculous.
Scott BennerHitting each other into the metaphorical boards talking about the where did the diabetes thing pop into your husband's head from? Because he went from—did he say, I think he has diabetes and we're still getting rid of the cat?
BritneyYeah. I mean, like, we've moved on from the cat at this point. We're like, okay. He's stressed at school or something, and that's why he's peeing on the floor. I don't know. But when he said that he thinks he has diabetes and and kind of, like, said it was because I have a sweet tooth and passed it along to them, I was pretty pissed.
BritneyAnd then I remember being in the car on the ride home from Boston, we stopped, like, eight different times. And so I was using—I was new to ChatGPT, so I started using it, and I'm like, you know, increase urination, increase thirst, but not type one diabetes because I was like, there's no way he has diabetes. So I'm like, oh, he has overactive bladder or a urinary tract infection, but definitely not diabetes. I should know better because I am a nurse, but I didn't know better. Mhmm.
BritneyAnd then we went to the doctor's office because I'm like, okay. We'll, you know, bring him in, and they'll probably give him meds for a UTI. And the first thing they did was add a blood sugar, and the tech didn't say anything. I said, oh, well, what was it? Like, of course, it's gonna be normal. He said, oh, 538. And that's when I knew, like, okay. This is diabetes. Although I still wasn't totally sold on that fact.
BritneyAnd when the doctor came into the room to say that's what it was, I said, well, what's your differential? Clearly cannot be diabetes. And she's like, there is no differential. He has type one diabetes.
Scott BennerWell, you prefer chocolate or sugary sugary candy? Which—like, you like a nerd or a m and m? What's your preference?
BritneyI like both all the time. One hand has the nerds. The other hand has the m and m's. We go back and forth. We really do go back and forth. Like, sometimes I have M and M's with the side of pretzels because I like to eat them, like, sweet and salty. Oh, I see. Yeah. Tell your husband from me that he's lucky that you're such a lovely person because if if my—if I would have said that to my wife, she would have said, I—I wonder how you're gonna enjoy living above a pizza place and sending us half your money for the rest of your life.
BritneyRight. I mean, I was having those feelings. So yeah. Oh my gosh. Well okay. Did he—he didn't rub it in, though. Right?
BritneyNo. Not at all. He wasn't in the doctor's office, like, looking at you. He just put his finger on his nose and eyeball on you. Right? Like, knew it. No. No. It's definitely not. Does he understand since then that someone's sweet tooth doesn't have anything to do with their type one diagnosis?
BritneyOh, yeah. Without a doubt. Like, I mean, I hammered it home to him and us did the doctors and yeah. I was like, this is nothing. This is not my fault. It's not his fault. It's nobody's fault. Like, maybe it's all the autoimmune on your family's side, but whatever.
Scott BennerWhen you say hammered at home, was it day 87 of no sex where he figured it out or where—where exact—
BritneyYeah. Like, right in the hospital. Like, because we got admitted right to the hospital from there from that doctor's appointment. But, you know, he wasn't in DKA or anything, which was great. So we had, you know, just a quick stay and a lot of somewhat okay education at the time. Mhmm. And then we went home. That's just a handful of months ago.
BritneyYeah. I mean, a year and three months ago, I guess.
Scott BennerReplaced the carpet or no?
BritneyNo. It was brand new. Pragmatic. I like that. You're like, hey. We cleaned it. It's fine. We did. I—I think it—it—I think it is fine.
Scott BennerAlright. I wanna find out about the rest of this. But first, if I don't ask this, it's gonna stick in my head. What killed the cat?
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BritneyOh, god. I don't know. We brought him into the vet because he wasn't really eating or drinking, and he had—it's not constipation. It was called obstipation, I believe. So, like, super impacted some re—for some reason. And they said that we could do, like, a big expensive surgery that's 2,000 to $5,000, but he's probably gonna need it again in the future. And so we said, "what is the cost to put him down?"
Scott BennerOr here's the different question. And for those of you out here who are like, "I would have done this surgery." Britney's got a sofa she's got her eye on. Okay? Like, just decisions had to be made. Okay. Well, I'm so—I'm so sorry about this. That is really terrible, except for your husband who apparently hated the cat anyway. So it doesn't really matter.
BritneyYeah. I mean, he—he—kinda loved him, but whatever. Yeah. Look. So you—you—know, he's diagnosed. This is all happening. He's not in DKA, which is awesome. She's probably not in the hospital too long. Mhmm. But then you said you're a nurse. What kind of nurse are you?
BritneyWell, for the past ten years, I've just dealt with workers' comp, but I've worked from home. So, like a paperwork nurse, I guess. Oh. But prior to that, I was an ICU nurse. Okay. How long? Yeah. Only a few years. Like—like, four years, I guess. You should have said about as long as people tend to be able to take it, Scott. About four years, and then they get the hell out of there. Yeah. Except for the junkies. Right? The, the adrenaline junkies, they stay. Yeah. I don't get that. Yeah. So okay. So—okay. You've got a background. You've got an education and everything. Does that help you in the beginning? You said you got pretty good direction, but how do you figure out that the direction is not everything you need? What's that whole time look like?
BritneyWell, I would say I wasn't really set up for managing type one diabetes. I didn't even know it was autoimmune until we were diagnosed, which maybe that's embarrassing to say because I'm a nurse, but that's me being honest. I did not know type one was autoimmune. My experience with diabetes in the ICU was doing finger sticks, sliding scale insulin. I had a few people on insulin drips, but I didn't have much experience with it at all. Okay.
BritneyYeah. So, you know, going home, we have the do not die advice, and it was okay. I mean, we—we—left the hospital without a CGM but got one the next day when we came back for an appointment. Through research or through the the hospital suggesting it?
BritneyThrough the hospital suggesting it. So I guess it helped that I was a nurse, they were like, "you know how to do an insulin injection. You know how to do a blood sugar. Go home, and tomorrow, you're coming back for your first appointment with the endocrinologist." And at that appointment, we got the CGM. How did Henry accept what was happening?
BritneyHe was really sad about it. Sorry. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry. No. It's okay. You wanna talk about the dead cat some more? No. No? Okay. Alright. Henry, he was okay with it, but he was like, "okay. So I have to do a few shots and then it's gonna go away." And I think the forever thing was really hard. Yeah. For him or for you?
BritneyFor both of us. Yeah. It's okay. How are you doing? Are—are—you okay? Like, I mean, day to day, or is it still—friends, I just placed my order at cozyearth.com.
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Scott BennerNow, yeah, I'm a bit of a—a—Cozy Earth convert, I guess. I'm sitting here in my joggers. I used my towels coming out of the shower this morning. I slept on my sheets last night. Slept like a baby, by the way. Cozyearth.com. Pretty much have everything you want. Use the offer code juice box to save 20% at checkout on skin care, women's and men's clothing, bath and sleeping accessories. And don't forget, Valentine's Day is coming up quickly. Get those pajamas. Cozyearth.com. Use the offer code juice box at checkout to save 20% off of your entire order.
BritneyYes. I—am. I don't know why I'm crying. I guess sometimes I cry really easily, but yeah. Sorry. Alright. Don't be sorry. I'm good. Don't listen. You shouldn't—you should—Britney, you shouldn't feel sorry about that. It's—I mean, I could tell you any number of a thousand stories and make me start crying right now. Don't worry about it.
BritneyRight. Yeah. I mean, I cry all the time when I listen to the podcast. I like the silly things, happy things. But—yes. Somebody told me once that the tagline for the podcast should be "making women online cry" or "making women cry online." And I was like, I don't think that sounds good. Apparently, it's, one of the byproducts of what I do here. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But it's all. Like, you know, things happen. You hear stuff that's similar to your story or brings up emotions, and you—you—know, it's sad. It just—it really is. Do you think he's as sad as you are right now? If he heard that story, would it make him feel the same way?
BritneyI don't think so. I think in the beginning, yes. Like, he would look at pictures on my phone and be like, "oh, that was before when I didn't have diabetes," and now pictures after that point in time or when I do have diabetes, and he used to get really sad about that. Mhmm. He's, like, fairly accepting of it now. Sometimes it's harder than other times. Like, last week, we had an upper endoscopy to see if we have a celiac diagnosis, and he's pretty stressed out about that now.
Scott BennerOh, the possibility of the diagnosis? Yeah. Which I think is probably pretty likely, but we don't know yet. So we are eating all the gluten for the time being. What is happening that's—that—that made you get the—the—testing?
BritneyWhen he was first diagnosed, they drew the labs to test for that, and it was suggestive of it. And then I put off really doing anything about it because he didn't have symptoms until his annual lab screening. The numbers went down, but still suggestive, so they said we have to do an upper endoscopy. That's what we've done so far. He doesn't have any stomach issues. I guess, occasionally, he does, but not really.
Scott BennerYeah. Well, maybe he has something they call silent celiac. Britney, I don't like that. But—No. I don't either. I don't like it. I don't like any of those. No. Okay. Well, I hope that that testing comes back positively for him in a way that, you know, keeps him from having to not eat bread anymore. Because how's he gonna have a lobster roll when he goes to see the Bruins play? You know what I mean?
BritneyI know. I know. Seriously. But—but then I'm like, if he's—this is probably gonna piss some people off—I'm like, if he has no symptoms, maybe sometimes he will have a lobster roll, but I guess— Oh, I—listen. I've learned my lesson about people with celiac. Yeah. I'm not saying that. That's Britney. Go find her. Yeah. Leave me alone. Yeah. I—
Britneymean, I've done a lot of reading, and it's like, in some countries, if you don't have symptoms, they say it's, like, controversial to say, "do a gluten free diet." So—I—I—don't know. I—I—don't know. I—just—one time suggested that maybe while a man was in the middle of a nervous breakdown about this, he could let his kid have a cupcake at a birthday party until he figures it out, and I got hammered. So I'm not saying that at all. Britney, go get her. Leave me alone. You're—she's in Boston. You can find her. Go. Go.
BritneyYeah. Exactly. No. Listen. I—I—take your point. You're in the middle of this new diagnosis here, you're—you're—trying to figure out, like, "am I hurting something if I do this?" And I'm sure—listen. I'm sure if someone comes back and says to you, "look, you're—whether his belly hurts or not, here's the damage, and here's what happens, you know, in the future if you keep doing this," I imagine you'll take that pretty seriously. I will. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I—hear what you're saying. Again, please do not email me about this. Oh, god. I—such a passionate group of people, which, by the way, good for you guys. I like—you're out there swinging for each other, but don't swing at me. I didn't say—Yeah. How long will it take to get the results?
BritneyI think, like, sometime this week. Oh, gosh. Yeah. I'm just ignoring the—I'm ignoring everything until I get an email or a phone call is how I'm approaching it. Do you think you don't have the bandwidth to get more news?
BritneyNo. I do. He does. I think my husband would really struggle with it, but I also think maybe my husband has celiac as well. So—Oh. Maybe we could all go gluten free together if we have to. Hey. Cut down on the toilet paper, Bill. Yeah. Why not? There's—there's—a positive to look at it that way. Why do you think your husband has it too?
BritneyHe has, like, constant stomach problems after he eats, and I just have a feeling that he probably has a touch of something too. Oh, I see. Go out to the restaurant, gotta run home afterwards? Yeah. Something like that. Mhmm. All you people out there who can hold your poop in, they don't know how lucky they are. They go to the restaurant, then they go to the movie. Yeah. Like fancy people. They just keep moving around the world—They—Right. Not looking for a toilet. Yeah. Well, listen. Maybe because I've seen this with diabetes a lot. Mhmm.
Scott BennerMaybe you go to your husband and say, "look. You know how you're struggling with all this all the time? That's gonna happen to him. Like, we could present, you know, a better—better—example for him, maybe make his life better. Wouldn't you—wouldn't you—like this not to be happening to you anymore?" Oh, yeah. He's on board. He told—he told Henry, like, "if you do have celiac and have to be gluten free, I'll do it with you." There you go. So—That's the spirit. He's a very good dad. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Henry, you ever call him Hank? No. No? Is it a family name?
BritneyNo. It's just like, guess, I like little old men names. So—Do you ever see, Goodfellas? I have not. Don't watch that movie. Okay. Because I think if you do, you're gonna start doing an impression of Joe Pesci saying Henry, and it's gonna ruin your life. Yeah. No. Okay. So I won't watch that. Don't. You'll just run around going, "Hendry. Hendry." And you're just gonna make you—and you—the kid's gonna be like, "what is happening? I got diabetes. Is this not bad enough? Now the lady's losing her mind." And, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No. Seriously, don't do that because every time I hear Henry, that's all I hear is Joe Pesci.
BritneySorry. Okay. I won't watch that. Yeah. Also, maybe stop saying the name. You're freaking me out. Yeah. But oh, my gosh. That's a lot. So he's been sad in the past thinking of himself as—as—before and after. You think that's getting better. What about the other stuff? How is he with the devices, the changes, that kind of thing?
BritneyHe's really great about it. I mean, he hates to take off his Dexcom, but we use, like, a solution that kinda dissolves the adhesive, and it will slide off after a little bit. But he's really good about it. He has the g seven, and then he has Omnipod Dash. Okay. And he does awesome with it. Yeah. Yeah. He—does—does he play any sports?
BritneyHe does. He plays hockey. He plays soccer, lacrosse. He's a really active kid. Wow. That's awesome. And not having any trouble with all that? No. Yeah. The devices are not in the way or noticeable to him, so it works out really well. Mhmm. Do you think he's in any sort of a honeymoon? Or is— He—was—until, I guess, from, like, November 2024 to February 2025. He was definitely honeymooning, and then he had the flu. And then he definitely came out of honeymoon after that is what I believe. Okay.
BritneyYou know, he went from using, like, one point five units a day to six units a day to now, like, upwards of 15 to 20. Mhmm. Are you—i'm looking at your notes here. They're really interesting. But let me say this one thing, then i'm gonna dive into your notes. Okay. I think you should be doing voice over for a living. What is it you're—are you—Me? Yeah. My god. If you feel like a, a reassuring—slightly younger—mother figure in an eighties movie.
BritneyWow. I've never liked my voice ever, so that makes me feel pretty good. Yeah. That's insane. Like, if you told me right now that I should, you know, be nicer to my brother and go clean my room, I feel like I would go do it. Be nicer to your brother and go clean your room. I'm already so nice to them, though. Yeah. Okay. Well, be nicer. And my room does need a cleaning. How did you know? Yeah. Seriously, you have, like, such a lovely voice. You don't know that?
BritneyNo. No. In—in—fact, like, I feel like I'm pretty quiet around people because I don't like my voice so much. Brittany, you're making a huge mistake. Okay. Well, I'm gonna talk more then. Yeah. No. Do you have things to say that you don't say because you don't like your voice? I don't know. I think—I—think—i'm just quiet overall, but that's because something I'm working on in 2026 is making—i—feel like I make myself small a lot, and I'm gonna make myself, like, less small and say what I want and say what I feel. That's awesome. Do you have any idea why that happens?
BritneyNo. I—don't. No. I mean, I have—I—have an inkling, and I—I—think like, it's nothing against my husband by any means, but he's ten years older than me. So, like, when we started dating, everyone was—you—know, his friends that I would interact with were all older, and I always felt like I can't say things when I'm 22 and they're 32. And— You felt like you didn't have anything to add? Yeah. Like, where I was, like, too young to have, like, an opinion worth hearing. Mhmm. I think so. But now you're 35. Well, now I'm 40. So— 40? My goodness. Yeah. His time's ticking by. And—I—know. Yeah. And you—you—might have to trade him in soon. Right?
BritneyI mean, he talks about trading me in soon. So—He's kidding. He's kidding. He's—Sure—is. He's wonderful. Whatever. Yeah. He's wonderful. Yeah. Oh, wow. That's interesting. I—I—thought you're for sure gonna tell me, like, you had a domineering mom or something like that. No. I—don't know. No. Just—Yeah. Just that weird, like, feeling of, like, "I don't have a lot to add to this situation."
BritneyYeah. And—and, like, coming on the podcast, like, I—I—think I kinda started it with saying I don't have a lot of groundbreaking things, but, like, maybe I do. And I think I do because I think that I've been successful in diabetes because I'm flexible, and I think that's a little bit groundbreaking for people to hear. Maybe? I don't know. No. No. Don't—don't—say "I don't know" at the end. Just say and maybe say just say "I'm flexible, I think that's groundbreaking." Tell me why flexibility around diabetes is not the norm.
BritneyI guess people can see, like, "oh, when we have ice cream, we go to 500, and so ice cream is—is—off the table for my kid." And I'm of the mindset like, "okay, one time we went to 500, so clearly we need to do more insulin and time it better, and we'll try again." And I think that trying again and saying like, "Okay, well my carb ratio is this, but I anticipate this food's going hit a lot harder so I'm going to give a lot more insulin and have a good outcome." And I think that being willing to try different things has—has—helped us be really successful. That's excellent. And are you telling me that the direction you got from medical staff didn't lead to you being flexible or trying again?
BritneyYeah. Well, I would say that it was the February after his diagnosis when he had the flu, and I called the educators and I said, "you know, I feel like this insulin has gone bad. I'm trying a different pen. I'm doing all of these things, and nothing is enough. His blood sugar is staying sky high." And the feedback I got was like, "Okay, we can increase by 10% every week." And if I had listened to that, he would have been in DKA, I feel like. Like, he had an—an—a significantly increased need, and I decided to not listen to them and just meet the need. And I think—I mean, I got that from the podcast. Like, I just have to meet the need of what his blood sugar is telling me he needs for insulin. I'm glad it helped you. 10%, how much—like, what was his total daily insulin during that time? Like—like, one point eight units—a—day—or something crazy—like—by, like, point one eight and see if this doesn't tackle it.
BritneyYeah. Like, that was—that was—insane to me. And I—and—I think during that conversation, I was just, like, kinda smiling and nodding. "Like, okay. Okay. That sounds good." And then I'm like—"I'm—I'm—gon hit him with a unit right now, and i'll catch it when it starts to drop." And—Yeah. That's basically what we did. And I'm like—"okay. I'll kind of listen to what their guidance is, but I'm not gonna call them for what I need. I can figure this out." That quickly. You took one piece of advice from them that didn't make sense to you, and you—you—trusted your sophomore.
BritneyI did. And I think, like, one of my big skills is I'm good at figuring things out. Mhmm. So I'm like—"I can figure this out." And I also had the podcast that I was listening to, you know, Bold Beginnings, all the different series, and I'm listening to them on 1.5 speed. So I'm getting through them really fast, and it just all kinda clicked in my head. Like, they're saying one thing. That's—their—their—guidance is, like, "we have to tell people to move slowly." And I understand, but it wasn't—it—wasn't—what we needed at that time. You need actionable, like, real world advice for—for—your situation, not big picture—not big picture—stuff.
BritneyRight. Right. Like, yeah, like, maybe if we're noticing some highs, but they're not crazy, like, "let's move it up by 10% and see what it looks like." But I'm calling them saying, like, "this isn't working." Yeah. And that's—He's got the flu. And his blood sugar is this high. You should know that he needs more than 10% here. Right. And, like, I—I—went to the Facebook group at that point, and I said, "you know, my son's needs have increased by, like, 300%. Is this normal? What—what—are we doing?" And I had great feedback. Mhmm. It was so helpful. There's always gonna be somebody that just can't wrap their brain around moving drastically off of whatever the norm is. It just—I—think it shocks people. It scares them. I—I—saw a person the other day. She said, "can we please normalize?" By the way, if you start a store—if you start a sentence with, "can we please normalize?" I stopped listening to you. But—but—that—it's—okay. You keep using your Instagram y catchphrases. Yeah.
Scott BennerCan we please normalize not going to Facebook to ask medical questions? And I was like—you just came to a support group with 80,000 people in it. Right. They're saying that. With each other constantly and going, "you—we—shoudn't be doing this." First of all, you're not, and no one's looking for your opinion. Thanks. That's insane. Yeah. I don't know how you watch so many people helping each other so successfully and then say, "should stop doing this," especially after hearing your story that you just told. Right. Like, why—why—would you not ask people with real world experience, like, lived experience? "Hey. Are you guys having this problem? What should I do here?" Why—why—wouldn't you use that tool? Rules, Britney. Is the way society work? No. No. No. No. No. Stop it. Always follow the rules. Always walk right into the volcano if you have to. That's what I was told.
Scott BennerYeah. Wait. I don't know, but that's—that's—a tough perspective. If—if—you're a person who can't, like, see blatant things in front of you and adjust off of what somebody taught you one day, I actually feel sorry is the wrong word, but I—gosh. I hope you can overcome that because I'm not saying you should just run around ignoring every, you know, trusted source on everything, but you—you—could think about it a little bit. You know? Like, you don't have to just yell, "that's not what we're supposed to do. Everybody put your head down. We're gonna get yelled at." Then again, I don't know how that person grew up. Right. They might have been getting their head screamed off all the time by somebody who told them, "I'm smart and you're stupid and just listen to me." Right. I have no idea. You talked about feeling isolated around the diagnosis. What was that about?
BritneyYeah. I mean, we live in a pretty small town in Vermont, and there's not a lot of other type one diabetics around. We knew of one girl in high school with type one, but that was it. I would see people, like, they're like, "oh, how is everything going?" And I'm like, "oh, you know, it's pretty hard, but we're—we're—getting through it." And then the conversation kinda ends because they don't know what else to ask. Yeah. And I'm not someone who's—give a ton of information that maybe someone's not interested in hearing or isn't equipped to hear. Mhmm. And I also, like, didn't wanna scare people off. I don't want them to be like, "oh, we can't have your son over for a play date because, you know—Yeah—He might die in our care." And so I've really struggled with how much information to give. And I learned pretty quickly that too much information is overwhelming and just enough is what people need, but I also feel like I hadn't found people I could really talk about the successes and the failures with.
BritneyBut I've come to terms with my people are the Facebook group. It's your Facebook group and the Trio Facebook group. Like, those are people that I can bounce ideas off of, share with successes and failures. And in my real life, I guess it's a little bit isolating, but I'm okay with having an online community. Yeah. No. Listen. It doesn't matter where they come from. It really doesn't. Yeah. As long as you find the interaction that you—that—you—need and people who you can—with, you know, some certainty of trust and, you know, you know that they have perspectives that are similar to yours, and hopefully that means they understand what you're going through and don't judge it right away. Also, I don't—you're not—I don't know how you're supposed to trust people who don't have air conditioning. The people of Vermont don't make any sense to me at all. Buy an air conditioner. What is wrong with Vermont?
BritneyI feel like a lot of people have them now. We have them. We have them. I was there one time, and let me tell you something. I know everything about Vermont now, and they didn't have air conditioning. Okay. Well, I do. Are people getting—oh, you have—you—have fancy air conditioning? Look at you. You have chickens in your front yard in a trailer that's been converted into a coop. No. I don't. I don't. I would love to have chickens, but there's bears around, and so we don't. Bears? Yeah. Why don't you leave? That's what I'm saying. I don't know. Vermont's great. Like, I love that my kids can walk around in town and everybody knows them—or—you know? Mhmm. It's great. It's wonderful. The bears won't follow you. They don't do—I don't understand what a bear does. Like—but—
BritneyYeah. I don't know. They eat birdseeds, so we don't put bird feeders out until they're hibernating. There you go. Fair enough. Yeah. Yeah. Rock solid—see, you said you weren't gonna be full of advice. Don't put your bird feeders out till the bears are sleeping. Okay? Yeah. Let's get some—it's really good advice. Big ground breaking advice. Yeah. No. Listen. I bet you that's not a thing a lot of you—I—bet you a lot of people right now go, "I didn't know that." You know? Yeah. That's good. Just here for the big info. I'll be here for the big things. So when you found yourself surrounded by people who didn't understand, the isolated feeling came from not wanting to say too much to somebody who wouldn't understand for fear that it—there'd be some sort of retribution, not—I—mean, maybe the wrong word, but, like, impacts on your son that you didn't want.
BritneyYeah. It was mostly that and, like, maybe a little bit of disappointment from people that I thought would show up, like, people that I thought would be like—"oh. Let's go to this diabetes walk." And I'm like—"okay." But they—they—weren't there. They're not—nobody has said that to me yet. And I'm like—"why—why—haven't you said it yet? Like, why haven't you, like, asked me more about what's going on?" How can I help? They say to you, like, "how can I help? Is there something I could understand?" You're talking parents even, extended family? Yeah. Yeah. So I guess I wanted some more from some people. Like, I just want another parent to have fruit snacks on them. Like, that would make my day if somebody I know is like, "oh, is Henry low? I have fruit snacks." Like, I'm just waiting for somebody to have fruit snacks.
Scott BennerDo you do that for other people in your life? I'm—i'm—always showing up for people in big ways. And maybe when I don't get that in return, it—not that I'm transactional in that way, but, like, sometimes I'm just like, "when does somebody show up in a big way for me?" I feel like I'm whining a lot, and I don't mean to be. I—well, with your terrific voice, it doesn't sound like whining, so you're fine. I guess what I'm asking is—is, like, you know, if that's how you are for other people, then there's an expectation that other people—I—I—think we all do that a little bit. Like, we—we—project how we are onto everyone else. Right? Right. But the truth is these people weren't doing that around anything else. But this thing seems so big that you thought, like, "this will get them off their"—Yeah. Yeah. But it—it—just hasn't.
BritneyIt just hasn't. And so that's where I've, like, come back around being like, "okay. The people online in the Facebook group, they can be my people, and I can be happy with that." And I do have one friend who I've never met who I text with a lot who is like a friend of a friend, and she has a 15 year old, and she's been really great to, like, bounce ideas off of and text with here and there. Mhmm. So I do have that person. That's awesome. Yeah. It really is. And you don't—I—I—mean, this is my perspective, but I don't think you need the regular walking around people in your life to understand it that much. Like, if you found some—because I think that fills the need for you. Like, someone understands. So you can't expect everyone to understand.
BritneyYou—it's so true. So true. What—what—do people who think the world's a simulation call the other people—non player characters? Is that right? You don't know this? I get you. You're out there. You're out in the woods. You know what? You're lucky you have the Internet. Does your—still, like, go boop boop boop when it turns on? Or—No. No? Okay. Whatever. It's not. I have, like, real deal Internet. Yeah. Get you. Now you're just bragging. Yeah. I just—I—think that those kind of those nebulous people that float through your life, it's—it's—okay if they—they—don't understand. I can—and I can also understand being disappointed if a parent or your sister or something like that isn't helping. But—Right. I—mean, maybe you could go to them and say, "I feel alone because of this. I really—it would mean a lot to me if you could just—if you could just learn a couple of little things. And is there something in your life that you'd feel good about if—if—I learn more about?"
Scott BennerLike, you know, is there a way we can both be, you know, this experience has made me realize that we need people and, you know, I'd like to be around for you more if I'm not. I—feel—like I'm doing this, but maybe that's not what you need. Is there something you'd prefer that I had knowledge about that would make you feel more comfortable around me and vice versa. I don't know. Like, depends on how far you wanna get into being a human being. You know? That is great advice. I—I—I—really like that, and I think I would use that with, like, a—a—person I have in mind. So—That's good. Yeah. They'll probably tie you a tree and smear maple syrup on you and let the bears eat you. But—Yeah. Yeah. Sounds great. And the bees. The bees.
BritneyThe bees too. What is that from? The bees. The bee. The bee. It's a Simpsons episode. The bees. The—bees. It's, like, 25 years old, but my reference. People are like, the way to reference a cartoon that was not our—that—i—i—i—have not been alive to hear. That's great, though. Anyway, find the episode of The Simpsons where mister Burns is yelling, "the bees." Is it mister Burns or is the system? I'm not a 100% sure, but the bees—the bees is, definitely worth looking into. Okay. I'll find it. My kids got into the Simpsons recently, so I don't know how appropriate it is for my eight year old to watch it, but he really likes it. I watched it, and I'm fine, mostly. Yeah. I feel like the same way. I think it's, like, 30 years old now.
BritneyYeah. I think you're right. Is it—the Simpsons celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in 2019. Oh my gosh. Wow. So it's 36 years old? Amazing. Alright, Britney. Do you know what television show the Simpsons first debuted on? It wasn't its own TV show. No. What—what—one? It was a sketch comedy show, and it was a little sketch that happened on—I'm giving you that's as—and that's as much as I'll tell you. Oh, why don't I get to know? Oh, alright. Fine. Was the Tracy Oldman show. Oh, okay. You don't even know what that is, do you? I've heard of it. That's awesome. I wish I was younger. Anyway, when you say here in your note that, you know, yes, I didn't know anything about diabetes even though I was a nurse, whatever. That's fine.
Career Shifts and Finding Purpose
Scott BennerMhmm. My eyes have been opening up about not just about the care, but about a career change. Like, what about diabetes has made you wanna change your career?
BritneyI love learning about it. I love all the tech. I—I—like, I'm in this—this—kind of silly job with workers' compensation that's a little bit boring, but it's really easy. But I think, I—I—mean, I would love to work for Dexcom, for Insulet. I don't know. I just feel like I need to go where my interest is, I love learning about diabetes, and I love being involved in it. And so at first I was thinking I want to be a diabetic educator, but I don't want to do that. And I'm thinking about nurse practitioner, but I also don't want to take out more student loans, so I don't know. I want to do something different. It's just hard to pull me away from, like, a very easy job right now that has a lot of flexibility that pays me well to take on, you know, loans or a pay cut, but it's just something I was thinking about. I think I gave you a lot of random notes in my notes.
Scott BennerIt's okay. I like your randomness. But is what you're telling me is that your son's diagnosis has maybe made you feel like your work life isn't purposeful enough?
BritneyOh, yeah. I mean, my work life is not purposeful, so I would love to have more of a purposeful work life, and I think that would be something involved in diabetes. What would stop you from looking into that? Oh, no. I look into it all the time. I just—I—guess, like, student loans, like, more schooling would be the biggest deterrent—or, like, a pay cut. And so—yeah. But just those things. Could you not do, like, some—I mean, you have your degree. Right? Could you not do some stuff, you know, in and around diabetes education and pile up your work hours that way?
BritneyI probably could. I also don't wanna go—I—I—like working from home. But you're like, "listen. I'd like to help people, but if I can do it from my house." Right? That's what I'm—that's what I'm going for. I mean, to—for me to drive, like, to the nearest hospital would be, a thirty five minute drive, and I've already worked there, you know, when I was in the ICU. And I don't know. I'm kind of looking for the perfect thing. But for the time being, I will just stay where I am, I guess. Do you stretch your legs online with that? Do you try to help people online? Is there a way you—you—feed that desire?
BritneyI guess. Like—so—I got into Trio, I guess, three or four months ago. Mhmm. And even though I'm new to that whole DIY looping, I love to, like, answer questions or, like, comment on things within that group. So I—I'm stretching my legs that way. Like, I'm interested in computers and—Very nice—Helping people navigate if I can. So—That's—that's—awesome. Getting it that way. Yeah. How long has your, son been using Trio?
BritneyJust three months—or, guess, November, December. Like, two and a half months, and it's been the most amazing thing that we've ever encountered with diabetes—Yeah—Next to your podcast. Oh, it's—for—I—I—i—find Trio to be awesome, personally. Yeah. Yeah. You listed as a one c—is it okay for me to say? Yeah. Five six. Is that right? Between five six and five nine since, after diagnosis.
Scott BennerWow. Okay. So what happened? He wasn't in DK when he was diagnosed, and then you kinda quickly figured out what put you in that range so early on, do you think? I mean, you had a little bit of, like, honeymooning at first. It helped you probably while you were figuring things out. But, like, if you had to say to somebody, "this is what I learned that stopped there from ever being confusion or high blood sugars that—you know, so much so that i had an a one c in the seven c eights." And I—think, what is it you think happened there? I know it's like a magic sauce for everybody, but what do you think it was for you?
BritneyI think that I was willing to keep trying. I guess what, like, what I said about the ice cream before, like—Mhmm—I could have one outcome that I didn't love and then try again a different way, like trying differently with timing and amount. And I think that I just wasn't afraid of insulin and that I learned to use insulin well. I think that's what it was. I mean, we were MDI for two months and then Omnipod five for nine months. And while I really liked Omnipod five, like, I was putting a lot of work into it. I was overriding the pump constantly. I was seeing the suggested bolus and kinda laughing at it being like, "no. Thank you. I'll do a little bit more." And I think just being flexible was was what allowed us to get these really good results.
Scott BennerOkay. That's awesome. It really is. Yeah. And you think that information came just out of, like, old beginnings in that series? Or— It really did. Yeah. I mean, there's a couple things that you said, like, you described, like, blood sugar on a football field maybe. Was—that—does that sound right? I mean, said a lot of Britney. I'm not sure. Or, like, maybe, like, if the football player is, like, running really fast, like, you might have to, like, push hard against it. Maybe—maybe that's a glucose tablet. And if it's, like, you know, drifting high, you're gonna give it a little bit of insulin. Or if it's running full speed high, you're gonna give it more insulin to help knock it down a little bit.
BritneyAnd I think that was all just conversations that I listened to you have during with bold beginnings, and and it was listening to that that allowed me to not say, "okay. Well, this is the two hour rule. He's had insulin in the last two hours. I need to wait longer." Mhmm. Like, no. If I saw a—a—huge spike, I said, "okay. Well, he needs more insulin. It's not stacking because he needs it. Like, we didn't give him enough up front, so let's give him a little bit more."
Equal Resistance and The Quarterback Metaphor
Scott BennerYeah. May I—for a minute, i'm gonna pontificate a little bit for half a second. Everybody settle in. So I feel like what you're telling me is that, basically, there's a—a—slew of t shirt slogan ideas that I've kinda, like, peppered into that stuff. Like, you know, "it's not—it's not—stacking if you need it." But the core idea of "meet resistance with an equal resistance" to keep things from moving away from where you want them to be—Right—That was foundational for you. So I think if I'm remembering correctly, it's also very interesting, by the way, that you—you—heard the story enough to understand it, but you don't have the details of it.
Scott BennerLike, I think I said, you know, "if your quarterback is getting sacked all the time—Right—You might need to keep in another lineman or a tight end to block a little bit because there's more force coming from the defense than your offense is able to resist." Yeah. And so try to think about that number and the insulin and the food as these two forces pushing each other back and forth off of a line and you're trying to stay on the line. So—That was definitely it. Not what I said. But I think it's beautiful that you didn't remember it exactly the way it was said because the idea there is—is that you don't—I—don't even think you live in Vermont. You don't even watch football, do you? I mean, I don't. My husband does. Yeah. Does. But what does he watch? The Patriots? Yeah. Or something like that. I—don't know. Mess. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But that's not what I'm saying.
Scott BennerWhat I'm saying is that, like, something that you didn't have full context for still made enough sense to you. Like, there's a line here. Some stuff is pushing up and some stuff is pushing down. And you know what? Once in a while, when it's pushing up, I gotta put more of the down stuff in even if it's not the right time because, obviously, I need to meet the need. Like, so what stuck to you was meet the need. Mhmm. It's not stacking if you need it. That's bolusing. Like, little ideas like that, and then you just synthesize them in your own life and apply them.
BritneyRight. That's exactly what it was. It was, like, using the technology but not relying on it. So, like, I think Omnipod five was great, but I couldn't rely on what it suggested all the time. Sometimes I had to override it or do something a little bit differently. So—Mhmm—Because of what I learned through the podcast. Sometimes you needed more blockers and it wasn't offering them to you, so you changed the play. Right. That's it. Yep. Exactly. Alright. Britney, are you here to say that people should just listen to me?
BritneyYeah. I think that's what they need to do. I'm gonna call my wife right now. Would you say that into the microphone at about thirty seconds? Please listen to Scott. Yeah. He has all the answers. I—by the way, i'm not—i don't care if anyone hears that except for Kelly because she will just come in and she'll be like, "listen to me. These people, they don't know you. If she lived with you, she wouldn't say that." That—that's—the second thing she would say. She's probably—she's probably—right. But no. I—mean, listen. In the end, i'm gonna bang this drum for as long as people are gonna listen to the podcast, I guess. Mhmm. It's all timing and amount.
Scott BennerYou need the right amount of insulin at the right time. That's it. You need to understand, you know, the impacts of your food. It's not all the same. One carb is not equal to the next. Not all the time. Yes. There are variables, and we're gonna wanna learn what they are along the way. But truth be told, if you attack most days with "put the right amount of insulin in the right place," that pretty much takes care of it. Yeah. I mean, that's—that's—all that it is. Like, every time I see somebody post a graph online, and they're like, "what happened here? Like, we went so high." It's like—okay. Well, you didn't use enough insulin or you didn't do it soon enough—or maybe you went low first, so it was too late. I don't know. I think you've simplified it with, like, timing and amount. That's what it is. So try again and just do—do—something differently.
The New Weight-Based Settings Calculator
Scott BennerYou even said something earlier about being flexible. And I thought, "oh, that's a nice idea." But what she's really saying is because I even hear your conversation in, "how could I distill it down more?" Right. But it's great that you understand it that way. I don't care how distilled or not it is for you. You have a thought and it works for you. That's all I want. Right. People should not listen to exactly what gets said and try to mimic it. They should listen to the bigger ideas and then apply them. Right. If they get lost, if it doesn't fit in their thinking, if they can't make sense of it, then you might have to, like, then you might have to just say, like, "well, i'm just gonna—i'm just gonna—believe what's being said here because i don't—i—i'm not synthesizing it to my thinking. So let's just use it like this." Mhmm. In the end, again, timing and amount, that's it. Just use the right amount of insulin at the right time. Does that sound super simple when it's not? It's not super simple. But it is if you realize that if your basal's right, if your insulin to carb ratio's right, if your insulin sensitivity is set up correctly, then guess what? Then that's a great starting place. And then it's a lot easier to bump and nudge these settings or your usage and get dialed in a little bit.
Scott BennerI can't even share this with you yet because I haven't even settled on the URL that it's gonna go on, but I think I've decided to share something. And so I'm—I'm—not a coder, Britney. There's a lot I don't understand. We can make a very long list of things that we don't—that I don't—understand. Okay? But I know how I think about diabetes. And, you know, you stop and listen to all these companies, you know, "we're gonna put out a system one day. You're just gonna put your weight in it and it's gonna do the rest." Right? That's eyelet cell right now. Right? You just—you—you—turn that thing on and you put your weight in and go. So you think what? The magic box knows from my weight. It's actually not magic at all. Right? So I made a calculator, okay, that you put your weight in the top, And it's going to give you starting spots for total daily dose for basal rate, for insulin to carb ratio, for sensitivity factor just by plugging in your weight.
Scott BennerSo I'm just gonna put in—I'm gonna put in a weight of a hundred and fifty pounds. That's it. It's all—it's all—done already, by the way. I typed one fifty, the whole calculator populated. It converts your weight into kilograms to do other math. Okay? There's an episode called—there's three episodes called—the math behind, the math behind insulin sensitivity, behind correction factor, behind basal. It would explain all that to you. But this thing says, okay. Hundred and fifty pounds, that's sixty eight point two kilograms. Here's what I know from that now. Your total daily insulin is about 37. Now that's if you choose a factor of point five five or a standard or moderate factor. Right? But this thing gives you the opportunity to say, "you know what? I'm more sensitive. I'm more resistant. I'm highly resistant." You just click on those things and it changes it for you. If you say I'm highly sensitive, it drops that to thirty point seven units a day. If you say I'm highly resistant, it puts it up all the way to sixty one point four units a day. It isn't telling you that's exactly how much insulin you're gonna use. It's telling you that based on your weight, this is—this—is what we can maybe expect. You know, be careful. Also, these are the formulas that your doctor uses when they try to figure out your basal rate in the beginning, when they try to figure out your sensitivity factor in the beginning.
Scott BennerSo anyway, I choose standard moderate—thirty seven and a half units a day is the estimated total daily dose, which is just sixty eight point two kilograms times point five five. That tells you that your calculated basal rate is about eighteen point seven five units a day or about point seven eight units an hour if you're using a pump. Keep scrolling down. Your insulin to carb ratio may be about 13.3. That's using the standard 500 rule. One unit covers 13.3 grams. If you go to the four fifty rule, which is more aggressive, it takes it to 12. There's a little drop down box there where you can make that decision for yourself. Your sensitivity factor at a 150 pounds, you know, at the 1,800 rule—48. One unit moves you about 48 points. You can—the little slider there, you can slide it a little bit one way or the other way, change the rule for the math. But—and are these numbers perfect for you? Definitely not gonna be. But— No. But they're a starting point for people and, like, a visual for people to see and understand.
Scott BennerYes. And then if you have a nice starting point, then you can say to yourself, "okay. Well, let's see how this works." And, you know, "if—oh, my basil's set the wrong way. My—you—know?" There's a little thing at the bottom here that says if your basil's set too low, your meal bolus will try to fill that hole of missing basil, and this makes carb ratios look wrong. Like, so it kinda gives you the idea of, like, know, if one thing's wrong, it's gonna make something else look wrong. Then it—it's—very clear. It says the math provides a starting line. You must perform basal testing, fasting periods to verify blood sugar, hold steady, like—and you have to click on a disclaimer to get into it. The thing's disclaimered out. Okay? That's perfect. I can't decide if I'm gonna put it online. I think I am. Well, why wouldn't you?
Scott BennerI—I—mean, because, like, you know, I—I—guess I'm okay. Like, I get—it—explains how the tool's built. Also, I want you to understand, it's not like I sat down and said, "I know this math. I'm gonna make this code do this thing." I just fed common ideas about how basal and everything else is figured out. You can find it anywhere on the Internet from hospital websites to, you know, all kinds of different places. And I don't know how to code it, so I basically built, like, three different calculators through something people call vibe coding, which, again—okay. Just understand—I—you go to, like, a large language model and you say, "look. Go learn everything you can learn about the, I don't know, the 1,800 rule for this and how people with type one diabetes would use it to get a starting point for this setting." It goes and looks at, a thousand different websites. It comes back and says, "this is the math. This is how it works. I understand it now." And I go, "okay. Can you build me a little embeddable calculator where people could figure that out for themselves?"
Scott BennerSo I made three separate calculators that all worked independently. And then I said, "is there not a way that we couldn't combine all these into one calculator and limit people's interactions so they could get this in?" And they said, "yeah. They could just put their weight in, and we could figure the whole thing out from that." And I was like, "cool. Make that." And then I used it and used it and used it and used it till I thought "this is working." And I'm not seeing any glitches, then I sent it to a friend and I said, "hey. Do you see anything here that doesn't look right?" They said there's one wording mistake right here. We made a little change. You know, sending out the five or six other people who have been using it. Seems to work for them okay. And, you know, that's it. But why do I bring all that up? I bring all that up because if you had your settings somewhere close to right and you understood—i'm gonna tell you that I think if you had that calculator and at the minimum, the small sip series from the podcast, I think you'd be off on a good way.
BritneyI think you're totally right. And I also think there's a lot of value to people who think they have their settings pretty good to use a calculator like that to see, you know, like, what's the next dial I might wanna turn to get things looking a little bit better. It may not prove true to you. Like, it might say, "oh, your daily basil is this." You might be like, "that's not right." Well, okay. That's good. Use your common sense and say "that doesn't sound right." Or if, you know, your daily basil right now is five units a day and the thing's telling you it's 12, I wouldn't go just yakking it up out of nowhere. Like—right? But, like, it might give you the idea of, like, "oh, I wonder if my basal's too weak. Like, is that a thing I could be looking at?" Is this another tool? Yeah.
Scott BennerCould I go ask my doctor? "Hey. You know, I found this calculator and it says this. How come my base"—and—and where does this all stem from? Everything I do on the podcast stems from some personal experience I've had. Right? Mhmm. But for this one specifically, when Arden was diagnosed, she was little. And I think her insulin sensitivity was like one to three fifty. Like, one unit moved her 350 points or something like that. And as she's growing and getting older and I'm figuring out that she needs more insulin and I'm really making more decisions upfront where I'm ignoring the settings and going more with the amount of insulin I see needed. Right? And things are working. So the doctor's like, "oh, things are working." You know, they never think about it again. One day—Right.
Scott BennerOne day I said—I swear to this—this, you know, person who just said all this to you, I go in the doctor's office. It's a couple years into it. I go, "what's the insulin sensitivity?" And they're like, "what?" And I'm like, "yeah. I don't really understand what that is." So I was a couple years into it. I didn't—I didn't—know what it meant. I—it—was to me, it was just a setting in her pump. I was like, "I don't under—like, this number hasn't moved since she was, like, four." Right. But you're moving every other number to try to make up for that. But I'm moving numbers all over the place trying to make up for it. But, like, I'm like, "what should this be?" And I remember the look of horror on the face of the person. They took the pump for me, and they looked and they went, "oh." And their face just said to me, "that number is nowhere near correct." Wow. And then I was like, "okay. I was like, where do you think it should be?" And they're like, "well, I—I—i'm not sure." And then they sat down and wrote some numbers on a piece of paper and gazinted a little bit and then moved it to another number. Mhmm. And now I realized that all they did was take the total daily insulin and her weight and a couple of other little ideas and rejiggered the numbers.
BritneyRight. Yeah. I mean, that's—but people—so people need that calculator. I mean, you think about people who start on, like, Omnipod five, and they're four months into diagnosis. And then, you know, six months later, they're like, "this pump doesn't work. Omnipod five is crap. I'm gonna go to Mobi instead." It's like—well, you probably need a hard reset of your pump with the right numbers for what you need now. Mhmm. And a calculator like that could be like, "hey. Let's reset your pump, and let's use these numbers and see if you're getting something better." No. It's—and—it's not crazy. Like, it really—and I just had a conversation like that with somebody recently. I think it motivated me more about the calculator. This person reached out and said the same thing. Like, "my—you—know, this automated system's not working for me and, you know, for my kid, and I think something's wrong." And I was like, "well, what are the settings?" He gave me the settings. I was like, "that doesn't sound right to me." Mhmm.
Scott BennerAnd then, you know, you realize that they, you know, they put those settings in, the kid on the pump, time has passed now, and the pump isn't doing what they needed to do. And, you know, I said, "well, I think you should go back into manual and try to, like, you know, reestablish some good settings." I said, "but you can't just do that. Those settings are way wrong." Mhmm. And that person did not know where to start, and I just said, "well, you know, let's take their weight and do this." They said, "oh, well, that—that—one number is way different than what they had." I said, "well, don't move it drastically. Like, just—yeah. Keep it in the back of your head. Start over again." You know? If you—it makes you more comfortable to call your doctor, call your doctor. Like, I—I—don't care. Like, you know, do—do—whatever makes you happy. But, like, don't wait three months for your next endo appointment that's gonna be twenty minutes long and expect all of these things to happen. Like, this is where people need to take some control of their own.
Scott BennerAnd—Yeah. Also, this—this—person is—is—out of their mind. They're not sleeping now. Right. If this goes on for two more months, then they go into a doctor's office. They're gonna sound like a raving lunatic. "I'm not sleeping—at the baby"—and then—yeah. Like—and—and the doctor's gonna be like, "oh, okay. I'm just trying to make it for lunch." No. No. You know, like, relax. They're gonna say, "well, well, you're getting low at 03:00. Why don't we turn your blah blah blah down at"—like—and that's not gonna help anything. Mhmm. Right? So—Well Anyway And I think this is also maybe a time when people are like, "oh, we have to do low carb because, like, the pump doesn't work with what we're eating, and we're told we can eat anything. We just have to dose for it." That's not true, so we have to do low carb. And low carb people, like, fine. Like, whatever works for you, but you don't have to be that. You just have to have better settings.
Scott BennerYou can take low carb out of it. Like, all the misconceptions start flying at you. Right. You know, like, "oh, the insulin must be bad. My sight's wrong." Right. I—you know, "the—I—don't—is it because i'm, you know, the phase of the moon? Is it"—you—know, like, I mean, you start seeing ghosts everywhere Right—And you can't figure out what's actually happening. Right. I just think that's a sad thing for people. Like, I'm not saying "plug your weight in and these numbers are gonna be exactly right. You know, pop them into your device or, you know, use your MDI this way, everything's gonna be hunky dory." But what I can tell you is—is—that it'll get you a lot closer than you are. Right.
Vibe Coding the Warsaw Method Calculator
Scott BennerAnd in that same vein, I—I—don't know if I have access to this one right now through a browser. I do. I also built—and—I—Jenny and I talked about it in an episode recently, so I guess I'm maybe gonna have to put it out in the world. I also built a—a—calculator that once you have those settings, okay—Mhmm—Take them and you drop them into this thing here. So insulin—the car—actually, do you know your kid's numbers off top of your head? Yeah. What's his carb ratio? In the morning, it's 18, and the rest of the day, it's, like, 34 to 36. Let's just say 18 and do a breakfast thing. Insulin sensitivity? Ish? Like, one twenty? One unit moves them a 120. Let's make the target blood sugar 90. I'm just filling in little boxes here. How many carbs are breakfast? Like, 60. Is there any fat in it? A little bit. Do you know how much? A few grams. A few grams. Let's say four. Is there protein in this thing? Yes. What? Do you know how much? Six grams. Mhmm. What's—what's—his current BG when he eats usually in the morning? Around, like, ninety two. Ninety two. Ninety three. Okay. Any insulin on board? Like, point four probably. Point four. And is his arrow—his trend arrow—usually stable, rising, or falling at that moment? Like—Stable. Okay. So—click button.
Scott BennerDoes 3.33 sound like about the bolus you would use in that situation? About the bolus? Yeah. Like, right around there, probably a little bit less, and then, like, the SMBs from Trio would take care of the rest Mhmm to take care of the rise. Yeah. Because I have my settings at, like, 80% of the recommended bolus, and then it kicks in over time. Okay. So if—if—I gave you that calculator and you didn't know what you were talking about and it told you at the end, "I would use a 3.33 unit bolus and wait about nine minutes to pre bolus," do you think that would go reasonably well for him? Yes. That's a calculator I made. Yeah. That's—that's—so helpful. That's what people need.
Scott BennerAnd trust me, something like that exists inside a—probably inside a—it—could exist inside of people's pumps. But if you don't know what you're doing, right, if you have no idea what you're doing and you sat down and said, "my kid weighs this much" and then took those numbers and moved it over into the other thing and said, "here's a meal I don't understand, you know, blah blah blah." And then it spit out 3.3 and you said to yourself, "oh god. I've been bolusing one and a half units for that." Right. Or—he gets low all the time and I bolus five units for that, but I don't pre bolus. Like, it would at least maybe, like, light a candle in your head and make you go, "Totally." You know? Yeah. Yeah. And by the way, we were to add more fat to this. Let's say that there was 15 grams of fat in this meal. Mhmm. I regenerated it. It now tells you to do a 3.33. Still wait the nine minutes, but it would like to see you do a point eight eight Warsaw wave.
Scott BennerBasically, like, it's a bolus for the fat and the protein in the meal, which would take the—the—total dose up to four point two two. It would like to see that that. So, basically, it's asking you to make a square wave or extended bolus over three hours of point eight eight. So three point three three up front with a point eight eight over three hours to deal with the fat. Mhmm. And it gives you little things at the end. You know, "insulin on board safety correction only subtracted. And there's something called ambiguity guard. The 10 to 70 range was checked, the Warsaw method is using one FPU." It discarded that because it's not touched. It's—it's—trying to show you how it's working a little bit. And trust me, as I'm talking here, I don't understand. But what I did do was teach it all about the Warsaw method and, like, let it go out. I sent it everything we had on the podcast. I sent it to websites that talk about it, three or four different places that talk about the math of the Warsaw method.
Scott BennerI did my best to make the large language model as much of an expert on the Warsaw method as I could, and then I asked it to combine it into this calculator. Maybe it's not right. I don't know. That's why, again, it has, you know, disclaimers all over it, and it's not—I haven't put it on the—on the—web yet. But what I can tell you is that there's a simple fat and protein calculator on the website now. Mhmm. Under guides, it's a fat and protein insulin calculator. It explains the Warsaw method in at—I—mean, it explains to the point where if you read all that, god bless you, because it's really broken down there. But at the end, it gives you four episodes where we talk about fat and protein that you can listen to if you want and a simple calculator to figure out the fat and protein and how you might use it. You have no idea how much email I get from educators out in the world who are like, "hey. Please, I keep sharing that link with people." That's awesome. Thank you very much. So—So—
BritneyYou know? I feel like the people who are going to that website or or using those calculators are people who are pretty proactive. But how do you get that into the hands of somebody who feels so—so—lost and isn't proactive about figuring it out? Like, what do you—how do you get—that—asked. You, being Scott, put your lazy ass on an airplane a bunch of times this year and go to a bunch of conferences where professional people are gonna be and stand around and banging the drum for telling people about this stuff. Yeah. And then, hopefully, it bleeds out into the world a little more because it does now. I mean, there are a lot of institutions that, you know, suggest the podcast to people. Right. And maybe my—honestly, my goal is I'm gonna stand at a table at a couple of professional conferences and talk to anybody who's willing to talk and tell them, "look. This is what I found talking to people. What would be wrong with showing them how to get their settings right and how to figure out maybe the impact of the fat and protein in their food because, i mean, really, that's what they're missing."
BritneyAnd do you think that, like, you could get that to maybe endocrinologist offices are—are—on top of it, and the educators that work there are on top of it, but is there a way to get into, like, primary care with people who are having their PCP manage their diabetes? Like, how do you get to them? Yeah. I—I—mean, listen. The only thing I've figured out about the Internet is that it—it—works at its own pace, and—Right—It—you don't know how it's working. So—Right—Word-of-mouth. All you have to do is help somebody and give them the confidence that the thing you told them was valuable and they will hopefully go tell somebody else about it. But other than that, there's no way. You can't—I've watched—I'll tell you what. It's a pretty big organization a lot—a—few years ago now, and they wanted to make a push for, you know, just a finger stick during with kids with flu symptoms. They tried really hard. I mean, they put a massive effort around it, put money and manpower, it didn't work. So—Yeah. I don't know how I'm supposed to go do that. So what I can do is I can help people—Right—To see the—you—know, what the bigger picture might be, hope that they, again, take the information, synthesize it for themselves, apply it to their own lives, have some success, and then it's been meaningful enough to them that they've—they'll—tell somebody else. Right. That's it. Yeah. Citizen—they call—I saw—I heard somebody call it citizen science recently. Oh. That's all fancy. I don't know what that means.
BritneyYeah. Okay. I like the sound of it. Yeah. Yeah. I just—you—you—gotta just try to help people, and hopefully, they'll try to help people. I think that really is a—I mean, you know, unless you wanna—you—know, I don't know. Can you imagine getting on the phone with a GP's office and saying, "hey. Do you have a lot of type, you know, ones in there that, you know, should be going to an endo, but they're coming to you instead and their a one c is 10? I think I could help them." And they're gonna be like, "goodbye." And, you—you—know, like, it's—what—do— I guess, like, I started listening to the ADA twenty twenty six episode this morning. Oh. And you were talking a lot about your friend Mike. And I'm thinking, like, "how do you get it to his doctor? Like, how do you—how—do you infiltrate those people who aren't getting what they need and having"—I don't know. I'm—I—just, like—I wish Mike's doctor had that information and shared it with him. Yeah. Me too. Yeah. I—appreciate that. I—I—yeah. I don't know the answer to that one, Britney. Yeah. World's not a perfect place. So—No. Yeah. Thank you. I think this is good place to stop, but I do wanna check to see if you have anything else that you wanna say or anything I missed that I should have brought up.
Self-Trust and Conclusion
BritneyNo. I don't think so. I mean, I hope that you can get something helpful out of this podcast. Or— Don't do that, Britney. Don't do that. Okay. Okay. Just say "I was awesome, and my conversation spurred on other good conversations, Scott. And you're fantastic, and I'm fantastic, and let's be done." It's all good. I'm proud of myself for doing this and—Good—I thank you for your time. Don't doubt yourself. Okay. I won't. I said somewhere recently, somebody called me—what—did they call me? Forget what it was. Egotistical. I forget. Does it sound egotistical that I forget what they call me? Whatever. No. No. Yeah. It does a little. Somebody said something about that about—and—I—and—I said, "look. I—I—don't know what happened to you in the past that didn't allow you to trust yourself as much as I trust myself, but i'm sorry for you." Mhmm. Also, it doesn't make me egotistical. Right.
Scott BennerI've explained 17 different ways in this conversation—I don't know what I'm talking about. I might not be right. If you're looking for absolutes, don't look to me. The disclaimer literally says, "this tool is for educational purposes only. The results are mathematical estimations that do not constitute medical advice. Please read our full disclaimer." If you click on that full disclaimer, here's what that disclaimer says about 20 different ways: "If I was you, I wouldn't listen to me. Okay?" But I'm still talking. Do what you want with it. I don't know what happened to me that I say, "look, i'm sharing how i feel and i'm not making any claims about it." And—but—what happened to you that makes you go like—"I'm sorry. I hope I shared something today that was maybe valuable." Hopefully, you can cobble together eight minutes out of this that, you know, like, that if I was you, I'd go figure out what that is. Right. Okay. I will. Trust yourself. Have you ever hurt anybody on purpose? What—I—don't know what you mean by that. You—have you ever, like, have you ever, like, maliciously hurt someone? Like, eavesdropped? No. Like, you know, like, like—i'm sorry. I'm not following. I think that answer answers my question. Okay.
Scott BennerDo you lie, as a regular, like, part of your life? Are you a big liar? No. No? Okay. And you don't—No—You don't—you—you—wouldn't—you—wouldn't screw somebody over to get $20 from them? Oh my god. No. No? Then—No—Then—okay. Then—what—do—you—what—do you think you're not doing then? I don't know, but I'm gonna start doing what I'm not doing. Do have an ethos, like, how you live? Not really. I—I—guess I just try to be kind to do the right thing, and I try to hold space for other people and listen to people and be helpful. I have—I—have literally two sentences I run my whole life with. What's that? I try to treat people the way I wanna be treated. Mhmm. And I don't lie unless I have to. Right. That's it. I agree with both of those things. Yeah. That's pretty much it. And what—what—would constitute having to lie? I don't know. Maybe the zombies are coming, and, I got a steak, and, my kids are hungry. And you ask me if you, if I got a steak, and I go, "no. No steak." Yeah. I can get on board with that.
Scott BennerYeah. But if—if—I had a steak and, there were no zombies and you said, "hey. Can I have some steak?" I'd be like, "yeah. Goddamn right. Let's have some steak together." Yeah. Yeah. Right. So, that's pretty much it. Like, I don't screw people over on, on purpose. I'm sure I've done things in the past that have not been, you know, good for other people. It wasn't on purpose, and it wasn't through ignorance. Like, if it happened, it was—it was—completely benign on my part. I don't run around screwing people over. I don't use my powers for evil. I've settled on here a million times. I don't know if you've heard it. "If I was a bad person, you'd know it because I'd have a lot more money, and I wouldn't be helping people with diabetes." Right. I would be one of those people who looks at the world and goes, "What can I extract out of this for me?" Mhmm. And instead, I say, based on those two sentences, I'd like to help other people if I can make a reasonable living at it and take care of my kids. So I have found a way to do that. I—again, if I was a lawyer or something like that, oh my god. You people would be in so much trouble. Or if I decided to start a cult— Yeah. I'd be having sex with your wives, and you'd be sending money to my account every day. What do think of that? You'd be—you'd—be an incredible cult leader. Thank you. I would be an incredible cult leader. I take that as a compliment, by the way. I just wanna say thank you. I really do. You should.
Scott BennerI'm gonna walk around all day thinking that. Listen. I have no inclinations like that. Like, none whatsoever, but there are people who do. You know what I mean? And you're not one of them. So don't question yourself when you're, I don't know, purporting who you are. You're a good person. I'm not gonna—I'm—not gonna question myself. Yeah. What should we call this episode? Oh, I don't know. Really? We wanna get rid of the cat. I don't know. Oh. The cat's peeing on the floor. That was so long ago with the cat peeing on the floor. It was. It was. Can I tell you something? If it had more to do with it, I love your son's statement. "Someone peed on my bed." I got—somebody just peed on my bed. "Somebody peed on my bed." I don't know what's going on here. Like, do people not lock the door? Like, what—Right—I'm counting on you guys, and—and—I got a guy in here peed on my bed. "Someone peed on my bed" is just strong title cost ability. I also like "the bees" for some reason. Okay. The bees work. The bees. The bees. But that's only because I know the episode. So— I'll know the episode later. I'll—I'll—watch it. I'm going "somebody peed on my bed." Yeah. Because metaphorically, someone peed on your bed. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Alright. Britney, you're awesome. I feel like we could be friends. Well, thank you. I feel like we could be friends too. As long as there's air conditioning. That's all I'm saying. Yeah. There is. There is. I have AC. Is it—wait. Is there a real air conditioner? Like, it's outside. It's a big unit. It's hooked to a vent. No. It's not like—Is it jammed on a window? Central air. Oh my god. No. I don't have that. I don't have central air. I have, like, a heat pump that also functions for, like, AC and cooling. It doesn't sound like air conditioning. Can you get it down to a crisp 67 in that house? Yes. I can. It cuts all the humidity. Alright. Actually— It's great.
Scott BennerThe—the—reason most people don't have—or have it in the past had—air conditioning in Vermont as well, it is cold there most of the year. And even in the really hot months, it's more about humidity than heat. Right? Right. Yeah. Right. So if you cut the humidity, it's so comfortable and it's, like, lovely in here. Yeah. But still overnight with the humidity, I don't love it for the sleeping. No. God. No. I don't either. That's why we have the heat pump that gets rid of the humidity. I know there's lot of problems in the world, I should probably be focusing on one of those. But I just wanna tell you that, if I was lucky enough to be born somewhere with air conditioning, I'm not going backwards. So—Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's—Fair enough. My god. Alright, Britney. You're awesome. Hold on one second for me. Okay.
Scott BennerA huge thank you to Cozy Earth, a longtime sponsor. Cozyearth.com. Use the offer code juice box at checkout. You will save 20 percent off of your entire order when you use that code. Don't let me down kids. Head over there now. Get yourself some joggers, some towels, some sheets. Save yourself some money. Support the podcast. Make your life beautiful and comfortable all at the same time. Cozyearth.com. Use the offer code juice box at checkout. This episode of the juice box podcast is sponsored by the Omnipod five. And at my link, omnipod.com/juicebox, you can get yourself a free—what I just say—a free Omnipod five starter kit. Free? Get out of here. Go click on that link. Omnipod.com/juicebox. Check it out. Terms and conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox. Links in the show notes. Links at juiceboxpodcast.com. Dexcom sponsored this episode of the juice box podcast. Learn more about the Dexcom g seven at my link, dexcom.com/juicebox. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of the Juice Box podcast. If you're not already subscribed or following the podcast in your favorite audio app, like Spotify or Apple Podcasts, please do that now. Seriously, just to hit follow or subscribe will really help the show. If you go a little further in Apple Podcasts and set it up so that it downloads all new episodes, I'll be your best friend. And if you leave a five star review, oh, I'll probably send you a Christmas card. Would you like a Christmas card? If you're looking for community around type one diabetes, check out the Juice Box podcast private Facebook group. Juice Box podcast, type one diabetes. But everybody is welcome. Type one, type two, gestational, loved ones, it doesn't matter to me. If you're impacted by diabetes and you're looking for support, comfort, or community, check out Juice Box podcast, type one diabetes on Facebook. If you're new to type one diabetes, begin with the bold beginnings series from the podcast. Don't take my word for it. Listen to what reviewers have said. Bold beginnings is the best first step. I learned more in those episodes than anywhere else. This is when everything finally clicked. People say it takes the stress out of the early days and replaces it with clarity. They tell me this should come with the diagnosis packet that I got at the hospital. And after they listen, they recommend it to everyone who's struggling. It's straightforward, practical, and easy to listen to. Bold Beginnings gives you the basics in a way that actually makes sense. Have a podcast? Want it to sound fantastic? Wrongwayrecording.com.
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#1783 Charlotte Must Hate You - Part 2
You can always listen to the Juicebox Podcast here but the cool kids use: Apple Podcasts/iOS - Spotify - Amazon Music - Google Play/Android - iHeart Radio - Radio Public, Amazon Alexa or wherever they get audio.
In Part 2, Jen shares her coming out story , her switch to the Trio algorithm , surviving a terrifying solo low , and using Zepbound for insulin resistance.
+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.
Scott Bennner (0:0) Welcome back, friends, to another episode of the Juice Box podcast.
Jen (0:14) Well alright. (0:15) Well, hey, everybody. (0:16) I'm Jen, and I'm a type one. (0:19) I was diagnosed when I was 29, and I'm now 52.
Scott Bennner (0:25) This is part two of a two part episode. (0:27) Go look at the title. (0:28) If you don't recognize it, you haven't heard part one yet. (0:31) It's probably the episode right before this in your podcast player. (0:36) My diabetes pro tip series is about cutting through the clutter of diabetes management to give you the straightforward practical insights that truly make a difference.
Scott Bennner (0:45) This series is all about mastering the fundamentals, whether it's the basics of insulin, dosing adjustments, or everyday management strategies that will empower you to take control. (0:55) I'm joined by Jenny Smith, who is a diabetes educator with over thirty five years of personal experience, and we break down complex concepts into simple actionable tips. (1:05) The diabetes pro tip series runs between episode one thousand and one thousand twenty five in your podcast player, where you can listen to it at juiceboxpodcast.com by going up into the menu. (1:16) Please don't forget that nothing you hear on the juice box podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. (1:22) Always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan or becoming bold with insulin.
Scott Bennner (1:29) The episode you're about to listen to is sponsored by Tandem Moby, the impressively small insulin pump. (1:34) Tandem Moby features Tandem's newest algorithm, Control IQ Plus technology. (1:39) It's designed for greater discretion, more freedom, and improved time and range. (1:44) Learn more and get started today at tandemdiabetes.com/juicebox. (1:50) I'm having an on body vibe alert.
Scott Bennner (1:52) This episode of the Juice Box podcast is sponsored by Eversense three sixty five, the only one year wear CGM. (2:00) That's one insertion and one CGM a year. (2:04) One CGM, one year. (2:06) Not every ten or fourteen days. (2:08) Ever since cgm.com/juicebox.
Scott Bennner (2:12) Today's episode is also sponsored by US Med. (2:15) Usmed.com/juicebox or call (888) 721-1514. (2:22) Get your supplies the same way we do from USMed. (2:26) Have you done the deed with the boys?
Jen (2:27) I have done the deed with the boys. (2:29) Yes. (2:29) I've done the deed with the boys, and I was just like was like, I don't really get the big, you know, what's the big to do with this. (2:37) I never really understood that. (2:39) And then when so just to, I guess, go and tell my coming out, like, when I so I get diagnosed in '29.
Jen (2:46) I don't come out to my myself. (2:48) Right? (2:48) It's not even to anybody. (2:49) It's to myself until I was 30 or 31, so a couple years later. (2:53) But it's a funny story.
Jen (2:55) I was okay. (2:56) So I was dating this guy. (2:58) I knew he this this would have been my third engagement ring. (3:01) And I'm like, I don't want another ring. (3:02) You know, I could feel it coming, and I'm like, I gotta break up with him.
Jen (3:05) So I know I sound horrible. (3:06) I hope I don't sound horrible, but I I was like, I I'm gonna break up with this guy. (3:09) I'm not in love with him. (3:10) He's a lovely person. (3:12) So I broke up with him.
Jen (3:13) And this is, like, in May. (3:16) And then I was already supposed to be in his sister's wedding
Scott Bennner (3:20) Oh, jeez.
Jen (3:21) In Saint John's, you know, The Caribbean. (3:23) And so when we broke up, his sister's like, well, I still want you to be in my wedding. (3:28) I'm like, oh, okay. (3:30) And my parents are gonna pay for everything. (3:32) I'm like, okay.
Jen (3:33) Because I was in school at the time. (3:34) I'd gone back to ultrasound school and anyway, the whole thing. (3:37) And I'm like, I don't have any money. (3:38) That sounds great. (3:39) And so go to the the, Saint John's wonderful trip in August, And I knew that the bride's best friend was also gonna be a bridesmaid, and she was gay.
Jen (3:52) She was out. (3:53) And I just thought, that's interesting. (3:54) But I didn't think anything about it. (3:55) But someone said, oh, you need to watch out for her. (3:57) She might hit on you because you're really cute.
Jen (3:59) I'm like, that's no. (4:00) She's not. (4:01) What are you talking about? (4:02) Well, she did. (4:03) And so long story short is this person that I ended up dating for eight and a half years flirted with me.
Jen (4:10) It was literally like a movie, like, where the two bridesmaids and have the hots for each other. (4:15) And the whole time I'm going, what is going on? (4:18) Like, this is crazy. (4:19) I've never been so attracted to someone. (4:21) I've never wanted to be around someone so much, and she's actually into me.
Jen (4:25) You know what I mean? (4:26) Like, it's not oh, you know? (4:28) And so we on on the so the the reception was on a I don't know. (4:34) Well, not a yacht, but, you know, one of those boats to go out for a sunset cruise kind of thing.
Scott Bennner (4:37) Mhmm.
Jen (4:38) And so they get married on the beach. (4:40) We go on the sunset cruise. (4:42) Again, I'm diabetic as we all know, not had much to eat all day because it was a wedding, whatever, and it's open bar. (4:50) And I'm not a big drinker, but when something's free, I'm like, whoo. (4:53) It's free.
Jen (4:54) So I was like, I'll have a drink.
Scott Bennner (4:56) You're like, I don't wanna be in your wedding, but free trip to Saint John. (5:00) Right on. (5:01) Yeah. (5:01) Yeah. (5:01) Yeah.
Jen (5:01) I sound horrible. (5:02) Anyway, so I I was very appreciative of the trip. (5:05) But so we're we're and and this one this girl cute girl who loves Sarah McLaughlin. (5:11) Talk about a generalization like I did. (5:13) Right?
Jen (5:14) Mhmm. (5:14) How did I not know I was a gay? (5:16) But, anyway, so, you know, we're talking about Sarah, and, you know, she's farting with me on this boat. (5:21) Well, the dude, right, the dude I used to date. (5:23) K?
Jen (5:24) I mean, he was trying to get back with me on this trip, and I'm, like, giving him the time of day. (5:29) Right? (5:30) I'm just going, yeah. (5:30) He's trying to buy me wine at the dinners. (5:32) Whatever.
Jen (5:32) I'm like, no. (5:33) I'm good. (5:33) And I'm talking to the to Erin who's the the the girl. (5:36) So, anyway, the at the reception, we're it's like me and Aaron. (5:41) It's like this movie, and we're just, like, connecting.
Jen (5:43) We're laughing. (5:44) We're having a good time. (5:45) We're drinking. (5:46) And I'm a lightweight. (5:47) Like, I've had two drinks, and I'm like, woo.
Jen (5:49) And I could see the guy circling, right, the boat. (5:54) I could see him like, oh, he could see us flirting, whatever. (5:58) And I'm going, oh, dear. (5:59) There's only, like, 30 people in this boat. (6:00) It's not big.
Jen (6:01) And so then Erin, the girl says, I dare you to go to the bathroom with me. (6:06) And I was like, okay. (6:08) So and so we go to the bathroom. (6:11) It's so romantic. (6:11) Go to the bathroom.
Jen (6:12) So romantic. (6:13) One on my It sounds it
Scott Bennner (6:14) sounds predatory, but go ahead. (6:17) It was sweet. (6:18) Understand. (6:18) I
Jen (6:19) know. (6:19) I know. (6:19) So I go to the bathroom, and so I don't know. (6:22) We're just standing there, and then she she's like, can I kiss you? (6:26) And I was like, sure.
Jen (6:28) And so she kisses me, and I went, oh my. (6:31) In that moment, I went, this is what everybody's been talking about. (6:33) I was like, oh my gosh. (6:35) How old are you?
Scott Bennner (6:35) 32?
Jen (6:37) I'm, like, 30 or 31, dude. (6:39) I'm clueless. (6:39) Yes. (6:40) God. (6:40) I'm so clueless.
Jen (6:41) Yeah. (6:42) This is, like, what, 2003 or something. (6:45) I don't know. (6:45) 2004. (6:46) I don't even know.
Scott Bennner (6:47) Wait. (6:47) Stop and explain this to me for a second. (6:49) You're 32. (6:49) How old were you the first time you had sex?
Jen (6:51) Dude, you're gonna make me sound so night so square. (6:54) I was 24.
Scott Bennner (6:57) Okay. (6:57) But you had been having sex for seven years.
Jen (7:00) It's not like I was having sex, like, all
Scott Bennner (7:02) the time, dude. (7:03) But No. (7:03) But you but I didn't say you were doing it every day. (7:05) But, like, you'd had sex for seven years with men. (7:09) And then you didn't have any of that, like, oh, this is awesome feeling.
Jen (7:13) No. (7:14) I just thought there was something wrong with me. (7:15) Of that's what I do. (7:16) Right. (7:17) Something wrong with me.
Scott Bennner (7:17) Uh-huh. (7:18) Okay. (7:18) And then Mhmm. (7:19) And then this this girl, she's hunting you like a like a big cat. (7:24) You know what I mean?
Scott Bennner (7:24) Like like, she sounds like she sounds like she's you're in the Serengeti, and she's trying to, like and she gets you in the bathroom. (7:30) And by the way, the poor guy, you know, he's he's circling the ship. (7:34) You know, at one point, he was like, oh my god. (7:36) I'm gonna have a threesome. (7:37) Like, you know, he thought that for a half.
Jen (7:38) He's always like, oh, this is gonna be
Scott Bennner (7:40) awesome night. (7:40) Yeah. (7:41) And then he didn't realize. (7:43) And then Exactly. (7:44) So she gives you a kiss, and you feel something you've never felt
Jen (7:48) before? (7:49) Never in my whole life. (7:50) Right.
Scott Bennner (7:51) I'm gonna say something uncomfortable.
Jen (7:53) Oh, lord.
Scott Bennner (7:54) Had you orgasmed with a guy?
Jen (7:56) Yes.
Scott Bennner (7:57) Okay. (7:57) And not like you weren't just, like, nothing.
Jen (7:59) But it just right.
Scott Bennner (8:01) Functional.
Jen (8:01) It's just like, oh, that felt that felt good.
Scott Bennner (8:03) Okay.
Jen (8:04) But it was very yeah.
Scott Bennner (8:05) Just No. (8:06) No. (8:06) No. (8:06) I'm
Jen (8:07) that's what the body does kinda thing. (8:09) Yeah. (8:09) It's just not having that emotional. (8:12) I don't even know how to explain it.
Scott Bennner (8:13) That No. (8:13) No. (8:13) No.
Jen (8:13) Connection. (8:15) Just like, oh, wow.
Scott Bennner (8:16) And then you'd be different. (8:17) Girl for eight years.
Jen (8:18) Eight and a half years. (8:20) Yes. (8:20) That's where
Scott Bennner (8:21) that U Haul joke comes from.
Jen (8:22) Dude, I mean, we we would have moved in, but she was getting her master's degree two hours away. (8:29) And so I mean, oh, I not that we need to talk about this the whole time, but, I mean, literally so no. (8:35) I'm a tell you. (8:35) I will finish this part. (8:36) So we Good.
Jen (8:37) Make out we're making out in this bathroom for a long freaking time because, apparently, all of a sudden, they start banging on the door. (8:44) They're like, we're back. (8:46) We're at the dock, and we're like, fuck. (8:48) Shit. (8:49) And I was like, oh my god.
Scott Bennner (8:50) We're about to Erin said too.
Jen (8:52) Yeah. (8:52) We're about to dock too. (8:53) And then I said I said to Erin, I said, oh my god. (8:56) Blame it on my diabetes. (8:58) Like, tell them I've been sick.
Jen (8:59) Right? (9:00) And so and so she's like, okay. (9:02) Got it. (9:03) So we come out, and I'm, like, trying to look sick, but I'm looking like, you know, this is the best day of my life, but I'm trying to look sick. (9:09) And and she's like, yeah.
Jen (9:11) Jen got got sick. (9:12) And they're like, sure. (9:14) You know? (9:14) Like, oh, yeah. (9:15) Y'all look like you.
Jen (9:15) You know, our hair's on the whatever. (9:17) So that's so then
Scott Bennner (9:18) Does everyone in your life think you're gay except you?
Jen (9:22) No. (9:22) No.
Scott Bennner (9:22) It's not like that.
Jen (9:24) It wasn't that, dude. (9:25) I'm telling you. (9:26) I I don't like, if you were to see me, you wouldn't go, oh, wow. (9:29) She's gay.
Scott Bennner (9:29) You make sure I'm gay. (9:30) Listen. (9:31) I'll generalize about a lot, but I don't know what that means. (9:33) Why can I get Yeah?
Jen (9:34) You can tell when someone looks a little gay, but, you know, like, lesbian. (9:38) You know, you can tell.
Scott Bennner (9:39) A little lesbian. (9:40) TV band.
Jen (9:41) A little lesbian. (9:42) But look. (9:43) I'm more of a athletic tomboy, but I'm cute at this you know what I'm saying? (9:46) Like,
Scott Bennner (9:47) just I approve you.
Jen (9:47) Yeah. (9:48) Like, a little mix. (9:48) Just something. (9:50) And Aaron didn't look like a lesbian, so, you know, we're just like I don't know. (9:54) We're lipstick lesbians is is what they call them.
Jen (9:56) But, anyway so but the horrible thing was the next morning. (10:02) K? (10:02) So maybe Aaron and I may have slept in the same bed that night. (10:05) Okay. (10:05) And we may have been staying in the same house as my ex and his family.
Jen (10:10) And we may have been in a room because it's Saint John's that is open air. (10:16) Like, it's a screen. (10:17) And people may have seen that we were in the bed that morning because we were hungover. (10:23) I was awful. (10:23) And so the next morning, guess who's dehydrated?
Jen (10:26) Guess who feels like
Scott Bennner (10:27) I'm gonna think Jesus it's Jesus from crying. (10:30) Is that what it was? (10:31) Blood sugar. (10:32) Yeah.
Jen (10:32) I mean, exactly. (10:33) And my blood sugar is tanking because I've had no food.
Scott Bennner (10:35) Oh. (10:36) Oh.
Jen (10:36) I'm like, oh my because it was just appetizers on this boat last night. (10:39) Right? (10:39) And I hadn't had any food. (10:40) And I'm like and and I go and I'm like, I have to walk of shame up the stairs.
Scott Bennner (10:44) To get food where it's low.
Jen (10:46) Either mom's packing up. (10:47) We're leaving today. (10:48) Mom's packing up the kitchen. (10:50) Adam, ex, is sitting on the couch, like, arms crossed mad as can be. (10:55) Yeah.
Jen (10:55) And here I am, little Jen woken up about to pass out going, excuse me.
Scott Bennner (11:01) I need a juice.
Jen (11:02) Can I can I have some crackers and a juice? (11:05) You know? (11:06) And his mom's like, here. (11:08) Yeah. (11:08) And, like, and I was like, oh my god.
Jen (11:10) Everybody knows. (11:11) And, you know, because Aaron and thought, oh, we're no one knows. (11:13) We were so clueless.
Scott Bennner (11:14) Mhmm.
Jen (11:15) And and so, yeah, it was horrible. (11:17) It was like She wasn't saying anything.
Scott Bennner (11:19) She didn't say something like, well, that box lunch didn't keep your blood sugar up. (11:22) That would have been fun. (11:23) No. (11:23) No. (11:24) Thought it was funny.
Scott Bennner (11:24) Yeah.
Jen (11:24) So she was not happy with me.
Scott Bennner (11:26) No. (11:26) No. (11:26) No. (11:26) I mean, listen. (11:27) You are painting a hell of a picture.
Scott Bennner (11:29) You have a coming out party in a bathroom on a boat while the boys while while her son by by the way, on a free vacation while hers that she paid for. (11:38) While her son who thought he was gonna marry you is dejected off in the center thinking, did I make this girl gay?
Jen (11:45) Totally.
Scott Bennner (11:46) Oh, yeah. (11:46) No. (11:46) There's nothing good about this story for him at all.
Jen (11:48) Nothing good about this story about him at all. (11:50) Oh, no. (11:50) And guess who guess what? (11:52) But this is the thing, Scott.
Scott Bennner (11:53) Yeah.
Jen (11:53) I found this out later. (11:54) He was talking to someone, k, who ends up being his wife, and they're still married right now before this trip happened. (12:00) So between me breaking up with him and this trip in August, he was talking to this girl, and now they're married. (12:07) So I'm just saying. (12:09) I get people red.
Jen (12:10) So all the boys that I was engaged to Mhmm. (12:13) And I broke up with them, they got married to the next person in
Scott Bennner (12:15) the day. (12:15) Still married.
Jen (12:16) And they're still married for as long as
Scott Bennner (12:18) I am. (12:18) Well, they learned how to try with you.
Jen (12:20) They understood what not to do. (12:22) Yeah. (12:23) They were ready. (12:24) Then finally, a woman loved them. (12:25) They're like, oh, god.
Scott Bennner (12:26) Is great. (12:27) This so much better.
Jen (12:28) This is so much better. (12:29) She wants to be around me.
Scott Bennner (12:32) I got married to a lady who doesn't go, ew, when I get near her. (12:35) Ew. (12:35) Exactly.
Jen (12:36) Like, oh, my god. (12:37) You're so gross. (12:38) Or you have so much hair. (12:39) Your stubble is so hard.
Scott Bennner (12:41) So wait. (12:42) So you stayed with this girl for eight years? (12:43) So you were Yeah. (12:45) Oh, and then once you get married to the next girl, you bumped into?
Jen (12:49) Well well, I did. (12:50) Yeah. (12:50) Jen was the next one I bumped into. (12:52) So
Scott Bennner (12:52) I understand how this works.
Jen (12:53) Don't worry. (12:54) Yeah.
Scott Bennner (12:54) Yeah. (12:54) Yeah. (12:54) We can have fun, and I can still understand at the same time.
Jen (12:57) Yes. (12:57) Yes. (12:58) Yes. (12:58) For sure.
Scott Bennner (12:59) So you dated that girl for eight years when you had diabetes. (13:01) How much about your type one did you share with her?
Jen (13:04) Trying to remember. (13:05) I am pretty sure that I definitely shared it. (13:08) I didn't hide it
Scott Bennner (13:09) Okay.
Jen (13:09) From her. (13:10) And I'm pretty sure when I dated her, I was on the Animas pump, the Animas ping Mhmm. (13:15) Back then. (13:16) And she yeah. (13:18) She tried she was vegetarian.
Jen (13:20) Well, not that that matters, but but because I didn't know how to cook. (13:23) Like, my cooking was a healthy choice pizza or you know what I mean? (13:27) Like, I didn't cook. (13:28) So it was really bad. (13:29) And so she taught me how to cook, which was a great thing that she taught me.
Scott Bennner (13:33) Right.
Jen (13:33) Of course, it was vegetarian, but she would cook meat for me. (13:36) She didn't you know, she she she knew that. (13:38) It was fine. (13:38) But, yeah, she was definitely involved. (13:42) But you can only be be so involved because what back then?
Jen (13:45) Was there the g four? (13:47) I don't even remember. (13:47) There was no follow. (13:48) There was no you know?
Scott Bennner (13:49) Right.
Jen (13:50) So but yeah. (13:51) I mean, anyone I've ever dated
Scott Bennner (13:52) was a anything from her, like, hey. (13:54) You know, understand this. (13:56) Help me with low blood sugars. (13:59) I used to hate ordering my daughter's diabetes supplies. (14:03) I never had a good experience, and it was frustrating.
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Jen (16:29) No. (16:29) No. (16:30) No. (16:30) I definitely the person dating me is gonna understand it. (16:32) Okay.
Jen (16:32) So oh, yeah. (16:33) Yeah. (16:33) Yeah. (16:33) I teach them. (16:35) Yeah.
Jen (16:35) Yeah. (16:35) So I would teach and talk about carb counting and exercise. (16:39) Oh, I can't go for a walk right now. (16:41) We need to wait an hour because I gotta do this, and I gotta have snacks with me all the time. (16:46) You know, like, I definitely would educate.
Scott Bennner (16:49) We haven't talked about this. (16:50) How much do you understand it?
Jen (16:53) I think I understand it pretty well now.
Scott Bennner (16:55) You do? (16:55) You you you're where's your a one c and your variability at at the at the moment?
Jen (17:00) Dude, it's really good. (17:01) I had it done. (17:02) I can't wait to tell you. (17:03) Yeah. (17:04) Last a one c was 5.1
Scott Bennner (17:06) Awesome.
Jen (17:07) On the Trio.
Scott Bennner (17:08) Okay.
Jen (17:08) And I've been on Trio for I wanna talk about Trio a little bit, but, yeah, five months on Trio.
Scott Bennner (17:11) Yeah, please. (17:12) So you tried just inhaled? (17:15) So were you doing basal injected and inhaled and nothing else?
Jen (17:19) So yeah. (17:20) So when I in 2017 is when I started Afrezza, and it was because my a one c got up to 7.9. (17:28) I went back and looked. (17:29) I'm like, oh my god. (17:30) That's so high.
Jen (17:31) And I was 44. (17:33) I'm pretty sure about in my mid forties. (17:35) I remember going to my female endo telling her, I think my hormones are affecting my blood sugar.
Scott Bennner (17:41) Mhmm.
Jen (17:41) And I said, I just I'm exercising. (17:44) I'm eating well. (17:45) I'm doing what I know to do, and I'm giving myself insulin. (17:48) I cannot control these two double arrows up and two double arrows down. (17:52) And she's like, it's just a part of life.
Jen (17:54) You're fine. (17:55) And I've been researching hormone replacement therapy. (17:58) She's like, no. (17:58) I don't believe in that. (17:59) And I'm going, okay.
Jen (18:00) Well, you know, at the time, I'm like, okay. (18:03) Mhmm. (18:03) I said, well, what about Afrezza? (18:05) You know? (18:05) Because, again, Kelly, had been on Afrezza for maybe three or four months before me, and she was like, oh my god.
Jen (18:11) Jen, it's great. (18:12) You gotta try it. (18:13) And I was like, if you help me, I'll try it.
Scott Bennner (18:15) Okay.
Jen (18:16) So I went on to I was already before I started Afrezza, I was in I went back from Olfa pump to MDI. (18:22) So was like a NovoLog pen and Tresiba. (18:25) So I was already on Tresiba, I liked it. (18:27) And then everybody's like, oh, Tresiba, Afrezza is a great pairing. (18:30) I'm like, okay.
Jen (18:31) I'll try Afrezza. (18:32) And I literally Scott went from NovoLog. (18:35) I stopped NovoLog entirely and went straight to Afrezza. (18:38) And then my a one c dropped from September 2017. (18:42) It was 7.9.
Jen (18:44) March '18, it was 5.9.
Scott Bennner (18:46) Okay. (18:47) And be prior to prior to that, you were doing what? (18:49) MDI?
Jen (18:51) Yes.
Scott Bennner (18:51) Okay.
Jen (18:51) Yes. (18:52) I was doing MDI because I was playing roller derby at the time. (18:56) I used play roller derby, and it's very
Scott Bennner (18:57) Why would you
Jen (18:58) say that?
Scott Bennner (18:58) Why Totally. (18:59) I know. (19:00) I know. (19:00) I know. (19:00) See, I want a
Jen (19:01) part two, so I don't want a part two. (19:02) So I played roller derby, bank track roller derby, hardcore, and I was tired of the putting my pump in my bra or worried about this and that or taking it off and not having insulin in my body, and that's why I went to MDI for a little bit. (19:16) And then I went to so I was on Afrezza from '17 until August '25. (19:24) So what? (19:24) That's eight years.
Scott Bennner (19:25) Why'd you stop?
Jen (19:26) So yep. (19:27) So then I stopped Afrezza and went straight to Trio without doing any other thing because I have another friend who does Trio, and she's been pushing it for, like, a year. (19:38) And Afrezza, I still had really good a one c's with it. (19:43) Mhmm. (19:43) In good my standard deviation is usually around thirty, thirty five, just to answer that question.
Jen (19:48) But on Afrezza, I was doing well, but I what I didn't like about Afrezza is I would have to do it correctly, I would put it into my Dexcom app. (19:59) I would put, like, how much insulin I took because it's in and out of me in about an hour. (20:03) And so I didn't wanna I wanted you know, so I'd put it in my app every time I took a you know, and then I'd have to okay. (20:09) I took four units, and now, you know, like, I'm going up. (20:12) Do I need more?
Jen (20:13) Is this a protein rise? (20:14) Whatever.
Scott Bennner (20:15) Felt like a lot of tracking work?
Jen (20:16) It's a lot of tracking. (20:18) Yep.
Scott Bennner (20:19) What was your a one c on the Afrezza?
Jen (20:21) It was in the fives. (20:22) Okay. (20:23) Anywhere from well, I I I would say it was anywhere from 5.3 to 6.1.
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Jen (21:38) I do. (21:38) Oh, you do? (21:39) Okay. (21:39) Yeah. (21:39) That's what I like about the Trio app is that you can put in external insulin.
Jen (21:43) Yeah. (21:44) And I don't think a lot of algorithms always do that. (21:46) So if I miss if I don't pre bolus or whatever, something happens and my sugar's really high, and I know this is gonna take a long time to come down or longer than I want, longer than an hour, then I'll take the smallest dose of Afrezza. (21:59) I'll put it into the algorithm so it knows I have that insulin on board, and then it'll bring me right down. (22:03) Wow.
Jen (22:04) And then I kinda have the soft landing. (22:06) So I still use both. (22:07) If I'm out and about and and I don't have time to pre bolus and I I really wanna eat, I'll use Afrezza
Scott Bennner (22:15) Okay.
Jen (22:15) Instead of the
Scott Bennner (22:17) Using the pump?
Jen (22:18) The Humalog. (22:19) Yeah. (22:19) Instead of the pump. (22:20) Yeah. (22:21) So I do both, but I'm mainly doing the trio.
Scott Bennner (22:24) Okay. (22:25) Yeah. (22:25) Alright. (22:26) Yeah. (22:27) What was I gonna say there?
Scott Bennner (22:28) Shoot. (22:30) I lost my train of thought. (22:31) Damn it.
Jen (22:32) Damn it.
Scott Bennner (22:33) Damn. (22:33) Damn. (22:33) Damn. (22:34) Damn. (22:34) Damn.
Scott Bennner (22:34) Damn.
Jen (22:36) It's okay. (22:37) He'll edit this out.
Scott Bennner (22:37) No. (22:38) I probably won't. (22:40) No. (22:40) I mean, that's that that's but oh, I I have it now. (22:43) I'm sorry.
Scott Bennner (22:44) So Mhmm. (22:45) Did having listened to the pro tip series eventually help you, or did you end up having to go back
Jen (22:50) You totally helped me.
Scott Bennner (22:51) Okay.
Jen (22:52) And I'm sorry I'm calling you dude all the time. (22:53) I say that a lot,
Scott Bennner (22:54) but whatever you want. (22:55) I don't care.
Jen (22:56) Okay. (22:56) Good. (22:56) Okay. (22:56) Cool. (22:57) Yeah.
Jen (22:57) But yes. (22:58) So once I went oh, well, before I went on Trio, that's when I I, like, I put it on Facebook or I'd I'd message you. (23:05) I'm like, hey, dude. (23:06) You ever gonna talk about Trio? (23:07) Mhmm.
Jen (23:07) And you're like, yeah. (23:08) Eventually. (23:09) And I'm like, well, hurry up. (23:10) Well, you, you know, you you can't do things. (23:12) You you have your schedule.
Jen (23:13) Right? (23:13) So I'm like, okay. (23:14) So I went back, and I listened to the Pro Series for sure, like, religiously. (23:19) And then I listened to the Loop, even though I know Loop's very different from Trio, but it's not that different. (23:25) I listened to all the Loop.
Jen (23:27) I'm like, okay. (23:28) I wanna understand algorithms. (23:29) I wanna under you know what I mean? (23:31) And then I got on the Trio Facebook group, and I'm talking to my friend. (23:34) And I finally said, what and so the the the the thing about Afrezza, what's great about it, is it's quick in and quick out.
Jen (23:43) So I never had to worry about really, really dropping during exercise. (23:47) You know, I as long as I eat an hour before, it's out of my system. (23:50) I can go exercise, go run, go play pickleball. (23:53) I'm not gonna drop. (23:54) Right?
Jen (23:55) And so I was hesitant to go onto an algorithm because of, you know, insulin being acting like it does. (24:02) And so it's been a big shift. (24:04) Like, I have to because at first, I did pre bolus. (24:06) I would literally go, this is how much I'm eating, and I would take it as soon as I started eating or sometimes after
Scott Bennner (24:12) Okay.
Jen (24:12) I ate, and it would still cover the rise or whatever. (24:15) And so it's a whole different mindset to go from Afrezza, I think, to an algorithm. (24:22) But I only did it because I had a friend who really knows the Trio app and was helped me with my settings, helped me with everything.
Scott Bennner (24:29) Made sense to you to try it.
Jen (24:31) Yeah. (24:31) Yeah. (24:31) Yeah. (24:31) So that's that's why. (24:33) But Afrezza's great, and it I love it as a complimentary now, but it definitely you have to be willing to track it.
Jen (24:41) Because if you don't if let's say you take you'd inhale it right now, and then in thirty minutes, you know, you go, oh, I'm rising. (24:49) When did I take it? (24:50) Was it fifteen minutes ago, was it an hour? (24:52) You know? (24:53) And because if it's just fifteen minutes, you'd probably need to wait.
Jen (24:55) It probably hasn't hit you really yet. (24:57) You know? (24:57) So that's why I would track it and and stay. (25:00) And then you'd always have to follow-up. (25:02) So, like, you take it for the initial rise, then you have to take a follow-up dose for the protein, then another dose for the fat.
Jen (25:08) You know what I'm saying? (25:09) So there you it was like a constant having to take it.
Scott Bennner (25:11) You're involved. (25:12) You felt involved too much.
Jen (25:14) Yeah. (25:14) I did. (25:15) And then, like, Tresiba was not doing a great job. (25:18) I was a little in denial, but at night I I was trying to I'm trying to figure this out. (25:22) But at night, almost every time when I lay my head down, my sugar goes high.
Jen (25:26) No matter what time I go to bed, it, like, starts going up. (25:29) And and I so I try to adjust the Tresiba, and it it would make me low, you know, like, maybe twelve hours later. (25:37) You know, it just I couldn't figure out the Tresiba. (25:39) But because Afrezza worked so well the rest of the time, I was like, it's worth it.
Scott Bennner (25:44) Okay.
Jen (25:44) And so but then, again, I got tired of tracking it. (25:48) I wanted to see if this algorithm could help me with my nighttime blood sugars. (25:51) And And that's why I'm at a 5.1. (25:53) Oh. (25:53) I mean, that's the only way I got to a 5.1 because my blood sugars overnight are so beautiful.
Jen (25:58) I'm like, this is so great. (25:59) Yeah. (25:59) But what I do have to do is when I get get ready for bed, I usually read before bed, and I'll I gotta remember my override. (26:06) Go, okay. (26:07) Nighttime override, and it's, like, 40% increased basil for two hours, and then it tends to cover the bump at night.
Jen (26:15) So that's what I do.
Scott Bennner (26:17) If I made you choose between the two, you'd pick Trio over Afrezza?
Jen (26:20) For sure. (26:21) Mhmm. (26:22) Yes. (26:23) I love it. (26:23) Yeah.
Jen (26:23) It's really great. (26:25) I mean, I still don't like that I have to get ready for exercise and the whole thing. (26:28) I but I just I just you just have to. (26:31) I wish insulin was quicker like Afrezza. (26:33) Yeah.
Jen (26:34) If we had quick liquid insulin, it would be amazing. (26:37) I think for now, I would stick with Trio.
Scott Bennner (26:41) Okay. (26:41) Fair enough.
Jen (26:42) Just because I don't have to worry about the in between as much.
Scott Bennner (26:45) Yeah.
Jen (26:45) Because I know the algorithm's taking care of me in between eating and whatnot.
Scott Bennner (26:49) Yeah. (26:50) Arden's been we all got sick last week, and Arden was, like, the last one. (26:54) But pretty interesting after she did eventually get sick, but she kicked it in, a couple of days, which I think we think is because she got her tonsils and adenoids out that she wasn't sick forever like she used to be when she was sick. (27:07) Mhmm. (27:07) But, nevertheless, she's sick for a few days, and she didn't really eat.
Scott Bennner (27:12) And really didn't matter. (27:14) Like, that thing
Jen (27:15) just Perfect. (27:15) Right? (27:15) If I didn't have to eat, Trejo would be I'd have to be a a 4.8. (27:19) Yeah. (27:20) I mean, like, it's just perfect.
Scott Bennner (27:21) Really kept her super steady while she was Yeah.
Jen (27:24) Going great.
Scott Bennner (27:24) Yes. (27:25) Sleeping and ill and, like, all that stuff.
Jen (27:28) Yeah. (27:28) So are you gonna do are you gonna talk about I know we're talking about it now, but are you hoping to it would just be great if you and Jenny would talk about trio.
Scott Bennner (27:37) So that's the thing is you have to find somebody who really understands the the
Jen (27:41) Yeah. (27:42) The algorithm.
Scott Bennner (27:43) Well, yeah. (27:44) I mean, how is it working and what are what are all these settings doing and how do you go through the different menus and make sense of them? (27:49) And I'm not that person.
Jen (27:51) Me either. (27:52) I know.
Scott Bennner (27:52) And so I really I enjoy the people very much who work on the algorithm, but sometimes they're not that person either. (28:00) Like, they're not as I love those guys, and a couple of them have been on the show, like but they Yeah. (28:05) They're better at the part that makes the algorithm than they are about the part that talks about it.
Jen (28:11) Yes. (28:11) Yes.
Scott Bennner (28:12) And it's tough. (28:12) So you're looking for someone conversational who like, it's a tough mix. (28:17) Like, you have to have a technical understanding of it and be conversational about at the same time. (28:21) Because otherwise, someone's just gonna come on and read a manual to you, and that doesn't really help you and you don't care to begin with.
Jen (28:26) Right.
Scott Bennner (28:26) And if someone just comes on and, like, you know, just talks about, like, oh, it's great because of this and that, like, that's not very directional. (28:34) And Mhmm. (28:35) I don't know. (28:35) It's tough. (28:36) Like, I just don't think that person has become obvious to me yet.
Jen (28:41) But is Jenny using trio?
Scott Bennner (28:43) She does. (28:44) Yeah. (28:44) But, I mean So
Jen (28:45) could she talk about it? (28:46) I don't
Scott Bennner (28:46) know how deeply I don't know if I've ever asked her.
Jen (28:48) I don't
Scott Bennner (28:48) know how deeply she can talk about it.
Jen (28:50) Scott, you gotta ask Jenny.
Scott Bennner (28:52) Well, Jenny Jenny's busy. (28:53) Also, making, like, bolus four episodes, and she has a life and all the kids and a job and stuff like that.
Jen (28:59) So You could at least look. (29:00) If I can talk to my sisters, you can ask Jenny.
Scott Bennner (29:03) I mean, it's not that I can't it's not that I can't ask her. (29:05) I just like I know. (29:06) I don't know what I I don't know that she's the right person. (29:09) Not that she doesn't understand it, but, like, the conversationally. (29:12) Like, I just did an interview with somebody else, and they I loved the way they thought about things.
Scott Bennner (29:18) I loved their their understanding of it. (29:20) And then when I got done with them, I was like, it didn't go great. (29:24) And, like, there's just there's a there's an x factor about people who can just kinda, like, bounce through it and talk about it, and it's you don't know who it is right away.
Jen (29:31) Right. (29:32) You need a Kenny Fox for Trio.
Scott Bennner (29:34) Well and listen. (29:35) I love Kenny, but Kenny also talks way too technically about it.
Jen (29:38) Well, that's true. (29:39) It's very technical. (29:39) I know. (29:40) I know.
Scott Bennner (29:40) I'm the one that dumbs Kenny down.
Jen (29:42) I know. (29:43) You're right. (29:43) Yeah. (29:43) You do have to dumb him down.
Scott Bennner (29:44) That. (29:45) I can't smart it up. (29:47) Like, I can dumb it down, but I can't smart it up. (29:49) Does that make sense?
Jen (29:50) Well, don't you think the main thing about Trio is that it has dynamic ISF, which means, right, the ISF, you put it in there, but then it will change as needed.
Scott Bennner (30:00) Oh, sure.
Jen (30:00) Which I think is amazing.
Scott Bennner (30:01) Need to talk about that on a podcast for. (30:03) Just use the damn thing.
Jen (30:04) Well yeah.
Scott Bennner (30:05) You put your settings in, and it it'll help. (30:08) You know? (30:08) Generally speaking for Arden, I think it adjusts well with her changes.
Jen (30:13) But listen. (30:14) But when you talk about an extended bolus with other algorithms, this doesn't have an extended bolus. (30:19) Right? (30:20) Alright. (30:20) So, you know, like, it so
Scott Bennner (30:22) Yeah. (30:22) We just put in fat and protein in the and let it do the thing that way.
Jen (30:26) That's what I'm saying. (30:27) Right? (30:27) You let it do the thing. (30:28) So I just wanted to clarify with you. (30:29) When you say extended bolus, I don't need to do anything because I'm on trio is all I wanna know.
Jen (30:35) You know what I mean? (30:35) Like, that kind of stuff.
Scott Bennner (30:36) If you're putting together, like, a high fat meal. (30:39) Right? (30:39) Right. (30:40) And it's got 16, you know, 18 carbs in it, then and you put that in your in the bolus calculator when you make your when you make your your meal bolus, it's gonna spread out more boluses into the future to cover that fat. (30:55) Right.
Scott Bennner (30:55) But that is an extended bolus. (30:56) It's just being extended by the algorithm.
Jen (30:59) That's what I mean. (30:59) I don't have to go in and do it. (31:01) So my point is my wife will come to me now that she's listened to the pro series, and I've known her for thirteen years, by way. (31:06) But, anyway, so she just listened to it. (31:07) She was, babe, you need to do it.
Jen (31:09) Extend the bolus. (31:10) I'm like, babe. (31:11) No. (31:11) I don't. (31:12) You know, because Trio's doing it for me.
Jen (31:14) I'm pretty sure.
Scott Bennner (31:14) Yeah. (31:15) But but if, I mean, but if you are getting a rise, you know, after a fatty meal, then maybe the FPU calculation in Trio doesn't work for you or for that meal.
Jen (31:25) Right.
Scott Bennner (31:26) You know? (31:26) And I don't know if I I don't wanna be clear. (31:28) See, this is why I don't talk about it. (31:29) I don't know if the Trio app is using the Warsaw calculator or not to figure out fat. (31:34) I don't know how it does it.
Jen (31:35) It is. (31:36) It is. (31:36) Yep. (31:37) If you look at the info, it yeah. (31:39) It's using that method.
Jen (31:40) But I'm not gonna look at
Scott Bennner (31:41) the infield. (31:41) That sounds like a lot
Jen (31:42) of work. (31:42) I know you're I know it's so much work. (31:44) But that's fair. (31:45) That's fair. (31:46) I just wanted to make sure that because I you know, we're kinda on cutting edge.
Jen (31:50) I feel good about that that I'm like, with this algorithm. (31:53) But that when I'm listening to you and Jenny speak, then I'm like, okay. (31:57) But I think the algorithm's doing that for me. (31:59) You know, that's the only thing I I sometimes question. (32:02) So
Scott Bennner (32:03) I think that not dissimilarly to when people say, oh, that pro tip series, I'm MDI. (32:09) That's not for me. (32:10) That pro tip series is exactly for you if you're MDI.
Jen (32:12) Totally. (32:13) Totally. (32:14) Yes.
Scott Bennner (32:14) Just because it's just about putting in insulin in certain places. (32:18) Like, can do that with a syringe. (32:20) Right? (32:20) You can do that. (32:21) You can do that.
Scott Bennner (32:22) But some people have that knee jerk reaction like, oh, this isn't exactly what I'm doing. (32:27) You can adapt it. (32:28) And I think the same thing for, you know, conceptually where insulin goes in and how and, you know, how you time it, how much of it is, you know, timing and amount. (32:38) If you're using Trio, those ideas still work there. (32:41) Like, it's automating stuff for you.
Scott Bennner (32:43) Fair enough. (32:44) But Uh-huh. (32:45) But, nevertheless, like, the idea, like, the the the foundation of what you're doing, which is timing and amount and understanding the impacts of different foods, that that's still the same.
Jen (32:54) Right.
Scott Bennner (32:55) Yeah. (32:55) Okay. (32:55) So I would say don't overthink it. (32:57) Like, take your general knowledge and apply it to the thing you're doing.
Jen (33:01) Yes. (33:01) Yeah. (33:01) That's fair.
Scott Bennner (33:02) That's how I think
Jen (33:03) of it. (33:03) I could do that.
Scott Bennner (33:03) Yeah.
Jen (33:04) Well, can I just talk you tell me if I'm all over the place? (33:06) You already said I am. (33:07) But I wanted to mention this one thing about Lowe's, if I can, just in case there's other people that have had this experience. (33:13) So I was on an algorithm, I don't wanna say which one, two years ago, for, like, three months. (33:21) And this algorithm is very conservative, and I was used to a really tight control.
Jen (33:27) But, again, I tried this algorithm, not trio, another one, because of that nighttime rise. (33:32) I thought, well, maybe an algorithm will catch it. (33:33) Mhmm. (33:34) Well, it didn't, by the way. (33:35) It did not help me in that way.
Jen (33:37) But what happened was, I think, because it was so conservative and I was high like, to me, high is over two like, over one fifty is high, but 200, I'm I'm mad. (33:46) Right? (33:47) I'm upset. (33:47) And with being on Afrezza before that, I wasn't used to being high for very long.
Scott Bennner (33:51) Right.
Jen (33:51) So if I was high for three hours, I was like, this is not cool. (33:54) So I kept giving myself insulin, giving myself insulin. (33:57) And then at this point, two years ago, I was alone. (34:01) My wife was working in South Dakota on an Indian reservation. (34:05) That's a whole another story, but she's gone.
Jen (34:07) Right? (34:07) And and all of a sudden, I remember, like and the other funny part as I was talking to this pumps rep on the phone, she was trying to help me with the algorithm. (34:18) I get off the phone with her, like, 05:30 at night. (34:21) I wasn't very impressed with her. (34:22) Like, she didn't help me at all.
Jen (34:24) And then all of a sudden, I'm I'm starting to make, like, a dinner or whatever, and then I'm like, oh, dear. (34:29) Like, I could feel, like, oh god. (34:31) I'm really dropping. (34:32) And I look, and the two hours are going down. (34:34) The Dexcom's alarming me.
Jen (34:35) I'm freaking out. (34:37) And I just remember, like, oh my god. (34:39) And I remember pacing in my kitchen slash living room. (34:43) And I have two little dogs. (34:44) I remember that their heads were distorted.
Jen (34:46) Their eyes looked big, and they're licking me because I'm sweaty. (34:50) And I know I'm supposed to do something. (34:52) And I'm like, what am I supposed to do? (34:53) I don't know what I'm supposed to do right now. (34:55) I'm supposed to do something, and I just kept pacing and pacing.
Jen (34:58) And we have a Ring camera, and my wife, of course, is following me. (35:01) So she's in South Dakota, and she's going, oh my god. (35:04) My wife is, you know I could see her pacing. (35:07) I could see her not drinking juice, and I can't get so she's texting me. (35:11) And I remember looking at my phone going, what's that?
Jen (35:13) Didn't know what a text was. (35:14) Mhmm. (35:15) I'm like, oh my god. (35:16) What is I don't what who's tech I was like, what is this? (35:18) And then all of a sudden, the TV, I went, oh, oh my god.
Jen (35:21) The TV's trying to talk to me because it was black, and then all of sudden, it had a sentence on it. (35:26) And I went, what the hell? (35:27) And I'm like, what is the TV's trying to do to me? (35:30) She was apparently trying to talk to I'm not gonna say her name because she'll start talking, but Alicia, you know Mhmm. (35:36) You know, Alexa.
Jen (35:37) She's trying to get Alexa to make an announcement. (35:41) Jen, drink juice. (35:43) And that's what they said on the TV. (35:44) And so she's trying to help me, calling me. (35:46) I don't I don't understand how to answer a phone.
Jen (35:48) I mean, I was that bad.
Scott Bennner (35:49) Yeah.
Jen (35:50) And then eventually, I I I grabbed some Wheat Thins. (35:54) Why? (35:54) Because they were on the cat on the counter. (35:56) I'm eating Wheat Thins, which is the worst thing to eat. (35:58) Because how dry is that?
Jen (35:59) I mean, I'm eating these Wheat Thins. (36:01) And and I just remember and I sat on the couch, all of sudden, you know, you come too. (36:05) And I went, oh my god. (36:08) Like and I look, and there's crumbs everywhere on the counter, and I'm just, like, freaking out. (36:12) And I text my wife, and I'm like, babe, I'm so sorry.
Jen (36:15) I'm okay. (36:15) And, you know, the whole thing.
Scott Bennner (36:17) But thank god you didn't put the wheat thins away because you know she's the one that left them out. (36:21) Right?
Jen (36:22) Right. (36:22) Yeah. (36:23) Seriously. (36:24) Yeah. (36:24) And so but what's what's really you know, and my heart was pounding.
Jen (36:28) I had all the symptoms of of a really bad low, But not only was that a bad low, but maybe a week later, I I think I had almost like PTSD. (36:38) So as soon as I saw two arrows going down, no matter what I was, I my heart would start pounding. (36:44) Take your knees. (36:45) I'd start sweating, and I'm going, oh my god. (36:48) Maybe the Dexcom's off.
Jen (36:49) Oh my god. (36:49) Maybe I'm having a low. (36:50) And I was so and I was like, I was foggy brained, and I literally gave myself a a whatchamacallit? (36:57) A Gvo pin in the in the leg, And I don't even know if I was low. (37:02) But my wife told me later, she said, sweetie, I think you're having a panic attack.
Jen (37:07) Oh. (37:07) And I went, what? (37:08) I've never had a panic attack. (37:10) She goes, pretty sure you're having a panic attack. (37:12) What you're telling me was happening, you know, is more of a panic attack than a low blood sugar.
Jen (37:18) So, anyway, I I had to change the Dexcom alarm. (37:22) I couldn't stand the sound. (37:23) I'm like, I hate the sound. (37:25) You know? (37:26) And and I did that.
Jen (37:27) And then and that was the other reason with the Fresa. (37:30) Fresa's great, but it it it it'll drop you quick. (37:33) You know what I mean? (37:34) And that it was you would see two arrows coming down all the time, but then it would come in in a soft landing. (37:39) Right?
Jen (37:40) Because it's in and out in an hour for me. (37:42) And but it's still that trigger of, oh god. (37:44) Oh god. (37:45) Oh god. (37:45) You know, I'm dropping really quick.
Jen (37:47) And I'm just now two hour two years later, you know, not as worried about having but it still happened before where it's almost like I'm causing these symptoms mentally, and it's really scary because they're very similar to to a low blood sugar.
Scott Bennner (38:04) Some
Jen (38:04) of those triggers
Scott Bennner (38:04) kinda make you panicky.
Jen (38:07) Yes.
Scott Bennner (38:07) Yeah. (38:08) Wow. (38:08) No. (38:09) I I can't I can't blame you. (38:10) That that's gotta be frightening.
Scott Bennner (38:12) Also, the TV's talking to you, like, right out of Pluribus. (38:15) You watch that?
Jen (38:16) I mean, sir say that again?
Scott Bennner (38:17) Have you watched the Pluribus show on Apple Plus?
Jen (38:20) No. (38:21) Oh, it's pretty good. (38:21) Was a severance. (38:22) Did you say severance?
Scott Bennner (38:23) No. (38:23) No. (38:24) Is it not Pluribus with, like, a one in it or something like that? (38:27) I haven't figured the one out yet.
Jen (38:29) Oh, I haven't watched that one. (38:30) No. (38:31) I don't know.
Scott Bennner (38:31) Yeah. (38:31) It's Plur is it yeah. (38:33) It's Pluribus.
Jen (38:35) Oh, yeah. (38:36) Yeah. (38:36) I've heard of it, but I haven't watched it yet.
Scott Bennner (38:38) Watch that. (38:38) It'll freak you out when the TV starts talking to her.
Jen (38:40) Awesome. (38:41) Great.
Scott Bennner (38:41) You'll probably you'll probably give yourself glucagon when it
Jen (38:43) happens. (38:46) Exactly.
Scott Bennner (38:47) My gosh.
Jen (38:48) So do I.
Scott Bennner (38:48) Well, that's frightening. (38:49) I mean and not you know? (38:52) Gosh. (38:53) I just think that we probably don't talk enough about adults by themselves Yeah. (39:00) And what that must feel like.
Scott Bennner (39:01) You know?
Jen (39:02) It's really scary. (39:03) I told her. (39:03) I said, you have got to quit that job. (39:05) Was like, I hate being by myself. (39:07) Was so afraid to be alone.
Jen (39:08) Damn it. (39:10) Sit and stare at me like Scott stares at Arden. (39:12) Okay? (39:13) And do someone to stare at me and tell me if I'm okay.
Scott Bennner (39:15) Funny. (39:16) Haven't laid eyes on Arden in, like, thirty six hours too.
Jen (39:19) Yeah. (39:19) Yeah. (39:19) I know. (39:19) Know you have. (39:20) I mean, wish she was little.
Jen (39:21) I know.
Scott Bennner (39:21) But Yeah.
Jen (39:22) Yeah. (39:23) But so I yeah. (39:24) I was like but I was, and my wife was like, okay. (39:27) We have to have a neighbor's like, we gotta give them the garage code, a key. (39:32) I'm like, babe.
Jen (39:33) I'm like, I don't wanna have to walk in. (39:35) I'm naked because I'm, you know, I'm so hot and sweaty that I've taken all my clothes off. (39:39) She's like, they'll be okay. (39:40) Yeah. (39:41) Better
Scott Bennner (39:41) naked. (39:41) Better naked naked. (39:43) Yeah.
Jen (39:44) I know. (39:44) I know.
Scott Bennner (39:44) And then one time she felt trying to send messages through the Alexa
Jen (39:48) so helpless. (39:49) I know. (39:49) I was like, I felt so bad for her because she said, I could see you circling. (39:53) And she says, oh my god, babe. (39:54) She knew it was bad because of the number plus my behavior.
Jen (39:58) Because normally, I can feel it if I'm at 70 or 60 or whatever and, you know, and I know what to do, but it was like I was so depleted of sugar in my brain
Scott Bennner (40:07) Yeah. (40:07) Yeah.
Jen (40:08) That I didn't know what to do. (40:09) It was so scary. (40:10) Is she
Scott Bennner (40:11) watching you on a camera?
Jen (40:12) Yes. (40:12) It was a Ring camera that was in the living room, and so she could see me pacing. (40:18) And she could see the dogs following me, and and, yeah, she felt helpless because she called me, and I didn't answer. (40:25) She texted me. (40:25) I didn't respond, and she tried to talk to Alexa, and I didn't respond because I I literally was so low.
Jen (40:32) I didn't know what a text was.
Scott Bennner (40:33) No. (40:34) Of course.
Jen (40:34) I mean, that's crazy.
Scott Bennner (40:35) Did she get to the point where she called 911?
Jen (40:38) No. (40:39) Because say why? (40:41) She oh, she was close. (40:42) I mean, I think she was, like I was about to call 911, and then she I think she saw me starting to eat the wheat thins because they were in the kitchen.
Scott Bennner (40:50) Okay.
Jen (40:50) So she saw me start eating. (40:52) I'm pretty sure it's what happened. (40:53) And I think I finally as soon as I started eating, I was able to go, I'm I'm I'm, you know, I'm not okay, but I'm gonna be okay. (41:00) You know? (41:00) Sort of like I'm still coming up.
Scott Bennner (41:01) But Don't worry about me. (41:03) Worry about the dogs. (41:04) Something's wrong with their eyes.
Jen (41:06) Their eyes are popping out of their head. (41:08) Yeah. (41:08) Something else like that.
Scott Bennner (41:09) Something really wrong with the dogs.
Jen (41:10) Totally. (41:11) Their heads are distorted. (41:12) They're so big. (41:13) I don't understand what's happening. (41:14) Yeah.
Jen (41:14) But I could just see their concern. (41:16) It was like Mhmm. (41:17) Yeah. (41:17) It was weird how everything was so distorted. (41:19) It was so scary.
Scott Bennner (41:20) Do you think they were just waiting for you to die so they could eat you?
Jen (41:23) Probably. (41:24) Yeah. (41:24) I mean, they love to lick the salt from the sweat. (41:26) So They're like,
Scott Bennner (41:27) oh my god. (41:28) She's gonna taste great when she passes out.
Jen (41:32) Exactly. (41:32) So, anyway, I do wanna mention that that was horrible, and I hope no one else has that. (41:37) But but I've never had a seizure, which I'm very grateful for. (41:41) And that's the other thing about being having the trio. (41:44) I feel a little more safe, I guess, with it with lows.
Jen (41:49) I mean, I still can have a bad low if something weird happens or the Dex comes off or whatever, but I still feel so much safer Mhmm. (41:57) Than I ever have before, and so I'm very grateful for that.
Scott Bennner (42:00) There's something to be said for a thing that is taking away insulin when it thinks you're gonna get low. (42:05) That's pretty damn valuable.
Jen (42:06) It's really important. (42:08) And I'll say I'm also on Zepbound, so that helps with, I think, algorithms and things, you know, used in less insulin and stuff. (42:16) But because going back to the hormone thing, like, I eventually went to a hormone specialist. (42:22) I was at 47, was actually in menopause. (42:25) I went to menopause very early.
Scott Bennner (42:26) Mhmm.
Jen (42:27) And as soon as I got on the estrogen and progesterone, my blood sugar stopped going from two hours up to two hours down for no reason, and now it was just more normal again. (42:36) So that really helped. (42:37) But even though I've always exercised, I've been a runner, I work out, I eat healthy, I take care of myself, I had gained, like, 30 pounds. (42:45) I couldn't lose it. (42:46) And I'm like, what the heck?
Jen (42:47) And so an ex endo, I don't see her anymore, but she mentioned, you know, Ozempic or whatever. (42:55) I can't remember what it was, but I think it was Ozempic. (42:57) And she goes, it's not approved for type ones, but off label, I can prescribe it. (43:03) We could see if insurance will cover it. (43:04) And so I started off with the sample pens for, like, three months.
Jen (43:07) I kept that going as long as I could Mhmm. (43:09) And lost weight, and now I'm at my normal weight. (43:12) And the amount of Afrezza, I was using probably a hundred units a day, which is really, like, fifty units of normal insulin. (43:20) And, normally, I was using fifty. (43:21) So I was using twice as much insulin.
Jen (43:23) And then as soon as I got on the GLP one, I went back down to about 45 to 50 units. (43:28) And now today, I use about 30 to 35, including basil on the yep. (43:35) And so I'm willing to pay the $4.99 a month. (43:39) I hate that I pay that much, but that's what I'm doing is that Lilly Direct plan Mhmm. (43:44) To be able to get it because it's worth it to me.
Jen (43:47) And I and I split it. (43:48) So I I take it, like, on a Saturday and then a Wednesday. (43:52) So I have it set up on my phone to remind me, but I split the dose because the dose doesn't last the whole time for me. (43:58) Yeah. (43:58) And when I would just do one dose, by day six, I was my sugars would be crazy again.
Scott Bennner (44:03) Yeah.
Jen (44:04) I'm like, this sucks. (44:05) I don't wanna have to deal you know what I mean? (44:06) It's a
Scott Bennner (44:07) Did you find that you you didn't need it all to begin with?
Jen (44:09) I think it was so, like, I'm on on Zepbound. (44:12) I'm on twelve point five, so it's a higher dose.
Scott Bennner (44:14) Oh, okay.
Jen (44:15) But, I'm supposed to the dose is fifty units because I get them in little vials, like little insulin vials. (44:20) That's how they ship it to. (44:21) It's not pens. (44:22) Yeah. (44:23) So if you use a syringe with it so I can dose it.
Jen (44:25) Right? (44:25) So I use 20, so forty units a week. (44:29) So twenty, you know, on a Wednesday and twenty on a, on a Saturday.
Scott Bennner (44:33) Mhmm.
Jen (44:33) And by splitting it up, I use, I mean, I don't have a weird day without GLP one in me.
Scott Bennner (44:42) I yeah. (44:42) I I feel like that a a microdosing of it is probably really valuable for people. (44:47) Did you you needed to lose some weight, but you lost it. (44:50) It's gone now?
Jen (44:51) Oh, yeah. (44:51) I totally need to lose weight.
Scott Bennner (44:52) Okay.
Jen (44:53) Because I promise you, I've always exercised. (44:55) I've always eaten healthy, and I could not lose weight. (44:58) I'm like, I'm running three miles a day. (45:00) I'm lifting weights. (45:01) I'm eating really healthy.
Jen (45:03) I'm taking care of my blood sugar. (45:04) I'm on hormones, and I think it was just hormones. (45:07) And then I think I'm GLP one deficient. (45:10) I mean, that's the only thing I can figure out. (45:12) And now I'm at a very healthy weight, and now I basically use it.
Jen (45:17) Because I still get really hungry because I still work out a lot. (45:20) I do orange theory. (45:21) So when I work out and lift weights, I'm hungry. (45:24) So I still have hunger, but I used to wake up every morning famished, and now I don't. (45:30) Yeah.
Jen (45:30) And I used to just snack all the time, I don't snack as much as I used to. (45:35) It was more of a I think my body needed it. (45:39) And, I mean, my my endo is like, I think you have some insulin resistance. (45:43) And so let's, you know, let's put you on this GOP. (45:47) Mhmm.
Jen (45:47) And that's how it started. (45:49) So
Scott Bennner (45:49) Yeah. (45:49) Oh, good for you. (45:50) I think it's really valuable. (45:52) I I still maintain that it's been keeping Larden needs down by, like, 30. (45:58) So Totally.
Jen (45:58) Yeah. (45:59) Yeah. (45:59) It really dropped mine.
Scott Bennner (46:00) It stops the you know, any kind of post meal spikes that maybe, you know, come from, you know, a bad bolus or a bad side or something like that are lesser, fewer low blood sugars, more stability, you know, a lot comes with it.
Jen (46:17) So I definitely recommend it. (46:19) For sure. (46:20) It's made my life a lot easier.
Scott Bennner (46:22) So I'm glad. (46:23) That's awesome. (46:24) Yeah. (46:24) And I really appreciate you doing this with me. (46:26) Thank you very much.
Scott Bennner (46:27) This was You're
Jen (46:27) so welcome.
Scott Bennner (46:28) You did a great job, and this was awesome. (46:30) I had a great time talking with you.
Jen (46:32) Yeah.
Scott Bennner (46:32) Yeah. (46:33) Yeah. (46:33) I did I never even noticed your accent.
Jen (46:34) Oh, I don't believe that. (46:35) That's right.
Scott Bennner (46:36) I am lying about that completely.
Jen (46:37) You're so lying about that, Scott. (46:39) What do
Scott Bennner (46:39) we call this episode?
Jen (46:40) Dude, that was what I was I know. (46:42) I told Kelly, I'm like, I want a part one and part two, and then I want I wonder what he's gonna call it.
Scott Bennner (46:48) Well, I gotta figure out what's Listen. (46:50) Call it, but I'll I do wanna say one thing. (46:52) Do wanna tell you one thing. (46:54) Saint John's is a small island off of Canada. (46:57) Saint John is in the Virgin Islands.
Scott Bennner (46:59) There's no evidence. (47:00) No You're call me
Jen (47:01) out for that. (47:01) No. (47:01) I was. (47:02) You're right. (47:02) You're right.
Jen (47:03) I know.
Scott Bennner (47:03) I'm right.
Jen (47:03) So I was in Saint John.
Scott Bennner (47:05) I the entire time you said it.
Jen (47:07) Are you serious?
Scott Bennner (47:08) Yeah. (47:08) But out
Jen (47:08) of respect. (47:09) You wait. (47:09) No. (47:10) No. (47:10) No.
Jen (47:10) You should have told me.
Scott Bennner (47:11) No. (47:11) No. (47:11) Let people understand now.
Jen (47:13) Okay. (47:14) Got it.
Scott Bennner (47:14) Saint John. (47:15) By the way, my brother got married on Saint John.
Jen (47:18) Really? (47:18) That's cool. (47:19) Yeah.
Scott Bennner (47:19) Yep. (47:20) I vacationed there on a couple of times. (47:21) There's actually I don't think I'm I should say this, but a fairly popular diabetes doctor, I think their daughter runs a charter boat on Saint John.
Jen (47:32) No way.
Scott Bennner (47:32) I just like I won't say who that is out of, like, you
Jen (47:35) know Yeah. (47:35) Yeah. (47:35) Yeah. (47:35) That's awesome.
Scott Bennner (47:36) Beautiful little island, like, flying to Saint Thomas, take the ferry over.
Jen (47:41) Mhmm. (47:41) The ferry. (47:42) Oh, yeah. (47:43) It's great.
Scott Bennner (47:43) Maybe maybe rent a Jeep if you're gonna move around. (47:45) If not, like, plop yourself into a house and just wander in
Jen (47:48) the beach. (47:49) Totally gotta have a Jeep because it's so hilly.
Scott Bennner (47:51) But Great island.
Jen (47:52) Yeah. (47:52) Twenty years ago when I was there, it was not touristy. (47:55) It was just really pretty, really nice.
Scott Bennner (47:58) I I mean, I haven't been there for a handful of years, but it's still it's just too small to be touristy. (48:02) And you have to,
Jen (48:03) like Is that what it is?
Scott Bennner (48:04) Yes. (48:04) Ends It's the effort. (48:05) You have to you have to I mean, you have to put your butt on a ferry and go across, and it's just not a thing people like, people get to Saint Thomas. (48:12) They're like, this is good. (48:13) I'll stay here.
Jen (48:13) This is good enough.
Scott Bennner (48:14) Right? (48:15) Yeah. (48:15) But, man Yeah. (48:16) Just really awesome. (48:17) I am going back to the Virgin Islands.
Scott Bennner (48:19) The cruise I'm doing in June makes a stop and I think sync hits. (48:24) I'm excited to go back.
Jen (48:25) No. (48:25) I'm going. (48:26) We're going on the cruise.
Scott Bennner (48:27) Oh, wait. (48:27) You're on the you're yeah. (48:28) You'll be there. (48:28) True. (48:29) Yeah.
Scott Bennner (48:29) Yeah.
Jen (48:29) Yeah. (48:29) I'm totally on the cruise. (48:30) Yep. (48:30) We're excited.
Scott Bennner (48:31) Well, then I'll see you then.
Jen (48:32) Yeah. (48:33) You'll get to meet the gens.
Scott Bennner (48:34) Yeah. (48:34) That's that's that that'll be awesome. (48:35) Oh, look at us.
Jen (48:36) Yeah. (48:36) See? (48:37) I know.
Scott Bennner (48:37) Oh, you're bring this full circle.
Jen (48:40) Yep. (48:40) So we are excited. (48:41) That'd be fun.
Scott Bennner (48:42) Good. (48:42) I am too. (48:43) Alright. (48:43) Great. (48:43) Well, if anybody wants to come along and meet the gens, juice cruise twenty twenty six is at juiceboxpodcast.com/juicecruise.
Scott Bennner (48:52) So Yes. (48:53) Alright. (48:53) Cool. (48:53) Thank you. (48:53) Hold on one second for me.
Jen (48:55) Okay. (48:55) Thanks, Scott.
Scott Bennner (49:02) The podcast episode that you just enjoyed was sponsored by Eversense CGM. (49:07) They make the Eversense three sixty five. (49:10) That thing lasts a whole year. (49:12) One insertion. (49:14) Every year?
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Scott Bennner (50:28) You have to join the private group. (50:29) As of this recording, it has 74,000 members. (50:32) They're active talking about diabetes. (50:35) Whatever you need to know, there's a conversation happening in there right now. (50:39) And I'm there all the time.
Scott Bennner (50:40) Tag me. (50:41) I'll say hi. (50:43) How would you like to share a type one diabetes getaway like no other? (50:47) Join me on Juice Cruise twenty twenty six. (50:50) You may be asking, what is Juice Cruise?
Scott Bennner (50:51) It's a week long cruise designed specifically for people and families living with type one diabetes. (50:57) It's not just a vacation. (50:58) It's a chance to relax, connect, and feel understood in a way that is hard to find elsewhere. (51:04) We're gonna sail out of Miami, and the cruise includes stops in CocoCay, San Juan, Saint Kitts, and Nevis aboard the stunning Celebrity Beyond. (51:13) This ship is chosen for its comfort, accessibility, and exceptional amenities.
Scott Bennner (51:18) You're gonna enjoy a welcoming environment surrounded by others who get life with type one diabetes. (51:24) I'm gonna host diabetes focused conversations and meetups on the days at sea. (51:29) There's thoughtfully designed spaces, incredible dining, and modern amenities all throughout the celebrity beyond. (51:36) Your kids can be supervised, there's teen programs so everyone gets time to recharge. (51:42) Not just the the kids going on vacation, but maybe you get the kickback a little bit too.
Scott Bennner (51:46) There's gonna be zero judgment, real connections, and a whole lot of sun and fun on Juice Cruise twenty twenty six. (51:52) Please come with me. (51:53) You're going to have a terrific time. (51:56) You can learn more or set up your deposit at juiceboxpodcast.com/juicecruise. (52:01) Get ahold of Suzanne at cruise planners.
Scott Bennner (52:03) She will take care of everything. (52:05) Link's in the show notes. (52:06) Link's at juiceboxpodcast.com. (52:08) If you'd like to hear about diabetes management in easy to take in bits, check out the small sips. (52:15) That's the series on the juice box podcast that listeners are talking about like it's a cheat code.
Scott Bennner (52:20) These are perfect little bursts of clarity, one person said. (52:23) I finally understood things I've heard a 100 times. (52:26) Short, simple, and somehow exactly what I needed. (52:29) People say small sips feels like someone pulling up a chair, sliding a cup across the table, and giving you one clean idea at a time. (52:37) Nothing overwhelming, no fire hose of information, just steady helpful nudges that actually stick.
Scott Bennner (52:43) People listen in their car, on walks, or rather actually bolus ing anytime that they need a quick shot of perspective. (52:50) And the reviews, they all say the same thing. (52:53) Small sips makes diabetes make sense. (52:56) Search for the Juice Box podcast, small sips, wherever you get audio. (53:00) Have a podcast?
Scott Bennner (53:02) Want it to sound fantastic? (53:03) Wrongwayrecording.com.
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#1782 Charlotte Must Hate You - Part 1
You can always listen to the Juicebox Podcast here but the cool kids use: Apple Podcasts/iOS - Spotify - Amazon Music - Google Play/Android - iHeart Radio - Radio Public, Amazon Alexa or wherever they get audio.
Jen recounts her T1D diagnosis at age 29 and opens up about the emotional challenges of navigating family dynamics lacking understanding and support.
+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.
Scott Benner (0:00) Friends, we're all back together for the next episode of the Juice Box podcast. (0:04) Welcome.
Jen (0:14) Well alright. (0:15) Well, hey, everybody. (0:16) I'm Jen, and I'm a type one. (0:19) I was diagnosed when I was 29, and I'm now 52.
Scott Benner (0:24) If this is your first time listening to the Juice Box podcast and you'd like to hear more, download Apple Podcasts or Spotify, really any audio app at all. (0:33) Look for the Juice Box podcast and follow or subscribe. (0:36) We put out new content every day that you'll enjoy. (0:40) Wanna learn more about your diabetes management? (0:42) Go to juiceboxpodcast.com up in the menu and look for bold beginnings, the diabetes pro tip series, and much more.
Scott Benner (0:49) This podcast is full of collections and series of information that will help you to live better with insulin. (0:57) How would you like to share a type one diabetes getaway like no other? (1:01) Join me on Juice Cruise 2026. (1:03) You may be asking, what is Juice Cruise? (1:05) It's a week long cruise designed specifically for people and families living with type one diabetes.
Scott Benner (1:10) It's not just a vacation. (1:12) It's a chance to relax, connect, and feel understood in a way that is hard to find elsewhere. (1:17) We're gonna sail out of Miami, and the cruise includes stops in CocoCay, San Juan, Saint Kitts, Nevis aboard the stunning Celebrity Beyond. (1:27) This ship is chosen for its comfort, accessibility, and exceptional amenities. (1:32) You're gonna enjoy a welcoming environment surrounded by others who get life with type one diabetes.
Scott Benner (1:38) I'm gonna host diabetes focused conversations and meetups on the days at sea. (1:42) There's thoughtfully designed spaces, incredible dining, and modern amenities all throughout the celebrity beyond. (1:50) Your kids can be supervised, there's teen programs so everyone gets time to recharge. (1:55) Not just the the kids going on vacation, but maybe you get the kickback a little bit too. (2:00) There's gonna be zero judgment, real connections, and a whole lot of sun and fun on Juice Cruise twenty twenty six.
Scott Benner (2:06) Please come with me. (2:07) You're going to have a terrific time. (2:09) You can learn more or set up your deposit at juiceboxpodcast.com/juicecruise. (2:15) Get ahold of Suzanne at cruise planners. (2:17) She will take care of everything.
Scott Benner (2:19) Link's in the show notes. (2:20) Link's at juiceboxpodcast.com. (2:23) Nothing you hear on the juice box podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. (2:27) Always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan. (2:33) This episode of the Juice Box podcast is sponsored by US Med, usmed.com/juicebox, or call (888) 721-1514.
Scott Benner (2:44) Get your supplies the same way we do from US Med. (2:48) Today's episode is also sponsored by Omnipod five. (2:52) Omnipod five is a tube free automated insulin delivery system that's 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. (3:04) Learn more and get started today at omnipod.com/juicebox. (3:08) At my link, you can get a free starter kit right now.
Scott Benner (3:11) Terms and conditions apply. (3:12) Eligibility may vary. (3:14) Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox.
Jen (3:18) Well alright. (3:19) Well, hey, everybody. (3:20) I'm Jen, and I'm a type one. (3:23) I was diagnosed when I was 29, and I'm now 52. (3:28) And so I'm pretty sure that was twenty three years ago Wow.
Jen (3:30) If I'm doing my math right. (3:31) Yes. (3:32) So
Scott Benner (3:33) It sounds right to me.
Jen (3:34) Here today.
Scott Benner (3:34) Because if I get 29, I add 10, I get 39. (3:37) Then I add 10 more, I get 49. (3:39) Then I start counting by ones. (3:40) So I get 20, and then I go 5051, 52. (3:44) That's three.
Scott Benner (3:44) I add the 20 and the three together, I get 23.
Jen (3:46) Yay. (3:47) Okay.
Scott Benner (3:47) It's that easy. (3:49) People might have thought because of your southern accent, you couldn't add, but that would just be a rude, rude misconception.
Jen (3:54) Wouldn't that be so rude? (3:55) I know. (3:56) Mhmm. (3:56) I know. (3:57) I am worried about the accent, but you tell me if you don't understand something I'm saying.
Scott Benner (4:01) You think I'm not gonna understand something you're saying?
Jen (4:03) Well, it may be something well, I wanted to say this to you. (4:07) You know, when you say very, like very Mhmm. (4:10) You you use a u. (4:11) You're like very. (4:12) And then I just think it's really cute.
Jen (4:14) I just want you to you to know that.
Scott Benner (4:15) Well, thank you. (4:16) I don't
Jen (4:16) You're very welcome.
Scott Benner (4:17) I have no idea what I'm doing.
Jen (4:19) I do. (4:20) But, like, you always say very, like, v u r y instead of very.
Scott Benner (4:24) You sound you sound like I'm checking into a hotel on my way to visit somebody in the South.
Jen (4:29) Exactly.
Scott Benner (4:30) I want you to tell me that there's a warm cookie in my room right now.
Jen (4:34) For sure.
Scott Benner (4:36) Born and raised there? (4:38) You?
Jen (4:39) Yeah. (4:39) I'm in yeah. (4:40) I live in Charlotte, North Carolina. (4:41) And so I was I grew up in a small town outside of Charlotte. (4:45) So
Scott Benner (4:46) You were born there? (4:47) Yes. (4:48) Are you guys tired of our people coming and overtaking your state?
Jen (4:52) Tired of it. (4:52) It's ridiculous. (4:54) Yes. (4:54) I'm so tired of it.
Scott Benner (4:56) Can I tell you? (4:56) No kidding. (4:57) People I've known, like, my whole, like, adult life, like, kids played softball with my daughter and baseball with my son and they're just fantastic people. (5:07) And one day, a for sale sign goes up in the yard. (5:10) And I stopped by and I go, what what what's happening?
Scott Benner (5:13) You know, I'm I'm like, if you leave, what does that mean? (5:16) I I gotta go. (5:17) You know? (5:18) And there's a note where their last kid they have four kids. (5:22) Their last one is playing softball in North Carolina.
Scott Benner (5:25) And they're like, we're just gonna move there and go to softball games for a couple of years until she graduates because she's been down there for a little while already.
Jen (5:33) Mhmm.
Scott Benner (5:33) And, then we think we're gonna stay.
Jen (5:35) Wow.
Scott Benner (5:36) And I said, it seems kinda quick. (5:39) They said, not just quick. (5:40) We have to move into an apartment. (5:41) We don't have a place to live.
Jen (5:44) That's funny.
Scott Benner (5:45) I go, where are you gonna move to? (5:46) Like, you know, you must you know the area, obviously. (5:48) No. (5:49) No. (5:49) We have a friend that moved there, said this one area is pretty nice.
Scott Benner (5:52) We're just gonna go there, rent an apartment, then we'll look around and find a house later.
Jen (5:55) Wow.
Scott Benner (5:55) And I was like, the people of North Carolina must hate you.
Jen (5:59) Wait. (5:59) Yeah. (5:59) Well, it's it's like Charlotte doesn't look the same at all. (6:03) Like, ten year and just in the last ten years, it's changed so much. (6:06) So
Scott Benner (6:07) I wouldn't imagine. (6:08) Yeah. (6:08) Well okay. (6:09) Well, I don't know what to do. (6:10) I can't I mean, I can command everyone to come back, but I don't think they're gonna listen.
Jen (6:14) I don't think so either. (6:16) It's okay. (6:17) It's okay.
Scott Benner (6:17) In fairness, I was looking at a house in Tennessee the other day. (6:20) So What? (6:22) Yeah. (6:23) It's a very reasonable tax situation in Tennessee. (6:25) I don't know if you're under
Jen (6:26) It is fair better, but it's definitely humid here. (6:28) I know I don't like humidity. (6:29) So
Scott Benner (6:30) But I gotta decide what do I like better, humidity or money? (6:33) You know? (6:34) Or
Jen (6:34) snow. (6:35) Mhmm. (6:36) Yeah.
Scott Benner (6:36) Anyway, I'm seriously considering it. (6:38) There's no there's no income tax in Tennessee.
Jen (6:42) Oh, I didn't know that.
Scott Benner (6:43) Uh-huh. (6:44) No. (6:44) Think about how much money you make, and then think about how much money you pay in income tax to the state, and then decide what would that be like if it was yours.
Jen (6:51) Yeah. (6:52) So when you're sitting in the humidity in July, you go, I'm saving money.
Scott Benner (6:55) You know, like that money and and turn the air conditioner on with it. (6:58) That's what I was gonna do. (6:59) Anyway
Jen (7:00) alright. (7:01) I love it. (7:02) Okay.
Scott Benner (7:02) 20 not you know, is a an interesting age. (7:06) You would think you felt probably pretty settled. (7:08) Had you had other health issues leading up to that, or was it just like a bell rang and you had diabetes?
Jen (7:14) Yeah. (7:15) I had really no issues before then. (7:18) I had no seasonal allergies. (7:20) Started about age 18.
Scott Benner (7:22) Mhmm.
Jen (7:22) So what? (7:23) Eleven years of that? (7:24) That's really it. (7:26) And so I remember when, like, the weekend before I was diagnosed, I was I felt sick, but I didn't have a fever. (7:36) You know?
Jen (7:36) I was like, I'm I'm not sick, but I'm sick. (7:39) And it was Memorial weekend, I remember. (7:42) And I remember I had a chance to go out on a boat. (7:45) Yeah. (7:46) And I didn't feel like going on a boat.
Jen (7:47) I'm like, something's wrong with me. (7:48) And and I was like, no. (7:50) I just don't have the energy. (7:51) And back in the day, in 2002, we still had Blockbuster. (7:55) So I thought, you know what?
Jen (7:56) I'm gonna go to Blockbuster. (7:57) I'm gonna rent some movies, you know, and because I'm so old. (8:00) You know? (8:01) And I remember driving, and all of a sudden, I couldn't see. (8:05) I couldn't read the street sign.
Jen (8:06) Like, it was blurry. (8:07) And I went, oh my god. (8:08) This is weird. (8:09) And and I also, like, on that little excursion, I remember I went to Target just to grab grab a couple things. (8:17) And I've always been really healthy, never drank sodas, anything like that.
Jen (8:21) And I look in the aisle, and there's a Mountain Dew code red. (8:25) And I went, oh my god. (8:27) I've gotta have this thing. (8:28) And I never had anything like that before. (8:31) So I'm, like, in the car in the parking lot.
Jen (8:33) I'm down on this Mountain Dew. (8:35) And that weekend, I had a whole gallon of milk by myself. (8:37) I had a whole thing of orange juice by myself. (8:40) I lived with my sister at the time, so it was just me and her. (8:43) And and so, I mean, I'm drinking all this, you know, just the normal stuff.
Jen (8:47) And I remember about three weeks prior to this, I was losing weight. (8:51) I'm like, dang. (8:52) I'm starting to look good. (8:53) Like, you know, like, I could see my muscles, you know, and all this stuff. (8:56) And I had just started playing tennis in May, you know, April, May, and I thought, wow.
Jen (9:00) Tennis. (9:01) Where has it been my whole life? (9:02) This is what I should have been doing this whole time.
Scott Benner (9:05) The missing ingredient.
Jen (9:06) Missing ingredient is tennis. (9:08) Tennis and
Scott Benner (9:08) Mountain Dew.
Jen (9:10) And Mountain Dew. (9:11) And so, anyway, so I remember, you know, I lost the weight. (9:15) I'm eating really, you know, a lot. (9:16) I'm like, this is great. (9:18) Tennis you know, again, tennis is a thing.
Jen (9:20) And and so then I'm back to the weekend. (9:23) I'm drinking all this, you know, using the bathroom all the time, the whole thing. (9:26) And then I I don't know. (9:29) I had this this suspicion when I put it all together. (9:32) I didn't know anyone's any anyone with diabetes.
Jen (9:35) And I thought, do I have diabetes? (9:37) And I'm like, why would I think that? (9:39) And then I remembered I have a friend who grew up with a type one, and I remember her talking about her years ago. (9:45) And I thought, So I called my friend, and she I talked to her about it. (9:50) She goes, it does sound very interesting.
Jen (9:52) You know? (9:53) I think you need to talk to my friend Gina who lived in Charlotte where I live. (9:57) And so I was like, okay. (9:59) So the next morning, I went to this stranger's house and, you know, I don't know, ten minutes down the road, and she had texted me and said, don't eat anything. (10:09) Don't you know, like, just come over to my house.
Jen (10:11) And it was, like, 08:30 in the morning. (10:12) I'm like, okay. (10:13) So I go over to her house. (10:14) It was a Monday morning, and she checks my blood sugar. (10:18) And I think it was, like, upper three hundreds, 400.
Jen (10:21) I don't know. (10:21) And it was I was fasting. (10:23) And she looked at me, and I still remember. (10:26) She looked at me. (10:27) She looked down and she looked at me.
Jen (10:28) She said, I'm sorry to say, but you've got type one diabetes. (10:33) And I went, what? (10:34) And, you know, I didn't even know what it meant, obviously. (10:37) And she said, uh-huh. (10:38) And I'm going to I want you to leave your car here at my house, and I'm gonna take you to the ER.
Jen (10:43) And I'm with the ER. (10:45) And she goes, mhmm. (10:46) And she said, I can smell your I know I know you don't understand this, but your breath is fruity. (10:51) And so that's telling me you need to go to the hospital. (10:55) Right?
Jen (10:55) I'm like, what? (10:56) And, I mean, I was on my way. (10:57) I was a a server. (10:59) I was a waitress at the time. (11:00) I'm like, I'm on my way to work.
Jen (11:01) I gotta shift to work. (11:02) Shoot. (11:02) I gotta lunch to work. (11:03) And she's like, no. (11:04) No.
Jen (11:04) No. (11:04) You're not going into work. (11:06) So that's how it started, how I ended up in the hospital in the ER. (11:11) And I remember, you know, in the ER, the doctors I'm sure they were residents. (11:16) This is a teaching hospital, but they came in and they I remember them saying, you're too skinny to be a type two.
Jen (11:24) I mean, oh, yeah. (11:25) Type two, but you're too old to be type one. (11:28) And I'm like, okay. (11:29) Cool. (11:29) You know?
Jen (11:30) And then finally, I they, you know, they finally said I don't know what they did to test it, obviously. (11:37) I don't I didn't understand anything back then, but they did finally decide I was a type one. (11:41) I had to spend the night, the whole thing. (11:44) And so part of the reason I wanted to come on this podcast, one, because I love this podcast. (11:48) And when I signed up months ago, you were, like, looking for people, and that's, you know, that's really I was like, oh, well, I have a story.
Jen (11:54) I can tell it. (11:55) But I feel like being an adult, single, you're I'm old enough to kind of, you know, be on my own, but I was clueless. (12:04) There was hardly any support for me. (12:07) I was in the hospital. (12:08) I was in for a day.
Jen (12:10) I remember they came in with the orange and the syringe and made sure I could do that. (12:15) And the doc I think the endo came in and talked to me and said, these are the pins you're gonna take home. (12:21) And all I remember is, you know I I just remember going, I don't know what to eat. (12:26) You know, like, I was so afraid to go home.
Scott Benner (12:29) Yeah.
Jen (12:29) But I did. (12:30) I went home, obviously. (12:32) And like I said, I was waiting tables, no insurance. (12:37) It was not good, but that's how it started out. (12:40) So it was very, very scary
Scott Benner (12:42) Wow.
Jen (12:43) To try to manage.
Scott Benner (12:44) Did that stranger stay with you in the hospital, or did they go, okay. (12:47) Well, goodbye.
Jen (12:48) Oh, yeah. (12:49) That's a good point. (12:49) She did stay with me.
Scott Benner (12:50) Very nice.
Jen (12:51) Yeah. (12:52) Until
Scott Benner (12:53) Your sister.
Jen (12:53) My family got there. (12:54) Yeah. (12:55) I've got three sisters. (12:56) They showed up. (12:57) My mom, my dad, they all showed up.
Jen (12:59) You know, everybody showed up in the ER, and they were very supportive and were with me. (13:03) And then Gina, the lady who helped me, she obviously left because, you know, she's like, I think you're good now. (13:10) You know?
Scott Benner (13:10) I I was just testing your blood sugar for a friend. (13:13) I didn't I
Jen (13:14) wasn't really planning on being in the ER all day.
Scott Benner (13:17) I wasn't looking for all this, but I am gonna go to I am gonna head over to the the Red Lobster and pick up a shift. (13:22) So Exactly. (13:23) Right? (13:24) I I they're looking for people.
Jen (13:25) Oh my god.
Scott Benner (13:26) Wow. (13:26) That's and that does that feel like it just happened, or does it feel like a million years ago?
Jen (13:31) Both. (13:32) It feels like a different lifetime. (13:34) You know? (13:35) Like, I I don't know. (13:36) It just feels almost like a dream back then, but I can remember every second of it at the same time.
Jen (13:42) I remember I remember being in the hospital, and my you know, it's sort of like our pattern. (13:48) My sisters and I, we laugh a lot, which is a great thing, obviously. (13:52) And I remember the doctors coming in going, y'all were, like, the happiest people. (13:55) Like, you're the happiest type one I've ever met. (13:57) You know?
Jen (13:57) Like, because we were just laughing and, you know, just they were trying to keep me upbeat. (14:02) And I think I was in shock, and, of course, my blood sugars are high, I'm not thinking clearly. (14:07) Yeah. (14:07) And I didn't really know what anything meant, but I do remember that. (14:11) You know, there was just a lot of laughter, laughter, a lot of
Scott Benner (14:13) Support.
Jen (14:14) You know, oh, dear. (14:15) How are we gonna handle this? (14:16) There was support, but I think that's all they knew to do, which was great.
Scott Benner (14:19) What what is it? (14:20) Both your parents are they together at that point?
Jen (14:23) They they divorced when I was 13, 14.
Scott Benner (14:27) Which one comes to the hospital?
Jen (14:29) They both came.
Scott Benner (14:30) They both did. (14:30) Yeah. (14:31) But it must have been fun.
Jen (14:32) Yeah. (14:33) Well, they actually get along fine. (14:34) You know? (14:35) They yep. (14:36) There's they're very civil.
Jen (14:37) We still do holidays together, believe it or not. (14:39) But yeah. (14:41) So they were fine. (14:42) Yep. (14:42) And and everything.
Scott Benner (14:45) Do you ever have any conversations with them? (14:46) Like, either of them, honestly. (14:48) Like, you're 29. (14:49) You're, you know, pretty you know? (14:51) Like you said, it it's interesting.
Scott Benner (14:52) Like, you're grown, but in your mind, you're like, I'm I'm not that grown. (14:56) I don't know a lot still.
Jen (14:57) Right.
Scott Benner (14:58) You know? (14:58) But do your parents feel like, did they slip back into being parents? (15:03) Or do they just go like, well, good luck. (15:05) Let us know how it goes? (15:06) Or do they feel like, gosh, do you need help?
Scott Benner (15:09) Like, what can we do something? (15:12) Today's episode is brought to you by Omnipod. (15:15) We talk a lot about ways to lower your a one c on this podcast. (15:19) Did you know that the Omnipod five was shown to lower a one c? (15:23) That's right.
Scott Benner (15:24) Omnipod five is a tube free automated insulin delivery system, and it was shown to significantly improve a one c and time and range for people with type one diabetes when they switched from daily injections. (15:36) My daughter is about to turn 21 years old, and she has been wearing an Omnipod every day since she was four. (15:42) It has been a friend to our family, and I think it could be a friend to yours. (15:46) If you're ready to try Omnipod five for yourself or your family, use my link now to get started. (15:53) Omnipod.com/juicebox.
Scott Benner (15:55) Get that free Omnipod five starter kit today. (15:58) Terms and conditions apply. (16:00) Eligibility may vary. (16:01) Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox. (16:07) You've probably heard me talk about US Med and how simple it is to reorder with US Med using their email system.
Scott Benner (16:13) But did you know that if you don't see the email and you're set up for this, you have to set it up. (16:18) They don't just randomly call you. (16:19) But I'm set up to be called if I don't respond to the email because I don't trust myself, a 100%. (16:25) So one time, I didn't respond to the email and the phone rings at the house. (16:30) It's like, ring, you know how
Jen (16:31) it works.
Scott Benner (16:31) And I picked it up. (16:32) I was like, hello? (16:33) And it was just the recording. (16:34) It was like, US Med, doesn't actually sound like that, but you know what I'm saying. (16:37) It said, hey, you're, I don't remember exactly what it says, but it's basically like, hey, your order's ready.
Scott Benner (16:42) You want us to send it? (16:43) Push this button if you want us to send it. (16:45) Or if you'd like to wait, I think it it lets you put it off, a couple of weeks or push this button for that. (16:50) That's pretty much it. (16:51) I push the button to send it, and a few days later, box right at my door.
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Jen (17:29) They did not. (17:30) They I love my parents. (17:32) They're young parents. (17:33) They're only twenty years older than me. (17:34) So and I'm the oldest, so I've always been very responsible.
Jen (17:37) Mhmm. (17:38) So they're kinda like, oh, good. (17:39) It's Jen got diabetes. (17:41) You're not the other three. (17:42) Yeah.
Jen (17:42) She'll be fine.
Scott Benner (17:43) And, god, it wasn't that one. (17:45) Oh my god.
Jen (17:46) Wasn't that one.
Scott Benner (17:46) Yeah. (17:47) Yeah. (17:47) Get in trouble.
Jen (17:48) Yeah. (17:48) So I had been my own parents since I was, like, 12 or 10 or whatever. (17:53) So I see. (17:53) No. (17:54) They and they so they love me, but they still even twenty three years later, that's part of what I wanted to mention on this too.
Jen (18:01) I don't wanna bounce around too much.
Scott Benner (18:02) But You're fine.
Jen (18:03) Part of my the hard part of this is feeling even though I have this community and I'm on the Facebook group and the whole thing, I still feel very alone within my family. (18:14) Mhmm. (18:15) You know? (18:15) And, like, one sister's gluten free and has been for about the same amount of time as me, you know, the twenty years or whatever. (18:22) And they're all they're knocking over the door to make her a gluten free, you know, meal or dessert or whatever.
Jen (18:29) And for me, they're not doing anything. (18:31) Even when I was new into this, you know, not knowing what I was doing or how to use insulin. (18:35) Yeah. (18:36) You know? (18:36) So that hurts a little bit.
Jen (18:37) I'm like, her stomach just hurts. (18:39) I could die. (18:40) You know? (18:40) So
Scott Benner (18:41) Do you think are they they just feel like you have the sugars? (18:45) Is it, like, oversimplified?
Jen (18:47) They're not that ignorant. (18:48) No. (18:49) They know. (18:49) But I think it's just, unfortunately, I've always been so responsible. (18:54) Oh.
Jen (18:54) And I will admit, I, you know, I I like I mean, I like people thinking I'm responsible, so that's part of it. (19:01) I don't ask for help a lot, and and it's hard for me to admit when I need help. (19:06) And so I that I'm part of the problem, and I do admit that. (19:11) And I know that about my personality.
Scott Benner (19:12) It's partially that they think, oh, Jen's got this. (19:17) She's always got it. (19:18) But it's also because they probably learned to be okay with that because you kept them at arm's length at times?
Jen (19:23) Yes.
Scott Benner (19:24) Okay.
Jen (19:24) For sure. (19:25) Yeah. (19:25) Yeah. (19:25) Yeah. (19:25) For sure.
Jen (19:26) And I didn't want to burden anybody, you know, because it's it's like, being type one, it's sort of like your whole life, but you don't wanna make it your whole life. (19:35) You know? (19:36) Because it's not. (19:36) It is and it's not. (19:38) And so it's it's like, I don't know in the beginning, and still, I don't wanna over talk about it, but sometimes I do wanna talk about it because it's a you know, I go through stuff.
Jen (19:49) And then when I try to talk about it or, like, the other day over the holiday, I had to change I wear the Omnipod Dash, and I use the Trio system. (19:59) And so I I my sugars were going up, and I'm like, oh, shoot. (20:03) I I I this is about the end of this pod. (20:05) I probably need to go ahead and change it. (20:06) So we're all sitting around playing games, and I just pull out my pod and my insulin and the whole thing.
Jen (20:13) And my nine year old nephew is looking and, you know, wondering kinda what I'm doing. (20:19) And I've shown him before, but I was trying to explain it to him. (20:21) This is my insulin pump and the insulin and blah blah blah. (20:26) And he was listening a little bit, but the rest of the family, I don't know. (20:29) They just sort of go, whatever.
Jen (20:31) It's no big deal. (20:33) And and I had some family members that aren't my immediate family were there, and I said, yeah, guys. (20:39) I could if I don't have this insulin, I could die in a day or two. (20:42) Know, I was just trying to be and they were just like,
Scott Benner (20:44) Okay. (20:44) Fascinating.
Jen (20:45) And fat no. (20:46) They just kept going. (20:47) And I'm like, seriously? (20:48) And I just had the big the next day, I just cried and cried and cried to my wife. (20:54) And I was like, I know I sound like a big baby, but it just hurts sometimes when something is, I don't know, so important and yet it's also in the background.
Jen (21:05) And it I don't know. (21:05) So I have this weird relationship with diabetes and my family. (21:09) And so I
Scott Benner (21:10) you know? (21:11) Let's pick let's pick through it a a second. (21:13) So Yeah. (21:13) Yeah. (21:13) You have a weird relationship with diabetes, which means
Jen (21:16) Yes.
Scott Benner (21:16) You don't want it to be anything people think about, but it would be nice if somebody thought about it once in a while.
Jen (21:23) Ridiculous. (21:23) Right? (21:24) But yes.
Scott Benner (21:24) No. (21:24) I I I understand what you're saying. (21:26) You don't wanna be begging for it, but it would be nice if once in a while they looked over you. (21:30) I so I'll share. (21:33) Right?
Scott Benner (21:34) The other day
Jen (21:36) Mhmm. (21:36) Mhmm.
Scott Benner (21:37) I I don't know. (21:39) Jen, listen. (21:40) I don't get high. (21:42) I don't drink. (21:43) I don't cheat.
Scott Benner (21:44) I don't hit people. (21:45) Like, all the stuff that happen I hear people's lives every day. (21:49) Like, I get up, I do the thing I'm supposed to do, I save money, I plan for the future, I put people before me. (21:56) I'm in the middle of doing something. (21:58) Arden says to me, hey, can you come here?
Scott Benner (22:00) I drop what I'm doing. (22:01) I go with her. (22:02) My son says to me last night, I gotta go to the airport for my job. (22:05) I said, when do you gotta leave? (22:07) He said, 05:30AM.
Scott Benner (22:09) No problem. (22:09) Went to bed early, got up at five, was there waiting for him at 05:30, got in the car, drove him an hour to the airport, drove an hour back. (22:17) I'm gonna go back and pick him up again tomorrow night. (22:19) I don't think twice about it. (22:20) Wow.
Scott Benner (22:21) I don't expect them to say thank you. (22:23) I don't want them to say thank you. (22:25) I believe that I am being myself in this situation. (22:29) However, I look at the rest of the world once in a while, and I think, you're all pretty lucky. (22:35) This is who I am.
Scott Benner (22:36) I I don't need you to tell me. (22:37) I don't even want you to tell me, but goddamn, no one ever says it. (22:41) Is that how you feel? (22:42) Is that how you feel? (22:43) Yes.
Jen (22:43) Yes. (22:43) It's exactly how I feel. (22:44) Yeah. (22:44) And, you know, I your kids are so lucky. (22:48) Those They're
Scott Benner (22:49) so Yeah. (22:50) Goddamn right. (22:51) Well, I hope they're listening.
Jen (22:52) Oh, I do too. (22:54) Shame on them for not listening. (22:55) Yeah.
Scott Benner (22:56) I need the downloads. (22:57) What's their problem?
Jen (22:57) Seriously, dudes. (22:58) Come on. (22:59) But yeah. (23:00) So, like, when I first started listening, my friend Kelly, she was on your podcast, talked about Afrezza Mhmm. (23:05) About a year ago.
Jen (23:06) But, anyway, she told me about you about two years ago. (23:09) I never even once thought about listening to a diabetes podcast. (23:12) I don't know why, but I didn't. (23:13) And now I'm obsessed. (23:14) But I started she said, the pro series a thousand to a 25 or whatever.
Jen (23:18) I'm like, okay. (23:19) And so I did it. (23:20) But at the time when I listened, I was on Afrezza. (23:24) And, you know, you know, you're not big on Afrezza. (23:27) And so like, well, this has nothing to do with me.
Jen (23:29) He's talking about prebolasane and having to worry about insulin being in your system when you exercise, and that had that's not how it is with Afrezza.
Scott Benner (23:36) Right.
Jen (23:36) And so I'm like, ugh. (23:38) And I tried, but I just I I couldn't get a whole lot out of it. (23:42) And and so I was a little bit resentful that there was nothing else besides normal insulin. (23:47) And then I heard how good you what a good parent you are. (23:51) And I'm like, dang it.
Jen (23:53) Like because we're, the same age. (23:54) You're, like, a year older than me. (23:56) And I'm like, I want him to I don't want you to be my dad, but I want you to have a dad like you. (24:00) You know? (24:00) And I'm like, wow.
Jen (24:01) Those kids have no idea what this man does for him, for them.
Scott Benner (24:06) Jen, my point is is that I and I mean this genuinely. (24:09) I'm not looking for anybody to say thank you.
Jen (24:11) Not. (24:12) I know you're not. (24:12) I I understand that. (24:14) I know that's not why you do it. (24:15) But every once in a while
Scott Benner (24:17) Right.
Jen (24:17) Thank you, dad. (24:19) Thanks.
Scott Benner (24:19) And I'm not gonna say it doesn't every like, I wasn't where was I with Cole recently? (24:24) And he Cole said something that made me realize he's didn't say it, say it, but what he was saying was, man, I recognize that making that podcast as big as it is is pretty extraordinary. (24:38) Like, he kind of gave me that for a half because he didn't use all the words, but he get like, he gave it to me. (24:42) And I was like, oh, he's proud of me, And that's nice. (24:44) You know what I mean?
Scott Benner (24:45) Like or he recognizes what hard work does or being diligent, you know, whatever. (24:50) Mhmm. (24:51) But, yeah, I don't know I don't know. (24:53) Like so my point is this, is that I think I feel like I understand what you're saying, which is I do my thing. (25:01) I take care of my diabetes.
Scott Benner (25:02) I don't want it to be my whole life. (25:04) I am not even looking for you to mention it, but, man, there are moments when how come you can't see how much I need you to say you're doing a great job? (25:15) Or, wow. (25:15) That is really something, Jen. (25:17) We're all over yucking it up playing Yahtzee, and you're strapping your man made, you know, pancreas on.
Scott Benner (25:23) So my question to you is, so you've ever said that to anybody? (25:26) Mm-mm. (25:27) Like, how would they know? (25:29) If you're projecting strength all the time and I got it, I got it, I got it, why would they think you needed, like, the that a boy?
Jen (25:36) Yeah. (25:36) I knew you're gonna ask that. (25:38) But well okay. (25:39) So indirectly because, you know, I'm southern. (25:41) We we're indirect.
Jen (25:42) I, you know, I have the supplies out. (25:44) And so it's sort of like to me, I'm like, hey. (25:48) I'm showing it to you. (25:49) I'm not in a bathroom. (25:51) You know what I mean?
Jen (25:52) Like, I'm not over here, like, hiding this. (25:54) And so I feel like Mhmm. (25:58) That is a perfect time for just just for them to ask to have some curiosity. (26:02) That's all I'm ask you know, like, to ask about it.
Scott Benner (26:05) What's southern passive aggressiveness called? (26:07) Does it have a name?
Jen (26:09) I don't know. (26:10) What it called
Scott Benner (26:11) What is it called when you guys go, oh, bless your heart?
Jen (26:14) Bless their heart.
Scott Benner (26:15) Yeah. (26:15) What is that? (26:15) What what is that? (26:16) That's
Jen (26:17) That's just us being very sarcastic. (26:19) Okay. (26:19) Like, we're saying bless your I don't really say that, but bless your heart, and we're really judging you at the same you know, we're really judging you, but we're saying, well, bless them.
Scott Benner (26:27) Yeah. (26:27) Look at this idiot. (26:28) Is that what that means?
Jen (26:29) This idiot. (26:29) Yeah. (26:30) It means, oh my god. (26:31) They are so ridiculous. (26:32) Yes.
Jen (26:33) Yes. (26:34) So I understand. (26:36) I I I guess okay. (26:37) This is what I have done. (26:38) K?
Scott Benner (26:38) Go ahead.
Jen (26:39) Okay. (26:39) Okay. (26:39) One sister who's two years younger than me, I have asked her to follow me. (26:43) Okay? (26:44) Like, she and my wife follow me.
Scott Benner (26:46) Okay.
Jen (26:46) And she started doing that because my wife used to, you know, leave for two weeks for work, and I'd be by myself. (26:52) Mhmm. (26:53) And they were worried about me, and so my sister Jill would would follow me. (26:58) And it it you know, and so every once in while, she'll text me and say, hey. (27:03) You're heading straight down.
Jen (27:04) Are you good? (27:05) You know? (27:05) And so That's beautiful. (27:06) I do like that. (27:07) I really do appreciate that.
Jen (27:09) She's probably the one family member that's really made some sort of effort about it. (27:15) But if I really start not complaining, but talking about the hard parts of it, she will will shut me down. (27:23) Like, oh my god. (27:24) You're complaining. (27:25) Or Mhmm.
Jen (27:26) You know what? (27:26) I don't know how to explain it, but it's it's like they want me to be responsible. (27:31) They want me to be okay. (27:32) And when I'm not okay,
Scott Benner (27:34) prefer if you shut up and kept it to yourself.
Jen (27:36) Yes. (27:36) Yes. (27:37) They don't know how to handle that because this is the dynamic. (27:39) Jen's okay all the time.
Scott Benner (27:41) Does she have any health issues?
Jen (27:43) She's the one that has the, gluten intolerance, but that's it.
Scott Benner (27:47) Do you ever do you let her talk about that with you? (27:49) Like, if she starts complaining about that, do you go, oh, come on. (27:51) Your stomach just hurts, do you
Jen (27:53) Of course, I listen to her. (27:54) Yes. (27:55) I listen. (27:55) I I give what I wanna receive. (27:57) So yes.
Jen (27:58) And I listen to her recipes that she bakes and all the things, and I try her stuff and say, wow. (28:03) Can't even tell it's gluten free. (28:05) Yes. (28:06) Mhmm. (28:06) Very, very, very supportive.
Jen (28:08) And I'll talk to her about, wow. (28:09) It must be hard when you travel, if it's just salads or you know, like, I try to I do. (28:14) I just try to do do that. (28:16) And you're right. (28:16) I could literally just say to my family, hey, guys.
Jen (28:21) Every once in a while, if you wanna ask about my diabetes, that would be great with me. (28:26) You know, I I guess I could say that. (28:28) I feel like that is so vulnerable for me to do, but I feel like I could and see I think I'm so afraid to do it.
Scott Benner (28:35) What do you think could go wrong?
Jen (28:37) Well, they could just be the same and just go, what?
Scott Benner (28:40) Just go, I'm not I'm not interested. (28:42) I won't be asking you. (28:44) Yeah.
Jen (28:44) I'm just not gonna ask you. (28:45) Then I'm really good at them for sure. (28:47) They don't care. (28:48) So right now, I can still pretend that they I know they care. (28:51) I don't know how to explain it, but I just like, when you like, when I hear the parents talk about staying up all night and checking their kids' blood sugar and looking at their sugars all day.
Jen (29:03) I'm like, if I had someone doing that for me, OMG. (29:06) That would be amazing.
Scott Benner (29:08) Well And And if that was happening for you from the beginning, you wouldn't know, and then you would just take it for granted. (29:12) I know.
Jen (29:13) I know. (29:14) Yeah. (29:14) But I'm just saying, it just I've had it one time. (29:16) I played pickleball, and I was in a pickleball tournament. (29:19) And my wife said, I'm gonna give me your phone.
Jen (29:22) I'm gonna handle your diabetes. (29:23) And I went, oh my god. (29:25) That would be amazing. (29:26) And it was the most amazing thing. (29:28) She'd come over, take two sips of this, or, hey.
Jen (29:30) You need this much insulin. (29:31) And I was I was like, this is so wonderful.
Scott Benner (29:34) You're like a fighter. (29:35) Every every couple of minutes you head into the corner and somebody just wets you down and squirts something in your mouth, and, like, go go and go do it again.
Jen (29:42) I was like, yeah. (29:43) I got this. (29:43) Yeah. (29:44) So totally. (29:44) I felt like rocky.
Jen (29:45) I was like, yeah. (29:46) It's dope. (29:47) But, yeah, it was so nice to have that.
Scott Benner (29:49) I bet.
Jen (29:50) So, anyway, I'm not trying to complain about it. (29:52) I'm just saying I think as adults who get diagnosed are sometimes the forgotten ones by the medical community because we are adults.
Scott Benner (30:02) But maybe by everybody else too.
Jen (30:05) Yeah. (30:05) By everybody Right. (30:07) For me. (30:07) Yeah. (30:07) So, anyway, that's
Scott Benner (30:09) No. (30:09) That's interesting. (30:09) It really is. (30:10) And I mean, you've and you've listen. (30:11) You're talking about this to it's not like it happened to you yesterday.
Scott Benner (30:14) You're twenty three years removed from being diagnosed, and it's still it's still impactful for you.
Jen (30:19) I know. (30:20) That
Scott Benner (30:21) Do you think that you could let it go if something happened? (30:26) Like, what if I snuck over to your mom and I was like, yo. (30:28) Call Jen and ask her about her diabetes. (30:30) And, like and and she did it. (30:32) Do you think you'd just be like, okay.
Scott Benner (30:34) Well, that part's over now and you'd move on? (30:36) Are you stuck in a spot? (30:38) Like, can you give it away even though they're not helping you take it away? (30:42) Does that make sense?
Jen (30:43) I'm gonna have to let it go if that is answering your question. (30:46) I know that I can't Yeah. (30:48) Convince them or make them do something that they don't wanna do. (30:52) And I know that they love me even though they don't ask about it. (30:55) You know, like, it's that weird dynamic.
Jen (30:58) I know. (30:59) And I guess I just wanted to share that when I have a bad day emotionally, it has a lot to do with that. (31:07) You know, just this having to deal with something nonstop Mhmm. (31:11) And people not ever asking about it. (31:15) Sometimes it's just hard.
Scott Benner (31:16) How long how long have you been married?
Jen (31:18) We've been married for eleven years.
Scott Benner (31:20) K. (31:20) So do you get any of that from her on the diabetes?
Jen (31:24) I do. (31:25) I yeah. (31:25) Oh, yeah. (31:26) Yeah. (31:26) She's definitely more supportive.
Jen (31:28) But what's funny and she told me not to tell you, but I'm gonna tell you anyway, is when we met, she she's still a physician assistant. (31:35) She's still a PA. (31:36) She worked in the ER when I met her. (31:38) And so I assumed she knew everything about type one. (31:42) And I'm showing her my Medtronic, whatever I had, you know, And and and she was clueless.
Jen (31:48) She had she knew nothing. (31:50) And now I know they don't know a whole lot about it, but she was so clueless. (31:54) And I had I've I felt a little resentful, like, I'm having to teach you, like, carbs and fats and proteins and all the things, and she didn't know. (32:03) And and so now, I mean, almost once a week, she'll say, wish I could take this from you. (32:08) You know?
Jen (32:09) And I'm like, no. (32:10) You're ADHD. (32:10) This would be worse if you had this. (32:12) But I'm like, don't take it from me. (32:13) But, you know, it's yeah, she definitely is very supportive.
Jen (32:17) But like we were saying before we started recording, she she just started I've always wanted her to listen to this podcast and just have a little bit better understanding. (32:27) Because every once in while, she'll give a, like, hey, babe. (32:29) Do you need to da da da? (32:31) I'm like, no. (32:32) You know, that's not what I need.
Jen (32:33) Right. (32:33) That's backwards.
Scott Benner (32:34) You know?
Jen (32:35) Oh my god. (32:35) And so I get frustrated with her. (32:37) And so she knew I was gonna be on this today speaking with you. (32:42) And so she's been listening to the podcast. (32:44) You know?
Jen (32:44) She's like, tell him I'm not a podcaster, but I've been listening for, like, the last week. (32:48) And I was like, okay. (32:49) I'll tell him.
Scott Benner (32:50) Well, because of that, because she's trying, I won't ask if you met at softball.
Jen (32:54) We did not. (32:55) You little booger. (32:56) We did listen. (32:57) We both played softball in high school, but no.
Scott Benner (32:59) I know you did, but that's not my point. (33:01) Of course. (33:02) Right?
Jen (33:03) I love to generalize too. (33:05) No. (33:05) We met in choir,
Scott Benner (33:07) and Uh-huh.
Jen (33:08) That's where we met. (33:09) Isn't that cute? (33:09) Yeah. (33:09) Was, like, community choir, and that's where we met. (33:12) So
Scott Benner (33:12) Oh, that's really lovely. (33:13) You're just out trying to meet people and have a good time, and you met each other.
Jen (33:16) Totally. (33:17) I was. (33:17) Yeah. (33:18) I was just I'm not really a great singer, but I grew up in choir. (33:20) So I was like, yeah.
Jen (33:21) I'll go join a choir. (33:22) I need to get out. (33:23) And she's actually really good. (33:24) She was like a voice major in college. (33:26) And before she switched to medicine, and so I told the director because I was overwhelmed, I said, I need to sit beside a strong alto.
Jen (33:34) Do you have anybody? (33:36) And he went, I do. (33:37) And her name's Jen as well. (33:38) So that's funny. (33:39) She's like he's like, yeah.
Jen (33:40) Jen. (33:40) And I'm like, okay. (33:42) And and so we sat I mean, like, the next day or whatever, next week, she sat beside me, and we I was like, oh my gosh. (33:50) She can sing. (33:51) And if I if you can sing beside me, I can match it.
Jen (33:54) You know, I can't really read the music, but I can hear it and match it. (33:57) And we had so much fun. (33:58) I'm like, oh my god. (33:58) This is so cool. (34:00) That's awesome.
Jen (34:00) And that's kinda how it started.
Scott Benner (34:02) That's nice.
Jen (34:02) Do you
Scott Benner (34:02) think that person was setting you up, or do you think they actually thought they they could cover your voice for you?
Jen (34:07) I think it was a little bit of both because he kinda raised his eyebrows like, oh, you could sit beside Jen. (34:12) Like that, I'm thinking, what's Jen? (34:14) You know? (34:14) But, anyway yeah. (34:16) Yeah.
Jen (34:17) Yep. (34:17) Yep.
Scott Benner (34:17) People love matchmaking. (34:18) They love it.
Jen (34:19) I know. (34:20) I do. (34:20) I know they do.
Scott Benner (34:21) Yeah. (34:21) Yeah. (34:22) Yeah.
Jen (34:22) Like But, you know, you haven't asked me, and I have written it down
Scott Benner (34:26) What?
Jen (34:26) About does anybody have autoimmune in your family?
Scott Benner (34:29) I mean, I'm waiting for it, but I also wanna ask about the Afrezza, but let let's do that thing first.
Jen (34:34) There's a lot to talk about, Scott. (34:35) You know, my my goal is to have a part one and part two, just so you know. (34:39) I told Kelly, if I get a part two, I've made it.
Scott Benner (34:43) Rob right now is like, listen. (34:44) It's the beginning of the year. (34:45) Just stop talking around an hour. (34:47) Would you please?
Jen (34:49) Don't make me work more. (34:50) I'm kidding. (34:50) You you yeah.
Scott Benner (34:51) I'll Well, no. (34:52) And you said your sister had celiac, so I was gonna get around to, like, ask him what else was going on.
Jen (34:57) Yes. (34:57) Well, yeah, sooner talk about that, and then we'll do Afrezza. (35:00) So so I didn't know any of this when I was diagnosed. (35:04) Obviously, I was clueless about type one or diabetes or autoimmune. (35:09) But listen to your podcast and and learning about that, I'm like, oh, yeah.
Jen (35:13) So I did ask my mom, and she's like, oh, yeah. (35:15) We had we I have or had two great aunts who had MS and then another great aunt who had type one, but she got it late in life. (35:25) Like, she was, like, 50 or 60 when she got that. (35:28) And then on my dad's side, RA, my dad has rheumatoid arthritis. (35:34) His mom had it, and his sister has it.
Jen (35:37) And then I have three second cousins once removed who have type one diabetes, all on my dad's side. (35:45) And they're all female, and they're all firstborn.
Scott Benner (35:48) Wait. (35:48) Wait. (35:48) There's type one on your mom and your dad's side?
Jen (35:51) Yeah. (35:52) Ain't that crazy?
Scott Benner (35:53) Yeah. (35:53) It's crazy that only you got it.
Jen (35:55) It's crazy that only know. (35:56) I keep I know. (35:58) A really bad part of me it's such a bad part of me. (36:01) Mhmm. (36:01) Wishes my one of my sisters would get it for, like, just for no.
Jen (36:05) Listen.
Scott Benner (36:05) Listen. (36:06) Just
Jen (36:06) for a week. (36:07) No. (36:07) Listen. (36:07) Just for a week.
Scott Benner (36:08) Okay.
Jen (36:08) Just for a week, and then they'd have some empathy, and then they'd take it away again. (36:12) That is a really horrible part of me, but just to have some empathy. (36:16) But
Scott Benner (36:16) What
Jen (36:16) They're not. (36:17) They're they're fine. (36:18) But I did wanna ask you
Scott Benner (36:19) Hold hold on. (36:19) Wait. (36:20) Wait. (36:20) Give me one second. (36:21) Give me one second.
Scott Benner (36:22) Yeah. (36:22) Hold that thought. (36:24) Okay. (36:24) What if instead of wishing that they could have diabetes for a week, what if you did day of diabetes with them? (36:30) What if you said to them, I really wish you understood this more.
Scott Benner (36:34) I know that sometimes you feel like I might be complaining, and that breaks my heart because I just I need somebody to talk to about it. (36:40) I don't have anybody to understand. (36:42) I was wondering if you could spend twenty four hours understanding better what diabetes is. (36:48) Like, what if I texted you every time I had to think about diabetes for one day?
Jen (36:55) Oh my gosh. (36:55) Okay. (36:56) Yeah. (36:56) I could do that.
Scott Benner (36:57) See, and I explained to you, like, hey. (36:58) Right now, I'm, you know, counting carbs up for a meal that I'm gonna eat twenty minutes from now. (37:04) Or I just changed my pod. (37:06) It took fifteen minutes. (37:09) You know, I had to like, here's what I did.
Scott Benner (37:12) I stopped what I was doing. (37:13) I was in the middle of working. (37:14) I stopped what I was doing. (37:15) I went to the refrigerator. (37:15) I got my insulin.
Scott Benner (37:16) I got the pump out. (37:17) I opened up the pump. (37:18) I put the needle together. (37:19) The needle, you know, drew out the insulin. (37:22) I tapped the bubbles out of it, filled the pod, primed the pod, you know, put it on, inserted it.
Scott Benner (37:28) I looked to see that, oh gosh, you know, my blood sugar is already one thirty. (37:31) The new pod is probably gonna go up. (37:33) Do I need the bolus right now? (37:34) How much? (37:34) I don't wanna get low.
Scott Benner (37:35) I have to go back to like, like, what if you like, what if they had that information?
Jen (37:40) Mhmm.
Scott Benner (37:40) And, like, just for the maybe you'd even write it down, not and and share it with them later instead of the, you know, texting it to them. (37:47) But just so you could just say to them, like, I would love for you to understand what it's like. (37:52) I don't want you to feel bad. (37:53) I'm not looking for Mhmm. (37:54) Sympathy.
Scott Benner (37:55) I can't really explain it to you, but there are times that I feel strong and that I don't want anybody to worry about me, but there are other times I wish someone understood what I was going through. (38:08) Don't you know what it's like to wish somebody understood what you were going through? (38:11) And then please tell me what's in your life that I don't understand that I could understand better. (38:17) Like, it might be an it might be a nice bonding thing for your sisters. (38:20) You know?
Jen (38:21) I know. (38:21) That sounds really nice.
Scott Benner (38:22) Don't do your mom.
Jen (38:23) Put it that way.
Scott Benner (38:24) She little
Jen (38:24) Oh, definitely not doing my mom. (38:25) Yeah. (38:25) Yeah.
Scott Benner (38:26) Yeah. (38:26) Yeah. (38:26) That that's that's that's different. (38:28) Just Yeah. (38:28) Yeah.
Scott Benner (38:29) Yeah. (38:29) She gets the coast to the end now. (38:31) Exactly.
Jen (38:33) Yeah. (38:33) We'll give her a pass.
Scott Benner (38:34) Yeah. (38:34) I remember the time I looked at my mom, and I said to my brother, it's like, it's time to stop teaching mom things. (38:39) Let's just let her go. (38:41) Whatever she thinks Exactly. (38:42) Is good enough.
Scott Benner (38:43) Like, don't let her be. (38:44) But
Jen (38:45) Oh, no.
Scott Benner (38:45) I don't know. (38:46) Like, does that sound crazy?
Jen (38:48) No. (38:48) It does not sound crazy.
Scott Benner (38:49) Interesting. (38:50) I wonder if you'll
Jen (38:50) do it. (38:50) Really helpful. (38:51) I knew you'd help me with this. (38:53) I was like, he's gonna help you.
Scott Benner (38:54) I mean, I'm pretty thoughtful.
Jen (38:55) You're very thoughtful. (38:56) You could have been a therapist for sure.
Scott Benner (38:58) Did you hear that cutting edge breakdown of did you meet in softball? (39:01) It's amazing.
Jen (39:04) I love it.
Scott Benner (39:07) So okay. (39:07) So I'm sorry. (39:08) I cut you off. (39:09) What were you gonna say?
Jen (39:10) I don't remember.
Scott Benner (39:11) I do you have ADHD?
Jen (39:13) I don't dude. (39:14) No.
Scott Benner (39:15) You jump around a little bit, so I stopped you to see if you'd remember what you were gonna say.
Jen (39:19) You are a booger. (39:20) No. (39:20) I don't have ADHD.
Scott Benner (39:22) Okay.
Jen (39:23) I don't. (39:24) I just have a long story. (39:25) Did you I've lived a long life.
Scott Benner (39:27) Did you think I was disagreeing with you when I said okay? (39:31) You're like, I don't.
Jen (39:33) Yeah. (39:33) Like, I'm feeling offended. (39:35) I'm I'm okay. (39:36) Your,
Scott Benner (39:38) spouse does. (39:39) Your wife does.
Jen (39:40) Yes. (39:41) She does.
Scott Benner (39:41) Is that a diagnosed thing, or is it just a thing she says?
Jen (39:45) No. (39:45) It's for sure diagnosed and treated.
Scott Benner (39:47) Because the because the whole world's running around saying they have ADHD. (39:50) Don't know if you noticed too. (39:51) People like to say they're autistic now too. (39:53) I know. (39:54) I know.
Jen (39:54) Yeah. (39:54) They're on the spectrum.
Scott Benner (39:55) I don't think you are. (39:56) I I I and I think people with autism would be offended if they heard you.
Jen (40:01) Right. (40:01) Yeah. (40:02) For sure. (40:02) But no. (40:03) No.
Jen (40:03) She definitely has all the the symptoms, signs, unfortunate parts of ADHD.
Scott Benner (40:10) Okay.
Jen (40:10) So yeah. (40:12) Yep.
Scott Benner (40:12) What are the unfortunate parts?
Jen (40:14) Oh, well, she is very, very hard on herself. (40:20) She always has no time, so she's always behind. (40:25) She is, like, hard for her to finish things. (40:28) So, like, just some like, a funny example, we get Amazon packages and show up in the package, but do you think she puts the package you know, like, there's the box is there, and I've I've, you know, I've it up, and I put it in the recycling. (40:41) You know, like, she those little things, it's not a big deal, but that'll happen.
Jen (40:44) But her biggest thing is, like like I said, she's a PA, and she's really good with her patients. (40:50) She's so good and empathetic and really good provider, but that's not what the medical industry wants. (40:56) Right? (40:56) They want you to be quick and hurry. (40:59) So she gets kinda penalized for being slow.
Scott Benner (41:03) Stop the right word. (41:04) People and
Jen (41:05) Yeah. (41:05) Yeah. (41:05) Yeah. (41:06) And I do again, I've already said this. (41:08) I know my part.
Jen (41:08) I'm responsible. (41:09) I've always been that way. (41:11) And so I have to be really careful to not manage her, to not mother her. (41:16) You know, like, it's that dynamic that can happen in that relationship.
Scott Benner (41:20) Mhmm.
Jen (41:21) Because it it but there'll be times where I'll be like, Okay. (41:24) Because she'll be like, hey. (41:26) You know, I think we should paint the garage, and and then we're gonna, you know, clean it out, and then we're gonna da da da da. (41:33) I'm like, no. (41:33) No.
Jen (41:33) No. (41:33) No. (41:34) No. (41:34) You know, we're gonna do this one thing.
Scott Benner (41:36) Go throw the box away. (41:38) Let's see you throw a box away before I paint something.
Jen (41:40) Box away before we clean out the whole garage. (41:42) And so I'm there to help kinda help to prioritize and to
Scott Benner (41:48) Mhmm.
Jen (41:49) Put things in a certain you know, the the the first step is this and now this and that because she will start spiraling is what they call it. (41:55) And she's spiraling very emotional, very reactive. (41:59) And so and so, like, if I'm, like, if I'm low, you know, and I'm like, oh, I gotta you know? (42:04) And and she'll kinda pick up on my crazy frantic energy if it's a bad low, like I'm dropping quick. (42:12) And she's there to help me, but I'm like, I need you to be calm.
Jen (42:16) You know what mean? (42:16) Like, I don't need you to get up, you know, emotional with me. (42:20) That doesn't make me feel better. (42:21) So Yeah. (42:22) That's kinda what so there's a lot of good about ADHD, but in her profession, it's hard to be ADHD in the medical field Okay.
Jen (42:30) From what I've seen.
Scott Benner (42:31) Yep. (42:31) So I'm looking at your notes for the first time.
Jen (42:34) Oh, yeah. (42:34) Do you
Scott Benner (42:35) think coming out how wait. (42:37) I don't understand what you're saying here.
Jen (42:39) Do you think Okay. (42:39) Okay. (42:39) Okay.
Scott Benner (42:39) Go ahead.
Jen (42:40) So when I was first diagnosed, you know, they always said they would say, did you have the flu? (42:44) Did you have mono? (42:45) Were you sick?
Scott Benner (42:46) Anything stressful.
Jen (42:47) Prior, and I wasn't. (42:49) And the only thing I had was, yeah, the only thing I had was those seasonal allergies. (42:53) Right? (42:53) And I'm like, well, I have allergies, but that's it. (42:55) It's only the thing I go to the doctor for.
Jen (42:57) And so as within that first year of diagnosis, I was doing a lot of self reflection because a part of me is like, did I cause this? (43:04) Before I understood diabetes, you know, and type one. (43:07) And and I was I was like because stress well, oh, I know what I was stressed about.
Scott Benner (43:12) Yeah.
Jen (43:12) I was I didn't honestly didn't know I was attracted to women in my late twenties. (43:19) And I remember in that you know, the year before diagnosis, I had a so called best friend, and she was. (43:25) We're just best friend, platonic, no big deal. (43:27) But between you and me and a lot of people, I, you know, I had I was like, I really, really like her. (43:35) You know?
Jen (43:36) Like, it's like, I just like to be around her. (43:38) I like to you know, I just wanna talk to her all the time. (43:40) That was it. (43:41) Nothing physical. (43:43) It was just more like this emotional thing.
Jen (43:46) And then she so called broke up with me, and we stopped being friends. (43:50) And it was like a real breakup. (43:51) And I'm like, what is wrong with me? (43:54) Why does this feel like a real breakup? (43:55) Because at the time I was dating men, I've been engaged to men, you know, the whole thing.
Jen (44:00) And so it was such a stressful event that I have no idea if that is what triggered me to finally turn this gene on and, you know, get type one, but there was nothing else really going on in my life. (44:14) You know what I mean?
Scott Benner (44:15) How long? (44:17) My gosh. (44:18) So you so you dated men for the fur like, maybe you still do. (44:22) I have no idea what you do. (44:23) But, like No.
Jen (44:23) I don't. (44:24) I don't. (44:24) Don't. (44:24) But yeah. (44:24) So I yeah.
Jen (44:25) So, like, I remember I mean, in high school, I was, you know, I was athletic. (44:30) I played sports. (44:31) I had made good grades. (44:32) I was a good kid kind of thing. (44:33) Mhmm.
Jen (44:34) And I was like, well, I should be interested in boys so I have something to talk to my girlfriends about. (44:39) You know? (44:40) Like like, that's what they do, so I guess I should like boys too. (44:43) But I didn't know that that was weird or different. (44:45) Now, you know, I was like, I guess I should like boys.
Jen (44:48) And they kinda got on my nerves, but I'm athletic, so we'd pass softball or football. (44:52) And, yeah, we'd play sports, and I liked that part of it. (44:56) But I didn't like the other part of of dating. (45:00) And so but I didn't think much about it. (45:03) And but, yeah, I mean, if you guys wanna know how to get a ring on your finger, I can definitely teach you how to get a ring on your finger.
Jen (45:11) It's basically don't care about the guy, don't wanna see him for a week or two, don't have sex with him, and he wants to marry you. (45:19) So Treat
Scott Benner (45:20) boys poorly and they chase you around?
Jen (45:22) And I me I'm not trying to sound horrible, but I just wasn't that interested in them. (45:26) You know? (45:27) And I didn't understand that I wasn't. (45:29) Yeah. (45:30) And I remember when I came out, finally, my sister Jill, she said, oh my god.
Jen (45:35) I'm so glad you're gay because I thought there was something wrong with me that I like boys so much. (45:40) We So anyway.
Scott Benner (45:41) We we we did you did you did you do the have you done the deed with the boys? (45:56) This episode was too good to cut anything out of, but too long to make just one episode. (46:01) So this is part one. (46:02) Make sure you go find part two right now. (46:04) It's gonna be the next episode in your feet.
Scott Benner (46:09) US Med sponsored this episode of the Juice Box podcast. (46:13) Check them out at usmed.com/juicebox or by calling (888) 721-1514. (46:21) Get your free benefits check, and get started today with US Med. (46:27) The podcast is also sponsored today by Omnipod five. (46:31) Omnipod five is a tube free automated insulin delivery system that's 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.
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Scott Benner (46:58) Thank you so much for listening. (47:00) I'll be back very soon with another episode of the juice box podcast. (47:03) If you're not already subscribed or following the podcast in your favorite audio app, like Spotify or Apple Podcasts, please do that now. (47:11) Seriously, just to hit follow or subscribe will really help the show. (47:16) If you go a little further in Apple Podcasts and set it up so that it downloads all new episodes, I'll be your best friend.
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Scott Benner (47:45) Type one, type two, gestational, loved ones, it doesn't matter to me. (47:50) If you're impacted by diabetes and you're looking for support, comfort, or community, check out Juice Box podcast, type one diabetes on Facebook. (48:00) If you'd like to hear about diabetes management in easy to take in bits, check out the small sips. (48:06) That's the series on the Juice Box podcast that listeners are talking about like it's a cheat code. (48:11) These are perfect little bursts of clarity, one person said.
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