# 244 Bushwacking with Justin
A T1D Kiwi in Australia…
Justin is a New Zealander who lives in Australia with his wife, children and type 1 diabetes.
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DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.
Scott Benner 0:00
Hello everyone and welcome to Episode 244 of the Juicebox Podcast. Today's episode was going to be called a number of different things. I almost called it jelly babies. There was a moment when I really considered making it. Kiwi in Australia. And for a hot second I thought this episode is definitely going to be called sensitive we soul. I was so close to sensitive weasel when I decided to name it instead of bushwhacking with Justin. I greatly look forward to all of you complain to me later that the titles have nothing to do with the episodes. This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by Dexcom dancing for diabetes, and Omni pod, please go to dexcom.com forward slash juicebox or dancing the number four diabetes.com to find out more. There's of course also links in your show notes right there in your podcast player. And Juicebox podcast.com.
Justin Saunders 1:08
All right. So my name is Justin Saunders. I'm a New Zealand diabetic currently living with my family in Australia. Being a diabetic since 2011. A light starter Hello to you now. I am 41
Scott Benner 1:26
not too late. I've heard later. But that's a definitely was probably a surprise, I would imagine.
Justin Saunders 1:33
very much a surprise Yes, very much a surprise.
Scott Benner 1:36
Any background in your family at all or anything.
Unknown Speaker 1:41
Please remember that nothing you
Scott Benner 1:42
hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. And always consult a physician before making any changes to a health care plan or becoming bold with insulin.
Justin Saunders 1:59
I think I've got a couple of family members that are diabetics, but it's never been, you know, it's always we think they were, but we don't really know what type of diabetes they had. And my mum's got a couple of autoimmune conditions as well.
Scott Benner 2:13
So that's very common.
Justin Saunders 2:16
Yeah, I just managed to get the diabetes version of the autoimmune rather than the other things that she's got going on.
Scott Benner 2:23
Who made out better you or your mom? Um, no,
Justin Saunders 2:25
she's got that little logo. Okay, didn't pigment and she's got thyroid issues. So currently, for me, it's just straight diabetes. And
Scott Benner 2:36
my wife and my daughter have the thyroid and it's it sucks. So although I might I might coin flip the video Lago for the type one that doesn't sound too bad. You said New Zealand or living with their family in Australia, originally from Australia? No, no,
Justin Saunders 2:55
I'm born and bred in New Zealand.
Scott Benner 2:56
So your family moved to Australia.
Justin Saunders 2:59
I married a an Australian girl. Ah, okay, now we're getting a battle even 11 years ago. And here's see some. So obviously her family's in Australia. So we moved back two years ago to be closer to the icy ice. I see news, I think in New Zealand with me.
Scott Benner 3:17
Now it's your turn.
Justin Saunders 3:19
Yep, exactly.
Scott Benner 3:20
Do you miss home? Or are you enjoying Australia.
Justin Saunders 3:24
Now I do really miss home. very much a home boy. But it's been a great move. For our kids, at least my wife, she's done really well in her career. We shifted on to a very small island and Sydney. And the only way on and offered is by boat. So the boys just wander. Now it's like in the old days, you don't get worried about them getting picked up by anybody or anything exciting like that. So we just allow them to wander and play with their friends. Really?
Scott Benner 4:00
How many people live on the island?
Justin Saunders 4:04
good Christian. The Christian lots of people asked and I don't actually know the answer, but it'd be less than 1000
Scott Benner 4:12
I was gonna say is a thousands 10s of that it's less than 1000 people. So even if someone did snatch your children, it would probably only take you about seven hours to figure out who happened.
Justin Saunders 4:21
Yeah, pretty bad.
Scott Benner 4:22
That really sounds like that sounds like a wonderful throwback. It really must feel like it's 1950 I guess we can do something like that.
Justin Saunders 4:32
Yeah, it's really good. I mean, the only way the kids can get off is if they jump on the theory or jump on someone else's boat. And mom would like to think our boys are smart enough to you know, not do that with strangers, but remains to be seen, I
Scott Benner 4:48
suppose. How old are they?
Justin Saunders 4:51
They're one two and five on Thursday. And then we've got a seven and a 10 year old
Scott Benner 4:59
that's really cool. Yeah. Well listen, you'll find out how smart they are pretty soon.
Justin Saunders 5:03
Yeah. Well, they haven't let us down so far.
Scott Benner 5:07
That's the name of your children's book. You haven't let us down so far.
Justin Saunders 5:13
Good one, I'll make a note of that. Yeah.
Scott Benner 5:15
I mean, if you ever writing it, I'll take a small credit, it's fine. So okay, so you move, it sounds like you move back isn't you know, your wife gave you some time in New Zealand, you came back to Australia. She's got business prospects there. You were diagnosed probably about four years into your marriage. So can you tell me what that was? Like? A little bit? Like, what was it like to to? I guess, Tell me your story. I guess, how did you figure out you had type one and, and walk me through that a little bit?
Justin Saunders 5:41
Well, I was both quite lucky. And that I was working as a, what we call a New Zealand and intensive care paramedic. And I went out for the wife and I went out to hang out with some friends made a really sweet dessert. and ate that the next morning, got up at four o'clock or whatever it was to go to work fell off. And so jumped into the back of the ambulance and just took a blood sugar. It came back at 11.5. I'm not sure what that is. And Americans speak but it's, you know, it's it's at the higher end of normal. And after eight hours of not having anything sweet. It was. That's a bit bizarre. So of course, I ended up going to the doctor A couple of days later, he did all the tests, and back and said, is a high chance You are so he sent me to an endocrinologist who did the antibody blood test and a couple other things and came back and said, you're you're type one diabetic, obviously in the honeymoon period. And he predicted within five years, I'd be full blown diabetic and I don't think I'm quite there yet.
Scott Benner 6:57
Interesting, because I just pulled up the conversion chart. And 7.5 is 135 it they definitely say if you have a fasting blood sugar, I've always heard over 130 or I guess in your situation about over one about over seven that that was type one. But so how so you're you feel like you're still honeymooning now, even this many years later.
Justin Saunders 7:20
Yeah, to an extent it is. I think things are slowly now catching up with me. But like, depending on if I have a very high carb meal. I don't know what what it would be. But I would probably take between seven and May, maybe 10 units, but 10 units would be very generous for me, okay, if I went kind of more salad and made low carb, then I'd only be looking at like two or three units. And I feel that's probably a little bit on the lowest side of what a full blown diabetic would take. And it's only really been in the last two or three months, maybe maybe a little bit longer that I've actually upped my lenses. And I'm now currently sitting on six units of lenses at night before I go to bed.
Scott Benner 8:06
And that's what was gonna be my next question. How do you manage so you're injecting?
Justin Saunders 8:11
Yep. Okay, I am
Scott Benner 8:12
and you have a glucose monitor? I do. Yep. Which which do you have you don't I I think I looked on your Instagram is that the Libra
Justin Saunders 8:23
I use useful. I used to use the Libra quite a bit but I haven't used it since Christmas. I sorry, no scratch that. I've used one census and Christmas but they the last two or three have had have actually become quite an accurate. Okay. And they were kind of maybe one and a half to millimole difference between a finger stick and what the Libra was saying. And I had the meow meow or however it's pronounced but that died on me so I've just gone naturals I suppose you could call it
Scott Benner 9:02
and declar while Dexcom is not available in Australia, is it
Justin Saunders 9:05
the jif fibers jif I believe g six isn't but it's really, really expensive and we don't get insurance coverage here for
Scott Benner 9:16
Okay. Well that makes sense. Um
Justin Saunders 9:21
it's about I have worked it all out and if you did it to you know the letter of the law seven days or whatever the G fibers it was something like four and a half thousand dollars a year for the Dexcom system or the Libra a if you work it out, it was two and a half I think
Scott Benner 9:41
okay. And and you were saying it could have been off by as much as as two. Mmm, that's that's that for people listening in America and other places. That's the difference between like a 126 and a 162 blood sugar. That would be that would be two. Okay, so that's significant. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. But you found. So you found this inaccuracy, which I guess led you away to something else. And then you mentioned something that I'm not even aware of, I guess something that's available there. That's a glucose monitor.
Justin Saunders 10:14
I'd say. It's no, it's a, it's just a transmitter. So it's a Bluetooth transmitter that sits on top of the Libra sensor. And then it transmits via Bluetooth to your phone. So it becomes a proper CGM.
Scott Benner 10:32
And is that like an aftermarket? It's not sold by the company, is it?
Justin Saunders 10:35
Not? Now, it's aftermarket aftermarket.
Scott Benner 10:37
And then that failed on you? I say, how
Justin Saunders 10:39
are you? When it works? It works really well.
Scott Benner 10:42
People have said that about me when I work, I work really.
Unknown Speaker 10:46
So
Scott Benner 10:48
So tell me something. So you've had glucose sensing technology that wasn't continuous? You've had it that was continuous. And now you don't have it at all? Do you have a preference? Or are you using such a little amount of insulin? It's not really causing you a problem yet?
Unknown Speaker 11:06
Um,
Justin Saunders 11:06
I depends on where I'm at, or no, depends on where I'm at. Really, okay. I'm kind of enjoying not having access to all that data. Because I was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by it. And now it's just a bit too much. I'm trying to get a new meow meow thing. I'm trying to get in contact with them to say this one's broken within the year, but their customer service isn't very good. So if I could get a new one of those, I probably would use it. But the center back on again. But yeah, Libra Center here in Australia is $92 50 for two weeks, but it's also quite expensive.
Scott Benner 11:50
Yeah, sure. No, I don't think people appreciate that. Well, I mean, I guess you do, I don't. I have insurance, right? So I know, my stuffs covered. It doesn't cost us a bunch of money. And I don't spend a lot of time thinking, what would I pay for this if it was cash, but even like you said, even $100 for every two weeks is successive, it's an extra cost that you very well may not have. Now, if your wife worked a little harder, because you didn't work, you didn't go home for her job. So if, if she would just break her butt a little more for you. I don't know, I'm just joking. So so when you reached out to me, initially, you sort of alluded to not maybe taking as good care of yourself, as you maybe Wish you did at some point was that prior to diabetes, or something that did you mean, specifically with diabetes after your diagnosis,
Justin Saunders 12:41
that's more specific to diabetes.
Scott Benner 12:46
I say a word you repeat it in your mind so that you don't forget dancing, the number for diabetes.com I should go to dancing for diabetes.com. After that, I'll check out their Instagram page, and maybe even see what they're doing on Facebook. Dancing for diabetes.com, that's dancing number four diabetes.com. So when you reached out to me, you sort of alluded to not maybe taking as good care of yourself, as you maybe Wish you did at some point.
Justin Saunders 13:22
I don't know how your daughter goes. But with me, I kind of fluctuate depending on what's going on in my life, I can, you know, be low carb using very little insulin or insulin during exercise. And then a couple of months down the track, something happens and I'm eating high carb using very little insulin and
Scott Benner 13:41
you know, sitting around home watching TV and your but your blood sugar rises. And, and so it depends. And it's interesting too, because I eat very, in specifically as well. Like, I'll go on a kick with something and have it for weeks. And then I look up and I realized I have an eight minute and six months. And you know, back and forth. And you're really talking about like from going to extremes, you know, taking like really kind of quality care of yourself to all of a sudden being like, hey, a cupcake. What if I had three of them? Yes. Okay. And so that's Um, so you don't have any trouble when you're doing it. And by doing it, I mean, like, when you're being more careful with your with your intake. You don't have trouble with it, but then all of a sudden you do.
Justin Saunders 14:27
Yeah, I just, you know, life just gets in the way and you'll sit down and have a bag of chips. No,
Scott Benner 14:33
no, no, I can. No, I completely understand that. We were We were grocery shopping this evening. And I am so I had to have a blood test done and it showed some numbers. And the doctor said to me, hey, it's possible. You might be allergic to these couple things. But I'd like to find out by having you avoid them for six weeks and then retake the blood test. And I was like, Okay, I said, What do you mean allergic and he's like this tiny allergen too. Just two things, wheat and corn. Well, Justin wheat and corn is pretty much in everything.
Unknown Speaker 15:07
So he basically
Scott Benner 15:08
he basically said, you have a tiny allergy to food and and I was like, Okay, well, you know, I want to know if that's true or not and you know, this kind of fast for six weeks will tell me. And we were at the grocery store today walking around and I just was getting hungrier and hungrier for things I didn't even want I there's something I looked at, I don't even know if I liked and I thought I would eat that right now. And, and I don't have the kind of it's funny, I'm doing the fast. So obviously, I have all the willpower on the road, I'm three weeks into it. And I'm I'm fine. I haven't had bread I haven't had, you know, anything with corn in it, which is extensive a potato chip, which God love you who would want a potato chip, and you know, like, and all this stuff. So I don't have any trouble with the with it. But the minute the six weeks are over, I'm fairly certain. I'm going to eat a loaf of bread by myself. If these blood tests Don't show me that I shouldn't be. And I do wonder that about myself, like, How can I be like in one space and then go to another one? It sounds like a very similar thing happens to you. I'm sure it happens to a lot of people because it's easy, right? Like it's Yeah, so much. so much stuff I looked at tonight, it was the idea that I wouldn't have to cook it, prepare it. It was just there. It was like in a bag or in a container. And I thought like how easy that is, I could just do that right now. And, and you know, this other thing, socks.
Justin Saunders 16:33
It's comfort food as well. You know, I grew up in New Zealand and New Zealand, it's fish and chips. It's what you had on a Friday night. That's what you had on the weekend. And now, Chip. I find it very hard to resist chips when they're sitting there. I know I shouldn't eat them because they destroy my blood sugars. And it normally arrived before I even think of Pre-Bolus thing anything. So they're there. So you eat them. And then you suffer for the next three hours because your blood sugar is too high or and you feel terrible. You know, you're bloated, because you've just eaten a whole lot of
Scott Benner 17:06
carbs. I wonder how much of that as you're saying it is being diagnosed as an adult like having? I mean, you had 33 years, right? Where you didn't think twice about anything like that. So I want I wonder if it is that like I, you know, don't get me wrong. Arden doesn't you know, every time Arden goes to eat, she's not like, Hey, Dad, I'm thinking of eating something. So we should probably Pre-Bolus now 20 minutes ahead of time, like, you know, we all kind of keep track of that, you know, her I my wife, we all kind of pay attention to it. And so everybody's helping out. But we've always thought this way. I mean, so as long as I can remember we thought this way, but you you live the whole life not thinking like that.
Justin Saunders 17:49
Yeah, well, when I was when I was first diagnosed, I did spend some time kind of thinking that being diagnosed as an adult is probably harder to adjust to them being diagnosed as a child. But my thought process has changed over the years, because, yes, now I've developed, I've developed 30 odd years worth of eating habits and exercise habits and all the other habits good and bad. But then when you're diagnosed as a child, you've then got to grow up. And, you know, you get two teenage years, the hormones kick in, and your friends kick in, and you've got all that pressure as well. So my thought process has now developed to I don't think there is a good time to get Tai Beatty,
Scott Benner 18:38
I was gonna say there's never a good time to get
Justin Saunders 18:42
like, anytime is better than the other. Right? I think it's just all
Scott Benner 18:47
positives and negatives to each kind of like age range.
Unknown Speaker 18:50
There is Yeah, there are you know,
Scott Benner 18:52
I actually I interviewed somebody that was diagnosed and they're 16 ones. And they kind of spoke about, you know, you've been through so much of your life already. Like, eating was almost a little boring. At some points, it was kind of easy just to make sure what they ate because they weren't thrilled to be eating all the time to begin with. And I actually have to tell you as I approach 50 I'm starting to think about food like that, like it's hard to get excited anymore. You know, you said fish and chips with sounded amazing when you said it but at the same time. At what point do you think you have it and you just go You know what, that was the last time I've had this one too many times. And it makes me think of my my buddy's grandmother who lived into her 90s and we went visitor This is 20 years ago. She's been dead for, you know, a quarter of a century. But we went to visit her one day at her place. And she is in her 90s sucking down cigarettes with one hand and eaten pound cake with. Yep. And she said she drank tea smoke cigarettes in a pound cake. She didn't consume anything else and we walked out of there and I said to my friend, I was like what? She'll be dead in three weeks. He goes he's been eating like that for 10 years. That's like okay, and no Kidman she went on for a good one. long times though cigarettes and pancake, so, yeah, he just didn't have a taste for anything else at that point in our life. And and I do wonder if maybe that doesn't help. And then you know, you'll hear people make the argument, well, if you're diagnosed sooner, you don't really know any better. So there's nothing to miss. And if you're an adult, and you should know better, and maybe have a little more control over yourself, it's all BS. It really is. Yeah, in the end, having to say to yourself, I'm going to eat in a half an hour. It's just not fun. Like, like, there's nothing fun about me, there's, there's nothing really good about that. At the same time. As you're talking, what I hear is, you know, if you Pre-Bolus, this would change things for you. Yep, yeah.
Unknown Speaker 20:43
Can you do it?
Scott Benner 20:44
Can you talk a little bit about what it's about that? Whether or not it's a conscious decision on conscious decision, but how that process goes, you know, put me put me in your shoes. an hour before dinner tonight? Where are you at? Like mentally? I mean, are you thinking on diabetes? Or what are you doing?
Justin Saunders 21:05
In generally not? Generally, then I get served up or you know, finished making it and then I go, Oh, that's right, I probably should take some insulin, and diabetes, fishy at the moment isn't something that's right at the front of my mind. I'll take insulin when I'm, when I'm eating or when I make breakfast, I'll take some insulin before I eat it. I have generally have porridge every morning. So that's, for me, that's quite a good trigger, because I'll take insulin as I start preparing the porridge. But pretty much for everything else, or generally just, I don't even think about insulin until the food's there. And then it's like, well, I probably should have done something a bit sooner, sir.
Scott Benner 21:50
Right? And, and do you know what the, like, what the sticking point is for you? Like, why why you don't make that leap? Because you also discussed feeling like hell after your blood sugar is high, and that whole thing? So I mean, listen, I'm not judging you at all. I, I've, you know, looked at a pizza and thought, I should only have one slice of that. And then four slices later, I thought, I've let myself down pretty hardly here. So it's, but I'm maybe digging for myself as much for as for anybody else. And I just didn't know if you had a if you had like a theory about why that happens, or why you don't make an adjustment to it. And and what do you think it would take for you to kind of mindfully make that adjustment?
Justin Saunders 22:38
Just a mindset for me, I think. I think part of my problem is that I thought, the diabetes so early, or what I think was so early, that I've been on the honeymoon, I haven't had to take a huge amount of insulin until recently. So I'm still in that mindset that I'm on my I'm still in the honeymoon, that I don't need to really concentrate on working this thing out. I think I've probably also got some got a little bit of a hangover from getting very grumpy at a public diabetes specialist in New Zealand that kind of destroyed me right at the start of my diabetes career. And it's very been very hard to actually adjust and really start caring about diabetes.
Scott Benner 23:37
What did that person do? And how did it? How did it affect you? Has it happened yet? Is it summertime and you're being active or outside in the heat? Your blood sugar sort of all over the place? And you're blind to what's happening? And you thought, Man, that guy on the podcast? He does, right?
Unknown Speaker 23:57
I check it out. Dexcom.
Scott Benner 23:59
Have you had that moment? Well, luckily, for you know, time is a bad time to start your life with Dexcom. If you're the parent or the Guardian, with a caregiver with a loved one, have a person with Type One Diabetes. With the dexcom share and follow features. You can see their blood sugars remotely. That's what the iPhone and Android. I know. That's exciting. And that's probably enough for you probably like Scott, I don't need to hear any more. I'm gone. I'm doing it. Stop talking about Nope. I have to keep talking direction and speed. Which way is it moving? How fast is it going there? There's a huge difference between an 85 blood sugar that is stable, and an 85 blood sugar that's falling at like five points per minute. Do you want to know what you know you're my 85 and I'm going to stay here are my 85 and I'm going to be 75 in like 10 minutes. I need to know that. Did this food just miss me a little bit By Bolus and then I'm just going to go a little or is my blood sugar shooting up? I need to know. That's how I make good decisions. Those decisions begin with Dexcom dexcom.com, forward slash juice box with links in your show notes, or Juicebox podcast.com. You could be living a completely different life with your diabetes very soon. And it all starts with this decision.
What did that person do?
Justin Saunders 25:32
I was when I was first diagnosed. I, you know, went out, I did all the research, I looked for anything that may have been a cause of why I developed it. And I went out, I read the old Dr. Bernstein book, I read a couple other books, it was all low carb, I was eating really well, feeling really good about it all. And, and then my diabetes nurse educator, suggested that I go to this. Because we we've got a very, very good public health system in New Zealand. And we do have private, and it's we do have a little bit of private health insurance, but it's not nowhere near the extent that America has, okay, so this diabetes nurse educator, she was in the public system, she suggested I go and see this public diabetes consultant at one of the hospitals. And so I did. And the first time I went to see him, he but basically told me that I didn't need to take insulin, and I shouldn't be taking insulin. And that he wanted me my HPA one c wasn't essentially wasn't high enough for him. As I had an HB one C of 37, I think when I first went to see him, and he wanted it up at 48 by the time the last day, the last time I saw him, okay. And he pretty much treated me like the status quo. I think, you know, people in the public health system are more used to seeing the status quo, the the people who really don't, aren't necessarily interested, you know, they, they see the, I don't want to insult or offend anyone, but they speak to where this guy was situated. It was the lowest socio economic area of where we were living. So, you know, you see, they see the worst of the worst, and they see so many people that they kind of develop this. One size fits all mentality, which it shouldn't be. Right, but that's how it is.
Scott Benner 27:45
And so no, he basically looked at you and said, Look, your agency is not high enough for us to be treating you with insulin. So go back to your life. When this gets worse, then we'll tackle it.
Justin Saunders 27:57
That's pretty much I think what he was getting at, yeah.
Scott Benner 27:59
Did you buy into that he
Justin Saunders 28:00
was I not really, I did to an extent I actually did go away. And I went off my rapid acting insulin. But a short time until I went and saw him next mhba once he obviously had come up, and I was still taking Lantus, I was still on the basal insulin, okay. And the next time I saw him, he said, Your HPA one C, I think it was a 940 something 45 or 44 or something. He said I wanted up at 48. So how about you go off your Lantus? I was like, No, this Don't worry. I'm going off my lenses. And
Scott Benner 28:47
oh, sorry. No, you're fine.
Justin Saunders 28:50
Sorry, I just gotta find cook. And yeah, I said, No, there's no way I'm going off my lenses and even threatened me with loss of license and everything because he believed that I was probably having hypo unawareness and having lots of lows when I didn't know and, obviously, I was driving ambulances and things. And rightly, he was concerned that I might have a low while driving and causing an accident. I mean, that's a genuine concern. Okay. But he threatened to take away my livelihood by reporting me to the licensing authority in New Zealand. I see. So that pretty much destroyed me then and there. I'm a sensitive we sold I think so I went out and had a big, massive amount of ice cream.
Scott Benner 29:38
That sounds like a good idea. Listen, I think
Justin Saunders 29:41
so. Yeah. destroyed, destroyed my blood sugar some more. And yeah, and then I was the last time he saw him, I think three times. Yeah. And the last time I saw him, I went back and we had a short question and I just said look, the only reason I came to that I was telling you, I won't be back to see you again because you blackmailed me last time I was here. Yeah. And he didn't believe that he had. But, you know,
Scott Benner 30:08
this is what it is. So while you're talking, and I'm listening, I also pulled up a chart so that people can kind of understand what you were saying about your a one C. So tell me again, you went and saw him the first time. And where was your a Wednesday yet?
Justin Saunders 30:23
I think it was. Well, it was it was below 40. Anyway,
Scott Benner 30:27
below for sure. So between so for so for people in America and other parts of the of the world, between a five and a six. So see, you had a you had just probably on the verge of a, you know, creeping up a one C. And where did he tell you he wanted it that
Justin Saunders 30:47
he wanted it? At least at 48?
Scott Benner 30:50
Which is six and a half? Yeah, and well beyond diabetic. So and so he thought you were having an ID you feel like you were having any hypose that you didn't know about?
Justin Saunders 31:03
But no, no. And I was the seven years that I've been diagnosed as a diabetic of of head hypose. Obviously, I've never had anything that I haven't been able to deal with. And I've always woken up in the morning, you know, I've never had my wife never had to jab me with glucagon or anything like that. So I'm pretty sure that that I wasn't having what he was concerned about. Right? That's really it. And if I was I knew how to
Scott Benner 31:36
handle it. Just like everybody else needs to be able to do. Yeah, it's a strange story is that? Jeez, and now that you're okay, so. So I want to try to put myself in your place if I can. So you, you have a strange diagnosis to begin with? Because it's not like you have full blown oh my gosh, hurry up and get insulin, you have times when you don't need very much insulin times when you need a little more. Never a ton. I mean, you talked about 10 units being a lot. And would you mind sharing with me your weight?
Justin Saunders 32:08
Currently, I'm at three kgs on 200 and 190 pounds or something? Okay,
Scott Benner 32:15
so you're, you're an average sized person. I mean, unless you're three feet tall. And so because if you were three feet tall, 180 pounds, I don't think that would be right. But I think that your your average sized person have an average weight, right? And you're using 10 units, my daughter weighs 126 pounds, and she'll use 10 units for a meal. So yeah, so you still are not using a ton of incent or you're eating a little lower carb at times?
Justin Saunders 32:46
Well, if I was to do 10 units, I mean that I'd be probably down on one, maybe two hands that I've actually done 10 units for a meal. What kind of amount? Obviously, I don't always get it right. But it would be probably a meal of fish and chips that I would consider giving myself 10 units.
Scott Benner 33:03
Okay, so like, batter? Plus protein plus oil plus a potato, you know, a star. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 33:09
Yeah,
Scott Benner 33:10
I mean, that's what I'm talking about with my daughter as well like a lot of carbs like that she could use 10 units for that's really, your story's insane. Like I'm having a bit of a trouble wrapping my head around it to figure out where to go next. But I'm enjoying this so so we're gonna feel our way through this. When you emailed me now, it's February now, I'm obviously not great at getting these things scheduled to you email. he emailed me in August, so seven months ago, but it but seven months ago, you said that you had found the podcast and the kind of giving you maybe a jumpstart. Did that last for you? Where are you? Where are you right now? I guess.
Justin Saunders 33:52
Um, it probably hasn't lasted as well as it was then. But yeah, I mean, it's really made me aware of Pre-Bolus thing of exercise and now Pre-Bolus thing is probably the big one because it's not something that I was ever bought.
Scott Benner 34:13
Sure. A lot of people
Justin Saunders 34:16
it was really it was really your podcast that actually reminded me or made me have any real thoughts about Pre-Bolus and I think I'd heard stuff about it previously, but it was really listening to your podcast and what everyone else is and the way that you deal with your daughter's diabetes that that really kind of made me think about it and has made me keep thinking about it. I'm not very good at it. But But I do you know, I do. Think about it when I'm eating or when I'm preparing meal.
Scott Benner 34:50
Let me ask you this. So when you when you think about it, like and you're actually accomplishing it when you when you don't just think about it, but you do it you put Your insulin and before you eat, are you avoiding your spikes altogether, you're having them smaller, what were you able to accomplish?
Justin Saunders 35:09
I'm kind of fluctuated, it was a bit of everything really depended on what I ate. Like, as I said, most mornings, I'll have porridge, that will be porridge with a bit of like blueberries with yogurt, with some mix seeds and stuff on top. So it's reasonably kabhi meal, right. And some days, I can give myself for that I can give myself Pre-Bolus, if I inject before I even start preparing it. So it takes about 15 minutes for it to be ready to eat, right? If I Pre-Bolus, I can sometimes get away with about five units of insulin. And it will keep the spike down. Sometimes it even doesn't really like much at all. Okay. But then some days, I can prepare the exact same meal, I can take the influence that pretty much the exact same time and my blood sugars will just spike up jumps.
Scott Benner 36:08
And when you have we know we're good, I'm sorry.
Justin Saunders 36:11
When I when I say spike. And when I say spike, it's you know, it might get up to 10 or 11. Which is I don't know what that is and the conversion but
Scott Benner 36:25
hundred 995 200 like in that space? Yeah.
Justin Saunders 36:28
If I'm unlucky, it might get up that high.
Scott Benner 36:31
And that's so it's not a crazy spike, by the way for a meal like that. Is that it now that would that? Would that number persist for hours? Or would you hit it and come back again,
Justin Saunders 36:44
I'm in sort of whether I'm wearing a sensor or not. If I'm not wearing a sensor, then I generally forget to test half an hour after I eat. I'm not a very disciplined diabetic. But if I'm wearing a sensor and I see it going up, then I definitely will hurt it. As soon as I can. That's generally after after an hour. I'll give myself another one or two units and see what happens. But yeah, if I'm not wearing a sensor, um, you know,
Scott Benner 37:15
again, okay, so so here's so here's an interesting question, because you're gonna melt two things that you said together now. So you said earlier that you're a little happy not to have the sensor technology right now, because you felt overwhelmed by it? Did you mean did you mean that it was constantly taking up your time and your your thoughts? Or did you mean that it was reminding you to do the thing that you kind of wanted to forget to do?
Justin Saunders 37:41
I think it was just reminder, maybe just reminding me that it was there. Or, you know, you just get this constant flow, a graph that shows you how good you're doing and shows you how bad you're doing. And it gets a bit depressing if you're not doing very well. Okay. With the ups and downs and, and it's just, yeah, data overload. I do a lot of data work. My actual job. And I think throwing that and on top, at times, just might get a little bit too much for me, just it's just it's too much.
Scott Benner 38:13
So. Okay, so where are you? I'm interested to know like, what, in your perfect world situation if I gave you a magic wand, and I was like Justin, make your own reality? Do you want to be more involved? You want to just do what you're doing and say this is as good as I can do right now. Like, is it somewhere in the middle? Like, what what would you hope for? If you could just make it so
Justin Saunders 38:38
I would prefer to be more involved. I'd like to remember, I need to start setting alarms on my phone that half an hour after eating 50 blood sugars again. Yeah. And I'm just a very unmotivated diabetic.
Scott Benner 38:52
Okay. So I suppose you get the unmotivated diabetic. That's, uh, I'll tell you what if it was 10 years ago, Justin, you had a blog title there. So the blogs are dying Long live the podcast anyway. We have. So if if I said to you, you know, we have 20 minutes left. Would you want to chat more? Or would you want to talk about like concrete ways to make that change for yourself? My daughter Arden's birthday is mere days away, which means she is embarking on her 12th consecutive year of wearing the Omni pod tubeless insulin pump. She got an early birthday present the other day, you know what it was a 5.5 a one C. At this point. There are countless a one season the fives that have all come while wearing the Omni pod. And the only pods available to everybody not just the my daughter. So you know, maybe try it. You don't have to take any big leaps that you can't get back from this isn't a eyes closed off. The cliff situation because Omni pod has a free no obligation demo of their product. That is right. If you go to Miami pod.com, forward slash juicebox Omni pod will send you out a free pod to try on and where, and there's literally no obligation. It's not like now that they've sent it to you, you have to use it. It's not like that you could just try it on and be like, I don't like this. And that could be the end of it. But what if you tried it on in that moment led to 12 consecutive years of happiness for you the way it has for Arden? That's gotta be worth a try, right? I mean, it's free, there's no obligation. And guess what? Omni pod has updated their personal diabetes manager, the little controller that you carry to run the pod dash is available now. So you can decide between the Oji PDM, or the new on the pod dash, it's up to you, you get to choose. Understand what that means. You try out the free, no obligation demo, you decide to move forward with the pod and you get to say to them, Look, you know what, I think I'm gonna take the dash PDM, not the older one, or I'm gonna take the old one, I like it better than the dash or whatever, I have options. isn't everything choice, Miami pod.com forward slash juice box with links in your show notes, or Juicebox podcast.com dash over right now and check it out? If I was you, I'd likely be you. But, but right. But I know that if I was in your situation, I would likely treat it the way you do. Yeah. But because I'm putting them in the situation of taking care of a loved one. I don't feel like I have the luxury to be laxed because it's not me. You know what I mean? Like I can I can treat myself poorly. I can't I couldn't treat them poorly.
Unknown Speaker 41:49
And,
Scott Benner 41:50
and it really is. It's just truth. I think it's a very human thing. I think I you see it all the time with people. I'm telling you, I we just put up a podcast today. Episode 209 went up with a woman named Leah said Type One Diabetes for ever. And never wanted a pump than the minute her son was diagnosed. She thought that kid needs a pump. Yeah, and, and, and, and boom, put a pump on him and then got herself and then got herself one. But for years prior to that just never thought she really needed it. She said she did. And it was all a static, she told me she's like it didn't seem sexy to her to have a pump on. And so she just didn't want to do it. The minute it was about figuring it out, first on, boom, we all have insulin pumps. And so I don't know how a person let alone you puts onus on something that's not in the moment real yet. Because I mean, it'd be easy for me to tell you, you have three great kids. You want to be alive and see him for as long as you can. Like, that's an obvious thing. Right? Right. And you don't not think that everybody understands that I'm you know, we all feel the same way. We've got families, we want to be around for whether we have diabetes or not. We're trying to stay alive as long as we can try to be as healthy as we can for as long as we can. And so my assumption is you love those kids, you've already had that thought. And I've done the same thing. You know, in prior years with my weight, I thought I'd like to be a little thinner, because I want to be around for my kids. Right? And then I don't know what happens. bread with butter is really good. You know, like that. That's sort of an idea. If I'm in front of a steak, I put some bread with it. You know, I have a steak and bread. We'll throw some shrimp on the side. Hey, you know, before you know it, you're having a what I'm assuming is a 1500 car calorie meal with a ton of carbs in it. And you're kind
Justin Saunders 43:43
of like, don't get me Don't get me wrong. I mean, I'm not abusing myself, that's for sure. No, no, no, I ate reasonably healthy. You know, I look after myself. I mean, my last HBO one see that I had was 5.7. So it's, you know, it's back in that range now.
Scott Benner 44:01
And that's amazing. And that goes to what you're saying where you think that you are very slowly? Like is there? There's no world where you don't have type one right that it's some sort of a, like an alternative diagnosis that they're not getting right. You have you had the the protein test and the blood tested to tell you for certain you have type one diabetes. Yeah.
Justin Saunders 44:22
I've had I've had the antibodies is good. Which case but yeah, and and they're there. They Yeah, the endocrinologist Go ahead. And New Zealand was really good. And he ran me through all the tests. And he said, Yep, definitely the I haven't had a C peptide to see what how much insulin I am still producing, if any. But other than that, I think I've had everything that I needed. So yeah, as far as I know. I'm diabetic. You just have a tough pancreas.
Scott Benner 44:51
It isn't given up. That's all.
Justin Saunders 44:54
Yeah. But yeah, yeah. And I think that comes down to the endocrinologist. I had the first one that I had, because my, my GP, he did, I went and saw him first. And he did the glucose fasting test and the tolerance test and a couple other things and came back and said, yes, you diabetic and then he sent me to this endocrinologist and the endocrinologist. Check me out that all the blood tests and stuff and I think my, I think my first HB one C was somewhere in the high 40s. So I set the sevens or something
Unknown Speaker 45:35
here, which is not and
Justin Saunders 45:39
yeah, it's nowhere near existed. I know. I know, when I was in the ambulance service, they always told us between three and a half and seven is normal. For a normal person. That's not excessive at all. But as soon as my HPA one See, I think it hit 52. Whatever that is, and he was He then said, well, let's, let's put you on a little bit of insulin. And I think a lot of doctors don't, or at least in the past, haven't gone down that road, they've just kind of gone well, okay, let's adjust your diet. Let's do this. Let's do that. And insulin was the last thing that they did. Right. And they I believe that there's a lot of research out there that says that it on the insulin faster, and it will help preserve whatever beta cells you've got. And they will either slow their destruction or stop the destruction of whatever you've got left. And I think that's where I've come out on top. Because that I went on rapid acting insulin and Lantus and stuff really early on in the piece.
Scott Benner 46:47
You're in such a, you're such a weird, it's a precipice really like because you said, I'm, again, I'm on this chart. So a 58. One C is right around 6.8. And even, you know, what I'm seeing online is telling me that at 50. It's a suggestion of diabetic diabetes, if you're symptomatic, if you're not symptomatic of diabetes, two tests on separate occasions are needed. Like you're right in that odd space, it just where it's not, it's not quite all. Can I ask you which side you like? Do you hope it stays like this longer? Or do you hope it just, it just goes so it's more predictable?
Justin Saunders 47:25
I would prefer to stay like this, I think because it's cheaper.
Scott Benner 47:29
There you go. Less insulin, less gear, less trouble.
Justin Saunders 47:35
Yeah.
Scott Benner 47:35
So when you talk about like you want to do a better job? Is it like with the idea in your mind that you want to get on a better regimen because you understand that it's probably not going to stay like this forever? Because I think that might be Yeah, I don't know if you need to worry about
Justin Saunders 47:50
that. And more just more understanding of, I just need to do more research and study. I think around more understanding of insulins and how they work, I've been on the same insulin, Lantus and overwrap. And since I was diagnosed, I don't know whether there's anything better out there for me. But that would be something that would be interesting to find out. I don't know what there is in Australia. I've inserted amps in the past. And my biggest fear, not that I probably have to worry about it currently. But if at all, xe does kick off and become full blown. My biggest concern is, obviously here in Australia, we don't have such things as Omni pods at this point in time. So we have have to have the tubes. And I just read a few stories you see around Instagram online, wherever about people waking up with horrible issues, eat ketones and all the rest of it. Because if King a pump, or they pulled out their site, or
Scott Benner 48:55
whatever, and they haven't had insulin for hours and hours, and
Justin Saunders 48:58
yeah, then and then to top it off of both, I think I have a bit of fear of missing out. There's always some new technology on the horizon that if I get a pump now, then it's, you know, four or five years before I can get the next one is going to be something better in the next couple of years. I'm sure. Justin, we've
Scott Benner 49:17
had a lot of really interesting looks into your psyche so far tonight. This is fun. Because I always say like, you know, keep up with technology. You know, when when technology demands that when it when when a great leap is made, move with it. But if it's not a great leap, you know, stick with what works. But you don't want to ever look back and think oh gosh, I'm using something that nobody uses anymore that if somebody was diagnosed today, they would never be given what I have. You don't you don't want to be that far out of it. But it's interesting how you think about that. The idea of like, you'd have like technology envy and not be able to move on. You think that would bother you. Yeah, that's really something I like you a lot just and I'm glad we're doing this. Well, you are I mean, I agree with your assessment that I, you know, I think if I was you, I'd prefer for my pancreas to keep chugging along the way it is for as long as possible. And at the same time, I'm having trouble even imagining how much uncertainty you live with all the time. Because you know what I mean? Because right now you're getting away with like, an injection here a little slow acting insulin, it's not really that big of a deal. Even a spike is 180. For you, which is of course not terrible at all. And yeah, and and, and it's like, you're waiting for the other shoe to drop, like, when is this going to happen? And that's, and it's been going on for a really long time. I mean, honestly has, is that the Do you think that's the tiring part of it at this point, like just waiting?
Justin Saunders 50:50
Not something that I've thought about. And that's a possibility.
Scott Benner 50:55
Just it's just seems to me like, it's something that's, it's right there. It's just over the horizon. It's like, he feels like maybe tomorrow is the day tomorrow, tomorrow. And it just, you just wonder, at least, you know, if you have diabetes, and you need how much you need, you're gonna need insulin on a pretty consistent basis. It's always gonna be that way.
Justin Saunders 51:11
Yeah,
Scott Benner 51:12
it's just it seems doubly unfair. I mean, if that's a if that's a phrase, you know, you shouldn't get you shouldn't get hit. You couldn't get zinc twice with diabetes, like, Hey, you have type one diabetes, like, wait, I'm 33. What are you talking about, though? Isn't that a kid's thing? And then you know, and then you you end up realizing it's not you have it, but you don't need all the insulin, you think and then the guy jerked around, and then you go to a doctor who tells you, you know, forget it, and you just have not had any stability in your diagnosis or your care. Yeah, I would really that would, that would spin me. I wouldn't like that. So I can't imagine you do it either. To be perfectly honest, how, how is your um, how much involvement does your family have with this with you? Do they have any? Or is your wife helpful? Or do you not? Are you not looking forward to be how do you handle that? No,
Justin Saunders 52:06
they don't have a huge amount. I think, other than I think my wife now buries jelly babies or something around a new purse wherever we go. on the off chance. I basically just managed myself. Yeah, it towed off every now and then if I have to sneak away and treat a low because I've taken too much insulin for what I've eaten. But now it's pretty much on me. Yeah.
Scott Benner 52:37
Now, I mean, I wouldn't imagine otherwise, you're at that age where it would be a strange thing to just suddenly. And it's not like you have a ton of like you said, you're not having a lot of lows. You're not you don't need I wouldn't see where you would need a ton of support. But at the same time. I don't know. Like, I don't know if he can put somebody in charge of him like, you know, make make one of those kids, the Pre-Bolus. Kid. Take the oldest one to go look every day, half an hour before dinner. It's your job to Come to daddy and say, hey, it's half an hour.
Justin Saunders 53:09
That's a good idea. Maybe it would be nice if they like you know can be Pre-Bolus and one can be 30 minutes after eating it be nice if they earn their keep a little bit. And by the way, I've looked up jelly baby Bring me my slippers.
Scott Benner 53:23
The little one. I mean, you don't you don't want to put too much on the little one right away. I just looked up jelly babies because they didn't know what they are. And they seem like gummy bears covered in powdered sugar without the granular sugar on top of it.
Justin Saunders 53:37
Well, it basically just yummy beers. My wife's carrying around. Oh, good. Yeah, but we wisdom, that transmitter thing that I had, it also had a an app on my phone that I could. My wife had the same app on her phone so she could follow because one of the concerns that I did have about living on an island is that there's no way to get off the island except by boat. And if something was to happen while I was at home, I had a significant low. I was here but with the kids because my wife, she's a nurse. So she was working night shifts and stuff up until a couple of months ago. And so, you know, overnight and something had happened. Then see had the readout on her phone, right?
Scott Benner 54:26
Yeah, and I love the idea of being able to share your blood sugar with somebody. You know, I was thinking and I meant to say it earlier and I didn't the dexcom g five you're right has a sensor life of seven days, but it can be restarted when it ends. Yeah, it can see you maybe could but the problem is is it's it's sort of catches catch can after that you don't know if you're going to get you know, two more days or another week and some people are like I get three weeks but I never got that much with my daughter. I don't think I think we got into two restarts a couple of times. And I was just I was just thinking that That may be, I don't know, maybe having that data, taking another shot at having that data might be valuable. But But I don't know like, I mean, everyone's different. I've definitely heard people say exactly like you like, I can't I couldn't look at it, it was too much.
Justin Saunders 55:17
I tried the, the five I think I had two centers when I was back in New Zealand, because after the Think of the polite term forum, but after the public, Bolton, edas go at me, I went back to the, my private endocrinologist. And he said, Well, the first thing we're going to do before we even look at doing anything with your licenses, we're actually going to see what your sugar's are doing. So he hooked me up with the public diabetes service and they gave me a G five center. Okay. The US for a week and then I managed to convince them that just give me another one for another week. So I mean, that was really good apart from I kind of thought having to do finger sticks to calibrate it was
Scott Benner 56:06
counterproductive.
Justin Saunders 56:08
Yeah, yeah. kind of strange. There. It was supposed to read my blood sugar's but, you know,
Scott Benner 56:14
I hear you it's in the new one is I have to admit it is nice. It's, you know, not having to do the finger sticks is is definitely a bonus. I mean, any involvement back to your original point, I guess any involvement that you can take away with diabetes, to me is, is great. You know, the less I have to think about it during the day, the better. But, but I will say this, and I know, you've probably heard this, if you you know, if you've been listening, I think that once you kind of get to a rhythm with the Pre-Bolus thing. And the following up, I actually think that that, at least for me, it has been and for my daughter, less actual time involvement every day, then the opposite. Like, like, I know, it's it's tough to remember to do something, but at least those moments are a split second, or you know, a couple of minutes to do this thing to stop hours of something else from happening. And I've always tried to like, think of it that way, because I hear you. I mean, I'm not. I wish everybody knew me better. I'm not the I'm not the poster boy for like, you know, for, for planning ahead, you know, and so it doesn't come naturally to me to think about it either. And, and I get better at it as I go. But I've also found ways around it. And because of having sensor technology and being able to see Arden stacks comm if I miss a Pre-Bolus, then I do something I call over bolusing. So if it was something you know, if it was something that was going to take five units, excuse me, but I couldn't get get it in time. Well, then I would just Bolus the five units for the food plus insulin for the for the rise that I know was going to come plus the number and having to get back down again. And if you kind of like, you know overhauls, I've heard people call it a Super Bowl is if you do that, you can crush the spike before it comes. And it doesn't cause a low later. Yeah, that's the kind of stuff that you can I think it's difficult to learn without the without seeing the sensor. Yeah, you know, or wanting to test incredibly frequently afterwards. Yeah, which nobody wants to do, either. I mean, in the end, obviously, Justin, you're an adult, you'll do whatever you want to do. But there there is, I do genuinely believe that, you know, in, I guess in the simplest way of saying an ounce of prevention, right, like just a little bit up front stops a lot from happening later. And you might not find that I don't know. But I am interested to find out how you go with this. I hope we keep in touch.
Justin Saunders 58:49
Yeah, for sure. Yeah,
Scott Benner 58:51
I would I would really like to know, I have one question to ask you. You have it, you have an Instagram account.
Justin Saunders 58:57
I do have an Instagram account. It's not a very popular one. But it's there on Instagram.
Scott Benner 59:01
But but but I can't tell if it's funny. You don't put your face on. Frequently? No. But at one point, there was a silhouette of a rather handsome man. And then there was joking that this person was in great shape. And I'm like, is this actually Justin or is it a picture of someone else? And they're joking about it? Are you willing to tell me
Justin Saunders 59:23
I can't remember the photo probably was me. And it was probably a very sarcastic thing. But
Scott Benner 59:34
I just think it's fantastic that you have an Instagram account where I can 100% tell if it's you. I think that that indicates well done in my opinion. So I don't know if the kids think about it that way. But I thought it was spectacular. So let me find and you've hurt yourself recently, haven't you?
Justin Saunders 59:52
I did. Yep.
Scott Benner 59:54
ACL Did you have a surgery?
Justin Saunders 59:56
Yeah. I ruptured my ACL at the start. Have December and had the surgery three weeks for nearly four weeks ago. Now I think
Scott Benner 1:00:06
that's terrible. It painful I'm assuming.
Justin Saunders 1:00:11
And it does at times under fluctuates, it feels really good and then it'll get a bit a bit more and nighttime is really the problem I find. I can get a good four hours sleep and then wake up and the leg will be a bit achy. And it just keeps me awake. Yeah, that's it. And that it's that intense ache. Now it's not it's not really sore, but it's a it's that ache that's just really irritating. I said to my wife this morning that I had to go down and run sleep on the couch because quite hot here in Sydney at the moment. So we had the fan going overnight and just the noise of the fan. I wanted to throw it out the window because my knee was just irritating me so much. Yeah,
Scott Benner 1:00:54
how is it on your blood? sugar's that the surgery and the pain and all that is it? Does it affect you greatly?
Justin Saunders 1:01:04
I think the pain might affect me a little bit because my blood sugar's seem to be when I get up in the morning, they seem to be increasing a little bit, even without actually eating. Yeah, it's pretty common, I
Unknown Speaker 1:01:15
think.
Justin Saunders 1:01:17
But it's actually I've been a little bit unwell for the last couple of weeks as well. So my my blood sugar's have actually been probably quite stable. I think, the last couple of weeks. It was interesting. It's the first major surgery, call an ACL, a major surgery that I've ever had. That was interesting being in hospital, I stayed a night in hospital with my diabetes and the hospitals that just really didn't know what to do with me.
Scott Benner 1:01:47
That is a common occurrence. I don't I don't think it matters what country you're in, you know, they're not good at at, at managing type one and insulin in a hospital setting. They they leave you really high and treat it like an afterthought, which is you know, which of course is just terrible for healing. You know, the higher your blood sugar is, the slower you heal. So,
Justin Saunders 1:02:08
yeah, yeah, I just managed, I was only in there for a night and just managed all my own stuff. But not long after my surgery. I had a junior doctor come into my junior doctor come into my hospital room, and he was like, what's your normal diabetic regime? Like? Well, I normally take between three and six units of insulin or a meal, depending on what I'm eating. Yeah. Ah, well, that doesn't work for this chart. So for this chart, what we put down? I'll just put down six. Yeah,
Scott Benner 1:02:44
you write down whatever you want. And I'll take
Unknown Speaker 1:02:46
that sounds. Exactly.
Scott Benner 1:02:48
So I almost I had a person from Australia, who will be on the show wanted me to come down and do a like a day long bold with insulin conversation. And yes, I just saw that on Facebook, she was trying to fundraise or something for Yeah, and she just it kind of it didn't, it didn't work out, it was a lot of money that would have needed to be raised to haul my carcass all the way to show you but we tried really hard to get, you know, somebody to back it like a company to back it. But the problem ends up being is that most of the companies I have relationship with don't sell a lot of products in Australia. So there's not a not not a not a real big calling for on the pod to do marketing in a country where they can't sell it on the pot. Although they they do really seem like they are working towards it. But I was just really touched that you have no idea how many people listen in Australia and New Zealand I the downloads there are they overwhelmed me every time I take a look at them. I'm pleased that everybody enjoys the show. So for those people, they're gonna hear an accent finally that they can they can understand a little better. Instead of I know, I don't
Justin Saunders 1:04:00
know what it I don't know what sort of accent I've got at the moment. Or it's gonna be a mix of Australian and New Zealand. So there might be a bit confused as time. Excellent.
Scott Benner 1:04:09
Can you tell me we're up on an hour and I am gonna let you go. But I wanted to I want to say something very American to you for a second. What's the greatest difference between Australia and New Zealand like living from place to place?
Justin Saunders 1:04:25
You want to go diabetes related.
Scott Benner 1:04:27
Now I just in general like like what's, you know, if I was going to move and I you know, what's the selling point for New Zealand versus the selling point from Australia? Like what's what's great about living in both places.
Justin Saunders 1:04:42
Australia is, if you like the warmth, it's well where I am in Sydney, New South Wales. It's a very warm, sunny place, you know that. I think the days of sun probably outweigh the days of rain so it's quite nice from that point of view. For me, I think I'll always be a New Zealander. And it's New Zealand. It's just an amazing country. Everybody's just so much more relaxed. We have I'm very much a, what do you say, a justice driven person? Then New Zealand is very, I think, is quite a lot more. I'm probably gonna upset a lot of Australians here, but it's a lot more of an accepting country than Australia is.
Scott Benner 1:05:31
So a little more liberal in it's more liberal sexuality preference, stuff like that.
Justin Saunders 1:05:38
Yeah, yeah, rice, culture, whatever. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's not perfect. There's still, you know, racism in every country. But I find the differences are quite a bit quite dark, between the two countries in that respect. But just you know, the sceneries I, when I met my wife, I was here in Australia working as a an outdoors instructor. When I first came over, I was like, Oh, this, the scenery is not very good, because it's a lot of gum trees, it's a lot of grays and browns, and you know, everything else. And it's not, it's not very good. But then as you spend more time here, you understand you kind of get to understand that it's, it's got a beauty of its own, those grays and those Browns produce something that is actually produces quite really nice scenery, as New Zealand's a lot of greens and browns, and kind of more vibrant colors in Australia. And New Zealand's a lot smaller. where I grew up, we could go to the snow and two and a half hours to the beach and 45 minutes. We can go bushwalking in like 10 minutes. We could go to a city and like half an hour, I was born in a small town. Okay, so the closest city was about half an hour 45 minutes away. So it's just very small, compact. And, yeah, I don't know. I just, I just love it. To be honest. You
Scott Benner 1:07:04
know, it sounds I mean, both places are places I'd love to see. But you describe a love for New Zealand that that's hard to ignore. Plus, you just named the podcast episode, because this one will definitely be called bushwalking with Justin. And because that is a phrase I've just never heard before in my entire life.
Justin Saunders 1:07:24
You may want to be careful which countries you podcast goes out and say bushwalking.
Scott Benner 1:07:32
Well, well, we'll see. I really liked it. I have to tell you.
Justin Saunders 1:07:35
Just what do you think Americans? It's just hiking. That's a throw the other. Throw the other one out there that you may have heard if you've talked to any New Zealanders or had anything to do with New Zealand and net tramping.
Scott Benner 1:07:50
That definitely sounds like finding a loose woman to me.
Justin Saunders 1:07:56
Yeah, same as bush walking and hiking. But I don't know where it came from
Scott Benner 1:08:01
very clearly. And so you said you've been sick recently? Is it like you've coughed a number of times, which I'll edit out. So most people won't hear. But is it a chest cold? Or if you just had an illness of? It's been hanging?
Justin Saunders 1:08:15
That's just a bonus. I had a week of nausea. And then I've had a week and a bit of this dry cough. And fevers and stuff. So
Scott Benner 1:08:24
that sucks. That is what it is. Yeah, no, I hear that I'm and what? Right now it's winter here. So you're you're in summer. Now you said windows? When and what month? Do you turn towards the Do you get a fall? Or do you go right into winter months? Or how does how does the transition happen?
Justin Saunders 1:08:45
here in Australia, there's probably not too much of an autumn or fall. It just kind of gets colder. Like like winter here in Sydney. It's not significant. You might get the odd day where you get into single digits. Okay, or at least last winter, there wasn't much in the way of single digit temperatures. It was actually quite a warm winter. Obviously other parts of Australia as you go further south, they have the ski fields and stuff that could have been colder up in the mountains and things but I think here in Sydney, there's probably not a huge transition between summer and winter. Yeah, there's less Zealand's notice a little bit more,
Scott Benner 1:09:26
there's less and less here. I'm on the east coast and there I mean as I don't want to sound like an old person. But when I when I was growing up, I felt there was a real delineation between winter spring summer fall like you could feel the transitions and in this week alone and that you know the temperatures might mean a little to you but it's going to snow here in the next day or so. So it's going to be below 32 degrees zero for you. And, and three days later, it's supposed to be 65 degrees outside. So I just don't you know, it's all over the place. I was I was really interested in that. What month is winter? Come for you? Like when do you think of?
Justin Saunders 1:10:08
Probably? Maine, maybe.
Scott Benner 1:10:11
Okay. So just around there, just as our spring is kind of is rolling along. Yeah. That's incredibly interesting. I, I'm thrilled that you were able to do this. And I appreciate you reaching out.
Justin Saunders 1:10:23
I know I'm glad we could do it now.
Scott Benner 1:10:25
Yeah. Now and yeah. So but for people who are listening, and don't know, Justin, I kind of banged into each other in a lucky time where he was available. And I was because we had it planned for 1am his time, which would not have been fun for him. So this is this is much better. I'm really late. This worked out like this.
Justin Saunders 1:10:44
Yeah, just not mine. Yeah,
Scott Benner 1:10:47
you more than me, I was just gonna be up a little early in the morning, which wasn't really bad at all. Justin, thank you for coming on the show and being so open and honest, thank you to Omni pod Dexcom and dancing for diabetes, for supporting with your advertising. Thank you guys, for considering the advertisers to support the podcast, it's the circle of life. Learn more at Juicebox Podcast comm or in the links in your show notes about all the advertisers. And guys, we are so close to the 1 million downloads, celebration beginning it's common. One last thing, it was my birthday last week. And I put up a post on social media basically saying it's my birthday, get me something for my birthday, here's what you can get me share the podcast with somebody else. I wrote a short post and I talked about some of the feedback that I had gotten just that morning. And, you know, I just said Look, look at all the positive feedback coming back from the podcast. So you know, if you think you know, somebody who would be helped by it, or entertained by it, or would find it useful, share it with them, that would be a great birthday present for me if you share the podcast. So not only do people do that all the time, and I really appreciate it. But something incredibly unexpected happen. In that post, there were hundreds of replies from people who listen who have been impacted by the show. So if you took the time to share your experience with the podcast with me in one of those social media posts, either on Instagram or Facebook, please know that at some point on my birthday, I either got really teary eyed or in one situation cried at a traffic light because of something you guys wrote. And it was much more of a birthday present than I deserved or, or expected. I just wanted you guys to share the podcast with other people. I just wanted you to go to other people and say, Hey, this is how the Juicebox Podcast has helped me. I didn't think you were going to tell me how it's helped you. And I wasn't ready for that. To be honest. It was very impactful. Thank you very much. There'll be a defining diabetes episode on Friday again. And I think by next week, we should be ready to talk about the millionth episode, celebration and giveaway. Thank you guys again so much for listening.
Unknown Speaker 1:12:59
I'll see you next week.
Please support the sponsors
The Juicebox Podcast is a free show, but if you'd like to support the podcast directly, you can make a gift here. Recent donations were used to pay for podcast hosting fees. Thank you to all who have sent 5, 10 and 20 dollars!
#243 Defining Diabetes: A1c
Defining Diabetes: A1c
Scott and Jenny Smith, CDE define the terms at the center of your type 1 diabetes care
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 0:00
In this episode of defining diabetes, Jenny Smith and I are going to define a one C, defining diabetes is made possible by Dexcom on the pod and dancing for diabetes. Please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before becoming bold with insulin, or making any changes to your medical plan.
A one c Jenny, we're going to define a one c because some people like to say it out all fancy, right? How do they say it those people who like to give the actual letters the BDC, GG afterwards or whatever, what's the whole thing?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 0:42
hemoglobin, a one C is essentially the full term for it, right? hemoglobin a one C, typically, it's tested anywhere between two to four times a year by most and knows or primary care doctors. And essentially shows how well blood sugars have been controlled over about a three month time period, mainly because it refers to the life cycle of your red blood cells. And that's the hemoglobin part of a one fee. the life cycle of a red blood cell is such that you have turnover about every 90 days. So about every three months, you've got this turnover of red blood cells. And with hemoglobin being a piece of it and the glucose sticking to the hemoglobin, then we can measure overall the amount of sugar that was circulating within that three month time period. Now one other piece to a one C is knowing that the month closer to the draw for a one fee has more weight into the a one c value, then the three month ago. Month. Does that make sense? No.
Scott Benner 1:59
Sad again.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 2:00
Because the rates of the blood cell turnover, you are going to have more, I guess, more impact and more of those new blood cells within the past 30 days than the ones from three months ago. So many people say well, I had you know I had anyone see done, you know, three months ago, but in the past three or four weeks, I was in Italy on vacation eating all the pizzas in the whole entire country. I had a honeymoon or I had whatever. And man my blood sugar's were like all over the place. Well, it's probably not as indicative of an A one see them as it may have been over the course of three months. Because this past month has been crazy. Right?
Scott Benner 2:43
Okay, Isaac, Isaac, that makes sense. It does now, because I paid more attention. It's not that you didn't explain it? Well, the first night, it got a little too technical for my little head. But and back in the day, right? far enough ago, this was the only real measurement we had of people's, you know, quote unquote, success with their diabetes. Right? Your agency was your doctor looked at your agency and said, this is your average blood sugar for the last 30 days for 90 days. Right. And that was it right? There's so much conversation around a once a, you know, some people feel like it's a test that they pass or fail, some people are scared to go get it because they don't want to hear, you know, you're gonna hear annoying people like me tell you that I don't really worry about it anymore. Because I have an expectation of where it's going to be in it mostly goes where I expect it to be. It's not even something I think about anymore, to a great extent. But there's more that goes to it. So as you're listening to this definitions, you're going to hear one about time and range, and variability and things like that. And try to think of those all together. Defining diabetes on the Juicebox Podcast is brought to you by Dexcom. On the pause and dancing for diabetes, there are links in the show notes at Juicebox podcast.com to all the wonderful sponsors. But if you want to find out more about getting a free no obligation demo valmy pod, you can go to my on the pod.com forward slash juice box to get started on the Dexcom g six continuous glucose monitor dexcom.com forward slash juice box and to learn about the good that's being done at dancing for diabetes, go to dancing the number four diabetes.com Thanks for checking out defining diabetes. Come back every Friday is Jenny and I break down a new word or phrase that is impacting your life with Type One Diabetes. And since you're still here, I don't really say this very often, but you could follow me on Facebook or Instagram. I'm actually on my blog and podcast pages on Facebook. I'm now at bold with insulin on Facebook and Instagram. They won't let me merge them together. I would the biggest most active account is at Juicebox Podcast but they're still at art in this day and I started at bold with insulin hoping that one day I'd be able to blend them all together. For now though, I believe at Juicebox Podcast is the way to go on Instagram Juicebox Podcast is on Twitter and you know it's pretty much everywhere but I really find Instagram and Facebook to be the most active. By the way, those of you who are asking for t shirts, you got to me I'm working on it. Hold tight.
Please support the sponsors
The Juicebox Podcast is a free show, but if you'd like to support the podcast directly, you can make a gift here. Recent donations were used to pay for podcast hosting fees. Thank you to all who have sent 5, 10 and 20 dollars!
#242 Diabetes Analytics with Sam Fuld
Bold with Baseball…
Sam Fuld is the Philadelphia Phillies Major League Player Information Coordinator and former eight year MLB player who has been living with type 1 diabetes since he was ten years old.
Today Sam and Scott discuss the parallels between being bold with insulin and baseball.
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. Coming VERY SOON to Pandora.
+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.
Scott Benner 0:00
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Episode 242 of the Juicebox Podcast. Today's show is sponsored by Omni pod Dexcom. And dancing for diabetes, you can find out more@dexcom.com forward slash juicebox dancing the number four diabetes.com and my Omni pod.com forward slash juice box. And about 200 episodes ago Sam fold came on the program for the first time, he and I had a conversation that I quite enjoyed. And we kept in touch a little bit afterwards. I've been saying to Sam for like a year, I want to have you back on the show. And I'm looking for the exact right situation to have you back. And then things sort of fell into place. So I hear a lot from women who wish their husbands would listen to the podcast, but they find it hard to talk them into listening to a type one diabetes podcast. Then one day just recently, I was thinking about something for my son and baseball. And as we were kind of thinking it through, I saw the parallels between the baseball size and the way we manage type one diabetes. And then I started looking at a lot of the things that I say on this podcast and started seeing a lot of connections between baseball in this and I thought maybe this is how guys might be introduced to the idea of, you know, bumping and nudging and being bold and that sort of stuff. So this one is going to be great for everybody. Don't get me wrong, it's not so baseball heavy that you'll be like, Oh, I don't like baseball. But if you've got a husband or a boyfriend or something like that, who likes the baseball, I think I figured out how to get them to listen. Please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. And to always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan. I don't know how much time you have or if you need to be free when the game starts or anything like that. But I had this kind of weird moment. I was talking to my son about ball. He's home from school, and he's playing in a collegiate Summer League, you know, first three games, he's finding his legs. And we're talking and we're talking about, you know, hitting and he hasn't played in a little while. Yeah. And this dad next to me starts saying he starts with his baseball isms, right? He's like, he's like, Oh, he's finding a swing. And as I get a swing looks good to me. So the guy keeps watching. He says he's landing his foot late. I'm like as foots down in time. I'm like, he's just, I said, everything's fire. And it's like, he just kind of his body's not doing what his brain is telling it to do. No, no. Another way to say it at the moment, right? So I'm fighting through this guy's baseball isms. And we're talking and my son later talking on the ride home. And you would love to talk about baseball with him more than me, I imagine because he's just he thinks about it. I imagine the way you do. He plays defense the way you played it. And he thinks about baseball, a lot about like, what your job is, which is what I want to talk about today. Kind of how your job in baseball and diabetes, I see these amazing connections. Just a brief reminder to check out dancing for diabetes.com. It's dancing the number for diabetes.com. They're on Facebook, and Instagram. After you check out dancing for diabetes. You're going to hear Sam talks later about his baseball camp. If you want to learn more about that it's Sam fold T one D sports camp.org. Sam's next camp is coming up in February on the eighth and ninth. It's in Tampa at the USF campus for ages eight to 17. And Sam is there running the baseball session so they can have more information on that at the end of the show. So there we are, we're talking He's like, That's not the problem. It'll be alright. I just have to keep doing this. I'll find it. Sunday crushes a ball. It's, uh, you know, one step from going over the fence. And he's like, Okay, I'm good. And that's it. Yeah, you can't explain it. It makes no sense or anything like that. But if he got caught in those isms, you know, then he would have spiraled out of control. Because they don't mean anything. They're just things people say about baseball things they say about things they can't quantify. I always think right. And so you understand where they came from? Like, you know, I've been in Philly my whole life. I watched Charlie manual coach, I use an old guy sitting there going, you know, it's time to take him out. I saw his elbow drop, you know, like, like, something like that, like the way that baseball had to have been done in the past because no video replay. You're going off of this split second interpretation. You're having a baseball and the and the baseball minds who can see it real quick are the ones who are who get to make the decisions. Alright, so anyway, this dad standing in the stands, he's saying all this stuff. Three days later, Cole crushes the ball, and he looks at me and he goes, he found it. He was like, man had it the whole time. Like I don't know why you don't understand. Right?
Sam Fuld 4:52
Right. So he had his foot down now finally and if you told call his his swing, and all this
Scott Benner 5:00
As if and you look back at the video, you can leave five bats in a row, they look exactly the same, except the last one, he hit the ball. And so, right. So if you were to go to call and tell him, Hey, this guy said you didn't have your foot down in time, he'd be murderous, he would be like, this guy doesn't understand what he's talking about. That's not what this is like he would he would never want that. And, and so I know you don't probably listen to the podcast much, but we just did. Jenny Smith and I she's a CD who has type one. And we did this some the series we call diabetes pro tips, where we broke down the all the ideas that we talked about on the podcast, and put them into real like kind of digestible bits. And as I was doing that, and having these conversations with Cole and thinking about having you back on the podcast, I realized how much the things we talked about diabetes mimic your job. And I don't mean like as a baseball manager, I mean, like your job is specifically Are you still the only guy in the league? Who has this job?
Sam Fuld 5:55
As far as I know, at least? I'm the only one who has this. Idle the title? Maybe that says more about idle than anything. Like it's not the sexiest title out? There you are.
Scott Benner 6:05
Oh, hold on a second. You were the Philadelphia Phillies major league player information coordinator?
Unknown Speaker 6:09
Yes.
Scott Benner 6:10
How's that look on a business card?
Sam Fuld 6:12
There's not enough room on that. Whatever. However long the average business card is does not contain unless you want to go sighs negative font. Yeah, but I think it's still like, the responsibilities are still fairly unique to the game, I think there are more and more teams that are kind of picking up on it. And maybe they're titled differently. There's a lot of like, quality control coaches out there. I shouldn't say a lot, but there are a number of them. And I think part of that part of those duties might entail similar things to what I do. But as far as I know, player information is where we have a monopoly on. So if I were to oversimplify your, your job, it's that you can talk to a baseball player, like a baseball player and understand the analytics like a guy with a Stanford economics degree. Is that fair? Yeah, I think that's kind of perfectly put. Yeah, sort of a bridge or a translator Really? Okay.
Scott Benner 7:07
Yeah, more so that I would say a translator, even more so than a bridge. We talked about on the podcast a lot, that you have to trust that what you know is going to happen is going to happen. And that idea sort of just means you can't, you can't have some food and think, oh, maybe I won't need insulin for it this time, right? Like you, you have to trust that that's going to happen now. Sometimes, you'll give yourself insulin for something, and you didn't need it. But I maintain that you need to take the insulin every time fight with the low once in a while when it happens to avoid this battle with these high blood sugar's constantly. And if that doesn't, to me, mimic the idea of I don't know taking a guy out, you know, one batter into the seventh inning, because statistically, he just can't make it through the second pattern, the seventh inning. I don't know what does, right, because you're trusting blindly something that appears to be going okay. But you're fairly confident it's gonna fall apart. I need you to tell me what that's like a little, because I want this episode to serve as a bridge for dads and guys who tell me that they love the podcast, but they wish it was a little more masculine. Huh? That's what this episode.
Unknown Speaker 8:21
Okay. All right.
Scott Benner 8:23
So, tell me a little bit about that idea.
Sam Fuld 8:25
I'm gonna have my beer first. Turn off. Yeah. I think that's an interesting point like so. You've got Aaron Nola out there. It's the bottom of the eighth. He's done nothing but deal the entire game. He's getting his spots, all that stuff is there, you know. And he's in his pitch counts getting up, let's say is that 105. And let's say all of our evidence for both him and for the league is that as your pitch comp pitch count approaches 105 110 say that your results start to suffer. Despite looking really good leading up to let's just say that that's the case. And there's some pretty significant research that shows that in addition to a lot of research showing that you know, the third time through the order.
Unknown Speaker 9:17
Guy See you
Sam Fuld 9:18
guys see it better. Batteries just generally have a lot better results third time through order than say first time through order. Okay. So let's just say that's the case. And I guess you can kind of make the analogy that like, your blood sugar right now is 105. Let's say you got a G six, like I have a Dexcom g six. And we all know that there's a bit of a lag there. But let's just say that even right now, despite the lag your 105 it will make an extra complicated because your blood sugar's one to five in here and all his pitch count is one.
Scott Benner 9:53
Sam only knows a couple of numbers. Yeah.
Sam Fuld 9:56
Let's let's say that you just had a meal right? Like, I guess that would be the analogy that, and let's not even call it a meal, let's just say that you have a granola bar, and it's got 28 grams of carbs in it. And history has shown that when you have 28 grams of carbs, your blood sugar will go up. Now there might like you said, there might be some instances where I don't know you've done enough exercise recently, or you haven't eaten barely anything at all. And you're just preventing a low by eating that you know, an oncoming low by eating that granola bar. But more often than not, history has shown that when you have 28 grams of carbohydrates, blood sugar is going to go up. And that would be the analogy, you leave Aaron Ola in in the eighth inning, and you get him up to 115 121 25. And you're starting to see guys either the third or fourth time around. That would be that would be why you would lean on history and evidence that can before things get out of hand.
Scott Benner 11:03
And those carbs can get on you before you know it just like you can go from 105 to 120 pitches in just one at bat with a guy fighting you off. And now and now you don't have somebody warm, you're behind. Right? He's still out there thinking I got this, I got this, I got this because he's he's a competitor, you want to think that your blood sugar is going to do what you think it's going to do. It's super. So if I, I wrote this down, because I want to say this exactly right. If I said to you, this takes practice and repetition, it's going to require failure so that you can accumulate enough data to make sense of your outcomes, then and only then can you find balance. Am I talking about baseball or diabetes?
Sam Fuld 11:40
Right? Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 11:42
absolutely the both
Scott Benner 11:43
it's exactly the both. And so I don't want to get you in trouble. Because a lot of people listen to this. But I'm baffled when I see people get the benefit of data, let's say in diabetes, and we can assume maybe in other walks of life, and they're so attached to how they feel before, they can't. They don't even they can't even give themselves over to the idea that maybe this data is valuable. And let me bring this into your world. Sometimes if you turn on sports talk radio right now, you guys are in it, you look amazing, you're 1000 times better than you were last year in first place up until a couple of days ago, you've got the wild card locked right now it's not even the it's not even the all star break yet. And if you listen to some people talk about it. It's a disaster, because it's not baseball the way they're accustomed to seeing it. And, and I don't, I don't know if you have any feelings about that, that you can share. But if you do, I'd love them.
Sam Fuld 12:38
I understand it, obviously, like, I am biased, and I am particularly interested in the data side of the game. So I think like disliking the current state of the game, because there's just more data involved. I can appreciate i don't i don't agree with it, I think like you can, you know, sort of pick and choose the way you consume the game. And I think there's plenty of like sort of traditional broadcasting available that still allows you to like, enjoy a game consume a game in the way that you would have, like 30 years ago, right? On the if you watch a game with, you know, say baseball savant up on your computer, and fangraphs up on your computer, and you're kind of consuming it in a more data oriented way. And you've got the ability to do that. And sort of quench your data, thirst if you might have that. So I think there's just like a lot of different ways that you can consume the game these days. So like, while I'm I can understand people being averse to just seeing numbers that are foreign. And I think I don't know, math is, numbers are tricky, like, in a lot of ways you kind of get it or you don't you like numbers, or you don't. And if you don't like numbers, like I can understand where you just like sort of want to turn a blind eye to it. And I totally respect that. Yeah. And one thing that I think I do particularly relate to is the state of the game or the way the game is played. Now, I can totally relate to it being like a little bit on the boring side and that you've got this like, the game has trended towards the three true outcome, the walk the strike out or the home run, being like, if you if you look at numbers on the whole, like the game is those three true outcomes are biking, right, like 20 years ago, I don't know what the numbers exactly were. But like, let's say that 35% were either 35% of outcomes were either spec out walk or home run. And now it's up in the mid 40s or high 40s. So it's like it's becoming a little bit you know, you've got deeper counts, you've got less action you got, you know, fewer balls in play, but I can understand where that's like a little bit less exciting to consume. Baseball.
Scott Benner 15:00
Yeah, it's funny because I obviously grew up that way. And I don't have your math background. So I have that feeling sometimes like, Oh my god, it's not fair. That guy got that ball through the gap. The shortstop should not be in shallow right field. And and he did better one and yet he lost, right. And at the same time because of my son, and the way he thinks about baseball, I've gotten to think about it a different way. Mike, Mike Cole would tell you, I'd rather strike out with my swing than hit the ball with that guy swing, because my swings going to create this, this and this winning works. And his is he's just going to ground out to the shortstop. And so and you know, and it's, at first I thought, you know, when he started talking to me about this, I was like, No, no, no man, like, I think hit the ball, right? And he's like, No, no, he goes, when I hit the ball, it goes in gaps. It drives, it climbs, it goes, he's like, those are doubles and triples, he goes, I get more basis, he talks about like baseball in terms of like, accumulating basis, you know, you know, and he's like, if I walk, it's great, I'll steal. He's like, and I have more basis. And he'll point to a guy and say, like, that kid hit the ball more than me today. I was more valuable to the game. And I'm like, wow, that's incredible. And it's funny, because I had always thought about it on the defensive side that way, but my brain never took it to offense. I always used to tell him, when he was younger, he used to be a little undersized. And I would always tell him, Look, you'll just you'll always hang on with your defense, like no one in their right mind is going to take you out of the game. And so you have time to bring the rest of it around, which actually ended up working out for him. But he's a kid who I used to have to explain he never watched hockey I had to tell him about plus minus and hockey so that he could understand that his presence in centerfield saved three runs today. Even though he didn't score any that guy knocked in three runs his error let in three runs. He's even your head. And I don't think I don't think I would have begun to think about baseball like that. If I hadn't gotten to watch him play baseball, no way. I think I'd be the guy yelling at the screen like a bums not hitting like Harvard, Harper's astonishing to me, like the man is like talking about a baseball ism. You hear people say the ball sounds different coming off his bat. It just does, right. But the guy doesn't get a hit for two games. And the world's like, he's in a slump. I'm like, he's not in a slump. He just needs three more bats my friend, you know, like, like, and and so I used to probably be one of those people who would look and think guy hasn't had a hit in two games. What a disaster. And now I just realize they're all going to come in a wash at some point. Yeah. and and the the goal is not perfection, the goal is to reach the playoffs. Yeah, right.
Sam Fuld 17:36
I actually think I think the goal, if you just look at it as an individual's like, overall value, it's traditionally it's just been way easier to quantify and record offensive value, right. And it's still it. But I think looking at it from a plus minus standpoint makes a lot of sense, right. And I think we're getting better and better at quantifying at least like, at the professional level, we're getting better and better at quantifying the value that somebody might bring on the defensive side or on the basis. Right, like, it doesn't really matter how you derive value, you could be the very like, freak show, the best centerfielder that's ever played the baseball game, and hit 200 with a 250 on bass and a 300. slug, and you might still be better than the guy who hits 300 with a 400 slug, if that guy can't play defensive leg, right? So it doesn't really matter how you how you see the value. It's just that it's a bottom line game, it's how many runs over the course of the season, are you are you providing and whether that's saving them on the defensive end, providing them with your legs on the basis or with your bath.
Scott Benner 18:48
And so to kind of tie that together with diabetes before before my daughter had a glucose monitor. I put her to bed at like this one at blood sugar and She'd wake up at 90. And people who listen have heard me say this before. And I thought I was a genius like I had worked the whole thing out. Then we put a glucose monitor in and found out I was putting a better one at she was dropping to 50 staying there for hours. Her liver was probably dumping you know, glucose and then she jumps back up to 90. It didn't matter how it looked. It mattered what it was. And and if that reminds me of, you know, when you've got a guy in a corner outfield position who really can't go more than about eight or nine steps from where he's standing, but sometimes he does it dives majestically somehow doesn't drop the ball. And 60,000 people stand up. They're like, that's amazing catch on. That's not an amazing catch. He should have been waiting for it sipping tea, a great day. He shouldn't be diving for it, but it's what it looks like. And so they judge it on what it looks like. I see it with my son all the time, but I don't want to make it about him. I'll use an example from last year. Dexter Fowler went on a run last year. That was insane. And he the ball went off the tip of his glove. And all day The news was Dexter Fowler's things and I was like he's the only guy got to be within 10 steps of that bell, like, how are you gonna? How are you gonna look at it that way? Right? But but it's it's fascinating that that's how it were so like what's in front of our face oriented like we we see what we see, we don't see how what happened prior is affecting right now and I was talking to I don't want to say her name but a girl who is in her mid 20s. And she's had diabetes for 20 years. And she she asked me for help. And so I looked at her basal rates, and I was like, Hey, your basal rates aren't high enough in a lot of places. She goes, No, no, I get low all the time. And I'm like, it's not because you're bazel. But she couldn't. It's not what she saw. You know. So I explained it all to her, we pushed her bazel up across 24 hours, which scared the heck out of her. And her blood sugar's got better. And she stopped getting low because she was getting high because her bazel was too low. And she was bolusing with no food in her stomach causing a low. And she didn't see that the low bezels were causing the high that was eventually resulting in the low. And I don't know, like there's just something.
Sam Fuld 21:04
Yeah, I mean, I think I think like, we'll keep the diabetes and baseball analogies going, we'll call it like that cast will dissolve this radar technology, and camera vision technology that allows the gives us like, you know, was installed in every major league ballpark, or gives us an incredible amount of information. Now, it's not just about what the ball does, but it's what about, it's what attracts movement of every fielder to replace john. So now, you know, I, you might make the analogy that like statcast is what a Dexcom is. And so we before, we had to just sort of assume that when the centerfielder ran into the gap and made a diving catch, that was a great play. We were able to see how much ground he covered exactly how much hang time the ball had, right how efficient his route was. We didn't have any of that information. It's kind of like going to bed at 150 and waking up at 120. And you go all eyes, I guess it was like this linear path there just stayed steady. But you know, now we know the weather. I know, with my G six and I'm fairly new to it. I've only had it for under a year now. And yeah, it's it's sort of enlightening, like that cast era has been enlightening. For baseball. It's like, Oh, I was actually I was up at 202 am. And then it was a crash down at 4am. And then my like, maybe Yeah, maybe my liver was secreting glucose. Get me back up to 120. Now it's now we can do the same thing. Maybe this got maybe we get to this guy's route efficiency was like 88%, which is not good. And the only reason he made that direct catches because he made a route like Magellan. And it was it was not actually
Scott Benner 22:50
exact run to the lesson. I'll tell you right off the bat. I don't mean your catch. Some of your catches from your career are astonishing, but I don't think you I don't think you count yourself as an incredibly fast runner. Right?
Sam Fuld 23:02
Yeah, that's right. And that's, that's, that's another thing like I'm yeah, I think I was I moved my legs quickly. And I was little and I wasn't. Yeah, I was. Yeah, I would say it was probably like a slightly above average runner, compared to like your average Major League outfielder, but certainly not a burner. Like a lot of people may have assumed I was just because they looked like I was going fast. But yeah, no, I don't think I would have been I think I've provided my defense in other ways, like jumps and route efficiency and just having instance. Yeah,
Scott Benner 23:36
I think you and I talked about this the first time you're wrong years ago, but if you see my kid catch a baseball, I've had people turn to me. He goes What's he wanted like a six 560 I was like, oh god no. But but really watch him he's moving before the guy swings the bat, like he seen more about this than you're thinking about. So he makes it look easy. And he looks like he's flying because because he's there so much sooner than the ball sometimes, you know, and it's, it's interesting, but if you get there too soon, then then all of the, I don't know, like all of the I don't mean, the respect maybe you should get out of that just doesn't happen from a lot of people. They're like, it's it's amazing to watch, you know,
Sam Fuld 24:14
a lot of the best outfielders out there just almost never have to leave their feet. Because they just they put themselves in the right position. They get great jobs, they're just catching the ball on the run, but not having to leave their feet because of either how fast they are or how good their routes are, could get their jumps off.
Scott Benner 24:29
How did you talk yourself into not being afraid to die for balls? And I don't mean the collision with the ground. I mean, the idea that if you miss it, it gets past you. Like it was that like a like I'm gonna just go for it feeling and you found like a vibe or? That's interesting to me.
Unknown Speaker 24:44
Yeah.
Sam Fuld 24:46
I think I just had this sort of, I had confidence from the very beginning. I don't know where I got that confidence. I think it was sort of like this lack of fear and almost recklessness and Just maybe I just trusted that net net, my aggressiveness was going to be a positive, and the sort of the missed balls where you have to do the run of shame back to the wall
Scott Benner 25:13
and show off that your arms not great.
Sam Fuld 25:17
Especially when you're picking it up at a standstill and just swinging in, and open the shortstops around about 100 feet up there to help. Those were like inevitable and you just kind of had to come to grips with that. And you can't be afraid to make mistakes in baseball, like, like you talked about with with coal, like, you can't be afraid to swing and miss and you have to trust it, your swing in the long run is gonna be what's best for you. And I think the same goes for for defensive play that by being aggressive and leaving your feet. As long as you don't do it like completely asinine. Lee like you're, you're, you're gonna ultimately provide a lot more value by being aggressive than if you play things conservatively.
Scott Benner 26:02
Let's take a second everyone. Let's take a second to talk about Dexcom and Omnipod. We'll start with
Unknown Speaker 26:09
Dexcom.
Scott Benner 26:11
The G six continuous glucose monitor will change the way you think about using insulin. The dexcom g six continuous glucose monitor will change the way you feel about a loved one with diabetes being away from you. The G six will also change the relationship you have with your blood glucose meter, it is FDA approved for zero fingerstick treatment. Have you ever experienced anxiety not knowing what your blood sugar was and found yourself testing way too much that doesn't exist with the dexcom g six continuous glucose monitor because you can always see not just what your blood sugar is, but what direction it's moving and how quickly it's moving in that direction. We obviously lean very hard on the information coming back from ardens Dexcom g six. And I think you could as well check out dexcom.com forward slash juice box now, all you have to do is fill in a little bit of information about yourself and you will get the process started. From there, the sky's the limit. I'll tell you right now that our results are ours and yours may very well very, may very well very who talks like that? Anyway, but just today I'm talking about a couple of hours ago, Arden had her endo appointment, or a one C with absolutely no diet restrictions was 5.5 dexcom.com forward slash juice box with the links in your show notes for Juicebox podcast.com.
Go to a browser type in my Omni pod.com forward slash juicebox. After that fill in your name and your address. And hit Submit when you do this, here's what's going to happen next. right in your mailbox. And Omni pod larive. It's a free, no obligation demo yet demo mood meaning that you couldn't give yourself insulin with its for demonstration purposes so that you can try it on and see what you think now there is no other insulin pump in the world that you can try on before you buy there, the company will just send it to you so you can give it a whirl. Now why can Omnipod do that? It's not because they're more generous than the other insulin pump companies, although I think they are. It's because their pump is tubeless it's not connected to anything. So it's easy to send you out a you know like a dummy pod like a you know that you can try demonstration. You have to do this. I mean, have to use a strong word, but how could you not it's free, there's no obligation, you'll get to wear it to see what you think. And then if you want to move forward, it's as easy as continuing on with the process. You have nothing to lose this will take 45 seconds, my omnipod.com forward slash Juicebox Podcast the insulin pump that my daughter has been wearing since she was four years old, she'll turn 15 in just two weeks. Last thing before we go please check out dancing for diabetes.com that's dancing the number four diabetes.com
Sam Fuld 29:33
You're, you're gonna ultimately provide a lot more value by being aggressive than if you play things conservatively.
Scott Benner 29:41
Right and so there's a difference between seeing a 300 blood sugar and just randomly dumping a bunch of insulin and hoping for the best and making aggressive decisions that are thoughtful and and so we talk about that here a lot. And I very much hate the term that's just diabetes. I don't like it when people say I got low or I got high, that's just diabetes, I'm always like, no, something happened, you may not see it, but it's there and it exists. And if we figure out what that thing is, then this isn't going to happen as much. And that's how you can get away from the fear part, like so. It's my, after doing this podcast for now, I don't even know how long it's like five years, I believe that what stops people first is fear of insulin, right? Your fear of fear of diving for the ball, having it bounce up, hit you in the face and roll past you or something like that, right? They're free to be insulin, I understand why because there's so many unknowns. But we try to give them I try to give them these kinds of ideas, these tenants that will stop that from being such a problem, and allow them to be aggressive in ways that are thoughtful. So I just I don't know, I see again, I see a lot of a lot of connection to that.
Sam Fuld 30:51
Really, yeah, I think it's when you don't know a lot about something, you tend to be risk averse. And I think I think, you know, we talk about that a lot. The importance of strength training has really obviously evolved, not just within baseball, but of course, in all sports. And I think you could make the analogy there at strength training, like, if you don't know really what's going to cause injury, then you tend to be really risk averse, and you don't do certain exercises that look scary, and you don't do certain exercises that have a lot of load, right a lot of weight to it. So but the more we know about it, like the more we know, it's okay to lift heavy, using the right technique and doing the right exercise and understanding that individual's body. So maybe you can deadlift 400 pounds in the season, knowing that you're doing that taking the necessary precautions, and you have all the relevant information that leads you to believe that it's not going to lead to any injury. And instead, it's going to lead to more lower body strength, and, you know, a cleaner arm action and your delivery and all that. And it'll be a net victory by lifting that that way and that heavily. So I think the same, the same thing goes for. Yeah, for insulin, it's like if you know, taking taking five units of novolog is scary. But if you know that that's what it was gonna take what it'll take to get from 330, back down to 100. And then that's what you have to do,
Scott Benner 32:17
you need to do it. So it's funny when Mike, my son came to me one day when he was I don't know, like 14 years old, and he's like, I'm gonna start long tossing because I want to get my arm stronger. And I was like, Okay, sounds good to me. Now, Sam, we're looking at each other's back. I'm not the dad that you know. I mean, seriously, look at me, we've met in person, right? Right. Like, I'm not the guy you come to for baseball knowledge, you wouldn't think looking at me. But but so it made sense to me what he said. But my first thought was, Oh, God, don't hurt yourself. Like, that's just what I thought initially. And now if you go watch him, he has this whole process that he goes to like, you know, he puts us 10 yards apart, and he starts doing something weird with his arm. And then eventually he's flipping his arm and, and he's got this process, he knows it by like the back of his hand. and a half an hour later, I'm at the back of an end zone on a football field with a bucket. And he's at the back of the endzone on the other side, throwing a ball to me 323 30 yards. And he didn't even start using his legs till he got the 90 yards. And it's because he went through this process over yours. Like, it wasn't like, it wasn't like a long toss today, and my arm will get strong. It took him for ever. And then once he had it, he taught himself how to control it in a game, which is a different animal. Right? Like, like, it's easy to toss the ball really hard. But can you do it when people are screaming when a guy's running, you know, like, all that other stuff is happening. And so I just I wish people understood that. Things don't come easy, like all the time, like, right, like, you don't just get to make a decision, I'm going to do something, it's going to pay me back right away. Something you do today may not pay you back in a way that you can see it for a very long time. Yeah, but I, you know, I, I need people when they're listening to believe that insulin does what it does, right? That if your kids going through puberty, I heard somebody the other day, say my daughter's in puberty, I just give up until this is over. And I'm like, No, but you can't just give up for four years. Like Like, you know, like, like, it's not that hard. And so I got them, you know, personally, and I said, it's just more and she's like, What do you mean, I'm like, diabetes is telling you it needs more from you give it to it, like meet the need, you know, and so it's scary but meeting I had I'm in the first month or two that Arden started getting her period. I'm sure she thrilled to talk about this in the podcast, but I she ate a meal that I knew flat out was 11 units of insulin that I gave her 20 units of insulin for. I mean, it was insane. She weighed 130 pounds. It was nuts. But it's what she needed that day in that scenario at work, right? Yeah, I don't give her that insulin. What's her blood sugar gonna be? 500 all day long. Yeah, you know, same thing. Yeah, I
Sam Fuld 34:58
mean, same thing when I'm sick. If I've got, but I had the flu this spring, and I just knew that it was I was going to almost have to double down my insulin dosage, and I haven't taken I'm pretty insulin sensitive. And I haven't taken more than, say, six units and one injection and 15 years, but I knew at the moment that wasn't my, my, my flew that I would just have to take more. Remember taking like eight or nine units and going Holy cow, this is right. But you trust it that that, that diabetes demanded more out of them. And that's just what you
Scott Benner 35:34
asked me to do. Instead of sitting around and watching, I watch people talk themselves out of the right thing to do so frequently, it's sometimes it's depressing. You know, just the idea of, I say more insulin a lot. Like, I think I'm gonna make it into a T shirt. Because Because somebody will come like, look at all this and they start talking about all these, I'm like, none of this matters. I'm like, you don't have enough insulin, like, just use more insulin. And and it's the simplest answer. It's very frequently correct. And it's the most difficult leap to make. Yeah, because you're afraid. And I understand it. Like, don't get me wrong, like, I you're looking to the guy who, early on, I gave my daughter two different seizures. You know, like, just being like, this is right. And you know, it was with a meter before CGM and all that other stuff. But I just felt like I can't give up. Like, I know that these ideas make sense together.
Sam Fuld 36:27
Yeah. And I will say, you know, it is difficult. You know, lows, lows, think, yeah, those are not fun. And they don't feel good. And so I think whether it's conscious or not, like, we would all as type ones much rather be at 180. Then at 60 in terms of how we feel in the moment, right. So it's, it's, it's human nature to sort of, like, optimize for the short term and go I can I feel fine. It's, you know, either like, let's, let's do it. Yeah. I don't want to be down at 60. Or, like, I don't and I'm guilty of the same. I'm guilty of it myself, especially overnight. Like, I value sleep. I have four young kids and then if I have like, a six hour block to sleep,
Scott Benner 37:11
better believe I don't want to wake up at 3am with the low I want to I want to get every every like minute that I can get and so I understand like the adversity towards lows because it's there's no no other feeling in the world like it. I obviously have an M perspective. I don't have you have diabetes. I'm managing someone that has been it's interesting in that moment. It means so much you we switch spots, you became the angry fan. And I became the guy like trust the numbers. It'll be right here like Screw you, man. I need to sleep.
Sam Fuld 37:45
Spray plastic. Yeah, no, I think Yeah, feeling low might not equate to like, feeling like a disgruntled baseball fan, but I can see. It's still a
Scott Benner 37:53
way you don't want to feel right. That's amazing. Arden's right now, I'm looking at our blood sugar right now. She got a half day from school my son picked up my son wanted to say hi to you, but I I made him pick up Arden from school and take that and so she's eating now and I can see she's getting ready to eat and like where she's putting her insulin and and everything. And it's like the technology is crazy. You know, it's made such a big difference. So you are you're not pumping
Sam Fuld 38:18
right now pumping. No, I've, I've stuck with my lantis and no log program. I've tinkered around with the with a pump a handful years ago, while I was still playing, and I just didn't love it. And I mean, it was it was tandems first a slam there. And, you know, I think it was more about just having like, moving on me it just felt cumbersome. And it just didn't. I wasn't afraid. I mean, I wasn't ready to take that sort of like, step outside my comfort zone and where one while playing. But I just kind of put it on the back burner and I just love it. I am comfortable with the novolog and the lantis right now but I'm also eagerly awaiting like the closed loop system and I think like that the moves that is probably pretty inevitable for me.
Scott Benner 39:12
Yeah, when we're done talking, I'll tell you about something that I've seen. That is pretty amazing. So So I was thinking I tell people all the time to kind of bump and nudge their blood sugar's it's a little wouldn't be difficult for you, I'm sure you don't mind injecting but you know, when we see a 120 diagonal up, we stopped the arrow like we think of it as stopped, they are like to bring it back. It's easier to use a small amount of insulin now to return a 120 to 90 than it is to get higher, you know and fight with it later. It's another reason why I would tell you, if you want to have like crazy success with your Dexcom bumping nudge and move your high alarm down. The lower you move the high alarm, the more you know positive things you're doing instead of like you don't hear the alarm and think Oh God, something went wrong. You hear the alarm and think oh, well I'm about to avoid a problem. I actually have heard from people who said that they used to Have alarm aversions until they started thinking about the way we talked about in the podcast, then they kind of like, Oh, this is an opportunity to do something good. Instead of an opportunity to find out I screwed something. Right? And so and because there's randomness, and there's variability, right, like, there's things that happen that you, you can't plan for them in a way that stops them from happening, but you can have a plan for what to do when they occur, I guess. And it's just it's very, it's very cool to see. But I think of the bumping in the nudging, almost like a field shift. It just, you know, sort of like, Look, if the guy always hits the ball here, why don't we just get ahead of it? Like, why don't we be there. And if he beats us, he beats us. But we put ourselves in the best position. And and I want to ask you, if you agree with me about this. So when infield shifts happen in Major League Baseball, people go out of their minds about it, like you're breaking some sort of a rule that that exists. But outfielders have been shifting forever, and no one ever complained about at one time. Am I right about that?
Sam Fuld 41:01
Yeah, I think it's like, maybe less
Scott Benner 41:03
drastic,
Sam Fuld 41:04
like less aggressive. Yeah, I think like outfielders have always shaded a handful of steps, maybe up to 10 steps in one direction or the other. But I think visually it's not as like jarring as seeing the entire left side of the infield open. Right. So I think it's Yes, while I'll it's existed for a long time, maybe something as kind of, like crazy visually hasn't. And so I can understand why people go like what this is not baseball, but I think as long as like the rulebook states that you can position your players however, want like, how can you not do that? Do that like the same thing? You know what, like the same thing. I like making the football analogy, and I'm not a football expert. But like, if you've got a got an elite wide receiver that you're playing, it's like why not double team every time and leave the other side of the field? To man to man coverage, right? Like you're you're essentially like changing defensive alignment based off of tendencies are basically based off of skill in football. There's no rule that says you have to keep your DVDs in the same spot at all times. Like, why wouldn't you do the same in baseball? Why is baseball any different?
Scott Benner 42:21
If you see a quarterback fold under a blitz situation? Maybe you Blitz the guy because that's what he does it? Yeah, I so I can't wrap my head around it fully. I am going to keep trying because I'm so I'm fascinated by it, like part of me thinks it's a generation of people. And it's funny too, because I'll argue the other way. Like, I would never want you to take an umpire out of a game. Like I don't want a computer to call balls and strikes to me that would like ruin what baseball is. isn't funny. I see that that way. But I don't see I don't see the founding ship that way. So I guess everyone's got their attachment to some idea about what what the game is.
Sam Fuld 42:58
And that's fine. And I like I said earlier, I think that's I I can appreciate all of it. I really can't. I have my own personal opinions. But I can appreciate people who just want to see what, what they've seen. And then that's kind of what baseball is right? Like it's traditional sport. It's that's part of what makes it so awesome is that it's basically the same sport that was you know, we were playing in the late 19th century. And that's pretty cool. Like, there's no other sport in America like that. And I think that certainly the traditional ism of baseball is something we should try to maintain. You know, without, you know, without creating a game, nobody can watch your limits. And yeah, creating a boring game. I think like we should be willing to adapt, but also appreciate that baseball is popular, in part because been around the longest exist. What a cool, yeah, it's really cool that a sport is persistent for so long.
Scott Benner 43:55
It's funny because as I say that, I think my son would say, let a computer called the balls and strikes because if he calls something off the plate, now I'm out of my head thinking it's gonna he's gonna call it again. And now I'm swinging all over the place trying to cover the hump instead of the plate. And so I see the other side of that, too. I listen, I love here's, there's this thing about baseball that I love more than anything. It's because it takes up the time it takes that you have to give yourself over to it. It's like the idea of putting your phone down, right? Like just put your phone down. You go to the game you sit down. I love that somebody can say to me, even at my own kids game, what inning is and I go, I have no idea. But I'm having a great time. You don't mean like we're here where relax, it's going well, are they winning? I don't know. Maybe, you know, like, it feels like I'm just there's something about being there. And I guess if you don't appreciate the small thing, because I've said this a million times if you don't appreciate the unseen things about baseball even in its classic form, it would be easy not to love baseball. And so I think that if you look at how the world progresses and you look at how my son at 19 years old thinks about baseball, there will be a whole generation of people who are going to come up and talk about that. It's great that Dexter Fowler only missed that ball by a step. And, and that he's going to tell his son that and so on and so forth. And, you know, one day, it'll just be this big tapestry of how we got to where we are, I guess.
Sam Fuld 45:18
Yeah, no, I and, you know, I, in a lot of ways, it's like soccer, and I happen to be a big soccer fan, I grew up playing and played through high school. And obviously, like, soccer gets knocked all the time because of its lack of goals. Right. And I my counter to that is that it's art, its art. Just because one, one ball was put in the back of the net over the course of 90 minutes doesn't mean that every minute of those of that action wasn't interesting, because it is art form in it. But it takes a certain level of knowledge to appreciate that. And I think the same goes for baseball, like, you might have a bunch of swings and misses and a bunch of walks and very little action on the field. But like, maybe you're not picking up on the shortstop, like leaning one way because he knew a breaking ball was coming to a left handed hitter, right? Or maybe you're not appreciating the sequencing that a pitcher made when he went with a fastball up the bell, and then follow that up with a, like a 12, six, curveball down, right, like so. You definitely have to understand sort of ins and outs and the nuances of the game to appreciate a swing and miss heavy game. But that's Yeah, that's why like, I think, you know, that's what makes baseball really interesting.
Scott Benner 46:38
I think, too, you need to know, you need to have you have need to love the game enough to understand where the line is like the other day, and you might remember this, I don't remember, I think it was a college game. But some kids throwing a no hitter, and a guy breaks it up by bunting, which to me seems incredibly wrong. And right like, to me, it feels like look, he's beating you. If you can't stop him from beating you by swinging that bat, then he deserves the beat you which also doesn't make any real sense.
Sam Fuld 47:07
But you have some interesting lines that you draw. It's like, you're hard to predict, man.
Scott Benner 47:14
I swear to god Cole goes, Hey, do you see this no hitter guy broke up by a button. I was like, what a son of a bitch. I was like, who would do something like that? Right? And colegas a guy who doesn't want to get no hit and I was like a you know, make it a point. But it just it struck that strikes me like that.
Sam Fuld 47:30
I think if you bought with a note, if you if the intent of the bond is to win the baseball game, then I have no problem with it. Right? If the intent of the blunt is it's 11 nothing and all you're trying to do is break up the no hitter then i think that's that's right.
Scott Benner 47:45
Yeah, it is interesting, right? Yeah. Just with a little more information it becomes clear. Yeah, you can't I just don't like you can't do that to the guys out there killing himself for this you know, and and I have no affinity to pitchers at all like my son doesn't pitch you know like I know some people have like a real like their heartstrings are tied to it. But I don't know I'm I recognize that without good pitching baseball becomes something else. It's not quite baseball anymore.
Sam Fuld 48:12
Yeah. What would you What would your diabetes equivalent of the button?
Scott Benner 48:17
What would my diabetes equivalent of the buffet. Alright, so something's going great. And somebody comes in and screws it. Okay, I got it. All right. So I have this happen to me all the time. People listen to the podcast, they get their agencies to come down appreciably without without crazy lows, right. And then they go to the doctor, and the doctor tells them they're wrong, and starts admonishing them for it. And so this person's having this giant success that they deserve. And then someone comes in for reasons that don't make any sense to me and ruins it for them. It's not an apples to apples comparison. But you got to admit that in 20 seconds, it was pretty impressive. And so and so that happens a lot Sam like people, I get notes. Constantly. I went to the doctor, I was super excited. You know, we got my son's a one c down to like 6.8 it was eight. I go in there and immediately the guy assumes I'm doing something wrong. And yells literally yells at me to stop like you're killing him and and even when sometimes they hold up their Dexcom charts and go No, no, look, the doctor is so lost in his own ideas of how you get an A one see that low. They can't even believe you've done it even when they're showing it. It's it's pretty sad actually. Yeah,
Sam Fuld 49:29
that's too bad. My equivalent would be and I got the advantage of at least 60 more seconds Think about it. But I'm thinking about so in my camp that I do in Tampa. I get to spend a lot of time with parents we hold part of the camp includes a parents seminar. And one of the things that comes up every year as a major source of stress and our major complaint is just coaches. or sort of unfamiliar with C, one D, and how they're how they treat the kid.
Unknown Speaker 50:07
And I think
Sam Fuld 50:09
so my equivalent would be a kid who is out there, let's say he's playing soccer. And he's had a great, you know, first half plane is bought off. And he's got a minor low at halftime and he's 75. And he quickly corrects juicebox, whatever it may be, and he's ready to go. But that coach doesn't let him go out there for the second half, because he's scared or whatever it is, he doesn't have enough knowledge of the disease to under understand that and takes those sort of risk averse approach and keeps the kid on the bench, even though he's just played a really, really strong first half. And but he's got to go sort of adjust and make it make a change. Do you see any correlation between so you played in a few for a few major league teams, but
Scott Benner 50:57
you also played for Madden who thinks about the game differently? And and you tell me if I'm wrong, but did you play for Bob Melvin to dirt, and Bob's daughter has type one diabetes, right? So you play with people who you played for people who don't think that way? They don't think that way about baseball, and they don't think that way about diabetes. Do you think there's Do you think that's randomness that that happened? Or do you think that because you said I saw an old interview with somebody didn't draft you because of your type one, right?
Unknown Speaker 51:30
Yeah, yeah.
Sam Fuld 51:31
I yeah, I tell the story a lot because it's like, probably the only time where I got something tangible. That was like, we didn't do this because of your TV. And it was, yeah, it was some Baltimore Orioles scout who told me in my senior year of college that it wasn't drafted as a junior. They didn't draft me. Um, because of concerns of my diabetes. So yeah. And yeah, I don't know. I would think that like playing for Joe, who is a very smart, understanding, open minded individual and for playing with Bob, whose daughter's type one, I think that's still coincidence. Like, I don't think they were. I don't think Bob was like, we need to acquire the type one.
Scott Benner 52:16
But no, yeah. No, I don't mean that. But do you think they didn't see the type one as an impediment? Because he had perspective on it?
Sam Fuld 52:22
Yes. No doubt about that. Yeah. No doubt about that. And, ironically, Lupin ello is my first manager with the cubs. And Lou was typed today.
Scott Benner 52:35
You can argue this all you want, Sam, but the numbers say that you only play for people who understand how a baby's born or different ideas about baseball.
Sam Fuld 52:41
Oh, boy. Yeah. Who else did I have? I had Ron Gardenhire. Maybe he might have type two diabetes? I don't know. Well, Ron, if you don't, we're sorry.
Scott Benner 52:50
And you and you were in Minnesota for a hot second. Right.
Sam Fuld 52:53
Right. So that's when I had guardians. My man is right.
Scott Benner 52:55
And there. And that also, it's interesting. Because after I think after you was Ben Rivera, there after you,
Sam Fuld 53:03
I think before he had just
Scott Benner 53:05
left. Yeah. So he's you guys are similar players yet to some degree, right. And so there's a type they know, worked for them. And they were saying, Sam, I know better than you do at this point. Okay, so. So, I'm gonna ask you a little baseball stuff here. I don't know how much you can say or not say, but here's some stuff I've been noticing. Has Scott kingery taken a leap? Giant one he has right, I believe? Yes. And is that just time in the simulator? Is it just the sentence I, I, you got to go, you got to fail. You got to see it. So you can do it again. So that, you know, is it just time? Or is it I think already?
Sam Fuld 53:43
Yeah, I think there's a lot going on. I mean, I think, you know, what we saw from Scott last year was, we all knew was not the sort of true version of him. I think, for the first time in his career. He was playing with expectations. You know, he signed that big lead the long term big league deal before he had ever stepped foot in a major league ballpark. And I think for the first time in his career, he was playing with pressure and a significant amount of it. Right. So he was sort of, he's that undersized. kid who's had to sort of overachieve. He wasn't recruited by his hometown College of Arizona state. And instead he had to, you know, he was like, recruited walk on university, Arizona, right. And has always sort of played with a chip on his shoulder. And I can certainly relate to that. And I know what it's like to just in a lot of ways, it's easy to play as an underdog. And all of a sudden last year, he was not an underdog anymore. And there were expectations. And so I think it was, in part just dealing with that daily basis. And once he struggled, at the beginning of last year, it was like he was trying to dig out of this hole that he just couldn't get out of, and this year, that seems to have gone away. I think just having the offseason to like refresh And get his mind right, really helped. And he's back to being who he is, which is this kind of almost cocky little grinder baseball player that we love. We absolutely loved that
Scott Benner 55:13
I really enjoy watching him play. Let me ask you a question because you just said a bunch of things that said that mean in baseball or in sports terms he was pressing, right. Yeah, that's a real thing. But, but it's quantitated. That's quantified by all of the sort of those little other things that you just said. Like if I said define pressing to you. It's not that simple, right?
Sam Fuld 55:33
There are things that lead to pressing i but i think in Scotts This is just my opinion, obviously. But in Scott situation, it's a pretty obvious change in Dynamics and changing environment where you go from a kid who's trying to, like climb the ladder in the minor leagues, and all of a sudden, you've been given this $24 million contract or whatever it may be. That's a pretty significant life change. And that, like, a lot comes with that. And that includes some expectations. So what is it? How does it manifest itself on the field, like, you're probably gripping the bat a little bit tighter, your muscles are tenser. It's really, really subtle, but it's enough to just put yourself in a rut and not be not be who you are. So and, you know, along the same lines, I do think he made some changes to his swing, too. I don't think it was just like a mental thing. I think he made some physical changes as well that it helped him. You know, he struggled with velocity last year he struggled with with fastball up in the zone. And he made some really good adjustments with a swing that has allowed him to get on top of the baseball and hit velocity.
Scott Benner 56:44
It's so funny, because being you know, we started at the beginning, I said Cole was slightly behind. At one point, he says me, What do you say, and I was like your he time he finds time with his bat. And he's got a leg lift. Cole sees his swing as something he's working on forever. My son plays baseball, because he loves it. But he plays baseball to keep playing baseball. And he doesn't want to just succeed in college with a collegiate swing, he wants to if he can't succeed with a swing, that someone could look at one day and go, Hey, that swing still works, then to him, and the type a part of his brain, none of it matters. And so like, so he's got his leg lift. So he starts talking about shoving my knees together instead of my knee up. And I was like, man, I just think your bats just, I think you got one too many in there. And he completely disagrees with me. And just monitors me at that at the fence like in baseball has changed. Like I am now a guy who holds up an iPhone in front of a fence so he can scrub through a swing real quick, which helps him immensely. I know that people a couple of years ago used to think it was I don't know what they thought, but they didn't like it. But I'll tell you that that kid wants to see himself hit and then he deletes it. But he needs to see it for a second. So I noticed that he took like, one bounce out from his bat off his shoulder. And he but he doesn't notice he did it. So I just didn't say anything about it. I just like he just you know, we talked about it. And then he told me I you know, I don't know what I'm talking about. And then some point he did it. No,
Sam Fuld 58:07
it's just a father son relationship. Not letting you know. He agrees. Yeah, I believe me, we get that when players do it. You know, we get pushback from players. Um, maybe it's because of their surroundings. They don't want anyone else to know that they're actually listening to us, but but sometimes I think they are and they're just not, you know, acknowledging so funny. A couple weeks ago, he
Scott Benner 58:29
had a double header and he's like, Oh my god, it's so hot out which I don't know where we live anymore but it gets incredibly hot and then cold and then it rains for six days but but it's incredibly hot out and he choked, man, it's so hot today I said go into the dugout and say guys listen, instead of two sevens. Why don't we just play a nine and somebody can take two wins you know, we'll get out of here. And he he literally looked at me like I was an idiot. And then two weeks later, I overheard him told my wife that he said that to somebody I was like creepy into your boy he would just never tell me that he thought it was amusing. Oh my god. Well Sam we're getting up on an hour. I really can't help thank you enough for doing this. You're literally talking to me as the Phillies are about to take the field in about a half an hour. I am going to put this out right at the all star break. Because I just that's my favorite time of the season. Like I I love to break I don't know why.
Sam Fuld 59:18
But I think it's a great time we do believe me that three or four days stretch feels like three or four weeks and it's something we all look forward to in this industry. I can't get enough All Star breaks. Yeah,
Scott Benner 59:29
I just love the idea that it feels like it's a reset and you get to see who comes out. Like really sprinting to the end like that that about watching baseball and really enjoy. Huge thanks to Sam fold for coming back on the show. And Omni pod Dexcom and dancing for diabetes for continuing to be such great sponsors. If you want to check out Sam's baseball camps you're looking for Sam fold T one D sports camp.org the next camp is February 8, and ninth in Tampa, at the USF campus, age ranges for the camp, eight years old to 17 years old. Sam will be there at the baseball sessions hanging out
Sam Fuld 1:00:14
and running the camps.
Scott Benner 1:00:16
He's a great guy. It's been living with Type One Diabetes for my God. Since he was 10 years old. He understands. I hear from a lot of parents who are looking for professional athletes to show to their children. You know, they can say look, anything is possible. Look at this guy, he's a bla bla bla Major League Baseball, he's this guy does this and samza he Sam's the right guy, smart, he's well educated, understands this type one. He's been living with it for a very long time. He's a great attitude about it. No better person to start with and Sam fold if you're looking for someone to show your kids as an example. And if you want to check out Omnipod Dexcom dancing for diabetes, or Sam's camp and you forgot all the links I told you over and over again, they're right there in your podcast player in the show notes, or at Juicebox podcast.com. Don't forget this Friday and every Friday defining diabetes. Jenny Smith and I give you a couple of quick moments where we define a phrase or word that impacts your life with type one. Sometimes you think you know what a word means, but until you hear Jenny explaining to you. You don't really understand defining diabetes is every Friday on the Juicebox Podcast. Speaking of Jenny, she'll be back very soon with another episode of diabetes pro tip. Wow, you guys love the diabetes pro tips I know you do. If you haven't found them yet. They begin at Episode 210 of the podcast with an episode called diabetes pro tip newly diagnosed or starting over. The feedback I get from you guys is astounding. They've been out long enough now that I'm hearing back from people whose a onesies are falling because of the pro tip episodes. So if you want to say a one See you later, check out the diabetes pro tip series beginning an episode
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