#376 Zoe and Roxy's Wild Ride
A siblings perspective of type 1 diabetes
Zoe is the adult sibling of a person with type 1 diabetes.
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Scott Benner 0:00
Friends Hello, how are you? Welcome to Episode 376 of the Juicebox Podcast. Today's show is sponsored by the Omni pod tubeless insulin pump, and on the pod would love to send you a an absolutely free, no obligation demo of their product, they'd like to send it right to your house, so you can try it on and see what you think. Go to my Omni pod.com Ford slash juice box to get that pod experience kit sent out to you right away. To learn more about the Dexcom g six continuous glucose monitor, you're going to want to go to dexcom.com Ford slash juicebox. There are links to all of the advertisers in the show notes of this episode. And at Juicebox podcast.com. Use the links and support the show.
For the first five years of my life, I was an only child and then it happened. My parents had more kids. And then I had siblings. Well, today we're going to talk to Roxy sister Zoe. Zoe does not have type one diabetes, but she did grow up with Roxy. And Roxy does. So for all of you are always like, I want to hear from someone. Sorry, I heard you. Here it is okay. But this is only going to be one perspective. Zoe's an adult, so as Roxy and they had their experience, if you've had a different experience, we would like to shine a different light on the subject. Reach out and let me know, you might just be able to get on the podcast and tell your story. When you get on the podcast and people are listening, I'll ask them to remember that nothing they hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. And I'll further ask them to consult a physician before making any changes to their health care plan. or becoming bold with insulin. Zoe and Roxy's wild ride. Eric comes.
I think this is very nice of you to do. Thank you.
Zoey 2:16
Oh, sure. Why not?
Scott Benner 2:19
Hold on one second, let me help my daughter with insulin real quick.
Unknown Speaker 2:24
Okay.
Scott Benner 2:26
Her pump is at the very end of its insulin. We sort of we sort of noticed that in the car driving to school this morning. So the minute I'm done speaking to you, I'm gonna take her some insulin in a new pod. Okay, but we're good. We're gonna make it through this.
Unknown Speaker 2:41
Okay, don't you worry. Do whatever you have to do. Please. Are you kidding me?
Scott Benner 2:45
Alright, so you've probably don't listen to this podcast. I don't know. My sister does, which makes 100% sense. Yeah. So let me just tell you before we start, it's pretty laid back and conversational. I'm not gonna ask you anything you don't already know the answer to if I do. Just be like, I don't want to answer that or whatever. You know, it's not about Sure.
Zoey 3:09
Yeah. No, it's fine.
Scott Benner 3:10
If you and I end up getting along really well and a half an hour from now I say something and you're like, that's more like we've known each other for six months got cruise past? I'm
Zoey 3:18
usually that person. So are you really? Yeah, I am freakishly open.
Scott Benner 3:24
I am too. So I'll get into a setting with Pete. By the way. We're recording. I'll get into a setting with people who I don't know. And 15 minutes into it. They're looking at me like is there anything left about your life? You haven't?
Zoey 3:38
Yeah, I pretty much offer it all up in the beginning.
Scott Benner 3:41
Why? Do you know why? First of all, who are you tell people who you are?
Zoey 3:44
Oh, my name is Zoey. I am the sister of a diabetic. I have a younger sister. My sister Roxie got diabetes when she was nine. I believe. Okay, play. She was eight she turned nine in the hospital.
Scott Benner 3:59
No kidding. Good for her happy birthday. Yeah. How old is she out? You know? Do you remember?
Zoey 4:03
Ah, she's gonna be she's gonna kill me if I get this wrong. She's gonna be 33 I think on March 18. How old are you? 32 I'm 28 so we're four and a half four and a little bit years apart.
Scott Benner 4:14
Okay. So when she was diagnosed you were not even in school yet.
Zoey 4:18
Ah, no, I must have been like, I don't know kindergarten maybe you're like preschool or something. Yeah, right.
I was like around four so yeah, somewhere around there. But let's find out a little about you
Scott Benner 4:30
before we find out a little bit about Roxy. Okay, and you for whatever it is Roxy Did you Roxy and Zoey? Yeah, parents hippies.
Zoey 4:44
So funny. Um, they sound like hippies when I described them. But they're not really. We they're from Vermont. Actually. They're from like Long Island and New Jersey, but they have taken on their Vermont personas very seriously. They look like in the middle of nowhere. My dad was all Carhart, when I was an artist, my dad is a woodworker. So yes, they sound like hippies, but without the drugs
Scott Benner 5:08
would they have been? I didn't expect hippies are always high, but I hear what you're saying. Okay, what would they have been if they stayed on the island? Do you think? Oh over they run
Zoey 5:18
on happy, unhappy for sure. Yeah, just like development all over the place. I think my mom when she goes back to Long Island is just like, so sad to see
that it's just like mcmansions everywhere and stuff. She was
Scott Benner 5:33
looking for more open space.
Zoey 5:35
Yeah, for sure. My dad constantly says sitting on the front porch looking out at the beautiful piece of land on makes you want to live in Manhattan. He really doesn't. doesn't care for the city.
Scott Benner 5:48
You dead sarcasm was grown in Vermont. I can tell.
Unknown Speaker 5:51
Definitely.
Scott Benner 5:52
Vermont once. Here's what I know about Vermont. They don't like air conditioning for some reason.
Zoey 5:56
Yeah, we don't have air conditioning. I was living in Phoenix, Arizona this past summer, and I had to get used to it cuz it's everywhere is air conditioned. Yeah, we just have open air. Yeah,
Scott Benner 6:06
no, I know. I was there for a week. Yeah, maybe. I was near a big mountain. I remember being here. So here was my my experience. We wanted to go on a end of summer vacation. So we sort of picked somewhere close by where we wouldn't have to fly. But it would still be far enough away. rented this really beautiful house up on a mountain, you know, like and had a pool there. Like this is it right here. My son was playing a baseball game in the afternoon. So my wife left for Vermont with my daughter. And I went to my son's baseball game. And when the baseball game was over, he and I headed up. We were probably a couple of hours behind them. It was like a six. No, it's got four and a half hour drive. So I don't know where that puts us. Right. And where are you from? New Jersey. Okay, so no, no. Are you kidding? I'm actually from Philadelphia. I just live in New Jersey.
Zoey 7:05
Okay, I say hi. Just
Unknown Speaker 7:08
my wife got a really good job.
Zoey 7:11
Fair enough. Fair enough.
Scott Benner 7:14
One day, we hope to be able to afford a ton of carne heart and a place where nobody can get to us. Live in the dream. See how long we can stand each other before we murders the other one?
Zoey 7:25
Yeah, surprise. They're still perfectly happy shopping.
Scott Benner 7:29
No kidding. It does start it is starting to surprise. We're jumping around. So I the game ends and I'm on my way to Vermont with my son. And my daughter calls. My daughter's name is Arden. And she says mom says there's no air conditioning in this house. And I said that's impossible. I know how much I paid for this house. It's a vacation home. Look around harder. Maybe it's on a separate system. And
Zoey 7:56
you just open the doors. And that's your air conditioning.
Scott Benner 7:59
Yeah. Well, we didn't figure that out right away. So then we figured it out. And then everybody and by everybody. I mean the other three people in my family were so mad at me.
Zoey 8:11
Is it? I feel like I don't know. I used to just put fans in my room I guess. I don't know people are it's funny though. People bring that up often like oh, yeah, there's no, sir air conditioner. My house is always somewhere between 68 and 70 degrees here around. Minus 68. And I've been getting a lot of like, heat for that lately. Because apparently I had no people who keep their house at 55 and I was like you're a psychopath. That's ridiculous.
Scott Benner 8:39
Listen, I want the world to thrive but not bad enough to be cold. Yeah. So my highlights from my Vermont trip where was this? This is exactly the highlight. This is the thing about Vermont I will never in my entire life forget on our way to do some sightseeing. We're gonna go drive up a mountain and walk around have some Ben and Jerry's. That kind of a thing. Well, on the way to that event. We passed a what I'm going to call about a 25 foot travel trailer that looked like it was 50 years old. It was on the front yard of a home. It had a chicken wire fence around it. The doors were ripped off of it and it was being used as a giant Do you want to guess or should I say
Zoey 9:27
um I feel like it could have been definitely for some period of animal Okay, I want to say cows but I don't know if they'd fit in comfortably although they often keep cows pretty uncomfortable so I guess either chickens or goats
Scott Benner 9:44
my god you got it. It was a giant chicken coop This is
Zoey 9:48
my parents had chickens for a while.
I'm no stranger to a chicken coop.
Scott Benner 9:53
That was those My favorite part of the trip. My second sounds about right. My second favorite part was finding this little tiny movie theater. That was like privately owned and had these little digital theaters that that. Yeah, pretty much it. Yeah, I would go back if it was closer to something and had air conditioning.
Zoey 10:12
Yeah. Well, you can go in the winter and then it's like really cozy You know? So yeah,
Scott Benner 10:18
please. So you guys grew up in Vermont together. You and your sister?
Zoey 10:22
Yes, we did. Yeah, my sister. Yeah, I was born in Vermont. She was technically born in Jersey. But um, yeah, we grew up in Bennington, Vermont.
Scott Benner 10:31
Okay. What is your, like, earliest remembrance of her having type one.
Zoey 10:39
I remember her getting it, which I'm realizing now I think are probably some of my earliest memories, like at all. Because, um, yeah, I was about four. She, we like realized where I didn't realize anything. But my mom realized something was wrong, because we were skiing. And I think we had like the little kid. It was like the 90s. So we had those like one z suits, which is like impossible to go to the bathroom. And my sister had to pee, like every single run. And my mom was like, What the hell is going on here? And that's like, I remember being on the chairlift and my mom being like, concerned about that. And then I remember being in the hospital because it was her birthday. I was having a grand old time. I loved hospital pudding. So that was a highlight for me. Not for
Scott Benner 11:29
your child, aren't you?
Zoey 11:32
Good times. Um, yeah, I was like, four. So I remember that. I remember like, my family crying. I never seen my dad cry before I've ever seen him cry. Um, yeah, that was I mean, yes. I remember when she got it. And then like, you know, I, she's, like, so responsible. And I don't know if it's because she had diabetes. Like she could she got it so young, or if she always would have been like that, but um, I remember like my mom giving us like, going to like this chocolate shop and Manchester, Vermont. And what is the store getting like one chocolate and like savoring it for, like, hours on end, like unbelievable self control. And I had eaten like, 17 of them by that time or something like that?
Scott Benner 12:17
Well, I'm doing the math over here. I got eight minus three minus eight. I gotta carry the one. That's 13 sit on five. And then that makes the three a two. So your sister got diabetes, like 25 years ago?
Zoey 12:31
Oh, yeah. Yeah, sure.
Not good at mad. Yeah, yes.
Scott Benner 12:37
Why do you need math in Vermont?
Zoey 12:39
I'm well, I'm in law school. So I really don't need math. But yeah, yeah, me. My dad must use a lot of math building furniture and such.
Scott Benner 12:48
I'll tell you took it took no math to rip the door off that trailer.
Zoey 12:51
Yeah, exactly. Only to count your chickens. That's all you need to do.
I really, I must have had it for like, 20 Yeah,
Scott Benner 12:59
something like that. Don't like that. Okay, so a really long time. And how long did you guys live together out of those 25 some years?
Zoey 13:06
Oh, um, let's see, uh, until she was, well, you know, I'm, you know, counting when she'd come back in the summer for college, or, you know, I don't know, up until she was 18. Okay, we always lived together.
Scott Benner 13:21
So for about a decade, you you existed together while you were aging from four or five to 14 or 15? Yeah, gotcha. All right now. Initially, I wonder when you started really being aware of impact on you, I guess I should ask is, was there impact on you that you're aware of?
Zoey 13:44
Um, I don't. I don't think so. Really. I mean, other than like, there was a phase where my mom, like, I remember having to get like a shot or I don't know, I remember like being at the doctor for them to I must have been getting like vaccinations anyway or something. But I remember being told that they were like, checking to see if I if I could also have diabetes. And realistically, like, up until, I don't know, a couple of years ago, my mom if I ever said like, I have to pee all the time or something. My mom would be like, maybe have diabetes. Like that was that's always her initial reaction to anything. Yeah, to anything. Like, oh, I'm thirsty. You have diabetes. Like, I don't really feel like I got there was that much impact? I remember like feeling. Yeah, I was the younger one too. So. I think if anything, like Rob's you just became like more and more responsible, like an older sister would anyway. Yeah, I don't remember feeling like, like definitely not jealous or anything. I don't know.
Scott Benner 14:48
Did they spend more time with her than you? Because of the diabetes?
Zoey 14:54
No, I don't think so. My um, my mom like, we're At home, she's artists, so she was like at home with us mostly. So at that point, I think when she first got it, I was still young enough that I probably was only in school like half a day or something. So I was home with her more than more than my sister was.
Scott Benner 15:12
Do you have a appreciation for how your parents felt away from your sister? Did they ever say or do or act in a way that made you realize the diabetes was concerning to them?
Zoey 15:24
Yeah, I think I remember my dad getting a beeper, because it was the 90s like I said, Yeah. And that was like a big thing. Because he needed to, like constantly be being contact. I remember, I think she had like, a couple seizures in the beginning, um, at some point that I think we're, I don't know, you could probably tell me if they were related to diabetes or not. But I remember my sister, like, pretending she had one when we were like, really young, and freaking my mom out and like, see, it's horrible. Now that I think about it. like seeing my mom's reaction really, like, kind of instilled in me like how much she was, like, constantly worried. I don't think she really expressed it. Outwardly as much as I now realize that she probably had like a constant fear filled you're already nervous when you have kids anyway. But I would know but and then, on top of that, getting diabetes is like, makes you paranoid. Probably.
Scott Benner 16:26
It does a little bit and by the way, if it helps you I feel comfort. I mean, not that you need my approval, but not having children until after your 30 huge win for you.
Zoey 16:36
Yeah, seriously. I am so not ready. So that's good to hear. You
Scott Benner 16:40
probably don't even know yourself yet. So your parents, I guess we should go back for a second. Maybe walk me through a little more your sister pretending to have a seizure to freak your mom out. So this is just a prank, right? Let's do these quick today, shall we? You want to get the Omni pod tubeless insulin pump you can you want to try it before you buy it? You can my Omni pod.com forward slash juicebox Omni pod will send you a free no obligation, pod experience kit a demo, it will come to you right in the mail. You can put it on yourself or a loved one whomever it's for, wear it live with it. frolic about take a shower, take a bath skydive if you're a skydiver, you know, I'm saying do what you do in it and see what you think. If you want to keep moving after that, I'm the pod would be thrilled to help you. If you don't, it's fine. No pressure, no harm in trying. My Omni pod.com Ford slash juice box takes about three minutes. And that thing will be on its way here. Now the Dexcom g six continuous glucose monitor, can't get your free demo with that. But I can send you to dexcom.com forward slash juicebox. to really look through the details. When you get there, you're going to find out about rise and fall alerts right find out if your blood sugar's going up or going down. If it's going up fast or going down fast, it can tell you that you can set the alarms to tell you when you want to know it's not like it always tells you at one number it tells you when you want to know. It'll also tell up to 10 of your followers, you can choose 10 people to follow your blood glucose, their phone can get alarms as well. So you have a backup, where if you're a parent, you know, it's easier to manage if everybody's seeing what's going on in real time. When we're Pre-Bolus thing with ardens Omni pod, we always use the data from the Dexcom g six to tell us how far in advance we need insulin, right? Do we have a little bit of a high blood sugar we need to get down before lunch. That's easy to do. And it's not as scary you can correct the high that's just how I do it, you correct the high and then you can still do your Pre-Bolus It's amazing. Just having that information in front of you opens up your possibilities. And it allows you to make really fine decisions or bold decisions with your art and spin around wearing it on the pod since she was four and a dexcom. Since like, I don't know so many generations index calm ago I've lost track years and years. These two tools are at the core of how Arden manages her blood sugar and be clear what that means. Arden has no diet restrictions. As a matter of fact, about three minutes ago she Pre-Bolus for macaroni and cheese and her eight one C has been between five two and six two for over six years. All that is accomplished with the Omni pod and the Dexcom can't be more precise because that's all there is to dexcom.com forward slash juicebox my Omni pod comm forward slash juice box links right there in the show notes for your podcast player. At Juicebox podcast.com have a couple seconds today and you'd like to support the show and add your voice to type one diabetes research that matters. T one d exchange.org. forward slash juice box. Check it out.
This is just a prank right?
Zoey 20:27
I'm not sure the timeline, but I remember her like not being in school because we were in the same elementary school I think briefly maybe or, but there's nothing more like gone to school that day or something like that. And people knew that like my friend My parents friends knew that because we come from like a really small town and everyone's a doctor. And so I think she had had a seizure or something. And then we were like, we're in bed. My mom would read to us before bed, and we're in my parents bed like reading and my sister. Yeah, like, I think she told me what she was gonna do. Because I wasn't freaked out. I you know, not remembering quite clearly. But she I remember her like kind of like pretending she was having like convulsions and she like roll their eyes back. And my mom was like, screaming and like jumping up and down. She called
Scott Benner 21:25
me she What did she call your dad's beeper?
Zoey 21:28
No, there wasn't enough time before my sister like started laughing. My mom was like, she was so mad. And I don't blame her
Scott Benner 21:34
mentally. When you saw Miami Vice. Did you think your dad was like a cocaine drug lord. Oh, okay.
Zoey 21:42
But that's funny. I remember thinking his beeper was like, super cool. Because cell phones weren't really a thing yet. Definitely. Yeah, I mean that, you know, people had them but not like, I remember him getting a cell phone too. That's a big deal.
Scott Benner 21:58
So your sister was in. As you, as you recall, was she the manager of her insulin and things like that? Did she basically take care of herself?
Zoey 22:07
Yeah, well, she was pretty young. First. And I remember she had a pen, like a, that you had to like, step into her thigh every time. And that was I remember her, like, crying and being really upset that she had to do it in the earlier times, because she was only nine. So but then yeah, I don't she had a pump. She got a pump. Pretty quick, maybe? I don't know. I want to say when she was like 12 or 13, but I'm not sure. And it was like the mini med. I think, is that right? And then you got like a pumps, diesel tronic. Is that something like that? Or do
that she got a mini med one verse. I remember that one. What was the second?
Like? decent tronic or something? I don't know.
Scott Benner 22:59
Hold on a second. You're really close. It just made me laugh. That's how I wouldn't have been Medtronic maybe.
Zoey 23:06
Oh, I remember starting with a D. But now she has a different med one. So okay. Well, she had this one that I thought it started with a D? I don't know. But it had everything clear. So it looked like robotic and it was cool. And she pretty much yeah, I handled all that. Remember her like watching her like putting her say I used to want her to test my blood sugar.
Scott Benner 23:25
Do you remember why you wanted your blood sugar shocked or just cuz she was
Zoey 23:30
I think my mom wanted to do it to like, see that? Probably her like, wondering if I had diabetes. Um, but I just thought it was cool. And I want I think I want it to be like, it doesn't hurt like, you know, because you always had like little calluses all over her fingers from doing it.
Scott Benner 23:48
And you were like, I won't have calluses. Yeah. I wonder time. I'm trying to imagine if I if your mom didn't maybe pull you aside and try to be like, wouldn't it be cool to check your blood sugar? Like your sister tried to talk you into it? So she could see if you're?
Zoey 24:02
I don't know. Yeah, I remember like changing the needle and stuff. But it's funny.
Scott Benner 24:08
So this is really I know, you probably don't feel like it. But I think it's very interesting to hear that you have memories, but they're not. Like it's not horror stories or getting me like, yeah, it's interesting. It's definitely interesting. So I think your sister contacted me and said, Hey, I know you want to have on some siblings. And I think my sister Zoe would do it. Like, that's great. And then there was something about us, she's like, make sure you tell Is there a story or was that the seizure story is the story.
Zoey 24:36
Oh, no, there's another story. Okay. Um, this is probably the closest become to a horror story, but it wasn't. Roxy was just like always so cool about everything, which is funny because she's kind of a hypochondriac, and by her own admission, but I guess once you get diabetes, you're like, I can't suspect I have it. I already have it. She thought that she was always like, pretty independent and very like responsible, which I was not. So the only way in which she screwed me over is that I was a younger child and she never did anything bad. So when I did anything, as like a high schooler, it was like the end of the world. But she was in college and she had come home. I guess probably I was a sophomore in high school, I think it was like spring of my sophomore year. And she had come home for, I guess, summer break, because they get out early. And she had her wisdom teeth out, and I can't. Now remember, if it was something to do with like the medication they gave her after her wisdom teeth, or if something just like malfunction with her pump. But it her pumps stopped working. My parents were out of town. They had gone to sell North Carolina or something for my cousin's graduation. And my grandmother was still alive at that point. But she was like, practically blind. I was 15. Like I said, we live on now like a backside of a mountain. And we're about 25 minutes from town. And my sister's like, something's wrong. I don't like I can't really see very well, either. She was like, I think her trouble. something's not working in her blood sugar. Something happened was really high. Maybe or Is that right? No,
Scott Benner 26:28
no, I think really high if it's not working.
Zoey 26:30
Yeah. You know. And so I had my permit at the time, I guess, but you can't get your license at your 16. So I was I was probably like, 15 and a half. My grandmother's you only one there. She can't see anything. I only have my permit. My sister's like about to pass out. And I had to drive down into town and take her to the hospital. Because I was the only one who was like, able to drive physically. And we figured if I got pulled over, it'd be a pretty good excuse. My grandma, I guess it was fine. She was in the car. But she couldn't say anything. So it was no.
Unknown Speaker 27:07
Yes. Yeah, exactly.
Zoey 27:09
Yeah, so I yeah, that was that was. That's kind of cool, though. kind of funny. Sounds like
Unknown Speaker 27:16
diabetes brought you like a fun. Did you
Scott Benner 27:18
tell your parents afterwards?
Zoey 27:20
Yeah. Well, that later that night. Obviously, I was never neglected by Mr. Diabetes, because what I remember more is that I got sprayed by a skunk that night. Coming home. I got sprayed on like my bare leg, just like point blank got sprayed by a skunk and was home alone because Roxy wasn't there. And my grandma was with her was this and I was like,
Scott Benner 27:43
oh my god. Was the skunk at home. Biggest memory. Was the skunk at home or did you take Roxy to an animal hospital when our bugs are really?
Zoey 27:51
Nope, the skunk was at home eating cat food from our porch.
Unknown Speaker 27:55
As you do,
Zoey 27:57
yeah, sure. Makes the cat and the skunk word buddies. But skunk did not like me. Yeah, I remember. And also Rodney had to go. Apparently there was like no room, in the hospital and the normal places. So she was in the ICU, but not because she was in intensive care. And I didn't really know what ICU stood for. And so people were calling me and I was telling them she was in the ICU. And that was shocking to some people. But yeah, she was fine.
Scott Benner 28:30
almost a perfect story. I here's where here's what I thought I was so excited for half is that because you're like my grandmother was really old and almost and in the pause between almost and when you said blind I thought you're gonna say and almost dead. That's just like, I was always thinking ahead. And then you're like, blind. I'm like, that's even better. Like how are they going to like, fix this? Like the sisters losing her eyesight because her blood sugar is so high. Your child? grandma's blind? You live on a mountain?
Zoey 29:03
Yeah, it's like the perfect storm.
Scott Benner 29:06
Right to go to the hospital.
Zoey 29:08
That would have been epic. borrow the the neighbors like a horse and buggy.
Unknown Speaker 29:15
Put your
Scott Benner 29:16
grandma and your sister on. lit by what I'm assuming it's like a frayed rope. Ah,
Zoey 29:21
yeah, maybe I could have driven the john deere, we have one of those. I have to tell you again.
Scott Benner 29:26
Going into Vermont the first time because we're making some fun of it, but we shouldn't be my wife and my wife and I said to each other if there was a way to make money here, we'd move here immediately.
Zoey 29:35
Yeah, it's Yeah. And it's gorgeous. I went Yeah. What I yeah, I'm probably not gonna be able to move back there for a long time. But that's my goal.
Scott Benner 29:45
Doesn't bother you with a winter.
Zoey 29:47
No, I think I mean, sometimes it gets you know, like really bad if it's windy and like below zero, but I grew up like because there was nothing else to do. The winter we would if you got like, you know, I don't know if you're like an honor student or something you got Really cheap ski pass to not like the nicest mountain but a pretty nice mountain. And so we just go skiing every weekend pretty much for snowboarding,
Scott Benner 30:08
good students would get a cheaper pass the ski.
Zoey 30:11
Yeah.
Scott Benner 30:12
That's kind of brilliant, isn't it?
Zoey 30:14
Yeah, encouraging kids to do well, so they can, you know, pay for cheaper,
Scott Benner 30:19
you know, more suburban setting. How would you incentivize children for good grades? I'm trying to think around here. Could you give them? Yeah, I don't know. Like nothing, I don't think Yeah, I don't know what you can do. Gotcha. All right. Listen, what kind of an attorney Do you want to be?
Zoey 30:35
I'm going to be an immigration attorney.
Scott Benner 30:38
nice person.
Unknown Speaker 30:40
I try.
Scott Benner 30:41
I don't think you have to try. So it sounds like it's happening.
Zoey 30:43
Oh, yeah. It's important to me. So.
Scott Benner 30:48
Where do you live right now? Are you in Vermont?
Zoey 30:51
I know, I go to school in Rhode Island. But I'm moving to Arizona in September. Ah,
Scott Benner 30:57
okay. How did you become interested in immigration law? Because there certainly aren't a lot of people from outside of the United States trying to get into Vermont, and having
Zoey 31:06
no not at all, I will probably never, probably won't be able to end up back there for a long time. I used to live in South America for about three years, I learned Spanish became fluent in Spanish, and I kind of like fell in love with the the Chilean culture. I think when you live in a different country, you kind of get, you know, a sense that like, while every culture is different, and you know, you have a better appreciation for the fact that everyone's human and, you know, ultimately wants the same thing. And human rights are important.
Scott Benner 31:40
Yeah, I said to my wife the other day, I forget what political thing we were talking about. But I said, I think everyone should have to live somewhere else for five minutes, just so they can Yeah, cuz there's, there's a world out there. That if you haven't seen it, you imagine what it's like, and you're probably pretty wrong.
Zoey 31:57
Yeah, I think so. Definitely. Yeah, I'm doing a lot of I'll probably be working with a lot of kids seeking asylum. I'm gonna be working with the
organization called the Florence project in
Unknown Speaker 32:09
Arizona.
Zoey 32:13
So they have a children's team that I'll be working on.
Scott Benner 32:15
So before I ask you a couple of serious questions, I want to ask you one more silly question that's gonna alienate another tire state of people. Are people from Rhode Island weird?
Zoey 32:25
Um, they love Rhode Island a lot. So kind of they they're just like, like, if they never left Rhode Island, they don't think they'd care really much.
Scott Benner 32:39
What is it about there? Because it My question is a is a based on the calls coming from inside the house. This is from what I hear from people who are in Rhode Island that there's like, there's something particular about them, they fit well together. And then they seem like you can as soon as you move them out of Rhode Island for five seconds, you can look at them and go, you know, I think that person was from Rhode Island. No, yeah. Why is that? What is it about? I don't
Zoey 33:03
know. Well, their accent first of all is pretty intense.
I don't know. It's so unique, I think would like that. Even the geography of it. They're like super proud of very strange things like stuffies they call them are basically just like stuffed po hogs, but they're more breading than anything else. So I don't really understand what the big to do is.
Scott Benner 33:26
I'm googling what you just said, cuz that stuff
is I think that Yeah, I do not want to end up on a website where guys are dressed like cartoon characters on
Zoey 33:38
tread lightly tried to be really careful here. Rhode Island
stuffy.
There, yeah, they're just like really, really proud of brown. But also I mean, because I've been kind of involved in the Rhode Island legal community. It's like, you have to be so careful because it's such a tiny state and everyone knows everything about everyone. It's basically like, like, high school for states. It's like very quickie
Scott Benner 34:07
stuffies stuffed. claw hugs. Ko hugs ko hugs. Yeah, hold on. Stuff co hog or stuffies are popular elsewhere in New England, but only in Rhode Island are their annual kohan festivals in Warren in a fictional town called ko hog in a popular TV show called Family Guy. No hogs, of course, are the large. Of course. I'm still wondering What in God's name is this thing and I'm looking at it and the plan and the text says Of course. Cool. Hugs, of course, are the large hard shelled clams native to this area. The ones used in the chapters and clam cakes. kohan comes from the Indian name. Wow pop up blocker chalky. And there's a lot of words here I can't pronounce cultivated and clams for food and ornaments the introduction of them the area's first European settlers. For this dish, let's finish this up. The clam meat gets chopped up and mixed with bread crumbs, herbs and finely diced onions, bell peppers and celery. The whole savory mess is then baked in the clamshell. Yeah, right then. Mm hmm. And you say they love them and they're a little too proud of them. Is that what you're getting?
Zoey 35:21
I think they're just like a little too proud of everything, maybe. Like their beaches and like, I don't know. Their beaches are like kind of crowded and have a lot of red seaweed in them.
Scott Benner 35:35
But they love it. look good. I live in
Zoey 35:38
Bristol, Rhode Island. And it's really cute. Kind of like a sweet little Harbor Town. But in the summer Yeah, it gets kind of like unbearable. There's I usually leave but there's just like people everywhere. I sound like my parents.
Scott Benner 35:53
This Long Island, it's overwrought. We got to get out of here.
Zoey 35:57
Exactly. You want to live in Manhattan.
Scott Benner 36:00
Alright, so it makes you want to live in man that easily be the title of this episode. So have you ever and I'm sorry, if I'm the one putting this into your head? Are you aware that? You know people get Type One Diabetes at all ages?
Zoey 36:17
Yes. So it seems like people. I don't think this is scientific at all. But in my experience, it's like, either got it when you're like, you're three, like nine. It's like everyone I've ever talked to has always gotten in these weird times. Or like, early teens or like early 20s. I know. I know, a girl in college who when I went to college there shouldn't have diabetes. And she got it when she was like 22 movies.
Scott Benner 36:46
I have met somebody who's been diagnosed at every age, you can imagine right up to
Zoey 36:51
six. So Wow, type one. Yes. Oh, my time is so
Scott Benner 36:58
don't lose faith.
Zoey 37:00
Yeah, I do could have diabetes. One day,
Scott Benner 37:03
of course. See, aspirational is the way to go. My question was, of course this Did you ever think about it, but your experience was that it's for younger? You feel like you You enjoy a second ago felt like you had? Sorry. It felt like you would live past the age where this could happen to you?
Zoey 37:22
Um, yeah, I guess I like don't I? Yeah, I don't worry about it. I'm like, honestly never worried about it, though. I mean, that would suck. But I guess, you know, at least I'd have an older sister who knew everything about everything to tell me. It's weird, because in our family, there's no one else in our family who has it like that we knew of ever. Hmm. So I don't know, I thought, isn't it possible to like, when you get it as like you get a virus as a kid or something like that is
Scott Benner 37:53
that? Well, my my best understanding of the medical idea is that you have genetic markers that make you more or less likely to have it. And oftentimes, something happens that sort of sparks off that solar flare in your body. And, you know, for my daughter, I think she got hand foot Mouth Disease, which is just a simple thing kids get and Yeah, probably in that moment, her immune system got confused and attacked her pancreas instead of the hand foot mouth. Uh huh. Yes, you can get it. Yeah,
Zoey 38:25
I don't remember.
Unknown Speaker 38:28
I don't know if Roxy,
Zoey 38:30
Roxy getting like a sickness or something. But she probably did. Because I remember like them talking about that being a possible way. But yeah, I don't know. I mean, I'm still not really. I always tell her that. Like, it's, it's good that she got to know me because I would probably be dead because I'm so irresponsible with that kind of stuff. And she's just like, unbelievably on it. So yeah, I don't think about it that much. I mean, maybe I will now have to call you back in a month and tell you if I'm like losing sleep over? Well, there's
Scott Benner 39:01
babies for your there is something you could do called trial net, where they would test you for the markers and tell you if you have any. Your interest.
Zoey 39:10
What do you think they would have done? Is that something that's new?
Scott Benner 39:14
I'm not new as in like today, but newer than 25 years ago.
Zoey 39:19
Oh, God. Yeah. So they probably wouldn't have done that. Because I do remember. I don't know. They probably just like tested by blood sugar or something when I was young to figure it out. But yeah, I don't know. Maybe I'll do it. So while we're heading
Scott Benner 39:31
down this road before we get off of it onto another idea ever considered what it would be like? Do you ever worry that your children might get type one?
Unknown Speaker 39:42
Um,
Zoey 39:44
no, mainly because I haven't really fun.
Scott Benner 39:49
Have you ever have you ever worried Zoey that one day you'd come on a podcast to do a favor for your sister and the host would make you freak out about your future?
Zoey 39:57
about whether or not I'm late. To the party of motherhood, Roxy and I talked about like kittens a lot and being like, we kind of go back and forth. Like I used to really, really want kids. And now I don't really do because mainly not diabetes, but I do think like, Oh my god, I would never stop worrying. And that's part of it. I think I would worry more about like, I don't know, like autism maybe or something like that
Scott Benner 40:26
getting some some money or something like that. Yeah, baby growing up in a chicken coop inside of a trailer on some guys.
Zoey 40:36
Get bucked off a horse. I don't know, run over by a tractor.
Scott Benner 40:39
I think obviously, if you if you don't have type one, there's, there's plenty of other things in the world to worry about. If you're, if you're gonna run around worrying. I don't, you know, I think to sit and think that you're going to get, you know, have some malady in the future or diseases is not a good use of your time. But I was just wondering, like, you know, if you, you would consider that. But it's interesting. You've gotten to the age, where you realize about yourself that if that baby comes out of you, you're That's it? That's the rest of your life. Like you said, Your mom. Still like, right? If you're like, I peed today, she's like, and how old your mom?
Zoey 41:19
6667?
Scott Benner 41:21
Do you really want to be worrying about a 28 year old when you're 67?
Unknown Speaker 41:24
No. But you will if you have one.
Zoey 41:28
I know I will just pretty much the the turnoff at this point. It's so funny. I every time I say that, like my aunt, I have a lot of moms. And they're always like, take it personally. They they're like very offended. Like, oh, you you want to have kids like I'm like have insulted them because they had kids. My cousins too. Like it's not something personal. I give in hard.
Scott Benner 41:50
My aunt and uncle didn't have children, one of my aunts and uncles and people were always hard on them. And I always just thought like, they don't seem like they want to leave him alone.
Zoey 41:59
Yeah, I don't know. I mean, my I'm not engaged or anything My boyfriend is I think he would be like a really lovely father. But I think he also, you know, we'd like to travel. I have a dog. She's sitting right here. That's a big
Scott Benner 42:13
enough mistake, in my opinion.
Zoey 42:15
Very, very committed to her fuzzy little face. But
Scott Benner 42:19
did your boyfriend is your boyfriend gonna find out on this podcast that he's not having kids? Is that what? No.
Zoey 42:26
We've talked about that a lot. I think it would be such a good dad, which is like the only reason I'm like, not 100%. But I'm like, but what if I'm just like a really bad mom. And then I'm like, oh, man, you know, a kid with diabetes. That'd be really hard. Especially like worrying all the time. I would imagine. I think my parents like played it really cool. But I think my mom was always probably, but Roxy was just like such a responsible teenager. I think having a kid with diabetes, I would really worry about like drinking and stuff because that would really like make your blood sugar go haywire, I guess especially if you're like, really drunk and don't know what's going on to make
Scott Benner 43:00
it lower could put you in a situation where you might misuse the insulin or something we have Yeah, episode about drinking heavily on with diabetes.
Zoey 43:08
I remember being in high school and there was a kid in my high school who had diabetes and his parents were like, very, like helicopter, always, like really, really worried. And I remember him getting a he was always just like, very sweet and kind of innocent. And I remember just getting like really, really drunk one night. And everyone was like, he was like, passed out and everyone was like, oh, what do we do like asking me we should like to I was like, literally like test his blood sugar on ours tester is like, it was scary for me. And I'm not I'm not his mom. I don't know. So this
Scott Benner 43:39
is interesting, right? And I By the way, I'm really very much enjoying this. It's not going anywhere the way I expected. But I like what you're saying. So in a highschool drinking situation, when a child who has type one passes out, you become the de facto doctor because your sister had diabetes. But in truth, you don't know what the hell you're doing.
Zoey 44:01
I have no idea. Like, this is not good. Yes.
Scott Benner 44:05
Yeah. You should never put your life in the hands of drunk people.
Zoey 44:08
No, definitely not. 100%. No.
Unknown Speaker 44:15
Oh my gosh, hey, listen, you don't have to answer this if you don't want to. But is the boyfriend coming to Arizona?
Scott Benner 44:23
Am I about to break you up? I'm sorry. Does he not know you're going to Arizona? Did you hang up? What just happened?
Zoey 44:28
Can you hear me? Okay. Sorry, um, anyway, wants to get his LLM in tax law. So the schools in Arizona don't offer that program. So we'll be we'll be doing long distance for
Scott Benner 44:43
a year or so. No kidding. That's interesting. Yeah. Listen, I'm gonna tell you this right now. This might come as a sad, horrifying shock to you. But if you do a long distance relationship for a year, you're gonna end up having a baby Why? Because that's a ton of commitment to somebody, you're gonna do a long distance relationship for a year and then not marry a girl and make her pregnant.
Zoey 45:10
Can I just marry him and not get pregnant? I mean, you could try
Unknown Speaker 45:15
doing my best.
Scott Benner 45:18
I can promise you that you can try if you want to, huh? What are you going to do? If your internal lady parts start telling you you have to make a baby, will you be able to fight them off?
Zoey 45:28
Yeah, well, I think that already happened. Like when I was like, 22. And I was like, had baby fever. And now I'm like, oh, they're so sticky. Every time they touch everything that's sticky. That's how I feel about kids. So it's very sticky. It's very interesting to hear you say that, because
Scott Benner 45:42
I'm a, a firm believer in that idea of there's like, certain times when you just, you know, the women who around you are like, now would be a great time to have a baby. And you're like, why? Yeah, I don't understand, like, what was confusing, you know, cuz your bits are really fun. And then it gets confusing. So you're like in a med tear, and we have no ability to defend that. And then you end up with a baby. That's how
Zoey 46:07
Yeah, I don't know. I just, I don't know if it's worth it for me.
Scott Benner 46:12
A lot. I have two children that I love immensely, and I'm not certain it's worth it for me. Just so you know.
Zoey 46:18
Well, that is definitely something to think about. And they're
Scott Benner 46:22
actually lovely kids, like bright and thoughtful. And not, they're not a problem. They don't create, like extra problems in my life. Just them human creates a lot of problems in my life.
Zoey 46:33
It's hard. I mean, like, like, my dog has recently decided she will not sleep on the floor, like always has to sleep in the bed in between me and my boyfriend. I'm like, this is rough. I mean, like, heart and and she's too cute. I don't want to move. I personally think she's cuter than a kid. But, you know, I might think differently if I created a human Hey, just for just so people know, when you just said this is rough. And you were talking about your dog that wasn't upon, right? No, I did make a point earlier with getting heat for keeping my thermostat at 68. But that was unintentional. Oh, no. He will be proud though. She loves buttons.
Scott Benner 47:08
What? So? Okay, so you've never really, here's what I'm learning. And this is, and by the way, I know you're gonna think oh, this is a mate, you're gonna probably think this was a waste of time after I say this. But I think the opposite. You don't know anything about type one diabetes, you weren't really impacted by it at all. You're not a different person because of it. Your sister's not unhappy because of it. You know, that's gonna be a really wonderful thing for people to hear. Because what I hear from people is that, oh, we spend more time with Billy and I know for sure that Joey's upset about it. But I think people are just projecting their, onto their younger kids. He looks upset their kids like
Zoey 47:46
oh, like their parent. The parents are worried that they're
Scott Benner 47:49
Yeah, they're worrying that they're screwing something up. See, this is interesting, because you were you were raised in a time where people didn't, I hope I hope this doesn't come to a shock to younger people. People didn't really care that much about their kids. Do you hear what I'm saying?
Zoey 48:06
Yeah, I was like, way more chill. Just like Well, no, go put in the neighborhood. Like, you're gonna get kidnapped like,
Scott Benner 48:14
nothing. Listen, growing up. I was like a little fat kid growing up. And there was a boy at the pool where I lived who tried to kill me and every other boy like every summer, he would drown us, right?
Zoey 48:27
Oh, yeah, they're like, no one gets worse
Scott Benner 48:30
round. No one said a word. My parents are watching me be drugged out, like looking at making friends. You know. And, by the way, that experience and many others, led me to figure out how to stop that kid from trying to drown me. Like I developed a personality around keeping a larger, stronger person from trying to kill me. Because I couldn't run away. Like, you know, cuz I'd had too many candies. So I had to, um, so I had to, I had to, like, talk my way. I had to be a person who he least wanted to drown. Yeah, right. And I came up with that. Because my guess what my parents looked at me and they're like, whatever, like good luck, you know. But looking back, I honestly think that's because they did. Just like, Look, we made the baby. We're paying close. Make sure it goes to school. What else do you want from me? Exactly. And you know, and so I think maybe that lack of that lack of overt concern constantly is good for a kid and it would be great for parents if they weren't burdened with it constantly. But in this sort of last generation, they really got swallowed up by everything needs to be perfect for these kids. You know, I can't let anything bad happened to them. That's a, you know, a bit of a misnomer in some things. Like Don't get me wrong, like you shouldn't want a bus hit them. But no, you might be right. Yeah, there's some things you're gonna have to defend them against. But there's some things you just let them try and Yeah, exactly. So, like, you should just, you know, chill out a little bit of heroin.
Zoey 50:10
Okay. It's okay. Yeah. Yeah, I don't think. I think my parents did a really good job. And I think like I said, looking back on it, they were probably my mom was probably like, constantly freaking out, but she didn't let I don't know. Do let me know that.
Scott Benner 50:31
She probably didn't let your sister know either.
Zoey 50:34
Yeah, I don't think she I think actually I talked about this recently, but like, you know how hard it must have been to be already you're a worried parent. And then on top of that, your tickets ivds. Like, that's a lot. But,
Scott Benner 50:47
um, because Roxy in Vermont still.
Zoey 50:49
No, she lives in Indiana.
Scott Benner 50:52
All right, that's good, because I'm gonna have to ask her to be on the show. And the internet's
Unknown Speaker 50:56
terrible. Yeah,
Scott Benner 50:58
it really is. It's just, there's a person I love who I want to be on the show more, but they live in Vermont, so they can't come on. Because, yeah, it's like
Zoey 51:07
a local local cybercafe. Well
Scott Benner 51:09
dial up like basically, I need Yeah,
Zoey 51:11
we have. We had dial up all through high school and our parents just got rid of it altogether.
Like DSL, I think, I don't know. Fancy.
Scott Benner 51:19
Right from 87. out of it, do you think Roxy would come on?
Zoey 51:26
Yeah, for sure. Yeah. That's
cute. Well, I love the name of this podcast, by the way, because like, some of my earliest memories are just like, juice boxes everywhere. So many juice boxes. And I think also just like glucose tablets, like rolling around in the back of the car.
Scott Benner 51:46
Always, oh, there's a juice box in the door of my car right now. And they're Yeah, they're pretty much always is. Yeah, as my daughter.
Zoey 51:56
I think in terms of being jealous, at any point, it was mainly just because like, I wanted to try her like Weird, Gross gel, like sugar packet. That was like the biggest, the biggest way in which she was favored. She had to eat gross glucose.
Scott Benner 52:13
You know, I'm gonna have to first of all, if that Roxie on to like, tell us the rest of the story. I'm also gonna have to someone's gonna reach out and be like, Yo, I was this, you know, my sibling had a terrible time. And I'm going to want to talk to them too. And, but it's interesting, because your parents are, are made for this Really? Like they're, like, seriously, look at them. They're on Long Island. Plenty of people live very happily on Long Island, not them. They're like, we need more relaxed. And so they move to a, you know, probably the most isn't the most. Come on. It's got to be the chillest place in America right for mine.
Zoey 52:48
I would. I wouldn't think so. Yeah. To be clear, my mom. Well, this current political climate is very high strung, but I think it would be way worse if she was in a city definitely would be exacerbated.
Unknown Speaker 53:03
Your mom is high strung because of the current political climate.
Zoey 53:06
Yeah, she's very angry. I don't blame her. I am too but you know, preaching to the choir.
Scott Benner 53:11
Real quick, just so that we so that we can be sure you were joking about children using heroin. Can you tell everybody for a second just in case
Zoey 53:20
definitely a joke, do not condone children and drug use. Not the coolest,
Scott Benner 53:26
because your sarcasm was really smooth air and I was like, we're gonna have to double back to that for a second.
Zoey 53:30
Because you just I mean arrow and you know, most things I say are sarcastic. My mom also doesn't get my sense of humor, which I think is frustrating for her.
Scott Benner 53:38
Art it My daughter has it. My daughter has it. My wife can't follow it sometimes my son Yeah, my son figured it out. And he's using it now. But he's a little more like my wife. So it took him longer. But yeah, the other night. I said something about so this, there's a movie called the intern with Robert De Niro. And oh,
Zoey 53:59
yeah, I saw that. What's
Scott Benner 54:00
the what's the girl's name? She's got like alabaster skin and dark hair. And
Zoey 54:06
I don't remember I don't like I can't even picture her right now. But I remember Robert DeNiro. Isn't
Scott Benner 54:11
that terrible Les Mis movie recently in Hathaway and Oh, yes. Who's so Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro are in this movie. That's, I mean, it's not a good movie, right? Yeah. No, but I really like it. So it and I've watched it like five times when it's been on cable. And it comes on while we were helping art and get ready for she was going to a thing where she was like doing her hair and everything and it comes on. Oh my god. I love this movie is my favorite movie. And a minute later Arden goes, are you kidding about the movie? I can't know. And when she can't read my sarcasm. I'm so thrilled. Yeah, because she's so good at it. I'm like, Oh, yeah, so then I pressed it. And so I was telling the truth, but in a sarcastic tone. I'm like, I've seen this movie like five times. It's great. Right. And she and I said, I magic. Oh my god, she's freaked out because I'm telling the truth in a tone that she reads the sarcasm. And then I said this Anne Hathaway right. I said, let me tell you something. If it was 15 years ago, you know who this Hannah Hathaway would be? And my wife goes, I know. And I said, Who are you thinking, Kelly? And she goes, Julia Roberts, and I was like, that's exactly what exactly what I was gonna say, this is in the in the heyday of the 90s films, and Hathaway would have been Julia Roberts. And Arden just looks at me and goes, I cannot tell if you were telling the truth or not. And it freaked me out. I was like, thank you.
Zoey 55:40
Oh, oh, yeah, I had I had very
mature sarcasm at 15. I'm pretty sure it was fully developed. Yeah.
Scott Benner 55:49
Anyway. Yeah, I read it in you immediately. I was concerned, everyone else didn't. Because sometimes I get notes from people. Disclaimer, yeah, I once in a while, get a note from people that it's like, you're so full of yourself. And I'm like, you really have to find a sarcastic person. stay around for a couple of seconds. So you can hear that.
Zoey 56:06
You're doing a podcast on type one diabetes, like, and making it interesting.
Unknown Speaker 56:12
Yeah, just say thank you. Is that what you're saying?
Zoey 56:16
I don't know. I feel like it's just like a weird, a weird dig to someone who's doing something like this. I don't know.
Scott Benner 56:24
You know, it happens very infrequently. Right. But once in a while, and it's funny. You don't realize this, though, because you have no idea. This is an incredibly popular podcast.
Zoey 56:33
Yeah. Rocky, Rocky does a listening so.
Scott Benner 56:36
So I find a way to make this, like, I make diabetes fun should be my T shirt. Or funner, which is not a word, but really would be more like, you know, correct for people's feelings, I guess. Uh huh.
Zoey 56:51
Yeah, I don't know. I guess I because of like, how I can see how this would be incredibly interesting and helpful. I mean, you know, my sisters are listening to it. But I guess because of how responsible Roxy was. And like her, you know, aside from the, you know, almost dying, going to the ICU and having her half blind to grandma. Forever. Like, that was the biggest, you know, and you know, but to me, I also actually remember one time having to, like, go out, like, I don't know, I think her blood sugar was at like, 38 or something like that. And my dad being like, we have to go find juice, like driving around at like, 1230 at night, and some like town when we're on vacation. I only again, every time I remember something, it's because there was something about me in there, too. So if you want to talk about being self centered,
Scott Benner 57:39
no, but that, but you're a little kid, you probably you should be. So yeah, you're a little kid. And so I just think that as much as you're not gonna really feel this right now. Because you don't have diabetes, and you don't have a child who has diabetes, the people who do, we're going to be incredibly comforted by your story. And your story really? Seriously. Your story really is, I grew up with a spouse with a sibling that had type one diabetes, and it didn't hurt my life. And no, not at all. Do you think it made you in any way? Did it elevate you? That you could tell?
Zoey 58:13
Um, I, I mean, you
Scott Benner 58:15
are, I hope so.
Zoey 58:16
I guess they're being like, more compassionate, or, you know, patient, I guess. But, I mean, it's really funny. There's like a running joke in my family. Because this one time I wrote this essay that was supposed to write an essay about someone I looked up to, and I wrote it about Roxy, and I talked about how she had diabetes. And she'd, like, you know, overcome all this stuff. And of course, like every one of my family was like, That's hilarious that you're using Roxy's diabetes to get good grades. And ever since then, it's been like this running joke that I like, use her diabetes when it is.
Unknown Speaker 58:50
But
Scott Benner 58:50
officer Listen, I know I'm only 15 and a half, but my sister's got diabetes in my old grandmother's almost blind, so not a lot of options here.
Zoey 59:00
That would have been fine. Yeah, there's, um, they, like still laugh about that. And I'm like I was writing about
Scott Benner 59:07
do you? Did you really look up to her? Are you like, hey, this guy is gonna get me this internship or something like that?
Zoey 59:13
No, I think I know, oh, my God, I was so young. I don't think I was even looking for an internship. But she I think I was probably in like, sixth grade or something. No, I definitely. I mean, we're, you know, we're, we've gotten a lot closer, and we're more you know, I think we look to each other for different things now as both, you know, adults, but as a kid, especially, I think I you know, did I definitely looked up to her a lot. And I think, I mean, she's also like, she was like the valedictorian of our high school and then graduated and I came in as a freshman. Like, I think I was like a disappointment.
Unknown Speaker 59:50
Yeah,
Zoey 59:50
yeah. I'll tell you responsible, but I don't I mean, I, I guess just being like more aware, but I really I will I'd love to say that it like affected me more, but maybe I just was being you know, self centered and little kid and didn't
Scott Benner 1:00:07
seem so interested to talk to her now because I bet you she didn't think of herself as very responsible. Maybe that's how you saw it. Do we definitely need the other side of this now?
Zoey 1:00:15
Yeah, yes.
Scott Benner 1:00:18
No, no, not at the same time I need. My brain needs time to ferment and as an adult, do you guys talk about diabetes? Because you said your close now? Does it come up ever? Does she not speak about it that much. Um,
Zoey 1:00:36
it comes up just because like, you know, but I mean, like, just for like logistics, like, show um, I actually recently for Christmas, I bought her a pair of nice leggings that have these really nice some pockets on the sides that are built in and I was like, Oh, this would be perfect for Roxy's pump. But, you know, other than that, I don't think she really, there were moments, I think when she would be frustrated with you know, implications of having it like, you know, you have to eat sometimes you don't want to things like that. But we don't, I don't know. I it could just be because she's like, you know, she's 32 now and has it so down, Pat, but there's other stuff. I mean, it's always changing too. And, you know, like that she has that patched thing now that like, senses your blood sugar wall like so you don't have to like test all the time. Yeah. But kind of like adjusting to those things. Like, you know, she'll mention in passing like, Oh, so frustrating. You know, my agency went up because the patch thing wasn't working. And I'm like getting used to it. But I think it's just normal for me now. So I don't really think about it as being like, Ah, yes. Today she complained about
Scott Benner 1:01:49
No, I wouldn't expect that. I'm just interested.
Zoey 1:01:52
Yeah. Yeah. That's cool.
Scott Benner 1:01:55
Were you ever aware of like, Did you go to her appointments when she was a little? Her doctor?
Zoey 1:01:59
Um, yes. Her doctor was named Jill Abel, Seth and I really liked that. And we would get to go to Albany, which is a CD. So that's why I remember that. But again, I'm like, Oh, I get to go get like I think we like went out to dinner in. We went to the pawn blossom. This was a Chinese restaurant that was better than the one that was in our town. So that's like, why I remember going to her doctor's. So two
Scott Benner 1:02:23
things able sac are Abel, Abel Seth,
Zoey 1:02:27
chill. Abel Seth, I believe was her name burger. I don't know if I'm supposed to be a broadcast. I'm looking
Unknown Speaker 1:02:33
here. How do you find it will seem to basically like her. She's actually
Zoey 1:02:37
really liked her. I remember that. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 1:02:39
she's it all day. Um,
Zoey 1:02:41
oh, she's still there.
Scott Benner 1:02:43
She's still doing her thing and opening.
Zoey 1:02:45
Yeah, well, she was great. I don't know I Roxy was especially for like when kiddos get diabetes. I think it's probably like a hard transition. I can imagine it would be even harder the older you get. So maybe getting in at nine was a blessing in disguise. But yeah, she always seemed like, very, like, understanding and helpful as far as I remember.
Scott Benner 1:03:08
Yeah. Well, people um, you know, I think if they when they find a good doctor, or one that they get along with, they stick to it. And you obviously travel that's really far to travel, isn't it?
Zoey 1:03:21
From betting town, it was like an hour
Scott Benner 1:03:22
an hour. Okay, so for so to you. You got to see the doctor who had Did you just like her name?
Zoey 1:03:30
I remember being really nice. I think, like, Yeah, I don't know, because we'd always go in. I mean, yeah, they weren't gonna like leave me at home. Because I think so. I think I'd had no choice but I made it work. Yeah.
Scott Benner 1:03:42
And honestly, you're the bad seed. Something was gonna go wrong. Exactly.
Zoey 1:03:44
Yeah, for sure. I probably gonna burn the house down if they left me alone.
Scott Benner 1:03:48
But you're but your sister's endocrinologist visits? were basically the The doctor was nice. And I got Chinese food that was better than I had at home.
Zoey 1:03:57
Yeah, that is it. I think
Scott Benner 1:03:59
that's great. I think that's exactly how I expect it. So people ask me all the time, like, how does your son take this? And I was like, take what? Yeah, like, What are you talking about? This is just this is our This is how it goes? This is our life. Right? Like if, if Jordan was a lacrosse player instead of had diabetes, there'd be things we'd have to do for lacrosse. And it would impact Cole's life. And that would be our life, too. But yeah, I don't really see it as much different that I've tried asking him he doesn't have any He's like, you know, he actually sounds like he was like, I don't know. So I remember this one time we went to a restaurant we couldn't eat right away.
Unknown Speaker 1:04:33
Yeah, like,
Scott Benner 1:04:34
it wasn't a complaint. It was just a memory, you know? Yeah. But but he's like, other than that, like, whatever. I don't, I don't care. I don't think he I don't think he sees her like diabetes at all. Like he'll ask sometimes about her overall health, and we'll keep him filled in if something's going on with her. But no more or less than we keep her filled in if something's going on with him or Yeah, that's good. doesn't have anything to do with diabetes. Really?
Zoey 1:04:59
Yeah, I think that's I mean, that's a great, that's great that you're able to, you know, maintain that equilibrium. That's nice. Yeah, like I remember having to, like Roxy would have to order diet soda, and they'd bring them in sometimes, you know, waiters mix them up. So I would be like the guinea pig to have to taste both of them to make like, see which ones which before she drank it. I hate diet soda now, like, I think it's so because of that.
It is for us anyway. But yeah,
Scott Benner 1:05:27
it seems like your life is okay. Yeah.
Zoey 1:05:31
I got sprayed by a skunk. Thanks to Roxy's diabetes drive before you were illegal. Uh huh. I was doing that. Anyway, I hit a hay bale one time, though. And I was 13. So I was
Scott Benner 1:05:42
driving.
Zoey 1:05:43
Yeah, I was in that field. I was with like, my dad's. I was like, we called My uncle. But yeah. Yeah, he was like, I'll back up and I was like, okay, and I backed around a hay bale. And then he was like, get closer to it. And I was like, Okay, and then I hit it. So I dented the door of my grandmother's car.
Scott Benner 1:06:05
So this probation was put on you by your parents.
Zoey 1:06:09
Yeah, I mean, I was 13. So I couldn't
add it was just in the field like firehouse These are what this would you do in Vermont, you got to keep yourself occupied.
Scott Benner 1:06:18
Let me tell you, let me just tell you this is before we say goodbye, I I hundred percent certain I've never told this on the podcast before. I have been a daily driver since I was 13 years old. And I did not get my driver's license until I was 16. So we had circumstances that required it. And I alluded the law for three years to help my family and trust me, I was not growing up on a mountain and there was no fields anywhere near me.
Zoey 1:06:48
Yeah. Well in like North Dakota, you can get your license when you're like 14 to drive a tractor. You know, sometimes extenuating circumstances.
Scott Benner 1:06:56
Oh, by the way, I know because I actually tried as a 13 year old tried to get an attorney to get me a farmer's license out of state. I was Wow, I wasn't a dedicated industrious young man. I'm
Zoey 1:07:11
a chubby little industrious young man. I 13.
Scott Benner 1:07:12
I was thinning out a little bit. Yeah. I hear what you're saying. Good for you by the run away from your enemies. Well, finally, and then I didn't have as many. But they were all like this kids funny. We don't have to kill him. Like, you know what I mean? So because children have very basic ideas about how other people are treated. So I'm using guy gets to live. Yeah. Yeah, that's all. But yeah, I boy, this isn't. I'm not gonna bother you with it. But it's a good story. Maybe one day, it'll come out of here. Anyway, when I got when I got to my, my test, I took my driver's test on the day of my 16th birthday. Oh, well, because I did not want to risk one more day of driving without a license. And I had, because I was also I was a pragmatic criminal. So I didn't want to, I didn't want to be breaking the law. I just wanted to, you know, I had to mean, the grocery store was not close to our house. And my mom didn't drive. So anyway, I say, where do I get the car. That's another story now. So I go on my, on my birthday morning to get my driver's license, I talk a friend of mines older brother into letting me use this car. I had never driven this car before. So basically, he pulled it into the line for the test. And I got in the driver's seat. And I remember and this is gonna be something for you. Older people remember, but you get it. And the guy's like, you know, blow the horn. You know, dude, like, you have to do all that stuff. Put the turn signal on left, right, they make sure your hands kind of like fluidly go to these things. Yeah. Put on the high beams. And that was right at the time cars. were changing over from a button on the floor for high beams. Oh two pulling your like your turn signal back? Do you know what I mean? Yeah, so now many people have now heard that and thought I did not know there was ever a button on the floor that I also did not know, right? But there was a big metal button. Right? So I when he said high beams I simultaneously reached for the turn signal and stomp my foot and just thought one of these is gonna be running. And one of it was the turn signal. And so I did that.
Zoey 1:09:27
Yeah, I don't know that he would have been able to tell the daytime if your high beams.
Scott Benner 1:09:31
He knew he was very, very studious. I whipped through that test. I swear to God, and we pulled up in front of the building and he looks at me. He goes well, congratulations, you passed. It's like you've been driving forever.
Zoey 1:09:45
You're like ha ha I said
Scott Benner 1:09:47
thank you. And I reached out and took the paper from I got out of the car. I felt like I stole something. I was like, thank you very much. I had to like, consciously keep both of my hands on the wheel. Like I was just shy of like Putting my arm out on the window to get a little sun. You know? I've been driving a really long time. Yeah, we needed groceries. What are you gonna do?
Zoey 1:10:09
Yeah, I mean, you're gonna drive you're gonna do and your sister needs to go to hospital. You
Unknown Speaker 1:10:14
got to get to it.
Scott Benner 1:10:15
That's right. I hope we've all learned something here. From Zoey. I know we I have and I think the one thing I've definitely learned is please tell Roxie when she asked how this went that I want her to be on the show and ask her she'll send me another email. Okay.
Zoey 1:10:28
I'm sure she will. Yes. Well, good luck
Scott Benner 1:10:30
being an attorney. And I hope you help a lot of people. I hope that I hope that boy is nice when you go to Arizona.
Zoey 1:10:40
He's pretty nice. Yeah, it'll be good. Yeah.
Scott Benner 1:10:43
I mean, in Rhode Island, who's he gonna mess with?
Zoey 1:10:45
Oh, yeah. Well, he's from Connecticut.
Scott Benner 1:10:48
Oh, my goodness. People can't drive at all.
Zoey 1:10:50
Not at all. No.
Scott Benner 1:10:53
People in Connecticut. No, you can't drive. Are you just finding out now? You terrible Really? Like you other than that, but
Zoey 1:11:00
honestly, actually a really bad driver. So that makes a lot of sense. Oh,
Scott Benner 1:11:03
100%? Yeah. Oh, no, no, that would not surprise me at all. The I took three years off of my life with stress driving through Connecticut one time.
Unknown Speaker 1:11:14
I will go to Massachusetts. Oh, that's where I was driving to.
Scott Benner 1:11:17
But by then, my brain exploded. So I couldn't tell anymore. But anyway, if I the day I die. Everyone who lives in Connecticut, just know that you stole yours from me. Mm hmm. Yeah. Your inability to speed up or change lanes? Absolutely maddening. Room. Sure you think it's safer, but it was give me a stroke. So anyway, I thank you so much for doing this. This is very kind of you. I really appreciate it.
Zoey 1:11:43
Yeah, no problem. My pleasure. I'll tell my sister, she's got to get on. Did you
Unknown Speaker 1:11:47
get your time? Yes, definitely.
Zoey 1:11:50
So funny to talk about things that I like didn't even you know, I don't know, I just didn't think about think about other people's perceptions of, you know, my experiences or any how it could have been any different than me and my sister,
Scott Benner 1:12:03
though. The truth is, by the way, anybody could have this conversation about anything in life. Like we're always impacting each other in ways we don't realize like, right, you're just living your life. You don't realize that, you know, you living your life is is is impacting someone else. Listen, yesterday. I didn't take my mom, my mom 77 I had to take her to a doctor's appointment. Right? So we don't live in the same state. Now. Don't get me wrong. We're, you know, bordering each other. We're not too long. But I'm at half an hour ride to my mom. So I get up in the morning. I take my kid to school. I'm making breakfast for I'm doing all this stuff. I got to get a shower. I gotta run out the door. I got to drive this 45 minute drive to get them my mom to drive for another half an hour to a doctor's appointment. It isn't going well for me already. Yeah. So we, you know, I get her to the appointment. Everything's fine. You know, she's great. And we're driving home. She says to me, I need Cole's address five days before his birthday. Now my son, his colon, his birthday is in February. And I was like what mom, and he shows his address at college. I need it five days before his birthday. So I can't help myself. So yeah, go, could I get it to you six days before his birthday. And she's like, what? And I said, What? Can I just give it to you? And now she goes, why don't have a pencil. And I said, Well, I was gonna email it to you. Because she had said, and I left that other story because I need you to email me his address. So I said, Mom, I'm like, I could just give it to you now and I swear she goes, I don't have a pencil. I said, Well, Mom, you won't need a pencil to receive an email. So this will be fine. She was Oh, okay, now we're driving. And I'm just like, Mom, listen, and then it gets confusing. She's like, Well, what I want to do is I'm like, Mommy, you're trying to send Cole a card for his birthday? And she's like, Yes, I was like, What is the five days have to do with it? And I couldn't like wrap my head around it and she's. But what I figured out after a painful conversation, was that five days in her mind gave her enough time to mail the card to him before his birthday. But didn't pressure me to have to come through on the ask of can you get Cole's addressed to me? Like she was? Ah, and so I'm like, Mom, you can't think about me like I'm okay. Just say I need Kohl's dress. So I said, Listen, these phones are magical. Ma'am. Let me show you something. I opened up my contacts, not while I'm driving. But you know, between me and us, oh, I've been driving since I'm 13. So pretty good. Right. And so, um, I afford my mom through a text message. My son's contact, said Mom, you'll touch that in it, do it now. Open up your your, you know, text, touch that and it's going to open it up and you're going to save it as a contact. And I said oh look here it already says that you have coals of contact. So just merge them together and you know, you'll have to address them. So then we go into our contacts, and there's a bunch of writing that doesn't make any sense in there. She's got Kohl's address twice. And I go, mom, you already had Kohl's address. No, I didn't. I was like, Yes, it look and I'm showing her and she's like, oh, okay, so I'm deleting her contacts and doing all this stuff. This process took 15 minutes. My mom doesn't realize that by her asking me for my son's address, which by the way, she already had. She put, by the time I got home, my wife goes, Hey, how'd it go? And I went, my mom. Oh, my I couldn't stop. Like, I was just like, I'm telling her the story. I'm all jacked up and everything I'm like, and she's like, what happened? I don't know. It's about close like she my mom took Can you please send me Cole's address at school? and turned it into a nightmare. And trust me, all of you are doing that to everyone around you. I'm doing it to people too. We don't realize it. There's a great story everywhere. We can have everybody sister call up and you know,
Zoey 1:16:00
just talk about growing up.
Scott Benner 1:16:01
Yeah, their side of the story. I'll be good. I will. I won't bother you with it. She asked me how to crash your apps. That was a painful 10 minutes. Oh my god.
Zoey 1:16:11
No. Oh my gosh, my aunt. This is Yeah, my my aunt is so so so sweet. My parents got her an iPad. Or maybe she got enough. My my dad taught her how to use it. But not really, because I came downstairs and I am in law school. So my life is kind of a hellscape a lot of the time. And when I'm home in Vermont, it's like, you know, very relaxing. And I try and take advantage of that. I come down and it's like, I deleted all my messages. And I'm like, and she had deleted somebody deleted her messages on her iPad. And she was like, I need to get them back. And I was like, I don't can and
I was like you
deleted them like and I was like here don't do this again. She's like, I didn't do that. And I was like, well, either way they could have disappeared. So I don't know to tell
Scott Benner 1:17:02
you. As I tried to teach my mom to swipe up to open the absolute she's stabbing at the phone. I'm like, Mom, stop stabbing it up, up. And then I'm showing her I'm like, here I close three. I'm like See that? She's like, yeah, I'm like you tried, boom. Your God. I called my brother. I called my brother with the other car. And I was like, why didn't you buy her that phone? Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 1:17:25
Oh, man.
Scott Benner 1:17:26
By the way. My mom's lovely too. She just Yeah,
Zoey 1:17:28
yeah, people. It's hard.
Scott Benner 1:17:31
And during that good.
Zoey 1:17:33
Dad is like way more tech savvy than I am. Oh, he's got a lot of time. And my mom is like, yeah, my mom is like, I send it to my iPad. And I'm like, do you mean your email?
Unknown Speaker 1:17:47
That's really fine.
Scott Benner 1:17:49
Yeah, terrific. I love this. Thank you so much. Thank you. I really appreciate this. Hey, huge thanks to Omni pod and dex comm for supporting the show, please go to my omnipod.com forward slash juice box and dexcom.com forward slash juice box. Don't forget to check out T one d exchange.org. forward slash juice box if you'd like to add your voice to some very meaningful Type One Diabetes Research. Thanks so much to Zoey for coming on and sharing her recollections of growing up with Roxy. And if you think your sibling might like to come on the show and has had a different experience than the ones that we described, reach out. Thanks so much for listening. I'll talk to you soon.
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#375 DEXCOM Calibration Practices
To calibrate or not to calibrate, that is the question
Jenny, Scott and the members of the Juicebox Facebook group compare their calibration ideas.
You can always listen to the Juicebox Podcast here but the cool kids use: Apple Podcasts/iOS - Spotify - Amazon Alexa - Google Play/Android - iHeart Radio - Radio Public or their favorite podcast app.
+ 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 0:03
Hello friends and welcome to Episode 375 of the Juicebox Podcast. On today's show, Jenny Smith and I will discuss different ideas around calibrating continuous glucose monitors. My perspective, of course will come from the dexcom g six because that's what Arden uses. Jenny also wears the G six, but she has worn the Medtronic CGM. And many of you have added your thoughts to this episode through the private Facebook group. For the podcast. I asked this question Hey, calibrating your CGM? Yes or no. And we got a lot of answers. They're all woven into this episode. At the end, I will read directly to you from dex coms website. And of course, while you're listening, I'd love it if you'd remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, please always consult a physician before making changes to your health care plan. We're becoming bold with insulin. I also took a few minutes from the conversation while Jenny was setting up her microphone and everything and she was admitting to not being able to do something around her house and I put it at the end of the episode so you can enjoy it. Jenny is delightful. You want to know something else about Jenny. You can hire her just go to integrated diabetes.com Jenny Smith has been living with Type One Diabetes for 31 years. She holds a bachelor's degree in human nutrition and biology from the University of Wisconsin. She's a registered and licensed dietitian, a certified diabetes educator and certified trainer on most makes and models of insulin pumps, and continuous glucose monitors. She is also a very good friend of the podcast. So check her out. And while you're looking, check out the Contour Next One blood glucose meter go to Contour Next one.com Ford slash juice box to find what I believe to be the greatest blood glucose meter available. Second Chance test strips. super bright light for nighttime viewing. It fits easily in your hand, but doesn't slip away. Well, if that makes sense or not. But it's easy to hold. You don't drop it. I like the shape. I like how portable it is. I can find it in a bag at night without the lights on. I've never told you that before but it's easy to find in a bag. And it's testing ability is just first class. Contour next comm Ford slash juice box where the links in your show notes are the ones available at Juicebox podcast.com. If you have time, I'd also loved if you check out touched by type one.org and T one d exchange.org. forward slash juicebox. Touched by type one is my favorite diabetes organization. And T one D exchange. They're doing research to help people living with Type One Diabetes. And every one of you that completes the research. You just need to be from the United States have type one diabetes or be the guardian or parent of someone with Type One Diabetes. Anyway, when you finish the research, the podcast gets a little help. You know to me a little Cha Ching, and you're helping people live better with Type One Diabetes. It's a great organization 100% HIPAA compliant, absolutely anonymous. You can take your information out at any time, just tell them Look, I don't want to be a part of this anymore. If you want to write so there's no pressure, you'll never have to go to a doctor's office never have to go to a testing site. And once a year, they'll ask you a couple of questions to keep your information updated. And your answers help shape Type One Diabetes Care. It's pretty cool. Being Arden's parent, I was able to fill out the survey took me less than 10 minutes. And I did not find any of the questions to be like I was I was never like, oh god, why they asked me that was all very, pretty simple actually. was easy to do. I think we're going to record an episode today that has the opportunity to be very controversial. Oh, great, but not in a way that I think. I don't think it's gonna get us in too much trouble. So I this is gonna sound crazy, right? But I want to talk about how you manage your G six. As far as calibrating it or not calibrating it goes. And I asked online and got 77 replies. I just said to people,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 4:28
and are all they are they're all different.
Scott Benner 4:30
Oh my god, all of them are so different. So it says I said Dexcom calibration thread, share what works for you. And I did say your tips may be used in an upcoming episode of the podcast. So first, I guess we'll talk about what we do and then we'll dig through all of this now for clarity, right that I mean Dexcom. You know their I guess their public statement is that the Dexcom g six does not need to be calibrated.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 4:59
It doesn't need To be unless it's unless the system asks for a calibration. Okay, in my year and a half of use of G six now I've, I think I've seen it asked for a calibration maybe twice, but its own like, you know, like, this is not right, or I think one of them might have been, you're not right, I'm going to give you a calibration then the system was like, No, no, no, no, no, I'm going to ask for calibration again in like 30 minutes, something I think it what it kind of did. Um, so yeah, technically g six isn't supposed to require a calibration through the whole 10 days of life, right? Unless it requests one.
Scott Benner 5:44
Okay. All right. So there's a whole bunch of information on the website about it, I'll probably read it at the end, just so that it's in here. By the way, keep in mind, I did not tell Dexcom I was making this I don't do that. So I didn't, I wasn't like we're gonna do a calibration episode. It's just something people talk about all the time. And every time someone talks about it, it's like religion or politics. don't mean like, someone will come in and say, Well, here's what I do. And 30 people be like, that's wrong. Don't do that. I was like, wow, everyone has such feelings about this, you know? Yes. So obviously, I think whatever works for you is what works for you. But, Jenny, do you like do you have like a, like a way like, when you start a new sensors, or a thing you do? You just,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 6:30
I started a new sensor. I pop it in, I expect. It's funny. I I see a lot of people you know, work with a lot of people are like, it always kind of like you just said it is always low for a one hour for five hours, six hours after I started up, I know that it's just going to read me low. And whatever. I'm kind of, I think I'm sort of odd in that. Sometimes when it gets going. It is spot on. And I always do a finger stick because I always want to verify where it is. That's just my habit. Yeah. Sometimes it stays completely reliable. from the get go. It's great, right? Sometimes it's a little bit off. But then as it kind of keeps going. It gets right on with a finger stick. Yeah. And sometimes it has that weird. Low. a fun thing about that low is, it always seems to be if I have to change the sensor at night. It's gonna be low. And then I'm gonna be fighting the annoying alerts. All night.
Scott Benner 7:43
All right. Okay. So always the time that I can relate to what you're saying, I might take a detour for a second here. But before I do your, uh, your your spotty on your end. You plugged in the Ethernet, right?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 7:57
I did plug it in. Yeah.
Scott Benner 7:58
All right. Make that mic a little closer to you, please. So I better I yes, I do think that. What's that old cartoon with around head? And do you know what I mean? It's like, if something's gonna go wrong, it will and it's attributed. How is it possible? I can't remember Murphy's Law. Okay, was it a cartoon?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 8:21
cartoon? I think it's actually, I don't know that it's necessarily is maybe it is a cartoon. I don't know.
Scott Benner 8:27
What am I kidding? No, no, it's like rule of thumb. My thinking of I think I may have had a mini stroke just now because I don't think there's any cartoon associated with Murphy's Law. Okay, let's get away from that.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 8:38
I think that this might also be the issue between my voice. I, well, it came with the mic, okay. And I always try to be very protective of the mics and
Scott Benner 8:50
throw that away.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 8:51
I always put the little styrofoam thing back talking
Scott Benner 8:54
styrofoam between the microphone and our mouth. Well, you throw that out, please. No wonder you can't change that light bulb. Everything you said about the light bulbs thing in the episode now just so you know.
So yeah, so I said at the beginning, but just to reiterate, Arden cgms usually go on. And then they read perfectly. And then sometime in the first hour, it just decides that she's low, like, you know, way lower than she is. And if you let it ride out, it comes back up. Now,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 9:30
in a particular time, do you have like a defined time that usually
Scott Benner 9:34
Yeah, I think in like, if I don't see it in like three or four hours, then here I go. I calibrate it. If it's not that, okay, now I don't calibrate low to 90. Right. So we'll talk about that. Like you can confuse the CGM. If the reality is, if the reality is too far from where the CGM thinks it is. Right? You can't calibrate it because it just goes does not compute and you know, it If you fry, it's mine. And it takes forever for it to come back from that. But no if she's, if she's 100. And for clarity, too, I think this makes sense to say, obviously, we're using the Contour. Next One blood glucose meter. If you have a, like an old janky blood glucose meter, you know, the G six is probably way more reliable than your old meter is right? But I'm very comfortable that this meter is, is pretty spot on. And so if the meter tells me she's 100, but it says she's 60 Well, then that's too far apart, obviously. And so I'll calibrate it, but I'll tell it like she's 75 and kind of coax it up, and then test her again a little while later and coax it the rest of the way. So that's one of the ways I sort of, if it's too far apart, I calibrate but I don't you
Jennifer Smith, CDE 10:59
have no timeframe to calibration, coaxing kind of way, like you said, and if it gets up to par quicker, you probably don't calibrate again at all.
Scott Benner 11:09
Or at all he does.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 11:10
Then you'll calibrate again. But that's not like a defined time period after that initial coaxing.
Scott Benner 11:17
Yeah, yeah, I don't have like, I don't have like a magic number to it. Like, like everyone else does. Like, here's a person who said, over 50 points off, I wait an hour for blood sugar's to stabilize. And if it's still off, I pull it and get a replacement. Well, that seems aggressive. Mm hmm. And I wouldn't do that. Because last night, like I said, Arden's sensor went on. around seven, came online, around nine was great. said she was low, around 10. She was in the shower, but I don't think that has anything to do with it. She gets out. It's wrong for a while. And then it just is right again. And then it just shuts off for like, two hours. So last night was That was last night was an uncommon occurrence for us. We don't usually lose a signal during it. But as it came back on, I calibrated it probably two times overnight. And then it's now it's, it's beautiful. Like, if I use this person's theory, I would have pulled it off. And I knew not to pull it off last night. I was like, No, this one's going to come around. Right? You know, and it did. Tina says that I calibrate if it's way off after warm up. But only if it's a stable arrow. I didn't do it once and waited for it to catch up. And that sensor ended up being not good. So there's so much anecdotal conversation in this thread. Everybody knows, I bet you if Dexcom was here, they would just tell you like, Don't calibrate it. It'll it'll figure it out. Right. But what do you do when it doesn't figure it out?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 13:03
Yeah, that's when people get frustrated like this. They're like, well, it's clearly not doing what I want it to do. I haven't calibrated so either. I'm just frustrated enough to pull it off and start a new one up. Or they calibrate and then they calibrate and then they calibrate and then calibrate and you know, I think Dexcom in the first 24 hours tells you not to calibrate, leave it alone, and the system should write itself after that. If the system is off compared to fingerstick. Then if your glucose is less than 70, you can calibrate if there's more than a 30% difference between finger stick and CGM. If your glucose is more than 70, and finger stick to CGM is off by more than 30 points, then you can calibrate. Okay. So those are the rules of thumb that at least used to be a piece for Dexcom in terms of when they would say, okay, it's it's okay, now to go ahead and calibrate. Yes, the system technically doesn't require them. But if it's this much off, you could calibrate because clearly, it's not keeping you where your finger sticks are. And again, I you know, the fact of using an accurate blood glucose monitor. That's huge. Yeah,
Scott Benner 14:24
that's huge. You definitely can't use an old technology. No, there's a Listen, I'll make this argument all day long. If you've got a 10 year old meter, and you've got a dexcom g six, you trust the dexcom g six, not the meter. And you don't tell the dexcom who might really know that your blood sugar is 90 that Oh, no, no, it's not it's 120 this old busted up meter I have here says so. You know, because then then you're then you're literally telling the CGM. Well, you're really 120 and it's going No, we're not. We're 90. That causes confusion. You know, the next person here says Stacy goes, don't calibrate, install the sensor, when the BG is most stable like right before bed, stay hydrated, learn what the trends are for you or your child, because everyone is different. Thanks again for the pocket. Okay, I thought about that. But so her explanation is, she doesn't like to put on a new sensor in a time of blood sugar turmoil, correct up or down or anything like that. Is that also something that helps? Do you think
Jennifer Smith, CDE 15:28
I would expect that it would help? Yes. I mean, I don't. My personal do I pay attention to that? No. I mean, when my sensor dies, I replace it and I started up. But it for those who do have more issue with sensor accuracy from the get go, it could be a very good rule of thumb, because it used to be I mean, eons ago, when sensors first came out, that was the rule with the calibrations, make sure that you have a stable horizontal line or a horizontal arrow, or there's there's not a very large rate of change happening, so that the system can kind of get on par with what it's sensing in a more stable setting.
Scott Benner 16:12
That to me Makes sense. Because if you're rising quickly, and at the moment, you're 71, and you tell the thing, you're 71, it's aware that you're rising your meters not and so by the time you put the number in, you might be 80. And then that's also well, so. So it's interesting here, because the next Lisa comes in and says in these books, these two people are parents, it's interesting the difference between parents and maybe this is where we really give parents and people with type one a little extra because you know they're paying attention a little extra, right? Like I said, like I put my damn thing on whenever I need to. And that's the end of it. But Lisa said new sensor inserted and warm during stable time, she says the same thing. And then she says when it works for her stay hydrated, avoid rapid blood glucose changes during the warm up and the first hours. For example, it looks like they exercise physical exercise be suspicious of unexpected values in the first evening, I hundred percent believe in that I you know, first day of a dexcom. If I don't trust what I'm seeing I check, right. She says she gives a little rule of thumb here. If way off from a finger stick and a flat arrow. I calibrate a value in between but never more than too many malls. are 36 Oh, she's from? Oh, yeah, at least I think is Australian at a time. Normally given one the sensor gets a brain normally given one a sensor gets around. I don't know what she means by that. But so that's it for her right. It's way off from a finger stick. And you have a flat our calibrate a value in between but never more than than 36 points off for American. So I think what she's saying is, if the if the things that if the sensor says she's 100. And the meter says she's 136 she picks a midpoint and tells it Oh, I'm really 118 that's what I sounds like. Yeah, that sounds like what you're doing too. Well, yeah. coaxing it towards the truth. Right. Yeah. It's like the first hour of interrogation after you've been arrested. We don't go right. We don't go right for the for the idea that we start off with. So are you there?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 18:23
Right. I do have to say, you know, I guess I didn't, I guess I didn't really think about it in in terms. Maybe subconsciously. I was thinking about it. But in terms of like the comment about starting a new sensor before exercise. I don't do that. Okay. I will, I guess, again, subconscious level, I will start it when I'm not going to be moving so that things are moving quicker. I just do finger sticks. If I have a sensor that dies before I plan to go out and just do some finger sticks and go about my exercise plan.
Scott Benner 18:59
Yeah, well, we, you know, we've run into situations before where we're, you know, throwing on new equipment. Honestly, whether it's a pump or a CGM, and we're running out of the house or Arden's leaving, but we're gonna split up. And I think I must always say, hey, look, that's a new pump. So, you know, let's be extra careful. That's a new CGM. Pay attention to how you feel you should probably test in an hour. Right? You know, I think we all have feelings around technology, like, you know, a continuous glucose monitor, or even an insulin pump site isn't a television. It's not just like it works. This thing should do exactly what it's supposed to do every time this. There's also a dance it's doing with your physiology. And that's different for many, many of us, and not always repeatable in the same ways. So,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 19:52
right like I think there's some people to someone who is a very true listen To your podcasts, who I've been working with for a bit, and he actually wears two sensors, he wears g six, and he wears the libri. At the same time interesting. And, you know, a piece of it is the benefit with the pumping system that he uses when it's when he has a new sensor, he wants to be able to continue to feed glucose values to the system in order to keep it running right and doing what it's supposed to do. So he uses the libri data then to plug in the glucose values in order to not have to do finger sticks in that time period. But to be able to still give it glucose values, which I think is a you know, if you're not, if you don't really care about wearing more robotic parts, that's a great idea, you know, running those time periods to and I've had them g six for me has been kind of funny I have, I would say I have really good accuracy with it. But by about day eight on 90% of my sensors thus far, day eight, I start to get sensor error, wait three hours, and then it'll come back. I'll get a little data. And then they'll give me another sensor error, wait three hours. And at this point, if I get it twice, on day eight, I'm like, could put the air the sensors done, I take off, I call it in Dexcom is great. They've sent me new ones, but they always ask the same darn questions. I'm like, I don't know why it's dying on day eight for me, but it is so. But I mean, in terms of even just the time periods when you get those errors, having a backup, like wearing a Liebe Ray, which again, also doesn't require any calibration, right? Kind of can give you a back up in terms of your initial system a little overlap
Scott Benner 21:43
it You're right. It's a little overlap. No, no. And we do testing in that time. Like I I don't I agree with you, when when I see people who are like, Oh my god, the worst time of my life is the two hour warm up when I don't have Dexcom. Right. And I think those people must be newer to diabetes or to deck or in general, because I've never once thought oh my god, we've lost the CGM for two hours like this thing. Like last night it you know, it, it um, it lasted the full 10 days, like right up till the to the hard stop. And it wasn't a problem once during the thing. And then the next two hours, I just hold our nose like they get an hour just test. And if you need insulin, give it to yourself. Like you know, the way we did it for years and years and years before this technology exists.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 22:30
I feel like that's probably the case. And it's, I sort of have, I compare it to kind of being like, you're on the mothership, and all of a sudden you get like, spit out the back door, and now you're like Lost in Space is fast. Where am I traveling to? What's going
Scott Benner 22:48
on? I mean, quite honestly. fingerstick I mean, it's I know that and for many parents, I think it's hard when you've gotten so used to a system that you feel like you're saving your little ones fingers. Yeah, you know what? They're gonna be okay. It'll be hard. If you stick their finger, you know, they'll be okay. If you get information that's going to help in the short term, right? I'm helping a person right now. And I said, Hey, why don't you check with the meter, and they have the contour. So I was like, I'm pretty comfortable with this. And they responded back and we're like, we don't we never test. And I said, you probably should a little bit. And you know, and so And now's one of those touches. Why do you want me to test right now? I said, because we're about to do something. And I want to be 100% sure we're doing the right thing. And I don't know you. And you know, I don't know when you put the CGM on, I don't know how you've managed it. Like I just want. I want a little peace of mind here. Right? Don't take your peace of mind from an old meter. But you know, at the same time, Okay, ready? What do we have here? Dana's got some solid advice. I think I've probably calibrated every sensor a few times, but it has to be a flat arrow. I use decks comms for trends, and a finger pick a finger poke throughout the day. So if it's consistently off by 10, or 20 points, over two and three or two or three checks, then I'll calibrate. So if she's off by more like between 10 and 20 points, two or three times, then she brings the the CGM back. I have to admit, I would do that too. I don't know that that she's saying she does it consistently through every sensor. We don't do that. But if I saw that, I agree I would do it. You know. And Arden's a one see very closely matches her Dexcom data. Right so I'm comfortable that I'm doing the right thing.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 24:46
Yeah, mine does too. And that's a lot of people do some comparison. I mean, I'll usually get emails from people and they're like, well my my G ami from Dexcom was telling me this but my a one c came back at this. What's the What is the deal? You know, and I know that we've talked about that before on a couple of other episodes. But, I mean, you have to understand the difference, you know, blood glucose versus interstitial glucose, a little bit of variance there could be, I, myself also have very good comparison between the Dexcom average and my actual agency. They're, they're close. I think that the last one was within like, one point or point one. Um, well, that is,
Scott Benner 25:29
that is definitely how I, in the end, assess whether or not I'm managing that sensor well, right. And it's funny too, because, you know, back in the day, when people were rampid, for information back when information used to go really slow, like a new CGM, you know, the G five would come out and people right away, I get the notes, scotch doesn't work, review it, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, I'm not gonna know for three months. Like, why do you? What are you talking? You asked
Jennifer Smith, CDE 25:55
me two days after, right?
Scott Benner 25:57
Here's how we'll know three months from now I'll look at Arden's data. If somebody sent me an email and said, Please say data for me. So I'll look at Arden's data. And then I'll look at her a one C. And if they match, I'll say Huh, that CGM must have been pretty good. Because there's no other way to tell. And so I do think that this is kind of crazy, because it's user error. A lot of the times right and and not error, like oh, you screwed up. But I think Oh, you don't know how, which is why I want to put this this episode together. Because it just it is like sometimes this thing needs a little massaging. Chelsea said, we calibrate only if the arrow stable. Usually first thing in the morning, and before I go to bed, keep hydrated. Never calibrate when there is no arrow? Because she believes RAC that means the sensors confused in general, right?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 26:53
Correct. That means the sensor is it's still giving you data. But it's it's making sure like all of its little algorithm, whatever it's doing internally there, it's not giving you an error, an arrow of direction, because it's seeing a glucose value. But there's there's it makes sense for them. Yeah, it's kind of confused, I guess. Yeah.
Scott Benner 27:15
She goes on to say trying to calibrate when food or rapid insulins on board. And some people say this is hearse gleaming, I think what other people said to her that works to her, insert it, let it marinate overnight and then calibrate it in the morning. And in fairness, Jeanette came in and said this and put arrows to it. Like she was like, I completely agree with this one. Next person says we rarely calibrate. We know that the next con will oftentimes be off a bit in the first 12 hours. If you do calibrate, do so when numbers are stable and not dropping increasing quickly. Right? Yeah, see people are starting to hear anything idea
Jennifer Smith, CDE 27:56
is not, it's not I guess, proprietary to Dexcom. A lot of people with Medtronic do exactly that as well, because of I think their sensor has long term been a little bit more wonky, kind of in the get go kind of stage. So there are a lot of people who even with the older Medtronic sensors would let it do that, like marination, they'd sort of inserted at night, they'd start it up first thing in the morning, still get another two hours of wait time period, but it was enough that they got rid of that sink in period.
Scott Benner 28:31
Have you ever seen people put a sensor on but and then cover it? Yeah. And not not at all, like put a transmitter in it or anything like that. I've seen people do that.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 28:42
In fact, I've had a couple of parents who do that with their kids kind of this marinate idea. They'll use that whatever it's called caveman. It's like the the sticky wrap. It doesn't really stick stick.
Scott Benner 28:53
Like if you give blood now they wrap it around your cotton, right? Yeah,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 28:56
exactly. So that what they'll do is they'll put the Dexcom on not put anything in it like meaning like a transmitter. And then they just wrap that around let it sit and then they started up when the actual old the old sensor dies.
Scott Benner 29:10
Because index comms been on and in the past obviously a lot and they've they've know I've been told more than once. Right? There's this there's this wire that goes in and it needs time to I mean, let's say acclimate to the interstitial fluid. Yeah, what yeah, I think is what I so it's soaking in, right. I think the idea. It's like, I guess it's like, you know, it's like taking a log and dipping it in water and pulling it back out right away. The logs not wet in the middle from that, but if you throw it in there for a few hours, it'll soak through. Gabriella, I only calibrate within plus or minus 30% of Dexcom readings directionally towards my readings directionally towards my meter I don't get into calibration loops as a result. Have you ever seen a calibration loop personally, where it asks you to calibrate you calibrate and then tells you to calibrate again.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 30:02
I've not not with G six, I have had that with G five. Okay. But again not often either with that,
Scott Benner 30:08
I think I've seen it. I honestly have to say maybe twice. And we've gotten out of both of them by being persistent and, and doing it. Here's a question for you. Let's say you calibrate. And let's I'm gonna try to make up a number here. So let's just say your blood sugar is really 90. The Dexcom says you're 120 and you put in 90, and it says 110. You know, if you put in 90 again, it will agree with you, right?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 30:45
It did not done that.
Scott Benner 30:47
A double calibration on close numbers, forces it to agree. Now, the question in my head always is,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 30:57
does it stick then? Is that right?
Scott Benner 30:59
To do? Or is it just making me feel better? And and all I can say is that when I do that, things go okay afterwards. But I don't know if that's right or wrong. This is probably right, where I'm thinking right now people are listening. And they're just like they're pulling their hair out and punching the dashboard of their car. And they're like such bad information. Let's keep this in mind. I'm just telling you what I've done in the past. I'm not telling you to rule. I'm certainly not saying Dexcom says to do it. We're having a little conversation here about what other people do because it's such a varied thing. Don't do it if you don't like it, like you know, or try it once and see what happens. I don't know. But I don't even know if the outcomes right or not. I do know that it makes me comfortable. You've done it a couple of times. So it's Yeah,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 31:43
seems like it works when you've done it. Well I've done
Scott Benner 31:47
it enough to say it out loud and let my voice would be recorded while I'm doing it. Yeah, I willy nilly on here yelling about diabetes stuff. Right?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 31:54
Right. Yeah, I I've never tried that. I guess the next time that I feel like it warrants a give it a whirl.
Scott Benner 32:01
See what happens.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 32:03
Mike, give that a whirl and see how that works out especially at two o'clock in the morning. I'm like, I'm not low.
Scott Benner 32:11
Elena says I don't calibrate I find that calibrating leads to far more inaccuracy than just letting it go. With that said, I do think the first 24 hours or so of a new sensor can be rough. And it eventually works itself out. Tara, we check on the first day. If it is 20 points off. we calibrate. And if it helps, and if it helps it not to be so wonky that day. Any other time we spot check it it's right on. that'll stop it. She's saying okay. Molly, I have never had to calibrate and when I test as long as my arrow is stable on my Dexcom they match within three to eight points.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 32:51
Wow. That's crazy. Oh, God, I think you know, and I think a big piece of this too, which has now been commented a couple of times. Yeah, I people is hydration. That is a and I know we've talked about it before I've mentioned it before that is just enormously important. And I think especially for for kids, little kids who you kind of have to coax them to drink more, right? And remind them I mean, kids without diabetes, I don't even think parents pay attention honestly, to how much their kid is drinking through the course of the day. But kids with diabetes, certainly especially with the fluxes that they have in their blood sugar. Hydration is huge. And then you've got kids who are very into sport I mean they might be doing something for four hours, you know, four times a week. Make sure they're drinking Yeah, absolutely. So but for sensors specific though hydration is
Scott Benner 33:51
so important well you know your point is well taken because today in the in the private Facebook group for the podcast it somebody asked about their creatine been been created or something like that, like yeah,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 34:03
they're creating and been is Yeah, blood urea nitrogen is what it stands. Thank
Scott Benner 34:07
you, Jenny. And everyone who came in who had any kind of a medical background was like, Look, if I was you, I would just make sure I'm hydrated. You know, Natasha says we used to try to calibrate after the first 24 hours if dex was still over 20% off for the last sensor change. We did a pre soak no see that the new sensor, they soak their sensor overnight, and then snapped in the transmitter in the morning. And it worked without calibrating. dex was very close to the Contour. Next One, thank you for the plug. Once the 24 hours passed, no sex was also less jumpy during the 24 hours. And
Jennifer Smith, CDE 34:45
I've seen that too. That's actually an interesting comment. You know, with G six, the the system has smoothed the data, right so you get this smoother trend line with SJ good? Yeah. But a lot of people have questioned in that first, like, let's even say 12 hours. Some people do get that like that little up gel where you can see that the numbers, those little dots every five minutes, they are more Up, down, up down versus this nice smooth into yeah each other. So that's interesting that somebody kind of commented on that.
Scott Benner 35:25
Well, someone comes in and asks, Do you can you explain pre soaking and she Natasha went on and said before the current sensor expires, apply the new sensor but not but do not move the transmitter. So the type so the type one will still be wearing two sensors one active one inactive for a period of time, this gives the new sensor a chance to acclimate for longer than the standard to our warmup period. If you do this, be sure to cover the new sensor to protect the delicate electronics. We use a band aid
Jennifer Smith, CDE 35:52
Oh, band aid. Yeah, this is completely
Scott Benner 35:54
off label. Obviously, most of our based on the podcast is off label, right?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 35:59
I would expect that a band aid that's one of those like larger band aids would probably be the better option just to protect that internal part of the sensor. Because you know, the funny thing about g six, and I didn't realize it initially after I started to wear it, but g six has this like sticky stuff. Like inside. And when you remove your transmitter, you can see it on there. And that's why you have to clean the transmitter off every time you take it off.
Scott Benner 36:27
Doesn't it remind you of like petroleum jelly or something? Does I don't know what it is, though.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 36:31
Yeah, it's like carmax or like, you know? Yeah, like petroleum jelly gynae.
Scott Benner 36:37
I, I definitely know what you're talking about. Yeah, it um, listen, Linda, we never calibrate. And I have to say to their sensors for weeks in a row that we don't calibrate. Like, I don't need most like, this is interesting to do. But I'm not a person who's in a position of saying, oh, wow, we really need to figure out what works because what works for us is, you know,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 37:02
like, do what works for you. And you might have censored a sensor that one. One, I guess, idea of what to do with this particular issue. It could be different three months down the road when you've got another sensor. Oh, sorry. I thought I had it turned off. But yeah, it might be three months down the road, that it's a completely different calibration need, right that you do something completely different this time versus the last time that you needed to calibrate.
Scott Benner 37:34
Yeah, there's three people here, Irene, Jeanette and Jolie. And they all say the same thing. Like once in a while, like I put it on, and it works great. But sometimes I get it where it asks me to calibrate twice after a warm up, even though it's not supposed to like, have you seen that.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 37:48
And if I have and I didn't see that until Gosh, a cup maybe it was the beginning of this summer that I put a sensor on. I gave it the code and accepted the code. And after the two hours, it was like, you need to calibrate with a with two finger sticks. Now it's like put I fed you a coat and then it I believe it's every 24 hours then if it didn't, for some reason register the code even though it told you you did right, you'll get the two hour warm up two finger stick and after that once a day, you'll get a request for another calibration every 24 hours with a new sensor. Okay,
Scott Benner 38:23
how amazing is all this by the way for it? Listen, for those of you who have walked into diabetes during the time of glucose monitoring, you're probably thinking, you know, Oh, that sounds like a problem. And for anyone, Jenny or me with Arden, who were around before this, I think this is all like astonishingly amazing. And just as magical. You know, Danielle, we rarely check with a finger poke. We only check when we are surprised by what Dexcom is telling us. I think that's important to remember. That is exactly how I feel about it. It's that like when I don't know how to I don't know how I know. But when I don't trust it, I don't trust it. And right, you get that over time. I think
Jennifer Smith, CDE 39:04
it's kind of like with the ones that as you said they start up and it just reads like ello w Yeah, your low your blood sugar's like 39 I'm like, Yeah, I don't feel 39. I know. I mean, I have, you know, symptoms, thankfully for low blood sugar, still. And I would know a 39. I mean, I really would. And so I can be like yeah, that's totally wrong. I'm going to do a finger stick and it's going to come back at like 78 or like maybe 90 or something you know. So symptoms are another piece to it as well if you are feeling very differently than what the CGM is telling you. Even if you haven't done a finger stick in three months. Yep. Figure out where your glucometer is.
Scott Benner 39:45
Go find that. Megan says I don't calibrate if it's inaccurate we go off finger sticks. Excuse me, why can't I say finger sticks until Dexcom becomes accurate. My daughter has been wearing Dexcom for two years. I only calibrate if it's off by more than 50 points, which is rare. And I only calibrate when the arrow is level. Lizzie says I've never calibrated the dexcom CGM. Wow. Yeah.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 40:14
That's amazing. Yeah, it must have been must be somebody Then who's never been on G five because that required cat needed
Scott Benner 40:20
calibration. Right? Yeah.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 40:22
Although, interestingly, I have had people who've worn g five who said
Scott Benner 40:29
they want it back calibrated.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 40:30
I just don't calibrate it. I've just let it and honestly the system will, it will keep running. Unlike g4, and the previous if you didn't calibrate it, it would just stop giving you information. g five would keep giving you data. Okay, it would keep asking for calibrations,
Scott Benner 40:47
but it wouldn't.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 40:48
It wouldn't stop giving you data. Well, you're right.
Scott Benner 40:51
You're 100%, right. Oh, I remember that, too. Yeah. Okay, Sara in the morning with no carbs or insulin on board with a level arrow. So we're starting to see some similarities with people's answers that are that are repeating over I
Jennifer Smith, CDE 41:06
mean, I think if you could put it together in a simple, it would probably be one be hydrated. Yep. To make sure that the glucose value is stable, or that you're in a stable time period, meaning you haven't eaten like the whole basket of like chicken fries, and like ice cream, and now you're waiting for your sensor to give you good data. Right? Well,
Scott Benner 41:24
I'll tell you what, there's a couple of there's a couple of statements in here that really does shine a light on what anecdotal information is. Because there's a person and they're even putting a laughy face in it, who says, I usually only need it during the first sensor session with a new transmitter. I feel like the new transmitter needs a few days to learn me. The transmitter has nothing to do with the measurement of your blood sugar. It's just sending the signal right to but even so that's it right like it you see something over and over again. And if you misconstrue it, all of a sudden you feel like it's a rule. You know? It's like when people's like Murphy's Law. Oh, that thing. Always I love it. When people say this about diabetes, this stuff always goes wrong at the worst times. And to that I always respond, what would a good time be for it to go wrong? Right. Every time feels like a bad time.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 42:19
Right? Exactly.
Scott Benner 42:20
Yeah. Going along and live in your life. And then all of a sudden, something you're counting on stops working. There's a good time for that.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 42:27
Yeah. Always stinks. Yeah, no matter if it's two o'clock in the morning, or when you're on the beach vacation or your whatever, in the middle of a basketball tournament. It's never a good time. Jeff,
Scott Benner 42:40
Brent and Jay, I don't calibrate.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 42:45
If I'm curious for those who are not calibrating
Scott Benner 42:48
how close they're a once the matches there.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 42:51
I'd be curious about that. But I'd also be curious if they're also people that may not be doing finger sticks. So they may not really know if their sensor is really off. Yeah, it. I mean, because, you know, having had diabetes as long as I have. I didn't have sensors for a good majority of my life with diabetes. I didn't. And I mean, my first sensor was in 2006. That's when I first started using them. And so I was always, I still am. I still do finger sticks during the day, even if it's not to check my CGM. It's because it's time to eat. And I'm so
Scott Benner 43:35
programmed.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 43:36
I'm just programmed to do a finger stick. I do a finger stick when I wake up in the morning. I do a finger stick at lunchtime. I do a finger stick at dinnertime. I always do it before I go to bed. And I'll even do more than that during the day with exercise. Right? And I just it's just a routine. It's like brushing my teeth. It's not something I think about anymore. So I think that I'm also a little bit more in tune then with Oh, my CGM is reading this. My finger stick was this. You know, and for those who pomp especially if you're relying on the CGM, but you've not really been doing finger sticks, and you're kind of wondering why Will my GM from Dexcom is telling me this is my average. But every time I get my a one c done, gosh, it looks like I'm a lot higher. Yeah,
Scott Benner 44:21
well,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 44:22
it. It could just be that CGM just isn't reading you as
Scott Benner 44:26
accurately. Do you remember a long time ago in the original Omni pod? PDM there was the meter and that the meter wasn't it wasn't great. And so that's how I figured it out. Right. So how did I figure out the meter wasn't great, because Arden's a one seat kept coming back higher than it should and it didn't matter. This is before CGM, and it didn't match what the finger sticks. were telling me. And that's when
Jennifer Smith, CDE 44:54
we'll figure out how to play with the Kalam
Scott Benner 44:56
Yeah, then you change the calibration code and the meter works better. And so I used to it was 17 or 18, right? All the all the test strips for the Omni pod PDM or code 1616 and some people change the meter to code 17 and some people change the meter to code 18 depending on which ends up being more accurate for them, we were 18 I know a lot of people were 17
Jennifer Smith, CDE 45:19
Yes, I was 18
Scott Benner 45:20
Yes. And then Arden's a once he started matching my expectations, just like that. So you can be mad about it if you want. But at this point, now that meters a decade old, right, and you know, and so the people were like, I can't believe that the new dash doesn't have a meter in it. You don't want a meter in your technology, because the meter keeps getting older. All of our new technology now is updatable, right? It's like your iPhone, you want to put a new operating system on it, you can a new app. But if you stick a physical piece of equipment into it like a meter, now suddenly you are stuck with that meter forever. And that's that's I don't think that's a good play. And I think that's why if I had to guess why Omni pod took it out? I think that's one of the reasons. It could be. Yeah, I
Jennifer Smith, CDE 46:03
mean, it's also the reason I think that they've decided, you know, now when you get on the pod, the dash system, you get the Contour. Next One,
Scott Benner 46:11
right. And the PDM is now really just sort of like a lockdown Android device. Right? Right, exactly. But it's, but the point is, is that I saw that as far as moving on, I kept thinking like, Oh, my God, this meters old, old, old, and I felt tied to it at that point. You know, I am. I hate to say this, but I am so much more happy with the Contour. Next One, then I was with the PDM meter. Back in the day, I'm thrilled with it. And I think that two people listening probably were like, Oh, my God, Scott's taking a meter ad. We know he uses Dexcom, he probably doesn't even use a meter, we use a meter every time we need a meter. And it's a lot more than you think it is. And it's not because Dexcom is not great. It's for the reasons Jenny just said. So I was
Jennifer Smith, CDE 46:55
actually kind of curious, you know, I my insurance doesn't cover the Contour. Next One, I wish it did. It covers the Accu check guide me, which is another very similar to the contour its accuracy. That kind of parallels, right. But the interesting thing is I do have a Contour Next One. And I had like the sample bottle of test strips that kind of comes with it. So I played once I got my Accu check. I was like, I'm just curious. And they were pretty spot on with each other, quite honestly, which was nice to see. But also then went back to my old school PDM and my freestyle light test strips and and I figured out that actually that code 18 is the one if it was the code 18 it was within like two to five points of the contour next in the accucheck. Yep. So that's old school as it is.
Scott Benner 47:45
Code. I know. I know. That doesn't make sense to a lot of people. But code 18 for code 16 strips in the old PDM perfect for Arden was the way to go. You know what's interesting here, here I have three people in a row who I know are not old school diabetes people but been added a long time right people whose comments that I'll pay attention to when I see them roll by Jen, a big note of calibration, Shawn, personally, I would never use the G six without calibrating. And then the third person reads as we calibrate if readings are off by more than 20%. But it doesn't happen that often. These are three people whose opinion I think are probably pretty good. And they said three different things.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 48:26
And they all do it differently. And I think it's also kind of as I commented earlier about mice a good number of my sensors like just being done on day eight. I think it goes back to the the truth in that the sensor filament interacts with everybody's body system, body tissue, interstitial fluid, whatever you're going to call it a bit differently. I think that's the reason some sensor systems work beautifully for some people, and not so beautiful for others. I've got friends who love their Medtronic sensors get really awesome accuracy finger stick CGM. It's always on they don't have any problems with their systems. I could not get that thing to work for me. For the life of me and I wore both my sensors I wore Medtronic and Dexcom and it just
Scott Benner 49:18
never want to work. Good. But you know, here's another name that I Kristen who I know. And she says I've never calibrated I do not believe my blood. Here's why. I do not believe my blood glucose meter to be more accurate than my dexcom. So she just doesn't have probably Chica confidence in her meter. And some people don't think about that. They're just like, yeah, I checked it. So the meter the meter is like God, you know, the meter said so the meters right? Well, you know, some of those meters. If you've seen the testing, I brought it up recently on an episode. There's I think the last one was like 2018, right and it kind of ranked them only like six meters even ranked in like I would use this. If I was You all the other ones were like, Don't buy this meter.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 50:03
Right? The variance was way off. Yeah,
Scott Benner 50:05
right. Well, okay, we're out of time, aren't we? Because we're also at the end of the list. I only had an hour today. So I actually got down to the list. There's people's I'm sorry, I skipped some that obviously were repetitive. But yeah, like Jenny said in the middle, I think that what works for you is important that checking with a quality meter is important. And it seems that you know, the consensus seems to be if you're going to calibrate, make sure you're hydrated at a stable blood sugar before exercise, no active insulin, that kind of stuff. So the thing has a chance to, clearly,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 50:44
correctly from the beginning.
Scott Benner 50:46
Yeah, that's it. I wonder if we'll get yelled at about this? I don't think so. I think we were very clear.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 50:51
Yeah, I don't think I mean, it's not like we're saying, This is what you should definitely be doing. 100% to make. I mean, that's not this is not medical advice. This is just discussion. Jennifer,
Scott Benner 51:01
this is a woke culture. Okay, if you say something out loud that somebody doesn't agree with. You're trying to ruin the world. Don't you understand?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 51:08
I do understand.
Scott Benner 51:10
All right. Listen, I want to wish you a lot of luck changing your light bulb. And I really wish I knew your husband, because I would go behind your back and tell him that you don't change the look.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 51:20
Like I will, he will laugh at me. He'll be like who don't you see this little like thing on the side? This is very, like, pull it off. And so I'm like, scouring.
Scott Benner 51:28
Well, listen, I'm gonna help you for a little bit before you go. He's get up on a ladder and look around the ridge at the ceiling to see if there's little set screws that are holding the whole thing or not. No, that's good.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 51:39
There are no screws, there's nothing.
Scott Benner 51:41
So then it's got to be. Did you twist it for? I don't want you to twist it out of the ceiling.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 51:47
Yeah, I twisted the glass part of it, which is would be the next option. Because I've seen the glass bulbs that just twist off, right? This one is either really screwed in unbelievably tight, which I guess might be the case. Or maybe I'm just too worried to try to unscrew it or like, heavier because I don't want it to crack in my hand.
Scott Benner 52:06
Here are my two thoughts. When you're trying to turn it is the base the metal base turning with it? No. Okay. So maybe you have I don't think you have to turn the base. But what I am thinking is, is it possible that it's a reverse thread?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 52:22
Oh, counterclockwise.
Scott Benner 52:23
If you have to turn it the other way opposite. I wish you had enough time I would like to make you go up right now and turn it and see if it comes off. But instead I will just wait for your text message later. And
Jennifer Smith, CDE 52:32
I will let you know whether I required help to change the light bulb or not. I hundred
Scott Benner 52:37
percent agree you shouldn't tell anybody about this. That's all. Thanks. Yeah. All right. Well, thanks for doing this. I really appreciate it. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 52:44
absolutely. Have a good weekend. Bye. Okay, bye.
Scott Benner 52:48
Hey, everybody, Jenny's gone. I'm still here. We're going to do everybody's favorite podcast thing I'm going to read to you for a second this is from dexcom.com. In their frequently asked questions. The question is, is my dexcom sensor accurate heading Dexcom g six continuous glucose monitoring system reading and meter value. Whether you're new to Dexcom, or experience, Review Product instructions before using the Dexcom g six. Keep using your blood glucose meter to make treatment decisions until you know how Dexcom works for you. Your meter gives you one number if you test twice, using the same or even different meter, it gives you another number and your Dexcom g six gives you a third. What do you do with all those numbers? Next heading is the test. The test your doctor does is considered a more accurate glucose number than any products you use at home. Both meters and Dexcom g six are compared to that doctors test to measure accuracy in clinical studies. They aren't compared to each other. Because of this, the dexcom g sex reading and meter value are unlikely to be exactly the same number, but they should be close. Compare the meter and your Dexcom g six to see how closely the numbers match each other. If your G six reading and meter value are within what we call the 20 rule, also known as the 20% 20 rule. They match closely. Here's the rule. To use the 20 rule follow the steps using the table below my gosh there's a table lookup your meter value in the green middle column. The left g six column shows the low range for G six reading that okay, you're gonna have to go look at this yourself. I'll put a link in the show notes for this 2020 rule goes on to talk about good fingerstick practices. When you're using your meter. Make sure your test strips are stored as directed and not expired. Your hands are clean for finger sticks. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water, not hand gel and dry them then test. There are times when the numbers temporarily don't match, but are likely to become closer over time. For example, the sensors first day with newly inserted sensors the difference between your meter value and Your g six reading may be greater. Generally the match gets closer over the first 24 hours. Glucose changes quickly. When your glucose is changing quickly, it is more difficult to compare numbers. The meter and Dexcom g six measure glucose from different sources. They are blood and interstitial fluid and blood glucose changes a little before interstitial fluid. The match gets closer and easier to compare. When your glucose stabilizes pressure on the sensor. When something is pressing on your sensor, it can affect your G six readings, the match should get closer after the pressure is relieved. That of course is what people call a compression low. So everything they're saying here matches pretty much everything that we found. Talking to Jenny, you know my experiences and what everybody in the Facebook page was saying. To determine what to do watch your G six readings over several hours. If the readings are always higher or always lower than your meter values, and always outside of the 20 rule, consider calibrating. Also consider calibrating if your Dexcom g six meter numbers don't match and your expectations or symptoms fit the meter value, not the G six reading calibration. calibrating your G six with your meter is never required. It can make the dexcom g six more accurate or less accurate compared to lab results, but it should bring the G six reading closer to the meter. When calibrating make sure you enter the calibration within five minutes of taking the finger stick. You don't calibrate during a sensor error. If you like you can calculate the 20 rule on your own. The dexcom g six reading must be within 20% of the meter value when the meter value is 80 mg dl or higher 20 mg dl of the meter value when the meter value is under 80. Please note that the information listed here is applicable to the dexcom CGM user within the US only. I cannot just read you this link. Because it is it looks very maybe I can hold on one second. So it's dexcom.com forward slash FAQ s forward slash is dash my dash Dexcom dash sensor dash accurate. Like I said I'll put a link in the show notes.
Huge thanks to the Contour Next One blood glucose meter for sponsoring this episode. Go to Contour Next one.com Ford slash juice box to learn more. And thanks to touch by type one.org for being such a wonderful long term friend of the show. Check them out touched by type one.org. Of course if you'd like to get a dexcom CGM dexcom.com forward slash juice box you can get a free no obligation demo of the Omni pod tubeless insulin pump that my Omni pod.com forward slash juice box take the survey at T one d exchange.org forward slash juice box guys ready to hear Jenny admitted not being able to do something that I think she's kind of embarrassed about and some other chitter chatter if you're looking for bonus material, I got you covered.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 58:18
I'm fed children I've gotten them changed I've wiped but
Scott Benner 58:23
I had
Jennifer Smith, CDE 58:25
washed my hands and then I picked my tomato isn't hi peppers from my garden and chili was how did you get up?
Scott Benner 58:32
Six o'clock. Oh, so last night.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 58:35
That was seven o'clock your time.
Scott Benner 58:38
Last night. Last night as Arden's pump was winding down. I was like it'll make it overnight, then her and her CGM me, right. And we change your CGM around seven o'clock it was done. It lasted the entire you know 10 days. It was working great right when I shut off and we hit like a little bit of a bleeder I was like God that'll probably be okay. So it comes on in two hours. And Ardennes. CGM starts are all exactly the same. It comes on nosorh blood sugar perfectly. And within an hour tells me she's low when she's not. And then we we coax it along and get it going and it's fine. So this happens. Around midnight I go to sleep. And at 2am Kelly wakes me up and she goes, Hey, I need help we changed Arden's pump, because our blood sugar was going up. And her CGM has lost its signal. And I was like, Okay, no problem. I'll take care of it. You go back to sleep. And I did take care of it, Jenny. And then I went back to sleep at 6am I was up for four hours in the middle of the night. And no and it just It would come back and it would go away and it would come back and it would go away. But I'm, I know, it's gonna be all right. And if this would have happened in the middle of the day, I want to be clear that this doesn't happen often. Does it just happen this time at a really bad time? But since it did happen, I know what I want to talk about today.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:00:18
Oh, great. And while we're waiting that I'm going to actually I've got like, I have so many chords. What's going on? What is the deal with chords? Right? The room
Scott Benner 1:00:29
is cleaned up, though. It's different.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:00:32
Oh, oh, because we are putting in new floors. Oh, this room. Okay, this. This is the bigger of, they put in new floors in our living room. They're like, we are purging our home of carpet.
Scott Benner 1:00:47
Okay,
Unknown Speaker 1:00:48
blah.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:00:50
So living room got done. Now we're moving on to the space that has been my office which interestingly has been, it's the bigger of the two bedrooms, right. Okay.
Unknown Speaker 1:01:03
And
Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:01:04
we're going to put new floors in here. And then we're going to put new floors in what is now the room that the boys technically share. Okay, we're gonna then transition rooms. I'm gonna take that room, which is actually the smaller they're gonna we're gonna move their stuff in this room and this is the bigger of soap.
Scott Benner 1:01:24
You're under. Well, listen, we are on stop. It's amazing. I know. There's nothing like being an adult is there? We just ordered a floor for Arden's room. And she very Arden just picked this floor that wasn't very expensive. So we were like, okay, yeah, you can have she's like, Can I do this? And when she picked that one, we're like, yes, you can. And you absolutely can. But we're replacing we. It's funny, you said this we wanted to replace, we've hardwood through most of our house. So kids bedrooms, and this room, amen. Is carpeted. And then our living room is carpeted. But everything else has Tyler or wood. And we wanted to make the living room, tile or wood or something. We weren't really sure what. Because the one one of the bonehead mistakes we made when we put the house together was we bought this carpeting and didn't realize and dog owners will know right away, you don't buy looped carpeting with a dog right. And we didn't know that our carpet cats or I think the over under on poles that I fixed in that carpet have to be in the thousands, you know, or sometimes the dog's leash or something gets called on a runs away and just Yanks out like six inches of carpet and I actually get back down on my hands and knees with a hot glue gun and toothpicks and put each one back in again. Right. Hi, God,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:02:51
you have so much more time than me. Oh my god.
Scott Benner 1:02:55
The other option was the other option would have been to burn the house down. It was like right in the middle of the room. You know, like I said, we got to get out of here. It was just really bad. And so we can't afford to put wood down or what we wanted to put down in there right now. So we just went out and bought like a really inexpensive piece of carpet and it's being delivered in a couple of days. I can't believe we're doing flooring at the same time
Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:03:16
at same time. Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen the floor in that room. Usually there's like a nice couch behind you. And that's all I see besides like,
Scott Benner 1:03:25
Yeah, well my son stole the couch, just so you know. So that's gone now. He's like, I'm gonna take this sofa into my room because and he's home forever. So we're like, Alright, he's, you know, my gonna take the couch, you know? He's got that. And I have all of Arden's junk in here because we're waiting for the flooring to be put in her room. So it's a bit of a disaster. Anyway,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:03:47
but I was gonna say I'm gonna get yet another core do totally
forgot to plug the cord for the computer like Direct Connect in so give me a sec.
Scott Benner 1:03:55
Yeah, sure.
I make Jenny plug her I don't let her use Wi Fi while we're doing this. She's dragging an ethernet cable across.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:04:10
Oh, and I also realized that I I have no clue how to change the lights.
Scott Benner 1:04:17
What do you want to change in there? What do you mean what
Unknown Speaker 1:04:19
I
Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:04:20
want light bulbs in the ceiling died. You don't i
don't i cannot figure out how to
get like you talking about let me say I don't know how to get it off. I have no idea is there
Scott Benner 1:04:35
no screw in the middle of it.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:04:37
There's no screws. I've tried to turn in the glass.
It doesn't unscrew. I don't know what to do. So I have a big ol like floor lamp in here now so that I actually have Why have you
Scott Benner 1:04:53
brought anyone else into? Try to figure it out?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:04:58
No. I should If I knew I should ask my husband, do you
Scott Benner 1:05:02
not want to tell your husband? You can't figure out how to change the light bulbs, right?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:05:08
Like, I'm not this dumb, like, I don't know what the deal is. Oh,
Scott Benner 1:05:12
you're not wrong. It's is it glass? It's a dome, right?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:05:16
And it's glass. Right? So it's
like the wrong move. Like, I just I think I also need to get like a taller.
Scott Benner 1:05:23
Are you reaching? Yes. Yeah.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:05:25
Because I've got just the basic Let's switch. This stool has worked fine for all of the other like ceiling things. Right.
Scott Benner 1:05:31
So why wouldn't it work for this? How long has the light bulb in that light been working for you? This is the first time you try to change
Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:05:39
it is we moved in.
It'll be October 1 will be two years in this house. And we've not changed the light bulbs in this light. It's obvious.
Scott Benner 1:05:52
That's good. Wrong. I'm doing all right.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:05:54
Good lights, I guess you know, but also don't get used that very that often. And because I'm really on this in this room during the daytime. Okay, and so unless it's really dark in here, I typically don't usually use them. But anyway,
Scott Benner 1:06:13
yeah, cool. All right. Listen, let's try to bring your yes your bring your microphone a little closer. Do
Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:06:18
no sir to me. Is that better? Try get
better. Yes. That's okay. There's this guy.
Scott Benner 1:06:25
It's been. So hopefully we've answered some of your questions today about how to calibrate or not calibrate your Dexcom g six and the other burning question. How many people does it take to change a light bulb in Jenny's house? As of now we know the answer to be more than one. If Jenny's involved and it's in her office. Thanks so much for listening to the Juicebox Podcast. Please take the time to share the show with a friend and leave a wonderful five star review on Apple podcasts. If you're so inclined.
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#374 Back to School
Kristin is a teacher and the mother of a child with type 1 diabetes
She's here to talk about her life experiences and we even talk about going to school in the time of Covid-19.
You can always listen to the Juicebox Podcast here but the cool kids use: Apple Podcasts/iOS - Spotify - Amazon Alexa - Google Play/Android - iHeart Radio - Radio Public or their favorite podcast app.
+ 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 0:06
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Episode 374 of the Juicebox Podcast. Today, my guest is Kristin. Kristin is the mother of a child with Type One Diabetes. She's also an educator. So we get to talk a little bit about how she does things with her son. And a little bit about how she's feeling what she's expecting that she goes back to school in the midst of COVID-19. This one's got a little something for everybody. Please remember, as you're listening that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making changes to your health care plan, or becoming bold with insulin. If Juicebox Podcast has been valuable in your life, please consider taking a moment to share it with someone else. You could do that any way you want. And I would be grateful. Are you looking for a way to share the pro tip episodes from the podcast with someone else? diabetes pro tip.com. Need a great endocrinologist or have one to share juicebox docs.com.
You can support the podcast while supporting Type One Diabetes Research by going to T one d exchange.org. forward slash juice box and doing the T one D exchange survey. You might even consider checking out the dexcom g six continuous glucose monitor@dexcom.com forward slash juice box. Or maybe you want to get yourself a free no obligation demo of the Omni pod tubeless insulin pump. You can do that at my Omni pod.com forward slash juice box.
Kristin 1:54
My name is Kristen and I live in Virginia.
Scott Benner 1:59
I guess we'll start by saying that in your email. I guess I must have said something on the podcast at some point that made you realize that Arden was diagnosed at the same hospital that your child was is that right? Yeah. Uh huh. Ah, that's interesting, because I don't I'm sorry. I said that's interesting, because, you know, I don't live in Virginia, and I never have.
Kristin 2:20
So what I was gleaming from when I listened to one of your first podcasts or was reading on the site was that you guys were on vacation? And then the nearest Children's Hospital was? I think you guys you said you all were in the Outer Banks or something. And then the closest Children's Hospital was kings. I don't know if I'm allowed to say the name or not is daughter right? Is that? Is it the name? Yes. Uh huh. Yep. Ch Katie, a long time ago. And then you were talking about some of the doctors and then want to, um, one of the names came up? Um, are you still there? I am.
Scott Benner 2:59
I'm listening.
Kristin 3:01
My brain did something weird.
I just want to make sure
Scott Benner 3:05
I just figured maybe a lot of kids and you're not accustomed to being listened to. You're like, there's so much quiet. What's happening
Kristin 3:11
that well that you mentioned something about one of the doctors last names and it was in the same group. A doctor that's been there forever. Yeah. And, and I was like, Oh my gosh, that's the same people that that we used and so yeah, but we love them love them. And I think the can't remember. Me only have we've Dr. Joe Briscoe is the doc the main doctor that we see. Okay. And then the the diabetes educator, her name is Debbie miles. Those were the main two that we worked with. But I know there was like a rice Schneider or something. And then there was a couple other doctors in there that we've you know, heard of, or had like a you know, a wave down the hallway or something like that when my son got diagnosed.
Scott Benner 4:03
You we were we were in Virginia Beach on like a little vacation with family. And we were driving towards like the first hospital that my navigation system told us about and keep in mind with that means there's a navigation system in my car in 2006 which is not like not like Apple Maps popping up and being like you want to stop it while while on your way like it you know, it wasn't quite that fancy. But we're driving to the to the hospital. And I called Adam who some people might recognize as the doctor who came on and talked about Coronavirus a couple of times who's you know, Arden's pediatrician and my son's pediatrician. And I was like, I'm going to this hospital. Arden has diabetes. And you know, it's like 132 o'clock in the morning. I'm sure he was like, You're out of your mind. Like, you know, I'm sure what he was thinking. But I started really describing it to him. And of course, we had done a finger stick. And so he's like, Oh, yeah, you gotta go and I was like, right and then he jumped online and And he's like, I think you should reroute to this other hospital. So we just changed course and went there. Okay. And that's how we ended up there. And, you know, obviously, it really good Diabetes Center within that hospital. Yes. But you know, as as to whether or not it's funny, I asked people all the time about their diagnosis, like, how was it in the hospital? Like, you know, what was your experience? And if I thought about my experience, my experience was I cried, and I was confused.
Unknown Speaker 5:29
You know? Yep.
Kristin 5:32
I get to do that, again, I apologize.
Scott Benner 5:35
at work. Are you a teacher?
Kristin 5:37
I am a teacher. Yeah, we were in our pre service days. So the days that we hang out and get ready. Right now,
Unknown Speaker 5:46
though, there's their students in the dorm.
Kristin 5:49
There are no students here yet, we will start the day after Labor Day. But we're not even going to have kids, then I'm a fourth grade teacher. And the way our cities rolling everything out is kindergarten through third grade will start on a hybrid schedule. So like every other day, flip flop things. Next week, and fourth and fifth grade and up, will gradually be released back into the schools on hybrid schedules later, they want to see how it goes number cases and all that good stuff, how it goes so so people won't hear
Scott Benner 6:23
this right away. So make your prediction, like, how's this gonna go?
Kristin 6:28
Oh, my gosh. So, we've been talking, there's eight teachers on our grade level. So we, we've all been talking about how things are gonna work out. And
I personally
think it's probably going to at least be the first nine weeks first quarter. So probably November, we're really teeny little town. I'm, I mean, I don't mind sharing where I am, I'm in person. And so it's a little small town. There's only like, 12,000 people, and we've only had like 50 cases the entire time. So it's either they're all going to get together and schools gonna start and the cases are gonna go crazy. And then they'll have to, you know, lock it down, and we're all virtual, or we'll have to, or we'll start, and the kids will continue to be asymptomatic and nobody will know. And they'll start releasing them in so I can't
Scott Benner 7:21
wait, I think one person to get tested positive, everyone's gonna freak out. And that'll be the end of it.
Kristin 7:27
Pretty much we've been told if somebody gets tested then or if they test positive, then it's like, between two and five days of sanitizing the school and you know, then you got to look at who's in the room and who's part of the classes. So yeah, it's definitely gonna be very interesting.
Scott Benner 7:46
Yeah. That is something there's, um, my wife's a big proponent of the idea of putting people together in smaller groups and keeping them together. I think those are minis a word and get it wrong. Like I feel like it's called a cohort. But But she's just she's like, She's such a big proponent of that being a way to do things like this. So I don't know, I guess you're gonna find out. I'm just, I all I can tell you is that this summer, Cole played in, like a collegiate baseball league. Was it a game one day, and he hit home run, which is very fun. And I and I walked in, I got the ball. So um, I picked the ball up and I I stuck it in my pocket. And I got back to where I was sitting and I threw it. I think I like threw it on top of my cooler or something like that. Like four days later, he said, Hey, our game got canceled today. I said, Why? He goes off some kid we played last, you know, week has Corona. And he's like, so they're, they're canceling our game and the other team that we played, and I was like, Oh, do you know what kitty is? I'll find out. So he comes back. He goes, he remember that homerun? I hit I said he goes it was the pitcher. And I'm like, so are you telling me that this Corona boy was touching this baseball. Threw it towards you. You struck it and 400 feet later I picked it up and that's that's it? He goes yeah, I said I don't seem to have coronavirus I said I guess we're okay but but I brought it freaks me out for a second because I brought the ball home. And as I was coming through the house, I stuck it back in one of my in a bag and it ended up in my bedroom and I literally like stuck it on top of the tissue box next to my bed. So for everyone who's wondering how things spread, I took Corona baseball and jam that on tissues that I later rubbed all over my face.
Kristin 9:39
Ah, everybody let everybody have it in gold today. Right
Scott Benner 9:42
Kristen? I'll tell you right now if you asked me if I was being careful, I would have said absolutely I was.
Kristin 9:49
You're outside of course you can't get
Scott Benner 9:51
outside. I was nowhere near anybody. asked when I went into the restroom. I was completely careful except when I touched the corona baseball and then jammed it on my tissues Other than that, I was completely safe. So just everyone remember that when you're like, I'm being careful if you're an idiot, so am I, and we all are and nobody's being careful, you're being as careful as you can be, you know, that's really interesting. Well is your child school age for your school?
Kristin 10:15
He is actually. Um, so his name is Caleb, and he will be starting kindergarten this year, what are your start kindergarten. And he will, we chose the hybrid option for him. So there was two options, you could do hybrid where you go to school every other day, or you could do virtual, where you just stay home and hang out on a computer. And he is five years old and crazy and loves people and loves being out and about, and he really, really needs school. So he will start, we don't know, he'll be in school two days a week. And so he'll go to the local primary school here and hang out with other kindergarteners other little, you know, German kids. And then and then he'll be hanging out with mom at work for three days a week, while I do virtual teaching, and he does virtual online. Okay,
Scott Benner 11:11
so two things. One, I just decided I'm pulling this up now, because of the relevance and timing and and to show by the way, you just jumped ahead of like 30 recordings, people are gonna be very angry at you. But But unless you really botched the rest of this, and I'm just like, Oh, she fell apart at the end. But Mike, my question is, is what's the last two questions, actually, I guess, what's the idea of limited days is it he's there two days, and a group of other kids is there two other days?
Kristin 11:43
Yes, that's all about the size of the classrooms. Um, so we have, again, our towns really small. And so we only have, we have four schools total, we have one primary one, elementary one, middle one high school. And so what they can do by having, they'll have a days and B days. So eight days go, like Mondays and Thursdays and then be days go Tuesdays Fridays, and that way they can sanitize in between. And then we get Wednesdays, as a teacher work day just to collaborate really get a good sanitizing in there. And then the kids that way, the kids aren't missing super extended amount of days without school. And that way, they can have no more than 12 kids in a room at a time, they figured out that 12 kids is like the max number that they can have in a room space six feet apart, and in their own little desk bubble in the classroom.
Scott Benner 12:43
What are the chances as an educator in your opinion that five year olds will stay spaced apart?
Kristin 12:49
Um, I fully expect that if he doesn't, um, I mean, he's really good about wearing a mask. And that is a rule is the kids are supposed to be wearing masks, but I mean, recess, forget it, they're gonna they're gonna do their thing. They are eating lunch in the classrooms, and so they are going to be stuck at their desks eating lunch. Same thing throughout any other classroom that's in. And so I think they're gonna try their best, but I think recess is where they're gonna fall apart. Um, that's not as regulated as PE. But we don't even know what recess looks like yet. So let me suggest.
Scott Benner 13:30
But let me suggest you take two ropes and a six foot long stick now here you go. You tie one into the stick to one rope, but the other and just stick to another opportunity to tie the ropes around the kid's waist. So they can run about but they can't quite get close to each other and then continue to do that, like a honeycomb pattern and set all the kids in that situation, then they can just kind of move like a like a bird. Birds, what is it called a flock, they can move. I can't move. I couldn't pick a flock, I was in the middle of a absolute ridiculous idea. And then I lost flock and ruined my flow. That was flocking difficult. So you just move it around like that, and then they'd be fine. I don't know who's gonna untie them or tie them back up. That person will probably have to be, I don't know, euthanized, I guess right after they
Unknown Speaker 14:11
know the kids.
Scott Benner 14:12
So I'm not making light of it. Because I don't believe in being safe. I'm just trying to say that I think that the nature of man is going to take over at some point. And I think the opposite of someone's going to get sick and everybody panics is no one gets sick. And inside of two weeks, everybody's like, ask screw these rules. Yep, yeah. So this is gonna be quite a little experiment. How do you feel about Caleb and his type one being in this experiment?
Kristin 14:45
Oh, um, we will. I will say we really trust our doctors, his pediatrician, his endocrinologist, everybody we've spoken to I mean, listening to your podcasts and reading and stuff. Everybody has said they're no more susceptible than any other kid. We, my husband and I are kind of old school, we're, I mean, we say this unless something major happens, but we're kind of under the, the idea that you got to live life, he's got to get out there, he has not been able to go and he doesn't get to go play over other kids houses and you know, mommy just drop him off and drive away because of his situation. And so he needs that interaction. And it's a safe place. He's got a nurse, and I'm right down the road. And so we kind of feel like the benefits of being in school and around other kids outweigh the chances of him getting sick. And my husband and I are really particular. On watching numbers. He's got the Omni pod, he's got the Dexcom all that good stuff, we have an excellent nurse. And so we're, we're hoping that we can be a good team and just rally around him and he's gonna do whatever he's gonna do, because he's gonna love life and enjoy his time. And he's so excited about school, and all the adults will do all the worrying in the background kind of prep.
Scott Benner 16:06
Whoever's knocking, I'm recording, it's very likely my son who wants me to make him breakfast. I guarantee that's what that was 20 years old. He's like, Can you give me some eggs together? He's in between classes. Right now. He's in his bedroom. Getting a quantitative economics degree in my, in my house.
So that's exciting. And Tuesdays, which today are his, uh, his, like, he's got like three classes pretty much stacked on each other in the middle of the day here.
Unknown Speaker 16:37
I don't know. Yeah.
Scott Benner 16:40
So it's funny, because everything you just said, I can I can easily find myself agreeing with, right. Like about going back to school? I absolutely can't I'm not even like, it's not like a you said one thing that I completely disagree with it. I'm just being you know, amenable. I really can find myself agreeing with everything you just said. And at the same time, we have the ability, because right now Kelly is working from home because of Cronin. They're not making her go back anytime soon. And I obviously do what I do, you know, from my house. And so when the option came up for the school, you know, would you like to go back? Or would you like to stay home? And we said to Arden let's first I guess figure out what she wants to do. So we got her aside, and he said, hey, look, they're giving you the option? What do you think? You know, we like to give her the, like the illusion that we're like taking her opinion into account. letting her like if she said something crazy, we would just be like, Oh, well, if that's what you think, sure. We just shut that down in two seconds. But we're like, you know, what do you think? And she didn't hesitate. She said, I could stay home again. And I was like, Yeah, she goes home doing that. I was like, why she was so much easier. I get to sleep later. I don't have to get dressed in the morning. And she's like, this makes a ton of sense to me. Plus, you know, just it's better for me. And I was like, how's it better? She's like, I don't have to get up early. And I was like, gotcha, that was really I think the the real crux of her decision making process. And I said, so we said, well, what about people? And she goes,
Unknown Speaker 18:13
Oh, no, I don't need people. Yeah,
Scott Benner 18:16
it'd be alright, she goes. And she has a circle of friends. That is interesting, because they don't particularly have a second circle. So it's not like these six girls leave each other. And then each of them has five other friends. You know what I mean? Like, it's just they just stay together really. And so they've had some interactions and, like gone, like they're all starting to get their permits now. So they're driving, you know, and picking each other up for things and you know, stupid stuff. Like I'm going for a lot of rides with little girls is basically what I'm doing. It sounds terrible. I know I met it. Yeah. And it's just me and a bunch of little girls in a car usually. And but but don't worry, I let them drive. And you know, and it's very simplified. They'll come over to the house a little bit, a couple of them. They'll sit outside, light a fire at night or watch movie outside or something like that. And it's there. None of them are going back to school. They all were just like no, no, thanks. Like we'll just stay here so everybody makes this decision. Two weeks pass and the school pops up and goes you know what, we're not gonna let the kids go back to school and so all that Oh, yeah. All that for nothing. Right? Just like they just they did a 182 seconds. They're like, can I forget it? I think they're letting like the really little kids go back. I
Kristin 19:35
guess how ours?
Scott Benner 19:36
Yeah, I think they're more expendable a little kids apparently. I don't know what Just kidding. Easier to replay. Well, they're smaller. And so when you bury them, you don't need as much of a whole like so I think that's how they're probably thinking about it. But no, I mean, I obviously don't know the idea behind why it's okay for a little kids but not older kids. None of it makes sense to me. I actually think we're all in a situation. that none of it makes sense, like everything you try to do doesn't make sense. Like, in my opinion, you either have to say it's over, by end by over meaning, we're just gonna all go back and do what we used to do, and people are gonna get sick. Or you got to keep, you got to keep doing what you're doing. I don't see where the the middle ground confuses the hell out of me. Like you don't I mean, it's like, it's like, Christian, it's like starting with a condom and halfway through going, I had it on for over half the time. Yeah, the rest of this is probably gonna be fine. You know, like, and by the way, if you're only gonna wear it half the time. Don't take my advice on this, but I'd wear at the second half not the first day.
Kristin 20:45
I would agree.
Scott Benner 20:46
Well, that's the part where the magic really happens. And so at least, you know, in, in the confines of the condom, and I don't I didn't mean that until I said it now, I love the pun. But
Unknown Speaker 20:58
but so I just really don't.
Scott Benner 21:01
I don't know, like I get I I wear a mask everywhere I stay distant from people, I still, you know, I clean my hands. Very, very carefully. When I go out, you know, you're in the grocery store. And somebody's like, intersection, you stop, like, go ahead. You know, like, like, there's all that still going on. I think if there was a fight in the grocery store right now, which, obviously now you all know, the secret that I only ever go to the grocery store. But because this is my only examples. But, but if there was a fight, and like somebody was like, gonna be like, how that kid's beaten up that kid, that's not fair. I'd like Oh, well. And I'd walked away, you know, but like six months ago, I would have just grabbed one of them and like, what are you doing? You like? So? There's that kind of stuff? And having said that, like? I don't know, like, I mean, if anybody claims to know anything about this, I think you're hoping more than understanding. So it's either gonna be terrible, or it's not. Some places might be okay, and some might not. And I don't know how the hell you think you're gonna guess which is which? So I'm super interested, like, I love using your kid as a test case. So let's get them in there.
Kristin 22:07
All right, thanks. I like the HKT. But I don't know if I want to visit them at all.
Scott Benner 22:12
No, I mean, listen, I think at this point for children, the idea that, you know, they can be asymptomatic and fine or fight it off pretty quickly, or obviously have not been a big part of people who have been, you know, Elon and really, really impacted by it is pretty obvious from the data. But I do wonder about that next step, like you know, is, you know, I'm not wishing this on you, but like, is Caleb gonna grow like horns? And when he's 35, you know, out of the side of his head or something like that. And they'll be like, Oh, those are those Corona horns. Yeah. All the kids that went back to school in 2020. got those.
Kristin 22:50
We'd be doing because we get a preschooler, too. So Oh, yeah.
Scott Benner 22:53
Well, they'll kill each other when they have you ever seen Rams run into each other? It's vicious.
Kristin 22:56
Oh, net? Well, they already tried to do that without the horn. So
Scott Benner 23:01
tell me a little bit about Caleb's. Um, diagnosis view what? Okay, it's time you've thought about it long enough. I mean, it's not even a commitment. What are you thinking about? You're just asking Omni pod to send you a free no obligation demo of the Omni pod tubeless insulin pump. That's not a commitment. That's, you know, you get something fun in the mail and you give it a try my Omni pod.com Ford slash juice box to get that going right now. When you get there. It really is just a couple of moments of information. And then on the pod with magically in their hearts, send you out a free, no obligation demo. You try it on, you decide if you like it, and then you move forward or you don't. It's that simple. Would you like to experience everything that comes with insulin pumping, including Temp Basal increases and decreases, extended boluses for those tough meals like pizza and pasta. If you're MDI, you're probably injecting multiple times through those meals, but you don't have to do that with the Omni pod. And with the Omni pod, you get to do it tubeless Lee, all of the other pumps are connected to a controller via long piece of tubing that delivers the insulin from the controller to the site. But on the pod is all in one. It's tubeless. It's self contained, and it's worth understanding what it is. So have them send you a free, no obligation demo. It's that easy. A pod experience kit will show right up at your house. You can try it on where it do whatever it is you do in your life, see if it's for you. If it is great, and if it's not, no harm, no foul, you tried. Just imagine an insulin pump that you can hide with your clothing or wear out loud and proud. It's up to you. It has no tubing. You don't have to take shots all day anymore. And when you're having those tough meals, you can manipulate your basal insulin or do whatever you want. It's it's all within your control. You're in control of your insulin bazel and Bolus. It's huge. You know what else is huge? Hmm, nope, not that the Dexcom g six continuous glucose monitor. You want the Dexcom g six, you need the Dexcom g six. I am putting you in a trance right now you're listening to my very deep voice. And my very deep voice is saying to you get a dexcom g six continuous glucose monitor. That's it. You've been hypnotized. I don't even have to keep talking. It's already over. But just in case that didn't work dexcom.com forward slash juicebox. Go find out about rise and fall rate alarms. Find out what it means to be able to see your blood sugar, speed and direction right there on your cell phone, Apple and Android. Learn the joy and goodness of no finger sticks and no calibration. Would you love it if someone could see your blood sugar from afar? Hmm. Would you like to see your child's blood sugar while they're at school, or your wife's while she's sleeping? or anybody else in between Dexcom users can share their blood sugar's with up to 10 followers of their choosing to Mason. I get whipped over my phone right now and tell you that Arden's blood sugar is 103. I am nowhere near art, but I know what our blood sugar is. And I know that it's stable. You could have that to dexcom.com Ford slash juice box. And don't forget that on the pod tubeless insulin pump, my omnipod.com Ford slash juice box, round out the trifecta go to T one d exchange.org. Ford slash juice box and throw in your information with that survey, make a difference in people's lives with Type One Diabetes. While you're supporting the podcast, it's 100%, HIPAA compliant, and totally anonymous. You can drop out at any time. Links to all the sponsors are available at Juicebox podcast.com, where they're right here in the show notes of your podcast player. Let's get back to Kristen.
Kristin 27:14
He was three years old. So we've we've passed two years, and we noticed him gone, you know, peeing a lot. He was wetting the bed and he had already, you know, he was doing really well with potty training and stuff, especially at night. And so we just chalked it up to he's just sleeping too hard. He can't wake up. And he was drinking a ton of water, like just dying of thirst. And so we call the doctor and we spoken to one of the nurses This was on a Saturday and they're like, well just we'll schedule a time for him to come in come in on Tuesday. This was an April 2018. And so we we go in just kind of like be bopping along, it's the end of the day where the last appointment and they do a finger prick. And then they did a urine test and his blood sugar was like 224 and which in the realm of things compared to other kids. I found that is not too awful, right. And he, the doctor called the endocrinologist at ch Katie and spoke with them. And they It was a lot of information real quick is very, very end of the day. It's the doctor and us in the office and he said kills pediatrician. And he's like so I spoke to this doctor and y'all need to go ahead and pack your stuff. Somebody's gonna need to stay with him the night at ch Katie and they'll fill you in on what's going on. It's looking like he's got diabetes. And that was it. And my husband and I are just completely in shock killed. still mad that he you know, got a finger prick and that her and and then he had no idea what was about to come for him.
We actually
got all packed up. And I we got him in the car. We went to chick fil a and got him we still laugh about it. We got him a chocolate milkshake on the way to the hospital. And we had no idea what chocolate milkshakes do some blood sugars or anything. And we were trying to make them happy. We didn't understand what's going on, got to the hospital. They got them in they did all the blood work and everything that was probably one of the most traumatizing things for him and for me to sit and deal with. And they told us like officially the next day. We spoke with the diabetes educator Debbie miles who was amazing and she just threw a ton of information at us. And we had trainings all day that Wednesday Caleb hung out With a friend of ours, actually, that came in and sat with him and like, the playroom they have upstairs. And I spent the night with him. And we started trying to learn how to do the whole dosing with insulin. And he was so teeny that he had to get the diluted insulin. And so they were trying the teeny tiny little syringes. And my husband and I are like, you know, what the heck is this? How does this work? I didn't understand the calorie, the carb counting and the ratios or anything like that. And I just remember, every two seconds crying, because, you know, I thought I had done this to my kid. And then we got a little more big, we got a little more education that Thursday. And they actually pulled us because he was so small. They were like, you know what, you need to try a pump. And I know a lot of people say that their doctors make them have, you know, diabetes for so long. And you have to get used to do on insulin, you know, injections and stuff. But Dr. Dre risko was wonderful. And he's like, no, let's just try a pump. He's got such small amounts anyway. I mean, he was getting my new amounts of insulin at first. And so we started in Medtronic. And they told us about the CGM and everything, we got a loaner. And we learned how to use the pump. We went home with a loaner that Thursday, my husband and I probably called the emergency number, like three times from Thursday to like the following Monday, when we went back to get just because, you know, he, his range was 101 80 was his safe range at the time. And then if he was over 250, you know, check ketones and do all these other things. And, and I remember he'd hit like, 252 and we'd be like, Oh my gosh, he's gonna die. What do we do? And so we'd call them the doctor on call, and they're like, it's okay. Just give him some water give the insulin time we were still learning. You know, we had to bolus him after he ate because he was picky. And we were still trying to figure out what foods he would eat and what was safe and, and he eats anything you want, but at the time, how much you eat. And so and then we got set up later the next week with his CGM, and with the Medtronic, and the The Guardian, and then his own pump and everything. And he, I ended up I had to quit work, because I was the full time caretaker and he was in preschool at the time, and he was not allowed to be at preschool. without somebody they weren't licensed or anything to help take care of them. And so I went every every other day to preschool with him, and I would hang out for three hours while he did his classes and stuff. And I would bolus him first food and snacks and stuff. And, and that was our whole spring. And then he was and that was it. And then the next year, his preschool was wonderful. And they actually got licensed on giving him his his insulin doses, they learned how to use this pump and everything. That's great. And so we kind of sign you know, son his life away that we trusted them to do it. And he finished out two years. Well, one and a half years of preschool. And when we we traded to the Omni pod and the Dexcom because my husband listened to your podcast a long time about it. And we were tired of the tubes and just the site changes took forever. And it was just a whole lot. And we weren't happy with how accurate the CGM was at the time and he was just we're just annoyed with it. So we tried the Omnipod and the Dexcom absolutely love the way that we do everything now so much easier. And he even Caleb has said he likes it there's no there's no to was he's not getting caught on anything. And he he helps out with his site changes and, and everything and got a little routine down. And yeah,
Scott Benner 34:04
do me a favor. Just just take one pause right here. Yeah, this is where I'm gonna put the ads around the pod index calm. Okay, and then we'll start back up again. Okay, so
Kristin 34:17
good timing.
Scott Benner 34:19
I didn't know you're gonna say that. But not only did you say it You said it right where I was gonna put the ad and I was just like, my gosh, this is easy. Should I just do the ad live with Kristen right now? Can you that'd be so funny kid. Yeah. Do I say it enough that you could probably say
Kristin 34:36
what is it? I'm dead? Well, I know I was thinking about the contour next test strips that actually like strips you know, if you put a dab of blood and it doesn't get it all you can do it again. And And so yeah, every time I pick up this contour next, because we have that do your ads are working real well. We I think about that,
Scott Benner 34:59
so yeah. That's so funny, I could slip into it. In two seconds, the episode or two ago, I did the I did two ads. And I didn't pause. And I just did the whole thing. And I was done. And when I got done, I actually left it in the episode. I was like, I can't believe I just did that. That was amazing. Even I was, like, I got through that whole thing. I didn't make a mistake. I didn't say anything stupid. I was like, sometimes I'll just wander off into just absolute, like odd things later on. Like, I should probably just trim that up a little bit there. I get, I get a little pilot, but I'm glad it's working. And by the way, if you're an advertiser, you know, you're a Christian saying, Yeah, it's not too early to talk about 2021 give me a call. Anyway, well, I guess I should ask like, you didn't just get bullied into something by a guy on a podcast, what made you change from the Medtronic to the the Omni pod in the Dexcom.
Kristin 36:00
So I'm actually, um, I had a student two years ago, and he had the Dexcom. And so this is my first year teaching here in my little town, and killed still had the Medtronic and everything. And I remember seeing his decks Come on, like, What is this thing? There's, you know, you don't have to finger stick No way. And just, I mean, he just be bought along. He only had an Dexcom he was still doing the injections and everything. But I remember seeing that. And then with listening to your podcast, and then my husband was, was talking with me about it. And we asked Caleb, like, Hey, would you like to try this? What do you think about this thing? We got the little test Omni pod to try that out. And so he wore that around for like a day. And he's, I mean, he's five. He's more worried about plan and what kind of video games he can play and what friends are coming over then he is what kind of pump he's wearing. Because that's just not his. He deals with that when he has to. That's not his world right now. Yeah. So we said, let's try this out and Scott's wrong, then we'll just not listen to the podcast anymore, and we won't use them anymore. We'll just go back to what we've been doing. Because it's, you know, the worst. Worse than that would be the shots and we don't want to deal with that
Scott Benner 37:21
person. Let's just clarify. If you don't like the pump, that's the advertise. You can still listen to the show. You don't have to like, you know, you don't get people ideas are like, wow, if I don't agree with them once I can stop listening. No, you're not even allowed to stop listening. stay subscribed, listen to every episode. These are the rules. I've Yeah, don't give people those thoughts. Not allowed to stop. None of you were allowed to stop listening. Okay, Chris, and now keep your thoughts going is, you know, you see how easy it is to to get a thought in someone's head.
Unknown Speaker 37:53
choke him out. Geez.
Kristin 37:55
So we ended up we love it.
And it really has been great. It, I was kind of nervous about the Omni pod because of his size. I mean, he's teeny, he's like 45 pounds, you know. And he's just, he's always been on the smaller side. And I'm thinking he's got this big old block stuck to him, he's gonna knock it off. how's that gonna work. And it's been great, the changing sites is so much easier. We have the sticky patches that we put around that and he just does this thing I like that we can rotate sites more because with the pump, it was kind of harder to you know, yet have like double tubes stuck into places and trying to find the right spot and everything. So with the pod, we can put it in more spots and try things out that he likes and and we like the PDM setup, it's so much easier to use the the little, you know, phone thing that they that came with it. And then we have a phone that we use for his Dexcom. And he just keeps it in a little. A little fanny pack that he wears on his back one of the spy belts that are running and stuff and he he you would never know. That's cool. We get compliments all the time on it.
Scott Benner 39:16
I have to ask you so you to go back just a second. Like you said you went into the preschool. And for that first that first time he was he three then? Yes. Okay. And you kind of just do sat off to the side. I used to sit outside Did you sit outside or what did you do?
Kristin 39:34
It's at a church and so they just let me sit. I would hang out like in the front foyer. I end up getting bored and so they let me help with the volunteers. Like setting stuff up cutting things out and just just being around so that when the time came for lunch or snack or whatever that I was there to be able to go home.
Scott Benner 39:56
I see I would have fallen asleep and one of the pews I think I would have I used to car, listen to the radio and just chill out
Kristin 40:05
on high alert at this time. Yeah,
Scott Benner 40:07
but Oh, don't worry, I was running back and forth like in like a moron, get it, you know, like there was no CGM back then. So I was like, it's time to test again. And oh my god, I just I do not. I don't I do not remember that time as fondly as I'm making it sound I don't think I'm saying I don't think I'm making it sound that fond and I'm still like, oh, but you quit your job to do it. Like that's pretty bad ass like you just were like this kid like you never thought like, oh he's little we don't even know him that well like nothing like
Kristin 40:38
um, no I so I was a teacher and another local city and, and it was April and so at that time my husband and I were talking, I mean he's diagnosed on a Tuesday and so that whole week, you know, in the hospital and stuff I'm dealing with that my thing about work. And I have seen teacher at the time. So that actually helped out a lot with my room, I had somebody who's kind of in charge, and they just had a sub, kind of sit there and, you know, just be a warm body in there. And so my students were still taking care of I knew that and then I remembered
Unknown Speaker 41:13
a picture of education.
Unknown Speaker 41:16
I know,
Scott Benner 41:17
we were legally covered. Don't worry, we were legally covered. It's fine. I don't know what those kids like, learned or anything occurred to me, you're the teacher who like I like the kids come home and go, yo, guess what? My English teacher just flaked out and quit. Yeah, I don't know. Kid got something and she's gone. Like, it's just that. Yeah, that's the other side of it. Wow, that's really cool. It's interesting to hear the side of it is what I mean? Like it's a, it's because I'm used to, I'm used to the other side, like, Hey, I'm used to art and coming home and going, Hey, my math teacher got pregnant, so should be gone pretty soon.
Kristin 41:53
Yeah, no, um, we. So I ended up having to quit, and my boss completely understood, she was awesome about it. And I actually went in and visited my students at the time. And the cool thing was, this was actually a group that I linked up with. And so I had known them for two years. And so we had a really good relationship. And I just explained, you know, Caleb got sick, and this is what's going on, and I'm crying and they're crying. And so they, but I would come and visit, like Field Day, things like that, when we still had that fun stuff in school. And then I was able to get a job. We decided we were ready for me to go back because we could only do so long. Like, unfortunately, I could not be a stay at home parent. So when his preschool agreed that they would, because we knew he had two more years, he's in that weird birthday time. His birthday is Halloween. So he's, he's the older kid in class. And so when the preschool agreed to actually let him come and they get trained in everything, we said, okay, we can make it work. And so we were able to set up our daily routine. And I worked. I mean, I still work. I'm sitting in my building right now, five minutes away from his preschool. So if there was an emergency, I could go and help. And we trained him on everything. And we just had a really good texting system set up. And we had like a text group among the teachers and the, the administrators there and my husband and, and me, and we just did that
Scott Benner 43:28
said, Would any would anybody feel comfortable popping into the text chain? Or was there somebody that was kind of leading the charge, like you or your husband? or How did that work?
Kristin 43:38
So the cool thing was, my husband would, he's really good about remembering, like with lunchtime and stuff, so he would say like, hey, when we got more brave about giving him insulin beforehand, we would text the group and say, Hey, you know, lunch is coming up at 1130. I know it's 1115. Go ahead and give him 20 carbs. And then let's see what he does. And then give them the rest after lunch kind of thing. By the time he had and he was getting finger sticks. And so he they would always tell us what his number was and whatnot, and we would correct or, or Bolus after he ate when he was still on the pump. But with Omni pod in the Dexcom they would just look at his number and say, Hey, this is what his number says. Do you want us do anything else? Unfortunately, because we are still working on getting his ratios down, he always ran a little high. We kind of let him do that for safety reasons because he's so active. So when he drops he drops like a bombshell and he'll just he'll go low real quick. And so they were normally correcting right before lunch and Pre-Bolus saying if there was ever anything like we have all the bells and alarm setup, where things can go off for lows and highs and stuff. But my husband was always the one to text and kind of just tell them hey, do this for lunchtime.
Scott Benner 45:00
What is it different now the management style because it's funny you said something that I find that people say very commonly, you know, blood sugar's just dropped out of nowhere all the time. And then as time passes, I think people come to realize that their, their boluses are probably like pretty severely Miss timed, and it's creating an unbalance of, you know, the insulin action against the, you know, the impact of the carbs. And then they they're crashing, because the foods getting out of their system and the insulin still behind, and then they feed that and then they don't bolus and they jump up again, that goes back and forth. Have you? Have you gotten better with that yet? Or is that still sort of your, your reality?
Kristin 45:45
We have, we've had some days, from actually from listening to you is where we've made the big decision, like, we've got to start getting his numbers under control. You know, if Arden can have a one to five, whatever, and Caleb's is eight, something, we got to work on getting it down. And so we're getting better about timing and Pre-Bolus saying and, and correcting with giving him with bolusing for his number, we still rely on the on the pod and let the pod make the decision for the number. We don't, I've heard you talk about, you know, I'm gonna give are the equivalent of a juice box, you know, in carbs, we still just kind of rely on our ratios right now and getting those together. But the last six months, he's been hanging out with just me, him and his sister have been bored at home with mom. And so we've really been able to hone in on his numbers because I'm around all the time. If there is an emergency, we're not having to go run off somewhere and hope that the school nurse gets him in time.
Unknown Speaker 46:51
We're getting there.
Scott Benner 46:52
Yeah, using this time for but to make those adjustments. That's really cool. I just I'm watching this person right now their blood sugar's and I have, you know, helped them a little. And it's funny to see somebody. Not funny, but it's interesting. Excuse me. It's interesting to see somebody have a problem. Be kind of told, oh, look, you know, this is the fix. And then you help them with it. hold their hand with it for a day. And they're like, Oh my god, this is amazing. Look at how stable these blood sugars are. I'm like, Yeah, right. So just do those things. Then the next day, they're like, they just fall right back into it again, like, Well, I was scared to give the insulin I was like, Oh, yeah, but we did it yesterday. And you saw it was fine. And you know, like, you know, like, but I don't understand what happened. I'm like, do not understand or like, what is it? Exactly? And then they'll kind of pare back well, I guess we should have done this and I'm like, Yeah, right. Like so do that you know and then the but the fears real like it's it's like it's it's just like they've been indoctrinated to believe like this blood sugar is going to get low right here. And I'm and I said but it didn't the day we were together I showed you like look, Basil's right now put the insulin in the right place for the meals. Didn't get too high. Didn't get too low. Do it again. And then they're like, well, I don't understand like the last 12 hours have been a mess. And I'm like, Well, no, you do understand like, look here. You didn't Pre-Bolus this meal, it led to a high, then you overcorrected, which led to a crashing low, which led to it which led to you eating too much food and then not putting it insulin for you got high, and then you corrected. And now all of a sudden, it's 12 hours later. And I said, so you're 12 hours later, trying to say like, I don't know what happened. I know what happened 12 hours ago, you didn't Pre-Bolus lunch. That's what happened, you know. So anyway, this person is going to get it. They're real bright, and they want to do it. And they're going to and it's just it's interesting to watch that resistance in the beginning to Yep, you know, what you think is going to happen and being so wrong. I've come to explaining it to people. I don't know if I've ever said on the podcast before. But I said, I said, Look, you know, first we're going to get your bazel. Right. And then you're going to see that everything that happened before wasn't what you thought. I said one time this I feel so bad about this. I said one time to a person who I didn't know on the phone. I said imagine you've been married for like 20 years. And it's been this happy marriage and everything's fine. Yeah, little house and your picket fence and a couple of kids and the dogs cute. And one day you find out your husband's got three other families. Right? Like what? And I'm against three other family I think I'm being like, like, fantastical when I'm making this really big, crazy story. It's got three other families. One's in another state two are up the street. You know, everything you thought about your life isn't real. And I said so all of your memories and your feelings and the way that it none of its true anymore. And the next thing I was going to say was and so you know when your Basal is really wrong like that you're living sort of in a lie. You're seeing things happen that aren't really what's going on but Now we're going to make your appraisal right. And then you're going to, you're going to be able to not only get things more predictive, but you'll actually be able to trust what you're seeing. And you're going to have to give away some notions that you have that really are based on these lies. And then she starts crying. Oh, I'm like, wait, what's going on? Husband just left her. Like, Oh, my God, I'm so sorry. Actually, that person's listening. I still feel bad. But, but it was just like, I guess I have to think of another explanation, because that's the one that that's the one that really like resonates with me, like, you know, because people think they're so certain What's going on? And then you fix their bazel. And they're like, No, I don't understand. Like, this is what's happening. I'm like, No, no, no, no, he wasn't out volunteering. He was he was staying with his family on j street right over there. Anyway, probably too much of a word picture. So I'm working on paring it. I really do feel bad about that. But she she rebounded, though. And so you know, I mean, listen. Well, what was what was the other option? We were halfway through the conversation? She couldn't leave then right. But anyway, so are you gonna take this system from preschool, into kindergarten.
Kristin 51:22
So we have already had his, um, his IEP has been about individualized health plan, meeting and 504, like all in one with his, the nurse and you know, everybody else that needs to be involved at the primary school. And so we're pretty much gonna have the same kind of system on a texting basis with the nurse. We have sugar mate for like numbers, if, and that's something I have to talk to her about if she wants to have like sugar made up where she can watch that on the computer at school. I mean, my husband and I always have the Dexcom follow stuff. And so we've always got alarms going off and send other busy, they're dealing with a lot of stuff right now. And so we, I mean, part of me just kind of feels like where he and I are just going to watch numbers, and we're going to see if the nurses interested in having his Dexcom follow up on her phone. And because he is the only diabetic right now? No, there's, I think he's one of two at the school right now for this year. And so it's, it's not, you know, like 10 different kids and all sorts of alarms going off for all of them. We're a small town. And so we watch out for each other here. And so we're gonna try the same system. We're hoping we don't always teacher is yet so we're hoping that she'll be really willing to talk with us and either email back and forth with me, or our big thing is just communication. Because he's, he's not at the point he can't read. So I can't text him and tell him you know, hey, give yourself this much or anything, I have to do that with the adults. But we're hoping that they'll be willing to work with us enough and understand, like, Hey, we can make your world really easy if you'll just send us a text here and there or respond to them. And your world can be really rough. If you don't, because then you're gonna have a kid that's like passed out on your floor. If you're not careful. And you don't listen to us, do you? Do you think
Scott Benner 53:20
you'll get a little more? Like, does it grease the wheels that you work there?
Unknown Speaker 53:25
A little bit?
Kristin 53:26
So I'm not at that school, but
Scott Benner 53:29
they know where you are though. Right? Like you guys are, like, get away? Yeah, like do you get like some professional courtesy or something like that? I guess is what I'm saying.
Kristin 53:37
Um, I think the big thing unfortunately, I can be the
I can definitely be the squeaky wheel because I can direct call, like work extensions kind of thing. But, um, I it does make me a lot more vocal for any diabetics at all in the system. Yeah, just because it's it's so near and dear to me. And like I actually just got trained yesterday to be one of the people to help with diabetic students at my school. And so I can help with other children that I mean already know what I'm doing anyway. But you know, now official. So yeah, I think I had it's a fine line because my husband and I are, I mean, that's our kid we're gonna take care of him and we're gonna mama bear and Papa Bear we're gonna come out but you also don't want to alienate anybody or make yourself look bad because you do have to work where they do. Yeah,
Scott Benner 54:30
it's um, and it sticks to you that whole like, yeah, Christians unreasonable, but you know, like that thing. It's hard to get rid of that. Yeah, but no, I think I mean, obviously, I think you'll be fine. I was just wondering if it if it's any easier, I guess just being able to get to people is the easy part. Having like, closer contact, but even that, I guess you're you're not being treated. He doesn't feel like you're being treated any differently than anybody else would be.
Kristin 54:53
No, they're I mean, they're really good about it. Luckily, with the five of four practice, our district requires any case with allergies, any anything special asthma, they all have five oh fours.
Scott Benner 55:05
I'm excited. I'm actually sitting here. But while you're talking about this, I'm looking at this I have a sample hypo pen, the G voke glucagon hypo pen and I keep thinking like, the one reason I was excited for Arden to go back to school was I could look up the nurse go look at this here, you don't have to mix it anymore. You just like this. And like just click, it's all done. And meanwhile, artists never used glucagon once at school, but I still am like, wow, that's such a leap to put it into, you know, like this pre mix thing that you just kind of, I don't know if I'm saying in a way that people understand but very similarly to like everything like an epi pen. You just like pop the cap off and just go. Yep, it's done. It's very cool.
Unknown Speaker 55:44
So we have the powder for him. Yeah.
Scott Benner 55:47
Okay. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, listen, whatever works for you is I'm just I'm excited about this one. I think this one's interesting. So anyway,
Unknown Speaker 55:56
I
Scott Benner 55:57
so you seem okay. Like you're like, Alright, now let me paint a picture for you. Caleb's in kindergarten, and you hear through the grapevine little girl in third grade, had a fever today. She went home. And they're testing her for COVID. Caleb don't have school tomorrow.
Kristin 56:19
Um, I have a feeling that this school wouldn't let us just because I think they're, I mean, the schools open. Yes. And I'll tell you why in a second. But if the school if they follow whatever procedures they've said right now, I have a feeling they'd be waiting for the results before they would open it back up. It'd be that like two to five days. Yeah. Um, but Caleb, I've always said there's two types of diabetics, there's the really sickly ones that seem to catch everything and they're always you know, in the hospital or they're always at home or and then numbers are all over the place. Or there's the ones whose bodies are like on superhero status and their pancreas is dead because our immune system so good that it's like killed off the pancreas, and it just continues to kill everything that comes at it. And Caleb, I say this and hopefully I'm not, you know, shoot myself in the foot.
Scott Benner 57:10
be emailing three weeks now. Can you take that part out about kale never getting sick? He's got the bubonic plague.
Unknown Speaker 57:17
Yeah, exactly. And a
Kristin 57:20
Yeah. But he's, um, he's always been a really healthy kid. I guess sister's the one that's like, you know, got ear infections and fevers and stuff all the time. But, um, she's not in type one. But, uh, my husband and I are kind of convinced that he his immune system is just so hardcore that it's like, you know, take that COVID. And he's only been, he's been to the hospital one time for his blood sugars. And it was because he had a three day stomach virus. And we just could not he couldn't keep anything in. And we hadn't learned the whole glucagon, you know, many doses or anything yet. Yeah. So we got to hang out with endocrinologist that ch Katie again for three days, because he couldn't keep food down and his numbers, he just kept staying low. We couldn't get him up. Yeah. So I'm certainly
Scott Benner 58:06
not trying to talk you out of it. I'm just I, you know, I think it's first of all, it's a personal choice. And, and, you know, it sounds like yours is well thought out as anyone elses. I just, you know, I'm wondering, I can't wait to find out what happens. I hope it's all great. I want to get back to life. You know, what I mean? Like, I'm not looking to stay in my house. And, and, and do all this forever. So if, you know, if there's a path back, I'd like to be on it. That's for certain. Yeah. You know? And I don't know, like, do you think you'd give him a vaccine if one came out? Or do you think you would take it yourself? Or
Kristin 58:44
so being a teacher? I've been told that I'm, I'm not an essential worker, but I am because I'm, you know,
Scott Benner 58:52
wait a second, teachers aren't essential workers.
Kristin 58:55
Were not the nurse, if you want to call it like nurses kind
Scott Benner 58:59
of thing. We're not that kind of seeing what the problem is.
Kristin 59:03
But we are essential workers in schools. I mean, where it's kind of hard to fill the spot if people are sick.
Scott Benner 59:09
Yeah, we know the guy that drives my garbage truck is an essential worker in that garbage truck. And I think in life, like I think everybody's essential at their job, which is it's such an I understand the difference. I just I was what I was wondering was like, Are you really not a designated essential worker? As a teacher?
Kristin 59:26
I do not like, I don't want to comment on snow days. We can put it that way. But I'm in the realm of like vaccines and the first people to get them. Yeah, yes. I think they haven't talked about it yet. It's not like they haven't mentioned here, like everybody will get it if it comes out. But I mean, we're always the first to get flu vaccines, things like that. My husband and I, personally are huge proponents. I'm the type if there was a pill that's going to fix the problem. Where is it? If there's a shot that's going to make me not feel like this, then you know, come on, let's do it. So yeah, we we would I'm also a teacher. So I'm all about learning and trying. And so we definitely have our family lined up. Let's do it. Cool.
Scott Benner 1:00:07
Are there are you hearing about any teachers who fall into categories that may make them susceptible who are skipping, going coming in?
Kristin 1:00:18
So we have some, we have some teachers that are pregnant, but they're in the older grades. So they don't have students right now. So they're just continuing on and they're able to teach from the rooms without still without kids there. We do have older teachers, I think we only have like, four in our district that have actually said like, Hey, I'm not, I'm not going to trust it. Sorry, but I'm out. But I think in that case, it's like I FMLA thing. I'm not sure. Right. Everybody in my school, we're here.
Scott Benner 1:00:48
Ready to go. I you have now absolutely encapsulated my thinking. I'm trying to imagine myself in 11th or 12th. grade, my teacher nine months pregnant, run a zoom call her water breaks. Oh, through zoom, the class coaches are through the birth because the the ambulance can't get to her. This is my this is the scenario I'm making up in my mind. How great would that be? Oh, how great would it be if somebody actually yelled Mrs. Patton's Mrs. Patton, you got to move the camera. We can't see her vagina, right. We don't know what to say. Like, I don't know if the heads out or not. It's breech call your cat you need help. Seriously, there are going to be so many great videos of kids going to school. Online. They're already I don't know if you've already Christian, I'm gonna bleep this out. Okay. But there's, there's a video online. And it's, it's, there's it's a classroom, right? It's like, it's like a high school classroom. And I swear to you, you start hearing, kind of like heavy breathing, and then a little commotion. And a female voice says, Oh, my God, you're so big.
Unknown Speaker 1:02:03
Oh, my
Unknown Speaker 1:02:05
God.
Scott Benner 1:02:07
I believe that out for everybody. And it was I it was absolutely. I'm like, wait, what is this my son's like, you're gonna want to listen to this again. And I'm like, okay. So it's just even in my son's own school. So I know, people aren't making this up. He's in a class. And this very complicated thing is being described. And there's this boy in the class who's not on mute. And he thinks he is. And so that, you know, the professor's like, so Does everyone understand? Oh, and the kid just goes, No, Kathy, actually, I don't understand. I'm completely confused and worried that I've chosen the wrong major. And there's a pause and she goes, john, I don't think your mic is muted. And he just goes, he bought, he almost breaks down, because I'm so sorry. I'm just really stressed out. And I already went into this whole thing. And I was like, these are fascinating. I want all of these videos to be pulled together on one website where I can spend a year of my life watching people say things that they don't realize other people can.
Kristin 1:03:15
What is it like zoom fails? or something? I don't know.
Scott Benner 1:03:17
But I mean, honestly, what are we doing? We shouldn't be filming this. But we shouldn't be doing this podcast, I should be online registering a URL right now. I mean, really, there should be a YouTube just for this. Because this is not gonna stop. And I don't know if you've seen, you haven't seen the other side. But I have, like, I've seen Arden shutter camera off, mute what's going on and start a text chain with the kids in class where they're talking behind the teachers back. So it's and it's just like, Dude, what did she just say? I don't understand. And sometimes it's that easy. Like, it's just the kids talking without, like, you know about the class. But sometimes, you know, teachers or people, and they sometimes do silly stuff, and then the kids are just like it. I don't know, are you gonna allow yourself? You have to you have to be on video as a teacher.
Kristin 1:04:09
So we do, um, we were hoping I mean, us personally as teachers. I mean, since they can't be with us, we would like to have it required where the kids have to be on video because I mean, fourth graders, if they if they lock it out, and they get rid of their script, their video and their audio, like they're in the next room playing fortnight or whatever, they're not sitting there listening.
Scott Benner 1:04:34
Have you seen that guy who figured out how to make a he made a video of himself appearing to listen to a zoom?
Unknown Speaker 1:04:40
And no one's playing
Scott Benner 1:04:41
it in front of the camera like on another device? You can't tell?
Kristin 1:04:45
Oh, God cannot tell. Don't move ideas out like that. Please.
Scott Benner 1:04:50
Do you think these kids need your help with this? They know what they're doing. They know what they're doing. They're making money on Tick Tock. They know how to they know how to manipulate this whole thing. There's kids With careers from little booty dances, he understands they don't they don't need me to figure this is anything I can figure out. They figured out three months ago.
Unknown Speaker 1:05:10
But no, so yeah.
Scott Benner 1:05:12
Sorry, I was gonna say Do you have any, like concerned about kids recording you?
Kristin 1:05:17
Um, I will not really, um, I mean, that I don't do anything or say anything that's great enough or dumb enough to afford. I mean, I might like look kind of funny. But we're also in the work setting. So I'm not like at home, you know, rolling out of bed with a cup of coffee in my PJs or anything. I'm at work in my classroom. Like, I've had to get ready for the day. And so hopefully, they see a very, you know, put together teacher sitting at her desk talking to them. You know, the, the what I look like in the spring like the mom rolling out in my leggings and T shirt. There's a homeless lady trying
Scott Benner 1:05:57
to teach us about social studies right now. And she looks like she's about to murder somebody. Yeah, that's how I would look normally. Yeah, but let me help you here if I can a little LED light at just the right angle? Uh huh. washes out all the wrinkles, make sure double chin go away. It's fantastic. Yeah, absolutely have to invest in just a small little light, then you want those kids to click on and be like, you know, our teacher looks like a movie star over there, like, you know, but now I figure there's going to be screen grabs, and they're going to be right on your face with mustaches. And, you know, yeah, I feel like that's what I would be doing, if I was
Kristin 1:06:33
whatever they you know, whatever they do, as long as my thing is as long as they they get?
Yeah, I mean,
Scott Benner 1:06:42
how do you test remotely in a way that makes you feel like they're not cheating.
Kristin 1:06:48
So we actually have some platforms. Google is awesome, because you can do Google forums, and you can have quizzes through there. So it like automatically grades it for you. And then we have a system that we use, called power test. And it's like, you put all these tests, sort of like our sLl is here in Virginia, and you put everything in on there, and the kids log in, and then the kid it automatically grades it shoots out their data to you. And it's but it's like locked out like their screens locked out when they're in it. They can't try to like go on Wikipedia and look up the answer really quick or anything. But at home, we we kind of have a benefit of the doubt or trusting that they're doing what they're supposed to do, and that there's an adult around making sure that they don't have the textbook open while they're doing the test. So but, I mean, you can't be 100% certain, we're just, we're just little by little chugging along, seeing how it'll work.
Scott Benner 1:07:50
No, I hear you. It's it's gonna be interesting. I, I want to be clear, I would cheat my absolute head off if I was in that situation. And I just I remember who I was back then. And I would absolutely cheat like in just in a vicious way. I, I mean, listen, you're doing everything you can obviously everyone's doing everything they can. But this is I have to say, too. I do think that an unintended good thing from kids having text is that when they get home, I see them, like they'll get confused. And they'll start a text chain. They'll be like, Listen, I don't understand your problem number six, and there are some kids who just want the answer. But there's always like, one kid is like, No, you could understand this, I could explain it to you, like children are going to be really good at working in groups. I think it's an unintended unintended, you know, benefit of this kind of concept of them being able to quote unquote, cheap. And it really is interesting like to watch how, how things are changing. And at the same time, they're not as they're not as good as we hope in some places, and they're not as bad as we think in some places, too. It's a really, it really is something else. You know, I have I have a lot of hope so. Oh, there's also a video online by the way. I don't I think it's a South American country. I can't think of where exactly, and they're having like a political meeting of you know, like the people who run the town. And one one lady just rolls out of the shower. And her cameras on and she doesn't realize that Her phone's propped up and she thinks she's listening but it's the videos on and she just butt naked just walks out of the shower. Absolutely fantastic. I just I'm telling you like this is this is the year of videos that you're gonna look at online and go oh my god, this is fascinating. So, but yeah, absolutely great. stuff. Well Listen, good luck, first of all, seriously, in figuring out a pathway. Is there any concern that this doesn't end? Or do you guys feel like in the spring? What's that? What is the long term like outlook for how long you'll be doing? This? I guess, is my question.
Kristin 1:10:18
So our students are locked in for the first semester. So they had to make their decision on hybrid or virtual through the end of January. And so they, what we've been told is that we're going to reassess and they did like parent surveys to figure out what parents were willing to do and wanted to do. And so we were told that they'll do surveys, I guess, right before Christmas, right after something, and they'll see, you know, where the cases have been blown up, and they're crazy now? Or are we at like, 52, compared to 50, or something, where we are now, and they'll go from there. So I have been told that you're gonna have families that can keep virtual the whole time. And then I'm pretty sure if we've gotten into hybrid, and we're actually in school every other day, and our groups flip flopping, then they'll continue that. My hope is, it'd be amazing if this vaccine, you know, a vaccine came out, and everybody starts getting it, and everybody's like, Alright, let's do this school, and everything opens back up. And it's, you know, like Disney World. And magically, everything is just amazing. And we're back and spring is normal. But, um, we just got our time. See?
Scott Benner 1:11:35
No, that's really interesting. I have to say that. I think that all schools and industries, and everyone is doing a reasonable job of being like, Look, we're really hopeful, like we'll see in a week, we'll see in two weeks, we're gonna keep going. Everyone is staying very flexible, which is, which I think is interesting, although I think it doesn't look flexible from the outside, I think sometimes feel like they promised this and they knew they weren't going to do I don't think anybody knows anything. You know, I think whatever they think today very well could be bad information in a week or two. And yeah, you know, I it's ball. Listen, it's obviously socks, and it would be very nice to go back to school and into work into all the other things. So yeah, my fingers crossed. I hope it I hope it goes well. But you know, yeah, yeah. Right. I hope it goes well, for you specifically. And for all of us, actually. Is there anything we didn't say that you were hoping to talk about? I took you on, like a very twisty windy road. But I actually feel like we got everything out that you that you were hoping to talk about. But am I wrong?
Kristin 1:12:42
Oh, no, um, I think the biggest thing that I wish that parents out there, I'm on a lot of parent boards on Facebook, and all the parents are like, what are you doing with your kid and your kid going to school and all these parents are, you know, like, no, my child's not going to school, and you know, this disease is bad enough. And they everything is blamed on diabetes. And I feel like when you start doing that, you're the kid kind of feels like, well, we couldn't go on vacation because of my diabetes, or, you know, we couldn't have cake at grandma's birthday. Because my diabetes, like parents got to remember their their kid, there is a child first. And you don't always have to involve, you know, kids or kids. And you don't always have to let them be privy to adult discussions. And so if you decide as a family, hey, we're not going to go to school, we're going to do virtual, then don't just say, Well, you know, because little Johnny's got diabetes, and even though he's well managed, and he, you know, been sick twice in his life, he's not going to go. Don't always try to you kind of make the kid feel like they're at blame. Yeah. If you're not careful.
Scott Benner 1:13:57
So your point, your point is, is that do whatever you're gonna do, but whether it's around Corona or anything else, don't turn to you don't turn to your kid and go, Well, you know, we saved up we were gonna go to Turks and Caicos but we don't know how to keep your insulin cool. So we can't go like it's you know, like, don't get don't put it on that even if that is your reason, although that'd be a strange reason, because there's a lot of easy ways to keep insulin cool. But, but, but even if that is your reason, don't let the kids think that's the reason and and and kind of be cool about it. You got to be an adult in those scenarios. I'll tell you. It's funny because as you're talking, I'm making your point just now. I think that the one caveat for me, that's, that's bigger. Like I think it fits in All of the explanations you use. And and I can see where it doesn't fit in the in the COVID explanation because there really is. There is an unknown that you're just not like you live in a place where you said like you said there's like 50 cases, but I live in a place where There were a lot of cases. And and you know, there are people who were in New York City or Florida or other places where, you know, California still getting over run, I think whether it's a situation is different. So it's situational to, and, and I think nobody, what you're seeing online with people just like what are you doing, they're just dying for someone to give them some direction. You know, like anybody just say something that that I can that I can believe in and and, you know, kind of hook my wagon to. And I think I honestly believe that there's no, there's no way to know how this is gonna go this could end up being nothing for somebody and you know, and it could end up being the end of someone's life and and then you get caught in that weird conversation where if you know, how many kids dying is okay with us like that, that you know, like in and, you know, where's the line? Like, where do you draw a line who gets to draw the line? And so I think that's why it's America and you get to decide, you know, so it's a there's personal freedom. And, you know, if you're not if, if your personal freedom is not completely, you know, is not hurting someone else, then you're good. But you know, whether it's Corona or anything else. Your personal freedom doesn't get to outweigh my personal freedom, I guess is the it's is the way I think about all the time aside of this as well, just, you know, I have free speech, but you can't yell something that, you know, you know, the old adage can't yell fire in a theater and then I get trampled. That's, that's not free speech. Yeah, that that's just not nice. So be nice. Just be nice. There. It is, it's a weird thing to feel like you're protecting someone else. Like that's not a position we find ourselves in very often, like I'm wearing a mask, so you don't get sick. Not so I don't like as much it's a I think that's a an easy idea for people to wrap their heads around in some. And for some people, it's just not we were somewhere recently in a store. And there were 30 people in this kind of large warehouse space. It's you know, nobody was anywhere near each other. Everyone had a mask on with the exception of this one person who had the mask, but just was wearing it around his neck. And it It wasn't by mistake he didn't forget. Like he walked in as soon as he got past the people who were running the store. he purposely pulled this mask down over his neck. I don't know the guy said it, you know, situation. But it started to feel like, go ahead. Somebody say something to me. I dare you. They started having that vibe about it. I'm like, I was finding myself thinking like, Look, man. I don't know. I mean, I don't know how much this mask is helping anybody or not helping anybody. But just what are you doing? Like, why are you making everybody It was almost like he walked in with a zipper down and was just like I had someone say something to me about it. I dare you to and it was it was very strange. And he was just it was a weird feeling to be around. And I don't even know how to put it into context for our conversation honestly, other than it just felt strange. And I don't know, I don't know if he's right, or I'm right. Or, you know, it. Could we all have been in there without a mask? I don't think so. But I don't know. And I don't know how long this is gonna last either. I think that say like, we put a lot of arbitrary stops on things like it'll be right by this fall. It'll be alright, by the summer, it'll be alright. But the spring like, it gets all right, when it's all right. And, you know, I agree. I don't know what the hell that is. whole thing's confusing, is gonna curse. Really? So do you think my last question, I'll let you go? Do you think that kids are going to come out of this year of school? With the same level of understanding that they would have if they were in person? Is there a way to do that?
Kristin 1:18:56
Um, I think it depends on the kid. There are kids learn all sorts of different ways. And some kids, you know, they, they walk by a book, and they learn everything that's in it. I mean, you're gonna have the kids that are really into the virtual and that's just where they shine. And they, you know, they little sponges, and they soak it all up. You have kids that are in the classroom, we're going a lot slower, our pace has to be slower because it's we're trying to keep pace between virtual and our, you know, in class at the same time. And you year, it just, I think the big thing is, is there I heard somebody talked about it, it's like, everybody's trying to say, you know, all these kids are, you know, they're not going to know everything. Well guess what? Everybody's going to be in that boat. It's, it's not like if you're one kid who worked out in the fields for a year and didn't go to school at all, and everybody else went to school. Now they're behind. It's not like that. Everybody's in the same boat, unless you're homeschooling. And that's you You know, you're doing your own thing. So all the kids are on the same, the same kind of playing field. And they, we just got to trust that they have parents at home that are willing to support them if they're virtual and hanging out, and that they're making sure they do their work and listen and not text in with a group of friends while the teachers talking. And then you're going to have kids that in the classroom that are doing awesome, because they're glad to be in school, and they're able to interact with the teacher, even if they have stay six feet apart. And that they're just happy to be here, though. They'll soak up anything. And they want to listen to anything that the teacher says, because it's a different adult than, you know, mom and dad that they've seen all all summer. And so everybody's everybody's in the same boat right now. Yes,
Scott Benner 1:20:50
that idea of incremental growth. He was what I took from what you just said, is really interesting. Like there's, I think, I think it's easy to feel like there's a grouping of information I learned in fifth grade and a grouping of information. I live in sixth grade. And if I if I miss one of them, I fallen behind and, and now Oh gosh, like it reminds me of like preschool is a great example. Like, you know, at some point, it became okay to learn how to read in kindergarten, you know, but, but at some point, people are like, well, I could probably teach my kid when they're four to read. And then the first four year old who knew how to read made everybody else go, Oh, my God, I gotta get my kid to learn how to read by the time he's four, because it'll be behind like, as if that would make a difference. And I guess this really is the same idea. Like we're like, you know, everybody's going through the same thing. There are going to be some people who shine and some people who would have shined who might not and vice versa. But that's just natural selection for the moment. Really? That's so interesting to think of it that way. See, I was
Kristin 1:21:53
way outside of this, too. Yeah.
Scott Benner 1:21:55
Yes. Some people are surging, I'll tell you seriously. This podcast is a great example of that. In February, February, let me take a look real quick, I'll make the point to you. So I have to pull it up real fast.
Unknown Speaker 1:22:16
In
Scott Benner 1:22:18
I can look at the whole year real quick, just to look. So I run the numbers for the year and then look at it by the month, right. So as January started, I had the best month I ever had. And in February, it did better. And in March, it did better still. And I was like, Ooh, I'm experiencing some growth, then Corona. And April dropped down, like something like I think was 14% at the time, like total downloads. And I was like, oh god like is that if the podcast not work anymore? You don't even like like, like what's going on? And and then I saw some reporting from from reputable podcast hosting that said that podcast listening was down almost like 18%, I think. And I thought, Oh, well, at least I'm not 18% you know. And then the next month, it was right back to where it was in March. And then the growth continued June, July, August. And I thought, Okay, this is cool. But then I checked back in with the, you know, the people who keep track of stuff like this. And a lot of podcasts are still really faltering and they're failing. And so even that's random, like, my topic, apparently, is something people are still willing to listen to, even though life has changed. But there were other topics where people were like, no, I only listened to that when I commute, or I only listened to that. And they just stopped. It just it's not for them. And so some people grow and some people don't. And just I guess it's not something you can really control. Like, it's just there's going to be some luck of the draw in this.
Unknown Speaker 1:23:49
Interesting, huh?
Scott Benner 1:23:52
All right, there's a lot to consider here, Kristen. We're not going to fix the world today. I appreciate you coming on and telling Caleb's story and, and and sharing how you handled you know, preschool and and I love it. Like it's just I love that interaction. The one thing I didn't ask you was, have you seen a decrease in a one seeing an increase in stability over the couple of years?
Kristin 1:24:17
We're getting there. Yeah. His his body you know, diabetes, yay. Those for a loop every once in a while and he'll have it just depends on how active he is we're finding out okay, if he's active, his numbers seem to be great. And his ratios really good. And he has this good flatline. And then if he has days where he's like vegging out on the couch or just, you know, kind of hanging out, then he'll be higher. And so we're we're still just trying to get that figured out. We're really hoping that just him being in the school environment and and up and active and doing things will that his ratios and his bazel rates and stuff are perfect for that country. Today
Scott Benner 1:25:00
Yeah, no, I, I had the same thing when Arden stopped going into school. I her insulin needs changed pretty drastically in different ways than you're describing. But yeah, yeah, it's interesting, like, you almost need a sitting around basal rate and up and moving base or you know,
Kristin 1:25:18
and we have that we have weekend versus weekday and we've found his, his body is kind of different, like he doesn't really drop while he's active, like if he's running out at the beach or something, he's fine. It's like the hours after is where he'll start to drop, and we have to change his we have to decreases bazel after the activity. And I know some kids like during the activity or something but or for him. We've had days where if he's really active One day, the next day, his numbers will be lower. And it's like his body's just got to have a chance to catch up.
Scott Benner 1:25:54
Have you have you know, tried taking bazel away prior to activity and getting into what I guess some people would call like a neutral? Like no bazel during the activity situation. Have you messed with that at all? It's hard. I know, because the activity sometimes does not present itself as like, we're gonna be active in an hour,
Unknown Speaker 1:26:15
you know? Yeah.
Kristin 1:26:18
Yeah, for example, like we would have, wow, that's a cool days and just hanging out in the backyard, and my kids are playing this little kiddie pool and they go crazy for like two hours. And I would have days where I would try to get as bazel down before he started, I really would never take it away. I would just decrease it quite a bit. And still, he would either ride high afterward and his body like Haha, yeah, right. You know, you felt you're doing something right. And then we would have days where he I would not mess that at all and see what happens. And then all of a sudden, we're like, Don't juice boxes at him three hours after he got out of the pool or? Yeah. So he, his I don't know his body is it's like it's on a lag. Sometimes.
Scott Benner 1:27:06
Yeah, almost sounds like in that scenario, you need to have like a much lower basal rate, like as the activity ends into the many hours afterwards. That's interesting. Yeah. Well, good luck. I hope you figure it out. That is, but does not sound like fun at all. In any way, just so in case you're wondering, nothing fun about what you just said. I really do appreciate you doing this. I really want to wish Kristen Good luck as she heads back to school. And for all of us. Honestly, I hope that whatever you're doing or have to do or need to do is safe for you. And something that you're comfortable with. I realized it's a really difficult time. And it's genuinely hard to know what the right thing to do is so good luck to everybody. Thanks so much on the pod index comm for sponsoring this episode of the podcast. Please go to my Omni pod.com Ford slash juice box, and dexcom.com Ford slash juicebox. To learn more about those sponsors. And of course, T one d exchange.org. forward slash fusebox. Oh, geez, I almost forgot you wanna hear something bizarre. So I just put up the episode how to eat vegan cat with Jordan. If you haven't heard it. It's fun. And later that night, like the same day, I put it up right later that night, I get a notification from the website. I used to run my giveaways. And they're like, Hey, your giveaways over choose a winner. So I'm like, All right. So I go to the website, and I take my mouse and I click and I say hey, pick a winner. And it goes blue does it ever does. And boom. You know who wins? Jordan? Isn't that not crazy? Here's why. I recorded that episode with Jordan six months ago. Put the episode up with her that day. The giveaway ends the magic machine picked Jordans name. Crazy is what it is. blew my mind. I was like I just sat here I was like what mysticism is this? Anyway, Jordan God, what did Jordan get? I might forget what Jordan Jordan got a sweatshirt from the podcast the know the signs sweatshirt when it's got the list of you know all the signs of symptoms with Type One Diabetes on the back. She got a bunch of Dexcom swag, a bunch of Omni pod swag. A really cool Dexcom t shirt was in there and on the pod shirt that I think for dash like a pretty read artist has a very soft she has one. She got a bunch of stuff from touched by type one. They're gonna be sending her stuff. Lily's chocolate gift pack, and I understand Jordan, that lilies might have put a little extra chocolate and that gift back. So look for that coming up. Jordan one, a 30 minute consultation with Jenny Smith. And I mean, just the, you know, just the good feeling of winning I guess she got to. Anyway, thanks to everyone almost 3000 entries. Thanks to everyone for helping me to celebrate the 2 million download of the Juicebox Podcast. I don't know what we'll do with 3 million. But if what I'm seeing is any indication, we won't have to wait a year to find out. Which I guess really should make me say thank you so much for sharing the podcast with people because it is growing exponentially. And I have all of you to thank for that. Every time you share the podcast on Instagram or Facebook or tell a friend about it, the show just gains more and more listeners and people seem to enjoy it and they stick around and listen, so I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. I can't I don't know what else to say other than Thank you, but 2 million is crazy. Can't wait to get the 5 million, 5 million. I think we can get the 5 million pretty easy. Let's see if we can't do that. I'm betting weekend.
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