Scott Benner 8/23/23 Scott Benner 8/23/23

#982 From a Small Rock

Laura has type 1 diabetes and was diagnosed while in school.

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

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, welcome to episode 982 of the Juicebox Podcast

Laura is 22 years old she was diagnosed I believe around her 17th birthday with no history of autoimmune in her family. She was in the French Navy when she was diagnosed the French Navy but she lives in Texas. None of this makes sense. You'll find out more by listening. While you're listening. Please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan. We're becoming bold with insulin. When you head to my link Omni pod.com forward slash juice box there's an option down there to take a test drive of the Omni pod you can check it out for free in your home Omni pod.com forward slash juice box. Say 40% at cozy earth.com with the offer code juice box at checkout that's off your entire order by the way 40% juice box at checkout. And don't forget to check out Check Out Check Out I've said that word too much but go take a look at juicebox podcast.com It's the website for the for the podcast and there's a bunch of stuff there. I think you will enjoy it. Just go look which will make me yes Governor this episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by the contour next gen blood glucose meter contour next.com forward slash juicebox. You want easy to use you want accurate you want contour contour next.com Ford slash juice box. If you want to take ownership of your health. It starts today with ag one. Try ag one and get a free one year supply of vitamin D and five free ag one travel packs with your first purchase. That's at my link. Drink ag one.com forward slash juice box 81 is sponsoring this episode of the podcast. And they're sponsoring me too in my belly cuz I take it every day and you could to drink ag one.com forward slash juice box.

Laura 2:21
So my name is Laura. I am 22 I live in Texas and I'm orange originally from a small Caribbean island last called Guadalupe which is French. But I'd been in the US for three and a half years now. And I have been in type one since I was 17 or two days before my 17th birthday.

Scott Benner 2:46
So five years with type one. Three years almost six years long, almost six years. Three years in the US. Yes. And you're from an island that even though you said the name of it. I don't know what you're talking about. Spell it for me.

Laura 3:03
It's called Guadalupe Gu Adel au or up. E it's near you most likely know St. Maarten. Oh, I do know if you notice that Martin. It's it's a part of what Lupe so it's right next to it.

Scott Benner 3:20
Oh, that's so interesting. We we normally if we go there we go to St. John.

Laura 3:26
Or yeah, it's one of the island nearby.

Scott Benner 3:29
Yeah, we just don't make it to the is that the British own side? St. Maarten. It's

Laura 3:35
St. Martin. So St. Martin is Dutch and Sint Maarten is French. So the island is a small rock divided into

Scott Benner 3:45
a small rock divided into

Laura 3:47
Yeah, the North side is French and the South Side is

Scott Benner 3:50
Dutch. Oh, that's interesting. So you were born there?

Laura 3:53
Yes. I was born and raised for 910 years and then I moved to friends for middle school in high school. Okay, got diagnosed in high school and then moved back to Guadeloupe.

Scott Benner 4:07
Your did your parents? How were you born on a tiny island like that? Were they from they're? Well,

Laura 4:13
it's let's say it's as big as Hawaii. Okay, I've been to Hawaii. That's that's the closest I can explain.

Scott Benner 4:21
But did your parents see you got stuck on the size thing? I was trying to find out if you're? You're like Don't insult the island. It's not that small. But it's no I just mean like Were your parents native to the island or did they move there as adults?

Laura 4:34
No, my my dad was on my both of my parents were born in France. But my dad was raised in Tahiti. And once he finished high school in his military service, he decided that he was no longer going to live in France because he hated the cold. So he moved to the Caribbean and that's where my parents met.

Scott Benner 4:58
That sounds much nicer Good for him and all the people who have the nerve to do the things that the rest of us talk about. And don't do. You don't I mean, yes, yeah, yeah,

Laura 5:09
he moved there, I think in 9395. And he's been there since then. Wow.

Scott Benner 5:15
That's amazing. Okay, so you are in France when you're diagnosed?

Laura 5:20
I was in France when I was diagnosed. Yes, I was in senior year of high school.

Scott Benner 5:24
Okay, and how did that happen? How did you figure out you had type one. Um, so I

Laura 5:28
was actually an athlete, I was swimming twice a day, 20 to 25 hours a week. So I was in a good shape. I was not what people would think someone with diabetes would look like. I was also I was a swimmer. And I was also in the Navy. I was at school, technically for the Navy. So every two to three weekends, a year, every Saturday, I would go to the school where everybody would join for the Navy and would just learn stuff that you usually do on the Navy. So my goal was to join the Navy, which didn't happen. Okay, so I was around. I think the whole thing started during the summer of 2016. I was Girl Scout and spend a few weeks just camping in the woods. And obviously, we got ticks and everything. And every summer I'll just take some antibiotics from the I mean, the doctor would prescribe anti antibiotics just to make sure I wouldn't get the Lyme disease. Coming back on it was like that may have been the mistake mistake that made me diabetic. We don't know what there was no way of knowing, but that could have triggered it. So that was in like August, September and October, November, we have 10 days or two weeks of vacation. spent a week doing a swim camp swimming. Yeah, for at least four hours a day. Plus some weightlifting. And

Scott Benner 6:59
let me let me ask you a question or maybe a couple. So you think that being bit by texts or the taking the antibiotics, but we kicked

Laura 7:10
it? Yeah, taking the antibiotics, because usually antibiotics would be for six days max. And after that it's us. It's too long. But she the doctor itself prescribed me three weeks of antibiotics, which could have caused or trigger diabetes, but there's no way of knowing that it's just a really long time.

Scott Benner 7:33
Is that Is that something the doctor said to you? Yes. About not? Well, she

Laura 7:37
she told me to get on antibiotics for three weeks. But she never said oh, yeah, that may have been the thing. Okay. But looking back, I was fine. Before that. I was completely fine in two and a half months after I was in the hospital.

Scott Benner 7:52
So holding down your your concern, I think is is holding down your immune system with the antibiotics. And then maybe you're thinking you got a virus after that, or

Laura 8:03
I really don't know, I don't remember being sick, right?

Scott Benner 8:08
It's interesting, it's different. Is there any type one through your family line?

Laura 8:12
No one, literally no one and the week of my diagnosis will also the diabetes month is in November. So that's when I was diagnosed. And it was also the actual week where a bunch of associations and groups would get together to spread their awareness and my grandparents were shocked that I was diagnosed and they both went to the local supermarket to get tested and all blood sugar's will find at 11am So it's not from

Scott Benner 8:43
I love your grandparents are out like we need to get out of this. They they're gonna look to us first we have to prove it isn't us. My blood sugar is fine. Leave me

Laura 8:50
Yeah, no, less than a week after they'd call me. And they're like, well, we just got tested and was fine. I was like, Yeah, I know

Scott Benner 8:56
how that's funny. How about other autoimmune stuff like celiac word. And

Laura 9:05
literally, I had no idea what celiac was before I moved to the US. Okay. I feel like more more people have those kinds of food allergies or intolerances in the US than in France, not thyroid issues. Nope, nothing absolutely nothing. I know right now that my ala Grandpa is has type two diabetes and is getting the pills but he's completely against them.

Scott Benner 9:34
He's rebelling against the bills. Oh, yeah. He's

Laura 9:36
fully rebellious. He's he's a hunter. And so he's like, I don't care. I don't want to eat. And I'm fine. It's fine. I'll just get those pills and keep eating my sugary stuff. Sweet stuff every day. I was like, Cool. Yeah.

Scott Benner 9:52
Do you think he'll take it seriously at any point? No. Like, no, I'm pretty certain to you. He won't Yeah, okay. All right. So let's think 17, five years ago, six years. Yeah.

Laura 10:04
So I was at a swim camp. And I mean, I was tired, obviously, because we're swimming a lot. And got initially got off the swim camp took a train to go to my navy school, spent a couple of days at Navy school went to my cousin's house, because it was also, I mean, still holidays, so couldn't go back home, my mom was walking. And that's when I remember my first symptoms were that I would wake up in the middle of the night to drink, which was really unusual. And it was a small vacation house. So it was really loud for me to go from my bedroom downstairs to go to the bathroom and get some water. So I would just end up sleeping on the couch and waking up every couple hours to go to the bathroom and go drink and go to the bathroom and go drink air wouldn't sleep for days, because I was just up all night long.

Scott Benner 10:58
How long did this go on for? Oh,

Laura 11:01
that was just the end of vacation. So for three, four or five days, okay. Then I went back home and I told my mom's like, hey, it's kind of weird. Like, I don't know what's going on. And went back to school, I would sleep through all of my classes. I was really good student, extremely student. I was a may have been a bit annoying for teachers because I knew what I had to do. And I was getting good grades. So I wasn't really listening. I was like a bit of a troublemaker, but I still had good grades. So they didn't really have much to say but I would just sleep through the whole classes go to the bathroom every 30 minutes to fill up my whole water bottle and just drink it and chug it all day long. A week after went back I went back from holidays, we had a huge swim meet at our in our city. And my mom talked to one of my mom was a physical therapist, but she had no idea what diabetes was okay, she talked to one of her colleagues and she said, Well, you may want to order some blood tests because that's, that's not normal. So it was over the weekend and that during that weekend, it was one morning what didn't swim, stayed at home, watched a movie. And in two timeframe of watching a movie I had been drink I drank two and a half liters of water, which is like for like three quarters of a gallon, right? It was just by laying in bed and drinking, which was not good. So next day we go to the doctor's office, get a prescription on the Tuesday, I get blood tests do a blood test in the morning on an empty stomach without having breakfasts. And in the afternoon the lab calls my mom right away and like blood sugar is not good. You need to go to your doctor's office right now. So I'm at school I'm like, okay, cool. Well, let me just take the bus go. Go to her office, which was right next to the doctor's go to the doctor's office and stack. Yeah, it's a bit elevated. So let's oh, by the way, same doctor that told me to get antibiotics for three weeks, right? She's like, warm, it's a bit it was 322. And she's like, it's a bit too much. So let's try sugar free diet for a month and figure it out.

Scott Benner 13:16
Yeah, she doesn't seem like she knows what she's done it anything so far?

Laura 13:19
Yes. Okay, well, let's just do that. So Wednesday morning, I tried to do a sugar free with big quotes in between, because it was granola and milk, which we know now it's definitely not sugar. Great.

Scott Benner 13:38
What did you think of a sugar free in that moment? What were you

Laura 13:42
doing an athlete? I was eating really, really lean food. It was really simple. No, absolutely no fast food. That was not a thing in our house. I knew I had to have protein, carbs and veggies at each meal. No sweets, no. Drinks, of course. Yeah. Like it was really like the simplest meals you could have. That's what I was having already. Except maybe cereals in the morning and maybe pancakes on the weekend. But really simple meal. So I go to school Wednesday morning, and my mom calls the schools nurse. And she's like, Well, yeah, that's not good. So she called me into her office. I'd like 1111 30 just to get my blood tested because before I went to lunch, and I was at 457 at 11am So she looked at me like you've got your bags, right? I'm like, Yep, I was in German. I'm going into math right now. And she was like, No, you're not. I'm calling the neck I'm calling 911. Right now you are going to the ER. And just like that, two days before my birthday in between two classes. I was rushed to the ER and was diagnosed. How did

Scott Benner 14:58
you feel at that point? wasn't just physically still tired, but everything else was

Laura 15:03
extremely tired. I had lost a lot of weight. I was even right now. I'm still not back to that weight. I've never been that late. Since I was probably 12. I lost a thing indoor was, well sorted, say 20 to 25 pounds. Oh, wow. Three weeks.

Scott Benner 15:24
Oh my gosh, how tall are you?

Laura 15:26
I'm five, four. But I was I was an athlete. So it was mostly muscles, and I just couldn't do anything.

Scott Benner 15:32
I did no one mentioned that because you're in a bathing suit a lot. Did no one say?

Laura 15:37
No, actually, it was like, oh, yeah, you're looking much better now like you're, you're losing weight. That's great.

Scott Benner 15:42
I say cool.

Laura 15:43
That's that was the mentality. No, like the, what people would say is you're like, oh, yeah, you need to lose weight. You need to to look better on the swimsuit. So yeah, it was great. I think I think for a few days before I was diagnosed, I would, I didn't go to practice. I would text my coach every single day. I was like, Hey, sorry, I don't feel good. And he would just come back at me like yeah, you don't want to swim. Like you'll you think you can go to the French Championship without practicing and he would use bash me and bash me until the day I got diagnosed. And he was like, I am so sorry. I should not have said that to you.

Scott Benner 16:20
Were you able to get back to swimming?

Laura 16:22
I did. Not for long, but I did. I actually broke my own personal record two months after being diagnosed without swimming for two months. Yeah,

Scott Benner 16:33
maybe nobody just needed a break.

Laura 16:35
Yeah, just jumping in pool and break my own way.

Scott Benner 16:39
Cool. So when you don't need to practice when you said you wanted to be in the Navy, you were trying to be in the French Navy.

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Yes, okay. And with type one diabetes, that's not possible.

Laura 20:31
Well, I was diagnosed in between during that year, I spent a year going like every Saturday or every other Saturday and one full week on a Navy base during the year. And so started in September ended in May, June. And I was diagnosed in November of that year. So technically, I started, and I was okay. And I was pretty good at it. I really enjoyed it. That was my goal was usually to enroll and the marine be a Navy officer. So my command told me like, I know you have diabetes, but it's just cool. I am not gonna let you go right now, because you're one of the best ones. And I know you enjoy it, and we enjoy having you. So I'll go against what policies say because you started and you will find,

Scott Benner 21:19
so he's trying to let you work it out and see if you could do it. Yeah. And

Laura 21:23
he I told him right away. I was like, No, I know what to do. It's fine. I mean, I didn't know exactly what to do. I had choose being diagnosed. So I finished my year, I still enrolled in an officer school. That was it was a three year school. And basically, the dude on the phone was like, Oh, I saw you have diabetes on your paper. I was like, Yeah, but I'm fine. Now. Like, at that time, I had a pump already. Managing everything doctor say was fine. And he was like, oh, yeah, but I called the Navy doctor. And he said it will not be able to get diabetes, the diabetes diabetic people. So I put your paperwork in a trash, so you're not going to be in the Navy. Thank you. Bye. And he hang up the phone cheese. How

Scott Benner 22:07
old? Are you at that moment?

Laura 22:08
I was just 17. Not even. Yeah, just 17.

Scott Benner 22:11
Wow. And this is the only thing you'd consider doing as an adult, right?

Laura 22:15
Yes. That was the only my only plan that was back in March, the year after I was like, Okay, well, I've been diagnosed like, what, five months ago? My goal is to go in the Navy, navy. I'm graduating in a couple months, and I do not know what to do.

Scott Benner 22:30
Are you able to pivot away from that and find something else? Or was that a struggle?

Laura 22:34
Yeah. Well, at that point, I was still in France. And my dad and my brother were in Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. So I told my mom was like, Well, I'm gonna go back. And I'll do I think it was tourists like to walk in tourism, like go to school, and it'll be fine. I'll just go back to what I know, in Guadeloupe. And I'll just do that and walk in tourism. But it lasted a month. And I was like, yeah, that's not for me. So after a month of school, I quit. And so that was again, October of 2018. Not even a year after being diagnosed. I was like, Yeah, I'm done with school. I'm not doing that again.

Scott Benner 23:14
Okay, so you grew up you graduated from I don't know what they would call it in France, but from high school. Yeah. Okay. But then college not going to do that.

Laura 23:23
Yeah, I did a month and it was like not gonna happen.

Scott Benner 23:27
I guess I have a couple of questions. Where do you get your supplies from when you're jumping around from country to country? Like, how do you is that an easy transition? Like I'm in France, I'm getting, I'm getting diabetes supplies. I'm gonna go back to the island. Now. I'm getting them here. Like, how does that all work?

Laura 23:43
Yeah, it's kind of a struggle. So technically, right now, I am a student an F, where it gives an international student on a visa. So I'm still French. I'm just here for a little while for my studies. And the plan is technically to go back to France, which is not going to happen. But

Scott Benner 24:04
we'll tell them about that later.

Laura 24:05
Yeah, I just married three and a half weeks ago, and he was citizen. So

Scott Benner 24:11
Oh, wait. Okay. So it's so funny, because, you know, when you start speaking, and I hear your accent, I think you're like, I'm in Texas. I think like, I can't wait to find out how she made it in Texas. And you know, it's a

Laura 24:23
fun story with a bunch of circumstances that made me end up here.

Scott Benner 24:30
Yeah. Let me ask you before we get into it, what were what was your level of training and education around diabetes when you're diagnosed? And was this a thing that your parents were involved in? Or did it fall to you immediately?

Laura 24:44
I had absolutely no idea what it was. My mom seemed she had heard about it but knew nothing about it until a few days after diagnosis, so I was still in an ER in pediatric er because I was still technically 16 Huh. So I was actually really funny because the school had called that Jana was coming in. And I mean with my school bag on on my shoulder or just walking into the ER. And they were waiting for me because at that point I was at 457. It was pretty high. And they just opened all doors for me. And I walked through the yard and didn't stop and got admitted right away when you could see just toddlers and babies and throwing ups and crying in the waiting room. And I would just, I was fine. I was just walking in. And so all of the parents got angry, obviously, seeing that someone just walk in and get admitted right away, but it's invisible. So they had no idea that I was on the verge of going into decay.

Scott Benner 25:48
How long did you stay in the hospital for?

Laura 25:51
It was really long, because I stayed for full week.

Scott Benner 25:55
Like seven days.

Laura 25:57
Yeah, I went in on a Wednesday got out on the Wednesday.

Scott Benner 26:01
Did they teach you anything valuable while you were there? Or were they just salutely?

Laura 26:04
Not? Oh, that's the that's the wall. So the Friday was my birthday, November 11. And it's a day off in France. So in hospitals, you had no no doctors, only nurses. And technically the doctor is teaching me not the nurses. So the nurses would just keep me alive for Friday, Saturday, Sunday. So I had technically only the Thursday of learning English. And then nothing for three days, I will just lay in bed and do nothing for three days. That's why it took so long for me to get up out of the hospital because I just had to wait for the doctor to come back.

Scott Benner 26:41
Oh, so you had to you had to stay for the first three days just to the doctor could take the weekend. And then oh, yeah,

Laura 26:46
absolutely. Yeah. That's crazy. That's crazy how it all works.

Scott Benner 26:51
Yeah. Oh, wow. So by the time you're there four days before somebody really even starts to talk to you about it.

Laura 26:56
Yeah. I remember getting a doing my first shot myself on the Thursday. So less than 24 hours after being diagnosed. admitted. I was doing my first shot. My mom was with me, I think. Yeah, that was one of the the one and only shot that she ever gave me was in the hospital. And she didn't do anything after that. No kidding. How long has she asked you to do everything myself?

Scott Benner 27:22
When you get out of the hospital? Do you think you're honeymooning at that point?

Laura 27:26
I was not. I had no idea what honeymoon was okay. They didn't teach me anything. The doctor was like breakfast lunch and dinner. You're getting eight units snack? You're getting four units. That's it.

Scott Benner 27:40
Okay, so they gave you an amount of insulin to shoot? Did they give you a number of carbs? D?

Laura 27:45
Oh, no, absolutely. I had no idea what that was. That's how French like diagnosis is how crazy that is. It just I had to be admitted again for a full week for them to figure out my insert incident EUCOM ratio. Oh, you had to be admitted for a full week for that.

Scott Benner 28:06
Wait. So you were there for a week? Did you ended up back in the hospital?

Laura 28:11
I should have but I didn't because I never had the time for that. Okay.

Scott Benner 28:14
But yeah, so in a full week, they came up with an insulin to carb ratio for you

Laura 28:19
know, they came up with a number for me to use give myself for every meal. That's it. Yeah. Had that hadn't said anything about I didn't know the difference between carbs and sugar. How did you mean it was just no sugar, but not calm? So then

Scott Benner 28:35
where do you learn about this? Is that a private, like outside of the hospital with a doctor? Eventually?

Laura 28:42
When I moved here to the US, I went to see a dietitian and I had to get blood tested and stuff. And that's when she told me Yeah, well, you can change your incident every single single meal, depending on what you eat. I was like, what? I don't have to have eight units every single time

Scott Benner 29:01
or how many years? Is that? That you looked like that? Probably two years. And were you what kind of technology did you have in those first two years,

Laura 29:09
I had the Omni because I was swimming a lot. I decided to had to jump on the Omnipod right away. So in two months after being diagnosed, I went back to the hospital for a week. So they could teach me how to use it and monitor me for a week or five days, I guess. Well, that

Scott Benner 29:27
seems excessive, too. But I mean, did you did you need to be maybe maybe it didn't need to be there that was that helpful. The second week where they taught you how to use the pump?

Laura 29:36
Well, it was mostly for the problem. It was still not for management ideas. Yeah, it was mostly to find out my Basal rate, but every other week, I'd be back in the doctor's office to change themselves so she could look at my graphs and very cool. You're swimming from that dam to that time. So we're gonna do a low Basal, like couple hours before so you don't drop low. Obviously it was still dropping low in the middle of practice. is so it was kind of a pain. But yeah, I was on the PA Omnipod for two months after diagnosis and I'm still on the board right now. And I was still doing fingerprints.

Scott Benner 30:12
I've one question about that for clarification for me. So when you go to the hospital to learn how to use the pump, do you live at the hospital for a week? Yes. Full time. Is that Is that common?

Laura 30:24
In France? Yes. That's how it works. Okay, that that is crazy. Now that I know that like two year olds, three year olds here, just someone comes home comes at the house and explain to them how the pump works. Change the settings and then you're good to go. And if I had to stay from Sunday night to Friday, midday,

Scott Benner 30:43
yeah, Laurie, you could have called me I could have got your basil set up for you. Yeah. Okay. Well, that's okay. So now you have the pump. And I'm assuming your basil is perfect since they spent seven days getting it set up. But absolutely

Laura 30:57
not. It was it was crazy because I was swimming. And then I was at home and I was eating a lot because I mean, I was moving so much that I had when on the days that I was swimming in the morning, I would wake up around five 530 have a small breakfast, swim from six to eight, have another breakfast, the school from 830 to 5:30pm. Have lunch in between. Then after school, I had another snack that I would go back in the pool from six to 8pm and then have dinner afterwards. So I will eat like six times a day.

Scott Benner 31:32
Were you getting low or high a lot.

Laura 31:34
I really don't remember much. But I just remember having half of my backpack dangerous candies and snacks and juices and crackers that I didn't want that had had to have, but I couldn't eat whenever I wanted. Right.

Scott Benner 31:49
Wow. So she's and you're testing just with a finger stick at this point. Are you actually testing frequently testing your blood sugar with?

Laura 31:58
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. My fingers were destroyed. Okay,

Scott Benner 32:01
so you were testing? I

Laura 32:02
was? I was checking probably at least eight to 10 times a day.

Scott Benner 32:08
Okay. All right. So. So you live like that for two years. And you're living at home at that point with your mom.

Laura 32:18
Yeah, I was with my mom until the next summer. So less than a year. Then I moved to back to Guadeloupe for a few months. And in January, I decided to go for six months in Toronto, Canada, and live in a host family. That's what we call them. Sure when you school in the morning, and just leave with a family in the afternoon. And that's what I did for six months. And that's actually where and how I learned English.

Scott Benner 32:47
Really? You've only you just picked up English a couple of years ago. Oh, yeah. Is that why at the beginning, before we started recording, you said you hope people can understand you.

Laura 32:56
I know like as soon as I introduce myself to people just like friends that don't know me or family friends like Oh, hi, like, Oh, where are you from? Like I just said, Hi. How would you know that I'm not from here?

Scott Benner 33:11
Well, we can hear but it's not that but I understand everything you're saying just so you know. Good. Yeah. I've not had any moment where I thought I don't know what she's talking about. So you go to Toronto, and then where do you head after that?

Laura 33:25
I went to Toronto for six months, then went back home helped my dad he had a business so I walked with him. I walked in a scuba diving center, literally just down the street from my house. That was actually pretty great because I learned English. So now I could speak English to clients and I walked in that business for a few months.

Scott Benner 33:48
Do you know what your agencies are? In those first years?

Laura 33:51
I think I was in the eighth in the eighth. Okay, I got the libre in June, like nine months after being diagnosed. That's when the French government decided to to cover it. So I had the libre one in June.

Scott Benner 34:05
They didn't make you go to the hospital for a week to learn how to use it. Did they?

Laura 34:09
Not that one? Okay. Luckily, I was fine with that one. But that helped a lot. Because I was waking up really early in the morning being in the three hundreds. And my doctor felt that I was getting low in the middle of the night without knowing it and my body would use counteract it and got high but no, it was just no Basal was completely messed up.

Scott Benner 34:30
Right. Well, they probably just needed a couple of more days to figure it out. They would have got it all straight. I'm sure. If you would have just stayed for 14 days. I think they would have gotten it all right. Yeah, I

Laura 34:39
would have. I mean, my high school was hating me because every other week I'll be gone.

Scott Benner 34:44
Yeah, that's insane. Well, okay, so and just for clarification, because it matters. Your mom and dad are not together.

Laura 34:52
No, they're not okay. All right now No, no, no. So we all I got diagnosed in November and December for Christmas. I went to Guadeloupe to See my dad and my brother. And the first thing that my dad said was, why are you giving yourself insulin before you eat when you don't know what you're going to eat? I was like, I don't know. That's what he told me. Well, why don't you just see what you eat? And those after I was like, I guess I could try and I would just shoot up. Like, I had no idea. I was just trying.

Scott Benner 35:23
Yeah, you really didn't have any direction whatsoever.

Laura 35:26
I didn't know what Pre-Bolus thing was until a couple years ago. Yeah,

Scott Benner 35:32
I definitely find that there's that age, right around 18. When parents and even doctors can think, Oh, they're old enough, they can do it. And meanwhile, you don't know what you're doing. And it's not like, it's not like you're gonna go home and sit down and figure it out or go online. It's just you're gonna do what you're told. And as long as you're not passing out, you're gonna you're gonna think you're okay. And that's pretty much it.

Laura 35:56
Yeah, I my mom had the only thing she would do almost he say was, what's your blood sugar? What's your blood sugar like 20 times a day. And that pissed me off really quickly. Yeah, it's not fun. My dad My dad had still now he has no idea how my diabetes life is going. What my pod Dexcom insulin is that he has no clue. How does that feel?

Scott Benner 36:21
That the people around you that are close to you don't understand anything about something that you're existing with constantly?

Laura 36:29
I'm used to it now, I guess. So it just doesn't bother me. I won't. I don't live with them. I like I haven't seen my dad in three and a half years. So it's fine. They're far away. They don't know. But my husband, for example, he has he follows my Dexcom he changes my God. He knows like when I'm high when I'm low what to do. So he's the closest to me. So he manages it with me, which is pretty great. But my parents leave so far away. It's just it doesn't seem

Scott Benner 37:01
useful for them to even understand it. Yeah. Well, how did you make it to America?

Laura 37:08
Um, well, after Toronto went back home. And I had a friend who was like, hey, it's pretty cool. What you're doing in Toronto, like, like, you just live in a family for free. You go to school, and you just live your best life? Like, yes, that's pretty sweet. So she's like, Well, how do I do that? But what if you want to do it, there's something a program called au pair, which is a living nanny coming from abroad that you could do in the US for at least a year. And then if you want to stay a bit longer, you can stay for two years. And she's like, Oh, that's pretty cool. But if I do that, you come with me? Like, yeah, sure. Okay. Let's do it. So just like that, I did my paperwork. And thing was like seven or eight months after coming back from Toronto, I was back again, back to the US.

Scott Benner 38:03
Where are your personalities? More like your father's?

Laura 38:06
I think so. Yeah. It's more like you want to try something? Go for it. My mom's like, why would you do that? Like, but why do you want to do that? You shouldn't you shouldn't have to do that. I was like, I'll go to like,

Scott Benner 38:18
why not? No, I see your you've kind of got just wander lost a little bit. And I mean, it seems like that's how your dad was like, I don't like this anymore. I'm gonna go all the way over here now. Oh, yeah,

Laura 38:27
absolutely. And my dad has, like, one of my dad's dream when I was little was to live in the US. So we came to the US, mostly Florida for a while, like on an archer zoo, we could live here and he could learn English and figure out like how it walked in. But because of 911 visas were much harder to get so he couldn't do that. So that's why when I told him, Hey, I want to go to the US for a year old. He was like, okay, cool. Yeah, he was excited.

Scott Benner 38:57
Yeah, right. Well, okay, then you make. So being an au pair. So your friends gonna be an au pair you go along with Are you an au pair as well? Yes. Okay. And so

Laura 39:10
I ended up in San Francisco. Okay. Oh, right next to San Francisco. She ends up in Los Angeles, which is far but still close for the US. And would you go about our lives and that's actually a pretty sweet life. Well, it's basically you live in a house, you are paid, not that much, but you're still paid weekly. You work for the family. And you just enjoy your life.

Scott Benner 39:39
And in the time you're working, you're looking after kids or making meals or things like that.

Laura 39:44
Yeah, that's the whole goal is to look after kids. So I had I lived in different families throughout the program and yeah, had in each family I had three kids to look after. So from babies to teenagers, like well, okay, let's go to dance break. kids go to school, go to the doctor's go to the playground. And it just, that was my life for basically two years. Okay.

Scott Benner 40:07
Did you find that a good experience?

Laura 40:12
It depends for who but I think if it's for the right people, it's amazing. Okay, I would I would never be and do what I'm doing right now, if it wasn't for those two years that I spent alone, just learning about myself.

Scott Benner 40:28
So you had enough free time to be introspective, and you didn't really have to make too much money, because I'm assuming you were driving their cars and living in their house and things like that. Yeah,

Laura 40:37
the whole problems. It's, it's a steep and it's not really a pay. It's a steep end of just a bit less than $200 a week. Okay. We do walk up to 45 hours a week, though,

Scott Benner 40:48
but but there's very few things you actually need that aren't being provided. Yeah, I

Laura 40:53
didn't need to pay for anything. But for my travels that I wanted to do any personal stuff out there myself, but the phone the call the house, the bills, everything was paid for.

Scott Benner 41:03
Yeah. That's a great time of life to do stuff like that. And, and the organization you did it with was reputable. And you had a good experience.

Laura 41:11
Yes. To come to the US. You have to go through an agency that sponsors a visa. If you don't have that you cannot come to the US. So yeah, the agency took care of my flights, my insurance,

Scott Benner 41:24
and then place you did you move through a lot of families into yours? Did you stay pretty much

Laura 41:30
I did. I moved through, I worked for four families in total. And I loved it, I was I'm not good at staying in one place or doing the same thing all over again for a long time. So it was great to just change down in Asheville. My first three families were in the Bay Area. So it was really close. But I changed the kids, they will younger, older, the schedule was different. The activities were different. So it was it wasn't great for me. I know some people hate it, but I absolutely loved it.

Scott Benner 42:04
Any kids you didn't like,

Laura 42:05
not the kids, the kids were always great. It was never the kids fault. It was mostly the parents fault. If something went wrong, it was because of the parents,

Scott Benner 42:14
okay, they treat you like they owed you or they just weren't thoughtful or how do

Laura 42:18
they go? Depends on of the family on the families, like the last couple of families were amazing with me and treating me like a human being an adult and not like a toddler in the house. But the first one was, I was just a made for them. The kids, it was not the kids fault. I love those kids. But I had to switch family. So families because it just I was they were overwhelming me. And it just, I didn't have a life and because of diabetes, like I couldn't eat when I wanted. I couldn't eat what I wanted. I had an awful schedule, and I would sleep less and I would not sleep and I would stop eating and it was just not like, well, for my own health, physical and mental. We need to do something.

Scott Benner 43:09
And for health insurance during this time period. How did you get that?

Laura 43:14
For the agency? They provide us with health insurance through eight now. Okay, which paid for everything.

Scott Benner 43:23
That's pretty amazing, actually. But But I guess the one downside of this, you're not able to amass any savings.

Laura 43:30
I did actually, oh, I'm not a big spender. Like, I'm not going shopping every day. I'm not going to start I don't go to Starbucks or stuff like that. So I was able to keep a bunch of money and travel a lot. Like, in two years. I think I've visited 15 or 16 states.

Scott Benner 43:48
No kidding.

Laura 43:49
Sorry. I've lived my best life. Yeah.

Scott Benner 43:53
I mean, you're only the way you're talking about it. I feel like you're 50 But you're 22

Laura 43:59
That's what a lot of people tell me they'll be I have an old soul.

Scott Benner 44:03
You get a lot accomplished in a short amount of time. Alright, where do you meet this boy that you marry? Where does this happen?

Laura 44:09
I met him through mutual friends in the Bay Area. He was at school in break they 2025 minutes away from where I was living. Funnily enough I met him on Bumble and on one of his pictures I so someone that I knew that. That's weird. Why do I know that guy on this profile? Young Bumble as so? Well, we started talking and yeah, now we're married.

Scott Benner 44:35
Alright, I gotta tell you Bumbles the first word. I wasn't certain what you were saying, but I figured it out. Don't be sorry. I was like, I'm like, What is she saying? I'll get it. I'll get it. There. It was. So okay, you met him through friends. But on an app, you noticed him in a picture with somebody that you knew.

Laura 44:54
On his profile. I was scrolling through his pictures and I was like, hey, on that picture. I No, that guy. Oh, that's funny. And they ended up being at the same school on the same year and their dorms were like two or three rooms apart, right? So

Scott Benner 45:10
your age? He's two years older. Okay? Did you sit now this is the first thing that did you want to get married because you seem like you don't want to be paid to

Laura 45:21
me not like I moved here. I was like, I'm just gonna live my best life. And I was, I was in a state of mind, like before coming to the US where I'm like, I don't fit in any boxes that people want me to fit in. I'm not. I didn't go to school after high school. I didn't want to just settle in my parents village. I didn't want to have this small call that everybody has. I just I was dreaming big. I was I was like, my, I want to have a big SUV. I want to have a big house. I want to have a boat. And I was like, I'm not doing that stuck in France in a small village that it's just not walking.

Scott Benner 46:01
Interesting. Okay, so does a job. Take him to Texas?

Laura 46:05
Yes. So we, yeah, we will together for quite a while in California. And then he finished college just during the pandemic. So finished. Yeah, he's last semester at home online. And that same friend, I was on his Bumble profile, moved to Texas a year ahead of him and got a job here. And it was like, well, they're looking for engineers here. So why don't you come down and apply for a job. So he applied or moved or plan on moving? And I was like, Well, if you're moving there, I might as well find another family and just move there with you. So go on Facebook, and I found that family that lives 20 minutes away from where he was gonna live. Their family name is exactly the same as his. The mom is a nurse and their eight year old is also a type one diabetic.

Scott Benner 47:03
We're not going to say your name out your last name out loud. But the last name that I'm seeing is your married name. No, that's not it's not. Okay. You have the most Caucasian name for a lady who's got such an interesting background. Really, like your names like right out of a 1950s TV show? And yeah, it's just such a simple name. But anyway, that's not the point. The point is this. You're doing all this not having a great grasp of how you're supposed to be taking care of yourself. So at what point during this process? Did you start figuring out I don't know enough about diabetes,

Laura 47:40
mostly when I moved to Texas to that family with a mom who's a nurse, okay. And the kid who is was eight, type one diabetic in the US diagnosed that five, and US diagnosis few months after me.

Scott Benner 47:54
Okay. And so did they come to you? Or did you notice? Like, did you notice that like, wow, they do this differently than I do? Or did they say something to you?

Laura 48:04
From the beginning, I had talked to them. And I had met them. I took a weekend trip to Texas choose to meet meet them. And the so the kid had the Dexcom, which I was still on a Libra. I was like, it's amazing that you can have it on your phone every five minutes. And you don't have to scan it to know your blood sugar. The mom was getting his alert on her phone. When he was at school on daycare. He says like the moms like Yeah, I know his blood sugar from wherever I am. Like, it's amazing. He had also the Omnipod same as me. So I was like, Well, if you need help with that, I know how I know how to change it. I know how to Bolus I know how to do all that. I see. When we had lunch together. And at the end of the lunch, she was like, Yeah, we would really love to have you with us for however long, right?

Scott Benner 48:55
And then so while you're together with this, this child, you guys are managing together a little bit. Yeah, I

Laura 49:03
was. So when he was not at school, I was managing his blood sugar. So it's like, he had kind of a different approach to bolusing on the parents had the mum knew exactly how much units he needed for each plate that he was eating and not how many grams of carbs it was, I say. So she would look at the plate and she's like two and a half.

Scott Benner 49:24
It just like and you were you weren't even doing that much right. You're

Laura 49:28
in no, I wanted to learn from them how to cop count as like, won't teach me and she was like We don't like oh, I guess I need to go to doctors and find out but because she was a nurse and she had a type one kid. She she had an endocrinologist office in her building. So one day she was like, well, we're gonna drop the kids off at school. You're coming with me and I'm gonna get you an appointment with the best endocrinologist in my building.

Scott Benner 49:57
And then you'll learn that way and that's how you learn From this endocrinologist,

Laura 50:01
that's how I mostly learned also from them that it was not about sugar. It was about carbs. And at that time, I still didn't know that protein and fats had to be Bolus form. I learned it on the podcast take less than a year ago.

Scott Benner 50:16
How did you find the podcast after all this?

Laura 50:19
I found mostly I found the Facebook group first. I was not that much into listening to podcasts at all. Actually, I was not at all until a few weeks ago. But my husband is a big podcast fan and he started listening to it. I was like, Hey, you should listen to it. You would learn a lot. I like Yeah, but I don't know when and I don't know how. And I was not really tech savvy. So I was like, well,

Scott Benner 50:44
So Laurie, your husband's listening to the podcast? Yes. For you, for you are to try to learn

Laura 50:49
a bit of both. I think. I didn't really ask him. But you listen to the pro tips. And it was like, Hey, I heard that they just listened to the podcast and tell me what you think. Like, okay, cool. I'll listen to it. And he left for on this morning. And I told him like, Hey, listen to the new one that just came out. It's a pretty fun story. Like you will like it.

Scott Benner 51:09
Wow, that's amazing. So he's trying to find a way to help you. He finds the podcast. You don't necessarily want to dive into it too much. But how long have you been listening? Because you had to sign up the record this like six months ago?

Laura 51:22
Actually, no, I emailed you. Oh, Laura, you're

Scott Benner 51:25
the one you want to. Laura is the lucky one in 2022. You really are. That's the time frame that wasn't making sense to me. You got a link and someone cancelled. And there was one day left.

Laura 51:40
Actually, I was double lucky then because you sent me the link. And you're like, well, it's now before like June 2023. I was like, oh, that's fine. I can just wait. And I go on the link. It was like, hey, there's an appointment for that date, which was actually yesterday. Yes. But I'm at school, and it's at 8am. And I have class at nine. It's just not gonna walk. So I was like, Well, I'm just gonna wait. And I'll figure it out later. And then a week later, I go back on the on the link and I see that there's a slot for today. I'm like, Well, I don't have school on Wednesdays it's doing

Scott Benner 52:12
you are parked on my my pack. This was going to be my packing day because we're taking Arden just to college and a few days. And when the person cancelled, I was like, I'm not going to fill that. But I also didn't go back and block it. So when I saw you take the the time I was like, that's fine. We'll do that. That's why okay, this makes better sense now. So you're just starting with the podcast? Really?

Laura 52:35
I Yes. I had been I stone it? Well, I think the first actual podcast, I listened to it a year ago. But I wasn't really into listening to stuff at that point. I was just, it's easier for me to read it or see it. So it's hard to just listen to podcasts. And I didn't have time, I didn't know how old mostly when or where to listen to those podcasts. So I was like, Well, I'm just gonna go on the run, and we'd be not that long, like 1015 minutes, and then I would be done. So I would never end up finishing the podcast.

Scott Benner 53:08
I see. But your husband listens more frequently.

Laura 53:13
Right now. Yes. Because I figured out a way to and a time to do it. Interesting. When I go to school, I just put in my car and and there it is. And there it is, you know,

Scott Benner 53:24
why did you want to come on?

Laura 53:26
Because the French diagnosis is absolutely awful. And so different to what I know now from the US and

Scott Benner 53:34
like, are you in my private Facebook group?

Laura 53:37
I'm on the on the Juicebox

Scott Benner 53:39
Podcast, you are in there. Okay, so I'm going to look very quickly to see if you're there because I'm gonna say something that

Laura 53:47
yeah, that's that's how I learned about the whole thing. And now that I know that I had no idea. I've had the Omnipod for five and a half years. Okay. But I didn't know what extended Bolus was I had never used it

Scott Benner 54:04
right. Okay, so I'm sorry I see you I see you're here. So do you ever notice online that a person named Isabel helps me with the Facebook group?

Laura 54:14
I don't really look at the names like with how Facebook is set up right now. You see the group name and then the person's name is so small. See it anymore.

Scott Benner 54:24
She's French and she lives in Toronto. And the one thing I'm going to give away a little bit about about Isabel she it makes her upset when when she hears bad things about Canada and I've never heard her hear anything bad about France so I'm wondering what happens when she when she hears you say that it's if it's gonna she has such a national pride I feel like but but it's it's interesting. I think you're the first person I've talked to who was diagnosed in France and I mean, the the experience is, obviously needs refinement. If this is if your experience is a common experience. It's it's not Great, that's for certain.

Laura 55:01
Well, that's how it works in France a yield diagnosed for a you stay in the hospital for a weekend and you have to go back to get a pump and you have to go back to learn about carb ratio. And I was supposed to do that. Basically, I was scheduled a month after I landed in the US. I was like, Well, no, it's not gonna work. I'm not gonna go back to France for a week tissues to spend it in the hospital.

Scott Benner 55:25
Yeah, no kidding. Well, interesting. So you just, you just wanted to blow up France. On the podcast. That's what you're shooting for? Well,

Laura 55:35
the thing is, I've listened and read so many stories about kids in the US like, well, we stayed in the hospital for three days. It was awful. Like, dude, I stayed there for a week. As a 17 year old. I spent my birthday in a small, sterile room with three of my family members. My aunt actually made me some sugar free cupcakes. Oh, it was muffins. I think your birthday. Yeah. And so I had a sugar free muffin and an applesauce for my birthday.

Scott Benner 56:08
Oh, happy birthday.

Laura 56:11
It was so sad. Yeah, I bet it was awfully sad. And my own actually gave me two. So I had one on my birthday. And the second one I would I kept it on my night table. And I'm still pissed at that. Because at 4am when they came to check my blood sugar, they took it away from me and didn't give it that

Scott Benner 56:28
my gosh. Someone stole it. The only thing you had.

Laura 56:33
No, I knew it was the nurses because I saw them. They saw it on my nightstand and they were like, she cannot have that here that she cannot eat that. It's sugar free. And they told me you cannot eat sugar. Like it doesn't have sugar in it. Well, it does have carbs but I didn't know that. I

Scott Benner 56:49
didn't know that at the time. Right. So oh my God, what did my muffin Gil Cohen guys. They're French muffin thieves. That's exactly what they are.

Laura 57:00
Yeah, my aunt also got pitched was like Well, I I checked online to make sure that you could eat it and there's no sugar in it.

Scott Benner 57:08
Yeah, and at that time, that's all they were saying it was Sugar, sugar, sugar, nothing about carbs. Gotcha.

Laura 57:13
Yep. Nothing about carbs and definitely nothing about protein and fat.

Scott Benner 57:19
Right? What is your A onesies? What are they like? Right now? Right

Laura 57:23
now? I've been at five for for the pastic year and a half or two years. Every time I check. I'm faithful.

Scott Benner 57:30
That's terrific. What do you think the secret to how it's going is for you? Just take

Laura 57:35
literally on my phone on Dexcom like every 10 minutes. So you're I cannot live without it's awful to say but I cannot live without my phone. Okay, because I'm constantly checking my blood sugar.

Scott Benner 57:49
Now, are you checking it and finding that it's leaving the range you want to be in and you have to adjust it or you just feel like you're being vigilant.

Laura 57:57
Oh, right now it's perfect. It's a straight line for the bus. That's what I said to my husband and couple nights ago like for the past two or three days? I have not been high. I have not been low. Like it's amazing.

Scott Benner 58:10
Are you noticing it different times of the month? Is it different?

Laura 58:15
Yes. Usually. It's a few days before I'm on my period. It's Hi Ron. Hi aren't straight. But our and Hi. When I say hi, it's above like around 161 ad. Okay, so I have to reach Bolus so I can go down. But as soon as I eat something, you just like, oh, yeah, no, let's just go back up.

Scott Benner 58:33
Because once I go back and this is before your period during your period, is that different? No. I run No, during. Okay. And then how about after the periods over?

Laura 58:43
I think it goes back to normal back to

Scott Benner 58:45
you get a normal range at that point. Yeah, you know what, we've just started doing something with Arden, where we're we're putting we're choosing her sites for her pump. Based on where she is in her cycle.

Laura 59:00
I don't have that much choice. Since I used to put my pod on my arm, I start making my legs and then I figured out that my arms didn't really work anymore. So I switched Jani legs and stomach, okay, and now my legs don't work anymore. So I have like four sites on my stomach around the belly button. And they just switch in a clockwise Yeah. Are you over? Go low and then they change I go right low and then they change I go high low a high rate.

Scott Benner 59:28
Right? Where do you think you've overused some of your sites? Do they need or just need a break?

Laura 59:34
No, it I don't really know. But as soon as I put it on my legs, I know I'm gonna be high and like, I'm just gonna try again. Yeah,

Scott Benner 59:42
so that's not that's not uncommon. So some people will use their legs and then use a different Basal profile. For instance, you know, a little more aggressive. Arden's legs are her least effective spots. So she gets more out of her arms, back of her arms and her belly. So we've been using her to just like you during her period, her blood sugar is much easier to maintain. So we've been using her legs during her period. And then when the period stops, we're moving to her belly or arms for ovulation. And, and belly or arms in that spot right before the period when you you start to get that, that resistance to Yeah, I just figured why not match up the you know how effective the site is with the need?

Laura 1:00:31
Yeah, I mean, I was I was actually talking about it last night. I just, I can see so much. So many scars on my stomach now from the pods, especially when those pods like heard of it, and then they bleed a lot, or as they bleed a small amount, but it just leaves that small bruise that's as big as the cannula basically. And those calls never go away. So I have the dots, red dots on my stomach. But I know that's the only place that my, like Todd walks. I tried to put it on the back of my like, no back. But it would burn me to a point that it would be itchy and I had blisters on my back from the pads.

Scott Benner 1:01:13
Have you have you tried? Do you pinch up when you put it on? Yes. Okay. And that spot doesn't work for you.

Laura 1:01:20
Gotcha. Yeah. So now I'm just I know, it works only on my stomach. So I'm fine with it. And I have the Dexcom I don't want my arms on my chest.

Scott Benner 1:01:30
Okay, when you do your arms with the pod, were you doing the outside facing out or back facing back?

Laura 1:01:35
I was facing that. But I hadn't done hurt like last time I did my arms was probably two or three years ago. Okay. All right. Yeah, I stopped that really quickly.

Scott Benner 1:01:44
Yeah, when Arden was little we put put it on the back of her arm. But now when she wears on her arm, she likes it sort of more on the outside of her arm.

Laura 1:01:52
Although I don't have much going on on my arms like moment. It's just bones and skin. So I think that's why it slowly adjust.

Scott Benner 1:02:00
Well, you said you said you haven't put all your weight back on, right?

Laura 1:02:03
No, I actually since I moved to Texas, in that family, with a diabetic kid, it helps me mentally to get better with my eating at it. So I lost I started losing weight, which was good for me.

Scott Benner 1:02:18
How so? What were your eating habits like before you met the family?

Laura 1:02:22
I was I was not forced. But I forced myself to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, even when I was not hungry. When when I moved to that family and like, what do you want to eat? And when do you want to eat? I was like, Well, I'm not hungry. I just want to eat a salad. And the whole family would have pasta and pizza and whatever. And it was like move. I'm just gonna have a sudden, and I didn't feel ashamed to eat something else all to be like, Well, no, my blood sugar is high. I don't want to eat pizza right? Now good for you. What do you think hungry I don't want to eat and that that changed a lot also in my mental health because I was not ashamed of doing something else because of diabetes. Like they understood. As soon as they saw me they were like, oh, yeah, so you were high all night, or you were low all night, or the kids blood sugar was high all night. So you were also awake all night. And so they gave me a break don't like just go sleep do they are and then you're good to go. And it was easier for me to manage it knowing that they knew what I was going through.

Scott Benner 1:03:25
So you think that the change for you was meeting people who understood your situation?

Laura 1:03:30
Oh, yes. Because the first families like, it's not that they understood it. They just they were okay with it. But they didn't try to help. Or they didn't try to understand it better. I'm like, Hey, if you do that, is it good or bad? They would just let me figure it out and didn't even ask anything. I'll just tell them. It's not contagious. I know how to deal with everything. I know what to do when I'm high and what to do when I'm low. I'm not going to show the kids the needles. I'm not you know, any like baloney stuff all over the place like money neat and clean. And these

Scott Benner 1:04:07
are these were all things you were concerned about or worrying about previously.

Laura 1:04:12
I didn't know that was but yes, looking back back. Yes. I was hoping not trying to hide it. But I was trying to leave the same as everybody else when, like if I'm high I will not eat pizza now when before I was like, Well, I'm high but they're all eating pizza, so I'll have to eat pizza.

Scott Benner 1:04:31
Is that because you didn't want to be the kid? You didn't want to be the girl with diabetes? Who couldn't have pizza? So you just had it anyway?

Laura 1:04:37
No, because I've always told anyone and everyone like yeah, I'm diabetic and okay, it just that's who I am. But I didn't want to have them go out of their way to be like, well, we're gonna buy you more salad or we're gonna buy you like sugar free stuff. Okay, I moved here to Texas. They were like, oh, yeah, like the first day I went to the grocery store with the dad and you was so we have sugar free milk. I was like Sorry, what? That is amazing. And we have we don't have chips, we have that kind of chips because it's slow carbs. I was like, Oh my God, I need to relearn everything in the grocery store grocery store, because it's just, there's so much stuff that I had no idea about. And that yeah, they made me sleep. They made me grow up a lot into my diabetes knowledge.

Scott Benner 1:05:27
Do you feel like in a in a kind way they parented you about diabetes? Oh, yes, yeah.

Laura 1:05:32
I mean, first day when the dad took me to the store, and the week after, when the mom was like, Hey, let me call your insurance to see if you can have the Dexcom. I was like, Well, I'm not even sure I don't. I didn't know how it works, right? Because their insurance in France is completely different here. You have to call your insurance and like, hey, I need this to leave. We didn't give it to me.

Scott Benner 1:05:55
And now that you're married, you still know that family. Yes, you do you maintain a friendship.

Laura 1:06:01
We moved since then. So we don't leave that close from them. But I still text with that. That diabetes kid and the parents were on the group chat together

Scott Benner 1:06:11
pretty great. That's pretty great. Well,

Laura 1:06:13
he calls me randomly out of nowhere. I was like, oh, yeah, we're going to the park. Oh, just had marshmallow ice cream or like, oh, cool, buddy.

Scott Benner 1:06:20
How old is he now?

Laura 1:06:21
I think he's 11. Okay.

Scott Benner 1:06:25
Wow, cheers. This is, you know, your story is really interesting. It's very different and fascinating to see somebody in a short amount of time go from no real understanding of what they're doing. To, you know, a clearer understanding of it. It's,

Laura 1:06:41
yeah, it changed a lot when also when I learned how to do the extended boluses. I was like, Oh, my God, that's what I needed the whole time. And I didn't know it was right here under my nose.

Scott Benner 1:06:52
Right. Yeah. And now you're learning about fat and protein and things like that?

Laura 1:06:58
Yes, I'm trying. So well, yeah, we got married like three and a half few weeks ago. And I wanted to fit in that dress. So I tried to for the month after to eat a bit poorly low carb, low Tinoco. And so it was a lot of protein and veggies, mostly mostly, like, Well, why do I go high when I have just a burger? And salad? Like, that just doesn't make any sense until like, we listen to the pro tip bus podcast. I was like, huh, that makes more sense.

Scott Benner 1:07:32
I'm glad it's helping. That's really excellent. Wonderful. Is there anything that we haven't talked about that you wanted to I don't want to skip anything or miss anything. I was just

Laura 1:07:41
about traveling. Because I've traveled a lot. I know a lot of families, especially during the summer like hey, well traveling here. We're traveling there like what do I do? And a lot of people will scared about flying and going through security and stuff. And a lot of parents are like, well, you can go on the side. They don't have to you don't have to go through that whole like scanning machine. You don't have to put your bag through it. Like I've I've never done anything different than anyone else. I just went through just put my my I have the bag that says make all of my diabetes mag. And I put all of my stuff in it. And with also jukeboxes pass in the I go on planes with juice boxes. Yeah. When you need people like no, you're not allowed to make warts, medical medical device.

Scott Benner 1:08:36
Yeah, you can get through TSA with juice boxes, you just have to do let them know what they're for. Then they, they swab them to make sure there's no explosives inside of them. Right.

Laura 1:08:45
And that's what they do the first time like, oh, you cannot go through that. Like, yeah, I can. Cool. So again, good for you. I was like, Whoa, and because I have my plan, and it just did some like yo, yo, my hands just swap them. I know, another drill. And my incident go through everything. I don't put my incident in any cold stuff. At home. My what? I have my incident in the fridge at home, right? But it's only for the past like what, two or three months before that for the past three years. It's been just in a drawer, and I never put my incident in the fridge

Scott Benner 1:09:22
in a temperature control building though, right? The building's not

Laura 1:09:26
always around like 7072. Right?

Scott Benner 1:09:29
And how much well how much insulin do you have on hand at a time?

Laura 1:09:33
Well, mine so I get everything from friends. I email my endocrinologist every time I do blood tests. I'm like, hey, everything's here. I send you my graphs, my blog, my agencies that merge, everything's fine. I still have some dogs gums, I need more insulin and she writes me a prescription. I send it to my mom who has my insurance gone and everything goes to her next door neighbor who's the pharmacy goes to the pharmacy Seems like well, we didn't go and sit in follow her. And then she just sends me a box. So I usually get about a year of insulin at a time. And in between eight and 12 months of bugs index comes at a time. So yeah, when I get a box, it's a huge box and I have 20 year she vials of insulin at once.

Scott Benner 1:10:22
Okay, and so when you travel, you don't you only take what you need with you.

Laura 1:10:27
Yes, I used to be like, well, what if my pod fails? And what if I go into water and it dies? What if? And what if, and I just ended up traveling with so much for just a two day weekend? It's just crazy. I know that I'm not going to use all of that. I don't need to Dexcom for two days.

Scott Benner 1:10:47
So you bring a little extra but you don't bring so much. Yeah,

Laura 1:10:51
I in my backpack to go to school or to go anywhere. I always have a pen and a couple of needles. But I don't have my meter all the time with me. I never have Dexcom arms. I never unless I'm travel. But on a daily basis. I have just my PDM a pen and a couple needles.

Scott Benner 1:11:11
Where did you just get married? Yes. Like in the last couple of months?

Laura 1:11:17
Beginning beginning of the month? Yes. Okay.

Scott Benner 1:11:19
I just watched your wedding video. Oh, like in the background while you were talking? I ran up behind. Like what I'm looking at? Yeah, that's amazing. Good for you.

Laura 1:11:28
So yeah, we're going through actually switching my insurance right now. And I need to see if they would if his insurance would cover up the Omnipod. Five, which would be pretty cool.

Scott Benner 1:11:42
Yeah. Are you thinking of doing that

Laura 1:11:44
or everything since because I'm getting married in the US. My French insert insurance won't walk anymore.

Scott Benner 1:11:50
Right? Right. Yeah, you're gonna have to go on to his.

Laura 1:11:53
Yeah. But so far, his insurance has been really great for him whenever he needs to go to the ER or doctor's office.

Scott Benner 1:12:01
Okay. Are you working? Are you going to?

Laura 1:12:05
I'm a student on a visa. So I cannot walk. I can walk at school, but I will seven or eight hours a week.

Scott Benner 1:12:12
Are you trying? Are you hoping to get some sort of? Like, is there a degree you're looking for something you're thinking of doing in the future?

Laura 1:12:18
Yeah, right now I'm doing a double major in French and geography. And I'm a junior level right now.

Scott Benner 1:12:25
Okay, what do you want to do with it? You know, if I use mostly to

Laura 1:12:29
French, I can do teaching, but I'm not I can do but I don't really want to. I would love to do some translation. I can walk in communication, a bunch of stuff like that. If I do geology, I can do GIS, planter. Urban Planning and range of different things.

Scott Benner 1:12:48
How long till you've got your degrees?

Laura 1:12:50
I'm planning on graduating early in December of next year.

Scott Benner 1:12:53
Good for you. Congratulations. So big thing. How do you handle seeing your parents? Is it just FaceTime and things like that?

Laura 1:13:00
i My mom came for the first time in the US for the wedding. But in the past year, three and a half years. That was the third time I saw her and I talked to her on the phone. Yeah, pretty often. But in real life was the third time I haven't seen my dad since I left in February of 2020 2019.

Scott Benner 1:13:19
Is that pretty comfortable for you? Or do you find it difficult?

Laura 1:13:22
Yeah, I've never been that close to my parents. Okay. Since the beginning, even before diagnosis, I was just like, yeah, just I'll do my own thing. And I'll be fine.

Scott Benner 1:13:32
It does seem like you don't really need any help. So

Laura 1:13:37
no, well, from them not, but because I know they they cannot do anything from where they are.

Scott Benner 1:13:44
Yeah, I meant big picture. You just feel like you're okay. And even when you don't know what you're doing somehow you just just can't seem to come across the answer. So,

Laura 1:13:54
yeah. For the big picture. Yeah. For the small picture. There's you ask my husband and like, well, he knows when I'm high just by looking at me and looking at what I say and how I do things. And so he he walks on boats. So he's gone for half of the time. He's gone for a week and a home for a week. So when he's on the boat, and I'm on the phone with him. He knows when I'm low before my Dexcom something. That's how crazy that is.

Scott Benner 1:14:23
All right. Well, I just I really appreciate you doing this. Thank you for taking the time to record with me. Well, I was glad to come on. Yeah, you were terrific. You really were I'm so glad you slipped in here on my day off. It was a it was really it was really a nice way to spend an hour.

Laura 1:14:38
Good luck in college for Alden. Oh, thank

Scott Benner 1:14:41
you. I'll tell her she's very excited. She I think she would have left two weeks ago if she could.

Laura 1:14:47
So if she has really good professors like I have, I usually try to make them laugh about diabetes the first day. That's what I said last week to my professors. I went to each and every one of them and I was like hey For international students, I'm also diabetes. So I'm trying not to pass out in your class producer, you know, if I do, that's because I'm diabetic. And usually they laugh and like, well, it never happened. So that shouldn't be fine. But I just let them know if I'm on my phone. I'm not texting. I'm just making sure I'm still alive.

Scott Benner 1:15:18
Yeah, here. We've been talking about that recently, how she's going to approach professors and explain things and the school so far has been really terrific about it as well, allowing her to have like a smile.

Laura 1:15:29
I talked to the Office of Disability and thought, Okay, we've got a couple people that could do that. And I'm not ashamed of being diabetic. I'm not ashamed of I don't hide it. I actually just laugh about it. Like, yeah, I have a Dexcom. Well, you don't know. It's the Dexcom. It's just a GPS so my husband know where I am at all times.

Scott Benner 1:15:50
Keep it drag me, that's all. Alright, well, Laura, thank you. Hold on for me for a second. Okay.

Laura 1:15:57
All right. Thank you so much.

Scott Benner 1:16:05
Hey, I want to thank Laura for coming on the show and sharing her story with us. And I want to thank ag one for sponsoring this episode of the podcast drink ag one.com forward slash juice box. Take ownership of your health and get the five free travel packs in the year supply of vitamin D when you make your first order at drink a G one.com. Forward slash juice box. I also want to thank the contour next gen blood glucose meter and remind you that all of the contour meters are incredibly accurate and easy to use. And you can learn more about the end make your purchases at contour next.com forward slash juicebox. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast.

If you were a loved one has been diagnosed with type one diabetes. The bold beginnings series from the Juicebox Podcast is a terrific place to begin listening. In this series, Jenny Smith and I will go over the questions most often das at the beginning of type one. Jenny is a certified diabetes care and education specialist who is also a registered and licensed dietitian and Jenny has had type one diabetes for 35 years. My name is Scott Benner and I am the father of a child who has type one diabetes. Our daughter Arden was diagnosed in 2006 at the age of two. I believe that at the core of diabetes management, understanding how insulin works, and how food and other variables impact your system is of the utmost importance. The bold beginning series will lead you down the path of understanding. This series is made up of 24 episodes. And it begins that episode 698 In your podcast, or audio player. I'll list those episodes at the end of this to listen, you can go to juicebox podcast.com. Go up to the menu at the top and choose bold beginnings. Or go into any audio app like Apple podcasts, or Spotify. And then find the episodes that correspond with the series. Those lists again are Juicebox Podcast up in the menu or if you're in the private Facebook group. In the featured tab. The private Facebook group has over 40,000 members. There are conversations happening right now and 24 hours a day that you'd be incredibly interested in. So don't wait. So don't wait. Check out the bowl beginning series today and get started on your journey. Episode 698 defines the bowl beginning series 702, honeymooning 706 adult diagnosis 711 and 712 go over diabetes terminologies hit episode 715 We talked about fear of insulin in 719 the 1515 rule episode 723 long acting insulin 727 target range 731 food choices 735 Pre-Bolus 739 carbs 743 stacking 747 flexibility in Episode 751 We discussed school in Episode 755 Exercise 759 guilt, fears hope and expectations. In episode 763 of the bowl beginning series. We talked about community 772 journaling 776 technology and medical supplies. Episode Seven at treating low blood glucose episode 784 dealing with insurance 788 talking to your family and episode 805 illness and ketone management. Check it out it will change your life

#981 Glucagon Story: Anonymous

My anonymous guest has type 1 diabetes and has used glucagon. This is her story.

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, welcome back to another episode of The Juicebox Podcast. Today, my anonymous guest will be sharing her glucagon story. She's a young woman in her early 20s And she's had to use glucagon. While you're listening. Please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan or becoming bold with insulin. This show is sponsored today by the glucagon that my daughter carries G voc hypo Penn. Find out more at G voc glucagon.com. Forward slash juicebox. When you have diabetes and use insulin, low blood sugar can happen when you don't expect it. G Bo Capo pen is a ready to use glucagon option that can treat very low blood sugar in adults and kids with diabetes ages two and above. Find out more go to G voc glucagon.com forward slash juice box visit G voc glucagon.com/risk.

Gvoke is a prescription injection for the treatment of very low blood sugar in adults and kids with diabetes ages two and above. Do not use if you have a specific type of adrenal or pancreatic tumor starvation, chronic low blood sugar or allergy to G voc High Blood Pressure hyperglycemia and serious skin rashes can occur. Call your doctor or get medical help right away. If you have a serious allergic reaction including rash, difficulty breathing or low blood pressure. Visit G vo glucagon.com/risk for more information. My guest today is going to remain anonymous. They are here to talk about an incident that required glucagon. So are you the parent of a child with type one or do you have type one yourself?

Anonymous Female Speaker 2:19
I have type one myself.

Scott Benner 2:21
How old are you?

Anonymous Female Speaker 2:22
I am 2222 How

Scott Benner 2:24
old were you when you were diagnosed?

Anonymous Female Speaker 2:27
I got diagnosed in March of 2021.

Scott Benner 2:30
Oh gosh. So just maybe a year or so ago? Okay. Wow. Is there any other autoimmune or type one in your family?

Anonymous Female Speaker 2:40
There is no other autoimmune or anything? My not in my family? No. But for me, yes.

Scott Benner 2:49
You have other autoimmune issues? Yeah.

Anonymous Female Speaker 2:53
So I have a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. And with that your connective tissue is like the glue to your joints in your body. What happened was, I had my artery was being compressed by my spinal cord and everything. And it caused no blood flow to my AR aortic artery and my stomach area. And shortly, we didn't know for the longest time about it, I was sick a lot. And I would go to the ER and no one would say what's going on? And they're just like, it's fine. It's just stress. And then I was like, Well, I don't think it is. And when they found the compression i i was having low blood sugars at the time. Before I was type one, I had a lot of low blood sugars. And I was already on Dexcom. Shortly after that, a couple of weeks or whatever, after I developed it, because the compression had been there for so long.

Scott Benner 4:06
I have to tell you, if you want to come back on and do a regular episode, I would love to hear that story if you if you're interested. Yeah. Okay. All right. We'll get you at will at the end of this. We'll get you signed up and get you on another episode. My reason for asking centric to the the glucagon conversation was I wanted to make sure that when you were diagnosed, you would have had no idea what glucagon was or had any reason to understand what it did. Is that right?

Anonymous Female Speaker 4:37
Yeah, I didn't get a glucagon until I was diagnosed with type one. I didn't know about anything. I've been to the ER to get D 50. Quite a few times because my blood sugar was 48 and I felt fine. But

Scott Benner 4:57
but they no one had given it to you prior to your diagnosis. No. Okay. You have a lot of interesting stuff, we are going to definitely get you back on. But for now, you're diagnosed with type one. When do you remember someone talking to you about glucagon the first time.

Anonymous Female Speaker 5:14
I believe the first time was in my endocrinologist office a little bit, because I had a Dexcom when I got diagnosed, it was kind of weird on what's gonna go on, because they immediately started me on insulin stuff and just sent it to the pharmacy. And was like, here you go do this amount in this amount. And then that next week, I had went in and that was when they did all that. I, we adjusted, we figured out what my how many carbs to a unit I needed. That was when I got in for for training.

Scott Benner 5:50
So during that training, you got glucagon at the same time. Do you remember what they told you?

Anonymous Female Speaker 5:55
I definitely didn't know about glucagon. And they had shown me how to use it and everything it was after G Bo chi come out. So my doctor didn't want to give the old emergency kit or basket me. They wanted just the glucagon. They're like, okay, like, here are the guidelines. Like they're just saying, if I can't get my blood sugar up, take it, or other things like that. I, I got trained on the insulin stuff, but the glucagon wasn't really. I wasn't really like, trained trained on I understand, because, yeah,

Scott Benner 6:36
I don't know why they don't. But I, I half expect you to tell me that. So okay, so you've got a loose understanding of what it is. They tell you something like if your blood sugar gets really low in an emergency, you use this. Did anyone take out a trainer pen and show it to you? No, no. Just you'll figure it out. Yeah, yeah. While you're having a seizure?

Anonymous Female Speaker 6:59
Yeah, they're like, well, the instructors on our on there, you can definitely read the instructions when you do it. Yeah.

Scott Benner 7:06
And by the way, read it when you're not really low. I will tell you that I was told when we were handed glucagon, when my daughter was two. This is glucagon. It's for a low blood sugar emergency, you'll never need it. That's what they told us. So by the way, the first time we needed glucagon, I didn't know what to do with it. Because nobody explained it to me. And I was flat out told in a moment when I didn't have any idea about anything. Here's something we're giving you, but you'll never need it. Now, did you end up needing it?

Anonymous Female Speaker 7:43
Yes, I've had to take glucagon TWICE, TWICE. Hard part of it too, is like they told me that if I take glucagon, I have to go to the hospital. But I'm like, How do I have to go to the hospital with it? Because like, I don't think the hospital is going to do anything, once it's backed up and everything. So

Scott Benner 8:03
did that stop you from using it ever?

Anonymous Female Speaker 8:08
Again, yeah, because I didn't really understand the glucagon at the time, I didn't know what it was really. And why I needed to go. I've had epi pins for food allergies and stuff before. So I just kind of figured it was similar to the epi pens, on the effectiveness and everything. But with blood sugar. So I just kind of assumed that you have to go to the hospital with it.

Scott Benner 8:39
Yeah. This is this is fascinating to hear how little explanation or, or understanding that was was given to you. I know you're like, younger, but not very young. Were your parents with you during these explanations?

Anonymous Female Speaker 8:55
No. So my, most of my family lives on the other half of the country. So well, other half of the states. And then I'm my mom and I are here. But that's kinda

Scott Benner 9:11
that's it? Yeah. So can you describe the first time you actually used glucagon?

Anonymous Female Speaker 9:18
Yeah, so I didn't use it all myself. I actually was at work. And it was a really hot day. And I worked outside at the time. And I started feeling bad. And this was before I had the text column. I started feeling bad, but in finger poked, and my meter said, I was like, 48. And I'm like, oh, so then I go into the break room and grab a soda or whatever. And I drink it and I'm like, okay, it'll be fine. I'll, I'll just drink it and I'll go back out and work out aside, but I started feeling worse. So then I went to a vendor that was near where I, the position I was working in. And I got sugar packets, and Pepsi. I was just trying to get anything that I could to bring it back up. And I still didn't quite get it up. And after my third finger poke, my blood sugar was like 28. So once I figured poked, and it was 28, I then was like, Well, I kind of need to go home. And my supervisor that was with me actually realized how bad I realize how bad my blood sugar was, because she saw me pass out on the floor. And that day, they had to give me two, she gave me glucagon. That was in their emergency kit or whatever, she gave me it, I still didn't respond. And then medics had to give me it twice. And I was like, I don't understand what the heck is going on. So that was kind of a really scary day, because that was before we knew my blood sugar, like I was having low blood sugars without really knowing. And that was like, the hardest part is I was trying to do. I didn't know that.

Scott Benner 11:31
What's interesting, as you're telling the story is that you haven't had diabetes for that long to begin with. You're young, your training wasn't great. And you're at a 48. And you're like, I'll drink a soda and I'll be okay. But then you feel poor, again, you test again, you're not getting any better. And then on that third test at a 28 blood sugar, which by the way, you are right, you're getting ready to pass out or have a seizure. Right. And you don't know that you're planning like, I'll go home. Like, like home seems like a safe place for me to be in this situation. That's how out of it you are in that moment, and you don't realize it. And then you say you passed out they gave you glucagon from an emergency kit that you had at a job. Do you know which one they gave you?

Anonymous Female Speaker 12:18
Um, I feel like it may have been evoke, I'm not fully sure. Really. It was a couple of years ago, so I don't know exactly if it was that or the old kits,

Scott Benner 12:30
and you carry G voc with you.

Anonymous Female Speaker 12:32
I wasn't carrying it at that time with

Scott Benner 12:35
me. At the time you weren't this is your first time with all this. Okay, so

Anonymous Female Speaker 12:38
that was my first time with a low blood sugar where I passed out, right.

Scott Benner 12:42
Okay. So thankfully, emergency comes, they hit you a couple more times get your blood sugar up. Do you remember any of that scenario after you passed out?

Anonymous Female Speaker 12:52
And no. Basically, everything that I'm telling you right now is what my supervisor told me. Yeah. I don't remember anything. I do remember getting to the hospital, and having my blood sugar dropped again. And I remember that time it felt like I was having a seizure. Like I was coherent, but like, I could hear what everything's going on and everything. But I couldn't really tell you. I couldn't say anything. I understand. It was kind of hard. And I was in the waiting room. And they immediately ended up taking me back. Luckily. But yeah, that's I don't remember a lot of it.

Scott Benner 13:39
I understand. My daughter's had a seizure, and I was present for one of them. And I was on the phone for another one. So I understand what you're saying, Actually, I'm having an emotional day already. And I'm thinking why did I book all these seizure stories on one day? Because you sound so young, like I'm crying. Okay, anyway, I'll put myself together and we'll get to the next story. G vo Capo pen has no visible needle, and is a pre mixed auto injector of glucagon for treatment of very low blood sugar in adults and kids with diabetes ages two and above. Find out more go to G vo glucagon.com forward slash juicebox G voc shouldn't be used in patients with insulinoma or pheochromocytoma. Visit G voc glucagon.com/risk. How much longer is it at now now moving forward into time you're carrying G voc heipo pen or the or the syringe?

Anonymous Female Speaker 14:40
I carry type open. Gotcha.

Scott Benner 14:43
Alright, so now you have that on you. What happens the second time I got

Anonymous Female Speaker 14:47
a different job and I have been working with them for a little bit. I'll give you a little backstory. So that week I decided to switch to the Omnipod five, but they told me that I didn't need to go in for training because you can do it all online and get your settings in and everything. Well, I put my settings in incorrectly. So the insulin sensitivity. I put us 20. And then And then

Scott Benner 15:26
yeah, I understand. So you're getting one unit to move you 20 points, but how much did you really need one unit for 50? It lowers

Anonymous Female Speaker 15:33
me about 60 or so. Yeah. So so I put it in incorrectly?

Scott Benner 15:39
Three, three times stronger than you needed. Yep. Yeah, that'll do it. Okay. And

Anonymous Female Speaker 15:45
I didn't know what the heck was going on or anything because I was so confused on why I was I kept on going low. Like, here all day, I was having like bread soda. Like I was having everything. Yeah. And it still wasn't staying up. So then it was like, okay, is Dexcom acting weird? Or is it true that I'm that, and I think revoked and everything and I was that low. So then I talked to my team, and they're like, I don't know what to do. We don't know what to do. And I was like, I have no clue what to do. either. I was at work. I didn't really hear much from the team or anything. And then it was still going down. And at that point, it had been at like 40 for about 45 minutes or so. And I ended up because I have my glucagon in my bag. So even though I work in that little area, I am able to have my medical stuff, medical bag as long as it's separate from everyone else. So I grabbed my glucagon. And I gave it to myself.

Scott Benner 16:57
After how long of being 40,

Anonymous Female Speaker 17:00
about 45 minutes or so. Because I was literally eating things. And I was like, There's no way and I was just trying to wait for it to come up because I didn't want to overcorrect it, because I have a very high tendency of doing I think all US diabetics do. But I was like, trying to and then I was trying to wait for it because I was like I don't want to take it if it's going to be like that. Like I don't. I don't know what to do, even though I'm doing everything.

Scott Benner 17:30
Yeah. And you said you contacted your medical team. And the they told you we don't know.

Anonymous Female Speaker 17:36
Well, they they told me they're like if it gets that low, then you need to take your glucagon. And you need to take your glucagon.

Scott Benner 17:45
Did they go? Did they go over your pump settings with you? They knew you were like had recently moved to a pump, right?

Anonymous Female Speaker 17:53
Yes. But we hadn't figured that out that that was the pattern because I was only like three days into the new pump or something like that. So I hadn't quite figured that. I hadn't quite realized that. That was what it was. Yeah,

Scott Benner 18:09
I understand. But they didn't realize, Hey, she just started using a pump three days ago. Maybe the settings are wrong. No. You still have that doctor?

Anonymous Female Speaker 18:19
Yeah. Well, but when I got so I made it the I took the glucagon and I was fine. I didn't go to the hospital because I didn't feel like it was necessary to go because it kept me up. And then the next day, it was a Friday. And then the next day Saturday, I was in class in the morning. And my blood sugar did the same thing. So I went ahead and message my trainer and was like, Hey, what's going on? Like, I have my settings at where they're supposed to be in everything. But my blood sugars have been like super low and everything and I ended up ripping off my pod because unlike I don't know why it's like this. And I message the trainer because at first I was like, Okay, well maybe it's an off day of just having lows. And then. And then the next day when I had the loads and everything else, like you know what I might as well just contact my trainer about it. So I contacted her about it. And she had me read all my settings and everything when I reset it. And that was when we figured out that my insulin sensitivity factor was at 20 instead of 60 like it was supposed to be

Scott Benner 19:32
holy hell, okay. So all right, when you go to do it, you take out you bow Capo pan, pop off the cap. Where do you do it? You do it on your leg, your belly? Where do you think to do it?

Anonymous Female Speaker 19:43
I was at work and I didn't know if it go over my pants so I just did it in my belly.

Scott Benner 19:59
Yeah And you didn't do it through your clothes, right? No, yeah, please don't do that. Okay, so. So you put it in? And does your blood sugar rise?

Anonymous Female Speaker 20:11
Yeah, so I put it in and I told the staff that I needed to go take a break and be in the break room for a bit. And they were perfectly fine with that. About 2530 minutes go by. And my numbers are back up. And now I'm in the two hundreds and just study. And I was like, Okay, sounds good. I had a coke and juice and everything at my little station that I was at. Where I am when I'm off duty, I went ahead and kept that stuff there. Because I knew that because I'm walking around and stuff it was going to drop. So I just wanted to be prepared again. And so I just kept on sipping on the juice and stuff throughout the day, even though I had already taking g voc. Right. I just wanted to be safe. Yeah, but yeah. Wow.

Scott Benner 21:06
That's incredible. Do you carry them still?

Anonymous Female Speaker 21:12
Yes, I never leave the house without it. We have one in the kitchen and one in my room. Good for you. And we keep them in stuff because it's definitely something and part of my hypoglycemia with that stuff is because my GI system doesn't work too too well. So it can't it's like having hard times absorbing things. Or

Scott Benner 21:36
you have gastroparesis. Yes. That's That's what they told you. And is that in any way attached to I mean, you haven't had diabetes that long. So is that is that attached to

Anonymous Female Speaker 21:47
the to attach to my EDS, which is my genetic condition?

Scott Benner 21:51
That's what I was wondering, Okay, how did they How did they diagnose the EDS?

Anonymous Female Speaker 21:57
I had to go to a lot of specialists. So I got sent the first specialist I got sent to was it was an orthopedic doctor, they couldn't really do anything because obvious reasons. Because they're more for like surgeries and stuff. So then I saw him and then I saw another doctor, and that was a rheumatologist. And where I was later diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

Scott Benner 22:42
Do you have that? Yes. How does that present for you?

Anonymous Female Speaker 22:48
A lot of joint pain, stiffness, soreness. Yeah, about the same stuff as EDS. And then once they realized I had EDS and everything that they suspected EDS and everything, they did the little Biden scale or whatever, it's called for it for me, the the rheumatologist office, and then they referred me over to a geneticist.

Scott Benner 23:23
Is there treatments available? What do you do for it?

Anonymous Female Speaker 23:26
Um, so once the, once I talked to the geneticist, so some forms of Eds are some forms of Eds are some forms show up on bloodwork, like genetic panels, and stuff and some forms don't I have one of the forms that do not show up on genetic panels? Which is classical EDS. Um, so there's no cure for it or anything. A lot of it is just like physical therapy, and wearing like braces when you're doing more things throughout the day, whether that's going to the zoo or going out and stuff like that. And then just bracing if you need to do those things. Yeah. So it definitely does help. And for me, right now, I'm kinda in a middle situation with that stuff. But it's been a journey.

Scott Benner 24:38
I'm sorry. It's a lot. You're young, you know. You okay? Yeah. Yeah, you're doing all right. Like, psychologically, you're hold that together and stuff.

Anonymous Female Speaker 24:51
Yeah. There's some days where I'm like, Okay.

Scott Benner 24:57
Do you see a therapist? Yes. Yeah, I think I would do. I think it's a good idea. I cannot thank you enough for coming on and telling me your stories about glucagon. I really appreciate it. A few Hold on for a minute we'll stop the recording and I will help you find a time to record about the EDS. It doesn't matter if you're a newly diagnosed person in their 20s, a parent of someone living with type one diabetes, or someone who's been living with type one forever. If you're using insulin, G voc glucagon wants to remind you to check the expiration dates on your glucagon. And if they're expired, contact your physician immediately for replacements. Don't be without glucagon in the moment that you need it. Have it where you are on your person in your home, at school, at your job, or when you're traveling. Emergencies don't announce themselves. That's why you need to be prepared. Parents of children, this is a perfect time. You're going to end up back at the endos office before the new school year to get your orders in line for the school nurse. Don't forget to ask them about G voc glucagon. If you'd like to learn more about G voc hypo Penn episode 789 is with Jenny Smith and I we discussed the important things you need to know about evoke this episode is absolutely terrific to teach you or other people in your life how to use G voc hypo Penn School Nurses, your best friend anybody you're around who might be in a position to help you or your child if the need should arise. G voc hypo pain is the first glucagon autoinjector that treats very low blood sugars in people with diabetes ages two and above. Low blood sugar also called hypoglycemia occurs when your blood sugar gets below 70 milligrams per deciliter. When this happens, you can consume sugary foods or drinks to bring your blood sugar back up. There are many reasons why you may have low blood sugar including taking too much insulin, the amount and timing of physical activity and unexpected changes to your schedule. Very low blood sugar or severe hypoglycemia occurs when your blood sugar gets so low that you need help to bring it back up. It is an emergency situation that needs to be treated immediately. If your hypoglycemia is left untreated, it can quickly and unexpectedly progress to severe hypoglycemia. Severe hyperglycemia is potentially life threatening and can lead to loss of consciousness, seizure, coma, or even death. If you experience any of the following administering glucagon is the next step. You've tried eating or drinking but it's not working. You are unable to eat or drink. You feel like you might pass out or if you have passed out or are having a seizure. I'm just going to leave you with this. My daughter carries G voc hypo pen with her constantly. It is always on her person. There is another pen in her bedside table. When she goes to college, there is one on her person and one on her bedside table. Everyone in her life knows how to use G fo Capo pen, her roommates, her friends and family members both extended and within our home. G vote glucagon is a sponsor of this podcast because it is the glucagon that my daughter carries, not the other way around. You understand. We carry G voc and then I found the company and said if you guys want to be advertisers, I'd love to spread the word. I personally find that G voc hypo pen is the easiest to carry glucagon option that I've ever seen in the entire time my daughter has had type one diabetes. This may seem odd, but I was genuinely excited when we got G voc hypo pen the first time putting G voc hypo pen in my daughter's bag gave me a sense of relief that I had not had since she was diagnosed. Ask your physician today about G voc glucagon or go to G voc glucagon.com forward slash juicebox.

If you have a glucagon story that you'd like to share with me on the Juicebox Podcast contact me through juicebox podcast.com Or on the Facebook page Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes. Find out more about Chivo Capo pen at G Vogue glucagon.com forward slash juicebox you spell that GvokeGlucagon.com/Juicebox

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#980 Academic Advisor

Chrysten is a 29 year old T1D, diagnosed at 7. She’s an academic advisor who works with students transitioning from high school to college.

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Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends and welcome to episode 980 of the Juicebox Podcast

Welcome back everyone. Today I'll be speaking with Kristen she's a 29 year old type one diagnosed at age seven. She's also an academic advisor who works with students who transition from high school to college. We're going to talk about her job and her life, how she was diagnosed, what her experiences were, and everything else. While you're listening, please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan. We're becoming bold with insulin. Would you like to save 40% off your entire order at cosy earth.com That'll be easy to do, just use the offer code juice box at checkout. If you'd like to save on ag one use my link drink ag one.com forward slash juice box. And of course, don't miss the private Facebook group for the Juicebox Podcast. It's called Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes. It has over 40,000 members and there are endless conversations happening right now that you'll be interested in.

This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by Omni pod Omni pod.com forward slash juicebox. Get yourself the Omni pod dash or the automated Omni pod five with my link Omni pod.com forward slash juicebox go take that Omni pod for a test drive. The podcast is also sponsored today by Dexcom. Makers of the Dexcom G seven and Dexcom G six dexcom.com forward slash juice box you can wear the same exact Dexcom that my daughter wears the G seven or you can get yourself the G six@dexcom.com. Forward slash juicebox links in the show notes. Links at juicebox. podcast.com.

Chrysten 2:15
So I'm Kristin I'm 29. And I am currently talking to Scott.

Scott Benner 2:21
Christian, you're 29 You look like you're 12. And this photo was? Is that what you look like?

Chrysten 2:27
My whole? Yeah, I mean, that picture I think I was taking I was like 25. Really? So yeah,

Scott Benner 2:34
if you told me you were 18. And that photo, I would 100% believe you.

Chrysten 2:38
I know this is an ongoing joke. Actually. i We took headshots for my job, like a few years ago and this woman in my department was like, Are you serious? That's your photo. You look like you're in grade school. And I was like, Thank God, I'm sorry. I'm sorry about my pace. I don't know what to tell you.

Scott Benner 2:57
Does it hurt you at work? Like what can you tell me what kind of work you do without telling me where you work?

Chrysten 3:03
Oh, yeah. I'm a counselor, like an academic advisor? Does it hurt me? No, I don't think so. I mean, sometimes I'll get students who I do have some adult students. So sometimes they're older than me. So that's kind of can be kind of awkward, but we kind of roll with it. No, I wouldn't say it hurts me.

Scott Benner 3:22
Okay, bye. Good. My wife was in a position of I don't know how to say that. She She managed people, I was gonna say a position of power, which is true. But like she managed people at a young age and had a razor sharp understanding of the business. And she said that she would sit in meetings sometimes with people who were twice her age. And they would look at her like, why is this kid telling me what I have to do? And she said it were people who had it rubbed up wrong against that's why I was wondering.

Chrysten 3:53
Oh, yeah, I mean, if and when I more if if I ever moved into a management position? I know it would be that I'm sure that would happen to me. But as of right now, it's fine right now. It's

Scott Benner 4:03
not a problem.

Chrysten 4:04
Yeah, right now Well, that's a future problem. Yeah. So

Scott Benner 4:09
you see you being hopeful that you're going to continue to look like you're 12 for your whole life.

Chrysten 4:14
Like I've This has always been how I am like what am I saying? I've always looked younger than I am so I'm just like it is what it is at this point. So if everyone keeps telling me when I'm older, I'll like it but

Scott Benner 4:27
Well, I was gonna say the same thing like I can go or you can get away with way younger than I am. So it is nice for now. It's all about keeping your hair dark by the way. Really? Yeah. And keeping the wrinkles off your face that's pretty much the whole thing.

Chrysten 4:41
Well, I'll try I noticed though on Zoom now, when I'm you know, chose your camera and I have like a line in between my eyes and I'm like, oh my god, I'm getting old scruff.

Scott Benner 4:55
I have squinty eyes already. I hate that the I would like there's there's death Like a world where I would be to some flight surgery, if it was

Chrysten 5:04
low Botox here and there. If my

Scott Benner 5:06
eyes would appear open, that would be nice. And then I'd probably do some liposuction and a couple of spots. I think that'd be it. I'll meet

Chrysten 5:13
you. That'd be it. So down with liposuction, right? You know, who's got money for that?

Scott Benner 5:20
My wife's like, I'm coming up, I don't need you to come up. I need the document. I need an email me the doc, not you.

Chrysten 5:32
Well, don't ask her how she feels about liposuction.

Scott Benner 5:35
Oh, please, she doesn't care about me. Don't be insulted. Like, whatever, we don't have money for that. We do seem to have money for the things she likes, though. If I'm being honest. Yeah. Well, that's how it works. Okay, so why did you want to I'm this one specific. So let me ask why you want to come on the show.

Chrysten 5:56
So I work with students who transition from high school to college. And over and over again, I think when I emailed you was probably in the middle of our summer program. And over and over again, I have students who talk about how they had a 504 in high school, and they want to be normal in college. Right? And so I, after the 25th conversation I've had about this, I was like, You know what, that's such a thing for diabetes as well. And, and it pops up in the Facebook group from time to time about that transition from high school to college. And I also did it myself as a diabetic. So that's why

Scott Benner 6:33
that makes sense. It's and it's a great topic, honestly, what do you think they mean by normal?

Chrysten 6:38
Yeah, so a lot of times, I think they want to leave their diagnosis behind so and right. So I have students with, you know, a whole range of reasons as to why they'd have a 504. So a lot of like ADHD, and I've had some students on the autism struggle, sorry, autism spectrum or learning disabilities, things like that. And I think it's, they want to get rid of that known fact about themselves, if that makes sense. So like, you know, how in high school, they, every every teacher knows what your diagnosis is, and they want to get rid of that when they go to college and kind of start fresh is their idea, I think,

Scott Benner 7:25
is it fair to say? They just want to get rid of their normal? Yeah. A fresh start. So people not knowing. But is that conducive, though? To what? No, not at all right. Like you. Because if you get if you have in there, I think I'm right about this. If you head into college, and you have not set anything up. It's hard to settle up later.

Chrysten 7:48
Yep, that's exactly. And that's why as this happened 500,000 times, that's why I reached out to you because I was like, you know, I remember myself saying these words when I was in high school and going to college. So that's why I was like, Okay, maybe this is like a larger issue. But to your point, yes. So what happens is, they will get their accommodations, they often will crash and burn in the fall. And they'll reach out to me and like, you know, November and be like, oh, so I think I need these accommodations. I'm like, Yep, so that we have to kind of rush to get them off. And by then a lot of times, we can't get them till the spring.

Scott Benner 8:25
You work with kids who have all kinds of needs, not just diabetes.

Chrysten 8:29
Yeah, I actually worked for a program for economically disadvantaged students. And so it's a really broad spectrum of students that come through, but I haven't, I can't give you a number but a decent amount who, who have had disabilities in the past or have disabilities and want to get accommodations?

Scott Benner 8:47
In college? What, um, what does economic disadvantages? How does that How do you help those people?

Chrysten 8:54
So the program I work for it, really, I think the biggest focus is assigning them to a counselor. So myself and the other counselors in the program, and we have a smaller caseload. So what we can we can assist them more often than like a general advisor, because their their caseload is like crazy. It's like one to 700 whereas we are like 130 ish, I would say, and so we can assist them with whatever it is they need to transition. A lot of it is like, helping them with college jargon. So you know how people throw around words like that, you know, the registrar's office, that kind of stuff, right.

Scott Benner 9:36
And you're like, What the hell does that mean?

Chrysten 9:38
Right, right. Exactly. So we help them with a lot of that a lot of like, talking about how college is different than high school. Sometimes we'll connect them to services, like if they need like, additional support, like, you know, we had kids with like housing insecurity, food insecurity, stuff like that. Not that often but that just happened to you stuff like that. It's great work. I like

Scott Benner 9:59
it. Okay, so you you set those people up to understand the system they're getting involved in how to navigate it, and how to show them what's available to them and how they can ask for it. Exactly. Yeah. And there's not a lot of difference between that and medical, honestly. Right? Because it's still the same, like we didn't know right away. When Arden went to college, we're like, Well, I mean, somebody probably has to know, you know, but what do you do? And so, if you if you're not contacted by the school, what do you do you contact them and ask if there's like, who would I contact that the college to ask if I'm not hearing from them on it?

Now let's talk about the Dexcom g7. The Dexcom. g7 is a small and wearable continuous glucose monitoring system. It sends real time glucose readings, to your Dexcom g7 app, or the Dexcom receiver. Use my link dexcom.com forward slash juicebox. To learn more and get started today, you will be able to effortlessly see your glucose levels and where they're headed. This way, you'll be able to make better decisions about food, insulin and activity. Once you're able to see the impact that those variables have on blood sugar, you'll begin to make more purposeful decisions and have better outcomes. My daughter has been wearing a Dexcom My daughter has been wearing a Dexcom product for so many years. I don't even remember when she started. But today she wears the Dexcom g7. And it is small and easy. And oh my goodness, are you going to love it dexcom.com forward slash juice box, you can head there now and click on the button that will get you your free benefits check or just hit that other button that says Get Started. When you use my links, you're supporting the production of the podcast dexcom.com forward slash juicebox. My daughter Arden has been wearing an omni pod since she was four years old. And she is now 19 That is every day wearing an omni pod for the last 15 years. I think what we love most about Omni pod is that it doesn't have any tubing. But I don't know is that the thing you love most about it? You don't have to take it off to swim or bave you can leave it on for activity and exercise. It's small. I don't eat I mean, it's so easy to put on right to fill it and to put it on. It's just it takes us no time at all. Yeah, I guess it's hard to figure out what my favorite thing about Omnipod is? I guess I'll just say that my daughter loves it. It's easy, and it's worked for her. For so many years. It's just such a friend at all this Omni pod.com Ford slash juice box, you can check your coverage there for your insurance. Or take a test drive right? Would you like a free trial the AMI pod you can do that there as well, then you can just get started Omni pod.com forward slash juicebox. Now you have a decision to make. Do you want the Omni pod dash, which is an insulin pump? Where you make all the decisions? Or do you want the Omni pod five. Now the only pod five is the first and only tubeless automated insulin delivery system to integrate with a Dexcom G six. And it's available for people with type one diabetes ages two years and older. It features smarter, just technology. And it's going to help you to protect against highs and lows both day and night. That's an algorithm based system making decisions about insulin given it and taking it away. It's pretty damn cool. Omni pod.com forward slash juicebox the links in the show notes links at juicebox podcast.com. When you use those links, you're supporting the production of the podcast and helping to keep it free and plentiful.

Chrysten 14:00
Right, exactly, so it's every school has. Its sometimes now called Accessibility Services, or disability services. And those are the people who would process accommodations for college students.

Scott Benner 14:14
Okay, so we contact them and say, Hey, listen, I have type one diabetes, and I'm on my way to college. Or they're two different people, or they're the people who have accommodation set up already and want to try to transfer them. And there are I imagine people who who made it through high school without accommodations and are now thinking they might be more necessary in college.

Chrysten 14:35
Yeah, exactly. So it's definitely easier if you had like a 504 plan or a medical plan in high school, or an IEP if it's not diabetes, right. But then yes, there are people who or you could even get diagnosed with something in college, right? Or even there's like, you know, temporary stuff like you get a concussion or injury or something like that. So yeah, so there's two different like paths. Athletes I suppose to go there.

Scott Benner 15:02
Do people take advantage of this?

Chrysten 15:04
Yes and no, it it really depends from what I understand. And I'm also talking about this in the context of working out one university. Right. Yeah, of course. But yeah, I think it really depends on the school. I don't really have that answer. I also, so I don't work for Disability Services, specifically, like I'm more of like the, like, I work for that. The program I was talking about, so I don't have too much information on like, what that looks like, if that makes sense.

Scott Benner 15:31
Yeah, well, but you have type 1am i right. Yeah, yeah. How so? How old were you? And you're diagnosed? Seven. Wow. Now we know of course, you're 12. Now from your photo? And 12. You've had it for five years? Yes. So you were diagnosed at seven? Did you have accommodations in school?

Chrysten 15:50
No, I had a medical plan of some sort. And high school, I believe, but no, I never had a 504 which is interesting.

Scott Benner 15:59
Which you have an IEP? No, no. Did you note from your doctor? No. But see, this is a good point, though. Because you had it. And you don't know what it is? Yep. Right. And so when you go to college, did you try to take it with you?

Chrysten 16:17
I did, actually because my my, my mother forced me.

Scott Benner 16:21
Okay, more interesting. You didn't want to? I did not want to know, because you wanted to be normal and start over again.

Chrysten 16:29
Pretty much. I went to Penn State and I loved the idea of you know how people hate the idea of like, being just a number. I thought that was great. I was like, yeah, no one bothered me. That was my perspective. So I was like, No, I don't want to bring this up. I'm just going to school. Like, leave me alone. You know,

Scott Benner 16:48
so you like the idea of going to a big school in the middle of nowhere, and just existing for four years and doing your thing?

Chrysten 16:55
Yep. I love anonymity. Like I was all about lecture hall classes. I was like, That sounds amazing. Let's do it.

Scott Benner 17:02
I have a side note question. Why do people who have gone to Penn State act like that's where Jesus lives?

Chrysten 17:09
Because it is. Yeah, no, I'm in. I'm in the cult. I am very okay with it. It's the best place on the planet.

Scott Benner 17:19
Yeah, I don't know. i The flags that fly in front of people's houses a decade after their children have graduated. Their babies running around a little Penn State outfits. Amy? Yeah. Yeah, all that stuff went on with the football team didn't bother people at all. They're like, whatever. Penn State baby.

Chrysten 17:38
Oh, yeah. No, nobody cares. If it's, there's something about it. I don't know. It's, it's like its own little

Scott Benner 17:47
cold already. I think you were there.

Chrysten 17:51
I meant cold. I honestly meant cold. But uh, yeah, I remember my, my dad being like, are you going to college? Are you going to Disney World? Like, what is this? And I was like, it's amazing. So

Scott Benner 18:02
because you were having so much fun.

Chrysten 18:04
I loved it. Yeah. It was amazing. I was so excited to go there. Like it was it was

Scott Benner 18:09
awesome. So how did it go? being just a number like, how did that change your diabetes world?

Chrysten 18:15
I loved it. Honestly, how did it change my diabetes world? So for me, I'm very, I was always very anxious, quiet, keep to myself kind of person when I was young, which you wouldn't think now as I like, don't shut up as I'm talking to you. But so, for me, it was always very hard to advocate for myself. So like, I would be the type where if I was low, I would just take the test and not do well and not say anything about it. Yeah, so when I went to college, that stuck with me, I think I learned I definitely learned as I went through to stop doing that,

Scott Benner 18:56
though. So it's a momentary thing, then it's you, you wanted to try it, then you try it and you're like, This is not valuable for me. I'll stop doing this.

Chrysten 19:07
Yeah, essentially, after it affected my grades negatively so many times. And I was always a good student. I was like school. It started to, I was like, Alright, I gotta stop doing this. I

Scott Benner 19:20
got no, I'm sorry, God, keep talking.

Chrysten 19:23
No, I was gonna say I was thinking of a like, one time for example, I had a, I had a Medtronic pump at the time. I had that for like, a year and then I was like, after got caught on door handles us over it. But so I had a Medtronic pump, something happened with it where I think it wasn't connected or something. And I was like, 300 and this was before I had a Dexcom. So I you know, I didn't realize until I checked my, my number and I was like, oh, yikes. And I was about to go to an exam but I had to go back to my apartment and get cheese Ah, the cartridge or whatever. And so I actually ironically ran into the TA as I was walking to my apartment. And I was like, Hey, I'm so I'm in the class CTA for I know, we have an exam, I explained the insulin pump thing. I was like, I just gotta run to my house and then come back. And then so I'm going to be a little late to this exam. And she was so nice. She was like, yeah, no, don't even worry about it. She was like, I can let the professor know, you could take it another time when you're feeling better. And I went into the exam with a 300 blood sugar. Like, why? For what purpose? You don't? I mean, I would do things like that a lot. Right? You know?

Scott Benner 20:35
Is it fair to compare that feeling that you had to when a person makes a drastic change cutting their hair or changing their clothes? Or? Like you don't? I mean, like, Were you just looking for a shift? Like, let me get away from this diabetes thing for a minute? Possibly, yeah, I mean, because you haven't for we had it for like, 11 years before you went to college ish. So how would you describe living with diabetes as a kid? And then into high school? Did it go like, easily? Or was it? Is it a bad memory?

Chrysten 21:09
So I started, when I started, it was back in like, what is it mph? And the other one, regular? Yeah. And yeah, and you would like mix them in the one injection or whatever. And you had to like, eat 45 carbs a meal at specific times, and then 15 carb snacks, three a day, and you couldn't deviate from that. So that sucked. And from there, I switched to Lantis. That was a big deal to switch to Lantis when I was like, hen and around, I would say around like 11 or 12. I really did everything myself. My parents didn't help me with it, which they were, which is interesting. I think I totally lost track of your question.

Scott Benner 22:02
I'm gonna just ask another question. I'll get you back. Okay. Why was it interesting that they stopped helping?

Chrysten 22:07
Oh, why is it interesting? I mean, I'm thinking of a time like my, I was at a diabetes educator appointment. And my mom was like, my mom was like, oh, yeah, I was like, 12. And my mom was like, oh, yeah, she does everything herself. I don't know. I have no idea what she does. She just does it. And the educator was like, she's 12 I think she probably needs some help. And I was just like, okay, you know, so I, I guess,

Scott Benner 22:37
did you need help? Yeah, what was your agency ish? Like about?

Chrysten 22:42
I want to say I floated in the eights. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 22:44
So you needed help?

Chrysten 22:45
I needed help. Definitely.

Scott Benner 22:48
Let's delve into your parents for a second. Were your parents like hands off people? Or were they just under the impression that it was going okay, because you were alive.

Chrysten 22:57
My parents are not very nice people. Honestly. So they, yeah. I'm serious.

Scott Benner 23:09
Do you have a relationship with them? Yeah, yeah, that didn't sound exciting. But you go on Christmas, like, that kind of stuff.

Chrysten 23:17
It's kind of it's, they're, they're just not very nice. They're very self absorbed kind of people, you know. So I think that especially with my, my mother was so anxious. I don't think she could handle the diabetes, honestly, like, she was just like, this is another thing. I can't deal with this. So So I did it. So I you know, I kind of had a raise myself kind of childhood, you know,

Scott Benner 23:41
I say, Okay, I am. Good.

Chrysten 23:45
No, is gonna say now that I intended to delve into that. Sorry.

Scott Benner 23:48
No, no, no, I'm just I just have to tell you that. I don't have a number on this. But it's a big number. For when we get to it in the conversation where people are like, Yeah, I just did it by myself. And I'm like, that's weird. Did your parents not help you? And they, and no one just comes out and says, yeah, no, my parents just bailed on me. Like, no one ever is honest about it. Everyone defends their parents, no matter what. It's when they're being recorded. It's really interesting. By the way, it's interesting. How many people stop recording. Yeah, I couldn't tell you about my mom because it would break her heart. And I'm like, Oh, okay. But you were just like, No, they're not nice.

Chrysten 24:27
I believe they never find this.

Scott Benner 24:29
Are you? Are you nice? Yeah. Because I mean, that was pretty honest. Some might say not nice.

Chrysten 24:37
Yeah, I mean,

Scott Benner 24:40
I appreciate it. Listen, I appreciate it. If your 12 year old has a massive medical condition that includes them using a medication that if they use it incorrectly could kill them. And your idea is, she seems to be doing alright. I mean, I'm not I'm not here to judge anybody but if you put Put me in the situation where I was I be judgmental of that. So, yeah. And so I appreciate you saying that. That's all. Okay. So now I have some, I'm also trying to give people context for why their kids might want to forget about their diabetes. Sure, when they get to college, and not only diabetes, it's to be said that it is not uncommon for a kid to go to college and try to find a way to be unconscious.

Chrysten 25:26
Yeah, and, you know, I think the whole thing gives, actually, I'm glad we talked about that, because I think it gives a good context to where I was, was, when I went to college, I wanted to really start over like, I was like, I'm getting away from my parents and the whole shebang. And yeah, so I think that's why I don't know, that's, that's why I went in that direction.

Scott Benner 25:48
Listen, this isn't for this conversation. But I'm happy to have this conversation with somebody else at some point. I don't want to be overdramatic Hold on a second. I think what I was gonna say was, like, a little too overdramatic. But it's a crisis, that after spending 17 years with their parents, that a number of children's focus, they say it's about a coin flip about half f kids that go to college are going to drink by the way half of them don't. It's interesting, like how the numbers, right, but it's one in two people is thinking, I need to go somewhere and get really high or really drunk and get away from my own thoughts. I mean, that's a that's a cultural failing, if one in two people feel that way. Oh, yeah. It's interesting how it doesn't get talked about because from people who are not drinkers, using drinking as an example, they don't say anything. They're just like, I just hope my kid goes to college and doesn't fall into that. I'm just going to hope for that the other half of people are oftentimes almost proud of it. Like, oh, they're gonna go to school and get blackout drunk. Mike, is that not an issue for you? Like, you know, it's not it absolutely isn't. So then there's this competing culture, because the kid who doesn't drink also probably has some stress and anxiety and things didn't go right for them either. And those kids have no outlet. And then the other ones are using an outlet that's so big that it you know, it becomes it can become a way of life to like, we don't talk about the fact that in society, most people are anesthetized in one way or another. That's true. Yeah. We just don't talk about it from like, yeah. Anyway, are the ramifications

Chrysten 27:31
of that? No, no, I think that's a good point. And, and the ramifications of that, like socially, and, and mentally and all these different things? Absolutely. That's huge.

Scott Benner 27:40
Yeah. I mean, from like, you know, from a person, I don't know, who's an adult who's just, you know, using wind to get through the day, or, I mean, I mean, one of the Rolling Stones sang about it in the 60s, right, like just the pill, just take the edge off. And right up to like, you know, I have no trouble with the smoking weed. But if you're smoking weed all day long, because you can't function. To me, there's something's wrong, like, right, like you should be able to get through life without being altered, sometimes at the very least, anyway, and then these kids head off and wanting to kids this coin flip of who you are, some of them are going to have diabetes. And like so some of you are going to send your diabetic child off to college, and that kid's going to fall face first into a keg. The only way they're going to know my expectation to safeguard themselves from a low blood sugar is going to be to keep their blood sugar high. I mean, that's what I get from conversations I have with adults who are formerly children with diabetes. So it goes one way or the other people were just like, I don't drink it doesn't matter. So anyway, that was a bit of a soapbox for me. I did not mean to do that. Oh, it's fine for you, but about the people listening, they're like, Shut up, man. I like to drink. So it's all good. You should have grown up with my parents. You drink too, by the way, I did grow up with your parents and I have compassion. Okay. So what I wanted to tell you was that when Arden went off to college, we had a nice experience where the school, you know, designated a person to speak to us about diabetes. We had a video chat between the three of us, my wife, myself, and Arden. And the first thing you notice is you're talking to somebody who generally speaking, big surprise doesn't understand type one diabetes. Exactly. And so you have to begin to educate them without scaring them. Right. And, and so we were doing that on the call. And I said at some point during the phone call, I said, I don't know if you can tell like we're very uncomfortable with this. And she's like, how so I said, we don't want to be doing this. I said I Don't think Arden needs any of this. But if she does, I don't want for it not to be there. Right?

Chrysten 30:10
And that's how I wrap my head around it to like, it's like there's there's always that one. I'm trying to think of a nice word, and not curse. There's always that one professor, right? There's always that one person who's gonna make your life miserable for no apparent reason. And so it's just, it's really like, a catch all to make sure that you're covered is really how I think of it. But does she? Like, I mean, I would imagine Arden doesn't really need to use it often. But it's just, it's just there just in case.

Scott Benner 30:40
I don't, I don't think I'm gonna go over with you what we did. Okay, but I, I don't think with the exception of the fact that she's she has a tiny little personal refrigerator and smaller than you're imagining, like it only it would only fit maybe like three softballs inside of it. It's very small. And that's what she has her insulin in. And you had to have a an accommodation to have a refrigerator. Right for and that was a bit of a lift, because people didn't ask for it generally. So it was when you got to the person. They were like, I don't know if I'll get this done. But I can't just say yes to it. Now. It's funny, because what you just tried to artfully say a minute ago, I actually just said on the call. I said, Oh, really? Yeah, I told the person I was like, Look, this is all just here in case one of these professors is an asshole.

Chrysten 31:31
I was that was the word I was going to use. But I'll try not to curse. Oh,

Scott Benner 31:34
you're very nice. I mean, not to your parents, but to me, and I appreciate so but but I mean, in truth that's what it is. Right? Like it's a Get Out of Jail Free card in a world where you shouldn't get put in jail, but somebody might do it to you. So you get to whip it on go. You can't do that you have diabetes. So exactly, but you don't want to say it like now the person we spoke to said there are people who wear it like I don't know like they wear it right on their chest. Their every time you see them, you're going to hear I have this and I am allowed and she's like, look, we accommodate those people too. And I said you're never going to hear my daughter say she has diabetes. Like Like there's no less she's passing out and she says give me a juice I have diabetes like that. Even then we've learned people don't even know what that means. So you know anyway, so my wife and I want to get my wife full credit because let's be clear, this is well written and organized which means I had nothing to do with it. But she broke it down into categories for the school. She so the first category she has is absence lateness and scheduling. Court we of course registration, housing and medical, medical self treatment, nutrition proximity to class and food supplies and Wi Fi accessibility. That's how we have it broken down. Okay, what do you do you see anything that's missing there?

Chrysten 33:04
No, no, no. Okay.

Scott Benner 33:06
So what we we first explained it so absence lateness schedule. My wife has blood glucose levels are impacted by many variables, including but not limited to food hormones, adrenaline, temperature, physical activity, illness and stress. Each type one diabetes person responds differently to these variables are in may require flexibility around class attendance due to type one, because of things like prolonged overnight hypoglycemia, emergency room visits, hospitalization for DKA, or a hypoglycemic episode. So we listed out everything that could happen to her. But none of it do we actually expect to happen. Right, right. And then she says this is the combination we're looking for. excused absences. And lateness is for diabetes related reasons. ability to access class notes during excused absences. And lateness is for diabetes related reasons. Extra time, or ability to reschedule exams, projects, due dates, if ability to complete this, the thing is impacted by hypo or hyperglycemia. And so like, that's just one category that my wife, like, laid out. And we went through for all of them. Like, she explained how course registration could be important, just things like class time. Like it'll be it would be great for our not to have to be in a classroom at like, 8am you know, like that kind of stuff. And like, you know, blah, blah, blah housing, that she needs a refrigerator like I can't read this whole thing. I mean, I could read this whole thing to you, but I'm not going to you know, I could make it available online to be honest with you, but yeah, yeah. And so like, so we went through all that. And then the response we got back from the school was very, like, easy. Like, everything was easy after that, because and part of me thinks it's because we made that person's life easier. We explained it to them. We said look Look, this isn't we're not here to like hold you up. You know, we don't we're not asking for a, she doesn't need a puppy or a Ferris wheel. You don't I mean, or something like that. And as a matter of fact, she's probably never going to mention this to anybody. But Arden said that in her first days of every class she has someone pulls her aside and says, I got your accommodations. But she said one professor pulled her aside and said, Hey, look, we're not supposed to ask you What's up, but what's up with you? And goes, Oh, I have type one diabetes. And the woman goes, Oh, really? That it? And she goes, yeah, she goes, it's cool. It's so so hard and goes, Do you want to know anything? And she's like, No, she's like, if you need something, just do it. It's fine. Like she had a real like, adult conversation, right? And what I didn't realize was this with this person with this specific professor. I've just need to live my life. And if as long as I don't take advantage of this, somehow, this person is going to have no problem at all. And the teacher goes, like, I appreciate you sharing it with me, because some kids just have really like, scary issues. And they don't tell us exactly all the time. She's like, I want to know what to be ready for Arden goes look, the worst that might happen. She's Arden said the worst that I can imagine happening is that if one of my devices stops working, I might have to leave. And she's like, in from a safety standpoint, my blood sugar could get low. And I might need help. And like drinking juice, she's like, I have juice with me. But even some of the things that we started to set up, we found ways around like, you know, the campus is pretty spread out in this in this little city. And we were like, well, what does she do if she's across town? And her pump site fails or something like that happens, right? And so we started talking to the school were like, could we put insulin like in different locations? And the woman's like, I don't? I don't think so. Like she's like, I mean, you would need refrigeration in a building and you'd want to put a medication in there. And I'm like, Yeah, I'm like, I don't I don't see how we could do that either. And what they landed on for that is, is that Artem basically has like a super uber card. She's got a phone number, and she can call campus security. And if and they'll whisk her back to her room, wait for her and take her back to class. That's so cool. What a good idea. Yeah, if that ever happens, which by the way, it's likely never going to happen. And even Arden said like, If that really happened, she was I wouldn't do that first because I would first see if like my roommate could just bring me like a pump and some insulin or something like right in the beginning. For like the first two weeks. She carried it with her. She took like a cold thing. She put ice in it, she put her insulin in it. She took a pump, like she was ready put it in her backpack. It was like two weeks later after she was there. And I was like, Are you still carrying insulin to school? It's a class and she goes on. I stopped doing that.

Chrysten 37:59
I was gonna say that's gonna get old real quick. Yeah. Not just Yeah. Yeah, no, I mean, I've even I having been at work a couple times with a site failure. I just leave insulin in my personal and have an extra pod, like an open one.

Scott Benner 38:15
Okay. And it's been fine. Yeah. I mean, in a regular life, like you just, you know, I've talked about on here before, like, when we leave the house, there's like a distance. And that I think of, like, if we're at least as far away, bring it with you. If you're at something that you can't, like, just stop doing. And you'd have to go home and come back again. Bring it with you. But I mean, if you're going up the street to go grocery shopping, and your pump fails, then just go home. You don't I mean? So, okay, so you go into Penn State, the end all be all of higher education, where everything is amazing. Yeah. And and what's your experience? Like?

Chrysten 38:55
In terms of diabetes? Yeah. Fine. Is that a good answer? So no, I'm getting. So yeah, it was absolutely fine. I mean, I think the biggest issue I ran into was getting going low from walking so far, because the campus is so big. That was definitely an issue from time to time, I probably made some poor choices with drinking, I'm sure. And then I that's the biggest thing I can think of, I mean, I have like, I had some moments where it was stressful. You know, like, I remember taking an exam one time, and not realizing that I had to change my pod, within X amount of hours, whatever it is, and so it started beeping in the middle of an exam. And so I took it out to, to, like, you know, make the noise stop. And I remember being so nervous because I was like, this woman is gonna think that I was cheating. You know, because I took out a device and like, hit you know, hit the ball. And then put it back in my purse. So I went up to the professor afterwards and I was like, hey, just so you know, I'm a diabetic, I was not on my phone in the middle of the exam. And she's like, Oh, I don't even notice. I was like, okay, cool. So that was most of my, you know, experience, any issues I had, the professors were lovely. And I think I can think of like, maybe three times that I had to disclose to a professor about it. And that's about it. It was pretty mundane. Honestly,

Scott Benner 40:25
I remember once in high school, we went to like back to school night, I think Arden was like a freshman. You know, we did the whole thing and tell you. It's the song and dance the teacher does. And then do you have any questions? And I said, I do have questions that how do you think her diabetes plans working out? And she goes, what? And I said, Arden, like with her insulin pump and everything. Is that all been okay. And she goes real honest. And I said, sure she was until you just mentioned I forgot Arden had diabetes. Oh, Jesus. And it's funny. You think of it as like, oh, no, like she forgot. But I thought it was like, good. Like, that's cool. Like, you mean, we have it so well planned that you don't notice it at all?

Chrysten 41:06
I guess so. I guess so I just I think of it in terms of like, god forbid something happened. The teacher should have an idea. Yeah, I mean, you're younger. Yeah. And I

Scott Benner 41:15
think she knew, but like, it wasn't top of her mind when she thought about art. She didn't think about diabetes. And I thought as you were saying, yeah, yeah, I'm sure if I, you know, by the by the way, she had remembered it when I said it wasn't like she wouldn't know you're talking about the wrong kid. But I always thought that was that spoke well, of the plan we had set up and about how Arden executes the plan. And you know, and how to be honest, it stops being a plan very soon, it just becomes a way of life.

Chrysten 41:46
That's a good point as to, I think why kids want to get rid of their diagnosis, right? When they go to college is they don't want people thinking of that. Think of their diabetes, or what have you. About them first, right? Like, that's not the first thing I want anyone to think of me is that I have diabetes, it's all these other things about me. So, and I think that comes with time. And age, honestly. So, you know, to your point on that one? Yeah,

Scott Benner 42:17
yeah. It does shine a light on the idea that, like, look, there's no doubt that I think most people don't want to be thought of as sick. Like, I think that's just, you know, they don't want to end they don't want to go through the explanation about diabetes and autoimmune and, you know, a lifelong, like, nobody wants to say that about them. They don't want to you think it? Look, you can say all you want, the people need to do their job and be nice. And they do. And that's why there are rules in place. But the truth is, is that on a, you know, on an instinctual level, we are people who we rank people, in every situation, like in every situation, we look up and we rank people pretty to ugly, powerful to weak, smart to like, it just it's just what happens like it's is it right? It's not right, it absolutely what happens if you don't believe me read Malcolm Gladwell Bill's book about what is the one about 10,000 hours, I forget what it's called. But in the first chapter, he talks about this unconscious bias, where a kindergarten teacher on day one, I'm going to get this bastardize the story a little bit probably, but identifies the attractive children. And they are kind, they are kinder to them. They're more forgiving of them. They, they treat them better. And then you go back and interview those teachers like really like scientifically interview them, they'll just ask them like, hey, you'd be nice to the blonde kid like not like that. Right? But like, pick them apart psychologically. The teachers don't know they're doing it.

Chrysten 43:50
Oh, yeah, it's definitely unconscious. Some subconscious.

Scott Benner 43:54
Yeah. And by the way, when your daughter gets to a certain age, they could be treated poorly, by jealous people. If you're a certain way, you're smarter, you're prettier, like whatever, like whatever insecurity the teacher has, if you're the mirror image of that, like you could get treated poorly. And again, if you pulled the teacher aside said, Hey, you're being you know, you're being course to that pretty girl over there. They'd be like, No, I'm not. But talk to the talk to the girl. And they'll say no, that lady hates me.

Chrysten 44:26
It's interesting. Yeah, cuz it is interesting. Yeah. Cuz we all project our own crap, whatever it is, to people without realizing it. Yeah,

Scott Benner 44:34
absolutely. So the key is, obviously people shouldn't do that. And you should defend yourself against it. But if this is the way the world works, you can't get mired down in the fight. Like you got to find a way through my opinion. You know what I mean? Like, I'm sure that's not what I'm sure any institution would say. No, our teachers shouldn't be treating you like that and yeah, okay. And but until we find a way to make people act against their own, you know, work as enemies or angels, you have to be ready to live through that, like, so that's the thing that we talked to you about art. And I said, Look, I think generally speaking in 2023, at an art school, you are going to find a lot of very agreeable people. And they are not going to hold you up over you having diabetes or a need around it. But you might bump into somebody, and and you're going to need to know how to artfully deal with that, and not just throw the rules in their face and yell, because that person still gets to give you a grade three months from now, too. And again, they'll say, Oh, I, you know, don't worry, like, you know, you're being treated very fairly and like, Sure. So if I hold you up in the first week and get into an argument with you about something that's not going to affect me later moving forward. Right? Because there's a rule i Yeah, rules are helping everybody fix in the whole world. So I think that what may be most valuable, like we always talk about this people, like how do I get ready to send my kid to college? You know, what about taking care of themselves, it's all obvious. You take care of it before you go, if you want, if you want your kid to know how to take care of their blood sugar in college, you practice at home. If you want them to know how to get past a teacher, that's an asshole, you tell them that explain it to them and explain the world to them? And if you don't understand if you're one of those people who's like, oh, no, everything's great. And this is how people should be, then you're going to be the people that get hosts sometimes. Because there's like a real world and then there's the world you're hoping to live in? And yeah, yeah. Anyway.

Chrysten 46:33
Absolutely. No. And I think like, it's a lot of I mean, I'm not a parent, but just being a counselor, right? Like, it's a lot of knowing your kid and knowing, like, where their areas of growth are, right. So like, for me, it was, I like to not advocate for myself at all right? And so that's what I had to work on. Whereas you might have kids, like you were talking about earlier, like, the other end of the spectrum, where, you know, they're 90 Diagonal down, and they're like, I'm low, I'm gonna die. I can't go. Like that kid. That kid exists, too, you know. And so, so I think it's a lot about like, knowing, you know, knowing your kid and, and, and, or the, you know, kids, students doing themselves and where, what direction they need to push themselves. And

Scott Benner 47:21
Kristen, you're saying it without saying it, right. Like we said, most people are great, but you might run into a teacher who's an asshole. Some of your kids might be assholes. Right? And you need to know that to be honest. Right, right. Like, yeah, there's

Chrysten 47:37
some, yeah, some are gonna milk it, and some are gonna be the polar opposite end of the spectrum. You know, both directions happen, right?

Scott Benner 47:46
You're such, you're the perfect person to talk about this with because, you know, the diabetes space is, is it's great about giving people information, but a lot of the times the information is static. And it's not always as helpful as it could be. It's like perfect world information. You know what I mean? Like, set up this? I mean, look, I keep reading it to you, we did it, we did the thing. Arden is covered six ways from Sunday. Okay, on paper, and then the marching orders are, if you can help it never refer to what we did. Like there's,

Chrysten 48:21
there's, it's a catch all baseline kind

Scott Benner 48:23
of thing. We're trying to cover both realities. There's the real world where you live where nobody gives a shit if you have diabetes, and there's the, you know, collegiate world where you are able to set up this accommodation, so set it up. But if you really want to succeed in life, try hard not to lean on it, because people smell that out as as weakness. Like that. It sucks, but it's true. You know, like, not everybody. Some people are very kind. By the way, I wouldn't see you as weak if you had diabetes. I don't see it. No, I mean, obviously, my daughter has type one, like, I don't see it that way at all. But there are plenty of people who are going to see an insulin pump on your arm and right away think something's wrong with them. Right. And there are competitive people in the world that you if you're not a competitive person you don't know about those people will slice your throat to take a step ahead. Yeah, and they'll use anything. They don't even care what it is. They just they're looking to be one step ahead of the next guy. And, and that's a real thing, too. So right, you know,

Chrysten 49:25
sorry, okay, I was gonna say, right, and like those, like, some people, I think, see it and they're like, oh, that's gonna be annoying. That's gonna be a problem. Like that kind of attitude towards people with diabetes, which I think is again, like you're saying, like, really slim, but there are people are out there like that. Absolutely.

Scott Benner 49:41
Oh, there are people who don't have patience for other people who are right away going, Oh, this is going to be a thing. And there are people who have already run into someone who's who have made it a thing and they're like, Oh, here's another one of them. You know what I mean? Like you're, you're running up, you're also going to meet i Listen, I don't want anybody crying. You're also going to meet a lot of lovely people who aren't We're gonna do what my daughter's profession is like, what do you got diabetes? That's fine. You need anything from me now? All right, good. If you do, let me know. Okay, good. And then bobblehead it's on its way should never think of her like that again. And that's it. And you met somebody who was cool about you taking a test, and then you know, you will, overwhelmingly the world's full of kind people, it just, I think it's just true, you know, like, overwhelmingly, most people mean, well, and they, they, they are not actively out there trying to, like, you know, cut your throat. But there are some people that are those people are out there, too, and they exist. So, you know, it's six, a one, or you got to decide, you got to decide how you're going to handle this. And the best way, in my opinion, is to be, you know, be the master of your situation really, like, like, as best you can be on top of yourself. Like, don't leave it to somebody else's decision. It's, you know, I don't know, like, you don't want to go first in the home run competition at the All Star Game person, then because if you hit 19, the next guy is going to hit 20, you want to go last? So you're in control. So you can, it's on you, right? And this is not a thing, that if you can help it, you want to put on someone else. Now, if you are really taxed by this, and and you're the other side of this, this discussion, where you're just you're not going to make it without someone else's help, then I think you have to make that clear, and find people who will act in good faith. And that yes, you don't I mean,

Chrysten 51:40
I do. And I think I think it really comes down to like, you're the expert on you. Right? It's like, you're the one who lives with it lives with it every day, and you're the one who knows yourself best and how you're gonna react to things right, like all the different variables and whatever. And so you also exactly like, you have to recognize where it is that you need help and, and where, and know that like you're the only one who can, who can advocate for yourself the best, you know what I mean? Yeah,

Scott Benner 52:12
you got to avoid having a victim mentality. And if that's who you are right, then then work on that first, before you throw yourself into the next situation. I don't know if I'm being clear about this. But I feel like I see a small amount of people who are like, I can't function, you have to help me. And Okay, everyone, like I'm for that, by the way, like accommodations are really important. But there's a spectrum there of the accommodations that are necessary. And, you know, for the people who genuinely need them who have trouble functioning, for reasons of like, you know, high anxiety, depression, like things like that physical ailments, I don't think those people are going to be treated poorly. I think that people are going to help them and they're going to follow and it's going to go, Well, I'm talking about for the other people who are just, you know, I don't know, if I'm being clear, like, I think you have to like, you have to fight for yourself. You can't just expect that things are going to be easy because you wrote it down somewhere. I think it's the argument you see online. It's the closest thing that I can say about this is one of the most argued about things on line is whether or not a person with type one diabetes should get a pass to go through lines faster in amusement parks, I have never good.

Chrysten 53:33
I've seen it blow up so many times. Yes. Every time someone posts it, I'm like, oh, here we go. Again,

Scott Benner 53:38
say the word Disney so that I can watch you all fight for two days. Because what happens is, you get these two camps, the K we deserve help camp and I or, or I need help, like, I'm not lying to you, I can't stand in this line in this heat. And the fight for yourself, be strong. It's almost like watching. It literally is the same argument around COVID When you heard people say, like, just take your vitamins and don't be fat. And I'm like, well, that's not the whole story. If you're not old and you're not heavy, you're gonna be fine. And I'm like, Ah, that seems overly simplistic, but okay. And then and then the other side, just like help me, help me. Help me, help me help me. I don't want to help myself. And then there's everybody in between. But those two sides, they it's just interesting to watch. I know, it's a weird example. But to watch people. It's accommodations, like some people do not want to be thought of as weak.

Chrysten 54:38
No, I don't think it's a weird example at all. I think it actually really is exactly what we're talking about. Because it depends on so many things. Right. It's like, it depends on where you are in your diagnosis. I think where you are currently right because diabetes changes from week to week, you know, hour an hour, week to week. Right. And I think it also really, it comes down to the question of like, I mean, the way I think of disability right is like, we have to deal with something that some other people don't. And that's really just what it comes down to. Right. And sometimes you might need, you want to, like have equity, right and level the playing field and give you give people with diabetes or whatever Right? Was the word I'm looking for shoot the shot, like a bit. Sorry, what,

Scott Benner 55:29
like a fair shot?

Chrysten 55:31
A fair shot? Yeah. So like, the ability to Yeah, it's just a donor to take care of yourself is really it? Right. Yeah. And so yeah, I think that I get why people get all up in arms about it. But really, like, it's something that people that type one diabetes, people with type one diabetes have to deal with things that people without it, don't have to deal with? Doesn't make it, you know, and it's like, it doesn't I think it's diabetes is a weird example, though, because it doesn't affect you. Like it affects you every second of the day, but at the same time, it doesn't, right. Like, it's like my,

I don't know, what's my blood sugar right now? 108. Like, whatever it's called, leveled out, right? So it's like, right now, it's not really, like, I

don't have to think about it right, the second, but then suddenly, we're low. And then we have to think about it. You know what I mean? So does that make sense? Am I talking in circles?

Scott Benner 56:20
No, you're, you're 100% make sense? I think I understand. Like, what you're saying is 1,000,000%. Right, I stand behind it. I obviously my wife and I put together like an iron clad, ask for my daughter. And yeah, and so every, I think everyone should have that. I'm not saying otherwise. I'm also saying that you shouldn't, like fall into it, like don't fall into it like a comfy bed and be like close to school, I don't have to be a class on time, I'll just tell them my blood sugar was low. Or I can turn this in three days late, because well, diabetes, and you can argue with me because I have an accommodation. And like, because that's not good for you. Like it might get you through the class, that's not going to get you through life, you are going to get to a point where you get a job one day where you're like, I can't do this, because my blood sugar was low, and your boss is gonna go, well, I need someone who can do this. So you're fired, and or we'll move you into another, like, some states can fire you for any reason. And some and some states will say, Well, we're gonna move you into a dead end job that you'll hate. And I'm gonna put somebody who can get this job done in this position. And that might not be all above board. And you might not even hear it happening. But it's gonna happen. Like, you know, people run businesses to succeed not to, you know what I mean? Like, like, you know, not, it's not a place for you to sit and go, I couldn't write my report today, in my opinion, put your effort into figuring out how to not let your blood sugar get low all the time.

Chrysten 57:50
Exactly. Exactly. Right. It can happen. Like I mean, even like, as an adult, right? Like, I can think of maybe a couple times I had to go in to work late in whatever five years that I'm like, I'm sorry, like, I'm sorry, I cannot I'm really wrestling with this low. I'm going to be a few minutes late, right? But if I did that every day.

Scott Benner 58:12
Christian doesn't come to work. The the, the reasons almost aren't important. I saw a friend of mine. Why do simple words leave me a person who works with them? What is the person who works with you, a colleague, Jesus, oh, my God. And so yeah, my friend of mine has this colleague who has a fairly like, you know, bad, like anxiety issue. And they'll say, like, this person hasn't been in work for three months. And like, I'm all for their health and everything. But we're behind significantly now because of this. And so they bring in another person to, you know, help carry the load. And it starts going well, and then a month later, the person wants to come back to work. And they're like, I want my job back now. And they're like, Well, someone else is doing it. Now. We give you a different job, you know, and then the person is all upset. They're like, Well, you didn't hold my job for me. And they're like, No, we held your job. You know, this is your job. Still, you but you're not involved in this part of it anyway. And I was like, I'm like, what? They were mad. And she's like, Yeah, and I was like, That's interesting, isn't it? Like, because everyone just sees their own side. Like, like, the employee is not thinking about the business, and the business is doing what they're legally supposed to do. And, you know, at the business level, and in the human level, people have a ton of compassion and empathy for the colleague. And so like everybody's, and there's an example where the person just can't, there's nothing they can do about it. But if that if their anxiety was a low blood sugar because they don't know how to Bolus for dinner, but we could teach you how to Bolus for dinner, then let's put some effort into that and keep you out of this. Mr. Ghosh, which is huge, and I don't want to go into what it means right now, but it's a big mess. Okay. Like you don't like you know, Word do what? Aren't you Catholic? Yeah, I was gonna say you by the way, not to generalize but you look Catholic. I was gonna name is Catholic.

Chrysten 1:00:11
I was gonna say you could tell them Catholic.

Scott Benner 1:00:12
Yeah, you're like out of anxiety, anxiety. By the way, I tried to look up the Yiddish word I missed. I missed I came up with a completely different word. So I can't do it for you right now. Now I want to find it. I got it. I got I got it. All right. It's Yiddish. mishegoss craziness, senseless behavior activity. Synonyms are of course, like foolery. indulgence, lunacy, tomfoolery. I'm not saying that your thing is tomfoolery. I'm saying that if you can avoid this, then freaking avoid it. And and if you can, if you can't, then right on Lin, let's lean on it and get it like get you into a position where you can because the playing field should be level. Like I'm behind that. 100% By the way, there are plenty of people who are not behind that idea. Oh, no, I know. Yeah, absolutely. So they're gonna be in the world, too. And there are people who are just gonna see life as a race. And if you don't, if you can't run as fast as them, then you lose. And that's that. So I don't see it that way. I do think you deserve, you know, a level playing field. And,

Chrysten 1:01:22
yeah, just that and just not to get beat up by me. Like, it's like, all right. You all sit down and chill woman in and then come back? You know, I don't know. I kind of think of it that

Scott Benner 1:01:33
we don't want to graduate from college and feel like you just fought the Second World War, right? Like, you know, like, yeah, like, I went to college, it was a valuable experience for me. I had a reasonable time. Yeah, it didn't feel like somebody was fighting against you constantly. But you know, not that that has anything to do with this. But other people. I was making this point to someone last night, I hope my son doesn't mind if I share this. But he's got his first job. And he's telling me some stories about how it's going. And it's going well, he is being recognized. And they're teaching him next level things where he sees that some of the people he came in with are not being taught these things. And so everything to him is indicating that he's doing like, well, you know what I mean? And I just he tells me the story. And I said, that sounds like you're doing well. And he goes, I don't know. And I went Wait, what? He goes, I don't know, it seems like it but I'm not sure. And I really thought about that. And I realized it was from growing up playing baseball. Where it's not always about how good you are. Sometimes it's about if that kid's parents made a donation to a building? Or if that guy's dad is a coach, or owns the training facility you work at? Or is the neighbor of a guy like you have, like the politics in like kids sports is insane. And it goes right through high school and you think, Oh, I'll make it to college. It won't exist. They're both there. It's just about money. Like, you know what I mean? Like it's an and so what I realized is that my son has been taught that it doesn't matter how good he does, there could be an unseen force stopping him. A thing that he can't possibly know exists until the day he walks out on the field and says, why is that person playing? That doesn't make any sense. And then you said, Yeah, and so and it's following him into his into his adult life.

Chrysten 1:03:38
That's, that's interesting. Because when you said that, initially, I was thinking, the transition from having being in school to having your first job, I think it's tough. Also, because in school, you're graded on things, and you're constantly getting feedback. And then you go into the work working world and you're like, does anyone want to give me an A for this email that I wrote? No,

Scott Benner 1:04:01
no, my, my competitiveness runs through my children. So they're there. They're trying to win. Right? He's at his job trying to win, because he sees it as an ability to get a different job, and to win at that job so that he can like he does see the world like, to some degree that he also, by the way, isn't a person who would do something that he doesn't enjoy. He turned down a really I'm gonna go as far as they lucrative offer to do a thing that he just didn't jive with. Oh, and I was like, huh, I was really proud of him. He turned down an opportunity. Try to imagine a six figure opportunity out of college. Because he was like a 22 year old. Yeah, he ideologically did not align with what the job would have been. Wow. And he said I would rather make less money than do that. So I was very proud of him then. Yeah, you know, I grew up broke. I would have I would have If I would have done anything, I would have been like it's fine. kill puppies. Sure. Like, you know, no, I wouldn't have done that. But you don't I mean, like he. He was just like, No, I don't. It's like, I don't see myself being involved in that. And I was like, okay. Oh, yeah,

Chrysten 1:05:16
well was proud dad moment. Yeah, I think, see, I think when I was like 22, I would have had principles, but now I'm like, Nah, I would have taken them on.

Scott Benner 1:05:27
Pay me. Well, maybe. But what I also took from that was that he feels safe. Yes, yeah. Which I was also comfortable with. But then like I said, you get to this next thing, and why am I telling you the story of my son like going? I don't know, I guess I'm doing okay. It's because the system can sometimes work against you. And it sometimes will be in ways you see, and sometimes it'll be in ways you can't see, but you will feel it afterwards. And oh, yeah. And people don't deserve that. Especially if it's around a medical thing. That's just, that should not happen. And that's why you set one of these things up. So I think I've made my point at this point, person. I don't know.

Chrysten 1:06:07
No, I think I think you did. No, absolutely. It's just you know, it's just in case it's like a just in case plan is how I how I really think of it. But I don't want to be like I the vast majority of people I've interacted with have been lovely about it. Quite honestly, like, even bought like bosses and, and co workers and whatever. They've been absolutely lovely. I actually had a boss at my first job at a college we had to. I was at a high school. So we had to teach as well as counsel and I went so low. And I was like, Listen, I'm really sorry. I was like, Can you watch my class for a few minutes? Like, I got to sit? And she was so lovely. She she was like, yeah, no problem. She watched my class. And so I went back in, you know, however, many minutes later, and I'm teaching and she comes back, my boss comes back into my class, and I'm like, What's she doing here? And she hands me a juice box. And I was like, That's so nice. Like, oh, I talked to her about it afterwards. And she was like, you know, I just thought about, like, what you go through and, and I really, I thought what I needed in that moment would have been a juice. And so I just wanted to bring you a juice. That was amazing. Yeah, thank you. She was so so sweet. And so and that's been my experience with most people have been so lovely. Every once in a while, you know, you get an asshole. It's it. You know, that's the world, right? Yeah.

Scott Benner 1:07:32
What are you gonna do? Right? Listen, I feel like I've been, I feel I'm a downer here. But I want to say that I agree with you, the great many people that Arden has intersected with have been terrific. And in the vague talk, you know, few times that she's had a problem, no one has pushed back. And I think that there's, you have to look a little bit about who you are in the situation to like when artists had a real problem, even though it can't be substantiated. Nobody has said to her, I don't believe you because she's a person who generally doesn't take advantage of it and doesn't seem like somebody who would try to take advantage of their situation. And so the person who interacts with her says, Yeah, that's fine. And it's been from I mean, she told her story about having a seizure after her prom, right. And one of the first things she did when she got her wits about her was to email a teacher and say, Hey, I just had a seizure. And I don't think I'm gonna have this thing in tomorrow. And the guy? Yeah. And the guy's like, why are you? Like, why? Like, why are you beginning to tell me and I think that's why she didn't have a problem, because she's a person who, after coming out of a seizure, thought about our responsibilities. And then the teacher knows that about her. And so there's no problem. And it is as much about how you present yourself as it isn't about anything else. If you're if you come off as a problem to people all the time, then that's going to be their, that's going to be their first thought when when you intersect with them, they're going to be like, oh, here, this comes again. You know, and so, it is a little on you to it is yeah, that's how you put yourself into the world. And I mean, I think people when they see these topics, what they want is like, give me a list of things to say you don't I mean, or do or write down and a lot of times it's not that easy. Like a lot of times there's work for you to do you know and and I will like I said I'll share this document my wife put so much effort into it. It's so clear people could add from it subtract from it, they could use it as it is however they would want to do, but you know, little things like Wi Fi, here's what they don't tell you to college. You're paying them all the money in the world and they didn't spend any money on their Wi Fi system. It sucks.

Chrysten 1:09:44
The Wi Fi is horrible. Yeah, everywhere I've ever been. Yeah,

Scott Benner 1:09:46
terrible, terrible Wi Fi a college. Food is bad nutritionally.

Chrysten 1:09:53
Oh, don't get me started, right? I distinctly sidenote, I remember. I used to eat the sip. particular sandwich when I was in college and and then I noticed one day I was like, Oh, the nutrition facts are on here. I don't have to guess the carbs or whatever. I called my mother like borderline crying. I was like, Do you know how much fat is in this sandwich? Eating? Like, what? Like every other day? I was like, What is going? Yeah, it's not the food was rough

Scott Benner 1:10:18
food, the food's bad. Like it's nutritionally, like, it might even taste good. You might be like, Oh, it's amazing here, but it's not going to be like clean. And, and it's going to impact your blood sugar. Yes, you're going to be surprised that when you have a medical issue at school, they're going to tell you to go off campus to urgent care and take care of yourself. There's no school nurse sitting around waiting to help you. So that doesn't exist. And even housing. Like, I'll tell you my son was sick for his whole freshman year, and I think it was because of his housing. Oh,

Chrysten 1:10:53
yeah, absolutely. That's the that actually. Sorry, that brings to mind that there was one episode with the girl. She like went up to each of her professors and said that she was a diabetic or something. And they were all just like, okay, it was so the way she told his daughter was so funny. Like, she was just like, trying to be like, all proactive. And they were like, We don't

Scott Benner 1:11:14
care. I don't care. Yeah, yeah. Birthday. Yeah. Because people don't understand, like, half the podcast exists because people don't understand diabetes down to the people who you're sometimes counting on for medical help. Oh, yeah. And so to just go to like, I know, people want to look at somebody go, oh, that's a college professor. It's a person. You don't I mean, it's just a dude. Yeah. And you know, your doctor, a cop, your college professors, the lady at the grocery store, Donald, just people, likely 80% of them, if someone would just give them a free bag of money once a month would not show up at this thing. You know, and you're like, I have diabetes, and they're probably thinking my wife cheats on me. What do you want? Like, like, like, me, like, I got my own problems. And, and I don't like this job. And I'm doing it like you really like put yourself in other people's shoes sometimes, like, you're coming to them and giving them more to do. Yeah. And you're not offering them or you don't like, hey, great news. I have diabetes, but your pay is going up $3 an hour. They'd be like, Oh, well, right on, tell me about your hypoglycemia, you know, but we're just saying like, here's another thing to be responsible for, to be worried about. And you're not going to make another penny. And so there's certain people are going to hear that and be like, Oh, God, leave me alone. You know, and I'm just telling you, like, everybody is not Mr. Rogers.

Chrysten 1:12:42
No, no, they're not. And honestly, sometimes it's better if they're not sometimes if they're just Okay, cool. That's, that's sometimes easier, quite honestly, at least in my experience, go do your thing. Like, yeah, like, no one cares.

Scott Benner 1:12:54
I joke about this. Sometimes there's that there's that guy. It's like, really? I don't know. Obviously, I don't listen to his podcast. But like, in the zeitgeist, I'm aware of him. He's like a marine or something. Or he was a Marine. Like he says to people, like, who's who's gonna carry the boat or something? It's like a SEAL Fit. I don't know. Obviously, Chris, and I don't pick things up. His message is, I'll do it. Right, like, hard things need to be done all take care of it. Oh, I see. Yeah. Like, I'm not counting on you. Are you? Are you I'll carry the boat. like that idea. I guess the boats get carried somewhere. Again, if you were counting on me, we probably would have lost every major war. I don't know the ins and outs of the boat. Yeah, but apparently, if a boat needs to be carried somewhere, this guy is going to pick it up over his head and take off with it. I'm gonna stand in the back and go, Hey, my knee hurts. Can you guys get this? So. But the point is, is that it's that it's that idea of like, something needs to be done. I'm going to do it. Not I'm gonna wait for someone else to do it. Or I'm gonna bring them a note that explains why I don't have to do it. Like, you know what I mean? Like, and if you're, if you're in a situation where I don't know, the boat needs to be carried and you're not a good person to carry the boat, perhaps look for a different situation. You know, like, I'm not saying, you know, give up on something. Because it's hard. But I mean, if there's a reality where you don't like if you're a square peg, and you're trying to get into a round hole, like eventually you're gonna have to realize that I don't know. Is being honest. a bummer.

Chrysten 1:14:32
No, no, no, no, I think this is all like the actual reality of what it looks like. You know that you know what I mean? Like it? No, I don't think so. It is what it isn't. And not to mention, like, everybody, so many people, everybody has their shit. You know, like, it's like, I can't tell you how many kids have this disorder and this and the other thing, right? Like diabetes is just one of them. You know?

Scott Benner 1:14:59
One person said one Time, like I, I, I wanted to be a fighter pilot. I think that was the example. And they were kind of like, but I have diabetes now. So I can't do it and they were pissed. And I get them being pissed. Right. It's incredibly disappointing and like life altering and angering, and it's not like, don't get me wrong, I understand all of that. And I also understand why the government might not want you flying a $30 million jet through there. Sure, yeah. Makes sense to me. And so like, not fair, but practical, you know, like, and so, you know, and now there's better technology. And you're seeing people be pilots, like for major airlines who have type one and stuff like that. And that's all great. Like, if there's a way to do it, that's great. But prior to that, 20 years ago, you know, what people knew about diabetes is sometimes John passes out. You there's no CGM, like you don't even Oh, yeah, like, I can't put I can't let John fly the planes, like, John passes out sometimes. And now, I'm using someone's name. I don't mean to use because I think there's actually a guy named John who does this. If John, if you're listening, I didn't mean you could try to pick a generic name, Kristen. And look what happened to me. But like, now, there's now there's this stuff and like now, suddenly this, it's okay. And that's amazing. It's great. But anyway, I just, I don't know, I feel like I'm trying to defend both sides and one voice and it gets confusing that way. But you're gonna,

Chrysten 1:16:25
I don't think it's confusing. Like, it's, I mean, like, I don't know, as a counselor, like, I'm always, like, my thing I always say is, it's all about balance, right? It's like, you know, you don't want to go too far in one direction and be like, okay, little Johnny, do your, you know, you got this, do diabetes by yourself. But you also don't want to like, you know, be be a be super melodramatic about it. Right. And so yeah, no, I think it's all about balance and finding, you know, finding what works best for you.

Scott Benner 1:16:52
People Deserve support. And, yes, they deserve all that goes along with that. And people also should be practical. And this is my, just my opinion that that's all. Yeah, I agree. Yeah. And I'm assuming that when you say to somebody in your in your profession, look, we have to find balance in the back of your head, what your thinking is like, you got to figure this out for yourself. Like you have to see, like the reality of it and try to find your way through it.

Chrysten 1:17:22
Yes. And I think, you know, as a counselor, it's also like that thought, and I'm here to help you do that. You know what I mean? Like, I'm here to bring it down as much as we can with you. So that, you know, to make it easier, but you got to I tell them all the time, I'm like, You got to meet me halfway. Like I can't do all the work for you. You know?

Scott Benner 1:17:40
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Anyway, I just think that everybody doesn't fit into every situation. No, and that I have sometimes seen people say, I think it's in the pursuit of the, of the advocacy is what I mean, in the in pursuit of advocacy, and proving that anyone can do anything. That which I believe, you just, it's not everybody. It's the guy that you know what I mean, it's that girl who was on the show a few months ago, right? You know, when her legs don't function, and she's out in a wheelchair, like racing in the streets or something like that. And like, she's the one who does that. We all don't do that. You don't even like she's a special person. In that situation, the guy that picks the boat up and runs. It's not everybody, you don't I mean, and so I like it when people like, I have been at the forefront of this for 15 years with my daughter, every one of her 504 plans through school was incredibly detailed, but as streamlined as possible. It covered her for every situation that we could think of where someone or thing or the machine might come along and mess her up. But then we steadfastly tried never to use it. But that's just how we've done it the whole time. And we end because you run a risk of treating someone like they can't. And then maybe it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy to which I think you know what I mean? Like, you have to be careful of that. You have to be careful not to aim too low. I think that makes sense. Yeah.

Chrysten 1:19:18
Because no, it doesn't make sense. It's, yeah, it's like, it's like that like learned helplessness. You don't want to like make people feel like they can't do it. But you also don't want to like Like, like, like I was saying with the balance before right. But you also don't want to like miss the second half, but you also don't want to, like leave them on their own either. Right? Like it's Yeah,

Scott Benner 1:19:41
I mean, yeah, by the way, you look how smart you are. You said learned helplessness. That's like a fancy word.

Chrysten 1:19:48
That one I pulled deep from the depths of some somewhere I don't

Scott Benner 1:19:52
know right out here but like, I know this one from somewhere.

Chrysten 1:19:56
It was I might even used it wrong. So please don't

Scott Benner 1:19:59
know i It made sense to me when you said it. I just love how I was just like pulling basic words out of my mouth. You're like, yeah, learned helplessness. I'm like, Oh, that's not what that is.

Chrysten 1:20:10
I paid attention for like a day in college.

Scott Benner 1:20:12
Well, yeah, well, you know, Penn State and watching that football in the snow and drinking, there was nothing else right?

Chrysten 1:20:19
That is pretty much what I did. Yeah, but I did pay attention to the learned helplessness lecture that one day you heard that thing? That one day? Yeah. went to class.

Scott Benner 1:20:27
Weren't you trapped in a valley? Yes. No worries about that ever. No. Like, what if it snowed, you were just caught there and they couldn't get food in and y'all had to start eating yourselves like animals or something like that.

Chrysten 1:20:41
That kind of sounds like we would just drink if that happened. Yeah, if we had snow days, we would just drink all day. It was fun. Those Penn State

Scott Benner 1:20:47
flags are really they're like markers, right? People drop beer at your house. That's why they're all in front of everybody's houses.

Chrysten 1:20:54
Yeah, there's like an underground society kind of thing. And we just like, you know, we go through the tunnels and we drink

Scott Benner 1:21:00
and say it's one of those schools that if you drive too far away from here, and you say Penn State people go, I don't know what you're talking about. But if you say if you say it around here, you might think that that Harvard,

Chrysten 1:21:11
yeah. Oh, 1000 Present. You know, it's funny to like, I, it all have pens, T shirts and stuff. And if I were in Pennsylvania, you know how people say like we are, right. But someone will just say we are at me. And I'm like, hello, what? Because I forget like, because I don't live in Pennsylvania anymore. And I'm like, oh, yeah, that's I forgot that.

Scott Benner 1:21:32
We are. I'd be blowing like a like a rape. Plus, I didn't get away from me. I don't know what's happening. Crazy people.

Chrysten 1:21:41
It's always when you forget you're wearing the shirt. So I'm like, Are you talking to me? Like, what's happening? I'm so awkward to so

Scott Benner 1:21:46
you're so awkward. I've never seen people more fervently supportive of a college before. And sometimes, people who didn't even go there. Oh, yeah. 1,000% That freaks me out. I gotta be honest, that one freaks me out. Like you have a pet snake like you and nobody in your family went to Penn State. I'm like, okay.

Chrysten 1:22:07
Just Just don't you know, that's one of those. Like, if you can't beat him, join it and kind of,

Scott Benner 1:22:12
please, everyone can beat you just fine. Penn State makes low draft, low draft pick running backs. And they used to make offensive lineman. I don't even know if they do that anymore. So

Chrysten 1:22:24
I don't we haven't been so good the past couple years.

Scott Benner 1:22:27
Do you? Did you go to those games? Yeah. Did you care about football at all? Yes. Okay. I did. It was. It was amazing venue. It was like you cared about football?

Chrysten 1:22:39
Oh, no, we care very much. It was also a drink. It was. Well, that's a whole nother story. The drinking is a little alarming sometimes. But that's me as an adult. But

Scott Benner 1:22:50
that's my opinion as as an adult who has now sent two kids to college if you if what you're worried about is let me hear. Let me look if what you're worried about is the ability to take breaks during class, including during test projects to self treat, or to attend to diabetes devices. For example, an insulin pump. I think what you're, you're, I think you're I think your concern should be more about Molly. Write one of these papers for your kid and should say, Hey, don't do Molly. And don't drink so much that you forget where you are for a day and a half. Like these are the things that anyway, you get what I'm saying? Like it's a little I don't know. I'm always interested in why.

Chrysten 1:23:31
Yeah, we could probably talk about that for another two hours, honestly. But But yeah, it uh it's there's dangers involved in all these things.

Scott Benner 1:23:39
Well, do me a favor for a second year. We I've taken you over time already. But do me a favor here for a second here. Tell the people who don't know. Like, really? How much? How many days a week did you drink?

Chrysten 1:23:54
Three? Ish, I would average out I would say okay, sometimes is for

Scott Benner 1:24:01
you smoke the devil's weed at all while you were there at Penn State? No, no. Anything else? Take a Xanax. No, no little bit of code. Kirsten. No, obviously, you were pretty good. Now all those things I just mentioned. Did you see them going on around you?

Chrysten 1:24:20
Oh, sure. Did. Yeah. Okay.

Scott Benner 1:24:23
Do you remember the first time you thought oh, wow, people do heroin. That's interesting.

Chrysten 1:24:29
I didn't want it to go. It was alarming though. I was like, what? Yeah, no, I didn't dabble. Honestly, and quite honestly, because of the diabetes. I was like, I don't know what that's gonna do to that. And let's not play that

Scott Benner 1:24:42
game, but cocaine's pretty big and colleges, right. Yes, I've heard that. You've heard that. Good. You keep talking like that. Because you're in the world now. I understand. Yeah. And so it's not just like, I don't know. It's not making sure you have a mini refrigerator that won't over. It won't freeze it. So have

Chrysten 1:25:02
bigger fish to fry.

Scott Benner 1:25:04
I remember sitting in an orientation meeting for my son when he was a freshman. And this parent who obviously was very anti drinking, said, What are you going to do to make sure my kid doesn't drink? And the guy at the front of the room was like nothing? Yeah, that was like it. There's like, what do you think we're going to? What are you talking about? Like, we're not in charge of that. And a woman was like, mortified. She's like, wait, no one's gonna, like, make sure. And he's like, No, he's like, they're, you know, they're 18. It's illegal to drink, obviously. But you know, we don't police them. Right. And that's what I heard him say was if they can get it to their room and keep it quiet. That's that. And, and, yeah, she was like, Oh, okay. And then, then the then this lovely woman stepped up to the lectern. And she, that's when she gave the stats that I know what she's like, Look, if it makes you feel any better. It's about 5050. Half the kids will come here and leave and never drink once. And her woman did not look comforted by like they'd like she knew that the only thing standing between her child in Obliteration was active monitoring. And she just walked out so defeated.

Chrysten 1:26:18
And I saw that poor woman, she probably saw our life flash before us.

Scott Benner 1:26:22
I felt bad for I also know people who have had to pull their kids out of college because they couldn't stop drinking. Yeah, no, it is really serious. Yeah, it's not it's it's no like, anyway. I don't know if the fish are bigger to fry. But there are other fish to fry, you probably should think about all that. And I'm being very serious, from my perspective on the diabetes front. Like, I know that some people listen to this podcast and think that guy just took care of his daughter's diabetes, and she's going to be in so much trouble when she leaves. And by the way, that's not true. You weren't listening to the whole thing. We were very slowly giving Ardens care off to her for years. So as not to overwhelm her. She got there and she really liked picked the mantle up. And she she's running with it. Like she's doing a really good job.

Chrysten 1:27:08
I'm so happy I was I was vicariously worried. Not not worried that you just because it's new, you know. But as I was listening, I was like, she's got it. Come on,

Scott Benner 1:27:19
come on. Does it feel like this is interesting? Does it feel oddly, as a person who listens to the podcast that like if art and succeeds, then that makes all of this? Okay? And what if she failed? Like, would it feel terrible if the kid who everything I know went off to school and was like, Yeah, buy it once? He's 10? And like, would that would that be defeating as a listener? Do you think?

Chrysten 1:27:44
For me personally, no, but I'm also older. I think, I don't know. I think well, I'm also kind of like a little hippie dippie. But like, I don't know, I think like, everybody kind of goes through their own journey with it, you know what I mean? So like, maybe her journey was like, hypothetically, like, she kind of screwed up for a couple years and then got back together. Hey,

Scott Benner 1:28:05
I will tell you, from my perspective, I've always been like, this is definitely what's gonna happen, like, she's just gonna be like, going, I don't know what to do. Like it'll, but it, it worked out. And I don't want to just say it worked out like, hey, like, I threw it up to God. And it worked. You know, like, I we were very purposeful. And about it, like had a very long range view of it. I've never been a person who's like throwing things on or all at once me, like, hear you take like, your mom was like, now she's got it, don't worry. You're like, wait, what? But, but we did that very slow. There's teaching moments, we've set her up with technology as best we can, that it's going to help her and there are days as much effort as I see her putting into it. And I really do see a ton of effort from her. I still think I don't know without an algorithm. I mean, this would be a show. Like really sleeping. You don't I mean, like sleeping. Like she she has maybe a low like once or twice a month at night. And they're, they're manageable. Like, you know, I'll text her and I'll be like, Hey, are you aware of this? And she'll be like, Yeah, I just did something about it. Or, and she also this is interesting. At home, will not wake up with her blood sugar's low at college has never not woken up for her low blood. Ah, interesting. Like she said, I can feel it in my sleep. And I wonder if that wasn't like a little bit of the thrusting of that responsibility for her. Like if she did, if she didn't look at that and think, Well, who's gonna carry the boat? I guess it's me. You don't me. Right. You know, so right. I should figure out who actually said that. So I'm not like, you want to google it when they first second who

Chrysten 1:29:53
I mean? Yeah. Well, I'm curious. So you mean the person actually physically carried a boat?

Scott Benner 1:29:58
I don't think it's like Like it's not like the SS minnow. You know what I mean? Like, it's smaller than that. They're like, Alright, hold on. It's David Goggins. He's got an incredibly popular podcast. He's written books. I don't obviously don't know a lot about them, but he's like a motivational speaker. Is this from? Or is it Cameron Haynes? Oh, there's a lot of these motivational guys who could pick me up and break me in half if they needed to. I mean, there's T shirts, it says, who's going to carry the boat? So

Chrysten 1:30:30
now me,

Scott Benner 1:30:33
you're like, Get out of here. Do you want to like the boat? It looks like, uh, hold on a second. This is like we're in. We're, by the way people listening. We're done. Now. You can go if you want to. Oh, it's like so like one of those really heavy, like inflatable? Like, like six guys fit thing. But oh, okay. But it looks like it wouldn't split if you hit it with an axe. Okay, and it looks really heavy. So

Chrysten 1:31:04
I can't stop envisioning like Hercules, the cartoon character?

Scott Benner 1:31:09
By himself. Yeah, yeah, that's not this.

Chrysten 1:31:12
That's all I can picture in my head every time you said it. And and whenever you said who was going to carry the boat? I was like, I don't know. But I would definitely get someone else to do.

Scott Benner 1:31:20
Like, I mean, the guy that I call or pay? Well, hopefully, I think that if they heard that they'd be like, yeah, that's why we're here, by the way, because you know, when the hits the fan, were the only ones that are going to show up. And they're, by the way that I think they're right. I've always maintained that if I was on the Mayflower the first body of whatever we got to I'd be like, we could just live here. It's fine. I don't know how to get on the other side of that. This is this is good right here. But yeah, oh, yeah. These are like big heavy. Like boats. Oh,

Chrysten 1:31:48
that's cool. Okay, I never heard this before. This is new. I'm gonna Google it later.

Scott Benner 1:31:52
Yeah, it's for me. It's it's, I've only obviously ever heard it like, firsthand. Quite obviously. To me. That's what it means. Like, to me it means like, I have to do this. Like it. No one else is gonna do this. I'm gonna do it.

Chrysten 1:32:06
And unless it's me, and then I'm never gonna do it. No, but you did.

Scott Benner 1:32:09
You did. You carried your own boat. Right?

Chrysten 1:32:14
The metaphorical boat but the physical boat. I'm definitely getting someone else to do

Scott Benner 1:32:17
it. But you carried your I think the boat is like, you know, doesn't have Why are you giving me until I know you are but I mean, like, why are you busting my balls now? Like we've been doing?

Chrysten 1:32:30
I know. I was just like, You know what I'm gonna, I'm, you know, I was being nice. And I just professional and shit. And now

Scott Benner 1:32:36
you're like, This is where I'm putting my flag in the sand. Dammit. I can pick up a boat. Like, why are you being so literal?

Chrysten 1:32:44
Just a massive deal. I had to mess with you.

Scott Benner 1:32:46
Oh my god. That's how my wife fights don't do that. It makes it gives me odds. I'm like, Oh, we got we're gonna get literal. That's not what we were doing.

Chrysten 1:32:58
It's a full circle. You told me about that in the beginning. So yeah,

Scott Benner 1:33:01
I know. Also, I appreciate that. Oh, nothing, nothing better storytelling, then bring it all back around at the end. Is there anything we did? By the way? What in the hell did you want to come on here and talk about just this?

Chrysten 1:33:14
I guess so. Yeah, pretty much. I didn't even know. I was all I was all like feeling adamant about it in the middle of our summer program. And now it's got so hopefully it was good.

Scott Benner 1:33:24
Well, I think that's interesting, too, that at some point, when you were in the thick of it. It felt like life or death. And now six months later, you're like, I don't know. Just don't be a dick. It'll be alright.

Chrysten 1:33:36
Pretty much. And you know, it's funny, because I was like, I don't know, a couple of weeks ago. I was like, I was like, oh, yeah, I don't know what I'm going to talk about. And then I was like, someone actually posted in the Facebook group. They were like, what, what advice do you have on transitioning to college? And I was like, oh, okay, this is still relevant.

Scott Benner 1:33:52
Awesome. Oh, it's always relevant. But the advice. Here's the can I give you the man? Any short, anything you think of that you need advice for? Here's the advice. Use common sense. It doesn't make it doesn't make a good podcast, but just use your common sense. And if you're at a loss for common sense, ask a friend. And if things are always going wrong for you assume you don't have the greatest common sense. Universe is out to get you. By the way, the universe isn't out to get you you make bad decisions. It's not your

Chrysten 1:34:34
I love talking to people like that, though, when they're when you're just like, Uh huh. And and it's just like, stupid decision after stupid decision. You're like, Oh, I've been

Scott Benner 1:34:43
a problem comes up and you go, that's what you think to do when you hear that. Like, wow, okay. Like no judgment. Like, I don't know how you got here. But like, that's not that's not I mean, it's not just my opinion, like that's nowhere near right. You that I can see where that's going to lead you poorly. And and I listen, I had a private conversation with the lady that helped us set up Arden's thing. And very privately she said, like, some of these people are just I don't want to say and she she wouldn't. She just she did one of those like Homina Homina Homina. Like, I don't want to say what I'm thinking here. But a lot of these people aren't really in the situation they think they're in. And some people and some people she said, just want to be angry. And she said in some people just want to assert a dominance over the situation. Like you have to do this because I have XYZ. And these are the rules and this is your job and do what I say. She said, there's a lot of that. And, yeah, we got done. And she's She thanked us. She said, This is the easiest My job's ever been in my entire life. She said,

Chrysten 1:35:57
Yeah, I would imagine they have to they spend a lot of time like weeding through information. No, and you did it for them.

Scott Benner 1:36:05
The vibe from her was she spent a lot of her time with very difficult people. That's what that's all we all Yeah, well, that's what that's basically and by the way, not a lovelier person, but you meet and genuinely concerned for everyone and had a child and had a child of their own, who had needs. And it's their own accommodations. And so was she was genuinely empathetic and sympathetic and motivated. Like, she was great at her job. But she's still trying to tell you that there are a lot of people in here just being a pain in the ass for no real reason. Right? And, and I was like, oh, it's interesting. So she's like, so thank you for not only setting up a great plan, that I have no trouble putting into action, but for not being in here basically asking, you know, for a Ferris wheel. You know, my baby needs something unreasonable. Or you don't I mean,

Chrysten 1:37:00
blah, blah, blah. Someone to carry on and around in a boat.

Scott Benner 1:37:05
What we need it for guys are with Arden wants to approve of them first. And they they should be shirtless constantly. She said, Isn't that interesting? And she wants them to put her in a rubber boat and carrier from class to class. And you have to do this because she could get low if she walks too much. Yeah, and yeah, there was nothing out of bounds or crazy or over the top that was asked for just you know. Anyway, all right, we're done. You were great. Thank you. I talked too much.

Let's thank Kristin for coming on the show today and sharing all of her knowledge and her story. And of course, we're gonna thank Omni pod makers of the Omni pod five, and the Omni pod dash Omni pod.com forward slash juice box, use my link support the podcast. And Dexcom was the sponsor today. So let's say thank you to them for making that Dexcom G seven, and the G six dexcom.com forward slash juice box head over now and get started today with two amazing devices, ones that we've been using here forever and ever. links in the show notes links at juicebox podcast.com to Dexcom Omni pod at all the sponsors be click on my links. We're supporting the show.

A diabetes diagnosis comes with a lot of new terminology. And that's why I've created the defining diabetes series. These are short episodes where Jenny Smith and I go over all of the terms that you're going to hear living with diabetes, and some of them that you might not hear every day, from the very simple Bolus up to feed on the floor. Don't know the difference between hypo and hyper will explain it to you. These are short episodes, they are not boring. They're fun, and they're informative. It's not just us reading to you out of the dictionary, we take the time to chat about all of these different words. Maybe you don't know what a CU small respiration is, you will when you're done. Ever heard of glycemic index and load haven't doesn't matter. You will know after you listen to the defining diabetes series. Now, how do you find it, you go to juicebox podcast.com up top to the menu and click on defining diabetes. You'll be able to listen right there in your browser. Or you'll see the full list of the episodes and be able to go into an audio app like Apple podcasts or Spotify and listen to them at your pace. Download them into your phone and listen when you can. The defining diabetes series is made up of 51 short episodes that will fast forward your knowledge of diabetes terminology