Scott Benner 3/16/23 Scott Benner 3/16/23

#870 The Alaska Principal

Molly has type 1 child with diabetes and she is a school principal.

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Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, and welcome to episode 808. And welcome to episode 870 of the Juicebox Podcast what happened to my voice there when we

Molly is the mother of a child with type one diabetes, and she's also the principal of a school. So we have this very cool kind of hybrid conversation around like 504 plans, but also being a parent, but also they live in Alaska. So, I mean, that's different, right? You're gonna love it. Just listen, you know what I do? Settle in. You're ready, you feel it? Alright. While you're listening, please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan, or becoming bold with insulin. Yeah, they're great. I just went into the Frosted Flakes rhythm there for some reason. Sorry about that. If you are a US resident who has type one diabetes, or is the caregiver of someone with type one, please go to T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox and complete their survey. You're going to be helping research by doing that. It's HIPAA compliant. Anonymous, it'll take you 10 minutes, T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. Don't forget cozy earth.com. Use juice box at checkout to save 35% This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by us med now us med is where Arden gets her Omni pods or Dexcom and a lot of her diabetes supplies us med.com forward slash juicebox head there right now to get your free benefits check. Or you can get that benefits check at 888-721-1514. Let us med bring your diabetes supplies the way they bring ours. If you've been thinking about talking to somebody and are considering online therapy, check out better help@betterhelp.com forward slash juicebox Juicebox Podcast listeners get 10% off of their first month of therapy at my link. Better help.com forward slash juice box. That's better help h e l p.com. Ford slash juice box.

Molly 2:34
My name is Molly, and I live in Alaska. And I have two kids. My daughter is 19. And my son is almost 16. And he's my type one. And I have been a teacher and I'm now a school administrator and elementary school principal.

Scott Benner 2:53
Wow. Born and raised in Alaska moved there.

Molly 2:57
moved here when I was 19.

Scott Benner 3:01
When you were 19 on your own or with your family.

Molly 3:06
Following a boyfriend

Scott Benner 3:09
I was I always wait for following a boyfriend or escaping a crazy parent. Yep, wasn't sure which are both who knows, you know?

Molly 3:18
Pretty common story. I came up here for a summer job and then stayed.

Scott Benner 3:22
So the original plan was just to hang out for the summer work to pay for your life and then head back. Yep. What kept you there?

Molly 3:31
Oh, it's just an amazing place to live. Really?

Scott Benner 3:34
That's excellent. I do know people who also said they were going to Alaska for a little while and they never came back. So yeah, I assume they have been killed by a polar bear. But I don't know a lot about geography or nature. So yes,

Molly 3:49
well, I knew there would be I knew you would talk about bears or moose. I was going to tell you as lakes how to hitch up my dog team but

Scott Benner 3:56
there's no way you don't have a husky.

Molly 3:59
I do have a dog and she is a I like to call her a reject sled dog. She is an Alaskan Husky breed, which is what they use for running the Iditarod. But she didn't make the cut. She's lazy.

Scott Benner 4:14
Molly, do you think that when I say my silly things, and then they come true that it's funny or scary because I can never tell which

Molly 4:24
it's funny. Okay,

Scott Benner 4:25
because you have a husky and I have a husky but I don't live

Molly 4:29
in an igloo. Well, you Sam, who knows

Scott Benner 4:31
what you'll lie about today? There's no way I don't know when you get embarrassed, like, oh God, we do eat raw salmon right from the river. How does he know that?

Molly 4:41
We do eat a lot of salmon.

Scott Benner 4:45
But not with your hands like Smeagol Am I correct about that?

Molly 4:48
Correct? Correct. Way to cook it.

Scott Benner 4:52
Would you eat it? On a bagel? Maybe it was a LOX? Yes, I would say well then I was pretty much right. Okay. So you have I'm sorry to children. You said 1916. Yeah. 16 year olds, the type one boy or girl, boy diagnosed how long ago? Almost two years ago. Okay. Was that a surprise?

Molly 5:15
Yep, yep, for sure. No history of type one and either of our families. No major auto immune things. There's maybe some mild allergies on my side. And he had, he's had allergies since he was small. But nothing. Nothing major.

Scott Benner 5:38
He's allergic to ice.

Molly 5:42
When he was when he was a baby, he was allergic to cow's milk. So I used to joke because he used to, I used to buy a really fancy cheese for my then what like to and three year old because he couldn't have cow's milk cheese. So he had goat's milk, cheese and sheep's milk cheese. But he kind of grew out of that. And he has hay fever now seasonal allergies. But that's it. That's about

Scott Benner 6:10
it. Hey, the boy that you fall into Alaska, the kids that are no, no. Okay. Is that? Is that kids still in Alaska? No, okay. Well, he left and you stayed. Can we not talk about diabetes and just talk about the year that you lived in Alaska with that guy, please.

Molly 6:32
That's a really long story. We don't have time for that.

Scott Benner 6:36
So far, that's what I find myself caring about. But you seem like a reasonable person. I'm gonna move in the correct direction now. But I want to hear about what I assume was, I mean, drinking and debauchery and then cheating. And then somebody got caught. And

Molly 6:52
oh, it's less, it's less dramatic than you're thinking.

Scott Benner 6:56
Trying to turn it into an after school special. That's all. Anyway, well, I'm glad that you stayed and, and made a whole life for yourself. You became an educator, obviously, did you go to college in Alaska?

Molly 7:11
I did. I was working seasonally up here for a while and then decided to go back to school and get my teaching degree. And so I did go back up here and eventually got my credential up here and started working.

Scott Benner 7:26
And so how long did you teach before you became became the man? Because you're the principal now?

Molly 7:34
I am. Yeah, I taught for six. I think about 12 or 13 years in the classroom.

Scott Benner 7:44
Okay. How old are you? Can I ask? I am 48. Do you not know or did you not want to say? No, I have to

Molly 7:53
think about it a little bit. Because, you know, you forget I understand.

Scott Benner 8:00
Okay, so it's been 29 years since you follow that stupid boy to Alaska. It looks like you met another boy. Probably stupid but nicer and you like him, and made a couple of kids with him. became a teacher taught for a while. moved into the administration side. How long? How long have you been in that side of it?

Molly 8:21
This is my fourth year.

Scott Benner 8:22
Okay, so pretty free recently, then. Yep. Yep. Okay, what made you wait a minute? Can I ask a question that's not attached before we move on? In my head? Yeah. How does the sun work in Alaska?

Molly 8:38
Well, it's summertime right now. And it's July. So we have a lot of daylight. And I think the sun is setting. Gosh, I would have to look it up. But you know, if I go to bed at midnight, it's still light out, it's maybe getting dusky. And when I get up, it's bright, bright day. So where I am, we have I think, at the height of summer, we have over 18 hours of daylight. And then in the winter, it's darker. And it's not dark all the time it gets it gets fully light in the middle of the day. But I would say in the middle of winter that you know, the darkest time in December, it's maybe starting to get light between nine and 10. And then it's starting to get dark, like between three and four in the afternoon.

Scott Benner 9:30
So just from nine or 10 in the morning till three or four in the afternoon during the wintertime. Yeah, okay. All right. Sorry. I just, I have a note here that says ask about the sun. And I know I'm gonna start asking you about diabetes and stuff. And the whole time you're talking I'd be thinking, I wonder how the sun works. And now that I know I feel I feel better about it. And I never knew if that was a television thing you understand I'm saying,

Molly 9:51
right. Yeah. Or it's real. The Land of the Midnight Sun is is the real deal.

Scott Benner 9:57
How would you get a name if it wasn't real then that's that's Okay, so there's no autoimmune in the family, some light stuff around allergies. So how does the how does the diabetes present for your son,

Molly 10:16
um, just pretty typical symptoms, although the thing that threw us is he never said he was thirsty all the time. He said his mouth was dry. And he just kept saying, my mouth is so dry, I can't figure out why my mouth is dry. I assume he was probably going to the bathroom a lot. Although he wasn't always drinking a ton, he would just swish water in his mouth and then spit it out. Because his mouth was dry. And just tired, you know, lethargy. I, he had started taking allergy medication, because his seasonal allergies had been getting worse. And so when we were trying to figure out what was wrong, I looked at his box of it's just the over the counter allergy meds, and the side effects were dry mouth and lethargy. And so I thought for sure, oh, it's the allergy meds, and we'll stop taking those and he'll be fine. So of course, that didn't work out. He just kept declining. So eventually, and it was during COVID. So this was July of 2020. Okay. So, you know, not so easy just to go to the doctor, but we had finally decided, okay, yeah, we need to take him in. So first step is to go get a COVID test. So we took him to the urgent care to get a COVID test. At that point, they were just coming out to the car to do the test. So they did that. They asked him questions, you know about how he was feeling. And basically said, Okay, we'll call you with the results. We think you should just go home. But if he gets worse, I think they were suspecting appendicitis, maybe they said, if you know, if he's if his stomach pain gets worse, go to the ER. My husband had taken him to that appointment, and I was supposed to meet him there. And then and take our son home. I got there and I looked at at our son, his name is Jack and I looked at him, I said, Oh, I'm not taking them home. There's no way he's like He had declined even more. So can we live about 45 minutes from doctors and hospitals. So I wasn't willing to take him home. So we were able to get him inside the clinic for another for another look. And then he was you know, at that point, he was vomiting. I mean, he was in DK for sure. And as soon as the doctor asked to smell his breath, I knew exactly and like, oh my gosh, it's diabetes, you know, I have a little bit of just kind of basic first aid training and stuff. And my husband is he's also a teacher, but he's also an EMT. And so we kind of knew the basics, but it just until she said, Let me smell your breath. It didn't really click

Scott Benner 13:09
is the fire chief, also the mayor? Sorry, I know, I held it. You couldn't wait for the doctor to come in on the wagon train. So I don't know how I'm supposed to hold it all in.

Molly 13:23
This isn't. This isn't a major city we're in. We're in the biggest city and Alaska says,

Scott Benner 13:27
you know, I'm just kidding. I like it when Canadians are like, I live in a city and I'm like, do you and then it's Toronto or something like that? Oh, my God. Whoa, okay. But, but okay, so but still 4045 minute drive. And you're saying that in the time? From what you saw him last just that day till when you saw him at the doctor's office, there was a noticeable change.

Molly 13:50
Yeah, you know, he just had that look, I just it he just didn't look right. I just said no, he needs to be seen. Do they keep

Scott Benner 13:59
you in the hospital? Or how did it work with COVID?

Molly 14:02
Yep, he was admitted. You know, they told me to drive to the ER. So we did. And we were in the hospital, I think maybe two and a half days. So that because he was in the pediatric unit, they allowed both parents. But there were some restrictions. I think, like we couldn't come and go during the day, we could leave once and come back, but you couldn't come and go and so we took turns spending the night but then we were both there for the diabetes education piece so we could figure out what's going on. Okay.

Scott Benner 14:44
How did he handle the news?

Molly 14:47
He handled it really well. He and I think it's because apparently he's he's pretty mellow. He's pretty even keel kind of person. But also he had A friend all growing up that had type one. And he had a pretty close, there were maybe four or five of them in this in this friend group, and she was always one. And so I think it was, it didn't seem too abnormal are weird to him. It was like, Oh, she's got, like, I have what she has.

Scott Benner 15:21
Okay. Yeah, somebody who's living well, and he sees all the time and seems

Molly 15:26
right. And she seems very normal and functional. And she does whatever she wants, and it doesn't limit her at all.

Scott Benner 15:33
And that hasn't changed over time.

Molly 15:37
No, no, but he also, I mean, it's interesting, because he's a teenage boy. So he doesn't talk much. And that's kind of how he is anyway, you know, lots of one word answers, hates talking about diabetes doesn't, doesn't even want to acknowledge really, that that's a part of his life, or that that's a big part of his life. Kind of reminded me when you were when you had art and on how she just, you know, kind of blows it off. Like, whatever. Yeah. He has that attitude.

Scott Benner 16:10
And would you say he's 16? Now?

Molly 16:13
Yeah, he'll be 16. In a couple of weeks,

Scott Benner 16:15
you might have four more hugs, you can get the next two. Right. Oh, yeah. That's where I see you.

Molly 16:24
I realized that.

Scott Benner 16:26
Can mommy get no, okay. I'll just keep paying for the house.

Molly 16:31
The least favorite thing that I say to him is, well, I heard on my podcast, or the the juicebox guy says this, that he wants zero information about diabetes from me, and most of my information comes from you. So he really dislikes you without ever having heard you.

Scott Benner 16:52
Oh, I can appreciate that. Also, there's a kid in this house with diabetes, it doesn't want to hear from the juice box guy either. So it's a pretty common thing for for that to be perfectly. And if you can use me to deflect I actually think that's a good idea. as I as I heard you saying and I thought oh, people should use me like the doctors use the nurses. You don't even they're like, Oh, the nurse is gonna come in now and give you a shot. I'll wait out in the hall. So you'd like me when this is over? Like I could be the nurse with a needle and you could just be the person who's like, I'm sorry, this has to happen. But the guy said, right. Yeah, well,

Molly 17:24
I do stay. I don't say you know, I think you should try this. I always say, you know, all my podcast guy says that you should do this.

Scott Benner 17:33
You know, I always used to take that as, as people saying that I knew, but now I'm thinking everyone's just hiding behind me. So they don't have to deal with their kids. All

Molly 17:43
right, because we know what I mean, especially as an educator. I know that. Kids don't want to hear anything from their parents. Their parents don't know anything. Yeah. So as a teacher, I can tell kids things and they'll listen. And if their parents told them the same thing they wouldn't. So

Scott Benner 17:59
do you think they actually listen to other people or they just don't have the nerve to yell at other people?

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Molly 22:11
I think it's I think it's a little about

Scott Benner 22:12
both. Yeah, Molly, you just got all serious. Molly's a principal with your answer there. Stop messing around, you're like I have a real thought on this. Hold on a second. Do you? And that is why you wanted to come on the show. Right? Because of your background education. What you see with 504 plans and and what you

Molly 22:29
Yeah, I just I saw a lot of people asking questions about five of fours. You know, I'm not a 504 expert, but I definitely have that school perspective as, as a classroom teacher, I had students with type one, before I knew anything about it before my son was diagnosed. So I, I have that perspective. And then now as a principal, and as the one at my school who is responsible for writing 504 plans and, you know, working with my son's school to write his plan. Just wanted to you know, I think like most people say when they talk to you, like we've learned a lot from from you, and from the podcast, it's really helped. And if there's a way that I can help, or give somebody some information that might smooth their path. And I want to do that, I appreciate

Scott Benner 23:17
that. And we'll we'll see what you know. So I'm just moving the last 504 plan I've ever made over to this computer, so I can pull it up while we're talking. Because I haven't looked at these or thought about them in a while. It's funny, something that I thought was so important, at one point, became a throwaway document as art and got older when we really just didn't need it anymore. And it was just right thing we kept going because that's what you do sort of want to do.

Molly 23:48
And I feel the same way. I mean, I, you know, was very involved in in creating Jack's fi before when he first went back to school. And now I you know, when he when they call for the annual review, I have to remind myself what we put in there. And yeah, and a lot more relaxed about it now.

Scott Benner 24:08
So do you have them? Do you use a template when you make them? Or do you let the people I asked because the first time I brought in my 504 plan. They were like, This is not what we do. And I was like, Well, I've already done this. So we're all good. And they said no, no, we'll take your document and put it into our document. I was like, okay, like this is a formatting thing is what I thought at the time. And they took like my, I don't know, three or four page, like thankfully typed out documents, probably actually two and a half pages when you take out headers and etc. And they turned it into like four bullet points. And they handed it to me and I said, This is it. And she was going into kindergarten at the time and they was like yeah, this is it. This is This is enough. We have other kids here they said with diabetes. And I said if you try to keep my daughter alive with these four bullet points, she He's not going to make it a month here. And then I said, I really think we should go over mine. And that was the first time I pushed back and got them to I got them to sit down with my document to see that just because it had words in it didn't mean that it was trying to trick them or put them in a bad position or anything like that. Right? Yeah, but

Molly 25:21
I don't I think he, I think every district probably has their own format. So yeah, we have a template that we use. It's, you know, specific to our district. But, you know, the 504 the rules and laws and policies that that govern fiber fours and IPs are our national laws. So we're all conforming to the same thing. But how we do it, I'm sure varies district by district. So I am by no means a 504 expert, but I, I have some familiarity with how we do it in my district. And it is, you know, it is just taking those ideas that that you bring as a parent, and fitting it into our format, and making sure it looks right. And then you know, I'm fortunate that I'm in a big district and I have people that can review those documents for me to make sure that they're just as they need to be and legally compliant. And

Scott Benner 26:19
I know that Ardennes at one point Ardens 504 plan became the, like the one that people in town used. And then I think I noticed that the school was not happy with me because it was okay if it was for one person, but then all of a sudden, people were coming and be like, we're gonna use this fiber for plant. And they couldn't argue with it, because we were using it. And that became an issue. And then of course, it went on the internet eventually. So I think people probably all over the country use it at this point,

Molly 26:45
right. And that's how it works with all 504 plans and all disabilities that, you know, if if your child is dyslexic, then you know, there's 1000s of those floating around on the internet that you can find an advocate for but you know, it's a legal document, and we're required to provide everything that's in there. And so from the school side, you know, that's why we are a little more conservative, or we're gonna question your two and a half page document and and say is do we need to have everything in here. And, and part of the trick, I think, too, is that in this probably varies district to district and state to state. But, you know, we have a medical document, the diabetes care plan in our district that outlines medically what happens. And then the 504 is really, you know, just making sure that students can access their education equally with other students. And in to me, those are two different documents. But part of that is because my son was in high school when we were doing this and he was already fully independent. One of the nice, nice things about him being diagnosed older is that he's, he was fully independent from the beginning. You know, we had to learn how to give him shots and were in the hospital, but he always did all his own shots. And now he's on a pump. And he, you know, he he's completely independent. Yeah,

Scott Benner 28:14
yeah, I am. I want to ask you something. I feel like you can't answer. But because if you can't, you're fine. But is there ever I always felt like there were things in our 504 plan. They were like, yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll do that. And then they just never did. And it was little stuff like, you know, I was like, I want the bus driver trained. And for years, they'd be like, oh, yeah, yeah. And then one year, it actually happened. And I noticed the year that it actually happened looked a lot different than the years they told me it was happening. But I think to your point, the school looks and says, We can't get this accomplished. Even like the guy that drives the bus works for a third party company. I think that was the holdup. I think it took them years to talk to the bus company into allowing one of their employees to come to the school for a training session. And is that the kind of like, is that most of the time? What the What the? I guess the trip ups are? Is that you? You don't have the ability or the staff or?

Molly 29:17
Yep, yeah, we don't have the ability or the staff or the money. You know, I'll say I originally went into my son's five before asking for the bus driver to be I don't I don't even think I use the word train. Like I just wanted the bus driver to be aware. You know, like if if he came across Jack passed out on the bus that maybe he you know, have an idea of why and and he my son has a his best ride is almost an hour both ways. So you know, there's there's a good chance something could happen on the bus. And they told me no and I didn't push back on that. And I do know it's because exactly what you're saying. They have The school district doesn't have any control over that driver. They don't train the driver, they don't employ the driver. You know, right now we have school bus driver shortages. We're lucky to have a driver. And it just I think, I think that they couldn't imagine a system where they could uphold that.

Scott Benner 30:21
Yeah. So then once you say yes to it, now you're bound to it. Right. So,

Molly 30:27
and bound to it in the in the, in the sense that just like you said, are there some years where not everything in the five before is happening? I would say that certainly could happen. And that's when parents need to advocate.

Scott Benner 30:41
Yeah, right. And how do you do that best? So when you? You know, listen, sometimes you're in a situation where people just aren't being helpful. Sometimes the parents are unreasonable, but but in a, in an apples to apples situation where, you know, everybody's doing their best, and it's not working out? How do you handle that? Like, what's the best way to approach you, I guess,

Molly 31:03
calmly without freaking out. I mean, for everything, I mean, it just general basic life rules, right, realize that everybody's trying to do their best and, and try and bring everybody together. I think that's, that's a big one. And, you know, I think it's interesting, you know, and you talk about an acknowledge, like Juicebox Podcast listeners are, you know, they're their top tier people, I think, you know, they, they understand and are really engaged in, in their own care or their kids care. And I always find it interesting that it's widely acknowledged that there are some uneducated endocrinologists, right and, and you kind of have to advocate for yourself with your Endo, and find the right person. But then I hear people when it comes to school, like they expect the school nurse to be the be all end all and know everything about type one. And they're a school nurse, you know, they had probably, I don't know, a week of diabetes training when they were in school, which could have been 2030 years ago, you know, and they're managing, I've got 350 kids at my school, and, you know, not to mention COVID, but even before COVID, there's, there are a lot of medical needs in the school. And so to expect your school nurse to, to be able to manage or to know everything that is going on in the type one space, like, like we as parents do. And there's really involved parents, and it's just totally unrealistic. So approaching, you know, an issue or your advocacy advocacy with, with that in mind that, that we're trying to do our best. And we've, we've got a lot of things on our plate. And, you know, your child is one student in our school with significant needs that we need to meet, but that, that we're trying our best, and we don't know what you know, and we don't know why you're asking us to do what we do. You know, I'm really anxious now, for I haven't had, as principal, I haven't had a type one student in my building, yet. I had one. When we were in COVID. During COVID, we were not in person. And so but I'm excited now to be able to say to a parent, like, No, I get it. Yeah, I know what you want. And let's work together and make this happen. You're making me

Scott Benner 33:41
think that like there's, you know, people have a job description. And the what you might want from them might not be their job description. So you might trip into an administrator or a nurse who's willing to go the extra mile or comfortable going the extra mile. And the you may meet some who aren't, for whatever reason, maybe they just don't have the bandwidth. Or maybe they don't, maybe they're like doing you a favor. And maybe they're like, Look, you don't want me involved in this. I'm the wrong person for this, I can do the job, but I can't do this extra stuff, or I don't have the time, or I just don't want to and it's not my job description, like whoever you run into. I think the only chance you have is to start having more private personal conversations with them and just hoping that you can come to some sort of like a human agreement, I guess, and see if you can't get them to be in love. I've always been kind of amazed at the number of people who would not be willing to be a glucagon advocate, for example. Hmm, lots and lots of teachers were like, No, I won't do that. I won't do that.

Molly 34:44
Yeah, and I will say as a as a teacher, when I had type one students in my class and we were going on a field trip and I taught fifth grade. Mostly, I think that I had two type one students that I can Think of, and we'd go on a field trip. And I think maybe one time the nurse went with us, but then another time, she didn't. And so I carried the glucagon. And I remember going through the training. And it was super overwhelming. I mean, a field trip is a super chaotic day for a teacher, and you've got, you know, 25 kids, and they're all amped up. And, and you have a variety of needs between those kids. And then you have a student who you're being told, you know, could die if you don't give them this, and you have to mix this and put it, it's super overwhelming. And there are definitely teachers that said, No, I'm not comfortable with that. And, and I get it, I understand why they would say that. It's, it's overwhelming, and you just don't know enough. And you have so many details in your head. You know, I wish I knew what numbers to be looking for. I remember like that day of the field trip. But if you asked me a week later, like what the normal range should be, or what numbers I'm looking for, I wouldn't have known. And this was before Dexcom, you know, so we weren't getting tons of data. They were supposed to do a fingerprint, and then tell me what their number was. And I had to have a little cheat sheet. And again, yeah, like a week later, I wouldn't have known

Scott Benner 36:15
Yeah, no, I understand. I mean, I do understand, I also understand when people are in that position, usually for the first time or so their kids are more newly diagnosed, they're already freaking out, they sort of don't know, either. I think that's an important piece, too, is that when you're a new parent, you're going off of the information that was given to you, which, you know, we talked about in the podcast, a lot might not have been rock solid to begin with. And now you're trying to make sense of spotty information, and then pass it on to somebody else who's probably like, either, like, I don't understand what you're saying, because I don't know anything about diabetes, or you're saying some stuff I don't think is right. And you think Well, no, it's gotta be right, I got it from the doctor. You know, but how many people come on the podcast and say, my doctor never told me to Pre-Bolus my doctor never told me fat would make my blood sugar stay high because of slow digestion, like, you know, hear all the things people have never said. Or, you know, even said to people incorrectly, so you can see where the game of telephone could get messed up pretty easily.

Molly 37:15
Oh, definitely. And that's it. I mean, even all the more reason to come in, calmly, and with, you know, with the attitude of, let's work together to figure this out. And let's build this relationship so that it can turn into something where, you know, I'm comfortable calling you and asking you to change this or do this. And, and same thing, on my end, I'm comfortable calling you and saying, Hey, we had this happen today. How should we fix this? And when people come come to me with that attitude, then it's just so much easier for me to work with people and help them get what they want. Versus the parents that come in and say, you know, you violated my 504. And I'm going to sue you and my lawyer is gonna be contacting you later today. Yeah, you know, it's like, when people do that, and I, and I understand why, and you're totally right. At the beginning, when you're first diagnosed, it's super overwhelming, and you want the best for your kid, and then that's where you're at. But when some when a parent calls me that way, then I have to react differently, right? Well, I have to be, you know, takes me probably five times as long to compose the email because I have to double check every word and I have to have somebody else read it. And I probably have to call the district office and, and double check to make sure. Versus if you just call me and say, Hey, this is going on. What do you think I can have a casual conversation, we can probably problem solve something right there.

Scott Benner 38:41
Aside of diabetes, aside of diabetes, even I've had a number of conversations with teachers over the year where I started to go, Listen, I'm not trying to cause a problem. I know your job is hard. You know, I know it's tough to, you know, some of the parents in this town are difficult. Like, that's not my goal here. I don't I'm not trying to be right. I'm just trying to make things okay for my kid. And can we work on this together? Because I think the first time I have a little nutty, you're gonna remember that. And then forever and ever, that I'm the guy that came in there and, like, seemed unhinged, and you're always gonna remember that about me. So I tried.

Molly 39:21
Unfortunately, that's yeah, I try and give everybody the benefit of the doubt. But yeah, you do remember that?

Scott Benner 39:28
Yeah, here's the lady that threw the papers across the floor. I just gonna stand here and smile and try to get through this. You just you lose your I don't know. I think you lose the ability to have a human interaction at that point. And you've now turned it into something like you said, like you have been an aggressor in the past or on reasonable and now you have to start running things past lawyers and you know, talking very carefully and it's just, I don't know, I you know, one time I think we were setting up I think it was back when Dexcom was first around. And we were setting up art and being able to have her Dexcom receiver on her desk during state mandated testing. And we were making, making our way through it. And it was going, okay. And the superintendent called my house to talk it over. And I promise you, Molly, I don't remember the context at all. But within 10 minutes, he and I were screaming and cursing at each other. And we knew each other, like, he's a person who lived in town, you know what I mean, and by the way, a lovely man. And, and we yelled at each other, like, we were about to have a bar fight. And then we stopped. And he went, I'm sorry. And I said, Me, too. I apologize. And then we just kept going. And later I said to my wife, I know this might not be the right thing to say, but I was like, only two guys could do something like that. We were just like, I mean, Bali, I swear to God, he was he was cursing at me more than I was cursing.

Molly 41:05
Well, I will say that brings up an interesting point, like with state testing. And and you asked about the template that we use, I will say that the verbiage that we use that we typically use in five oh fours, and the verbiage that comes with state testing guidelines, has not kept pace with diabetes technology. And so there's a real disconnect there. And as an educator, whether it's a teacher, or a principal or a building test coordinator, I can lose my license if I violate a state testing guideline. And so I can see where that you know, a dispute or a disagreement over an electronic device and the testing environment.

Scott Benner 41:48
And we were breaking totally go through the roof. We were totally breaking new ground, I was pressing the state, like the state was like, we can't do this. And I was like, oh, no, you can and we're gonna figure it out together. And you know, when it was all over, the then principal of the school, she moved on, but she pulled me aside afterwards, she said, You know, I really have to thank you for going through this, because now it's so much easier for us to do this with all the other kids. She's like, well, you needed one person to just make an issue of it point out a way that it could be handled. And she said the biggest piece ended up being the education part, meaning meaning me reasonably explaining to the person from the state why this was necessary. Exactly, you know, and they probably didn't,

Molly 42:37
that's where people just don't know. And, you know, the 504 coordinator is, sometimes it's a principle, sometimes it's a school counselor, we have no medical background. And so just coming in with that calm attitude, and be able being able to explain, you know, why you why you want something in the 504, I had to explain to the counselor at my son's High School about, you know, I wanted something about being able to test, I can't remember the exact wording we use, but basically, like if he's showing up for a high stakes test, and he's super high, I want him to be able to take that at a different time, because that affects him cognitively. And they didn't know that, you know, they didn't really know that there were the or the extent of the cognitive impairments of higher low blood sugar, right. And, you know, my son's a really bright kid, and he's, he's going to do well on this test. And I don't want his diabetes to impact that in any way. So taking the time to explain that to the counselor like, no, here's why I'm not just saying like, he woke up and he has a bad day. So he gets a do over. Like his medical condition could be impairing his ability to show his best effort on this assessment, one of

Scott Benner 43:59
the problems is that there are people who would use it to gain advantage. And so that there are Yeah, there are any having to defend against that, then. Yep,

Molly 44:08
yep, there are. And I will say that the one thing to do, of course, you know, most people, I think, at this point in their final fours, if their kids are on, you know, Dexcom or whatever, have the phone as an accommodation. And I will say that, I would bet that 95% of kids at some point in school, misuse their phone, and my son has done it, I know he's done it, where he pulls out his phone, you know, to, quote check his number, and then he's distracted like kids don't have the ability to not get sucked into their device. And, and that's where I think parents sometimes have a hard time understanding. You know, every every parent thinks that their kid is always You know, perfect angel in school or most parents?

Scott Benner 45:04
Their kids are little apples, right?

Molly 45:06
Well, thanks. They do things that you wouldn't expect, like your perfect diabetic Angel actually does scroll through their phone at times. You know what, they're not just checking their number. And I have gotten to Jack's teachers and said, Okay, here's the deal. If he's checking his number, he pulls out his phone, he looks at it, and he puts it away. There is no scrolling in the Dexcom app. If he's scrolling. He's, he's not using it for what it needs to be used for. And you can tell him to put it away. And, you know, I've told him that, for me, the phone is a privilege, like, yes, it makes it a lot easier to check. You don't have to pull your pump out. You know, he's on a tandem. You know, he could, he doesn't have to have his phone there. He could look at his pump to read his Dexcom. Right. So I'm allowing him the convenience of having his phone, but he has to try and manage that. Yeah. And not be a pain in the butt first teacher.

Scott Benner 46:06
If you're gonna stick all your text make sure nobody sees. That's right. That's what I was gonna I was gonna roll through Arden's 504 with you a little bit. So we haven't broken down into little, by the way, I have to just tell you first the word accommodations was misspelled on this document, not not typed by me. And I will tell you that I don't think I live in a in a dingy place, you know, where you expect the schools to not be on par. But I have never been emailed. So many misspellings, and writings that don't make sense as I have while my children are in school. Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. The amount of times that you get like you learn to not even look at the first email, because the second email was going to apologize for what they didn't do in the first email first certain. And it was just, I don't know, it didn't fill you with a ton of hope. In case you're wondering. Anyway, with that memory in my head, I pulled this document up. And in two seconds, I thought, yeah, I really think there's two M's and accommodations. And so anyway, so we had it broken down into personal right, it was sort of like all the staff will be trained. The nurse has to designate a person, it actually says the nurse shall designate in constitution with a board of education employees of the school district who volunteer to administer glucagon. So there's a there's a passage there, they eventually would find people. The teachers are trained to recognize type one, emergency indicators, and look during large group portions of the day, including recess assemblies, etc. It describes that Arden is going to be carrying a bag or a purse, and it tells what's in it, it tells you what to do in the event of a hypoglycemic event. And it actually walks through, like give her a juice, then do this, if she's not compliant. And drinking the juice, you're allowed to do this or be more forceful with this. It actually says in here, this goes back aways it says district personnel have a parent's permission to restrain Arden, if she becomes combative during the application of a glucose gel. And we put that in there so that they wouldn't feel like out. She flipped around twice. We'll wait for 911 like we were trying to think through everything that might happen. And of course, none of this ever happened. But if Arden becomes unconscious before, after the juice, the nurse will you know, and then in steps do the glucagon here's how call 911 Call the parents, you know, etc. Like it all kind of broke down that way. We added later in time to the glucose testing and insulin dosing section that Arden cellphone is considered a medical device. That is such a big one now. Yeah, you know, it's permitted to be with her at all times. Her proximity to her phone is crucial. Because some teachers in high school, remember the thing where they just used like, they'd hang a shoe tree up. Yeah. And maybe like everybody put your phone in there and go sit down. You know, Arden had to make her wait for that, to be honest. We're going to a concert, a comedy concert in a couple of days. And we had to call the venue yesterday and say, Listen, you know, it says that you're going to take our phones and lock them in bags. You can't do that. Like you know how bow but you don't start with you can't do that you start with here's our situation, is there a workaround for this? And they say, oh, yeah, sure, do this, you know, but I found it's very um it's, um, it's always interested in May, right? Like, you're working for somebody right now, Molly, right. If I come in and I start questioning the rules, I'm not questioning you. But it is hard not to feel that way if you're you so So a lot of times employees will start defending the institution as if the institution is themselves, which is why you call the comedy venue and say, Hey, here's something we have going on, can you please tell me what to do about it, not start telling them what to do, because they're like, it's not your job. It's easy to get kind of like, I guess the bras go up against people.

Molly 50:20
Anyway. Yeah. And I think, you know, I was just listening, you just put up an episode with a teacher, mom. And she was talking about that, that I think, as parents, you know, we get used to having to fight for things. You know, I think of insurance companies, I would say, if I didn't have to work, maybe I would just spend my time fighting with insurance companies and trying to make a change there. Because that's, to me, the most frustrating piece of the whole diabetes spaces is health insurance, but we're just kind of programmed that we're gonna have to fight for our kids and fight for what they need. And every little thing, like, you just want to go to a concert, or you just want to go to do this. But you're gonna have to make the phone call and explain the situation and, and we're just kind of programmed to do that. It's just, it's just the way you go about doing it. And again, when you're calling the venue, you know, that person answering the phone doesn't know about type one, they don't they have no idea that your phone is your, you know, your link to your glucose monitor.

Scott Benner 51:23
It sounds insane. If you don't know what it sounds like, is you want to keep your phone so you can record this concert for an excuse to why to do it. Ya know, it's the whole thing is communication. I don't like Mali, I don't want to give it away. But most of life is communication. So yeah. You know, it's funny, we have one in here, really interesting. And it's something we figured out a couple of years in, that they'll do their best in conjunction with the Transportation Director to make the bus route beneficial to Arden. And that was a thing where she used to get picked up first in the morning, and then in the afternoon was dropped off last. So it was always maximizing the amount of time she was on the bus. So one time we explained to him like, listen, here's what could happen. I think if you minimize the time she's on the bus, everybody be happier. And they came back a couple of days later, they said, Hey, we were able to rework the bus route. And now Arden gets picked up. Like she was like picked up three from last before getting to the school and dropped off. Again, three from you know, she was the third drop off. And it wasn't fun for anybody. And I don't think the person who had to rework the route was thrilled. But they figured it out. And you know, and it ended up being I thought beneficial to everybody. And I did point out how it would benefit them as well. Which is a is a big point of all this because when we went to texting, the school didn't really like that idea at first. And the way I sold it to them was like, Look, if I'm texting with her, and she and I are making decisions together, I really think there's no legal, like, legally, we made the decision. Like, it kind of gets you off the hook. And at that idea they lit up about. Yeah, and I kind of like since it didn't happen to you. I want you to if you're comfortable to talk a little bit about how exciting that must have been for them when I said, Look, you know, let's get you off the hook here on these insulin decisions. Do you think they were thrilled when they heard that?

Molly 53:25
Oh, sure. I mean, I mean, we have people threatening to sue us every day. So so I'd be lying if I said that wasn't a consideration. Yeah. So yeah, definitely. No, no. And I totally agree. I mean, and that's again, where the education, taking the time to explain how you're managing and how this is going to make it easier for the school. Not to mention less liability, but just easier. Because your indirect communication. Yeah, you need to explain how that works. I felt like 504 for Arden is interesting because it's it's definitely more on the medical side than then I would have in my school or in our district. I think just because we do have that diabetes care plan as a separate piece, so. So like my son's 504 In high school has a lot less medical and more about what he's able to do in the classroom. My big thing was, I don't want them leaving the classroom. Right. You know, there's a lot of content. I know you had mentioned one time about, you're worried about Arden's math, and then it was just that she was going to the nurse every day at that time. Yeah. And and that's a big thing. We talked about, you know, engagement in the classroom and, and that's, that's key. And so if you're leaving the room every hour, or even if it's just a couple times a day, that's that's missed instruction. And so for me, I want for my own child and for my students in my school I want every student in the classroom all the time. Yeah. If that means the nurse comes down or if, you know if kids on the Dexcom and the nurse can follow. I just I just want kids in classrooms.

Scott Benner 55:14
No, I mean, it was it happened in second grade. And it's so impacted her. It stayed with her for years, it took her years to rebound from that, from basically not being at the math, the math direction part of the day, every day, she'd she'd see a couple of minutes of it, then miss the middle chunk, and then come back when it was time to do the work. And she was significantly behind, like to the point I've said it on here before where she thought she thought she was just not adept at all. And I mean, there were times where we were like, well, at least we won't have to pay for college. You know, like because she's she seemed really dopey you know about that. And, and it turned out she just wasn't getting the direction. Yeah, you know that people underestimate

Molly 55:57
the impact of missed time. Yeah, because there was a missed instruction. We have, you know, the kids that come 15 minutes late every day, like while you add that up, they're missing days upon days of of instruction. And yeah, they're not reading well, because we do phonics first thing, and they're missing that, you know, and that's exactly the impact. Yeah,

Scott Benner 56:19
no, it's exactly what ended up happening. And she rebounded from it. Luckily, I guess. But it was hard for and nobody knew what happened, right? Like, no, like, we weren't there. Like how would I know they do the exact same thing at the exact same time every day? Like I didn't, it stands to reason now that you say it, but at the time, they were in second grade, like in my mind, they're just like, they're just like little ferrets running around in a cage. And every once in a while, you get them to look at you and you say letters at them. And then they run around again, like I didn't know what they were doing, you know. But But I think that's a big deal. Like not missing class time. But I was going to tell you like your 504 plan is is a pretty complete document. We used to do an IEP, I think they call them IEPs. individualized, something plan. Yeah. Education Plan. Yeah. And we just at one point, I was like, can we just leave this on this document, and they were like, sure, and we just sort of left it there. Because then there's a breakdown of how to handle snacks and meals for Arden. And it's little stuff like Arden gets to finish her lunch. You know, she eats at the same time every day, if there's an unforeseen change in the schedule, you tell us as soon as possible. Like that kind of stuff, you know, she has unfettered access to the bathroom, you know, stuff about environment around her like, you know that she's going to have to have access to her bag, you know, to her CGM. At that time to her on the pod controller, glucose, food etc. We double down on the cell phone, it's mentioned twice in there so that it can't be lost. And then testing which you brought up. You know, we we started to put a plan into place when she was younger, where when a test would start, she would write her blood sugar on the top corner of the test. And if the test came back differently than you would expect for Arden's you know understanding of the material, you could point to that and say hey, your blood sugar was pretty high can we do it again? And the truth is it never really came to fruition because it soon after we put it in I guess soon after we put it in index calm became really like a viable part of how we managed her blood sugar's just didn't get that high that frequently. And so it became but I still think it's a great idea for people just getting I

Molly 58:39
think, I think that a 504 Just in general in an IEP. It's just like the insurance policy for parents, right. I want it to have everything in there just in case and and hopefully you never have to deal with with something like that. You know, I hope that my son never shows up for a test and he's high and we have to think about should he should he redo it or, or any of that. But if it happens, I want something in that document that says we have the right to do this at a different time.

Scott Benner 59:11
Yeah, right. We can we can just call do over and do it again. She had during her art it took her SATs in a room privately with a teacher that she knew. And there was a time where I texted so the way we had it set up actually I can read it to you that I can tell you that it says allow for medical induced breaks if art needs to check her blood sugar per that and then that's all we asked for. And then the state testing coordinator added that art and cell phone may be on and present in the testing site but must be in the Proctor's possession. So the way we handle that was art and would give the phone to the teacher and say, Look, if there's a problem, my dad's watching, he'll text this phone, you can answer the text and then like decide what to do next. So we did that that way. That worked fine. It says they all the tests, excuse me, the state also added during a medically induced break art and may be given her testing materials too. So Arden has to give her testing materials to the proctor to hold. Then she can text about her blood sugar information to a parent. The proctor will look over our shoulder as she texts to ensure only medical information is being shared. Yeah, and the state also added if Arden needs to share medical information via her cell phone either due to an incoming text prompting her to do so not feeling well, or monitoring alerts, she must close her test booklet and answer sheet move away from the desk and retrieve her cell phone from the proctor again, the proctor will watch over our shoulder. So clearly what the state is worried about is cheating or taking pictures of the test. Yes, that's what they're worried about. Right? Because there are people who sell like they get a whole picture. So those tests and you sell them? Oh, yeah. Right. Because that's the business. Yeah, it's great because your kids not gonna get to college and then still be the same dummy that couldn't do well on the you know what I mean? Like, what's the point? Exactly, I got into a better school. Now, I don't understand what's happening here. So anyway, I mean, unless I could lead could Photoshop me in like a rowboat right or something like that, then I could just get any college I want. But, but um, this worked really well. And if I'm being honest and Arden's out of school. Now, I don't want to out anybody. If you asked Arden, if anybody ever looked over her shoulder while she was texting about our blood sugar? She would tell you, they probably did it, because it's a very human thing once you're in the room and the door is closed.

Molly 1:01:32
Right? Yeah. Right. But again, it's it's in place, and all those safeguards are in place. And so everybody can feel good about it and sign off on the plan and know that the integrity of the test is secure, and that she's going to be safe. Yeah, yeah, that's interesting. I have some similar statements in my son's 504 for testing, but he, you know, kind of goes along with, he just doesn't really want to make diabetes, a topic at all, he doesn't, he doesn't want to be in that separate room. He wants to be in the same room with everybody else. So I had to work with the counselor to say what, you know, what can we provide in the same room? Yeah. So we know, the big one is usually just food and drink, like I just want him to have, you know, he doesn't. Like I said, he doesn't need his phone. But that's partly because he's on a tandem pump. And so he can look at the pump. Yeah. And I had, but I had to clarify with them that the pump is not an electronic device, because you know, the rules say no electronic devices. The pump is a medical device that has electronics. And if he's looking at it, it looks like this. And this is what he's going to do. There's no, you know, it's not connected to the internet. He can't take a picture with it. But we had to go through all of that to make sure that they were going to feel comfortable having him in, you know, the general ed setting, right? Because it was important to him. He doesn't he doesn't want to feel like he has to go to this special room.

Scott Benner 1:03:04
Arden went back and forth on that show, there were times where she's like, I just want to stay in my room. And we've done that. And there are times where she's like, Hey, they set me up with a proctor. And I was like, Oh, they're not supposed to do that. And she's like, I don't care. And that was it. Just like, I'll never forget the time it happened. She's like, you know, she texted me. She goes, I just took a test with a proctor. I thought that wasn't supposed to happen. I said, it's not. I said, Do you want me to fix it? She goes, No, you know, it was nice. And I said, Okay, that's nice and quiet. Nobody was talking, I got in and I got out. Plus, like little things like, you know, once you finish this part of the tasks, you're supposed to wait till the next time to start. And and the teacher would inevitably go, Hey, listen, if you want to start now it's good with me. Can we get out of here? And I'd be like, Yeah, sure. Let's go. And so you know, again, it's funny, isn't it? We write it down so that you said it earlier, so everybody can feel comfortable. But then we all just coach whatever the hell we want to do anyway. Yeah.

Molly 1:04:00
Well, and it's important for me to know, like, even though Jack wants to downplay his diabetes right now, I just want him to understand that he will have to advocate for himself, you know, and you do it before the fact you know, you don't do it. When you get your test scores back and you bombed it because you were, you know, high the whole time or whatever. You make sure that that people understand the situation beforehand, on the off chance that that you might need to call called out into play. We've always

Scott Benner 1:04:32
been very careful not to use diabetes as an excuse, or to even have the appearance of using it as an excuse. And we did a really I'll tell you, we were really just like boyscout honest about it the entire time. Like the last I think the last two weeks of Arden senior year, she had she just I don't know pretty she got behind on something. She was up late working on something and she says to me in the morning, can you just call and say my blood sugar's low. And I said, she goes just one time. I don't want to go in. And I was like, Yeah, all right, whatever. So, and she was only late like she was late. And it was one of the I don't know if people like get this. But in Arden's senior year, the last couple of weeks, they were just, I don't even understand you guys sometimes what? Maybe it doesn't happen at your school. But what passes for instruction. Sometimes she's like, well, we're just sitting in the common area, because that was the weirdest thing I've brought up on the podcast recently. But the weirdest thing that changed from when I was in school to when she was in school, if your teacher calls out sick, you just don't have class that day.

Molly 1:05:42
Yeah, I heard you say that, that. That doesn't happen in our district. But I can only imagine that it's because there's a shortage of subs. I mean, I had a lot of days during COVID That I could, there was no sub available, right? But I'm Elementary School. I can't tell kids to just go to the comments and entertain themselves

Scott Benner 1:06:02
make talks because I think that's what happened. No,

Molly 1:06:06
I have to provide an adult, they might not be getting the instruction. They'd be getting in there with their regular teacher, but you know, they are supervised and they're doing something.

Scott Benner 1:06:17
Well, I'm sure there was an adult with them, but I'm making air quotes. She just like she'd come home. She'd be like, hey, check out these pictures. And I'm like, what was there a dance party? She goes, Hey, this was during, you know, English, the guy didn't show up. And there's 40 kids there. And they're just like voguing and like, I don't know what they're doing. You don't even like, Okay, I was like, well, good luck in life. Yeah, I hope you understand English. Anyway, did you? I'm so sorry. Because we're like talking for an hour already. And I has this gone any way that you considered? Or did we not cover things that you wanted to talk about? I

Molly 1:06:56
want to make sure I know, I think it's, it's gone? Fine. I, like I said, I just I hope I can provide something that's useful for people and dealing with their schools. And yeah, I hope I've done that.

Scott Benner 1:07:10
So come to them. So come ahead of time. Right. Be don't yell. seems like an obvious so I'm very Reasonable. Reasonable can even be angry, just reasonably angry, please. Sure.

Molly 1:07:24
I mean, I think one thing I've learned as a principal is that, you know, I get I get complaints all the time, you know, people have issues with what's going on. And, and usually, it has not a lot to do with, with what people are actually complaining about, you know, usually it's, it's something else that you're frustrated about, or, but but we're dealing with people's kids and, you know, people send us their very best product. You know, nobody's purposely not trying to do the best for their kids, including us on the school side, you know, we are, we are trying to do the best for your child and and every other student in the school. And, you know, with diabetes, I think as parents, we can sometimes put our blinders up. And because there are life and death situations. And

Scott Benner 1:08:15
where you say, Well, is there a time though, when you go, Look, I don't care about reasonable, I don't care what you have the ability to do? Like there are some things like this has to happen. And those things, they do end up happening, right?

Molly 1:08:27
Yes, yes, I think for the most part, you know, I think the part where maybe, maybe you and I would disagree is the extent of the tight control that we can have now, because of the technology. You know, at what point is that still reasonable that that your that your child has, has the same control every minute of the school day that they would have if they were at home with you every minute, right?

Scott Benner 1:09:03
Well, that's why the texting, I think texting is the unsung hero of diabetes, kids. And you know, because you can take other steps out, you can remove people who don't really know what they're doing to begin with, or don't have the time, you know, even if they didn't know. And I think that direct communication also allows insulin to be used more effectively to because you're not saying not waiting for a beep and then walking into a room and then waiting in line behind three kids with bruised knees and don't eat meat and then find right bolusing for your meal or whatever. Right Yeah, I but I see both sides like I really do like I I love that you're presenting your side of it. And I also think that it is not unreasonable for a person to want their kid to be healthy or for a newer diagnosed family who really doesn't know what they're doing to just be like, frazzled, get right and everything and everything seems out of control. Roll. It's interesting, though, isn't it that I guess there's not enough kids? I guess, thankfully, in places where people just know where there's a system where they're like, Oh, no diabetes, sure that happens here all the time, or even with the state like that. You don't you don't have to explain to the state, this is an insulin pump. It's not a you know, it's not a handheld, you know, gaming system. Like, your son can't be the first person to take an SAP and, you know, in Alaska with an insulin pump on, right, like how right

Molly 1:10:28
I just think it's just changing so fast. And everybody's different, right? I mean, I don't feel I mean, I guess I have been teaching a while. But, you know, when I had students in my classroom, the technology was totally different. Right? You know, and then and even now, it's changing fast. And it depends on what system you're using, you know, if you're, you know, tandems different than Omnipod are different than emanate MDI, en, and what you need is going to be different based on that. So it's so individualized and how people manage and and how parents manage versus how much kids manage and at what age there's just so many variables that it's it's unreasonable I think for for school officials who aren't medical professionals to have any idea about what what you want as a parent, or how best to manage your child because it's all individual.

Scott Benner 1:11:23
Molly over under, let's set the number at 10. How many day drinking parents have you had to deal with in your career? Over Under 10?

Molly 1:11:33
Over Under 10 individuals over 10?

Scott Benner 1:11:38
Oh, definitely. I'm here to give Billy his lunch. It's a bottle of vodka Do you want to do? Was there another bag in the car? Did you want to get the other bag? I just I don't know.

Molly 1:11:52
We we see lots of things in school, I would say the one thing that maybe parents don't realize in elementary school is is how much their their little kids talk. And you know, everybody, you know, if you're six, whatever happens in your house, you think that happens in everybody's house. And so you just talk about it as if it's, you know, a typical everyday thing. So,

Scott Benner 1:12:17
you know, all the dirt like the infidelity and the town and like everything, it comes to the kids, right?

Molly 1:12:22
They I mean, they just tell you, in the same way that your child might say I had Cheerios for breakfast, somebody else's child may say something, you know?

Scott Benner 1:12:33
My, my neighbor comes over on Wednesday nights and my dad goes to their house. Really? That happens. Okay.

Molly 1:12:41
So let's just say whatever whatever happens.

Scott Benner 1:12:45
I feel like you have a book. I feel like every teacher has a book in them of just things that they've seen or heard. Oh, I'm

Molly 1:12:51
sure they could. There weren't, you know, last potentialities.

Scott Benner 1:12:56
They rattled each other these kids to in there just the openness. Like you learn about the other kids through kids, the way you learn about like home stuff, is it? Oh, yeah.

Molly 1:13:06
Well, and I always tell, you know, if I'm dealing with discipline issues, and I have to call a parent, I can't name you know, other students that were involved. But I usually just tell them, I said, just ask your child what happened? They'll they'll give you lots more details than I can I have to tell you, they'll tell you exactly who said what, I have a

Scott Benner 1:13:27
completely different in the age of the internet feeling for what teachers must go through. When more recently I saw an educator educators like physical appearance attacked on a public Facebook page by a parent who had just, I guess, been frustrated, and decided that, you know, they were gonna vent like a five year old online, and then started attacking the guy personally. And I was like, what is happening? Like,

Molly 1:13:56
yeah, that would be my other piece of advice is come talk to your school first before you post things online.

Scott Benner 1:14:04
You don't think go into your the Facebook page is the way to take care of it. I've seen so many reasonable things worked out that way though.

Molly 1:14:11
Right? I know it always it always de escalates.

Scott Benner 1:14:15
Fine, absolutely fine. My wife says to me the other day, it doesn't matter what side of the perspective is on she goes. There's the woman in town explaining January 6 to everybody in the Facebook group for the town right now. And I was like, What's that now? And and she's like, Yeah, she's she's explaining all of her theories and things she knows for sure. And blah, blah. And I was like, and this person if you met them, like, like, and you bumped into them, you think like this normal person. And by the way, I didn't say I don't mean that her opinions were abnormal. I mean, the idea that she felt compelled to like, go on Facebook and explain it to everybody, right my mind. And then when something happens at this or, and someone else agrees that Oh, this one isn't good or this one is like that, then it just turns into a free for all. Yes, fascinating. Anyway, I don't know. It lowers my expectations for adults when I see that stuff. It's really, it really does. And if you're listening right now, you've done some of that. Stop yourself. I mean, honestly,

Molly 1:15:23
just I mean, like you said, it's just communication, just talk, talk to the people

Scott Benner 1:15:27
directly step away, step away. It's okay. Just just go take a break somewhere before you start bad mouthing a guy who makes $45,000 on the internet for what he looks like, just like, how about he's trying to get an amen. And you don't know his life. But anyway, Molly, this was terrific. I appreciate you doing this very much. Well, thanks for having me. Yeah, of course. And we didn't make fun of Alaska at all. Almost.

Molly 1:15:50
I know. There weren't I thought for sure. Yeah. You know,

Scott Benner 1:15:53
Yeah, but you're not more on there. You bring a you bring a different like you have an East Coast feeling to you.

Molly 1:15:58
Oh, an East Coast. Wow. I grew up on the West Coast. You really interesting. I don't know if that's a compliment.

Scott Benner 1:16:04
I feel like you're like a no bullshit person, Molly.

Molly 1:16:07
Oh, well, I would. Yeah, I would maybe describe myself that way. Okay.

Scott Benner 1:16:11
Yeah, that's just what I mean. Like, I don't think there's a lot of room for shenanigans with you. Anyway, you probably have to go kill a beaver for dinner. So I'm gonna let you go. I know you don't live in a place where there are other people. Your kid is on that bus for an hour.

Molly 1:16:30
Yeah, we are. One of the we're kind of in a 45 minutes from the major city. So is that

Scott Benner 1:16:39
city where Santa lives like what are we?

Molly 1:16:43
Well, Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska. We are 45 minutes outside of Anchorage. So for a long time, the school in my town is a K through eight school. So my son had a like two minute commute to school and it was the school that I worked at. So that was super convenient. But the High School is in Anchorage. Alright, so for high school, he hasn't when your long bus ride when

Scott Benner 1:17:09
you grow up in Anchorage? What, what is it? Like if you want to stay local? What do you expect to do for work? Is just anything like Yeah,

Molly 1:17:19
I mean, I think anything you would do in a typical city, we have an anchorage. I mean, we have a lot of, I mean, in addition, I guess the Alaska specific things would be maybe, you know, resource development oil industry. There's a there's a lot of jobs in that sector.

Scott Benner 1:17:36
I just imagined canning or bartender like I don't have everything. It's that stupid TV shows. The only thing I've ever seen a fan of Lascaux. What does that?

Molly 1:17:46
Right? Yeah, I don't think well, there's all sorts of TV shows about Alaska. Now. We got the crabbing ones and the Alaska State Troopers and the survival.

Scott Benner 1:17:57
I met Northern Exposure.

Molly 1:17:59
Right. Yeah. Well, that's that's probably more realistic for a small town. I don't think that I think that show was you know, not for a big place like where you live but not Anchorage. Anchorage is a city like any other city and we have

Scott Benner 1:18:12
tell everybody a professional football team you have and the baseball and the hockey.

Molly 1:18:18
Well, we don't have any of them. I mean, we do have hockey, but a lot of people

Scott Benner 1:18:23
that's walking Molly You can't count on people have to go from place to place on ice skates. A

Molly 1:18:30
lot of people go to Seattle or things that you know, other places for their professional sports for $20.

Scott Benner 1:18:36
I couldn't point to Atlanta to Anchorage right now. Like, if you just show me like, in fairness, I probably couldn't point to where I live either. But I have no idea where you're at. I mean, I know Alaska is like that like little like nubby thing at the top next to Canada.

Molly 1:18:53
Well, it's just you know, floating down. It's by Hawaii in that little box. Okay, I thought the west coast

Scott Benner 1:18:58
and you can see Russia from Alaska. I've heard Yes, yes. Yes. Yeah. So that's what I know. It's all true. Yeah, exactly. Well, thank you very much. I do appreciate it. Hold on one second. Okay.

A huge thank you to Molly for coming on the show and sharing what she knows with us. I also want to thank us Med and remind you that you can get your free benefits check at us med.com forward slash juice box are by calling 888-721-1514 And of course our newest sponsor, better help better help.com forward slash juice box use that link to get 10% off your first month of therapy. I want to thank you so much for listening. remind you to check out the private Facebook group Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes with over 35,000 members in it. That's pretty budget I hope you have a good day I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast

#869 Type 2 Diabetes Pro Tip: Medical Team

A series for people with pre and Type 2 diabetes.

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

00:04:38 Regular check-ups are important.
00:07:03 Testing is important for diagnosis.
00:14:01 Lack of education for type 2 diabetes.
00:23:22 Take control of your health.
00:25:02 Knowing the consequences of diabetes.
00:34:48 Take charge of your health.
00:35:12 Take control of your diabetes.
00:40:16 Advocate for yourself in diabetes.
00:49:50 Take control of your health.
00:50:25 Blood sugar monitoring and therapy.

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, and welcome to episode 869 of the Juicebox Podcast

Welcome back everyone. This is the third episode in our type two diabetes Pro Tip series. And today Jenny Smith and I will be discussing your medical team. While you're listening, please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan, or becoming bold with insulin. And don't forget, this is episode three. Episode Two was type two diabetes pro tip guilt and shame. And Episode One was type two diabetes Pro Tip series intro so we're up to three doing well, actually next week, fueling plan, the week after that tech. And the week after that is testing. Like what you'll ask your doctor to test for. It's coming together very nicely. I hope you're enjoying it. still much more to come. Don't forget, if you are a listener of the show, everything you buy it cozy eartha.com is 35% off when you use the offer code juice box at checkout. So if you're looking for some sheets or joggers, I actually really love the joggers. My sheets are great too. But jogger sir. Excellent cozy earth.com 35% off at checkout with the offer code juicebox. This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by Dexcom, makers of the Dexcom G six and Dexcom G seven continuous glucose monitoring systems. Doesn't matter what kind of diabetes you have. Dexcom is the way to go. dexcom.com forward slash Juicebox Podcast is also brought to you by the contour next gen blood glucose meter, you need a great blood glucose meter, you might as well get one that's actually accurate and easy to use contour next one.com forward slash juicebox. There are links in the show notes and links at juicebox podcast.com. To these and all the sponsors. When you click on my legs, you're supporting the show and helping to keep it free and plentiful. Hey, Jenny, how are you?

Jennifer Smith, CDE 2:31
I'm great. How are you? Scott?

Scott Benner 2:32
I'm doing well. Thank you. Yay. So right before we recorded, you and I kind of went over what the next step was here, right? We've already recorded like an introduction to the series, we talked about guilt and shame. And then we said, do we talk about technology and medications and insulin next? Or do we talk about what might happen when you get to the doctor's office next, like what's the path that the story should take in the series? And we came down to? We're going to talk about medical care first. Yes. All right. So there's some stuff here from people, and we can definitely go over it. But I think I want to talk to you first about this. So I am a person who has type two diabetes, I'm listening to this, I've decided I'm going to do something I'm going to do. I mean, what I'm trying to think of what the average person is going to do, they're going to call their general practitioner and asked to get a physical probably

Jennifer Smith, CDE 3:28
correct, typically, or if they've got if they've had enough types of symptoms kind of building up that they're concerned about. They would call with a specific concern, right, not just to get a physical but like, I think something's going on. I feel like this. I don't like how I'm feeling. I'm tired all the time, et cetera. I think I really need to come in and many adults get into the habit of not even going for a yearly physical. Right? Because I'm healthy, I feel fine. And I get a cold once a year and everything is totally fine. And I'm up to date on everything. So what do I need to see my general practitioner for? Yeah, then you start feeling nasty, and many adults with a busy life. They put off that I'm not feeling quite right. And they put it off. And they put it off, because there are many things as an adult that we're trying to manage day to day and overall. And so you end up not taking care of yourself for a longer period of time that is probably appropriate.

Scott Benner 4:39
And you're sliding, you're sliding so slowly down that hill, in many instances, you don't recognize how far you've kind of gone, correct. Yeah,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 4:47
I mean, I think you know, as a preventative, quite honestly, if anybody takes anything away, it really should be. Even if you don't have diabetes, go to your general medicine. Medical Provider once a year, get your base labs done, get them done, get them evaluated, have a discussion, family history, all of those kinds of things. They should be being reviewed. Yeah. Because if you can catch a change in glucose levels, as we're talking about diabetes, if you can catch that earlier, I mean, what is it? I think the statistic is one in three Americans, right now has pre

Scott Benner 5:27
diabetes. How is that defined?

Jennifer Smith, CDE 5:31
So pre diabetes is, if we're looking at glucose levels, you're looking at fasting levels that are above 100, but not in the realm of diabetes. And if we're looking at a one C, which again, is a parameter that, I think it should just be added, with this yearly visit, every single year, you should just have an A one C thrown in there, kind of like they throw in cholesterol and you know, your complete panel, just throw the a one C in, if we can catch and have somebody know, well, goodness, this level has gone up, it's not where it used to be. pre diabetes is defined as the a one C 5.7, upwards to 6.4. And anything above 6.4 is diagnostic of of diabetes. So you've got this, this window of ability to navigate management. Again, the problem being that many adults have put off a lot of their own health care. Unless something really doesn't feel right. And sometimes that's you're well beyond prediabetes at that point,

Scott Benner 6:38
what are some things that I can see in my home? That I don't need to go to a doctor for? Like, I'm trying to like? Do you get tired after meals? Like what are indicators that your blood sugar is high, like physical indicators for people, not type ones, right? Like, is there anything I can like say to myself, geez, maybe this is an indicator for me? Or do I need to do the testing, even just to know.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 7:03
So pre diabetes, the unfortunate thing is that there are not really signs or symptoms, honestly, it really would involve testing. I think those who, who may be concerned already have had some testing done, everything looks like where it should be. But if you really want to keep up with it, get a simple glucose meter from your pharmacy, and just do your own random testing. And this would go because we know that type two has a genetic component to it. This would go for those who especially have a strong family history of type two, or maybe have some metabolic things that they already know about, that could potentially predispose them to diabetes.

Scott Benner 7:48
So what blood sugar Am I looking for? When do I test?

Jennifer Smith, CDE 7:52
Yeah, so fasting blood sugar should really be again, under 100, under 95, and somewhere under 95 to 100. Right? That's a fasting level. And that would be without diabetes, which is the reason that in diabetes, we focus on that, like, Oh, my fasting was at today, that's perfect. That's right where I want to be. And then you know, in terms of of diagnostic, then we not only often look at an E one C level, but also lab work that kind of goes along with that, right? So blood sugar levels in the aftermath of meals, if you're doing any of your own testing really, in they shouldn't be rising above that 140 mark, honestly, they should be kind of coming right back down on their own. So those are some of the things that you could be looking at, again, if you are someone who is trying to pay attention, and stop it before it gets to a diagnosis of type two diabetes.

Scott Benner 8:56
All right, well, okay, so now I'm motivated, and I'm gonna go to my doctor. Now, here's some feedback from people in the in the, in the group, but standard of care for type two globally is terrible. It goes like this Metformin, long acting insulin, eat better finger wagging. That's it, you know. So I know a number of people have type two diabetes. So I'm sort of calling off my knowledge from my private conversations with them. I'm going to make an amalgam of these people and talk about it, right. They go in, they don't know, they have a problem. We've already gone into this, right? There's no real symptoms, they find out they have this issue. And then what happens next is scattered and they leave more confused and scared now on top of being confused right before they were like, I'm fine. Then they get in there and they're like, oh, it's not fine. I have pre diabetes. I think I'm gonna get type two diabetes, or I have type two diabetes and They get a meter and no direction. And they get told to eat better and come back in six months, and we'll see if this gets better. That's about it. Right?

Jennifer Smith, CDE 10:10
That is, that's the best in a nutshell. 100%, correct? Absolutely. I mean, it is. Because consider going to the doctor, even if it's just a random once a year, right? And you think I'm feeling fine. I don't think there's anything going on here, right? And diagnostic for type two, not just pre diabetes is fasting levels above 126, which, in diabetes, were like, Man, my blood sugar's 120. You know? I'll take that. Take her, you know, I mean, some people are like, Oh, 120, I gotta like, go take a walk, I have to get that back down, or, you know, whatever your targets are. But in type two diagnosis, or diabetes diagnosis, it's fasting above 125 126. and above, right? So when we're looking at going to that doctor, maybe you did have some fasting levels done, maybe there wasn't an emergency in it, but there was a fasting level done. That should be an instant discussion that the doctor brings up, hey, your levels are here. I mean, many times they focus on the lipid panel, or like your cholesterol panel, right? Oh, look at this, and they want to add these medications in and whatever. But the other ones are very important. And glucose, I think is I want to say that it's missed. But I think it's, it's too coded over. And it's not explained well. So the doctor who spies it, and says, Well, gosh, you're fasting is here, let's have you come in again, and do another fasting level, or, Hey, this level means that you could have type two diabetes. And in order to best evaluate, let's get an E, one C done. This is what the a one C means this is what it will show us. And so you can see all of the steps of discussion that should be given to the person, just from one test result, you can't necessarily prove however, something like an A one C would be very, very beneficial. Because that's as we all know, a good overall of how your glucose has been managed by your body for a bit of time already, not just this one point of time fasting level.

Scott Benner 12:29
So So what's going to happen, right is that people are going to be told, eat better, that's it's going to be very simplified, they're gonna say you got to eat better. Meanwhile, you might go from actually eating perfectly well, to not knowing what the hell that means, like, you could run that gamut anywhere. But what I see when I speak to people, is that they go home, and they do eat better. And then they come back to the doctor, and nothing's changed most of the times. And then you get that like, hands up in the air feeling or you are you get put in a position where you're a person who really doesn't eat well. And now in your mind, you're picturing three little crowns of broccoli, and a quarter of a chicken breast with a little pepper, like sprinkled over it, you're like, Wait, that's how I like you don't mean, and then I talk to people who do that, they get that and then it doesn't matter. Because, you know, like, that's not the whole answer. Right?

Jennifer Smith, CDE 13:26
And what does what does? What does better in any sense mean? Betty better is nondescript, right? Yeah. It doesn't give you any good avenue to follow to improve in one way or another. So eat better? Well, gosh, Doc, do you know how I'm eating already. I'm already trying to do this, and this and this. And I might have one Friday, every other weekend, that I do something with my buddies, or, you know, I go out with my girlfriends or whatever. But in general, I do think that I'm doing pretty well. I think that what ends up happening in adult diagnosis is that you are given this information. It's very lacking in

Scott Benner 14:14
their education and their basic assumptions.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 14:17
They're based on assumptions that you can say that the doctor can tell you go eat better and go get active. The doctor thinks that as an adult, you you know what that means, right? That you can take that and you can run with that information. But as you know, those with type one really know, we need more information. So someone with type two who has lived a lifetime thus far into whatever age of diagnosis as an adult, you've gotten to, you're looking at a significant amount of change, and not having anyone point you to where to start. That's very frustrating. And so you might leave you know In terms of what, what can you ask, right? When you are at your doctor's office, and they say, Well, you know what your your levels are looking like this. And it looks like you have type two diabetes. Okay, Doc, what does that mean? Point me to some resources, right? Am I going to need some medicine? These are all questions that unfortunately you as the person, you have to start asking. Yeah, and a lot of people don't yeah,

Scott Benner 15:25
this is the time where you think yourself like, why am I listening to a conversation about type two diabetes with a guy who's the father of a type one, and a lady who's a type one and and you know, well, first of all, JD is also a nutritionist. But that's, you're listening to us because we know how to advocate for ourselves. And because that, that's where that's where the big differences between type one and type two become important type one diabetes, you get it, you're dead in three days, if you don't take care of yourself, right? So you have to figure it out. And then like it or not, most people don't get decent direction with type one diabetes, either. So you go home, and you're like, This is on me, like, I gotta, I gotta, I have to figure this out. I have to read about it, I have to find somebody who knows it's you get into a mad panic to figure it out, you know,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 16:15
either that or the person with type one, especially as a caregiver, or as an even as an adult diagnosis a type one a lot of people are, they beat down their doctors door? Yeah, they say, this is not working, you will call me back, you will respond to this. What can I do different? Where can I get more information? They are, again, I think advocate advocating in a way that means they're requiring someone to respond to their questions. Unfortunate with type two is, again, the way that somebody is sent out the door with a diagnosis. It's almost as if you're just given this little bit of information. But it's okay. If you if you just take what I gave you and you eat better, right? Don't worry about it. There's no definition to when to come back. Where to seek out additional help. What does your medication even do? I'm telling you to take this and do this this many times a week? What does that even mean? How am I gonna feel from this? So these are, these are all the questions that I think from an angle of type two diagnosis, you have to take it on yourself, and you have to go back to your medical team. And you have to say, Steve told me to do this. And I started with these base things like you said, I've cut down in my my eating or I've portioned better, or I've started to take a walk three times a week when I have some time. And how do I measure that this is doing anything, doctor? How do I know that this is making a difference? Right?

Scott Benner 17:51
That's what I was saying earlier, it's one of the biggest problems is that when you're when you have type one, you'll know you're not doing well in a few days when you slip into a coma and you're in DKA, right? But type twos don't have that happening in that moment. So you might go along just the way you like, you have to really think about this before you go to the doctor and did the blood tests. You thought you were okay. How would you like to know what your blood sugar is, without poking a hole in your finger, you can with the Dexcom G six continuous glucose monitoring system, which is available@dexcom.com forward slash juicebox. Not only this Dexcom offers zero finger sticks. But you can get your glucose readings right on your smart device that's your iPhone or your Android don't have a phone. That's okay. You can use Dex comms receiver on any of these devices, you're able to set up customizable alerts and alarms, setting your optimal range so that you'll get notified when your glucose levels go too high or too low. End, you can share this data with up to 10 followers. Imagine what that could look like your child could be at school, and their data could be available to you, your spouse, their aunt, the school nurse, anyone who you choose. My daughter has been wearing a Dexcom for ever, and it helps us in multiple ways. Around meals, we're able to see if our boluses are well timed and well measured. If they aren't, we can tell by how her blood sugar reacts and then go back the next time and make an adjustment. Without the Dexcom CGM were sort of flying blind, but not just at meals. Also during activity and sleep. The Dexcom offers us an unprecedented level of comfort and security, being able to see my daughter's blood sugars in real time and not just the number but the speed and direction is an absolute game changer if you're using insulin dexcom.com forward slash juice box head over there today to see if you're eligible for a free 10 day trial. file of the Dexcom G six. The Dexcom is at the center of how we have been able to keep our daughter's a one C, between five two and six two. for over seven years, we've been able to minimize variability and keep her blood sugar's in a stable range because of the information that we can see with the Dexcom. These are our results and yours may vary, but using Dex coms feedback has helped my daughter without any food restrictions, live a more normal and healthy life dexcom.com forward slash juice box. And guess what in about three weeks Arden's gonna start using the Dexcom G seven. So I'll be able to report back about that just as soon as we have some information. Okay, so you've got your CGM, you're all set with your Dexcom. But you still need a blood glucose meter, right, you're gonna have to check your finger. Sometimes, the one that doctor gives, you might not even be accurate. But you can know you can trust in your soul, that the contour next gen blood glucose meter is one of the most accurate meters you can find contour next one.com forward slash juicebox. couple of cool things about the contour meters. One of them is that they may be cheaper in cash than they are through your insurance that goes to the test strips as well. And those test strips have Second Chance testing, meaning if you kind of touch some of the blood, but don't get enough that you don't ruin the strip, or the accuracy of the test. By going back and getting more blood you got a second chance those strips that meter all the meters, check it out, go to my link contour next.com forward slash juice box. Click on Buy Now it's orange and blue. And it will take you to a number of places online links of that so number of places online where you can pick up the contour meters, places like Walgreens CVS Meijer, target right and more, you'll see it there at contour next.com forward slash juice box, get an accurate meter

then you get the blood tests you find out you're not. But then when you go back home again, things sort of go back to like the way they were correct. And as you get farther away from that doctor's appointment, you start feeling calm, okay? And then so you don't know that things are either getting worse or not getting better until the next time you think to call the doctor to make an appointment to get more bloodwork, which no one wants to do. It can come six months or a year sometimes. Yeah, and then you find out I'm either no better off or things are sliding further. And an exercise. Listen, it's obvious, you know, we all need exercise like like, right, like, that's fine. But people have lives. And they some people just don't exercise very much. Some people don't have the money to buy decent food. And some people don't know what any of this means. So you didn't know before you get to the doctor, you find out you're in a situation you still don't know anything different. The guy just said, eat better exercise, come back and see me sometime. Get yourself a meter, you have to dig in and figure out what this means. Like you have to decide like, am I gonna be the one that takes care of this? Or am I gonna sit around and pretend this isn't going to get worse, right? And I'm here to tell you it is going to get worse.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 23:35
Because there are a lot of if you kind of set it the right way. It's like you you've given this, you've gotten all this information, but on your end, now it's up to you, unfortunately, it's up to you to go and look for more like what does this mean? And there are there are a lot of good resources for type two diabetes management. I mean, the internet is endless, right? It is an endless wealth of of information where you get the information from could be great or not so great. But there there's a lot of good information but if you don't even know what you're supposed to be looking for, again, it's it's a sense of confusion and frustration. And you know, I think we talked about it before like this sense of, oh gosh, I've I've now I have this to take care of Clearly I've not done anything right It's like a It's a self blame and you feel bad about it and you're not you're not maybe you've got a family to take care of and now you've got also this thing to take care of for yourself and it's another load on the pack of stuff that you have to manage.

Scott Benner 24:48
Shame on you the shame and guilt pile on and it just and I think here is the place to say like I've done this in the type one series and in the in the pot To cast and I just think it belongs here to, I don't think people know why it matters that they have diabetes, I think they know that diabetes is bad. And then they relate it to people being overweight, and then they relate it to something they saw happen to their grandparents, right, like nobody really understands, there is a certain amount of glucose that should be in your blood. And when there's too much, it begins to rub. inside of your body, everywhere, blood glows, the tiniest little veins and your eyes, arteries everywhere, everywhere, there's a course glucose on there, and it's rubbing. So just think of yourself as being sandblasted from the inside out, like there's a certain amount of glucose that your body can deal with. And there's a certain amount not. So when you hear somebody say, Oh, my grandfather lost his leg to diabetes, you don't really know what that means. You know, when you hear somebody say, I had a heart attack, or he had typed he had diabetes, and he had a heart attack, he had a stroke, he doesn't see anymore, he can't feel his fingertips, all these things that you hear, it just means that the glucose inside of your blood, which was too much for it was rubbing, rubbing, rubbing, and it causes and I liked the way you describe it better causes little, like utopia we talked about at one time were kind of like, like, what's

Jennifer Smith, CDE 26:17
like little abrasions inside, right, and so your body then has to, to patch them, right? It has to heal that your body is a really good self healing machine. So it sees all of these scratches, if you will. And it wants to put a bandaid on it. And the problem with that is if you don't take steps in your life to improve the glucose levels, your body will continue to get deterioration in the vessels on the nerve cells and everything. And your body will continue to patch and patch and patch. And so, you know, I know people can't see me like my hands getting closer. But if you imagine a vessel as it's sort of narrowing, the reason that heart disease is a big part or could be a complication with diabetes is that the more vessel level damage that there is, the more narrow the vessels get from all of the healing and the patches that the body has tried to help. And so now your blood pressure goes up. And now cholesterol levels go up and all of these pieces. It's like a snowball effect, right? Yeah, yeah, I

Scott Benner 27:29
mean, I just try to imagine a three inch pipe and has a hole in it, you slap some putty in it, and then it starts leaking, again, you slap and more putty in the 20th time you slap them putty, nothing can go through the pipe anymore, you high blood pressure, right bloods moving through that pipe, you're restricting it, you're increasing the pressure, the blood in your system, high blood pressure, this is just, here's the thing. diabetes untreated, and a type one is going to, it's going to get your way before these things can happen. But in type twos, this is this is where you're on your way to it just it just is and you're not going to it's not going to stop on its own. So you have to step up and do something and when you run into a doctor who's given you, but now, bullshit, that isn't going to help you, and they just are running you back out of the office again, you can't just go well, that's what the doctor said. So I guess that's okay. Because the doctor won't be there. When an artery in your heart gets blocked. Or when your vision is that doctor won't know though you'll get a different doctor, then we'll say something to you, like, oh, did the last guy not telling you about this, which is not going to help you. It'll be fun. It'll be easy to be mad at somebody and to blame somebody. But if you really want out of this, you got to do what you need to do. And that's why in future episodes, we're going to talk about technology and medications and insulin. Because from my perspective, when I think about me, if you told me right now, I had pre diabetes, and I went and did the things that I was supposed to do. And I came back and nothing had changed. I would immediately go to getting help. Because yeah, so I can turn the ship around on my own. I don't want it to take on water. Like that's how that's how I would think of it I would go immediately to keep me as healthy as you possibly can. And slow deterioration as much as possible.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 29:27
Right. Yeah. And there are and that's why I think the word advocate right becomes really important any, any time you go to your doctor's office, even if it is just for your once a year checkup. You have to be rented ready to advocate for you. Hey, Doc, I've noticed this or I seem to have this Well, the doctor then in terms of what you've brought in, she'd say, Well, gosh, it sounds like you see the eye doctor right? I'm not seeing quite as well or my night vision is go Okay, let's go get that checked out. Right. But if you don't bring those As pieces up to your doctor, then the doctor can't provide back any further suggestion. And so with type two diabetes, advocating by saying, Well, gosh, you've told me to do these things in this first visit, what does it mean to have high blood sugar? The doctor should be able to answer that for you. Right? And on a very base level and what Hey, Doc, what should my blood sugar be? You said that it's high in this lab result that you have in front of you? Where should it be? What am I aiming for? So these are questions that you may not know to ask. So hopefully, you know, hearing this, you you may know better. And or you can help somebody, you can teach somebody else,

Scott Benner 30:44
I want you to be ready with questions and know the answers to the questions already. Otherwise, you'll accept anything that's told to you, and I'm telling you, you are going to get advice that sounds like I don't know, like, Hey, Doc, I have this cello here. I don't know how to play it. But I want to play Bach, what should I do? And the doctor is gonna say something like, oh, you should sit down, take the bow and play Bach and skip a lot of the stuff in the middle. And so you're gonna get a lot of, it just sucks. Like, I don't know another way to say it. And if doctors are listening, I'm sorry. Like, I know, you think like, oh, there's a lot of Doctor hating going on in here. Well guess what do a better job. You know, like, I think the problem is, is that for a lot of doctors, not all of them, they're going to see you with your type two diabetes coming. And they're just going to do the same thing everybody else does. They're just people. And they're just going to assume that you didn't live right. And this is basically something you've done to yourself. But that listening, it doesn't matter. That may or may not be true. None of that matters now, because here we are,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 31:48
right. And we need to take care of this now. And so from that level, you know, the doctors job, if there are doctors listening, certainly the doctors job at that primary care level is to be somewhat of an advocate in sending you out to the right person then, right, they should say, I don't know how to tell you how to check your blood sugar. Okay, but I want you to do it. So here are the education programs, or here is the diabetes educator, or here is the dietician that I'm going to send you to, for some baseline information. Yeah, they should have those as references and resources to provide to anybody, whether they ask for additional education or not, that should be on their prescription pad of, I've prescribed this medicine, I've prescribed this glucose meter, you also need to go and get information because I can't give it all to you. And I think even on a level of admitting that, I think many, many people hearing a diagnosis from a doctor would appreciate that that doctor says, I don't know much more about this, I have a baseline amount of information to provide you. These are the people that are going to help you navigate this in your life. Yeah,

Scott Benner 33:07
yeah, you have to find other people who already have succeeded. It's no different than anything else in the world, you have to look ahead of yourself and say, who's on this path, doing a good job? Like, I gotta go find out what they're doing. Because, you know, maybe they're, maybe their situations not going to be exactly the same as mine. But there'll be a lot for me to learn. And then I'll go find someone else who's having success and learn from them. Yeah, you can't learn from people who don't know, and you can't learn from people who are failing at it. Like you need to find someone who's doing and I know, failing and succeeding are bad words and healthcare and everything. But this is what we're talking about here. Like, like, you don't have forever. We all know that. Right? Jenny? Like doesn't go on forever. Yeah, unfortunately, once you're 60 your knee hurts anyway. Like, get in the game. You know what I mean? Like, this is this is the part here. Also, you have to realize that if you find a doctor, who is gung ho, and is like, no, no, we're going to stop this thing in its tracks. Here's this and this and this. Now, the here's the next thing, they don't tell you, that pill might make me nauseous. It might have me in the bathroom forever, that that doesn't make you feel good about taking the pill. And so you're even if you run into somebody who who knows what they're doing and knows how to help you, you still have to understand what's about to happen next. And is that supposed to happen? Is it supposed to happen to this degree should we be changing the the amounts the frequency, etc. You I know this sucks and people with type one who hear this will just know that this is part of their life, but this is a thing now. It's a thing you're in charge of. And and you you need to understand it and you need to stay on top of it. And you need to be the captain like piloting the ship. Like there's just you can't let anybody else do this for you. Because they're not going to be there. It is where you start seeing overlap in the conversation. And if you have type two diabetes or prediabetes, you don't know this. But Jenny and I are sitting here looking at each other. This is where the overlaps with type one start coming in. Like you have to, you need to go out get the information you need to be paying attention to the outcomes of what you do, you need to be thinking about what can be adjusted here is the time of you skipping through life is it's kind of over now that you're in charge of something important, you know,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 35:30
right. So and that's, that's hard for, as I said much earlier, from a lifestyle angle. This is a lot of adjustment. And when you're already as an adult, especially when you're already on a routine of doing things a certain way, and it gets you through your week, and you make it to the weekend. And then you've got other things that you have to do. You have to learn how to work this in. And unfortunately, it's not a well learn how to work it in in a couple of weeks, when I've got time, kind of like straightening up your office three weeks from now, when you've got time. That's not how this works. And I'm not I mean, it's not funny, but it makes me laugh a little bit, because honestly, it's, it's like a here and now you have to start making a shift and a change. And I think that's why the very simplified information the doctor gives you is like, we'll just walk out of this office and just change up a bunch of things. But it's downplayed to the degree that it's not really something to worry about too much. Yeah,

Scott Benner 36:31
they leave you feeling like it's not that big of a deal, right. And then and from the perspective of other people I've spoken to, then it goes on for a while. And one day, the doctor looks up and thinks that guy's been coming in here for two years, nothing's getting any better than they look up at you and yell at you. And they're like, you're gonna die. You're like, Wait, what the hell? Like, what, like, you gave me a meter, you told me to eat more chicken, like, now I'm dying. You know, like, it's just it's

Jennifer Smith, CDE 36:56
are the addition of so many more medications, like you said, you know, you've come in, you've come in routinely, you know, for the past two or three years. And while the doctor might now be looking at some baselines of numbers, while those numbers aren't improving, okay, well, as we all know, a one C again, is it's an average, it doesn't show day to day what's happening. So unless you've got finger stick data, or unless you can advocate and coverage is okay for you to get a continuous glucose monitor. All of these pieces could show the doctor that while he or she has been adding more medication that hasn't been helping, so there's got to be something else to provide, rather than just loading you up with more medicine.

Scott Benner 37:45
I'm gonna tell you right now, I the the insurance system works the way it works. And people's money is what it is. But you make me the king of the world. If you're not regular. If your body doesn't regulate your blood sugar, well, you get a glucose monitor a continuous glucose monitor, you're wearing a Libra or a Dexcom or something like that, if you put me in charge, because it just teaches you so much faster. I see how this food impacts I see what this medication did I see what my exercise? Did I see what my better sleep does like it all. It's right there for you. So yes, yeah, if you will argue

Jennifer Smith, CDE 38:20
Exactly. If you've got a good insurance, absolutely argue from the start, and it's snowing again. Do you know enough to argue, this is why I think this information is so important so that if you are more newly diagnosed or you're not, and you didn't know what to argue for, you're thinking, Well, why didn't anybody tell me about this? Yeah, gosh, I could have a lot more, you know, beneficial information. But I didn't know to even ask for.

Scott Benner 38:48
And now it occurs to me to say, a continuous glucose monitor is a device that you wear, and it's measuring, this is boring for you, but it's going to measure the glucose in your interstitial fluid and on a receiver or your cell phone, it's going to show you constantly where your blood sugar is the number if it's moving up, if it's moving down, how fast it's moving up, or how fast it's moving down. And then eventually these you know, these plot points give you a graph that show you the last three hours last 12 hours last 24 hours. And there's so much to learn from that. So while we're sitting here telling you learn about your diabetes, the easiest way to do that is to wear a glucose monitor. If you told me today I had pre diabetes, I don't think the doctor would get it out of his mouth before I said, I need a Dexcom right now give it to me. Right so

Jennifer Smith, CDE 39:37
and there are there are some platforms to that even there. They're like the weight loss types of platforms now that are using some of the continuous glucose monitors, just from an overall health like visibility. They they're not even specific to diabetes. They're just Hig get a continuous glucose monitor and use it with our weight management system. So you can see how the effect Have all of these things in your life? What what's happening,

Scott Benner 40:03
I'm recording soon with a person who uses the talks to people about how to use a glucose monitor just to see the impacts of the food on their life, not people who have diabetes, but for other health reasons. And it's just I'm telling you, you have to I know the word advocate seems boring, but you, you really just have to fight for yourself. You just you have to, like, I'm gonna kind of end with this, then I'll let Jenny say what whatever she wants to end with here. But my daughter is walking around now 18 years old. She is 16 years past the day she was diagnosed with type one diabetes, her a onesie has consistently been between five two and I used to say six, two, but now she's in college by herself. So between five, two and six, five, she lives every day. She's not afraid of her diabetes. She's using her insulin when she's supposed to she manages her food and her activity and her illnesses. And I am telling you that she is in that position right now because of two things. She's in that position right now, because of how seriously I took it when she was diagnosed. And because of how seriously she took it as she got older. It's all about I don't know, like, it's like, it's probably like trying to hold a tornado in your hands if you're a giant, right. But you can try, right? Like, it's not easy. But it gets easier. It's not, in the beginning, it is not something that will make sense to you. But you can make sense of it. And then it's not something fun. Like nobody, nobody listening, you know, was like, Oh, I know how my life's gonna go, I'll be great at T ball. And then I'll go to school and I'll meet a girl, then I'll go to college, we'll buy a house, we'll have kids probably get a dog, I'm gonna get a car, the car, I always wanted my whole life, those kids will have kids, it's going to be amazing. I'll go to Florida. Like, I know, that's what you thought was gonna happen, or some version of that, you know, people are probably like, this guy's idea of life is very boring, like so. But, but But okay, but like, you had some path that you thought you were gonna go on. And now suddenly, in the middle of it, somebody's like, No, you have diabetes. These other things still can happen. They can happen exactly the same way, except now there is an amount of your, of your bandwidth every day that's gonna go towards this. So you're gonna have to, you're gonna have to give it to it, or you don't end up in Florida at the end. Right, you know?

Jennifer Smith, CDE 42:27
And, you know, I think you bring in it's sort of like a, it's a behind the scenes to what you're saying, honestly, because I've said before, nobody would want to live in the land of Jenny. Suffer, Jenny. Because there, there are so many things that in everything you just said, all of these shifts and changes, unfortunately, from a light their lifestyle perspective shift. And from, from what we know about type two diabetes, there are many lifestyle things that we could be cleaning up in terms of potential prevention. Does that mean 100%? Prevention? No, it does not. But there are a lot of lifestyle things that you will end up learning you need to shift or change that are not well described by the doctor. But had we started with them earlier in life.

Scott Benner 43:26
You might be here now or maybe it would have happened later or less severe. Like, I think there's there's this thing, we're always going to be talking around that we don't want to blame people for further help. Oh, yeah. And we certainly don't want to, but you should know that somewhere everywhere. There's a person who stands six feet tall, super handsome, nice and lean, very athletic, blah, blah, blah, and has type two diabetes. Yes, right. And that same body style has type one diabetes. And somewhere there's a person who needs to lose 150 pounds, who has type two diabetes, there's also doesn't, right? And there's also somewhere a guy who needs to lose 150 pounds, who's never gonna get diabetes in his entire life. Like, the problem is, is that our brain shift to building a person in our head visually, that we think looks like didn't take care of themselves. And that is not a factor here. Like, but, but for the person it is a factor for it is a factor. It is a factor. Everybody like you can be you can be wildly overweight and healthy, you can be wildly in shape and have

Jennifer Smith, CDE 44:34
medical problems. Absolutely.

Scott Benner 44:36
Trying. The point is, is that the rhyme or reason to all that is bullshit, except to the person who it isn't. So if you're a person who eats poorly, and you know is you know, I don't know just eating food, you probably shouldn't be eating and you're carrying extra weight and you have type two diabetes. Well then here are the things that we can fix right now. And my

Jennifer Smith, CDE 44:57
you have to take the variables you have the ability to control. Yes.

Scott Benner 45:01
Yeah. And you also have to get rid of the. I don't know what like the pompous thing of like, well, I'm in such great shape. I can't have died. Well, yes, she can. So, right. Yeah, metabolic metabolic, right. Like, it's just, it's one of those. Yes. So I think that I think that I want people to, because I always come down on the side of when we start talking like this. It's like, I don't want to blame anybody, mostly because I don't think it gets us anywhere. Like, you know, like, we're in the point. Now, I obviously, this is a podcast, you listen to a podcast, you can easily turn on another podcast that would say to you, like, you haven't problems with your health, you know, whatever. They say, like who rose the boat, you get out there run 19 Miles eat a piece of chicken the size of a Bic lighter. That's your day? Yeah, you can do it. Like, I don't think that's reasonable for most people. Like I just don't you know what I mean? So, so here we are, we're in the situation, just because I'm not the person who's gonna run up the beach every morning at 4am Doesn't mean I deserve to die. Right? Right. Like I get a life too. So here's the ways to get to that. You don't need to be perfect to be healthy, and you don't need to be perfect to deserve things. And I think that, I don't know, like, I've just I've had some conversations with people specifically who have type two diabetes, and it feels like, it can feel like they're like, Well, I did this. And now this is what I get. And I just don't think that's the case. And I don't think it needs to be. So we're going to try to get you through that in this series. Yes. Cool. All right. I'm sorry, Jenny. Somehow, it was upbeat and a bummer at the same time. sad things and a happy voice. And it was confusing

Jennifer Smith, CDE 46:41
to me. I got something it was confusing.

Scott Benner 46:45
I just they think about people in my life who were in the situation. And there are some of them who are not doing anything about it. And I don't think it's because they can't, or because they don't want to, I think it's because it's confusing, and no one's helping them.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 47:00
Right. It's a lack of information. And it's a lack of, it's a lack of knowing where the right information is, or even where to start looking. Honestly. And so, again, from the standpoint of your medical practitioner, advocate and ask for more information, because I guarantee you, while doctors are educators in a in a sense, they are not an educator, they are not there to sit for 45 minutes, and teach you things. It's not their job, either. That's not their job, and but their job is to provide you with information about where to get the right stuff to navigate with. And so they should have references and resources, again, diabetes education classes, especially for type two diabetes, there are a series and a number of education like ours that you can have within a year's time based on insurance coverage. So those are things you may have to ask for them. But don't be shy. Don't be shy about asking for them say, Hey, Doc, great. I think you've given me some information. Now I know what I have. I know why I've had, you know, some blurry vision. I know why I've had to go to the bathroom a lot more. You know, I'm more thirsty than I ever used to be or whatever it might be. But now, I don't know what to do about that. So can you send me to somebody who can teach me you have to ask

Scott Benner 48:27
you're in the game. You're in the game. Now I know. It. I know. It used to be. I broke my arm. I went to the doctor, he put a cast on it. I came back in six weeks, he took the cast off of it. The doctor did the thing. I didn't feel good. I went to the doctor, I cut my hand I had a cold. There's a lot of resolution in those relationships, right? Yeah, a thing happens. You meet the person, the person resolves it for you. It's over. This is not that. No, so this is different. You're you're you're, you're a real adult now. And you're sick, you know, something. And it's and it's on you. And you know, it's funny. I'm getting ready to see a new doctor. And I've been building a list in my head and I literally just went back to when I was young and I started writing down everything that's ever happened to me. I'm like, I don't know how much of this I'm going to tell them or not. But I looked and I thought How the hell am I standing up? Like, like, my shoulder, my knee my this my that like, and I look back and I think like, this is where that song came from. Something something I never promised you a rose garden. mean, like, my expectation was my shoulder wasn't gonna stop working during my lifetime. But here we are. Yeah. And so it'll either hurt and it won't work or I will figure out the best path to get it fixed. But I'm not just going to show up and tell somebody and they're going to wave their magic Doctor wand over my head and it's all gonna be over so you have diabetes, take care of it. That's what I got. Now. I'm frustrated. I'll talk to you later.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 49:54
Okay, sounds good. Thanks. Got it

Scott Benner 50:04
First I want to thank Jenny for coming on the show and sharing all of her knowledge with us. Jenny works at integrated diabetes.com You can check her out on their website. I also I also, I also want to thank Dexcom, makers of the Dexcom G six and G seven continuous glucose monitoring systems dexcom.com forward slash juice box, find out what your blood sugar's doing, how fast it's doing it, and what direction it's going in. And of course, you need you want you desire an accurate blood glucose meter, contour next.com forward slash juicebox. Check it out, please, they're fantastic

if you have type one diabetes, please go to T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. You have to be a US resident have type one or be the caregiver of someone with type one to take their survey. But that survey helps move type one diabetes research forward. So please go check it out. Don't forget if you're listening to the podcast 35% off your entire order at cozy earth.com When you use the offer code juice box at checkout. And BetterHelp is a sponsor of the podcast and they're offering my listeners 10% off their first month of therapy. It's a great deal. I hope you can check it out. Better help.com forward slash juicebox. Now better help is the world's largest therapy service that is 100%. Online. They have over 25,000 licensed and experienced therapists, they can help you with a wide range of issues. All you have to do to get started is hit my link. answer a few questions about your needs and preferences in therapy. And that way better help will be able to match you with the right therapist from their network. Better help.com forward slash juicebox you're gonna get the same professionalism and quality as you expect from in office therapy. And if for any reason your therapist isn't right for you, you can switch to a new one at no additional charge. Do therapy on your terms, text chat, phone video call and you can even message your therapist at any time and then schedule a live session when it's more convenient. So if you're looking for someone to talk to check out better help. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast.

#868 Out of the Shadows

Lisa has had type 1 diabetes since she was a child.

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends and welcome to episode 168 of the Juicebox Podcast.

On today's show we're going to be speaking with Lisa who has had diabetes for almost 40 years. But she's not really that old. It's interesting, isn't it? Lots of perspective, still young person. While you're listening today, 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. US residents who are type ones or the caregiver of type ones, please go to T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juice box and complete their survey because the information that you will share will help to move type one diabetes research forward T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juice box go fill out that survey Juicebox Podcast listeners get 35% off at cozy earth.com That's off your entire order. So if you're looking for sheets, or pajamas, or joggers, or anything, just super comfy, check out cozy earth.com. use the offer code choose box at checkout to save 35%. Whether you're looking for individual couples or help for your team, better help is the online therapy place that you should check out better help.com forward slash juicebox. That's who's sponsoring this episode of The Juicebox Podcast. And so when you go to my link betterhelp.com forward slash juice box, you will get 10% off your first month of therapy. That's better help. H e l p.com. Forward slash Juicebox Podcast is also sponsored today by touched by type one head now to touched by type one.org. To find out all of the good things that touched by type one is doing for people living with diabetes. And if you look at their calendar, see what's coming up in the future. There's a speaking thing. It's in Orlando, it's months from now I know but I committed to being there. So if you'd like to hear me speak live, or you're just in the area and you want to check it out, touched by type one.org

Lisa 2:36
My name is Lisa Blaine. Hi Ken Hughes.

Scott Benner 2:41
Good and what do you have type one diabetes?

Lisa 2:44
Yes. So I am a type one diabetic. I was diagnosed at the age of nine. I'm going into a my think we are number 38. Having diabeetus

Scott Benner 2:58
38 years nine years old that makes you 47. Yeah. I was erasing something on my whiteboard while I did the math. So did you I

Lisa 3:10
know. I just grabbed my assignment paper to kind of do the math myself. Because yeah, when you when I say it out loud. It's just It's crazy. Yeah. How, how how long? It's been so

Scott Benner 3:21
I can imagine. So. Alright, so 30 years?

Lisa 3:25
Yeah, I know. No different though. So I mean, some people. They're just like they I just don't, I don't know what it would be like to not have diabetes. So I guess that's what I'm trying to say.

Scott Benner 3:37
Do you not remember at all the first nine years?

Lisa 3:41
No, like I do. But I was a kid. And when this came into my family's life, we were there was no other diabetics. I think I went to public school. And there was one other person. And that was it. And nowadays, it's just so much more common, which is it's different to hear so many people take to tape one. So yeah, at the time, I was the only one. So I mean, my family knew about it, but I wouldn't broadcast it. So

Scott Benner 4:15
was it something you kept to yourself? Yeah, it was

Lisa 4:19
something that I kept my like the family all knew like that. But when I went to school and stuff, I wouldn't really. I would never tell anybody.

Scott Benner 4:27
Well, what did it mean, really, at that time to have diabetes took a shot before you left for school and wanted dinnertime?

Lisa 4:35
Yeah, so I was I had to do. We didn't I did my needles. My family. I was in the hospital for two weeks when I was diagnosed and then my family had to eat that my sister was three and a half years older. So they took our family through everything explaining everything. My parents had to learn how to give shots. I think my sister did too, although she's never given me an needle, and then again, me being nine years old. And then I'd have to do a morning shot. And then I was on the think Lantis and monta. That's how important so that's how far back we we go and that, yeah, so I was on the two different insulins. And then there was a morning shot and evening shot as well.

Scott Benner 5:21
You know what I'm finding myself thinking, Lisa, is that I wish I wish I could talk to someone's parents from back then. Because yeah, I wonder what they were told. You know,

Lisa 5:32
and, yeah, and that's the one thing where I haven't just going through my journey, and I cannot imagine and that's where it really pulls at my heartstrings. I have, because because I have a son now, who's not diabetic, but I can't imagine because I'm just trying to I try to manage myself and do his scheduling and school and stuff. And I can't imagine having to manage that on top of it. I'm also gonna manage myself, but to manage a little one. Lisa

Scott Benner 6:05
would have run the recording while you're trying to get your microphone set up, everyone would completely believe you that you would not be able to do it. Being seated, though, I wonder if they were told that your life expectancy was shorter.

Lisa 6:20
When I was first diagnosed, my grandmother had approached my mom and said, I didn't I didn't look well, she thought there was something wrong. And and I guess she shouldn't say it like this, but she was kind of hinting at the that. She wasn't sure about me. Like just looking like I was like, I was very sick.

Scott Benner 6:42
Like your grandmother was like, That one's not gonna make it like like you were possibly Yeah, like that. Yeah, okay.

Lisa 6:48
Yeah. I think the tip of the iceberg what happened is, I remember I was having, like, I was young, probably well, between like, eight, well, not nine years old. And then I remember, I was so thin. And I hit it. Because you were in close and you go through growth spurts and stuff like that. But I realized how much weight loss I had, just because you see, I could see like my ribs and things like that. And when my mom came into the bathroom when I kind of hid from our end. And then she was just getting ready. And she told me that I told her that I was dying. And she just stopped everything she did. And and she said Why would you say that she was really concerned. And then she made the doctor's appointment, and then that's when I was diagnosed.

Scott Benner 7:35
Or you go, Oh, yeah, wisdom from an old lady. That kid don't look right. That one couldn't pull a plow, what are we doing? Right? I was even wondering about the doctors, like, I wonder like, when you go in and you're diagnosed back then I have to, like, do they tell you to they go, hey, you know, with current treatments, this is gonna shorten your life, or you're gonna have you know, who knows what could possibly happen?

Lisa 8:05
Hey, I don't know. I just know we went into the doctor's office. He they did a urine sample. And he came right back to my mom and said, Get her to the hospital immediately. Like, this is urgent. Yeah. I don't know what my blood sugar was that but obviously it was really high. So then they got me and admitted me. They set us up with like your setup with we have a doctor obviously to manage that they there was also a nutritionist or like a dietitian, sorry. And also a social worker to work with

Scott Benner 8:41
us. Okay, even back then. Well, that's pretty great. Yeah, so then let's kind of jump through the seasons of your life with diabetes. So early on, you were shooting the way you described earlier with insulin. Do you remember moving to a faster acting more modern insulin.

Lisa 8:59
I don't remember the timeline. I just remember like stages in life, like the growth type of thing. So newly diagnosed, you kind of it's like a learning curve for everybody. So we really focused on diet and snacks and things like that and balancing that out. And then being age nine, and then you go to that, that through that teenage years, where and again, both my parents worked that when they went through a separation so I was a grew up really quick having to manage this. So is in charge of that, so to speak, and then they would go with me to my appointments because we'd go to appointments like that and they would just review things. So then you go through that rebellion kind of stage where you're not testing as much as you should. And then I'm trying to think about college and things like that was getting a little bit easier, but then I entered into the fitness world and working out out and getting more on track with eating and really paying attention with that. So that kind of counteracted things. And then diabeetus has always been a background, so to speak, background, meaning I just I know what I have to do and like it doesn't kind of run me I just I work around it or I work with it.

Scott Benner 10:24
Well, I think it's really common for people who were diagnosed decades ago, because there wasn't a lot for you to do, really, I'm sure it felt like it. But compared to, I guess, compared to the diagnostics that day to day moment to moment diagnostics that we have available today. I mean, you were shooting insulin eating to a schedule, basically. Right. And then, and, I mean, honestly, the blood tests weren't very good, right? You're Did you ever use urine tests? Probably. Yeah. You might not. Yeah. Right. And so it was more like, I mean, honestly, back then it wouldn't have felt that way. But with today's perspective, it was basically like, Here, take this pill and test or, you know, shoot this thing in your arm and test here at because even when you got the test back wasn't much you could do, right?

Lisa 11:09
No, and they were just like, an especially being, they didn't have any answers for us. So it was a matter of your blood sugars. Because again, when you're taking that insulin, it's it's throughout the body, whereas now you can really play around with it with your meals, like we I'm still in that background. And then because I'm on the insulin pump now. But back then it was like, if your blood sugar was at a number, we just didn't have the flexibility, like we would never Well, in my situation, I wouldn't go and give an extra dose of insulin, whereas now that's what you would do, right?

Scott Benner 11:45
That's exactly what I'm getting at is that it was it was very just sort of do this, then do this now and go to the next day, and then say to yourself, like, I'm not letting diabetes hold me back. And you know, going forward, but you didn't. But what was happening to your health at that point, even were you tracking a one sees back then? Or how did you measure your health?

Lisa 12:07
Thanks, did track a onesie? So I think as I've gotten older, my agency has gotten better creep down, lower and lower and lower. But when I look, I mean, there wasn't a lot of like you said there wasn't a lot of outlets back then. So you would go to your, your doctor's appointment, they would tell you what your 81 C was, they would get you to work with your dietitian if there was any issues. And that was basically it.

Scott Benner 12:36
So so if you were if you were testing hire them, they would they would they would attach that to food and then try to change your food intake. It was It wasn't really about the insulin as much.

Lisa 12:48
Yes. And I don't think they initially said that. But that's something where it's been hard for me to get out of that mindset. So because it's not always and that's taken me some time realizing that everything comes into play with blood sugar's your hormones, your stress level, whether or not you are doing like, like weight training, or you're doing distance running. So it's really, it's been hard for me to not hard, but something that I've had to get my head around all day, okay with that, especially with the hormones and things like that. Stress is huge.

Scott Benner 13:31
It's a complete relearning of something that you thought you knew already. Yeah, yeah. Right. I mean, cuz you're going along for a long, you know, I'm gonna guess I mean, 38 years ago, right? I'm gonna guess that for 20 years, you pretty much manage the way we talked about and then one day somebody said, like, you should get one of these insulin pump things and you were like, Why do I need that? And then they said, Oh, you know, and then you how I mean, what year do you remember? What year you got a pump?

Lisa 13:59
Oh my gosh, that was a must have been how long? About four? Maybe? Just a little over? 10 Maybe going on? 15 years?

Scott Benner 14:08
Right. Okay. So so you get up

Lisa 14:10
and it was a learning curve to like it's different.

Scott Benner 14:13
And, and in the pump? What insulin

Lisa 14:18
we use. Oh my gosh, you're just I can see the box downstairs. It's just

Scott Benner 14:26
part of me. Humalog Yes, yeah.

Lisa 14:29
I think so. Oh, Nova rapid.

Scott Benner 14:33
Rapid here. Yeah. Canada. Yes. See, I should have said that three you said a couple of times and I

Lisa 14:40
wasn't human log before and then now it's a one called Nova rapid so it's a fast acting insulin. And then again, you're just way off you're on this property. I'm not sure but you just found a constant drip and then every time you eat or if you had to gesture and so then you can just go to the pump and to great Managing tool,

Scott Benner 15:01
please. I'm gonna give you a strange look into my mind. I heard you stretch out a couple of words. But your last name is hyphenated. So I put you in Minnesota, in my head. I was like, there are no fancy hyphenated names and

Lisa 15:18
I'm in Canada, Ontario, Canada.

Scott Benner 15:21
So I'm just saying I'm an idiot. That's what I was. That's all I was saying. But yeah, you I don't know if you were hiding your Canada but now that I said it, it's coming out more. It's interesting. Oh, really? Okay. Yeah, please. It's fun. I love Canada, because I've never been there and I have no actual perspective for it. I don't really know. I just know what I've been told. Okay, moose, squirrels, snow, sled dogs. That's how I say it. I'm sure Yeah, depending

Lisa 15:48
on how the snow No.

Scott Benner 15:52
Well, okay, so, so Okay, interesting. So you started when you started, you got to a pump. Even for people listening nowadays who have come in at a more modern time. Even getting a pump wasn't really what it was. What it is now, like back then they were just like, Hey, you don't have to do shots anymore. Right? Yeah,

Lisa 16:08
I think the biggest thing and this is just I think the biggest game changer for technology wise. Is the blood the blood testing sensors, CGM? Yeah, yeah, those in my, in my perspective, just from they can really they can improve someone's health like with diabeetus. So much,

Scott Benner 16:34
ya know, I am always fascinated to talk to people who have who were in the before place. So you get your pump about 1015 years ago, which is not what that's not that long ago. That's in 2004 2005 range in there. And, and is that when the learning started about modern management, or was it not till you saw a CGM, and do you have a CGM? Is that correct?

Lisa 17:00
Yes, I did. Yeah.

Scott Benner 17:01
How long have you had that?

Lisa 17:03
Um, probably three or four years now. So I'm still a little bit old school when it comes to that my CGM doesn't talk to my pump. That's what they eventually I will go to that. But I'm just, I just like the I'm on the libre too. I just like that one because it lasts for 14 days. And I don't have any issues without falling off. It's just like a second skin. So just on the back of my arm, but I did. I was between sensors, just a perfect example probably two weeks ago. And just to give an idea, I tested my blood sugar sounds terrible, probably three or four times in a day with doing the manual blood test. When I'm on the CGM, I will scan my blood sugar 26 times a day. Okay. Yeah, that's it. So that's a huge difference right there. And when it comes to just in my mind that it just gives you that much more control over diabetes over managing it.

Scott Benner 18:04
Yeah, no, of course, it's a, it's a completely different window into what's happening instead of instead of those snapshots in time, and going like my blood sugar is 145 right now.

Lisa 18:15
I love it, like the technology that way, and just seeing what's going on inside your body. Like you can know when a sec, I mean, it might not be exact, just depending on your reading. But again, it's close enough that you have you know, and that's I think is a huge privilege to us, diabetics, that's just my personal opinion, I agree. Because with me being very active, I can like, I can go for a run, I can see what that exercise is doing to my pleasure, I can see I've even done a comparisons. Or I've seen where I've eaten a plant based black bean brownie, in comparison to eating a regular Browning, how fast my blood sugar will be driven up by having like a white sugar base, compared to a longer acting carbohydrate. It's amazing. Seeing those little windows, it's trying to explain that to people who are trying to even if they're just regular, they don't have diabeetus and they're trying to manage or get a hold of their weight control or just trying to understand things. They tell that's very interesting to me, because I figure that everyone knows this, but a lot of people don't have any aspect of the nutrition and I'm not knocking anyone I'm just saying that's what has helped me having diabeetus is to and that's one of my goals is to teach people about nutrition and what's happening behind the scenes and the body from from that perspective, I'm

Scott Benner 19:31
gonna say one thing I will get to that kind of what you do for a living stuff so it's very interesting to hear you talk about this because it's super is because I you can hear there's like almost like a childlike wonder because you lived through it so long without this stuff. That that your perspective is like, hey, there's a magic thing stuck to my arm as whenever I want to see my blood sugar. I just hold up the sensor to it and it scans it and there it is. is. And isn't that crazy? Because, you know, I'm not going to test my blood sugar that many times a day you have no, you have real like, it's easy to say old school but your perspective from a different time, and you can hear the wonder in your voice about the technology and what it offers. It's some. It's different than talking to somebody who has what, what is it? It's, um, it's an expectation. You don't have, you don't have the expectation. Because you knew a time without it. People who come in now, who will say like, I got the CGM, and it said, my blood sugar was 150. But I tested my blood sugar was really 140. This thing's not accurate at all. And you're and you just said, like, you know, close enough. And I was like, Ooh, that's a really like, because I feel that way. Because I've seen I've, I've raised a small child with diabetes without a CGM. And so and so when I see a number on my daughter's CGM, and it's like, it's, you know, I don't know, she's 78 I passed. And she's really like, 69. I'm like, Cool, close enough. And it's a leap that I can make, because I've seen it before. Whereas people who come in now are a generation of people who are accustomed to cell phones that are powerful enough to, you know, do what they do. And they have instant technology, and they expect things to work constantly, which you know, technology is always evolving. And no one no one thinks like, no one thinks about, hey, this company devised a way to stick a little thing under my skin. And there's something about what they coated in that reads the interstitial fluid in my body and tells me what my blood sugar is in real time. Or when I scan my thing if I've got the libre, whatever it is, like, they should hear that and be like, that's insane. And instead, they're like, it was off by six points. This thing's junk. And I'm like, what? Lisa here is just like,

Lisa 22:04
it's just you. Yeah, because I just remember as a kid, like, I didn't want to test my blood sugar. Like I just even now when I was without my sensor for a few days. I was annoyed because I'm like, how am I gonna do this? I'm working in a fast paced job. I have to stop and do this. And and just, I felt like I have trouble managing without a sensor. Yeah, like I can do it. But it's just it's such. Oh, just

Scott Benner 22:28
Lisa. Let's be clear. It diabetes way easier with the CGM way, way, way easier. Yeah, I'm just I've just, I just got caught up in a minute. Because I can hear people in my head being like, you know, my, my CGM was starting up. And I had to test my kids blood sugar three times in two hours. And I'm like, There's part there's a part inside of me that goes, I get what they're saying. And they want the technology to keep improving and I'm sure it's going to, but there's another part inside of me that raised a two year old with diabetes with a meter that looked like it came out of a bubblegum machine who's like three times in two hours? Yeah. Oh, no. Are you okay? You know, do you mean like, yeah, two different perspectives?

Lisa 23:05
I can't imagine. No, I

Scott Benner 23:07
love you. Okay, so. So let's just tell people like what do you do for a living?

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Lisa 25:46
Right now I'm just I've taken a step back from things. So I'm on that whole my journey of a new path, but same same industry. So again, I did well back in the day, I just jumped around from job to job to job, and then just kind of say this like fast, like fast forward. So having that fitness background did personal training, like studying and then just I newly, I just finished my diploma as natural holistic nutritionist. So that was a May. So I'm really happy about that. And then I was working in a health food store and working, doing like demoing and promotions for a new supplement company. And then now I am into I am a wellness and dietetics manager at large retail corporation. So right now I'm just learning like I'm just doing more background things and setting up kind of like the a wellness nutrition department within a large retailer here in Canada. And then going forwards my goals is they really want to promote nutritional guidance for people. So my goal is to hopefully be running the department and being able to put together classes of information.

Scott Benner 27:13
So where do you think the interest came from? Like, was it because you talked about earlier when you're young, right that things were adjusted through nutrition? And is that how that started for you?

Lisa 27:24
I don't know I thought about that, because my mom was just like saying things like to write. So it's just and I tried to figure out what came first if it was because I wasn't very athletic or anything growing up like I played some sports, but it wasn't really I wasn't really driven towards that. And then having diabeetus going to high school, I wasn't on a sports teams. And then I got my first gym membership. I don't know, late high school. And I just stuck with it. I think I think it was something and then now that I'm older, I just find it's more it's become more of a I'm very passionate about it. It's a hobby. It's something where you can kind of envision something and then do the work. It doesn't feel like work to me. But I can see you can see things change.

Scott Benner 28:21
A little bit about goal setting reaching a goal setting a new goal. Yes, that's right. Yeah, that idea.

Lisa 28:27
Yeah. And then with the nutrition, I don't know where that came about. I remember when I was doing the personal training back in my 20s like going to the program, nutrition would come up and I found notes that I've found like at this age, and I'm like who wrote this, they were my own notes about it, we had to deal with supplements because I have this love for the science behind supplementation and all that vitamins, minerals, all that I could talk your head off this. I mean, I love that stuff. It's the science behind it. And then And then again, when I was upgrading my personal training, that sometimes can be a struggle for the learning because it's just so black and white, the muscles and stuff like that in the body. But when nutrition comes up, it's like I know what, like the back of my hand. So there's something there with myself and nutrition. I don't know I just pick up on it.

Scott Benner 29:21
So you so do you think nutrition, the way you think about your nutrition is, is just would be in specific it's not that you don't have meaning you don't need to be meaning which what I what I want to say is I just use the wrong word. But what I was gonna say was, is it for me because of your diabetes or just because you're a person.

Lisa 29:44
I think that diabeetus has helped that because I have I have a true understanding of how foods can break down in the body when it comes to their blood sugar. So when I'm talking to people try not to get too scientific because they get that kind of clouded over vision, although they are interested. But I don't realize how much we as diabetics know the science behind the like how things break down within the body. Yeah. Which I think is just, it's just something where I mean, nutrition doesn't have to be hard and stuff, but there is there is science behind it, too.

Scott Benner 30:21
So are you talking about digestion? And how digestion of food impacts your blood sugar? Are you talking? Yeah, it's

Lisa 30:27
just just different foods and things like that. And just yeah, like, how it really breaks down? I think diabetics have a more understanding a more in depth stuff, nutrition.

Scott Benner 30:38
Yeah, we definitely see the impact of food in a different way. Because it's measurable somewhere. Right? How much of that people translate into real understanding? And then do something actionable to impact that? I don't know. But it is a journey for sure. You know, I don't think there's a right way to eat. You know, I'm not I wouldn't be into telling people how to eat for sure. But I mean, there's, there's no doubt that you you can see the impact of you know, bread or pasta or potatoes on your blood sugar versus other foods that are, you know, simpler, less complex, break down differently, don't have as much sugar, etc. But you know, it's some, it really is a process and I don't know that everybody sees it, but I think they're impacted by it. Certainly. So so once you see that once you see how food is impacting your blood sugar's do you make a change about what you're eating? Or do you add supplements that help you? I'm not I'm not certain what you're saying? Oh,

Lisa 31:43
I'm not necessarily I just view like, even when I'm studying like different, I just find it more. It's more of an interest like an aha moment. Like when you like I said, I'll talk about that black bean brownie like I've done it before, where I don't eat a regular brownie, just just not one of my things. But But I know what it would do. Because even if I had something sugary, where it had like a higher sugar content to it, I'll get that my blood sugar could be at I mean, if I've done it before, where it's at a regular level, and then you see how it impacts your blood sugar. So you're getting that straight out line, almost right? Like it's a but then if you wish, I've had a black bean brownie made with black beans. And I was just curious to see what it was going to do. Because I thought, oh Ma, it's going to affect my blood sugar. Because there's I think there was maple syrup when I made them. And I thought that it was this gradual up and then my blood sugar came back down. So it's just more the site like how things work within the body, which I find is very interesting.

Scott Benner 32:42
So with all this knowledge and understanding, where can I ask you like where you're a one C is

Lisa 32:49
the last time I ate one C, I think I was at a 6.1 Well, that's cool. Or 6.8. Maybe I might be a couple points off again, I surprised myself because I would sit in the eights. And then over the years, it's come down. I've been in the sevens. And then I've made it into the sixes never the fives. But you never know how much

Scott Benner 33:09
exercise do you get? Are you still into it the way you were when you were younger?

Lisa 33:18
Yeah, probably better. I think this is probably in the best shape of my life now that I'm in my late 40s So do you that?

Scott Benner 33:27
Is it like impact training? Is it weights? Is it cardio as I do, right now

Lisa 33:31
I'm just going through because I was doing the distance running so did the half marathons for a bit and then not really understanding. I understood nutrition but not when you're going to be doing a specific sport. So now being through sports, nutrition and all that that was an eye opener. So now I do I do running but I back down on it a bit and just say do weight training.

Scott Benner 34:00
Okay, what did you mean it was an eye opener? Eye

Lisa 34:03
Opener where I was it was working I was working a lot more physical job. And then I was I would do runs in the morning not long but I would do like 5k in the morning I'd go to work and work for four hours come home go to the gym do cardio it was just like that and then I wasn't fueling my body to what I need it.

Scott Benner 34:24
so eye opening in the in the sense that you

Lisa 34:29
in the sense of you and then I would have those not that I was always just trying to like better my fitness level. But I would always be level wired. Well, why isn't there any changes and now at the point where I am in, in this part being to education just over the years of learning. I really see that just the difference if you're going to train to that extent if you're not fueling right again, your body will just keep like it was just going to kind of recycle.

Scott Benner 34:59
So yeah, so it's the It's the feeling piece that you picked up out of all this, like what you needed to put in that your body needed. And so how did that change? Like, what were you doing before? And what are you doing now?

Lisa 35:10
Oh, now it's in, it's always up and down now like, I just really have to watch with my stress levels, and things like that and then allowing myself just to, to refuel properly. So for because I'm mostly plant based, I really have to pay attention to my protein needs and requirements. So that I'm focusing more on that, because I think I was undermining my protein intake. And, and then doing the, the more the more running, because in the summertime, I will run more. But now with my workload, I can't run as much. But I do keep up with my weight training. So again, it's just one of those where I can still eat the same, but I'm just really paying attention because I'm doing the weight training. So I'm trying to build and just making sure that I have enough protein in my diet, which again, in turn, helps with when I when I'm so busy at work and stuff and it's physical to have that protein in the background will help stabilize my blood sugar. So I'm not chasing a low and then with a rebound of a high and vice versa.

Scott Benner 36:18
Where are you getting the protein from? Because you said it was the protein from so because your plant base, you have to get it? Where?

Lisa 36:25
Yeah, so with the plant base, I'll just use more. I mean, you can get enough protein if you're doing plant base and other things like that. So I'm just now I have implemented I'm taking more shakes, I will eat meat, just not maybe not every day. So I have skipped days, so it's more plant based. So I will do shakes, I'll do plant based eggs, you can get them from black beans, and a kind of bean type of thing. And there's like protein in your plant foods as well. So again, I'm not totally right. We used to be maybe 90% plant based and now are 90 to 95. And now I've reduced it I will have some meat. It's just not every day or so on on a regular basis. But I am eating like I am eating now like tuna.

Scott Benner 37:19
What's a good example of a day of your eating? Example, whichever breakfast this morning,

Lisa 37:26
this morning, whether they have oh my i And that's breakfast is my worst meal of the day. I'm going to be honest, but again, I just figured that I mean, everyone needs you have to heavier and I'm not a clean eater every day. I believe in moderation. So for breakfast What did I have? I had half of these blueberry flat breads. I had that what else do I have? I had this other this Josef's bread, it's it's a lower carbohydrate, a little bit of protein flatbread so I had that with some natural peanut butter and then trying to think I have coffee. And then I had some water I took some vitamins went out for a run came back and now I'm just drinking water with collagen some greens in it.

Scott Benner 38:21
What vitamins do you take on a daily basis?

Lisa 38:24
Oh gosh, I have to get my go through my counter. Now I take so every day I'll have in my water I'll put greens sometimes. Right now I'm taking so lion's mane. That's a mushroom of additional mushroom to vitamin C, I do think I'll do NAC or NAC what else college and I do every day.

Unknown Speaker 38:49
What's the lion's mane for the

Lisa 38:53
lion's mane is for brain health memory. I just And then again, I haven't I used to read so many articles and just studies and things like that. So I have this chart and it talks about each of the medicinal mushrooms which I really am fascinated by them. I'm really interested in them. I have used a bunch of them. So that one is for brain health. And because just with Alzheimer's and things like that, and sometimes they say with diabeetus not that we're having a high count candidates but I think it was number three on my list. So it was one that I implemented. So it also helps with focus.

Scott Benner 39:36
Yeah. Do you find it valuable? Like can you look back and say before I started doing this, I had less focus as an example but now I'm doing better or like I wasn't measured.

Lisa 39:48
Not right now because I just started taking it under the tongue before I was using capsules and things like that and because I was taking so much stuff I think I got lost in the mix of what was where gain. So now I find that I'm more more basic with my vitamins. Although it might seem like a lot to some, I really backed down on them. And I'm really trying to focus. And I am because my mindset, I'm always in staying one step ahead. And that's what, again, this is a whole different topic that's been another frustration with myself and working with my specialist and my specialists for diabeetus. Because when I go to appointments, and I'm always looking for what can I do to, to prolong things to to keep myself in this shape, and they just kind of shrug their shoulders because I've had diabetes for so long that no one? No one knows.

Scott Benner 40:42
Are you having any impacts? health impacts? From?

Lisa 40:47
Um, no, not currently, the only I did have one of my eyes, I did have some damage that came about after I had my son. But then so I don't go to a regular I go to an actual specialist. So I had laser eye surgeries done on it, just to I think I had an overgrowth of the blood vessels. And then now every time I go back in, he just says, Just keep doing what you're doing. There's still a little bit of inflammation, but nothing, it just stays the same. But

Scott Benner 41:21
that so but that I think is from high blood sugars over time. Probably okay. Yeah. All right. And so but that's the only thing you're noticing so far.

Lisa 41:32
Yeah. And that's like, it has I didn't even notice it. It was just something that my regular eye doctor he had noticed and sent me to a specialist. And this is going back like, oh, gosh, I've been seeing him for 10 years. So 10 years, might he surprised? I'm not wearing glasses yet at my age.

Scott Benner 41:50
How old is your you have one child? Is that right?

Lisa 41:52
Yes. Yeah, he's 12.

Scott Benner 41:53
He's 12. Okay, yeah. Have you had him tested for type one antibodies? Or how do you think about that?

Lisa 42:00
I have not I have we I have tested his blood sugar. Although he doesn't. He's not impressed by that. Because sometimes you just wonder what someone is sitting at? Yeah. I'm not worried about him. The My only concern is just I don't I do have limits. I pay attention to how many? Yes, he does have popped from like, now and again, and he's just gone into a little bit of the sweets. Not crazy. But I do find myself watching. Just because I'm, I just think it's a lot of sugar. Yeah, but that's just I think that's just because how I grew up. So if he has like a mini Cantopop I'm like, okay, like, like that. Like, that's a lot of sugar. Like, that's a lot. I don't say anything, but I catch myself noticing.

Scott Benner 42:56
Right. I understand. You're, I mean, you don't drink that stuff. I imagine. So no, no, it strikes you oddly, when somebody else does. That's all I would

Lisa 43:04
write. Yeah. And that was Yeah. And that was the other thing too. I didn't realize I think it happened a few years ago, where the impact of of how this can also affect him as a child, because he knows that they're not something wrong with me. I know. It's not the greatest way of saying things, but I'm going to say it like there's something wrong with me in the whole sense that he knows that. I'm actively and being proactive, to prolong my health. So I know that maybe in the back of his mind to when he was younger, I know that might have had some kind of I mean, it gives a child fear. Right as well, right? No, I

Scott Benner 43:46
it's funny. I we don't drink sugary drinks here. Right. And then my son went off to college. And I remember about two years ago, he's maybe like a maybe he was a rising junior, and we went to a restaurant together. And he got a sweet tea. And I thought that's crazy. Like, we don't drink sweet tea, you know? And he was an athlete in school so I think he was looking for calories a lot of the times because he was just you know, going like 100 miles an hour. And but I remember how it struck me like I didn't say anything but I was like oh my god like he's drinking drinks with sugar all the things you know, but it really did shock me. I remember I

Lisa 44:28
think people would say like if you ever seen with a Cantopop they'd be What's the matter you low?

Scott Benner 44:32
Yeah, right. Well yeah, it's that expectation that you don't want to waste your you don't want to waste those carbs on on that if you I mean, I guess I guess if you love it, you love it. I don't I guess you just learned how to Bolus for it. But anyway, so is there any type one in your extended family Mom Dad side?

Lisa 44:53
Okay, so this goes back a long time. So the only person that we know of in my face Emily that had diabeetus was my dad's grandmother.

Scott Benner 45:04
Okay, that's type one, or would they not know?

Lisa 45:09
Probably type one. I don't think type two was Yeah, I don't know. We just, oh gosh, type two is more newer to us. We cuz even back as a kid and stuff it was, I mean, people might have been insulin resistant, like the older generation. But yeah, he's just you

Scott Benner 45:30
know how old she was when she passed? I don't know. So not a lot of talk about how about other autoimmune issues like hypothyroidism, celiac? Is there any of that going on anywhere?

Lisa 45:42
No, no, no. Yeah, that's why I've just kind of like it was. Yeah, I can't imagine what they like what they went through back then. Because it was what, early 80s? Well, like maybe mid 80s. The 1980s?

Scott Benner 45:59
Well, that's when your dad's an adult. Right? In the Yeah. And just,

Lisa 46:02
they I mean, again, like my family, it was like, it was a big a big event. I'm just talking for them. I don't know the impact and and realize that you when I when you have this, you don't I try not to impact others, but you don't I think reading other parents and their journeys with their parents. I thought wow, like you don't realize how many people it does. Impact?

Scott Benner 46:31
Yeah, certainly does. Does your son worry about diabetes? Do you ever talk about that? It's a possibility for him? Or how do you talk?

Lisa 46:37
Um, no, I think he has, he was like, worry. I didn't realize some stuff has come out. But hell. And I think I have a funny story. He, what was it? Well, he knows I think he did a project here. This is going back. Gosh, I don't know how old he was. Grade One, grade two. And they had to fill up something with something for Mother's Day that he had written on there. Like some of the things had to talk about your mom and staff. And he said that. I take a lot of pills and things like that. And I'm like, when he told me I was like, You didn't write that, did you? And then he brought it home. And I said I was like shocked. I'm like, what did your teacher say? And then he told her that Oh, my mom's diabetic. So I'm like, oh, so it is there like he does? I think he does. He does get concerned.

Scott Benner 47:29
Yeah. I hear other stuff that I see sometimes attached to people with type one. ADHD, do you see any of that?

Lisa 47:38
Oh, wow. No, I haven't. I don't know. I could possibly, but I don't know.

Scott Benner 47:44
No, I just mean like in your family, like, like, oh, anything you've known is diagnosed ADHD or just like a lot of other things. Do you have any uncles who are bipolar, for instance? No, nothing. Wow, you guys just got a couple of couple of diabetics sprinkled out over four generations. It's interesting.

Lisa 48:04
Yeah. And who knows? Like, I don't know, I roll. There's so much controversy of like, I mean, my mom did have to have she was sick. Or she had the mumps when she was pregnant with me. So she had to have something that the hospital gave her. I mean, I don't know. You don't know.

Scott Benner 48:24
Back then. Could have been whiskey. Yeah.

Lisa 48:28
So again, you just they can't they don't know themselves, like what the science and stuff like what causes the body to attack itself with this. Whether it's in the genetics, or if it's like some kind of environmental?

Scott Benner 48:46
What about your day to day stuff? So you haven't mentioned? Are you married or no? Yes, you are. Okay. So how involved? Is your partner with your diabetes? Not at all or not at all? Yeah, that how long so how long have you been together?

Lisa 49:03
To one T 21 years. 2020.

Scott Benner 49:06
And he Am I Yeah, yep. Yeah. And he and it's just a it's a separate thing. Is it like is diabetes almost like? Like, do you not get low ever does that? Yeah.

Lisa 49:19
That's just how I manage it. Right. So because like I again, I've had it for so long. And then And growing up and stuff. I was just raised more independent. Yeah. And I think just because the dynamics of the family, my parents went through separation and stuff. So I just I grew up really, really quick. And it was just one of those where yes, they're there to help me but I was just one where I just learned to manage on my own. And again, going through I mean, just And to think if there was, thank goodness, that I haven't had any major complications. So and that's one where I don't like to, yes, I do have my fears of certain things that have caught up like, like, like with my eyes and stuff like that. So I brought my mom with me as a support system. But I tried to kind of work through those things on my own until I get there. And then, yeah, we'll see. Right. But that's why I'm just a huge advocate to do whatever I can to stay proactive and try and do. And that's one of the things too, we're, I mean, I can't control everything. So that's why I'll reach out to my specialists and things like that. So that's, that's what I said, that's been a frustration where, and again, I guess, with this disease and having it so long that you just have to manage and

Scott Benner 50:56
yeah, I don't, I don't find there to be a right or wrong way. I'm just always interested in how people choose to do it. And how, and it makes sense to me the way you you know, the time you grew up in. And you know that you were in basically, you know, on your own a little bit with it that you wouldn't as an adult think to incorporate another person in being would it be helpful to you? Or do you not even feel like you need it for another person to be involved?

Lisa 51:23
No, I think it's just one time to like, No, I don't think it would I mean, yeah, yeah, I think it's just the way I try to manage a lot on my own. It's just one of those where and again, I don't know how you could help. Right. So I'm just trying to get my head around. I just

Scott Benner 51:51
know, it's interesting to listen that it's just such a different thought for you that

Lisa 51:55
Yeah, I think the biggest thing is just see. Yeah, because even even when I go into work and stuff, like I don't broadcast it, I'm trying to get more comfortable. But the conversation just gets missed, like I don't know.

Scott Benner 52:09
Yeah, yeah. It's hard to I just sometimes. Yeah,

Lisa 52:13
I mean, and that's kind of been my biggest thing is is not saying anything to people, and then I do have a low and then people are like, Well, what's going on here? Right? So yeah, that's all I'm that's just something where I have to learn to get more comfortable with and be more open about it. Not that I'm hiding it. I just don't I don't want the attention. Yeah. And my sister said that too. She because she asked me not too long ago, she just said, I want to ask you something. And she goes, Why do you never say like, why you never talked about? Or why do you never tell people that you're diabetic? And I was just I didn't have an answer for because I don't know why it's just one of those where they just don't. I mean, I'm getting more comfortable now that I'm working in the industry. Because people you really see them change and open up then to know that you have something like especially the type twos, there'll be talking or even type ones and stuff. And it's it's nice, that that you can possibly relate to somebody,

Scott Benner 53:17
ya know, it gives you a jumping in point. Yeah, it's a great idea. So I know we started late, and I apologize, but I have to jump off in a little bit to get on to another call. So I just want to ask you if there's anything that we didn't talk about, that we that you meant to so that I don't miss anything for you?

Lisa 53:35
No, not at all. I think I've probably touched on like, a lot of things and maybe jumped around a lot because there's Yeah,

Scott Benner 53:42
no, it's fine. I just I don't want to like I don't want to miss anything for you. That's No, no, not at all. Wow. Well, I really appreciate you doing this, like coming on and sharing how you think about things and and your path. It's, it's an interesting look into what happens when you come up one way. And then everything. There's just a paradigm shift, like diabetes just isn't like that anymore. And you got to live in both sides of it. So yes, yeah,

Lisa 54:09
I want to thank you because this is I've never done something like this before. And like I said, I'm still getting comfortable with with this whole, like being more vocal about it. No, and being asked those questions and any, any kind of Yeah, just my thoughts and feelings about diabeetus as a whole.

Scott Benner 54:30
Yeah. Lisa, you're in an interesting position, because you're not, you're not an old person. Right. But you've had diabetes for a really long time. Yeah, and you jump like I said, you jump between two different management. I mean, honestly, three different management, like styles. And it's, um, and your generation diabetes generation, like you said, it's not, you know, not always accustomed to talking about it. And you grew up in a situation that you described earlier, where there wasn't anybody to talk about it with He didn't know whether people that had diabetes to begin with. And so I don't know, I just, I like you being like, it's interesting that you were willing to do it. Like, why did you want to talk? Like, what, what drew you to do this?

Lisa 55:12
I think, because when I was working in the health food store, that was kind of when people would come in, and they'd be talking about type two, I'm still intrigued by type two diabetes, because they have, in my view, they, they have complete, almost, they have a lot of control of how they can make things go for them. So I like listening to them. I like being that little spark of light for them, because they, I know, I'm kind of getting off topic here. But to see somebody who thinks that this is like, there's there's no lights, that really, it really gives me that chance to inspire somebody. Just as because I've lived it, and I can, I don't know, with that, so and then. So that really opened my eyes that there is a real need. And then when I seen this opportunity cop, I thought Oh, heck, like why not? I never talked about this. It's going to again, just get me more comfortable talking about it on a different platform.

Scott Benner 56:26
Maybe, like, let other people know, that it would be okay to share with family members, strangers were or whatever that I think.

Lisa 56:34
Exactly. Yeah. And I'm all about inspiration. I mean, I, I'm inspired by people, I don't think I mean, some people say that I inspire them or motivate that I don't see that. So again, I mean, if I can inspire or be that light for gosh, one person, then that's a huge, that's a huge win for me. Good.

Scott Benner 56:55
Well, that's a perfect way to end. Thank you. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

First, I'd like to thank Lisa for coming on the program and sharing her story with us. And then I'm going to thank BetterHelp and remind you that@betterhelp.com forward slash juicebox. Just by going to that link and signing up, you'll save 10% off your first month of therapy betterhelp.com forward slash juicebox and of course touched by type one.org. And save 35% off your entire order at cozy eartha.com with the offer code juicebox at checkout. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast

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