Scott Benner 8/8/22 Scott Benner 8/8/22

#732 Free Falling

David has type 1 diabetes and likes jumping out of planes.

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

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

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

Dave 0:00
Hello friends, and welcome to episode 732 of the Juicebox Podcast.

Scott Benner 0:17
On today's show, we'll be speaking with David. He's had type one diabetes for quite some time, and he enjoys jumping out of airplanes. So obviously there's a lot to talk about here. While we're talking, please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan. We're becoming bold with insulin.

If you're a US resident who has type one diabetes, or is the caregiver of someone with type one, I wish you would go to T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. Join the registry and take the survey, the whole thing should take fewer than 10 minutes. And once you complete the survey, you've done something kind for people with type one diabetes, you've done a favor to me, and you've done something that might help yourself. T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. Well worth your 10 minutes.

Dave 1:32
Today's episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by Omni pod makers of the Omni pod five. Learn more and get started today at Omni pod.com. Forward slash Juicebox. Podcast is also sponsored today. By Dexcom, makers of the Dexcom G six continuous glucose monitoring system. Find out if you're eligible for a free 10 day trial@dexcom.com forward slash juicebox. Hey, Scott, my name is Dave. See I'm 41 this year going to be 42 Very soon in March and I am a skydiver and a diabetic. Right now we're on to it. How do you find? How do you end up being on a podcast? One of my friends whom I skydive with, has a her wife was on your podcast, She's diabetic. And so we got talking about things. She says Oh, my friend has a podcast. You should really check it out. So I found you through her and here I am. No, that's cool. Yeah, we were looking for. I was looking for we Dave, I just said I just said we're like there's a big operation going on over here. It's just me. But um, but yeah, I was just trying to find people who do things. The other a little more exciting. outside the norm a little bit and I think flinging yourself out of an airplane qualifies compete. So well tell me first, you know, how old were you when you were diagnosed? So funny story, I was actually diagnosed at midnight on my 12th birthday. My mother was luckily a pediatrician. So she kind of caught all the signs. And the kicker the final breaking point was that I slammed three two liter bottles of water within five minutes. And she's like, You know what? I think I'm going to take you to the ER right now. So we went down and they checked me in and I got my diagnosis right at midnight on my birthday. When I was 12. Any other stuff going on? Or did the three bottles of water just like send your mom into overdrive? No. Three bottles of water and you know constant urination Of course. And I was skinny guy to begin with so I wasn't putting on weight. You know, right around adolescence. You're supposed to start packing weight on and changing. I was not doing any of that stuff. I was still a skinny, tiny little boy. I think I weighed 50 pounds. Wow. So something was kind of up. So they took me in check me out. And my blood sugar was astronomically high as high as the hospital had ever seen. I think I clocked in around 1200 That's pretty high. Maybe maybe 2200. So I'm like that was ridiculous. Wow. Did they sing happy birthday for you in the ER? Yeah, ironically, they did. See what I did there. Dave, you didn't say it. But I put myself in the minds of adults who were trying to imagine what kids want. And that's what I came up with. I would not have done that. If I worked in the ER for you. By the way I would have. I would have pulled you aside and said Hey, Dave. Well, this sucks, huh? Yeah, pretty much. I did get a lot of that. I did get a lot of oh my gosh, so unexpected meaning is it in the family? No, not at all. So my mother experiences some hypoglycemia every once in a while. But she just attributed that to diet. Nobody else in the family history had diabetes ever. And we went back generations. My my uncle Thankfully keeps all kinds of history on the family and everything. And it was pretty wild that it just popped up. Did you find any autoimmune aside from diabetes? hypothyroidism, celiac, anything like that? No, no. Wow. Dave, about rolling. I'm lucky. I'm pretty lucky. Yeah, look at you, man. Oh, wow, late winner, big winner. That sucks. How was it growing? I mean, you're, I didn't do the math, but you've had diabetes, like 29 years. Is that right? Yeah, for real. Wow. So it was very difficult. The, my life was just calm, pounded is crazy. So the year before I lost my older brother, who was he and I were very, very close to each other. And he passed away unexpectedly. So I was dealing with that. And then we got diabetes, the very next year on top of that, and that kind of sent me spiraling down a rabbit hole. And then the very next year, I lost my grandfather. So 11 through 13 was not my jam. I turned quickly to drugs and alcohol to relieve the stress of things. And, again, abandoned my diabetes for the most part, you know, I took insulin because I had to, but I wasn't keeping track. I was running three, four hundreds all the time. I once he was around 11. Okay, for most of my teenage years.

And I finally got serious with it and buckled down. Like to put things in perspective. Technology had come so far, but I was still using the old one touch meters with the very large test strips, and you had to put like, a gallon of blood on them, even up to 2004

or five. No, really? Yeah. Wow. It was a just, I was in a very bad

place. Yeah, it sounds. So I don't want to do I'm not gonna ask you to dig deep, but your brother, medical or something else. Now something else? Okay. It was just unexpected. It was like, Wow, that's crazy. And you're human. So it took a lot to unpack that all. And then I didn't really have time on packet or the proper guidance or net support network to do that. And then, on top of that I have diabetes to deal with too. So I can only deal with one thing at a time, you know, in diabetes was not it? Yeah, I hear you. Did you have other brothers and sisters? I did. I had an older brother. But He's much older. He was 10 years older than me. So we didn't really share any commonalities. Gotcha. So that, you know, made it even more difficult. David, your parents together? Yeah. All right, mom, dad, we're together. Not the best relationship and not the worst, for sure. But then, in my when I was, I wasn't even out of high school yet. And my father took a massive hit aneurysm sort of massive stroke. And so he was basically a vegetable for a very long time for at least 10 years after that. So I had the old dat and life. Just pass it on. You know, when it rains it pours. Dave, I like how you think you were coming on here to talk about skydiving? I mean, we'll get we'll get to it, Dave but you know, well listen to this all leads to it for sure. Oh, I'm already seeing the path in my head. But yeah, assuming you were trying to kill yourself at some point. But But okay, so when did the drug use start? How old? I think I was 16 or so. And a lot of it was just, it's really funny. Because high school started, I started smoking, trying to mess around cigarettes when I was like 1314. But it really wasn't my thing. And then high school started and I was in a car with a friend and riding home from school. I was going over his house to hang out and his brother in law's sparked up a joint in the front seat. I was like, Oh my gosh, the drivers on drugs. He's smoking drugs. And I'm like, waiting for it to get to me. I'm like, it's gonna happen. It's gonna happen. And they pass me a joint. They're like, Dave, you know, thank you. It's cool as I could possibly sound and like, Okay, thanks. Yeah, whatever. It was, obviously, not a big deal. But I built it up in my head so much. I was like, Oh my gosh. So then being exposed to it and realizing, hey, this isn't the big deal. My elementary school teachers made it out to be you know, maybe I'll check it out. And so I had no idea what to do. So I found my nearest neighborhood drug dealer and said, Hey, can I get some weed? And the guy was like, Sure. How much do you want? And like, I don't know, I've never bought and he's like, this is your first time and he was so thrilled about it. He's like, Oh my gosh, it's great here. Don't worry about you have to pay for it here just any gave me I think an eighth of weed and no idea what to do. So I just smoked it all one day after work. And man, it was a lot for a 16 year old. They handle an entire eighth by himself the first time and I was just out of my mind, which was such welcomed relief. Like I couldn't tell you between work and then since my father was took a stroke. My mother couldn't handle it. Also, she He retired from being a doctor early, she quit, like just up and quit one day. So we had no money I was working two or three jobs, trying to, you know, help give my money to my family so we can live our lives and supporting my mother and my father and doing adult care for him. It was a it was a lot it was just a door to step out on the side one day and take a breath just nice fresh air, nothing three lakhs and it was very, very medicating my your mom worked, walked away from like a up and quit. Yeah, I got diabetes. Then my brother passed away. I got diabetes. And then my father took us right before my father took a stroke, maybe like a month. Before he did. She was like, I can't do this anymore. She was she was just getting slammed and taken advantage of by her hospital. Just very outright. And she's just like, I'm not there anymore. And she had enough to deal with everything else. So that was her breaking point. Wow, that's insane. Yeah, it's just it's hitting me kind of hard. How quickly it turned on you because I it escalates quickly. Yeah. I imagine that five minutes before your brother, you lose your brother, your your give three people. I was the happiest kid ever. Yeah, right. Your mom's a doctor and everything's good. And here we go. And just like that, and wow. Just like that. No kidding. All right. Well, so I imagine when you were diagnosed, they gave you I mean, 29 years ago is regular an MPH or lentil or something like that? Where were you? Yeah, they give me regular an MPH

at the huge needles. And I took the shots very well. Like, the nurse was like, here, you know, Practice Center origin, you can practice on me. And so I did that. She was like, I think you're ready. And I just, I was so excited. Thankfully, about taking a shot. I was like, This is so cool. So I just jammed it in my leg like, like stabbing a knife, you know, and just did it and I was fine with it didn't matter. And in plus, you know, being around my mother, she's around the hospital the whole time environment, I was very used to the medical environment. So it wasn't a huge step for me. But what about? So management back then just was sort of? I mean, would you shoot in the morning? And in the end before dinner? No. I just shot before every every meal you were giving yourself in some before every meal? Yeah, with the I wouldn't take corrective doses. Like if I had an apple or something between breakfast and lunch, I wouldn't cover for it. Okay. How did I mean? I realized it's a completely different time in management. But how did you see your care back then, like, I imagined was your mom involved? Or did she tried to be but she was a pediatrician on an endocrinologist. So she started attending conferences for diabetes and try to learn more about it, because she didn't really know much about herself. I mean, right? Because it wasn't her field. So she did the best she could dealing with everything and trying to learn a whole new field of medicine. But it was not sufficient at all. I mean, then she tried sending me to, I lived in a very rural part of Pennsylvania, northeastern Pennsylvania, and that we didn't have the best doctors there. So everything was kind of guessing and shooting, I mean, it goes down, shoot around, now you don't shoot from the hip, but it's come so much farther. Now it's more accurate. But back then it was like, Well, you got to take your shot, they've you know, like, well, let's try this amount, see how it works, you know, and, and I wasn't really interested in anything they data testing was the key back then they said, you know, touch yourselves as much as you possibly can. So you can know your sugars and correct and everything I just wasn't having that. I'd actually backlog my meter from so when my mom came home from work, she would check it. And, you know, and see the date and time that I checked myself all these times. And I was playing hooky a lot with that kind of stuff. Right? It's interesting, isn't it that while the management diabetes has changed so drastically over you know, 30 years that the doctors understanding of current management, the percentage of doctors is probably going up a little bit, but it's not overwhelming. Like there really isn't now. Yeah, there's still a I've had to I'm sorry, I've had to fire many endocrinologist. Yeah, well, I'd say it's a weird road we did the drug use escalate, or was it just weed? Not really. I mean, I kept myself in check because I it was one of those things where I'm like, I'm very aware I'm using this medicinally I'm not going to I mean, yeah, I get wrecked at like every morning before high school. So I could deal with the day but I mean, it was never anything more than you know, minor drugs and alcohol use where you manage it wasn't out there doing crack or anything. No crack, David night. No. Okay. Good for you. Like it's you. Everybody has to have their limit. Yeah. By the way, I just like to say here if you use cracking you have type one diabetes, please email me, I would love to have you on. So I'm not kidding. But um, okay, so the we are managing the are you managing stress with weed? Or Are you overwhelmed? Yeah. How does it How did it feel to not be high? I guess is the question. Oh, it was just awful, you know, because I didn't have it was like a nice constant massage. Every time I was high. I kind of felt, you know, relaxed, okay to deal with this and handling stuff. But other than that, it was up tense. You know, worrying about so much stuff. My mind was scattered when I wasn't medicating myself. And it was a tough time. Like, you had to face reality. My brother's not here. I have a incurable disease that's going to eventually potentially kill me. And my life was pretty much filled up bottom of the barrel right now. Yeah. And your blood sugars must have been high too. So Oh, for sure. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I, I think I was tested 150 once and I felt super low. Right? I was like, my blood sugar is low. I need something and I tested this. I was 150. And I was like, oh, boy, this is not gonna

forget. Yeah, just, well, it happens to like, you know, happens to people now. It's gonna happen to you. If you if you've had significantly high blood sugars for a while your body gets accustomed to it. And then even a normal blood sugar could feel like you're 30. And right, yeah. And that's a real feeling. It's like, just because your blood sugar's 150. And you're not in mortal danger. Doesn't mean you're not dizzy or disoriented, or whatever comes with it. Right, you know, that varies from person to person, of course. But that's, that's really crazy. Wow, you just sound like you were all on. I really was. Yeah, you get out of high school. Okay, did you graduate? I did. Yeah, I went to a prep school, I graduated with a C, I think, and I ended up going to college out of state in New Jersey. And I kind of rethought things and stepped back a little bit and said, You know, I really need to get my stuff straight. So I did really good. My freshman year, I got a 3.98 and then GPA and then I found my social circle, and let it go. And my diabetes got the better of me and I started felt falling and old ways. And my next semester was a little bit less than than semester after that was point, nine, eight GPA 0.98. It was just a awful time. Yeah, it's struggling a lot with financial situations and diabetes, I remember I ran out of my regular insulin. And just not not for any other reason that I think I was just getting lazy and not caring about it giving the right attention. And I didn't realize I was running out. So my mother would ship it from the house to the pharmacy there. And, you know, we we didn't even think that, hey, why don't I get a doctor in our school? You know, like, my mind wasn't on that level, where I was able to focus on things like that to make those judgment calls. And so she would ship my insulin from Pennsylvania to New Jersey. And there was about a week I was living on just mph timing it right and overlapping my doses just so I be able to eat lunch and until dinner and stuff like that with no regular of what age should you start using faster acting insulin 2000. Was it around the time about when you upgrade your meter? Or was it prior to that? Not now? I think 2007 Okay, let's start using fast acting. Yeah. So I moved down to Philadelphia, and 2005 and for work, and I got tired of running home again, like my mind just wasn't right. So I was running back home to see my endocrinologist in northeastern Pennsylvania, two hours away, instead of just going to Philadelphia Doctor getting a Philadelphia doctor who was world ahead of any of these people that I was seeing and getting everything straightened. But one day I just had enough and I was like it clicked. I was like, why don't I just do this. So I pulled the trigger. I went down and I saw an endocrinologist and he wouldn't see me it was a top rated doctor of Philadelphia endocrinologist he made number one list on some magazine, whatever. He wouldn't see me because I was not on a pump. He only saw pump patients which kind of grinded my gears a little bit. But I'm sure my agency didn't have anything to do with it either. But um, so he pulled me off to his nurse, head nurse or whatever to see me and she was really she was sharp man. She was so sharp. She was much better than any of the doctors in back home that I had seen. Okay. And she she walked in she was like they this is trash Antonios and you got to get rid of it. Use this stuff. She gave me a bunch of free samples. She ordered me tons and tons of insulin saying I was taking like seven The unit today like prescription wise so I double up on my insulin and have backups and stuff and she got me all straightened out with everything and that's where I turn the page a little bit. She's been in Philly Yeah 2007 Right. Okay, so then I saw her and things started getting infinitely better but then she noticed, you know, a all my wicked ways are catching up to me. So I was spilling a lot of urine protein out of my urine. She was like, you gotta go see a kidney doctor. Go check get checked out. So I found out I had only one kidney working roughly because of my terrible diabetes treatments. And so I got straightened out with kidney doctor a little bit. I got screened out my eye doctor, I had to get my I started going so I got the the laser treatments I had to get injections of both eyes. And that was in like 2008 and because my I was getting severe retinopathy, but everything cleared up. They took care of it. I got my blood sugar's straight. And I have 2020 vision now except after hitting 40 something i

i It seemed like happen over the course of three days. I'm now farsighted. I don't know we're just old age stuff. You know, nothing crazy, but it's still messing with me. Yeah, I can't believe I'm getting so old did my so quickly. My sight was so perfect my entire life. I mean, like, hues and contrast and depth and sharpness at any distance. I just I saw like a razor. And then one day I saw these like, floating things. I looked up in the sky, my sunlight were having a catch. And I looked up into the sky, and I could see it looked like things were floating across the sky. And I of course, I immediately panicked. I went to my doctor, and I was like, I have eye cancer. I don't know if that's a real thing or not. You gotta get in there and find out. And he's like, Oh, Scott, you have floaters. He goes, it's pretty normal for your age. And I was like, fix it. And he's like, Oh, we don't fix this. I was like, Oh, yeah. So you just kind of learned to look through it and don't see it anymore. You know, and it's died down over the years. But then suddenly, the next thing that happened was like, I just couldn't see my phone in front of my face anymore. And I was just like, I can't, I can't focus on the on the phone. And I had to get glasses for reading. And just it was it's, I mean, it's a bummer how quick it happens. And you're but you're dealing with all this other stuff. So tell me first, how did they treat your kidneys. So they, they wanted to do a they wanted to see us going to Jefferson University Hospital is very respected in the community. And they're like, well, we need to try out all these. So it's very convoluted that the doctor they sent me to was just about to retire and move to Florida, like within like a couple of months. So he's like, I'm not gonna start you on treatments. If you're not gonna be my patient, he goes, here take this, like, it was basically a diuretic that flushed out all the potassium out of my system, because my potassium is very, very high. He goes, I'll put you on some pills and just slam this potassium three times a week, and you're gonna poop your brains out, essentially. And that's what how I managed it for three months until the new doctor came in and said, you know, we need to get you on a statin, we need to put a water pill on you, we need to mess around your dosing. And that was I think about a year long guessing game with treatment and dosage and pills and everything and my ankles, swelling up the size of softballs and figuring everything out. Mess around by diet, low sodium diet, no potassium, no bananas, potatoes, tomatoes. I'm Italian, you take that away from me, like I cry, cry about it daily. But we got it all figured out. And everything's been holding good. My kidney functions have actually increased from when I was checked in with it and diagnosed. So I have a little bit more than one kidney, but still pain in the ass. Okay, do you think you'll ever have to do dialysis? Yeah, I well. So as long as my, I asked my doctor, the same thing is, it's gonna happen because you're gonna get old. And that's a road that you can't avoid. Because people when they're 7080 started having showing the effects that you're showing right now. And they're, they're perfectly healthy and they're eating right and everything. It just happens because you're old. So the best thing you can do is just keep your diabetes maintained and put that off as long as you can leave it to your body to deteriorate it on its own instead of helping it. I see and that's what I've been doing. But I was I pay attention to a lot of that research stuff coming out and they're doing a lot the past presidential administration, President Trump had his wife working on kidneys disease was very near and dear to her heart. So she she was putting a lot of efforts and resources into developing research for that and The they made a lot of progress. And my doctor at the time said, you know, I'll be very frankly, David. The bright side of this is there's usually big developments in medicine every 10 years. They can bookmark it. So hang in there for another 10 years and we'll see what turns the page. So that's kind of what I've been doing. At what point did you or have you, I guess? I mean, you said you met the nurse and she she moved up to more modern insulin. Were you able to bring your agency down and get your blood sugar's more

Scott Benner 25:34
Oh, for sure. Yeah. So I got I got my agency down from guess what friends the Omni pod five automated delivery system is here. It's available. The Omni pod five is the only tubeless automated insulin delivery system that integrates with the Dexcom G six CGM, and it uses smart adjust technology to automatically adjust your insulin delivery every five minutes, helping to protect against highs and lows without multiple daily injections. On the pod five is currently cleared for people with type one diabetes ages six and older Omnipod five has the option to control it from a compatible smartphone. And it's also available through your pharmacy, which means you can get started without the four year Durable Medical Equipment contract that comes with most insulin pumps, even if you're currently in warranty with another system. Well, that's awfully interesting, isn't it? To get started today with Omni pod five go to Omni pod.com forward slash juice box. For full safety and risk information a list of compatible phones as well as clinical trial claims data, go to omnipod.com forward slash juicebox. And if you're not quite ready for automated insulin delivery, go check out the Omni pod dash at the same link because you may be eligible for a free 30 day trial of the Omni pod dash full safety risk information free trial terms and conditions are also available at my link Omni pod.com forward slash juice box. My daughter Arden is out today. She hasn't been home for a number of hours. And I can see her blood sugar's while she's not here. I'm able to do that because Arden is wearing the Dexcom G six continuous glucose monitoring system. So right now Arden has little device on her. It's talking to her phone, her phone is sharing her information and my phone is receiving it actually up to 10 people can share Arden's data, if she wants. At the moment, I'm watching a small Miss looks like she didn't Pre-Bolus quite enough for a meal, her blood sugar went up. I'm seeing it being taken care of. And I'm watching it come back down. None of this is stressful because not only does the Dexcom G six show me the number her blood sugar is, but it shows me the speed and direction that it's moving in with directional arrows between the arrows and the numbers and the graph, I feel very comfortable at the rate that Arden's blood sugar is coming back into range. Not only is this great for safety, but it's great for learning. We'll use this information to go back next time and make a better decision with insulin. You can get started today@dexcom.com forward slash juicebox. And you may be eligible for a free 10 day trial, the G six you can also find that out at my link. These are our results and yours may vary. But looking into Dexcom is a no brainer in my opinion. Let me just tell you the rest and then we'll get right back to David. Here it is. It's super simple. Supporting the podcast can be done in a number of ways you can share the show with someone else, leave a great review where you listen, subscribe or follow in a podcast app or other audio player. Or you can click on the links for the advertisers. There are links in the show notes of the podcast player you're listening in now. And if there's not, if your podcast player is like a reared woman, it's not there. You can also go to juicebox podcast.com and click on my links when you do that. You are supporting future production of the Juicebox Podcast omnipod.com forward slash juice box Dex comm.com forward slash juice box juicebox podcast.com. And don't forget to take that survey AT T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juice box. I appreciate you checking out the ads. Now let me get you back to David

Dave 29:42
I got my agency down from nine at the time in 2007 to I think I was like 7.5 Right? That's a big big decrease. Yeah, she gave me a new meter test you know all that stuff. The good pep talk that went a long way to what tech I want you to have right now. So I am up to date on pretty much everything. I don't have a pumped I'm still MDI multiple daily injections. Just, I just pumped up my thing. I've looked it over and done my due diligence and it's just not for me. But I have a Dexcom CGM.

And I have a, I forget what my meter is actually, I use it so infrequently.

Well, but I calibrate my Dexcom with it. And that's about it. Right? Is it a good is listen, as long as it's an accurate meter and you're calibrated? It is? Yeah, for sure. We get the G five or G six g six g six. Okay. All right. So you have a CGM, your MDI, your agency's in the sevens? No, no, it's in the sixes. 6.3. That's wonderful. Congratulations. I choose that a lot to my wife. I got married in 2013. She she's like, Listen, you stick around for a while. We're gonna be build a family. You gotta get your stuff together. Like all right. Deal. So she, I mean, so ironically, in 2010, I met my wife and on a date, and I was like, oh, sorry. I'm not doing drugs here. I'm a diabetic. Shoot my shot before dinner. And she's like, Oh, that's fine. My father's a diabetic. I'm like, really? So she she was a grandfathered in and the whole situation already, which was made it super duper easy. And she's like, Hey, take your shot. Did you take your long acting you take your time goes, Do you need tablets, like stuff like that? She had tablets in her purse already, like for her dad like? So it was like it was a nice transition. David, you're making me a little sad. I don't think you realize it. I'm, I'm seeing your I'm seeing your life like this. I'm seeing tragedy in your family. I'm assuming rock you and your mother. Then another tragedy comes along, hits you guys again, put your mom in more stress, she's probably got to make a decision for her own sanity and for what's most emergent, which I assume is your dad's care. And then she quits her job. And then your life gets I mean, you talked about interesting. You talked about prep school in high school, but money problems in college. So now I'm feeling I had money problems all my life. How did you? How did you get the money problems? So my mother was a doctor, the first year of prep, and then then I worked three jobs through high school to maintain the status of the school. Oh, geez, you should have dropped out. Yeah. But then you meet this woman in 2010. And she's kind of all the things that I imagined that young David needed. Yeah. 100% Yeah. Yeah, he bummed me out, man. We don't. Yeah, the whole thing was like a Hallmark movie to me for a half a second. I was like, Oh, I'm gonna cry. I don't want to I don't even know you. You don't even listen to the dude, you don't even listen to even know me, like, what am I into here? But that's, uh, I appreciate you sharing this. I mean, it's really. I mean, it can't be it just can't be said enough that your situation is more common than not. And I think that sometimes the people who are have been listening to podcasts for a long time her doing great. Probably think like, oh, this is what everyone does. But listen, I'll tell you if I could. If I got diagnosed today, my life would be easy street. I'd be like, Oh, okay, I have diabetes, no problem. My wife's there to support me. I have a support staff. I have the online community. Listen, back in 1998. Online didn't really exist, especially for impoverished David, not at all, who could barely afford lunch like, so we have all these good Facebook communities, you're very strong and very knowledgeable. If I want to find a diabetic, I had to go to diabetes camp. And that was just awkward at that age, you know, so like, it was more of a babysitting club than anything, right. Yeah. So now we have all this support. And yeah, if I would be in 100% perfect health. If I got diabetes today with CGM, fast acting insulin support, and the doctors knowledge now. Yeah, it's a different world. Everything that you need exists now. right not to say that it's not a battle. It's still a tremendous battle for anyone. Oh, yeah. And everything that exists now can get better and should. But I mean, compared. I'm saying specifically compared to 30 years ago. Oh, my gosh, yeah, lightyears ahead. Yeah. It's just it's a different world, really. And it's not something that got gradually better like bicycles, you know, they Okay, so they added a spring here, they added a software seat now, diabetes jumps like magnificent advances, you know, not not by kind of getting a little bit better here and there. So I mean, every five years, 10 years, you know, it's significant.

I like hearing somebody who's been around it for a long time having that perspective, because I think if you're more newly diagnosed or newer to it or not paying attention, you know, the advancements feel slower in the moment. But when you have the perspective of real time, like you do, you know, like, you know that one day it was insulin that was, and then it went to meters that were and then you know, suddenly the insulin got faster and the meters got better. And then CGM comes and I mean, the insulin genre again, you know, it's come a long way, in 30 years is a short amount of time. Unless you're living through it. And then it's your life, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's funny. Just on an aside, I saw I found this article from the Pew Research Center all the way back in 2007. When it said in 1998 41% of adults were online 57% of non internet users said that they worry not at all about missing out on something. It's by not going online like this 57 of the population was like, I don't need that internet. You know. And now, my family has definitely an on that fence. Yeah, yeah. It's crazy. So when did you I mean, what led you to skydiving? So funny. It's very bizarre. I was. So I had just moved to Philly in 2005. And I, I just didn't know anyone. It was a, I had a very, very, very difficult breakup. Prior to that, and I was working at McDonald's as a manager with my bachelor's degree, and I'm like, I really need something. But there was just nothing out there for me at the time. So I was trying my hardest to find a job. And I finally found one in Philadelphia. So I just picked up and left. I'm like, you know, screw this. I'm out of here. This area sucks. I just need to change in my life. I need to distance my problems from my environment. So I moved down to Philadelphia, I didn't know a soul. And I started. I finally got myself a computer. I hadn't had my own computer. This is 2005 finally bought a computer. And I was like, I think I'm going to try this online dating thing ever. He's talking about. So I was on this date with this girl. If I met online, and we're talking at the bar, and they was going okay, it's nothing spectacular. And she's like, we started talking about bucket list items. And she brought up Skynet, skydiving and I was like, Oh, I always wanted to Sky she was really I never meet anybody that ever wants to do it with me. I'm so excited. I'm like, yeah, she's like, Okay, well, listen, it's getting late. So I'm gonna go home, and you and I are gonna go jump tomorrow. I'm like, okay, you know, I'm at this point. I'm like, six, eight beers deep at the bar already. And it's like midnight. And I'm like, Sure, you could have told me I'd write it off. And I would have said yes and agreed to it. Dave, did you agree to skydive to get laid? Is that what I'm hearing here? No, no, it was a genuine. I absolutely wanted to do it in the social lubricant, made it easier for me to agree to it. So I was like, Yeah, sure when I should. Okay, well, I'm gonna go home now. I'm gonna go buy my tickets online. And then I'm gonna text you and you're gonna buy yours. It will go in the morning. I was like, Okay, fine. She laughed. I was like, Well, I guess that that was a flop date. I'm like, whatever. So I haven't gone home. Literally, like 20 minutes later, I get a text on my phone from this chick. And she's like, I'm like, she bought her tickets. I'm like, I guess I have to now too. So it's one of those things I was like, alright, so I bought them and shut up next morning. It was about a half hour from Philadelphia. Big Big shout out to my home drops on skydive crosskeys in Williamstown, New Jersey. Amazing, amazing facility and company just run by the best people for all the right reasons, wonderful environment, safety first there, and just a really great experience overall, for anybody who's thinking about it. So I show up, and she brought a couple of her friends and we're all talking about it. And they're like, Oh, I think I'm gonna get a videographer and have a video of my skydive. And I was like, watching these people jump and I'm like, that looks really, really fun. And I am a dread adrenaline junkie, all the way I did motocross through high school and things like that, and rock climbing. I don't shy away from that stuff. And I was like, I don't think I'm gonna get one. Because I know as soon as I'm done jumping, I'm going to have to go again. So it won't be one of those things. It's one and done for me, right. So we got geared up and read the spiel. Got our safety checks, gotten the airplane. And if you haven't been skydiving ever have you gotten Scott?

No, I? I have not. Okay, well, yeah. I'll talk you through it a little bit. So you can come on my journey. Picture the very smallest airplane you can ever get into. It's half falling apart. Then you shove 20 people inside and everybody's sitting on your lap. And everybody is very hungover from the night before and very loud. And the plane shaking takes If you start going up to altitude and everybody's horsing around on the plane, then the pilot finally says, Okay, we're good, the door opens up, and you're about 14,000 feet up in the air. And it's a very large door, and nobody's seat belted in. It's really crazy. And you look at it like, wow, and then somebody climbs out of the airplane, jumps onto the wing and then skydives off from the wing, the whole plane shakes rocks back and forth from the weight distribution loss. And the guy looks at me, he goes, Alright, you ready? He clicks me in, and I'm like, Alright, and then we go out of the airplane, and it, it was just the rest is history. For me. It was absolutely the most your fork thing ever in the history of the world. There's a line in the movie Point Break that they talk about, you know, some people have to shoot drugs for sniffing coke, for this kind of feeling, we get it every time we jump out of the plane. And man, it's true. It's, it's so euphoric, and perfect. A lot of the skydiving, drive is for the views. Wonderful. You're above the clouds, man, you're flying, you're literally flying through the clouds. And it's absolutely wonderful to be by yourself and not trapped in an airplane or you have a device hooked to you, you know. And it, it's, I liken it to, you know, a lot of these monks, Tibetan monks, they do meditation for many, many years, decades sometimes to achieve that inner peace for just a moment. And where they don't think about anything, except their mind is just blank. And that is exactly what happens when you step out the door of skydiving, you. You can't think about the bills you have to pay. You're not thinking about what you're gonna do later tonight, your mind is strictly focused with laser sharp accuracy, in every moment passing before your eyes. It is the best feeling in the world not to worry about anything else and keep your mind focused. Because nowadays, you know, we're sort of torn between work or phones or kids or you know, jobs, stuff like that. Your mind is all over the place. When's the last time you were able to focus on one thing without getting distracted about literally anything else in the world for one minute? Let's admit it's very calming and peaceful. Yeah, how long does it last? So the sky is a freefall is about a minute. And then you open your parachute you have maybe depending on how big your parachute is, how small it is, your descent rate changes. So you could it could be anywhere from a five minute dive on your parachute to, you know, 1015 minute parachute ride. Wow, no kidding. How that's insane. It really is that you could be up there that long. It's great man. Some people do. As soon as they get out of the plane, they don't do freefall, they just open their parachute. And they do what they call a cross country jump, which is just the opening parachute immediately. And then you man, you have 20 minutes half hour up there if you want. Wow, really nice. Have you ever ended up in a tree? Yes, I have. So I was going through progressing through skydiving school. Because as soon as I landed that day, I'm like, Yep, I'm doing it like this is I'm coming back as soon as I can. So I signed up for the ground school and they teach all you know the science part about it and everything. ground speed wins, you know, stuff like that. And then the actual skydiving part comes a little bit later. And you have to focus on landing patterns and things like that. And they had clipped a, a, a walkie talkie on me and another student and they're like, they're like, Okay, when you open your parachute, we're gonna have eyes on you. And you'll hear from us checks like, I can't talk to them, but they can talk to me kind of thing. And we'll walk you through landing pattern. I'm like, Okay, fine. So I did that everything was great. And I I was just, again, having way too much fun up there. Like, David you're too low for landing pattern. We're just start doing S turns and eat up altitude and land right where you are. I'm like, I had no idea what they meant by S turns I was not briefed on that at all. So the men you know, make a left turn and make a right turn make a left turn right turn.

So so you don't travel too far forward, right? Because I was running out of landing area. So I was making very very large calligraphy S turns nice and short, a tiny ones. And I like I was coming right for a patch of pine trees. It was pretty thick. So I immediately fell back on my training and you got to protect your vital organs. So I put my arms in front of me and made fists in front of my hands and crashed right through the trees. I was fine. The branches slowed me down, no injury, except my pride. They had to come and fish me out of a tree and everybody took pictures and laughed at me and then I had to buy beer for everybody at the drop zone because it's my first time doing anything So anything in this skydiving sport is a first. It's a beer penalty. Gotcha. And the thinking behind that is you have to buy beer for the after party so that you debrief. Everybody talks about what you did. And they share their stories with it, right. And everybody learns that way from it, you know, and it's a nice, relaxed atmosphere. And it was it was productive. And I learned a lot about it. And so the next time I went up, I knew not to mess around. So I jumped out of the plane, and I helped my parachute. And I got my confirmation check. And I didn't eat up my altitude and get close to the ground before my landing counter started. So I started following the procedures on the walkie talkie. And the like, No, David, you're doing the wrong one. We're talking to this student. And I didn't know they had two students on the same line frequency. So I was following all the directions for another student. And I ended up landing off of the drop zone. In the last words they said to me were, well, we can't see any more so good luck. You're on your own. Like, oh, man, so I ended up landing in this development on this guy's front yard. And it was like right around when school that out. So all the kids came like pouring out of the house, cheering for me and clapping everything. I gave him big thumbs up. I was like, meanwhile, I was sweating. My you know what's off, and they thought it was all planned and everything worked out. And I got back to the drop zone. And I was like, oh, we'll do that again. How many times? Those are my only two real close calls. Yeah.

How many times have you jumped in? Do you know? Yeah, I have about three or four hours of freefall time. It.

So adding up every one minute jump? adds up to three or four hours. So I think I have close to 300 jumps. Wow. Does your wife do it with you? She did it once just to try it out. But her excuse was a she did it for the scenery. So if we go somewhere else, she might jump again to see the different scenery but we were in Hawaii for our honeymoon. She didn't want to jump. So I think she's kind of done with it. Yeah, no kidding. And do you have kids? I do I have a 18 month year old boy now and a four year old girl. Okay. gratulations. That's really cool. Thank you. Hey, did you say that? You did say that her father has diabetes. But was it type one or type two? Is type one. No kidding. Will you write madam? Will you do? Well listen, before I asked my question, I interviewed somebody yesterday, who met a kid in school, they were childhood sweethearts. She had diabetes growing up, they got married. And for years, then the guy gets diabetes too. And then they one of their kids does. So now I'm just like, I believe anything at this point. But do you consider or have you done trial net for your kids? Are you interested to know if they have the antibodies? I have not. It'll I don't want to focus on that. If it happens, it happens. I'm fairly religious guy. So whatever happens happens, we'll take it. Okay. All right. Yeah. I mean, I don't think there's a right or wrong answer. I'm just interested. Yeah. So I wouldn't want to know when I'm gonna die. Yeah. It's kind of saying thank you. Yeah. Well, it's it's Yeah, right. Church. Wrong pew, though. I mean, like, you're not getting kids aren't good. Yeah. But although you have a it's interesting. You've lived more years struggling with diabetes than you've lived with it kind of the way you are now. So when you think of diabetes, it feels like a struggle to you. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Okay. Do you think it ever won't feel like that? No, no, I mean, maybe if I was 100%. But with these kidney disease issues? Yeah, it's, it's always gonna be struggle, right? What if I told you and this is not me selling to you. But what if I told you that there are algorithms now that if you were a pump, your agency could easily stay in the fives or low sixes with much less effort? Right? Yeah. Is it not not attractive? Now, okay. For the device, just just the idea of wearing the device or what else do you think you wouldn't like about pumping? No, I think it's the idea that device I mean, there's a lot of you know, I follow a lot of pump people pretty closely. I skydive with some people that were pumps and they're always talking about the line tangles, the bubbles in the lines, the the site, pulls out, yanks out of the sleeping or catches on a doorknob, stuff like that. It's just, it's not my lifestyle. Yeah, no, listen, I my daughter wears a tubeless pump. So I don't think we'd be up for tubing either. Right? Yeah, no, I listened again, I don't have any opinion about what you do. I'm just interested in your thoughts around it. Right. So I think I when the technology gets better, I might be up for it. But as of now, I'm gonna still watch on the sidelines. That's excellent. What was I gonna just ask you, oh, what are your you know, everyone listening is like, well, you should probably ask him Scott how he jumps with diabetes. That seems like an obvious question of what we're talking about. and it is what I was thinking first over everyone who thought how does he not know what the next question is? That is my next question. How do you like to have your blood sugar before a jump? And how do you manage the whole thing. So managing diabetes while Skydiving is interesting, because everything is affecting it. The adrenaline makes my insulin more effective. So I easily if I take four units of fast acting for a soda, I easily only need to when I'm skydiving, I have to be aware of also potential lows, on jumps, because last thing I want to do is be in the air with the parachute pack while going through a low blood sugar. I could barely do it on the ground, you know. So for that reason, like I keep tablets in my locker at this, my skydiving drop zone, and in the hangar and also in my pockets. Anytime I jump in case I again land off and have to walk back to the drop zone. Do you have? Do you have a blood sugar you'd like to be at before you go? Because it's interesting. I do. Yeah, I like to fly a little sweet around 160. Okay, yeah, I was gonna say it's interesting. Adrenaline spikes, some people, and it makes some people go lower. I've heard I've heard people talk about it both ways. Bizarre. So if you if you jumped at 160 By the time you get to the ground, you're much lower you think?

Not much lower, usually 10 points lower here and I usually have to sometimes, I mean, it all again depends on that day and my breakfast habits and stuff like that, which I normally skip. I usually skip breakfast if I'm skydiving so I don't have to worry about carbs counting and everything and getting messed up. So I go on fasting sugars, but because I feel it's easier to manage that way. But I blood test before and after every jump. And sometimes it varies. I'll go up 160 I'll land it'll be like 89. Wow, that's some and sometimes I'll have to take a couple tablets before I go up. Hey, is it expensive to skydive super expensive kind of. So at first, it's super expensive. And then as you progress through the sport, it actually gets a lot cheaper I feel. But I mean, a tandem skydive is roughly $200 Wow, I think that might include a video. Okay. And then. So you do three tandem skydive, and then you start skydiving on your own. But you have to rent gear it so it's like skiing, you have to rent the gear and pay for the lift pick it up, right. So the gears, parachutes, brand new can cost like 10 grand, but I got my first parachute for I think $1,200. And that was the full deal. parachutes are tons of little pieces and the nickel and diming for everything, your canopy that you fly above You is costs a separate price than the strings it's attached to. And then you got to buy the book bag to store everything in. And then you have to buy your backup parachute. And then you have to buy an automatic activation device, which is a safety device that deploys your parachute in case you're you can't do it yourself. And you have to have everything checked every six months, which is another fee. But all after you get all that squared away. It's the lift ticket is $26. So Scott, it was roughly 26 bucks for me every time. Gotcha because you have everything else at this point. Right? Yeah. You know, you said something earlier, I skipped by it. But I want to come back to it. You said you jump, you'd like to jump a little sweeter at first. I've interviewed like 700 people. No one said that before. Yeah. And it seems so obvious when you said it is like a euphemism for having your blood sugar higher for something. And I was like, I think it was like How has no one ever said that before? So that's funny, fun terminology. So you jump with other people who have type one. I do. Yeah. rant. I was I was at my locker and this other guy. So my skydiving drop zone is a very large age. Let me refer to in the industry as a tandem factor. Dave, let me stop you skydiving school. Headphones set up. So very tandem friendly son, Scott, I've dropped zones are literally an airplane hangar in a field. That's it. And it's just for what they call fun jumpers, people who already have their license, go out on the weekends and bang out a couple of jumps. But this one is set up for students and 10 people who just want to try it once. So it's very large and people come from all over the country to it. So I was at my locker one day and I noticed the guy next to me fumbling with his insulin pump. I go is that an insulin pump? Yeah, I'm diabetic by walking. Yeah, I mean, so he's like, No way. So it was really funny. That entire world we have two diabetic skydivers lined up next to each other. Did your headphones come? Disconnected? Can you hear me? Scott you there buddy? Yeah, your headphones do they come? unpaired Oh, Scott, you there He's got Hey, how are you? Hey, there we go. Good. Good. Sorry. No, you started talking about I asked if he jumped with other type ones. And your voice changed. And I thought, Oh, his headphones disconnected because you were suddenly coming through a different microphone. I didn't know from where? Then I started realizing you were in your car didn't know if it connected to your car or what happened. But yeah, I think it went on safe driving mode. I think it just technology got the better of us. It was just, and then I'm like, he can't hear me. So I started texting through the app. And I was like, I don't even know if he's seen these or not. So, no. Anyway, we worked that out very nicely. So okay, great. Actually, you're so yeah, your story came right through, but go over it again, just for me. So, yeah, I saw a guy messing with his pumping. I was like, is that an insulin pump? He goes, Yeah, I'm diabetic. And he gave me the whole spiel. And was like me, too. It was very funny in the entire world. You know, the two diabetic skydivers have a locker next to each other?

Yeah, no kidding. You know, I have a similar feeling at the grocery store. I don't know if anyone's ever noticed this or not, but you park at the grocery store. And then you go into your thing, when you come back out. The person who's also coming back out is always parked next year. I guess it's just like an average time. And the funny thing. Do you ever notice that or No, I don't have to pay attention, though. I feel like there's like some synchronicity going on that we're generally unaware of. I don't know. I'm just telling you watch out for it. You pull in somewhere, somebody else pulls in, you know, there's no one else there. You get out. And the next thing you know, you come back out and that person's there. I'm just saying either I'm in the matrix, and there's a glitch or I noticed this a lot. One of the other that's funny. Yeah. But yeah, that is crazy. That that's that you just be I mean, there's not like there's that many people there, right? No, no, for sure. Yeah. It's really wow, you guys are you do know each other. So? Oh, yeah, for sure. We're friends. We jump all the time together. He lives in Maryland, I think. So he comes up to jump and we always check each other to try to meet up. And we joke we're doing a world record skydives together to diabetic largest diabetic skydive in history. Wow. Just three more guys, you set a world record? For what I saw, I feel compelled to ask you I mean, obviously your answer is going to be no. But if you can give me kind of bigger picture and how you've thought through it in the past, do you ever think like, I'm going to jump out of this plane one day, and I'm just gonna push into the ground. For sure that is always something in the back of your mind. But with skydiving, it's a it's a very, very unrealistic picture to what the media portrays, and what you know, the television shows show and stuff like that. There's a lot of science and safety behind every single job. And it's a whole thing. So with my parachute, I could probably shove it in my book bag and 10 minutes package up on get on the plane and go jump. But my reserve parachute takes two people three hours to pack they have to check every line set and go over every stitch and record everything every fold, and things like that. And then we also have what they call a these automatic activation devices. So if you're going faster than a certain speed at a certain altitude, it will automatically deploy your your backup parachute. And that is it's happened a couple of times to me but I deployed myself not that I wasn't able to for one reason or another because malfunctions in skydives are, are fairly common, but it's nothing that you can't work through. It's very rare that you you actually face this real emergency up there. And a lot of it is just through horsing around or not being aware of your surroundings, things like that. Do you remember the first time you pulled your main chute and it didn't work? Oh, yeah, totally. So it's your your main parachute is basically on a string. And it comes out the bottom of your book bag. With a hacky sack tied to it, that's your handle. So you pull on the hacky and you literally pull out your parachute out of your book bag, and it's got a mini tiny parachute on the end of it that catches the wind and pulls the rest of the the main parachute out. Okay. Once your main parachutes open, the mini parachute collapses automatically. And then you could steer your parachute through whether you still have forward movement in the air. Because you can dance up there if you want, you can put your body in any kind of positions and move around like a bird and you are in complete control of your direction and where you're going. And if you want to be upside down or face down or up, whatever. So if you still have forward movement during your deployment, you can tangle up your parachute lines, you know and that could lead to a very standard malfunction called the line twists and some people don't even consider that a malfunction because it's so common. So it's essentially, if you were to, have you ever sat on a swing at a playground and put yourself around a couple times I have, that's, that's what it looks like when you look up, your lines are all crossed together and tiny. So to get out of that, you just have to essentially move your body twisted around and do a bicycle kick, and your lines come apart, and you fly your parachute. But sometimes based on the size of your parachute, you lose altitude. So if I have a whole lot of fabric above my head, and I'm flying a very large parachute, it's less of a problem than if I'm flying a little tiny napkin, the parachute going very, very fast. So I can lose a lot more altitude based on a bigger parachute. So then that's where the issues come in. Yeah, you know, it's like, you can drive a Winnebago, you know, you'll, you'll be pretty much accident free. But

if you have that same kid jump in a Ferrari, he's probably going to cause an accident relative and you know, like, so it's this equipment that you use, and that so my malfunction happened because I still had forward movement in my skydive when I should have just been hanging out not doing anything and just deployed my parachute. I had some line twists. And I was like, Oh, I have like, twist again. Okay, let me try and work out. And then I tried working them out. But then I started getting more aggressive, they started getting more aggressive to the point where I was like a pendulum. Instead of being straight up and down, I was sideways and I could see the Earth in the ground, the sky and the ground spinning above and below me and I was like, I'm sideways right now. This is not good. And I checked my altimeter and usually open your parachute around 5000 feet, a little bit below the clouds. And then you have until 2000 feet or 2500 to figure stuff out. I was getting close to that 2500 I'm like, Well, I guess I gotta try out this extra parachute I always have. So I said my prayer and I yanked on my reserve and it opened up and it was perfect. It was instant. I had perfect parachute above my head instantly before my other one was even departed from my parachute setup. It felt very relieving. And when I got to the ground, like, hey, congratulations on your first reserve ride. We need a case of beer from you. And how was it? And I'm like, I didn't really fly it like everybody's like talking me like I'm test driving a car. And like I very delicately made turns and inputs into the parish to get me the ground. Like I didn't want to mess with it, because it was my only one left. And I have Do you Have you ever known anyone who's who's died doing it? Yeah, we do lose a couple of people in the sport. It's not often. But I've had about three close friends pass away. One Most recently, she was on a very large group skydive. And when you're in a very large formation, you got to hang on as long as he can to make the formation. So your open altitude is much lower, they open a lot lower for but there again, these people are all professionals. They're not just some Joe Schmo excited to take a parachuting, you know. So she opened up low, she had lion twist, she was flying a very fancy small parachute. They got more aggressive. And she couldn't get out of it. I'm not sure if she had her activation device on because again, sometimes sports parachutes professionals, you're you're flying your parachute at the speed that your activation device would open up, you know, my right because they're, they're so advanced. So sometimes they turn them off and she wasn't able to recover from the spin. Let me choose from sir. She was older she was I think 65 I was gonna ask you about the adrenaline. Two parts of it, actually. So the one part is, does it ever, like diminish or get old? Or do you? It? Does it hit? You know, it's wonderful. I mean, you learn to management, it's like, you can be drunk, you know, 100 times, but your first drunk is much different than the last drunk, right? So you'll learn to manage the feeling and enjoy it more rather than just experience it. Okay? And then this is a little morbid. And if I'm off base, just tell me so but no, no, God does it in what's the word I want? Does it increase the intensity knowing somebody who's past doing it? Does it act? No, not? Not at all. I mean, if, if anything, it just makes you step back. And you know, instead of just throwing your parachute rig on and jumping on the plane, you walk through your safety checks one more time and farther in depth, you know, right? Because you're like, I just want to make sure it's not going to be my fault. If I mess up or screw up, you know, you get hurt. Can you insure yourself against that? Against Well, like I would imagine if you're like a frequent skydiver, like getting like life insurance might not be easy. Oh, yeah, right now. So the we belong to an association through our skydiving sport that everybody has to join up in sign in for it and they provide hospital billing stuff like they, they assist with that stuff. If I fly my parachute into a parked car in a parking lot, they will pay for it. Stuff like that. So they do help. But yeah, I'm not looking for life insurance for anyone, anytime soon. What some people have floated the idea of some entrepreneurs are trying to do skydiving, insurance, life insurance stuff companies, but I'm not one for life insurance anyway to begin with. So no, don't really affect me. My, my consideration, there was just, you know, thinking about the kids, and that was one I'm thinking about my kids actually, I was like, I wonder, right? If I, if I left to do this, if my wife wouldn't be like, Hey, you're not doing that. You know, but it's just, it's a fascinating thing. It's very different to me, the idea of doing it is, I mean, it's outside of what I would consider doing. And right, you know, so it's just interesting to hear about, honestly.

It is, I mean, it's one of the reasons why I enjoy the sport so much. It's not everybody does it, and the people that do do it, you connect with them immediately. And especially connecting with people who have diabetes and do it like it makes it even more intense. So there, I block to a very small Facebook community group of skydivers that have diabetes, and there's 26 of us so far in the known world. And it's a really close knit community. It's really cool. What's the name of the Facebook group? skydivers with diabetes maybe is diabetic skydivers. I'm looking see if I can find it I'm trying doesn't it doesn't like what I'm doing type one diabetic skydivers. There you go. 26 people? Yep. Maybe you'll get more. Yeah, from this. There's a there's one guy posted a picture of him doing a blood test under his parachute. It was really cool. While he's coming down. Yep, that's excellent. He taped his meter to his hand and checked his blood sugar was cool. Yeah. Dave, listen, when I was younger, I used to ride motorcycles. I've been 160 miles an hour on a motorcycle. So I'm not judging you. I'm just there's something about off the ground. That is it's my bridge too far. Like I also if you told me you wanted to go on a small plane. Like there have been people on here like, I don't know if you know, Oren Lieberman, he's a CNN. Reporter, he also has type one, he was on here. And he's like, he's like, we, it turns out, we live pretty close to each other. And he's like, you know, I'll take you up sometime. And so yeah, thanks. Guess All right. And I know that's funny. Dude, I grew up in the northeast, outside of Philadelphia. So right, yeah. And I'm still pretty close to you now. And if you were like, Oh, it's okay. I don't know. Do you think people either know right away that it's something they always wanted to do? Or they have zero interest in it? Yeah. It's really funny. No, it's It's, uh, it makes a lot of sense to me, actually. Anyway, I would see a therapist is my therapy. It's great. No, I hear that. You know what I wanted to ask you that I never did. And I was just wondering, did the the weed smoking continue through life? Or did you let go of it at some point? No, I let go of it. It just wasn't fit my lifestyle anymore. Also, I moved to Philadelphia, I lost a lot of contacts. And it was just I I had my life for it was just a immediate band aid that I needed. Yeah, a crutch to get me through. But you know, again, you're not on crutches your whole life. Right. So it was I use it for its purpose. And I mean, if it's at a party, yes, for sure. But I mean, very, I can tell you last time I spoke right. I should name this episode. Dave can't find weed in Philly, because that'd be pretty fun. To imagine it's pretty available. I'm sure. Is there anything that we didn't talk about that, that I should have asked you about? So some fun little facts. The FAA recently alluded that having a low blood sugar amplifies hypoxia. And for everyone out there, hypoxia is you know, your brain doesn't get enough oxygen. And you start acting funny. It's the closest thing that a non diabetic can feel to being low blood sugar. If you Google videos of military going through hypoxia training, it's like watching somebody with a blood sugar at 50 It's ridiculous. They can't put the the block in the right hole or they're giggling They don't know what to do. They can't touch their face, they can't touch their nose, right. And you know, as skydivers, that's something that we have to be very aware of hypoxia happens roughly above 14,000 feet, right? And we skydive at two and a half miles above the Earth, which is about 13. Five. So we kind of flirt with it. So if my blood sugar is anything but perfect, it's just added to the danger, which I avoid, like the plague. But two and a half. It's really interesting. Yeah, where's the where's Where's low orbit? Like, when do you leave? You know, when do you leave the planet? The atmosphere? We fly planes at jumbo jets. It's like 30,000 feet, right? So it's got to be higher than that. Huh? That's interesting. Would you ever do? I mean, this is kind of fanciful, but you know, would you would you do space travel

if it was available to you? I tell you what, I think be cool. Okay, so, yeah,

Felix by monitor is a skydiver. And he jumped from the outermost atmosphere of the Earth, there was borderline space. And that really opened up it was very significant because it proved that skydiving could be integrated in spaceflight. And that astronauts if something were to go absolutely wrong up there, they could technically skydive back to earth as long as they got within the orbit of the Earth. I hope we never have to test that but it's incredibly I agree. Yeah. Would you would you want to go higher like where you would need oxygen assistance? So no, because I I've heard a lot of nightmare stories about that people passing out an airplane. I mean, they give you a can of oxygen for the halo jumps high altitude low opening. It's it's not something I want to I don't need to play with fire and then add more fire to it. You know, play with fire and add more fire to it. That's hilarious. All right, man. Well, I really appreciate you coming on and doing this. It's, it was really wonderful talking to you. I enjoyed hearing your story very much. Yeah, I even did some extra added stuff I'll throw in here. Even though I'm not on a pump, my pump, skydiver friends. Were telling me that it's standard practice to take pumps off for skydives, because some doctors warn that the lower atmospheric pressure may increase delivery of insulin, so they can get like a double dose of it. And T slim actually has an altitude bladder warning and it's only approved to an altitude of 10,000 feet. Oh, no kidding. Yeah, we have an episode about how to fly with a pump and that's around all that stuff. pressurizes the line and push it like you have to pump and it pushes the insulin through. People get experience lows and that highs when they're flying for reasons that are that are to do with the altitude. So that doesn't surprise me. No, I'm, I'm amazed you took notes. You don't seem like a note taker to me. Therefore, this was, um, secret note taker. I appreciate you being prepared. Yeah, I really did you have a good time? I did. I had a great time. I really appreciate you inviting me on. Excellent, nice. It's my pleasure. It was really nice for you to to reach out. And if you're looking for another Facebook group with people with diabetes in it, I have one with 20,000. So I'm on it. You're in there. Yes, sir. I like you. You're in the Facebook group. Don't particularly listen to the podcast, found the show through a friend. Will you say your friends first name? Ashley. Ashley. Well, Ashley, thank you for Ashley. Yeah, thank you, Ashley Tracy. All right. It just gonna blow up completely. Totally. Now, I really appreciate you doing this very much a happy new year. It's just just barely into January. So do you think you'll jump this year calendar year? How many? Yeah, just rough guess. About 50 times. That's a low number. Is it a warm weather activity. So I actually have a scouting event coming up on the 12th of February called freeze fest. And it's a little party that drops on puts together. We go out it's mainly to keep our licenses current because if you don't jump into a certain amount of time, you have to retake your license and everything. Okay, so they offer that and it's a huge dodgeball tournament for everyone. And we get together and have a good time playing dodgeball and skydiving. So February 12. I will be having my knees in the breeze again, and then I'll probably saddle it up until the warmer climate like May You dress differently in the cold weather.

You betcha. Yeah. I was gonna say it's gotta be so cold up there. Right. So cold so it's two

Scott Benner 1:14:37
degrees colder every 1000 feet you go out. Oh, and add a windchill of 120 mile an hour. It's a lot. Yeah, I'm not good with a cold on the ground actually. Honestly have a uterus a little snowy today. And I was I was already irritated. I woke up I was like, What is this when it's spring? It's my first thought. January. I'm wondering when spring is coming. Oh boy, you got a long winter how to do that. Yeah, I'm not going to enjoy the law anyway. All right. Can you hold on one second for me? Yeah, sure, thanks. A huge thanks to David for coming on the show and sharing his story with us. And a big thanks to Dexcom, makers of the Dexcom G six continuous glucose monitoring system, see if you're eligible for a free 10 day trial@dexcom.com Ford slash juice box. And of course, on the pod five, and on the pod dash are available at Omni pod.com Ford slash juicebox, you may be eligible for a free 30 day trial of the on the pod dash. Go find out. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon. You know what I hope you're having a great summer I haven't said that. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast. If you're listening in a podcast app, like Apple podcasts or Spotify, please follow or subscribe to the show in that app. If you're listening online, please consider listening in an app. And if you love the show, and you just can't hold it inside me longer. Go tell a friend, a neighbor, a doctor, a nurse somebody else who you think might appreciate it. While you're at it. Don't forget right there in the podcast. If you're listening then right now, you can probably leave a five star rating and a review for the show. Already Thank you for listening, so I should probably just stop the recording. You know, ok... yea.

#731 Bold Beginnings: Food Choices

Scott Benner 8/3/22 Scott Benner 8/3/22

#730 A Family Thing

Hilary has type 1 diabetes as does her husband and their child.

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends and welcome to episode 730 of the Juicebox Podcast.

Today I'll be speaking with Hillary who has type one diabetes is married to a type one and is the parent of a type one. While you're listening, please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan are becoming bold with insulin. If you're looking for the diabetes Pro Tip series, it begins in Episode 210. In your audio app. If you're a US citizen who has type one diabetes, or is the caregiver of someone with type one, please consider going to T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. Join the registry take the survey it all takes fewer than 10 minutes. It's completely HIPAA compliant. Absolutely anonymous. And your answers to easy questions about type one will help other people living with type one diabetes, T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. And if you're looking for community look no farther than the private Facebook group for the Juicebox Podcast Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes on Facebook. This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by the Contour Next One blood glucose meter, get the meter that my daughter carries at contour next one.com forward slash Juicebox Podcast is also sponsored by in pen from Medtronic diabetes. You can learn more about the ink pen right now at in pen today.com.

Hilary 1:57
My name is Hilary and I have had type one diabetes for 20 years now. I was diagnosed the second day of kindergarten. I married my high school sweetheart. And then about five years into marriage. He got diagnosed with type one diabetes. And then we have three children together and our middle child was diagnosed in April of 2020. With type one at three.

Scott Benner 2:26
Hell, okay, hold on. Hold on a second. You've had it for 28 years. But how old are you?

Hilary 2:32
I am 3434

Scott Benner 2:35
Second day of kindergarten. Yes. Like still didn't know where your copy was?

Hilary 2:40
Like, yeah, pretty much I went to I rode the bus for the first time on the first day of school and the second day I was in the hospital.

Scott Benner 2:48
Wow. Okay, yeah. All right. And then your husband got diagnosed at what age? What was that? Are you

Hilary 2:57
was no, that's my son's CGM. Tech's comp going off. Sorry.

Scott Benner 3:02
You really don't want to miss that.

Hilary 3:05
All right. My husband's got it under control. It's fine. But what was the question? was how my husband? He was new got the diagnosis like right before his 30th birthday.

Scott Benner 3:18
Okay. And, and your three kids, but one has t one, right? Yes. Okay. How old is he? He's five. How long? Has he had type one?

Hilary 3:31
It'll be two years in April.

Scott Benner 3:33
Okay. All right. Well, we have plenty to talk about the holy.

Hilary 3:38
There's a lot. Yes.

Scott Benner 3:39
How did I come upon you is my first question.

Hilary 3:42
Um, I have a friend who actually her son was diagnosed months after my son. And so we got in contact with each other and we're chatting. And she was the one that actually told me about the Juicebox Podcast, I'd never heard of it in my 20 Some years as a diabetic. And so I joined the Facebook group, but I haven't actually listened to any of the episodes yet. So you had posted on there about somebody who hasn't, who's part of the group but hasn't actually listened to any of the episodes. And so

Scott Benner 4:16
yeah, Hillary, you kind of screwed me just now. Because I'll tell you why. Because I was sorry, I was super set to talk to somebody who just didn't know the podcast, but was in the Facebook group. And then you just dropped an amazing story on me. Don't worry, let me bear down in my mind, we'll get it. Okay, I'm still gonna start where I meant to start though. Okay, sounds good. How is it being an adult who's had type one for a really long time? And then suddenly discovering this kind of information that you didn't you weren't aware of for so long? Is it uplifting or is it a little depressing or is it somewhere in the middle

Hilary 5:02
I think it's great that there is a platform that is so accessible for parents, or other type ones, but especially parents type ones, I think it's incredibly overwhelming to have a diagnosis like that, that changes your tire world. But when you don't know, or know very little bit about the disease, it's nice that there's a place for people to go and that they can find support, but also information that is very helpful. So I haven't actually listened to any of the episodes. But as I've become part of the Facebook group, and I've seen different links for various episodes, once the pod at this interview is over, I plan to listen to a couple of them. I'm really looking forward to those. But I've been trying to not listen to any preparation for today,

Scott Benner 5:54
if you've been holding out so you could still say you were like a podcast version when we got on.

Hilary 5:58
Yes, that's exactly what I've been doing. But anyway, I think it's great that you have it. And I know that my friend who introduced me to it has said wonderful things about it. So I, I have actually recommended the podcast to other type one moms, without actually listening to it myself. So

Scott Benner 6:16
I don't care how I get the recommendations. Hillary, that's fine. We do that. So we when she tells you about it, she told you about it because your son was diagnosed, not for yourself, right? That's correct. Okay. How would you characterize your overall health and management over the last 28 years?

Hilary 6:37
I would say for the first 20 years or so it was definitely in the higher range. As far as average blood sugar goes. We didn't have I didn't have a Dexcom until I was in my 20s. I didn't have a pump until I was 16. And I'm only now on like, closed loop system. So the first 20 years, I think I I didn't know a lot about the disease, I kind of just assumed that everybody ran higher that that was just the normal for type one diabetics. And you know, the lows were the scariest thing. So

Scott Benner 7:23
in your mind, you weren't doing anything particularly wrong. Right? You were protecting against getting a low? Yes. All right. And that was at the direction from your, your medical team as well, or just did that come from your personal experience?

Hilary 7:36
Um, I think my I think my parents were scared of lows too, especially without knowing without having a Dexcom in order to tell them what my blood sugar was at any given time. And, you know, like I said, I started kindergarten, the day before I was diagnosed. So that's a huge transition in most parents worlds. And, and now they have to spend a week at the hospital and then come back. And now they're trying to learn about the disease. And they're trying to educate my teachers and the staff about the disease. And so I think it was just as scary. And I think it was always let's try to stay a little bit on the higher range instead of on the lower range. And so that was just normal for me. Until Sorry,

Scott Benner 8:24
do you think don't get dizzy? Don't pass out was kind of the word of the day.

Hilary 8:29
Probably. Yeah. Were you used and then

Scott Benner 8:32
we're used. I'm sorry, we're using regular and mph back then.

Hilary 8:36
I was using regular and I think it was called Lin Tae was the long lasting, I can't remember. But I was on a sliding scale. I took two injections. It took one at breakfast and one at dinner. And yeah, that was it. And if I was if my blood sugar was high at lunchtime, then they would just, like deduct something that was like I wouldn't have milk with lunch. So to try to keep my blood sugar from getting any higher. Okay. And then if it was extremely high, my mom would sometimes come and give me a third injection until I went up to Florida with Humalog. Atlantis.

Scott Benner 9:15
Gotcha. Okay, so did you have that experience that some people talk about? Like you've had diabetes from such a young age that you don't think about having diabetes as an adult? Did it impact you differently?

Hilary 9:30
I think I think my husband and my son being diagnosed makes it more on the forefront of my mind now. So I feel like it was just kind of always a part of who I was for such a long time. And then it wasn't until we wanted to get pregnant that I went to the OB and she was like, oh, what's your a one C? And I think I was in the sevens or something. And she was like, You need to have an agency have like a 5.5 in order to get pregnant, and I laughed, because I thought she was joking. I was like, that's not realistic. Like, that's a non diabetic agency. And she was like, right, if you want to have a healthy pregnancy, and I, I was completely blown away. So a point where I like left and told my husband that we're gonna have to get a second opinion, like, we'll have to change your BS or a dog. It was it was definitely depleting to hear that because like I said, you know, my whole life, I thought that what I was doing was, was what was normal for a diabetic? I had never met a diabetic with a 5.5.

Scott Benner 10:40
Yeah, she wasn't saying she wasn't asking you to make it like 7.1 or 6.9. No, you were leaving one number and going two numbers away. And yeah, and that's that probably felt daunting. Hey, you know, as you're talking, it's occurring to me, I think you're the first person I've ever spoken to who got type one as a child, and then had a spouse get type one at after they were married? Like, I cannot genuinely remember this. May I ask, when you figured out he had type one? Did you figure it out? Or Did he figure it out?

Hilary 11:17
He was actually an active duty marine when he was diagnosed. And so he had gone to the doctor for something. And they were doing regular tests. And it came back that he had glucose in his urine. And he told me that and I was like, Oh, they must have gotten your urine mixed up with somebody else's. So then they did a blood draw. And they came back with his blood sugar being elevated. And again, I didn't believe it. And then I tested him on my own glucometer. And it was high. And I was like, Well wait and do a fasting tomorrow. And so then he woke up the next morning, and he was like, I can't remember maybe 215 or something. And I was like, Oh, my goodness, you have diabetes?

Scott Benner 12:04
Yeah. Did you curse in that moment? Or did you wonder like, how does this because I mean, I don't remember off the top of my head. I you know, the numbers ever changing. But I think it's only like 1.8 million Americans have type one. Like, how did you pick one? Like, could you see it in his face when he was little or something? Like, I mean, how did you do that? That's um,

Hilary 12:22
I don't know. It's it is really remarkable. I mean, I think it was. I don't know, God's plan is bigger than mine. So

Scott Benner 12:31
Hillary, it feels to me. Here's how it feels to me. Like you said, Yeah, I married my high school sweetheart. And he ended up being a serial killer. Isn't that crazy? Because that's how random that feels. To me.

Hilary 12:41
It was. That's exactly how I mean, it feels incredibly random to us to. And, and yeah, it changed our lives completely, because he was then medically retired from the Marine Corps. And so, you know, he, we were moving across the country, and we just had a life changing diagnosis. And he was needing to find a new career. And just like that, it was, it was yeah, all from one blood test. Well, I guess originally, they diagnosed him with type two because of his age. And then we have a friend who is an endocrinologist, and she was like, you should get him get these antibodies tested. I didn't even know that there were antibodies to test for. And so she gave us the list of the bloodwork to ask the Navy doc to pull or to draw. And so he got all that blood work drawn. And it came back that he was positive for the antibodies that he was diagnosed from type two to type one.

Scott Benner 13:41
That's insane. Like, it's if you would come on here and tell me, Hey, Scott, I don't listen to the podcast, but I get a lot out of the Facebook group, I'd say Okay, good conversation. If you got told me, you know, I was diagnosed on the second day kindergarten, I would have been like, oh, that's gonna be a good conversation. If you would have just told me that this thing with your husband happened, I would have said, wow, we're gonna have a nice time talking. But then your kid gets diagnosed. And so here's my question. Did you up your game when the pregnancy news came? Or when he was diagnosed, which came first?

Hilary 14:19
up my game as far as like my control of my diabetes, right? Yeah. Before we had our first child. I got my agency down into the fives. And then we had Lillian and then Henry. And then my husband got diagnosed, and then we had Teddy. And then yeah, we have maintained great agencies throughout all all of that. So the last eight years, I have been in the best health of my life. Wow.

Scott Benner 14:50
So was it one of those things that once you figured out you could do it that you were like, wow, I'm just gonna keep you were able to keep doing it after the babies.

Hilary 14:59
Yes. Are they It was, I think once I actually got down into the fives. And once I got past the laughing at the OB for telling me that that was something she wanted me to do I, I was like, This is how my body is supposed to feel like, this is what it feels like to feel good. Because I think I spent so many years running high that that was my normal, and I didn't know that I could, I could feel better, you know. And so it feels a lot better to be in tighter control. Yeah,

Scott Benner 15:31
when I talked, I tried to talk to people about all the time that they don't realize how quickly your body gets accustomed to a higher blood sugar. And you don't don't feel as well as you could. But you just becoming aware of that at some point, did you feel dizzy at normal numbers in the beginning?

Hilary 15:49
I'm not that I recall. Now I know that I was I could feel there was a difference. But I wouldn't say that I was like dizzy or shaking or anything like that. It's just compared to what I was normally running at. It was, you know, I could tell there was different. But

Scott Benner 16:05
So from your perspective, which I find very valuable. What's the management difference between a seven and a five?

Hilary 16:14
Oh, goodness, I was many years ago. Probably the biggest, I think the biggest thing is a Dexcom. For me. And then

Scott Benner 16:27
how to properly use it that makes it valuable to you.

Hilary 16:33
Just being able to see like, when you're starting to trend up that you should give a little nudge and give a little bit more insulin. Or if you start to see the numbers trend down. You can take one glucose tablet before it gets to be really low when you feel like you want to eat your whole kitchen. But I don't know.

Scott Benner 16:54
Well, Hillary let me say you're gonna love this podcast when you start listening to it.

Hilary 16:58
You really I've heard great things I can't wait.

Scott Benner 17:01
So I think it's it's fascinating that you just getting that information, just being able to see it in front of you. It's a shock, right? Like, you look and you go Wait, this is happening I had, I can remember when my daughter got to CGM and all the things that I didn't have any idea about, were just kind of put in front of me it was a little overwhelming at first. And then just like you I started thinking like, Well, why don't I stop it before it gets high or? Right? You know, why am I doing 15 carbs? Because they're bludgeoned at, you know, like that kind of stuff. And, and I realized how I was chasing the blood sugars constantly instead of being ahead of them. And it just all kind of kind of came into into focus. But I asked that I asked you the way I did, because a large amount of people, adults that come on here and talk about type one, at some point, will say, I didn't take great care of myself. I wish I would have done better, something like that. Until there's always in until until I wanted to get married until I wouldn't have a baby until my son was diagnosed. Like there's always this very interesting kind of human thing that it's it's somehow difficult to take care of yourself for yourself, but it's easy to take care of yourself for someone else. So true. Yeah, it's just very interesting. And so when your husband's diagnosed, is he knocked, I mean, besides losing his career, which I'm I'm having trouble even imagining. That's horrible. I interviewed a pilot one time who just, you know, in a swipe of a pen, couldn't do his job. But But when that happens to him, aside of that adjustment about career, did you having diabetes your whole life? Was that of any value to him? Or was it like he was starting over?

Hilary 18:50
Um, I think it was definitely valuable because we had dated since we were 16. And he was 30. So at this, at that point, you know, he had 14 years of growing knowledge of the disease before he even had it. And you know, there's been times when I've obviously been low, and he's needed to help treat me and stuff like that. So like, he understood a lot about the disease. I think when he finally started feeling like low blood sugars or feeling how some lows can just kind of knock the wind out of you and you're tired for hours afterwards or something. It wasn't until those kind of experiences where he was like, you would talk about how, you know, it really drains you but I didn't understand what that meant. Until I felt it myself. And so he knew a lot about it. But you know, obviously you don't know everything until you're actually walking in the shoes.

Scott Benner 19:55
When you describe your husband as a Marine you understand that I immediately not being a person Who could find anyone for any reason? Imagine that your husband is about six to weighs about 220 pounds and could pick my head and throw me across the room. Is any of that close to true?

Hilary 20:09
I think my husband will tell me that there are two types of Marines. And I think it's like, big and mean and lean and mean or something like that. So he is, he is six foot and probably like 170 pounds. A runner and he's fit, but he's a leaner fit. I guess.

Scott Benner 20:35
He's, I mean, he's, it sounds like he served, right. And he's, and so did he attack the diabetes with that sort of like, how does David Goggins put it? Like, who's gonna carry the boats? Like, did he like, it's gonna be me? I'm gonna do it. Like, did he have that energy for that? Or did you see it make him more human?

Hilary 20:55
Um, I think he. Well, I guess when he first got diagnosed, they said it was type two. So we started doing a lot of research about type two diabetics at 30. And it wasn't until we did the antibody testing, that we realized it was that he was actually type one. So he had done a lot of research from the get go of like, how did he get type two? And, you know, how does how can you manage this? Because I guess you can still stay in the Marine Corps with type two, I'm not really sure about all that. But anyway, he, he did take it very seriously, and just tried to learn as much information as he could about how to manage the disease and live with it as healthy as possible, in addition to everything that, you know, he already knew from my life experience. So yeah, he was very proactive.

Scott Benner 21:47
Were you able to be helpful to him? Was he open to your suggestions?

Hilary 21:52
Ah, sometimes, I mean, I would there's, I mean, that's still an ongoing thing, I guess, you know, when we start to see trends, and we make suggestions to each other about, maybe you should increase your basil or decrease your Basal or something like that. And, you know, there's some back and forth between things, right. But for the most part, we usually agree on most things. Okay.

Scott Benner 22:20
Do you follow each other on CGM? almost definitely. Okay. So you see his he sees yours. You both see. Yes. Okay. And we

Hilary 22:28
compete with our agencies because that's what any marriage would do, I guess.

Scott Benner 22:35
Yeah. Oh, for certain. Yeah, I Hillary I know you're not on for this reason, but I'm going to be completely just derelict if I don't ask you this question. You're the first person I've got to ask this up. I'm so sorry. You don't have to answer if you don't want to. What's it like having sex when you're both have type one?

Hilary 22:57
Oh, my goodness. That would be a conversation. That might be off line.

Scott Benner 23:05
Sir. There are a lot of devices clanking together. Are there low treats all over the room like like, give me the high level look at it. Nothing too personal. Hi. Don't know or you do not want to answer. That's fine. Don't feel pressured. Just tell me are some positions out of the question. Ah, oh, Hillary, you're very demure. Okay, I'm so sorry. Nevermind. Don't worry. Your wife of a marine you've got three kids. I didn't expect this. It's okay. Don't you're not judged, don't worry.

First of today's sponsors in pen from Medtronic, diabetes, you know what an insulin pen is? But do you know what the in pen is? In pen does something kinda great. It pairs with an application on your smartphone. And it gives you a lot of the functionality that people tend to think about when they think about insulin pumps, like dose reminders, a dosing calculator, carb counting support a logbook, it's a place where you can see your glucose history, your active insulin remaining, your current glucose and your meal history. This is pretty special in pen today.com. So if you're looking for a reusable smart insulin pen that uses Bluetooth technology to send dose information to your mobile app, you're looking for the pen. Everything you need to get started is that in Penn today.com There's not much more to tell you head over there right now and get going. Maybe this will help you decide. Now this offer is available to people with commercial insurance and terms and conditions applied but you may pay as little as $35 for the in pen. And if you prefer to read your internet in Spanish, go to in pen today.com and click the link at the top of the page turns the whole page right over to Spanish. It's pretty great in pen requires a prescription and settings from your healthcare provider, you must use proper settings and follow the instructions as directed, where you could experience higher low glucose levels for more safety information visit in Penn today.com. Now let's talk about something that everyone needs an accurate blood glucose meter. And for my money, the Contour Next One is the way to go. You head to contour next one.com forward slash juice box and there you're going to learn all about the blood glucose meter that aren't in carries. Before we talked about the meter, let's talk about the test strips. As part of the contour next blood glucose monitoring system. These strips offer remarkable accuracy. They are the number one branded over the counter test strips. And these test strips offer Second Chance sampling. This can help you to avoid wasting test strips. And it is said that up to 100 strips can be wasted each year due to application errors. But with the Contour Next One blood glucose meter, you get second chance sampling. Now the meter itself is small, easy to carry easy to use, easy to read and has a bright light, checks all the boxes, go to contour next one.com forward slash juice box when you get there, you can click on this big orange button that says buy now, when you do that, it gives you a ton of options for buying online. Because you might not know this, but the Contour Next One blood glucose meter may be less expensive when paid for by cash than when you get it through insurance. Maybe maybe not. But you'll find out. I'm just gonna click here on the Amazon link. It's gonna get the first price that pops up. Here we go. I'm scrolling. I'm scrolling. Oh, Contour. Next One blood glucose monitoring system $11.49. Okay, come on to our next.com forward slash juice box. There are links in the show notes of the podcast player you're listening in right now. And links at juicebox podcast.com to the in pen, the Contour Next One and all the sponsors of the Juicebox Podcast when you click on my links, you are supporting the show. Thank you so much. Now let's get back to Hillary.

Just I don't know how not to ask I have episodes of people who just come on and talk about, you know, like, really like what it's like and about kind of, you know, getting your blood sugar in a good place or getting a low dooring or how to treat each other and stuff like that. I just, I don't know, it just jumped into my mind all the sudden, I apologize for asking, how's that?

Hilary 28:03
It's quite alright. It's probably not something I would talk about on a podcast, but it it is, you know, obviously part of our life in our marriage and something that we navigate as well.

Scott Benner 28:20
Yeah. Okay. Do you guys all use similar devices? Or does everybody kind of have their own choice for a pump, etc.

Hilary 28:28
I was Medtronic for several years. Then I went to Animus. Then I went back to Medtronic. Then Henry started on tandem. And then I switched over to tandem as well. And so my husband's still on Medtronic, and hit once his warranties up. I think he's planning to switch to tandem as well.

Scott Benner 28:49
You guys all using control IQ. Yes. You like it? I love it. Yeah.

Hilary 28:54
I mean, I can't say enough great things about it.

Scott Benner 28:57
His algorithms are absolutely fantastic. Yeah, I, I know, the Omnipod five is coming out very, very soon, based on when you and I are talking not based on when you and I Not based on when this will actually go up. But um, it'll be out. It's gonna be out really soon. So I know, I just think that algorithms are for people who can afford the gear and who want to learn them. I think it's a it's just a no brainer, you know? Right. Yeah. Okay. So, I mean, I got to ask you, I don't want to make you upset. But how do you notice your son? I'm assuming you figured it out before too long with both you haven't type on right.

Hilary 29:39
Yes. Yeah. So I think I've, I think I dealt with guilt of not picking up the signs on my husband's diagnosis, and it still blows my mind that you had it and I you know, all the signs that in retrospect, obviously were there but I thought they were something out All right. So with Henry, it was, you know, I don't know, four or five weeks into the pandemic. So we were all at home. And I was reading him. Well, I guess I had had. There had been one day in October, when we had gone out to lunch. And afterwards, he was just acting off. And I was like, something's up. And I tested his blood sugar. And it was a little bit high, but nothing that was like out of the normal range for you know, non diabetic who just eaten. And so that was in October. And then in April, when we were all at home, I was reading him a book before lunch. And he had an accident. And I was like, very shocked that he had an accident. And my husband, who was working at home came into the room because it's about lunchtime. And I was like, hey, Henry. Henry just had an accident, I think we should test his blood sugar. And he was like, my husband said, Well, he's three, Hillary, that happens. And I was like, I know, but I just think we should test his blood sugar. And it was 374. And I gave him a low carb lunch, and I put him down for a nap. And I called my endocrinologist. And they were like, we can't do anything you need to call his pediatrician. And I was like, Oh, well, you're an endocrinologist. They're not an endocrinologist. Come on, right? Yeah, like, so I called the pediatrician. And they were like, Okay, you need to pack an overnight bag, and bring him in. And I was like, what? Why do I need to do that? Like, they're like, well, we need to test this blood sugar and testing for ketones. And I was like, Oh, well, I can use test his blood sugar when he wakes up from nap. And I just ordered Instacart from CVS. And, you know, the ketone strips will be here soon, and we'll test them when he wakes up. And she was like, No, me, I need to pack a bag and bring him you know, it's like, why do I need pack back, she's like, well, he's probably going to have to go to Children's Hospital today. And I was like, and of course, this is five weeks into the pandemic. And we have to type one diabetics in our house. And now a third type one diabetic in our house, and the hospital was last place we wanted to go. And so I, I eventually packed a bag and woke him up and took him in. And luckily, he didn't have ketones, and his blood sugar was still high. And so they called one of the local children's hospitals. And the pediatrician was actually really wonderful and advocated for us. Because asking if we needed to go to the hospital, and they eventually said that, because my husband and I both knew how to manage diabetes, and because Henry didn't have ketones, that we could just stay at home, and do all the training and everything virtually. So we didn't actually have to go to the hospital, which, in hindsight, I'm very, very relieved, because I've heard a lot of very traumatic stories about, you know, that week of diagnosis in the hospital for kids. And I remember, mine being pretty traumatic, too. So I'm glad that Henry didn't have to go through that.

Scott Benner 33:20
But listen, if there's no immediate medical issue, me, I mean, he's gotta be in reasonably good hands with the two of you. At the very least, they had to have felt a little comfortable about that. And then I would bet COVID to you know, they were probably looking for an excuse not to bring anybody into the hospital, honestly. Yeah. Did he ever have a honeymoon?

Hilary 33:39
Oh, yeah, he honeymoon for a while. He wasn't he didn't take insulin until maybe August. Oh, really? So April to August. Yeah, he was. We just did lower carb diet and was able to keep them in a good range. And then we started on Cuba log for, I think breakfast. So one meal a day in August, and then eventually it went to breakfast and lunch. And then it was breakfast, lunch and Lantis at night. Okay, I was gonna say around Christmas time.

Scott Benner 34:15
Oh, the Lantus didn't come till Christmas. That's correct. So you were just you were just shooting for meals, almost like a type two?

Hilary 34:22
Yeah, for a long time. I think his body was making enough with the lower carb diet that he was not having a lot of huge spikes. And at night, you know, he was still fasting. His blood sugar was like in the 60s and 70s. And because he wasn't on Lantus, they said we didn't need to treat it at night. So because he had no you know, we didn't do a dinner Bolus for a really long time. Right. So it was just there was no insulin on board except for what his pancreas was still making.

Scott Benner 34:53
Yeah, you know, if you're not using manmade insulin and nice 70 blood sugar while you're sleeping, it's kind of lovely. So yeah, Until you're worried about something dragging you down? Sure, it isn't something to worry about. Is there now or was there then? Or has there ever been any comfort that you can read on his face that you and your husband also have diabetes? Or does that?

Hilary 35:20
Don't know if it's comfort, but I do know that like, he, I think it's nice for him to feel more normal. Like he's not the only one. So he has his one friend, the mom that of the mom who introduced me to the podcast, and then, you know, we have other neighbors. Actually, there's quite a few neighbors in our neighborhood who have type one ironically. Yeah, there's a lady down the street who's been on insulin for over 50 years. And just at the end of the cul de sac,

Scott Benner 35:54
found that you went to kindergarten?

Hilary 35:57
No, but only an hour only an hour away. You know,

Scott Benner 36:00
I'm asking you like, is there like a cluster? I don't know. Interesting.

Hilary 36:05
Yeah, it is interesting.

Scott Benner 36:08
Okay, so. I mean, I don't know, I don't want to make you feel sad. But does it? Is it make you feel like it's your fault? Are you able to, like blame your husband? Because he is like, one just ignore it? Like, I think it's him. But I know when I'm guilty. Yeah. The mom guilt.

Hilary 36:29
The mom guilt surreal, for sure. I mean, but I would not change not having him. You know, like, of course, I love him. And, you know, I've heard a lot of people who, you know, who have type one who question whether or not they want to have kids, because, you know, they don't want to pass it on to them. But I don't know, it's, I can't imagine life without my babies. And so they're just such wonderful blessings. And that's just part of Henry's story. And, you know, something that he lives with, we all we all live with things and struggle with things. So that is just one of the things that Henry has to deal with. Now,

Scott Benner 37:12
I agree. I think that I mean, if you kind of reverse engineer the idea, right? Like you don't wish you weren't ever alive. And right. I mean, you're not looking, you're not looking to bail, because you have type one, there's no reason his life will be any, any more or less successful and you're able to be or your husband has been able to be. Yeah, it just it's just, you know, it happens. People blame themselves for things that aren't their fault. And it's hard to shake sometimes for some people. How about in your husband's family, other autoimmune or type one?

Hilary 37:45
Yes. So his mother's sister got diagnosed with type one in college, so adult, you know, as an adult. And ironically, she was married to a Marine. And so when my husband and I are dating in high school and college are like, look, we're like them, you know, a marine and a diabetic, then my husband got diabetes, too. So he will jokingly tell everybody that it's contagious.

Scott Benner 38:12
Oh, listen, if if anybody ever said anything that made me think it was contagious, it's pretty much get to class. I did just put up an episode with a young girl who has she she is one of eight brothers and sisters, and six of them have type one.

Hilary 38:31
I saw that that's one of the episodes I really wanted to watch. And so I'm going to watch or listen to that.

Scott Benner 38:37
You really don't want this podcast, you don't you don't get to see it. You only don't get to watch it. Well, that's just that's really crazy. I mean, it just is how about on your side?

Hilary 38:46
Now I'm the only only type one my mom said that her grandfather, they used to talk about how he had high sugars. So she thinks that maybe he had type one and nobody knew what it was called. Or maybe just, you know, health was categorized differently back then. Or people didn't talk about it as much. I don't know.

Scott Benner 39:05
About like celiac, hypothyroidism, rheumatoid arthritis, anything like that.

Hilary 39:11
Ah, I have hypothyroidism. My mom has hypothyroidism.

Scott Benner 39:15
Are you guys? Hashimotos or just hypo? Is it just hypo? Hypo. Okay. How do your other two kids look scared? Are they somewhere right now? Like holding up a Horcrux or something like?

Hilary 39:28
Yeah, we got our eldest tested for the antibodies through trial net. And so after Henry was diagnosed, and hers came back negative, so we're hoping that that doesn't change. You know, she has she knows a lot about diabetes for her six year old who doesn't have the disease. So you know, she will talk about it and you know, how white blood cells attacked things, you know, the pancreas and all this stuff and I And so, you know, I'll ask her questions about it. And she's like, so that's, you know, that's pretty cool. And I was like, You think diabetes is cool? And she was like, Yeah, it's pretty cool. But I don't want to have it.

Scott Benner 40:12
You know, I did talk to one adult once, who didn't have it when everyone else in our family did. And they felt like they wanted it when they were a kid. They felt like they were like, it's a weird idea that to consider, but they felt on the outside of the inner circle. Yeah, I bet. Yeah. That's crazy. I mean, that stuff happens when you're raising kids one way or the other. But, sure, you know, you wouldn't think on something like this. Just really fascinating. Wow, okay, I let me recenter myself, give me a second. Hillary, you, you dropped a lot on me. I was just like, Alright, hold on. I was planning on asking you like, what's it like? Well, I'm still going to ask you, how about that? Okay, why? Why? Why philosophize about it as an adult living with type one, right? And for having it for so long. When a friend comes along, even though it's a friend and says, There's a guy, I think you should listen to him. He doesn't have diabetes, but he's going to talk to you about it. Do you? Does that rub you the wrong way?

Hilary 41:15
Oh, no, not at all. I mean, I understand that your daughter has type one, correct? She does. Yes. Yes. So I mean, you've you're living with it too, even if, you know, the one having it. And so, I mean, I think there's, for me, personally, having diabetes myself, was easier. It's harder being a parent of a type one diabetic than it is being a type one, myself. And so it's, you know, in the last year and a half, two years, it's been completely different than it was before.

Scott Benner 41:54
Yeah. Would you talk about that a little more? What makes it different and more difficult?

Hilary 41:59
I don't know. I think it's, for me, I know what it feels like when I'm low. And I know what it feels like when I'm high. And I know that like if I choose to eat, you know, that pizza at the birthday party, and then I go high, like that was the choice I made. And I I can weigh the risks of is it going to be worth it if I don't Bolus just right for it. Whereas he's five. And of course, he wants pizza. And of course, he wants to be at the birthday party. And if I don't do it, right, then, you know, the mom guilt of feeling bad that like, Oh, now he now he probably feels like crap. And it's my fault. But you know.

Scott Benner 42:43
And so, a lot. And also, I'm sorry to cut you off.

Hilary 42:47
You're fine. Yeah. And also just the lows of like, he is not going to wake himself up in the middle of the night to treat a low. So you know, making sure that I have all the alarm set at the right volume. And you know, that I've given the right amount before he goes to bed, and all that kind of stuff. It's like,

Scott Benner 43:09
do you feel how do you affect your pressure because you feel like you could be incapacitated when he needs you.

Hilary 43:18
There are definitely been times when both of us have been trending low. And you know, my whole time as a mom, you hear a lot of moms who talk about like, I didn't have time to eat today because I was taking care of the kids. And I never I could never say that. Because if I need to eat, I can't take care of other people if I don't take care of myself first. And so I've always been, I guess a unique situation as far as a mom of young kids, because I've always had to put myself first. Because if I don't, I can't take care of them. And so there have been times when both of us have been training low. And I'm like, Okay, I have to treat me and I have to treat him you know, or what happens if one of us does become you know, if I'm not able to treat I mean, I'm obviously catastrophic sizing and you know, this is anxiety talking but, you know, what's my do I need to teach my six year old how to call 911 and what to tell them and, you know, do I need to teach her how to use glucagon or back see me like,

Scott Benner 44:22
hey, 911 It's a show over here. My mom is walking in circles. And my little brother is just flopping over. I need help.

Hilary 44:32
I mean it Yeah, it's definitely a real thought this come to mind. And

Scott Benner 44:40
you know, just did you teach her how fast

Hilary 44:43
I showed? I haven't yet. My husband now predominantly works from home. So usually there's no two of us at home to Okay, yeah, to do all the things and so, but yeah, I mean it's there are definitely times when My husband coached Henry's baseball team this past year. And it was one of those things where if I'm not at the game teaching Henry, like, if dad ever were to pass out, you know what to do, like, you know what to tell people, right? Like the daddy has type one diabetes. And you know, if you'd have, if you ever don't feel well, you need to make sure you tell people that you have type one diabetes. So just those things, those conversations that the extra conversations you have to have that you don't want to have, but just so that people are aware, in case there's an emergency, right?

Scott Benner 45:34
Yeah, no, it train it builds. I mean, if I can give you the benefit a little bit of my experience. Sure, I understand the pressure. But it builds slowly. You know what I mean? Like you have the conversation once they don't need to completely understand it the first time it gets a, it's a really slow progression. It's like teaching somebody about type one. It's just, I don't think it's reasonable to think that you're going to tell somebody the first time hey, listen, you have to Pre-Bolus these meals and expect they're gonna do it every time for the rest of their life. You know, a lot of parenting, whether it's diabetes related or not, is saying the same thing over and over again. It's just it's a lot. It's a big part of the job, you know? Yeah. I mean, if your husband starts talking about a different sport, during baseball practice, that might be a good like, indicator for your son. Just, you know, Daddy told me to go out for a pass, but I'm playing first base, so I figured I figured something was wrong. I love that your son plays baseball, by the way my son does, too. Oh, really? Cool. Yeah. My daughter has type one. She's 17. And she Okay, she was diagnosed when she was two. Oh, wow. Yeah. My son is 22. He's a senior in college. And he still plays baseball. That's awesome. Yeah. So, but he has actually he has Hashimotos. But at this moment, not nothing else. And he did not have antibodies when he was tested by trial net, about 10 years ago, either. So we always can just kind of quietly cross our fingers about all that stuff.

Hilary 47:00
Yeah, same. We're still waiting for our two year old to get old enough for I guess they recommended that we wait until he's a little bit older to do the trial on it. So yeah, it's a lot.

Scott Benner 47:11
I mean, are you okay? I never asked you.

Hilary 47:16
Right now I'm okay. Because all of our numbers are looking good on the Dexcom.

Scott Benner 47:21
What happens when it gets upside down? Does it derail a day ever? Or derail an hour?

Hilary 47:28
Define derail?

Scott Benner 47:29
I don't know you were gonna go to lunch, but now you're eating at a Wawa instead? Or something? I don't know.

Hilary 47:36
I don't know. We always have, like, glucose tablets everywhere. So usually, like I said, we try to, you know, prevent too many lows from getting too low and catching early. So we don't have to, you know, stop somewhere else before. We're going to eat a whole meal somewhere else. But yeah, I mean, there's, there are definitely times when you know, at Christmas time you eat too many things, or they shouldn't or I shouldn't say shouldn't but too many things. And you didn't Bolus correctly for them. Or, you know, go to a birthday party and didn't quite guesstimate. Guesstimate the pizza, the cake. Yeah, or the periodic candy, or whatever it is. So, but usually, we try to like, you know, do the, the foods that we don't normally eat, we try to do those in the middle of the day, try to give us some time in the afternoon to catch and, you know, make sure everything's back on track before going to bed at night. But

Scott Benner 48:39
that's ultimately that's super smart. Just don't, don't tackle something you're not good at or something you don't understand. At certain times a day like before bed is just the big right. Have it earlier in the day. Give yourself a chance to get out of it before bedtime. That's exactly that's a that's an angel level move there.

Hilary 48:56
Yeah, we don't ever go out to dinner if we're gonna go out for lunch.

Scott Benner 49:01
That's super smart. It really is. made me laugh with that. Hey, I don't I don't want to know exactly where but are you and I? We live near each other. Are you in the Northeast ish?

Hilary 49:12
I am in Virginia, Virginia.

Scott Benner 49:14
I heard you say home like it was a little filly.

Hilary 49:19
Oh, nope, sorry. That's

Scott Benner 49:20
okay. I just why I guess that's all you did the home you went home. And I thought maybe she lives around here. That's excellent. So alright, so what are your son's is he in? He's in school now?

Hilary 49:36
He is in pre K he'll go to kindergarten in the hall.

Scott Benner 49:39
Okay. And will it be in person?

Hilary 49:43
Yes, I think we are. We are actually meeting with the admin of the school on Friday to see what they're comfortable with as far as management of him at school next Hear? And if not, then I will probably homeschool him for kindergarten.

Scott Benner 50:04
Well, it isn't a public school. No, it's not. I was gonna say it doesn't matter what they are comfortable with if it's a public school, yeah, yeah. Well, I, I understand the desire, like you're worried that somebody won't want to give him insulin or? Yes, yeah, I want

Hilary 50:24
Yeah, I know, there's a lot of private places that won't administer any drugs whatsoever, which I understand that that's a liability. But I know a lot of schools have policies about cell phones, and you know, right. Well, also all the things so I only want to send him somewhere that is, you know, totally comfortable with it. I wouldn't want anybody to do something. Or accept him, I guess, and not feel fully comfortable. Yeah. With doing the things that need to be done.

Scott Benner 50:58
Yeah, I wouldn't want somebody who's gonna flinch in the wrong moment. You know what I mean? I'll tell you one of the most popular episodes of the podcast is like the fourth one, it's called texting diabetes, because the day I realized that texting was a very important diabetes toll was a was a beautiful day around here. Like, you know, I just I recognized one day, like, I can imagine what's happening to my daughter, she doesn't actually need to be with me, for me to still kind of like, know where she's at. If I know the insulin she's had, I don't know the food she's had, you know, reasonably speaking, I know where her exercise has been. I don't physically need to be with her to make decisions. And Arden. I know. She hasn't been to the nurse since the last day of second grade.

Hilary 51:41
Wow, that's awesome. Yeah, I that's part of the reason why I might homeschool next year, because I'm like, if I can teach him to read, or at least read enough that I could text him on an Apple Watch. Maybe he could just manage it all on his own. But I don't know if that's too much to ask of a seven year old.

Scott Benner 52:00
I don't, I don't know when he'll be able to do it. But functionally, the idea I love, I think you're yes, you're smart. It's gonna it's gonna be a big deal for you. Because, you know, it just allows decisions to be made in the moment. There's no waiting, there's no I gotta walk to the nurse and wait for the kid in front of me his knee to get fixed. Like, you know, it's, it's very immediate, you avoid a lot of spikes that way, which of course, avoid no lows later. And, yeah, it's just really cool. You are really gonna like this podcast, I can't wait for you.

Hilary 52:30
I'm excited. I remember when I was in elementary school, that I couldn't even test my blood sugar in the classroom. And because I didn't have a Dexcom. Anytime I felt off. As you know, an elementary school aged kid, I had to be able to tell the teacher I don't feel well. And then I'd have to have another student escort me to the clinic so that I could test my blood sugar and then determine whether or not they actually needed treatment one way or the other. Yeah. And so it's crazy to think about how my parents had to manage my diabetes, just you know, 20 years ago, as opposed to me right now looking at my phone and seeing exactly what my blood sugar my son's blood sugar is. The whole time. He's at preschool

Scott Benner 53:15
Arden Bolus during her LSAT. So Oh, wow. Yeah, just they, they just, we had all the provisions put in place. And so I sent a text that said you need insulin. And she showed the phone to the proctor. And the Proctor's paused her test. And Arden gave herself insulin that proctor asked if she was ready to restart. And Arden said yes. And she sat back down, they restarted her time, and that was it. Yeah, if you're, it's pretty easy. You know, it's, it's obviously helpful that you really know what you're talking about. And you can watch it from afar. I mean, I can't say enough. Dexcom is a sponsor, but, you know, between the the device itself and the sharing features, just crazy, you know, that 10 people can follow your value is just, I mean, it's wonderful. You know, this. Yeah. I mean, you get so wonderful. You might meet a nurse one day even who has a grasp of it, and some people have their nurses following during the day and yeah, helps the kids in class and everything. Yeah, your your your son's gonna grow up in a different world than you did with type one. That's for

Hilary 54:22
sure. already. It's amazing. Oh, my God. Yeah. Yeah,

Scott Benner 54:25
the algorithms alone are insane. I mean, the sleep that you got back from an algorithm, right? Crazy.

Hilary 54:30
Yes. Uh huh. Yeah. And for myself, too, like I never go low anymore. My daughter's

Scott Benner 54:36
not feeling well today. And something not diabetes related. Right. So she went to bed last night, I don't know like 11 o'clock. And. And her blood sugar has been so she's still asleep. It's like one o'clock in the afternoon and I'm just looking back 12 hours like Arden's blood sugar hasn't been over 120 or under 85 In the last 12 hours. She's awesome. You know, it's just if she if this happened and this has happened in the past, you know, before, even with CGM, I would probably be in there like Temp Basal Inc trying to avoid lows and, you know, trying not to stick juice in her mouth, but maybe having to and instead that algorithm just like it just, you know, it's amazing. It's really life changing. So, yes, yeah, no kidding. All right, listen, Hillary, like, I'm not kicking you off. I'm just I want to make sure I don't miss anything like, is there something about your life that I don't know to ask about? Because you have such a unique situation that you would want to?

Hilary 55:40
I don't know. I had one near death experience once I was pregnant. My third time.

Scott Benner 55:50
Yeah. Well, you wouldn't talk about the vaccine, but you'll talk about this. That's good. I'll think I'll wait a minute. So it was this diabetes related? It was yes. Oh, my God. All right. Oh, let me i gird my loins. I don't want to cry. Hillary. It's the afternoon here. And I haven't had lunch yet. So no, no, don't Don't be sorry. I just sometimes, sometimes I cry. That's all. It's not a big deal. I won't let you know. I'll push the microphone aside. So which which child were you pregnant with?

Hilary 56:17
I was pregnant with my third. Okay, so it was before Henry was diagnosed. But it was shortly after my husband had been diagnosed. And he was. So I, I love the Dexcom. And I will never not wear my Dexcom ever again. But I started wearing a Dexcom when I was trying to get pregnant with my first and so that I wore it through the whole that whole time period and through the whole pregnancy. But then typically after each pregnancy, I would take it off and not wear it anymore, because I felt like you know, I didn't have to be monitored that closely because I wasn't carrying a child. And so when I got pregnant with Teddy, I had an order in for a Dexcom because I knew I need to get back on it, but I didn't have it in yet. And so I think I was like seven weeks pregnant maybe. And I had taken the Lillian and Henry to a playdate in the neighborhood. So I was pushing the double stroller. And we had a great playdate. We walked home, and the two kids went down for naps. And I was in the first trimester of pregnancy. And I was tired too. So I was like, I'm gonna take a nap too. And I fell asleep. And I woke up to like eight EMTs in my bedroom. And so my husband was being transitioned out of the Marine Corps. So he came home earlier than he would typically on a typical workday. And when he walked in, he heard our Henry was in the crib. And he was crying. And my husband thought, wow, she must be really tired that she doesn't hear the baby crying. So we went upstairs and got him out of the crib and came back downstairs. And then a little while later, he started hearing, you know, loans coming from upstairs and just assumed it was our three year old daughter waking up from her nap and wanted attention, somebody to carry her downstairs. And when he walked into the foyer to look up the stairs, he realized that the moans were coming from the master bedroom and he ran upstairs and I was unconscious. And I guess I must have been seething when he was hearing the moans. And he gave me the glucagon called 911 and tested my blood sugar and I was 17. And so the EMTs took, you know, eight minutes or so to get to the house. And then they put me on IV co strip. And I eventually came to I remember Henry was at the window, talking to one EMT about the fire truck in like front yard. And then another EMT had like blown up one of the rubber gloves and was using it as like a puppet to entertain Lily. And then Nick was sitting right next to me in the bed holding my hand. And I was like I'm feeling very overwhelmed right now. And he was like, It's okay, you're okay now. And so that was my near death experience. And then, so I will never not use a group or a Dexcom ever again. But the crazy thing about it is because I had diabetes for such a long time. And I've you know, had been in such good control for so long. I had let my glucagon

Scott Benner 59:50
expire,

Hilary 59:51
expire. So the glucagon that was used to save my life was actually my husband's and if he hadn't just been diagnosed with type one within that year, he wouldn't have had it.

Scott Benner 1:00:02
Okay. You know, it's so interesting, I appreciate you sharing that. But it's so interesting to listen to you talk about this because you're a person who's lived in both worlds now with diabetes. And I think it's just incredibly valuable to hear you talk about it. Because there are a lot of people like you who have lived with it for decades who think, like, I don't need this technology, I'm fine. Like, or don't tell me what to do. I don't need some guy telling me to Pre-Bolus Or do like that kind of stuff. This stuff is all super important. And you should, I think people should see it as lucky that they live in a time where the technology exists, that they can see the speed and direction of their blood sugar. It's just the big deals, you know, but it is really interesting, because as you tell the story, you know, the story starts with kind of like, you know, oh, gee, Hillary, who's like, I don't need to CGM. That's just for me. That's just for making babies. You know, and I don't want to be tracked by the man. You know, and then suddenly, you're like, yeah, no, I know, trust me. I've spoken to a lot of people a diabetes, probably like over 700. And so yeah, I know, the vibe, like I know how it happens. And I know the kind of like, animosity that builds up inside and that sort of like, I can do it, and I don't need help. And I've got this, it's almost like it's armor that you needed to get through that part. But you live in a different time now. And you're still swinging your sword of dragons, and they don't exist anymore. That kind of thing? Yeah. Does that make sense? You know,

Hilary 1:01:36
yeah, I mean, I didn't get a pump for until I was 16, even though I was diagnosed it, you know, five, because I didn't want to be attached to a machine, right. And then it's like, once I got it, I was like, Oh, this is life changing. Like, I wish I'd done this sooner. And then the Dexcom after it saved my life, especially after it saved my life. I was like, Yeah, I will never not wear this. And my child would never not wear this. And, you know, for me, also, it was the fact that like, not necessarily that I didn't need it. But like I just before I wanted to get pregnant. The first time, I just didn't know that you could live a life and better control. I think I just thought that this was what was the norm. And, you know, now you hear about all of the long term complications, and you know, all those things can be very scary. But as a word of encouragement that I do tell a lot of other type one moms is like, for 20 years, I was not in tight control. And now I'm 34. And in the best control of my life, and I get bloodwork done. Last time, I saw my endocrinologist, she was like, if I were to show your bloodwork to one of my colleagues and not tell them that you were type one, they would have no idea. So you know, there is there is hope for you know, anybody who feels like, Oh, this is just a who have just accepted that this is the way it is like it doesn't have to be that way like you can, you can get to a point where, you know, you don't have to feel such great swings are the highs and the lows. And you know,

Scott Benner 1:03:21
yeah, Hillary, my daughter is a one sees man between five, two and six, two for eight years, and she does not awesome does not have any diet restrictions. So that's awesome. Yeah, it's awesome. It's just, it's the stuff I figured out and then the stuff I put back into the podcast, so other people could hear about it.

Hilary 1:03:38
That's awesome. Yeah, my husband and I got our agency results yesterday. And we were usually he beats me by like, a 10th or two tenths of a point, but we tied at 4.9 yesterday. So

Scott Benner 1:03:50
are you guys low carb?

Hilary 1:03:52
Um, I wouldn't say yeah, we're lower carb. I wouldn't. We're not keto by any means. I mean, we try to be we're about 80%, I would say plant based, so. And if there is a lower carb option, or like, we definitely substitute, you know, wheat products for white products whenever we can. Whenever it makes sense, but like, we enjoy going out to restaurants and eating whatever ordering whatever we want when we go out to restaurants and there's like no stipulations on what that is. But obviously, we try not to do that every day. for lots of reasons.

Scott Benner 1:04:33
I think honestly, I mean, you don't know me, but I'm a very much a whatever works person. I just think that people should understand how insulin works. They should understand how to use it, and then they can apply it to any style of living they want but it's a travesty not to understand the insulin and then just try to dive into things whether it's plant based or high fat or what however you're going to eat, you know,

Hilary 1:04:55
sure, yeah. When my husband was diagnosed with type one, it also led occurred to him having high cholesterol. And so then obviously, that's a concern because type one diabetes has, you know, long term risks with heart disease and stuff like that. So cholesterol just adds another layer of to that. And so we went PLANT BASE to try to, or mostly plant based trying to lower his cholesterol, which he successfully has done. So it's really

Scott Benner 1:05:25
remarkable. Did the whole family go along with you? Or just the two of you?

Hilary 1:05:29
Yeah, we're mostly plant based. I mean, I still put cream in my coffee every morning. And, you know, when we make jellies and stuff, the kids usually put cheese on it, because, you know, it's more appealing to them that way. But we we try to

Scott Benner 1:05:47
what sounds like you're doing your kid. Thanks. Yeah, it sounds like you're doing amazing. I'm now realizing that your friend who suggested the show to you was really just suggesting it to you because you became the parent of a child with type one. Yeah, I mean, were you at all.

Hilary 1:06:05
I didn't have support groups, or, you know, anything like that growing up. And when Henry was diagnosed, one of the first things that the Children's Hospital and the endocrinologist asked us to do was to join a support group. And so I went on Facebook, looking for support groups, but I didn't find the Juicebox Podcast, because I was just searching for diabetes support groups in the search window, and then when Anna told me about, you know, the Juicebox Podcast, like, I don't know, I'm not familiar with that. And so do you

Scott Benner 1:06:40
listen to any podcasts? No, not really. I'll be your first That's lovely. I like the way that yes, that way you your focus will not be drawn away by others. Like, you know, I don't need you wondering what Dax Shepard is thinking. You know what I mean? That's exactly your competition. I asked you Hillary in your life. Have you ever wondered what Dax Shepard thought of anything? No, no, excellent. It's funny. I just randomly picked up popular podcasts out of my head. That's all. I really can't thank you enough for doing this. This was this was wonderful is way more than I expected. And, and I'm really grateful for you sharing the story. I think that this went in a direction that I didn't plan on, but I think it's just incredibly valuable. So in my mind, hearing a person whose, like I said earlier lived in both worlds, is, is important for young people, and older people who have type one and even parents, you know, it's, I think that maybe one of the most important things you can do if you're living with diabetes, is to stay aware of current treatments. And technology. Don't change just for the sake of changing like you don't I mean, like, don't just be like, Oh, I'm tired of my car being blue, I'm gonna get a white one now. But when you see something that's a leap, and you should leap along with it, because you do not want to be in a position ever, where you look back and think, Oh, I've been doing this the old way for 10 years. And other people, other people are having better health easier times. More happiness, you know, a lighter existence, because of some of the things that this technology can do. I really, I really appreciate you saying all this. And you're

Hilary 1:08:27
welcome. Thanks for having me. Of course.

Scott Benner 1:08:28
Are you still nervous?

Hilary 1:08:30
Um, no, I think I'm okay. Okay.

Scott Benner 1:08:33
I did. Okay, I got you calm. I almost screwed up with the sex thing, Hillary, but I backed out of it pretty quickly. I shouldn't you know, I mean, I should have known. I didn't know you. Well, you haven't heard the podcast. I was like, I mean, how am I not gonna ask you know what I mean?

Hilary 1:08:50
Fair enough. It's a fair question. I

Scott Benner 1:08:52
love I love that. You don't want to even revisit it. Like in hindsight, this is I like you a lot. You're delightful. Well, my best to your husband and your son. And I would I if I was those kids. I wrapped myself in a hermetically sealed bubble, just in case you are patient zero.

Hilary 1:09:13
Know. That's crazy. Okay, and it's crazy how since I've heard since Henry's been diagnosed, how many more type one diabetics have come into my life. So

Scott Benner 1:09:27
do you think do you think that's like when you buy a Chevy pickup and suddenly you see Chevy pickups everywhere or? You're making

Hilary 1:09:33
no I have no idea I think I never thought to really advocate for or like, bring awareness to this disease before because it was just me. And then I think as time has gone on, and now that Henry has it, I don't want him to go around feeling like there were definitely times when I tried to, you know hide my poor high E not tell P burn an interview that I have type one diabetes or, you know not tell the coach I'm trying out for a team or whatever it might be. And I just want him to feel like, he doesn't have to be ashamed of it. And the more people know about the disease, the more normal it will be for him and other kids as they grow up with it. So I think since he's been diagnosed, I have felt more of a responsibility to bring awareness to disease. And I think because I do talk about it a lot, that more people are like, oh, yeah, you have diabetes, you should, I should introduce you to my friend, Hillary. She also has diabetes. And so

Scott Benner 1:10:40
if I don't, I'm sorry, if I gave you a magic wand, would you go back and find yourself and tell yourself that stuff? Like just tell them it doesn't matter? But like, don't hide? Do you think it's that important? worked out okay for you. But now you're just yeah, for your son.

Hilary 1:11:00
I think it worked out fine. For me in the long term, I think I've learned to, you know, tell the people who were closest to me and like, teach them about it and know what to do in case of an emergency or whatever. But

Scott Benner 1:11:17
I was just wondering, like, I'm basically digging to find out if you have any psychological issues from growing up with type one? Oh,

Hilary 1:11:23
I'm sure Yeah. I think overall, it's, it's definitely made me a stronger person. I think that I

am able to do a lot of things because of the adversity that I had growing up with disease. But

Scott Benner 1:11:43
you know, do you have a second, can I ask you one other question? Sure. Okay. Matthew has to speak for him. But I'm sure this is a conversation you've had, in your husband's opinion, could he have continued his life as a Marine with type one?

Hilary 1:12:02
My husband, he believes that all Marines should be combat ready. And I think he understood that. You know, he wouldn't be able to fully serve in the same capacity with type one diabetes. So

Scott Benner 1:12:21
there's a job he would have done. But he he when he thinks of being a Marine, he thinks that all hands on deck, like if I have to go I need to be able to go. And

Hilary 1:12:30
yeah, I think that that's Yeah, I think that's I mean, I can't speak for him. But I think that that is overall the feeling that he had. I mean, he understood when he got the diagnosis, that that would mean that he would be separated from the Marine Corps. And he understands

Scott Benner 1:12:49
how long was he? How long was he in? Eight years? Was it hard for him? Yeah, yeah. I take your point, though. You can't be breaching a building yelling. Nick needs a cookie. Yeah,

Hilary 1:13:03
timeout. I need a glucose tablet. Everyone stopped.

Scott Benner 1:13:05
My blood sugar's a little low. We can get back. Just a minute.

Hilary 1:13:10
Right. So I'm not here. Yeah. I mean, he definitely has a you know, I think it's, I think it's also harder for him being diagnosed at 30, than it was for me to be diagnosed at five, because I don't really remember life without the disease, whereas he had a life and dreams that didn't include diabetes. And yeah, you know, even though he's rolled with the punches, it's not an easy thing. to readjust to that, you know, whole new lifestyle.

Scott Benner 1:13:41
I can, I can't imagine it would be and I take your point, especially if you're if you're diagnosed as a kid, as long as you get through the awkward part of life without going off the deep end about it. I think you end up being okay. The most common story I hear, and you'll hear as you're listening to the podcast, from like, mid 20s, early 30s type ones, is my parents took care of it. When I was little, I went to college and lied and said, I was okay. I wasn't, I got out and I figured out I should take better care of myself. There are some people who are just like, like super type A or are just great at it or something like that, who don't have that story. But I think that story is more common than you think my daughter is getting ready to leave for college. I'm incredibly focused on not letting that happen to her while she's away. So I will all find out together how it's gonna go. Because trust me, I could screw this up. But, you know, I'm giving it a shot. Yeah. You know,

Hilary 1:14:37
I don't know how my parents did it. Like, in high school and in college, not having the Dexcom not being able to know what my blood sugar was at any given time. Like

Scott Benner 1:14:48
Hillary they're probably drunk. That's probably I don't think

Hilary 1:14:50
so. I don't think so. I don't know how they did it, honestly. And I just I think they just worried a lot. Um, which I would too, because anytime I don't have data for Henry, I immediately feel that same way. So

Scott Benner 1:15:07
no, no, no, no, it comes a time though in time, you'll start feeling more comfortable. Like, you know, in the warm up period, when you think, Gosh, two hours when those CGM, which, by the way with Dexcom, G seven, when it comes out, I think that's down to an hour. Oh, that's good case of Lord. Yeah, and, but I find that within reason, and maybe with one finger stick, I can imagine how just two hours is gonna go. Like, you know, after you see it enough times, it just, I mean, I realized the uncertainty of what could happen out of nowhere still exists. But once you find real stability, it's hard to not be able to see it even with your eyes closed, I think. But that takes care of a lot of experiences before you'll feel like that. It's just so interesting, that you've had diabetes for so long, even though that you've been doing great for yourself for eight years. And yet that that that confidence you have for yourself does not translate over to the care of your son yet, but it will I think,

Hilary 1:16:02
Well, every diabetic is so different. And you know, the things like we can eat the same lunch, the three of us, and we all need different amounts of insulin or different, like, you know, depending on we're eating, you know, bonds or protein pasta or whatever, like some Henry might not need any Bolus for it. Whereas I need half of the carbs and my husband needs all of the carbs to be Bolus for in order for us to stay in range. And so you know, what works for? One doesn't always work for another and then we have, we're gonna go through growth spurts and hormones, and I'm, I'm not ready. But

Scott Benner 1:16:47
also you right now, you guys must look like mathletes at dinner, you know?

Hilary 1:16:51
Oh, I'm sure that our conversations are just fascinating to the people around us. And very confusing, because we're always talking about net carbs. And I don't even know what else fiber and should we do extended or not? And all

Scott Benner 1:17:10
kinds of stuff most people don't talk about when they No, not at all. That's funny. Wow, you were terrific. I really do appreciate you doing this so much. I'm sorry, I can't be longer than I said I was going to

Hilary 1:17:20
Oh, no, it's fine. My husband went to take pick up the boys from preschool. So we're good to go. But thanks for having me. And I hope that our story is encouraging to other people. And whatever they're going through, because type one diabetes is one heck of a beast. And it can be very challenging at times. So well, I

Scott Benner 1:17:43
believe. I believe it will. I believe he did a great job today telling your story. So I'm, I'm all in on this one. This was absolutely terrific. Thank you very, very well. Thank

Unknown Speaker 1:17:53
you. Thank you.

Scott Benner 1:18:01
Huge thanks to Hillary for coming on the show and sharing her story with us. And another great big thank you to Ian pen from Medtronic. diabetes. Don't forget to go to in pen today.com to learn more. And of course you can get your Contour Next One blood glucose meter at contour next one.com forward slash juice box. It will only take you a few minutes to go to T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juice box and complete the survey. Please do because when you do you're supporting the podcast and people living with type one diabetes and you're helping yourself. T one D exchange.org Ford slash juicebox. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast. Don't forget to subscribe in the app you're listening in right now. subscribe or follow whatever the app allows, please, it helps the show immensely. Subscribe and follow. I'll talk to you soon.

#732 Free Falling

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

#731 Bold Beginnings: Food Choices

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Test your knowledge of episode 731

1. Why is regular blood sugar monitoring important?

2. How should insulin doses be adjusted?

3. What role does diet and nutrition play in managing diabetes?

4. What are the benefits of using insulin pumps and CGMs?

5. How should diabetes be managed during travel and unusual circumstances?

6. How can the psychological impact of living with diabetes be managed?

7. Why is having a diabetes care team important?

8. How can staying informed about the latest diabetes treatments and technologies help?

#730 A Family Thing

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT