Scott Benner 1/3/22 Scott Benner 1/3/22

#605 Raising NFL Star Mark Andrews

Martha Andrews is the mother of an adult type 1.

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Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, and welcome to season eight of the Juicebox Podcast. This is episode 605.

Welcome again to season eight of the Juicebox Podcast the Juicebox Podcast began in January of 2015. And here we are in January of 2022. Happy New Year to everyone. And thank you for listening to the show. On today's episode, we start the year off with Martha Andrews. Martha is the mother of four grown children, one of whom was diagnosed with type one diabetes when they were nine years old. He's all grown up now, and he's got a pretty cool job. You're going to enjoy this episode, it's going to go in a bunch of different directions. So whether or not you're a sports fan, the parent of a child with type one or an adult living with type one, this one's gonna have something for each and every one of you. While you're listening today, please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan, or becoming bold with insulin.

This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by the Dexcom G six continuous glucose monitor, please head over to dexcom.com Ford slash juice box to learn more and get started today. The podcast is also sponsored by Omni pod makers of the Omni pod dash, you can find out more and again get started at Omni pod.com forward slash juicebox. There are links in the show notes to these and all of the sponsors of the Juicebox Podcast. You can even find those links at juicebox podcast.com.

Martha Andrews 2:12
Hi, Martha Andrews, parent of a type one diabetic and live in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Scott Benner 2:18
Hi, Martha. Thank you for doing this. Sure. I really appreciate it. Let's see. Where do we start? Do you how many children do you have?

Martha Andrews 2:26
I have four four.

Scott Benner 2:28
Are they reasonably spaced together?

Martha Andrews 2:31
They're each about two years or less. Between but two grades between each other?

Scott Benner 2:36
That seems reasonable to me enough time to catch your breath. Right?

Martha Andrews 2:40
Yes, but not didn't seem reasonable at the time. But yes, now that I've gotten past all of the hard stuff, it seems reasonable.

Scott Benner 2:48
Did you feel like you're just doing the same thing over and over again, as they were growing up and and getting worse

Martha Andrews 2:52
and worse at it?

Scott Benner 2:54
You were getting? Were you getting worse at it? Or did you just care a little less as it went on?

Martha Andrews 3:00
Well, it's just you know, it's each one had their own individual issues that you have to deal with and, and getting them all through them at the same time and dealing with it. It just became a lot of work. It was fun. It was a lot of fun. But you know, I have three times like, I don't know if I can keep doing it like, Okay,

Scott Benner 3:21
well, of the four children. You have one with type one. Do any of the other kids have other autoimmune issues or type one?

Martha Andrews 3:29
None? Nope. Just mark. Just mark Okay,

Scott Benner 3:33
where does he fall in the line of the four kids?

Martha Andrews 3:36
He's my youngest. He's the baby.

Scott Benner 3:39
How old the oldest?

Martha Andrews 3:41
He just turned 32. Okay,

Scott Benner 3:44
and marks 26. Is that right? Yes. Okay. Are all the kids athletic?

Martha Andrews 3:51
Every one of them. They, they all are very, very competitive. Whether it's getting to bed first brushing their teeth first finishing their plate first. scoring the first goal. It was always a competition.

Scott Benner 4:07
Walking through a doorframe just just absolutely. So did you spend most of your life going to children's sporting events?

Martha Andrews 4:17
All of my life once I started having kids. It was every night, every weekend traveling? It was pretty intense. Actually.

Scott Benner 4:29
Yeah. No, I found it to be more than I expected. I sometimes my son just plays college baseball. And just I Yeah, well, that's impressive. It is but I find myself telling people listen, unless your kids are just like love, love, love it. Just do it for fun inside of the season. There's no reason to travel or, you know, go to another state to play. You just try to enjoy it because there were times where it felt like a job for me. I don't I don't think for him ever but

Martha Andrews 5:00
I think people would say, you know, they're gonna get a scholarship and you're like, some money we've spent on their sports, we could pay for full college tuition.

Scott Benner 5:10
I think I may be broke even. And Mike's son gets a fair amount of money. And he's like, I'm saving you all this money. He's like, Are you forgetting all the sandwiches, we bought it delis and the gasoline in the hotel. So you could learn to be slightly better at this than the next person, you know?

Martha Andrews 5:30
Well, it's a lot of fun to watch him do what they love.

Scott Benner 5:33
Yeah, I have to say that Cole's a senior this year. So the spring coming up is, you know, his last of his undergrad year, because of COVID. He's going to have some NCAA ability to keep playing, you know, Brian gave him back some of their eligibility. So I'm kind of hoping he'll he'll maybe go to grad school or something and play a little more or, or I don't even know what I just I

Martha Andrews 5:58
have plans to maybe go professional. He Well,

Scott Benner 6:01
it's his whole, I'm gonna tell you that. I don't know, I could have gotten him into college if he wasn't playing baseball. And he's a very good student taking a fairly difficult my son's getting a quantitative econ degree. Oh, my gosh, and I still tell you, I'm not sure you would have went to college if you couldn't play baseball. So it is what he thinks about. You know, that's awesome. Yeah. So we'll see. I know, he's gonna try until he fails or his body blows up. I I've come to the conclusion that there's no amount of anything that's going to get him to stop. So we'll see what happens. But he's not what

Martha Andrews 6:36
it takes. You have to be driven for sure. He's got that part.

Scott Benner 6:39
That's for sure. He didn't grow quite like your son. Did though. Did the boy come out that size? Or?

Martha Andrews 6:45
Yes. He was a nice size when he was born. But from shortly after he was standing, it was obvious that he was pretty much taller than everybody else

Scott Benner 6:59
bigger than your husband. Yes. Okay. And you're not a particularly tall person.

Martha Andrews 7:03
I'm 510. I'm the shortest my daughter's six foot. I have a son that six to one at six, four and then mark that six, six.

Scott Benner 7:12
Well, you are tall, then. I mean, I don't you know, 510 Relatively speaking,

Martha Andrews 7:17
I am Yes, I was tall till I got in this family.

Scott Benner 7:21
I always I always kind of I don't laugh, Martha. But sometimes you see the parents, and they have a tiny little kid. And, you know, and the husband's five, six, and the wife's five, two, and they're like he's gonna play in college. And I'm like, no, no, it's not. Something crazy is about to happen. But yeah, so when did he start growing? Like, when did you think wow, this is? I guess we I guess if you had older children, you already knew your kids were kind of bigger to begin with.

Martha Andrews 7:47
They all were tall. And so he in our family, he you know, he stayed he was he was shorter than a sister. And then, I think probably around end of elementary or middle school, he got taller than she was. Um, and and then he just kept going and he was really skinny.

Scott Benner 8:09
Okay, in high school. Yeah. Do you fill out in high school because he went through a legitimate football college too. So?

Martha Andrews 8:17
Yes. You he was pretty thin. I mean, he at six, six, he was probably 200 pounds. Maybe. When he went off to college?

Scott Benner 8:28
No, no kidding. Well, and then that's big for a high schooler and small in high

Martha Andrews 8:33
school. He was definitely tall. And I think he worked out so much that meaning running and doing things like that it was hard for him to keep weight on.

Scott Benner 8:44
Okay. My son talks about that all the time. He said they drag us into a gym to put on weight, and then they take us outside and run it right. I just found it. He's like, it's like the one hands not talking to the other one. So, um, Listen, did he play football, like peewee was it better? No, no,

Martha Andrews 9:02
no, no, no. He was He loved soccer, baseball. Basketball. You didn't start football until ninth grade?

Scott Benner 9:11
No kidding. So as he was kind of going into high school, yes. Sorry. While you were watching him, like when does it first occur to you like when do you and your husband like you're married? Right? I'm sorry. Yes, yeah. When do your husband lean into each other and go? He's gonna do this in college?

Martha Andrews 9:28
Ah, not until like the coaches started calling. Really? Okay. Yeah. You know, we've always been hearing all of our children were talented, they were all great athletes, they could have gone and played a sport in college if they'd wanted to. And you know, that you have to love what you do to be able to get to that point and we just hear about that funnel. And so we just really pushed school and it probably wasn't going to be a reality of getting to play sports in college. Like we didn't even like to talk about

Scott Benner 10:06
it. Okay? So it wasn't something that you've just looked at him and thought this is beta complete this has to happen. He just looks like a perfect because like, for know, when my son started high school, he came home one day and he goes, Yo, there's a kid on our football team. And this high school was not some like, you know, I mean, it's a northeast school. It's not a powerhouse for football or anything like that. And he goes, there's a kid on our high school team. He's like, he's gonna easily play in college. And I was like, really goes, he's an offensive lineman, like you should see him. And before I could even get a chance to see him some private schools scooped him up and took him right away. Oh, really? I believe he started for Penn State. So, you know, you could just like my son could say it, like everybody could see it. But Mark wasn't that person. Right? Well,

Martha Andrews 10:48
I mean, when he started playing football, and he could have played basketball in college. Yeah, he quit soccer just because he was so much bigger than everybody else. He got picked on a lot. He couldn't. He couldn't pick back because he was the biggest person on the field. It was a really frustrating experience for him.

Scott Benner 11:07
And are you saying that they get chippy with him, but he couldn't chip back.

Martha Andrews 11:11
He couldn't get snippy with them, right. And he's like, I'm done. You know, even from when he was little, they'd say, he drove here. He's like, he's 12. He did not drive here.

Scott Benner 11:24
That kid. That kid back that guy's kids are watching the game from the stance. Trust me, we've all made that joke if we'd been involved in youth sports,

Martha Andrews 11:32
absolutely. And so that was frustrating to him. But he had started to compete at basketball at a really high level. And when he started playing football at the same time, he had a coach that he worked with a lot. He was a volunteer football coach, he played for Nebraska. And he said, Mark, how many people are on a football team? And how many people are on a basketball team? And he said, How many people on a basketball team are six, six or are taller? How many on a on a football team? How many how many receivers Do you see that are six, six. And he kind of just got him thinking, you know, if you want to play sports in college, let's start thinking of where you have the best opportunity. And so that kind of was a mind shift. He loved basketball. He loved playing it for this his high school, he loved his coach. But he he just stopped the club version of that and focused on football from that point on. And his very first game was the very first time someone came up to us and said, I mean, he just we were in shock. Our mouth was open, we had no idea he could do what he did and and the other coach from the other side said we're gonna see him on Sunday

Scott Benner 13:06
I think people might imagine it's just the size but there's a fluidity and and athleticism and you know, speed like it. Where it becomes really uncommon is to be all of those things at that size, and have the drive to do it and everything else that comes with it. It's saying it's an uncommon mix. Are your other children magically good at other things? Are you a witch? Like what is it we all know? About? You know, do you sometimes look up and think it's crazy? Word or is it normal to you now? I mean, you and I to have

Martha Andrews 13:41
mark or a to have all all my kids are incredibly successful. Yeah. And I've been very fortunate. I've kind of it's almost not embarrassing, but you know, people ask what do your children do? And I'm like, you know, I kind of played off but I really want to say I mean my kids are amazing. It's really bad say like that, but they are they've made something of each one has just become the best at what they do. And I it it is really heartwarming as a parent to know that they're doing what they love, and they're so good at it.

Scott Benner 14:19
Is it hard to want to talk about the other three? Because, you know, eventually you're gonna have to say in marks at tight end?

Martha Andrews 14:24
I know. It is. Yeah, I say but you know, his brother's a doctor, his sister's a dentist, his other brothers are really successful business in real estate. You know, I want to, I want to tell them that, but they don't really care.

Scott Benner 14:36
Yeah, well, that's what I started wondering. Like, if that's what you meant, that just doesn't matter. Like you could be like, this one's a physicist and an astronaut on the weekends. And they'd be like, could you just tell me about the guy that catches the football players? Exactly.

Martha Andrews 14:49
Yeah. Yeah, that's, well, they're they're really proud of him to oh,

Scott Benner 14:53
I would imagine that's really cool. Do you get to see him play much in person anymore?

Martha Andrews 14:58
Um, you know since COVID, Did we kind of definitely pulled back and him watching on TV is so much nicer than being? Well, first of all, I vowed never to go to an opposing teams, you know, watch him as a visitor. I don't like that. It's, it's uncomfortable. It's not the friendliest place to be. I do like going and watching and in Baltimore and being able to see him and we didn't go this year. I mean, we're still a little COVID leery. We don't want to put him at risk from traveling or anything else like that. So we think his brother's been, and I think both brothers have been this year.

Scott Benner 15:40
Are you saying that it's hard to cheer for him in front of people who are cursing at them? Yes. Is it? Is it just hard for you to hear it?

Martha Andrews 15:48
No, not? Well, maybe a little bit. But as my husband always tell me, don't tell them who your son is. I'm like I have to because I don't want them to be mean about him around me. I kind of just gently tell the people around me Okay, be nice to number 89 I miss mom, I'll be quiet.

Scott Benner 16:07
I promise not sure if you promise not to curse and use his name at the same.

Martha Andrews 16:12
And then for not, you know, when he does something great to not really be able to cheer and scream and the way you know, you got to be a little subtle about it. I don't like that at all. So

Scott Benner 16:20
you screaming yell at home, though, while you're watching? Oh, gosh. Yes. So I want to ask you, I'm gonna ask you one more football thing. And then I want to ask you a bunch of diabetes stuff. So okay, you and I spoke a few days ago to get to know each other to get this all set up. And then like the next day, I think or maybe two days later, I found myself standing in front of a room. It was like we were in a bar having dinner. Every time I say that. I want to remind people

Martha Andrews 16:45
i know i just want listen to a podcast, you were at another bar had dinner with my

Scott Benner 16:48
family. And we're sitting around and there and the Ravens game is on. And I'm watching it go back and forth. And I said to my wife, I said, you know, that lady I talked to on the phone. I said, that's her son right there. And I said this situation is getting down to where I think they're going to go to him to try to win the game. So let's pay attention for a second. And then it happens. And it doesn't go the way you expect. Or hope, I guess. And I found myself sitting there only knowing you for about a 15 minute phone call. I felt terrible for you. Not even for him, by the way. Like like for you. I was like how much she feel right now. And I just I've been, I just want to know, like, if he catches that ball and they win the game, he doesn't catch the ball and they don't win the game, whatever. How does it feel for you? Like is it fleeting? Does it stick with you all day? Are you happy all week after that saddle week? Like how much impact does it have on your life? Well,

Martha Andrews 17:42
I mean, the most important thing, I'm sad for Mark, because I know he's gonna take it hard, right? That, you know, if he makes that play, he's like a hero and everything's fabulous. And I'm always looking. I don't really care if we win or lose. I want him to be healthy. I want him to play well. And I want it to be over. Yeah, right. That's the most important thing for me as a mom, I'm sad for him. I love him. It's not a big deal. It is a football game. It's not, didn't make or break. how good he is how you know, his success or not. I just I'm sad. I know he's not gonna talk to me the next day is gonna avoid discussing it. But you know, so there's just a game. Yeah.

Scott Benner 18:32
But there's no like, here's an example. My son's out recruiting for colleges one day, and I'm standing talking to a coach who kind of came to find me and was chatting about coal and coals out in the outfield. And as he came back, he's running back along the fence line runs past us. And I said, Oh, hey, Cole, this is so and so from blah, blah, college, he was just telling me how bad you are. And, and we just laughed, and my son said hello. And then he kept running by we have a very loose, like, relationship like that, because the man was not standing there telling telling me that.

Martha Andrews 19:03
You know, I mean, he knows his dad has always joked Yes, yes, he's aware

Scott Benner 19:06
of that. Like, I just was like trying to put myself in your position. I was like, I wonder if I would have been like, just stay quiet or so it's interesting to hear your your response to that. And I also think it's interesting because I talked to a number of Steelers fans after the game. And every one of them just because I kind of steadfastly was like, oh, you know, the rusher kind of threw off the quarterback and he's like, I don't think it was that gay. Like it could have been caught maybe but like, it was funny how like they wanted they were on his side, even like, Oh, that's nice. It's very interesting. And then that made me think there's a guy in a grocery store all over this country having a conversation about your kid. Think of it that way. How weird that is.

Martha Andrews 19:52
It is weird. And it's it's kind of funny, like, you know, my husband says I like to tell everybody that marks my son and you know plays and that's not true, but it is amazing. Like I'll go out with other people and I was sitting at I don't know, that place where they cut up your your food Benihana and the chef was there cutting and the people I was sitting with said, you know, this is Marc Andreessen. He goes the mark Andrews, you know, like, this is some random guy, oh my gosh, and then went on and on and on and on and how he's followed his career, blah, blah, blah. And it's, you know, if you take that kind of stuff, if you listen to it and makes you happy, then you got to take the other stuff like he should have caught that ball. He you know, so you have to be careful if you if you want to revel in all the goodness, you got to be able to take the, the not so good as well.

Scott Benner 20:47
Yeah, I definitely. i There is nothing worse than my son is an exceptional outfielder. And, you know, 100 times out of 100 He's gonna catch the ball doesn't matter where it is, you know, there are moments when like the right fielder catches the ball and my son standing behind him waiting for the ball to hit the ground. Like you can catch it. It's your position, you might as well and then the one time something happens and he stumbles or trips or the sun gets in his eyes and everyone looks at you like you as the parent. Like what happened? I'm like, oh, nine out there, man. I was like, you know, but I said if he asked me it looks hard to do and, and but it's amazing that they forget the other 99 times.

Martha Andrews 21:30
Oh, yeah, you just can't go on the internet at all. After your something like that game.

Scott Benner 21:34
I'm like, What about the other ones? Where are you? Alright, nevermind.

Martha Andrews 21:39
Let's see. And that's that's not your tea, Wendy. So like, if Mark drops a catch anything is should he go test you know, there's something is something going on. If he drops to I'm almost on the phone to the trainer he needs to.

Scott Benner 21:54
I don't like the way it looks. Yeah. So he's nine years old when he's diagnosed is that right?

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Martha Andrews 25:39
Yes, okay. So

Scott Benner 25:40
that's Robert said he was like this, like 17 years ago. Does that sound right? 2004 ish. Yeah. Okay. But you're pretty impressed with how I did that real quick.

Martha Andrews 25:49
I was just like your bow. That was good. He did it ahead of time.

Scott Benner 25:53
I didn't. Didn't so there must have been a lot of numbers that just worked with the way my brain works, because that all went way too smoothly. So he's nine years old. How does it present?

Martha Andrews 26:04
Okay, and I'm just full disclosure. I may not, but I may I always cry when I tell the story. And I'm gonna start again.

Scott Benner 26:10
If you cry, I'm gonna cry. Martha. Just so you know.

Martha Andrews 26:12
I think it's the hardest thing in the world. I can't believe I do this every friggin time. If it brings it back.

Scott Benner 26:21
Yeah. We'll take your time. And or you don't have to tell me

Martha Andrews 26:25
I'll be fine. I do. I don't. I've done it on national TV. I need to learn, not cry every single time I talk about it. But okay. So it presented itself. He was doing baseball and soccer at the same time. And he was playing a baseball game and his grandparents had taken him. You know, he's a fourth child. Every every one of us is at a different sporting event with one of the children. And she said, my, my mother in law said he had to go to the bathroom a couple times. I said, Oh, okay, fine. Thanks. No, she goes. And then we took him to a soccer game right afterwards. And he left and ran to go to the bathroom at halftime. He has never done that. And my mother in law says, I think he has diabetes. And we look at her like she had grown horns and was so crazy how to like get that that was a stupidest thing anybody could ever say.

Scott Benner 27:18
Yeah. What does she know? Something that that? Does she have any? Like, why would that pop into our head?

Martha Andrews 27:24
I don't know. I mean, we were shocked. And we said absolutely not. You know, he's, he's, he had big circles under his eyes. And he I don't think he may have even maybe wet the bed. I don't know. But it's still just wasn't coming together. We're getting ready to go on a ski trip for spring break. And he came home from school on Monday, and he didn't feel good. And he didn't look good. So the next morning, my my husband said, we better just get him checked, make sure nothing's wrong, before we head out of town. And so we went and did some blood work and took him back to school. And my husband calls me sorry,

Scott Benner 28:14
no, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you'd get upset or I might not have asked.

Martha Andrews 28:18
It's okay. I'm not. I mean, I talk about it all the time. And he said, Mark has diabetes, you need to go get him protected. I didn't know even I had no idea what it meant. I am one of those people that kind of goes through the world. And if it's bad stuff, I don't really look into it. Um, if someone needs to tell me something, they'll tell me and I kind of go through with rose colored glasses. pretty optimistic about everything. So we go to the doctor's office, I still don't so don't know exactly what it means.

Scott Benner 29:03
Your husband just tells you that it's important. He's, something's wrong. And you hear a word you think of as not being like, healthy. Yeah, yeah. And you're on your way. Yeah.

Martha Andrews 29:12
Yeah. And obviously, he knows exactly what it is. But so the doctor was also a neighbor of ours. And she she tells us and Mark is pretty stoic. We don't have to go the hospital. We go over to an endocrinologist and they start educating us immediately. And I think he was more upset that we didn't go skiing because of it. You know, that that? He just, you know, what do I have to do? Just give me the tools I need. And let's get get over this. Yeah, no.

Scott Benner 29:51
Well, you know, it's funny. My biggest concern would have been that my wife Mother was right about something. And then like, I wouldn't Never heard the end of that. We were pretty shocked. Actually. I just figured when your husband's like we better take him to the to the doctor. He's like, my mom has been bugging me about this. And she said something. But I'm fascinated that that your that your mother in law, just like from being a couple times, just like that's diabetes like wow, Jesus. Yeah, she

Martha Andrews 30:19
was a smart lady. She read a lot. And the fact that she she called it that was pretty impressive. And we really, I mean, my husband's a urologist. He knows about peeing, he knows what it means, you know. But you don't go there. I was listening to one of your podcasts and And the woman said, you know, don't look for zebra, if it's a horse, it's a horse. You don't have to look for the zebra or whatever she said. And that's so true. Yeah, you know,

Scott Benner 30:47
except if you have diabetes, and you don't know it, when now it's a zebra all the sudden, because, yes, because she's, you know, a kid piece a couple of times. For most people, that just means they drank a lot or maybe ate like a fewer carbs and maybe a little more high protein that day. And but yeah, that's really something so he just, he's not DKA, which is great.

Martha Andrews 31:09
No, I think the amount of exercise the sports that he he did, and he was always no, the strongest player, typically on the team. And so you know, he worked he played the whole game of whatever he was doing and then going on to the next one and running up and down the field. So I'm sure that had a lot to do

Scott Benner 31:28
with it kind of kept his blood sugar down. So yeah, 17 years ago, is he did he get fast acting insulin? Was he using Basal on?

Martha Andrews 31:37
He did the human he had Humalog and the the long acting like Lantis

Scott Benner 31:44
or something mantis. Yeah. And you got a meter I imagine, but

Martha Andrews 31:48
was not not for. Yeah, we got a meter for sure. Right? Yes, but we had meters everywhere in the house everywhere. I have probably maybe 15 meters

Scott Benner 31:59
all over the house and probably throw some of them away. Now, Martha if you want to.

Martha Andrews 32:02
I know I need to keep opening another meter.

Scott Benner 32:05
Was he just injecting

Martha Andrews 32:08
he was that his endocrinologist did not want him to look at a pump or a CGM, or maybe a CGM. We didn't discuss it but a pump until he was he had mastered first of all that until he had shown a sign that he needed it. And that he understood if he was controlling it with shots that he was going to stay that way. We even though we kept asking.

Scott Benner 32:34
Okay, I'm trying to think of when Dexcom all they were founded in 99. Did they have a product right away then? I wonder when the first CGM was

Martha Andrews 32:43
Mark was pretty he caught it in high school. He didn't like it. Okay. When he first got it, the CGM and he stopped wearing it for a while.

Scott Benner 32:52
Does he wear one now? Oh, yes. Yeah. The first couple iterations were like they were groundbreaking, but they're not nearly the way they are now. That's no,

Martha Andrews 33:01
and then the needle itself that I mean, that's the insertion portion of the process

Scott Benner 33:09
was awful. Which one was he using? In the beginning? Was it the Medtronic? One Medtronic, oh, yeah, they call that one? The harpoon? Yes. I'm sure Medtronic, they don't call it that. But outside.

Martha Andrews 33:22
But the pump? I mean, that was an amazing. That was an amazing game changer for us.

Scott Benner 33:27
Yeah. Tell me why what did it change for him?

Martha Andrews 33:31
Well, just, he didn't have to carry. I mean, he always had his D bag, as we call it. You know, it's one of those Nike shoe bags that you could wear as a backpack. And he always had his stuff in there, but, but he didn't have to pull out go through all the process of dosing for himself if he could just do it. By pressing a couple of buttons. It gave him a lot of freedom. Wow, wherever he was the people he was with. And I think it helped control. Taking the insulin. You know, I think a teenage kid sometimes. You know, they say they took it and they didn't, or they miss a dose because they said they're gonna do it. And then they forget. Yeah,

Scott Benner 34:17
just the easier to have a pump on what he wears. I don't know what pump he wears. Now, I guess, to slim, if he slim? Is he doing control like you? Or is he? Um,

Martha Andrews 34:26
I think yeah, he is. Well,

Scott Benner 34:28
that's pretty cool. That's great technology.

Martha Andrews 34:31
Yeah, that his problem is he does take his pump off for hours at a time when he's at practice. So he switches up. He doesn't get his he didn't do his he has to take long acting in addition. Okay,

Scott Benner 34:47
so because to his pump, yeah, his his life is pretty specific. So he doesn't I guess that's not that he doesn't want to wear it. I guess he can't. He can't carry that fuselage. He can't carry that around. Yeah, I would imagine by the rules of the game. He's not allowed to if nothing Yeah, I

Martha Andrews 35:01
don't I don't think we've ever tested that there's just no way he's gonna go around with a Yeah. You know that on him?

Scott Benner 35:07
Well, well, you know, it's funny because if you've never met like a professional football player in real life, you don't have because they're also big on television. It's deceiving. Like, like how large they are, and how gigantic and how fast they're running into each other. You might as well just take that T slim out and like, throw it on the ground, hit it with a hammer before trying to take it to a football game. But yeah, they just they're launching themselves at each other in at amazing speeds. And it's just, you just have to meet one guy and stand next to him for five seconds before you think like I'm not even a human being compared to this guy. Like, I'm not a man compared to this. I I've had those moments around baseball players, where I stand there and I'm like, I feel like a little kid, you know?

Martha Andrews 35:53
And imagine taking him up to college for the first time at a pretty big, big time college and seeing the people that were going to try and kill him obviously. It's like as a mother, I'm like, we're turning around and going home.

Scott Benner 36:05
Well, yeah, cuz finally they're all as big as him right? Oh, well,

Martha Andrews 36:09
and they were so mean. They had huge beards. I mean, these were men. These were not like 18 year old Mark. Yeah. Did he play biceps as big as his thighs?

Scott Benner 36:21
Did he redshirted? Did he play right away? He redshirted? Yeah, yeah. They're trying to probably get weighed on him at first, right? Did he play? Did he play for years? Or did he get drafted before

Martha Andrews 36:29
he played he had redshirted one year and was played for three years. So he was there for four years. Gotcha. What is his degree in? Business?

Scott Benner 36:41
Well, hopefully he'll be able to use that when he's done playing a lot. That's the plan. Yeah. Excellent. That's really something like I mean, in Oklahoma, did you get to see him play there? Much?

Martha Andrews 36:50
We went a lot. Yeah, we tried to go as often as we could. You know, they don't let you see him except for after the game like in and professional, you can go out to dinner with them the night before the game, or the only time we could see Mark was after the game. You know, if we had a little time, we could go to dinner. At least sit with him at his house or do whatever, but we didn't see him as often.

Scott Benner 37:16
A lot of people might not know about that. You go to your kids college games and you don't like the last thing in the world you want is a coach to see you talking to or making eye contact with your child like you just just keep it all very just I don't know why you feel i That's the that's when I feel like a little kid the most.

Martha Andrews 37:33
Yeah. You don't let the coach see you want

Scott Benner 37:37
to break a rule? You know, it's ridiculous. We should just all walk up the fence or whatever, and be like, Hey, how are you like a human being and then walk away. But instead everybody's just got their head down. And

Martha Andrews 37:47
you have to remember that they have their their game, you know, rituals? Yeah. And you can't mess with that either.

Scott Benner 37:54
Yeah, no, I know. Trust me. I'm aware. I just, it just feels silly. While you're doing it, and you're an adult and you're paying for that school. You don't I mean, that's. Oh my gosh. So at what point did you not look at him and think he's smaller? Did he get to that point in college?

Martha Andrews 38:14
Um, yeah, I mean, he, he definitely was one of the taller players once he actually started playing on the football field after his first year. I mean, he had put on weight. He was strong. He was definitely was one. You know, one of his good buddies is Orlando Brown, who plays for Kansas City right now. And he was six, eight, you know, he's really the only one that made Mark look small. But other than that, I mean, Mark was, you know, towering in that in that huddle?

Scott Benner 38:50
Yeah, well, that's what makes him special, honestly, is that he's that big and he moves well, you know what immunity he can run? Yeah. Yeah. You know, guys that sighs I mean, for the most part and blocking usually get you know, and being more a lineman or he's just, you know, he moves like, he's not that big. So I

Martha Andrews 39:08
think that soccer and basketball Yeah, yeah. From playing man. I think it's made a big difference in his foot. Foot skills and and his speed.

Scott Benner 39:16
Yeah, that's really interesting, because they try to tell you all the time not to just put your kid in one sport and mostly no one listens. Yeah, but he gets it into their head that they can turn this kid into a thing and but I'll tell you right now, like, I don't think he can I think you just, you know, you can get better and you can work hard and all that stuff. But you got to start with. Gonna start with the right pieces. You can't just put it together from out like, I could not suddenly become a bodybuilder. You know what I mean? Like, I could work as hard as I want. It's just it's never gonna come together for me. And that's not necessarily true, Martha, I don't know. I'm pretty sure it's true. I

Martha Andrews 39:50
mean, you take all the right supplements, you get a good trainer. You work really hard.

Scott Benner 39:54
Who's gonna make you might be able to make this podcast while I'm busy doing all that. Oh my gosh. All right. I'm Sorry, so he gets diabetes. Nine years old. Who how's the management work, then? Is he doing it himself? Are you supplementing him? Or How's it go?

Martha Andrews 40:09
Well, I mean, the whole family steps up, we're all involved in the education portion, including his grandparents who who lived up just down the street from us. We all learned what needed to be done. But bottom line, it was Mark that did it. And he started from the very first shot giving it to himself. Occasionally, he, he needed help, maybe inserting money on a pump. But for the most part, he did it. And and I would say, the details like the numbers, the different things we had to remember that was that was really my responsibility. Just you know, but we always had someone with them. He went from being the fourth child, we dropped off at places that some being the fourth child that always had a brother, sister, mother or father with him. Yeah,

Scott Benner 41:03
no one. Did anyone resent that? Do you think? Or was everybody kind of on board?

Martha Andrews 41:07
Oh, no. Everybody was on board. Good. That's

Scott Benner 41:09
amazing. So he goes, I mean, is his diabetes, a focal point of his life through through high school? Or is it in the background?

Martha Andrews 41:20
I'd have to say it in the background. It was it a focal point of my life with him in high school, probably. But, you know, it was it was something that Mark did and it really had nothing to do with. He tried not to let it affect, you know, schoolwork, or, or sporting things or being with friends. He took good care of it for the most part. I mean, he wasn't. It's a hard. It's a hard disease to be really perfect that because it throws curveballs on a daily basis, but it wasn't, you know, I don't I would say half this. I'd say 90% of the school didn't even know he had diabetes. And it's certainly not something he hid.

Scott Benner 42:04
Right? Yeah, just just something it just didn't come out a lot. No, yeah, I get that. How about was there? Well, I guess I should ask you first because it's before CGM and everything else. Did you sleep much? Or were you know what

Martha Andrews 42:19
I'm at? I'm a terrible mom, I have to tell you. I don't think I woke up one time in the middle of night to test his blood sugar. Unless he was sick. Yeah, but he was okay. So yeah, he was always okay. And I kind of I talked to you I do this coffee with another woman whose son is older and, and we work with JDRF. And have once a month we have a coffee. Mostly it's it's moms with newly diagnosed or younger children with diabetes, and it's for just the moms and you know, they're up several times a night, they've got the the numbers on their phone. And they're constantly doing that I, I probably should have. And I actually feel really guilty, but I guess I just didn't know to do that.

Scott Benner 43:10
I'm gonna say that before the technology exists that where you could see the blood sugar in real time. That's not what they told you. Right? Like, they probably was what go to bed a little high. You test in the morning. If you're not low, it went okay. And don't think about now you see the CGM and you realize how it can fluctuate. And

Martha Andrews 43:26
it goes so high go so low. I mean, you know, you just hope that that their bodies can feel something when it's really not good and that you always had sugar there, whatever. And I was attentive to him. He took care of himself. But that was now there were mornings it would he would wake up. And we Tet, I'd asked him his numbers. And I remember what number it was really high, and he couldn't even walk, right. I mean, his legs crumbled underneath me threw up. I mean, that was probably a night, I should have woken him up in the middle of the night, see what his numbers were?

Scott Benner 43:57
Yeah, but how would you know if that's how it was done that I'll tell you that for those people who you're talking about who are newly diagnosed, or you know, have the technology and can see it, the key to me, and if you keep listening to the podcast, Martha, you're going to hear it like, to me the key is to just really understand how the insulin works to have a rock solid Basal program Pre-Bolus Your meals to stay away from spikes, you know, don't stare at high blood sugars, kind of, you know, correct them. Understand the different impacts of different foods be flexible, like when you do that, you can start to find stability that actually will will, you know, pay you back overnight, and that's suddenly you're not up all the time. And yeah, top of that these algorithms are insane. Yeah. Amazing. Yeah.

Martha Andrews 44:40
Do you did you get up at night?

Scott Benner 44:42
Oh, before the CGM? Yeah, like I was. But my daughter was diagnosed when she was too. Yeah, you had to Yeah. So there was just like, you know, it took me in the beginning. I just thought I was great at it. Like I was, you know, I had this plan. I would get her to like 190. And she'd wake up at like 90 And I thought I was amazing. And then then one night, I just, I found myself wondering like what is happening while she's asleep. And then CGM, like Dexcom became available, and I got the doctor to do this, you know, back then they would give you one blinded for a week to see if your insurance would pay for it used to be like that, you'd have to wear it for a week, then the report would come back. And if you were having Lowe's, and your insurance company would pay for it. So the report comes back, I was putting Arden to bed at 190, she was dropping into the 50s. I'm assuming eventually her liver would kick in and like, give off some glucose. And then she'd drift back up to 90. And when I saw that, I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, like, not only am I not good at this, like how was like, I'm lucky, she's okay. You know, and that, that then made me start paying attention to it, but I was not good at it back then. The way I am now, it took me a while to figure out how to create real stability. And to keep blood sugar's at a lower number stable without a risk of like, you know, a quick fall all the time and how to manage karbi or stuff, you know, I'm sure your son must eat like a horse I'm imagining, right, like so like, how do you Bolus for all that stuff, especially as they're growing? Stop a spike without there being a, you know, allow, like, there's, there's episodes of this podcast that are all about just management stuff. And I find that they're not just valuable for me, but for the people listening to.

Martha Andrews 46:31
So I mean, so your daughter doesn't have a lot of highs and lows, she just kind of maintains pretty level.

Scott Benner 46:38
Yeah, the way I draw Yeah, the way we think about it is, I don't want her to be under 70. So we would stop that from happening if it was trying to happen, but it does not try to happen very, very often, probably a time or two a month, you'll get to that 55 or something just goes wonky. You don't know what happened. But on the other side of it. After a meal, I'm okay with like 140 ish 160 I think of as a higher blood sugar, and I think of 180 as a spike. And then when you kind of get yourself in that mindset, and you've got good solid settings, you'd be surprised how infrequently you spike and how infrequently you get low, because it's so much about putting the insulin in at the right times. And that's sort of it. It's, uh, took me a long time to figure all that out and took me even longer to lay it out here in the podcast so people could hear it. Yeah, but it still happens. I mean, I'm not going to tell you that there aren't days where, you know, she's ovulating. And her you know, I can't get her blood sugar to move off to Swanee. And I'm sure you saw growth hormones when Mark was in high school, you probably just didn't even you didn't record it was so

Martha Andrews 47:46
fluctuating. I mean, it's still I mean, he's a meal, it goes up to 300. And you know, then it falls back down to normal number. I just can't, I just can't worry about the highs. Yeah, I can barely worry about the lows. But

Scott Benner 48:04
so you're an interesting position because you came out of a different generation of this, where what you're saying makes complete sense for them. And I I totally understand it, but you tell Mark, if he wants to spend like four days after the season's over, I'll teach him how to Bolus and he won't have highs like that anymore. Okay, it's super time. Yeah, it was how like, you just listen to the podcast if you wanted to. Good luck. Not a podcast guy you don't think? I don't know? You don't know? Is it is that um, is it hard that he still has diabetes, but he's an adult? For you, you worry about him? Do you want to say things? Do you want to ask questions that you don't because you're like, how does that whole relationship work?

Martha Andrews 48:48
Um, well, you know, I knew he was gonna have diabetes as an adult. I mean, I never even thought it was going to be an option. Right? Yeah. So diabetes is the one thing I don't ever hesitate. I'm embarrassing myself. or contacting him when I'm not supposed to. It's It's my job. Even if, you know, I know, he disconnects me sometimes. But I'm not going to keep my mouth shut. I'm gonna you know, I'm always gonna step up if I think you need you know, to treat more or you know, I'll keep calling if he's asleep and his numbers are low and he's not answering. I'll keep calling up keep calling. I'll call a neighbor call, you know, do things he probably is cringing, but um, you know, I have no problem. doing whatever it takes for me to make sure he's healthy and safe. With his diabetes.

Scott Benner 49:55
That's amazing. Also, I think it's hilarious that he does that he takes you off from seeing

Martha Andrews 50:00
Just one time I said, You need to turn me on. I'm like, Oh my God, that didn't sound right.

But yeah, he his brother and I keep keep his numbers. Okay, so he says you call him I said, No, you call? No, you call.

Scott Benner 50:17
I'm imagining a times he's gotten a Texas says, Hey, mom's worried about your blood sugar, you gotta do something. I'm tired. Oh, absolutely.

Martha Andrews 50:22
100% Mom's on my case, will you please take some sugar?

Scott Benner 50:28
It's just kind of like, it's interesting to hear. I mean, listen, we haven't said it directly the entire time we're talking. But the reason I wanted to have you on is because the your relationship and your life. And his accomplishment is, it's so tied to what people worry about when their young children are diagnosed, right? Am I you know, am I or is this disease going to slow my kid down, keep them from accomplishing something. And, you know, people love to hear, I think, from athletes from type one, because it's that it's that thing, we all kind of just, you know, universally agree. Like, you know, it's amazing, like, I listen, I don't know, I love football, but off the top my head on whether they're 30 teams ish in the NFL 3232, they each carry probably one starting tight end, your son is one of the 32 best tight ends in the world, you know what I mean? And I think you could have an argument, he's probably a lot closer than to the top than he is to the bottom. So like that he did that with diabetes, and in a time when they didn't have glucose sensing technology, nearly the way is, is it is today, like, I know, people are gonna hear this and feel good like that maybe my kid has a real shot or I there's things I could be doing that I'm not giving myself credit for being able to do. You know, it's lovely of you to come on and talk about it, because I think it's that important to everybody.

Martha Andrews 52:03
Well, I mean, it is it's important to mark and more importantly, right. So, you know, on his cleats, he said for that my cause my cleats, he he always puts on his cleats, diabetes is a part of me, but I will never let it define me or my dreams. And that's the message he wants to give to people is that I mean, you know, kids, certain kids have a lot of other complications other than just diabetes, it could be a celiac, they could have other autoimmune things going on. So, you know, it's not just as simple as that. And sometimes it's not a sporting thing they want to do it, it's that they want to go and be a fireman, or they want to go to the army. And you think, you know, how do you achieve that? When you're dependent on insulin? I mean, can you know, are you going to be able to do that? Or what if what if you're having a low and you're, you're out in the middle of nowhere? I mean, there's all sorts of things but but it doesn't mean it's impossible. It just means you got to figure out how to make it work. And, and not and you know, you may get a lot of nose. But then there's gonna be someone that might give you that chance. And I think, you know, with Mark, yeah, I personally, this is just coming from me. I thought mark should have been drafted in on the first day, and a higher draft pick in the first round. Yeah, but I think it, it was maybe a little intimidating that he had type one diabetes,

Scott Benner 53:34
Martha. So I'll let me tell you that I had a boy on about six months ago, Patrick wetlander, a pitcher, and he went a lot lower. He was diagnosed as the draft was coming up. And the conversations that people were having with him prior to diabetes, were not the same as they started having after he was diagnosed, he definitely dropped in the draft because of it.

Martha Andrews 53:57
I firmly believe that that is the case. But it only takes one person to believe in you, right? Or to take a risk or whatever it is. You just keep trying and trying until you find that solution. You know, the Raven said it wasn't a factor. So I applaud them. They should have taken him first. But you know, it is what it is. And I think Mark will probably he had probably a pretty good chip on his shoulder because of it. But you know, he just has to go out and do what he needs to do and he needs to take care of himself while he's doing it. I mean, what a diabetic goes through on a daily basis whether you're working in a in a business job, or you're, you're playing baseball or you're as a fireman or a ballerina or a fashion designer. It is so complex for them to get through every single day when everybody else just you know takes it for granted.

Scott Benner 54:58
Yeah, no It's, it's important that you don't give up because you will meet somebody along the way. Right. And you never know who your efforts gonna touch. You know, Sam folds been on here a number of times it Sam played for the Oakland A's and a number of different pro teams for he was in the league for like eight years. It's actually the general manager of the Phillies right now. But because he played baseball, he, you know, he played for a guy who managed him who now knows, you know, it's not a big deal to have a type one on the team. And then that guy goes off and he's a manager somewhere else, then the next kid comes along, and you got to think that in his head, he thinks, Well, you know, Sam did it. Like, right, maybe that's not maybe the next time the draft rolls around. I mean, maybe there are 31 other teams that are like, geez, we skipped this kid because he had diabetes, and we all should have taken him. Right, because by the third, he was taken to the third round, right, third round. Yeah. So I take your point, I would agree with you too. And that means they all passed on him multiple times. Maybe even right, you know, before somebody took him and now they're all I mean, he is legit. I mean, I think you know, that, like your, your kid can really play so good. Let them all let them all I feel bad about the crow. Yeah, no kidding. And, and other things to not just diabetes, like, you know, I mean, I don't know how you look up at him and think this is gonna be a problem. I mean, he played at Oklahoma for, you know, for all three years. Like, he obviously knows how to do it. It's

Martha Andrews 56:27
yeah. And he was he was a Mackey award winner. Was he? For tight ends. No kidding. He was all American, unanimous All American. And you wonder, you know, what do you think in that, that, that it was fake what he did? So I could go on forever about that. I just want to

Scott Benner 56:45
I don't want to get in trouble here. But was it palpable, palpable, palpable, palpable in the house, on when it didn't happen on the first day? Were you like, did anybody did your husband and you go into a closet and be like, this is the diabetes or like, you don't? I mean,

Martha Andrews 57:01
it was uncomfortable on the second day. Okay. After you know, okay, so we didn't go first round their second round. And then that was when it got a little tougher,

Scott Benner 57:12
huh. I imagine when you see other people going at your position that you think skills wise, you're like, oh, yeah, well, yeah. What's happening? Do you have a be honest? Is there a list of tight ends no longer in the league that we're taking ahead of your son hanging in your house anywhere? No, my, my daughter played softball very competitively. When she was younger, she had a she had a list of kids. So my daughter was small, but very, very athletic with an amazing arm. And she was just a really great third baseman. And she had a small list of all the girls, they tried to put in front of her third base that she knocked off a third base over and over again. And that's awesome. Yeah, part of me thought it wasn't healthy. But the other part of me is I really lit a fire for sighs like, she's like, Yeah, come back from practice you'd like now they're trying to put this one there. And I was like, Okay. I got beat her to I was like, All right.

Martha Andrews 58:07
Yeah, whatever they need to do to get through the day.

Scott Benner 58:10
No, no, it's Listen, no one's gonna know how hard it is. Unless they do it. My son puts so much effort and time into sports. It's, you know, it happens in the middle of winter when nobody else would think it's happening. It happens in the dead of summer when he's the only one standing outside. And 105 degree heat trying to get better at something and yeah, it is so true. It is not easy at all.

Martha Andrews 58:34
No. And they don't come home. They're not home for holidays there. Yeah.

Scott Benner 58:39
Oh, God. Spring break is baseball tournament. Yeah,

Martha Andrews 58:42
I Oh, absolutely.

Scott Benner 58:43
I haven't been on a vacation at the time. Most people go on vacation. And I can't even I don't even know when the last time was that go to his games? Yes, much. Yeah, I make almost all of them. That's impressive. Yeah, he's they have a lot of games. Yeah. But he's within driving distance of us. And that's good. I don't make the ones during the week. They make the weekend games usually. And it just it to me. Like this is a conversation probably every parent of a kid who goes off to college to play something has. He's been playing baseball since he's four. And he finally made it like I forget how old he was eight or nine years old when he said to me, like, I'm gonna play baseball in college. I don't even think he knew what college was when he said, you know, and I'm like, Alright, man, like, you know, when they say like, okay, you know, and, and there's still little kids and there's kids on this team at that time that look like they're better than him. And that happens every year. Every year. Somebody looks like they're better than you but they don't work as hard or whatever. And I just said to my buddy, I was like, he's been playing since he's four he made it to college. I'm like, What am I gonna stop going now? Right? Like this is like this is the this is it? Like he probably doesn't go farther than this. I've got four years left to watch him play baseball. And awesome, you know, so yeah, we make as many as we can. Is there anything about all of this but I didn't think to ask you about.

Martha Andrews 1:00:03
Um, yeah, it's pretty much been pretty open. You know, I've been interviewed quite a few times about Mark and, and one of the things that I do know, that is so important is the family is critical, the friends are critical. Making sure that, you know, you're not a T, one D. And nobody else knows about it, that it really does take a village and caring for them. And I know Mark understands that as much as maybe it drives him crazy. He knows that he needs all of us to be on board to support him. And, you know, I'm so thankful that we we've been lucky enough where he went to college, and I walked down the aisle had a meeting with the doctors and the coaches, when we first got there, they probably thought it was crazy. But I told him, I had to meet with them and said, You know, I don't want my son to die here. So we have to have a game plan, and everybody needs to be on board. Yeah. And, and you know, they all stepped up, it was very impressive. And it's been pretty similar. In Baltimore, when I've needed them, they've been there. And his brothers and sister are always there to take care of things they need to take care of. And they look out for him. They go out when he's here, you know, with his buddies, you know, going out enjoying themselves. They like to go with him. Not because you know, they're they're babysitting or anything, they just, you know, it's the right thing to do. And

Scott Benner 1:01:47
you So do you ever wonder or worry about like, if he, if he's dating, I'm not asking you if he's dating. But like that idea of like, you start meeting a partner who understands type one as well. Do you think? Do you ever think about that? Because a lot of parents come on here and talk about that, like, they're worried that their kids are going to end up with somebody who won't support them or understand things like that. I haven't

Martha Andrews 1:02:09
worried about that. I mean, he doesn't he's not dating you by now. He has dated someone, you know, people in the past. And they they have been supportive. I mean, I don't know, if they've been supportive, or I've made them support. It's like this, you will do this. It's not a choice. I do it with his friends, too. I mean, this is this is who he is. This is how we take care of it. And if you're going to be a part of his life, you have to be on board.

Scott Benner 1:02:36
Do you think that people would like, you think that his size makes people think of him as older than he is? Has that always happened through his life?

Martha Andrews 1:02:44
Yes, yeah. Always. Always. And he's a pretty mature kid. I mean, I think diabetes makes you very mature at an early age. Yeah. And I think and he, you know, being the youngest of four, being as tall as he is, I mean, he, he comes across much older than any Yes,

Scott Benner 1:03:02
yeah, it was just as I'm just thinking, like, you know, as he's walking out the door, and you're grabbing one of his friends and you're like, Listen, do you know how the glucagon works? And

Martha Andrews 1:03:11
it but isn't that the truth? No, call me you know, they, his college roommate called when he couldn't get them to wake up his his high school buddies. Bring him home immediately. When he's not acting right. You know, either they test they try and get sugar in it. If they still can't take care of it. They brought him home. Yeah, you know, something's wrong with Mark,

Scott Benner 1:03:29
you need a group of people around you. It makes it much, much easier. Yeah, I percent. Listen, I didn't know if he was dating. But I gotta be honest, if I was his age, and in the shape he was in and just signed the contract he did. I wouldn't be dating anybody either.

Martha Andrews 1:03:42
First of all, he doesn't have time. And he like, likes to meet as many people as possible.

Scott Benner 1:03:49
That's the route I would go to. I think he's handled it just perfectly. Anyway. Well, I just, I can't thank you enough for doing this. It really was. It's lovely speaking with you. Maybe we need to do this again. Actually, I was just thinking you said you have a coffee thing is that like an in person thing you do local. We

Martha Andrews 1:04:10
were doing it in person. And it was great. We once a month we'd have coffee over the other hosts or my house and JDRF would you know they're sponsoring it and people would come and we I mean, we all cried. Sometimes we'd have grandparents there. Sometimes it'd be the dad, sometimes it'd be the mom. And we just you know, we'd have different topics. We have different guest speakers. We went to zoom. I think their numbers increase because it's a little bit easier to be you know, someone that works, can can listen in. And it's it's just been a for me, I need to I need to I don't know represent. I'm someone who was scared to death to send a child to college and I You know, I survived it, I'm scared to death, let him drive, he's driving, you know, all the things that I was scared to death to do. But he did. And we survived it. And he's excelling. So, you know, I feel like it's my duty to help these, these moms who are just in the weeds, when that first diagnosis comes through. And, you know, whatever we can do to support that, and let them know that we we understand what they're going through. And it doesn't it it, it never goes away. But it's just not so intense. Once you understand it a little bit better.

Scott Benner 1:05:40
Yeah, I usually tell people that diabetes doesn't get easier. But at some point, you'll get so good at it that it might feel easy once in a while. Right, you know, and just the idea that it alleviates a little bit once you get your footing, and you really know what you're doing. And you've had some experiences that have led to more knowledge, and all of a sudden you start putting it together. And before you know it, you're like, Oh, we're not bad at this.

Martha Andrews 1:06:02
Right? Yeah. And you know, people need to know, what do you take for sugar? What do you take for? What do you do? How do you travel? How do you do this? How do you do that? I mean, there's so many questions. You can't just sit and call your doctor all the time. And, you know, so I think it's great when we're not moms can talk or they got it one of those diabetes dogs. Yeah. What does that look like? And it's not what you think, you know, it's hard work. And

Scott Benner 1:06:27
just the dog just doesn't sit in the corner, like a superhero. And every time it needs something, yeah,

Martha Andrews 1:06:32
that it is the network kind of thing. It's just going to solve all your problems, but it doesn't, you know, and, and so learning about that is so helpful on it if we can, if we can alleviate some of the questions and concerns or, or give them tools to help it make it easier, then I'm all for that.

Scott Benner 1:06:50
Excellent. Me too. And you are going to reach a lot of people doing this. So you've done that today as well. I really appreciate your time.

Martha Andrews 1:06:57
Well, it's always my pleasure, and you make us You make me feel very comfortable talking to you. So I appreciate that. Oh,

Scott Benner 1:07:04
I It's my goal for you to feel comfortable. Plus, how are you going to say that you think your kids should have gone higher? If you're nervous? I need

Martha Andrews 1:07:13
am I going to get in trouble for that? I don't know

Scott Benner 1:07:15
you're going to but the whole time I was sitting here I was thinking like, like, Mark, I'll just bleep this out later. But like through the entire thing. I'm like, how did that kid go in the third round? Like, that doesn't make any sense to me. And and then you said it, I thought, Well, how did I not think of that? Because I just interviewed a kid who said the same thing happened to him? Just it's just I don't know, I think it's because your son's built like a, like a giant that I don't think of anything. Being serious. Like, I don't think of anything being able to touch him. But like, look how easily this happened. You know, and I mean, listen, it's, you know, I feel like it probably all worked out really well for him in the end. But, you know, it's also a tough game like he could, you know, I mean, he could have snapped his head off nine games into it never, never made any money. And you know, you could be sitting here, it'd be a different story.

Martha Andrews 1:08:06
So I will tell you when he was chosen for the Pro Bowl, which, you know, was a huge, huge, huge, huge accomplishment. Yeah. It was the first time he felt validated in his professional career. And I think he'd always kind of felt like that. Being picked, so many people, so many Titans being chosen before him. Then he wins the starting spot at the ravens and he wasn't the first tied in, and he wins, you know, and then he gets in the Pro Bowl. And for him, it was some validation. And he was actually it's the first time he was able to talk about it with us about his feelings through that process. So I thought that was, you know, that was a, that was a really special moment for all of us.

Scott Benner 1:09:04
I would imagine it feels some I mean, not that it could feel much better. But, you know, he definitely knows nobody handed it to him. Right. And that's absolutely that's got to feel really great. You know, just because you come out of a pedigree College, especially, I mean, if I'm, Listen, I'm not an aficionado, but Oklahoma makes tight ends, right.

Martha Andrews 1:09:25
I have no idea. I don't know football. But they make they make winning football. Yeah, they win football game. I mean, that's for sure. And that's why he went there, you know, and he could have gotten a lot. He could have gone anywhere you wanted. But you know, he went

Scott Benner 1:09:40
there purposely and you Yeah. And I just listen, I listen, I have a different perspective than maybe some people would because I have a child who plays a sport and I know what goes into it. And I also imagine that it could sound silly to somebody else, right? Like, oh, you weren't drafted in the first round draft. Like who cares boohoo It's like big work. Yeah. But you don't you might not know. You know what I mean? Like, there are things that, you know, while the rest of you are sitting around, you know, and you're watching television or doing whatever you're doing, like, I can hear my son in the basement when he's home from school, lifting weights and putting them back down and write him off and putting them down and, and he's the one who goes out and stands on a baseball field and throws a ball over and over and over again. So that the one time in a game that it happens, and it happens at full speed. He makes that throw the way he means to and you know, he'll he'll, for every amazing thing I've ever seen my son do in a baseball game. I saw him do it 1000 times on a practice

Martha Andrews 1:10:39
field. Exactly. So well put, yeah, so well put,

Scott Benner 1:10:43
it really isn't as simple as you know, you could say it's just a game if you want, but you put your whole life into anything. It's not just anything. You know, it's it's what you've been putting your focus into. So, yeah, yeah. And it's so worth it. I'll never forget the first time I saw a kid put a ball into a gap, you know, in the right center field and the largest offense and the kid on the first thought he was gonna make it the third and my son stands up like Superman and puts that ball in the third base. And it is hard not to stand up and go yo, did you all just see what my kid did? That was my son. And I imagine you know how that feels. It's very hard to hold that inside. Just stand up and you're very politely clap at a baseball. Oh, good job. Nice. Throw it inside. You're thinking my son's much better than yours. And there you go. And I'm not trying to get you to say that I just, I really, it is just it's a it's a it's an overwhelming wash of pride. Because you know how much effort he put into it. And not that the other don't put that kind of effort into it. But when it pans out, it's it's just kind of special, you know, and you deserve. You deserve what you deserve after that, so. Alright, well, Martha, I'm glad you had a good time. I did. I will say goodbye to you now. Thank you so much course Hold on one second for me.

I am not afraid to set the bar high by coming out of the gate strong in 2022 with Mark Andrews mom about that right. And NFL football players mommy was on the show. How cool is that? I want to thank Dexcom for sponsoring this episode of The Juicebox Podcast and remind you to go to dexcom.com Ford slash juice box to get started today. But the best darn CGM that I've ever seen, held, touched or looked at through the internet. And don't forget about that on the pod promise Omni pod.com forward slash juice box. If you've been wanting to switch to a pump, or get rid of your tubing, there's no better time than right now to make that decision and get started.

If you're enjoying the Juicebox Podcast, please subscribe in a podcast app like if you have an Apple phone. There's a podcast player right there. It's called podcasts. Super simple. You search for Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes. And then I think they want you to follow these to use the word subscribe some apps use subscribe, some use follow. So either subscribe or follow. Now if you've got like an Android phone, you can listen in Spotify, where there's a ton of different apps, all made for podcasts and all free shouldn't have to pay for a podcast that please keep that in mind. So there should be an app on your phone or one readily available for you to subscribe and follow in Google Play Amazon music, Pandora, Spotify, Stitcher, I Heart Radio, Apple podcasts just to name a few. If you have trouble, head over to the Facebook group Juicebox Podcast type on diabetes become a member. There's 19,000 other people in there just like you talking about type one in the podcast right now. You can head in there and be like, Hey, I don't know how to find a podcast that you can do that. It's super simple. And if you're already listening in an app, but you're not subscribed, like a Scott, you're bugging me subscribe. Everybody wants you to subscribe. I don't want to subscribe. It really helps the show. I know that sounds crazy. But it improves the ranking of the show. When the ranking of the show is improved that attracts advertisers. It keeps advertisers when you guys listen to the show regularly. It brings up my numbers when the numbers are up. The show is attractive to other people. That helps the show come up in searches and be available for new type ones and other people with diabetes who are looking for help and don't know where to begin. If you're wondering where to begin, everything you need to know about the show is at Juicebox Podcast, type one diabetes on Facebook. There's a whole section of announcements that just tell you you know how to listen to management episodes, episodes on certain topics. There's going to be more of that this year. We're going to make doing some groupings of shows into certain topics so you guys can find them more easily. In the end subscribing an app new shows are coming constantly listen share Be bold

#604 Is Kate Winslet Right?

Linda is the mother of a child with type 1 diabetes.

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, and welcome to episode 604 of the Juicebox Podcast.

This one's fun. Linda is the mom of a child with type one diabetes. And she lives like almost exactly where I grew up. And we figured that out very quickly the beginning of the episode. It follows suit. I'd love to tell you what else we talked about. But I edited this program many weeks ago and I no longer remember. That's as honest as I can be. While you're listening, please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan, or becoming bold with insulin. If you're new to the podcast, you should check out the Facebook page Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes, it is private and has over 18,000 people in it just like you are all talking about taking care of type one. If you're looking for the diabetes pro tip episodes or the defining diabetes series, they can be found at Juicebox Podcast comm quorate. Di just forgot what the link Oh, I got it. Boy or a diabetes pro tip.com. It's been a long year, I made a lot of podcasts. This episode of The Juicebox Podcast isn't sponsored by anybody. I made more podcasts than I had ads for. That's okay, though. I do want to take a moment to thank the advertisers. And seriously for you to understand that the podcast just doesn't exist without the advertisers. I know, I'm not kidding. This is the end of December, it's between Christmas and New Year most people have offered at the very least they're not doing stuff like I'm doing right now. I keep putting out the podcast for you because that's what I do. And that's what I do. Because I can afford to do that because I have advertisers. And because you guys support them, you know, you support the show. You listen, you share it. That's why advertisers are interested. That's why I'm sitting here today. And every advertiser we had from 2021 is coming back for 2022. I think we're adding one more. And that's a testament to many things. But a large part of it is due to you and your support. And I really appreciate it because I just I couldn't make the podcast. I mean, I'm just being honest, I'm an adult, I can't make this podcast if I don't make money while I do it. So thank you very much for listening and sharing it with other people and supporting the sponsors. You know, you need an omni pod, you get an omni pod from my link, it's a big deal for me. Same with Dexcom contour, G vote, voc touch by type one, if you support the T one D exchange by taking their survey trial to try this out this year a little bit. Maybe there'll be back next year. Everything I mean, it's just it's common sense. But when you support those things, it allows the podcast to go on. So there are links in your show notes and links at Juicebox Podcast comm to all the sponsors, and if you should need them, I really appreciate it if you use my link.

Linda 3:31
Hi, my name is Linda. And I have a son Dylan, who's six. He was diagnosed almost a year ago now. And we live in Pennsylvania.

Scott Benner 3:41
I was born in Pennsylvania.

Linda 3:44
I live outside of Philadelphia.

Scott Benner 3:49
Alright, hold on a second. Linda will bleep this part out. I'm sorry. No, no, that's not over. No, no, no, no, don't we're not starting over. What do you think this podcast is some like well, like, like edited thing. I'll just think I'm gonna ask you a question. Then I'm gonna bleep out your answer my answer. Okay. Where do you live outside of Philly? I live in. Okay, I grew up in

Linda 4:13
oh my gosh, what a small world. I can throw a stone they're

Scott Benner 4:17
saying you started saying outside of Philly. And I was like, only people in the Northeast say that is like outside the Northeast. Like nobody says they live outside of Philly. If they live out, you know, on another side of the city. It's that it's very, it's a specific colloquialism to.

Linda 4:34
And I'm not originally from here, so I think I picked it up just by being here.

Scott Benner 4:37
Yeah, I have to bleep all that out. But no, don't be Stop saying you're sorry. So I don't sound weird to you do I

Linda 4:45
know not at all.

Scott Benner 4:47
For the rest of you. Suck it. That's amazing. Finally, somebody thinks I sound normal. Excellent. We're gonna have to say water. Oprah Winfrey, and all kinds of things while we're talking so we can hear our accent. better.

Linda 5:00
I see now that's funny. I don't have this accent. I'm from Boston. So I parked my car and I go to the bar and order a beer.

Scott Benner 5:07
Well, fine. We'll just just try really hard for me not to say water. Then while this is happening, my kids are like, it's water. I'm like, I don't think it is.

Linda 5:18
Let's see, when I go back home to Boston, they say I have a Philly accent. But when I'm in Philly every once in a while, they say you've got to Boston. So I don't know what my accent is for Goodman anymore.

Scott Benner 5:27
Anyway. So you were just asking me a second ago? You said the use the term the podcast is blowing up? Yes. And it's funny because it is. And yet I don't think of it that way. Because I've been working so hard on it for so long, like to me, I can see the slow progression of getting to this spot. But when it starts doubling on itself, then I can see where from the outside like, look, it's blowing. It is like I'm not arguing with Thank you. Let me start with that. I'm not arguing with the sentiment. It's just that I see it from, in my mind as an idea in 2014. And I see the first month, getting as many downloads as we going to say that the show is going to get the next hour and a half. Wow, you don't I mean, amazing. Yeah.

Linda 6:19
Well, you're doing great things. And I found you a little bit late. I didn't find you till a couple months into diagnosis.

Scott Benner 6:25
Okay. Well, that's, I mean, that's not I have to say something. So to give you some perspective, that's really early. And I'd be if the podcast is helpful for you, I'd be really grateful about that. Because a couple months in is still enough time. You're not cemented and any of the ideas that anybody's given you. You haven't been, you know, suffering for years or anything like that. So I think for you and your timeline, this is it's great timing. I mean, if it worked out unless you're on the show to tell me how much it sucks. And then No, it's

Linda 6:57
it's been, I found that it just the right time. We were four months in. I mean, I wish I had found it earlier. But we had just the first three months, no one really talked about Pre-Bolus thing.

Scott Benner 7:09
Yeah, no, it's not something commonly gets brought up. I don't think

Linda 7:13
No, on my three month appointment, they're like so have you started to Pre-Bolus and I was like, what? What's that? No one mentioned it.

Scott Benner 7:20
Were you gonna bring it up? Cuz? Yeah.

Linda 7:24
But I just started it like the week before. And then I you know, I started listening to the podcast and everything. So it's yeah, it came at just the right time for me to I had kind of settled into the diagnosis. I know that sounds weird to say, but, you know, just accepted it and said it started sort of getting on solid ground a little bit thick. And we were starting to know what we were doing. But we were still in honeymoon, obviously. So it was easy. And then we found the podcast as things started to change, and we had to adjust and he was still MDI them.

Scott Benner 7:58
What did not What did unsettled mean? Were you online looking for cures were like, what was what did not feeling accepting look like?

Linda 8:10
Um, I wasn't online looking for cures, I'm a type A. So I just want to I want to get in there, get my hands dirty and figure it all out. But because of the pandemic, so that's kind of why we're talking because he was diagnosed during a pandemic. So there aren't a lot of live resources, like somebody that I could go to and ask or see. I mean, our doctor's appointments after we left the hospital were telehealth. The JDRF wasn't hosting any events. There's a local chapter here, near me, of parents that put something together, they're not hosting live events. So it was really, I was looking for a tribe kind of online and didn't know where to go. So I was kind of unsettled that way. There weren't many resources in person that I could go to or someone that I could speak to. And the two tribers moms that I found that were the most help. I just found online through my local on Facebook, my local town, I just kind of posted about how to get rid of sharps and needles in our town does anyone know? And the other mom of a diabetic in our school happen to reach out to me. So and that was pretty neat because my son was diagnosed August 8, which was about two weeks before he started kindergarten. And we already started to meet at first it was crazy. Two weeks.

Scott Benner 9:39
He started virtual kindergarten. Yes. Got in person diabetes. Yeah. And can I ask did you post about the sharps just to find out about the sharps or were you hoping kind of quietly that someone would be like, like it as diabetes to where I have You, did you have any underlying thoughts? When you said that sent out that message?

Linda 10:04
Absolutely. I was looking for, you know, for some help. And I found it. And then the other time I posted online was, I've got a Cricut machine that people talk about, and the overlay patches, I wanted to see if I could, you know, create his favorite characters on them. So I had posted in a group on Facebook for that. And I found a mom out of Florida, believe it or not, which is not where I'm from. And she connected with me. And she actually told me about children with diabetes, and the friends for life conference, and all that. So

Scott Benner 10:41
you learn as you go, you take a little bits from people, okay, I don't want to get too far away without asking what Cricut machine is?

Linda 10:48
Oh, I'm sorry. So I actually have a silhouette, which is similar to a Cricut. So you cut vinyl, you make decals, and T shirts, and all sorts of customized things. So I was looking to make customized overlay patches.

Scott Benner 11:00
Gotcha. I just You said it like, like you were saying my left hand and I was like, she really knows what that thing is. But I don't understand what it is at all. Hey, yeah, I have to tell you, I'm now calling clock. Now setting up need for me to bleep myself more. But you know, my wife went to art.

Linda 11:23
That's in my backyard.

Scott Benner 11:24
That's literally right by where you live. I have a I have a fantastic story about this school that has nothing to do with my wife. I was dating a girl who went there when I was much younger. And they were going away on some senior like trip. And I was a little older than her. So I was out of high school. And I also did not go to that school. And I drove her to the school to drop her off for the trip. So we drove up, the parking was atrocious, he had to park across the street at this shopping center. Right. And I walked her over and spent I don't know, like 15 or 20 minutes milling around and saying goodbye and stuff like that. And I think with that he's saying goodbye means you kiss. And so we're saying goodbye. And you know, she gets on the bus. And I walk back across the property across the street through a parking lot to get to my car, you know, thinking I wonder what I'm gonna do with my one week of not being like a dating person. And then I get to my car and realize my keys are in her pocketbook. So I am now sprinting down the road, waving my hands at Subway. And the bus finally comes to a stop and I just look her in the face. And I go, you have my keys and the windows are shut and she gets this look of like shocked horror surprise on her face and starts rooting around in her stuff. And then I continue to run to the bus until it stops at another light when she puts the window down and Chuck's the keys out the window at me. Without saying anything to the bus driver. Nobody ever knew what was that I couldn't. I couldn't like overtake. I'm not that quick. I couldn't overtake the bus. You're lucky there's so many lights on. Oh 100% I could just keep up and then like, catch my breath and then keep up again. And then I took what ended up being like a 15 minute like sad walk back to my car. Anyway, she cheated on me eventually. Lovely girl, though, in case she's listening. I'm sorry. So I just don't There's nowhere else for me to ever tell anyone that. Yeah, you're the only one that has context for the space and everything like that. Anyway, that's that's kind of stupid. Well, what were some of the signs? Are we saying your son's name? Yes. What's his name has been stolen. All right, Don, what were some of the signs like how did you? I mean, like, did everybody in your family have type one? And you were just like, oh, it's his turn? Or how did you figure it out?

Linda 14:15
No, nobody at all had type one. So he was just going to the bathroom a lot. And he went to bed which he had never done since he was potty trained. Like he was never one to wear pull ups or anything like that. And yeah, and that was it. And so we caught him pretty early is able to see a diagnosis was 8.3. So I think that's coming up super early. But if you don't mind, I'm gonna go a little bit back because we kind of had it in our minds a little bit from, like 10 months before. So 10 months before diagnosis. He was going to the bathroom a lot. He wasn't drinking a lot, but he was going to the bathroom. And we took him to the doctor thinking he may have an infection or something weird for a boy, but let's take them. And they tested and everything was fine. And the doctor said, sometimes this happens. It only lasts, it can last up to six months, but it might only last a month. Let's just keep an eye on it. So they had this big, long, confusing name for whatever the diagnosis was. Said, Okay. So then the that was in an October the following March, so six months before diagnosis, he woke up one morning and he couldn't walk. And he said, his legs really hurt. And I called out of work, it was March 2, and took him to the doctor. And he had a lot of muscle breakdown in his legs. And she we had ended up going to the hospital to get some blood work done. Because if your muscle breaks down too fast, it can damage your kidneys. So they needed to see if he had kidney damage from whatever was going on. And he didn't. So we took him home and she just called follow up the next few days. And he was kind of shuffling around like an old man by the end of the first day that he went to bed and he couldn't walk again the second day. And it was really scary. And they just said it was a virus and we had to just feed him up to water and He'll get over it.

Scott Benner 16:19
Can I ask you right in that space? Do you? Are you thinking there's something seriously wrong with my kid? Or are you hoping it's just the virus? Like which way does your brain take you?

Linda 16:28
I'm an eternal optimist. I'm just thinking it's a virus. Okay. Um, but I do want to say this is two weeks before the Coronavirus was announced.

Scott Benner 16:37
Oh, oh. Oh, so we should play like old timey Dumb Dumb Dumb music like scary music. So go ahead, keep talking. Sorry. Go ahead.

Linda 16:49
That's okay. Um, so that was it. It just lasted two days. And a week later, they checked his numbers again, to make sure that he didn't have kidney damage from it. And we moved on, and everything was fine and great. We had a great summer. And then August came now because COVID Two weeks later, they were saying kids don't get it. So couldn't have been that right. Um, and but then right before diagnosis, they were saying, Oh, no, it's an inflammatory disease that they're seeing in kids that might get corona. So I start sort of thinking, Oh, well, maybe. So when he did get diagnosed, because he was drinking a lot into the bathroom, you broke the bed once. I asked the doctors I said, hey, could this be? And they said, Oh, no, no, definitely not. But I don't know. I kind of think my mom's intuition. So now there's studies coming out that it might be linked. But back when he had the virus in his legs, we didn't know about Corona. There were no tests for antibodies. And by the time six months later, that I tried to put it together. The antibodies would never wouldn't show up on a test if they took it. Okay, so we will never know.

Scott Benner 17:58
Yeah, so Okay, so the atrophy, I guess, in his legs, with was it accompanied by anything else, there are other symptoms. Nothing, nothing else. Just

Linda 18:11
he just couldn't walk. And I noticed that because I thought he just had a charley horse because he woke up in the morning with it. So I carried him down to the couch. And when he sat on the couch, he had his legs like straight out, like kids wrap their legs underneath them and go in all these crazy positions, because he was five. But he had his legs like straight up in front of them and just looked awkward. Uncomfortable. Something's not right.

Scott Benner 18:38
It's just odd that you went to a hospital twice for something that was serious enough that they were like, Let's make sure his kidneys haven't been damaged. But then head home, like and then was there any instruction and head home

Linda 18:51
water? Just give him lots of water. That's it.

Scott Benner 18:57
That's just water. Catchy, doesn't it?

Linda 19:00
Yeah, well, and I got really nervous the second day, cuz he's gonna shuffle it around at the end of the first day. So I'm like, Okay, well, we're gonna get over this. And then the second day when he woke up, he couldn't walk again. And the doctors got nervous, then maybe take them in for a consult for a second time. Just to kind of look them over.

Scott Benner 19:18
Did you ever come close to you going to chop?

Linda 19:21
No, not until diagnosis in August? Well, no, we went to a different hospital to get the blood work done. Okay.

Scott Benner 19:30
Well, that's really weird. Did you you don't have a diagnosis for the leg thing? No, it's a viral spiral. But do you think he was do you think that diabetes was present at that time?

Linda 19:47
I don't know. I'm trying to figure it out. Because like I said six months before that he had been paying a lot for one month. Yeah. So I don't know if it may be just exacerbated it and brought on The diagnosis maybe sooner, maybe? I don't know.

Scott Benner 20:04
Yeah. I mean, so, listen, we all know that. And if you don't know, welcome to the show that you know, you, if you end up with type one diabetes, you have these genetic markers that, that make it predispose you to having type one at some point. And the more of these markers you have, the more likely it is you're going to get it right. I forget the exact number of them. But I think there's five if you've got three, like you're getting it at some point, it's happening. So how it ends up happening, you know, a lot of people have stories about I got sick, my son got sick. And then this thing happened. Arden had coxsackievirus then she had diabetes, like, you know, and I think the confusing thing is in the terminology, where people will say like, oh, I, I had a, I had Coxsackie. And that causes type one diabetes, it's like, well, it didn't, didn't give you diabetes. It's not like, I don't know how to put it. If you're walking down the street, and you have a coin in your pocket, and someone walks up to you and tells you there's a coin in your pocket. They didn't give you the coin, right? They just made it they made it aware you made you made you aware of it, and so that you can get a virus that will then make your body go, oh, geez, I'm super sick. I'm gonna go attack this virus, I got really confused and attacked my pancreas instead. Like there's something in obviously, I'm not a scientist. And but there's something in that I just always want to be sure that people don't talk about it like a made B happen out of thin air, like a might have put things into motion that caused B to happen. It's an important distinction, but

Linda 21:42
I'm sorry. And I believe that because I'm listening to your podcasts. I found out that it's autoimmune. And my mother and my husband. Both have thyroid issues.

Scott Benner 21:52
These bastards. I knew it was someone's fault, Linda, we figured it out. Yes. What else do your pasty family members? Are they from Ireland? or England or something like that? Yes. Do a podcast where everybody's from Ireland or England at some point in their family life and they have like, autoimmune stuff wrong with them. Ah, it's just it's a good bet. You don't have to be from there, obviously. But it's just

Linda 22:20
my grandmother's from Cook County or county coke. I don't know how that's yeah, Ireland.

Scott Benner 22:25
Well, you live in Boston. So you know, it was hard to put together. But, but any other autoimmune stuff for them? Or is it just thyroid? Just die? Right? Do you know if they have Hashimotos? Or if they have hypothyroidism?

Linda 22:42
Find out. I don't know, my husband would know which one he has. But I think it's Hashimotos. But I'm not sure.

Scott Benner 22:48
And that's the auto immune version of it.

Linda 22:51
Not There you go. You can hear my mom actually had half her thyroid removed.

Scott Benner 22:56
Ah, interesting. Any other kids? Linda?

Linda 23:00
My husband has a daughter, who's 20. And but we have no kids. No other kids together. Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. And they told me she didn't need to get tested. Because it's not the same parents.

Scott Benner 23:13
People don't know. Talking about. If you do try

Linda 23:16
on it. They I asked if we should test her. They said no.

Scott Benner 23:19
Yeah, trial net needs more funding so that they don't have to say stuff like that. I it just doesn't fall in the parameters of how they do it. I would imagine. There's there's an there's other tests you can use that you'd have to pay for. But you know, it's up to her obviously. Does your husband have any brothers or sisters? He has a brother. Does that brother have an autoimmune issue? Endor children?

Linda 23:46
No, no.

Scott Benner 23:47
Oh, interesting. Yeah, like there's a whole lot. Yeah,

Linda 23:50
well, and here's another interesting fact, when we were at CHOP with the diagnosis, they had told us that the last 30 families that had been through chop in August, there was no genetic link.

Scott Benner 24:06
Yeah, but people always say is their diabetes and your history? They don't. They don't ask about did your great grandmother have celiac? Because you know, or something like that, which in my mind is a genetic link, but I hear what you're saying.

Linda 24:18
Now that you say that I had a cousin who had celiac course,

Scott Benner 24:21
it you shouldn't start a podcast about something you'd become like a like a savant. And I think I'd be an idiot savant, an idiot savant. So right before COVID, like strikes and hits, your kid gets diabetes, everything is virtual. Was this your first experience with virtual like doctoring?

Linda 24:41
Yes. And actually, they did a telehealth to diagnose them and then they said no, I need to come in because they wanted to check his sugars. So wanted to telehealth and it turned into no come into the office park in the parking lot milk amount get you

Scott Benner 24:57
right now. They say he has diabetes. What do they do now? Do you live in your car in the parking?

Unknown Speaker 25:04
They sent me down to chop.

Unknown Speaker 25:04
Okay.

Linda 25:06
They said no, it's a job. I could I tell a kind of a funny story.

Scott Benner 25:09
So we go absolutely not with a don't

Linda 25:12
say test his blood sugar and he had a granola bar for breakfast that morning. I'm just gonna say that, okay, because granola bars spiked us like crazy. We know now. So he went in and they took his blood and it was 536. But too bad. But my eyes got super wide. I didn't know what the right number was supposed to be. But I knew it wasn't supposed to be in the five hundreds. And I had promised myself that he was good because he spied during this appointment, knowing that they would probably participant her. I said, well go to the Lego store and we'll get you some Legos. If you're a good boy. Well, the doctor says you need to go right down to children's hospital right away. And I said, okay, and I get in my car. And I'm like, I promise this kid like, I cannot take him to this big Children's Hospital knowing we're going to be there for days. And like not going to miss Legos and not going to miss Blinky. Literally went to the Lego store, grab something real quick came home, grab his blankie before we went to the hospital, so that's my dad mom moment, but

Scott Benner 26:11
it's not law. Everyone has some sort of story like that, where they're just like, Ah, so we waited till tomorrow, you know, like, I mean, it wasn't that it you don't have context like, let me ask you right now, if in that exact same situation, another child was diagnosed, would you go to the Lego store first?

Linda 26:31
I went, but I had the insulin so I can get an insulin first.

Scott Benner 26:34
I guess I I guess I should ask differently. If you had if you knew about diabetes, what you do now? Right?

Linda 26:39
I would not have absolutely not. You just didn't? Absolutely not. That's all I didn't realize how sick he was. Yeah. And they didn't say anything, either. I mean, they told me to go to the hospital. And they told me to go to the Children's Hospital, not the hospital. That's closer. So that was kind of a you know, but I knew we were going to be staying for days. And my husband actually was working. He works weekends, that happened to be weekend. And he was already down in the city. So there was no way that he would be able to come home and pick everything up. Yeah, I kind of felt like we had one shot. And the doctors like a mile from my house too. And so was the Lego store. I mean, it's all sort of on the way and I'm making excuses for

Scott Benner 27:18
why you are it's I think that's the thing where if you retold that story in five years, you would not feel like you had to defend yourself. You don't mean like it's just one of those things he didn't know. So he did what made sense.

Linda 27:31
And he was back in the 300. So I say that like it's nothing. When we got him to the hospital. It was just that granola bar just really spiked him up. But I know he was sick. And he wasn't a dk, I just ketones for God, I think within five hours.

Scott Benner 27:48
Okay, so he's got some function from his pancreas. They'll work and helping them out at that point. Yes,

Linda 27:54
yes. But we knew he was sick, because obviously we want to take him to the doctor. We didn't think he was sick.

Scott Benner 27:58
What was it like at that point going into a major hospital? I mean, Corona was in effect, at that point, know where it was. They just talked, it was Yeah, we were six months into it. Okay, so what was that like being admitted?

Linda 28:14
Scary, because you hear all these stories about people contracting Corona while they're there. And if I know he's already sick, and I was going along, because my husband was working. I mean, he ended up meeting us there within, you know, an hour or two as soon as he could get someone to cover for him. But it was scary going alone. And my son knows about hospitals. He was a preemie. So he's been. He was born three months early. So he's been followed a lot and Benza hospitals kind of throughout his life. And so it was nerve racking. It was like, here we go again. Take just one more thing.

Scott Benner 28:53
So the virus the Coronavirus thing wasn't at the top of your mind, really?

Linda 28:57
Not at that point. It was just, I was afraid that we could get it if he went there.

Scott Benner 29:03
You're afraid for yourself to

Linda 29:06
you know, I didn't even think about that, then. It's it was all about him. It really was.

Scott Benner 29:12
So now do you see I asked you that question. So you can realize you're not a bad mom, are you? How do you like it? Of course you weren't worried about yourself? Right? You would have gone anywhere. Like if they told you that the the only Children's Hospital that helped people with diabetes was the bottom of an active volcano, you would have been like, Okay, let's go. You know, like, it's just kind of, you keep making you get new information, and then you make the best decision you can make, and then you get new information. You just like he was

Linda 29:38
500 Today, man, you know, I can't even imagine he would be would be on our way to the hospital,

Scott Benner 29:44
where you would think you didn't like something would be really out of whack can absolutely be seen.

Linda 29:49
Yes. So we'd be checking ketones and calling ahead and making sure they had a bed ready.

Scott Benner 29:54
How long did they keep them for days? Okay.

Linda 29:59
And I think That was more of our training for the parents training.

Scott Benner 30:04
Yeah, like the third and fourth day, you're like, we should leave this hotel box. Yeah, no breakfast is dry, and there's nothing to do in the afternoon.

Linda 30:17
That's the other thing while we're in the hospital, and they hand you the menu to order his his meals. And they tell me he can eat whatever he wants. Okay, so I know nothing about diabetes, except for everybody always thinks type two. So like, What do you mean, he can eat? And I thought that they were just going to tell me that like, while we were at the hospital while he was in a controlled environment, and I thought when we went home, that he was going to have to stop eating everything.

Scott Benner 30:42
Oh, really? Yeah,

Linda 30:43
I had no idea. Like, I wasn't believing that when they told me he could eat anything he wants. As I'm looking at the menu that has the carb counts. I thought they were just going to maybe easily back it off. And, you know, slowly make a lifestyle change or something.

Scott Benner 30:56
Later, we're gonna take a detour for a second because you just said home. And I just finished watching the mayor of East town on HBO.

Linda 31:04
Did you watch three C three episodes, and

Scott Benner 31:07
I won't ruin anything for you. But what's the Titanic girl's name? This the lead? Oh my god. I mean, Kate Winslet Kate Winslet. So she's obviously not from around here. And someone gave her some diction, lessons for Philly. And as that thing goes on, you'll realize they they seem to work in a couple of the words so that you can hear the Philly accent except it's way off and it to me to my ear. And she's when she says home she just home. Like it's just she's not even from the United States. No, no, she's from the island I believe. So it's it's whom she has him and you just and I was been making fun of it for seven or six episodes of the movies town, but then you just sort of did a little bit. I was like, Oh my God. I was like, was Kate Winslet right. I told you my exits from all over the place. Yeah, you're a little so that makes more sense. Because there's, anyway, it's a depressing series, but it's well done. And, but it's a big issue just like it's him. And I'm like, whom? I don't think we talk like that. But then again, I don't know. I say water. So what the hell you don't even no idea really. Anyway. I'm sorry. It's okay. Okay, so you're super new at this still then? Like a year?

Linda 32:36
Now? 10 months? Yeah. August will be a one year.

Scott Benner 32:40
Do you feel new at it still?

Linda 32:43
I do. I get really nervous because obviously he's still in honeymoon. But he's, we've had to double his Basal twice. But because they were so small. When we started to me, I'm like, Oh, my gosh, I'm doubling. But it's still only small increments. And they still say he's in honeymoon. So when I have to mess with Basal and carbery issues. I get nervous,

Scott Benner 33:05
too. Why? Yeah. You sent me pictures. Oh, yeah. I guess is he 60 pounds.

Linda 33:11
You know what? He's a lot when he's 51. Now, he lost a lot of weight after diagnosis, because he's, he's always been a good eater, but he's not snacking as often. And that's his choice. Not ours. Okay, you know, yeah. eating healthier. So he was I think he was 51 pounds a diagnosis but before that he was close to 60.

Scott Benner 33:33
Is he MDI or pump?

Linda 33:36
We got the Omni pod a couple months back. So we are potting are so excited.

Scott Benner 33:41
Oh, cool. And he, but he's not snacking as much. There's before. Do you think it's a decision about diabetes? Do you think he's trying to not intersect with the diabetes decision? What do you think he's just not hungry?

Linda 33:54
He's just not hungry. Because it is, but it's so kids are funny. So he'll ask for non carb snacks. Like he'll ask for a cheese stick sometimes to like, if he's hungry, then he doesn't really want to deal. I think what the diabetes, he'll ask for a cheese stick. Or he knows we know that's a healthier snacks. And we knows we might say no to cookies, but okay, go ahead. Have a cheese stick. Okay.

Scott Benner 34:18
Um, were you limiting and I don't mean limiting in a bad way. But like were you avoiding foods when he was on MDI? Just so you wouldn't have to inject or was that not happening?

Linda 34:28
No, we didn't avoid anything. The everything is I want to say he was getting a little bit. Wait, just to say this for five years. He was getting a little chunky. Okay. The January before diagnosis. So eight months before diagnosis as a family. We changed the snacks he was eating. So we went from goldfish and things like that to we gave him a drawer in the fridge with his name on it. He was all excited and it would have cheesed x would have pudding was the one thing that he could think that he was getting something you know really good, but it would have fruit cups and applesauce and yogurt, the yogurt, go, go go Gurt sticks. So the January before diagnosis, we started giving him healthier snacks to sort of keep him healthy as a kid. And he's a good eater, like I said, so that's another reason why we didn't notice the weight loss before diagnosis because we were like, Oh, this is working great. You know these healthy snacks. You changed it eight months before diagnosis the way he snack.

Scott Benner 35:36
So you just thought you were a genius.

Unknown Speaker 35:38
You're like,

Scott Benner 35:39
I got this thing other people complain about it. But look how easily I handled this. Rescue suckers don't know what you're doing. I put a name on a Georgia kids out of his mind eaten all kinds of stuff that isn't junky anymore. And I when look at me, you're probably getting ready to buy yourself a crown in the scepter walk around town. I was ready. I was ready. Go let the other ladies know how you've conquered having children. I bet you don't feel like that anymore. Oh my gosh. So what what are 10 months in 10 months in how long? Have you had a pump?

Linda 36:21
Oh, gosh. I wrote it down. So I would know too. We got to march 1, so we've had a pump. Three months.

Scott Benner 36:30
Okay. Alright, so and CGM using any kind of CGM Dexcom. Okay. Had you had that before the pump?

Linda 36:37
Yes, we got that. Three months and, and the Omnipod. They said we could have gotten it five months, but it took two months to get it through, you know,

Scott Benner 36:46
all this. You know, the truth is for people listening, Linda, if you get on the phone about every 48 hours with your insurance company, you'll get a lot faster than that.

Linda 36:57
So even know what the issue was, it was a crazy issue. So in order to get it, we needed notes from two different doctor visits. But because we were at the five month mark, we only had one visit with the actual endocrinologist. So they kept saying we need to we do do and that's what saying, we sent you everything. I had to get on the phone eventually. And you know, tear it up for 48 hours and say he's only seen the endo one time.

Scott Benner 37:24
Two things. I don't know why in this day and age. Medical facilities can't figure out communication, but they're terrible at it still and your phone ringer just made me realize how much I unnaturally love a Devil Wears Prada. The Devil Wears Prada. I love that movie.

Unknown Speaker 37:46
I think I've always seen it like once. Oh my God once a year.

Linda 37:53
Now I'm gonna go back and I'm gonna watch

Scott Benner 37:54
it. I don't know why. Honestly, it's maybe it's something to do with Arden watching it or something. But I've seen that movie like a dozen times, I think. And that ring is her. Is her cell phone ring. In the movie.

Linda 38:08
I'm trying to find the connection. I was like, I don't get it. Yeah, no,

Scott Benner 38:10
no, that's what just happened that I was like, oh my god, Miranda. Oh my gosh, I'm this close. I'm holding my fingers about two inches apart. I'm this close from being a lady at this point for being for being a stay at home dad for 20 years. I if I had two ovaries, I could probably make a baby.

Linda 38:32
I'm jealous. I wish I could have ever stayed home.

Scott Benner 38:34
Oh, yeah. It's fantastic. Not working. I mean, being home with your kids is a wonderful thing. I mean, I mean, oddly, both of those things, not having to go to a job every day is wonderful. And I

Linda 38:50
did it for the first couple years. Did you like it? Well, I did it for the first year. And then I went part time for about three years. I did. I loved it.

Scott Benner 38:59
Yeah, I have a, I think I have an understanding of my kids that you can't get from being around them intermittently. So and it's sort of like, this is odd to but maybe not unlike the podcast and having. I mean, I don't even know at this point, you're probably like close to the 600th conversation I've had, right. And just being around other people, and getting to kind of absorb how they feel about things and how they see things and getting to watch them from afar a little bit and have personal conversations with them. You just get a feeling for things that it's not possible another way. And so being with the kids every day and having that same interaction with them, you know, I might know things about them that they don't know and yet the bigger impact is how the way other people see the world changes me. Like that's the that's that's the real value for me. Like I don't think anybody would listen. But everybody should have a podcast, you know, or, or just call people on the phone, I guess you want to record it if you don't want to. But you know, like having those real. And I'm in an interesting situation. Whereas if you were to call a friend on the phone, right, a friend would feel a little guarded. You would feel like contemporaries. Right, you know, and so I'm in a really unique situation right now, where you feel like, on some level, you need to answer my questions, which is, of course not true. You could say no to anything. But you, when people come on, they're very agreeable to having an honest conversation. So then I get to hear more of what they're really thinking and less of what they're willing to tell people, if that makes sense. Yes, yeah. So I mean, you've you've already said a bunch of things that, I don't think you would tell somebody in a regular course of a conversation. Yeah, right. So I when I do, I get to have that, like, I get to have that experience. And you get to share it with a bunch of other people, which is really cool. So what success look like today, what are your like? What are your goals? For like variability? Where do you have your high alarm set your low alarms? What's your a one seagull? How do you think about all that?

Linda 41:19
Sure. So I want to be sub six right now. We're six one and six to what our last two appointments. So I keep telling my diabetes educator, we're going to be sub six. But I feel like we're struggling with that. Because there we go.

Scott Benner 41:37
What's the highlight of that?

Linda 41:40
mindset at 152? So I can do something with it. Right? Yeah. And he had waffles this morning, so yeah, we just hit 158 Geez, I know.

Scott Benner 41:53
Oh, you make the waffle by hand was it from a restaurant? It was a frozen? Was LEGGO

Linda 41:58
my Eggo toffee 20 minutes before I had to jump on with you.

Unknown Speaker 42:04
Later,

Linda 42:06
no. sugar free syrup.

Scott Benner 42:08
Yeah, but those Eggo waffles are hard to Bolus for? Yes, yeah.

Linda 42:13
You got it. He hasn't had one in probably two months. But he was asking me for the special breakfast that I make him on weekends, which happens to be cinnamon rolls. So we're like you, we don't shy away from food just because of diabetes. We just try and stay on top of it.

Scott Benner 42:30
I have a great waffle recipe. But man, it's a lot to make it

Linda 42:33
do not have a waffle maker. You have to send it to me.

Scott Benner 42:36
Yeah, it's a it's a great recipe. But I mean, there's buttermilk in it. And you're you're fluffing egg whites, and but it works out really well. When you're done. You're like I shouldn't be eating this.

Linda 42:47
Feeling everything in moderation. Yeah, well,

Scott Benner 42:49
waffles pretty big. And you went all the trouble taking out the waffle maker. See, then you're like, well, I'll just have a little more. And actually, they freeze Well, oddly, but they're hard to warm back up. You have to microwave them a little and then toast them to get them back to anyway, this is a rabbit hole. Absolutely. Yeah. Okay, so you're looking for sub six, you're just above it right? Now, when you tell the educator you want sub six? Do they say no, you're doing great? Or do they say Sure go for it.

Linda 43:18
They're kind of funny, because they know on site that they're like, go for it. They said their average is eight. So they told me Don't Don't try and push myself. But they're totally open about it. You know, they said a site an hour for telehealth, and after 20 minutes, they're like, Oh, we looked at all your charts here. Good. You're doing great. So we're really lucky because I hear some other stories. We're lucky.

Scott Benner 43:41
Yeah. Though, sometimes people will start doing better and better and they get yelled at by their doctors, which is fascinating. I also think it's interesting to tell somebody, oh, you have a six one, whatever it is. The average for the practice is eight. So you're doing great. I guess I don't feel that way. I feel like what they should be saying is, oh, you're six one, the average for the practice is eight. We're not doing a very good job. Like why are they using other like, do you mean by that? Like, that's a weird thing. Like if you if we were all running a race together, and the average time to finish the race was an hour and you finished it in 30 minutes, and they were the trainer. Why would they not think hmm, apparently you can finish this race in a lot less time. Like why

Linda 44:23
he was diagnosed in 8.3.

Scott Benner 44:26
Right? Well, and he also probably is you're saying he's still honeymooning Tuesday do you think you're getting but I'm just

Linda 44:32
saying you're telling me where I have to be in the hospital for four days because I'm an 8.3 Your patient tell me Oh, the average is eight.

Scott Benner 44:43
Well, yeah, I mean, listen, there's a lot of people have different financial situations. They have different technology they have different abilities and levels of understanding so I get why I get why people's they want these could be easily like that makes sense to me. I also understand Then like for adults listening, like I guess I was saying that more around children. But for adults listening like I can also get how you could get burned out or just like, go through a number of months really like a, you know, me I'll Pre-Bolus After I eat, we'll call it pretty post Bolus, like you can see where you could get beat up by it. But I'm just saying like from the doctor's point of view, why is the thought not? I wonder how we get everybody closer to six, instead of just treating you like you're special for being at six? I mean, not that you're not I'm just saying I don't know why they don't go deeper into their own. You know, you are special. I don't think you are. Well, also, let me get my pen. I think you might have just named the episode a different kind of special Good job. I leave it up to you guys. to name your episodes. You don't realize it's happening. But it is.

Linda 45:59
Yeah. So the only other thing if you don't mind, the only other thing I wanted to talk about with the whole diagnosis during the pandemic is I told you I found my tribe. You know, I found moms that I can connect with. Through friends for life. They do mom's for life, like every other Monday, they do a zoom so I can talk and ask questions, and they've been absolutely amazing. But Dylan hasn't had anyone really to connect with. Because we've been virtual for school. And that's just been we went virtual to hybrid virtual to hybrid to full time by the end of the year. So that was that's interesting, too, by the way, trying to get sugar's under control. Where school is very different settings than home. I feel. Yeah. To go from home to hybrid to home to full time has just been a crazy roller coaster ride for us to

Scott Benner 46:55
use at home again. So it's just a bonus for me really.

Linda 46:59
Yeah. And now we've got the pool and the neighbor's trampoline, that's always fun.

Scott Benner 47:04
You got a lot of stuff going on. A lot of stuff going

Linda 47:07
on. But but my problem is he doesn't have any other kids that have it that he can, there's 1/4 grader in his school, but it's not really his peer, because she's four years ahead of him. Yeah. Um, so we haven't been able to see anyone his age except we are going to, in two weeks, we're going to go to the friends for life. So that I can meet the moms that I've been talking with online, and he gets to meet kids his age,

Scott Benner 47:33
you're going to go to Florida. Yes. Okay, they're doing it again.

Linda 47:40
And we're gonna do the parks for two days. He's a big Star Wars fan. So he's excited. Sounds great. I mean, I'm just, I just want him to feel like he fits in. And he, he gets involved a little bit with his care. I mean, he can look at a number know if it's good or bad or things like that. But I want him to maybe take a little more independent, I don't want him to be in charge of it at all. But I want him to feel more normalized and sort of maybe be able to ask questions to people other than us. Maybe someone else can explain it to him differently than I could. Yeah,

Scott Benner 48:15
I think it's there's, you're going to see a lot of people who have his experience, at least it'll be a shared experience. And that I would imagine would make them feel part of a group, which

Linda 48:27
I'm hoping maybe if he sees an eight year olds, that he can kind of look up to doing something on his level that he might want to

Scott Benner 48:36
think about how to get that. It's, I have a couple of episodes with younger kids. But not many, although somebody just put up a list yesterday on the are you in my Facebook group? Yes. There's one in there, I put it up with a picture. Somebody made a list of episodes that had people on who are 18 and under. And I was surprised it's 23456. I was like 14 or 15 of them so far on the list. Which i i Even I didn't think I'd spoken to that many kids. But I guess over the years they pile up and I don't I don't realize but I mean a six year olds not listening for a podcast like I mean, if you were listening in the background, and there was a kid on, maybe there'd be like a fleeting moment where he's like, oh, there's a kid who has diabetes, you know, but they're not, you know, he's not looking to listen to some of these conversation I wouldn't imagine.

Linda 49:32
So that's kind of been a little bit of our struggle, I think, not really a big struggle, because he doesn't have to know but I would just like him to have it a little more normalized.

Scott Benner 49:43
Do you think it's not?

Linda 49:47
Well, it's not so much with the PA but when we were MDI he would be embarrassed like out at the restaurant. If we had to, you would want to go to the bathroom. And I would kind of say no, we're just no one's gonna watch. It's okay, we could do it right You know, we'll put you on the inside of the booth and we would kind of work on that. So I think he's a little bit shy about it.

Scott Benner 50:10
It's really helped. You're from Boston and Philly and you said, don't worry. No one's gonna look you didn't say them.

Linda 50:18
But this is a clean podcast.

Scott Benner 50:20
Yeah, I know. But I want to know what you were thinking. When you were talking to that kid. We can bleep out the rest. I was thinking I was speaking slowly. Honey, how about Mommy gets up and kicks everyone's ass and then we'll inject how's that sound? Shot beat it some heads and then we'll do it. Anybody looks your ways getting one right now.

Linda 50:42
Right. I am definitely that kind of mama tell. So I understand. Yeah. I just want he's actually not gonna Vizor right now. Let him say hello. Real quick. Of course. Hold

Scott Benner 50:55
on be great if he said

Unknown Speaker 51:02
we're talking about re diabetes. Can you hear me? Hi, Scott. Hey, Dylan,

Scott Benner 51:07
can you hear me? Alright. Hey, Dylan, how are you? Okay, cool. How old are you man? 16. Wow, I do not remember being that young. That is really cool. Do you enjoy any sports? Or what's your favorite TV show? Oh, golf. Yeah, do you guys don't watch the Eagles? No, no football. That's great. You can see. What about I heard you're going to Florida? What are you going to do while you're there? Oh, one rides. Yeah. There's a really cool ride of the Millennium Falcon. That you should check out in the Star Wars Park. And while you're there, so many characters from the movie are going to be walking around. It's really great. Awesome. Yeah, it sounds fun. Cool. Hey, I heard you have an omni pod and a Dexcom. My daughter has that stuff, too. Oh. Yes. Yeah. My daughter does too. She's older than your she's 17. But she's had diabetes since she was two years old when she was a baby. I heard you just got it recently. Wow. Yeah. How are you doing? Yeah, things are okay. Well, that's cool. I want you to know that I know so many people who have diabetes, and they're all cool people. So you must be cool, too. You think you are? Yeah. I think you are too. Alright, Dylan. Well, thank you for talking. Let me say goodbye to your mom. And then I you can have her okay. Okay, all right, man. Have a good day. I stopped by Dylan. Thanks for being with us. Are you kidding me? Finally getting some people on my intellectual level to speak though? I was tired of feeling like you were smarter than me. He's adorable. Good for you. Congratulations. You're not making more babies. Right. Are you? Are you an older mom? Not like, Yeah, I know everything I can really read through people.

Linda 53:33
Well, I kind of gave a hint when we said you did 20 year olds. But yeah, I'm an older mom.

Scott Benner 53:38
I don't know your husband didn't meet a girl in fourth grade and make a mistake. I don't I wasn't sure. You can't get pregnant when you're in fourth grade right now. That's physiologically impossible. I boy.

Linda 53:51
I think I take things a little bit more in stride, I think.

Scott Benner 53:55
Yeah, right. You have a little more life experience.

Unknown Speaker 53:59
Yeah, just different. Yeah,

Scott Benner 54:01
I know. Right. I mean, I was so young when we had kids. And Kelly was, you know, I basically stole Kelly from her family. So she was like, young. And we didn't know what the hell we were doing ever. Like nothing. We never had any kind of like life experience to draw on for the next life experience. Like you were making everything up as it was happening. The diabetes thing was

Linda 54:26
one of the first things we were an adult a little bit more of a perspective. Like, I think if I were when I was younger, I would it would have been the end of the world for me. You know, I would? I don't know. I think I just would have taken it a lot harder. When I'm when I was older and could say okay, you know what, we'll meet this head on and we can do this and we'll make it work.

Scott Benner 54:50
All right. Well, listen, I don't usually end so abruptly. But Dylan clearly needs you. So sorry. You have apologized to me five times you have way more Life and somebody from where you're at where you live and where you came from should be should just tell me to shut up. I gotta talk to my kid now. But I really do appreciate you doing this and talking about it. It was a it's interesting to hear. I mean, your story's fairly unique. The thing with the legs is I've never heard that before. So that was a, that was really something else.

Linda 55:23
Yeah, it confused the doctor too. Great. That's that's always

Scott Benner 55:27
that's always comforting. All my years I have great. Thanks a lot, buddy. Back to Google. All right. Well, thank

Linda 55:36
you so much for taking the time to talk with me. You have a great

Scott Benner 55:38
day. It's my pleasure. I'll talk to you. I'll let you know when it comes out. I'll do my best to let you know. That'd be great. Thanks. Bye, bye. All right. But I don't

want to thank Linda for coming on the show today in doing such a great job telling your story. And they like to thank you, of course, for all the support and love that I've received from you throughout 2021. There's going to be one short episode coming up before the end of the year. And then we are starting strong strong, my friend. Don't don't even pretend that you don't believe me, because I have got a great week of podcasts coming for you right away, right out of the gate right out of the chute. Right in the beginning. May old acquaintance be forgot. I don't know what that means. Honestly, I mean, what does that mean? Why would you want to forget your old acquaintances? Nevertheless, there's going to be some great episodes coming up for you right away in the new year. So don't drink too much because I need you wide awake on that Monday, downloading some podcasts

#603 Grandma Heidi

Heidi was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes over forty years ago.

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, and welcome to episode 603 of the Juicebox Podcast.

today's podcast brings us a 40 year veteran of the fight with type one diabetes. Heidi was diagnosed when she was nine years old. And she's here today to tell you all about it. While Heidi is talking, and I'm being delightful, I need you to remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan, or becoming bold with insulin. Are you looking for the diabetes pro tip episodes? At the moment? They started episode 210. Go back in your podcast episodes machine, the podcast app and take a look. They're also available at juicebox podcast.com. And diabetes pro tip.com. I said at the moment because I'm toying with re releasing them still trying to figure out if it's a good idea or not. But they're always they'll always be where they're at now, Episode 210 is where they start. You'll see there's a list at diabetes pro tip.com. You you'll you'll figure it out. And if you're interested in community, check out the private Facebook group Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes.

Oh, this is my last ad for 2021. Oh, I'm so excited. I'm finished. You don't know what it's like to get a well maybe know what it's like but an assignment on January 1, to make over 300 live ads for seven companies, six or seven. There's a lot of them. And I'm done. This is it like I've not done like Oh, I'm glad I'm done with that. But like I actually completed it. It's a big deal. For me, I'm the kind of person who you would have you know, give it a book report to an 11th grade and they never would have done it. So I'm proud of myself. So we put a real good effort into this one. Not that they all don't get a good effort. This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by touched by type one, please go find them on Instagram, Facebook, and it touched by type one.org touched by type one's mission is to elevate awareness of type one diabetes, raise funds to find a cure and inspire those with diabetes to thrive. You really should check out what they're doing at touched by type one.org. And let me thank them personally for being longtime sponsors of the podcast. Okay, here comes Heidi. By the way, there's gonna be two more episodes this week. These are just the last of the ads. Let's try this again. Hi, how are you? Hi. Oh, everyone your name?

Heidi Wickstrom 2:53
Heidi Wickstrom.

Scott Benner 2:56
Heidi, what makes you want to be on the podcast?

Heidi Wickstrom 3:00
Wow. Well, I guess 40 years of being a diabetic and knowing lots of moms that have little ones that have always come to me and ask questions. And I felt like maybe I could give some advice to others or just some knowledge. Experience.

Scott Benner 3:18
I like it. Yeah. So 40 years ago, you're held now 49 Okay, so when you're nine years old, in

Heidi Wickstrom 3:28
1980 ish. Anyone? Yeah.

Scott Benner 3:31
Wow. Now that was to me. That's that's that's still Dark Ages, right? That's yeah, cloudy. Yeah. No meat or stuff like that? No. Do you remember much of it? Do I do? What sticks out in your mind when I say what's it like growing up a diabetes?

Heidi Wickstrom 3:51
Well, I mean, I have a vivid memory of when I found out. Do you want to hear that story? Tell me more. So Well, first, let me preface that with my dad was also type one from the age of seven. Okay. So my mom was kind of always on the lookout, I guess for one of us to get it possibly. But I remember sitting at a park with my family drinking a coke or soda of some kind. And my mom's next thing I know, I'm at the doctor's office, getting blood work done. And they sit me down like literally in the office like she's behind a desk, the doctor and tells us this news like it's, you know, like you have diabetes, like it's this big announcement. You know, it's very serious. And immediately I had to go home, pack my bags and go to the hospital. Like it was that fast. And just because of my dad I knew that meant shots and so I was devastated because I wanted nothing to do with needles, like every nine year old and then I was in the hospital for either A week. You know, being poked and prodded and get my blood drawn every gosh, I felt like it was every hour.

Scott Benner 5:10
You're in the hospital for a week when you're nine before iPads existed where the? Yes, yes. Would you do? Yeah. Yeah. stare at a wall. Is that what you do? Just stare at the wall?

Heidi Wickstrom 5:22
Yeah, no, I just remember being constantly like poked like people were always coming in and you know, drawing blood giving insulin. You know? I remember seeing my dad on the floor fainting. Weight in the hospital room. Yeah, he would faint when they come draw my blood.

Scott Benner 5:41
Your father a lifelong type one couldn't watch you get blood draws? Yes, he's still with us. He is not Oh, cuz if he was gonna listen to this, I was gonna make fun of them so I could hear it. Sorry,

Heidi Wickstrom 5:53
but you can make fun of me too. I have to lay down and I get my blood taken. I'm a danger. Oh, no kidding. Yeah, no, I always have to lay down that my feet have to be up and otherwise I'm down on the ground.

Scott Benner 6:02
Is it when you see the blood? I know cuz

Heidi Wickstrom 6:05
I don't watch. I never watch it just it's just literally I don't know. They'd say it's psychological. I feel like it's more like the blood leaving my body but

Scott Benner 6:14
I definitely feel that's wrong. Do you get faint when anything else poke show?

Heidi Wickstrom 6:20
Ah, no. It's just about losing blood.

Scott Benner 6:24
Gotcha. So it's the dual blood. Gotcha. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Okay, so your dad's passing out hospital? Yes. Passing

Heidi Wickstrom 6:31
out. And then I gotta remember, they couldn't find veins on me. So they were like putting IVs like up, like in my upper forearm?

Scott Benner 6:41
Yeah, like awful places. Yeah, that doesn't seem fun at all. Now, I'm gonna ask a tough question. If you don't have an answer, it's fine. If you don't want to answer it's fine. Okay. Do you find yourself feeling resentful towards your father? No, no. You ever feel like that's the guy that gave me diabetes? No, never. I wouldn't think so. I just wanted to ask. Yeah, no, no. Okay. It's cool. Because I always wonder that when? When we're having I think I've never asked anybody before.

Heidi Wickstrom 7:10
Yeah, I think he felt that way. But I literally remembering one day actually saying it to him. Like, just so you know, I don't blame you. Well, yeah. I don't know what made me say that. But I do remember vividly saying that to him.

Scott Benner 7:22
You could feel his his guilt.

Heidi Wickstrom 7:24
Yeah, I think so. It's interesting, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Benner 7:29
I think parents feel like that about almost everything. Oh, I'm sure. Yeah. Any little thing you can see in your kids that they don't seem to be happy about, or you wish they didn't have? And you're like, Oh, I did that which is right. Right. But it's hard not to feel that way. It's true. Okay. So you're now taking the shots. You wait. And so giving yourself shots? No problem.

Heidi Wickstrom 7:51
Well, okay, so I was nine. So my mom, another thing I remember. She had to be taught how to give me shots. And the very first time ever, we're in the hospital, and she sticks the needle in my like, inner thigh. And, and then says, Now what, and then pulls it back out, which

Scott Benner 8:13
we'll try again in a second. I should have thought through before we win.

Heidi Wickstrom 8:17
I'm like, Oh my god. So anyway, so my mom gave me shots till I was 12. And I started doing it myself.

Scott Benner 8:24
I got better at it, I imagine.

Heidi Wickstrom 8:26
Yeah. And you practice on oranges. You know, the whole week. You're there,

Scott Benner 8:31
right? Yeah, yeah, we had to practice on bananas. But yeah, I felt bad for the banana every time we threw it. Seriously, that's how broke I was growing up. Every time we threw the banana away. I was like, Oh, well did the hospital visit cost? Like, you know, 50 grand, and I didn't think anything of that. I was like, Well, look, you wasted a lot of bananas in this situation. We just cut a part off of it. And here's that it just seems unfair to the banana consent. Well, your mom haggis had never given your father an injection. No, I guess not. I never asked. But I bet your dad gave your nevermind. Stop it. So but um, Tom? Yeah. How many how do you have any brothers or sisters?

Heidi Wickstrom 9:12
I have a yes. An older brother. Five years older. Okay.

Scott Benner 9:15
Any diabetes there? Nope. Interest nowhere else. Any autoimmune stuff anywhere?

Heidi Wickstrom 9:23
Um, I mean, I also have asthma. We call it autoimmune. But, but now me my brother's totally healthy. We had more we had like, type two on my dad's side, but no other type ones.

Scott Benner 9:38
Are you? Do you think your brother feels guilty? No. You don't think so? He's like, Yeah, whatever. Oh, no. In fact, he'll

Heidi Wickstrom 9:46
say to me now he's Oh my god. He'll say to me like, I'm totally healthy. There's nothing wrong with me. Like good for you.

Scott Benner 9:56
Hey, you want to hear something from the NIH asthma and autoimmune diseases both result from a dysregulated immune system and have been conventionally considered to have mutually exclusive pathogens. autoimmunity is believed to be an exaggerated th one response while asthma with a th two underpinning is congruent with the well accepted th one th two paradigm. Well, there's a lot

Heidi Wickstrom 10:21
of words. Yeah, that's that's exactly what I was gonna tell you. But I didn't think you'd understand.

Scott Benner 10:24
Yeah, I appreciate you trying to save me on that one. But I, I was just gonna say that. I think they're kind of connected somehow. Yeah, me too. Yeah. There's a lot of things people come on here and talk about that are starting to repeat. And I realized it's sort of anecdotal still, because, yeah, just talking to people. But I don't know how many people have to tell you they have type one and they're bipolar before you start thinking like, Hmm, that's interesting. You mean or type? Yeah. And I have really bad allergies, or I have

Heidi Wickstrom 10:51
Crohn's disease and brains,

Scott Benner 10:53
etc, etc. Before you start. I got this. I see what's happening here. Yeah. Okay. So your brother treated you like any older brother would have treated you in any situation? Do you? Did you ever have any anger at him that he wasn't sick? Or

Heidi Wickstrom 11:08
now? Remember that? No. Okay.

Scott Benner 11:11
So then what was management? like day to day? Was it just really just shooting twice a day?

Heidi Wickstrom 11:16
Yeah, no. So it was like mph in the morning? And at night, I believe. And then regular before every meal. Okay, it was literally like, I mean, it was, you know, you had to eat breakfast at seven. You had to have lunch at noon, and you had to have dinner at six or whatever. Or your blood sugar would go at Nana's Right. which I hated. Because what if I wasn't hungry? Right?

Scott Benner 11:40
Shoot on a scale. And you know, choice. Just everything. Shoot, schedule, eat schedule. Yeah, yeah, my

Heidi Wickstrom 11:47
mom, I guess in your Sunday, I don't remember is that I assume she'd had to come to school and give me shots because the nurses there were no nurses giving me shots. So I don't remember that. So I'm kind of surprised.

Scott Benner 11:58
Maybe she shot in the morning before you left?

Heidi Wickstrom 12:01
Maybe But what about lunch? I don't know. I don't remember. I have to ask her that she only worked like a mile from school.

Scott Benner 12:07
Yeah, but you're thinking about how you probably managed now. Like I think in the beginning, you just put in a bunch a breakfast made sure to eat lunch. Yeah, I'm then shot again before dinner. Right?

Heidi Wickstrom 12:16
Yeah. Because I mean, you couldn't check your blood sugar. I had to go get my blood drawn to know my blood sugar. Yeah, and just check your ketones, right. I mean, that's really all you could do

Scott Benner 12:26
you do that frequently?

Heidi Wickstrom 12:28
I feel like I did. Yeah. Wow. Yeah.

Scott Benner 12:31
Do you know what the result of that kind of care pattern was like, did you take a onesies? Do you know what they were?

Heidi Wickstrom 12:37
Oh, yeah. That was awful. It was awful. It was like in the teens.

Scott Benner 12:41
Wow. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I don't know if everybody understands how numbers work but teens started 13. Yeah, okay. Yeah, like there's no 1213 or 17 or anything up there. And and did you know you didn't feel well? Or did you feel okay,

Heidi Wickstrom 13:01
you know, I don't remember thinking I didn't feel well. Which is weird to me. Because now when I see I have a friend whose daughter is eight and she'll tell me the craziest stories she's going through their blood sugar's and I'm like, God, she must feel awful. Because I am I know how I feel. Now. If I'm high. Yeah, but I don't remember feeling I felt like high was my norm. Then when I was younger, well that's why

Scott Benner 13:26
it felt okay. Because your body does Yeah, little adjustments the vessels and things so that you don't you feel normal at that blood sugar, but still all the all the bad long term stuff is going Did you have any short term problems?

Heidi Wickstrom 13:37
No knock on wood. And I've made one DKA when I was probably somewhere in my teens again.

Scott Benner 13:47
I was gonna say like, 17 about about it. Yeah,

Heidi Wickstrom 13:50
no, I was younger, because I remember just I think my mom thought I had the flu because I was like vomiting. But I remember vividly having a lot of stomach pain and had like laboring to breathe. Yeah. And obviously, eventually I went to the hospital. That's what it was.

Scott Benner 14:07
You should never get that far when you were diagnosed because your mom saw some.

Heidi Wickstrom 14:10
No, no. That makes sense. None of the weight loss none of that stuff. Yeah, she

Scott Benner 14:15
she saw it really early because she was probably Yeah, she's watching for Iraq. Yeah, she

Heidi Wickstrom 14:19
said it was the thirst and urination. You know, having to go the bathroom really thirsty, having another bathroom? And I'm like, yep.

Scott Benner 14:25
So can we jump over for a second? Yeah, they're probably managed similarly. Say guys again. Your father. He probably managed himself similar to? Yes. Yeah. For his entire life. He never switched. No. How old? Was he when he passed? 66. Interesting. Yeah, how old were you when you switched over to a faster acting insulin?

Heidi Wickstrom 14:48
Oh, faster. Gosh, that I couldn't tell you. I just remember when I switched to a pump. Probably like, I don't remember.

Scott Benner 14:54
So did you do two shots a day until the pump?

Heidi Wickstrom 14:58
I didn't know I was doing like five or six. Next. Oh, so

Scott Benner 15:01
you started doing multiple daily injections in there? Yeah. Yeah. You know how old you were when that happened ish? Yeah, I

Heidi Wickstrom 15:07
was like, 30 Wow,

Scott Benner 15:09
I'm gonna do some more math. That's 21 years of doing it the other way.

Heidi Wickstrom 15:13
You're sorry. We're sorry. I was like, 30 When I went to a pump, so sorry. Um, so I was probably 20.

Scott Benner 15:21
See, that's my guess is if you were nine, yeah, one, then by 88 or so. I got to feel like you're, that's when those insulin started coming up. Hey, I'm sorry. I'm following a woman. Blood sugar right now. Give me a second to look at it. Yeah, she's saying, Okay, it's Taco Time. But I gotta change my site. I'm gonna take a full four years. I've left it and then the other one, I changed it in five minutes. But it's hard to be a little more aggressive because of the change because of the slight change and being in exercise mode. Do not everybody sent me an email and asked me to help you with your blood sugar just because I did this while I was recording. This woman hit all my good heartstrings. All right, and she's been very cool. She's also listens, by the way, okay. Not like some of you who I help and you're like, Are you sure? Like, I'm more sure than you are? I might not be sure. But I saw your graph and you called and you don't know what you're doing. So why don't we give it a shot? What I'm saying. Anyway, yeah. So your father never switches you probably around your late teens early 20s start doing MDI you do MDI for 10 years.

Heidi Wickstrom 16:49
So age nine till I was 30.

Scott Benner 16:52
Yeah, well, I mean, you know, it's funny isn't that funny? I think multiple Oh, you mean

Heidi Wickstrom 16:56
multiple daily inject? Got

Scott Benner 16:57
it? Yeah. No,

Heidi Wickstrom 16:59
I mean, to me, they're always multiple right?

Scott Benner 17:02
To is multiple so. So you've done multiple daily injections the whole time? You started with a faster acting mealtime insulin, right around 20 years old. Did that for 10 years. Did you ever have a CGM in those 10 years? No. Do you now? Yes. Interesting. So you got a pump when you were 30? Yeah. And that was a couple of years ago. Isn't it suck when you think of your life like this? Oh my god, I can't I hate this. I hate talking like this. I'm going to be 50 next month. I'm like, oh, yeah,

Heidi Wickstrom 17:31
so you're worse. So we're, yeah, so we're close in age. Yeah.

Scott Benner 17:33
But it sucks. Like, you know, does suck talking about the 80s like it was 30 years ago.

Heidi Wickstrom 17:38
I know. And I have a teenager who's dressing like it's the 90s the 90s like okay, this is all coming back. I said did you buy a toe ring yet? Or an anklet?

Scott Benner 17:48
We don't post yourself Heather Locklear come back. Okay, that's gonna be a problem, Benoit. That might that might not the modern that's not gonna happen. might not like that. Yeah, they like their naked ladies on the screen, not hung up on a wall. I tried to explain to my son one time that I worked in a sheetmetal shop when I was a kid. And yeah, there were posters of half naked or naked women everywhere in that place. And he's like, and no one said anything. I said Cole, it was so incredibly common. I don't think anyone thought anything of it. And no, to watch him not be able to wrap his head around that. And then I realized now at then being, you know, removed from it for quite some time. I was like, wow, that was so incredibly wrong. Like it's just, like, so inappropriate and wrong and crazy. And, like Mike, like, there was a woman that worked there in the office and she had to walk. You know what I mean? And none of it

Heidi Wickstrom 18:46
was just like my, my brother having posters in his bedroom, right? Look, what what would it be Christie Brinkley or? Yeah, Paulina Porizkova. Not he has a sister who wasn't getting care care or a mother

Scott Benner 18:57
and people who have never seen these posters. These girls were wearing nothing. They barely Yeah,

Heidi Wickstrom 19:02
it was strange. Let me see no Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover sheets.

Scott Benner 19:06
I don't think they do anymore either, by the way. No, they don't. Yeah. And I'm not saying there's no right or like, well, maybe I am saying maybe we were wrong back then. But I think it's easier to say that it's interesting to watch people progress, right? Or to notice things that were like you know what, that wasn't a good idea. We'll stop doing that. Or technology changes so you move along like I mean, honestly magazines with scantily clad women. There used to be an unlimited supply of them. There must have been 40 of them on a news Oh, yeah. And people listening don't even know what a newsstand is. And you know and and my point I guess it was a weird segue but yeah, you went through the cloudy and the all that stuff into the you know into the fast track the meal insulin then to a pump, then eventually to a CGM, but your father never came along with it. It missed it

Heidi Wickstrom 19:56
now. Well, you know what he also whenever Think of my dad I think of he was literally if you looked up diabetes and everything that could go wrong, it was my dad. Okay. Like he, you know, his vision, he lost a leg he lost toes. He, you know, I mean everything, you know, eventually kidney failure heart, you know all that stuff. Well, it didn't take care of himself.

Scott Benner 20:22
So that was he not doing what the minimum of what they were asking him to do.

Heidi Wickstrom 20:28
I literally just think he took ish the same amount of insulin every every time and just ate and drank and, you know, he liked his beer.

Scott Benner 20:39
He was just gonna write this out like I got diabetes. Let's see how far how long I can stay on this ball is that

Heidi Wickstrom 20:45
yeah, it was I don't know. I just think stubborn. You know, some some men are stubborn.

Scott Benner 20:49
Okay, some women are stubborn. There's one of them below me on another floor, the structure. I think some people can be stubborn, but

Heidi Wickstrom 21:00
But I remember when it by the time I started mentioning like a pump. Like when I had mine. He was already like his fingers. He wouldn't even be able to like, I don't think he could do it. Like he you know, he had lots of trigger finger, which I've had too. But so he has a lot of you know, his fingers like cramping. And I don't know, I just felt like it was too late. When just sad to say how old

Scott Benner 21:24
were you when you realized he could be doing a different thing?

Heidi Wickstrom 21:31
I guess when he started having stuff go wrong. So like he lost his leg at 50? The year 2000. So Wow. 57 I think he was

Scott Benner 21:42
did that frighten you? Person? Oh,

Heidi Wickstrom 21:44
yeah. Oh, yeah. No, he's the one that made me go. You know, this is not, you know, this is serious business. I've got it, you know, really take care of myself.

Scott Benner 21:55
Good for you. I'm just working now on getting a behavioral scientist to come on and talk about something called sunk cost fallacy. You know what that is? No. It describes I'm going to read right off the internet for you. A sunk cost fallacy describes our tendency to follow through on an endeavor, if we have already invested time, effort or money into it, whether or not the current costs outweigh the benefits. It's an economic idea that also comes into psychology a little bit. Yeah, I think it's, I think it relates significantly to people who were diagnosed in the 80s, or before. Yeah, with type one. And I'm concerned, why I'm going to talk about now on the podcast, that one day, as hard as it might be to believe at this moment, there may be a better way than what we're doing now. And that people might feel so invested in what they've already done, that they feel like there's just no reason to try. And so I'm going to have someone come on and talk about it. Because I think it's a I think it's a paralysis that you kind of get right, you know, well, I'm sorry, I'm sorry for you. You know, for that, I can tell you that. I think what happened to him is fairly common for people diagnosed when he was oh, yeah, lifespan, etc.

Heidi Wickstrom 23:12
So like, 1950 Yeah, yeah.

Scott Benner 23:14
Was it a heart attack in the end? You know,

Heidi Wickstrom 23:17
it and he just, it was systemic, like just systemic infection everywhere. Like, everything just shut down. Yeah.

Scott Benner 23:25
So he has an amputation. And then you think, tell me again, with this insulin pump is is that was it about it?

Heidi Wickstrom 23:33
Yeah, I don't. I'm trying to think if I had it at that time, maybe I hadn't had it yet.

Scott Benner 23:38
But something about his health push.

Heidi Wickstrom 23:40
Yeah, that was Yeah, because I mean, long story short, I mean, this leg amputation started with an a blister on his heel. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. And by the time he called me, we weren't, you know, my parents. Sorry. My parents were divorced when I was an infant. Okay, so, so we weren't close. We were close. We weren't super close. But anyway, he's the kind of guy that like, I got a phone call. And he says, I know we had a sore spot, but he's like, by the way, I'm having surgery tomorrow. They're taking my leg. He says, and they gave me 50% chance of making it through surgery. I'm like, I'm sorry. What?

Scott Benner 24:21
How far from you? Did you live?

Heidi Wickstrom 24:24
Well, he's in Palm Springs and I'm in Orange County so hour and a half.

Scott Benner 24:26
I love men born in that time in the in the world in the in that?

Heidi Wickstrom 24:34
What's the funny thing is I don't even think he called me I think I called to check in on him and he happened to tell me that's

Scott Benner 24:40
exactly what I'm talking about. Hey, Dad. Oh, we're gonna get on a plane and go kill some Nazis. What? Yeah, I'll be back or I won't. Don't worry about it. You know, just a real like,

Unknown Speaker 24:51
I don't even matter of fact.

Scott Benner 24:53
Oh my gosh, no big deal. We're in a world war. You stay with your mom. I'll see you later. Yeah,

Heidi Wickstrom 24:58
so I'm at work and so I rushing into my boss's office crying say I gotta

Scott Benner 25:03
go. cutting my dad's leg off. He didn't even want to tell me any, you might

Heidi Wickstrom 25:06
not make it. Yeah. You know what I mean, it was the craziest phone call ever. So you know, I drive to Palm Springs. But the crazy what I was getting to is, you know, I'm in there visiting my dad, the the wound care guy comes in and he says to me, you might want to leave when I change this bandage. And I'm like, okay, and he's like, the smell is pretty bad. He's or at least put a mask on. So put a mask on. And he literally took this bandage off and a half of my dad's butt was gone. Wow. Just from bacteria. Yeah. And high blood sugars. That's crazy.

Scott Benner 25:41
And it was crazy. And it was it was clear to you in that moment. I mean, I'm sure it was. But why why he was having this problem. Oh, yeah.

Heidi Wickstrom 25:48
I was like, oh my god, this is why you can't just take whatever shot you want and eat whatever you want. And just

Scott Benner 25:53
call it a day. Did you? Did you chastise them a little bit? Or were you able to hold it in?

Heidi Wickstrom 25:57
No, I mean, I, I just, you know, knew He was who He was. And yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's that was that interesting time anyway, he obviously he didn't pass that you made it through surgery. Everything was great. But I do have a funny story. So do you think you'd like funny stories,

Scott Benner 26:11
I have to tell you something it as weird as it might sound so that you can see into my brain a little bit. The preposterous nature of your father not calling you before that surgery is funny to me. The rest of the details are hard, you're like this, you're like this. Go ahead.

Heidi Wickstrom 26:25
So he's in pre op, he's about to go into surgery, you know, me and his, my step mom's there and my brother. And we're saying, Okay, you're gonna be great, you know, you're gonna do fine. And he's saying, Well, you know, just in case I don't make it goodbye, and I go, dad, you know, come on, have a good attitude, blah, blah. The next thing I swear to God, we hear a saw going on. I'm like, Oh, my God, what is that? I go around out of the curtain. And there's somebody literally signing something in the hallway of the hospital. And I look at him I go, my dad is about to get his leg amputated. Do you mind doing that later?

Scott Benner 27:05
Can you wait till I go out to like the waiting area before you start running a circular saw, please. It's literally I was like, we're just I mean, also for people a nice look back into the past. They're doing construction in an operating wing of the hospital. Like where it's people are still going and moving around. And no one no one would think twice about that

Heidi Wickstrom 27:26
you saw on some under the sink in the hallway, like a pipe or something. And I'm like, Oh, my God.

Scott Benner 27:31
Yeah. There's a time probably not 20 years before that, where the doctor would have stood there smoking a cigarette change in your file for sure. For sure. We really have it together, don't we?

Heidi Wickstrom 27:41
Oh, my God. We're not even that long ago, my senior trip to Cancun, we could smoke on the plane.

Scott Benner 27:47
Your high school your high school senior trip? Yes. Yes.

Heidi Wickstrom 27:51
I didn't smoke. But they were smoking

Scott Benner 27:53
it? Of course you didn't. You would never. But is that something? We wouldn't a school trip one time? I'm going to say no lie. We were in ninth grade. I don't know how old that makes you. But maybe 14 were the same. Yeah. Okay. And we go into Manhattan. Now, not the Manhattan of today, post COVID. And not the Manhattan of pre COVID where, you know, The Lion King runs around and there's that half naked guy and a cowboy hat playing a guitar and it's all fun. And you can go to Fuddruckers? Like not like that. Manhattan, like where you were there. And you're like, someone's gonna sell me drugs. You're trying to kill me? Like, let that level of Manhattan right. And we're gonna go to, you know, you think Oh, it's a school trip. They'll take you they'll have a you know, itinerary setup, you'll do thing we pull up three buses full of kids, boom, boom, boom, everybody gets out. We're standing on the sidewalk and the teacher goes, break up into groups be back here at 5pm. Can you imagine?

Heidi Wickstrom 28:56
Do you remember being scared? Were you scared? No. We

Scott Benner 28:58
were like, amazing. Let's go. Like, it was just like, you looked around for your four best friends and you're like, This is great. We're just free in New York City. And we had money in our pockets. And we were like, some kids came back high as a kite. One one kid came back had so many fireworks. I think he was trying to start a fireworks like Emporium when he got home. Kids were drunk. People like it was in sane and completely common and and realistic for the time period. Yes. I just told Arden the other day that when I was in elementary school, my entire school about 700 kids went to see I think The Empire Strikes Back in a movie theater.

Heidi Wickstrom 29:44
Oh my gosh,

Scott Benner 29:44
there was a movie theater. A five. Let's call it a five minute drive from the school. Okay, we all just went out in the front parking lot of the school got into a tandem line and walk they're like down round corners across streets like like Baby, Baby ducks, just, you know, that went on forever. And I said that to her and she goes, my school would never do that. They'd never let us do that. I was like, I know. And her friend goes, and we don't have any fun at all. And I was like, yeah, no. So different world, obviously different time for your father, he probably, I'm gonna guess, did what he was told what he was told wasn't that helpful. At some point, you get like, I guess this is what it is. I'm just gonna, like I said, get on this bowl and see how long I can stay on. Yeah, then things change over. But not in a way where anybody ever reached back to people they never, like, that's the, to me, that's the message of this this hour is that management comes in waves. And you can very easily get stuck in the wave that you were brought up in. And that that might be a great idea. Yeah. So alright, so how did you find having a pump

this is going to be short and sweet. Touched by type one.org. Go type it into a browser, and then look around, check out their programs, like their annual conference awareness campaign, both for cause dance program dancing for diabetes, their D box program, type one at school. There's a little link there for their upcoming events. And you can find out how to support them through donations, shopping, or becoming a volunteer touched by type one.org. That was that we're done.

Heidi Wickstrom 31:45
We loved it. I think the thing I love the most about it was so I went through, you know, stages of weight gain with shots, like and I finally figured out okay, like while I'm eating and I'm going hungry, right? Because I had to eat. And so when I got on the pump, I was like, wow, so I don't feel like I want a huge lunch at noon. I don't have to have it. Yeah. And if I want to just snack all day I can and that that was the part I liked the most about it.

Scott Benner 32:10
Just being able to eat like something like walk

Heidi Wickstrom 32:13
if you wanted to eat and you didn't have to eat or you could skip whatever. You know, I like I'm a snacker I like to snack. I don't like huge meals and I never really have. So that was the best part of it for me. Yeah, and of course my blood sugar's were awesome once I was on it,

Scott Benner 32:28
right? No one, no one puts a slice of pepperoni on a Ritz cracker if they've got to pull a needle out for it. Right? You're just like, I'll skip it. I'll wait on the bigger meal literally. Yeah. So that and and that's those are early pumps to so they were just kind of more efficient delivery systems that you didn't have to poke yourself for. Yeah, yeah. Right. You didn't use any kind of like, you weren't thinking about like extending boluses or that didn't even exist. I

Heidi Wickstrom 32:54
don't I feel like I did. But I don't know how long into it. I did. It was like a mini med. I think I had a mini med first and then I had like a paradigm and then I had a I had a few of them.

Scott Benner 33:04
Can you imagine people listening right now? We're like there's T slim and on the pod and Medtronic. What are you talking about? Me? Yeah, paradigm. You know what did that

Heidi Wickstrom 33:12
I think Medtronic was mini med. I believe that. Okay? Yeah.

Scott Benner 33:15
It's just interesting how the wording the word I know. I know. At what point in this does the CGM pop up?

Heidi Wickstrom 33:25
You know what that was? That was only probably let me think in the last seven years, really? Okay. So I don't know how long it's been around. How long have we had Dexcom? Okay, so

Scott Benner 33:42
if you're on a Dexcom, and it started with

Heidi Wickstrom 33:45
a four I think even five.

Scott Benner 33:48
Okay. Arden started with like the is the original Yeah, they whatever the original what they had their numbering system was messed up for a while, like there was for like a something plus I forget now they're in a in a numerical Dexcom four or five, six at sevens kind of be out. Your sevens coming? Yeah, yeah. Actually, by the time this comes out, I bet seven exists. Well,

Unknown Speaker 34:11
I'm excited. Yeah.

Scott Benner 34:13
Also, don't say that out loud to anybody, because I believe I've signed an NDA, but as long as you okay. So anyway, yes, I

Heidi Wickstrom 34:22
think I started with a four, but nothing earlier than that. Okay.

Scott Benner 34:25
Yeah. So you've had it? Probably seven, eight years, then that's probably in that space. It's funny, because now people who have them probably don't imagine they ever didn't exist, but they're still fairly new. I call under 10 years new, honestly. Yeah. Yeah. What did you notice first when you had a CGM on

Heidi Wickstrom 34:45
I guess just not pricking my finger 10 times a day.

Scott Benner 34:48
So that was the big that was the big thing for you is just not having to test your blood sugar. Yeah, right.

Heidi Wickstrom 34:54
Did it wasn't good? Yeah. I mean, I guess, obviously, it was watching the trends too. But I really wasn't doing that it was more, more just having the not having to test as much.

Scott Benner 35:09
Do you use it for more than that now?

Heidi Wickstrom 35:12
Well, and then, you know, and then I went through a phase of being overly obsessed with it. Were over cracking and stuff cuz like, Oh no, I'm going up like, oh, no, you know, I mean, and then you overcorrect. And so now I'm just kind of just let it be. And I'm also looping to

Scott Benner 35:26
Okay. Oh, you are now. That's cool. Yeah.

Heidi Wickstrom 35:28
I've been doing that for like two years. Well,

Scott Benner 35:31
I think Arden's probably coming up on a couple of years now with

Heidi Wickstrom 35:33
that. Yeah, whenever it well, not when it first started. But yeah, it's like it's been two years.

Scott Benner 35:38
What you mentioned the, the kind of like, obsessing over the CGM. Yeah, that was such a big concern slash issue when they first came out. Because, because just nothing like that ever existed. It's hard to imagine, right? Like, and then suddenly, this whole, you know, group family of people who had lived some of them exactly the way you're describing, or, you know, the way my daughter came up with, you know, just multiple daily injections and a meter, and I didn't know what was going on. And like that whole thing. Some people saw that, and they couldn't stop looking at it. Well, yeah, it really gripped them. But I think it's better now. Like, I think now that it's become more common. It's, you know, kind of mixing the zeitgeist a little bit people understand it better. Hopefully. Yeah, they're not as gripped by it.

Heidi Wickstrom 36:25
And I had to just adjust my alarms and stuff to like, I, I mean, I know a lot of people say they have a alarm go off, like, I don't know, like, 100. And something. I'm like, Oh, my God, I don't want to hear I don't want to hear a thing out of my pump. Unless I'm like, 250.

Scott Benner 36:40
So you're old school. You're older with diabetes? Well,

Heidi Wickstrom 36:43
yeah. And you know, it's funny, the only thing that scares me for people, I don't want to say scares, but I do think about it, is if What if you didn't have any of this stuff? And you do have to go back to like, shots, or and I don't know why you would. But I always feel like everybody should really have a grip on shots and pricking your finger.

Scott Benner 37:03
I'm going to call this episode, grandma. Heidi, what do you think?

Heidi Wickstrom 37:10
But no, don't you understand what I mean, though? You just have a grip on it. Like, what if you lose your insurance? Right? God forbid.

Scott Benner 37:18
So here's what I think I understand. So this is really common. I'm not making fun of you about it. I know, I think that people who grew up the way you did with diabetes, that is every time this comes up, that's their their concern. But, and I and back, when I first heard that concern, I thought, okay, that makes sense. Get good at it with like, the basic tools, and then blah, blah, blah, but it's hard to get good at it with the basic tools. So why not get really good at it with the great tools, and if something should befall me, and I lose my insurance. I have all that knowledge about how to do things, and then I can apply the more basic tools to my advanced knowledge. I think you have it exactly backwards. Okay, okay. I think that hopefully, that will never happen. But if it does, you'll have so much information in your head from using a CGM and a pump, that you'd then be able to do it. Like I see it as like, you know, the zombies come you flee your home, you grab the basics, and but you still remember how it used to be so you, you can shoot for that with your basic tools. Right. And I don't I don't even I don't judge anybody who has that thought. Because that thought occurred to me as well back then. It's only through the process of making the podcast that I think it's backwards. I think it's just a scared idea from people who came up a different way. That makes sense. That makes sense. Yeah, yeah. Why don't have to agree with me. You could just say I completely disagree. Actually, it would make it more fun. We could argue.

Heidi Wickstrom 38:48
I'm gonna make my own podcast and call you a different name.

Scott Benner 38:50
Go ahead. I'll tell you what, if you can figure out how to get a podcast on the air. I'll be your first guest. What do you think about? A lot? I heard you tried to get on this zoom this morning. You're never gonna do it?

Heidi Wickstrom 39:04
No, it was literally I don't know what it was. It was my ear. It was my air pods. I don't know what's happened

Scott Benner 39:08
signal air pods, something like that. Not your fault completely. No, but I'm being serious about that. Like, I think. I think it's, I think there's a lot of value in having a deeper understanding. Yeah, and I also think that you want to talk deeply for a second about things. Yeah, I think that as humans, we've we create fixes to problems that then need fixes. So you know, you, you know, from the first time Man, you know, set a fire, then they burned something down, they had to learn to put it out. You know, we keep moving forward. There has been no time in our history, where we have gone backwards with technology. As a matter of fact, I think that technology always requires more technology. At some point at some point humanity's job We'll just be to keep humanity moving like like everyone's it's a weird thought but but if what you're describing would either have to be a decimation of finances which I think is possible for people obviously. Yeah, or you know World War where they just aren't things aren't being made anymore and then I don't want to break it to you too harshly. Heidi, but, you know, you and my daughter, you're sure you're in trouble. So, you know, like, that's that that's gonna be I wouldn't plan for that kind of devastation I guess. Okay, the partial we learn how to get insulin from cows. I think it's pigs isn't it? bovine Oh isn't bovine cows isn't a bovine a pig. Oh god. Alrighty, this is gonna be really embarrass my zoom there. Oh, great. Now you found the name of the podcast either both. Oh bovine a biological sub family includes a diverse group of 10 medium to large size undulates including domestic cattle bison African buffalo for horn and spark your right so then what the hell

Heidi Wickstrom 41:09
hold a look at you. I know what I was injecting in myself

Scott Benner 41:12
so excited. Yeah, hold on a second a pig. Is pig not a bovine? Yeah, it is. There may be bovine is a term relating to cattle there may be exceptions to this term uses our cattle horses asses swine. Oh, Vine is a term related to sheep. Pork poor sign is a term related to swine. Okay, so a hog is por sign. bovine is cattle. You are right. And I got to say SS without blurring it out. Because it means donkey. So that's true. Yeah, you go.

Heidi Wickstrom 41:49
Well, I I seriously feel like I remember a picture of a cow on my insulin box.

Scott Benner 41:55
Really? I swear, hold on a second. We're looking for that.

Heidi Wickstrom 42:00
Look up mph regular 1980. Something we

Scott Benner 42:03
could you tell me how to Google Hold on a second. Definitely somebody is Mother. How many children do everything? Yeah. How many children do you have? Two? How old? Are they?

Heidi Wickstrom 42:16
14 and 10?

Scott Benner 42:20
It's when a cow on it?

Unknown Speaker 42:25
I swear. Swear there was a cow.

Scott Benner 42:28
Oh, no. All right. That's up to you to find. Or I'll find it and make it the cover of your episode.

Heidi Wickstrom 42:33
Alright, thanks.

Scott Benner 42:36
That's crazy. Any concern about your children? Do you think about

Heidi Wickstrom 42:39
it? I mean, sometimes when not really. I mean, like where I live. And I don't know if it's everywhere. But most of the people here have their kids on all those trials to see if they carry the trial machine. Yeah, they're do it all the time. And I'm like, I just don't want to obsess over it. I'm just like, you know, but they're like, but if they do have it, then you can kind of prevent it or put it off. And I'm like, I I just know.

Scott Benner 43:03
So. So let me ask you a question. First of all, I people come from two different categories on that. I understand both sides, I don't want to think about it. And I know how to take care of diabetes if it should happen. And I want to know cuz I want to try to do something. So they have this drug now people are using called to miss a blob, or something like that. And yeah, it's like a please, all these details. I have a great episode on it. Go listen to that if you want to. But But um, but they it's like this infusion that you do like a certain amount of days in a row and then it's over. And it like really slows down the progression of type one in their in their studies. And I think that's why they're doing it, but I don't think it's, they're getting through the FDA, it's moving along. So, so forget, like, my how things really work if I told you, if you did trial that you'd be able to find out if your kid was getting diabetes, and then they could stop it that you would do. Yeah, right. Okay, obviously. That's that one company's goal is to, I guess, put beta cells back in. And it's just a really interesting conversation beta cells back in and protect your, your immune system from going back against you again, they're also talking about long term inoculating people, for many of the viruses that end up kicking type one in so the idea is maybe you'll have the genetic predisposition to it. But if you never get Coxsackie virus or you never get this virus or that virus, then you might have a chance of never getting type one. It's interesting like prevent like preventative type one by preventing other things that aren't type one, which I thought was kind of interesting anyway it's a really cool this is cool,

Heidi Wickstrom 44:53
but yeah, so anyway, I you know, I keep my eye on them, but I, you know, I watch for having to use the bathroom too much or

Scott Benner 45:00
Be honest with me. Be honest with me. They crested the age that you and your father were diagnosed that so you feel better about it?

Heidi Wickstrom 45:09
Well, my son's not well, he's 10. Yeah, he's right. Yeah, I mean, I guess I do. I probably do. Yeah, I definitely remember them being that age and thinking, No, this was when, you know, I probably said it

Scott Benner 45:20
to them. You're about to get diabetes for your birthday congratulate. And

Heidi Wickstrom 45:24
I just, you know, your mom was going through at this time, and you're complaining about whatever?

Scott Benner 45:31
Yeah, I think parenting magazine says not to guilt your children like that about. Right. But I have described there was, there was a couple of times where my wife was like, you know, the fact that your dad would hit you for saying that and you haven't hit our children for it's not something you're supposed to tell them. Okay. But I just wanted to know that if they would have said that to my dad, they'd be, they'd be across the room behind the sofa, wondering what happened to them. Right. So, and again, I realized that's wrong. Don't get me wrong.

Heidi Wickstrom 46:01
Yeah, no, no, of course. Oh, my gosh.

Scott Benner 46:05
But yeah, I don't do that anymore. But I had to do it a couple of times. I was like, because it's hard not to feel like you have no idea what would have happened to me if I would have said that to somebody.

Heidi Wickstrom 46:16
No, I I've definitely said that myself to my, to my son, for sure.

Scott Benner 46:20
Again, I don't think you're supposed to but whatever. Now who knows really? What's your care like today? What are your outcomes like today?

Heidi Wickstrom 46:30
Well, okay, so, since I started the pump, I've never Okay, so since I started the pump, I have never been lower than the sixes from a onesies. Okay, so 20 years, but since I started the Riley, I'm in the fives.

Scott Benner 46:45
Okay, so you're looping and you're in the fives now? Yeah. How often do you think you're low that needs intervention? Under 5050? And under like that kind of low?

Heidi Wickstrom 46:56
Oh, that needs intervention. You mean like, besides me just eating a sugar pill? Or what do you mean? No,

Scott Benner 47:01
that's what I mean. Like you having a long thing. Like where the loop doesn't catch.

Heidi Wickstrom 47:05
Oh, last night was the cluster. I had a real bad night last night. Because of I don't have my glucose tabs, because I have glucose tabs I dialed in. Like, I know exactly how many I need depending on the number and if I have any insulin on board, or whatever. But last night, I went for the orange juice, which was a mistake. Because I never really know how much I need and I just kind of you know into middle the night so drink down and then loop sees my sugar spiking and then gives me insulin and then I ended up crashing. And I did take have some more and then I crashed. It literally happened. I feel like all night last night.

Scott Benner 47:39
Particularly couple minutes picking insulin, orange juice. Can we pick through this for the last couple minutes? Do you mind? Well, no, he wouldn't be insulted by a person who doesn't have diabetes talking to you about All right. Thank you. Okay, so how often do you get over 200? Daily? No, weekly. Maybe do you Pre-Bolus Now, you know what the problem is? No, you don't Pre-Bolus You have to prove off.

Heidi Wickstrom 48:13
If I bet if I Pre-Bolus and I'm already 75 I'm going to crash

Scott Benner 48:17
because your settings are wrong. You're probably too strong. What am I guessing here? Your Basal maybe is too strong trying to make up for the fact that you don't Pre-Bolus and that you're higher during the day than you want to be because you're not Pre-Bolus thing so if you had your so if your Basal was right and your insulin sensitivity was right, you would not get low over and over again at night. Unless you were busy. unbalancing your meal insulin by not Pre-Bolus Singh. Do you listen to this podcast at all? Yeah, no, I

Heidi Wickstrom 48:50
do I not religiously. I'll be honest. I listened to that's fine. Everyone. Oh, yes, they do. That's fine. You Jenny I listened to I see.

Scott Benner 48:57
Okay, so. Oh, it's interesting.

Heidi Wickstrom 49:02
Okay, so can I tell you something though? I

Scott Benner 49:04
am your thing. Yeah. I'm sorry. Yeah, go please.

Heidi Wickstrom 49:09
Okay, um, every night like I have a bedtime snack. I just do. So if I decide to try something different, which I did last night, it can go to hell. So like I had a you can bar ever heard of a you can bar? No. It's supposed to be a long. It's a carb stabilizing starch. It's literally meant for like long term blood stabilization. Okay, and I remember last time I had one, that it didn't work the way it's supposed to right is supposed to be long absorption, right? So we Okay, well eat this. It was 20 grams. My pump went to give me 1.4 And I said, Nope, I know that's too much. I gave myself one unit. And I gave it a long acting I just put four hours because literally it was kind of like a cuz I hadn't had it and gosh, couple years. So I'm like, I'm just gonna give it a you know, see what happens. So what happened was just like I assumed it would I crashed and right away like it will actually sorry, it absorbed right away. And so I got high and then I went really low because it corrected while I was sleeping. And then that's what I had the orange juice, I had too much orange juice and then went high. And that's the thing with that link the Riley I don't really understand or is when I tell it, I've had the orange juice, then it doesn't work out. But if I ignore that I corrected my low.

Scott Benner 50:42
Yes. So I will tell you that if Arden is you know I'm saying if Arden's getting low or low, and I use some fast acting sugar to fix it. I do No, I do not put those carbs in the loop. Okay, so if she's 60, diagonal down, and I'm like, Here drink a juice, and the juice is 12 or 15 carbs. I don't I tell it nothing. Okay, then if she reaches the threshold, which I think on her pump is like 95. So she gets like 95 diagnose, it'll make like small bonuses or, you know, it'll jack up your Basal depending on what version you're using. Yeah, and but yeah, I would never like it's 65 Diagonal down, say Bolus 12 units for this juice. Not right, because because we've made a mistake in the past. And she has too much insulin. Yeah, we need to balance that back out again. But But what I'm saying is this is like so on a good night. Where did you? Where does your blood sugar sit? Stable? Oh, at? Cool. And am I allowed to ask how much? Why? Yeah. 120. Okay, what's your Basal right an hour?

Heidi Wickstrom 51:51
My wait an hour, your Basal rate? Oh, you want to know all of them? I mean, they're all different. See? A lot of them. Why do you

Scott Benner 51:57
have so many? I don't like that. Well, what

Heidi Wickstrom 52:02
can I tell you and I pretty much a creature of habit, which you kind of have to be right. But um, so I'm gonna open this up. Um, so, okay, so I wake up at 7am I have a cup of coffee. And then I work out I literally fast. And I don't probably eat till 10 or 11. Okay. So and that's the norm for me. So, um, so I workout fasted, I'm fine. And then I eat. And that's just the way it is. So anyway, so I do feel like sometimes that doesn't happen. Obviously, it affects my day, but so my rate starting it, where you need to start. Oh, started midnight. Okay, so midnight, point two. And then I start to get that Dawn phenomenon three, and I go to point four. And then by the time I'm awake, I go up to point four or five. And then by the time I'm ready for food, and I've exercised, it goes to point five, five at 10. And then I'm point five, five till five o'clock. Okay. And then at five o'clock, I'm point six. And then at nine, I'm point four, five. And then I go back to point two at 930. When I go to sleep, we're very low at night.

Scott Benner 53:20
Were you getting you get low overnight when you go to sleep? Well,

Heidi Wickstrom 53:24
um, no, I don't anymore. But I was I've had to, in the past. Say, I've never had a horrible low where I needed intervention from someone else. But it's happened twice in the last four years.

Scott Benner 53:38
Okay. So you've waited night to kind of get in front of that?

Heidi Wickstrom 53:43
Yeah, so my doctor and I just kind of in he's very, he always says, like, you know, more than I do. Right? You know, and so we'll talk about it. He's like, Yeah, just adjust this and that and, you know, or whenever, you know, I basically adjusted on my own. Right. But um, yeah, so nine, I'm very low.

Scott Benner 54:02
Gotcha. So I wouldn't listen, if whatever works, works for everyone listening, but there, you have to, in my opinion, you have to be careful that you're not setting Basal rates that are meant to stop problems that can be stopped in other ways. Okay. Does that make sense? So, yeah, you know, like, already, like, I'm

Heidi Wickstrom 54:21
not taking enough at for a meal or I'm taking too much for a meal. Yeah, right. Or,

Scott Benner 54:25
or you're, I mean, in your case with loop if your insulin sensitivity is too strong in the afternoon, or in the evening, and you're having to dial everything back because you've got too much insulin coming into when you digest your dinner and lay down to go to bed. Then, you know, you don't I mean, like if you're too strong in one place. The way I think of it is that everything you do with insulin right now is for later, but kind of more importantly, think about it like this. Everything you did before with insulin is for now Right. So if you're getting low at midnight? I don't I mean, the common, the common idea would be if you're getting low at midnight to make your Basal lower, maybe at 11pm, right to try to stop that. But but before you do that, I would look at what happens at dinner and the hours before that, like, is there something we can be doing in there better, like more balanced carbs against insulin that would stop a low at midnight, like that's not to say that it wouldn't end up being an 11pm Basal decrease in that situation. But I'd want to really like rip apart the rest of it before I did that, like Ardens, a Ardens. Basal rate is just basically one Basal rate 24 hours day, and then, you know, it's a little lower overnight. And by that, I mean, like 1.2 to one or 1.1 2.9, depending on if she's got her period, or she doesn't like that. Yeah. But whatever works works, but I don't, I would hate to see you. Having all these like Basal fixes all over the place to catch problems that maybe you wouldn't have to have to begin with. And also if your Basal was, if your Basal and your insulin sensitivity was stable, like that you could because you can fast in the morning, you're saying Where does your blood sugar sit in the morning when you're fasting? Right now? I'm

Heidi Wickstrom 56:24
fasting. I'm at 85.

Scott Benner 56:25
That's amazing, right? Like, if you could achieve that throughout the day, then you wouldn't have to be so segmented with what like you said, you said something interesting earlier, that you said like, it was like it was gospel. You have to be regimented. Yeah, but my daughter's day is never the same twice.

Heidi Wickstrom 56:43
Yeah, what's her age two? I think I'm just you know, what? When I was her age, I was a mess.

Scott Benner 56:50
You were Yeah, but I'm saying her blood sugar super stable all the time. If she gets up in the morning and doesn't eat, it's fine. If she gets up in the morning and eats it's fine. Yesterday, yesterday, she had most for lunch. You know, which is terrible. Oh, no bones. Oh my god. It's like text. I don't even know what it is like it was like some bowl with like, beef and tortilla and like cola. Like it's a lot of food. Yeah. But she very easily could have said to me at lunchtime, I'm going to cut up a bunch of carrots. Like she's all over the place without sheets. Yeah. And she's always super stable. But I think it's because their settings are like rock solid. That's good. You don't I mean, I think yeah. See, this is interesting. Because you've had diabetes for a while. Is there is a party who's like, yeah, that's you, not me. You think that right?

Heidi Wickstrom 57:39
Um, no, I just think it's a different. I don't know, like, if I had a pump when I was younger, I don't you know, I don't know. You know, I mean, I just I don't know.

Scott Benner 57:51
No, I don't mean for you to like, go back in time and re

Heidi Wickstrom 57:55
know that. I'm trying to think like when I was that age. And I ate that way. I mean, like, if I ate that way now. Right? ate whatever I wanted. Whenever I wanted, I would definitely that would have to be all dialed in. But because I'm very, like, regimented and scheduled. And you know, I'm saying like, I don't have to dial it in as much because I don't really go off my path very much. Oh, no,

Scott Benner 58:19
absolutely. Yeah. And if that, by the way, if that works, I think that's amazing. You know, I'm not I'm not saying otherwise. I'm just saying for people who are listening. I think there's you don't have to eat, you know, very specifically like that. Yeah, for sure. It's one or the other. But I again, I firmly believe in whatever works is what Yeah, yeah. 100%. And now you're a one season five. That's amazing.

Heidi Wickstrom 58:42
Yeah, it was like five five and my daughter thought that was a little low. Especially because I had a problem. We don't listen to them. Yeah, I like got up one night and hit my head really hard on the dresser and like, it could have been really bad because

Scott Benner 58:57
you were low. Yeah. Oh my gosh, that's Oh, yeah.

Heidi Wickstrom 59:01
I would know is really bad. i And it's funny because I got God. God bless my husband, but he he gets panicky, which I don't blame him, but I can see it even though I can't say anything that inside my head even though I'm really low. I think to myself, like do just calm down. It's fine, but at least

Scott Benner 59:23
you're not thinking I could have chosen better.

Heidi Wickstrom 59:27
Like can you at least make me feel a little better? That'll be okay, cuz you look like you're crazy right now.

Scott Benner 59:32
He just doesn't want to raise those kids by himself. That's all

Heidi Wickstrom 59:34
but no, the next thing I know, I was sitting up on the edge of the bed. I guess I had already fallen. I didn't know I fell, right. And he's trying to shove orange juice down my throat. I'm like, oh, you know, and then I see him struggling with the glucagon and all I could say was back see me. I'm like back see me and I kept pointing to my bedroom, my my bedside table drawer, right? That's the only word that came out my mouth because I saw him like trying to do the glucose I was like, this is not going to happen.

Scott Benner 1:00:02
So you're gonna inject you with glucagon?

Heidi Wickstrom 1:00:05
Yeah. Because I was like, yeah, it was it was bad. And it definitely was From what I recall even though I was like, couldn't speak or anything. I saw what was happening. Does that make sense?

Scott Benner 1:00:16
Heidi? Either you're great at sex make a lot of money or he really loves you. I don't know what but he was in a pack.

Unknown Speaker 1:00:24
Maybe all three, yo, hey,

Scott Benner 1:00:26
nothing to say couldn't be all three.

Heidi Wickstrom 1:00:29
Anyway, he does he gets the vaccine. Yeah. And literally, like within, you know, 10 seconds. It's in my nose. And he felt better. And yeah, but he goes, you fell and I looked, and by the time I came back, oh, and then I was shivering and I was sweating. It was a whole thing. But by the time I could look in the mirror, I'm like, Oh, shit, like, oh, sorry to swear. Um, but I had a huge like, contusion on my head. Yeah, it was pretty easy. Yeah, you fell right there and hit your head on the dresser. And I'm like,

Scott Benner 1:00:57
oh, looking back. Do you have any idea what caused the low?

Heidi Wickstrom 1:01:01
I don't remember now. But I remembered then.

Scott Benner 1:01:07
Some short term memory loss. My memory,

Heidi Wickstrom 1:01:08
by the way is horrible. Like it used to be solid gold. Now it is horrible. There's

Scott Benner 1:01:14
going to be a guy comes on next month and record with me. It's got a lot of a lot of long term issues from diabetes probably grew up a lot like you did. And one of them he wants to talk about is like memory fog and memory loss he has.

Heidi Wickstrom 1:01:29
Yeah, that's the only thing I have not gone when Yeah, that's really someone. Well, besides No, I had an issue. I was pregnant, but I know we probably are done, but I have a lot of other stuff.

Scott Benner 1:01:39
I have a lot of other stuff. Alright, well, listen, we're already over on time a little bit because it's 20 minutes to get on. But what give me What's one more fun problem, you know, seriously, what did you what happened?

Unknown Speaker 1:01:51
What negative stuff?

Scott Benner 1:01:53
Yeah, maybe we should ask you Does anything good happen to you? You live a nice life. You're You're happy, right? You have good family? Like you're? You're doing hockey? I?

Heidi Wickstrom 1:02:02
Yeah, I can exercise. I mean, I have all my limbs.

Scott Benner 1:02:07
What did you? Well, listen, that's a real perspective. When you watched your father lose a leg, right?

Heidi Wickstrom 1:02:12
I know. Yeah.

Scott Benner 1:02:14
Is there? Are you more of I guess, what am I trying to ask you like his attitude? A big part of it for you? You seem like you have a good attitude about it.

Heidi Wickstrom 1:02:27
Yeah, I mean, I don't, I've never gone. I mean, I think maybe I've had a couple of breakdowns in 40 years, where I'm like, this just isn't fair. And you know, but that's usually when I'm high. You know, like, it feels awful. And it won't come down and I'm hungry. You know, like one of those moments. Yeah. You're like, Why me? I just wanted to eat and I feel, you know, but no, otherwise, I'm like, it's really not that bad.

Scott Benner 1:02:52
diabetes, not that bad. Really not

Heidi Wickstrom 1:02:54
that bad. It's a t shirt. And I really keep most of it to myself. I mean, I you know, it's like a hidden disease. What do they call that? Like, no one sees it. So besides stuff on your body now, but

Scott Benner 1:03:06
well, your dad wasn't your dad wasn't telling anybody about it really wrote, right?

Heidi Wickstrom 1:03:10
No, yeah. No. So it's kind of it's just something you deal with personally. And? And then when really was

Scott Benner 1:03:16
no. And you said earlier? We never got around to it. But there's a lot of people in your life like that. Those kids have type one and you talk.

Heidi Wickstrom 1:03:23
Yeah, yeah. In fact, I feel like in the last few years, I I've gotten phone calls from friends will say you'll never believe it. My daughter was just diagnosed or my son was just diagnosed, and I'm the first person they call.

Scott Benner 1:03:35
What's the first thing you think to tell them? Oh, it's a great question. Oh, my questions have been great. Heidi, this one? There's no reason to just go out this one.

Heidi Wickstrom 1:03:51
I mean, I think they usually do all the talking. But

Scott Benner 1:03:53
Oh, so you're sort of like you listen, and then you say things like, look for a POM. Try to get a CGM. Don't worry.

Heidi Wickstrom 1:04:01
And they're usually already on top of that, you know, like there. Yeah. Because the chalk hospital here is really good. Okay. Children's Hospital.

Scott Benner 1:04:10
So I think they're looking for more like, community connection. Like people. Sure.

Heidi Wickstrom 1:04:15
Yeah. We have a big type one Facebook group and just in my, my city here. Really? Yeah. How many people kids we have parties. We hang out. We you know, it's fun.

Scott Benner 1:04:27
Yeah, I tried to rival my Facebook group it what's going on here? It's just for locals. All right. But the weather's nice there. Right? It's yeah, Southern California. Yeah, you might want to have like a diabetes celebrity at one time to talk at one of the events. Great. Or maybe if you can't find one of them, and that's coming. I just want to go somewhere warm or it's not here. But that's pretty much all like, Yeah, you

Heidi Wickstrom 1:04:52
should probably come here. Pretty nice. It's I just got back from Hawaii, so I can't complain.

Scott Benner 1:04:56
Wow, it's June 21. here and I walked outside and that's it. Go Okay, the humidity is here already great.

Heidi Wickstrom 1:05:02
Terrible. Like Scott, you'll never believe it. But it's June 21. Here too.

Scott Benner 1:05:05
I know. But this is not for you. It's for the people listening when they hear it. And it's like, oh, sorry, November and they're like, why is he talking about it humid?

Heidi Wickstrom 1:05:14
Yeah, I'm talking to Hawaii. She's like, why is she going to Hawaii and Christmas? Yeah,

Scott Benner 1:05:17
exactly. That's it. I look at you just waiting around like a lion tries to pounce on me. If you make a mistake. I'm going to call this grandma Heidi, if you don't watch it. Oh, I don't even know what to call this episode.

Heidi Wickstrom 1:05:32
You'll find some tidbit that you like, move on. It's not a pig bovine

Scott Benner 1:05:36
is not a pig. That's pretty good. Right? Look if you're producing good job. Well, I do really appreciate you doing. I enjoyed your note when you said, when you filled out the thing and it says, you know, tell me a little bit about why you want to come on the show. And you're just like, Oh, no. Like, I can almost hear you mumbling and you're writing and it's gonna it'll be good, like, people diabetes will help somebody like, right? You'll make it work. I actually think there's a sentence in there. That is like, Scott, I'll make it work. Don't worry, it'll be fine. That's like, Okay. And then I had to put you off once, which I want to apologize for

Heidi Wickstrom 1:06:16
now. It's fine. I'm sure there was someone bigger and better.

Scott Benner 1:06:19
And my son went on a trip that needed my attention. And I had to clear a week away. And it was during your time, so I was actually out on that coast at the time. Oh, well, up in Washington morn like Seattle ish. But yeah, yeah. I appreciate very much. I know it sucks to have something moved like that. No, it's fine. But you paid me back this morning with your technology. So sure. Did we're even now.

Heidi Wickstrom 1:06:42
Now I have to go for a walk. See?

Scott Benner 1:06:45
Yeah, I listened that people don't understand because it wasn't recorded that your idea was to go for a walk and talk at the same time, which I've done with people before. But you just I don't know. The cell service just wasn't what must be. Yeah, I missed your headphones. Maybe it was your headphones. Actually. I don't know. You. Listen, you could afford to go to Hawaii. Let's replace that stuff. Okay, did

Heidi Wickstrom 1:07:07
I just hop on my peloton. Now?

Scott Benner 1:07:10
Is this some like white lady like, brag what's going on here? I'm just trying to be funny. I love you guys.

Heidi Wickstrom 1:07:18
I think everybody can walk. If you have legs. Go for a walk people. That is my advice today.

Scott Benner 1:07:22
10 minutes that your heart rate up three times a week. Isn't that the vibe that they say? Just 10 minutes? at a very minimum, get your heart rate up for 10 minutes, three times a week. And that's the very minimum but and that's super easy to accomplish with

Heidi Wickstrom 1:07:35
walking. Yeah. Or if you're married anyway.

Scott Benner 1:07:38
Just yesterday. Oh, I think you were saying sex. I was thinking arguing.

Heidi Wickstrom 1:07:42
Sorry. I was being clean.

Scott Benner 1:07:46
I guess you could do that without being married to right.

Heidi Wickstrom 1:07:49
That's true. I'm sorry. I was just for the children out there.

Scott Benner 1:07:52
There are kids. Mary, I have to be reminded once in a while the children listen.

Heidi Wickstrom 1:07:57
Yeah. Well, especially when my mom friends. If I say I'm on here, guess who's gonna listen their children?

Scott Benner 1:08:03
Oh, are they really? Oh, so. So So and Heidi jumped on here to tell us our legs, you're gonna get your, like the Ghost of Christmas Future over? Ooh. No, no, that won't work. Not happening to me. It's not gonna you know what the truth is, is as really genuinely sad as what has happened, you know, to your father. Yeah, that outcome is going to be incredibly uncommon moving forward for people who have Yes, technology and the idea of how insulin really works. And it's just a it's a bygone era. Not that I guess it couldn't happen. No, it is, but it doesn't need to happen anymore. And it's it's certainly not going to happen as frequently as it used to. So

Heidi Wickstrom 1:08:44
and in fact, that's that's reminds me that's probably exactly what I tell people that are first diagnosis that Oh, my God, all this technology. They're going to be fine. You know?

Scott Benner 1:08:52
Yeah, I agree. I don't know why the serious episodes make me feel the most jokey. But obviously, it makes you uncomfortable. Probably. I'm not making light of.

Heidi Wickstrom 1:09:02
I'm like that too, though. I always use humor. Instead of

Scott Benner 1:09:05
Yeah, well, we were a real great match here because we were both doing the same thing. Like no one was being an adult. While we were talking about like the sound of circular saws and hospitals we've got that is really a great story. It is a good story. It's odd timing. All right.

Hold on. I'd like to thank Heidi for coming on the show and telling her story. And of course, thank touched by type one for sponsoring this episode of The Juicebox Podcast. I would like to remind you to check them out on Facebook, Instagram, and it touched by type one.org. Also, remember that I also want to remind you that I have a website juicebox podcast.com and a Facebook page with over 18,000 members Juicebox Podcast, type one diabetes, the Facebook page is completely free. I just reached And we've found out that people charge for that. There's no charge to be in the Facebook group. Just go use it, enjoy it, meet other people who have type one for adults and parents. There's a beautiful little hodgepodge in there. You might like it

I wish you could be in my head right now. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to go back and edit out where I went live bla bla in between those. I'm not I'm leaving then I don't care. I mean, it's not that I don't care. It's just, I don't know how to put it to you. It's not that I don't care. It's that I. I don't think it matters. Like I don't think you're right now going, Oh, how unprofessional of Scott. I just don't think you mind if you don't mind. Doesn't matter, mind over matter. I don't think that's what that means. But anyway,