#1865 Bolus 4 Mexican Food
Scott and Jenny talk about bolusing 4 Mexican food favorites.
Key Takeaways
- Factor in Fat and Protein: When bolusing for complex restaurant meals like Mexican food, counting carbohydrates alone is insufficient. High fat and protein content delay digestion and cause extended blood sugar rises that require extended insulin coverage.
- Pre-Bolusing is Essential: Fast-acting items such as chips and sugary margaritas can cause immediate blood sugar spikes, making dynamic pre-bolusing strategies critical before the main course arrives.
- Account for Hidden Fats: Restaurant cooking heavily features unseen fats from frying chips or sautéing vegetables with heavy oils, adding significant fat grams that aren't typical in home-cooked versions.
- Leverage AI with Specificity: When using AI models like Gemini or ChatGPT to analyze food macros, provide specific instructions (e.g., requesting standard USDA references) to secure the most precise data and counter model variances.
- Understand Individual Insulin Timing: Successfully managing complex meals relies on continuous real-world tracking, using personal historical experience and data trends rather than a single static calculation.
Resources Mentioned
- Omnipod: Explore the Omnipod 5 and check eligibility for a free starter kit at omnipod.com/juicebox
- US Med: Get your diabetes testing supplies and free benefit check at usmed.com/juicebox or call (888) 721-1514
- Juicebox Podcast: Listen to the Diabetes Pro Tip Series (Episodes 1000–1025) and explore the menu at juiceboxpodcast.com
- Wrong Way Recording: Make your podcast sound fantastic at wrongwayrecording.com
Introduction and Community Engagement
Scott BennerHello, friends, and welcome back to another episode of the Juice Box podcast.
My diabetes pro tip series is about cutting through the clutter of diabetes management to give you the straightforward practical insights that truly make a difference.
This series is all about mastering the fundamentals, whether it's the basics of insulin, dosing adjustments, or everyday management strategies that will empower you to take control.
I'm joined by Jenny Smith, who is a diabetes educator with over thirty five years of personal experience, and we break down complex concepts into simple actionable tips.
The diabetes pro tip series runs between episode one thousand and one thousand twenty five in your podcast player, or you can listen to it at juiceboxpodcast.com by going up into the menu.
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Scott BennerNothing you hear on the Juice Box podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise.
Always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan.
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Jenny, we're gonna start in a second with bolusing for a Mexican meal that someone has sent in. But I found myself getting ready to ask you right before I hit record. Is this getting boring for you?
Are you enjoying this? You're okay?
Jenny SmithI always like talking about food.
Scott BennerOkay.
Jenny SmithI say that as if, like, I eat hoards and not like I kinda feel like I just said, gosh. Jenny eats a lot of food. I I really enjoy the science of food and understanding how to explain it and break it down.
Speaker 3Break it down.
Jenny SmithIt's very interesting to me. So, no, I'm not bored.
Scott BennerOkay. I'm glad. Because I am finding a ton of value in this, and I think the listeners are as well.
I don't imagine there won't be a day where we might just say, like, we can't do this anymore.
There's just we've covered everything.
But at the moment, I'm I'm very happy with it.
So I'm gonna keep going. Unless I hear otherwise from people and not just three looky loos, but, like, it would have to be like a you know?
Jenny SmithI had a thought the other day actually about this whole series of bolusing for a specific kind of food.
And I was curious because I feel like a lot of the foods that we've actually gone through have been very, I guess, more like Americanized.
Yeah. Right? They're more US based, and I'm curious how many because I know you have so many listeners, and they're all over the world, which is awesome.
But I'm curious how many people from other countries have questions about their typical cuisine.
Scott BennerMaybe something will come
Jenny Smithbe super awesome to just try to do something that's more atypical for
Scott BennerYeah. We could do bolusing for wallaby and bolusing for elk because that's all people in Canada eat, I would imagine, is grizzly bear and elk something like that.
I don't know exactly what they do.
Jenny SmithThat's not really true.
Scott BennerI don't know anything about that. You don't and by the way, don't either.
So, like, you're just guessing, much like me.
Jenny SmithHave you ever been to Canada?
Scott BennerNo. No. No.
Jenny SmithNot ever?
Scott BennerI don't do anything that requires a plane transfer.
Transfer. I one flight, I get on and I get off, and that I'm okay with.
I actually am heading out to I'll be able to say this here because by the time it's done, I'm heading out to San Diego to be part of a a commercial shoot for Omnipod.
Jenny SmithAwesome.
Scott BennerAnd well, it's awesome except in a forty eight hour window, I'm gonna fly to San Diego and fly back again.
Yeah. So I'm gonna do twelve I think I'm doing, like, twelve hours in the air over forty eight hours.
So I I fly in, go to sleep, wake up, work all day, leave the set, get on a plane, and fly home overnight.
Like, that's how I'm doing it.
Nevertheless, when they asked me to do it, I was like, look. I only have a couple of asks. I need an aisle or a window, and I am not getting on and off of a plane.
I was like, I get on at my house, and I get off in San Diego, or I'm not doing this.
I was like, I'm Scotty doesn't do a transfer.
I'm a bit of a princess. Okay?
Jenny SmithDo do you not like transfers just because of the navigation of that?
Speaker 3Or No. I don't care about any that. Curious.
Scott BennerI don't like to be put out. I'm a bit of a princess.
Jenny SmithOkay. That's interesting.
Scott BennerLike, they said to me, you can take an Uber to the airport, and I went I was I was like, because I have to go to Newark.
And it is a pain in the it's a pain to, like, you have to drive to Newark.
Usually, you park off-site, then you get on, like, some, like, little, like, rattly bus that takes you from the parking lot to to the Newark Airport, and it's a bit of a it's a bit of a harangue.
Right?
Jenny SmithRight.
Scott BennerAnd they were like, oh, but just feel free to take an Uber. I'm not taking an Uber. I was, like, an hour long ride on a highway and, like, I'm like, I don't like and then I found myself stopping myself.
Jenny SmithIn the car with somebody that I don't know and right.
Scott BennerAnd what if their car is not great?
And then I when mean, when they get there, I can't go, oh, no. Thank you.
There's where I'm a a, like, a a little bit of a princess. I'm like, have a car.
I'm comfortable in my car. I'll drive. Don't worry about it.
Anyway, I'm not I'm not a pain in ass. Not a pain in the ass on big things.
Analyzing Appetizers: Chips, Guacamole, and Salsa
Scott BennerNevertheless, let's talk about someone sent in a Mexican meal.
It says tortilla chips with guacamole, sour cream and salsa, steak, peppers, onion fajitas, side of rice and refried beans, and what would happen if I put a margarita with all this?
And then also, could you talk about tacos and enchiladas?
So I think this is gonna be a lot more maybe art than science in this one.
So I'm interested to hear how you pick through all this.
But you wanna start with tortilla chips with guacamole, sour cream, and salsa?
Jenny SmithSure.
Scott BennerCan we, like, break them down separately and then lump them together?
Speaker 3Yes. Would that work?
Jenny SmithBecause usually, for this type of a meal, you're going to start with I mean, they would consider an appetizer as the tortilla chips and probably guacamole yummier if they make it at your table.
Mhmm. And you can see them making it.
Scott BennerThey do it right there? They squish it up?
Jenny SmithSome really good places make it, like, table side, and it's super yum then.
Scott BennerYes. Well, as you know from a previous bolus for, I've only ever had salsa once.
Jenny SmithSo Oh, that's right. Yes. Yes. Because I made you have some.
Scott BennerYou made me eat salsa.
Jenny SmithSour cream and salsa, you said.
So guac, sour cream, salsa, and the tortilla chips. Right?
Scott BennerWhat are we gonna do here?
So chips, I mean, the breakdown I have here is that two ounces of chips is about 20 chips.
This has it broken out as four protein, 36 carbs, 14 fat.
Does that seem right to you or close?
Jenny SmithSay the carbs again? Thirty twenty chips.
Scott BennerYeah. 20 chips, 36 carbs.
Jenny SmithIt's a I usually tell people as an estimation tool for tortilla chips, they're about two grams of carb a chip.
Scott BennerOkay.
Jenny SmithMakes it easy to carb count, put on your little side plate.
If you're gonna have another handful, then you carb count more and put them on your side plate.
Scott BennerMhmm. A little bit of protein. I mean, we'll we'll factor it in because we're gonna do the whole thing, but does 14 grams of fat sound right to you?
Jenny SmithIf they are made at the restaurant, they are fried.
Scott BennerOkay.
Jenny SmithAnd they are fatty. Yes.
Scott BennerAnd then that's 20 chips.
Now what happens when what happens when I dip them into stuff? How does that change?
Because I'm gonna I'm gonna set the calculator up right now. Excuse me.
Scott BennerThe bolus estimator up right now. And so the carb ratio, 10. Insulin sensitivity, 50. I'm gonna put in these 36 carbs.
I'm gonna put in the 14 fat.
Jenny SmithAnd then is the 36 just for the chips?
Scott BennerYes. So I'm saying for right now, I just wanna say, if you ate 20 chips with those settings
Jenny SmithWith the okay.
Scott Benner3.6 up front, point seven over three hours.
Now let's figure out about the dipping and the and the slurping. There's slurping. Right?
Jenny SmithAnd the slurry
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. But that doesn't sometimes like, the the salsa, I see people, and it starts to fall off the chip, and they go after it.
I know what's happening. Okay.
Jenny SmithSo salsa.
I think if when I have chips and salsa
Scott BennerVery happy.
Jenny SmithChips are just a method of getting like, I would just happily eat the bowl of salsa.
The hotter, the better. Like, I love salsa. It's y'all.
Speaker 3Don't take Jenny to dinner.
Scott BennerShe'll eat out of your salsa bowl with a spoon.
So guacamole is just avocados, or do they put stuff in it?
Jenny SmithThere would be usually, depending on the recipe, guacamole is gonna have some type of spicy pepper in it.
Could be jalapeno. Could be other type of pepper.
Again, pretty pretty low carb there in terms of an addition.
Usually, it's gonna have garlic, probably lemon or lime juice, salt.
It's not outside of the avocados.
It wouldn't usually have another carbohydrate source added to it.
So, really, the avocado is the main carb source in the guacamole, and it's also really, really high in fat.
Scott BennerYeah. This has a quarter of a cup.
It says nine grams of fat, five carbs, one protein.
Let's go with a cool let's all just imagine you had a quarter of a cup.
So now it takes our carbs up to 41.
It takes
Jenny Smithour I think that the person whoever sent this to you is now listening and is like, a quarter cup?
Scott BennerThey're like, they are they are ruining Really? Ruining my chips for me. That's okay.
So I'm adding in the protein, the carbs, and everything, recalculating it, takes the 3.6 up to 4.1, and now it's a 1.14, and and it stretched out over four hours instead of three hours as the cover.
So it's gone up now from adding the guacamole.
Now we're gonna also add sour cream.
That sounds like it. It's fatter.
Jenny SmithAbout the sour. Yeah.
Scott BennerYeah.
Jenny SmithThat's pretty much all fat.
Scott BennerOkay. So it's telling you two tablespoon.
Good luck having two tablespoons of sour cream.
Jenny SmithRight.
It's it's like all of it's the salsa. It's the guacamole.
It's the sour cream that we can look at portions. Mhmm.
Jenny SmithAnd what we should well, I should should say we can look at serving and what a serving has.
Then you have to consider what's your portion.
Scott BennerYeah. I don't wanna out Arden, but I've seen her make a baked potato, and I can't find the baked potato under the sour cream.
So
Jenny SmithThere you go.
Scott BennerAnd they make it in a squeeze thing now.
Have you noticed this? You
Jenny Smithdon't buy sour cream.
Scott BennerOh, well, trust me. It comes in a squeezy thing. Sour cream's in my house constantly.
I've never had it in my life. Wouldn't know what it is.
Scott BennerIf you put it in my mouth, I would it just I don't know.
Something about the consistency of it I'm not good with.
Nevertheless, I like all the people out there like now are like, hey. He's probably has autism.
So it's one protein, one carb, and six fat.
Scott BennerSo we're gonna add that one protein, six fat carb, and that takes us to 42 carbs, 29 fat, five protein.
Didn't change a ton about that. Okay?
So put up the Warsaw wave a little more. It gave us a little more back end insulin.
Mhmm. Okay.
Now salsa has gotta be tomatoes. Right?
Jenny SmithIt is. It's usually tomatoes, peppers, garlic, onion.
Again, it can be made many it could have pineapple in. It could have mango in. Mhmm.
Jenny SmithIf it's just regular, like, spicy salsa Yeah.
Then probably isn't gonna have the fruity stuff in it.
Scott BennerIs it fair here quarter a cup, four carbs?
Jenny SmithAbout.
Scott BennerAbout? Okay.
No. And it has four carbs. The listing here, I'm using Gemini today.
Scott BennerProtein one, no fat. So let's see what we're back to now.
Jenny SmithAnd as a reference, most often, the little dishes or ramekins that these side items or these dipping pieces usually come typically flat topped, not scooped and heaped into it, but flat top.
Usually, those little ramekins are about a half a cup just for visual reference.
Scott BennerThe ones that if I was fancy and I made a souffle and are about the size of my fist, maybe two inches high on the side?
Speaker 3Yep. That's nice. Okay.
Jenny SmithAbout a half a cup. Exactly.
Scott BennerSo now in what world you're gonna eat 20 chips and all this, I don't know.
You know? But maybe that's gonna happen to you.
But keep in mind, 4.6 up front, 1.43, stretch out over four hours. Go ahead and have 80 chip or or 40 chips.
Scott BennerThis turns into nine units up front and three over probably more hours because you had more fat. It would probably, right, tack the hours on too. Right. Uh-huh. Okay.
Jenny SmithAnd this is just let's remember. We are starting at the beginning of sitting down at your table.
This is your appetizer.
Scott BennerIf you don't pre bolus this meal coming in the door, I don't see how you catch up unless you really crush it hard, or it takes a while for them to bring the food one or the other.
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Diabetes comes with a lot of things to remember, so it's nice when someone takes something off of your plate.
US Med has done that for us.
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Jenny SmithRight. You know, and the question there is we've talked through before is really how are you coming in the door?
Mhmm. Are you coming in pretty stable, insulin on board, is just really your basal rate, you're right where you want, then what was the total carbon fat breakdown again?
Scott Benner46 carbs, 29 fat, six protein.
Jenny SmithRight. So you're looking at also something that has a fair amount of initial carbs, not even talking about the meal part of it yet.
Mhmm. But the carbs in this are also thirty thirty grams of fat.
Scott BennerYep.
Jenny SmithAnd you're not I mean, most people chat and talk and laugh.
And if this is a meal out at a restaurant, you're grabbing your chips and salsa.
You're grabbing your chips and guac. You might be maybe you're making a slurry of this on your plate. I don't know what you're doing, and dipping.
But this is also something that you're I don't say grazing, but grazing in a shorter amount of time before you actually order and put your food for the total entree in. Right.
Jenny SmithAnd so my expectation from experience is that while it has a fair amount of carb, you're also looking at the fat behind it.
Scott BennerYeah. So you're That's You're probably come I, by the way, set it up as a stable line, but we can look at it another way before we move on.
But to your point, you're gonna come in, probably hort this down pretty quickly in the beginning, and then that fat's gonna just slow your digestion down.
And then you're just going to literally shovel carbs on top of it later in the form of wraps and tortilla shells and rice.
Jenny SmithAnd maybe rice.
Scott BennerYeah. Okay. I'm writing down the chips, 46, 29, and six.
But before we move on to the next step, let me just show you.
I don't have a current BG set into the estimator right now. There's none there, but it says there's a stable line.
But try to imagine you walked in the door one forty four arrow up or or rising slow. Let's give it a diagonal arrow. Right? When you resimulate that strategy, now suddenly the initial is 5.6.
Scott BennerThe Warsaw is still 1.43. But it's now asking you for, like, a fifteen minute pre bolus with a stable line and the number.
It's still asking for for that pre bolus. But if you take if you take the this the current BG and take it to 90, the pre bolus goes down by, like, five minutes maybe.
Like, it not that it I'm I'm guessing with this food, you could pre ball us as far out as you wanted to and you you know, as long as you catch it, you're gonna be good.
Scott BennerBut the point is is that I don't know how many people are, like, wandering into a restaurant thinking about, am I one forty diagonal up? Am I 90 and I'm stable? Like, it's you know what I mean? It's
Jenny SmithI think it does depend on the person.
Scott BennerSure.
Jenny SmithIt really does. Right? In Jenny's brain?
Scott BennerYou'd be thinking about it.
Jenny SmithI'd be thinking about it.
Scott BennerYeah.
Jenny SmithBecause we don't eat out very often.
It always, in my mind, a little more consideration about where am I. Do I need to make an adjustment already, or am I pretty good?
Just that I can be ready for that order and what I expect I'm going to need to do once I figure out what I'm actually going to eat. Yeah. Right?
The Impact of Alcohol: Bolusing for a Margarita
Jenny SmithWhat I think is honestly next fair to consider almost along with this appetizer type of food Mhmm Is the drink. Because we don't typically wait to drink our fancy drink when the meal comes.
Scott BennerThe margarita comes in right away.
Jenny SmithIt comes along with your appetizer unless you've said no. Right?
Scott BennerOkay. A margarita so I don't drink, so I had to look this up.
One classic on the rocks, eight ounces, margarita, 24 carbs, you know, no fat, no protein. Yeah.
Is that about fair? That's fair? Mhmm.
So and that's gonna hit fast, like sugary fast. Right?
Jenny SmithIt is.
Scott BennerYeah. So okay. So so now the pre now now you I mean, listen. Arden's older now. I I'm not in charge of how she lives her life.
Scott BennerBut if this was us walking into a restaurant when she was nine years old, I would have probably just, like, blindly thrown I would have looked at her blood sugar and then blindly just thrown some insulin in and then worked the rest of it out when we got in and started sitting down and figuring out what was going on just to get get the insulin on my side.
We can tack it on real quick just to say the chips with the margarita. So if we're gonna That'd be great. Yeah. If we're gonna say margarita 24, we had 46 already.
Scott BennerThat's seven that takes our carbs to 70. The fat stays 29, and the protein six.
By the way, this is juiceboxpodcast.com/bolusfour, bolusfour. Simulate the strategy. Wow. Okay.
So now it goes to seven up front, 1.4, stretched over four, and and the pre bolus, of course, is now down to nine minutes.
But, I mean, honestly, you could you could quite easily say to yourself, there's an like, I'm gonna eat 30 chips. You know? Like or I don't know how many chips I'm gonna have.
Scott BennerAnd what if I get going and I'm talking and I love what if I get going and I'm talking and I don't eat? Like, you know what I mean? Like, I take people's other side of the conversation.
Jenny SmithA 100%. And so that's where you have to know you have to know yourself pretty well Mhmm Or you have
Jenny Smithto know your child, right, or be directional to your teen who might be doing this, and you're just trying to give them some adjustment while they're half listening. Right?
Scott BennerWhile they're half listening. While while they're ignoring you and making you sad you had a baby. Okay.
Jenny SmithMy yeah.
The Main Course: Breakdown of Fajitas, Rice, and Beans
When you sit down then, a meal like this, many people do have in mind what their what their taste buds usually like.
Scott BennerMhmm.
Jenny SmithRight? Unless you're truly coming in blind to this type of cuisine and you've never ever had it before, you likely know what you like about what your portion is, and this is where that it's not a blind estimate that you throw in.
But you sit down at the table, and you may throw in 30 grams.
Scott BennerYeah.
Jenny SmithAnd maybe you do that because that's your pre bolus. You have no idea even what the chips look like at this place, but you have had a margarita before. Mhmm. You know the hit impact of it. So you put in, and then once you can see, then you can always go back and you can add more even before your entree comes.
Jenny SmithBut you've gotten that ahead of time kick that you're going to need.
Scott BennerThe delightful part about these conversations to me is that I think it just if you're gonna listen, then it's you're gonna realize, like, oh, there's way more protein in steak than I think about. I don't even bolus for protein. Like, you know, like, that kind of thing. Like so let's look at the rest of this because the breakdown I have in front of me is six ounces of skirt flank, 40 protein, and 20 fat.
Peppers have carbs, 15 carbs in a cup of peppers, two proteins, seven fat in the peppers because they're sauteed. Mhmm. Flour tortilla, three fajita size, 45 grams of carbs, eight protein, seven fat.
Mexican rice, half a cup, 28 grams of carbs, three protein, three fat.
Refried beans, 20 grams of carbs, seven protein, four grams of fat.
Scott BennerSo everything that we've just talked about here, it totals up to a 154 carbs, 67 protein, and 70 fat. I'm just gonna put in a 154 carbs. Okay? Same settings, nothing else.
154 carbs, stable blood sugar. I'll even make the current BG 99. 15.58 units, wait ten minutes to pre bolus.
That's just the carbs. Now I'll put in the protein and the carbs. 67 protein, resimulate. Now you're 15.58 up front, 1.3 over four hours.
Now you put in the fat. Get ready. So 70 grams here we go. 70 grams of fat. Boom.
Scott BennerThis now 15.58 up front, four and a half over now eight hour window, and this whole bolus goes to 20 units.
But my point would be, again, if I just take out the fat and the protein, it goes from 20 with all these things considered down to 15 without the other things considered.
This is, I think, how it happens. Like, it's some, you know, mixture of I didn't pre bolus long enough. It got ahead of me, and I didn't consider the fat and protein. So I'm five units of insulin or by the way Sure.
Five, ten, fifteen, twenty five percent of the insulin I needed, I didn't use. Correct. You know?
And then you're never gonna have the nerve to do more than, a unit when you see, oh my god. Am I two eighty? Like, here's a unit. Let's see what happens. Like, even if you're on an AID system, if you don't tell it about that impact, it's just gonna push it's push slowly, but it's never gonna get ahead of anything.
Jenny SmithAnd then you're gonna end up maybe after this one meal despite the recommendation being to follow a trend before you make a setting adjustment. Mhmm. You may go in and be like, something's clearly wrong. I I must have but, really, it it does. It boils down to our our eyes always or our brains kind of calculate less than is truly there.
Scott BennerYeah.
Jenny SmithWe always boil it down a little bit compared to their true count, and that then gets us in trouble.
And despite us talking about fat and protein for quite a long time already in many of the things that we've recorded, right, Fat and protein still gets forgotten.
Scott BennerYeah. Well, I think it also leads to this more, like, kinda, like, plain language conversations where people say, like, I don't know. Like, I I don't know how to bowl this for Mexican food. Or every time I go out, it goes wrong. Or that because by the way, Mexican food, any restaurant really worth its, you know, worth its salt is gonna fill your food up with salt and fat.
Scott BennerYou know, like, so you're gonna have way more fat. No one's counting the fat. Like and and this is I mean, look. I'm not always gonna be right, and and there's gonna be times where it doesn't go this way or maybe it doesn't work for some people the way it works for others. God bless you. Like, you know, do your own, you know, do your own personal research and everything.
Jenny SmithBut
Scott Bennerif you're not thinking about the fat and the protein in these high, like, meat, like, situations, you are not using enough insulin very likely.
And all that comes after it that turns into that, like, I don't understand that diabetes is so unpredictable. I do the same thing every day, and then something different happens. Well, no. Yesterday, you actually had a 154 carbs. It didn't have any fat in it. Like, today, there's fat in it. You're saying, I don't know what happened. Diabetes. You you know what I mean? So Right.
Jenny SmithI think it's good to just know this stuff. It's it's absolutely fair, and I think another piece of this meal, which is a little bit of a lengthier intake over time than a lot of the other meals that we've actually put together. Right? This is more of a sit down restaurant. This comes, then this comes, then this comes. And if you think about that appetizer, it's just like bread that comes to the table at something like an Italian restaurant.
Jenny SmithRight? Comes to the table. You didn't even order it. They just plop it down. They're like, here's your loaf of bread and butter. Right?
Scott BennerAnd you're like, oh, thank
Speaker 3you. Right.
Jenny SmithYou thank you. And maybe maybe it's like the meal of the day that you're, like, looking forward to. So you'll be really lean in the other parts of or meals of the day. Mhmm. And so the bread comes to the table and the chips come to the table, you're like, man, I am hungry.
Jenny SmithAnd down it goes, and then you were planning on this lovely steak fajita vegetable kind of meal. And you had planned ahead. You counted the carbs. You knew. And then you got to the meal, and you're like, I can make one fajita. Maybe. Yeah. Because that's what happens. Mhmm. Right?
Scott BennerAnd so then you have to backtrack in your plan for what you're going to do because now all the nutrients that are there, those macros, they're now different. Yeah. No. I've and by the way, now with GLP in my life, they bring the bread out. I go, plea please take the bread away, or I might as well just eat the bread and leave you a tip and go because I'm not gonna be able to I'm not gonna be able to eat what I order.
Hey. Just for you know, because it was brought up, and then I wanna say something. Beef tacos, two hard shells, beef cheese lettuce, 28 carbs, 18 protein, 22 fat seem reasonable. How many tortillas?
Two hard shelled beef cheese lettuce tacos.
Jenny SmithYeah.
Scott BennerThat seem light?
Jenny SmithSo the shells are usually depending package to package, each hard shell is usually about eight or nine grams of carb per shell.
Comparison of AI Macronutrient Estimations
Scott BennerOkay.
Jenny SmithAnd depending on it doesn't sound like there are other car there's no rice in this. Right?
Scott BennerNo. Not not in the way it's set up right here.
Jenny SmithOkay. So it might be a little heavy in carbohydrate.
Scott BennerOkay.
Jenny SmithIf it's 28 grams, I'd say two is more probably closer to maybe 18 to 20.
Scott BennerOkay. I that's another reason I think the conversation is important because more and more people are gonna do what I just did, which is Mhmm Like, I don't know. I just I I use Gemini. I could've used ChatGPT. Sure.
It's very possible, and maybe we should do that before we go, that if we just use a different model, we might have got back a different answer. You know?
Jenny SmithWe might have. And that is I mean, it brings in I think we talked about it, and the last time we talked about food is really using AI can be a good starting place, but you have to give it as much direction as you possibly can, or possibly, hey. Can you give me the macro breakdown and use the USDA information to source this data? Right? It more direction. You can give it more direction and get more specific and precise details about those macros.
Scott BennerYeah. Let me do this just because it's interesting. So the the first time we did the big meal, it was with Gemini, Google Gemini, and now I'm doing it with ChatGPT. And let's just see, like, what comes up different.
Jenny SmithThe difference?
Scott BennerYeah. So okay. So tortilla chips, it used the same measurements, two ounces, 20 chips. It got the calories the same, the protein the same, the carbs were too heavier on ChatGPT than they were on Gemini. The fat, it got the same. Guacamole, one carb heavier on ChatGPT than than on Gemini. The fat was the same. The protein was off by one, and off's the wrong word. Like, they disagree by one. Steak steak fajitas.
In ChatGPT says 420 calories, 45 protein, 25 fat. In Gemini, it says 350 calories, 40 protein, 20 fat. So it's interesting. They they disagree, but it's possible that bolus wise, taking five off the fat and adding it to this or the protein or it might kinda balance out. Balance out. Yeah. To some degree.
Also, listening to you talk about it is where the real value is because you're like, yeah. That's about right. Also, when you use that language, when I tell people how to estimate it, that's you saying, you don't know how much is in that. And we're not gonna find out. Like, so Right. Like, about this.
Jenny SmithAbout the and especially for the fat content in a restaurant meal that's not a chain that truly has all of the nutrition facts figured out because their recipes are standardized. Mhmm. Right? When you have a restaurant from mom and pop Mexican restaurant or the bistro or whatever it is Yeah. You don't mind. Homemade. Right. Right. I mean, when I cook food and I know what I usually use, like, the olive oil goes in. I'm like, it could be a teaspoon today. It could be a teaspoon and a half or two tomorrow, and I, like, throw it. I mean, I eyeball. Right? Yep.
And so that eyeballing in these type of meals gives a little bit of shuffle, so to speak, to the amount of especially fat.
Scott BennerWell, I'm comforted by this actually because Gemini total for that meal, 70 fat, ChatGPT total 74.
Jenny SmithNice.
Historical Perspectives and Closing Remarks
Scott BennerCarbs, Gemini, one fifty four. ChatGPT, one sixty six. Protein, Gemini, 67. Protein, ChatGPT, 74. I honestly don't think this would change the bolus by more than maybe, like, a quarter or half a unit maybe. Like, it's so They're very similar enough. And people are gonna be using this stuff more and
Speaker 3Mhmm.
Scott Bennermore you know, like, to figure this stuff out. Anyway, to kinda, like, dovetail back around again, chicken enchilada, 42 grams of carbs for two rolls, sauce and cheese, protein 26, fat 24, and, of course, the margarita. So if you just did the two two hard shell tacos, two enchiladas, the margarita, it's 94 carbs, 44 protein, 46 fat. I would bet you this is the thing I wanted to say at the end, that the person who sent in this request did not get the answer back they were expecting. Because I think people think there's like a I I say this to Jenny, like, when we're done sometimes.
I'm like, I wonder how much longer we can do this because all we're really telling you is count the fat, the carbs, the protein, and understand the timing of the insulin to have your settings right.
Jenny SmithIt is.
Scott BennerIt's not lost on you and I that we are just finding different ways to explain the pro tip series. Right?
Jenny SmithThat's correct. Yeah. And it's also what does it boil down to? It boils down to the standard of understanding how insulin works for you. Mhmm. And because you usually, as I said earlier, you come into a meal like this with some historical experience of what you like, you're gonna pick similar. If you don't like chicken, you're gonna and you like steak, you're gonna choose steak something. Yeah. Right? If you like a fajita because you can pick and add rather than the gooey insides of, you know, something that's baked or fried or whatever, great. So you have something based on your previous preference for a similar kind of meal. You always can you can also then gauge how much you're gonna eat. Yeah. Now I Which helps.
Scott BennerThere is there is a part of me that realizes that 1,800 episodes into the podcast, it really only needs to be about 25 episodes long. But to reexplain it or find ways to get into different ways that people learn or even just to say it one way where you're like, oh, that makes sense. Like, basically, this is just, again, seriously, this is just what we talked about in the pro tip series, like, from a slightly different perspective. And there'll be another series after this,
Speaker 3but we'll shift it around again and find a different way to say it to
Scott Benneryou so that it covers as many people as possible. But in the end, it's timing and amount. That's it. It used the right amount of insulin at the right time.
Jenny SmithI wish I had had I mean, my first experience well, historical Jenny story. My historical, purse I guess, experience with a Mexican kind of dish eaten out was in high school.
Scott BennerOkay. By yourself?
Jenny SmithYou know? No. Oh, no. This was, like, a dance. Right? So a dance experience where you go out either with your date or with, like, a group of other people. Right? And it was twerp, so that you know what twerp is? It's where the girl asks the guy to the dance.
Scott BennerThat's never happened to me. So, no, I don't know about that. But go ahead.
Jenny SmithWell, that's that's that's what this was.
Scott BennerI have what they call a face for podcasting. Go ahead.
Jenny SmithAnyway, we went out, and I ordered a a taco salad. Mhmm. Because I thought from my perspective that that at that age, right, I was like, a salad. I know how to do a salad. And I didn't have any of these fancy tools. None of them. I took two mixed injections per day Yeah. Still. Right? That was what I got, and I had a blood glucose meter. Yeah. And so I order it only do you know what a taco salad is in that kind of restaurant? So It's not a lovely salad.
Scott BennerThere's probably a lot of sour cream and sauce and stuff. Like, it's like it's the reason why I don't order that stuff when I get it because it looks soupy to me. Sorry.
Jenny SmithAnd it it wasn't soupy, but what does a taco salad usually come in?
Scott BennerLike A big tortilla shell. Right?
Jenny SmithA gigantic. I was mortified when they brought me my plate at the table with, like, eight others of my friends, including, like, their write their dates. My meal was the largest on the entire table.
Scott BennerAnd he's like, I asked this boy out, and now I'm like, give me all the food. And this and so it comes in a bowl that's actually made out of, like, a tortilla. Right?
Jenny SmithA tortilla shell. Yeah. Exactly.
Scott BennerAnd then there's let I mean, there's shredded lettuce, but then there's sour cream, probably beef. Right? Like
Jenny SmithWell, I don't eat meat, so it was beans.
Scott BennerI ordered a a bean one. Yeah. Yeah. It was probably it was probably a 150 grams of carbs.
Jenny SmithOh, I'm and I was so like I said, I was so mortified. And at that point, I still only had dosing based on a a sliding scale. It was this amount of insulin based on your blood sugar and what your meal would cover. And I mean, my appetite was pretty well controlled, so I knew I wasn't gonna eat this gigantic, like Clamshell salad. So I kinda picked at through the meal. Right?
Scott BennerTrying to be dainty with your giant sloppy salad.
Jenny SmithAnd then what follows a meal like this as a high school dance? You're you're gonna go and you're gonna move your body. Yeah. Right? So, like, I had all of this. I am still alive after my taco salad.
Scott BennerYou made it. You guys get Jenny's like, look. With a CGM and all these algorithms, you'll be okay.
Jenny SmithYou will be okay. That's the base of the story. Yes. Yeah. Well, I listen. For me, it's always the same. Like, don't ignore the fat and protein. Don't ignore the timing. Get your settings right. You know? Right. And, you should be okay. Well, thank you very much. I do appreciate you doing this with me.
Jenny SmithNo. It's always fun.
Scott BennerThanks.
A huge thanks to my longest sponsor, Omnipod. Check out the Omnipod five now with my link, omnipod.com/juicebox. You may be eligible for a free starter kit, a free Omnipod five starter kit at my link. Go check it out. Omnipod.com/juicebox. Terms and conditions apply. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox. The conversation you just enjoyed was brought to you by US Med. US Med dot com slash juice box or call (888) 721-1514.
Scott BennerGet started today and get your supplies from US Med. Okay. Well, here we are at the end of the episode. You're still with me? Thank you. I really do appreciate that. What else could you do for me? Why don't you tell a friend about the show or leave a five star review? Maybe you could make sure you're following or subscribed in your podcast app, go to YouTube and follow me or Instagram, TikTok. Oh, gosh. Here's one. Make sure you're following the podcast in the private Facebook group as well as the public Facebook page. You don't wanna miss please, do you not know about the private group? You have to join the private group. As of this recording, it has 74,000 members.
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#1863 Expert Testimony
Cory discusses his harrowing 1998 Type 1 diabetes diagnosis , overcoming clinical barriers to pumping and thyroid care , using GLP-1 therapy , and finding fulfillment as a community group expert.
Key Takeaways
- Misdiagnosis & Triage Vulnerabilities: Acute onset symptoms of Type 1 diabetes can easily be misidentified by primary clinicians as minor environmental parasites, demonstrating why immediate emergency evaluation and symptom recognition (like ketones on the breath) are critical to preventing severe diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).
- The Power of Clinical Self-Advocacy: Drowning under rigid baseline management parameters or clinical restrictions requires persistent patient self-advocacy. Finding progressive clinicians who will provide advanced tools without requiring a "perfect" early tracking history is key to long-term success.
- The Actionable Practicality of Pre-Bolusing: Effective diabetes care moves past basic carb counting to highlight active timing strategies. Implementing specific waiting windows between an insulin dose and meal consumption acts as a key element in smoothing out postprandial glucose spikes.
- Metabolic Stability via Modern GLP-1 Therapy: Utilizing advanced GLP-1 medications alongside standard Type 1 insulin therapy can lead to up to a 40–45% reduction in total daily insulin needs. This optimizes metabolic parameters and heavily dampens volatile high-low glycemic rollercoasters.
- Community Safety Nets and Peer Support: Moderated digital forums and specialized support networks serve as necessary psychological secondary spaces. They help families and advocates seamlessly process daily medical burdens, layout clinical boundaries, and share life-saving resources.
Resources Mentioned
- Juicebox Podcast Official Site: juiceboxpodcast.com
- US Med Diabetes Supply: usmed.com/juicebox (Or call 888-721-1514)
- Omnipod 5 Automated Insulin Delivery: omnipod.com/juicebox
- Wrong Way Recording Audio Services: wrongwayrecording.com
Introduction and Behind-the-Scenes Insights
Scott BennerHere we are back together again, friends, for another episode of the Juice Box podcast.
CoreyHey. My name is Corey. I'm a type one diabetic. I was diagnosed at 19 about twenty seven years ago.
Scott BennerMy grand rounds series was designed by listeners to tell doctors what they need, and it also helps you to understand what to ask for. There's a mental wellness series that addresses the emotional side of diabetes and practical ways to stay balanced. And when we talk about GLP medications, well, we'll break down what they are, how they may help you, and if they fit into your diabetes management plan. What do these three things have in common? They're all available at juiceboxpodcast.com up in the menu.
Scott BennerI know it can be hard to find these things in a podcast app, so we've collected them all for you at juice box podcast dot com. While you're listening, please remember that nothing you hear on the juice box 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.
Scott BennerThis episode of the Juice Box podcast is sponsored by US Med, usmed.com/juicebox, or call (888) 721-1514. Get your supplies the same way we do from US Med.
Scott BennerToday's episode is also sponsored by Omnipod. Check out the Omnipod five now with my link, omnipod.com/juicebox. You may be eligible for a free starter kit, a free Omnipod five starter kit at my link. Go check it out. Omnipod.com/juicebox. Terms and conditions apply. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox.
CoreyHey. My name is Corey. I'm a type one diabetic. I was diagnosed at 19 about twenty seven years ago.
Scott BennerWow. And, Corey, just before we started to record, you said you were a little nervous, but tell me why you were nervous?
CoreyYeah. So not nervous to talk to you, Scott, but nervous in that I I just hope that my story will help even one person, you know, to do something a little better or to have a small positive change in their life. Yeah. That's what I'm hoping for here.
Scott BennerI want to start with that just so I could tell you the same thing I would tell anybody and have told people in the past when they say that is that in now over 1,800 recordings, I mean, I haven't deleted any of them. Like, I think people are always like, oh, my story isn't gonna be valuable. But, I mean, you find everybody's stories valuable. Right?
CoreyTotally. Right.
Scott BennerYeah. That's it. We don't edit out content. We don't take the thing you said at three minutes and move it to ten minutes and move stuff around. These are straight through recordings. You know, they get bleeped a little if somebody curses or something like that. But other than that, nothing gets taken out of them. And I think I've maybe only recorded three in twelve years that you guys haven't heard. And those weren't for reasons of you know, it's not like I recorded them, and I was like, oh god. That's horrible. I don't want anybody to hear it.
Scott BennerAs a matter of fact, I'll tell you this. I won't give you the exact details, but the three that I've recorded that you haven't heard, one was just a technical issue where one of the voices didn't get recorded. One was where there was such a significant shift in the tone of the conversation. It was this upbeat conversation that was going on for I think we were forty five minutes into it. And just out of nowhere, the person I was talking to said something that was, like, a such a significant like, a violent thing that happened to them, and it just felt strange after that. And we were joking one second, and the next second, they said this thing, and I didn't feel like I pivoted quickly enough. Do you know what I mean? It would be like I don't know. If we were at a stand up concert together and the comedian's been talking for forty five minutes, and then you just turn to me and, like, tell me some atrocity that happened to you, and I'm laughing about the thing that happened five seconds before that.
Scott BennerWe never found our footing again, and the two of us agreed when we were done just to delete it. And then I don't even remember what the third one was, But what I can tell you is that I've recorded a handful of conversations that I would tell you that when I'm done with them, they're not my cup of tea. Like, if I had to go back and listen to them, I wouldn't. And there was this one time I finished with this person. I would never say who it is, but I finished and I just really didn't like it. I did not have a good time talking to them. I did not enjoy the conversation. It felt boring to me. The whole thing turned me off about it. And it was the only time in and again, twelve years that I thought, I'm just gonna lose this one. Like, I'll send her an email and tell her something technical happened and I lost the file because I don't wanna put this out. And then I thought about it a little longer, and I said, Scott, you're not the only one listening to the podcast. Right? Like, other people have different sensibilities than you. I put it together just like I put out every other one, and it's incredibly popular. And I can't tell you which one it is, but Sure.
CoreyNo. I understand.
Scott BennerI didn't hate the person. I just I didn't like their voice. I didn't like the story. Like, the whole thing just maybe I was in a bit. I couldn't even begin to tell you. But people find it incredibly valuable. So, you know, I appreciate you being concerned, but I think we'll be okay.
CoreyYeah. Well, let's give it a shot and see what happens. Absolutely.
The 1998 Misdiagnosis and Emergency Triage
Scott BennerSo you were diagnosed when you were 19 years old?
CoreyYeah. I was 19 back in October '98.
Scott BennerAnd how did you figure it out?
CoreyYeah. So it was probably about a six week onset from what I'll call normal to, you know, in the ER. And with that, it was a lot of the same stuff you've heard over and over. But for me, it was just mostly fatigue. And then about a week before the actual diagnosis, I'd gone to an air show with a friend and her family, and, her mother was a nurse, and we were all staying in, a small hotel room, anyway, out in West Texas. And she commented to me the next morning, do you know you got up four times, you know, in the night to use the restroom? And I said, no. I didn't realize that. And, anyway, she's like, yeah. You should probably have that looked into. And that was pretty much the end of that conversation. When I got back home, I ended up going to the doctor. I wasn't feeling well and gave him all of that and told him what what she had said, gave him my whole rundown. I'm really tired. I'm very thirsty. Obviously, urinating a lot. Everything that we now, you know, you know is classic symptoms. But told him all that. He said, well, you went out to West Texas. You probably got a some kind of a bug or a parasite or something in the water out there. So here's a pill for that, and then go home and drink as much Gatorade as you can to stay hydrated. Well, as you know, Gatorade is sugar water with some electrolytes. It has its place, but at that point I mean, I went to him probably around noon. By 10PM, I was in a whole another place. So my mom drove me down to the ER. I'm 19, lived at home still. We get into the ER, and this has actually been referenced on your podcast before. But in in that '98, and I live in the DFW area of Texas, there was, like, a heroin epidemic of young people, teenagers. And so when I walked in, barely walked into that there was a nurse there, a guy, and there was a cop. And, you know, what are you doing here? My mom's trying to tell him what's going on. I could barely talk. I was so dehydrated. Sitting there, the cop was very interested in me and why I was there. And the nurse was like, hey. We gotta take your temperature. And I'm like, I don't know if you can. And it kind of escalated, and I'm like, I don't think I can get the thermometer under my tongue. I'm so dehydrated. And he's like, well, if I can't put it under your tongue, I'm gonna shove it up your ass. That was pretty crazy. And right about that moment, a wonderful ER doctor walked through there and she stopped. I mean, right in her tracks. It was like, hey. What's going on here? And the guy's like, well, he just came in. And she's like, well, I can smell on his breath that he's diabetic. She literally grabbed me by the arm and said, come with me, put me in a bed. They got an insulin drip going, and that's about all I remember.
Scott BennerYeah. Saved you from having a personal relationship with a thermometer too.
CoreyCorrect. No doubt.
Scott BennerWho said that to you about the—
CoreySo he was like the triage nurse at the ER.
Scott BennerWhat's wrong with everybody, Corey? What do you think?
CoreyI he was having a day, and so was I.
Scott BennerYour ass was almost having a day. And so He's like—
CoreyI was like, wow. Okay. And ironically, I I never did get my temperature taken that day. But anyway so then the next morning, I was in the ER. Well, not in the ER. They had moved me to ICU. Mhmm. My dad showed up. At that point, we had not talked in a couple of years, just different stuff, but he was right there, which was awesome to find out, you know, what's going on with my son and everything. And so he's in there sitting with me and talking, and the doctor who I had gone to the previous day that told me I had a parasite, he was doing rounds in that hospital. He was like, what are you doing here? And I said, well, it wasn't a parasite. That was kinda fun. And, of course, he didn't apologize or anything. He just kinda, you know, was—
Scott BennerMhmm.
CoreyPlayed it cool. Next morning, off we went. So then go through the normal, what I'll call normal diabetes education. I was, a few weeks later, put into a room, you know, with a lot of nice folks, but mostly type twos. In fact, I think they all were. And the person was just kinda going over, you know, here's a what a banana is and how to count a carb and, you know, what is a protein, those kinds of things. So it was very basic education. Was given a sliding scale with, I guess, the clear and cloudy back then. So taking, you know, shots, syringes, and I had a tester, you know, a blood glucose tester, and that was pretty much it.
Living with Syringes, Pumps, and Clinical Friction
Scott BennerI'm sorry to ask you, but at 19, were you living at home with your mom?
CoreySo I was living up with my mom. My parents are divorced.
Scott BennerOkay. And what does support look like when you're diagnosed at that age in that situation as far as family goes?
CoreyYeah. So it was, this is yours. Yeah. There was no—
Scott BennerLet me understand this for you.
CoreyLet me understand or or whatever. It was pretty much like, what's the diet look like? Okay. Eat a healthy diet. Take, you know, the insulin per the sliding scale. And, of course, there was no CGM, anything like that. So you just test every couple hours. Of course, it was all on me at that point as a 19 year old.
Scott BennerOkay. And were you in college or going to college?
CoreyYeah. Going to school, working full time. So trying to keep a job, of course, and going to school in the evenings. And then—
Scott BennerDoing all this.
CoreyTrying to live a life on top of that too.
Scott BennerYou know, it's funny. I I ask people, like, how long does it take you to pull it altogether, ignoring the fact that maybe you don't feel like you have it altogether. Uh-huh. Yeah. How long did it take to feel like you had a, I don't know, a rhythm?
CoreySo that's a good question. Probably, I had a follow-up appointment with the doctor, not the same one, by the way, that had diagnosed me before, a new doctor. And at that point, yeah, it was a good amount of time. And and honestly, I thought I had it together. Right? I was alive. I was doing the things. Even way back then, I don't remember what my a one c's would have been, but they weren't where I would want them to be now for sure. Probably the eights, the nine, somewhere in there.
Scott BennerOkay.
CoreyWithout having all that data in between the tests, it's just hard to know what was all going on. And then being 19 and all the things I worked different hours and and all, it was a lot of, you know, take the basal. Once I moved to I did finally move to Lantus and Humalog pens. Take the basal, whatever they tell you to take, and then, you know, inject insulin before you eat. I didn't go low a lot, and that's probably because my a one c was higher. So it must be working. So I don't know if I ever really felt like it was together, but I felt like I wasn't dying and I was still moving forward.
Scott BennerAre those expectations set up by you or by physicians? Or I mean, how long ago was this?
CoreyThat would have been 98 in the, you know, like, 2000, somewhere in there at that point.
Scott BennerThe Internet exists. Like, you have the ability to go out into the world and try to find out more about your situation. So do you do that or you just kinda take the—
CoreyNo. No. I never did. Not at that point.
Scott BennerNope. Can you put into words did you know the a one c where it was wasn't optimal, or did you feel like it was more than acceptable?
CoreyI felt that it was acceptable. Acceptable. There was never—I don't wanna say more than acceptable, but there was never discussion from the doctor or any of the other medical type folks that things were going in a way that were suboptimal. Mhmm. It just was like, okay. You're doing the things. You're doing the things. Check your feet. You know?
Scott BennerCheck your feet.
CoreyGo to the eye doctor once a year and—Right. Yeah. You're doing all that in your twenties, so you must be fine. And that was the situation. So I, you know, always took insulin when I ate, but never—you know, it—it—it's certainly not like it is today for me.
Scott BennerNo. Well, I know you modern day to be a thoughtful person. So I wanna know, like, what tipped you from that stasis to, you know, looking deeper.
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CoreyThat's a great question. So in 2011, I moved to a pump. I was finally was able to, I say, talk a doctor into that. I—I got a better endo at a much better place. The one before was basically, like, if you don't test your blood eight times a day, you don't get a pump. And it was like, okay. You know?
Scott BennerAwesome. Thanks. Yeah.
CoreyYou know, thanks. So, you know, it was basically, like, we're not gonna give you the tools. And I know you've certainly talked about this before. We're not gonna give you the tools until you don't need them is how it felt. Mhmm. And so, you know, just wasn't set up for a whole lot of success with that doctor. There was would give me type two medications. So I don't even know if the doctor thought, you know, I was actually a type one or if I had type two or a little bit of both or whatever.
Scott BennerWhat other medications was this guy who wouldn't give you a lifeboat till you stop drowning?
CoreySo he—there was a pill like Actos. He gave me that, which was kinda like a metformin type pill.
Scott BennerUh-huh.
CoreyHe wanted me on that. He did give me all the way back then Victoza, which I know is like a GLP one.
Scott BennerJust a—
Coreymuch earlier version of one. That was helpful, actually. You know? But, again, not a lot of help as far as the the technology and any of that goes.
Scott BennerTell me how the Victoza help before we move on.
CoreyA bit more stable blood sugars, probably not as high highs Mhmm is what I would say about that.
Scott BennerOkay. Okay.
CoreyDidn't lose a lot of weight or anything. It wasn't where GLPs are today, but it was minor—you know, a little bit helpful.
Scott BennerSaw some improvements. Yeah. I love the idea of, like, you're drowning, and I have a lifeboat. But when you stop drowning, I'll give it to you.
CoreyThat's how it felt at the time.
Scott BennerCorey, just in case, like, did you just say it took thirteen years to give you a pump?
CoreyThat's right.
Scott BennerOkay. So That's right. Again, I know you as an adult. Did you code differently back then? Was somebody look. I'm sorry. Is that what young people say?
CoreyI don't know. I'm not a young people.
Scott BennerAre you a much different person today than you were back then?
CoreyNo. I would say I'm not. I would say I'm not.
Scott BennerJust a bad clinician you had?
CoreyYes. Yeah. Okay. That's right. And also, I—I try to be kind to people. But so to me, insulin was you get insulin, you get a tester. That was kind of, you know, the way it was. Pumps and all of that, that was fancy stuff, and and it was pretty new. Well, at least to me, was a new thought, it was just kinda—it was just out of reach at that point. Not due to finances or anything, just it wasn't available. And—and, again, hearing from that doctor and "you don't test enough," that sort of thing. And it felt like you have to be a perfect diabetic in order to, you know, to get the tools. So was referred by a friend of my wife's. She was more of an acquaintance, but she worked in an Endo's office, recommended I go change doctors, go there. That was a huge step forward for me. Okay. That would have been in about 2012. And a large teaching hospital, he's an ENDO there and, you know, more at the forefront of the things that are happening, what's going on. He was like, yeah. You need a pump. We need to get you on one as soon as we can. Got on a a Medtronic. I don't remember the version, but it was the one that looks like a beeper and they had different colors. But anyway, you know, it was a dumb pump, but it was still a pump. That was a lot better, just easier, you know, to be able to give myself insulin and have a square bolus for a pizza or those kinds of things. That was definitely helpful. At that point, my a one c was probably running around an eight before going and seeing him, and we were able to get it down to to the low sevens. That was good. That was definitely moving in the right direction. Well, I'll never forget seeing the paperwork after one of the visits, and it said I was a noncompliant diabetic.
Scott BennerOh.
CoreyAnd that was the first time I'd ever heard of that. And and I just felt like, what? You know, he didn't say you're doing anything wrong or you're not listening or you're not doing. Why am I being coded that way? And that was not a wake up call, but it was just something that got my brain thinking, like, what am I not doing? Mhmm. What is—you know, and this was, again, 2012. So this is still quite a while back. But—
An Unplanned Adoption and the Motivation to Heal
Scott BennerIs there any shame attached to that? Like, when—
CoreyYes. For sure. Right.
Scott BennerDid reading that make you think, oh, that's right. I don't do a good job. Or did it make you think, what does that mean? Like, I'm trying as hard as I can. I thought I was doing well. Like, where do you fall in that spectrum?
CoreySo reading that, I would say I wasn't trying as very hard as I could at that point. Like, it was more, okay. I'm doing it, but I'm not doing everything that I need to be doing. I need to be, you know, checking my blood sugar more often or—or really thinking more about the foods that I'm eating. You know, how old was I at that point? 30, something like that.固定 Right? Like, I need to dial this in. I need to get better at this. So that all coincided with the adoption of our daughter, my wife and I, in 2013. That's another story for a different podcast, but we more or less had a baby fall in our lap. And, you know, you ask people all the time, like, why do you do these things for other people that you don't do for yourself? And every time I hear those episodes, I think of myself that way because my wife and I, we wanted this child. We wanted this baby. And I felt like if my blood sugars aren't good or if I'm not managing this well Mhmm will there be a hiccup in the adoption process? Will they say, you know, we'll find a different parent? Think something like that. And that—that really got me on the train to better at that point.
Scott BennerOkay. Hey. You said a baby fell into your laps. Why did a baby not fall out of a lap? Were you having trouble conceiving? Or—
CoreyWell yeah. So well, we just, for whatever reason, never did have a natural child or a child on our own. Could be. We never really dug into it. It didn't happen. But through that, a woman basically told my wife at one point, very random, but a friend of mine is pregnant and not gonna be able to keep the child. Do you know of anybody who would be interested in adopting? Mhmm. And she came home and told me about that, and it was like, wow. You know, first of all, you know, generally, people aren't talking to people they don't know all that well about, like, you know, somebody who wants a baby. Like, that's just not typical, but that must mean that they're in a place where they they don't have any other option. Anyway, we both thought and prayed about that and both got a yes answer in our hearts and decided this is our life and and this is what we're going to do.
Scott BennerThat's lovely.
CoreyIt is. And best decision. It was a wonderful and we now have a lovely 12 year old daughter who is—who is just amazing.
Scott BennerExcellent. That's wonderful.
CoreyYes. But with that, you know, it was like, okay. I've got this baby. I mean, she's 2 days old. She's in my arms, and I gotta be here for her.
Scott BennerBut, Corey, before that, the thought process was if I'm not taking care of myself as well as I should be or could be, then maybe the adoption process will reflect that. We won't get the baby. Was that a concern of yours? Correct.
CoreyThat was a concern of mine. Yes. Okay. It was. Whether it was a valid concern or not, I don't know.
Scott BennerYeah. Whatever. But it—it popped into your head that way.
CoreyThat's right.
Scott BennerDid you share that with your wife at the time?
CoreyYes. You did.
Scott BennerDid she say, Corey, you take great care of yourself. What are you talking about? Or did she say, yeah. I was wondering when you were gonna get around to that.
CoreyProbably somewhere in the middle. In the middle. Like, let's make some changes, and let's let's do the things. You know, what do we need to do to, you know, to make this better? She was supportive.
Scott BennerBut She was supportive. But—but so you—but you guys were married for how long at that point?
CoreyWhat? Eight years, nine years?
Scott BennerFair amount of time. Yep. Does she have any involvement or understanding of your diabetes at eight years in?
CoreyShe knows obviously knows I have it. She knows I have insulin that I take before I eat, but no. Not really.
Scott BennerWho's doing is that? Is it—is it her not being interested or you not being forthcoming, or is it like a quiet understanding?
CoreyProbably quiet. It was never that I didn't want her to know or didn't want her to be a part of it. It was just like, hey. I got this. You know, it's just my thing. And Yeah. yeah. And I—I just—it's just an extra little thing I have to manage on the side of—of everything.
Scott BennerJust a little extra little thing. Is that the case today?
CoreyMostly. She probably has—I mean, I would say a little more involvement or at least a little more understanding. We've had more conversations around—I haven't even talked about kind of our home life and where we are today. But if we eat dinner and then I need to be active immediately after, that—that's not the best scenario because of all the insulin that might be on board Mhmm I'm gonna go low. So it's better to do the activity first and then do the eating, you know, so she has a bit more understanding around things like that than—than maybe before. She couldn't operate my pump or anything like that, but she knows when she hears the sounds, you know, oh, low blood sugar. Do you need some Skittles or whatever? So she's involved in that way, but—but not—I mean, she if I was an invalid, she wouldn't be able to just take over and—
Scott BennerYeah.
Coreyyou know, manage my insulin or anything.
Scott BennerOkay. Is that a thing you want? Or, like, do you—do you wish that somebody knew more about—
CoreyNo. I don't think so. I—I no. I mean, it's fine that she knows what she knows, obviously, but I—I don't—I don't really think so. I—I'm—I'm good with it. And at this point, I take pride almost in, you know, how well I'm able to manage it and—and what I do. And—and so I try to have it not be a burden for myself and—and also for—for her or for anybody else.
Challenging the System: Thyroid Diagnostics and GLP-1 Breakthroughs
Scott BennerIs that a bit of a, like, a manly thing? Like, I won't put this on somebody else. I don't know if that's the right way to think of it. But, like, are you trying—are you trying to save people from having to be concerned about it? Do you think that they'd think differently about you if they understood it completely?
CoreyNo. And especially not her. I don't think she'd think differently about me at all. More of not being a burden. You know, I'd—I'd prefer just to handle it myself and—
Scott BennerNo. I—
Coreyunderstand.
Scott BennerI yeah. It's just interesting.
CoreyTo just kinda live. Yeah. No.
Scott BennerIt's good. It's interesting to hear your pick through it, really. Do you have any other autoimmune issues?
CoreyGreat question. I thought you'd never ask. I do. I have a touch, if you will, of the Vitilago. It's not real apparent, but—but you can see it especially in the summer if I'm a little tan. Also thyroid, I don't know if it's Hashimoto's. We never—we haven't done any kind of antibody test for that, but definitely thyroid issues there.
Scott BennerAre they very impactful or—or is it manageable?
CoreyThe thyroid? It is. And—so to kinda jump to that, to the thyroid. So I started listening to your podcast about three years ago. It was April '23. And at that point, I found the podcast really through other Facebook groups and through you're looking at Apple podcasts and just trying to find, you know, okay. Is there something I can be listening to that might help, you know, with my a one c and that kind of thing to get that dialed in? Anyway, found your podcast. And at that point in time, I can't remember the exact episodes, but there were a number of them on thyroid. And just hearing those stories and hearing the talk about the different, symptoms that people were having, it was like, hey. That sounds like me. Yeah. And so I was like, hey. I need to get that checked out. That was, you know, important. I was already doing better on the—with the diabetes, but I—but I—that was—that was like, okay. So I went in to the—the endo, talked to him about that. He did a thyroid check, a blood test. I don't remember the exact number. It might have come back at a seven or an eight. And he said for the TSH, he said, well, you're not a 10 or higher, so you're—you're fine. You don't need anything.
Scott BennerBut, Corey, you must have had symptoms at a seven or—
Coreyan eight. I did. I did. I totally did. I—I had tired, chronic fatigue, waking up feeling more tired than when I had gone to bed. Like, I knew if I had just stayed up all night, I would be better off this morning than if I had gone to bed.
Scott BennerGone through this ruse of sleeping.
CoreyCorrect. It was just awful. Yeah. Cold feet, especially in the winter, just, you know, all of this. And I remember at that time, I know you don't, but I reached out to you. I sent you a—a message in Facebook or somewhere and was just like, hey. And you're like, you just gotta keep pushing. You gotta keep pushing. And so that's what I did. And went back six months later, gave the same story. He's like, well, you're at a four or five or six something. It was a little lighter, a little better, but it wasn't any better. You're fine. He wouldn't do it. So then kept pushing, kept being tired, all that, but—but kept pushing. And so every appointment, I'd bring it up. And then you had more discussions about, you know, about the thyroid. If you're two or—or more and you've got symptoms, you need—you know, you—you most likely need medication or it's definitely good to—to look into. And I'm like, this—he's—he's totally describing me. You were describing me at that point in these—in these conversations. And I'm like, I've gotta keep pushing. Know? He wouldn't budge while it's still at the same teaching hospital, a nurse practitioner or PA, whatever. She was in there. I went to her, and I was talking to her about it. And I'm like, look. Is it gonna hurt me to take the pill? You know? Is it gonna hurt? If I do it and I don't need it, is this gonna hurt me? She's like, no. I'm like, then why can't I just give it a shot? You know, a low dose levothyroxine, whatever. Can I not, you know, give it a shot? Fine. I think she—I just was being such a pain in the—in the butt that she was like, you know what? If I just give him this, he'll go away. So I started taking it. That was a year ago, just about a year ago. And I—I felt better. I—not perfect, certainly, but I—I felt like, okay. This is making a difference for me.
Scott BennerOkay.
CoreyStill in the winter, you know, like this past winter, my feet just for some reason, they just would get cold, especially if I was barefoot in the house, whatever. I probably need a higher dose of this stuff. Went back to the doctor. This would have been in the—in the 2025, so just a few months ago, and was talking to him and telling him all of this again. And he's like, well, you know, there are studies recently that have come out that say if you're at a two or higher and you have symptoms, you—you probably should be on—on levothyroxine. And I was like Yeah.
Scott BennerI heard that on a podcast.
CoreyI heard that on a podcast three years ago, dude. Where have you been? Like, come on. Shake my head, but, you know, like you—you say, you know, just smile and nod and okay. Great. So he upped the dose, and—and that has made a world of difference for me.
Scott BennerGreat.
CoreySo, yes, that—thank you for that.
Scott BennerOh. Please.
CoreyAnd—and really just the—the idea of keep pushing. Don't take the no for an answer. You know? Find—find the relief that you need. If you're having symptoms, get them—get them treated.
Scott BennerYeah. I've been talking about this a fair amount lately because it's just been in my head for a while since someone said it to me. So brief overview, someone described me to me as being direct, and it was off putting to me. And that, I guess, the people listening probably sounds silly, but I thought, oh, I'm not direct. Like, I know direct people. I'm not direct like that. And I realized that might be a spectrum as well. What I'm—I guess what I've taken from it now over time is that if a person like you who—I mean, you're just a very polite kind person. Like, if you can borrow a little bit of my—I don't know. Whatever what you wanna call it, being an asshole and, like, apply it to your own life and it helps you.
Scott BennerI'm all for that. I'm wondering how much of my attitude is actually a value in the podcast when it's sprinkled out across the country and across the world. I mean, there's—podcast is, you know, is pretty popular in a lot of different countries. So, I mean, how many people have just been born, raised, bred to just kinda put their eyes to the floor a little bit, say thank you, walk away even when they don't get what they need? It sounds like that might have been helpful to you.
CoreyIt was—so—I mean, it was totally helpful to me at that point.
Scott BennerOkay. Cool.
CoreyYes.
Scott BennerWell, I'm glad that me being like this is valuable to somebody. So—but I don't—but just so everyone knows, I don't—I don't see it. I am a—I'm a pretty quiet person in my—in the world I live in. I'm not boisterous. I don't think. And then I—I have moments where I step out of myself and I look and I realize that can't possibly be true. May I tell you a story real quick, Corey?
CoreyAbsolutely. I—
Scott Bennerwas in the grocery store last night, and I—I've—I've had two experiences now, one—one after the other. One was the day before the grocery store. Why is someone calling me? Do they not know I'm making a rather popular podcast? Hold on a second.
Scott BennerI was at a home store buying, like, bolts. You know what I mean? And Mhmm I I'm in an aisle by myself. And down the other end of the aisle, this man turns the aisle, starts walking up. I look and I go, oh, I know that guy. I don't just know him. Like, I really know him. Like, he's my brother in law's wife's sister's husband. Like, I really, really know him. You know what I mean? He's walking up the aisle, looking at me, and I'm looking at him. And I'm already thinking about, like, saying, hey, and all this stuff. And he just comes up to me, looks me in the face, and walks right past me. I was like, what in the heck? I went—I'll just say his name. Was like, Kenny. And he goes—he turns and looks at me, and I'm like, Kenny, hey. And then he's staring at me, I go, it's Scott. And he goes, oh, hey. And it just turns out, long story short, I've lost so much weight. He didn't recognize me. And I was like, oh, we talked a little bit. That's not the point. I go to the grocery store the next day, and I'm heading to check out.
Scott BennerAnd I'm sort of going down the main aisle at the front of the store, and this person two aisles ahead of me comes out, turns out of that aisle into the main aisle, walking towards me. It's a person I've known for twenty five years. Our kids played baseball together. Like, this whole thing. He looked at me. I looked at him. I started to smile. I started to say his name out loud. I went—I was like, he doesn't know who I am. And we just walked past each other. Now where does that come in with the whole being forward thing? I get in the line. There's a woman having trouble using a coupon. She's buying a baby formula. She's having trouble using the coupon. She has never—kids with her, and there are three kids behind the register trying to figure out how to make this coupon work. They are having an actual conversation about this. And I just walk up. Everyone looks up at me because I'm appearing. It's later at night. There's not many people at the store. And I went, hey. I'm sorry to, bother you, but I just got passed by a person who I've known for twenty five years, and they didn't recognize me because I've lost so much weight. And then we all started high five. And that—that actually happened. And then while they were working on the coupon, the lady and I were talking about, like, you know, she just had twins, and I was asking her about the formula and talking about—well, you were talking about the cost of kids and everything. We're embroiled in, like, a real conversation that she's not—for those of you out there who are, like, introverted, you're like, oh, she was probably mortified. She wasn't. We were having a nice time. Now that I think back on that as I'm talking to you, like, I guess that's what people mean when they say I'm direct. But, like, I just see that as, like, friendly. But I guess that's not it maybe for everybody. Anyway, whatever. As long as—as long as your thyroid's straight now, Corey, I don't really care. This is what's important. But this was just a year ago with the thyroid thing?
CoreyYeah. I—I wanna say a year, year and a half.
Scott BennerBut you've been listening to the show for three years?
The Evolution of Peer Advocacy and the Long-Term Mission
CoreyFor three, but it took that long to persuade him to—to write the prescription.
Scott BennerYeah. And how long have you—oh, you know, we've never met. Forty minutes in. You're a group expert in the Facebook group too. How long have you been doing that?
CoreyIt's been two, two and a half years.
Scott BennerOkay. So six months into listening to the podcast, we easily identified you as being just a very kind, valuable person in the Facebook group and—and approached you about this. Can you tell me from your perspective, what's it like to be at home and get a message from just a group that you participate in? And they're like, hey. Would you like to be more involved? Like, what was that like to—to hear that?
CoreyOh, very fulfilling. I—mean, even that, just knowing that I—I can help people and that I had been already helping them without any—I've called a title, I guess, group expert. It's not really—I mean, you know, it's what it is.
Scott BennerBut small—it's a small badge next to your name. Yeah. Yeah.
CoreyCorrect. Right. But, you know, I—I just wanted to be helpful to—to other folks. I learned so much in that short amount of time from just listening to episodes of the podcast and being in the group as well. I just wanted to lead people to the same success that I had been having, you know. And—and so then when I'm told, well, you're doing a good job of this. We wanna make this a bit more official. Awesome. It's working. That means this is hap—you know, that I'm making a difference. And that that's really been—been the goal of being, you know, a group expert. It's just really trying to not have all the answers, but at least point people in the right direction so that they can, you know, they can find the success they're looking for.
Scott BennerRight. What's the experience without giving away anybody's, you know, personal information? Like, there's, you know, pretty big—there can't be, like, 12 or 13 of you. There's a lot of you at this point.
CoreyYeah. We have a good number.
Scott BennerAnd so you guys all have, like, a, like, a private chat where you talk. I—I every time I bring this up, I set up very specifically. I'm not in it so that everybody feels comfortable talking and doesn't feel like they're talking—That's right. in front of the teacher or something like that, which it seems silly, but at the same time, I've—I've been assured it's important.
Scott BennerBy the way, I don't mean it seems silly like it seems silly to feel like you could misspeak in front of me. Like, I don't—I don't feel like I have—Right.
CoreyI agree.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't feel like I have any level of—anyway, I don't think there's a pecking system. I think we're just a bunch of people all trying to do the same thing, which is help those now, like, 82,000 members in there, you know, to find some, you know, comfort or—or—or connection, maybe an answer to. If anything, what has being involved in that small group meant to you? Those other group experts and you together.
CoreyThat's a great question. And I know you—it wasn't planted either. It's an amazing support. Just like the—the 82,000 Facebook, you know, members is an amazing support. It—it's sad. It's a little more personalized. Right? It's the same group of us that—that have that conversation going. I mentioned a few minutes ago, you know, when I was first diagnosed, my dad, we hadn't talked in a, you know, in, you know, a year or two for whatever reason, and who knows now what that even was. I was a kid. But five years ago, my dad was diagnosed with cancer. You know, with that, his—his wife and I were helping him. He was 71, 72 at the time. She was ten years older, 81, 82, helping him with getting the treatment, to doctor appointments, all those kinds of things. And then, you know, there was a lot of waiting, you know, in a waiting room or while he's getting the treatment, etcetera. When I was able to join that group, the group expert group, two and a half, whatever years ago, it—it was actually right—right as a lot of that treatment was happening for him.
Scott BennerMhmm.
CoreyAnd so they were like a support group for me whether they know it or not. And, because I didn't really wanna, again, to be a burden on them, but just being able to talk about, hey. There's this post. They're putting a GoFundMe in the group. Are we allowing that? Are we not? You know, whatever. Just having those kind of conversations or—or just general banter about things was a—was a great support to me. You know, also kept my mind off of the other things that were going on, you know, my dad and—and his health situation. You know, it—it just turned out to be a support that I didn't even know I needed or—or didn't even, you know, need whenever—whenever you guys ask for that. But—but it became a huge, huge help to me during that time.
Scott BennerI watched through an intermediary, basically. Right.
CoreySo Isabel first, does Isabel feel like a part of the group, one of the guys feeling, or does she feel like a school mom to you? Like, how does that work in there?
CoreySo she's one of us. She is, but she—I—I know of course, she has her own whole entire life, but then she also has the other duties that she's got within this—within this realm. So she's not as active in that chat. However, if we—if we add her or whatnot, you know, she's pretty quick to respond. And so she is there and—and definitely catches up, you know, once a day or—or more with the different messages. And if somebody posts, hey. You had my a one c today or—or whatever, you know, she'll, you know, love that or give it a thumb up or whatever.
Scott BennerYeah.
CoreyAnd she's definitely a part of the—the conversation, probably less than some of us, but she's great.
Scott BennerYeah. Yep. She keeps me apprised of—she's not copying and pasting or telling me exactly what's being said, but she'll say something like, I think Corey's having a—a hard time right now as an example because you brought it up or something like that. She might even say to me, like, you should reach out to somebody and see if they're okay. I've seen a lot of, like, great, like, ideas from them.
Scott BennerThey're doing such a good job managing things in the group or whatnot. Like, it makes me—like, watching you guys through that lens, I guess this is where I was starting. Watching you through that lens really gives me—it makes me think about what, like, small support systems would look like. And, like, it makes me—like, I dream about, like, one day the—the infrastructure on Facebook or somewhere else being able to create small groups of 10 or 20 people who are—are connected like that in smaller, like, online support groups. Like, right, like, I don't know if I could sever a thing I can make happen, but I wonder about it a lot.
Scott BennerLike, how valuable would it be to put together just a handful of people in a chat that could be helpful to each other? And I don't know how to do that really, but it feels like it's a good idea. I just don't—
CoreyIt does.
Scott BennerYeah.
CoreyI just wonder—like, we were not looking for, you know, a quote, unquote support group.
Scott BennerIt just happened for you that way.
CoreyIt just happened. You know, it's like, hey. We're just all kinda doing this thing together. We certainly have things in common with, you know, type one and whatnot. And then you just—you just kind of build a rapport and, you know, it just kinda happens. But, yeah, I don't know if you could do that.
Scott BennerYeah. In the end, I don't think it's a thing I would do because there are more unknowns. Like, you know, we're having a nice conversation that's upbeat, but, like, yeah, sometimes people are jerks and, you know, you could randomly grab one of those people. You guys are a—I know this is probably a weird way to think of yourselves, but you're a highly curated group of people. Like, you all have, like, a lot of attributes that over time impress themselves on me and—and—or—or Isabelle or sometimes each other.
Scott BennerLike, sometimes you guys will speak up and say, like, hey. You should add this person. We think this person would be great in the group, like that kind of thing. It's not a random pairing of 20 people, which I—I can imagine could easily turn into, like, blood sport somehow. If I had time to do a research project, I think I would do it on you all helping each other and helping the group and what value this has been for you having personal connections like this and what value have you had from helping other people.
Scott BennerLike, I think there's an entire—I think there's an entire ecosystem within the group of you that is incredibly interesting, you know, which is why I try to interview you all at some point or another if you're interested. Nobody's been forced to, obviously. It's just interesting to hear your thoughts about—about why you do it and because it's time. I mean, it is a—it's time too. Like, I listen.
Scott BennerFifteen minutes before you and I did this, I texted Isabelle, and I said, hey. I need a Omnipod five list pulled out of the algorithm list. I wanna separate them. She's a, like, an adult. You—you know what I mean? Like—like—
CoreyRight.
Scott BennerShe has things to do.
Scott BennerYeah. You guys aren't being paid. And twenty minutes later, she's like, it's in the—it's in our shared folder. She just went and did it real quick. You guys are never gonna, like, you know, realize, like—like, I couldn't get this all done without everybody. Building a website now that's just for doctors. Like, so I was, a hospital reached out to me, a couple actually, and said we need a cleaner way of sharing the podcast with people. And so I've been working on that. But so much of how the website comes together is, you know, links that are collected on lists, lists of episodes with links and to them and, like, all this stuff that—trust me. You don't know me that well, Corey, but I would not have done on my own.
Scott BennerSure.
Scott BennerThe update to, like, the—the end of—the end of page, the juice box docs where, you know, I think we have, like, over 200 doctors now that listeners have sent in and said, like, look. This is a really good clinician. I wish other people knew about them. And it's so incredibly searchable, and, you know, part of that is just that AI has allowed me to code without understanding how to code. But part of it is that that information was all collected somewhere. And it's, again, not a thing I would do. It's in a—I know this probably sounds so basic to, you know, most people have jobs, but, like, spreadsheets are set up. My brain's way more artistic than that. Like, do you know what I mean? Like, I would not have said, like, oh, I have all this information come in. This is data. I should, you know, do something with it. You have an idea how many people say to me, like, do you have an email list? You know, like, I'll get involved with, a sponsor and they'll be like, know, you know, do you ever send out an email? Like, could we put an ad in an email and, you know, or something like that? And I'll go like, oh, yeah. I mean, I have a list. There's not many people on it. And then they're like, well, how many people are on—I'm like, like, 10,000.
Scott BennerAnd they laughed. They're like, you think you have a 10,000 person email list? It's not a big email list. And I was like, I don't know. Doesn't sound like a lot of people. And they're like, well, how often do you use it? I'm like, I don't really. So, you know, like, is that—should I? Is that a thing? And then I just go, I don't wanna bother people. I don't know. Like, my—it just all doesn't work that way for me in my head. Like, I just think make the stuff, put it out, cover everybody's concerns, and then word-of-mouth. Like, I really genuinely believe word-of-mouth is the only thing that works. I think you can email people. You're gonna reach them at the wrong time of day, on the wrong day, not when they're interested, not when they're able, you know, two days before their kids are on spring break, whatever. I think I see the podcast and the space the way you may have heard me talk about, like, parenting where, like, I've said before, like, I think one of the best things I've ever done for my kids has been at home when they got home from school. This idea that I'm gonna open the door and the thing that I know is, like, supportive for me is going to be there, and there won't be any, like, hoops between me and that. I kinda think of all this that way. When they come to you, that's when you need to be there with—with the information or the answer or just the—the stability and chasing them around with it.
Scott BennerYou should know how to bolus for fat. Like, nobody wants to hear that. You know what I mean? But the day they realize they need the bolus for fat, they wanna know where to go to find out. And I think that's sort of what this is. It gets kind of like a—more of a long term idea than than a short term gains thing for me. So, anyway, well, there's a lot of talking about a podcast. What do you think? Do you think it's working? Do you—do you ever look up and go, you know what he should be doing, but it's not my place?
Scott BennerDo you have any—like, you guys would share stuff like that with me if you thought that way. Right?
CoreyWe would. Yeah. No. I—I think it's working. You know, you're coming at it with a lot of different topics from a lot of different angles. You know, the bolus four, that's great. Right? That's very tactical, very usable information. You've got the more mental health stuff, which is great, you know, for caregivers, for patients, whatever, for all of us. And then, you course, the pro tips, all of the—the different series that you have, and then even the—the things that are—that are kind of connected but not identical, like the thyroid stuff, the GLP. You know, I—I think you're covering the diabetes basis as well as things that if you have this, this other thing might be interesting to you, and—and I see that you're covering—covering those things all in doing it in an entertaining way as well. Like you said, it's not dry and—and boring.
Scott BennerOh, jeez. I mean, I don't know if there could be anything worse than—
CoreySo whenever that—I'll bring this up, the thyroid thing. Whenever I was hearing you talk about it, I—like, well, I wonder if there's any other podcasts on that specifically. Right? And I went and I listened one day to this, and it was terrible, Scott. It was so bad. It was so bad. It really was two—two people, and you could tell they were reading from a script. "Good afternoon, Corey." It was exactly like that. It really was. And it was like, I know they're—I know what they're trying to do. I know why they're trying to do it. I—you know, like, it's they're trying to add value to the conversation, but it was done in such a way that it was like, this—
Scott BennerNot how it works.
CoreyThis is not gonna work.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. It's not—it's not how people work, on the other side of it. And I just—I count myself lucky that I grew up listening to talk radio because I still see it. I mean, I've seen it for years of people, like, pop up and like, I—I try to say all the time. I—I—I don't know how, like, how it comes off, but I'm all for other people sharing their ideas and, like, getting good stuff out into the world. But, like, if you don't make it accessible, and by accessible, I don't mean just talking down to people or staying basic. I mean, making it interesting. If you don't do that, like, it doesn't matter. Like, I just think that you could hide the history to life forty five minutes deep into an episode of a podcast. And if the audio is bad or it's uninteresting, people are gonna go like, yeah. I don't need to know the secret to life that badly. And so, like, with something like this where you're already—people are already not super motivated to go out and learn more about their insulin and stuff like that, it has to just grab you in a different way. There's no world where people are going to willfully give of their time to listen to two people talk about thyroid in a way that makes you wanna jump out of a window while they're talking or in those big dumb voices they use sometimes or, you know, and they talk like, you know, weather ladies from, you know, from South Carolina or whatever the heck. Like, it's just like—it's all very—they don't get it because you see it professionally all the time from organizations like Breakthrough and ADA or, you know, I just saw—I just saw this thing.
Scott BennerI won't say anybody's name, but I saw this thing the other day. This organization, I think, does really good work. And I looked at some of their social media, I was like, this is terrible. Like, no one's gonna listen to this, and it has two likes. And you know damn well they're the likes. They turn it out, and it looks expensive. And I'm like, you—you're wasting time and resources and money. Like, you can write it all down any way you want. This is not how people learn, and it's not how people wanna spend their free time. I think that I get frustrated sometimes watching these professional organizations pretty much break their own shoulder, patting each other on the back all the time about all the good stuff they're doing in the world. And I'm like, no one's seeing it. No one. Like, you're putting it out there and no one sees it. I saw somebody win, like, an educator award from the ADA today, and I thought, I bet you I don't ever win that. And I don't—by—by the way, let me be very clear. I don't need it. Don't want it. Not asking for it. Sure. They wouldn't think about someone like me in a million years for that, but I reach way more people than the person they decided to point to and say, oh, that person's really helping a lot of people. No. They're not. They're making stuff that would be really helpful to people if they could actually deliver it to them, which they don't seem to be able to do. Anyway, now you got me upset, Corey. I'm not upset. I'm like—I'm actually like, I feel really passionate about it because I don't imagine I know everything. And I bet you a lot of those people have great information. And I've had some of them on, and later, they'll be mad at me. "Oh, you didn't let me talk the way I wanted to." I'm like, yeah. The way you talk, no one cares about. You made it all the way to me. I seem to know how to capture people's attention. Why would you not follow my lead on this? Like, why would you default back to this boring list reading that you're doing? I don't know. No one's ever gonna figure it out. Got—you know? But—and by the way, good. It keeps my podcast popular. You know what I mean, Cor?
CoreyI do. Yeah. Yeah. And I would say, you know, in a slight way, you're a victim of your own success. You have 1,800 plus episodes, which are all good. Being able to find—and you've talked about this before too. Right? Being able to find the content that people need at that moment, that's—it's sometimes it's difficult. Right? Just because there's so many episodes. You know? And—and I certainly don't wanna take the human element out. I think that's great, especially in the Facebook group, you know, having a real—whether it's a group expert or a non group expert, just another member of the group, being able to answer a question or provide a—a link to a—to a podcast episode. I think that's so valuable. People—that they feel less alone right in the situation, whatever it is. But if there was a way to, you know, take their question and throw it in AI, and maybe I could do that. I haven't tried, but, you know, and say what episode do you recommend. I'm not Nico. You know? She's amazing at that. She's be better than AI when it comes to podcast episode recommendations, but, you know, that would be—that would be pretty cool. But—but in any case, you know, just being in the group, being able to share, you know, the information and Yeah. And then seeing people—just the other day, you know, somebody's like, hey. You know, my a one c was 11. Now it's eight. And it's like, what progress? That's so awesome. Keep going. You know? And, like, just seeing that, you know what you're doing is valuable, and that's why we're all here with you and behind you, you know, doing what we do because we wanna see that success happen—
Scott BennerThat's why I appreciate
Coreyit.
Scott Bennerwith others. Yeah. Yeah. I hope it's—I—I mean, I know we don't all talk very often, but even just the other day, like, I mean, a more direct, like, financial relationship with the editor. And just the other day, I was like, I don't know the last time I talked to him. I'm working. I'm sure you all—I assume you're all busy too. You're not looking to be involved with me all the time, but I hope it's obvious to everybody how much your involvement—and it means to me. It's—it's incredibly touching to see people put this kind of effort into something that they're, you know, only doing in—in—a—in a voluntary way. So it's—it's just, yeah, it's really great. Also, I'm—I have stuff like that coming for the website where it's gonna be more like keyword searchable. It's gonna pull stuff up. But you know what? I think it's nice and I think it's valuable and I'm gonna do it. But I also think that if you don't know what to type into the search bar, it doesn't matter.
CoreyRight.
Scott BennerAnd so if you're—if you're so lost that you're having spikes ninety minutes after a meal that persist for three hours and eventually end in a low, and you don't already know that the reason behind that might be that you didn't pre bolus and or your basil's wrong and or you've had fat or protein in your meal that are—or other, you know, impacts from food. If you don't know that stuff, how are you supposed to search for it?
CoreyRight.
Scott BennerRight? Is the search feature gonna have to be so robust that you can type in "why is my blood sugar high after a meal?" And it's gonna just say, hey. Try these episodes. And I think maybe that's gonna have to be it. Or—which is, part of the struggles. Like, I just put a struggles page together where you can kinda go see things that people say they classically struggle with with diabetes and they're already attached to an episode.
CoreyYeah. That's true.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. And so, like, because you don't know what you don't know, so you don't know what to ask. And, you know, and that's why you need somebody to look at your question and say, oh, you should be focusing your attention over here. And it's even difficult in Facebook sometimes too because, you know, the—the other side of that is you ask a question, and three or four people might get to you before we do and give you the wrong answer or say, oh, you know, that definitely sounds like this. And I'm like, that's not that. It's this. Mhmm. And now that person's faced with two different answers. How are they supposed to know which one's which? And, hopefully, there's enough gravitas coming from the—the—the—from the podcast that they'll maybe look in the direction we're pointing before the direction a stranger pointed in. But I also appreciate the stranger's perspective because they might be thinking of something that I haven't thought of, which is completely not just possible, but probable. You know? It's—it's just an imperfect way to do things. Mhmm. See, I don't see a better way to do it. And if somebody knows a better way, they should say immediately. That's why AI is not gonna fix it for everybody because they don't—they won't know what to ask it.
CoreyYeah. You know? That's a good point.
Scott BennerSo it's hard not to feel a little defeated by it because your earlier story is, you know, you're with a doctor who's not gonna help you. I mean, like, your first interaction with diabetes is in an ER where some guy is like, gonna just shove it up your ass if you don't put it in your mouth. That's right. Yeah. Awesome. And then thirteen years of somebody who says, test yourself eight times and maybe I'll let you have a pump. And then, you know, you don't end up really doing better for yourself until you start thinking like, oh, we're trying to have a baby and, you know, I need to be healthier. It's just the same damn thing for everybody. You you know? I don't think it's a thing you're gonna fix either. You're not—you're not gonna suddenly educate the entirety of the health care system or other people, you know, in your life that are gonna speak to you, you know, in a way that's gonna be valuable all the time. You either hope these people find a reason or a path or a mentor or something and can actually absorb it and make changes, or you're gonna assume that whatever—whatever initial path they got started on might be the journey they're set on now even though that's not the most valuable journey for them to have. Like, you know, if that person doesn't come into the room, smell your breath, I don't know which way. You know what I mean? It's like a choose your own adventure. Like, you don't know where you were headed till they walked by. Anyway, so we're just trying to do that. We're trying to intersect as many people as we can so that their choose their own adventure leads in a better direction for the lack of a better way of thinking about it.
CoreyYeah. Oh, god. I've had you on for over an hour already. Did you have anything you wanted to talk about that I didn't get to or bring up?
CoreyWell so I just wanted to—to let you know kinda since—since I've listened to your podcast and where I'm at today, listened to the pro tips way back before they were all at 1,000 to 1,026. Right? So I had to go find them all, but I did and listened and what a difference. You know? Educators, doctors, you know, pre bolus, they would say that. Pre bolus. You know, bolus before you eat. Well, okay. So I would bolus and then I would eat. You know, no one ever said wait fifteen minutes, wait twenty minutes, wait ten, whatever the number. Right? Nobody—nobody ever said that to me. So that was huge. I mean, what a small thing and what a difference that makes. Listening through those pro tip, you know, making those changes, learn—you know, bump and nudge, all that stuff, you know, took my a one c. It was probably in the upper sixes when I started listening to your podcast, six—six point seven to seven, somewhere in there. That went down to, you know, 5.5.
Scott BennerWow.
CoreyAnd now I've been, in the last three years, anywhere between five point five and five point nine. Consistently. I haven't been over that in that amount of time. And—and so—and—and this again goes back to the group expert thing or just being involved at all and—and telling people about the podcast. It's like the information is right here. You just, you know, just go and tell someone about it, and that's what I'm trying to do because it—it made such a difference for me, you know, in my—in my journey and listening in to the—the—other conversations that you've had on GLPs and—and all of that. I—I think, you know, my doctor and—and you, it kinda coincided as far as when I started taking the GLP and you were taking the GLP. It's what—been about three years ago, I think. But Yeah. Anyway, I had been doing, like, Victoza and—and some of those—those others, the older kinda stuff and—and moved to Ozempic and now Mounjaro for the last—Ozempic about it was three years ago and then changed over to the Mounjaro and lost 40 pounds. Something like that. I was—I'm about six foot. I was, like, two thirty, and now I'm sitting about one ninety. Feel a lot better with that. My insulin use has gone down, and this is no different than what you've already talked about before, but probably 40 to 45%, less insulin. And that has made a difference too just because, you know, it just doesn't take as much insulin to—to move the dial, and then I don't end up going low later and get on that whole roller coaster. So that has been extremely helpful. Awesome. You know, going through the journey, not—not exactly with you, but—but kind of at the same time, it's been great for me, you know, to have those—those episodes with your journal and your diary, should say, your weight loss diary.
Scott BennerI just started recording that again this week.
CoreyGood. I'm—I Yeah. I heard you recently speak on an episode about it, and I was like, wait. We haven't had one of those in a while.
Scott BennerI realized that journal, that diary was helping me too and I didn't—I don't think I knew it at—at the time. So I'm—I'm getting back to it.
CoreySo, you know, it's just the last three years have been great, you know, and—and so then I talk to people about it. They ask about, you know, "you look a little skinny" or whatever. And it's like, well, here's why. And, you know, it—it gets other conversations going for other people and their health and, you know, to make changes, small things, whatever. So, know, I just wanna say thank you to you and to, of course, all the other people you've spoken with over the last three years or longer, making these episodes because they've definitely been a—an impact to me.
Scott BennerOh, it's wonderful. I—I can only hope that, you know, that it continues on because I was just telling somebody the other day. I've been doing work with a company for a long time as the—they've been advertisers, but there's some shifts in the company. And so it's kind of a new group of people I'm working with within the company. And, you know, you kinda have to reintroduce yourself and, you know, you know, it's—it's—it's—it's a starting over process a little bit of explaining what you're doing to people, you know, for—you know, what you're doing for people. Correct. I ended up telling them all the time, like, look, you know, because one of them says, I—I don't think you're—I don't think you're valuing your—your downloads the right way. And I said, oh, no. I know what I'm doing. I was like, I could charge you more. I was like, I don't want to. And that I think threw off the group a little bit. And I said, I want, like, a little bit of your money forever, not all of it today. Like, I'm trying to keep this thing going. You know what I mean? Like, because you don't—until you get a note from somebody that talks about, like, my kid was diagnosed six months ago and, you know, this is what it was. It was terrible. And now look at it now and, you know, saying things similar to what you just said, like, it's a lot to do with the podcast and everything.
Scott BennerAnd then you have been doing it long enough to have six more months go by and get another note from a different person and then have two years go by and get another note. It's a pretty macro view I have. And I get to say to myself, like, this isn't done. And the making of the podcast is what keeps the information alive in the world. And so you can't just say, oh, I did it. We made a list. It's out there. They'll find it because, no, they won't. Not only are you continuing to, I think, add to the understanding that's baked into the podcast, which is added into my mind, which means I—I search out different guests or have different kinds of conversations that hopefully modernize things as we're going. Like, not only is that one of the reasons you wanted to go, but you want it to go so that when they, you know, they pop on and they've heard Juice Box might be helpful, they're not always gonna get directed to, like, the right episode. So you gotta get them in and get them interested and have them wonder about more and then hear a bumper that's like, hey. You know, if you start over, you might wanna try the bold beginnings episodes, like that kind of stuff. Like, it's all very important, and it doesn't work if it stops. So, you know, I said to them again, was like, I don't need all of it right now. Like I said, let's spread it out. And the one person on the call said, for how long? And I said, well, I'm 54. I think I could do it for ten more years. I said, hopefully, maybe ten years now, we won't need it anymore. You know? Like, let's—let's hope for that. I said, but I don't know how much longer I could go at this pace. But right now, I'm having no problem with it, and I don't wanna give away what I know it does for people. Somewhat ironically, I guess, although I since that Alanis Morissette song, I don't really know if I understand that word or not, but somewhat ironically Ironically. This person comes online the other day and I don't know. Some post I put up. I don't remember what it was. And they—they write this thing like, oh, I'm like, you know, I haven't been here in a while. This just popped up in front of me. Like, you know, I'm so glad you're still doing this and talked about how valuable it was for them. But then in the course of the conversation said, you know, I have to admit, I didn't think you'd be able to keep it going this long. And I understood what they meant. Like, it's a lot. You know? Like, it seems like a lot or, like, how long are you gonna talk about this, you know, over and over again? But I think we found a way for it not to be repetitive at the same time. But—but, nevertheless, like, I don't know how most people would feel about that being confronted with someone going, wow. You're still here? I didn't think that was gonna work out. I was just insulted by it. I was like, what? You think I can't do this? I was like, I could definitely do this. I think I can do it. Like, I think I can keep it going for another decade and bring information to people and hopefully be the one that reminds them that insulin doesn't start working as soon as you put it in and that your a one c really could go down a full point if you just prebolish your meals with consistency. That kind of simple stuff that needs to be repeated over and over and over again. I interviewed a woman this morning who's been on before. She's out in the world, like, trying to save Levemir. And, like, there's part of you that could hear that and be like, what is she doing? But, like, she's got real reasons, reasons and, like, she's out there changing things and, like—and making an impact on it. And I was—I was telling her that it's very cool to see that she stayed involved with it so long because I can—I've interviewed her before. I actually hear her getting better at talking about it. She's clear. She's more concise. She just clearly has more time in that space absorbing that—that like, the—the more granular parts of it. And it made me tell her after the recording was over, I'm happy that I do that too. Like, I—I've never grown this thing and went, okay. It's done that now. Let me go do something else, or let me, make it into something bigger or try to make more money with it or something like—like it does what it does right here, and I don't need to go anywhere else. Like, I'm happy with what this does. I'm good at it. I get more granular information all the time. I get better at it, and it helps the people. It helps. Like, there's no need to have, a grand—grandiose idea of, like, why could—you know, why don't I go get all of them or you know what I mean? Like, it just—this is—this is good. Like, getting people who are either wanting to start over or newly diagnosed and putting them on a better path and giving them a shot. Like, that's pretty much all I think of is what I do, but I'm very happy doing it, and I'm not looking to change it, I guess. Anyway.
CoreyGood. We need you to do this.
Scott BennerWell, thank you. I appreciate it. Yep. I'm so happy for how well you're doing. I can't thank you enough for all the effort you put into the thing that I'm doing. You guys don't get enough, you know, enough glory for sure. I do really appreciate it. People are genuinely and generally very nice to you guys online. Every once in a while, you get somebody comes at you a little bit. But for the most part, it—it's a very interesting place, very unlike Facebook—Facebook experience, I find.
CoreyIt's really the only reason why I'm still there.
Scott BennerYeah. No. Trust me.
CoreyIf—if—if this group wouldn't—wouldn't the thing, then—then I would have already deleted the app.
Scott BennerYeah. I feel—I feel—I feel very similarly.
CoreySo Mark—Mark Zuckerberg, really, owes you, I think, at this point.
Scott BennerMaybe he could just let people see my posts, but that'd be nice.
CoreyCould—That would be helpful. Right? No kidding.
Scott BennerMy gosh. If I—you know, people are like, he—he could have dinner with anybody. Somebody asked me that the other day, and I was like, oh, Tim Cook. And they were like, really? And I'm like, yeah. I'm like, I gotta explain to him how he's screwing up the podcast app. And so Right. I'm sure he doesn't know the first thing about it. But—but I'd love—I'd love to talk to somebody from Apple for five seconds and explain to them how what they do interferes with, like, my and other people's ability to reach communities that they've built. So, Corey, I can't thank you enough for doing this. I'm gonna—you've been going at this too long.
CoreyThank you.
Scott BennerI'll let you go. It's been a real pleasure. The opportunity to speak with you, and thanks for all that you've done for me and for all the 80,000 people in the group and all the people who listen every day. And a—and a shout out to the—all the group experts. You know who y'all are, and I appreciate each and every one of you.
Scott BennerWhy is it the first Texas thing you've done?
CoreyWell, I had—I was—I was put up to do that.
Scott BennerThe y'all?
CoreySylvia, she—yes. She said I had to say something Texan. And so—
Scott BennerYou saved till the very end?
CoreyI make her listen all the way through all the ads.
Scott BennerI was gonna say, Corey, good job. Way to tease it out. Perfect.
CoreyThere you go.
Scott BennerAlright, man. Hold on one second.
Scott BennerUS Med sponsored this episode of the Juice Box podcast. Check them out at usmed.com/juicebox or by calling (888) 721-1514. Get your free benefits check, and get started today with US Med.
Scott BennerA huge thanks to my longest sponsor, Omnipod. Check out the Omnipod five now with my link, omnipod.com/juicebox. You may be eligible for a free starter kit, a free Omnipod five starter kit at my link. Go check it out. Omnipod.com/juicebox. Terms and conditions apply. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox. Okay. Well, here we are at the end of the episode. You're still with me? Thank you. I really do appreciate that. What else could you do for me? Why don't you tell a friend about the show or leave a five star review? Maybe you could make sure you're following or subscribed in your podcast app, go to YouTube and follow me or Instagram, TikTok. Oh, gosh. Here's one. Make sure you're following the podcast in the private Facebook group as well as the public Facebook page. You don't wanna miss—please, do you not know about the private group? You have to join the private group. As of this recording, it has 74,000 members. They're active talking about diabetes. Whatever you need to know, there's a conversation happening in there right now. And I'm there all the time. Tag me. I'll say hi.
Scott BennerCheck out my algorithm pumping series to help you make sense of automated insulin delivery systems like Omnipod five, Loop, Medtronic seven eighty g, Twist, Tandem Control IQ, and much more. Each episode will dive into the setup, features, and real world usage tips that can transform your daily type one diabetes management. We cut through the jargon, share personal experiences, and show you how these algorithms can simplify and streamline your care. If you're curious about automated insulin pumping, go find the algorithm pumping series in the Juice Box podcast. Easiest way, juiceboxpodcast.com, and go up into the menu. Click on series, It'll be right there. Have a podcast? Want it to sound fantastic? Wrongwayrecording.com.
#1862 Type 3C in Texas
Tabby recounts surviving severe necrotizing pancreatitis and sepsis from misdiagnosed gallstones , leading to a partial pancreatectomy , Type 3c diabetes management , and an unexpected miracle pregnancy.
Key Takeaways
- Understanding Type 3c Diabetes Etiology: Unlike Type 1 (autoimmune) or Type 2 (insulin resistance), Type 3c diabetes arises from structural damage, injury, or partial/full surgical resection of the pancreas, frequently precipitated by severe medical crises like necrotizing pancreatitis[cite: 2176, 2388, 2486, 2526].
- Recognizing Atypical Postpartum Gallbladder Symptoms: Postpartum gallbladder complications can manifest as severe referred pain between the shoulder blades rather than standard abdominal distress, occasionally leading clinicians to misattribute the issue to residual epidural back pain[cite: 2228, 2236, 2244].
- The Critical Importance of Restested Imaging: Severe medical oversight can occur when clinical teams delay follow-up CT scans or assume a patient's physical decline is due to a psychological lack of motivation rather than recognizing underlying necrotizing organ failure and septic shock[cite: 2271, 2324, 2388, 2394, 2397].
- Mandatory Prescription Digestive Enzyme Therapy: Losing significant pancreatic tissue impairs both endocrine and exocrine functions; individuals who undergo major pancreatectomies must take prescribed digestive enzymes with all food to properly process nutrients and prevent chronic abdominal distress[cite: 2486, 2705, 2710, 2714, 2720].
- Post-Splenectomy Biomarker Tracking: Undergoing a simultaneous splenectomy can disrupt baseline nutritional profiles, necessitating diligent monitoring for standard deficiencies like severely low ferritin levels (e.g., a level of 11) to coordinate timely iron infusions or clinical supplementation[cite: 2487, 2768, 2769, 2770, 2771].
Resources Mentioned
- Juicebox Podcast Website: juiceboxpodcast.com
- Juicebox Podcast Search Directory (JBFAQ): juiceboxpodcast.com/jbfaq
- Eversense 365 CGM: eversensecgm.com/juicebox
- Tandem Diabetes Care (Tandem Mobi Pump): tandemdiabetes.com/juicebox
- Touched by Type One Advocacy Organization: touchedbytype1.org
- Wrong Way Recording Production Services: wrongwayrecording.com
Introduction and Overview of Type 3c Diabetes
Scott BennerFriends, we're all back together for the next episode of the Juice Box podcast. Welcome.
TabbyHey. I'm Tabby, and I have type three c diabetes.
Scott BennerIf you're new to type one diabetes, begin with the bold beginnings series from the podcast. Don't take my word for it. Listen to what reviewers have said. Bold beginnings is the best first step. I learned more in those episodes than anywhere else.
Scott BennerThis is when everything finally clicked. People say it takes the stress out of the early days and replaces it with clarity. They tell me this should come with the diagnosis packet that I got at the hospital. And after they listen, they recommend it to everyone who's struggling. It's straightforward, practical, and easy to listen to.
Scott BennerBold Beginnings gives you the basics in a way that actually makes sense. If you're looking for community around type one diabetes, check out the Juice Box Podcast private Facebook group. Juice Box Podcast, type one diabetes. But everybody is welcome. Type one, type two, gestational, loved ones, it doesn't matter to me.
Scott BennerIf you're impacted by diabetes and you're looking for support, comfort, or community, check out Juice Box podcast, type one diabetes on Facebook. Nothing you hear on the Juice Box podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. Always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan. I'd like to thank the Eversense three sixty five for sponsoring this episode of the Juice Box podcast and remind you that if you want the only sensor that gets inserted once a year and not every fourteen days, you want the Eversense CGM. Eversensecgm.com/juicebox.
Scott BennerOne year, one CGM. Today's episode is also sponsored by the Tandem Mobi system with Control IQ plus technology. If you are looking for the only system with auto bolus, multiple wear options, and full control from your personal iPhone, you're looking for Tandem's newest pump and algorithm. Use my link to support the podcast, tandemdiabetes.com/juicebox. Check it out.
Scott BennerThe podcast is also sponsored today by Touched by Type One. Please take a moment to learn more about them at touchedbytype1.org on Facebook and Instagram. Touchedbytype1.org. Check out their many programs, their annual conference, awareness campaign, their d box program, dancing for diabetes. They have a dance program for local kids, a golf night, and so much more. Touchedbytype1.org. You're looking to help or you wanna see people helping people with typeone, you want touchedbytype1.org.
TabbyHey. I'm Tabby, and I have type three c diabetes. I've had that I've been diagnosed since November 2025 after a rare medical event occurred in June 2023.
Scott BennerYou had a rare medical event?
TabbyYes.
Scott BennerAlright. We'll figure that out. Prior to this well, how old are you now?
TabbyI am 28.
Scott BennerOkay. Prior to this rare event, how had your health been throughout your life?
A Pregnancy Loss and Cryptic Gallbladder Symptoms
TabbyPerfecty normal.
Scott BennerYeah. Nothing remarkable happened?
TabbyNo. I was battling a little bit of infertility due to some PCOS, but otherwise, very healthy. No concerns. No doctors, really.
Scott BennerWhat, weapons did you use to battle infertility?
TabbyWe used medicated cycles. So and then, ultimately, we got pregnant using IUI.
Scott BennerWhat's that?
TabbyIntrauterine insemination. Okay. So it's one step before IVF.
Scott BennerDo you ever think of trying GLPs?
TabbyI did, but it was not recommended by my medical team for some reason. And now I'm not able to because of my pancreas.
Scott BennerOh, wow. Yeah. You but you know what I'm talking about. Right? That that that group of ladies online who all have PCOS and seem to get pregnant after using a GLP medication?
TabbyYes. There there definitely have been a lot of success stories linked to those.
Scott BennerYeah. Oh, you slowed down as if you this was something you were hoping for, but your medical team didn't like. Did it was it disappointing when that turned out that way?
TabbyA little bit, but it all worked out the way that it was supposed to.
Scott BennerYeah. Cool. Got a baby out of it?
TabbyYes. I did.
Scott BennerWhat's that kid's name?
TabbyHis name is Forrest.
Scott BennerOh, that's awesome. How old is he?
TabbyHe is fifth 14.
Scott Benner14. Oh, wow. What a time. I like that time. People say they like them a little bigger so they can move around, but I think it's fun when they're like a little football with a personality in a face.
TabbyYes. This is my perfect this is my favorite age.
Scott BennerYeah. Well, they're all gonna be until they it's a boy. Right until whenever the hormones kick in. You'll stop you'll stop liking it as much around then, whatever that is. Don't worry. It wears off when they're, like, in their mid twenties. So what rare medical event happened? I guess we we can't stretch this out. Like, what happened to you?
TabbySo in 2023, I was pregnant with our first son after a successful medicated cycle and IUI through the fertility clinic. At twenty weeks, I went into labor. I did not know that I was in labor because I didn't know that you could go into labor at twenty weeks, but you can. I had that baby, and we lost him because he was, unfortunately, just a little smaller than what the hospital had the capabilities to to be able to to work with in the NICU.
Scott BennerRight.
TabbyAfter that, I had a very odd hormonal fluctuation through postpartum from that that caused my gallbladder to fill with gallstones. That does happen after pregnancy for some women, and a lot of times it gets caught pretty quick, and they can have a quick surgery to get their gallbladder removed, and then they're on their way. That is not what happened in my case. My gallbladder was giving me trouble for about a month. I had been to the ER three different times, and it was never identified that that I had any gallstones.
Scott BennerWhen you say the the gallbladder fills with stones, like, how long does that process take?
TabbyIt can kind of depend on the individual, but in my case, they suspected that it happened in about two weeks. Delivery.
Scott BennerOh my gosh. No kidding.
TabbyYes.
Scott BennerWhat's that what's that feel like while it's happening? Are you aware that it's happening?
TabbySo I did not know what was happening. I was having extreme sharp pain in the center of my shoulder blades in my back, which is part of the reason that it wasn't identified because they look for abdominal pain. Mhmm. And so I would have these events randomly in the middle of the night where I would just be in excruciating pain so much so that we would end up having to go to the ER. Yeah. And and looking back on it, there was a component there of it was related the severe episodes of pain were related to what I was eating or what I was drinking. Mhmm. And so I would eat something that would flare it up, and then I'd have that pain. But I didn't know that that's what was happening because it was so random oh at the time.
Scott BennerKind of a referred pain from maybe, like, a fat content of something or something like that.
TabbyRight.
Scott BennerYeah. Okay.
Systemic Misdiagnosis and the Transfer Crisis
TabbySo I was going through with that. We were going in and out of ERs. Every time I would go in, they would kinda send me back to postpartum because I was still within that six week window, and they would check everything out. And, ultimately, it was decided that it was most likely some sort of residual back pain from receiving an epidural. I did not know what is normal after receiving an epidural because that was my first time ever delivering. And so I was like, okay. Well, this is just part of it. It'll go away soon, and we'll go from there.
Scott BennerYeah.
TabbyAnd we just kind of were dealing with the pain episodes at home after that, and things were smooth sailing. About six weeks postpartum, I was working from home on my computer, and I got very sick very fast and had very excruciating pain everywhere, not just my back. My abdomen, my my entire body was just out of nowhere, something was not right. Mhmm. I ended up having to be ambulanced from my home to the nearest available trauma medical center. The one that I was taken to, they reviewed everything, and they determined that I had the gallstones and that my gallbladder had actually ruptured. And those stones essentially got stuck in all of the ducts in my body. Normally, that happens, they pass on their own in about twenty four hours, and you're kind of good to go after that, and then you start the healing process. One of the ducts that my gallstones were stuck in was my pancreatic duct.
TabbyThat does cause pancreatitis. And so they diagnosed me with pancreatitis. They had the gallstone there. They basically were like, this gallstone's gonna pass in a couple days. The pancreatitis will heal in a couple days. It'll probably take four to six days in the hospital, but then you should be kinda back to normal on your way back home. You may have to be on a little bit of a lower scale diet for a little bit and build your way back up, but you should be good to go in a couple days.
Scott BennerOkay. So it kinda sucks, but you have a plan that seems doable.
TabbyRight.
Scott BennerYeah. Okay.
TabbyThat is not what happened.
Scott BennerI was gonna say. They were wrong about that. Hey. By the way, in in the in that time frame, how many people have been right about what they told you in the hospital?
TabbyNone.
Scott BennerOkay. There you go. That's fine. Unfortunately.
Scott BennerNo. It's fine. Everything's fine. Don't worry.
TabbyThey were correct that I had pancreatitis.
Scott BennerOh, there you go. Look.
TabbyThey did get that right. So so, yeah, so the three to four days goes by, and I am substantially worse. Like, can hardly move, have developed pneumonia. Pain is so I can't even describe the pain that pancreatitis causes.
Scott BennerMhmm.
TabbyWe're going back and forth with the medical team quite a bit because I want them to do some more testing and and figure out why I'm getting worse and not getting better. I guess there were a few of my blood markers that were going trending back towards normal. So they were under the impression that it just needed more time and that we didn't really need to do anything. We just kinda needed to give it a minute to let the rest of them catch up. I had an instant with with that medical team where they believed and they voiced this opinion that I was not getting better because I didn't want to get better. They noted that I wasn't getting out of bed. I wasn't trying to walk up and down the halls to help with my respiratory. I wasn't doing all these things. So they ordered PT to come and take me and walk me up and down the halls multiple times a day. I ended up on oxygen through that because I couldn't I literally physically couldn't walk up and down the halls. And finally, we got to a point at about day eight of hospitalization where I'm still very bad off and very much struggling to breathe and in the severe amounts of pain where we went back and forth, and we were trying to get the doctor to to just run another scan and see if they see anything that might look different from when we first came in. We went back and forth with him for a total of five days. He was insistent that I was fine and that they were ready to discharge me, but I clearly wasn't ready to go home. So they wanted us to pick a long term care facility for me to go to until I could transition back home. My husband and I were very hesitant to do that. We we did look at them. We found one that worked with our insurance, and we we basically decided that we were gonna push and push and push to get another scan, but that, ultimately, if we had to go do this long term care thing that that we would. We are prepared to do that.
Scott BennerAt this point, are you pretty aware that you're not being helped?
TabbyYes.
Scott BennerYou are. You start you they leave the room and you and your husband are looking at each other and going, these people don't know what the hell they're talking about. Right?
TabbyYes.
Scott BennerOkay.
TabbySo so just for reference of, like, how down I was, I could not even physically check my phone for nine days.
Scott BennerDidn't have the energy to pick it up, look at it, the that's No. That's how beat you are. Beat up.
TabbyAnd I was out of it, and I just, like, couldn't
Scott BennerYeah.
TabbyI just was not functioning, and I just did not have the energy to even mess with it, which for me is saying a lot because I'm always on my phone. Everybody knows that.
Scott BennerYou're like, listen. I'm at the right age. They got me with that phone. Okay? I'm just gonna say, let's just admit to that right now. Yeah. I'd love to know more about those I I don't wanna stop your story, but I do wanna understand those conversations alone with your husband, your new baby. Right? And you're just
TabbyWell, so I didn't have baby at this point.
Scott BennerOh, this was after the first. Excuse me. So the Yeah. So it's the two of you. Yeah. And you are clearly degrading, and they're going, hey. It's time to go home. What do you do there? How do you get to some sort of an answer, or do you not?
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TabbyMy husband was a a very good advocate for me when I wasn't really able to be one for myself. He wasn't really taking that as a an answer.
Scott BennerMhmm.
TabbyHe kind of came to the conclusion that we'll essentially kind of back end our way into forcing them to get a scan.
Scott BennerYeah. Because they're gonna see a pocket full of stones when they look. Right?
TabbyWell, so at this point, they'd already identified the stones and the pancreatitis. We just wanted them to see if there was something more going on because the pancreatitis should have already resolved itself.
Scott BennerI see. I'm sorry.
TabbyYeah. So so my husband says, you know, we've got this long term care facility. We found the one that we're okay with using. It works with our insurance. Let's just sit him down one more time, explain our concerns, tell him we want another scan. If he wants to fight it, he said, we're just basically gonna tell him, we'll go to long term care today if you run another scan.
Scott BennerOkay. And You're like a squatter. You're like, listen. If you give me one more meal, I'll get out of here. I promise.
TabbyYep. Yeah. Okay. So we did, and that is that is how we got our scan. And they took me back for that CT scan. I got back to my room, and my husband and I were talking. And I just told him, I said, you know, something is is really not right. And I said, I don't know what it is. I don't know what they're gonna come back with. I said, but this is something's not right. 20 later, there were about three doctors that walked in, none of which were the medical team that I had had. I never saw that doctor again.
Scott BennerYeah.
TabbyAnd one of them stepped forward. Literally, all he said to us was, you're getting significantly worse for transferring you to a higher level of care, and then they walked out. They didn't give us a chance to ask what was going on. They didn't give us a chance to understand anything. They did gave no explanations. All they said was, you're getting significantly worse. We're transferring you to a higher level of care.
Scott BennerWithin that hospital or into a different building?
TabbyTo a different hospital system. Yeah. And my first thought was, I'm dying. Like, why else would they have said it like that and not given any context or told us what was going on and came in so quick and left so quick? So I was paranoid that I was dying.
Scott BennerYeah. No. I mean, that or like unless you have enough wherewithal to go, these idiots figured out that they can't do this. So they're gonna move me somewhere else, which is hopefully what happened. And I like that they gave you the oopsie switcheroo with the doctors like the oh, yeah. Yeah. The guy who's been, you know, dragging you over the coals for days and days and days, like, we we're not gonna let you talk to him anymore. We'll go get somebody else now. Nice. Yeah.
TabbyYeah. So they did that, and they went out, and it was hours before we got an update on anything. And even then, it was because a nurse finally spoke up and told me when she came in the room to give me medicine for pain. My husband had been going out to the nurse's desk to ask, speaking to the doctors. Nobody would give us any information on where they were transferring us, why they were transferring us. All we knew is that they were needing to send us to a bigger hospital, and they were trying to figure that out. I was very confused by that because I know that you typically in those emergent type situations, it doesn't take ten hours for them to finally get the approval to transfer you to a trauma center. Mhmm. And so I was very confused about that. We we kept asking. We kept begging. Nobody would tell us anything. We both were just, like, terrified at this point. And then we're also just sitting in the room basically speculating like, great. Well, now I'm getting significantly worse, and I'm just sitting in this room getting worse.
Scott BennerAnd they haven't shown any propensity to rush so far? No. Am I gonna sit here for five more days getting worse or five more minutes or, like, that feeling. Right?
TabbyYeah. And they didn't, like, change any of my meds. They didn't, like so it wasn't like they acted like they were treating it until I got transferred. It was literally just like, okay. You're doing pretty bad. We're gonna move you. Okay. Bye. That was what we knew for the next ten hours.
Scott BennerTen hours?
TabbyYes. Jeez. A nurse came to give me my pain medicine, and I finally just kinda broke down and told her. I said, you know, I just I just need to know what is wrong with me. I was like, like, I don't I don't understand why they didn't tell me. I don't understand why we haven't moved yet. I don't understand. I've told you four times I wanna go to Medical City at this location because that's the hospital that I know. That's the hospital that I trust. That's where some of my my other medical team is already here. I don't understand why it's this hard. Mhmm. She was like, I know. And she was kinda hesitant. And the way she said it, I knew that she knew something. And so I called her on it. I said, you know something. And she was like, what do you mean? And I was like, you're not telling me something, and I want to know what it is. Right. And she finally said that they had been trying for hours to get me transferred to another hospital, but that two of the three major medical centers in the Dallas area had turned down the case because they were not willing to assume responsibility. And that if the third one also turned it down, then they were going to have to helicopter flight me to Houston.
Necrotizing Pancreatitis and Extensive Resection Surgery
Scott BennerReally? So nobody had the balls to help you at this point? So you you were at the place
TabbyThe Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. One of the places didn't have the knowledge to help you. The rest of them didn't have the nerve to help you.
TabbyYeah.
Scott BennerOh my gosh. So now she's telling you that, and you're thinking, I'm done. Right?
TabbyYeah.
Scott BennerOkay. Yeah. Pretty much. So, luckily, the third hospital did accept the case. They did pull me over there. I got moved at, like, ten, 11:00 at night. They moved me over, like, right during the time frame that I was supposed to get the pain medicine. So I was in excruciating pain. They they couldn't do anything at the new hospital as far as treatment goes until they had all the scans and the records and everything to see exactly what they were dealing with. And so it was probably another two to three hours at that first hospital before they could even give me any kind of medicine to help at all Jeez. because they wanted the trauma team and the surgical team
Scott BennerTo see you the way you were, not all
Tabbyto get exactly where it was. Yeah. And so they did. They came in. I wanna say it was, like, one or 02:00 in the morning, and the lead trauma surgeon on the case came in. And and she she had a bunch of residents and interns and all kinds of stuff with her, which they did throughout my hospital stay, end up kind of using it as a teaching case. I saw all kinds of medical students.
Scott BennerAnd Awesome. You're like, at least my death is gonna help somebody. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Jesus.
TabbyAnd so she she sat us down, and she very calmly, but very direct. And I I mean, I had told her, you know, I said I want to know exactly what is going on. I don't want you to sugarcoat it. I don't like, at this point, I just need to know exactly what is happening.
Scott BennerSure. Sure.
TabbySo she did. She sat us down, and she told us that for the last thirteen days in that hospital, I actually had necrotizing pancreatitis, not pancreatitis. My pancreas was actively dying for thirteen days.
Scott BennerOh, how are they able to figure that out so quickly when nobody else could?
TabbyThey had the scans that they had finally taken that thirteenth day. Hey. At the end of this story, does it end with your name being on the side of the hospital now? What's going on exactly with that?
TabbyI wish.
Scott BennerOkay. Jeez. Alright. So now you have that. That by the way, necrotizing sounds scary.
TabbySo I was in active organ failure. Blood flow was cut off from my pancreas due to that gallstone still being stuck in there. They never confirmed that it passed, and it didn't. So it just had been shutting everything off in there. I was in severe sepsis. I had over a liter of abdominal fluid on my pancreatic area, and I basically was in septic shock at that point.
Scott BennerOh my god.
TabbyNormally, what they would do in that case is they would take you into the OR, and they would drain that fluid off. And they would start some pretty strong antibiotics, do a small procedure endoscopically that would remove at least the major dead portions of the organ just to try and get it to a point to where the part that is still functioning can function fully.
Scott BennerMhmm.
TabbyShe basically told us all of that information, and then she said, you know, I would love to take you in right now and do that. And she said, but if I take you into the OR right now, you're not gonna make it out. Oh. It ended up taking them about three weeks to stabilize me enough to take me back for a procedure. They took me back for about fifteen minutes and drained off the fluid and did a little bit of pulling the dead pancreas and brought me back out. And then I healed for another one to two weeks, went back in for ten to fifteen minutes so they could pull a little bit more of the dead pancreas out. That repeated for quite a while. I ended up in the hospital a total of fifty eight days.
Scott BennerI wish you could see my face right now. I'm mortified, and this didn't happen to me.
TabbyYeah.
Scott BennerFifty eight days. Same and but I imagine you popped out on day 59. You're right back to your life. Right? No problems. You're really not suing anybody?
TabbyI probably should have, truthfully. I mean right? By the time proponent of it, but, like, this seems like
TabbyThat was kind of my thing is I was very adamant that, like, well, they made a mistake. I don't wanna ruin the doctor's life. I don't wanna make a big deal out of it. And at that point, we were still kind of being told that things should go relatively back to normal. I mean, there were gonna be a few things that I was gonna struggle with long term, but it shouldn't have been anything major.
Scott BennerOh, okay.
TabbyAnd so I I left it, and I convinced myself that it was gonna get better. It was gonna get better. And every time something horrible would happen, I would just tell myself, well, it's gonna get better. And then finally, by the time I realized that my life is completely different and completely altered and my health is to a detriment because of it. It was too late because you only have two years from the day that the medical event starts in the hospital in order to
Scott BennerI see. So it did occur to you at some point to look at look into that.
TabbyIt did. It was just too late. Yes. Otherwise. Wow. Okay. I'm sorry. So they nursed you to enough health to do the surgery? Yeah. What all does that surgery entail?
TabbySo, basically, they just would go in and scrape out a small portion of the dead pancreas and any fluid collections that built up from the sepsis.
Scott BennerSo some of the pancreas is still operating?
TabbyYes.
Scott BennerOkay. Alright. Yep. That's all. We'll just do that. Just a little scrape, scrape it. But by the way, what caused all this though?
TabbySo that that gallstone that was stuck in the pancreatic duct, it never passed.
Scott BennerThat's the one thing? Yep. Jeez. That's some bad luck. I'm not gonna lie to you. Honestly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My goodness. Terrible. Okay. So procedure's over. They send you home. What's the recovery like?
TabbyYeah. So it's day 59. I'm home. We're told kind of maintain my softer food and more so liquids, like smoothies and protein shakes and things like that for a couple weeks, and then I could build back up to to regular food. And and slowly but surely, it should should heal, and I should start feeling better, and I should be a lot stronger. And, I mean, I did go home on a lot of different medications to help with various things that were going on in my body just from the procedures and the sepsis and antibiotics and all of the things. So we got home, and things were actually really good for a little over a month. I didn't have any issues. We we actually ended up taking a trip to Chicago. My husband and I did just because we had flight miles. And between the the incident with with our first son and then immediately going into this and fighting for my life and then spending the two months in the hospital, it just kinda felt like we needed a break.
Scott BennerYeah. I'm going on vacation for a while if I'm you.
TabbyWe took a little just a little weekend trip because we were scared of my health and everything. We popped up Chicago, and everything was great.
Scott BennerYou picked Chicago? Yeah. And then we came back. And within a couple weeks, I ended up back in the hospital with severe pancreas pain. And, essentially, I was having another flare of pancreatitis. And they were kinda like, well, that's not completely uncommon, but it's also not something that we anticipated. So I had, like, a week hospital stay. I was stuck there. I had to go back to liquid diet, kinda start that process back up again. Ended up getting to go home, was doing good for a little bit, and then that just kind of kept happening for a couple months.
Scott BennerOh, like, you ended up in the hospital multiple times from that?
TabbyYes. Okay. Yep. So at that point, they determined that I had chronic pancreatitis and or they suspected that I had chronic pancreatitis. And in October, they ended up going ahead and and finally removing my gallbladder. They didn't wanna perform that big of a surgery before because I was still kinda septic, and there was just concern with with going into that big of a procedure. Mhmm. So we finally got that done October 2023. Very shortly after that, I had another hospital stay due to just nausea, vomiting, pain, all the things. They finally looked at everything. They determined that it would be best if we if I went on pancreatic rest for a minimum of eight weeks. Did a surgical procedure to put in a g tube. I used a feeding tube with only the formula and the feeding tube. It ended up being many weeks total through the end of the year, essentially. And the hope was that since we gave my body that nine weeks to to really heal with no food being processed through the pancreas, through anything, it was just that g tube formula Mhmm that was, like, what my body needed to kinda kick start and and get going. Well, I got that g tube removed on my birthday of 2024. Things just did not get better. I kept having those hospital stays. Each stent was, like, a week at a time. It was a minimum of one a month, if not more. It was very back and forth. So we finally went to my medical team in March 2024. It was very March 2024
Scott BennerMhmm.
Tabbyand told them that it was time for us to figure out what my options were to kinda fix this problem. To stop work. Mentioned
Scott BennerThe repetitiveness of what was happening.
TabbyYes. Yeah. And they had mentioned, like, possible larger procedure to kinda help with things. They said there were a few different things that we could could do and try, and we had tried all the kinda little things. And so we knew that there were some big things that you could try, but we hadn't made it to that point yet. Mhmm. And so we did officially get to that point, my husband and I did, where we were like, okay. This is like, we wanna at least know what the bigger options are. So we got a referral to an incredible surgeon at Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas. We ended up getting to speak with kind of the head of transplants there. We sat in his office, and we did a consultation. He had already looked at all my medical records, so he was kinda familiar with what was going on. My GI surgeon had kinda briefed him on how things had gone the last ten months. We sit in his office for our surgical consultation. He goes over the options, talks about partial pancreas removal, full pancreas removal, what those would look like, where he thinks we're at, what he thinks he could do. We are sitting there with him, and and I asked him. I said, you know, what do you feel is your kind of recommendation on this? I know you're saying that that you think you could could do it this way or could do it that way, and these are the the repercussions of both. But but what would you, as a surgeon
Scott BennerYeah.
Tabbyand
Scott BennerTell me what to do.
TabbyAnd he looked at us, and he said, you know, I can't make this decision for you. And he said, but what I will tell you is that I have a lot of people come and consult with me, some people from all over the world. And he said, I tell a lot of them I would not do surgery on you. You don't need this big of a life change based on what's going on. Mhmm. He said, I'm telling you, I would do this surgery next month.
Scott BennerOh, good news. More good news. Jesus. And Yeah. That's sobering. Yeah. Yeah.
TabbyAnd he did. He did that surgery. I ended up I mean, technically, that that appointment was March, and then I got scheduled for May procedure. I went in, and I had to have a major abdominal abdominal surgery. I have a scar that goes from the middle of my breastbone down to below my belly button. And they had to take out about sixty percent of my pancreas. They took out my entire spleen, and then they ended up also having to take about fifteen percent of my stomach because it was all messed up in there with with dead and necrotic tissue.
Scott BennerOh my gosh. No more McDonald's either. Right? You can't do with Reese anymore. Yeah. It's okay. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. And still you didn't sue anybody?
TabbyNo. I gotta get you for a neighbor. You seem awesome. You're in Texas. Is that right?
TabbyYes.
Scott BennerWhereabouts in Texas do I not wanna move? Can you put a finger on the map for me?
TabbyI could tell you from a medical standpoint, I would not move to Mesquite, Texas. Okay.
Scott BennerThank you. That's what I was wondering. As a person who's been, like, nudging his wife about moving south, and one of the things she says to me is, like, we're make sure we're near a good hospital. I was like, yeah. Sure. Because I'm, like, trying to get a little more rural.
TabbyI've had great experiences with the ones closer to Downtown Dallas.
Scott BennerOkay. So if I was thinking Tennessee, like, stay closer to Nashville. Is that what you're saying to me? Think Something like that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. My goodness. Oh, my. My. My. My. Hey. She looks really sick. What do you think we should do? I don't know. Maybe it'll stop. Let's wait nine or ten days and just see if it goes away first. No. It's not going away. What do you wanna do? We'll give her to somebody else. They don't want her. Oh, no. We waited too long. They would've killed you if you didn't leave there, by the way.
TabbyOh, yeah. Well, and fun fact, I actually whenever I did look at the possibility of talking to a lawyer, I actually found a case that also happened in Dallas where a man was in the exact same situation as me, and he did end up going to long term care instead of kind of pushing back.
Scott BennerEnded up being real long term?
TabbyTwo weeks later, he died.
Scott BennerYeah. And his family did sue.
Scott BennerI would imagine. My goodness gracious. I mean, listen. It's it's a tough job being a doctor, but, like, you know, Google it if you can't figure it out. Don't just tell me, I don't know. We'll wait another day. We'll see what happens. We'll wait. We'll wait. We'll wait. It's gonna be fine. Jeez. And then as you're clearly degrading, nobody's doing anything. I mean, really, it sounded like they were all just dumbfounded. You know? Yeah. Yeah. That's gotta be incredible for too because I truly was struggling so much physically
TabbyYeah. And just, like, mentally being able to kinda stay in and out of it. Whenever he came and told me that I wasn't getting better because I didn't want to get better or because I wasn't walking up and down the halls and trying to
Scott BennerHe told you you need to go for a walk.
TabbyI was like, I felt so defeated. And then he's getting
Scott BennerI'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm laughing. I'm so sorry. What a fuck. Honestly.
TabbyAnd he scheduled that PT, and I'm, like, trying to walk up and down this hall. And I feel like a failure the whole time I'm doing it because I can barely make it three doors down. And looking back, I'm like, this guy, that's literally insane what happened.
Scott BennerOh, no. No. No. No. No. No. You you TP his, his house, like, at Halloween, though. Right?
TabbyIf I knew where it was.
Scott BennerI mean, you know, something something harmless, but I've you know, maybe an egg or two on a window. I don't know. My goodness. Okay. I'm so sorry. I lost track of your thing. They they took out all your business and then what happened?
TabbyYeah. So he told us prior to that surgery that there was about a fifty percent chance that I would develop type three c diabetes in the next five years. So some people do, some people don't. It just really depends on how much of your pancreas is still functioning and how well it's working and and all of those different things that goes by percentage of pancreas left and other health factors and all the things. Okay. So, essentially, with my risk factors, there was about a fifty percent chance that I would develop type three c in the next five years.
Scott BennerI mean, the way things are going, I would have just assumed it was gonna happen if I was you. But yeah. Yeah. I would also think a tree is about to fall on me almost constantly. Well,
A Miracle Pregnancy and Managing Type 3c Day-to-Day
Tabbyso then the the funny thing is after that surgery, I actually did feel so much better.
Scott BennerYeah. I bet.
TabbyI really did. That summer, I went on two cruises with family, and it I was tired, and my stamina was very low just by nature of everything that had happened.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. But I was truthfully, genuinely doing better and feeling better. Mhmm. Recovery time for that surgery was supposed to be eight to twelve weeks. Apparently, what we learned at about the eight to nine week mark in recovery is that when they did surgery to remove everything, they also apparently somehow magically sprinkled some fairy dust in there and cured my infertility.
Scott BennerHey. Well, it's something good. Oh, you got pregnant before you should have.
TabbyBecause I ended up pregnant. Yes. Ended up pregnant. I you know how it happens though. Right? It's just that Yes. yeah. You don't just end
Scott Bennerup pregnant.
TabbyWe are aware. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We know exactly when it happens. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I would I would imagine.
TabbySo yes. I'm nine weeks post major abdominal surgery, already have a completely wrecked abdomen that is nothing but scar tissue.
Scott BennerYeah.
TabbyAnd I felt very off. And because I was on a lot of different medications from healing from the procedures and from the surgery and all of the different things. I just was kind of I don't even know why I took a pregnancy test, but I in my head, I was just like, you know what? Something doesn't feel right. And if I am pregnant, I don't need I don't wanna take all this medicine. Like,
Scott BennerOh, so let me just check real quick. Yeah. But that's not gonna be it. It's probably what you're thinking. Right? Like, this won't be it.
TabbyAnd so it's just like we just we're kinda like, okay. I didn't think much of it. I'm working on my computer that day. Whatever. Everything's fine. And I go back to the bathroom to go to restroom again, and I saw it on the counter, and I was like, what?
Scott BennerI guess if you leave it sit here too long, it shows positive. Yeah. And so
Tabbyand and they even say, like, when you've gone through infertility and you've you've been a little line crazy as we call it, you're, like, trained to look for those. And then everybody says, like, if it's been longer than this time, you can't trust it. It could be inaccurate, whatever. So that's what I told myself. I was like, well, this has been sitting here for three hours. Truly.
Scott BennerI love that you took it and didn't think it was a possibility so much so that you never went back to look at it again. Yeah. Yeah.
TabbySo I was like, there's no way. So then I was like, oh, well, I'll just take a digital test because that'll really tell me. Like, fifteen seconds later, it popped up and said pregnant. And I was like, oh, okay.
Scott BennerWhat is what was your internal reaction? Like because I think I would have gone with you have to be kidding me. What got you?
TabbyIt was, I mean, that and I was genuinely terrified at that moment. Oh. Because I was like, this
Scott BennerYou got robbed of being happy too when that happened. You know what I mean?
TabbyExactly.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah.
TabbyYeah. And it was just one of those things where, like, I just felt like in my head immediately, I was like, okay. I couldn't even fully sustain the first pregnancy. And now I've my body's been through all this, and I'm post this major surgery. And now I'm pregnant. Like, there's no way I'm gonna be able to to sustain this pregnancy.
Scott BennerYeah. How does it feel when that scar stretches too? Itchy?
TabbyOh, yeah. Yeah. Itchy. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, god. So now you tell me you didn't have to consider terminating the pregnancy. You've been trying your okay. Okay. Good. I don't want you having to go on through that.
TabbyMy medical team, my OB is incredible. She was very good from the very start of it. She was my same OB with the first pregnancy, so she knew what had already happened. She knew what I was going through medically, and she was very quick to I mean, she was honest with me, she told me, like, this is not gonna be easy. It's gonna be a very hard pregnancy, and there's gonna be a lot of things that we're gonna we're gonna check from a high risk perspective, and we're putting you into basically the highest risk category. So I was treated almost as if I was someone who was pregnant with, like, twins or triplets. Yeah. There was so much going on. And so she actually because she was actually through a different hospital than all my pancreas had been through. Mhmm.
TabbyAnd so she actually got with my entire medical team at the hospital with my pancreas and had the GI teams there send all of my records and their notes and just general profile summary of health to the GI team at the hospital that she was at in case I ever had to be admitted so that there was a pain like, a GI team on standby that knew my case and was familiar with it that she could pull in to help. She coordinated everything from my pain management team to my GI to everyone. All the specialists, she made sure that every doctor I had at Baylor University Medical Center, she made sure that there was a doctor of the same specialty and level of confidence that understood my case at her facility in the event that I ended up having to be impatient throughout my pregnancy.
Scott BennerIt makes a big difference to be with somebody who understands what to do, doesn't it?
TabbyYes. Yeah. Oh, yeah. She was she was phenomenal. And so she did and she dealt with me the whole pregnancy. I mean, I was I was terrified the whole time. I kept calling the OB office. It's like, you know, I think something's wrong. I think this doesn't feel right. And she'd bring me in, and they do an ultrasound, and they check. And most of the time, it was just to know this is you just got scar tissue. It just feels a little different than last time. Like but, I mean, I did have a few instances throughout that pregnancy where where I had to be impatient, and the struggle was real.
Scott BennerHow hard is it to trust people at their word after you've gone through all that, though?
TabbyVery.
Scott BennerYeah. Right? Like, must you must second guess everything constantly.
TabbyI do.
Scott BennerIs it stick with you since then? I bet you the pediatrician's not getting an easy go.
TabbyNo. Well, Well and and honestly and this is something I've been working on personally just from a healing perspective Yeah because truthfully speaking, I now no matter how hard I try not to, I now operate under a well, what if we're missing something small?
Scott BennerSo I live most of my life thinking nobody knows what they're talking about. I I think that's a baseline survival skill, to be honest with you.
TabbyBecause, I mean, to me, we we miss something that should have been as quick as a simple gallbladder procedure after pregnancy. And we missed those gallstones, and because of it, I almost died.
Scott BennerIt's fascinating that it's not the thing that, like like, we did this. It didn't work. We should go back and check again to make sure we got the gallstones. Like, how do you how do you skip over that part? I don't even know a good way to say this. So, yeah, if you have a bucket leaking and it's got a hole in it and I say, hey. Patch the hole. And I patch the hole and it keeps leaking. I don't start looking for other reasons why the water's coming out of the bucket. I go, we must not have patched the hole correctly. It's fascinating that they didn't just go back and say, maybe just this didn't work out the first time the way it was supposed to. Let's double check. It seems like common sense beyond a medical thing, honestly.
TabbyWe thought so. But but
Scott BennerMy gosh.
TabbySo yeah. So go through all that. Got my pregnancy test. Everything is is moving. Yay. We're pregnant.
TabbyThings are moving pretty quick with the the high risk OB and the my regular OB, and we get going. And then as one would expect, I got diagnosed with gestational diabetes at about eleven weeks. Mhmm. I didn't even have to do a blood glucose or the the gross drink thing because
Scott Bennerthink they were like, no. It's okay. We know.
TabbyIt was like, yeah. This is we already know.
Scott BennerDid you think it was just as gestational, or did you think, oh, no. I'm gonna have type one diabetes?
TabbyI knew that it was gestational, but I felt very strongly. They would they kept telling me that gestational goes away generally after you're pregnant. Mhmm. And it does for for the for a normal person. I knew when I got diagnosed that early with gestational that it was not going to be long before I got diagnosed type three c.
Scott BennerYeah. You don't bother buying lottery tickets. Right?
TabbyOh, no.
Scott BennerYou don't. I'm like the the most unlucky person. Was gonna say. If I was you, I would just look left, right, left a couple of times and cross the street very carefully and and never waste it never waste a dollar on a scratcher. I don't think it's gonna go your way.
TabbyOh, yeah. We joke about it all the time that if you do. If it can only happen to one person in the world, it's probably happening.
Scott BennerSo listen, guys. If if if a if a asteroid ever hits the planet, be sure you know it landed wherever you are. Yeah. Honestly. Everyone died, but I got to go first, Scott. Don't worry. My gosh. Do you have any brothers or sisters?
TabbyI do. I have a lot of siblings. Any of them have any kind of, like, odd health issues?
TabbyNope. Just me.
Scott BennerJust you you've a lot of siblings? You're like, my mom made a lot of babies. Is that what you're saying?
TabbyWell, no. I have I just call them all my siblings. Like, the family that I need for, I ended up moving with them moving in with them during college. And
Scott BennerA lot of people in your life. None of them are sick. That's what you're saying. That's what you're saying. You don't have any autoimmune issues. Right? Like, you weren't gonna touch diabetes or autoimmune without without this. Nope. Okay. Yeah.
Scott BennerMy goodness. How do you learn about type one when you're dropped into it from this perspective?
TabbyHonestly, it was it was very difficult for me because type three c is not very well known. Yeah.
TabbySo it was all the research and the things that you see online and and all the the things that you can use to help with diabetes are all geared towards a type one or a type two. And so I would go to these appointments, and I had no idea of, like, okay. Am I more like type one? Am I more like type two? I didn't I didn't know. I didn't fully understand. And a lot of the, like, online even when you sign up to get, like, an Omnipod or this or that, like, the option is type one or type two. So it was it was very, very challenging to navigate. I have a good endocrine team, and and they were very, very helpful throughout it. And they did a great job. But even their office, I mean, they knew we knew that I was gonna have type three c and that it was gonna be diagnosed a year before it was officially diagnosed. And they still the appointment where I was diagnosed, they still put it in as type two. And then I had to have them update my records. And they did, but it was like they still it's just not something that that really many teams are
Scott Bennerare used to.
Scott BennerAnd the naming structure ended up being complicated for you because, I mean, listen, you don't have a pancreas anymore. You're gonna get treated like a type one, and you're gonna need to manage like a type one. But because type one diabetes means what it means and type two means what it means, does it feel like you're co opting something? Because I've heard people say that before. Like, I didn't wanna call myself type one. I mean, I am, but I'm not. I don't wanna offend peep do you have all those thoughts?
TabbyI I do. Generally, if somebody asks me, I I say type three c, and then they they inevitably always ask what that is, and so I have to explain it. And that's fine. But it is weird. Yeah. Because it's and and the other thing is, like, I I do still have a little bit of my pancreas. So it's like there is still a little bit functioning in there. It just will never ever again be able to sustain how much insulin production it it needs to.
Scott BennerYou actually need. Yeah.
TabbySo, yeah, it's it's
Scott BennerThis is gonna sound completely ridiculous, but it's like the stolen valor thing. Right? You know, when we you ever hear people like they they kinda make up their military service and it's a very offensive thing to do? Like, you're like, you weren't really there. Like, it almost feels like you're like, whatever it is that a type one goes
Tabbythrough.
TabbyYeah. That's exactly right.
Scott BennerYeah. You can't take credit for it. Right? That they're all the wrong words, but do you know what I mean?
TabbyYeah. Yes. I know exactly what you're saying.
Scott BennerOkay. I'm glad because because I wasn't doing a good job.
TabbyNo. I got it. Yeah. It's yeah. It is weird. And it's odd too because it's like every person with diabetes has their own unique journey, and it's been very challenging for pretty much everybody that's had it. And so it's like, it's tricky because, again, I don't wanna step on any toes, and I don't want anyone to feel like I know what it's like to be a type one diabetic for my entire life because I don't.
Scott BennerBut there's also no club of type three c's, really.
TabbyRight.
Scott BennerYeah. She's a type of yourself.
TabbyOn the same point of that is I may not have had the learning how to work a pump at eight years old and dealing with it at school and all those things, but I did have quite the journey to
Scott BennerWell, yeah, people are still I mean, people are still diagnosed at your age and other ages, but I would just think, like, if communally, you were adopted in, that's how I would see it. Like, I I can understand I mean, I can understand someone looking up
TabbyAnd that's mostly how it's been.
Scott BennerYeah. Would imagine. Yeah. I would imagine it's mostly been a reasonable experience for you. But Yeah. Yeah. And every once in while, get somebody that's surly about it. Like, you don't have type one. Like, yeah. I don't know. We both need insulin or the same thing happens. So Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Interesting. Kabi. Damn. So tell me how it's going. Like, what'd you figure out? How are you been able to manage it? You know, have have you Yeah.
TabbySo, thankfully, my endocrine team was was very good, and we had a conversation kind of middle of last year, really right right when my son got out the NICU. We sat down, and I I basically told her, I said, you know, I'm pretty sure that this is gonna go south fast. And so I checked all my labs. We had everything on record. And and I told her, I said, you know, this is gonna sound bad, but I've hit my out of pocket max on medical for the last three years.
Scott BennerMhmm.
TabbyAnd I've already hit my out of pocket max for this year. So I know it's harder to get qualifications for pumps and things like that based on my diagnosis. I said, but we know that that's what I need. So whatever data or labs or whatever we have to collect between now and the end of the year to get that official diagnosis, so I qualify for a pump at the end of the year?
Scott BennerYeah. Let's get to it so it I don't have to pay more money at the next year. Right? You're you're like, everything's free right now. I need it now. Right.
TabbyYeah. And so so they did. They they did. They we got everything we needed. My blood sugar had to get kinda bad, honestly, before we officially did it. And so we did. My a one c ended up at, like, 7.4, I think. And at that point, we had enough data on my Libres and things that had been monitoring, and I was doing the injections at home. And I was up to a relatively high amount of insulin for for someone who was doing injections. And so they submitted the claim November 27 with my insurance to get prior authorization for a pump and insulin and everything, and it was accepted. And I ended up getting a ninety day supply of insulin and Omnipods right before the end of the year.
Scott BennerGood. That's great.
TabbySo it was really good.
Scott BennerHow are you doing? Like, how's your a one c and your time in range, or how are you adjusting to it? Like
TabbySo my a one c did drop down to 5.3
Scott BennerOh.
Tabbyat my appointment in was either January or early February. And so that would have been about two months on pump.
Scott BennerSo what what do do you eat? Like, a dust and kale? How do you, what's your diet like?
TabbyI have been very cautious of what I'm eating, and don't get me wrong. I still eat some sugar sometimes. Like, I still like sweet treats, but anywhere that I can make a swap, I have made a swap.
Scott BennerOkay. But if I see you going for the digestive enzymes, something's going on. Right?
TabbyWell, I actually have to take digestive enzymes every time I eat. Yeah.
Scott BennerNo matter what. What what about, like, you had dinner. It's all good. It's two hours later. You're cruising through the kitchen on the way back to the television. You grab four hard pretzels out of a bag. You need to put an enzyme in with it?
TabbyThat, I wouldn't.
Scott BennerOkay. Okay. But otherwise, no gallbladder.
TabbyYeah. So the way it works is I'm supposed to take one one to two with snacks and then two to three with meals. And so it just kinda depends. Like, if I'm getting a snack that's that's like pretzels or almonds or
Scott BennerMhmm.
Tabbysomething relatively fairly normal, then I usually will not take any or only take one. But if I'm getting a snack that's like an ice cream Snickers bar or a piece of pizza or something like that, then I'll definitely do the higher dose of the digestive enzymes.
Scott BennerWhat happens if you don't take them?
TabbyMy body really struggles to digest food in general.
Scott BennerYou get, like, belly pain. And
TabbyYeah. Very uncomfortable. Yeah. Abdominal pain, pancreatic pain.
Scott BennerWhen they explained that to you after the surgery, did they tell you it's all about the gallbladder, or did they also mention that the pancreas had something to do with it too?
TabbyIt all started with the gallbladder, but but yeah. I mean, the pancreas didn't really help out.
Scott Benner SlideDidn't help anything as as things started to kinda go south. Because, you know, people would act, you know, with type one diabetes, I mean, the pancreas does more than just make insulin. And, you know, so you lose some other functionality, and digestion is part of it too. Right. So, yeah, when you lose everything, then you're stuck.
Scott BennerIs it a pain in the butt, or are you getting used to it, the taking the enzymes?
TabbyI'm kinda used to it now. I mean, I know what foods I definitely need them with and what foods I can kinda get away without taking them.
Scott BennerMhmm.
TabbyI know when to take them before meals, because I usually take mine about thirty minutes before meals, and that seems to be a good timing for me on when to take it. I've kinda learned learned my body on the enzymes.
Scott BennerSo some too myself. By the way, don't have any of your problems, but I take them once in a while too. I mean, I'm sure yours are prescribed and mine are over the counter. But
TabbyYes. Mine are prescribed.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. But I'm an old man who shows up at a diner with a pill in his pocket. You know what I mean? My wife's like, can you get something to put those in? I was like, my pocket works fine.
TabbyNo. They make these little things on Amazon. They're actually, like, really small. It's like a little silver, very small.
Scott BennerNo. I mean, I realize I'm a I realize I'm a dirtbag. I know it. I know know what's happening.
TabbyI was gonna say, because I have I have them hooked to my wristlet.
Scott BennerOh, it's a good idea.
TabbyAnd each one holds three.
Scott BennerYeah. That's a great idea. Because when you pull a loose pill out of your pocket, people look at you. I'm not gonna lie. They're like, that guy's getting high right now. I know for sure. But but no. I I I don't know. I find them helpful, to be perfectly honest. But anyway so okay. I'm sorry. How do you know who I am? Like, how did you end up on the podcast?
TabbyYeah. So I actually saw a a post was recommended to me or something was in my pancreatectomy support group Facebook group.
Scott BennerMhmm.
TabbyAnd they had shared your podcast of one that you just reshared recently of somebody who had type three c from years ago that had passed away. And so you had shared it and reshared it in in her honor.
Scott BennerOh, yeah. Yeah.
TabbyAnd so I listened to the whole podcast, and I thought it was incredible. And I just thought it was really cool that that she was willing to to share her story and her experience. And and I thought it was really cool that you were sharing
Scott Bennerconversation to begin
Tabbyunique Yeah. circumstance.
Scott BennerI've had a number of people with three c on over the years.
TabbyYes. Yeah. I've listened to a lot of them now Yeah. now that I have found it. Yeah. I was talking to a friend about it, and you know your phone's always listening. So then on Facebook, later, it had come across my page that you had the thing where you were I was looking for
Scott Bennerlooking for you to come on.
TabbyYeah. Where you had some openings.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. Oh, that's awesome. I'm glad.
TabbyAnd then that communication started between you and I and
Scott BennerYeah. Her mom reached out to me to tell me that she'd passed away and we were going back and forth talking a little bit and we we came up with, like, reposting the episode, you know, in in her honor. I'm glad I found you. Yeah. Me too. My gosh.
TabbyYeah. Because I've already I mean, even just listening to your podcast, the little bit that I've been able to since that transpired, I I've learned a lot of different just even little tips and tricks that, like, I don't think I ever would have known if Yeah. I didn't listen.
Scott BennerThat's awesome. I'm glad. I'm happy whenever it helps somebody. Is this the end of the bad stuff, or did more happen? Like, you're good now. Right? Like, Yeah. there's nothing else health wise happening? Or or or let me ask you, are you still run down? Like, how long has it been? Like, tell me, like, how much time has it been since you've were like, okay. I have type one or, you know, I have type three c now. I'm managing fully with insulin. How long has it been since then to now?
TabbyFully managing with the diabetes and on the pump since December December.
Scott Benner2025?
Tabby2025. Yes.
Scott BennerNot that long then.
TabbyNo. Okay. And things things are getting better. We are finding things that that work and that help, and, we just identified a few health things that I was having some deficiencies and things like that. So we got supplements on board, and I had to do an infusion. And but, honestly, I felt 10 times better after that, so that was good.
Scott BennerIron infusion?
TabbySo I haven't done the iron infusion yet, but I most likely am gonna have to do one of those here very quick. Yeah. The one that they had me do was more so, like, almost every vitamin and mineral under the sun because that was depleted in my follicle.
Scott BennerDo you have low ferritin?
TabbyI do. Yeah. I do have very low. Yes. Which they said that can it can be common after splenectomy.
Scott BennerOkay. Do you know what your ferritin is?
TabbyIt was 11.
Scott BennerOh, no. You need the you need the juice. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I've done it a couple times in my life. It's awesome. Yeah. Why are you not getting it? What's happening?
TabbyWell, so they wanted to try supplementation first.
Scott BennerMm-mm. That's bullshit. It's not gonna work. Just tell them you want the other thing. Yeah.
TabbyYeah. Well, my doctor, thankfully, he's very good about kind of working not around my insurance, but with my insurance.
Scott BennerSo your side. Yeah.
TabbyHe has kinda learned what they're just gonna deny without him having to
Scott BennerTrying something else first.
TabbyYes. And so so we tried we were trying this for three weeks, and then, literally, I'm supposed to go on a cruise in a couple weeks. And so he basically said before that to just call him, and we'll get blood work done. And that way, if it's still low, then we'll go ahead and abuse before.
Scott BennerI wish you would have found me sooner. I'd I do a cruise in June with a bunch of listeners.
TabbyNo. So I saw that actually. It popped up on my Facebook too. Yeah. And I also was like, man, I wish I would have known that. But
Scott BennerThat's him. Hopefully, we'll do it again next year. It's not a thing that makes money, so it's a a labor of love for a lot of people. Like, it's a lot of a lot of hard work that goes into making it happen. And then, hopefully, we can get it to go for a third year. So it is really awesome. It I'll I'll tell you. To get everybody together, all, you know, different, you know, races, religions, ages, type ones, parents of, and watch them just effortlessly blend together in a happy little group is very interesting. It's very cool.
TabbyYeah. No. I would honestly, I thought it was so cool. I was looking at it to see, but I just can't make it happen before June.
Scott BennerIt's a good ship too. It's, I don't know if you've ever done that one. It's a celebrity beyond. It's really good.
TabbySee, I haven't. Yeah. We haven't done a celebrity yet, but we love cruises in my house.
Scott BennerWell, I could tell your story. You're in a cruise every time you look up, you're on a cruise.
TabbyYeah. That's true.
Scott BennerThey go out of Galveston, so that's not bad at all. Right?
TabbyYeah. No. It's that's where we usually go out of.
Scott BennerThat where our first one went out of, Galveston. It was a good time. Is there anything I haven't asked you about or anything that I've forgotten or I don't wanna miss any of your story because sometimes I get chatty and I redirect the conversation.
TabbyNo. You're good.
Scott BennerI did alright?
TabbyYeah.
Scott BennerThat's all I heard. I heard I did okay. Do you have you tried the management stuff? Have you tried, like, pro tips or small sips or any of those series that are about insulin?
TabbyI have not yet, but I want to.
Scott BennerDo it. Try the small sips first as an entree. They're literally, like, ten minutes long, each of them.
TabbyOkay. Yeah. And those are on your website. Right?
Scott BennerYeah. You can get them there. You can go I mean, do you have an iPhone?
TabbyYes.
Scott BennerApple Podcasts? Just select subscribe to the podcast and type in juice box small sips. They'll all pop up.
TabbyOh, okay. Perfect.
Scott BennerYeah. But my website I'm actually my website's getting pretty damn good. It took me, like, a decade, but I'm really getting on top of it now. I'm just gonna tell you about this because I don't know who else to tell. So I added this web page. It's juiceboxpodcast.com, but then it's, I think it's jbfaq. Is that right? Yes. Okay. And so what I did was I took, this list I had, from listeners. It's a struggles list that originally was like 80 or 90 pages. People just sent in all the things they struggled with. And we kinda synthesized them down to, like, common themes, things that people struggle with over and over again. And we blended that. And by we, I mean, me and my friend Claude. We blended that with the top 350 most Googled questions about type one diabetes, and then blended that with returns from this this, Facebook post that really blew up well with advice for parents of a newly diagnosed kid. So I took the advice for the parents, and I synthesized them. I basically reversed engineered them into questions, combined them all together, and then I took all of the management episodes of the podcast and mapped all those questions to episodes that are valuable for if you have those questions.
TabbyOh, that's yeah. That's great. I'll definitely check that out.
Scott BennerThere's like a search bar at the top and you start typing and it just drives you towards content. So if you're I don't know. If you're having trouble, like, you know, I can't set Bazel. Right? Boom. It just sends you the episodes that help you with it. It's really cool.
TabbyYeah. That is really cool. Yeah. And so I do think I listened to a few of the small steps because I definitely listened to some smaller
Scott BennerLike, episodes.
TabbyShorter podcast Yeah. through the thing. And then I went on your website. I was looking at all the resources, and honestly, like, I was just so impressed Thank you. by everything on the website.
Scott BennerI appreciate it. That's me.
TabbySo many resources that I was like, okay. I have not don't know what to do to look at first.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. That's me and AI, by the way. We work together.
TabbyI love AI.
Scott BennerYeah. No kidding. I've had these ideas about my website for years, and I never ever ever could figure out how to take care of it. And no kidding. I was starting to get there with Google Gemini. And then I don't know what happened, but Anthropic updated Claude about a month ago. And I was like, oh, we're ready for prime time. I know what to do. And I've been, like, head down working on my website for, like, a month and a half now, and it really looks awesome. So and it's Oh,
Tabbyit does. It's funky. And I'm not I mean, I'm no expert, and obviously, this is not technically a product. But my my background is in product engineering and and innovation and product marketing. I'm very impressed by your website.
Scott BennerThank you.
TabbyI think it's great. I think it's resourceful, and I think it's gonna help a lot of people.
Scott BennerI appreciate it. I was telling well, right now, my basement's being turned into a podcast studio. So there are people down there working, and they're people I've known my whole life. So they're not just they're not, like, just guys down there swinging hammers that I've never met before. They're people I've known in a really long time. And I was standing with them the other day, and they were they kind of you know, it's like a two worlds thing. I I think it's hard for people to believe you make a living making a podcast. You know what mean? Like, it flips people out. And, anyway and so we just kinda asked some questions going back and forth about a little bit. And I said, you know, it's gonna sound crazy to you. I was like, but this is as close as I think I'll ever feel to a job like yours because I start with ideas in my head and with tools, even though they're physical tools and physical materials. I take tools and digital materials and build something out of my imagination. And I was like, it really I think it's as close as I'm ever gonna come to, like, you know, putting up a wall or doing something like that that I'm seeing you guys do right now. I don't know if they believe me or not, but I really feel like that. Like, I've had these ideas for so long, and I just didn't have the right tools to put them together. But I had all the material, which is my data and my, you know, and my content. And I just I just needed to be able to, like, hammer together into something. This did it. So, hopefully, it won't blow the world up.
TabbySo great. And I actually I've been thinking about that a lot too because I've I've started sharing my story a little bit on on social media and just kind of and have a growing community, small community on TikTok just of of other moms that have had health challenges, other moms in general, and other people who have chronic illnesses. And and I've been sharing, like, my different experiences at the hospitals and sharing about my story a little bit. And really my hope is that that I can raise awareness for for some of these things and and help someone. And I think that's a lot of what I've gathered. A lot of the people who who run these types of podcasts want to. Yeah. And so I'm thankful that you're putting the time into it because I've I've learned a lot through it, and I think that that it has helped me. And it's given me an avenue to be able to to kinda share what happened to me. And
Scott BennerThank you.
TabbyThat's great.
Scott BennerI I appreciate it. I wish you luck doing the same. It's just it's a it's lovely to get out there and and share stuff and let people feel like they're not alone. It's really, actually incredibly important. Okay. Well, we've been at this enough. I can hear the editor right now. He's saying, stop right now. We've got a good length. Keep going too long and we're in trouble. Yeah. Seriously, I appreciate you spending the time sharing this with me. I wanted to tell you, there's no pressure here, but I am interested in you, like, two years from now. If you wanna try to come back on at some point, like, really in the future
TabbyYeah.
Scott BennerI'm interested because right now, you're talking about diabetes coming out of the lens of having all this happen to you. The getting diabetes is almost, I'm not gonna say it's good news, but at least it's the end of all your pain and your suffering and all that stuff. I wonder if if you'll sound more like a regular old type one a few years from now where you're like, Scott, this is grinding on me. Like, you you know what I mean? Like, I'm wondering if you'll if you if that experience will happen or if this part will carry you further. It's it's in the back of my mind. But if you, you wake up a couple years now and you wanna be on a podcast, contact me back again.
TabbyOh, for sure.
Scott BennerCool.
TabbyI absolutely will.
Scott BennerThank you. I really appreciate it. Congratulations on the baby too. Forest is a cool name.
TabbyThank you.
Scott BennerYeah. You're welcome.
TabbyAnd thank you for for the opportunity. And
Scott BennerOh, it's a pleasure. You don't have to thank me, please. I need something to put my ads on. You don't have to thank me.
TabbyI feel that.
Scott BennerAlright. Hold on one second. Thanks.
Scott BennerThis episode was sponsored by Touched by Type one. I want you to go find them on Facebook, Instagram, and give them a follow, and then head to touchedbytype1.org where you're gonna learn all about their programs and resources for people with type one diabetes. Are you tired of getting a rash from your CGM adhesive? Give the Eversense three sixty five a try. Eversensecgm.com/juicebox. Beautiful silicone that they use. It changes every day, keeps it fresh. Not only that, you only have to change the sensor once a year. So, I mean, that's better. Today's episode of the juice box podcast was sponsored by the new Tandem Mobi system and Control IQ plus technology. Learn more and get started today at tandemdiabetes.com/juicebox. Check it out. Okay. Well, here we are at the end of the episode. You're still with me? Thank you. I really do appreciate that. What else could you do for me? Why don't you tell a friend about the show or leave a five star review? Maybe you could make sure you're following or subscribe in your podcast app, go to YouTube and follow me, or Instagram, TikTok. Oh, gosh. Here's one. Make sure you're following the podcast in the private Facebook group as well as the public Facebook page. You don't wanna miss please, do you not know about the private group? You have to join the private group. As of this recording, it has 74,000 members. They're active talking about diabetes. Whatever you need to know, there's a conversation happening in there right now. And I'm there all the time. Tag me. I'll say hi. If you'd like to hear about diabetes management in easy to take in bits, check out the small sips. That's the series on the Juice Box podcast that listeners are talking about like it's a cheat code. These are perfect little bursts of clarity, one person said. I finally understood things I've heard a 100 times. Short, simple, and somehow exactly what I needed. People say small sips feels like someone pulling up a chair, sliding a cup across the table, and giving you one clean idea at a time. Nothing overwhelming, no fire hose of information, just steady helpful nudges that actually stick. People listen in their car, on walks, or rather actually bolus ing anytime that they need a quick shot of perspective. And the reviews, they all say the same thing. Small sips makes diabetes make sense. Search for the Juice Box podcast, small sips, wherever you get audio. If you have a podcast and you need a fantastic editor, you want Rob from Wrong Way Recording. Listen. Truth be told, I'm, like, 20% smarter when Rob edits me. He takes out all the, like, gaps of time and when I go and stuff like that. And it just I don't know, man. Like, I listen back and I'm like, why do I sound smarter? And then I remember because I did one smart thing. I hired Rob at wrong way recording dot com.