#1540 I'm Sorry Eh

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Amy reflects on resilience, loss, and living with type 1 diabetes, one hand, and now celiac disease.

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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 to another episode of The Juicebox Podcast.

Amy 0:14
Hi everybody. I'm Amy. I'm 32 years old as of very recently, I was diagnosed with type one diabetes when I was five, and I'm going to give you a little highlight reel I was born with one hand

Scott Benner 0:26
if you're living with type one diabetes, the after dark collection from the Juicebox Podcast is the only place to hear the stories that no one else talks about, from drugs to depression, self harm, trauma, addiction and so much more. Go to Juicebox podcast.com. Up in the menu and click on after dark there, you'll see a full list of all of the after dark episodes. Please don't forget that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare plan or becoming bold with insulin. 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 s, t.com/juice. Box. 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 this episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by us med. Us med.com/juicebox, or call 888-721-1514, US med is where my daughter gets her diabetes supplies from. And you could too use the link or number to get your free benefits check and get started today with us. Met.

Amy 2:21
Hi everybody. I'm Amy. I'm 32 years old as of very recently, I am from Canada, currently living in the US. I was diagnosed with type one diabetes when I was five, and I thought that it would be interesting to talk to you Scott today, because I have a couple things going on in my life that once I stopped to think about it, I realized were kind of strange about me. So I was I'm going to give you a little highlight reel. I was born with one hand, diagnosed with type one diabetes when I was five. My mom was my primary caregiver, and she passed away when I was 10, very unexpectedly. And then I recently in life, was diagnosed with celiac disease, and I have a lot of autoimmunity in my family, and, yeah, I have started managing diabetes, obviously, by myself, since I was 10, and I've ended up here today, and I also went to grad school, and can talk about that. I have I work in genetics, so I thought you might be interested in

Scott Benner 3:15
things like that. Amy, you felt like a little list in your head about things you're going to talk about. I do. Yeah, so you stole my thunder, because before we started recording, I said, I never know what I'm going to say to a person after they introduce themselves, but I know what I'm going to say to you, and what I was going to say is, holy hell, Amy, your note is short, but it is very, very distinctly different than any other one I've ever gotten. Your note basically says I was born with one hand, and my parent, who helped me with diabetes, died when I was a child. And I was like, whoa, okay. Like, that'll give us something to talk about. Yeah, wow. Oh, well, tell me a little bit. First about about your diagnosis. You were, what, five? I

Amy 3:57
was five. Yeah, I don't really remember it. My dad has described it as, like, my parents knew that something was going on because my personality sometimes suddenly changed. I used to be a really nice, sweet kid. I was afraid to talk to anybody, and then, kind of out of the blue, I started acting mean and like he honestly said, like, out of nowhere as a little

Scott Benner 4:17
five year old, how old were you when he told you that

Amy 4:21
I Oh, I was, like, in my 20s, and they were thinking, like, I had a personality disorder or something, they were going to seek psychiatric help, and then at a routine, kind of apparent appointment for my health care, the doctor suggested getting some blood work done, and I was diagnosed. So do you

Scott Benner 4:38
have any brothers or sisters? Have a younger brother and you're Canadian, yes. So you know, what's gonna be interesting here is that at some point I'm going to very like, thoughtfully, say to you, hey, you know, am I using the right colloquial terms for your hand and everything, but at the same time, I'm going to say stuff that it's not going to feel like I care, but that's not going to be the case.

Amy 4:59
That's fine. I have heard it all pretty much by this point. So go

Scott Benner 5:03
for it. My thought was, have you ever imagined your mom and dad in a room with the door closed going, Oh, good, the one with one hand is bipolar? Yes,

Amy 5:14
I have it's

Scott Benner 5:15
going, great, sweetheart.

Amy 5:18
Like, why her? She already has something to deal with. Yeah, no

Scott Benner 5:21
kidding. Oh, so your personality was that off that in his description? Yeah. I mean, they take you what like to like a frozen hut somewhere, and a witch doctor helps you. And then, exactly, exactly, yeah, what province? Alberta, Alberta, okay, is that? Go ahead, I'm so impressed that you didn't say province. I can't do the same joke over and over again. You know what? Sometimes I look up or like a dinner function, and I start talking, and I can see on my wife's face, she knows what I'm gonna say, and I'm like, Oh, I gotta, I gotta rework that line. Also, you live here now, or you're here, yeah, so you're not really Canadian. You bugged out Exactly, yep. Have you been here long enough that you're mad at us or mad at Canada right now?

Amy 6:04
Oh, it's a toss up. It depends on the day. Yeah, it really does. And I've only been here a few months, so I think it's still kind of

Scott Benner 6:10
undecided. Oh, okay, awesome. Yeah, well, maybe we'll see you protesting at a car dealership soon. My question was going to be, is your province the one that starts with like, regular and mph or no.

Amy 6:20
So I don't really remember, and because my mom was my primary caregiver, and my dad has a terrible memory, like I have very little information about when I was diagnosed, what treatment was like. I remember that we had a cloudy and a clear insulin. I don't remember before that. It might have been regular and then pH, but it was pretty old school.

Scott Benner 6:37
That's fine if you don't know. I was just wondering, what's your first memory of how you managed yourself. I

Amy 6:42
really wanted to be able to manage myself, and so I remember taking shots. I think I wanted to be able to go to my grandma's house without worrying about diabetes, and she had to be able to give me insulin, so I forced her to learn how to give me insulin, and she really didn't like to give me shots, so that was a big deal. And I wanted to be able to go to school and not have to go to the nurse's office at lunch. I hated doing that, so I wanted to be able to prick my finger take my insulin. And I did start doing that really young, like maybe grade five.

Scott Benner 7:12
Oh, wow. And that was out of necessity, like you just wanted to you wanted to be more autonomous. Yeah, okay, have you been strong willed like that your whole life? I think so. Yeah, my dumbest question, I'm saving for later. Okay, no, seriously, I have to save for later. You and I don't feel that's fine, because people right now won't feel like you're comfortable yet, and they'll be like, I can't believe you said that to her later. When I say it's going to be hilarious. I just want everyone to know, okay, pumping as a child or No,

Amy 7:42
no, I was also super opposed. I mean, so this is going to the strong willed thing. I guess the answer is yes, because they described a pump to me, and I was so violently opposed to the idea of anything being attached to my body. And then when I was a little bit older, I realized that, I guess, at the time, when I was quite young, I thought that the pump was automatic and gave you insulin without you having to think about it. And I was still violently opposed. And then when I was older, I realized that's not how pumps work. And I was even more furious that they would suggest that

Scott Benner 8:12
you were like, first of all, I'm not wearing that damn thing. Secondly, I'm not letting it make all my decisions for me. What do you mean they don't make all the decisions? What a piece of crap. Exactly.

Yeah, have you been angry your whole life?

Amy 8:24
Maybe, yeah, subtly, you know, I guess I don't

Scott Benner 8:29
know how to ask this, like, when you're born with, it's a congenital what do they call it? A congenital deformity, congenital. How do I say it?

Amy 8:36
Honestly, I don't know. It's the weirdest thing. Nobody ever really described to me what happened, or what it was called. I was just born without my my hand, and my parents acted like it was normal. I mean, I'm sure, I've thought about this so many times, but I'm sure that when I was born, they were like, Oh no, 510, fingers, 10 toes. She doesn't need, like, that basic criteria that you want for every single baby. I

Scott Benner 8:59
thought maybe you thought maybe you thought your dad was like, hey, look, in there, something didn't come

Amy 9:04
out, and they didn't know before I was born either. Like, I guess the technology at the time wasn't good enough that they could see that I didn't have a hand. So it was a total shock for my poor parents in Canada. But then my whole family just acted like it was normal and and it became normal. They they adapted everything for me, like they were so wonderful at just letting me do everything i i wanted to do, and figuring figuring out a way that I could do it. Yeah, wow,

Scott Benner 9:28
that's awesome. Did they treat the diabetes the same way? I would say, so. Did it do the same thing for you? I think, definitely. Yeah, excellent, yeah. I mean, I think, I mean, you are normal. Everyone's normal, right? Like, yeah, you are yourself. Like, there's unless you're gonna judge yourself against something else. Then I don't you know what I mean. The word is kind of meaningless. It just who you are. How do you clap with your wrist or with your chest? I have always disliked ordering diabetes supplies. I'm guessing you have as. Well, it hasn't been a problem for us for the last few years, though, because we began using us Med, you can too us med.com/juicebox, or call 888-721-1514, to get your free benefits. Check us med has served over 1 million people living with diabetes since 1996 they carry everything you need, from CGM to insulin pumps and diabetes testing supplies and more. I'm talking about all the good ones, all your favorites, libre three, Dexcom, g7 and pumps like Omnipod five, Omnipod dash tandem, and most recently, the eyelet pump from beta bionics, the stuff you're looking for, they have it at us. Med, 888-721-1514, or go to us. Med com slash juice box to get started now use my link to support the podcast that's us. Med comm slash juice box. Or call 888-721-1514, 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,

Amy 12:04
clapping and the monkey bars are like my nemeses. I freaking hate both of them. Clapping. You just kind of like I have the end of my arm. It's basically like, probably the wrist joint, and I have a little bit of mobility, and I have some tiny little baby fingers. I call it my little hand because it I use my, my little hand, like a hand. I do so many things with it. And so when I clap, I just bring it together with my, my big hand.

Scott Benner 12:29
And does it make as much noise as you would get? Or no, sometimes, if you kind

Amy 12:33
of cup the big hand, you can get some, like, resonance going there. And it sounds pretty good, pretty good. You imagine

Scott Benner 12:38
having to think about that as a child, like, why is this not working? Hold on a second. Because I thought the only other way would like, I I've been one I was gonna say I've been one handed, but what I meant to say is, I've had my hands full and a situation where you have to clap out of nowhere and you kind of like, slap yourself in the chest. But I'm also not a girl, so, you know, like, so it's like, oh, how would you do that? And if I didn't ask now, like, the entire interview would be just bound up with me wondering how you clap, which is not the funny thing I was going to say, because I don't think it's funny. I was genuinely interested like so holding a vial of insulin. You could do that.

Amy 13:12
I can do that. I hold things against other things often. So I'll either press something between, like the countertop and my little hand, or between, like, my stomach and my little hand, I use, like, tension, I guess, to hold a lot

Scott Benner 13:26
of things, turn the vial over with your other hand. I don't know which hand, which hand is right

Amy 13:31
and left. My right hand is missing, so I have my left hand. Is

Scott Benner 13:34
there any chance you're left handed? Or did you have to force yourself to do that? Although, you know it's

Amy 13:39
funny, my parents said, when I was born and quite young, I would reach for things with my right hand first. So I think that I was probably supposed to be right handed, and I had to train myself to become left handed over time.

Scott Benner 13:48
I thought that could possibly happen. So you take the left hand, kind of set the vial down, and then spin it, pin it with the right and then approach it with the syringe from the left, yeah. Oh, and you do that as quickly, like, I wouldn't notice it happening, right? If I saw you, like, it would just happen quickly.

Amy 14:05
It happened so quickly. I did a chemistry degree in my undergrad, and there's lots of, like, fine finger work you have to do, like, holding little bios, unscrewing them with one hand and doing something with your other, yeah, and I figured out somehow to do all of those things. And I think it's kind of automatic to me, like, you wouldn't think about how to do it with two hands if somebody didn't show you. And so I'm doing basically the same thing. And I don't know, I couldn't tell you how I like, somebody asked me once how I brush my teeth, and it took me, like, a solid five minutes to think it through, because I don't think about brushing my teeth, I

Scott Benner 14:35
just do it. Yeah, no, it's my expectation. I probably have the same problem. Somebody said to me, like, how do you tie your shoes? I'd be like, so two thoughts here, you're in your 30s, and are you married or dating or single?

Amy 14:47
I am not married, but I've been with my partner for like, 10 plus years now, same thing.

Scott Benner 14:53
So yeah, she's like, Yeah, no, I know it's the same, but I asked because, you know, I just received. Recently saw a post, and this is a reoccurring concern for people online, but of a person who just started to feel like no one's gonna want my kid as a mate, and then, you know, people came in to explain that that's not what's gonna happen. Like, you know, they had all the conversations, but you have two things that it wouldn't be unrealistic to be concerned about that. So I'm wondering about what it was like. Maybe you're going to tell me it's like brushing your teeth, but like, what was it like to try to meet people, to get to the guy you're willing to stay with for a decade?

Amy 15:32
It was brutal. Honestly, it's not like brushing my teeth. So in high school, I didn't date anybody other than this one guy who asked me out, and I didn't want to date him, so I said yes, just for the experience, and we went on one date, and it was awful, like I just didn't want to be there, but I wanted to experience that, and then I was so happy to get out of that situation, and I felt really bad for him, because he genuinely did want to be there, and I had to, like, have a whole conversation with him and break his heart and everything. But I just felt like something was wrong with me. Nobody wanted to date me, nobody wanted to go out with me. I do think that part of that was the fact that I'm, like, painfully, painfully shy as well, and had super low self esteem. I dealt with, like, probably disordered eating in high school. I just, I don't know where it came from, but had, like, the worst sense of who I was, and had no confidence in that. And I think that really, more than the diabetes in the hand, affected how I interacted with people, and probably led to those kinds of things. But it was rough. And then my current partner, I met him, and he's not afraid of anything. He kind of just accepts things and moves on with it, and I think that enabled him to see past all of those things that I had going on at that time, and still want to get to know me. So I won't say that it was easy. And I think it just kind of happened that I met the right guy at the right time and

Scott Benner 16:52
you liked him. I liked him, yes. Well, listen, what you just said is deep, you know, you rolled right over it, but no one was asking, and you wanted to have that experience. And then finally, someone asks, and it's not a person who you're interested in, yeah, yeah. That's tough, you know what? I mean, how soon after you got into the car, did you think I shouldn't have done this?

Amy 17:16
I knew, like, wow, we were on the date the whole time.

Scott Benner 17:19
That sucks. And then you told him, No,

Amy 17:23
I didn't say it like that, like, he was very, very nice, and we were friends first, which made it even worse. I kind of just said, like, I'm really sorry. Like, I'm not in a place right now for this to be something that I can do. And I was, like, 17 at the time. I did not, I couldn't deal with that. It was too much

Scott Benner 17:39
Amy. It probably took that kid two years to ask you to go out. I know. I'm not saying, You know what? I'm just saying.

Amy 17:46
He messaged me, like, years later, and he was still upset about it, and I was like, oh my god, I'm so sorry. Like,

Scott Benner 17:53
Listen, man, I got a couple things going on. You probably got off light just like, let it go. It's

Amy 17:58
super not you. It's actually 100% me, I have so much going on. She just said, like,

Scott Benner 18:03
when you were 17, you didn't give off good insurance vibes. So,

Amy 18:08
I mean, he's Canadian, so it wasn't a concern. But yeah,

Scott Benner 18:11
I understand, Oh, you'd still be in Canada, though. So did you go from 17 year old date to 25 and not date anybody? Or did you date people in there before you found this guy? No,

Amy 18:22
yeah, no dating. Wow, was it lonely, yeah? I mean, I had lots of friends, which was great, and I threw myself into school. I did so well at school,

Scott Benner 18:33
because this was not a choice. No, yeah, there were guys you liked you wouldn't ask out, and then there were guys that didn't ask you. Is that right?

Amy 18:41
I think so, yeah. And since that time, looking back, I've realized that there were guys that were trying to maybe ask me out, and I didn't pick up on it,

Scott Benner 18:53
oh, because you just didn't have the confidence to believe they'd be asking yes. That's how I got my wife. I like way out kicked my coverage. You know what I mean?

Amy 19:04
Like, I had one guy friend, and I went over to his house for dinner with his family, like five times, and I didn't, it never occurred to me that he was maybe interested.

Scott Benner 19:13
Would you have been interested in him? Absolutely. So I'm sorry, by the way, this is your life. This is not my fault when I ask these questions. Okay, no, I know. How much of this do you think gets impacted by you losing your mom before you hit puberty?

Amy 19:28
At the time, I would have said, Oh, not at all. And now I think huge amounts of it.

Scott Benner 19:33
Yeah, you didn't see any of that, like, slap ass between your parents, or, like, any of that stuff, right? Yeah, no, yeah. Oh gosh. You didn't get to see your dad be warm to your mom, or vice versa or anything. I

Amy 19:44
mean, I did I was 10 when she passed away. So I do remember those things, and I know that my dad really loved my mom, and I saw that I saw my grandparents, who lived three blocks away from us, have a super, super healthy and beautiful relationship. So I saw those kinds of things. Okay, but it was a little bit different too, right?

Scott Benner 20:01
You missed some stuff, and she didn't. You didn't like when you started having those feelings and you couldn't. There's nobody to talk to about it or anything like that. No, I'm sorry to ask. But how did she pass so, so young, yeah,

Amy 20:13
so she passed very suddenly from a brain aneurysm, like she was fine, and then one morning, she was not fine, and luckily, we weren't with her. She was at the gym and she was taken to the hospital, and then three days later she was gone. How old she was 40? Wow. That

Scott Benner 20:30
sucks. I'm sorry. It's a long time ago, but still, it must be hard to say out loud, yeah, okay. Do you want kids? I

Amy 20:39
do. Yeah. I think, personally, I think of anything that's going to be the thing that he loves me the most from my mom passing away, just to know what it's like to be a parent and to feel the love for another person, it'll make me feel so much more reassured that I had that from her.

Scott Benner 20:54
Did you that your dad sounds like he was a good guy, but like, did you feel did you feel unloved, or did you just feel like something was missing?

Amy 21:02
Just that something was missing my dad, I know he loves me so much, and I know my my grandparents, my mom's side of the family, they are so good at showing love. I never felt the lack of love at all, but I just felt that something else was missing. Do

Scott Benner 21:15
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Amy 22:26
No, I wouldn't say that necessarily. Did

Scott Benner 22:29
they do it differently for you than for your sibling? No, it's nice. I got extra from my grandmother for being adopted, and I realized in hindsight that my cousins didn't like it, yeah, yeah, but I didn't know that at the time. And

Amy 22:44
actually that's interesting, because my grandparents, the ones who stepped in my mom's parents after she passed away, they have an adopted son, my uncle, and so maybe they already had practice not treating kids differently, because he would not say that he was treated

Scott Benner 22:59
differently. Yeah, it was just my grandmother, like I could tell. Yeah, it tell now, again, in hindsight, but she just thought that I was gonna get less somehow for not being, like, blood related. So she overdid it, which, by the way, I have to tell you, she was my favorite grandparent by a stretch, or maybe even my favorite, like, distant relation. And it does. It has it doesn't at the moment, but it has bothered me in the past, wondering if we were having an honest relationship, or if she was play acting to make me feel better. That's so sad. Does that make sense? It does. Yeah, yeah. I don't think about it much anymore, because I think I've come down on the side of I think it was genuine, but there was time when I had to go through wondering about

Amy 23:42
that, yeah, and that's tough to think about, I'm sure.

Scott Benner 23:46
Yeah. So what does your dad do for a living? Like he's a sled dog driver, or like

Amy 23:50
he's a hunter? No, he works an office job, or he did, he's retired now, but, you know, like a corporate job. I don't want to talk too much about his life, but he worked a

Scott Benner 24:00
regular job. I was just looking for, like, whether or not he was, like, yeah, like, working in an oil field or what he was doing.

Amy 24:06
I mean, he was peripheral to oil and gas. I will say that, of

Scott Benner 24:09
course he was, you guys have two like, things going on up there. It's like, snow and oil and gas and apparently paying extra for stuff you send us, yeah, but that's a different, different story. Also, no one look at your finances today. No, it's so bad. Oh, my God. If you've got $100 saved or a bazillion dollars saved, don't look at it. It'll make you very upset. You don't want to know. Use that little hint to try to figure out what day this was recorded on. Okay, so did you feel judged about diabetes and or your hand by kids?

Amy 24:49
I don't think that I like conceptualized a lot of this when I was young, but my hand Yes, and diabetes No, because I hid it very well. You

Scott Benner 24:58
hid the diabetes. Yeah. Was that to your health detriment, or were you able to manage things and keep it from them?

Amy 25:03
No, I didn't hide it from my close friends, which is who I spent most of my time with. So I would give insulin and and check my blood sugar, and they all knew that I was diabetic and it wasn't to the detriment of my health, because that's the people that I was around most of the time. But in front of other people, I was hesitant. I would turn away when I was giving myself a shot so that they couldn't see it and things like that,

Scott Benner 25:25
really. And they knew, but you were just trying to put distance in between. A lot

Amy 25:30
of them didn't know. I wouldn't say anything about it at first. My teachers all knew and things like that in school, but I wouldn't volunteer information to my peers unless we

Scott Benner 25:40
were friends, okay? And how did your friends treat you? They were great.

Amy 25:43
Honestly, they they treated me like nothing was different.

Scott Benner 25:46
You never had a feeling from them that there was any weird vibe. No,

Amy 25:50
and it's, it's really wonderful. I think that, like the right people kind of stayed, I gravitated toward the right people, they gravitated toward me, and it was very synergistic. And there were some friends that were so lovely, and they would like specifically with my hand, more than the diabetes. They would reach to grab a bag that I was holding if I was going to bend down to tie my shoes or something which I didn't need. And so that always made me feel a little bit uncomfortable. Those people never really stuck around for too long, because I would kind of just spend more time with the people who treated me normally.

Scott Benner 26:21
So people who Baby, do you distance yourself from? Do you do it on purpose, or do you think it just happened the distancing a little

Amy 26:31
bit on purpose? I mean, I found it really hard if things like that happened to say, Oh, thank you, because I wasn't grateful. You know, yeah. So I think it was a bit

Scott Benner 26:39
of both. Did you ever tell somebody I don't need your help, but thank you

Amy 26:43
in a nice way, I'd be like, Oh, thanks so much. I'm fine. Oh, yeah,

Scott Benner 26:47
that's not the same. No. Also, you're young. Like, it's difficult to be direct like that, yeah, especially when somebody's trying to be kind, right? Yeah.

Amy 26:55
And I think in general, I'm the least direct person that's ever walked the face of the earth. Probably, like, I've never said aggressively no to anybody about anything, pretty much,

Scott Benner 27:03
really, yeah, no, I should try it. It's awesome.

Amy 27:08
That's my like, current goal. I need to be more assertive, not aggressive. Assertive. There we go. Yeah, are

Scott Benner 27:13
you too Canadian? Or is it not Canadian? It's you, it's

Amy 27:17
me. I think it's made worse by the fact that I'm Canadian, but it's something deeply within me. I

Scott Benner 27:22
listened to an episode that went up recently with a Canadian, and she said, sorry. And I kind of, I jumped into sorry for a second, and then I was breaking the word down, and I said, what's interesting about that is the way you say the word makes you sound like you're apologizing while you're apologizing, like, it's, it's like, Oh, I'm sorry. Like, almost like, like, stretching it out, like that, I don't know, like, it adds emotion to it, like, I am really, really, really sorry about this.

Amy 27:49
People here will say, I'm so sorry all the time when

Scott Benner 27:53
you're sorry and you don't have to sow the story, you know what I mean? Like, it's like, saying very much, a lot It is, yeah. So it is, so it is a little like baked in, but it's also you, and you felt like you didn't have a lot of self confidence growing up. When does the self confidence come?

Amy 28:15
Has it come? Yet? Is the question? Oh,

Scott Benner 28:17
I thought maybe you got it when you found the boy. No,

Amy 28:20
I don't think so. I, as much as he would like to take credit for that, I do not think that that's what happened. Do

Scott Benner 28:28
you think he would take credit?

Amy 28:31
Oh, maybe,

Scott Benner 28:35
listen, I've done that to my wife. I just want to be clear. I'll be honest, right? Like, my wife had a couple of troubles. And like, you know, she was directed one way by her family, and she was young, and I had a different way of thinking, and so I was able to interject that, you know what I mean? Like, I was able to say, if I was you, I'd be like, I'd stand up for myself here, or I would say no to that, or, like, that kind of thing. She didn't have it in her either. She's cat. I for her, I think it's because she was Catholic and she was dominated a little bit by her parents. But you have any of

Amy 29:09
that, no super non religious in my whole family. No religion. No religion. There was some before my grandparents grew up with religion on both sides and on both sides, they kind of said that's enough. And raised my parents non denominationally, I guess, non religious. And I was raised like even further away from religion. Okay,

Scott Benner 29:28
hold on a second. I have to answer Arden, and I'm going to tell you why we are trying to help her with she's asking me what time a thing is good, after 11. She's setting up an initial appointment with a hypnotist. Oh, okay, to try to help her with her anxiety around needles. Ah, I've

Amy 29:50
been listening to you talk about that recently, and I'm super interested in that. Actually.

Scott Benner 29:54
Yeah, we're down to like, this is the last thing we can think of. Yeah,

Amy 29:57
it sounds really difficult for her. Oh, my God. So

Scott Benner 30:01
the best that we've come up with so far is that someone sits next to her, yeah, she gives them her non dominant hand, and then she blocks the injection site with her dominant hand, and then works herself up to move her not her dominant hand, over to the hand hold where someone has to grab her hard enough that she doesn't feel like she can break away. It's really terrible, and that's so sad. It's a terrible struggle. So, like, as you're watching this happen, you're like, my god, like, this can't be forever, you know, like, we have to figure out a way around this. And, you know, I mean, it's gotten down to the point where, like, I've joked with her, I'm like, you want to try weed or something. Like, what's like, I don't care. Like, you know, like, what it will help you. And she's like, No, no, no, no, I don't I. She feels like she's gonna conquer but I'm like, I don't think that's how this works. So we're gonna try this. She's gonna try to go to a person who's just gonna kind of, like, get her into a relaxed state and try to feel make her feel more better about it. I joked with her. I was like, I'm gonna send that guy a list of things he could talk to you about while you're hypnotized, but I won't. But, you know, do

Amy 31:03
you think if she was not diabetic, that this still would have manifested?

Scott Benner 31:08
I mean, probably not, right? Like, how often does, like, a an average person get stuck with a needle? No, it's just not a thing. Yeah. And even if you hate it, what do you do it every couple of years for a blood, for blood or something like that, yeah? Arden. I mean, listen, Arden's had blood work done every year since she was two. Then you throw in the hypothyroidism, so then there's probably happened more than once a year, and then they give you a medication, and they're like, All right, well, look, we'll draw your blood. We'll do the meds for three months. We'll draw it again. So now you're doing it three times a year. The start getting smart about telling the doctor, hey, can you draw the other labs while you're drawing these, please. Yeah, it's

Amy 31:42
terrible. I have so much like hatred for just going to the lab to get blood work done, and the fact that you have to wait, like I avoid that for months and months and months completely irrespective of a needle phobia. So I can kind of relate in

Scott Benner 31:54
some ways, just right. Yeah, it does. So now I am doing something I never thought I would do. I'm typing a credit card number into my text so she can complete this intake form. Give me one second while I send the three digit code from the back. There we go. Awesome while I'm making the podcast. Also, I'm so good at this at this point, I probably wouldn't have had to tell you I was doing it. I'm really getting better at this, like, to the point where, like, I found myself the other day somebody was talking, and I was like, Oh, I wonder about something completely different. And I started researching it and still talking to her, and I'm like, Oh, my God, I might be getting better at this again. So, too good, too powerful. Well, you know, more like Oz, though, because once you move the curtain, you're like, Huh, that's what's happening. Never mind. And there's a gecko in the room, yeah? Well, I appreciate the joke, but it's a chameleon.

Amy 32:47
Oh, I'm sorry. I really don't know the difference, nor do I really care. I

Scott Benner 32:50
wouldn't imagine from being from Canada that you've ever seen one No, yesterday, I was wearing, this is crazy. I was wearing light colored socks. There are two colors that he hates, and so I didn't have shoes on. I was making the podcast, and I looked over at him while I was talking, and he is, like, defensively hiding behind something, staring at me. And I'm like, Oh my god. So in the middle of podcast, I said to the person I was talking to, Mike, some so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm like, but I said, I have to put my shoes on quickly. They put the shoes on, and the chameleon was like, Oh, thank God, whatever that is isn't going to kill me. And then he went about his business so much better. It's hilarious. Everyone should get a chameleon. I actually believe that. Really, Oh, they're so awesome for me. It's a perfect pet. Would you have pets? I grew up with a dog. Dogs. Yeah, pull the slide. Of course, you need at least six, right? Six. That's what I've been told. Why do you want to come on the podcast? Like, because you have such an like, I mean, it's such an interesting setup, but, and I do feel like you've been impacted by it, I have, yeah, I really would just like you to as much as you're comfortable, just sort of open up about what it's been like to have these two different difficulties.

Amy 34:02
It's honestly been strange. I think growing up and becoming more aware of who I am in the world, I've realized how much they've both impacted me, as has not having my mom around, and I just went through so much of my life, kind of pushing through, muscling through like I have to do well in school. I have to go to university. I have to do the next thing, okay, I don't I not getting a job. I guess I'm going to go to grad school. I have to do well at grad school, I have had these goals put in front of me that have made it very easy to ignore how I'm feeling and how I'm navigating the world, and when I stop to think about it, it impacts me. It being like everything that I have going on really, really deeply impacts me, and impacts, I would say, most of all, like my confidence in the world and. Really noticed that when I in grad school, became an expert in something, and then had so much comfortability and confidence in speaking about my research topic, and I had never felt that before, and I think most people feel that all the time, and that was kind of a big moment for me, because I think going through the world like you and other people, just feel comfortable a lot of the time. And I had never felt that, because I was always hiding my hand. I felt that if people saw my hand immediately, they would judge me. So on a first impression, I always wanted to have my hand hidden. And for a long time that was subconscious, and now sometimes it's conscious. In professional settings, I'll meet people over zoom where you can't see my hands, and then they're surprised when they meet me, but they've already formed a first impression, which I find is super, super valuable in how they treat me. And I don't know if that's the best or healthiest way to navigate this situation, but it's kind of what I developed,

Scott Benner 36:01
yeah, do you think it's true, or do you think it's how you feel? Do you see what I'm saying? Like, do you think, yeah, I'll let them get to know me as a person with two hands, and I'll hide on the Zoom. Then when they meet me, they'll know me already, and then they won't feel differently. Do you think that's actually happening, or do you think you just talk yourself into believing or have you had situations where somebody has seen your situation and then met you in person and treated you oddly? Yes

Amy 36:26
to that for sure. Okay, I think it depends on the person, because there are and I'm sure most people with diabetes can relate to this, especially now that we have like visible technology. Previously, we would walk around the world and nobody could tell that you were diabetic unless you were actively treating something or had a pump on your body, but now most of the time, people are wearing CGM wearing pumps and and you'll get questioned about what they are. So it becomes more of a visible thing, yeah, and that's kind of what my hand has been for my whole life. And there are people, this is why I say it depends on the person, because there are people that when you meet them, the first thing they look at is my hand, and they will keep looking back at my hand, and I have to kind of be like, hey, eyes up here, but nicely, because it drives me crazy, I feel that there's a sense of judgment often, and especially if you keep looking at my hand while you're talking to me, and you're kind of like angling your body away from me, like you're not super comfortable, and you don't know how to navigate it, and you don't know if I maybe Need help with something, or if I can do something, so I have kind of tried to kill it with kindness. I'm very positive and I'm I try and redirect the conversation. Make really strong eye contact and smile, especially if I'm not talking to the person, yeah, and I notice somebody staring at me, I will look them right in the eyes and smile and say, Hey, how are

Scott Benner 37:39
you? But that's the thing. Now you have to do not a way you want to be. Yeah, yeah. Okay. You know it's funny. I would have joked in the past about, like, I mean, it's just, I don't know if I'm a boy. I've been a boy my whole life. Like, you meet girls, like, I don't know three guys that don't hit the like, the fun parts first, when they meet somebody, you know what I mean, like, and so it's, it's usually like, really, it's usually like, chest face, and then if that made you happy, you look for the rest people do that. Like, I don't think they're doing it on purpose. I think it's just, listen, I check out, old ladies. I don't know it's like, my brain goes that way. Now, I would have said before, like, Oh, boys, you know what I mean. But I have a daughter, yeah, I've been around a lot of girls. I have a wife, yeah? And I go out in public. And I think you guys all know I pay a lot of attention to what's going on around me. Every living woman checks out, every other living woman when they walk past, I mean, floor to the top of your head and back down to the floor again. And they do it with like, precision, uh huh, right? Like people, you're just assessing each other. And so I don't know what, like, gutturally, what women are assessing each other for. I do know, because I'm a boy, what I'm assessing for. But then you're saying they hit the hand, and then they're stuck, Yeah, completely. They start spinning into like, Will I need to help this person? Is she okay? They start getting protective of you, even though they don't recognize that's probably what's happening. And, or get scared or put off, right? Yes, and,

Amy 39:08
or, I think that they think, even like subconsciously, that mentally, I might not be all there, because I think that's kind of the human instinct when you see a disabled person, sometimes that, oh, I don't know how I'm going to interact with this person? Do they need me to interact in a different way than I would normally, like, mentally, physically, I don't know how to navigate this. It's a bit of a panic. You

Scott Benner 39:28
know? What's funny is that I just realized that as a boy, I've never seen a pair of breasts, and thought, no, no good. Every one of them seems fun in a different way. But I guess that doesn't happen with the hand thing. I just realized I've never looked at a woman and then thought, oh, like, I don't have that feeling afterwards. Like, you know, it's not like an assessment in the way that you would think. I don't know how to put this exactly, and I know I'm going to get an email from some, like, overly woke person now, because I also said that your parents, you didn't get to see them play slap ass earlier. So that's going to, like. Yeah, trust me, I can already feel it coming, but I'm just trying to be honest, I can look and think that person's my type or not, but I always see like, intrinsically, like, I see value in everybody I look at and I can see how people are pretty in ways that aren't classic and things like that. And I often, I don't very often, look at somebody and go like, Oh, the horror. Do you know what I mean?

Amy 40:22
I so much agree with that, and that's honestly so healthy for me to hear. And also, like in high school, the self confidence thing that I dealt with, I feel very much the same as you. I have never looked at somebody like my friend, another girl, and thought that there was nothing redeemable about them. I have always thought that most other people are, like, so incredibly beautiful. Everybody is beautiful in some way, and typically, the things that they are picking out about themselves, I never would have noticed if people are describing their insecurities to you. However, when I look in a mirror, I'm like, oh, but I'm the exception. Oh,

Scott Benner 40:55
wow. You're like, I'm not judging anybody else. But look at me. What a mess. Yeah,

Amy 40:59
like everybody else is fine. Why did I turn out this mutant person?

Scott Benner 41:03
Oh, that sucks. You tried a therapist.

Amy 41:07
I did, yeah, I went to a therapy in university, and that was really helpful. I guess you would probably say College, well,

Scott Benner 41:15
just because what it's called, but, sure, good, yeah, just kidding.

Amy 41:19
But yeah, it was really helpful. Okay?

Scott Benner 41:21
And just talk therapy and somebody where, where you could say to them, I feel different, I feel ugly. I don't like whatever you end up saying, like, right? And they help you get through that, yeah, but meanwhile, you're not you're ignoring boys that have taken you to dinner 17 times. Yes, your whole life would have gone better, Amy, if you just would have chilled the out for five seconds.

Amy 41:43
I know I have just begun to realize that. And like my partner, the that is the thing that he tells me more than anything. Like, why are you worried about this? This is not something you need to be worried about. And I don't understand that fundamentally. Like, well, you're

Scott Benner 41:58
programmed at this point. Yeah, seriously, this is how you've lived your life for so long.

Amy 42:02
We're not worried about everything. We don't have adrenaline dumping into our veins always, like, before this call, I was so anxious, and then as soon as we started talking, it was fine, but,

Scott Benner 42:12
yeah, I don't know. I watched my wife worry about stuff. I'm like, Oh my God. Like, stop. And then she'll like, we'll figure it out. And I don't think there's two seconds before she pivots to something else. Yeah, I'm just like, if you just like, if you could just chill out, I think everything would be like, so much better. I haven't been upset about anything in two decades. Something fairly horrible happened recently, and I was like, well, that sucks, and I never thought about it again, like during the phone call where the person told me I had given up on it. In the middle, I was like, Okay, well, I guess that's not a thing that's happening anymore. That's so healthy, is it? I think that's better. I just think of it as being boys and we're just, like, not worried about anything. Like, I think it could be too far the other way.

Amy 42:54
Yeah, oh, I would agree with that for sure. Yeah. We

Scott Benner 42:58
should be able to give it back and forth to each other, a little bit, that would be awesome. Because if, seriously, if my wife had two tablespoons of, I don't give a from me, like, she'd be really, like, she'd be happier. And I think she knows it, and can't, like, she can't stop it, you know, it's,

Amy 43:15
it's built in, like, how, how do we do that? What do you mean? Just don't worry. I'm

Scott Benner 43:19
telling you, last night, Arden's blood sugar went up and beep, beep. And before I could orient myself, my wife, in the most asleep and scared tone is, Arden, okay. What's wrong is everything? Okay. What's wrong? I'm like, Oh my God. I'm like, I don't know. I'm not awake yet, and she's not awake either, but like, half asleep, having been asleep for four or five hours, she heard Beep, beep, and she was like, if you'd have put a gun in her hand, she would have started shooting, yeah, yeah, you know. And I'm like, I'm like, Oh my God. Like, I feel terrible. Like I genuinely, I've had a lot of conversations with a lot of people, and I usually think of it as the thing that happens after you make a baby, but like, you didn't make a baby? No, you got it somewhere else. You got it from the Everyone's looking at me. I'm not the same, I guess, yeah, and my mom's gone. Sucks. So how soon till we push this kid out so that we can make all this go away? Hopefully, a couple years, for sure, a couple years really, are you building a professional thing that you're still working on, or is it just not

Amy 44:26
the right time? A bit of both. I am working professionally towards goals at the moment that are that are making that harder. I don't live in the same city as my partner right now either, so I would like us to live in the same

Scott Benner 44:38
city ideally. Yeah, no. I mean, listen, you might as well just let a Rando knock you up if that's what's gonna happen. Gonna happen. How were you not in the same city?

Amy 44:44
We got into grad school at the same time, but not in the same place. And once you get into grad school, you're kind of locked in. It ends when it ends, it doesn't end on a prescribed timeline. So he is still finishing up that timeline in the city that he got. X. Accepted into I finished and moved on to the next thing. But the job that I got is in the city that we can kind of both work in afterwards, and we thought that we'd end up here together sooner, but we're not here

Scott Benner 45:10
yet. I'm sorry. So you're alone again. Oh yeah, in America, in America, how disgusting I know. Are you somewhere warm or cold. It's very nice and warm. Do you miss that Canada thing at all? Or no, the cold. I mean, I

Amy 45:27
miss the healthcare, although it's not perfect, I will say that for sure,

Scott Benner 45:30
not paying for it, yeah, out of pocket, right? At least, had a big shock here.

Amy 45:35
No, not really. The Alberta in Canada, where I'm from, is more like the US than a lot of other Canadian provinces. So the health care there was public when I was growing up. They're trying to push toward private now, or more privatized, so that kind of is familiar to me anyways, and like when I moved to grad school, I had to navigate switching insurances, and as a student, you have horrendous insurance, so even though we have you can see a GP or an endocrinologist for no cost, and you would maybe pay a small co pay. Here, prescriptions are not fully covered, and if you have terrible insurance, they're covered even less, which I did for the majority of my adult life, and have been

Scott Benner 46:17
paying for insulin. It's really hard. Yeah, it's hard. No kidding, can I go back and ask you how you feel like having a baby will close a circle for you? Yeah, because it sounds like you've really thought about it. What do you think is going to

Amy 46:33
happen? So it's my partner has a lovely relationship with his mom, and that's probably like, the person that I've been able to see most closely, like a maternal relationship from an outside perspective, like, I know my grandmother, for example, loves me more than life itself, but I think that's true of everybody's grandmothers. The Maternal relationship seems just so lovely. I don't know what that's like, but it's like this unconditional love, thinking that you're like, the best person ever, your kid is the best person ever, and also that it's just like the sense of connection, and I don't have that. And my dad is lovely, and, like, I love him so much, but he's not a warm, fuzzy guy at all. He's very reserved, and I do not doubt that he loves me, but he doesn't show it in the ways that I guess, that maybe I needed as a kid. Yeah, he shows it in other ways. And I think having a kid and just knowing what that feels like from the other side will give me, like the certainty that my mom felt that for me when I doubted that a lot growing up. Okay,

Scott Benner 47:38
and so you're going to try to complete her job, almost like, yeah, do what you think she was going to do if she was there. And then, oh, that's nice. And once that happens, you'll be comforted to know that that's, this is probably, I'm probably like my mom, and this is how my mom was going to treat me. I think so. Can I ask, what happens if you're a parent? What happens? Then

Amy 48:04
we don't think about it ever again.

Scott Benner 48:07
Then heroin, Scott, never mind. You're ready to be a parent. Your life situation is stopping you. Is that right?

Amy 48:13
Yeah, I think so. I think, like maturity wise, I still have a ways to go just wrapping my head around that idea. But yeah, how old

Scott Benner 48:19
are you again? 32 My God, maturity wise, because you've been in school so much, I

Amy 48:25
guess, yeah, yeah. I mean, I feel like I'm behind everybody. Because

Scott Benner 48:29
you want to get out in the world and and let the world on you a little bit and see if it keeps you down. Yeah.

Amy 48:33
And like, I've never made money. I would love to, like, be financially a little bit more relaxed things like that.

Scott Benner 48:41
There's a question, does that put you into a panic? Not fascinating, that you found the thing that I'll panic about,

Amy 48:50
I think that my education has set me up really well. I really lucked into what I do. I think that I can get a job that will pay me very well. Okay, so I'm feeling pretty confident about that. I'm I'm still kind of in an in a transitionary career stage. So that's it's getting better, but it's not fully realized yet. It's kind of like when doctors do residency right after med school, like they know that they're going to be a doctor in a prescribed amount of time. I'm in the same stage of my career. And in Canada, we don't like I didn't have to take out student loans for grad school, and you get paid for grad school. I was able to survive without going into debt. And I've just never felt like I had more than enough. I had just enough. Just

Scott Benner 49:29
enough. Listen, I grew up very broke. I still like, if I'm walking, I see a nickel on the ground, and other people walk by it. I'm like, what's happening? Does no one else see this nickel? My God. And I bend over and I pick it up, like, this is mine now, yeah, so I guess my situation gave me the thing that I panic about, yeah, yeah. I always feel broke, actually, no matter what happens to me.

Amy 49:52
So yeah, I think that I will too, probably, yeah,

Scott Benner 49:56
yeah, I'm not wealthy, but I can't stop trying. Trying to provide that kind of feeling, because I felt like nobody was providing for me when I grew up, like everything was like, can you believe there's food? Can you believe we have a place to live? Can you believe the car moves like, you know, like, like everything was just like, such a I can't believe we're getting this done. Like, you know? Yeah, I know it was a long time ago, but my mom used to grocery shop with $40 a week. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah, right. It was really something so and now you literally can't go into a place and get lunch for less than $30 it's ridiculous. And it's the same lunch. It sucks just as much as it did when it was $20 I just wanna say they didn't make it any better, that's for sure. And the price of eggs is insane. Well, listen, I think we've all talked about that to death, but yeah, like, it is shocking to, like, pick up a dozen eggs and it's $9 like, $9

Amy 50:46
yeah, that was a shock to me, because it's not as bad in Canada. I guess, like, the way that we have chickens is different, so we're not as strongly affected by the bird flu. So there are always a lot more eggs in Canadian grocery stores at the moment than there are in American ones.

Scott Benner 51:00
I said something to my wife the other day around something that I bought in the grocery store. That was that I haven't heard anybody say, like, it's a thing people used to say constantly when I was younger, and you're 32 you're not gonna, like, you have no context for this, and I'm gonna ask Rob to bleep it out. Okay, but like, I said to my wife, like, just it was a knee jerk reaction, I swear to you, it's not a thing I haven't said in 25 years, I bought this thing. It was so expensive. I said to my wife, is it gonna me too? And like, that's how expensive it was. And she laughed, and she said, I haven't heard anybody say that a very long time. And I was like, I haven't been prompted to say that in a very, very long it just used to be a thing that I heard broke people say to each other, because no matter what they spent money on, they didn't have any. There was nothing extra, you know what I mean, like, so you almost wanted your thing that you were doing to, like, have, like, multiple uses, or, like, that kind of thing. Anyway, I know it's, it's crass, and it's 2025, and probably people don't talk like that anymore. But I blurted that out the other day, and I was super it wasn't contrived. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I wasn't like, Oh, let me say something throwback and weird. It just came out of my mouth. I was like, Oh, my God, this is so expensive. So anyway, it makes me very upset. I love that you're not worried about that one thing

Amy 52:14
I know, yeah, like, I am, but not on a level that it concerns me daily. That's insane. That's the thing.

Scott Benner 52:23
That's the craziest thing you've said since we've been talking. Just in case you're wondering, to me, at least, that's really something, I'm gonna ask a really difficult question, because you didn't date much? Do you ever feel like I didn't date enough?

Amy 52:36
No, I think it would have been fun, but at the same time, no, for some reason, I'm the kind of person that has a few close friends, and I like it that way. So I think that dating a million people, I probably would have had a similar experience, like date a few people. I'm also pretty loyal, so I don't know how that would have worked out. Like i i may have dated somebody and married them if I started dating them in high school, and that was not what I wanted.

Scott Benner 53:04
So where do you think that comes from? Oh, because

Amy 53:08
everybody that I know did it, and I was like, why?

Scott Benner 53:12
Oh, that's interesting. So I was gonna I was guessing, but obviously your answers much more useful. I grew up in a divorced household, so when people argued like, I used to get very upset, because I thought when we argued in my new family with my wife and my kids, that meant we were gonna we were all gonna disappear out of each other's lives. And I was wondering if you thought like, if you could find somebody, you'd hook on to them. Because your mom, I know your mom passed away, and I know it has nothing to do with her, but it still feels like she left you, right,

Amy 53:42
it does in a lot of ways, yeah, especially the craziest thing is that I was so afraid for some reason. In a couple of years before she died, I read this book series called heartland, which is now a major show. The major premise of the show is that the mother dies at the beginning, and I should not have been reading that book at eight years old, and so it really hit me, and I was so worried that my mom was going to die for years before she did, and she promised me that she wouldn't. And that really, really wrecked me when she did pass away.

Scott Benner 54:12
Oh, I just want to say Amy. It just wrecked me too.

Amy 54:14
I still find that hard to talk about. No kidding.

Scott Benner 54:19
Oh, my God. Oh, so you it's just like everything else. Kids, at some point, kids come to their parents, and they said, just so, you know, Amy, this is going to happen. Yeah, if you get to it soon enough, you'll be young enough to be able to hear them when they say it. But they'll be like, you know, am I going to die? They ask you at some point, and then you tell them with the same confidence you told them that Santa Claus is real. You tell them, like, no, absolutely not. You're gonna live a long life. You're gonna be super healthy, Mom and I are gonna live forever. Like it's a thing you say because they're so young that the truth of, I don't know, yeah, it's hard to contextualize it at that point. Yeah. So that happened. You read a book, you went to your mom, and she said, No, no. I'm gonna live forever. Yeah,

Amy 55:01
don't worry about it. You're gonna be really, really old when I die. And I was like, Okay,

Scott Benner 55:05
perfect. Or 10 or 10, how did your dad handle it?

Amy 55:10
Oh, my poor dad. I don't know. Honestly, like, I have never seen my dad cry before that point, and I've seen him cry so many times now, I think it's really good, because he is quite an emotional person, so I think it's good that that was a was something he was able to express, like the sadness to us kids. Yeah, I think it really devastated my family. And my grandpa passed away recently, like when I was an adult, and so now I kind of have a different perspective of it, because I know what people mean when they say, Oh, your mom loved this, or, Oh, she would have been so proud of you. Because, like, I don't know would she have but I know what my grandpa would have thought about things now, because I knew him as an adult,

Scott Benner 55:50
you know. Oh, so you have context now for all those things that people tried to comfort you with about your mom. Oh, that's lovely. When's the next time you'll see your dad in person, probably in a couple months. Would you consider telling him that a podcaster told you that you wished he was more openly warm towards you and give him a big hug?

Amy 56:08
You know what's funny my partner, we were at my dad's house for dinner one night, and we left, and I was just so sad about something I don't know, one of the millions of things that I'm sad about in life. And he turned the car around, and my partner did, and we went back home, and he said to my dad, you need to give Amy a hug because she's really sad, and you hugging her would make her feel better, and she just needs some support. And he did. You

Scott Benner 56:30
were shocked by that, like, as it was happening, or you're like, This old man, ain't hugging me, is that what you I was like,

Amy 56:35
he's never gonna understand. He just thinks I'm overly emotional. But he just gave me a hug, and I know he would if I asked, but I also just felt like he was dealing with so much, like both administratively, when somebody dies, it's a nightmare. Yeah, I just went through that with my grandpa, and I did everything for him, right? And so my dad had to do that while having two kids. My brother was a baby. He was six years old. We had a dog like my mom's whole side of the family who lived in the same city as us, was absolutely decimated. So they, they weren't really, like, able to help, other than taking care of my brother and I. I do not know how and my dad got, like, six weeks off of work or something, and then he had to go back to work. I don't know how he did any of this at all, to be perfectly honest with you. So I just felt like I have to kind of deal with whatever's going on in my life, because everybody else has enough going on I need to handle. So

Scott Benner 57:27
you're protecting everybody I see, I mean, and then there's all that time he's got to raise this little fish to give to the penguins and everything too. So absolutely takes forever. So you feel like you saw your dad emotional for the first time, he was overwhelmed, and so you're gonna be strong for him, and then while he's being stoic and you need him to be comforting, you're not gonna ask him for that comfort, because you think he's already doing everything he can.

Amy 57:56
And I did ask him several times, but I just felt like I needed more, like I needed infinite comfort, and I didn't always have somebody around

Scott Benner 58:03
for that. Need you still feel like that right now?

Amy 58:07
No, I think in some ways I've gotten through it. Yeah, it still hurts, obviously, but I don't feel exactly that way anymore. Yeah,

Scott Benner 58:15
no. I mean, you said your mom at some point, and I almost cried because my mom died. I know, I know. I mean, my mom was in her 80s, like, you know, I mean, like, and I'm talking to you, I'm like, I got no right to be upset here. And then I thought, Oh, God, that's what you were doing for your dad. You're like, I can't be upset here. He's upset. Yeah, yeah, we should all just be upset. It is

Amy 58:35
sad. When you were talking about your mom on the podcast, I was crying right along with every episode. It was so

Scott Benner 58:40
touching. It's part of my skill of making people cry that I've never met before. Yeah, sorry, and

Amy 58:46
advocating for her and her health at the end of life with the different cardiologists and things that you were discussing like that was, it was just so it meant so much to me to hear that from another perspective. Do that was really healing to me in some

Scott Benner 58:58
ways. Yeah, did you feel cheated while you were listening to it.

Amy 59:01
I mean, I always do one time when my my dad's mother passed away, and he was sad, and I laid into him and said, You have no right to be sad. You are, like, 50 years old. I was 10 when my mom died. You need to get over it about something like and that's obviously not fair to say to him, how

Scott Benner 59:19
old were you when you did that?

Amy 59:20
I was, like, 14. Oh, it wasn't fair.

Scott Benner 59:23
What are you gonna do? You're 14. He understood. You didn't know. I would admit, yeah, for sure. Listen, it's a big part of what you do when you're in a family, is at some points or others, you have to, I mean, this is my opinion, but like, at some points or others, you're a punching bag for the people who love you, yeah, and they know that you're not going to abandon them for saying the thing you that you're going to say, even though, as you're saying it, you think this isn't fair. I don't mean this or whatever. It just feels like it has to come out, you know exactly. Yeah, geez, oh, we're at an hour already. I'm sorry, do you have a couple more minutes?

Amy 59:57
I do? I have until the top of the next hour? Okay, oh, okay.

Scott Benner 1:00:01
How do you manage your diabetes? Every once in a while, I should have a note in front of you that says, hey, you're making a podcast about diabetes. How do you manage today? Are using a pump?

Amy 1:00:10
I am. I don't really remember how it happened, I guess I so. Because of all that stuff that was going on, I just handled my diabetes when I was younger, and I did pretty well. My a one, Cs were in the sixes. I had lots of variability, so sometimes it was a cheated six, sometimes it wasn't, depending on how good I was. But I mean, I saw endocrinologist, dietitian and nurse for three hours every three months when I was growing up, so there was a lot of like, supervision of my diabetes, although, actually that's something I'll get back to the pump question eventually, but that is something that I really wanted to mention on the podcast, because I'm sure that other people have had their primary caregiver pass away, or even that in a transition of care, parents will assume that a kid knows how to do something, even if they're still around. Even though I was at all of the diabetes appointments for my entire life, it would have been really helpful if an endocrinologist had checked in and been like, Hey, do you know what insulin is doing, why it's important for you to take it and like, when you need to take it? Because I felt that we didn't come back to, like, ground zero when I took over the care. And it would have been a really good thing for them to do

Scott Benner 1:01:19
for me. Yeah, they acted like, you've been at this for five years already know what you're doing, yeah? And I'm like, 10 years old, sitting in a chair like, okay, yeah, you don't know what's happening. I have no idea. So

Amy 1:01:29
I figured it out through trial and error, and it would have gone a lot faster if I'd had some more information growing up. And because of that, like, I denied getting CGM for a long time. I was not interested in having anything attached to my body, I think because of my hand, like I was 0% interested in having anybody have having another reason to stare at me and having anything attached to me. For some reason that was just not what I was about. But then, while I was in grad school, right before the pandemic, which I think worked out well by accident, I had a new endocrinologist, because it was very difficult to find endocrinologist in Canada also. So I found this new one, and he's like, Hey, I have a free FreeStyle Libre here. Do you want to try it? And in my head, I'm like, No, thanks. But at the same time, I was like, Sure. Like, there is no downside to this. I'm not committing to anything. Why not? Yeah. So I went home and I did not put it on, put it on the shelf and moved off.

Scott Benner 1:02:24
Because, why did you not put it on?

Amy 1:02:27
Because I still didn't think that that was going to be that helpful to me. Because I really could feel my blood sugar. I knew when I was climbing, I knew when I was falling. I would check my blood sugar, I would meet my expectation. So I was like, what is this going to do for me, really? And I would have to navigate getting it covered with insurance, and I had just gone through that with insulin. It took me, like, two years to fight through the student insurance, and it was a complete nightmare. So I was just kind of not interested. But my partner is an engineer, and so he was visiting me, like, probably two months after this happened, and he's like, Oh, well, why don't you put it on? I've read a lot about them. They seem great. And I was like, No, I don't want to. So he made me watch a YouTube video of this girl putting one on, and it looked like feasible. So we did it, and I thought the needle stayed in your arm. So I freaked out. And I, after I put it on, I was like, oh my god, I can feel the needle. I can feel the needle. I don't like this. I want to take it off. And he's

Scott Benner 1:03:17
like, the needles in the thing here, I see it right here, in the insert. Yeah.

Amy 1:03:21
Like, oh, okay, okay, maybe it doesn't hurt as much as I thought. I kept it on and I liked it, and then the pandemic happened a couple months later. So I got a prescription, and I kept using them. And because I had so much time on my hands, I was at home working remotely, I could check my blood sugar like 45 times a day with this thing, and it didn't alert me when I was high or low, but I kind of already knew that anyway, so that was okay, but immediately I could see the value in it just for like, post meal things, timing of insulin. It was life changing.

Scott Benner 1:03:53
I sent Arden a graph last night. I texted her, I'm like, hey, you've got to do something about this. And she's like, I am and I just sent her a graph, and I was like, it's been like this for nine hours. Are you? And then I realized by her response, she didn't know that, like she had been having an issue and addressing it, and then going and living her life. She's in class, she was doing a bunch of things, then addressing it and then addressing it. But I knew what was wrong. Her site was old. Totally, it's just her boluses aren't working anymore. She's on an algorithm. So, like, the Bolus goes in, the basal goes away, the blood sugar doesn't move. And so I'm like, hey, just throw a Temp Basal. Like, I'm like, override the algorithm, put in a Temp Basal, and then her blood sugar starts to come down. And I was like, This is the site. The site's bad, and I just realized that until she saw the graph, that's not what she thought was happening. Like, does that make sense? Absolutely,

Amy 1:04:48
yeah. You can ignore it super easily, even if you, like, check in every once in a while. It's really easy, if you're busy with something, to just kind of turn that part of your brain

Scott Benner 1:04:57
off. Yeah, yeah. Almost like she was like, Oh, the you know. My blood sugar is higher than I want it to be. I fixed it, and then a couple of hours later go, oh, it's higher again. But, like, it wasn't higher again, it was higher still. She thought she'd taken care of it. And so I was like, Oh, this is super interesting. I'm learning more. Like people used to ask me, like, what's the podcast going to be about after Arden goes, you know, I'm like, All right, calm down. But like, now it's about me really trying to dig in and more understand the psychological aspects of having type one, yeah, because that's the only way left for me to help her, really, you know, on the management stuff, like she's she's very good at at this point, and I think actually settings she's going to need help with at some point. Yeah, I still think I help her, like, I'll say to her, like, Hey, I think you should bump this or bump that. She does it then, but I don't know that she would think to do it. Yeah. And the other day, she said to me, was she joking around about and she said, If I ever have a baby, I know Dad's gonna be in my life for a year again. And but she said it like, because I'm gonna need help with this. Yeah, in a nice way, yeah, no, it wasn't me. It wasn't at all, like, upsetting or anything like that. It was a lot like, I know that this is a thing and I'm gonna need help. I'm in a weird position because I, like, after you've explained your whole horrible life, that I get to tell you my weird position, I'm like, oh, when you hear my problems. But I'm in a unique position, where anybody who has kids or is a kid so everybody knows like you don't take your parents super seriously at some point. And I've noticed that it's awkward, not awkward. I'm gonna get the word wrong here. I'm just gonna say weird until I come up with a word. But it's weird to have type one diabetes and have your dad be the guy that countless other people would listen to about it. Does that make sense? Is it like, annoying? Probably, yeah. And I think the way we joke about in our house is to pretend like I'm an idiot. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Like, oh, you know who's listening to people on the internet? And I'm like, I was, like, a lot of them. It's not four people I checked into it. You know what I mean, and so, like, there's that interesting, like, the answer is right here in front of me, but, oh, my parents are goofy. That's not who I'm gonna go to for this. But, man, he really would be the right person to ask. Yeah, you know what I mean, it's that kind of vibe.

Amy 1:07:18
And why do we hate it when our parents are right? But at the same time, you're like, Oh,

Scott Benner 1:07:22
I know I was interviewing a lady the other day, and she's like, when I realized I was like, my mom, she's like, it really threw me off. Like, how did you think all this worked? Yeah, and so then long way back, are you like your dad, or are you like somebody who you don't recognize because you didn't get to see your mom be an adult forever. I'm

Amy 1:07:41
like my mom, and I don't know it. I've been told I look like her. I don't see it in photos like I kind of see it, but everybody who knew her said I look exactly like her, and that my personality is more like her, especially at work, I'm able to be assertive and confident and really outgoing. And that's not my dad. He's very, very soft spoken and kind and gentle and quiet, and I obviously have that part of me too, but this other thing comes from somewhere that I don't recognize.

Scott Benner 1:08:11
So do you ever take a moment to think like this must be how my mom would have done this? Yeah, yeah, setting or comforting.

Amy 1:08:18
It's kind of just cool, I guess. Okay,

Scott Benner 1:08:22
do you avoid the gym? No, you

Amy 1:08:24
know what's so funny? My brother and I are both really, really big gym heads, like not crazy. He was for a while. He was very muscular, but he grew up as this tiny, little, scrawny, skinny kid. So that was kind of a funny transition to see also my baby brother. But I love the gym, and I love working out, and he loves being active too. And I think that comes from our mom, even if we don't really know why. Yeah, is

Scott Benner 1:08:48
there anything you can proactively do like to like, is an aneurysm just, is it a luck of the draw thing, or is it a thing they could be looking for for other people? Yeah.

Amy 1:08:57
So I am deep, deep, deep in the genetics world with my work, and so I find, like the genetics of autoimmunity, super, super interesting. But I've also considered the genetics of aneurysms. My brother and I have both had scans. So has my dad and my mom's dad right after she had her aneurysm, my dad, even though he's not genetically related to my mom. Let me just clarify that. And her father both had scans to make sure that they did not have any underlying like brain aneurysms that would burst, just because we can't be leaving these kids with even fewer people kind of kind of deal. And my grandpa, he did it to know if it was genetic, because sometimes it is okay. It didn't appear in him. So we had pretty good evidence that it wasn't genetic, and there was no family history at all. So again, really good evidence that it wasn't genetic. But when I was about maybe 20, my GP, who had been with me since birth, he knew my mom, he knew the whole story, suggested that I have a scan, and I was so terrified. Good. My dad went with me. They did contrast. And then I got the results three weeks later, and I was clear. Well,

Scott Benner 1:10:05
that's awesome. My brother has also been clear. Okay, it's not a thing you have to worry about. I'm I'm still why. I know you're going to work. I heard you. I heard I've been listening to you for an hour. I know you're worried about it, but is it you don't need to worry about? As far as they can tell,

Amy 1:10:20
it's a thing that I'm thinking less about. I think in a in a decade or so, I'll get another scan just to make sure nothing's popped up. But it's not top of mind.

Scott Benner 1:10:29
Okay, well, that's good. Do you do anything to try to worry less? Because, like, it's not lost on me, as I'm listening to you that I don't know a lot of ladies that are like, Oh, I'll have a baby, and then I'll probably worry less. I know, yeah,

Amy 1:10:46
not last on me either. Don't worry. You're

Scott Benner 1:10:47
incredibly like, introspective. Yeah, you seem to know yourself really well. I think it's because

Amy 1:10:54
I'm quiet. I'm more comfortable thinking than I am speaking, so I spend a lot of time just thinking. Did

Scott Benner 1:11:00
you find that comforting, or is it torturous?

Amy 1:11:03
It can be either, depending on the topic for sure, but I do think that it's helped a lot. Obviously, for stress, I work out I find that the most helpful also, just talking to therapy is really helpful. I don't have anybody right now that I'm seeing, but in the past, it's been extremely helpful. And I'm considering going back and talking to friends and sharing with friends and just being like, really radically open and honest with people is very helpful. Yeah,

Scott Benner 1:11:31
yeah. I agree. It's awesome. Is there anything we haven't talked about that we should have, or anything you feel like we missed? I

Amy 1:11:36
was really, actually hoping that we would spend the full hour talking about the genetics of autoimmunity, but that is okay.

Scott Benner 1:11:41
Seriously, yeah, how come you I was gonna say, How come you didn't speak up, but you told me why? Yeah, you're not gonna push me, huh?

Amy 1:11:50
That's not my style. Unfortunately, take

Scott Benner 1:11:53
five minutes and tell me top line, what do you wish?

Amy 1:11:56
No, no. Can I also just, I have this, like this thought that I've had in my head, not related to that at all. I'm listening. I love the podcast. And my favorite moment on the podcast, I just wanted to bring up, go ahead, you were talking about actresses, and who you thought your favorite actress was, and you said pregnant. Kate Winslet, yes, I just found that so funny. I laughed out loud, wherever I was, like, I have never laughed harder at a podcast, and then you went into, like, specifically, why? And I was just crying laughing. And I love the podcast because of how supportive it is for the community, but also because there's moments like that built into it. Oh, awesome.

Scott Benner 1:12:35
Yeah, I don't know. Like, I think pregnant ladies are hot.

Amy 1:12:41
Just really funny. Also, I would love to know your middle name. That's another like podcast, Lori

Scott Benner 1:12:45
yourself. I'm not telling you that.

Amy 1:12:48
And you know what's really funny? Actually, I've been mentioned on the podcast before, even though I've never spoken to you. How's that possible? So you talked to a girl who her name was Morgan. She was from interior BC, and she had a really unsupportive family. She was on the podcast like itself, maybe a couple months ago, so you probably talked to her, like, a year ago. But she was working, and my boyfriend went into the store where she was working to buy a battery, and he noticed her CGM, and she said, like, something about diabetes, because he's not shy at all. And he said, Oh, my girlfriend has diabetes. She's in the car. She should come in and talk to you. And she was kind of like, okay, whatever. Then he came out to tell me that, and I was like, Oh, my God. Like, what did

Scott Benner 1:13:30
you do? I gotta go talk to the girl at the store where we got the bat. All right. Hold on, yeah. Like,

Amy 1:13:34
really. Okay, fine. So I did. And then she ended up on your podcast, because I told her about your podcast and about, I guess, a book, sugar surfing. Yeah, that's so funny. So

Scott Benner 1:13:45
why, while you're being forced to chat with this girl by your boyfriend, which, by the way, I wish we did have a lot more time, because I feel like it's super interesting that you went with an engineering guy after your dad. Wasn't very emotional, but it just felt like a weird road to go down. I didn't want to split up your relationship. No, no, that's all good. He drags you in, out of the car. Was it cold? Was it one of those, like, it

Amy 1:14:05
was summer, it was hot, it was warm, but I was still like, are you serious? So now you're back

Scott Benner 1:14:09
in there. You're PLA, you're like, Oh, all right. Now you're acting because you don't want to do this, but you just, you have no ability to tell anybody, no, you're doing that, having the conversation. You tell her about the podcast, about sugar surfing. She ends up on the podcast. Then tells that story. It

Amy 1:14:22
was so crazy. I didn't know at first who she was exactly, and then she was like, oh, talking about where she lives. I'm like, oh, that sounds really familiar. And then she told that story. And I was like, No way.

Scott Benner 1:14:31
That's crazy awesome. A little full circle thing here that gave me the same good feeling as when one lady told me one time she was walking into Costco and saw another person wearing a good Juicebox Podcast t shirt, and they, like, looked at each other and started talking. They both listened to the podcast because it's so niche. Do you know what I mean? Like, that's what makes it crazy. Listen. There's millions of podcasts that are registered, but probably only about 800,000 that actually put out an episode at least once a month, and of the. 800,000 you guys have heard me say this before. Like, 86% of them don't even do enough downloads to, like, sell an inexpensive add on. So, like, like, my point is that there's maybe 850,000 podcasts you've probably heard of about 200,000 of them. Is my point that one of them is about like, type one diabetes, and that people bump into each other and are like, hey, hey, and then end up listening like being listeners. That's really freaks me out.

Amy 1:15:26
I know, yeah, that freaked me out a little bit too when I heard her on the podcast, but it also was a nice feeling. Yeah, she's

Scott Benner 1:15:32
talking, and you're like, oh my god, this is me. She's talking about. Look at me, bringing people together.

Amy 1:15:39
And this is also not related to autoimmunity, just, I guess the only thing I'll say about that is that it's really interesting. There's a lot of genetic underpinnings, and all the autoimmune diseases go together, and it's really cool. And they, they tend to predominantly affect women. And I could speak for hours and hours about that. But

Scott Benner 1:15:53
does anyone else hear Amy setting herself up to be invited back on the podcast? Is that what you're doing right now?

Amy 1:15:59
I'm not, I'm not honestly, but I just, I think it's so interesting. And every time you bring it up, I'm like, I wish I could scream through the headphones the answer to some of the things.

Scott Benner 1:16:09
But Amy, you should be pushing me to do that. You should be like, Hey, you should really consider having me back on to just talk about

Amy 1:16:15
that. Well, I'm happy to if you want to, but I also respect the structure

Scott Benner 1:16:20
say it

Amy 1:16:24
thought you should have me back on the podcast. I know so much about genetics, it would make your brain spin. I think

Scott Benner 1:16:29
you're right, actually, and I'm sorry that I didn't realize that and put that all together, although, in fairness to me, dead mom, one hand diabetes, you cut. I mean, you you had to know which way this was going, didn't you

Amy 1:16:41
No, but do you know what? When I first was like, Maybe I should reach out. I was like, why would anybody want to hear from me? I'm just seriously diabetic person, yeah,

Scott Benner 1:16:48
oh my god, if you just would have sent an email that said, dead mom, one hand diabetes, I would have recorded with you the next day.

Amy 1:16:56
And I think I rescheduled twice, because the first time I was defending my PhD the day after we were supposed to record, and I was like, I can't do that, yeah. And then the second time, my grandpa had died the day before, and I was like, I also can't do that, so I finally made it.

Scott Benner 1:17:11
Oh, it's awesome. There's been times where people haven't shown up, and I'm like, I'll send a note. And they're like, I'm in the hospital, yeah, literally, I had to go to the hospital this morning. And I'm like, Oh, okay. Like, never. It's one of the things you don't think about making a podcast with people who have health issues, but that's happened more than once, as crazy as that sounds, all right. No, listen, you should definitely come back on. First of all, you're good at this. Thank you very conversational, which is awesome. You have a great sense of humor. I mean, I've just three times in a row to test you said, dead mom, one hand diabetes. You did not flinch. Just give me one example of something you hear that you want to articulate. Like,

Amy 1:17:51
people always say, oh, type one, that's the genetic kind, or you get it from birth, right? And like, kind of yes to both of those questions, but also kind of No. And the intricacies are huge. There's tons. And also the things that like go together different autoimmune diseases like hypothyroidism and celiac disease. There's a reason for that genetically, and

Scott Benner 1:18:11
you can explain that absolutely, colloquially, so people can understand

Amy 1:18:16
it. That is my specialty. I love teaching. I did so many teaching positions in grad school, and I always got told that I was a good teacher, so I would love to try. I'm not. This is like the one time that I will put myself up a tiny bit, because usually I'm very self deprecating. But I do actually think that I can do this, especially if you have questions like, ask me anything about genetics, and I also studied pregnancy. So anything about pregnancy, and like pregnancy genetics, because that's the whole thing too. The fact that women get pregnant probably pre disposes them biologically to developing more autoimmune conditions. There's a whole, like, school of thought out there about that, and I would freaking love

Scott Benner 1:18:53
to talk about, I don't think you guys are meant to live more than, like, 20 years. We're

Amy 1:18:57
not, and we're supposed to be pregnant every year of that 20 years. And if you're not, it's like a problem. And then

Scott Benner 1:19:02
just problem, and then just fall over and die. Yeah, no, listen. So first of all, make a list and send it to me. Okay, like, seriously, I already have a list. Send me the list. We'll get you back on to record. And it's funny, because right before we started talking, I was looking at, I know, I say chameleon, like, there's one here, but there's more than one. I know I have this one that's from Yemen. And because of the weather there, they're genetically built to grow quickly, because they have to be born, mate, lay eggs before the weather kills them. In the wild, they don't live a full year. That's crazy, right? And

Amy 1:19:46
in your house, they live seven

Scott Benner 1:19:48
years, eight years, wow. And so I look at her all the time, and I think she'd be dead in the wild, yeah. And then it makes me think about before 1920 my. Daughter would have died. Like, I know, like, Isn't that crazy? Like, but that's like, my brain jumps around like that, like, but I look at her and I think this chameleon is, like, over there living its life. Like, trust me, she's looking at me right now. Like, if you could just bring a roach over here, it'd be awesome. She's a little fatty right now. I just want to say, and not like, in the P, H, A T, way, where you just, like, look at that thing shake. Like, she's getting a little belly and like, so like, we got to do something about that she would have died a few months ago. There's this one little valley where there's enough rain that these things can live. And that's what it made me think about when you just talked about genetics. Totally. How crazy is it that we tell women, when women have problems with their their inside bits and they're young, what do doctors tell them all the time? A lot of this will probably clear up

Amy 1:20:44
when you have a baby, yeah? Or when you're older, we don't know, yeah, go away.

Scott Benner 1:20:48
Yeah, hormones, right? And, but we can talk about all that,

Amy 1:20:51
yeah? And the fact that the world is so clean right now means everybody's getting more autoimmune diseases because we're not fighting viruses. We're fighting

Scott Benner 1:21:00
ourselves. Oh, we should be rolling in the dirt.

Amy 1:21:02
Yeah, we should be, like, licking dogs, basically. Well, let's try to find

Scott Benner 1:21:06
a different way to put that, but sure, yeah. I mean, you're so Canadian, you're just like, Please lick a dog. It's not a big deal, all right. Amy, you're in you did it. You stuck up for yourself, and you got something.

Amy 1:21:18
If you change your mind, let me know. I'm, Are you fcking

Scott Benner 1:21:21
serious? Amy, why didn't you just go, Hey, I'm sorry for doing that.

Amy 1:21:29
I'm so sorry. A like, we can cancel this that doesn't work for you. Just let me know.

Scott Benner 1:21:32
No, I think it's an awesome idea. So okay, hold on one second for me.

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#1539 Smart Bites: Basics – Food Groups and Portions

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Intermediate Nutrition for ages 8 and up; teenagers; adults seeking to expand knowledge.

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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.

Welcome to my nutrition series with Jenny Smith. Jenny and I are going to in very clear and easy to understand. Ways walk you from basic through intermediate and into advanced. Nutritional ideas, we're going to tie it all together with type one diabetes, talk about processed foods and how you can share these simple concepts with the people in your life, whether it's your children, other adults or even seniors, besides being the person you've heard on the bold beginnings and Pro Tip series and so much more. Jennifer Smith is a person living with type one diabetes for over 35 years. She actually holds a bachelor's degree in Human Nutrition and biology from the University of Wisconsin. She's a registered and licensed dietitian, a certified diabetes educator. She's a trainer on all kinds of pumps and CGM. She's my friend, and I think you're going to enjoy her thoughts on better eating. If this is your first time listening to the Juicebox Podcast and you'd like to hear more, download Apple podcasts or Spotify, really, any audio app at all, look for the Juicebox Podcast and follow or subscribe. We put out new content every day that you'll enjoy. Want to learn more about your diabetes management. Go to Juicebox podcast.com. Up in the menu and look for bold Beginnings The Diabetes Pro Tip series and much more. This podcast is full of collections and series of information that will help you to live better with insulin. Please don't forget that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare plan or becoming bold with insulin. This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by Medtronic diabetes and their mini med 780 G system designed to help ease the burden of diabetes management. Imagine fewer worries about Miss boluses or miscalculated carbs thanks to meal detection technology and automatic correction doses. Learn more and get started today at Medtronic diabetes.com/juicebox the show you're about to listen to is sponsored by the ever since 365 the ever since 365 has exceptional accuracy over one year and is the most accurate CGM in the low range that you can get ever since cgm.com/juicebox Jenny, let's dig into your nutrition ideas here. I have you broken down into different modules or episodes. Today, we're going to be talking about basic nutrition, and this is an introduction for people of all ages. You're going to be doing a lot of the talking here. I do have some questions, but, you know, I just want to hear your thoughts.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 2:53
Awesome. Well, I think, in the way of how we usually navigate things, you have lots and lots of thoughts. So that always adds to we'll see

Scott Benner 3:02
it adds to the discussion. I imagine my thoughts are going to be more questions this time. So

Jennifer Smith, CDE 3:07
they will be, yeah, I you know, and the whole concept of starting with basic nutrition is just the idea that we need to understand the foods and the little pieces that make up all the foods that we eat, and then bring it into the realm of understanding why that impacts diabetes and in the long run, ultimately, we'll end up talking about long term health and but you have to start somewhere, right? So we have to start with the major nutrients, of which there are six, let's say macronutrients being the ones that provide calorie value, and then the more micronutrients are the reason that we really eat a variety of all the foods, right? So we've got macronutrients being carbohydrates, proteins and fats. And then the more micronutrient, the little pieces within all those big foods are the vitamins, the minerals, and then one that's always forgotten as an it's a nutrient. It's water. Like we have to have water to survive, right? We go longer without food than we can without water. So

Scott Benner 4:13
I just realized that some of the things I'm going to say during this are going to be things that I've learned, oh, God, don't laugh at me. Everybody just hang in here. But like feeding reptiles, oh, because you get bugs to feed them with, but you can't just give them like an empty husk of like a like a dried up cricket. The Cricket has to eat. This is so disgusting, but you gut load the crickets with certain foods so that when the reptile eats the cricket, it gets the nutrients that anyway, and they and they need to be hydrated, too. So interesting, yes, okay,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 4:45
no, that's that's a great way to kind of talk about this and bring it in. And that's why, I think you know, when we talk about the major calorie value, nutrients, those macronutrients, the goal of putting them in the body is just. Like you said, what's the quality of carbohydrates we're eating? What's the quality of the proteins that we're eating, what's the quality of the type of fat? Because we can get those from all types of things that we call food, but are they actually going to supply us, as non reptile the right nutrition to move our bodies the way that we need to, and, long term, keep us healthy, right? Yeah. So you know, from a breakdown, the biggest one that people with diabetes absolutely could define, well, count well and everything is carbohydrate, right? You tell me, what's carbohydrate? How do you describe it? Oh, gosh, it's

Scott Benner 5:39
so funny, because I guess I think of it more from the diabetes perspective, like, I think of it as, like, the countable stuff that ends up being also how I think of the sugar. Does that make sense? You know what I mean, like, like, carbs are, I mean, they're already, like, I knew when we talked about nutrition, I was gonna be like, everyone's gonna be mad somehow, but because I was gonna say, like, you know, I mean, that's where you kind of, like, get that fuel from, right, like, correct carbon and, but there are people are gonna tell you, like, you don't need carbs for that. You could get that from protein and fats. And, yeah, but these are the three places, like, we're not driving you to, like, eat a certain way, but these are the three places you can get this energy from,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 6:18
correct. The goal here is just to ensure that people understand, where do your calorie Where do your calories come from? They come from three major macronutrients, right? And I think the bigger thing here is, actually, there's a quote that I really like from Bruce Lee, and he says, essentially, in many things, you kind of you look at what's useful, or you kind of take what's useful and you get rid of what's useful for you. So that's the individualizing piece, which we'll kind of end up talking about. And then essentially, you apply the stuff that you thought was useful specifically to you, right? I mean, that's a grander specific of his quote, right? But that's the idea. It's understand the baseline, take what you need, get rid of what you maybe don't need, and make the best use of it for you. So carbohydrates, usually people think about it as sugar, right? But you know, it's also, as you said, the primary source of energy for the body to use, and the reason it's primary is because it's readily available. The majority of people, not everybody, but the majority of people have carbohydrates or sugar containing foods in their in their diet. And so it's an easy way for the body to kind of break down and supply fuel. Our fueling systems are the little pieces in the cells called mitochondria, and they generate something called ATP. Or there's all this stuff that works, but sugar and oxygen are the two pieces that work together to give you a really good boost of energy and how your body cells use it. In fact, your brain, it's crucial, really, really important for you to have sugar carbohydrate, because that actually is the one place in your body that sugar can enter without the use of insulin. Oh, that interesting. Brain cells don't require insulin in order to move sugar in. It's interesting. It is interesting, yeah, thus, you can kind of see why. When we have low blood sugar, we don't have enough sugar to get into our brain. It's why we lose a train of thought, why we can get confused or agitated, why some of those brain functions is your body is trying to keep the other systems working okay, and so you kind of lose a little bit of that cognitive sort of function, as the brain is not getting enough sugar shuttled in. Yeah, right. I mean, you know, the other reasons are obviously for exercise and all those kinds of things, we absolutely need some carbohydrates. Again, you're right. Some people use them, some people use the other macronutrients to kind of find a fueling system. But in general, the carbs that we want to aim for contain really good sources of nutrients. They contain a lot of good what are called antioxidants, those blues, purples, reds, oranges that come from our vegetables, especially, and are really good, low glycemic types of fruits like berries and apples and kiwi and that kind of stuff. And what do we also get from carbohydrates, the only place that we get something called fiber, really,

Scott Benner 9:20
oh yeah, grains, fruits, vegetables, there's no fiber in meat.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 9:25
There's no fiber in meat. Oh, okay, no kidding, there's no fiber in fat, right? I mean, some fatty types of foods may have some fiber in them as well. Some high fat types of nuts and seeds and those types of things, obviously are going to have fiber too, but they also contain carbohydrates, so they you're going to see a mix of these nutrients, often in different food groups. But in general, carbohydrates are primarily, again, sort of your grains and your fruits and your vegetables, legumes, that kind of thing, right?

Scott Benner 9:55
And why do we need fiber?

Jennifer Smith, CDE 9:55
Well, fiber helps us go to the bathroom. Well, that's.

Scott Benner 9:59
Very important.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 10:00
It is very important. And on the end of again, bringing this into the scope of diabetes management, right fiber helps to slow down digestion. So we focus on foods that are more complex, meaning their fibers are not as broken down, or they're more unprocessed types of fibers. So we're really looking to encourage gut health, keeping your gut healthy by moving your bowel every single day. You should be going to the bathroom every day, and if you aren't, it's not how your body's supposed to work, right? But the goal of moving things out also helps to discard a lot of things that don't need to remain in the body or get kind of absorbed back in the body. So the quality sources of fiber are going to come mostly from your plant based foods, especially your vi your vegetables, they're really good sources of soluble, insoluble fiber, as well as some of your high quality grains. These can be really low glycemic as well. So again, from a fiber containing a high fiber containing meal is going to be much slower to impact your blood sugar compared to something like processed carbohydrate.

Scott Benner 11:07
Okay, you know, if we give our dogs broccoli stems, they poop more.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 11:11
Oh, my dog loves broccoli. I actually we cook for our dog. And yeah, I mean, he gets, he gets broccoli, he gets lots of good stuff in his food that we make, turmeric. They like them when

Scott Benner 11:23
you're cutting, like, you know, when you're preparing broccoli, and you just throw, like, some of the longer stems to them. They eat them like candy and what else, sweet potatoes too, uncooked. Yeah, right, yeah. They love that stuff. And all that's fiber. And then you have to, every time somebody's cooking and gives to them, like, you have to, like, kind of say out loud, like, remember, like, take them out an extra time today. So because you're adding fiber, like this episode

Jennifer Smith, CDE 11:44
is going to be called something like macronutrients in your dog poop.

Scott Benner 11:50
Listen, I think that you've said it a number of times. I've thought this, you know, I'm sure everybody's thought this. But food, we think of as whatever we put in our mouth, obviously. And yet that's not necessarily where you're going to get nutrients from. Like, you might get calories from it. You might get, like, enough gas to, like, not die, but you are not supporting all of the systems in your body the way they need to be supported, and that could lead to short term and long term problems Correct. Yeah. And you need you so you need these ideas. So macronutrients, big ideas, went through carbohydrates. Let's talk about protein, a little bit meat, beans, eggs. Why is that as important? Well, I mean, Protein helps with what body tissue repair and things like that. Why would you settle for changing your CGM every few weeks when you can have 365 days of reliable glucose data. Today's episode is sponsored by the ever sense 365 it is the only CGM with a tiny sensor that lasts a full year sitting comfortably under your skin with no more frequent sensor changes and essentially no compression lows. For one year, you'll get your CGM data in real time on your phone, smartwatch, Android or iOS, even an Apple Watch, predictive high and low alerts let you know where your glucose is headed before it gets there. So there's no surprises, just confidence, and you can instantly share that data with your healthcare provider or your family, you're going to get one year of reliable data without all those sensor changes. That's the ever sense. 365 gentle on your skin, strong for your life. One sensor a year, that gives you one less thing to worry about, head now to ever sense, cgm.com/juicebox, to get started. Today's episode is sponsored by Medtronic diabetes, who is making life with diabetes easier with the mini med 780 G system. The mini med 780 G automated insulin delivery system anticipates, adjusts and corrects every five minutes. Real world results show people achieving up to an 80% time and range with recommended settings, without increasing lows. But of course, Individual results may vary. The 780 G works around the clock, so you can focus on what matters. Have you heard about Medtronic extended infusion set? It's the first and only infusion set labeled for up to a seven day wear. This feature is repeatedly asked for, and Medtronic has delivered. 97% of people using the 780 G reported that they could manage their diabetes without major disruptions of sleep. They felt more free to eat what they wanted, and they felt less stress with fewer alarms and alerts you can't beat that. Learn more about how you can spend less time and effort managing your diabetes by visiting Medtronic diabetes.com/juicebox,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 14:47
yeah. I mean, proteins are essentially the they're a piece of all cellular structure, and they're essential for building and repairing your body, kind of the breakdown of tissue that's supposed to happen and the rebuilding. And resupply of all of those cells and tissues, it relies on protein. So, you know, all these macronutrients could be considered necessary and appropriate. Protein is definitely one that I think has, I don't know, along with that, it kind of gets, it has gotten vilified in the past, right? And just like carbohydrates, there's a quality component to understanding protein right? Proteins also are really vital for enzymes and different hormones in the body, which take over for a lot of the body functions that we end up having. And then the big concept of a protein is broken down into something a lot of people have probably heard of something called amino acids, right? They're the little puzzle pieces that make up the whole puzzle picture of protein. And we have some amino acids that our body can make, and then some that are essential, and we actually have to get them by eating specific kinds of foods, because otherwise our body is not going to have all of those amino acids that we need to keep all these processes in our body, cellular turnover, et cetera, going the right way.

Scott Benner 16:07
Okay, so I guess I'm gonna save this till after we get through fats, and then I'm gonna kind of go backwards. So Okay, talk about where fats come from, why they're important, where we should be getting them. Yeah, so fats

Jennifer Smith, CDE 16:17
essentially come from a lot of the different food groups, right? Because you can have fats, one of those, it kind of hides. It's sort of sneaky, right? Because we have nuts and seeds that have natural proteins in so you might eat peanut butter, you know, whatever kind of nut butter that you like for the protein. But we're also getting the natural plant based fats that come in that food too. Okay, good quality types of plant based fats, we also get it from any oils. And if you are looking to cook or use an oil, salad dressings contain oils. You're really looking at healthy fat sources being things like olive oil or avocado oil or walnut oil. Those are really valuable sources of fat from, you know, just an overall body health and decrease in inflammation standpoint, yeah. But you're also going to get fat from butter, right? If you use any kind of spread on anything, I please just use butter. Don't use vegetable spread.

Scott Benner 17:22
That was huge when I was a kid. Oh, when Corel ware was the way we all had dishes, it was also margarine and that kind of stuff.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 17:29
Oh, yes, absolutely margarine. And like all the name brands of all the different kinds that are, I mean, they're still on the market, right? Oh, I can't believe

Scott Benner 17:38
it's not butter. Yes, you can. I yeah,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 17:43
I guarantee I can tell the difference. Yeah, no, but that's, you know, from a fat standpoint, we get fat and sour cream, or in cream cheese, in many of our, most of our dairy products that aren't labeled as fat free. Which fat free is not the way to go? Please, don't do fat free. If you need it lighter than at least, choose a reduced but most often, fat is not a bad thing. We need fat in our diet, kind of like fiber. It actually helps to stabilize in terms of blood sugar management. The problem being, as I said, early on, that is already a piece of many foods that we choose to eat. And so when you have full fat cheeses, for an example, or a really full fat type of meat, then you're adding extra fat at the meal time to other foods, from a flavor enhancing perspective, or you might have sauteed or cooked in additional oils or fats, they almost become, again, sort of unseen calories. So we do have to be, you know, kind of concerned, the wrong word to use, but just, I guess, aware is a better thing to say, aware of how much fat are we actually eating, how much do we actually need? We'll talk about, you know, how to figure out your needs and everything later on. But in terms of fat, we need it, quality sources are really important. And in terms of storage, our body has, I wish I had the exact statistic or the number of calories that our body stores easily as fat. It's the reason our body resorts to carbohydrate burning. It's quick, it's easy, it's there, it's right in our bloodstream. But fat gets stored, and our body has to work really hard, if we're not in a fat adapted type of fueling plan, our body has to work really hard to utilize and tap into that fat store in order to get energy out of it. It can be used as an energy reserve. From that understanding of where do, where do we get our energy from? Why don't we want to be fat free? Essentially, the outer part of the cell, called the membrane, is essentially a makeup of fats, right? And so we really need. To have fat in our body to maintain healthy, structural and functional pieces of the cells, much like protein. So they're all really, really important that also obviously is our body insulator. Some people might have more insulation than others,

Scott Benner 20:15
but it is what it's used for and what you need it for. It is absolutely

Jennifer Smith, CDE 20:19
the poor place to actually pack that fat away, which becomes problematic when we talk later about things like metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance, is that oftentimes that fat actually gets stored internally, around really vital organs. We want fat stored more from an insulation standpoint, right underneath the skin. We don't really want it deep and involved or around our internal organs that becomes dangerous.

Scott Benner 20:48
I've heard people talk about, I went to the doctor and, you know, I don't look I'm big, but I don't look like jelly, like jiggly. And the doctor told me, Oh, this is worse than than it's visually feels better, but it's worse because you have like, visceral fat, like around your literally around your organ, so your organs are struggling to work because they're packed in fat, correct? Yeah, it's not just like what's hanging from your arm or on your belly or something like that. Yeah. In

Jennifer Smith, CDE 21:17
fact, ens ago, you know, they used to, they used to look at people who they thought had some type of what's called alcoholic cirrhosis, right? They would see these what looked like sort of fat within and around the liver, and they came to find that many people who had insulin resistance and issues with metabolic function, their bodies were actually packing away, right? And storing this around the liver. And it's, actually, it's referred to as non alcoholic fatty liver disease, yeah. And it's, it's an unfortunate thing, right? But it can have major impacts. Your liver is an amazing organ in your body. It does so many phenomenal things. You don't want your liver fat.

Scott Benner 22:05
It's busy doing other stuff. You don't want it busy doing many

Jennifer Smith, CDE 22:08
other things. Exactly why is fat important when we look at all those macro and micro nutrients, as I said, initially, we want a variety from all the food groups. And the big reason we want a variety from all the food groups is because those vitamins that we get, some of them, are what we call water soluble, meaning we can just eat them and absorb them, and what we don't we kind of, you know, our body knows what to do with and it kind of passes out. But there are also four main vitamins that are really valuable and important that are, what are called fat soluble, meaning, if you don't have fat, healthy fat in your diet, you're not going to absorb these as well or retain them as well. So we've got vitamins A, D, E and K, those require some kind of fat, right? It's often the reason, if you take vitamin D, you might have a vitamin D supplement, and it's sort of Vitamin D is immersed in like an oil based sort of drop, especially if you're using the drop, might also K come combined with vitamin K from more absorptive type you know. Of option for both of those great way to absorb these fat soluble vitamins from all the variety of food you're eating at a meal is to have some healthy fat. So if you're having a salad greens, you want to absorb some of the vitamin K. You add a little salad dressing to your greens, and you absorb the vitamin K better. Oh, okay, right? I mean, there's major interaction between all of these little micronutrients, vitamins and minerals, right? We enhance the absorption of protein if we have some vitamin D or iron or vitamin C, excuse me, along with a meal that's something that's got a high, you know, amount of iron in it. So, you know, if we're looking for a lot of people with diabetes, worry about their immune system, right? So we're looking at things like vitamin C coming from foods women especially concerned lengthy into life about their bone health, osteoporosis, right? We're looking at calcium. Where are the greatest places in our diet that we're getting calcium from? Is it being absorbed the right way? I mean, there are supplements galore out there, but really, if we're optimizing by eating all of the major nutrients that we need, you wouldn't need them. We shouldn't have much issue in terms of so

Scott Benner 24:27
if you were eating grains, fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, dairy, beans, nuts, seeds and avocado and some oil, you would be able to get all the micronutrients that you need along with all the calories and energy that you need, right, right? But that is not how we eat at all. It just isn't right. Yeah, I'm thinking of my grocery store in my head right now. Yeah, there's a vegetable aisle and there's a meat aisle, there's a quarter of an aisle with nuts in it, and you got to be relatively wealthy to buy an avocado. Yeah? So, yeah, so, oh, you know what's interesting is, I guess if you were going to have a healthy store, you would just have those items, correct? If

Jennifer Smith, CDE 25:07
I were designing a store, that's all that would be there, right? That would be the tiny little section that you go to that's called the Healthy section, or the organic section. Not everything organic is is great for you, either. So, right? I mean, you have to have some distinction there. But that particular section, which occupies, I don't even know, like a microscopic footprint in the gigantic warehouse of store it, you know, foods, it's not a lot that should be entirely flipped. What we should have is a store that is focused on, what are the quality? Organic, unprocessed, no canola oil. I'm sorry, but I will vilify it. You know, seed oils, those kinds of if you start looking at your food, you will find very few that actually go into your cart. And there are options, but you have to search them out. Yeah, right. You know what you talked about, the like, the produce section and the meat section and all of that. If we're really shopping healthfully, we're staying around the perimeter of our grocery store. Maybe we go into the aisles for, like you said, maybe the nuts, or we go into the aisles if you've got a great store that's got like, bulk of anything, you know, you get bulk in many of your different good grains or, you know, those kinds of things, but the aisles contain very little food. Put that in quotes,

Scott Benner 26:35
you used a word earlier. That's just ring ringing in my head for the last 10 minutes. Honestly, like you said, flavor. And I thought that is really how we all think about food, about texture and flavor, like, not about, I mean, obviously it's about fueling your body, and that's not a lot of fun. And whatever that dust is that's on the Doritos, I'm all with you. Like, it tastes awesome. And like, like, I'm not gonna lie, I like that. You called it dust. It's not, I don't know what I mean. What is it's the am I supposed to call it cheese? Because I don't think that's what's going on. No, no, I asked online, oh, what are the nutrients that are in Doritos? So here, Doritos are made of corn, which naturally contain carbs. There is also a small amount of dietary fiber, though it is typically much lower than what you would get from a whole grain. There's a modest amount of protein present, usually around two grams per serving, at about 28 grams, while not a high protein snack, it does contribute a little to your daily needs, depending on the recipe in the formulation, you know, if you buy blue or red or something like that, Doritos might include small amounts of B vitamins like niacin, thiamine and folate, that are naturally present in corn or added during processing. B vitamins are essential for energy metabolism. There may be trace amounts of minerals such as iron and magnesium. However, these are present in relatively small quantities, so beyond the calories, that's all you get out of Doritos, which is to say, not it's negligible. As far as help like, you'd probably be better off with a Flintstones chewable, which is also not the right way to get your vitamins. If you're gonna get vitamins better than

Jennifer Smith, CDE 28:12
it's better than nothing. And you know, I think you you brought up, actually a good macronutrient in there is, and the interesting thing is that it was quantified as a moderate amount, right? Two grams of protein in a serving of Doritos, which is probably what I'm guessing. I don't 20

Scott Benner 28:29
serving.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 28:30
It says, is it like 10 chips? I think probably something, probably like that, right? But, I mean, if you look at something that's going to be this goes into a little bit more about those macronutrients and also kind of food satiety. With those macronutrients, you bring up Doritos, you're likely not going to be satisfied with a single serving. No,

Scott Benner 28:54
I wouldn't imagine. I never have been so far. I've only been alive for 53 years, though,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 28:58
right? And what the what the manufacturing companies have figured out is the direct relationship between carbohydrate, specifically sugar, not good carbohydrate, but sugar, fat and salt. They've figured out the way to trick your your taste buds into saying, No, that 10 chip quantity, that's not enough. I'm going to keep coming back for more because now my taste buds are telling my brain satisfy more flavor. That was the word that, right. That kind of started this, right? But what are you going to get from more quality nutrition at a lower calorie cost, but a higher nutrient quality overall, right? I mean, vegetables are undeniably in the low caloric value they have in a portion like a cup, they have a considerable amount of protein. If you think about a cup of vegetables, has somewhere around five to seven grams of protein. Okay? And that cup of vegetables. Can you imagine eating a cup of, let's say, cucumbers, or a cup of carrots or a cup of green beans, or so, you're going to have much more satisfying heaviness right in your stomach. Your brain is going to get the registration that, gosh, I've been fed. I feel good now. We take in what we need. We took in what we need, we're good for a little bit of time, and then, you know, hunger cues come in later, and you have something else. But I think that's the piece that's missing from nutrition education, is we see everything that could be put in our mouth as a way to nourish the body. And it's not, no, I went the other day to get a newspaper, actually, at one of the like, gas stations, right? And I walked inside, and I was, like, confronted right away with the big donut like case, and there was a parent there telling their child to pick out breakfast. And, you know, my dietitian brain, like, doesn't really ever shut off. I like going grocery shopping. Like nobody wants to go with

Scott Benner 31:03
me. Was your first thought, we're in a gas station? Or was your first thought not a donut?

Jennifer Smith, CDE 31:08
They were combined thoughts, one, gas station, food, right? Gas Station, quote, food, right? And she this, I mean, and it was an honest like, let's get some breakfast. You know, this is breakfast for you, but that's it. May be filling in terms of calorie value, you're supplying the calories from a fuel but you're not supplying the bigger thing behind the calories. You're not supplying nutrients, right?

Scott Benner 31:33
The healthiest thing in that gas station might be the hot dogs, and that's really saying something, or the

Jennifer Smith, CDE 31:38
nuts people just get the pack of trail neck, make sure it doesn't have M M's in it. Well,

Scott Benner 31:44
Jenny, why are you no fun? Sorry. Listen, I love the conversation, because I don't imagine that people think about it this way. I know I didn't earlier in my life, and I just think the truth has to be said. You know, it's carbs, it's fat, it's protein. That is really all you need. Everything else is entertainment, eating of some kind or another, like and I'm not against that. Listen, I went out to dinner the other night. I got a steak and a baked potato at this place, and I think it was probably cooked in nine pounds of butter, probably okay. It tasted amazing, and it was more about being ever there with people and talking and all that stuff. Yeah, but, you know, I got home and I was like, Oh, I don't feel great, like it was too much. I make steak at the house all the time. I don't feel badly after I eat it. So, yeah, and

Jennifer Smith, CDE 32:35
it's probably goes along with how you cook it at home. Maybe you grill it, or you broil it, or you do something that actually doesn't include the pound of butter, you know,

Scott Benner 32:44
I might use a tab of butter. I'll either smoke it or I'll, you know, I'll make it with a little, a tiny bit of butter, some salt. I honestly, I make a steak the same way. Every time I use salt, I use sea salt, pepper, garlic, onion. That's pretty much it like, I just flavored a little bit. And then I cook it to, like, medium well, and then I eat it. And

Jennifer Smith, CDE 33:03
that's a great word. Again, is flavor, right? A lot of people also feel like the foods they've gotten used to, we'll just call them food, right, right? They do pack in because, again, manufacturing companies have figured out how to pack the most punch with that flavor. And what most people don't understand is that you can actually cook very flavorfully with a little bit of salt, some pepper. And if anybody you know is missing out on a section of the grocery store, should that be visited? It is definitely the herbs and spices section.

Scott Benner 33:39
Yeah, right. Yeah, you get a lot of flavor out of that stuff. I mean,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 33:43
amazing flavor that you can make your food taste you could take a chicken breast and make it taste 20 different ways by combining different seasonings and spices on it. Yeah,

Scott Benner 33:53
absolutely. So, okay, so I want people to listen to this series. I don't want them to feel like they're being parented? No, no. But honestly, this is super important for everybody, not just if you have diabetes or diabetes in your family or other autoimmune issues in your family, but also extra important maybe if you're in those situations. But I think we should move on a little bit like hit the micronutrients. Talk about the vitamins, minerals and water that we're actually looking for out of our food.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 34:21
Yeah, I mean, the water again, that's as a big one I hit on early on is the more vegetables we eat, we actually get water content from our vegetable. And we don't count that as like we're drinking a glass of water, but along with the fiber they supply, we get a good portion of water or fluid, let's call it, right. And so, you know, we can also do a lower calorie content from those vegetables. I mean water, and we've talked about water before, I think we actually did something specific to hydration, yeah,

Scott Benner 34:56
right around CGM use, or insulin, moving that kind of stuff. Yeah. Yeah.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 35:00
And so when we talk about hydrating our body, the more well hydrated we are, the better all these macro and micronutrients that we're trying to get in good quantity out of the foods we're eating, the better they can move around our body, the better they can interact on a cellular level, moving in and out. I mean, our body is an amazing it's an amazing machine, yeah, and all of the little micro enzymes and things that are used to move this in the cell this way, and move the other thing out and kill a cell off when it needs to die and bring in another. I mean, it is mind boggling. But if we don't have a good mix of things, and we're also not hydrated well enough to move the stuff around our body, then we're kind of at a low point, everything

Scott Benner 35:49
just sits like sludge. And you're everything sits like sludge, right? We need vitamins, minerals from our food. We need water from our food. It's it like so there's macro, like you talked about earlier. I know I'm just going over it again, carbohydrates protein, fats, and then micro, vitamins, water, liquid stuff that's that's inside of those things, so, correct? So think of the egg as the cricket and the and, you know, and the liquid inside of the cricket is, you know, the micro, right? And so you're trying to take in food that brings in these things that you need. But I think more importantly, when you hear people talk about, like, well, you know, eat simply, you know, eat clean, no processed. It just seems like reverse marketing at this point. Now, like, right? It is like, right. It's people who know how to eat healthy trying to talk to you about how not to eat. They're looking at the grocery store. The way Jenny is, there should be three things in this grocery store, and instead, there's 8000 things in here, and literally none of them are valuable for you, other than calorically, like right? And the value that they provide calorically is nothing compared to the harm they're providing in 1000 other ways, right? It's not food. That stuff is not food. It's, I don't entertainment, it's flavor, it's crunch, it's whatever you, you know, whatever it is. And I'm not saying you can't mix some of it in. Jenny is saying that, but I'm not saying,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 37:16
I am not saying, by no means, 100% 100% I've said before, right? 8020, 9010, yeah, pick something that works for you. I mean, you said it before. You know, we're all going to have social, social engagements that you kind of fall in step with what other people are doing or choosing, right? Everybody wants a piece of cake. You want a piece of cake? Great. Have your piece of cake, if it fits, if it fits for you, right? But I don't think that there's enough, there's not enough containment of social outings that don't revolve around

Scott Benner 37:52
food. Yeah, listen, I'm older, right? So I grew up through the 70s, when the food industry was starting to figure this stuff out, right? Like, pop tarts and stuff like that. Like, it's fruit and like, you know, like, I mean, literally, Pop Tarts. Were like, my mom would give us pop tarts and be like, there's fruit in this. Like, it's fruit and cake, you're gonna love it. Like, awesome. None of that's true. Just like, Fruit Loops, Fruit Loops are not fruit. And I've told this story on the podcast before, and I'll say it again to be embarrassed, but at one point, my wife was like, Why are you eating so many veggie straws? And I said, well, for vegetables. And she's like, those are potato chips. And I was like, like, aren't there vegetables in it? And she's like, No, I'm like, but some are orange and some are green and some are yellow. And I've just been wired that way, right, right? I have been wired that way. Like, everything is food. Food comes in bags. It comes in boxes. It like, you know, it's sweet, or it's this, or it's that. And even as an adult and a more thinking adult, there was still this thing there. I was like, Oh, well, like, I listen, I don't think consciously, I was like, let me get veggie straws, because I think there's vegetables in it. But when I went for something crunchy, I was like, Well, this is probably better, better. Yeah, right, but it's not better. It's actually it's nothing. It's just filler. I'll freely admit that, until I started using a GLP medication two years ago, I couldn't break that cycle. Like I was caught in the Eat more. It tastes good. Like, get that thing. You enjoyed it last time cycle. It wasn't until, like, you know, I injected something that was like, said to my brain, you're not hungry anymore, that I was like, Oh, I could step back finally and reassess what I was eating. Think

Jennifer Smith, CDE 39:33
about it, right? You have the ability that, again, a lot of people call it like the brain fog is gone, or the veil is sort of removed, and they can actually see and choose more appropriately, right? They can make more conscious decisions of instead of just opening the fridge and everything looks good, and it all goes on my plate. Now I can say, Oh, I am hungry. I'm hungry for the right portion of food, and I'm hungry for more things that I knew. Who I know, especially if they've got, if they've had a chance to get good education around using the glps and a focus around macronutrient and what's important to take in, then they can choose better, right? And

Scott Benner 40:13
I'm not saying take a GLP. What I'm saying. What I'm saying is like, go back to my mom in the 70s and don't be my mom so that your kid 50 years from now won't be like, I had to inject a thing to shut my brain off long enough that I could think about what I was eating. Like, like, that's all I'm because you are going to get you said earlier, what salt, fat and sugar food is, restaurants do it 100% people who make potato chips do it like they are feeding like, I mean, like, I guess they're feeding the reptile part of your brain. They're going, like, ooh, this tastes good. This was great. That was salty. Like, that kind of thing. If you don't start down that road, you'll never go down that road, and your kids might have a chance not to let me just make this as a play, and then I'm gonna let you talk for the rest of this time my life, I'm gonna cry. My life is so much better today than it was two years ago, like, significantly better in almost every measurable way. And it's because I don't eat the same crappy food that I ate before, and I wasn't eating that much of it before, like, I was really as careful as I could be about it, and my brain works differently. I have different energy. My vibe is different. I feel better. I'm able to be more active. Yesterday was Sunday. I got up early, I went to the nursery, I bought some flowers that are like kind of Easter related. I came home, I put them in pots. I made food, you know, we all hung out for a while. I watched little baseball. I cleaned up the garage. My day went on and on and on. Yesterday, at no point did I ever think like, oh, this is exhausting. I went to bed at midnight last night. I'm 53 I got up at seven o'clock. I did 17 hours worth of things, and I only went to bed because I was like, I should, it would be good for me to sleep now, but I could have kept going, and in the past, I would have passed out like and I wouldn't have done half of those things well.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 42:09
And you know, a big piece of that, and again, longer out in another session, we'll, we'll talk about what that means in terms of a cellular level, right? Our cells are, they're like our fueling place, like I mentioned, the mitochondria, you know, and what it does in terms of our powerhouse of cells. But if we're not feeding our body the right things, then our system gets, for lack of a, I guess, an easy way to it gets gummed up, yeah, and we don't make the fuel the right way, we end up staying sluggish and tired and everything. And then, from what you were actually saying before, just struck me in terms of the processed food that you knew to grow up on, which many people did right, and you get in the cycle of not knowing exactly what, but what have the food companies chosen to do? They remove all of the value, but then you'll see words like fortified or enriched on packages, and we're talking about vitamins and minerals here. We're really getting to the sort of the nitty gritty of, do we need something that's been enriched and fortified? Because what was there to begin with has been removed. No like and in terms of diabetes, what are the big ones that are hit pieces in what we want to be getting from food? I mean, we've got, everybody's heard vitamin D, vitamin D, you know, we have to make sure getting vitamin D. And many times, our body is actually not, guess necessarily processing vitamin D. Even if you're out in the sun, enough for your body to make it there are very few food sources that actually provide vitamin D. I mean, you've got egg yolks and you've got some fatty fish and then fortified foods that contain vitamin D, right? And then, you know, when we look at the other vitamins that are really important in terms of diabetes, we're looking at B vitamins, right? If you're not getting enough foods that actually supply healthy vitamin B and B complex is really the way that we want to get vitamin B. We want to get all of the different B vitamins at once from an absorption standpoint, right? We're really looking at getting vitamin B from a lot of our different types of foods, from meats, as well as from some grains, the least processed or unprocessed grains contain high amounts of vitamin B naturally. Why would we want to process that, break it down and then add it back in a way that probably isn't going to be as well absorbed by our body, right? So deficiency in vitamin B is often common, especially B 12 in diabetes. Yeah.

Scott Benner 44:38
Will we talk about supplementing with vitamins later in this series, I think we have at some point. Okay, good, yeah, not that I'm saying, like, you should eat cardboard and then take a vitamin. But, like, right, yeah. I mean, here's a good example of, like, how your body might not be able to press. If you have ever been prescribed vitamin D by an endo, they'll sometimes give you a 150 1000. You tablet a week to take, because they're trying to blast you with it so that hopefully enough of it sticks to you, you know, or you might take. I mean, I'm going to be honest, like, I take vitamin D every day. I take way more than the, you know, than what the label says. My thought is, it passes through what I don't use, and I'll grab as much as I can. I take zinc every day, I take a B complex vitamin every day, and I also take a really, like, awesome multivitamin every day, because there's things I still I was programmed from

Jennifer Smith, CDE 45:29
a gut level. May just not from, as you're saying, maybe the way that you were programmed, the way that you were brought up, unfortunately, hit your body in a way that now you're you just don't absorb as well.

Scott Benner 45:40
I don't think I absorb it as well. And I also still have a psychological block, like, I fixed myself on proteins and fats. I'm not good with vegetables. Vegetables. I'm like, a small child when you try to give me vegetables, yeah, we've gone over this before. I was, yeah, yeah. I got the like, you know, stare and eat your green beans. And then, don't worry, canned green beans, right? That were like Bush. They'll be there in the morning. For you, I got that good parenting so texturally, yeah, it takes me back to a place where I feel like a kid who's trapped like and I have a hard time eating vegetables so, but I give them to my dog because I know it's right,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 46:16
because it's because, you know it's right, it's good for your kid. Makes him poop. Well,

Scott Benner 46:19
every time I throw it to my dog, I think to myself, I should be eating this, but at least he'll be okay.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 46:24
At least he'll be okay. Yeah, in my new little dog, but I

Scott Benner 46:27
try to supplement where I know my gaps are well and

Jennifer Smith, CDE 46:31
and your gaps again, I mean, your gaps are different. You don't have diabetes. My guess is there was probably some sort of metabolic something going on for you in terms of, you know, navigating these these nutrients. And I would also expect that now that you're eating more real food with nutrients that are more quality, that actually were in the food, weren't added back to the food. You just like you said, the past two years have been a progress of you now feel really, really good. I also

Scott Benner 47:00
don't think I'm nearly done, to be perfectly honest. Like, I think I'm way better than I was, but I'm not wherever there is. I'm not there yet. Like, yeah, you know what I mean, like, and I just, and I do mean, like, at a cellular level, I don't know sure how well I'll be able to repair what's happened, but, I mean, I am trying, but I also don't know how long it's gonna take, yeah, yeah. But anyway, please just All right, so if you don't take anything else from this, get your carbs from grains, fruits and vegetables. Get your protein from meat, eggs, beans and dairy. Get your fat from things like nuts, seeds and avocado and stuff like that. That'd be awesome if you could do that right? Yes,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 47:37
and at some point, we'll also talk a little and, you know, I'm Cognizant as well, from working with multiple, you know, populations of people that we have a lot of what are kind of food deserts? It's not a lack of food, but it's a lack of nutrient dense quality food that we really should be eating, which, again, we've kind of touched on. But how do you do that when you don't have easy access, or you don't have the pocketbook that supports again, avocado is like, here's my right arm. Because I want an avocado right gets

Scott Benner 48:09
ripe too fast. Nick, you have to throw it away. You're like, oh my god,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 48:14
there went my arm. Yeah, right, no, and it's, I'm very cognizant of that, but you can absolutely still get quality nutrients, quality foods. There's a little bit of, you know, strategy and navigating that. Yeah, Hey,

Scott Benner 48:31
Jenny, let's move now to blood glucose management. And this is going to be kind of like a basic overview. Fabulous. Whenever you're ready. Just dive

Jennifer Smith, CDE 48:39
in. Okay, so, you know, in talking about nutrition when we have diabetes, specifically, we want to understand, how does that impact our blood sugar management? And so when we talk about what influences our blood sugar the most of the macronutrients, it would be carbohydrate or sugar, right? Essentially, when we eat food, body does this fancy stuff in our digestive system and moves all of the nutrients out into our bloodstream, one of them being glucose, right? And that can obviously cause your blood sugar to go up. How much we eat of it, the kind of or the source of that carbohydrate, all makes a big difference. So we're talking about, again, trying to navigate food along the lines of diabetes management. Carbohydrate has the biggest hit. I think in terms of simplicity, a lot of people, when they're considering blood sugar around meal times, they always ask for a target, right? What am I aiming for? What should I be hitting? What? What should I say under? What do I want to, you know, not go under in terms of blood sugars. And maybe you can give overall, obviously, the ADA standards, which are a very wide range, right, 70 to 180 I think anybody would be able to state that, even kids. And then we can personalize that or individualize that. You want tighter targets, let's say, for this reason or that reason, right? Overnight targets, maybe you want a tighter target for the overnight time period, which is again, a big grab in terms of your overall average and your a 1c you can get in Target overnight. You've got a lot better chance of keeping your a 1c in target right? Target ranges. What do you have for target ranges for Arden? What do you guys aim for?

Scott Benner 50:28
Well, I have, you know, it's interesting. It's changed a little as she's gotten older, yeah, because it kind of quickly becomes more hers and less mine, if that makes sense or not, right? And you have to start incorporating in all of the other stuff that impacts a person living with diabetes, right? Like, it's not just any more, like, Hey, come here, let me push a button, or only the variable, yeah, have 10 of these. Like that. Kind of all goes away, and all the other variables come into her life, and she's learning how to manage them, and she's doing a good job. But at the same time, even I thought like telling this girl, like, Hey, it's 70 to 130 and if you go over it, ooh, bad, right? Like, while she's learning the rest of it, was going to be mad thing. So I started telling her, you know, as she got older, listen, we don't want to go under 70. And I want you to think of 180 as, like, wow, I missed something somewhere. Yeah. We don't want to live above 180 we don't want to get comfortable saying to ourselves, like, I just basically went back to how I taught myself how to do it when she was a kid and gave her more of a thing. Now, if she was nine and I was taking care of it. Then I think I don't want to go under 70, over 140 I think I messed something up at a meal, and then I get more, like a gr like, reasonably aggressive, trying to bring it back. But 70 to 180 is, I also think, a little bit in line with how the algorithms are trying to work too, right? True, yeah. So I don't know. I think that's going to become the norm for people, because until the algorithms get more aggressive on rises, right and

Jennifer Smith, CDE 52:07
or allow personalization, because that's really what this boils down to, what stage are you at with your diabetes, or what stage are you at with your child who has Diabetes, and are you now at the point of, well, they were five when they were diagnosed, and now they're 15, yeah, what kinds of things could we look at the variables, and what kind, what kind of, I guess, turnover is the child now able or willing to do, yeah, to be involved in, and that is where It's a safety piece, then maybe you had really tight targets, as you said, maybe, you know, an eight or nine year old, you're the one navigating, and so you're able to have tighter targets, and you can figure out most foods because they're your choice in giving to your child, versus, oh, they're 17, and They're out making their own choices. So those those targets might shift and change, they don't have to be a hard locked in. Well, I know that this, you know, going above 140 it's it's horrible, and whatever. Well, you might need to loosen that while they're

Scott Benner 53:15
learning, while they're learning, and hope that they learn too, because they might not like, I know, smart adults with type one diabetes who will see like a 220 blood sugar, you know, four hours after a meal, and it's lunchtime, and they just they go again. And if you talk to them about it, they're like, look, I gotta live my life like, you know, but they've been at it for 25 years. And I would almost tell you that the numbers aren't as important as what's happening. Am I falling very quickly and getting super low? I don't want that to happen. Am I shooting straight up after I eat? I don't want that to happen. Am I staying high after a meal for hours? I don't want that to happen. The numbers are almost like, if you can avoid those three things in, you know, kind of a bell, curvy graph, way that fits into your ability, desire, understanding, then I think maybe that's what people are talking about when they say, we're trying to lessen variability and keep you more in a range, like, right? That does make sense to me? Yeah,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 54:09
no, absolutely. And I, you know, in terms of navigating with another one, not your own navigation, but you are the caregiver, and you're helping to, you know, to teach somebody, essentially along the way. I think that also begs the family to have a point of discussion. You start simply in looking at some data together, because if you really are hard set on staying below 140 or below 160 or whatever it is, and you're you're now allowing some of that management to go into the hands of your child or your teenager, then there has to be some education from how you've been navigating. This is what I do, to keep things when you eat your lunch at school contained. Are you able and willing to take on some of these strategies? And yes, there's going to be a learning curve too. It's not going to be. It will fall at first. But if you have such a desire to keep the same targets, then there have to be some strategies, some tactics overall, to getting there.

Scott Benner 55:10
I think that when I said if it goes over 180 I messed something up that needs more context, like I know what to do, sure. So if we're over 180 we didn't do one of the things that we know to do, that's a much different feeling for me to live through than a person who's over 180 and doesn't understand why right and feels out of control, like so when I say I messed up, I mean I actually knew what to do and I didn't do it, or I missed something, or didn't see a food the right way. That same feeling for a person who's not where I'm at or not where you're at or not where some people are, like, while they're still learning, that's a more out of control feeling. And I would never characterize that as I messed up. I would characterize that as you're having experiences that you're still learning from Correct. Yeah. So I guess bigger picture is, if these are our targets, whatever your targets are, if they're 80 to 130 if they're 70 to 180 like, wherever you set your targets, you know, How is the food playing a role in that? Like, that's the thing you need to understand, right? Like, you're, we're talking about basic nutrition, talking about carbs, grains, fruits, vegetables, proteins. I'm still going to tell you, you meet three people with type one diabetes and ask them how fat impacts their blood sugar, and they're going to say fat doesn't have carbs

Jennifer Smith, CDE 56:22
in it, correct? Yeah. And there's a when I do presentations that are about nutrition and have more of a visual for people to look at for really nice graph that I use that actually does do the three macronutrients, those carbs, proteins and fat. And it's a graphical timeline of hours and from our zero, you know, start of meal. What can you expect from carbohydrates? What can you expect from proteins? Where do they start to kind of hit? And then fats, where do they start to hit in impact? And it helps you understand how these foods, eaten simply alone, will cause a change in your glucose levels when we then add combination which most people don't just sit down and eat an apple, right? It's usually with something or broccoli, right? Usually you've got a combination meal, which is the goal for overall balanced nutrition. But then when we mix it all together, that graph gets kind of muddied. And so, as you know, you've always taught, obviously, and we've talked about a lot, is it's insulin role in understanding how to keep your blood sugars in a great looking place, or in your target that you desire, along with these nutrients that you're putting in first line. What does insulin do? Well, it makes

Scott Benner 57:41
your blood sugar go down. It

Jennifer Smith, CDE 57:43
makes your blood sugar go down. But why? What does it do in your body, right?

Scott Benner 57:47
Yeah, it's releasing glucose from your bloodstream. It is because on the

Jennifer Smith, CDE 57:51
cellular level, insulin is, and I'm going to use the age old kind of visual, it's like a key to a door, right? You've got these little locked doors on your cells, the glucose is circulating around. You really can't get in. There are some ways that it can without insulin. But for simplicity, insulin unlocks the door. It's like, oh. The cell says, Yay, glucose, you can come in now, welcome in, right? But that only happens in the right timeline. Again, when you're looking at a graph of where should my blood sugar go up to? Where do I want it come back to, to come back down to, in the aftermath of a meal? In what timeline? That's also an understanding of insulin. Do you have to know your nutrients, but you also have to understand, then, when I eat this food versus that food, what's the timing of the insulin so that there is enough at the right time to interact at the cell level and allow the glucose that you've eaten to come in at the right pace, right you don't want the glucose going in so slowly that blood sugar gets higher than you want, because that's a mist timing of insulin. On the same note, you don't want the insulin to have worked so hard so soon that what you ate is now like, rapidly, it's like overloading your house with people, and you're like, Whoa. Now there's no people left outside.

Scott Benner 59:09
I think that the blending of the nutrients is probably the part that is harder to understand, maybe, and once you get it more valuable to understand. Like, if you just went down to your refrigerator right now and took a bite of a stick of butter, I do not believe that your blood sugar would go up, right? And, you know, there's fat in that, like you said, fat, well, you know that's, it's the combo. It's, it's having, you know, also, eating a dry baked potato wouldn't hit your blood sugar the same as hitting a baked potato and putting sour cream on it, or something like that, right? Sure. And the sour cream, let's say butter, because I started with butter, the butter is probably not gonna make your blood sugar rise by itself, and it's not making the potato rise faster. It's slowing down digestion. It's changing how your body's managing the potato and keeping your blood sugar higher longer. They're not. Five endos are going to tell you that, like, you know, especially in the beginning. And so you're just out there saying, like, I don't understand this. Like, why is this a problem? You know, I had bacon and eggs this morning and just one little piece of toast. I don't understand. Like, it's 20 carbs for the toast and everything else. Didn't have it in it. Probably the bacon, right, right? And now suddenly the protein from the eggs is actually having, like, you know, it was probably having a nominal impact if you just ate the egg. But now the toast pushes your blood sugar up. The bacon kind of keeps it up there a little longer. Now, all sudden, they're counting the proteins, giving you a little more. And then people like, I don't understand, I basically had bacon and eggs this morning so, and

Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:00:36
that's where a lot of people then, if they have enough of the same thing over and over, kind of like that, regularity and understanding the foods that are your typical things to eat, you see that you say, Well, clearly, I need to change my insulin to carb ratio, right, right? It may not be the case if you ate the toast alone. Does your insulin to carb ratio along with the right timing of that insulin? Does it actually work? Does your blood sugar? Yes, go up. Maybe it peaks at 139 and then it comes right back down nicely. By three hours later, you're at a target of 95 which was your goal. Great. But as you said, Now you add those other macronutrients, proteins and fats, and in what quantity? Oh, you had one little piece of toast. Great. You carb counted for the toast, but these other macronutrients, again, depending on how much of them you ate, may end up keeping your blood sugar stuck higher after the bread was kind of done hitting Yeah,

Scott Benner 1:01:34
and you don't know it, one loaf of bread could be made with high fructose corn syrup, while another loaf of bread is not, you know, people get it into their heads, like, oh, like, wheat bread, that's healthy. Wheat healthy better. Like, not necessarily, right? Yes, brown, definitely better than white, right? You get into the that stuff you do see, for some people, like sourdough doesn't really touch them, so that's about what's inside of it, not about what color it is. Or, if your mom told you this is healthy, eat this, or something like that, because right, your mom didn't know either exactly correct. Yes, Jenny's mom knew. Most of our moms didn't know. I've told enough stories to know that my mom didn't know. So okay, so that's our goal. We understand the role of insulin. I think you know, do you want to? Do you want to go a little deeper here? Or do you, like, where you're at with this? No, we can go deeper.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:02:23
What? What are you considering in the dig into thing?

Scott Benner 1:02:27
Well, I mean, this is the basic one, and we are kind of up on an hour, so part of me just thinks, like, maybe just hold this and then move on to the next module and let them build on each other. That's great. Yeah, no, that, yeah, that's perfect. Okay, all right. Well, then I appreciate this very much. I can't wait for people online to y'all just about this great thank you.

The podcast episode that you just enjoyed was sponsored by ever since CGM. They make the ever since 365 that thing lasts a whole year. One insertion every year. Come on. You probably feel like I'm messing with you, but I'm not. Ever since cgm.com/juicebox thanks for tuning in today, and thanks to Medtronic diabetes for sponsoring this episode. We've been talking about Medtronic mini med 780 G system today, an automated insulin delivery system that helps make diabetes management easier day and night, whether it's their meal detection technology or the Medtronic extended infusion set, it all comes together to simplify life with diabetes. Go find out more at my link, Medtronic diabetes.com/juicebox 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 diabetes Pro Tip series is about cutting through the clutter of diabetes management to give you the straightforward, practical insights that truly make a difference. This series is all about mastering the fundamentals, whether it's the basics of insulin dosing adjustments or everyday management strategies that will empower you to take control. I'm joined by Jenny Smith, who is a diabetes educator with over 35 years of personal experience, and we break down complex concepts into simple, actionable tips. The Diabetes Pro Tip series runs between Episode 1001 1025 in your podcast player, where you can listen to it at Juicebox podcast.com by going up into the menu, the episode you just heard was professionally edited by wrong way recording. Wrong wayrecording.com you.

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#1538 Hypoallergenic Savior

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.

Lauren’s hypoallergenic dog saved her life during a dangerous low blood sugar—hear how instinct and devotion collided.

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

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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
Friends, we're all back together for the next episode of The Juicebox Podcast. Welcome.

Lauren Wood 0:15
Hi. I'm Lauren Wood. I'm an entrepreneur, and I have had type one diabetes for 44 years now.

Scott Benner 0:27
Check out my algorithm pumping series to help you make sense of automated insulin delivery systems like Omnipod five loop Medtronic 780, G twist tandem control IQ and much more. Each episode, we'll dive into the setup features and real world usage tips that can transform your daily type one diabetes management. We cut through the jargon, share personal experiences and show you how these algorithms can simplify and streamline your care. If you're curious about automated insulin pumping, go find the algorithm pumping series in the Juicebox Podcast, easiest way. Juicebox podcast.com, and go up into the menu, click on series, and it'll be right there. 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. 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, this episode is sponsored by the tandem mobi system, which is powered by tandems, newest algorithm control iq plus technology, tandem Moby has a predictive algorithm that helps prevent highs and lows, and is now available for ages two and up. Learn more and get started today at tandem diabetes.com/juicebox,

Lauren Wood 1:57
Hi, I'm Lauren Wood. I'm an entrepreneur, and I have had type one diabetes for 44 years now, and it's something that I'm very obsessed with, and love to keep learning about, and love connecting with people who have type one awesome. How old were you when you were diagnosed? I was diagnosed just after my 10th birthday.

Scott Benner 2:24
Okay, okay, I see you're 5444 Wait, wait, wait, did you say you had it for 44 years?

Lauren Wood 2:30
Oh, did I say 40? I might have I'm sorry today, which is not usually me. I'm just so excited about being here with this community. Yeah, I've had it for 34 years. Then, all right. Well, that's because I am only 40 excellent.

Scott Benner 2:42
I was like, Oh, I didn't, I mean, I saw you a minute ago, and I was like, You're not my age. But, I mean, maybe there's

Lauren Wood 2:48
nothing against 50. I'm just not there yet. 40 has been enlightening for me. Listen,

Scott Benner 2:52
I was getting ready to tell you look terrific. I was like, this really working out for you. Now you just look 44 don't worry about

Lauren Wood 2:58
tell everyone.

Scott Benner 3:02
May I tell you that I was paying a medical bill on the phone yesterday, I'm sure, an experience all of us have. And the girl answers the phone like, she's like, Hello. I'm like, Hi, I'm trying to pay a bill. Give her the number, like we're talking back and forth. I'm not saying anything, like I'm not being personable, or like we're just I'm answering her questions, you know. And there's like, a lull, and she says, like, Oh, I'm so sorry. Like, I have to get this straight now before we can move forward. I said, No. I said, you're doing fine. Don't worry about it. I said, this is the most relaxed I've been all day, like, you know, just sitting on the phone with nothing to do. And a couple moments later, she says, Oh, you sound much younger than you are. And I was, of course, in source. I was like, hold on a second. I said, What do you mean? She goes, I just saw your age pop up in front of me. She goes, but you sound like you're in your mid 30s. I said, that is awesome. I said, Do you mind if I tell my wife about this later? And she goes, Why? Ready

Lauren Wood 3:51
to throw it at my husband. She goes, why?

Scott Benner 3:54
And I said, Well, I'm going to embellish and say that you hit on me, if that's okay with you. And then she was like, Haha. And I was like, Oh, okay. So we had, like, a nice little moment. Then I paid my exorbitant bill and was on my way. But anyway, you were telling me you were diagnosed. You seem very excited. Why are you excited to be here? Because

Lauren Wood 4:12
since I was diagnosed, you know, the experience of being diagnosed was very lonely for me, very isolating. I didn't know anyone that had type one child or adult, and then I went to diabetes camp. Oh, and it changed my life. My dad was like, horrified to leave me there, because he's just not an outdoorsy person. Never been to camp, and so to him, he was like, Oh, my God. Why would anyone want to stay here? I cannot leave my baby here,

Scott Benner 4:44
abandoning my child in the woods with their diabetes. Yeah,

Lauren Wood 4:47
exactly. This is not in like, not sure who, how it was all gonna go. But I mean, they picked me up later that week, and I was the happiest I had been in a long time. It just feel. So good to connect with other type ones, and so recognizing that early on, it's been something that I continually seek out and never disappoints. Can

Scott Benner 5:11
you, like, give me a little more context, like, what's an actual, like, real world experience that happens during the connection that that fills you up and and lets you feel good and wants you to come back and do more. Like

Lauren Wood 5:23
I will be at, I was at event with my kids and spotted someone with a Dexcom on a woman with a Dexcom on. So everybody knows when this happens to me, because I will, like, won't zone in. I'm like, I gotta go, and my husband knows to watch the Kid Zone, and he'll do the track mirror. I'll be back eventually, but I go tap that person on the shoulder and like, Hey, I see you. Have a Dexcom I do too. I have type one, do you and how you know? And just start talking to them. And I usually end up leaving with a phone number and an opportunity to connect again sometime, and it leads to some nice friendships. I mean my best friend, which sounds kind of silly, near 40s, with my best friend, but he is my nearest and dearest friend I met at diabetes camp. And so I know firsthand that those relationships where you don't have to say it all, and someone will still be understanding of 100% of it is really special, and that is something that I just continually seek out because of the the ease in that

Scott Benner 6:29
your closest friend in your mid 40s is someone you met at diabetes camp when you were 10. Yes, no kidding, yes, that's awesome. Ross, hi, Ross, hey. Ross, what's up? Man,

Lauren Wood 6:37
he's so special to me. We created a scholarship for our camp to send kids to camp, because when I was a counselor, I had the parent of one of my favorite campers came up to me and said, Thank you for this week. I know she really loves it and values it, but I'm not sure if we'll be able to send her next year. It's really getting exorbitant and out of our budget, and you can hear, I'm still emotional about it today. It broke my heart. Ross and I had been friends for all these years, and we just we've gotten along like a house on fire since we first met, and we just have so much fun together. And we both really valued our time at camp when we were old enough, and, you know, making our own money, and things were going well enough that we could afford to set some money aside. We decided to set our own money aside, and then also to fundraise our friends and family and community. And we were able to send eight kids to camp for a few years. So that was really a beautiful experience. So

Scott Benner 7:36
it's interesting, you bring this up because I've this year, had this experience, and I haven't had it in the past. Somebody came on from Camp Sweeney to be on the podcast, and it's a gentleman that runs the camp, and he was infectious, like, how excited he was about it, and he had been doing it for so long that you realize, like, this is a thing he believes to his core. Or, I mean, he wouldn't be doing it for this many decades, you know, yes. And he says you could give away a spot at camp on the podcast. I was like, oh, that's terrific. So I went to one of the sponsors to us Med, and I said, I'm giving away the spot in the camp. Would you give one away, too? And they were like, absolutely. So I got to give two away. And I was like, that's great. Now, the course of giving away the camp, you know, drew a lot of attention to the camp. So the camp came back and said, Hey, would you like to give away another one? And I said, Yeah, sure. They said, we have just like you, somebody who loves the camp, who wants to send a kid to it, so we have another spot to offer. And I was like, All right. So I called Omnipod, and I was like, Hey, I'm giving away a spot at camp. Sweeney, do you want to give one away? And they were like, Yeah. And I was like, All right, so now, like, suddenly I facilitated four kids going to camp, and then, and then goosebumps, yeah, it's great. And then he came back to me last month, and he was like, you want to do two more? And I was like, right on, so I'm picking the winners today. Oh, that's why I can't believe you said it like that, because it's my to do list today says cruise follow up, because we're setting up the cruise still, and I'm doing some things for that. And then pick the giveaways. Pick the giveaway winners sitting in front of me, make the podcast. I also have to eat lunch. I'm doing other things, but these are the things that I need to get done today. And yeah, I can't believe you said that, but

Lauren Wood 9:18
synergy. So what does that process look like for you, what do you mean? Like, how are you choosing? Oh,

Scott Benner 9:25
well, that's interesting, because, to make it fair, you just wanted to be random, right? So you take everybody's emails, you put it into a document, you feed the document into chat GPT. Don't that way? That's nice, yeah. But hold on, you feed it into chat GPT, and you say, Look, these are entries into a contest. I need you to pick two winners. It needs to be absolutely at random, and then it spits two out. You'd be surprised how many times I send an email and say, Hey, you won, and nobody responds back. It happens more than you think. So the people who won so far don't know it, but only. Two of the four were the first choice. Okay, yeah, so they kind of got double lucky now, but here's why, your question, and I think this is where we're getting to, is that I don't ask for people to tell me, like, why they want to go to the camp, but they send that information when they send in, and then I read them, and then you're like, Oh, well, how am I gonna like, like, I should pick one of these people. And then you start thinking, like, how would I pick, like, the stories are so, like, you know what I mean? Like, they're heartbreaking, Scott,

Lauren Wood 10:30
because that's how ours got. We were gonna send, like, I don't know, four kids initially, because we were, like, that's a lot. We get, like, that's amazing. We would be we're both thrilled to be able to do that. And then the first year, we started reading their their stories. We had asked that they just write a little short essay telling us about, you know, when they were diagnosed, what diabetes is like for them, and what camp would mean for them. And it was just an amazing thing to read through all of them, but we knew then, like no, if eight kids are going to send in applications for this, we want to send all eight. You know, it was, it's just, it does. It tugs at your heartstrings completely. And then it for me, it takes me back immediately to my camp experience and how important it was to me. I mean, it was so important, I used to take off once I had I was older and I was a counselor, which I absolutely loved. Being a counselor that was such a rewarding, rewarding experience, enriching, yeah, oh, I lost my train of

Scott Benner 11:33
thought. Listen, I'm gonna tell you something. I'm reading these emails, and you're like, I don't know how I would be able to pick and listen, it's lovely that you gave away the camp stuff, but I have a significant reach. I'm not lucky to get eight people that want to do it like I'm looking here at hundreds of entries for this giveaway, you know, and each one of them is like, my daughter would love to go. She feels isolated, or my son doesn't know how to take care of himself. I'm really hoping that once he gets there, he'll see other people doing it, like, that's the stuff. And then you read the next one and the next one, you're like, Oh my God. Like every one of these kids should go,

Lauren Wood 12:10
yes, and they all should. They really should. So anyone who's listening who I think if we could just encourage, if you went to camp and you loved it, because I know I got a big group on my chat line that I'm gonna force to listen to this. Hi, guys. Anybody who went to camp and loved it and still has you know we you keep that wisdom with you forever, what you learn there, I would encourage you to call the local camp that you know, or reach out to Scott, or reach out to to me, to whomever, and support these camps, because it is a huge expense. And for families who are dealing with children type one diabetes, like, we all know there's enough expense in all of this. Yeah,

Scott Benner 12:49
it's just it's too much, and and camps expensive too, and for good reason. Like, I mean, I think Sweeney's like, it's weeks long, like, you don't just go for a couple of days. That's cool. I think it's like, I don't want to say and be wrong, but I think it's three weeks. Ours used to

Lauren Wood 13:03
be weeks long and then, but it was like, but it would be like, younger kids the first week and then older kids the second week. Yeah,

Scott Benner 13:09
I don't think camp's for everybody. Like, you couldn't drag my kid to camp, right? Like, she's not looking for that.

Lauren Wood 13:14
Well, right? Yeah, you have to be open to it. That's not, don't just send your kid to camp because you're like, oh, this will help you, because if they don't want to go, yeah, it's not gonna, right?

Scott Benner 13:22
Then you sent them into the woods. But for the people who want it and love it, my God, I don't know. It's just very exciting. And so it's lovely that you were able to do that. And it is, yes, it's just really something so but now you're not the only person you know with diabetes anymore, right? Right. Far from did you make your own group of people that have type one. This episode is sponsored by tandem Diabetes Care, and today I'm going to tell you about tandems, newest pump and algorithm, the tandem mobi system with control iq plus technology features auto Bolus which can cover missed meal boluses and help prevent hyperglycemia. It has a dedicated sleep activity setting and is controlled from your personal iPhone. Tandem will help you to check your benefits today through my link, tandem diabetes.com/juicebox, this is going to help you to get started with tandem, smallest pump yet that's powered by its best algorithm ever control iq plus technology helps to keep blood sugars in range by predicting glucose levels 30 minutes ahead, and it adjusts insulin accordingly. You can wear the tandem Moby in a number of ways. Wear it on body with a patch like adhesive sleeve that is sold separately. Clip it discreetly to your clothing or slip it into your pocket head. Now to my link, tandem diabetes.com/juicebox, to check out your benefits and get started today, 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.

Lauren Wood 15:52
Yeah. I mean, I Well, I have my camp friends that we still talk. We have a few of us that are really good at getting people together, and they'll hold little events for people to come and, you know, visit with each other. We have a group chat line where we all trade information back and forth. Yeah, it's really nice. Do you have any children? I do. I have three,

Scott Benner 16:11
three kids. And is there any other autoimmune in your family?

Lauren Wood 16:15
Not in my with my children. So far good. They are 11, seven and five, but my brother was diagnosed with type one. Later in life, he was like, almost 30, and my my dad has type two. That's, yeah, yeah. Hey,

Scott Benner 16:34
listen, this is going to be sound strange, but you keep talking, I have to put my shoes on. I'm wearing tans. I can't believe I'm saying this out loud. I'm wearing tan socks, and it's freaking out one of my chameleons. So you keep talking, tell me a little bit about why you want to come on the podcast while you reach for my shoes. I missed that last part of what you said, but I will let me tell you my chameleon is freaked out by certain colors. I'm wearing tan socks, I don't have my shoes on, and he is staring at me like I don't know why you're trying to kill me. But could you stop please? So I'm gonna put my shoes on to cover up my tan socks. Anything about reptiles? Okay, well, this one doesn't like tan or purple. Oh, anyway, interesting. Go ahead. Why did you want to come on

Lauren Wood 17:12
the podcast? Well, I don't want anyone to feel alone in this. Sometimes I'm on the Juicebox Podcast Facebook group. You know, I just see moms on there very often. Type one moms and I, I'm a part of any local type one moms group that I can be, because I learned so much. If you want to get the info, there's nobody who knows better I feel like than a mom who's taking care of a kid with type one right? So they continue to help expand my learning, but and so I don't want them to feel alone. I want them to know like you can have diabetes from a young age and be healthy. Have three I had three children. Being pregnant is not easy, but it's totally doable. I mean, it's like having a part time job on top of everything else that you're doing, but it's possible. Yeah,

Scott Benner 17:55
tell me about being a counselor in camp and how like is that still impacting you, like that experience you had. It feels like you want to keep doing it. Oh my

Lauren Wood 18:06
gosh. I mean, I used to say they will wheel me out of this place. And Ross would always roll his eyes at me because he thought I was crazy, because he wanted to get the hell out of there. Yeah, I don't know. I just I loved it, and I loved everything about it. And the thing that really got me, Scott was when this is like, 10 years ago, something like that. Okay, that my campers, my former campers, sent me messages on Facebook, and like three of them, they were like, we're here for training, and we're just all so thankful that you were our counselor, and you inspired us to be here. And you have the most, the highest number of us here are your former campers, and we're proud of that, and we hope that we can make an impact like you made on us. And I mean, that was just, oh, that was like, one of those full circle moments for me, yeah, that I got so much out of it. And then turns out they did too, yeah,

Scott Benner 18:56
that's really wonderful, absolutely wonderful. How do you continue that now as an adult who's not a camp counselor anymore and doesn't have the same access to people.

Lauren Wood 19:05
Yeah, so for a while, I was pregnant, and Dr Mandy there was a pediatric brain surgeon in Indianapolis who had type one diabetes, and she went low, or she had the flu, and she was home by herself and was passed out. Nobody found her and she died. So that impacted me heavily, heavily. If this brain surgeon who nobody, you know, I think that in our community, so often it's just excuse. It's like, Well, she didn't take care of herself. That was her diabetes. She didn't do what she was supposed to. And I just I hear a lot of people say that, and not with this woman. Nobody looked at her and thought she's not doing what she's supposed to. She's incapable. She's dumb like nobody thought that about her in any regard, she was really missed by her children, her patients, her colleagues and. And it had a real impact on me. So I called up the JDRF, and I said, I'm pregnant, and I like, we don't have a walk here in my area anymore. And this, you know, just happened, and I want to be a part of it. So actually, they came to me, I guess it was so and I said, Yes. And my husband said, why did you agree to one more thing? And I said, well, because they needed the chairperson, and she Mandy died, and I need to honor her. And so I got very involved in my walk. And yeah, you get to know a lot of people in your local community at the walks, and it's a very uplifting space to be and fun space to be. And I find hope in it still that we can get to a cure. And so it's something I've been passionate about for a long time. So that's often been how I run into people, and then, just like accosting people on the street too, when I see them, I have to

Scott Benner 20:51
say that a walk is, you know, listen, I know it's there to raise money and, you know, all that stuff, but if you go to one that's well attended, you show up at a park and you congregate in a parking lot and get ready to head down a path, and there's four or 500 people there. It really does strike you the energy, yeah, also that there's, this is a lot of people, and yet this is a very small percentage of these people. Yeah, that's the thing that gets you. I think it is something. But if I may, like, about the going on the walk part. Because, like, once you're humping through the woods or wherever you're doing this, like that part goes away, and you're just watching people climb up and down hills and over rocks and down paths and everything. And you look up and realize, like, at 10 yards away, I can't tell any of these people have diabetes. And then it made me wonder, it's like, I wonder how many other people I'm walking past have this or going through something else I have no idea about.

Lauren Wood 21:44
See, I never looked at it that way. I more self centered. Scott, I looked around and I'm like, Ah, all these people are here to support me, to support us. And I love that, because I think that. And you know, for the kids with diabetes too, I think that they do feel on those days very supported because, like you're saying, it's just there's so many people there. It's like, okay, not all of these people that are here have type one, but everybody here definitely cares enough about it to show up. Yeah,

Scott Benner 22:12
no. I mean, listen, if you can harangue a friend into showing up at a park on a Saturday morning to wander through the woods with you for reasons that are not exactly clear, then that's a person who cares about you and the thing that you're doing, you know, really something totally, yeah, it's hard to get I mean, you ever try to, like, schedule a softball game or something like that between friends? It's impossible. Good luck, 20 people somewhere, but yeah, hundreds and hundreds of people showing up is pretty awesome. It's really cool. So what do your kids know about your diabetes. If you got sick and got low, what do you think the people in your house would do? Oh,

Lauren Wood 22:45
they are. They're amazing. I think I told you the beginning of this, I'm an open book, and I really do live my life that way. So I learned very early on in my diabetes, like not to hide it. When it comes to my close relationships, I make sure that it's always front and center, so to speak, just in the sense that, like, I don't want us, like thinking about diabetes all the time, but if something happens, I want to make sure that I'm able to get help. I used to be the person that would sit through meetings at work, going low, shaking like I can get through this. I'm tough, is what I used to tell myself, which is the I can't believe that I was ever that dumb.

Scott Benner 23:25
You're trying to tough out a low blood sugar, yes, and

Lauren Wood 23:28
that was before Dr Mandy, too, before she passed. But I with my kids, it's like, okay, I know better. Now. I know how to ask for help. And so for them, for it either looks like they help me get snacks. Sometimes they'll help me treat my low they know where my they know juice boxes are for mommy. They know that like certain candy is not for them. That's for my low treatments. And they're very respectful of that. My 10 year old, she's 11, he's had some scary moments with me. He's a really smart kid. He was like reading, not like he was reading Harry Potter by himself at five. So he's in tune to things that I think a lot of other people might not be. So he notices things in me sometimes when other people don't. We were on a hike, Mother's day hike. My family loves being outside. I'm the one they have to drag there. But it's

Scott Benner 24:21
Mother's Day. Let's do something you don't want to do. Awesome.

Lauren Wood 24:26
I love being with them, and they're all, they all love being outside. It was a nice day, so I acquiesced, and and the excitement of everything had left my low, treatment stuff in the vehicle. We were having a terrific time, and we're just like, wow, I can't believe, like, the baby, like, she's stoic probably three years ago, so she's about two that she's still doing well out here, and we're all having fun, like, Let's go further. And we had just made that decision, when all of a sudden, I was like, Ooh, blood sugar. And I said to my husband, like, oh my gosh, I'm I was, at the time, like, 80 and dropping. So. He ran back to the vehicle with my two daughters, carrying one like dragging another along for honey. And my son stayed with me and walked with me because we were just gonna walk slowly back. And he was so sweet, Scott. He just looked at me and said, Mom, what's going on for you right now? And I told him, you know, like how I was feeling, and you know what goes on, basically, inside your head, when you're going low, you know that you're shaking, that you're scared, things are kind of, it's hard to focus. You sweating a little bit. Your heart's beating fast. You made blurry vision. You know those, all these things are happening. And he just started asking me about camp, because he knows that I love to talk about camp, and it was enough for me to pass the time to get to where I needed to be to meet my husband. When he was bringing the my Juicebox

Scott Benner 25:53
to those two kids, he was

Lauren Wood 25:57
dragging, I think at that point he was they were running. The one was running behind him. He wasn't dragging her anymore. He was just she was running behind him. So I

Scott Benner 26:04
wonder if he thought I'll lock them in the car and then I'll come back. That would probably be, I know you're not supposed to lock your kids in the car, but I'm wondering if, like, by the way, when I say I know you're not supposed to lock your kids in the car, that's not me saying I used to lock my kids in the car, and I know you're not supposed to. I'm just saying. I wonder if in that moment, he thought, yeah, well, how do I lighten my burden to get back to

Lauren Wood 26:25
when you're trying to think fast, because it literally is your wife's life,

Scott Benner 26:29
yeah, yeah, I probably would have locked him in the car. I mean, it's just the park. There's never any creepy people at the park.

Lauren Wood 26:33
No, never. Thankfully, he didn't have to resort to that that day.

Scott Benner 26:37
So you're your oldest has had a number of experiences with you like this. It sounds like so you feel like he gets it on a different level. Do you ever feel badly that he gets it

Lauren Wood 26:49
all the all the time? Yeah, yeah. I mean, I wish that they didn't have to know that fear, and yet, I prefer that they know about it, because I had a extremely scary low incident six years ago, seven years ago now, and my dog actually saved my life right time. So my whole family is in on it. Hold on a second.

Scott Benner 27:18
I want to tell you first before you tell me how your dog saved your dog saved your life, because dogs don't have thumbs, and I don't understand this exactly, but I wanted to tell you that while you were explaining to your son how it felt to be low, I started thinking about Arden, and I got I got upset. Yeah, it's difficult to remember in that moment when your kids like not listening to and you're like, eat this or do that, it just feels like they're ignoring you, but like, if they're feeling all those things that you described at that moment, but they're and they're just powering through and trying to hold it together and and you're like, it's tough not to be like, scared to the point where you're almost angry that they're not acting that makes sense. Oh, okay. And

Lauren Wood 27:57
I can get that from a parent's perspective, yeah. But then also, from the person with diabetes perspective, like I legit feel like I'm dying every time, right? Every time I'm low, I feel like I'm dying. And so if I'm dramatic, you know, not listening how you want me to that used to drive my husband crazy. He'd be like, put some give me something. I'd be like, I don't want that. But, I mean, it's just that's, you know, we're not being defiant. It just really is your brain shutting down and you're doing the best you can. And, yeah,

Scott Benner 28:28
and I know that better than anybody. I've talked to 1000 people, but exactly still, while it's happening, there is part of you that goes like, Oh, I'm sorry. Gushers aren't the right candy, right? You know what I mean, right? You're like, oh, oh, I didn't realize I brought the wrong candy to save your life with. Yeah, that's why I have to be honest with you, I'm a proponent of if you send me for something, I come back with a fistful of options if that's possible. So

Lauren Wood 28:55
yeah, I think that's a great way to go, too. When you're low, it's just like, you never know. I feel like, Yeah,

Scott Benner 28:59
I'm like, here pick it's fine. Anyway, I'm sorry. We were headed somewhere, and I cut you off. Oh, your dog saved your life. What kind of dog? First of all,

Lauren Wood 29:07
oh, my gosh, he's a golden an Australian Labradoodle, I guess. Yes, Labradoodle. Okay.

Scott Benner 29:13
Were you just trying to make sure we all knew you're a white lady when you said that? Yeah,

Lauren Wood 29:17
yeah, totally. Well, listen, and like, I need a designer dog, like a designer No, I don't. It's just I have terrible allergies, terrible and this is, like, the only kind of dog that doesn't make me go crazy. So good.

Scott Benner 29:31
Oh, well, that's awesome. Remind me, after we find out how this dog saved your life, by the way, this better be a good story. It is after that I want to hear about the allergies. And I know you have ADHD, I want to hear about that as well.

Lauren Wood 29:43
Yeah, that's fine. Skipping around so much

Scott Benner 29:44
too. Tell me about the dog.

Lauren Wood 29:46
My husband was away on a fishing trip, so things were different. And anytime I switch things up and they're different, like it does affect my blood sugars a little more. My mother in law came to stay with me because I had just had a baby in May. No, I had her in June. June, and this was, like, July, August. It was early August. So she's staying with me to help out, because my husband's on this fishing trip with his dad and his brother, and I wake up on the couch. I'm passed out on the couch, and I don't know what's going on, and I like, look down and I see a bottle of formula at my feet, and I'm like, Oh my God, because it's something that we kept in the fridge. And I'm thinking, where's my baby? Yeah. And then I just passed right back out. Every time you wake up, you have to get your bearings about you again, you know? And so I would wake up and be like, Oh my god, what is happening? And then look around and be like, okay, you're okay. Am I okay? Like, what do I need to do? And I was like, Okay, I need to scream for help. And then I tried to scream, and it just came out, like I had no exertion. I could not exert any, yeah, anything into my voice. I tried to get up, and I fell. My legs were not working, and I thought, Oh, my God, I'm gonna die here, and where is my baby? And this I passed out like Scott, I couldn't tell you. I mean, maybe it was 10 times, maybe it was four times, maybe it was 10 minutes, maybe it was three hours. I have no idea, coming in and out of consciousness. Yes, I am entering in and out of consciousness. And every time I wake up, I'm so thankful that I woke up. And I'm like, I can't let that happen again, because I don't know if I'll be able to wake up again. So every time I'm like, okay, and I try to get myself back as soon as, like, quick as possible, so that I can figure out what I need to do to save myself and potentially my baby. Because again, I don't know what I did with her. And then I'm on the floor and I can't move. I'm trying to crawl, and I'm falling and like it is, I am feeling I'm a person who has a lot of energy, a lot of excitement, a lot of I can see the good and things. And I started to really get scared, because I was like, I don't know how I'm gonna get where I need to get, which was I was in my family room, which is right next to my kitchen, so it's not, yeah,

Scott Benner 31:52
I don't know how I'm gonna get 15 feet to save my life, exactly

Lauren Wood 31:55
right? So I'm trying to crawl, and I wasn't able to, and then passed out again. And then come to and my dog is right there with me. And I don't know where he came from. Didn't remember him being there earlier, but he went and got under me and got under me, would lift me up, and then set me back down, and then come back through and get back under me. Because it was like he couldn't carry me. I was too heavy for him. He's a big dog, but, you know, I'm like, 140 plus pounds, like he's, there's no way, but He lifted me and was able to get me far enough that, you know, that 10 or 15 feet to the kitchen where I could get my juice boxes. And I couldn't even find that, because you're so low, you're just so disoriented, I couldn't find what I needed. And so I knew there was sugar in the cupboard next to my stove, so I went to get that. I couldn't stand up. I mean, there was just so much in the way. It was crazy. I'm trying to, like, I tried to throw a shoe across the room. I mean, like, the more noise I make, I'll wake my mother in law up. She didn't hear anything. She felt terrible. You know, it was, like, terrible. So I get to the sugar, and I just, like, dumped it into my mouth. I had sugar going all over me, and was just like, I'll clean up later. And just kept pouring sugar down my throat until I started to feel a little bit better. Wow, yeah. I mean, I really don't know, without my dog, without Buster, if I would have been able to make it into the kitchen, because I just literally could not move myself like

Scott Benner 33:24
a little help. What would you call like a hypoallergenic savior? Perhaps, yeah, meaningful,

Lauren Wood 33:29
because I say he's so cute, but so dumb, and my son will say he is not dumb. He saved your life, huh? Yeah,

Scott Benner 33:37
no kidding. I gotta get off this podcast today like I'm tearing up all over the place, like that dog lifted you and pushed you and lift you and pushed you. Yes, Jesus, he

Lauren Wood 33:46
knew. He knew I needed I didn't have to ask him for help either. He just knew I needed it, and he did it. So now in our family, we're not allowed to lie down on the floor without movement, because he gets very anxious.

Scott Benner 33:58
Oh my god, does that piss you off more when he on the floor, because you think he knew to save my life, he knew nothing on the floor. Yeah, a little bit,

Lauren Wood 34:07
yeah. I'm like, come on, he know he gets it somewhere.

Scott Benner 34:11
Well, that's crazy about that dog. How old is the dog? He is eight, nine. He just turned nine. We need to slow time down a little bit.

Lauren Wood 34:19
I know. Oh, no. He's such a sweetheart, too, and he

Scott Benner 34:23
doesn't make you sneeze. What a two for one that is. Let me ask you, though, why you low so much. How long ago was the story? I guess is my question. Oh,

Lauren Wood 34:32
this was like, yeah, no, that's if this happened on the regular, I would be very No, no, that's the worst incident I've ever had.

Scott Benner 34:38
Yeah, I imagine ever What was your management then, were you like on a pump? MDI, were there? CGM at that point, like all that,

Lauren Wood 34:46
I was on a pump. Then I'm MDI, and I just had been MDI for a little bit. I needed a little break from it. I had never been on a break from my pump. I'd been on it since college, and so I was like, I need to give my stomach a little room. So at this time. Time, though, I think I was on, I was on a pump, though at this time,

Scott Benner 35:03
but not an automated system, like nothing, that was trying, no,

Lauren Wood 35:06
this was, this was before that. Yeah, yeah. While you're

Scott Benner 35:09
low and it's still giving you your basal, it's like, oh, here, here's some more. Yeah, right, exactly. No, wait, I'm coming back. Wait a minute. Here comes the other basal. Ooh, gone again. Yeah, right, exactly. Cheese. Gosh, oh, it turned out too,

Lauren Wood 35:22
and my baby was fine. Oh yeah, we forgot to leave that part out. But she was fine. She was in her bed. I had, I think I just grabbed the formula thinking, like, oh well, there's sugar in here somewhere. If I don't know what I was loving, I'm

Scott Benner 35:34
not sure how you got through the formula. Maybe the dog put the baby to bed. Who knows?

Lauren Wood 35:38
Maybe he did. She was safe in her bed, though, so we gotta give him mad props. He was

Scott Benner 35:42
like, This lady's drunk. I'm gonna put this kid away, and then I'll come back and check what's the aftermath of that? Like, how do you re examine your life?

Lauren Wood 35:50
You ask that? Yeah, the aftermath of it was intense. It was very intense for me, because, you know, like I said, I used to be the one who was like, I can get through it. I can tough it out. I'll just tough out this low blood sugar. Like, that's possible. So this, for me, was like, I'm taking so much better care of myself now and in a better spot. And then this still happened. And, you know, after you have babies, your blood sugars are crazy. So it's like, accepting all of that, accepting like, it's okay, it's not your fault. You know, I want to find a reason for it all the time so that I can fix it. I'm a fixer, a doer. I want to fix it. And sometimes there's like, you know, you just got to keep going. And I had to get therapy because lows were very difficult for me after that, and I was in therapy already.

Scott Benner 36:38
Wait, what was that laugh? Or what was,

Lauren Wood 36:41
well, just like, you can tell them a little bit crazy, I need therapy, but I feel like everybody does. I mean, honestly, truthfully, um, I it's not something that I think is a joke. I do think therapy is very beneficial, especially for things like this. Like, I was like, I don't know how to be low anymore, because it scares me so much. And so I did this one motor como therapy where, you know, she, like, reshaped it for me, reframed it for me, so that I could get to the point where and realize that the what was showing up on my Dexcom was just a number. It's information. And I like the information. I like all having all the information. And so use it as that, it's data. And then the next thing she told me to do was distract myself, and so I started doing that. Now, when I'm low, I'm on Facebook and I'll just scroll, because it helps me to focus on something else. When I feel like I'm dying,

Scott Benner 37:33
I'm glad you said that, because we joke. I mean, you know, myself and a small group of volunteers. We manage a very large Facebook group full of people with diabetes. And there are moments where we'll like, say to each other, like, do you think everyone's drunk or low? Or what do you think is happening right

Lauren Wood 37:52
now? I will admit I'm often on Facebook when I'm low, that's my it's my checkout.

Scott Benner 37:57
I swear to you, we have that thought sometimes, like, like, you'll see somebody who you know for years, like, as very reasonable and like, all of a sudden, you're like, Where'd that come from? You know, I see a check with them, and they'll say, oh, sometimes they'll say, I'm sorry my blood sugar was low. Oh, yeah. See,

Lauren Wood 38:12
I wonder how many of us do that?

Scott Benner 38:14
Well, I'm saying on some nights more than others, and also on some nights, like, you know, sometimes it's drink o'clock on Facebook, like, Friday evening. Sometimes, you know, people are a little chippy, and they, you know, I'm like, there's a lot of beer going on right now. I can just smell it with the answers and stuff and the way people are anyway. So you actually had to, like, seek out that kind of help. I asked because, you know, Arden had a seizure a couple of me, it's been, like, three years now. I guess it's been a while now, she was shook by it, for sure. Yes, that shook this. It lasted with her a few days. I think I've told this before, like she had, you know, she was graduating from high school, and like, she slept in our room for a couple of days, and then one day she just, like, we all were climbing into bed. It was like, getting to be like, night for and everybody was kind of looking at each other, like, is this what we do now? She's like, this is silly. I'm gonna go back to my room. But she was really, really frightened, and then she'd let go of it later,

Lauren Wood 39:12
yes, and I commend all of us who have to do that, because it is no easy feat. And again, it's like, it's, it's an invisible disease too. You know that people can look at us and think we're nothing else going on, but there is so much more that's happening for us all the time, physically, emotionally, that we're dealing with. And yeah, so I just, I really appreciate you doing the podcast, because I'm someone who knows a lot about diabetes and just you know, you know how we learn like by default, you learn as you go. And yet, I get so much out of it, so much value out of it, that I really appreciate it. It's good to hear from all those different perspectives. That's

Scott Benner 39:56
awesome. I'm glad you. I'm glad you enjoy it. Yeah. And that very much feels nice to me because I I saw somebody online the other day. It was like, I don't like him. I think they said, I don't remember the wording, but the idea was, is that I'm I got a word for them. I'm showing off all the time about what I know about diabetes. I was like, I mean, I'm just trying to share with you what I what I've experienced, like, you could do whatever you want with it. I guess it might be my I don't know. There are times I think that this I don't know where you're from. I'm not asking, like, I think there's something about the Northeast thing a little bit like, you project a lot of confidence when you're talking and maybe to other people that reads wrong. Or maybe that person's from New York too, and just thinks I'm an asshole. I have no idea. Or maybe they're just really sensitive. It's possible. I have no idea. I also could be a jerk. I'm not saying any of those things can't be true, but, you know, like I'm I'm just out here doing my best and, you know, talking a lot, so you don't expect that once in a while, I'm not going to say something that comes off a little weird or wrong or whatever. You know, you haven't tried talking this much and being recorded and letting everybody listen to it. It's not

Lauren Wood 41:01
easy. No, it's not. I just started it recently. I started a podcast myself a couple years ago. Did you? And yeah? And it's like, yeah, it's a lot harder than people saying to, like, Listen to yourself and watch yourself back. It's like, Oh God,

Scott Benner 41:14
I record probably I'm gonna say, like, at least five hours a week, and nobody edits what I say anyway, if you listen to 1500 hours of this, and you find it even like 50 hours of it where I'm being an asshole, I think that's still not bad.

Lauren Wood 41:31
I think so too. And I've never, I've never listened for a minute and thought you were an ass. Well, I appreciate

Scott Benner 41:36
that. I'm saying I was trying to be like I don't believe I've been an asshole for 50 solid hours of 1500 hours of speaking. But if I had been I still think like, wow, that's not bad. I challenge you to sit down with a person five days a week who you don't know and have never met before, have an honest conversation with them, which I am doing, and you know, not once or twice, say something where somebody could be like, what? Yeah. I

Lauren Wood 42:01
mean, the thing is, right, it's never somebody who's in the arena that's gonna be trying to throw shots at you like that, right? Probably

Scott Benner 42:07
not, yeah, that's fine. It's whatever. I saw it the other day, and it like, I was like, oh, geez, I'm just doing my best. I wish I could meet that person, because I would tell them, like, I mean, first of all, I think if we spoke for a little while, you wouldn't feel that way, but maybe you would, and even if you do good outweighs the bad. Like, you know what I mean? Like, this podcast does a lot of good listener

Lauren Wood 42:28
the podcast, then possible. Do you know your Enneagram number? My

Scott Benner 42:32
what? Oh, see,

Lauren Wood 42:34
crazy. Oh, here

Scott Benner 42:35
comes your crazy. What are you about to tell me, this is my crazy. Your Enneagram number? I don't know what you're talking about. It's making me want to stop the recording. Tell me it's a

Lauren Wood 42:44
type. It's a Personality Typing, like a way of Personality Typing that's been around for like, 1000s of years, and it puts us all there are nine ways of being and looking at things, and so it's like, you know, use like Myers, Briggs and all of that. You'll be the INTJ or whatever. I never, like, resonated with those the Enneagram I read my number, which I'm an eight anyone listening to this probably was like, Who knows it is like, yeah, I get that, which is the protective challenger. And I just identified with it so quickly that I was like, I need to learn more about this now. I incorporated it into my business practice, and because I'm just, like, obsessed with it, which happens with ADHD too, and it's just helps me so much in relationships, and it's just interesting too. Like, as I hear you talking, I like hearing what's important to you a little bit. It's like, Oh, I wonder what. Just wonder what your number would be. So if you ever take, I'll give or take the test, I'll email it to you. It's easy. It's like, 10 or 15 minutes to take, and you just go with whatever your gut answer is, and it'll tell you what your Enneagram number is. And that's not like the way to tell then you read through it and see if that you identify with that, you know, etc. So,

Scott Benner 43:52
yeah, listen, if I find 15 minutes, I'll do it, send it over. Okay, amazing. We just did the one the other day that's floating around right now that tells you where you fall politically. Have you seen that one? Though, it's like the pew, the Pew Research Institute. It's been, it's all over the gonna say the internet. It's been everywhere on the machine. It's like, when my wife says that, like, the kids are like, Look at this. And they go, my wife almost every time goes, Do you know that person? Because my kids are like, we don't know everyone on the internet.

Lauren Wood 44:22
Mom, I know a lot of people, but she's like, I

Scott Benner 44:24
just did I thought you were showing me somebody you knew. And it's always I finally, I said to Kelly one time, like, stop asking that question. But it was interesting because we took it and everyone in the house scored the same, which was interesting because there's younger kids and older people. And then I gave it to my neighbor, who leans a certain way, and he got back to me and he said, I think this more aggressively put me in a direction than I actually am. I was like, oh, it's interesting. So it's just fun to do stuff like that. So I would do it. And also, I believe I know what I think I'm a Gryffindor too. Mm. Okay, because for a while, Arden was big into those quizzes. Also, I wanted to ask you, with your

Lauren Wood 45:06
list is a little deeper than are you in? Griff which house are you in? I

Scott Benner 45:09
don't know. Is it?

Lauren Wood 45:10
It? Is it? Is it dives into each type's core fears and core motivations, which really tells you a lot about a person. And it just helped me like to calm down when I'm dealing with people, yeah, who don't think like me, you know, like, it just makes it a lot easier to realize, okay, this is how they deal with things, and it's all right,

Scott Benner 45:29
yeah, what did it teach you about yourself that it helped? That was helpful? Oh, it helped

Lauren Wood 45:33
me calm down. And, like, I mean, why? Because Enneagram eights are very assertive, very angry. I not very angry. It's just that I'm very comfortable in anger where most people are not, and I'm also assertive. Because if somebody Scott is beaten up on you and

Scott Benner 45:49
you got protective of me, yeah, you got protective of me when I was telling that story, oh,

Lauren Wood 45:54
we'll see. Yeah. I mean, that's just what I'll do. If there's somebody who's like, coming after someone who I know or am associated with, I always will fight for that smaller person, because I'm like, What are you doing? But very often, like interjecting myself like that into other people's business was not always well received. Even by people who really love me, they would be like, What are you doing? Why did you do that? And I would be like, well, you needed somebody to stand up for you. And they were like, well, yeah, but not like that. You didn't

Scott Benner 46:21
do it the way I was gonna do it, which was not by yelling, yeah? Well,

Lauren Wood 46:25
not as I'm just really intense, too. It's just eights have an intensity about us. So it was like learning that that was like, okay, I can back it down a little more and still be very helpful to people, but maybe in a way that they will receive better.

Scott Benner 46:38
Yeah? Oh, awesome. I'm glad it helped you. Any of your other pets done anything magical? Or was it just the dog? I

Lauren Wood 46:44
don't have any other pets that you're talking about, a chameleon or whatever.

Scott Benner 46:48
Listen, you got to know that this chameleon completely relaxed when I put my shoes on. Good, good. Good for the he was frozen in fear staring at my feet.

Lauren Wood 46:59
Bad for that. I do too.

Scott Benner 47:01
I do. His colors completely changed. He was like, he couldn't move fake. Is that thing he's about? He's still growing, but I'd say he's about two feet from the tip of his nose the tail. What? Yeah, he's awesome. He's very gentle and like, and and easy going. Yeah, I think, I guess reptiles are for some people. I want to be clear, if he was like, bitey or flighty or ran around like crazy, I wouldn't care about that at all. Like, I wouldn't want to be involved in that. What I like about them is that they they're very slow and methodical and careful. I genuinely, like, I'll turn and look at him a couple of times a day, and it's relaxing, because he's gonna move, you know, four feet across from one place to another, and it might take 45 minutes. Oh, just nice. And he's chill like he is, not in a rush, and it helps slow me down a little bit too. But oh, well, that's good, yeah. Anyway, I covered my feet his his colors changed immediately, and he went back to his life. He was like, I don't know what about that color gets him, but I have a tan sweatshirt I can't wear into this room. That's

Lauren Wood 48:06
so interesting. I never knew that reptiles. I think he's reptile, right? Reacted,

Scott Benner 48:13
he's a reptile, all right, so I'll take my anagram test if you send it to me, Enneagram, yes, I will get it to you. Also, I wanted to ask you, because of your last name, Do people ever look at you and go wood seeker? That ever happened to no because of Harry Potter? Isn't there a line in Harry Potter where she says, Would seeker like she like tells him he's a seeker in the game they play? I don't

Lauren Wood 48:38
know the book I did, but I like I was once he was reading it on his own, I was like, thank you. I don't have to be in this anymore. All right. Anyway. I mean, I would read with him a little bit, but I'm not down with all of it. I'm sorry. So no, nobody has done that. Done that to me. Yet, if

Scott Benner 48:51
you and I knew each other, every time I thought of your last name, I would think wood seeker. And now people are probably listening. He's probably something else, like a different position. I was going to pick another position. I don't really know it, but really know the rest of them. So how do you manage your diabetes today? Like, what's your setup?

Lauren Wood 49:06
Well, today, I'm currently on MDI, currently, oh, because you wanted to try, you wanted a pump break, yeah. Who needed a pump break? Which Ross does he Well, I lie. He doesn't do a pump break. He was like, That thing.

Scott Benner 49:21
He did a pump stop, gotcha, it wasn't

Lauren Wood 49:23
for him, so he'll be without him. Like, okay, I could do that. But then, you know, from from dealing so closely and helping Arden so much that, like, it's different for a man to be on MDI than it is for a woman,

Scott Benner 49:37
because you a thing, your period and all the stuff. Yeah, it's a thing, that damn thing, yeah, that thing that again, I'm gonna say nature did not do a good job, right? Yeah, there had to have been a better way to do this. But tell

Lauren Wood 49:48
me about Yeah, and the more I learned about menopause, yeah, oh, yeah, awesome.

Scott Benner 49:53
I was listening to a video about menopause last night in bed. Now, you might think that's

Lauren Wood 49:57
odd. No, I think it's fabulous. More men need. Do that. I'm down with it. I could hear

Scott Benner 50:01
my wife's phone, which is why I could hear it. Oh, and the description was, like, horrifying. So, yeah, I was like, awesome. Perimenopause

Lauren Wood 50:09
can go on for 10 years. Yeah, years. So no being MDI in like, being a woman is not I don't believe it to be the best choice for me. So I'm going to be going back on my pump when I see my endocrinologist next month. You're having trouble, yeah, because it is a pain in the hiney. It's a lot more work for me to keep up with during my hormonal cycle, because it's not just the week of my period, as you know, you know, like it's the week leading up to it, it is during it, and then it is recovery, kind of after it. My insulin needs change through the whole thing. Then there's that one great week, yeah, and then that one perfect week. And you know, during that one week, it is fabulous. It's very easy to like. It seems easy to manage. Then listen,

Scott Benner 50:57
Arden is not even 21 yet, and she's railing against being a girl. Almost every time she walks through the house, she's like, you really don't understand what this is like. I was like, I have known your mom for 30 years. I don't know firsthand what it's like. But

Lauren Wood 51:09
then, though, I am gonna argue that it is for women who have type one diabetes, it is a whole new ball game. It's just like being pregnant, like where it adds on a part time job for you that whole week you have, like, another part time job that you're attending to. I wouldn't argue

Scott Benner 51:25
with that for a second. Yeah, you better not. No, I've already figured to stay on your side, because when you're when you're on my side, I'm protected. Yes, exactly. Yeah, I don't need to be yelled at. I've been married a long time. There's a lady taking care of that, you know? You don't have to do that? Yeah, she's got that all actually. When Arden gives me trouble, I go, Oh, hold on, slow down. I take this from your mom under protest, but like, I don't need two people doing this, right? Yeah, I know I'm wrong and I'm stupid. You don't need to tell me. I got the memo. Oh my gosh. But when you go back off MDI, we'll go back to the pump. You had, what was that? I

Lauren Wood 52:06
don't know. I mean, I've been, I was on the tandem with the control IQ, and

Scott Benner 52:11
did you like that? I loved it. But you're not sure that you'll go back to tandem.

Lauren Wood 52:17
Well, I'm just, I am always wondering if there's, I mean, that Moby option looks interesting to me. I mean, tubeless is interesting, but since I started with a tube, I don't know the two of us also seems like, oh, for me, a little

Scott Benner 52:31
interesting. Tubeless seems odd to you because you've had tubing, yeah, interesting. Like, what are your goals? Your a, 1c goals.

Lauren Wood 52:39
Oh my a, 1c goals would be to be like I heard a woman that you talked to, well, her episode here a few weeks ago, I think that she was talking about, you know, she was a six or under a six while she was pregnant. And that's how mine was. I got the, I mean, I got to the lowest salency I've ever had while I was pregnant. So I know it's possible, it's just, it's amazing that it's so much easier to do when you're doing it for someone else's benefit. Yeah, I hate to say that, but, I mean, but my goal was, would always be to be in six. Okay,

Scott Benner 53:10
there's new options. There's that the eyelet pumps out now where you just announce your meals, the eyelet Moby. No, no. Moby is tandem. Tandem. Moby. Okay. Eyelet is what then islets, the one where you just say, I'm having breakfast, lunch or dinner. It's like an average size meal, low, smaller than average or larger than average for me. And then that's it. You don't interact with it at all. After that. That sounds dreaming. There are people who are talking about, they're keeping a 70 1c with it, and there's people who are doing better with it, but that's that's all that has. They're working on a dual hormone pump. I mean, I don't know if they'll ever get it to market, but they're, I think they have a goal to have a dual hormone the twist pump is coming out next month. I saw that recently, yeah, so that's going to be, yeah. I mean, I'm open, yeah. That's the loop algorithm as presented by twist. So it's twist with loop. I think they call it the twist loop algorithm. And there's Omnipod five, there's regular Omnipod dash, there's Medtronic 780, G. You know, all these pumps are, I mean, they're all good. Then they all have benefits that you got to decide which ones, you know, the thing that tips it for you, yeah,

Lauren Wood 54:19
for sure, as far as I need something, I think that's gonna work with my Dexcom, because I've fallen in love with that.

Scott Benner 54:25
Hey, listen, as long as you use my link to get the pump, I don't care which one you get. Oh, you know, that's a great idea. Thank you. And at this point, I think I have links to all but one of them. And I gotta be honest with you, I thought they'd be on board by now, so I'm not sure what happened there. Listen. Just for everybody listening, it'd be omnipod.com/juicebox. Tandem diabetes.com/juicebox. Medtronic, diabetes.com/juicebox. And let me just be the first time I say this out loud, ooh. Twist with two eyes.com/juicebox. Just go check them out with my link, you'll support the show all. That's awesome. That's all. I appreciate this. Thank you, Lauren, thank you. Please enough to thank me while I'm doing an ad in the middle of your episode. Pre No,

Lauren Wood 55:07
I'm thinking, because I appreciate the info, because finding out about pumps, that's what I always did at camp. Oh, it was a year at camp where we went from every but we had one kid on a pump our first year. No kidding, yeah. And it's probably the worst little to put on a pump too, because he was so, like, all over the place crazy, like, he was into everything he could be. He was, yeah, did you say he was the worst little?

Scott Benner 55:27
Is that what you just said? Yeah, probably. Like, if

Lauren Wood 55:30
I had to pick like, one person, like, Okay, if we're gonna put one person on a pump this year, it just would not have been that kid for me. Okay, it would have been, like, one who's a little more subdued. Do you remember

Scott Benner 55:38
the kid's name? Don't say it. But do you remember? I don't trying to decide how much of an impact they made on you. I'm

Lauren Wood 55:45
sure some of my friends will remember, though they'll remind me that's interesting. That was, you

Scott Benner 55:49
were 10 years old at a camp. There's one kid that had no, no,

Lauren Wood 55:53
no, no, the pump didn't come till much later. Really, I was diagnosed in 1991 Okay, yeah, so the pump didn't come make it to camp until I was almost aged out of camp. Really,

Scott Benner 56:04
that's the first time you saw a pump at camp. Was eight years after your diagram, because

Lauren Wood 56:09
it had to have been, that's first time I saw a pump. And like, other people being on it was at camp. And then, yeah, that then we had one that one year where it was just one kid on it, and then the next year we came, and it was all except, like three kids did, MDI and everybody else was on a pump. Big switch over. Happened quickly. Yeah, it happened very quickly, well. And I think when you're in that environment, and it's just like enough kids were able to see, even with that one little what his life was like with the pump. And, you know, you go home and you talk about that, Yeah,

Scott Benner 56:40
no kidding. I just thought of the person who wrote the thing online, because I'm like, Oh, they're gonna mishear this. But whatever I know managing diabetes like the back of my hand. And if you gave me needles and a meter, I could do it. And if you gave me needles and a CGM, I could do it really well. But if you gave me a pump, I could do it well, and it would be easier. And if you give me a pump that has an algorithm in it, well then now suddenly we're sleeping and we're rested, and life feels different. And, you know, I'm not saying everybody has to have a pump, or you're not, you know, no shame for me if you can't afford it, or you don't want it or whatever. But, man, try it one time, and if you can and see, because, yeah, it just alleviates a lot of weight. Oh,

Lauren Wood 57:21
so much that now that, right? Like, I can't wait to get away from currently, like having to have needles with me and my insulin with me everywhere I go. I will forget it, which probably ADHD, but I, yeah, I don't like having all the accoutrement with me. I like just being my pumps attached. I know I'm good. I can do whatever. I feel a lot more freedom.

Scott Benner 57:39
Yeah, tell me when you got diagnosed with the ADHD, oh, okay,

Lauren Wood 57:42
well, that was a late in life diagnosis. Did

Scott Benner 57:46
your dog figure it out?

Lauren Wood 57:49
No, he came to mean, he was like,

Scott Benner 57:52
ma'am, listen, yeah, I have other thoughts besides this one thing I really would like to help you with. But no, no. How did you figure it

Lauren Wood 57:59
out? No, I Well, the slowdown that happened for me kind of with COVID, because I was just running, going, working so much before that, not really paying attention to myself. And so when COVID rolled around, I started noticing things about myself, and then also studying the Enneagram. And I was learning about myself. And one of the things you learn as you study the Enneagram is non judgmental, self observation, and that was something I had never been good at. And so I worked on it, and started noticing myself. And I just started noticing, like, these traits of ADHD that were like, you know, at the time, it was starting to people were sharing their experiences on tick tock and stuff like that. And I was one of those people who was like, Oh, that resonates with me as other women would share their stories. So I started talking to my therapist about it, and I saw a psychiatrist about it for maybe, like 10 minutes, and she diagnosed me as bipolar. That's because that's how she makes her living. Yeah. So that felt like, huge. I'm like, What do I have bipolar? And my therapist, like, I've been working with you for years. You people with bipolar do not attend appointments with regularity or on time, like you are not bipolar, and I know that to be very true. I was like, Okay, thank you, because she does know me very well. And so I went and saw my family physician and just told her what I was dealing with. And she's like, this seems very real for you. Let's give you the diagnostic, I mean, and we'll see where we go from there. And so I did that and got diagnosed with ADHD. And it was like, that was hard

Scott Benner 59:37
to hear. It's probably easier to hear than your bipolar, yeah,

Lauren Wood 59:42
yeah, yeah, exactly. It was definitely easier to hear within bipolar,

Scott Benner 59:45
the lady that told you that, or Amanda told you that you get them out of the penny saver, where'd you? Where'd you find that psychiatrist? Yeah,

Lauren Wood 59:51
no, that was, you're probably right. I mean, it was like, one of those that was just via online. Oh,

Scott Benner 59:57
like, so they saw they. All ADHD and said bipolar. She didn't

Lauren Wood 1:00:02
take a lot of time to get to know me, and then she was asking me questions so fast, and I'm answering them like, Well, wait, is that really neat? I don't know what you're telling I just think

Scott Benner 1:00:10
that that's a crazy thing to say to somebody if you're not certain. You know,

Lauren Wood 1:00:14
right? I mean, well, she was very certain in herself and of herself, so she was not doubting it at all. But I was like, feels like that's what I am. I'm willing to accept

Scott Benner 1:00:23
it, but let's figure out for sure before we start saying it. And right anyone

Lauren Wood 1:00:27
who's dealing with bipolar, because it's just it is an intense thing to be dealing with. And I yeah, just want to make sure that I'm addressing the right issue, right? And, oh, all

Scott Benner 1:00:37
I'm saying is, like, that seems like a pretty quick turnaround from like, Hey, how are you like, you're bipolar. Like, wait, what? And then you go back to your therapist, who goes, I've known you forever. You're not bipolar. You're like, Well, okay, well, what do I do with this information now? Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, I'm sorry. ADHD, what? How do you manage with it?

Lauren Wood 1:00:53
Well, so Well, it just explained a lot of my life. Explained so much for me that it was also a relief to know that it just wasn't that I was not good enough, or, you know, I just there's things that everybody else is able to do, like keep their locker clean, that I cannot do, and anyone who had their locker next to me, Steve, I'm sorry. You know, there's just, like, I'm so sorry to that, because I pouring out of it all the time. I had lunches in there from two weeks ago. I mean, like, it was just a giant mess all the time. And so, like, just finding out that I did have ADHD is like, okay, okay, you don't have to beat yourself up for that anymore. That wasn't just, it was a very real thing you were dealing with, and you did the best you

Scott Benner 1:01:32
could. Yeah, you carried it with you. Like, did you carry like, shame from, oh, that kind of spark? Oh, no kidding.

Lauren Wood 1:01:38
Big time. Scott. Oh, big time. I mean, I was a stellar student. I did really well until I didn't, you know, when I started to get to later in middle school and then high school, really, for me, it was probably high school is actually when, like, sophomore year started to kind of fall apart for me completely, just, you know, like, the homework assignments to take multiple days to complete. Like, good luck, no chance of getting that from me, remembering what the assignment was, you know, and then the shame associated with the grades. And then my parents took grades very seriously, and they knew I was smart. So like, hey, like, A's, you were supposed to be bringing home A's. What are you doing? I was grounded one time for 18 weeks, and it's straight grounded

Scott Benner 1:02:19
for 18 weeks. Yeah, you weren't naked when that happened, and your parents found you, because

Lauren Wood 1:02:25
that's, I don't know, no, oh, my God, I was because of my math grade. Christ, they were serious about math. Oh, anybody who knows the Enneagram? My dad is an Enneagram one, okay, and so he's just very intense there. I mean, I'm intense as an eight, but ones are also very intense, and there's a right way to do everything for them, and I was not doing it the right way. So I was gonna, I was gonna learn right with

Scott Benner 1:02:45
four and a half months of being grounded like did, can I ask you, did it start? Did he look at you and go, I'm grounding you for 18 weeks, or did he ground you for a week and you just kept finding a way to elongate it? I

Lauren Wood 1:02:56
was grounded for nine weeks, nine weeks because my grade was not where it's supposed to be. I was gonna study harder and make it happen in those nine weeks, like, make a change. And that never happened. So then that was like, Okay, that didn't work for you. Then you need nine more weeks.

Scott Benner 1:03:09
You know what? I'll fix this. Nine more I'd love, is your dad alive? Yes, yeah. I'd love to ask him about where he got that from. It's awesome. He probably thought, like, maybe a semester, like, he'd keep you in the house for like, a semester, maybe. And then that's

Lauren Wood 1:03:23
what it was, yeah, like, nine weeks at a time, you know? So that's what the grading period was. And so you're gonna be grounded for that. And then then, like, Okay, once it comes back, then you'll probably, hopefully, you'll be free from it. And it was like, Oh, nope, you had another nine weeks tacked on there. Yeah, geez, so. And then I think they just kind of thought I was hopeless after a while, really, and I felt that way too. Yeah, I mean, Scott, I was like pre med. I wanted to, I went to Duquesne University as pre med, really one. I wanted to be an endocrinologist, because anyone who's from the Pittsburgh area is type one, and had it as a little kid in the late nine, mid to late 90s, knows like there's one specific doctor there, a tiny little lady who just scared the bejesus out of you, made us cry every time that we went, not just me, like I have many friends who left her office crying as children. And so there's just a lot that you're just meant to feel guilty about, I feel like, or that I carried with me and feel guilty about, and, you know, I've picked at my skin my entire existence. You know it's like to walk out, is it in front of people when you have like, you've picked at your face like, incessantly at my thumb. I used to pick incessantly my lip, like, so my ADHD diagnosis at least showed me, like, because skin picking is a symptom, okay, at least, like, it's not just that I can't just can't control yourself, but you can't control yourself, and that's okay. You just need more help with certain things

Scott Benner 1:04:52
skin picking. So like to to, like a sore, to like making it sore, or cut or bleed, or,

Lauren Wood 1:04:58
Oh yeah, bleed. Like. Scabs, yeah, on my face, like I would get a pimple still to this day. I mean, I my face looks better now than it ever has, but that's my goal, is to have a clear face. Because I've never in my adult life had a clear face. I've always been the person get, like, one little one pimple a month, as many women know, and I would pick out of it, and then it would scab over, and then pick, and then pick and then it's there for it's a pimple, but it's there for like, a year then, because I can't stop picking at

Scott Benner 1:05:26
it. Yeah, wow. And that,

Lauren Wood 1:05:28
you think that's ADHD? No, I know it is. You know it is. Oh, no kidding. That is a that's one of the telltale signs. I mean, think about, like, no adult woman wants to walk around with, like, what I have going on in my face right now? You know what I mean? Especially, I work in such a professional setting too, that it was, like, mortifying for me, but I didn't know how to stop it. Like, I didn't know what was going on. You know why I was doing that? And so just the knowing of it, though, is like, very peaceful for me in a lot of regards, and allows me to see things from a different perspective. Like this isn't something I'm saddled with for life. I know better now, so I can do better with it.

Scott Benner 1:06:06
Okay, wow. Well, I'm glad you're finding ways to deal with it. Yeah, and it's not, listen, I'm not a doctor. This should be said, every episode is the skin picking. Does it come and go? No, okay, all right, because it because attached to bipolar, it could happen, but only usually during, like, a mania thing, so, or depression. So I was just checking to see if, like, it happens. Then it doesn't, it goes away for a while, and then doesn't happen. But it's consistent.

Lauren Wood 1:06:33
It's consistent. It's more like, it feels like, like a nervous tic, almost,

Scott Benner 1:06:37
oh, wow, it sucks. I'm sorry. It's enough. You know what I mean? Like, how many things do you need,

Lauren Wood 1:06:42
right? I know, no. And yet I, I have a friend with diabetes who, like, in high school, it was me and him, and he was so cool. He played soccer and this great hair, and everyone loved him. He was so social and fabulous, and he had type one diabetes. And I was like, okay, like, this makes me a little bit cool, and now he's since he, since then, he's just come, there's been so much other he's had to deal with. He's had thrown his way. It just seems like, yeah, like you're saying, like, there's, it gets to a point where, like, Isn't this enough for us? Yeah, you just, you keep going. I'm good.

Scott Benner 1:07:12
Thanks. Yeah, give this one to somebody else. I got my fill. Yeah, well, Lauren, you're, we're great. I really appreciate you coming on and doing this with me. Thank you very much. It's It was awesome to talk to you. Did we cover everything? Or is there anything we missed? I think

Lauren Wood 1:07:26
so. I think we covered a lot. I mean, we covered so much, and I really appreciate the opportunity to be here. I of course, I just type one diabetes is something that affects me so deeply, and I care about it so much because it's been so much of my life. And I really, if there's anyone who could benefit from, you know, somebody to talk to, or anything like that, reach out to me, because I am always happy to talk all things diabetes, and I just don't want anybody to feel alone, because this can be a very isolating disease sometimes, and as we get older, it's hard to find people so well. For certain, are you still in the group? I'm in the group. Yeah. I'm in the Juicebox Podcast group. Of course, put your

Scott Benner 1:08:03
episode up. We'll, uh, we'll make a post about it and tag you, and people can bug the crap out of you. What do you

Lauren Wood 1:08:07
think of that? Oh, fabulous, good. I hope so awesome. All right. Well,

Scott Benner 1:08:11
thank you. Hold on one second for me. Thank you.

Dexcom sponsored this episode of The Juicebox Podcast. Learn more about the Dexcom g7 at my link, dexcom.com/juicebox today's episode of The Juicebox Podcast was sponsored by the new tandem Moby system and control iq plus technology. Learn more and get started today at tandem diabetes.com/juicebox. Check it out. 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. You foreign.

If this is your first time listening to the Juicebox Podcast and you'd like to hear more, download Apple podcasts or Spotify, really, any audio app at all, look for the Juicebox Podcast and follow or subscribe. We put out new content every day that you'll enjoy. Want to learn more about your diabetes management. Go to Juicebox podcast.com. Up in the menu and look for bold beginnings, the diabetes Pro Tip series and much more. This podcast is full of collections and series of information that will help you to live better with insulin. Hey, what's up? Everybody? If you've noticed that the podcast sounds better, and you're thinking like, how does that happen? What you're hearing is Rob at wrong way recording, doing his magic to these files. So if you want him to do his magic to you, wrongway recording.com, you got a podcast. You want somebody to edit it. You want rob you.

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