#1523 Pittsburgh Screwdriver

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Andrea is one of three siblings with type 1, all of whom grew up with subpar medical care. She opens up about mental health and the cultural challenges of living with T1D.

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DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.

Scott Benner 0:00
Welcome back, friends. You are listening to the Juicebox Podcast.

Andrea 0:13
My name is Andrea, and I am one of three type ones in my family.

Scott Benner 0:17
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. Don't forget to save 40% off of your entire order at cozy earth.com All you have to do is use the offer code Juicebox at checkout. That's Juicebox at checkout to save 40% at cozy earth.com AG, one is offering my listeners a free $76 gift. When you sign up, you'll get a welcome kit, a bottle of d3, k2, and five free travel packs in your first box. So make sure you check out drink. AG, one.com/juicebox to get this offer, I created the diabetes variables series because I know that in type one diabetes management, the little things aren't that little, and they really add up. In this series, we'll break down everyday factors like stress, sleep, exercise and those other variables that impact your day more than you might think. Jenny Smith and I are going to get straight to the point with practical advice that you can trust. So check out the diabetes variable series in your podcast player or at Juicebox podcast.com today's podcast is sponsored by us med. US med.com/juicebox you can get your diabetes supplies from the same place that we do, and I'm talking about Dexcom, libre, Omnipod, tandem, and so much more US med.com/juicebox or call 888-721-1514, today's podcast is sponsored by the insulin pump that my daughter has been wearing since she was four years old. Omnipod. Omnipod.com/juicebox, dot com, slash Juicebox, you too can have the same insulin pump that my daughter has been wearing every day for 16 years.

Andrea 2:08
My name is Andrea, and I am one of three type ones in my family. How old were you when you're diagnosed with type one? Officially, I was 14, but I was diagnosed as type two when I was around 1112,

Scott Benner 2:23
ish, who else in your family has diabetes? My

Andrea 2:27
older brother was diagnosed when he was four in 2000 and then my little sister in 2005

Scott Benner 2:33
both with type one. Yeah, type one. I think 1007 I apologize. Oh, okay, but you were first.

Andrea 2:39
That was actually the very last one in 2013

Scott Benner 2:43
Oh, my God. Wait So Andrea, are you telling me that both of your siblings have type one diabetes, and yet they thought you had type two diabetes for three years?

Andrea 2:51
Yeah. And it was crazy, because I lost so much weight, and they're like, Nope, you're chubby. Here's some at foreman, did

Scott Benner 3:00
you go to a doctor's office at the back of a 711 like, what were you who? Who messed this up for you? Well, I am from Florida, so it's totally possible that it might have been the endo will be back. He's out herping right now, but as soon as he collects 11 boas,

Andrea 3:19
anti alligators and tail gators, they'll be back. Oh,

Scott Benner 3:23
gosh. So, wow. So you lived for three years as the type two, yeah,

Andrea 3:27
and they put me on Metformin, but, you know, it makes you go to the bathroom pretty often. You're not to be TMI, so I just, I refuse to take it. Then finally, they did like the g a d test, serum test, my GED was pretty high. I think it was 30. And then they finally put me on insulin. So that was

Scott Benner 3:47
a huge relief. The gat anybody finally pushed them over the edge, yeah,

Andrea 3:52
but I still can't believe they didn't do it prior. You know, since my other two siblings had it, oh,

Scott Benner 3:58
my god, Andre, I can't believe they didn't go, Oh, we've been waiting for this. Her other two siblings have type one. Like, did your parents push back?

Andrea 4:03
Honestly, my mom is also kind of, like, anxious and shy, like, like me, but a little bit less. So she kind of agreed that it was just type two. You know, I was always like, 1015, pounds overweight my whole life. So everyone's like, Oh no, you know, it's type two. Like your dad

Scott Benner 4:21
and your father has type two. Yeah, he has type two.

Andrea 4:25
I don't know what he takes. I think he's taking my foreman, but, yeah, he's had type two and pre diabetes for ever since I can remember. Okay, so I think they just thought I also had it too interesting.

Scott Benner 4:36
Well, what was that time like? I mean, you must have had a slow onset, or you would have gone into DK and died like so because you weren't using insulin, you weren't even using the Metformin.

Andrea 4:47
Yeah. And I actually just went to the my chart this morning, and I was looking at some labs that they did, like, two months before, and they did look at your analysis, yeah. And I only had two COVID. Less ketones. So I wonder if that kind of made them think she kind of has ketones, but not

Scott Benner 5:06
really. I wonder if you had lot, like, like, a lot of presentation. I mean, it has to be, right, I think so, yeah, just such a slow onset that it didn't hurt you too badly, and they weren't able to make that type one diagnosis. But you think the GAD 65 antibodies would push them over? Oh, yeah,

Andrea 5:24
I definitely think so, because I looked on the notes and it said, Yep, she has type one, like her other two siblings, just like that. Aaron will start insulin. Did you

Scott Benner 5:33
start with a pump or injections? How did it

Andrea 5:35
go injections? You know, even though it was mid 2000 10s, like early 2010s they put me on mph, Humalog and Lantus. So it was three different types. Why mph? I think it's because of the school. Like, we never took insulin in school. So we would take like, for example, I would take 15 units of Humalog every morning, 15 of mph, and then the MPH would cover, like, my lunch. So I don't know if it was to save a shot at school, but yeah, I never knew anything different. I thought it was normal. I was kind of shocked when I went to, like, my first, like, adult Endo. He's like, No one uses mph anymore.

Scott Benner 6:19
What are you from Manitoba? What about your your siblings? Were they doing that as well? Yeah,

Andrea 6:24
they were all doing that. We were all, like, taken at the same time, like, at 630 in the morning. My mom's like, okay, come on, everybody. And you know, my brother, my sister, and then me,

Scott Benner 6:34
just like a conga line of of injections. Yeah,

Andrea 6:38
it's like, Come on, everybody, daily meds. But,

Scott Benner 6:41
yeah, right, you just in a line in your underwear, like, waiting. Like,

Andrea 6:45
yeah, we're all like, halfway asleep. You know, we have another younger brother who does not have type one. He would always be like, oh my. He's like, do I have to do this eventually? We're like, we hope not. What's his name? Lucky? Honestly, that's what we should call him. Okay, seems Joel, but honestly, he's the lucky one. Listen,

Scott Benner 7:03
I'm from Philly. I don't want to hear about anybody named Joel. Oh, yeah. Just this, this thing. That's not his name, then, oh, okay, I don't like what the Sixers have done. So when you switch over to a faster acting insulin, it's because you're older, like an adult endocrinologist. But like, Were your siblings going to, like, the same doctor as you, or did your mom, like, look up and go, Hey, maybe we should be doing this for everybody.

Andrea 7:26
I think it was because that's what my big brother is like. Very first endo was doing. This is also like, 2001 22 and then we switched to another doctor, um, and he just kind of, like, stayed following the regimen. But then when I went to go see a an adult Endo, he took me off of the mph. He doubled my Lantus, but my older brother stayed doing that until recently, okay? And then my sister was actually on a T slim at that time, so she was only Nova log. So we're all kind of like managing it differently, but now two of us are in a pump, and then one is still an MDI, okay,

Scott Benner 8:02
does everybody have a CGM, yes, okay. How long ago was this? Now? How old are you? I am 26 oh, this is over a decade ago.

Andrea 8:11
Yeah, I just got my pump. My very first pump that I got was a dash, which was like, in 2022 so I'm still kind of new to the pumping I still feel like an infant,

Scott Benner 8:22
like in the pump stage. Are you still with Dash? No,

Andrea 8:25
I actually switched to Medtronic almost a year ago. I'm pretty happy with it. Yes, 670,

Scott Benner 8:30
g7, 80 G, 70 Yeah. Why am I still stuck in 677,

Andrea 8:35
80 G, yeah. Same numbers like same number, different pattern.

Scott Benner 8:39
Listen, I've said this before, and Medtronic sponsor, but you got to name these things better. Yeah,

Andrea 8:43
something cooler. Alligator, Medtronic alligator for the Floridians.

Scott Benner 8:48
For Floridians, what a long title. It wouldn't fit on the box, but the 780 G, that's a complete system, right? So you're wearing that with their sensor, yep. So

Andrea 8:56
I use their guardian for sensor, which, when it works, it really works, but when it doesn't work, it's kind of annoying. Like, you know, you got to, like, you know, replace the sensor. But I like it so far. Yeah, it's been pretty good to me. And

Scott Benner 9:10
then after the Guardian four, there's another sensor coming from them, though, that's more like, Dexcom, like, and it's build,

Andrea 9:16
yeah, the simplra, which I'm super excited for. But they're not in the US yet, so just waiting, just just waiting,

Scott Benner 9:24
Yeah, but you're happy with it for now, yeah, I think I'll stay with them electronic for now. Yeah, no, that's great. I love, I love when people find what they what they love. You know what I mean, things that work for them, I think are important,

Andrea 9:35
yeah? So the way I got on the Medtronic was, I think it was like 2023 when everyone was freaking out that the Dexcom g6 were no longer going to be they're still available, but they were, like, phasing them out, yeah. And I told my sister, you know, I really want, like, a closed loop system. She's like, Well, why don't you just get the Dexcom and, you know, my insurance didn't cover at the time. I. Was like, Yeah, but I don't want to pay, you know, the higher co pay, and I'm just going to Medtronic, you know, and then g7 comes in. I'm like, Oh, I could have just waited,

Scott Benner 10:11
but you're happy, and that's what's important, you know? Yeah, it's a process. The entire thing's a process. How long have you known about the podcast? Honestly,

Andrea 10:20
my sister and I were joining Facebook groups like anything that had to do with type one. So I joined your group in 2023 a couple of months before I got the Medtronic, I was still in the Omnipod five. At that time, I was like, you know, I'm in the group, but I've never listened to the podcast, so let me listen to the Omnipod five pro tips. So that's how I got introduced to the podcast. I was a group first, and then I went to the podcast. Yeah,

Scott Benner 10:47
how valuable Did you find the online portion of the community? I feel

Andrea 10:50
like I could actually like search things and there were like answers and opinions. Yeah. So I love the group,

Scott Benner 10:56
good, good. I'm glad. Let's break your time up like into like sections your first three years of not having any insulin. Do you have access to what your a one Cs were back then? Oh,

Andrea 11:09
yes, I actually just looked them up this morning. They were around 13.7 and then one was 14.9 and then when I finally got diagnosed. It was 15.1

Scott Benner 11:22
feel like someone should, should yell at the people who you were seeing for your medical care at that point. That's crazy. But okay, so you get on to MDI, right? And you get some insulin. What happens then? Because you're about 14 at that point, today's episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by Omnipod. And before I tell you about Omnipod, the device, I'd like to tell you about Omnipod the company. I approached Omnipod in 2015 and asked them to buy an ad on a podcast that I hadn't even begun to make yet because the podcast didn't have any listeners, all I could promise them was that I was going to try to help people living with type one diabetes, and that was enough for Omnipod. They bought their first ad, and I used that money to support myself while I was growing the Juicebox Podcast. You might even say that Omnipod is the firm foundation of the Juicebox Podcast, and it's actually the firm foundation of how my daughter manages her type one diabetes every day, omnipod.com/juicebox whether you want the Omnipod five or the Omnipod dash, using my link lets Omnipod know what a good decision they made in 2015 and continue to make to this day, Omnipod is easy to use, easy to fill, easy to wear. And I know that because my daughter has been wearing one every day since she was four years old, and she will be 20 this year, there is not enough time in an ad for me to tell you everything that I know about Omnipod, but please take a look omnipod.com/juicebox I think Omnipod could be a good friend to you, just like it has been to my daughter and my family. I used to hate ordering my daughter's diabetes supplies. I never had a good experience, and it was frustrating. But it hasn't been that way for a while, actually, for about three years now, because that's how long we've been using us med. Us med.com/juicebox, or call 888-721-1514, US med is the number one distributor for FreeStyle Libre systems nationwide. They are the number one specialty distributor for Omnipod, the number one fastest growing tandem distributor nationwide, the number one rated distributor in Dexcom customer satisfaction surveys. They have served over 1 million people with diabetes since 1996 and they always provide 90 days worth of supplies and fast and free shipping us. Med carries everything from insulin pumps and diabetes testing supplies to the latest CGM like the libre three and Dexcom g7 they accept Medicare nationwide and over 800 private insurers find out why. US med has an A plus rating with a better business bureau at usmed.com/juicebox, usmed.com/juicebox, or just call them at 888-721-1514, get started right now, and you'll be getting your supplies the same way we do. Yeah,

Andrea 14:32
I'm about 14. You know, starting high school, I gained 15 pounds over the summer, which I was not happy for. Freshman year, we did mzi, and it was, you know, take, you know, 10 units for lunch. Take this for snacks, take 10 units for dinner. And I just kept on following it like I never carb counted, like, if I was eating a banana, maybe five units, which was way too much. Like, I didn't really know that the. Amount of insulin correlated to carbs, really, like, and how much food that you were eating? Yeah, so I was going low a lot, and then, like, you know, the crazy highs, it was just not the best time. Do

Scott Benner 15:13
you think you were gaining weight at that point from the eating to cover the low blood sugars?

Andrea 15:17
Oh, yeah, I was eating a lot, like, I think I was started on, like, a very high dose of insulin. I was going low a lot. And I just remember I was eating everything and anything. My mom was cooking, like everything. There was no food in the house, thanks to me.

Scott Benner 15:32
Let's just create, I mean, so now you've got bad advice for the first three years, then somebody figures out you have type one, but then they don't give you good advice there, either. So, yeah, how long does that go on for?

Andrea 15:43
Oh, my, I would say up until, like, three years ago I was doing this, I didn't, like, know what to look for, and part of that is on me, like, the not being as educated, but I really didn't start to, like, look into it, until I started listening to the podcast, really, and, you know, my sister was telling me about it, and that's when I was like, oh, oh my, what have I been doing for the last decade? So

Scott Benner 16:11
for a decade, you're just shooting randomly insulin here and there, yeah, getting low eating, but you're going to an endocrinologist. What are your a one CS? Like, why aren't they saying something to you?

Andrea 16:24
Honestly, I think it was because it was always three of us in the room. Like, you know, it was my my brother, my sister and me, really, I feel like it was, you know, with the don't die advice, like, okay, just, you know, maybe don't take as much here and there. My a one Cs were always in, like, the eight to nines,

Scott Benner 16:41
and no one ever said to you. Do you remember saying to them, Hey, listen, I get low a lot. Honestly,

Andrea 16:46
I don't think I said anything. Andrea, why do you think? Honestly, I think it was just because my mom always spoke to the doctor, and my siblings and I were just kind of like, just just sitting in the chairs, just, know, letting her do all the talking. And you know, I would tell my mom, like, you know, I'm getting low. And she's like, well, here's some juice. But I didn't know at the time that it was because I'm taking too much insulin. I was kind of just following, like, the paper, like, hey, like, take, you know, five units for this. And I'm like, okay, just blindly following it.

Scott Benner 17:16
Oh my gosh. You told me that your your boss is gonna listen to this, so you're not going to curse, but I almost cursed just now, just so, you know, it's okay. If you do it, it's okay, but if it's me, I have to watch it. I'm angry for you, you know. And you're so sweet, like, you're just like, it's okay. I didn't know,

Andrea 17:32
yeah. And, you know, listening more to the podcast, and, you know, I switched to, like, another adult Endo. That's when I was like, oh, like fats and, you know, protein can affect it too. I learned so much more in like, the, honestly, like, the first three months of listening than I have from any handout, any like, appointment that I've ever had with the Endo. And, you know, it's, you know, thanks to you and your guests, that you know this information is a lot easier to access because I didn't even know about this. I didn't even know what to look for.

Scott Benner 18:04
No, I'm so happy that you figured it out, and if the podcast helped you, that's just that's a lovely bonus for me. But I'm just happy you're better because you're on a bad path, like, what's your a 1c now, ooh, it is a 6.20 my gosh. And how often do you find yourself so low you have to eat everything in the kitchen rarely.

Andrea 18:22
The only time I really go alone now is if I Bolus too early for my meals. But that rarely really happens now, but I am super happy now with my better a, 1c,

Scott Benner 18:33
Yeah, mine made me so happy. I feel genuinely pleased for you. That's awesome. That's great. Okay, so tell people what you learned, like you said, you learned about, like, fat and protein and bolusing for that. But I mean, you had to start at the beginning. Didn't you? Like, were your settings right? How did you learn to count carbs? Finally, like all that,

Andrea 18:51
the one episode that I really think about a lot, and I hope I get his name right, I believe it was Terry lives on a boat. And I remember, I was leaving work, and I was like, Oh, I really want Wendy's. And you guys are talking about, you know, protein and stuff. I was like, Oh, I'm like, let me try this, which, of course, is not medical advice. But I was like, let me try this real quick, you know, the formula he was using, and it worked. I got like, a giant chicken salad, and I was straight line, 108, at the end of it, I was like, Oh my God. What did that feel like? I felt like I'm not a parent, but I could imagine this is, like, when a parent listens to a kid say their first word,

Scott Benner 19:32
yeah, it's like a ton of pride, yeah. I was like,

Andrea 19:35
Oh my gosh. I'm like, I could have been doing this and I didn't know

Scott Benner 19:38
Terry lives on a boat's a great episode. Yeah, wow. Oh, it's so crazy. It really is genuinely, I don't know, like I'm struck by the fact that you're just going along with these crazy a 1c that nobody's doing anything about it. You don't know to ask about it. And then you think your sister, you remember what happened to her, that she thought. We should learn more about this. So

Andrea 20:02
she is the first one that went on a pump and also a CGM. And, you know, I was, I'm very, I don't wanna say old school, but I'm very, like, I'm scared, you know, to have something on me, yeah? But he was like, no, no. Like, she's like, if you have a CGM, she's like, You don't have to blindly Bolus, which what is what I was doing? If I'm like, Hmm, I think I'm like, 250 let me just Bolus

Scott Benner 20:26
real quick. You weren't testing to see No, but

Andrea 20:30
I was just like, random. I'm like, Oh, I feel like I need, you know, five units. Oh, no, maybe I need 10. Like, I was just random. It was kind of like a plain Dart. It's like, let's see which one I land on.

Scott Benner 20:43
How much of this do you think just goes to your personality, like your mom was taking care of it. The doctors are telling me, you sound you say you're like, a little, maybe, like, reserved, right? So I'm just trying to get through the idea of, like, you know those a one, Cs are not good, right? When you're getting them. Honestly, I'm so

Andrea 21:01
embarrassed to say, but I remember when I had like, an 8.0 and I was so happy. I was like, so proud of it, because I thought it was good. I thought, like, below nine was like, Oh my gosh, yay.

Scott Benner 21:16
Is that because at points, you had thirteens and you're like, oh my gosh, I've knocked it down five points,

Andrea 21:21
yeah, I really was, I was like, Oh, I'm on top of the world. I have an eight, a, 1c, you can't touch me. Like, I was so, uh, you know,

Scott Benner 21:30
wow. So you just thought nine's awesome, because, you know, it's better than 10, eight fantastic. It's way better than 12, like, that kind of stuff, yeah.

Andrea 21:39
And I really did think, and that was, like, all of us, like all my siblings, you know, we were all in, like, the nines the eights because we were only taking insulin three times a day, you know, yeah, in the morning, chemolog and NPH, and then at nighttime, you know, our Lantus and then our lunchtime Novolog. Are

Scott Benner 21:59
all three of you doing something differently now, like, obviously your sister is it sounds like she figured it out maybe before you did what about your the third sibling? Yeah. So

Andrea 22:06
my older brother, he's still doing MDI, and he has a Dexcom g7 Okay, so he's doing that. My sister has the Dexcom g7 and the T slim, and then I have my good omnidronic.

Scott Benner 22:19
Do you guys talk about diabetes between the three of you,

Andrea 22:23
honestly, not really, maybe with my sister. Like, sometimes we'll talk, if we're going out to, like, lunch together, I'll be like, how much did you take? She's like, Oh, I took 10 units. And I'm like, Oh, I'm I'm taking 15. And you know, of course, we have different, like, sensitivity stuff. Sure, that's one of the most that we talk about. Or, like, if I'm really annoyed with, like, my CGM, I'm like, can I borrow Dexcom? Like, I just, I don't want to use my CGM. And she's like, Yeah, here,

Scott Benner 22:48
and you guys do that. Yeah. Okay, so I'm not here to, like, say something bad about your healthcare or your mom or anything like that. Okay, but like, with some distance, you see that you got pretty rough treatment, medically.

Andrea 23:03
Yeah, now looking back, I really do think it could have been better. And, you know, I gave my mom a lot of, I don't know what word leniency, I don't know. I feel like that's kind of a harsh word. But, you know, she didn't really speak English, so she was just trying to navigate it, all, you know, with assistance from like, translators or interpretators, as I should say, yeah, so I kind of don't hold like a grudge against her, because I think she was trying her best.

Scott Benner 23:29
She was at a pretty significant disadvantage as well. You think, yeah,

Andrea 23:33
like looking back, because we did have, like, Medicaid sometimes. And my sister was like, you know, we could have had, you know, CGM and pumps at that time, right? And I was like, Oh, I'm like, I did not know we always had just, you know, our regular, like, ultra touch meters, yeah,

Scott Benner 23:49
you weren't getting good direction. And there were language barriers. And you got, like, you said you were a little quiet. On top of that, your mom's quiet, and, yeah, yeah. And so just all that kind of stacks up, and then your sister gets a pump, and that's what kind of moves everything in the right direction.

Andrea 24:05
Oh yeah, she's very strong, like, she's like, the, I don't know it's like, the tough sibling, but she really is a lot vocal, like, advocating for herself. So when she got her pump, she was like, really telling me, like, hey, the pump is, you know, it changes everything. You know, you don't have to be taking shots all the time, which is also part of why my agencies were so bad. Like, if I didn't feel like taking a Bolus,

Scott Benner 24:30
I'm not gonna do it. Really. You were always bolusing, um, for meals.

Andrea 24:34
But like, if I felt like, uh, I feel kind of like, like, my blood sugar is high, I would just ignore it and hope it goes away. Kind of like, you know, take a Bolus of hope and make it go away.

Scott Benner 24:45
Bolus of hope. Okay. I mean, that all makes sense to me. It really does. You can look at it from like, a long distance and say, I can't believe nobody told them. I can't believe they didn't wonder. But at the same time, like, I can see how these things stack up and lead you to this place. Yeah.

Andrea 24:59
And. Very lucky now that, you know, we have access to, you know, the group, the podcast, all this information, I really do feel like it's helped me tremendously. I went from a 7.7 to a 6.2 in the span of a year. You're in like, two months. Wow, all this information, I feel like really motivated me to do those changes. It's

Scott Benner 25:23
having good tools and understanding what you're talking about. Yes, really is, because before

Andrea 25:26
I'm like, I'm like, Bolus, I'm like, what is that? Had even I never heard of that word until the podcast. Are you serious? Yeah, I never heard of that word. Like, I would just say taking a correction. I didn't know it was like, Bolus, right? I was like, Bolus and like, sounds like a puppy name, okay? So

Scott Benner 25:45
there's context for having just definitions of words that are being used. Yeah,

Andrea 25:49
it took me a while to get used to it. Like, you know, like, basal, Bolus sensitivity factor. At first, I was, like, very intimidated, and that's why I kind of, like, backed off for like, a couple of days, I was like, Oh, this is kind of scary for me, you know, yeah, let me, you know, back off. But then I was like, I'm gonna go blind in 40 years if I continue this path of, you know, 10, A, one,

Scott Benner 26:12
CS. Why did you know that? Oh, because, honestly,

Andrea 26:16
when I was first diagnosed as type two. So this is, like, probably 2011 ish, I had a really bad fall at the school, like the middle school, and I got, like, these really bad, like, I don't want to say burns, but I fell on the concrete pavement, and it really scratched my legs, like, really bad. And, you know, at that time I a one, Cs were like, you know, 1213, and I just remember they were just like, I don't know if this is TMI, but it was like oozing pus, and it was just disgusting. And I was like, I don't want that to happen anywhere else, you know. And that's all due to my bad, you know, I hate to say bad, but to my high numbers. But

Scott Benner 27:01
do you think, like, even that much understanding about what complications might look like? Is that from your father having type two?

Andrea 27:07
Maybe my dad didn't really have like, I don't know if he ever had like complications.

Scott Benner 27:12
Was it spoken about? I mean, oh no, not

Andrea 27:16
really, really. His mom had type two and her last years of life, and she was blind. So that's kind of why I always had that, like that fear, like,

Scott Benner 27:25
diabetes equals blindness, yeah.

Andrea 27:29
So I was like, you know, I got to take care of myself, or else, you know, I don't want to be blind at the age of 70,

Scott Benner 27:35
I see. So there's enough, like, loose knowledge of things that may or may not happen to just get lodged in your head and push you in a direction. Yes, exactly, okay, but that doctors didn't help you understand that your mom was limited. Can I ask you if I took the bold beginning series and AI translated it into Spanish? Do you think that it would make its way around the internet? I think

Andrea 28:01
so, especially with like, you know, like the younger generations, and, you know, phones being more accessible, yeah, we're from a ranch in Mexico, and everybody has a phone, everyone's, you know, on the music apps. I think that it would be more helpful, okay, I think they would have more access to it, you know. I wish my mom had something like that, yeah, because, you know, at that time, it was kind of like old school type one info that was really upset. Is there enough

Scott Benner 28:28
community connection that you think people would pass it around? I'm not really

Andrea 28:32
sure, because I haven't been out there in a while, but I know there are some Spanish speaking type one groups. Okay, I'm actually like two of them. So I think if they got shared there, maybe it would get some rounds.

Scott Benner 28:44
Okay? It's a significant expense, and that's why I'm trying to figure out to do it or not, because it's going to come completely out of my pocket. No one's going to buy an ad on it, yeah, you know, or anything like that. It's pretty costly, but I just feel like it would be really valuable, yeah, and it's great

Andrea 28:59
information, honestly, info that you really can't get anywhere, like at the doctor's office, you know, not saying that they're not, you know, educated, but a staff member wouldn't tell me the info that, you know, I got from the podcast. Yeah,

Scott Benner 29:11
it's crazy. I don't know how to say this exactly, but do you think culturally, like, having diabetes is just a thing that people accept and don't do a lot to try to change?

Andrea 29:23
Yeah, I honestly, I definitely do think so, because, like, in my family, you know, my mom's always cooking, like, high carb, you know, it was always like, you know, Rice was like, half your plate with a tortilla and, you know, maybe a protein like chicken or steak or something. My father just kept on eating the same before he was diagnosed with type two. I definitely think it's accepted, and not really. I don't know what word I'm looking for. Like, done something about

Scott Benner 29:52
right? Yeah, almost like, oh, the BDS got me nothing I can do about it. Yeah, right. I got caught by diabetes. Yeah. Yeah, it

Andrea 30:00
finally got to me, you know, we were expecting him at seven, but he came at nine.

Scott Benner 30:04
Yeah, no, yeah. See, that's what I think. And then if you have the expectation that, like, this is just what it is. So then when you have those problems, you don't think I could change this, you think this is what's supposed to happen. Yeah, I

Andrea 30:18
definitely think that that is very much how I saw it in my family. And I hate to put, like, my dad on the spot, because,

Scott Benner 30:24
you know, how would he know, you know, yeah, like, I always remember,

Andrea 30:28
like, even though he had it, and, you know, we had, you know, type one, we were still eating very much, high carb meals, not doing any exercise, just kind of like, you know, we have it. Oh, well, it's just, you know, just put in the closet real quick. Let's continue with

Scott Benner 30:44
our life. We'll ignore this and have a plate full of beans and rice and, yeah, right. And just like, drive our blood sugar up for a day and a half. Oh, my,

Andrea 30:53
I can't I honestly, looking back, I just, I can't believe that, you know, we all managed to make it to our 20s.

Scott Benner 30:59
I'm gonna say, yeah. Like, right. You must be like, now that you have, like, real perspective on what the impact of that food

Andrea 31:05
is. Oh, yeah. Like, now I like, whenever, like, she makes like, rice. I'm just like, I love you, mom, but I'm gonna pass for right now, just because I don't feel like, you know, battling for the next two hours. Does

Scott Benner 31:18
she know now? Does she understand how impactful that food is.

Andrea 31:21
I think she does, yeah, yeah. I don't really talk to her much about it, but I think she does know now, like, we do try to make different things that aren't so carb heavy, but I can still see it when she makes it like, I can still see, you know, my other siblings and I, like, we kind of avoid it. What

Scott Benner 31:40
stops you guys from talking about it? Like, I'm wondering, like, at some point, have you not thought, Hey, mom, like, why don't we ease up on Dad? Here a little bit, you know what? I mean, yeah.

Andrea 31:49
And he also, like, I don't know if he's on any other medications, but he has been, like, losing a lot more weight. I can see he's trying to work on it, but, yeah, it's like, it's kind of like, I don't want to say you can't teach a dog new tricks, but, you know, it's like, you know, we eat this type of food, you know, I'm gonna, you know, make this food. You know, if you guys want less, that's fine. But, you know, these are, like, staples

Scott Benner 32:11
in our household. Has to be like, this, would your dad do a GLP medication? Do you think?

Andrea 32:16
I think so. I think would be helpful. You know, he's always been, you know, uh, a bigger guy, you know, he would be working outside, like, doing, like, hard manual labor,

Scott Benner 32:25
so that must be difficult with high blood sugars too.

Andrea 32:29
Oh, yeah. And then we're in Florida, yeah, by the Everglades, it'll really, oh geez, the swamp out here taught, I don't know how he does it. No kidding,

Scott Benner 32:37
yeah. I mean, if he's got reasonable insurance, he ought to talk to somebody about that and just see if maybe beneficial. Yeah. I mean, it could definitely, you could knock some weight off of him if he has it to lose. It might help with his blood sugar. Is this? Insulin resistance? A lot of different

Andrea 32:52
things, yeah. And honestly, I was actually thinking about asking my doctor, but I don't know. I'm trying to do it like with my diet and going on walks right now, because my sensitivity is not the best, but I do see it's getting better. Like, as you lose weight, yeah? Like, I lost, like, I want to say, like, three in the last month I've been, like, cutting out, like, everything. Like, sodas, awesome, tortillas, no more rice, which I miss very dearly. Yeah,

Scott Benner 33:18
man, those are some easy cuts, really. Like, when you say so did you, are you saying diet soda or regular soda? More

Andrea 33:23
like juices, like, so I'm like, kind of scared of carbonation, like carbonated drinks now, because why are

Scott Benner 33:30
you scared of carbonation? So I actually

Andrea 33:32
went into DKA in 2019, and at that time, I was obsessed with Dr Pepper. And so I was like, Oh my gosh. I'm like, I drank so much Dr Pepper and I wasn't bolusing for it. I'm in DKA. Wait. So

Scott Benner 33:48
now the bubbles you have bubble fear. No,

Andrea 33:51
have a bubble fear. I did refuse to drink sodas, like ever since 2019 I refuse to drink sodas. I don't

Scott Benner 33:57
think you should drink soda, so I'm okay with that, but you were drinking regular Dr Pepper and not bolusing for it, yeah?

Andrea 34:04
Like, I would, like, you know, if I would be driving, oh, let's take a Dr Pepper. It has to be the cherry one, though. Then I just wouldn't Bolus for it. I'm driving, I would not Bolus. Because,

Scott Benner 34:14
why? Tell me why. Honestly, I didn't really think it

Andrea 34:17
would affect me. Because at that time, I wasn't checking and I was just, you know, doing the random boluses here and there. I was like, oh, I'll just, you know, Bolus for this soda later, Andrew,

Scott Benner 34:28
you're being so honest, and I really appreciate this. But if you were diagnosed at 11 and you were driving and drinking a Dr Pepper and thinking it wasn't going to affect you, how many years with diabetes was it when you were cracking that Dr Pepper?

Andrea 34:39
Oh, my I want to say, okay, so I was 21

Scott Benner 34:44
I was a decade with type one diabetes, and you were like, this, Dr Pepper is not a problem for me. No, it's it doesn't count, you know. And when you look back now being honest, oh, I wanna were you lying to yourself, or did you really not know?

Andrea 34:58
I honestly think it was like, deny. Oil and lack of education, okay? Like, I feel like I was, yeah, like, denying it, like, you know, it's not food, okay?

Scott Benner 35:07
So if I would have pinned you down back then and said, Listen, you gotta be honest. You know this is making your blood sugar go up, you would

Andrea 35:14
have said, Yes, I'm like, I know, but not really, because it's a liquid, because

Scott Benner 35:18
it's a liquid, doesn't count. It's Tuesday after three.

Andrea 35:23
Yeah, I'm like, No, that. I don't even know what you're talking about.

Scott Benner 35:27
My gosh, now you wouldn't do that. Now, is that correct? Oh, no.

Andrea 35:31
Like, so sometimes, like, we go out to, like, eat and stuff, and I love unsweet teas. Like, if I put like, one sugar packet, oh, I'm putting that in my in my palm, I'm putting like, two carbs in, yeah? Like, I am very picky now, like, I really want to get everything in the pump. That's awesome, and I want everything Bolus for everything. How come

Scott Benner 35:50
you don't put a Splenda in that, in that unsweet day? Oh, I don't like Splenda. I

Andrea 35:55
like, I like equal. If they don't

Scott Benner 35:58
have equals, it'll put a sugar, sugar that's fair enough. Is equal the blue one? Yeah,

Andrea 36:03
that's the blue one. We are an equal guys. We

Scott Benner 36:07
we love equal Okay, so generally speaking, you would use a sub, a sugar substitute, and if you didn't have it, then, then you'd go with sugar, but you would Bolus for it. Yeah,

Andrea 36:15
I like to do, like, two carbs per little packet. Nice. That's really rare. Can

Scott Benner 36:20
I take credit for that, for you being a person who's bolusing for your for your sugar packet?

Andrea 36:24
Yes, because before I thought like, only like carbs, like and by carbs, it was like, you know, rice cakes, you know, cereal. I'm like, only those things raised my blood sugar. I wouldn't even think that protein would raise you so if I eat chicken, I'm like, this chicken, I'm doing it. I'm bolusing for the chicken, for the protein.

Scott Benner 36:47
Awesome. Do you know where you got that idea from? Honestly,

Andrea 36:49
from that episode about Terry lives on a boat.

Scott Benner 36:53
No, but I mean, before that, where did you get the idea that, like, only carbs in certain forms had impact on your blood sugar? Oh,

Andrea 37:00
because that's how we were doing it here. Like my mom, she had, like, a hard time understanding that, you know, other things also impact. And I always remember this office visit. I was still not type one, but I always remember this one day that we went in for my brother, my sister and I just, you know, tag along with them, yeah. And, you know, the lady is like, you know, when you give your kids insulin, like, what are you giving them insulin for? She said, Oh, for the sugar. And she's like, Okay, what do you mean by that? She's like, Oh, you know, like, snacks, you know, bread. And then the lady was like, you know, do you do it for other things, like rice, you know, the tortillas you guys have? My mom's like, no, that's not sugar. So in my head, I was like, oh, like, I kind of, like, took my mom's idea and then I was kind of doing it until I was, you know, told otherwise, yeah,

Scott Benner 37:51
and do you remember that conversation enough to know if the nurse was like, hey, well, you're wrong. Honestly,

Andrea 37:57
I think they were being very soft. It definitely felt like a scolding, though, just because, you know, you know, I'm like, 11, I'm like, Oh my God, they're yelling at my mom, like, who are you? But now I kind of wish that you happened to me, honestly, because I feel like I would have definitely taken better care of it. Yeah, sometimes, you know, you just need a good I don't say good scolding, but

Scott Benner 38:22
you know, podcast, that's all, you'll be fine.

Andrea 38:24
Yeah. I'm like, let me put Scott on.

Scott Benner 38:27
We'll talk about it, and I'll feel better. Yes,

Andrea 38:30
honestly, I was listening this morning, um, I believe you just put the episode of Paulie. And I was like, Wow. She was also talking about how she was, like, misdiagnosed as well, or if they were having a hard time believing her. And I was like, Oh my gosh, that's happened to me. You know that happened to me too. Can

Scott Benner 38:46
I tell you that I was contacted privately this morning by a relation? It's, I don't want, it doesn't matter how, and somebody's been diagnosed by being a EMT and checking their blood sugar during teaching other like trainees how to check blood sugars. And as crazy as that sounds, that's maybe the fourth time I've heard that story that is wild of people just who are EMTs and like, though they're on the rig and they're teaching new people, and they're like, well, here, here's how you do it. And they teach, they test themselves, and then go, Hey, what the hell like this has to be wrong. Yeah, right. I think I've quite literally interviewed three people who that's happened to, and now I know a fourth one. Oh my gosh. You know, the stories are so universal. I think a lot of times, you know, I think

Andrea 39:35
it's kind of like same story, different font, the same sentence, just kind of New Roman, Gothic style, a little

Scott Benner 39:43
different, but, but really the same. Yeah, enough for you to see the relevance to yourself in the in the conversation. What was that? Is that episode called floppy duck. Yes,

Andrea 39:52
the floppy duck, I'm, I still have, like, halfway to go, but I was just listening to left heart was like, Oh my gosh. It just, it's the same thing, different character. There's, yeah,

Scott Benner 40:00
yeah, but I know, like, you know, it's funny, I used to make such a big deal of saying all the time, like, I know you want to feel special, and I know your diabetes is not. It's different than everybody else's, but it's not really, it's a lot of similarities, at least enough similarities that we can all look at them together and say, hey, you know what? This person's not exactly like me, obviously, but enough of their story is my story that I can learn from it.

Andrea 40:24
Yes, and I think that's the beauty of the podcast where, you know, we all have a different entrance, but it's still like the same journey. Like you might go this route and I might go this one, and, you know, you and Arden go this one, but like, we're all trying to get to the same end goal of, you know, trying to be as healthy and, you know, happy as possible.

Scott Benner 40:44
That's the whole thing. Is understanding how to use insulin and folding that into your day to day life so that you have nice, healthy, happy outcomes. That's all, yes, that's

Andrea 40:52
the most important one, which is why I'm so happy that you exist, Scott, and that this podcast exists. You're

Scott Benner 40:58
very nice. Can I ask you, you talk a little bit in your note about depression, did you have trouble with that? Oh,

Andrea 41:05
yeah, I think that was also part of why I was kind of like, uh, you know, I feel like my blood sugar is high. I'm just not gonna do it. I'll do it later. It's kind of like, you know, like, just pushing it off. I was actually admitted to a psychiatric hospital for depression, you know, I listened to the episode. I believe it was, I think it was like the prison episode about how, you know, they treat the, you know, I don't want to say inmates. Maybe they're inmates feel something, they don't care. And honestly, I really related to that, because that's how it kind of fell in there, too. How long were you there? I was there for like, five days. I had major depression, and I just, I really needed help. And you know, there was a lot going on at that time in my life, yeah, and you know, things happen, and you know, I went there, and I just felt so I don't wanna say helpless, but I felt so I don't say naked, but I felt so helpless, not being able to control my type one, even though I wasn't controlling it well, I just I did not like that. Somebody else had

Scott Benner 42:07
control over it. Yeah. So how long ago was this? How old were you? I was

Andrea 42:12
22 so this was in 2020

Scott Benner 42:14
okay. And so even though you weren't, like, on top of it, on top of it, having taken away from you was painful. Oh yeah, it

Andrea 42:22
was a huge eye opener. It was like, I'm already not taking care of it well enough. These people are definitely not going to take care of it better, you know, than me, and I'm already at the bottom floor. Yeah.

Scott Benner 42:33
But does it? Does it feel like you've given control of, like, whether or not you breathe in or breathe out to somebody else? I think so. I've had people explain to me that idea of, like, you know, don't touch my pump, you know, don't touch my insulin, like, because it is so, it is so intertwined with who you are as a person, yeah?

Andrea 42:54
Like, I don't go anywhere without at least one vial of, like, my Nova log. Like, it's, it's me, it's

Scott Benner 43:00
like, me in like, mini form, yeah, you don't want anybody messing with that,

Andrea 43:03
yeah. And I just remember they would test your blood sugar. And I don't want to discredit them, because they did a lot of really good, you know, things for my mental health. But I just remember just I felt very restricted, and, you know, I did not like that. They were not letting me Bolus for my meals. They were only giving me like if my blood sugar was 200 only for the 200 go eat, and, you know, not for the food, not the best of a

Scott Benner 43:34
control. What do you think your a 1c was at that time in your life?

Andrea 43:38
So it was the 8.0 because they made me do labs before I went. And that's when I was, like, so proud of the 8.0 a, 1c, yeah.

Scott Benner 43:47
And how do you feel now, like those these years removed, have you experienced any depression since then? It

Andrea 43:52
comes and goes. I'm on a medication right now, which I think has really helped with my management. I definitely think it's an important role. You know? It gives me, like, more motivation, and yeah, so I'm very happy with it, and my a 1c is definitely a lot happier. My blood sugars are happier now, like, I'm more on top. I'm

Scott Benner 44:09
trying to figure out if you just feel lighter in your mind when your a one Cs are lower. Honestly, I

Andrea 44:15
think so, because, you know, it feels like a report card say you failed like, two tests, and then you're like, you finally got like, a better grade. And like, you're just getting a better one and better one. And I hate to even say it like that, because it's so damaging in some ways, but it feels

Scott Benner 44:30
like you're building momentum, though. Yeah, okay, you have a lot going on.

Andrea 44:37
Oh my Scott. If you have five hours, I can tell you everything.

Scott Benner 44:42
Pick something else you want to tell me. Let me see. I think we went over

Andrea 44:47
almost everything. I can't really think of anything else. Not really sure, Scott,

Scott Benner 44:52
look at you. You are so delightful. Why are you so nice? Honestly, I think is the anxiety. Wait a minute, so. So you have anxiety? I think

Andrea 45:01
so, yeah, I've always been a super shy kid, and I feel like that's also for my mom, and I've just always been super shy, like, and I'm a huge people pleaser. I know that's obvious, but I'm a huge people pleaser. And, you know, anxiety and all that, are

Scott Benner 45:18
there things you're thinking that you don't say because you don't want to be too like,

Andrea 45:24
I don't know, aggressive. Oh, yeah, sometimes I do think things like, like, for example, like at the endo when they were telling us, you know, why are you taking this I'm like, I don't know. I don't know. Why are you asking me? Like, why did you take 50 units to say, I don't know. I don't know.

Scott Benner 45:40
How else does anxiety impact you? Honestly?

Andrea 45:42
Like, if I'm very nervous for something like, my blood sugars will skyrocket, like, probably, like, 6070, points, and I just leave it there. Like, I won't Bolus. This is before I had the pump. But I definitely feel like I had a lot of higher blood sugars all the time. Like at school, I was always very shy, like the, like, the really shy kid in your class, that was me, okay, you know, if I had to, like, even speak to the teacher, I'm, like, shaking, almost crying. And I definitely feel like that probably impacted my management earlier. Like, always, always high, like, the adrenaline. I don't really sure, yeah, I definitely think it affects how I managed my type one. And, you know, my sister's a lot more laid back. She's, like, super relaxed, like, she manages it super different. And, you know, she doesn't really have anxiety. So that's how, like, I kind of, like, look at us. We're like, Oh my gosh. Like, we have the same thing, but it's not the same. Does it

Scott Benner 46:43
impact, like, your personal relationships or your like your work or having gone to school? Is there any other places where you feel limited by it?

Andrea 46:52
I think so. Like for school, like, right now, I work at a doctor's office as, like, the front desk, but, you know, I went to a technical college to be a pharmacy tech. I was just dreading going there, like, you know, I definitely did not want to stay there. Plus, I was only a temp higher, so it kind of worked out better that way. But personal relationship wise, I would say so sometimes, like, sometimes, like, I did not want to go out and hang out, just because I don't, I don't, I don't have the energy for it. Just being

Scott Benner 47:20
around people, does it kind of sap your energy, kind

Andrea 47:24
of, well, it really depends. Like, if it's people that I know, not really, but if it's like, Hey, you're beating 20 people today, I'm like, Oh no. How do I how do I get out of this one? Do

Scott Benner 47:35
you think Andrea? I know why. I can't think of the word. Because this is the first episode I've recorded since I had my surgery, and I'm still a little fox, but my brain is like, trust me, if we would have done this two days ago, this is the podcast would have sounded like me going, but I'm just a little like, I'm a half step behind right now. What is it called? When people, oh, God, I can't think of the word. This is so ridiculous. I'm

Andrea 48:01
kind of, like, thinking of, like, you know, like the Thor I'm harvest Thor, or the Infinity rings. Like, once I have enough people, I'm done.

Scott Benner 48:11
Okay, so, like, if you're around people and you don't know them, is it a lot of work

Andrea 48:16
for conversation? Yeah? Like, because it's like, I don't know what, what to talk to you about, and I just get super and that makes you anxious. Yeah, it makes me anxious. I don't know why, honestly, because, like, you know, I'm never gonna see these people again. So like, Why do I get like this? And then, you know, my face turns red, my blush goes up, and it's just a mess. Your face turns red, your butcher, I always call myself a tomato. Like, in your mind, you're like, This is ridiculous. I'm never gonna meet these people again. It doesn't matter what they think of me. And I say even that, I care, like, what they think. It's more like, I have to be here. It's kind of like, like an amusement park. Like, imagine you're the ride, and you just want to, like, I don't know where I'm going.

Scott Benner 48:58
No, keep going, you're the ride and what. And

Andrea 49:01
you just want people to be like, okay, like, Oh my gosh. I love this ride. I think it is the people pleaser in me. You know? It's like, you want people to like

Scott Benner 49:09
you. Has anyone ever called you introverted? Oh,

Andrea 49:12
yes, my fiance all the time. Okay, that's the

Scott Benner 49:15
word, by the way, that I couldn't find earlier. Case you're introverted, yeah. So he says you're very introverted. Yes. And he is a complete opposite. He's got, he's like, got kind of an outward personality. Oh, yes. See, can you feel drained after these social interactions?

Andrea 49:32
Sometimes, yeah, sometimes, like, I just want to go back home. I'm like, you know, I just, I can't I have to leave.

Scott Benner 49:38
Do you think of your life as limited

Andrea 49:40
because of that kind of not really well, I want to say yes, because I do like to, you know, go explore new things, but if there's a lot of people, it kind of drags out, like I have this kind of funny story. So my fiance and I went to one of his cousin's weddings in Pittsburgh, and I do not drink alcohol. Yeah, and they had an open bar. I had like, four screwdrivers, and I ripped my pod off because it was just, you know, it was almost out. I was like, I'm done for the night. Let's go.

Scott Benner 50:11
You got drunk and took off your Omnipod.

Andrea 50:13
I took off my Omnipod. Like, let's go. I'm done. You had enough

Scott Benner 50:16
vodka and orange juice that you're like, I don't have diabetes anymore.

Andrea 50:20
I even know who she is. Okay. Who she is. Go ahead. Then he went back to, you know, the hotel, and I was like, I'm just going straight to sleep. Like, he's like, No, he's like, you put another Omnipod? I'm like, No, I don't, I go straight to sleep. I'm like, for me, one drink is like 10. I was out of it, and so he put a new one on. I'm like, Oh, I'm like, well, I'll never have you another screwdriver in Pittsburgh again.

Scott Benner 50:46
He slapped the pot on you while you were passed out.

Andrea 50:48
Yeah. And I was like, so I was like, Oh, my God. I'm like, how did this pod get on my leg? I was like, did you put this on? He was like,

Scott Benner 50:56
Yeah, because you were gonna wake up and, DK, if you were lucky, yeah. And it

Andrea 51:00
was the first time he's ever done that. And, you know, it just really made me think of how important it is to have, like, a supportive partner, yeah, if you have type one, and, you know, I hope everyone you know finds that, because it's really important, especially when you know you have four screw drivers, you rip off your Omnipod and then you go straight to sleep.

Scott Benner 51:20
All right, do you ever suggest the podcast to other people?

Andrea 51:24
Oh, yes, like so we rarely have type one patients in the doctor's office where I work, but I have recommended it probably twice now to the type ones that do come in. And I recommend it because it gives so much good info. Okay, definitely the Pro Tip series. I've been trying to get my sister to listen but she never listens to, like, anything. I'm like, You have to listen to this. She's like, Oh my gosh, you've already told him, like, 10 times. So I try Scott. I'm trying to help.

Scott Benner 51:55
No, I just wondered, like, when you tell her to try it, what do you think she'll get from it. I definitely

Andrea 52:01
think the like avoiding going low, like in the bolusing for like proteins and like fats, I think that was that would be very beneficial, because we never learned that, and I've tried to bring it up to her, but it's kind of like, you know, we don't really speak about type one, so we kind of like avoid the subject. Sounds

Scott Benner 52:19
like, in your family, you don't really talk about these kinds of things. No, things. No,

Andrea 52:23
not really. Like, we'll probably talk about it, like, twice in a week, like, Hey, what's your blood sugar? Oh, your blood sugar is this? Mine's better, huh?

Scott Benner 52:30
It's kind of it just a little playfulness, yeah, just,

Andrea 52:33
you know, very sister esque, like, she's my little sister. We used to work together, and, you know, there was a subway across the street, and we would have like, little battles, like, whoever's blood sugar is higher has to go get the subway across the street. All right, listen,

Scott Benner 52:49
Andrew, you were terrific. I really appreciate you doing this with me. If you'd hold on for a second. Thank you for having me. Oh no, it's a it's a real pleasure. I'd like to talk to you for just a second after I hit stop. So hold on. Okay. You a huge thanks to Omnipod, not just my longest sponsor, but my first one, omnipod.com/juicebox if you love the podcast and you love tubeless insulin pumps, this link is for you. Omnipod.com/juice omnipod.com/juicebox a huge thanks to us med for sponsoring this episode of The Juicebox Podcast. Don't forget us, med.com/juicebox, this is where we get our diabetes supplies from. You can as well use the link or call 888-721-1514, use the link or call the number get your free benefits check so that you can start getting your diabetes supplies the way we do from us. Med. I can't thank you enough for listening. Please make sure you're subscribed or following in your audio app. I'll be back tomorrow with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast. When I created the defining diabetes series, I pictured a dictionary in my mind to help you understand key terms that shape type one diabetes management. Along with Jenny Smith, who, of course, is an experienced diabetes educator, we break down concepts like basal, time and range, insulin on board and much more. This series must have 70 short episodes in it. We have to take the jargon out of the jargon so that you can focus on what really matters, living confidently and staying healthy. You can't do these things if you don't know what they mean. Go get your diabetes to find Juicebox podcast.com go up in the menu and click on series. The episode you just heard was professionally edited by wrong way recording, wrongway recording.com,

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#1522 Tired Uterus

You can always listen to the Juicebox Podcast here but the cool kids use: Apple Podcasts/iOS - Spotify - Amazon Music - Google Play/Android - iHeart Radio -  Radio Public, Amazon Alexa or wherever they get audio.

Josalyn is a labor and delivery nurse and mom of six—her youngest, was diagnosed with type 1 at age 5. This episode dives into the challenges of parenting a big family while managing T1D.

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DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends and welcome back to another episode of The Juicebox Podcast.

Jocelyn 0:14
My name is Jocelyn. I have six children, and I'm a nurse.

Scott Benner 0:19
Nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast, should be considered advice medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare plan. AG, one is offering my listeners a free $76 gift. When you sign up, you'll get a welcome kit, a bottle of d3, k2, and five free travel packs in your first box. So make sure you check out drink AG, one.com/juicebox to get this offer, don't forget to save 40% off of your entire order at cozy earth.com. All you have to do is use the offer code Juicebox at checkout. That's Juicebox at checkout to save 40% at cozy earth.com the podcast contains so many different series and collections of information that it can be difficult to find them in your traditional podcast app. Sometimes. That's why they're also collected at Juicebox podcast.com go up to the top, there's a menu right there. Click on series, defining diabetes. Bold beginnings, the Pro Tip series, small sips, Omnipod, five ask Scott and Jenny. Mental wellness, fat and protein, defining thyroid, after dark, diabetes, variables, Grand Rounds, cold, wind, pregnancy, type two, diabetes, GLP, meds, the math behind diabetes, diabetes myths and so much more, you have to go check it out. It's all there and waiting for you, and it's absolutely free. Juicebox podcast.com Today's episode is sponsored by the tandem mobi system with control iq plus technology. If you are looking for the only system with auto Bolus, multiple wear options and full control from your personal iPhone, you're looking for tandems, newest pump and algorithm. Use my link to support the podcast, tandem diabetes.com/juicebox. Check it out. The episode you're about to enjoy was brought to you by Dexcom, the Dexcom g7 the same CGM that my daughter wears. You can learn more and get started today at my link, dexcom.com/juicebox,

Jocelyn 2:22
you My name is Jocelyn. I have six children, and I'm a nurse.

Scott Benner 2:27
Holy hell. You know how you must listen to the podcast

Jocelyn 2:33
a few times a week. Yeah, okay. But

Scott Benner 2:34
I mean, you start with six children, you know where we're gonna start. Everything's okay. Your parts are okay. You feel all right.

Jocelyn 2:40
Yeah, no, I'm good. I survived. How long of

Scott Benner 2:44
a time frame did you turn those six out in 10

Jocelyn 2:48
years? No kidding. Yeah, three boys, three girls.

Scott Benner 2:52
Did they come out in order? Like, boy, boy, girl, girl. Did they come out? Boy, girl, boy, how did it happen?

Jocelyn 2:57
No, it's girl. Boy, boy, boy, girl, girl, girl, boy,

Scott Benner 3:02
okay. Now, you know, my next question, are you making an army for Jesus? Are you? What are you trying to do? What are you trying to do? Exactly,

Jocelyn 3:08
no, I get that question a lot. I always wanted a big family. I was just around big families growing up. I just love that dynamic. And my husband comes from a big family, and so when I told him, You know, I think I wanted 12 when we first got married, so he knew what he was getting into, and he was mostly okay with it. I think he wanted to stop around kid four. But, you know, here we are six kids. You were like, I want more kids. Yeah, pretty much.

Scott Benner 3:36
Yep. Where do you live that you can keep six children, plus yourself, your husband, and I'm guessing, with this drive to be kind of thing, six cats and a dog and a parakeet, like, how are you keeping how? Okay, how many pets do you have?

Jocelyn 3:49
So we just have one.

Scott Benner 3:51
Is it a dog?

Jocelyn 3:52
Yes, yeah. I mean, we, in the past, we've had, you know, chickens and pigs and stuff like that. But currently, we just have a dog who's old and she's he's great, but, yeah, no, cats. I'm not a cat person. Oh,

Scott Benner 4:03
chickens and pigs. Do the kids live in the house? Yeah, they are allowed in the house. That's awesome. Yeah. I mean, you don't have to tell me where you live. I know, as we were, by the way, as we're setting this up before we're recording, I'm like, There's no way where you live will come up. But just in case, like, what's the community? Like, I don't like, if I don't know, I'm very baffled, as you can tell, yeah, I don't know people that have more than three children. Local to me,

Jocelyn 4:28
yeah, no. We live in the Northeast, and it's definitely a very expensive area, but I, you know, work more than full time. My husband has his own business, and so we just, I don't know, we've been doing a long time. Actually, we're on the kind of the decrease right now, because two of our kids are really kind of grown and self sufficient. So we're, it feels like four kids is nothing, you know.

Scott Benner 4:50
So you're, and I don't mean to pry, but your husband's wealthy. Is that what we're talking about here? I don't even

Jocelyn 4:55
say wealthy, because you know how it is. You get to the end of the year and you're like, we made how much? And we have how much, but we always, you know, we've done well and just kind of okay, you know, been really blessed. Yeah, you think those

Scott Benner 5:06
kids are going to college, all six of them, so, no, I think

Jocelyn 5:10
some of them are not inclined, and we will help them, like, that's what we have done with our oldest two. They're out of the house, but I definitely don't think all of them will go to college, and we definitely won't, you know, pay for all of it, that they're gonna have to ante up a little bit if it's something they really want. Good luck.

Scott Benner 5:25
Yeah, I know. So your husband came from a large family. How big

Jocelyn 5:29
he's the youngest of seven? No kidding. I'm sorry. Are you Catholic? Nope, nope. Just love kids. I know. Like just, I just wanted a bunch of kids. I loved being pregnant. I love, I love, love birth. That's what I do for work. So, yeah, I just something that I found came easily to me. Do you collect other things,

Scott Benner 5:49
like, if I came, if I came in your house, would I be like, Why do you have all these figurines or anything like that? No,

Jocelyn 5:55
no, I'm a very like minimalist. I like open spaces. I'm not a collector of pets or anything, just, just children. Interesting. That's

Scott Benner 6:03
so interesting. I mean, when you said you had six kids, I was like, Oh, the Mormons are back. But it was not what happened. No, about that, look at you. Just a regular old white lady churning out a bunch of kids over there.

Jocelyn 6:14
Yeah, it happens.

Scott Benner 6:20
Awesome. And what are the ages of the kids now? And how old are you?

Jocelyn 6:22
Oh, I'm 40, and my oldest is 20, and my youngest is 10. So that's our diabetic. Wow.

Scott Benner 6:28
Oh, look at you. Really Are there other autoimmune issues?

Jocelyn 6:33
My dad had hyperthyroidism, so, you know, he had his thyroid removed and is on Synthroid. My sister also had hyperthyroidism, and she, let's see, so she's on medication because she had, I can't remember what she had done, but she was diagnosed as a teenager. But besides that,

Scott Benner 6:53
not really, no, and you don't have any ailments or anything, nope, healthy as a horse. How about that? Then childbirth doesn't give you hyperthyroidism, that's it. No, no, no. I thought for sure you were gonna have that. I was like, Oh my God, no, wow, wow. Okay, so you were 20 when you had your first about because you're 40 now and you have a 20 year old, your youngest, who has type one is how old right now? She's 10. She's 10. Okay, yeah, yeah, okay, all right. And how old was she when she was diagnosed?

Jocelyn 7:22
So she was five. So we've been doing this for this is our fifth year, one

Scott Benner 7:26
more year, and you'll have as many years with diabetes. You have kids,

Jocelyn 7:29
that's right, yes, just the same, just, but just put

Scott Benner 7:33
sixes everywhere. Yeah. What's your remembrance of the time? Do you remember how you figured it out, or what your first inclination was.

Jocelyn 7:42
So I have also been a nurse for about five years, so I had just graduated from nursing school, and, you know, kind of had learned a lot about diabetes. The funny part was, I tried to go to nursing school when, before I had my kids, like, like, what same people do go to nursing school right out of high school. I just hated the idea of hurting anybody, like poking them, like so I could not get over giving people shots or taking blood or any of that stuff. So I stopped. I had all my babies, and then I started working in a hospital as a as a tech, and I just loved it. And I thought I want to try to go back to school. So I got over my fear of needles. I, you know, took blood sugars, kind of got around that fear, went to nursing school, graduated, and then, you know, Abby was five years old, so she wasn't in school yet, but we were preparing to move down south to a different state during COVID, which is, I don't know, I got a job down south. And my husband did too. So moving across country on the drive down there, very, very long drive, she started having to pee a lot, you know, classic type one symptoms. And with all my, you know, brand new nursing knowledge, I started to think on the drive down there, I hope it's not type one, you know. And I'm like, no, no, she's gonna get a fever. She's, you know, she started throwing up, and I thought just, it's a virus. Okay, we're gonna keep going. We get down to our new house and a big, huge new city. Don't know who our doctor is going to be. New hospital. We have an awesome pool in our new house. The kids are all playing, you know, she's and she just could not get over this. What I thought was a virus. Well, what I was hoping was not type one, right? One morning must have been the beginning of July, because she was diagnosed in July. We had been there for maybe two days, and she just kept sleeping in the morning. And, you know, I'm really it's COVID. I'm trying not to take her to the hospital. I don't have any resources there. We have no friends. She hadn't had anything to eat or drink the whole day. She had like a popsicle in the morning because it was hot. And I thought, well, I've really been worrying about this for a while, and I feel like I don't want to take her to the hospital if I don't need to expose her to COVID and all these other things, but I could just go get a glucometer at the. CVS. So I went down the road, got a glucometer, you know, figured out how to poke her finger, and it was 417 so then my, you know, like, obviously, then I'm like, okay, it is what I've been afraid of. So we ended up, I took her to the Children's Hospital. And it was kind of funny, because the nurse that took us in at the, you know, the intake, and this is a children's hospital. I said, you know, I my daughter, I believe she has type one diabetes. I just checked her sugar. It was 417 she says, Well, what did she eat today? And I thought, I'm like, it doesn't matter what she ate. Nobody should have a sugar of 417 like, like, if I had said, like, she ate five ice cream cones, they would have been like, Ah, you're fine. Go

Scott Benner 10:44
home. Yeah. So, yeah.

Jocelyn 10:47
So that was kind of like, that was the beginning. She'd spent a couple days in the in the PICU, and then, you know, in the regular unit. And then, you know, we've been, you know, this is our, like, I said, our fifth year. So just been rolling since then. Geez.

Scott Benner 11:00
What makes you want to come on the podcast?

Jocelyn 11:03
Well, I thought I have kind of a unique perspective in that I am a nurse, you know, I'm like, in the hospital, Nurse got a, you know, lot of labor delivery experience, and then just, I feel like, anytime I sorry,

Scott Benner 11:15
I'm sorry. I laughed. Because you do have a lot of labor and delivery experience. I do not even being a nurse. Yeah, personal. And honestly, if you walked up on a stranger having a baby, could you keep watching YouTube with one hand and deliver the baby the other

Jocelyn 11:34
my hands at some point you put

Scott Benner 11:35
the phone on the belly while you're doing it. Then, yeah,

Jocelyn 11:40
no, but I think I have a unique perspective of being in the room with type one patients, and being a type one mom, kind of having this level of knowledge that most nurses and honestly, a lot of doctors don't have, of like how this disease is managed day to day. And you know, the kind of, I guess, distrust of like diabetes care Yeah, that diabetes experience when they go to the emergency room or, you know, into the hospital or doctor's office or anywhere where they get medical care. Do you

Scott Benner 12:09
have any feeling for why this is, you know, it's obviously not some sort of rule. I didn't do a I didn't do a survey of 10,000 nurses or anything like that, but I've been around this for a long time, seeing people's kids diagnosed. A lot of their moms or dads are nurses, and nurses either handle type one diabetes like one way or the other, but when they don't handle it well, at first it's interesting, the reaction they have to it, almost like somebody told them diabetes was one thing, and now that they see what it is, it's confusing. Does that make sense to you? The Dexcom g7 is sponsoring this episode of The Juicebox Podcast, and it features a lightning fast 30 minute warm up time that's right from the time you put on the Dexcom g7 till the time you're getting readings. 30 minutes. That's pretty great. It also has a 12 hour grace period so you can swap your sensor when it's convenient for you. All that on top of it being small, accurate, incredibly wearable and light. These things, in my opinion, make the Dexcom g7 a no brainer. The Dexcom g7 comes with way more than just this, up to 10 people can follow you. You can use it with type one, type two, or gestational diabetes. It's covered by all sorts of insurances and, uh, this might be the best part. It might be the best part alerts and alarms that are customizable, so that you can be alerted at the levels that make sense to you. Dexcom.com/juicebox, links in the show notes. Links at Juicebox podcast.com, to Dexcom and all the sponsors. When you use my links, you're supporting the production of the podcast and helping to keep it free and plentiful. Let's talk about the tandem Moby insulin pump from today's sponsor tandem diabetes care, their newest algorithm control, iq plus technology and the new tandem Moby pump offer you unique opportunities to have better control. It's the only system with auto Bolus that helps with missed meals and preventing hyperglycemia, the only system with a dedicated sleep setting, and the only system with off or on body wear options. Tandem Moby gives you more discretion, freedom and options for how to manage your diabetes. This is their best algorithm ever, and they'd like you to check it out at tandem diabetes.com/juicebox when you get to my link, you're going to see integrations with Dexcom sensors and a ton of other information that's going to help you learn about tandems, tiny pump that's big on control tandem diabetes.com/juicebox the tandem Moby system is available for people ages two and up who want an automated delivery system to help them sleep better, wake up in range and address high blood sugars with auto bulk. Us,

Jocelyn 15:00
yeah. I think if you've done a lot of type two care, which is, you know, the bulk of it that you see in inpatient, it's hard to, like, comprehend the complete lack of insulin and, like, just the like, I think as soon as you get an idea of what this means as a nurse, you have like, a deeper understanding of like, oh, this is a lot.

Scott Benner 15:22
Yeah, I have to say, Jocelyn, you have awesome energy. Oh, really, do you not think that about yourself? I mean,

Jocelyn 15:29
I think I'm calm. I've been in a lot of really difficult situations, like personally and at work, and I just feel like I try to bring the calm. I try,

Scott Benner 15:38
did something happen to you as a child? Like, I want to know, like, I'm being if you had your first baby at 20, were you married and had a baby at 20?

Jocelyn 15:46
Okay, I've been married 22 years. Okay, so

Scott Benner 15:49
you, like, thoughtfully, got married when you were, like, 19 or 20 years old, right? I don't know

Jocelyn 15:54
if thoughtfully is the word, because, like, we were literally still babies. Like, I look at my 19 and 20 year old children, and I think either we were a lot more adulty than adults are nowadays, or we just really had to grow up quickly, because it was like, just, you know, hit the ground running and had a bunch of kids, and then had to figure out how to, like,

Scott Benner 16:14
take care of them. Yeah, but how do you get that's what I'm trying to figure out. Like, because, listen, I got married young, and you've got, like, five years on me. So like, Were you guys this, this is too personal. You'll stop me. But were you running from something like, did you and your husband, like, have like, bad upbringings? You're like, Let's go off and do this ourselves. Or were you just, like, met each other and we're like, wow, this is awesome, and got swept up in it and fell in love. And that's the thing. Like, how did it work? We were

Jocelyn 16:37
running from something like, we both came from like, I mean, I, I wouldn't say I had the warmest upbringing, like, I It's probably one of time to go into all my, like, weird issues with my mom, but I think, and she's not gonna listen because I haven't talked. But I think I wanted, I wanted warmth in my life. I wanted, like, close family connections. And so when I met my husband, it was just like, like, I felt that warmth and then wanted to just, I always wanted kids, and so I feel so blessed, yeah, to be able to have exactly what I wanted, like I literally, I have the job that I wanted, I have the family that I wanted, and so all the rest is just gravy, you know? I mean,

Scott Benner 17:14
even just going back to school to be a nurse, like, later, that's what I mean about that energy. Like you didn't just go, like, look what I did. I pushed these six kids out. I raised them. They're cool kids. Like, I'm gonna chill for a half a second. You're like, I'm gonna be a nurse. Now, you know what I mean? Like, that's like, a lot of like, you have a lot of good energy. Also, I unfairly know who you are, like, through the like, I can picture you like, I don't know. I somehow know that your husband's like, a just like a big, giant human teddy bear. Like, looks like an awesome guy. No, yes, because somehow I like, I don't normally do this, but your last name so weird, like that. I was like, Who am I talking to? So I went to the Facebook group to look, and then I couldn't find you. And I was like, but her husband appears to be here. And then the funniest thing about your husband's Facebook page is he's not even friends with you. It's awesome. It's like, it's the most guy thing I've ever seen in my life. So funny. He's got no Facebook friends. And I was like, really funny. I'm like, I'll just find her through him. And I'm like, Nope, he's not friended one person on this thing.

Jocelyn 18:17
I am his friend. I have a lot of friends, but I am his friend.

Scott Benner 18:23
He's busy working, paying for 90 people, I know. Yeah, so that's how I like I tripped through his account to yours, which is why I know what he looks like, yeah, yeah. I can envision like, two young, fresh faced people being like, hey, and he looks safe like, he looks like he could take care of it. You know what? I mean? Yeah? Oh, he does, yeah. He always takes care of it. Yeah, no. Like, if this was the Walking Dead, I'd be like, I'm gonna get on his side. Seriously,

Jocelyn 18:45
yeah, yeah, that's my vibe. He could carry us all to safety,

Scott Benner 18:49
exactly the vibe I got from him. So, yeah. So anyway, okay, so you're just looking, you were looking to build warmth and happiness around yourself, and you did it, and then you didn't stop. And then your kid gets diabetes. And then did you just take that same energy and drive and just put it into diabetes? Like, what did you like? How did you handle it? Because you have a nursing background, but not so much with type one. You're doing more labor and delivery stuff. So how does it all meld together? At the

Jocelyn 19:14
time she was diagnosed, I was in med surge nursing because it was COVID, and I just couldn't get in as a new nurse into labor and delivery. So I'm so thankful for it now, because I really, kind of got a really bigger understanding of, like, the whole of, like, hospital, you know, med, surg, nursing and and then I got to do what I love, but so no, I just kind of, when she got diagnosed, I had been suspecting it for a while. I did kind of hit the ground running when we were diagnosed, and I kind of had to, because I didn't have resources. I didn't have, you know, as COVID so even in person, meetings were really not a thing. So I was so thankful to have, like, at least a half understanding of what the disease was and what I would need to, like, what our new life. Was going to look like, but I still looking back on it now, like had so much to learn. And every year, you know, is more I gain more understanding that helps me help her more.

Scott Benner 20:10
Yeah, that's awesome. How did she handle it being diagnosed? She

Jocelyn 20:16
doesn't remember now, you know, like, I think, like, usually five are your earliest memories, so she doesn't remember what life was like before diabetes. She's very independent, like for being our baby. She is like, she does her own she uses an Omnipod, she uses her she does her own. Site changes a lot of times. By the time I'm like, have you done a site change, or it looks like you're low on insulin? She's like, I just did a site change, and she's, you know, she's really getting to be independent with that stuff. She handles it really well. I think initially it was hard, you know, the finger pokes, I think were the hardest part. And then the IVs. She is frequently incentivized. If she doesn't want to do something, or if her blood sugar's high, we have to bring it down. You're like, well, you don't want to go to the hospital, have to get an IV. She remembers that part of the hospital stay, Yeah,

Scott Benner 21:02
but you're saying day to day, she she manages herself pretty much. Are you involved with her insulin decisions or carb counting, or anything like that?

Jocelyn 21:09
I would say 5050, right now, as in, she is very independent with most things, but sometimes she likes to just check out of diabetes. And also, we have had a lot more issues over the last year or two with, I don't want to call it sneaking food, but like, she's not bolusing, yeah, and just kind of like food issues in general, just like, you know, finding lots of wrappers and stuff like that that you know that were, I think she's getting better at bolusing for it so that that part is eliminated. But I do sometimes get concerned with like, are we heading towards a food issue, you know? Like, yeah, not an eating disorder, but just kind of like disordered eating from feeling shame with eating when your sugar's high. So, yeah, that's kind of where we are with things. I mean,

Scott Benner 21:59
she's 10, right? So yeah, how do you talk about that with her? Or have you tried yet?

Jocelyn 22:04
Yeah, actually, I've met with, I can't remember her role is, but someone that was really helpful with talking about, you know, shame related to food. And I guess the frustrating part is that the best way to deal with shame is to kind of not talk about it, because it makes it so much worse. As in, like, did you eat that food? Like, I just found a chip bag, you know, like, Did you Bolus for that? But just kind of, like, treat it like anyone else, like, I guess, not like anyone else. Like my other kids walk by with the, you know, big bag of Doritos, and I'm like, don't eat all of them. We all want some or something like that. But with Abby, it's a little different, trying to, like, make sure that she's taking care of herself, because she wants to be independent, and that we're not going to see a blood sugar of 300 because, you know, she just sat there and ate and didn't Bolus for it. So I guess all that to say we try to, like, destigmatize it a little bit and just go like, Oh, hey. Do you think you know you might need to Bolus a little bit more for that, I don't even go into the, you know, the guilt anymore, and it's been helping.

Scott Benner 23:06
Yeah, it's interesting. I think about this a lot, actually, while I'm making the podcast. So, you know, I've tried to not in the beginning, the beginning of this whole thing. I just had my perspective, and I'm adding everyone else's as I go, but the number of people who would tell me how important that is, that food shaming or eating disorders are prevalent with people with type one, and you have to be careful, and it's just shaped a lot of the way that I've talked about all of this over the years, because you don't know who it's going to be or when it's going to happen. Yeah, yeah,

Jocelyn 23:41
we all choose to eat differently. Like, our families are really different. Like, I would probably cook a lot differently if I wasn't cooking for an army, you know. But, like, I just can't really picture myself, you know, making a big hunk of meat and, like, you know, two vegetables for my teenage boys that are eating us out of house at home, you know. So it's kind of this balance of, like, you know, taking care of her, teaching her to have a good relationship with food, but also, like, feeding the masses here. So yeah,

Scott Benner 24:10
oh yeah, you, I mean, you really are. I've seen people before say, Look, we all just changed, like we ate a little differently, and it was actually, I've heard people say it was good for our family, like we ate healthier or whatever. But I don't know how you pivot eight people and their eating habits and their eating styles on a dime without making them look at your daughter like she's the reason I don't blah, blah, blah. You know what I mean, exactly,

Jocelyn 24:34
exactly, and then, yeah, so I think it's just been more about like, making changes. You know, I'm like, a growth mindset kind of person, like I, you know, I don't rest very much. I just always want to be changing. Like I walk away from each shift. What could I do differently? What could I have done a little better to make that birth, or that, you know, that experience, a little better? So I, I really feel like I kind of bring the same thing to Diabetes Care and just kind of like, re evaluate every once in a while, or. I get a little frustrated, like, okay, what can I do differently? What's the problem here? And we've definitely made some good changes. Like, one of my older kids gripes about, you know, our food is that I cut out cereal a number of years ago because it's basically like eating ice cream for breakfast, and I that's judgy, but I can't get it right. No matter what I do,

Scott Benner 25:21
I just gave it up. It's hard to Bolus for, isn't it, it is, and I

Jocelyn 25:25
maybe people are better at it than me, but I have tried a lot of different kinds. And then we tried the low carb cereals, and no one likes them, and they're expensive, so it was like one of those things that was just easier for me to not do. And I guess one thing about diabetes is it gives you a picture of, like, how our bodies handle food that other people wouldn't have. And so you kind of go, Hmm, maybe that's not good to eat for breakfast.

Scott Benner 25:51
So, yeah, I want to be clear, if you have diabetes or not, there's nothing valuable about like, a box of cereal. I'm not saying that I haven't been like, oh, frosted flakes in my life. You know what? I mean, there's something like that, like, that. Like, I probably just picked the most boring cereal to for everybody, but, yeah, at the same time, like, it's hard to Bolus for. I mean, it's a huge kick of sugar, right? Often, you know, accompanied by milk, which has fat in it, and, you know, will help keep your blood sugar up later. A lot of people struggle in the morning with foot on the floor, or, you know, having lower basal overnight to try to, like, stop lows or whatever. Then they're a little void of insulin in the morning, and then they jump this on top. It's, it's really difficult, but in the end, not eating cereal is good for everybody. It's not just a diabetes thing,

Jocelyn 26:35
right? But I think it's just funny that that's one of my kids, like, frequent like, oh, remember when we used to eat cereal? It's just, it's a treat, I guess, you know, like, if we're in a hotel or something, or, you know, like it's not an everyday thing. It's just something that sometimes they get as a treat. I

Scott Benner 26:52
wonder if it's ease of use.

Jocelyn 26:54
I think that's it. Yeah, have

Scott Benner 26:56
you ever portable cereal and while you're eating it? Thought, I don't want this, but Well, and, you know, I didn't have to crack an egg, and I'm not cleaning a pan, and this is kind of like, yeah. I mean, yeah, no.

Jocelyn 27:07
I mean, I used to, and this is, this is terrible, but, like, I'm a night shift nurse, and when I got home from work for a number of years, like, go to meal before I lay down, was a beer and about three bowls of cereal, and I would just keep pouring cereal until the milk ran out. And just like, that was like, and I think about it now, I'm like, Man, how many carbs was in that before I went to sleep. And, like, it

Scott Benner 27:30
just sat you overnight. Yeah, right. Explain that though, like, 12 hour shift. Are you super hungry? Is your brain tired? Is it like a whole, like, mix of things? Yeah, I

Jocelyn 27:39
mean, and and it's a whole mix of things. I think it's just a relaxation thing. It's just like knowing that you're going to bed, like you're already kind of asking your body to sleep during the day, when most people are awake and the lights are on and, you know, so it's like just kind of that comfort, you know, probably a sugar like, just, you know, like that after Thanksgiving, feeling,

Scott Benner 27:59
I'll put myself into a food coma, and then I'll sleep pretty much. Hey, it worked, so I don't do it anymore. Did you ever pour the beer into the cereal? Just skip the step?

Jocelyn 28:08
No. But, I mean, you do definitely feel like an alcoholic when you know like someone knocks on the door and you're like, all you know, bleary eyed with a beer in your hand at 830 in the morning. So

Scott Benner 28:18
good morning. America's on. You're like, Hey, what's up? Just put that package over there. Thank you. Yeah, you want one mom has had a tough night. Go back a little bit to something you said a few minutes ago about your propensity to think over things and try to make them better. Where does that come from? Do you think? I

Jocelyn 28:40
honestly think that comes from my dad. I think he growing up like, one of his biggest words was initiative. And, you know, just like I have always loved setting a goal, maybe I don't need it, but I end up like, better than where I started. I think that's what helped me get through nursing school. Was like, I can do anything for a short time, you know, like labor, you know, like I can do anything for, you know, this long, yeah. So I kind of try to take that approach with diabetes, because I feel like sometimes it can be really, like daunting, you know, like, I remember that being one of the emotions that really struck me when I first, when Abby was first diagnosed, was thinking, this is forever. This is not, you know, like, this isn't an illness where she's going to get better or she'll just have to take a pill a day. This constant level of thinking is forever, you know.

Scott Benner 29:35
So not just like we just have to get through this, or it's just three years, or it's just six months, but it's right, yeah, it's forever and ever. No, I know, yeah, it sucks, doesn't it? No, it

Jocelyn 29:45
does. And then, you know, every year, like, we're definitely, like, in the throes of pre puberty, like with the huge insulin needs and the huge growth that she's done over the last couple of years, that's like, every couple of months, there's some new variable to. Get over. We'll figure out how to meet. Oh,

Scott Benner 30:02
yeah, that's not gonna stop for a while. I mean, I'll let you know when it stops. Like somebody said to me the other day, like, when does it get easier being a parent? I was like, I don't know. I'll let you know when it happens. Yeah, really, I have no idea diabetes is gonna be, from your perspective, I don't think it's ever that's not gonna stop, right? And for her, who knows, right? Like, her stuff's gonna change and change and change. She's gonna either go away to school or get a job, and then it's gonna change again. And I don't know that people don't settle into their life with diabetes when they're diagnosed younger, any differently than they settle into their real life. Like, 2627 28 like, in that age when people start to, like, you know what I mean, like, political Not you. You were obviously an adult when you were 15. You know, for most people like you don't really settle into yourself until you're mid to late 20s. I think,

Jocelyn 30:49
no, I agree. And I think, you know, even though we were, like, married and had kids like, I still feel like we were growing up for a long time after we were married. Oh, sure.

Scott Benner 30:58
Do you guys make up a lot of your differences, or are you very similar, your husband and yourself? No,

Jocelyn 31:04
we're very different. But you know how it is when you've been with someone for a really long time, like you kind of meet in the middle, like, whether that's spending habits or just the way that you like approach different situations, we are very much opposite. Opposites attract. And then, you know, there's that whole oldest, youngest thing. He's the youngest. I'm the oldest, you know, that kind

Scott Benner 31:22
of thing, yeah, yeah. I'm dying to know, because of the example you reach for, what did he buy that? You were like, Oh, God, what happened?

Jocelyn 31:28
Oh, well, yeah, he's, he always been big into buying cars. And, you know, we'd have a lot of discussions when we were first married about, like, oh, you know, like, we don't have a lot of money. He's gonna buy this car, but it's gonna be great, and then he can re sell it, you know, like, so done that a lot, and it got to the point where, I don't know, maybe seven or eight years ago, he just came home with a new truck, and he's like, I just skipped the fighting and bought the truck. And I was like, all right. And I was like, okay, that's where we are, all right.

Scott Benner 31:59
So you know how to be happy

Jocelyn 32:02
skip the middle.

Scott Benner 32:05
I've said that to my wife before, not about a vehicle, but I've been like, can we just skip this part and go back to the part where it's not going to be like this anymore, because it's going to happen. You know what? I mean? Yeah.

Jocelyn 32:16
Well, sometimes the fights are so predictable. You're like, Okay, I know I feel like this, and you feel like this. And so he's just, like, I just skipped it. I just bought the truck. Yep, yeah, my

Scott Benner 32:27
wife's the opposite with cars. She'll be very supportive of getting a car, and then later, like, hold it over my head. Later, like, it a little bit because, like, I own a car. Like, I don't have more than one car, but, yeah, I do switch cars probably more frequently than some people do not, like, you know, yearly, or anything like that. But I probably don't have a car more than, like, five years. And then I'll be like, Hey, I was really thinking about this. And I'm like, you know, I have some equity in my car. And I'm like, if I can, I can sell it and make some money. And, like, it'll offset the next thing. And, you know, blah, blah, blah. And she's always like, Oh yeah, you know, you work really hard. You should be like, she says all the things. Like, it's like a hallmark show, but kindness she gives me when I say this. And then, like, six months later, I don't know what happened, it'll be like, the most banal thing, like, you don't even I'll be like, Hey, how come we have all these, like, I don't know, loaves of bread. Do we really need all these? And she'll be like, did you really did you really need that car? And I'm like, Whoa, how long you've been

Jocelyn 33:28
sitting on that? No, it's, yeah, it's true. I'm not like, I guess I appreciate that. He just like, anticipated what would happen. And like, you know, I was so busy at the time. It was like, All right, well, whatever you you do, you, you pay for it. You know, like, Jocelyn,

Scott Benner 33:42
I have a, I mean, you've been married, I think the length of time, 20 years, right? More than 20 years. I think you come to the conclusion, like, if neither of us is have left yet, we're not going to, unless one of us, like, literally does something like, reprehensible, or I come home one day and I'm like, is that you on the news? Like, you know what I mean? Like, unless it's something like that, you're like, This is fine. I'm good with this. Yeah, yeah.

Jocelyn 34:05
No, I would, I would have found out about it by now. Like, if we don't like each other by now, you know, I think it is, you know, but we are at the point in our lives where, you know, most of our friends got married young, and then, you know, some of them we've lost track with. When you haven't heard from a couple for a while, it's 5050, on whether or not they're divorced at this point. You know, like, yeah, that's where, like, I think, I think you appreciate it's just kind of thankful for still liking each other.

Scott Benner 34:35
Listen, as we were younger and growing up, and people would get divorced, I'd be like, yeah, yeah. Kelly, be like, are you? Are you happy? They got worse? I'm like, No, not at all. I was like, but yeah, statistically speaking, we're not all going to get divorced, so the more of them that it happens, it's

Jocelyn 34:49
like, the more probability down for you. Our numbers get better. We made it. We're still here. Yeah,

Scott Benner 34:59
I think my. Wife's too stubborn, or she would have left. She she would have been like, 1015 years ago. She would have been like, you know what? That's enough of this. But instead, she's like, I'm not losing this. I think she's in a fight with me right now to see who can live longer. That's what I

Jocelyn 35:12
think is happening at the moment. Yeah, statistically, women do live longer than Oh no,

Scott Benner 35:16
I know. Yeah. If I'm 87 and she's 82 and I dropped dead, and she only lives another year. It'll be the happiest year of her life. She'll be like, I outlasted that son of a bitch.

Jocelyn 35:26
She's like, right? She's like, he did well. He had a good run, by the way. Anyway, the way

Scott Benner 35:30
you use the purchase example, I use the bread example. My bread example is absolutely real. My wife, for some reason, needs so many bread options, but then really doesn't use them. Like, I don't understand. She likes to have like, three different bread options in the house, and then a week and a half later, I'm like, all the time. I'm like, Yeah, I'm like, this breads all moldy. And she's like, Yeah, I know. Like, it's like, her one, like, weird thing. So funny. Some people have a bread drawer. We have a bread room. So what's the most challenging thing, raising six kids? Everything

Jocelyn 36:04
was pretty much just diapers and, like, homeschooling, and, you know, like I was just home with them for 10 years, and that was kind of like, I really, like, cherish that 10 years, because I've been working since then. And I love my job, I love what I do, but, you know, I think so there was that decade of like that was challenging. Just everybody was healthy, but there was just so many diapers, so many, you know, babies, and like, just the time constraints and the sleep deprivation. And then this past 10 years has been a decade of like, health struggles and mental health struggles for teenagers, and then, you know, for Abby's diagnosis, and then right after Abby's diagnosis, our oldest son had open heart surgery at the age of 15, so that was really something unexpected and just kind of meeting that need. So I think sometimes I feel like being an ambitious an ambitious person. I feel limited by like, oh, I would, you know, I would work that extra shift. I would get that, you know, like, different job that I would really love to do. And I don't want to say that I'm, like, I guess, limited by my family, but just trying to fit in all these good things and and not let you know, obviously, my first role is as a mom, and that's, like, the most important thing, but just trying to, like, feel personally fulfilled and also take care of all these kids with all their different things that they need. Do you think

Scott Benner 37:29
if there were fewer kids, would it have felt the same? Or is it not about the amount of them? It's about the responsibility? I

Jocelyn 37:37
think it's the length of time that we've been parenting that's feeling like, I mean, I think it gives us understanding, you know, like we're much different parents to our youngest kids than we were to our oldest kids, because we've learned so much and been broken by different experiences and kind of had to overcome and then would never parent the same way Again going forward. I mean, the number is definitely challenging, but as they get older and they move on, it's more like the sounds cheesy, but like being a mom is like watching your heart just walk around on the earth like and you're just kind of watching it get broken, and, you know, wanting to protect it. And they need to learn these lessons. And I almost think, and I tell my patients this, like, the babies are are really the easy part, and the teenagers are the challenge. So

Scott Benner 38:28
I can't tell you, like, I just interviewed a woman the other day who had a 16 month old, and I felt bad, but I said to her, I'm like, You know what I've learned about being a parent, you actually can never do the right thing, because no matter what you do, someone else sees it differently totally. And so you can, you know, make the best decision that you can dream up and do these things in the way that you think are, you know, the most supportive and wonderful and everything. And I think people would generally agree that, like, I'm a thoughtful parent, and yet, like, it doesn't really matter, because when you're done, it turns out one person in the group is like, I did that's not how it made me feel. And you're like, what or like, I noticed too. Sometimes, like, when you have to make difficult decisions as a parent, when you look at it retrospectively years later, sometimes the reasons you had to make the decision are forgotten, and then it's just like, Well, you did this. I'm like, No, I didn't do that. Like, I had to do that because this happened, and, like, I don't remember that part. And you're like, Oh, come on,

Jocelyn 39:27
right, well, and then we lose perspective, you know, like, well, two things are our kids, you know, are all we're raised in the same house, all, some of them are, like, a year apart, and they all remember things differently, or they don't remember things that the other one does, or they just have a completely different reaction to the same kind of parenting. Can't parent them all the same. Like, they're all such different temperaments, like six combination of the same people, they're all so different. And I love that about them, but it's definitely like, I think maybe that's what makes having six versus two or three different as I've got to figure. Out how all of them are going to handle the challenges that they're presented with. You know, also, just that a lot of parenting is just reactions, right? You know, like, you're like, okay, they did this, and now what are you going to do with this? Now, you know, like, I think, you know, think about that with, like, just having a new baby in the hospital, you know, like, okay, the baby's crying. You got to figure out what's wrong with it. You gotta, like, okay, are they hungry? Do they need to be swaddled? Are they, you know, like meeting these needs? That's your first experience with your first kid. Of like, okay, they're doing this now. What do I do? Yeah, you know. And as they get to be teenagers, it gets so much more complicated, because the needs aren't simple, and they're not physical. They're like, your presence, and then also, like, you're, well, you're gonna have to have to deal with that consequence, and so I have found that very challenging to grow into as a mom, for sure.

Scott Benner 40:47
The reason I asked is because I want to know about the impact of diabetes on the other five kids. Because I would have told you, the entire time Arden was growing up, the entire time my kids were growing up, the coal really doesn't seem that impacted by Arden's diabetes, and we spend a ton of time together, like, and Cole and I really did, like, spend a ton of time together, right? But now in present day, when we sit and talk about it, he felt like she was more important. And he's even thoughtful enough to separate the diabetes from it. Like, if he talks about it now, he'll, he'll he'll say, right to art and like, I don't mean you. I mean like, we stopped a lot for diabetes, or we did things for diabetes or whatever. And Arden will be like, Well, that wasn't my decision. And he said it's no, like, I'm not, like, I'm not blaming you for it. That's how it felt to me when I was a kid. And I would say, but Cole, like you and I would be at baseball practice, like, multiple nights a week and on the weekends, and we'd go on trips. I'm like, you and I have spent more time together than most fathers and sons spend together. But that's not the part you remember. Like, he doesn't not remember that. I want to be clear, but like, yeah, what? When you ask him about diabetes, he doesn't say, oh, you know what? It was a lot, but it was offset lovely by the time we spent together. Like, it doesn't, it doesn't feel like that. You know what I mean. So while you're as a parent, right? No, no, it's okay, because we're doing all these offsetting things, it doesn't actually get offset. Yeah, you know what I mean. So I think no matter what you do and how well intended and even how well you execute your plan, it's not gonna cover for that feeling of one of them got more attention from my parents than the other well,

Jocelyn 42:23
and then, you know, I mean, with Arden two buck, compounded by the fact that she's the baby, you know, and I definitely have that, like, oh my little, you know, like, I, I'm not gonna have any more babies. This is my, you know, like, kind of, and just coming at it with a different, like, more relaxed level than, like, you know, the things that would have really freaked me out, or I would have, like, done a lot of, like, you know, timeouts for with my first I'm like, Yeah, whatever. She'll figure it out, you know, because she's my youngest, and I realized that it's just, like, with the car purchase with my husband, like, it's not worth the struggle in the middle, I got to pick my battles, you know. Yeah,

Scott Benner 42:55
it takes you a while to figure out the juice isn't worth the squeeze. Yeah,

Jocelyn 42:59
exactly. And so, you know, Abby has the benefit of, like, being the at the bottom of that. But I think, you know, in general, like my oldest actually was huge with helping when Abby was first diagnosed. I mean, I, you know, having just moved and just to get health insurance, had to go to work the first week that Abby was home from the hospital and diagnosed. And so we would FaceTime insulin doses when the meal would come up, and I was in orientation, and we just, you know, and she's, she was 15 at the time, and, you know, like, we had, our family had no medical experience at all. So this was like, I mean, she just took it on. And she's, you know, I was so thankful for her. I think it put a lot on her, which I kind of now look back and think, I, you know, but you that's the thing. What could you have done differently, though? No, and that's the thing. Like my husband, I talk about this a lot, like, you lose perspective in the rear view mirror of the difficulties of what it was like at that time, like, you know. So we made the best with what we had. We didn't have anybody else that was gonna, like, come over the house and give her, you know, insulin. And she was, you know, she didn't have a Dexcom at that point, so we were, you know, finger pokes and guesstimating and figuring things out and and the other kids have done amazing too. I mean, I will say, like, as far as you know, if we're gonna leave her at the house with our bigger kids, they're not gonna watch her sugars. So we're really still always on duty, but we can call them and say, Can you give her a juice? Can you tell her to Bolus for two more units because she's trending high or, you know, so they're, they're good for that, but they're on call. They're not, like, actively managing,

Scott Benner 44:32
you know, it's funny, the way you put that, regarding hindsight, it almost made me feel the way I feel listening to the to social media around the fires right now in California, right where, like, there's people are like, You know what they should have done? And you know, why did they do? I'm like, you first of all, you don't know what you're talking about, right, right? But I'm certain you don't know what you're talking about, yeah. But you know, at the same time, like, it's easy to step out of a situation, see it more big picture, you're not actually feeling it. You're not having. To live through it. It's not on your ass if it goes wrong. And to say, Oh, this should have went there, and that should have went there, and you should have done this like this, and don't say that. Say this. It's super easy in hindsight, really, in the middle of it, you're doing your best, but making it up as you go along. We just shared, I mean, I'm old. I'm like, I'm gonna be 54 this summer. Oh, that's not all. Oh, well, you get to 54 and you tell me and my wife's birthday is tomorrow. Like, you know what I mean? Like, my son's gonna be 25 soon. Arden is gonna be 21 soon. And we still found ourselves telling them the other day, like, listen, we don't know what we're doing. I need you to understand. Like, I am just a well intended, reasonably intelligent person who loves you, who is getting thrown into situations every 15 minutes. And I am saying the best thing that comes to my mind. You know what I mean? Like, there's no book somewhere, and I didn't read out of it correctly. In case you're wondering, no

Jocelyn 45:56
but where your like gut reaction came from, was your experience? Was that your life taught you. So that's what I'm saying. Like with diabetes and with parenting, is like, you know, we do what we know. Like, you know, you work with, you try to do your best with what you know, and then when you know better, you do better. And that's the whole thing. Is like, Okay, the last time she ate that, you know, that sandwich, this happened, and now I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna Bolus more for it like that came from my experience. So you grow every year with diabetes and every year as a parent, and you don't get it right. And I'm sure I'm doing things wrong with Abby that I will later look back on and be like, Man, I really was kind of lazy with that, and now she's doing this, and I should have been more like I was for my first kid. And it's all perspective. Of

Scott Benner 46:37
course, it's super interesting. Everybody who gets thrown into a situation they don't understand, which is everybody would tell you later, hey, look, I did my best, you know, and I'm gonna try to, you know, I'll refocus, I'll take what I learned and I moved on. But when you judge another person, you're always like, Hey, why didn't you do it like this? You're like, Oh my God. And especially with kids, because they really do have an expectation that you know what you're doing,

Jocelyn 47:00
yeah, and you have to, I mean, that's, it's the same thing with, like, you know, being a nurse or bringing in doctors, like, you know, I think we know a lot no longer been practicing, you know, hopefully you're learning from all your different patients, and you have this, like, safe level of knowledge. But like, I don't know what's gonna happen, yeah, I don't know if, like, your baby could be born in five minutes and come out, you know, the old fashioned way, or it could, you know, come out like tomorrow or the next day, because that's how it works. You know, it's I have some expectations from my experience, but I don't know when that's gonna happen.

Scott Benner 47:29
It sounds very true, which is three, really, is, see, do you think your other kids are harboring those feelings or will talk about them later in life like they have to, right? I mean, I don't think you can mitigate them, but that's troubling just to me, because people ask me all the time, like, how can I do this thing with diabetes and not make it fall on my other kids? And I have to tell you, from my perspective, everything that happens to you changes you. Yeah, and it changes your course. You don't have to like it. You didn't have to want it, but it's here now, right? Justin, if you bought a round instead of a rectangular dining room table, like, some weird way, your life would be different. Like, do you know what I mean? Yeah, like, you know, somebody would, you know, walk into the corner of the table and hit their hip and it would be bruised for three days. Like, that would or wouldn't happen. Like, every little thing you do changes your course, and diabetes changes your course, and it does it for everybody. There's just nothing you can do about it. It changed my dog's life. Like, no kidding, like we used to be. We were back then, more attentive dog owners than we were when Arden got diagnosed. Like, that dog was probably like, hey, where the hell did those people go? Right?

Jocelyn 48:36
Yeah. Am I ever gonna get walked? Yeah, no kidding. You know what? I mean? Yeah, yeah. No. It definitely changes. I think, I think my girls, would I expect that they would have more of an effect from it, just because of, like, birth order, like my oldest kind of taking on that role, right? That she really did really well with, but just kind of having that extra burden of, like, I'm not just a teenager, but I'm also, like, caring about my little sister and managing those decisions that most kids don't have to think about, especially for another person. And then also, my fifth is a is a girl, and she is 13, and so like, the closest in age to Abby and feels, I think, more than the boys, who are kind of like independent sports and doing their own thing, more of the like, Hey, we're going to, you know, the store. Can we stop at Starbucks? And I don't say it, but I'm thinking, you know, where's our sugar at? Is this a good idea? Can Do I have time to Bolus for it, and then I'm, you know, rushing home after and more things than that, like, she, she's obviously, the lack of cereal is a huge issue.

Scott Benner 49:37
That's the whole problem in your house. It's a whole thing.

Jocelyn 49:40
It's really desperate here. Yeah. So I think she will probably say that that affected her more than anyone. Just being the closest in birth order and in the house the longest with her, do they treat her any differently? I think so. I think they're, they're all like, pretty good older siblings, like the right amount of like sibling. Bullying and messing around, and also like, hey, yeah, you know, why are you so grumpy, that kind of thing. I don't think they treat her any differently. I think there's just an extra consideration for, like, with anybody that's diabetic, like, you know what's going on with that? But no, they're, they're great siblings to her. She's very lucky on

Scott Benner 50:16
the parenting front. Do you share my like, one of my like, last parenting concerns is that I want my kids to be friendly as adults. Yeah, I don't know if I need them. Like, I mean, it would be lovely. I don't know if I need them at each other's house on Christmas morning or not. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I'm not sure. Like, but I don't I want them to be, like, friendly and talking and connected and stuff like that. Yeah,

Jocelyn 50:39
totally. Because I, I feel like on a different level, both me, my husband, siblings are not always like that. You know, for myself, my siblings and I are separated by distance. We all live across the country. We very much enjoy being together, but, you know, we just are separated by, you know, lives and we just can't get together that often. Then my husband siblings are very much separated by like difficulties in the past, and like things that happened and things people said, and now they don't talk to each other, and I think that would break my heart. Yeah, I can't make that not happen. I mean, I tried to, like, foster some togetherness and like being close and friendly, but I think that's kind of like, once they're adults, it's outside of your control, really. I know.

Scott Benner 51:20
See, your kids are still some of them are still young. Still young, but of all the things that I miss, like, a parenting tool, that I miss is when they were younger, and you could just, like, sort of, if you needed to dominate the conversation, just go, look, listen, I know you don't know why, but it doesn't matter. We're doing this. This is why. Like, it'll help. Like, and then they do it, and things get better. And you're like, I wish I got, like, one of those a year now that they're older, like, where I could just go, no one's allowed to have their own thoughts. Just

Jocelyn 51:47
listen to me for a minute, pretend like you're listening. Yeah, I think. And that's the part about like, the babies versus teenagers and young adults and having adult kids, is that, like, that challenge of like, I can't just put you in in the crib, and make you sit still for a minute, or put you in timeout. You know, I have to, like, kind of like, tell you what I think you should do, yeah, and then these are the consequences. And then this is the big experiment. What are you going to do, and what's going to happen to you after? And it's, oh, it's a daunting task, watching it.

Scott Benner 52:15
The one thing that stuns me, I mean, I understand it, but it still throws me off is that when your parent has some level of proficiency with something and you still ignore them on that thing, like, it would be like, if you had, like, an opinion about a medical thing, and your kids are like, she doesn't know what she's talking about, you'd be like, I'm a nurse. My wife is really matter what she does, but my wife is extraordinary at what she does, right? And when something comes up in the house that literally leans into her professional strength, people are like, I don't know if she knows. And I'm like, she runs a fairly large organization. I was like, I'm like, I think she really does know, yeah. Or even sometimes I say something like, you're an idiot. I'm like, you know, a lot of people on the internet don't think that yeah, because that's not like, you know, helpful to anybody. Nobody gives a shit. You know, right, right? Yeah,

Jocelyn 53:03
yeah. It's cool to see people in their element. Like, when you're just with home, at home with them all the time, and you kind of like, see them doing something, you're like, wow, they really are good at that. Anyone

Scott Benner 53:13
who's ever said to me, I bet Arden feels so lucky that you're her dad around diabetes, I think, Oh, you don't have kids. Like, there's no there's no way anyone who's ever said that to me has children and knows that feeling. I think it's usually the people who say that are usually adults whose parents weren't very involved, yeah, because their perspective is different. They're like, God, I would have done anything to have used my parent like around my diabetes. And I, if I was being honest, if I had time, I'd respond back and go, You say that now, but you always want the thing you don't have. So, right? Yeah, that's not how it works. You don't go, Oh, I'm so lucky I had this thing. You go, oh, you know what I didn't have? And, you know, right? You

Jocelyn 53:55
always want something different. And that's where, like, we parent differently because of our experiences, you know, like, Okay, I didn't grow up with, like, a warm household, so I really want, like, you know, hella kids up in here and just kind of, really have a warm, crazy, chaotic household,

Scott Benner 54:10
yeah, well, you got it good for you, yeah, any of those kids grown to the size of your husband? No,

Jocelyn 54:15
no, I thought the boys would be bigger. They, I mean, they're all, you know, about six feet. They're all, all the boys are three, about three years apart, like, total, like, they're all there came really quickly. They're all about six feet, but not like the massive like, I can carry you to safety.

Scott Benner 54:32
Yes, for people listening who don't know what your husband looks like, imagine she just described her sons as not big. They're only six feet tall.

Jocelyn 54:40
Well, coming from where I'm coming from, and I am very quickly becoming the shortest person in this house, like all my girls are probably going to be about five seven. I mean, Abby is at 10 years old. Is five, five. Wow. So she is my girls have, and so that's another thing, like with managing diabetes, is, I know. Experience with my older girls who didn't have diabetes, that they will get to be their adult size by the time they're about 11, and then they're done. So they're, you know, the tallest kid in the class, and everybody's like, she's only that age. And you're like, yep, yep, yep, you know. And she's still in her mind, and the way she's developing is still a very normal, like, 10 year old. She's playing with dolls, she's playing with Barbie she's doing very age appropriate things, but she's my size,

Scott Benner 55:24
yeah. So do you find people treat them like they're older when that happens? Absolutely all that happened to my niece, who got tall, really young, and then everybody wanted to, like, talk to her like she was 18, yeah.

Jocelyn 55:35
And it's kind of like I even have to take a step back, or I have to remind myself that, like people who have normal sized children, or like small children. I'm like, look at that little baby just talking like that, you know? Because I am used to having really big kids. Jocelyn

Scott Benner 55:49
is like, looking at a nine year old going like, that sweet child. I can't believe it can talk.

Jocelyn 55:56
I know it's so much shorter than I am. Oh, my

Scott Benner 55:59
god, yeah. What are we not talking about that we should have, by the way, we missed anything? Yeah, I

Jocelyn 56:05
think I wanted to talk a little bit about the perspective of, like, I know when you did your I can't remember what it was called off the top of my head, but like, talking to healthcare professionals and

Scott Benner 56:15
the Grand Rounds, yeah, no, the voices were disguised. Oh, cold wind, yeah,

Jocelyn 56:22
cold wind, I was going with, like, dark horse. I don't know cold wind, so I think, I guess I just wanted to kind of, like, be some middle ground. I just was talking about, like that diabetes is so and we know this. I know we know this, but, like, diabetes is so completely different from anything else that a nurse on a floor in the emergency room comes into contact with that, I think there's this misunderstanding, and just kind of like huge knowledge gap with how diabetes manage their blood sugars, how type ones manage their blood sugars on a day to day basis, where I try to give perspective in my role and In the ways that I'm able to teach people of when someone comes in, I don't like the wording, poorly controlled or poorly managed, or especially in the context of, like, pregnant women coming in with huge insulin needs and insulin resistance at the end of pregnancy, you know, it just kind of creates this like, well, you're not doing a good job of this, because your blood sugar is such and such, we're just going to take it over from here, like, on labor and delivery. If you have two blood sugars over 140 as a type one, their policy is usually to, like, we're just going to take you off your pump and we're going to put you on an insulin drip. And it's not often, but just kind of, like trying to bridge the gap and create some understanding with, like, what a type one has to do to, like, maintain a healthy pregnancy, the level of knowledge that they've had to amass to take care of themselves, in general, in their life. And just kind of, like, coming at it from a like, hey, you've been doing a really great job. And I think, what do you think we can do to take care of you, you know, and or your baby as a team, not like, a hey, we're just gonna take over this from here. Yeah, because insulin pumps, like, you know, the systems that we have now are amazing, and I think they work so much better than an insulin drip would do. They're only checking your blood sugar every hour and then changing the dosing. So I feel like there's such a huge it's hard, you know, like I talked to a type one patient who was an adult man on a med search for the other day because I was in the room for whatever. And, you know, he was talking about how he, you know, felt like he couldn't refuse something when he came in, you know, like they wanted to put him on a different dose. And he felt like that's not right for me. I know my body, but I feel like I'm being a bad patient, or I'm, you know, refusing care. And we're just kind of talking about, like, not medical advice, but just how, like anyone should feel, like coming into completely unrelated sickness, that it's okay for you to say, I'm not going to do that. This is what works for my body. You know that I've, I've been doing this a long time. I've kind of been managing my own self. Can we work together here? Not let me just take over this for you? Right?

Scott Benner 59:08
Yeah? Because you're not going to do a good job, and then I'm going to sit here feeling bad that I let you do it and not feel well. Body wise, you're going

Jocelyn 59:18
to be scratching your heads why my blood sugar is 300 tomorrow morning, like, maybe we should change the lantern or, you know, let them do what they've been doing and work on a, you know, work on that resolution together. But I guess, also just creating an understanding for, like, how it's not that we don't want to understand as nurses and doctors. It's just like, it's not often that we come in contact with it. I agree

Scott Benner 59:43
with you. You're meeting people who you have this expectation of because of the job they have, but they don't have the expertise that they need to give you what you deserve. Honestly, like sometimes you meet people who just know what they're doing for whatever reason, right? But you run into a hospital that. The hospital place with the health people and, like, you don't expect to go in there and go, Hey, health people help me. And they go, I don't know how to do this. You're like, wait. Well, then what the hell? Right? I always think the same thing. It's like, it's like, going to get new tires, and then saying to the guy, like, you have to put the lug nuts back on. He goes, Oh, I didn't know, right? Where's your level of confidence now at this point, because that seems so obvious and elementary to the idea. And you start telling people like, I don't know, they take type ones off of, you know, off their pumps, and then they come in with a big tray of food, and they say, Okay, eat this. We'll Bolus when you're done. And they haven't checked your blood sugar for two hours. And people are like, No, you you can't do that. And then it turns into, well, that's our protocol. And then there you go, like, it's just, you're just off and running. Then they're using their type two protocol on a type one patient. You realize that's what's happening. And you go, Oh, my God, my life is in the hands of somebody who doesn't even minimally understand how I administer my insulin well.

Jocelyn 1:00:57
And that's, that's what I'm saying. It's like, I think getting to be okay with like I'm not being a bad patient. Or it's not that I'm not accepting medical care, but if I am not sitting in front of an endocrinologist who understands like my daily needs, then I have to bring that piece of the puzzle and be okay with like I'm not going to do that. Or, you know, that's not the best thing for me, and I will, you know, I will work with you, and you can give me that IV antibiotics, but I'm gonna, whatever it is, manage my sugars, you know, like, it's your body, you know, and you need to come into it with that, like, understanding of like, being okay with doing your thing. Take care of yourself, having

Scott Benner 1:01:33
said that, that series. I mean, people told stories that I was like, Oh God, really, oh for sure. Yeah, absolutely. Like, oh my God. All right. I

Jocelyn 1:01:40
think I have had really good experiences with, you know, whether you know, like school nurses and like our doctors, but you do feel like you're alone, like, and you're not alone, but you're, you're doing your thing, and you have to kind of walk into it with your own, like, little bit of the attitude, like a little chip on your shoulder, like, Okay, I have this going. I can say no, you know, like, because there's this like, power thing that happens sometimes in the hospital where patients feel like they can't say no. And I hate that. It's your body.

Scott Benner 1:02:10
Yeah, no, I agree. Yeah. I mean, imagine where you would be today if you and I wouldn't want this to happen, obviously, but if you had to go into another ER with one of your other kids, you're like, Hey, I'm here. My kid's blood sugar's 441 and if the person at the desk said, what did they eat today, I guarantee you would have react differently today than you did five years ago. Probably like, yeah,

Jocelyn 1:02:26
like, I probably would say, like, she had five ice creams. So what are you gonna do

Scott Benner 1:02:31
with that? Yeah, that's right, yeah, no, we've been eating for six days straight. We haven't stopped, right? Bowls of cereal all around. Yep, she still has type one diabetes. You know, like, your perspective has changed now. Like, back then, you were probably like, oh, that's silly. I'll just, you know, but I'll, I'll be polite, like, and I'm trying to think of those type ones in the hospital as adults that this isn't their first rodeo, and then it starts happening again, and it's just got to be so incredibly frustrating, you know, oh

Jocelyn 1:02:55
yeah, no. And I felt like that was eye opening. I think everything, like we've been talking about, like, everything changes your perspective. So like, listening to the that series and kind of hearing different people's perspectives of being in the hospital, was like, oh, man, I really want to change that. And I really do try, in my role, I'm able to help with diabetes care and education in the hospital and just come at it from like this, you know, kind of like creating understanding. Yeah,

Scott Benner 1:03:18
it's a great message, honestly, and you do have to go, I hate, see, I hate when people say you have to advocate for yourself, because I don't know what that means. You know what I mean? Like, I know I know what it means, but I don't think people know what it means until you get into the situation and recognize that what it means is a lot of people in this healthcare system might not understand what's best for me, and I have to tell them, well, and

Jocelyn 1:03:38
what other medication do we? Like, there is no other medication that you adjust daily. It's like, if your heart rate was irregular and you had to every five minutes, you're like, Okay, it's going like, 112 now that's a little high. I'm gonna give myself a little bit more medicine. Just to create, to sustain life. You had to keep managing this heart medication. Nobody has that understanding. Like, maybe the ICU, a little bit, maybe Pitocin and labor and delivery, but this like level of knowledge that you've built over your life to survive is not just handed over to someone, right?

Scott Benner 1:04:10
Yeah, no, I once said to somebody, try to imagine if you had to thoughtfully breathe in and breathe out every time. That's what diabetes feels like to me. Yeah, like, every five minutes, if I just spent my life going inhale, exhale, inhale, yeah, exhale, like, that's how it sometimes. I mean, it doesn't feel like that to me anymore, but back then it did, yeah, it definitely

Jocelyn 1:04:35
does more in the beginning, and then, you know, and then you have periods where you're really aware of it, and it creates change, and that's good. And then you kind of go back to like, Okay, this is like, in the background, and we're just gonna be in the middle of sports season. And, you know,

Scott Benner 1:04:48
I know I'm with you, trust me, I've been at this a fair amount of time now, yeah,

Jocelyn 1:04:51
you have, and we've all gained from your experience. We were gonna say something nice

Scott Benner 1:04:56
at the end. I wouldn't talk to every Hold on What was that? Yeah, because the podcast. Been helpful? Totally,

Jocelyn 1:05:01
yeah, actually, a friend that is one of our good diabetes friends now told me about it at camp, and we were dropping our girls off at camp, and we had just met, and she was like, Oh, do you listen to the Juicebox? And I was like, No, what's that? And like, I, you know, dived hard, and all the episodes initially, and then have just been, you know, like always learning something. So I actually, whenever I am blessed to go into a new, newly diagnosed child or anybody at the hospital, I'm always like, Oh, by the way, not medical advice, but please, you know, well,

Scott Benner 1:05:34
thank you. Check up with this podcast. I appreciate that, because a lot of my life is spent trying to keep the podcast being a podcast, and you guys all helping. Really, honestly, I'm probably not having much impact on it at all. Like, it's everybody out there who's really helping, keeping it going. So thank you. I really, yeah, thank you. All right, well, I'm gonna let you go. I think I'm gonna call this episode tired uterus. And,

Jocelyn 1:05:58
yeah, do you know that I have heard that before, like, when I was having my last baby, it's just taken a long time, and the nurse was like, I think your uterus is just tired. That works. You got the gist happy to assume

Scott Benner 1:06:10
that at the end of the birth it was like, I'm going to come out too, because I'm afraid she's going to do this again.

Jocelyn 1:06:15
Might as well I was done.

Scott Benner 1:06:19
When did you run out of baby names. Like, be honest. Like, what kid were you just, like, I don't know, pick one like, by the third one, the fourth one. Were you like? How does like? Did that ever happen? No, I

Jocelyn 1:06:31
really honestly think if they hadn't all started to break, I would have had like, two more, you know. But I think by the time we got to our sixth, it was like, we started kind of getting into these, like, health issues where, like, Oh, they're all breaking gotta, you know, they're all falling apart. We gotta maybe limit this a little bit and kind of figure out what to

Scott Benner 1:06:50
do with these ones. I just figured you're like, you have, like, probably great baby names. And by the fourth one, you're like, I don't know you wanna call this

Jocelyn 1:06:57
one Bob. No, I still think I still see, you know, babies all the time at work. I'm like, Oh, I love that name. I would have used that if we had another one. So

Scott Benner 1:07:04
last we actually did this thing last night where we were talking about names, and my wife was like, oh, calling Cole. Like, I wanted to call you Nicholas, and dad wanted to call you Cole. And then we started talking about other names were on the list, and she started rattling them off, and he's like, those are bad names. And I was like, I know I looked at him. I said, that's why I got him off the list for you, buddy. Don't worry about it. That's so funny, but it's interesting to hear back and people say, like, I almost called you this, or like, I really want to call I have to figure out what it is. But Kelly has this really, like, awkward, like, not awkward, just different female name that she liked as a little girl, and then she wanted to call a daughter that she didn't end up calling her, and Arden, one day, said the same name, and it hadn't been saved yet without knowing that. Yeah, yeah. It was really different. Arden

Jocelyn 1:07:53
was on my list. I love that name, so good choice. Oh,

Scott Benner 1:07:55
thank you. Before you knew my daughter's name, it was on your list. Yeah, yeah,

Jocelyn 1:07:59
all my girls are a name, so I just that was definitely on my list. I loved it. Thank

Scott Benner 1:08:03
you. I appreciate that. That's awesome. I picked that one too. Yeah, all right, I'm gonna hold on one second for me. Okay, okay, thanks.

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#1521 Fueled By Anxiety

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Lexy is a mom of three who’s also opened her home to foster kids. Her oldest has type 1 diabetes, and this episode is a warm, thoughtful conversation about parenting through it all.

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DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.

Scott Benner 0:00
Here we are back together again, friends for another episode of The Juicebox Podcast.

Lexi 0:14
Hi, I am Lexi my son Hayes was diagnosed January 4, 2022

Scott Benner 0:22
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. Don't forget to save 40% off of your entire order at cozy earth.com All you have to do is use the offer code Juicebox at checkout. That's Juicebox at checkout to save 40% at cozy earth.com AG, one is offering my listeners a free $76 gift. When you sign up, you'll get a welcome kit, a bottle of d3, k2, and five free travel packs in your first box. So make sure you check out drink. AG, one.com/juicebox to get this offer, I created the diabetes variables series because I know that in type one diabetes management, the little things aren't that little, and they really add up. In this series, we'll break down everyday factors like stress, sleep, exercise and those other variables that impact your day more than you might think. Jenny Smith and I are going to get straight to the point with practical advice that you can trust. So check out the diabetes variable series in your podcast player or at Juicebox podcast.com this episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by the twist a ID system powered by tide pool that features the twist loop algorithm, which you can target to a glucose level as low as 87 Learn more at twist.com/juicebox. That's twist with two eyes.com/juicebox. Get precision insulin delivery with a target range that you choose at twist.com/juicebox, that's t, w, I, I st.com/juicebox, this episode of the juice box podcast is sponsored by us. Med, us. Med.com/juice, box, or call 888-721-1514, get your supplies the same way we do from us. Med, today's episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by the contour next gen blood glucose meter. This is the meter that my daughter has on her person right now. It is incredibly accurate. And waiting for you at contour next.com/juicebox

Lexi 2:36
Hi. I am Lexi. I am a mom of three little boys, also a foster mom. My son, Hayes was diagnosed January 4, 2022 we've just kind of been rolling through it since then.

Scott Benner 2:51
Nice. Let's go back to the question you asked me right before we hit record. Yes. So I don't think I've ever just spoken about it while we're being recorded, and I think maybe it's time. What's your concern? Like that? Will you won't have anything to say? Yeah.

Lexi 3:06
I mean, I just, I signed up to be on a podcast, what, five or six months ago, and I think I filled out a little form and and then I just joined today. So I wanted to make sure that we have, you know, something to talk about.

Scott Benner 3:19
Listen, it's not uncommon. Everybody's worried when they jump on a so everybody thinks that they'll be bad when they get to the end of the recording. A surprising number of people tell me it's okay if I want to delete it, which always fascinates me, because I've never done that. So like, you know all the episodes you've heard that you've enjoyed, a large majority of them. At the end of it, the person said, if you want to delete that, I would completely understand. I'm like, What are you talking about? It's like, what are you talking about? It's interesting. The I don't know if it's self confidence or just the lack of experience with the idea, but trust me, we're gonna have a really fun conversation. We'll learn a bunch of stuff about you. I'll probably say something fairly inappropriate, and then it'll be over. It just goes like that. Let's start first with, I don't know why you have so much energy when you have more than three children. How did that happen? What do you are you drinking? What are you doing right now, to be jacked up like this, probably on my third cup of coffee. Okay, all right, that's fair. So how old are you? I just turned 30. Wow. You have 30 energy. How old were you when you had your first baby, by the way?

Lexi 4:17
Oh, 25

Scott Benner 4:20
oh. So have you done anything else in the last five years except make a baby, have a baby?

Lexi 4:25
No, I think I've been, yeah, pregnant a lot, or had kids cycling through my house a lot. It's just been all kids last five years.

Scott Benner 4:34
No kidding, on purpose is that was like a plan or just worked out? Think it just

Lexi 4:39
worked out. I mean, I always wanted to have kids, and we just started having kids, and then we kept having kids, and then we became foster parents, so then there was just a lot more kids. And yeah, how many kids are in the house right now? Right now, just my three. We had a foster son a few weeks ago, but he's not here now. Oh, interesting

Scott Benner 4:58
for a small time. When I was young, my parents fostered a kid. His name was Russell. Hey, Russell. What's up? If he's out there. But now that I've said his name, I'm thinking of the Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr, Christmas movie Home for the Holidays. You know that one? I think so Thanksgiving. It's a Thanksgiving movie. Anyway. This is not important. What's important is that at some point in the movie Holly Hunter with her Holly Hunter accent, is that an accent, or is it a list? I don't know exactly what it is, but she says, she goes, hello, Russell, and I saw that. Do you know what I'm talking about?

Unknown Speaker 5:33
Yes. No, yes.

Scott Benner 5:36
Anyway, that's what that just happened in my little brain. Okay, so you got married, you started making kids. You've been doing it for about the past five years. What leads you to foster children when you have so many of your own? Honestly,

Lexi 5:50
I don't know, we're kind of crazy. We actually became foster parents the year my toddler was diagnosed with diabetes, and it's just we're faithful people, and it kind of felt like a calling. And honestly, I was really crazy. My husband was on a work trip, and I was like, I think I'm gonna go to this foster care interest meeting. And he's like, where are you at? I was like, I'm just hearing about it. And my husband knows that I'm a little impulsive, so he's like, Oh, she's going to this interest meeting. I guess we're going to become foster parents. And a few months later, we did

Scott Benner 6:19
what else have you come home with randomly, a

Lexi 6:21
dog. I have done that, I guess, a lot of impulse purchases, but nothing too crazy, nothing like a car or anything like that. But, yeah, yeah, I think I shouldn't say impulse. It just once I have my mindset. I'm like, Hey, we should do this. It's just full force, like, I don't sit around and think about it too much. We just, we just do it. So, so listen, that's

Scott Benner 6:40
interesting. Do you have a lot of success in your life? We do. Yeah, me too, because I've been thinking about this, what you just talked about a second ago, just the idea of having some motivation and then just doing it, like a lot of things that I've made happen for the podcast or personally, or anything like that, is like, I've put a thought together. I've gone, unlike you, I've thought about it for a while, and then I'm like, No, this is a good idea, the realization that the only thing left to do is is just to do it and it will work. And I do that a lot. So listen, did you set your mind on helping someone? Was that the motivation?

Lexi 7:15
Yeah, I mean, I just felt like my husband and I were really blessed at a young age, like with our house, our family, all of these things. And even though, despite this diagnosis of diabetes, I'm sure we'll talk about that, we still just had this community of people. And, you know, the foster care system, there's just not enough foster parents. And I'm like, if we could help other kids with, you know, the community and the resources that we have and and maybe even one day, and we haven't yet have a kid that has type one like, I can't imagine being a foster kid going into the system and then landing at somebody's house and them having no idea about diabetes,

Scott Benner 7:55
right? I've got a couple of after darks about that that are, you know, they're pretty stunning conversations. Okay, so tell me something, once you take a kid in, is there a length of time told you at the beginning, or is that just up in the air?

Lexi 8:08
No, it's just up in the air. And you and you get, you know, I remember our first placement, or, I guess our second placement, they call you and they're like, Hey, we have these two kids coming to your house in an hour. And, you know, nothing. I mean, they just show up at your house. And, I mean, those kids that we had, they had medication patches on their back, and the social worker didn't even know what the medication was. I mean, you you really know nothing how old they were, four year old twins. Four

Scott Benner 8:32
year old twins with medications on their medication patches on you can't ask them, and you, and you say to the social worker, what is this for? And they go, I don't know. I think they smoke too much, like, Yeah, great. They're like,

Lexi 8:44
it's, it's Friday night. The doctor's office opens on Monday. So,

Scott Benner 8:47
yeah, try not to think about it till Monday. Yeah, what did the patches end up being for?

Lexi 8:52
They were like, sedative patches. Because they said these kids had ADHD, and I don't know the the home they were in was putting these sedative patches on them. So obviously, as soon as I found out what they were, I'm like, can you rip these off like, I'm afraid to

Scott Benner 9:05
touch them? Oh, my God. Wait, wait, that's did that end up being how long did you have those kids for three to four months? Did those patches end up being necessary in the four months that you had them? The contour next gen blood glucose meter is sponsoring this episode of The Juicebox Podcast, and it's entirely possible that it is less expensive in cash than you're paying right now for your meter through your insurance company. That's right. If you go to my link, contour next.com/juicebox, you're going to find links to Walmart, Amazon, Walgreens, CVS, Rite, aid, Kroger and Meijer, you could be paying more right now through your insurance for your test strips in meter than you would pay through my link for the contour next gen and contour next test strips in cash. What am I saying? My link may be cheaper out of your pocket than you're paying right now. Now, even with your insurance, and I don't know what meter you have right now, I can't say that, but what I can say for sure is that the contour next gen meter is accurate. It is reliable, and it is the meter that we've been using for years, contour next.com/juicebox and if you already have a contour meter, and you're buying test strips doing so through the Juicebox. Podcast link will help to support the show. The brand new twist insulin pump offers peace of mind with unmatched personalization and allows you to target a glucose level as low as 87 there are more reasons why you might be interested in checking out twist, but just in case that one got you twist.com/juicebox that's twist with two eyes.com/juicebox. You can target glucose levels between 87 and 180 it's completely up to you. In addition to precision insulin delivery that's made possible by twist design. Twist also offers you the ability to edit your carb entries even after you've bolused. This gives the twist loop algorithm the best information to make its decisions with, and the twist loop algorithm lives on the pump, so you don't have to stay next to your phone for it to do its job. Twist is coming very soon, so if you'd like to learn more or get on the wait list. Go to twist.com/juicebox. That's twist with two eyes.com/juicebox. Links in the show notes, links at Juicebox podcast.com. Diabetes comes with a lot of things to remember, so it's nice when someone takes something off of your plate. US med has done that for us, when it's time for Arden supplies to be refreshed, we get an email rolls up and in your inbox says, Hi, Arden, this is your friendly reorder email from us. Med. You open up the email. It's a big button that says, Click here to reorder, and you're done. Finally, somebody taking away a responsibility instead of adding one. US. Med has done that for us. An email arrives, we click on a link, and the next thing you know, your products are at the front door. That simple, US med.com/juicebox, or call, 888-721-1514, I never have to wonder if Arden has enough supplies. I click on one link, I open up a box, I put the stuff in the drawer, and we're done. Us. Med carries everything from insulin pumps and diabetes testing supplies to the latest CGM like the libre three and the Dexcom g7 they accept Medicare nationwide over 800 private insurers, and all you have to do to get started is call 888-721-1514, or go to my link, usmed.com/juicebox, using that number or my link helps to support the production of the Juicebox Podcast.

Speaker 1 12:54
No, no. Well, that's

Scott Benner 12:57
upsetting. Yeah.

Lexi 12:59
I mean, they were at a home, and, you know, no judgment to whoever had them, but they were having Mountain Dew for breakfast and eating whatever they wanted all day, and then

Scott Benner 13:11
amped up. Hey, I gave this kid Mountain Dew and a ho ho, and he's acting crazy. Can we set we hit him with a Trank? Oh, my God, oh, the whole world. I don't you ever feel smart like, this is one of those moments,

Lexi 13:28
yeah. And so, can you imagine a diabetic kid coming through the system like that, and you're, you know, the way that they just kind of drop kids on you, and you don't really even know what medications or things that they they have, you know, it's

Scott Benner 13:43
wild. Lexi, does that become, like, the sole focus of your four months? Like, is there really time to live? Or are you, I mean, you know what I mean, like, four year olds, puppies, there's some things you have to, like, stop everything else for. Like, is that one of those things? And then, how do you do that in your life? Do you work? Yeah,

Lexi 14:02
so I did. At the time I was working. I was lucky enough to become a stay at home mom a few months ago. But through all of this time, you know, both my husband and I work full time, we had, you know, toddlers of our own, diabetes, everything. And, I mean, I guess we just really didn't sleep much. But it's

Scott Benner 14:20
time for me to stop wondering if you're kind Are you insane? Is there something wrong with you?

Lexi 14:24
No, no, I think there's just a lot of things we wanted to accomplish and a lot of people we wanted to help. And it's awesome. Instead of probably just waiting and doing things at different chapters of our life, we're like, we'll just sacrifice some sleep for a little bit and just roll through it. And

Scott Benner 14:39
your husband's good with this. Are you just super cute? And you have a nice way of asking,

Lexi 14:43
honestly, my husband's amazing. He just kind of says, you know, whatever you want to do, I'll just support you. And he just, he rolls with it. So it

Scott Benner 14:52
sounds like you're cute, but Okay, all right, now, whatever you want to do, how long have you been married? At

Lexi 14:59
2018, Mean, I gotta do some math here, six

Scott Benner 15:02
years, seven years. Oh, wow, yeah, all right. Well, he seems like a decent guy. He is, he is, I argue about everything that somebody wants to do in the house. I think we should. I'm like, No, I don't think so. I don't think that doesn't sound like a good idea, even like, I mean, it's just the lovely thing he did. He spent four months of your life taking care of these four year olds. Four year olds. Do you know where they are now? Is that difficult? No, it's

Lexi 15:26
really tough. You know, a lot of times when they leave from your home, they either get reunited with their parents with relatives, or they move them to other foster homes. And most of the time, you don't have contact afterwards. We do have contact with our our first set of boys that we had, because they were reunited with family. But it's up to whoever gets them next. If you know they're allowed to have contact and you don't get their information, they get your information and they decide if they want to reach back out to you. So yeah, and

Scott Benner 15:54
they're probably busy with the with the Mountain Dew purchases and everything. There's some good sales once in a while on Pepsi, if you're aware of it. Okay, all right, girl, but okay, I was walking through the store the other day, and I saw three two liter bottles for $6 and I thought that seems like a deal. I don't know, but it really did seem inexpensive. Okay, all right, so your kids, all boys. Did you say that all boys? Right? And which one is the type one, the oldest, the oldest one. How old is he now? He just turned five last week, diagnosed when 22 right

Lexi 16:33
before his second birthday. So January, 2022 Okay, a few weeks before his birthday. Okay,

Scott Benner 16:38
safe to say it was a shock, or you saw it coming? Did you see something happening?

Lexi 16:42
Oh, total shock. We had a six week baby at home, so just in the thick of you know, postpartum times, my husband's grandfather had just died, and my grandfather had died on Monday, and we had a pediatrician appointment on Tuesday to see why my son was peeing through all of his diapers and just drinking water all the time. So it was just a it was already kind of a dark, dark time. Obviously, like most people, after you get the diagnosis, you're like, Wow, all of this makes sense, but at the time, you know, we have no family, no way to really, I guess see it coming. You

Scott Benner 17:21
don't have family like a family history, family history. Okay, sucks. So much bad stuff happened all at once. What was going on during that time with him that made it was it just the peeing, or was there, were there other things, or did hindsight show you other things? No.

Lexi 17:35
I mean, he was just chugging a ton of water, and he was just peeing through so many diapers, and we were doing two diapers at night, and he was still peeing through those. And my kids were daycare kids. We were working full time. And, I mean, the months of September, October, November, December, right before diagnosis. I mean, he had everything, you know, they asked, Oh, has he been sick with everything? I'm like, have you had a one year old in daycare? I mean, everything, Hand, Foot and Mouth the stomach bug to the point that we went in the garage and put a tarp on our living room floor. The stomach bug was so bad. Illness after illness, he was actually diagnosed with asthma during one of his illnesses, so he was already a nebulizer kid. And so I'm sure one of those kind of, you know, kind of play, but

Scott Benner 18:21
Arden had a Coxsackie. It's really common to have coxsack you before a type one diagnosis. Oh, really, yeah, you didn't know. Oh, oh, um, gosh. I'm trying to think of what episode it is now, but at some point, this is a weird, a weird timeline, but yeah, at this point, Sanofi owns the drug called t, z, O, that used to be called temizaplab, but it was brought to market by a company called prevention bio. And I once had the CEO on and he was talking about how one of the other things he's thought about doing was trying to create a vaccine for Coxsackie, because he thought if he could limit the amount of kids that got Coxsackie, he might limit them getting type one diabetes when they were super young. Oh, wow, yeah. So viruses, I mean, frequently lead to, if you're already pre disposed to having type one diabetes, meaning you have antibodies, and it's probably going to happen at some point. A virus can kind of kick all that into motion. And it is not uncommon. In fact, it is fairly common or people who have those antibodies, who are going to get type one at some point to have it kicked off by Coxsackie virus. That all makes sense. Yeah,

Lexi 19:28
yeah. I mean, I knew certain viruses definitely had high risk. I just, I didn't know about that one. I remember sitting in the hospital just looking at all the COVID stuff, right? This was right out of COVID, and it would be hard to pinpoint anything for my son, because, like I said, he had, he probably had every probably had every virus you could

Scott Benner 19:43
have. Did he have COVID as well? Yes, he had all of it. Yeah. I mean, who knows? You know what I mean. But yeah, geez, the kid was like a little, little virus sponge. But also, if his immune system was run down or misfire, I'm just gonna use the word misfiring, which is. Probably not anywhere, right? Like if it was acting up, I guess then it makes a lot of sense that you started contracting a bunch of stuff. Yep, yeah, I'm sorry. It sucks. Did you get the other kids tested? Do you have any idea if they have antibodies?

Lexi 20:12
No, but I'm just coming off a JDRF summit this past weekend, and I think they've finally convinced me that it's time for me to start doing that for my other kids. They're three in one so when I looked into it for my three year old before, he was only like a year and a half at the time. So I think now he's old enough that I could start testing. I mean, I've definitely had the days where I'm randomly pricking his finger, but I know that antibodies, there's so much that they're researching now, delaying the onset that I definitely find it worth it now to start screening them each year. Yeah,

Scott Benner 20:44
we did ads for screen for type one last year, which would help you find out. I think JDRF has a program, trial net probably has a program. There's probably a number of people doing it at this point. Well, I wish you luck. I hope none of that happens. Thank you. Me too. I imagined you did Yes, so you don't have any family issue, but picking through for a second like down to like, thyroid or celiac, or there's no autoimmune in your family, or just no type one.

Lexi 21:10
So no type one, but there has been thyroid on my husband's side of the family, his mom. No, I'm just kidding. Yeah, I know. No, we weren't sure how much that was connected. We haven't dug too deep, cutting, just accepted. All right, this is how it is. And you know, we had those times, especially my son, Hayes, and then his brother was six weeks when he was diagnosed, and you kind of stop, and you're like, all right, should we just not have any more kids? Right? Because this, you know, is in our family now, and you know, we kind of made up our mind then that we're not going to let diabetes stop us from doing anything that we would do if it didn't. So

Scott Benner 21:49
are you trying for a girl? What's going on here? Like everyone

Lexi 21:53
asked me that, you know, I'd be okay be an all boy mom, but yeah, I think we'll definitely have at least one more kid. But I don't want diabetes to stop us from doing anything that we would do if, if we didn't have diabetes. And so I've been pretty, pretty strong on that. And sometimes I spiral a little bit, you know, when you start trying to dig into your family tree and, you know, find the connections. Because I'm like, you know, it, it takes me back to that place of like, oh, maybe, you know, maybe we should think about this. And I'm like, No, you know, I'm gonna keep moving forward. So what's your

Scott Benner 22:26
husband? Like Bitcoin mining? How's he making all this money to take care of these

Lexi 22:30
kids? No, he works for a gym. Yeah,

Scott Benner 22:33
my God, is he stealing from the lockers during the day? That's awesome. I know. I know also, I'm moving to wherever you are because it sounds affordable. Oh, no, we're good for you. That's Are you going to make another like, Are you actively trying to have a baby?

Lexi 22:48
No, not, right now, okay, I have a almost one year old. I need a little break. Yes, yes.

Scott Benner 22:55
Listen, I don't want to tell you what to do, but three is plenty. You're good.

Lexi 23:01
Hey, I've gotten used to four. We usually have four kids around here, so

Scott Benner 23:03
they'll make friends, and then there'll be 19 people in your house, and you'll be like, Oh, we should not have had these many children if it ends up that way. Like, I It's funny, like, my house is for my son, it doesn't work this way, but for my daughter, all the all her friends come here, and so there's a lot of people here. Usually, I love that, yeah, but so much so that, like, if I try to work later in the evening, like she's got friends whose voices, like, cut through, and I'll come down and I'll be like, actually, I'll just say her name, because she'll be thrilled. I'll be like, hey, Assange here. How did you know I'm like, How did I know it was coming through the floor? That's how I knew she's another friend who giggles after she talks all the time like, I know when she's here, like, you know, it's I like that. Her friends think of here as, like, comfortable. Oh

Lexi 23:50
yeah. You want that? Like, I, I would love to be that fair my kid. All

Scott Benner 23:54
right, so let's dig into this, being the mom of a toddler with type one thing. So you get home from the hospital and it's, you know, in your lap, you obviously have a ton of energy for whatever reason. What's your your plan? Did you have a plan? Or were you just lost? No,

Lexi 24:10
I mean, we were, we were really deep in grief during this time, and granted, Emily both just lost our grandfathers. We're in the hospital during my grandfather's funeral. I couldn't even go back to be a part of that. And then now, I mean, I remember at the pediatrician office, they told me, hey, you need to go to the ER. And I remember calling my husband, and he, you know, neither of us had any idea about type one diabetes, first of all. And he goes, Well, I'm sure they'll, they'll fix it, and we'll be good, like he had no idea. When I called him and said, Hey, is this type one diabetes that? That meant forever? He thought, oh, they he's gonna go the hospital and they're gonna fix it. He's gonna be good. And so we all kind of had to come with term, come to terms with that. And you know, on top of that, we have a six week old baby, like we're already not sleeping. You know, you're just, your emotions are in these just, you know, tough places. But. One thing that I'm grateful for, I guess, in the sense, is, even though i What did have a six week old baby, I was on maternity leave, so I was home and had time to really invest in in learning this before I had to send them back to daycare. You know, I can't imagine some of these people that they get a diagnosis, and then the next week they have to go back to work and they have to leave their kid with somebody else. Yeah, I think about that a lot, yeah. And I was very lucky that, you know, I had time, obviously. What do you do? You start scouring the internet and joining all these Facebook groups and just trying to find all the information you can. That's how I found the podcast. And what I figured from the point was, I need to get him on a pump. I don't think I'll feel comfortable sending my toddler back with other people doing these injections, because to me, it just seems so easy to mess up, to just do an extra half unit when it's like his basal was like, point 05, you know? Yeah, you mess up just a little and that's a really scary amount for a toddler. So how quickly were you able to get him a pump? So he was on a CGM within a week and a pump within three weeks, okay?

Scott Benner 26:02
And that was you, you moved that through. Yes, I

Lexi 26:05
stayed on the hospital. But luckily, the physician that we had, we had researched and saw that he was pretty okay with some of the, you know, algorithm looping and different things. That made us think that he would let us get on technology pretty quick. So,

Scott Benner 26:21
oh, wow. And you figured that out through, I almost said the internet like I was 1000 years old. Did you use the box? No. You figured that out through, like, a Facebook group, like, through local people. How'd you how'd you sniff out who this doctor was? Yeah.

Lexi 26:35
So through Facebook groups, and I can't remember if it was our local one at the time, or Juicebox, or which Facebook group, but it was just searching, right using the search bar, looking for, you know, physicians that were kind of up to date, because everyone has those physicians that went to school and they know their medical terminology but aren't up to date on technology at all. Yeah, and we did not want that we knew from the get go that we wanted the cutting edge stuff for our son. And do you really

Scott Benner 27:06
believe that this came from just your concern about letting another person use the syringe on him? Was it the actual poking I should ask, or was it the idea that they could mess it up? I

Lexi 27:16
do think it was the fear of of them messing it up. Another aspect was really like the control, right? When things are going in through a pump, I can go back and I can actually see, oh, you gave him this amount of insulin. And when you just hand somebody a syringe and tell them to dose him, I can't go back on this humog Junior pen and see what you did. Okay?

Scott Benner 27:36
You want to be able to track what they did as well, right, right, all right. I got you. How much did he weigh at that point? Do you remember? I

Lexi 27:44
honestly have no idea, but like, 2040, pounds. He's 40 pounds now, maybe half of that, okay,

Scott Benner 27:49
but he was small, was my point? Yeah, right, right. Okay, and you what pump did you end up

Lexi 27:53
with at the time? It was Omnipod dash, okay, and you using what? Now we're back to the dash, because we loop, but we moved to the Omnipod five for a while. Tried

Scott Benner 28:04
Omnipod five, so you were dash manual. Omnipod five then loop, or did you loop? Okay, you didn't do loop, then Omnipod five then loop. No. Okay, all right, and he's wearing a g7 at this point. Yes, yeah. I figured you got him the g7 you know, it's funny. We're having a conversation online with somebody the other day, and they were like, the adhesive on the on the g7 sucks. I wish it was like the g6 I like this better. About the six like and this thing stinks. And I was like, I'm having the exact opposite experience of you. And it led to that conversation about the fact that this is a it's a piece of plastic and wire and etc, and it's trying to mesh with your, you know, your physiology. And not everybody's the same. So some people have oil or your skin or drier skin, or some people you know, are better hydrated or not. Or I've seen Dexcom is just not work on people. I've seen libres not work on people. And the same device works like magically for someone else. It's interesting. It's, you know, it sucks, but there's no magical way to just make it work for everybody the same, but awesome device. I enjoy it a lot. It's so much smaller, and it's funny, Arden says the sticky stuff is too sticky,

Lexi 29:12
I know, like all the adhesives, but I mean, I'm in a little diabetes mom's group message locally here. And same thing in our group message, like everyone has some people into six. Majority do like the seven, but it's same thing when it comes to pumps, right? Like, there's just no one size fits all.

Scott Benner 29:33
I just love that. Arden is like, this thing's so sticky, and the woman's on the online saying to me, like, you know, it doesn't stick. And I'm like, it doesn't

Unknown Speaker 29:41
everybody's so different. Yeah,

Scott Benner 29:43
it's awesome. What made you go to loop?

Lexi 29:46
Yeah, I mean, we just weren't getting the control that we wanted. And maybe it's because I like too much control. I feel like the five is great if you just want to put in a few settings and let it run. I. Like the detail of loop, right? I love looking at night scout and looking at the reports of how we can change. And then, honestly, as a toddler, everything changes so quickly, right? Oh, I want to snack. Oh, never mind. I don't want to eat that anymore. Or here I'm going to eat this 30 car whatever, and then I'm going to go run down the street to my on my bike or whatever. And I wanted the ability to be able to pivot better. I guess during those circumstances, I don't know, I just feel like we got much better control. I mean,

Scott Benner 30:31
I think whatever works is the best thing. His variables change too frequently for the and the Omnipod five wasn't keeping up with the changes.

Lexi 30:39
You know, he was still in daycare at this time, right? So we still just like a Petri dish. And so he would get sick and his needs would go way up in the pod would learn that, right? And then the next pod change, he would have a lot of lows, and so not having kind of those overrides or profiles. And I know there's ways to manipulate it on the five by changing the target or activity mode and things like that. But it just seemed easier for me to pivot, you know, on loop, yeah, as well, as you know, when he's at daycare, and I know that recess is coming up and he's trending a certain way, being able to pop on the override and not have to bother his, you know, preschool teacher, who also has all these 20 other little two year olds running around, I was able to take off some of the load from her,

Scott Benner 31:21
right? Doing it remotely with loop. Yes, yeah. So listen, I think it's, I think loops awesome. So, yeah, okay, what's it like? I guess, like, day to day, I'd like to know, like, you know, I raised the toddler on MDI and then eventually on a pump. But the truth is, I was using the pump like MDI for a while to begin with, just, you know, it was just a replacement for the shots in the beginning, before I really knew what I was doing. So what's it modern day like raising a little kid with type one, like, what are the things that you constantly struggle with, and what are the, what are the ways that you found to get around them? Yeah, so I think

Lexi 31:57
for haze, I mean, the biggest barrier or things that I found, I guess this is with any kid with a diagnosis of anything was just being different, right? I remember he went to daycare one day, and they were doing they were giving little M Ms whenever a kid got something right, and the teacher didn't reach out, and she just decided, like, oh, he has diabetes, I'm not going to give him M Ms as a reward. And they ended up giving each kid, like, 4m Ms, which is like two carbs. I mean, he could have just had it, right? But they didn't know, and they went and explained it to him that, you know, just like so and so has an allergy to peanuts. It's like your allergy to sugar.

Scott Benner 32:34
Awesome. This lady is the lady who put the the Mountain Dew and the four year olds. Is that? Right? You're here to tell people.

Lexi 32:40
That's how I felt at the time that he carried the weight of that right kind of law, I'm allergic to sugar. And it's like, no, you're not allergic to sugar. But just realizing like, Hey, you are going to be different and going through school, or any of these situations, like, there are times that I'm going to have to pull him out and do a pod change, or make him sit out and have a Juicebox. And you know, that was a really, really hard thing to come to terms with.

Scott Benner 33:05
Yeah, it's difficult Lexi to know, and it sucks to have to do it at such a young age. But like anybody who's got kids, you know that there's this moment where you have to explain to them that everybody might not be terrific all the time. Yeah, you have to start saying, like, oh, you know, well, that, that lady, she doesn't know what she's talking about. Or, up until then, they think, you know, I don't know. That's my teacher. That's like, that, that woman, you know, she knows what she's doing. That guy knows what he's doing. Like, you know, he's in a position of power. Like, the first time, you have to start telling kids that everything's not perfect. It's sad. Like, because you had to tell your kid, listen, this woman, who we told you, is going to take care of you, and she knows what she's doing. All these people do right? They didn't know this, and they're wrong. And then you have to now, you have to talk him out of believing what they told them. It starts that whole journey of learning what the world is, and it sucks, if it has to start too early, that's all I think it does.

Lexi 34:01
Yeah, it does. But I will say, like, especially Foster Care has given our family such perspective, right? I mean, one of the sweetest videos on my phone was I had, was our first foster placement, a four and six year old little boy, and he always wanted, he never did a pod change, but he was just always so interested in what I'm doing. You know, it's two year old haze and all these devices. And it he filmed the video for me. I was like, hey, I need to film a video doing a pod change for, you know, grandparents or whoever needs to change this. And he's sitting here going, and there's this device and and we got to put it on his butt. And it's just like, the cutest thing, yeah, it's a little voiceover of the six year old little boy. And you're like, Wow, this boy has to deal with such hard things, but and so does haze. But they're different, and everyone has hard things that they have to deal with. We just they're all different, and sometimes they're invisible, and sometimes you can see it on people. But you know, in this life, we all experience hard things, so why do. Uh, yeah, harp and just, you know, keep moving forward. How'd

Scott Benner 35:03
you learn that? What did you experience that was difficult before this, before the diabetes, honestly,

Lexi 35:07
the diabetes was a huge turning point in my life. I mean, I think before that, the only other thing that felt really deep, which may sound silly to some, was we had to re home a dog because they were aggressive to Hayes when he was a baby. And, you know, at the time before you have kids, dogs are like, your babies, yeah,

Scott Benner 35:28
Lexi, you seem like young to me. Like, just because you're 20, you're much younger than I am. But so in your, I was gonna say your young life. I don't know why, but in your life, like this, diabetes is the first, like, real objectionable thing that happened. Like, would you say your life was like cruising along until then? I mean, ish,

Lexi 35:47
I definitely had loss of lost other grandparents and things like that. But I will say that diabetes is the hardest thing I've ever overcome in my life. And maybe that's because it was my first kind of true, like adult, deep grief, where you're like, This is changes my whole life, right? Losing Someone different things like that, like, I, you know, you move through the grief, but this is something that I have to deal with every single day. 24/7, and this is on

Scott Benner 36:14
me. You're not looking to lose a grandparent, but if you are in your late 20s, is not terrible, like, it's not that's not a bad run for them, right? They were probably almost 80 years old, right? Yeah. So I take your point. Has anything happened since then? Have you been like, wow, I didn't realize how much easier this would be now that I've got this perspective. Or are you like, waiting for the next shoe to drop? Are you like, I'm ready? Is like, something bad gonna happen? Because I know what to do now. Did it start off a chain of events, or Has it just been this, this diabetes thing, and that's what you're dealing with now, and nothing else big has happened yet? No.

Lexi 36:48
I mean, obviously some of the moves from our foster kids have left us in a little bit of a grief period for a little bit nothing. I'll say diabetes has definitely given us this huge perspective where things don't seem, I shouldn't say, things don't seem as hard. What's that quote? Where it's not, it's not that things get easier. You just get better equipped to handle them. Yeah. So I do think that diabetes just gave us a huge perspective shift. And, you know, we have a huge, I mean, community. We've been blessed with amazing family and and when we got the diagnosis. I mean, I dove into all of these diabetes groups. I'm involved with JDRF. I have this diabetes moms group message and being with other people who who get it. I don't know. I can't emphasize that enough. I don't know

Scott Benner 37:35
how to explain it exactly. I realize it's probably pretty simply explained, but to me, it seems like for the amount of good that comes from it and the amount that you get out of it, there should be a deeper explanation of what it is. But I think in the end, just having people around to understand is incredibly valuable. And you know, if you can get help from them or information from them, that's a bonus, but just them being there is a big deal.

Lexi 38:00
The keynote at the JDRF summit this past weekend, she was amazing. She said type one for 40 years, but she put up a little meme of this Husky floating around in space, and she's like, just having someone who can just sit there and just say, I have no idea together. You don't even have to have the answer or anything, but just a group of people that were like, Hey, we just all have no idea, but we get it, we understand it. I mean, that's truly, you know, just having another diabetes mom and texts at 3am when you're trying to get, you know, this low, to come up, they just get it, and you and you feel better knowing that someone else just gets it. Yeah,

Scott Benner 38:33
I think you can almost take away the underlying shame that you have for not being better at something or knowing something. You know, I don't even know if that's always conscious, that people feel ashamed, but you do, like something happens and you don't know what to do, and you have that like, oh, that dread feeling if somebody else says, Oh, I don't know what the hell that is. Either you go, okay, maybe I'm not supposed to know what this is, you know. And like, maybe we can find out together, or I can find out separately, or whatever, but at least I'm not here beating myself up consciously or subconsciously about a thing that I'd have no way of understanding, right? Yeah, it's pretty nice. Tell me a little more. Like, you do you like, WhatsApp it or how do you guys, where's your little group?

Lexi 39:12
Yeah, we just have a text message. I mean, we it just grew from, you know, connecting with one diabetes mom in the area, and then she knew somebody, and I knew somebody, and then we just all put ourselves together so we all live locally and can meet up and go out for margaritas, and, you know, complain about diabetes away from our young kids, and

Scott Benner 39:33
then go back, Lexi, what are the complaints? Oh, I haven't

Lexi 39:37
slept in three nights because we had, you know, stomach bug, or, you know, one mom has a Dexcom prescription for every two days because the her kids allergic to every adhesive. And, you know, I don't know, just kind of all the different things that were that we're going through. But then we also share resources. I mean, some of the kids in our group, you know, are already on. In elementary school, I just registered Hayes for kindergarten. So, you know, at daycare, I kind of just got to tell the teachers, you know, hey, this is how I want you to handle it, and they would do it. And, you know, just hearing from moms that, hey, the public school system is a little different, you know, they go by your health plan and, you know, different things like that.

Scott Benner 40:20
Yeah, no, it's interesting. I wonder if anybody's ever gotten together a group and somebody said, like, Oh, I like this podcast. And then somebody else goes, I don't like that guy. I'd love to hear that conversation. I would fly on a wall for the conversation where people are complaining about me. Would be awesome. I would love that. Can you make that happen? Can you just lay your phone down when somebody starts really complaining about me. I would love that. I'll

Lexi 40:42
try it for you. I will say I all of our all of our group are fans, but I'm sure there's groups out there.

Scott Benner 40:48
Does your group have a name? Have you guys given yourself a

Lexi 40:51
someone named it? The Diabetes moms? Are you in the set? I don't think I've ever said it out loud. It's just the text message. When

Scott Benner 41:00
one of Arden's friends texts her, it's like, her name with like, a saying and a bunch of emojis, and when the voiceover is on it, like, speaks the whole thing out. It's infuriating and hilarious at the same time, because it's like, blah blah, blah emoji and this emoji and that emoji. And I'm like, oh my god, I love that. It's fun. Well, that's that's nice. Are they? Are you guys? I'm trying to find out, are you spread out over age? Like is the diabetes, the thing that brings you together, and doesn't matter that one of you is 30, or one of you is 45 or or are you similarly aged? We

Lexi 41:33
are similar age. Our kids are probably all of our kids are probably eight and under. Okay, so, yeah, I think our kids are around the same point

Scott Benner 41:44
while you're together. If you can come up with a fix for what happens when I'm wearing my headphones and the beeping goes off really loudly, I'd love that to not happen anymore to me, because that still happens sometimes. Whole brainstorm, yeah, if you guys can figure that out, do you have the when the Dexcom follow goes off in your ears and you're wearing your headphones. Does it announce it to you? Because I get like, a voice that says it's Beep, beep, high glucose notification from Arden even 99 that's what it says to me. It does that happen to everybody or just me?

Lexi 42:13
I don't know. I see I'm on my laptop and I don't use my headphones much in my phone. Oh, oh, I do content. I don't have the problem. Sorry. I

Scott Benner 42:21
don't want to listen to the people I live. The people I live with, so I put my head. No, that's not true. I you know, it's funny, like we live in such a digital household, like people go to school, they are working digitally. Like everything that you almost have to wear headphones to do anything because somebody else is doing something that can't be interrupted, happens a lot, actually. Oh, you don't have that problem yet. No,

Lexi 42:42
I'm in the toddler household, so it's just loud little squeals and, yeah, tears and laughs all day, right now

Scott Benner 42:49
I get like, stink eye like, for like, doing the dishes at the wrong time, like I'm on a meeting. I'm like, Ah,

Lexi 42:55
okay, no, I told my husband. I was like, you have to work out the home if I'm gonna be a stay at home, mom, because there's no way that I can keep these three little plus, you know, other kids.

Scott Benner 43:05
Oh, your husband's like, I have to go to the gym now and work

Lexi 43:11
and work, that's right. She tell him,

Scott Benner 43:13
look, we've been together a while now, and we've got three kids. I don't even care what you look like anymore, so you're not doing it for me exactly. Just keep getting paid, just his mental health, yeah, exactly, just for him, just for him. Yes. Do you work out at the same or did you work out like he does? Or you guys not do it together?

Lexi 43:33
I do. It's kind of embarrassing to say we have three gym memberships because we all like working at different places. I definitely need that too. Yeah, it helps. Oh yeah, it was good practice too, with diabetes. You know, I feel like the big things that I wanted to share today was really one of of hope, right? I didn't stop having kids or stop pursuing dreams of being a foster parent and things like that, just because of diabetes. And another one being community. Obviously, you know, you have to find your people who can step up for you. I mean, now I have babysitters and people to bounce ideas off of and resources off of, and just sharing my 3am you know, crying sessions or whatever. But the other one was just like feeling empowered and preparation, and I feel like just, you're saying a bold with insulin like that was the biggest thing when I got the diagnosis, was I was just scared, right? And when you're not confident in something, I don't know that the anxiety creeps in and the numbers are all over the place. And the gym was like a really good place for me to start practicing. You know, I put together a million documents for my son, and just really practicing putting those together and putting my son into a childcare place, but still being on site, right? And so not only am I getting my some help with my mental and physical health at the gym, but I was also practicing leaving my son somewhere and practicing what information did they need to know to care. For my son. Yeah,

Scott Benner 45:01
I practiced with Arden upstairs. That's how I did it. Oh, really, that's what that texting diabetes episode, it's like, episode four of the podcast is about, it's about the day like that. She was upstairs and needed insulin, and I just didn't feel like walking upstairs, so I texted her, and I had to go listen to that. Yeah. And then she did it. And I was like, Oh, that worked. And then I thought, like, I could do that when she's at a friend's house, or why couldn't I do that while she was at school? And then I got real apprehensive about it, and I was like, What is stopping me? Right? Like, What's stopping me from doing this? I just watched it work, and I realized at some point, like it was just my fear, like I had this idea that if I was with her, I could stop something bad from happening, but if I wasn't with her, then I couldn't. So not okay. But then I just practiced again, like she's across the street with a friend. And I was like, hey, text here. And I was like, I could run over there if I had to, you know. And then it worked. And I was like, Oh, okay. Like, it's what you're saying. Like you were practicing leaving him somewhere. I was practicing monitoring and advising from a distance. Then once a week, caught our, you know, our rhythm with that. Then I moved it on to school, and then, boom, everything got better and better again. So, you know, it just occurred to me one day I was like, the only thing stopping me is that I'm afraid. Like, if I stop being afraid, maybe I'll be okay. It's nice to hear you say that that idea of like, being bold was helpful to you, because I haven't gotten away from it. It's just the podcast has grown so much that I don't think I talk about it as much as I probably did in the past. But I've seen like, that phrase be, like, foundational for so many people. People bring it up to me, like, no lie. Like, constantly, you know, like I was bold today, or like, Thank you for reminding me not to be afraid, like, that kind of stuff. I just didn't know how big of a deal it was going to be at the time when I said it originally. So it makes me feel good that that it helped you and and I love the idea that you practiced. I'll leave him at the gym with somebody I'm I'm close, you know, it's awesome.

Lexi 46:58
It's huge. And it kind of represents just confidence to me, right? You know, feeling empowered with insulin because, yeah, it is. It's such a scary thing when you get started. So that phrase definitely. And now we just had our first play date a few weeks ago. I dropped him off at somebody's house. Has no experience with

Scott Benner 47:17
type one. What did you tell them? I'm so interested. How much did you tell them? Yeah, so I

Lexi 47:22
have a little card that I had made, like a little postcard size, that I leave with him at the gym, and I leave with him at church. So times when I'm close by and it just talks about lows, you know, you need to give this smarty, this smarty, and then you need it tells you, like, hey, you need to call me if you're doing snacks, if you're doing any crazy exercise activities, that kind of thing. But I think in situations where he's just going to play for an hour or two, that's all they need to know, right? And that's a big thing that I've really worked on the past few years. I've created kind of all these guides for different people. You know, there's a guide for when they go to church, when they go to the gym, when they go this little play date, there's a guide for, you know, daycare, and then there's a guide for like my parents and my aunt and uncle and people who have a little more experience, where I want them dosing for fat and protein. I want them doing those extra things, but yeah, for things like those play dates, you know, I was nearby, and all they needed to worry about was low blood sugar.

Scott Benner 48:23
How does it work out like so you have the card. Has the card ever gotten used? Yeah.

Lexi 48:27
I mean, I have just, like, a little clear bag, and I put his phone on so that the Dexcom number just stays up. And then there's this little postcard that says, hey, under 85 give one of these Smarties. Under 70, give two of these smarties and anything else. Call me. I mean, now with technology, it's amazing. I mean, my five year old's wearing an Apple Watch. They have a cell phone, like I when I call him and he's at the play date, he answers me on his watch, and I say, go eat a smarty. You know, it's way different than when he was two years old, yeah.

Scott Benner 48:56
Oh, I know. It really helps. It's funny. I can't believe you haven't heard that episode, the episode four, like, because you're doing it, you're just doing it with a smart watch, I was doing it with a cell phone. Like, it's, it's awesome, you know? And he's good with that. Is he very just, like, does he have like, a boy attitude? Does he just stop for a second? Do the thing keep going?

Lexi 49:16
Oh, yes, yeah, yes. And we've had to have lots of talks of, like, hey, you know, I'm gonna let you go to your friends houses. I'm gonna let you run down to the neighbor's house, as long as you continue to answer the phone when I call you, and you know, until you're not answering the phone or, you know, not keeping up with it, then we'll have to have a talk. But you know, as much as you'll, you know, answer when I call you and continue to do these things, and you know your parents want you to do these things, and don't want diabetes to hold you back. So

Scott Benner 49:42
he's responding well to that Absolutely. What do you think his understanding of diabetes is?

Lexi 49:47
He's pretty well versed. I mean, he doesn't remember life before diabetes, so it's just always been his life. And he likes the perks too. You know, when he goes to his friend's house, they're like, wait, you have a cell phone? He's like, Yeah, I have a diabetes. I have a cell phone. Hey, you have an app watch? Oh yeah, I have diabetes. I have an Apple Watch. You know when he's eating a smarty and his three year old brother screaming for Smarties? And he's like, Oh well, I have diabetes, so I get Smarties. But as far as you know, he knows when he's high he needs insulin, and when he's low, he needs sugar. And that's kind of, that's it. Extent, yeah,

Scott Benner 50:18
like, so you haven't had any of those, like your immune system, like you don't, you haven't discussed any of that. Does he know what happens when he gets low? Does he know why it's so important, or, like, what's the level of understanding you gave him so he knows that I have to answer the phone? Is it just so that I can continue to go outside, or is it because I don't want to fall over and have a seizure? No,

Lexi 50:36
I don't think he truly understands. He's never felt his lows. I mean, he's been as low as I think the lowest I've seen is like 32 and he no symptoms, okay to him, it's just, I need to answer the phone if I want to continue to go to my friend's house by myself without my mom

Scott Benner 50:52
coming. This lady here, I got that. How did the mom the first play date? How did she handle it? Like, do you think she you know what I mean, like, was she nervous? Did she just not understand enough to be nervous? How did that work? She is definitely

Lexi 51:06
one of my, like, type B mom friends, and so she was not nervous. And I think that's why I kind of picked her to be the first one to try it. Because, again, within the age of technology, if something were to happen to Hayes phone, where I couldn't call his phone, I'd call her phone, or I have her husband's number, or however, and at least I hope that, because I simplified it so much that I gave her the confidence that if he goes low, he just needs to eat the smarty. And if, God forbid, anything horrible happened, I have this GVO pen that's like an epi pen that I need to stab into his leg.

Scott Benner 51:39
Did you tell her about the GVO hypo pen, yes, but

Lexi 51:43
I always frame it that, hey, it's just like an epi pen. Rip off the cap, put it in this thigh. It'll be hopefully you never have to use it. Yeah?

Scott Benner 51:50
You on purpose. Pick the the mom, you know, who is like, oh, that's fine. They could probably smoke crack like she's got that vibe, right? Yeah,

Lexi 51:57
yes, yes, because I have another mom friend who he's loves them, but I know that she would just be anxious and on eggshells the whole day, or the whole play date, I should say. And so I think it was a good one to kind of, yeah, you didn't put it on her, right? That's nice, right? I mean, I stayed really close by, just

Scott Benner 52:14
like, and I was behind a bush Scott outside. If

Lexi 52:18
you've seen some of the the childcare attendance at some of the gyms I've left to Matt, you know, this is way better. You're like, some didn't even look up at me when I dropped them off from their cell phones.

Scott Benner 52:30
Yes, diabetes. I don't care. I won't be paying attention. Thank you scrolling on Instagram. Yeah, I'm 14. Yeah. Have you seen the dress that Zendaya wore to the Grammys? Yeah? No. Look at this lady, this I'll show you. Oh, it's cool. I think this is a very healthy way to figure it out, you know, because the expectation that everybody's gonna care the way you care, or that everybody's gonna do the thing they're supposed to do, I think you can get lucky and meet people like that, but you can't. You can't be sure you're gonna meet those people, and you certainly can't hold those people to standards, whether it's, I mean, look, I get myself in trouble here a little bit like I get there's 504, plans, and the schools have to do like they have to do what's in the plan, and blah blah. And that's all well and good, and I believe in that too, right up until it doesn't happen, and then, you know, you can argue about it later what they were supposed to do, but it's not going to help you in the moment. So better, in my opinion, it sounds like your opinion, too, to navigate the world as it is, instead of trying to make the world what you want it to be, right? Is that what you're doing? Yeah.

Lexi 53:29
I mean, those health plans, like, oh my gosh, like the ones you get after your appointment with your Endo, just so confusing. So, like, not in how we think or how we act, like, Absolutely, like, those physicians aren't living our day to day life, you know, and I know that they have to kind of do this one size fits all, but it's not, it's not one size fits all. I mean, we all manage differently. And I think as much as you can take information complex information, just make it very simple and just tell people what you need them to do. I mean, the person who's watching your kid for an hour does not need to know all the pump instructions. They don't need to know all this extra information. Just take the complex, make it simple, and just tell them what they need to know in order to keep the kids safe. You and

Scott Benner 54:12
I would get along. Lexi, I think I know why you like this podcast. Yes, I don't have an expectation that everybody's going to run around doing everything perfectly all the time. No, and and I also believe that there's about a bazillion ailments, problems, diseases and life struggles that I don't understand. And if you just ran up to me and started explaining them to me, I'd be like, I don't know what you're saying right then after that, if I said I don't know what you're saying, you said no, but it's very important, because you're in charge. Now, I'd be like, No, I'm not you got the wrong guy? No, thank you. It's just a very realistic way of looking at it. Yeah, I don't understand what happened to you. Like, see, you're 30, you have three kids, you've fostered people. You're being very realistic. Nobody beat you when you were a child, or something crazy didn't happen to you. No, you just leveled up from the diabetes. Were you this person before diabetes? I was, what the hell? Lexi, yeah, good for you. What did you go to college? I

Lexi 55:08
did, NC State. Would you major marketing? Oh,

Scott Benner 55:12
you do understand people? Then I do, yeah, marketing, I It's, I hate talking about it, because it makes me feel bad, because it is targeted manipulation. It

Lexi 55:22
is, it is, oh my gosh, right. It's, it's

Scott Benner 55:25
psychology, really, yes, yeah,

Lexi 55:28
1,000% but it has, it's helped me so much. And, you know, all the things that I've prepared for Hayes and, yeah, what have you marketed so far? I shouldn't say I've necessarily marketed. It's more taking the complex? Well, I guess it is marketing, taking the complex and making it simple and gearing different guides towards the different people that watch my son, I think, has been a huge, huge thing, because, again, I don't let diabetes change our life. My husband and I go on trips without the kids. My kids, Hayes went to daycare for three years before I became a stay at home mom. He goes to the church daycare. He goes to gym daycare. He does overnights with my aunt, with my parents, like we don't hold back just because of diabetes, and the only reason we're able to do that is because maybe I'm a doomsday prepper, I don't know, but because I have so many type you know, plan, A, B, C, D, E, and so many guides and things that I felt confident leaving him in different situations. And so

Scott Benner 56:26
is there a concrete bunker in your backyard? What are we talking about?

Lexi 56:30
No, if my husband would let me, probably

Scott Benner 56:32
you're not anxious. There's sugar hidden. Sugar hidden everywhere. Oh, you're prepping for diabetes, stuff, Doomsday, diabetes. Yeah, you're not. You're not hiding from the from the rooskies or anything like that. Like in 1953 I got you okay? Oh no, no. Oh okay, I see, oh yes, you're I was gonna say like, You're not an anxious person at all, right? Are you? Yeah, it's anxiety keeping you focused. I

Lexi 56:58
think it does. I think it fuels me. That's probably just the coffee. It's

Scott Benner 57:06
probably the coffee and the anxiety. Interesting, okay, yeah, what have we not talked about that we should have? So

Lexi 57:12
I think, you know, like I said, the big things that I really wanted to drive are just that, you know, there is hope. I just remember such a dark period after diagnosis and and life does, life resumes, and so many people fight so many hard things, and this is just our hard thing. You know that we

Scott Benner 57:30
have to push through. Have you ever heard the episode do hard things? I think so. Okay, so I came to grips with this idea when a mom came on the podcast and shared her story in Episode 303, it's called do hard things, and I think it ran as the best of last year at 1287, as well. The long and the short of it is, is that she was on her way to her kids endo appointment on like tragically snowy roads, and the car crashed and her kid died. I can't imagine she reached out to be on the podcast, because she said the podcast was still felt. It made her feel connected to him. I don't know, she just told her story, and I thought, like, wow, yeah. Like, she's still going, you know what? I mean, yeah, it's incredibly inspirational, like, because it's, if you think about all the things throughout your day that you let way lay you, or something that you get pissed about, that lady would trade anything to have your problems and and I find that, like, valuable. And anyway, it's, it's what I think about now, when I think about all this, like, if she can push through that, I mean, what is it I'm supposed to complain about, right? You know what I mean? Yeah, I can imagine. I love complaining. Lexi as sport. I just want to say a sport, yeah, but like, in my actual, real life, like I'm not running around, like feeling that and and I have that feeling in me. I'm like, you know, the worst thing that happened to me so far is bad. I don't think it's important or good to measure your bad things against other people's bad things. Yeah, it's all relative. It's all completely relative. The worst thing that's ever happened to you is a really bad thing, right? Just because somebody else had something happened to them that's worse doesn't mean my thing's not important. But at the same time, you can derive perspective from it and say, Okay, this sucks, but I can keep doing this, and I don't know I that's sort of it's a big help to me that her coming on and sharing that, that story. So anyway, wait, I just bummed it right out at the end. Look at that. Can you tell me please, for this is for my edification. What do you like about the podcast? Why was it helpful for you?

Lexi 59:38
Yeah. So I think for me, I'm very I love, like, practical tips. So I always look for the episodes, like, on all the variables on all like, I want to know exactly how to dose for fat and protein. I want to know Pre Bolus timing, like, those are the pieces that, again, gave me confidence in order to, you know to dose that and move on to. The pumps that we do and things like that.

Scott Benner 1:00:01
So, so you like the management stuff, mostly? Yeah, I've always been

Lexi 1:00:05
like that, you know, we went to the JDRF Summit. My husband's going to like the feel good, like, you know, psychology sessions. And I'm like, No, I'm going to clinical research. I'm going to, you know, the I like the hard, tactical things.

Scott Benner 1:00:17
So when you talk about your friend group, your friend group around diabetes, it's not supportive as much as it is more about like, figuring it out so you can get it done and get it right.

Lexi 1:00:25
No, I do think that group is more supportive, okay, but I think personally, I like to look for the hard I like to look at data. I like to look at, you know, I tell my aunt when she watches my kid and they're going in the hot tub, you know, I want to rule for how much juice he should be sipping on in the hot tub. And it's, you know, I tell her to take his carb ratio and multiply his insulin on board, you know, like, I like to have those shortcuts and try to make things more concrete. I'm always interested by what people take from it, yeah, for me, it's absolutely, it's more of those management tips, yeah, whereas I think some of my friends in the group, it's probably more the stories, right? It's interesting, isn't it? Like you're a

Scott Benner 1:01:04
management person, but somebody will probably listen to you for your story. Yeah, Circle of Life ish, that's all. Yeah. I'm gonna tell you something on this recording, because it basically sets a six month timer for me to get something accomplished. Okay, okay, this is how I hold myself to account because but for the next six months, only you and I are gonna know about this. Gonna know about this. Okay? And probably your friends I'm gay, and then if they can't keep their mouth shut, whoever they tell and whatever, that's fine. I don't imagine people are running around talking about me in their private time. Never know. You never know. Actually, it is weird to know that that does happen. It does started a few years ago, I dove into the idea of, like, an online community for people listening that's outside of Facebook, not in place of Facebook, outside of Facebook. I looked at it, I liked the platform a lot, but it didn't feel completely baked all the way yet. And some three years later, the company's still going, and they've got their product. It works right? Like, it's good. It'll allow people to message with each other. It'll allow people to use, like, a Facebook type function. But it won't just be one feed. It could be like, like a feed for Omnipod, a feed for Dexcom, a feed for, you know, ever since three six, like, there could be a feed for all different kinds of topics. People could message with each other. They could do live video chats with each other from inside of it. I could chat live to them if I wanted to. Like it has a lot of functionality. It works really rock solid, and it has an Android and an iPhone app. It's expensive to run, and so what most people do, the reason they're expensive is cool. What most people do is they start niche communities than charge people to be in them and they make money off of them. That's what the platform is, I think, generally used. But I don't want to, you know me like, I'm not looking to charge money from people like, so what I think is, is that I'm going to set it up initially as a place where there are courses that are built off the information inside the different series in the podcast. And so you can kind of take like, like Quizlet type, like courses like, you know, love that, yeah, right. And then like, quiz yourself on it at the end, see how you're doing, like, get through it, maybe, like, level up, or whatever. And then at the same time, if you want to build a community in there or talk to people, it's there. If you want to, I think I have to charge the tiniest bit of money to keep out what I would call nudnix, which is might not be a word, you know, I don't know where in the country, yeah, lunatics, crazies, that kind of thing. Yeah, yeah. To keep those people out, I'll probably charge like, a couple of dollars a month, like, just enough that a person who has a bad intention would be like, I'm not paying that guy $2 a month so that I can on people. Like, you know what I mean, like, I'll go on people for free somewhere else. It won't cost you, you know, it won't cost you about any like, I don't want to measure people's money. I don't, I don't, like, count other people's money, but I'm assuming, like, you know, 20, $40 a year is, like, manageable for people, and then that's it, like, that's what I want to do with it. And then I want to move it around. I'd like it if doctors offices started becoming aware of it. I think that's like, a way to help people get to the information that a doctor's office could stand behind. They could be like, hey, look, there's this thing. It's, you know, very cheap or free. And, you know, here's, here's the feedback we're getting from people about their outcomes and stuff like that. Anyway, it's a thought I had, and I am working on it right now.

Lexi 1:04:27
Yeah, I love that. Do you see it? Yeah, especially even, I mean, I guess this would have to be another, the next edition of it. But I just think about even training the daycare like, you know, our our hospital, tried to do a zoom to teach the daycare just basics and like, how cool, just to have a quick course to like, give the daycare teacher of like, Hey, here's the basics. Diabetes,

Scott Benner 1:04:49
the reason that's super doable, Lexi, and the reason why I'll be looking for suggestions from people in the future about that it's allowing me to take like, the entire like, series of bowl beginning episodes. It's and tell it like, look, here's what I want out of this. I want every actionable thing that's set in here, like, every piece of every suggestion, piece of advice, you know, actionable step that you can take about diabetes it's in here. Like, pull it out, make a list of them. Great. I'll take that list and tell me a colloquial way to explain it. Great. Now turn that whole thing into a quiz, and bang, bang, bang. It all comes back out again. You could exactly. You could feed an AI model the bold beginning series, and say, give me the information that's in this series that would help a person who doesn't know anything about diabetes manage a child for two hours. I love that. And it would pull it out, and then you could turn that into something. It's been a year and a half now since I first realized that probably every answer that people need exists inside of the conversations in the podcast, yeah, and I need to extract them like Absolutely. That's what an AI's the future listen. It takes what I would tell you, would probably be a solid month's worth of work, and it does 90% of it in an hour. Then you can sit down and actually do the human part of going, like, is this, right? Is this, you know, is this something I want to say? Is this the way it wants to be said, like you're not asking it to just give you the finished product and never look at it, but Right? It gives you the starting points. Oh, the heavy lifting gets done real easy. So I

Lexi 1:06:23
use chat GPT to help write some of my guides. Diabetes guide, oh, sure. You know, just, hey, can you make this more sustained? You know? Yeah,

Scott Benner 1:06:31
clean this up, yeah, like, you know, where the column, where do the commas go? Like that, yeah, the little stuff like that, that it's able to do right now is awesome. And, you know, some people have misgivings about it, and some people are just, like, downright scared of it. And May, they might even have, like, good reasons. I'm not saying otherwise, but the last version of it that came out, one of the newer versions, is just like, it has thinking. And before you would ask it something, it would be like, This is the answer. You're like, oh, okay, now you can tell it like, think about this, then go over it again and make sure that it's right, and then double check it again, and then go back to the source material and make sure that you've got all the quotes correct, like, and it takes the time and does all that. And so the returns are getting better and better all the time. It's pretty, pretty crazy, but I think it's at the point now where it can I can trust it to mine my own content and give it back to me in a way that I can now more manageably go through. What's the alternative? It's like Scott sits down and listens to 1000 hours of podcasts and keeps hand notes while he's listening. Like how I can't you know what I mean? All right, listen. I like you. You were cool. I appreciate you doing this very much. Anything you want to say before we go,

Lexi 1:07:43
no, but can you just say hi to my mom, because she is one of the most religious listeners, and I think that'd be super cool. Do you

Scott Benner 1:07:52
think she's a religious listener? Like she's religious and she listens, or she listens religiously, or listens religiously, but not religious. She's very religious. So one question I didn't ask you, like, like, for for the life of me, I'm like, is this LDS? Like, you got three kids already you're 30, but then I thought you'd have more by now if you were, yeah, yeah, no, I could smell my way around the different religions. I know Europe, yeah, this is just regular, good old fashioned religion. You're not building an army for God or anything like that, right? No, my

Lexi 1:08:22
with all my kids around, I don't get to listen as much as I would like, and my mom is always listening. She'll give me a little debriefs of some of the episodes. What's your mom's name? Veronica.

Scott Benner 1:08:35
Veronica. Hi. How are you? I appreciate you listening. Veronica. After you listen today, what are you planning on? Maybe some light lunch, going out with friends. Will you be calling Lexi to see how she's doing? That probably just freaked her out. That's awesome. Okay, that's awesome. Yeah, we can start talking to no, no, please. Are you kidding? More of that. All right. Hold on one second.

For me, the episode you just enjoyed was sponsored by the twist a ID system powered by tide pool. If you want a commercially available insulin pump with twist loop that offers unmatched personalization and precision for peace of mind, you want twist twist.com/juicebox, today's episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by the Dexcom g7 and the Dexcom g7 warms up in just 30 minutes. Check it out now at dexcom.com/juicebox Arden has been getting her diabetes supplies from us med for three years. You can as well us med.com/juice box, or call 888-721-1514, my thanks to us, med for sponsoring this episode and for being longtime sponsors of the Juicebox Podcast. There are links in the show notes and links at Juicebox podcast.com to us, med and all of the sponsors you.

Hey, thanks for listening all the way to the end. I really appreciate your loyalty and listenership. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast. My grand rounds series was designed by listeners to tell doctors what they need, and it also helps you to understand what to ask for. There's a mental wellness series that addresses the emotional side of diabetes and practical ways to stay balanced. And when we talk about GLP medications, well we'll break down what they are, how they may help you, and if they fit into your diabetes management plan. What do these three things have in common? They're all available at Juicebox, podcast.com, up in the menu. I know it can be hard to find these things in a podcast app, so we've collected them all for you@juiceboxpodcast.com the episode you just heard was professionally edited by wrong way recording, wrongway recording.com. You.

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