Scott Benner 8/21/25 Scott Benner 8/21/25

#1607 Three Legged Dick

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Megan, 36, has lived with T1D since age 4 and now faces lupus too.

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

Scott Benner 0:00
Here we are back together again, friends for another episode of The Juicebox podcast.

Megan 0:15
My name is Megan. I am 36 and live in the Midwest, and I've been a type one since I was four years old. If

Scott Benner 0:25
this is your first time listening to the Juicebox podcast and you'd like to hear more, download Apple podcast or Spotify, really, any audio app at all, look for the Juicebox podcast and follow or subscribe. We put out new content every day that you'll enjoy. Want to learn more about your diabetes management. Go to Juicebox podcast.com. Up in the menu and look for bold Beginnings The Diabetes Pro Tip series and much more. This podcast is full of collections and series of information that will help you to live better with insulin. Please don't forget that nothing you hear on the Juicebox podcast should be considered advice medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare plan or becoming bold with insulin. The episode you're about to listen to was sponsored by touched by type one. Go check them out right now on Facebook, Instagram, and of course, at touched by type one.org check out that Programs tab when you get to the website to see all the great things that they're doing for people living with type one diabetes, touched by type one.org today's episode of The Juicebox podcast is sponsored by the ever since 365 the one year where CGM that's one insertion a year, that's it. And here's a little bonus for you. How about there's no limit on how many friends and family you can share your data with with the ever since now app no limits. Ever since Summertime is right around the corner and Omnipod five is the only tube free automated insulin delivery system in the United States, because it's tube free, it's also waterproof, and it goes wherever you go. Learn more at my link, omnipod.com/juicebox, that's right. Omnipod is sponsoring this episode of the podcast, and at my link, you can get a free starter kit. Terms and Conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox,

Megan 2:28
my name is Megan. I am 36 and live in the Midwest, and I've been a type one since I was four years old.

Scott Benner 2:37
That's 32 years ago. I know. Wow. No kidding. So do you feel old

Megan 2:45
when I get out of bed sometimes? Yeah,

Scott Benner 2:48
is that your back and your joints? Where do you feel it

Megan 2:51
everywhere, like my shoulder, my back, my legs, my feet. But I also work out five times a week, so I feel like I'm just perpetually sore all the time.

Scott Benner 3:04
Do you have other autoimmune stuff? Like I

Megan 3:07
was diagnosed with lupus in September of 22 the only reason they caught it was with blood work, though, and I don't seem to have any outward physical symptoms. It's not joint pain that I feel. It's more like

Scott Benner 3:22
muscle soreness. Okay, what do they do for that? I'm

Megan 3:26
on hydroxychloroquine. That's the only thing I'm on right now. Does it help? Well, I don't feel like it's ever been bad, so it's hard to say.

Scott Benner 3:34
Is the medication prophylactic? Are they trying to get ahead of something?

Megan 3:38
I think so, because we've determined that I've never really had any kind of lupus flare. They caught it kind of by accident. I had low iron and then pancyte anemia, so all my blood counts were low. They they did further testing to try to figure out the cause of that. They did, like an ANA titer, and then they did further, like more specific lupus testing, and all those markers came back positive.

Scott Benner 4:10
Anybody in your family have it? Nope, I'm the lucky one. I'm the lucky one. That's from a movie. I don't know what that is. I can't think of it. Do you have anything else, like thyroid, celiac, anything there? Nope, no. Okay, nope, any type one in your family? Yes, who my dad? His dad? My aunt, which is my dad's sister, her son, who is type two,

Megan 4:38
my grandmother, which is my dad's mother has type two, and I think that's it.

Scott Benner 4:46
Wow, you guys got carpet bombed with diabetes? Yeah, seriously. But other than that, the lupus is the only other autoimmune thing you're aware of. Nobody's got Ra. One of those grandmoms doesn't have RA or anything like that.

Megan 4:58
No, no. He. Only other thing that I've had is ITP. It's like idiopathic, something where my platelets were super, super low and I couldn't clot. That happened when I was, like, eight years old, and it kind of just resolved on its own,

Scott Benner 5:15
wonky. Yeah. How did they figure that out? Were you just bleeding?

Megan 5:19
Yeah, I lost, I lost a tooth, and I was super excited because I was eight, and I wanted some money from the tooth fairy. Yeah, put the tooth on my pillow. Woke up the next morning, my pillow was covered in blood, and then obviously my mom was freaked out. Yeah, so we went to children's, and they ran some tests in the ED and admitted me. I think I was there for maybe two or three days, no kidding,

Scott Benner 5:44
and then they figured that out that's something. So you're saying that the lupus impact for you, if it's anything, it's muscular, but you don't think you're having an impact,

Megan 5:54
at least not that I'm aware of. I don't know if it's like muscular, or if that's just, you know, my workouts, because it's a feeling that I've felt before, and it was before

Scott Benner 6:06
I had lupus, too. So, okay, how long you've been taking the medication,

Megan 6:10
since like October of 22

Scott Benner 6:14
Oh, okay, like coming up on three years? Yeah, all right, well, and you take, is it a pill a day, or it's a pill and a half. Awesome. Yeah, I don't know what to say. That's it's interesting. I've never had anybody say I have something, but I have absolutely no symptoms, but they're still

Megan 6:30
medicating me for it. Right? Isn't that

Scott Benner 6:32
weird? Do you ever think that you're doing the wrong thing, or do you ever think like, wow, this must be really working. Like, what's your gut feeling about

Megan 6:40
it. Well, my complement levels, which I guess, is how they measure the active disease you have, like the active lupus disease going on in your body. They're always like, hovering at the low end of normal. And there have been a couple of times where they've been actually low. So I think that there is a need for the medication from that standpoint, yeah, but I don't know, like, they kind of just hover in this same little range, and it doesn't seem like, you know, it's raised significantly, but I also don't feel bad, so I mean, feels worth

Scott Benner 7:20
doing and keeping an eye on. Yeah, all right, fair enough. But are you married? Do you have kids? Single?

Megan 7:27
No kids. I have two fur babies, and then I have a boyfriend. Did

Scott Benner 7:35
he come with the dogs? Or did the dogs come with him? Or I came with the dogs? You came with

Megan 7:40
the dogs? Yeah, he has

Scott Benner 7:41
a three legged cat. No, seriously,

Megan 7:45
yeah, named trip,

Scott Benner 7:48
trip with two peas, by any chance? Yeah, yeah, Tao would have done it. So is the cat dexterous, or does it fall a lot?

Megan 7:55
No, he's pretty good with his, um, he's missing a front paw, and he's, he's got this super buff, like one front Paul, and he, he seems to get around pretty fine. I really haven't seen him fall or anything, although I think he's getting kind of chubby, so I think that might be a problem. If pull him over. I know, yeah, keeps being fed the way he is.

Scott Benner 8:20
Okay. So you're diagnosed at a very young age, and I'm gonna ask some questions. I know you have some topics, but let me ask you a couple questions. First, Yeah, cuz you're, you're an interesting age, right? You're in your mid 30s. You're not, like, you're not in your 40s, and, like, giving up already, and you're not in your 20s and still, like, fighting the system, right? Like, you're Yeah, you're in your 30s now, like, yeah, what was it like growing up with diabetes, and was your experience the way you felt it as it was happening in hindsight? How do you feel about

Megan 8:51
it? See, so when I was diagnosed, it was actually three weeks before my fourth birthday, and we were scheduled to go go on like a spring break vacation to I think it was Gatlinburg, somewhere in Tennessee. I get diagnosed. We go to our local children's hospital. And the weird thing about my diagnosis story is I wasn't in DKA. I wasn't sick. My parents caught it pretty early, just because with my dad's family history, like he was well aware of the possibility, so he knew what to look for. So I wasn't sick. I didn't need a bunch of fluids. I didn't need my blood sugar brought down from 1000 so they kind of didn't know what to do with me, and I was just like sitting in the hospital for a couple of days before they discharged us. But back then, it was the regimen was R and NPH, which I could for the life of me, I wouldn't be able to remember how to dose that now, sure, and then, obviously, no CGM. So thinking about that. Just in hindsight, I don't know how my parents, like, didn't lose their minds not knowing what my blood sugar was. And, like, obviously, I'm an active four year old, just running around and being low all the time. And it was a pretty, like, strict meal plan. So it was breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, bedtime snack. And if you missed any of those, or the timing was off, you bottomed out. Yeah, so from looking back at that now, and if I had a child that, you know, didn't have a CGM, and I don't know, I don't know how I would be able to do it. The technology now is it's great when it works. I know that sometimes it's pain in the ass, but it's so much better than it's flying blind, basically,

Scott Benner 10:53
yeah, yeah. I just had this conversation with Dexcom President Jake, and it's going to be on the podcast in a couple of days, and by the time people hear it'll be a couple months ago. I feel compelled, you know, I ask people for questions for, you know, hey, somebody's coming on from this company. Ask your questions. Mostly people don't jump on and say, like, Hey, can you tell them thank you? Like, you know what I mean? Like, it's like, here are my complaints. They feel like I might have a bit of a pathway to somebody hearing this, and not that anybody's complaints are in any way invalid, but I do sometimes feel like it can overlook what you just said, like this is not perfect, but yeah, you should have been here 40 years ago. Yeah, yeah. I think you'd experience a sensor failure, or, you know, a misreading, or your pump site going bad early, and you think to yourself, this is way better than it could be. Oh, yeah, yeah. So it's tough, because, you know, when people jump in now, they're diagnosed in the last couple of years, you know, they hear there's this great technology, blah, blah, blah, and when it doesn't work, for some reason, they don't make that rest of that connection. Like, I always say, like, go around your house to all of your electronics and all of your gadgets, and they all work the way you think they're supposed to. Like, you know, like, we're still getting there, you know what? I mean. Oh, yeah, technology wise. Anyway, okay, so you're growing up without anything, really. Or, I mean, when do your parents say, Hey, this is on you. Or when do you say to them, I don't need your help anymore. Or do you stay like as a kind of cohesive team for a long period of time? Today's episode is brought to you by Omnipod. It might sound crazy to say, but Summertime is right around the corner. That means more swimming, sports activities, vacations, and you know what's a great feeling being able to stay connected to automated insulin delivery while doing it all. Omnipod five is the only tube free automated insulin delivery system in the US, and because it's tube free and waterproof, it goes everywhere you do in the pool, in the ocean or on the soccer field, unlike traditional insulin pumps, you never have to disconnect from Omnipod five for daily activities, which means you never have to take a break from automated insulin delivery ready to go tube free. Request your free Omnipod five Starter Kit today at omnipod.com/juicebox Terms and Conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox type that link into your browser, or go to Juicebox podcast.com and click on the image of Omnipod right at the bottom, there's also a link right in the show notes of your podcast player. Why would you settle for changing your CGM every few weeks when you can have 365 days of reliable glucose data. Today's episode is sponsored by the Eversense 365 it is the only CGM with a tiny sensor that lasts a full year sitting comfortably under your skin with no more frequent sensor changes and essentially no compression lows. For one year, you'll get your CGM data in real time on your phone, smartwatch, Android or iOS, even an Apple Watch, predictive high and low alerts let you know where your glucose is headed before it gets there. So there's no surprises, just confidence, and you can instantly share that data with your healthcare provider or your family. You're going to get one year of reliable data without all those sensor changes. That's the ever since 365 gentle on your skin, strong for your life, one sensor a year. That gives you one less thing to worry about. Head now to ever since cgm.com/juicebox, to get started.

Megan 14:39
I'm trying to think when they started, it was mostly my dad, because he was obviously typing himself more familiar with it, because he lived with it already, and he's also in the medical field. So there was, he had all this information and experience. I think as young as, like, six years old. Old, he started giving me the syringe that was already dosed and holding my hand while we both injected. And then from there, I think I was around eight years old when I started doing my own injections. And then I think I was also part of the process of dosing. So they'd be like, okay, Megan, it's dinner time. How much are we taking? And I'd say, you know, whatever. And then, okay, how much mph? And I know that. I think it was cloudy first, then clear. So I was taught that whole process too. So I think probably by the time I was 10 years old, I was at least involved in treatment decisions. And, you know, meal time dosing,

Scott Benner 15:50
okay, that generally meant, like, just making sure you injected on time, making sure you ate at the right times, like there was you weren't doing a ton of, I don't know, adjusting, giving yourself more insulin later? Were you? No, no, you weren't covering numbers or stuff like that.

Megan 16:05
No, that was probably closer to, like, teenage years.

Scott Benner 16:09
Okay. And your father has type one. Is he still alive? Yes. And how is his health?

Megan 16:14
He's good, yeah. You know a 60 something year old white man, so he has high blood pressure, no complications from diabetes so far. When he was diagnosed when he was senior year of college, so I think 23

Scott Benner 16:29
okay, oh yeah, he's been at it for a while too. Yeah. All right, yeah. And do you and he still manage similarly? Or, have you? I mean, have you grown? Have the two of you grown with what you've done over the years, or has he stayed pretty stable and you've changed?

Megan 16:42
So I have the tandem pump, and then the g7 he still does manual injections with Atlantis and Humalog, and then he has the g6 he hasn't upgraded g7 yet. He's a little stubborn. I keep telling him, like because he'll complain about, you know, he'll go and do yard work, and his blood sugar will start tanking. I'm like, Well, you can't do anything about it, because if you decrease your Lantus, you'll be high when you're not doing an activity. And then if you go do activity, you're gonna, you know, tank. So I keep trying to sell him like, you know, the pump, and I think I might have finally convinced him, but, yeah, he's still doing manual injections. I think his a 1c, are mid sixes. He's managed

Scott Benner 17:33
pretty well. Yes, certainly has. And where you're sitting, my last

Megan 17:39
two, it was 5.7 and then I just had one recently in a 6.1 but I also just, like, moved one of my dogs, like, died right after, right before we moved, and then I'm in the middle of, like, a job change, so, like, some stress things have been happening, so I'm okay with, like, The little bit of a bump up that it's had, but I prefer it to be, like, under six.

Scott Benner 18:06
Yeah, did you kill the dog or did it die naturally?

Megan 18:10
He died. He was this little chihuahua mix, and his name was pickle, and he died of liver failure. No kidding, how old? Yeah, he was only seven. That sucks. He had a congenitally small liver, and it just couldn't keep up with

Scott Benner 18:29
his body. You didn't find that out till he was, like, in trouble, I imagine, yeah,

Megan 18:34
we didn't find out till it was like, end stage liver failure, which is, it's super similar to, like, if a person has liver failure, wow, so interesting.

Scott Benner 18:43
Yeah, I have a question you may not have an answer to, because it's your life, and you grew up that way, right? But how do you think your life, who you are today, how you interact with the world now, has been impacted by having diabetes? I don't know that I've ever asked anybody this before, but you feel like wisdom to me and in the right maybe you're probably like, don't give me too much credit here, Scott, but like, I feel like you're a good person to ask this question up. Maybe I'll end up being wrong, but

Megan 19:12
I feel like it's made me more resilient. I don't know. I feel like I owe it to my dad, because he never wanted me to feel like, not that I wasn't different, but that I couldn't do anything that I wanted to do, or that like it shouldn't keep me from doing the things I want to do, and so far it, it really hasn't. So I think growing up with that mindset and then just in general, like having to manage a disease like this, that's like all day, every day, you don't get a break. I think it's just made my you know, given me, like a tougher skin.

Scott Benner 19:51
If I take you back 10 years, would you answer it the same way? Or do you have a different feeling in your mid

Megan 19:56
20s? I might have a different answer, because. Because during my, like, early 20s, I wasn't the greatest at taking care of it. So I went from, you know, being managed by the endo at Children's to, you know, okay, you're on your own. You're 18, and, like, I kind of dropped the ball for a few years after that by not getting, like, an endo immediately after, you know, I left Children's Hospital, so I had a few years where maybe it was just burnout, where I didn't pay attention to it as much as I probably should have.

Scott Benner 20:33
Yeah, where did that put your a one, CS back then nine? Yeah, like, and you think it went on for a couple years, yeah, through through do you go to college? To go through college?

Megan 20:45
Yes, through college, and then in between college and trying to find, like, my first adult job, I, you know, served and bar attended for a few years, and just working in that, like industry, it's common for, you know, people to get off work at like 9pm and then kind of have like a happy hour. So that was probably the height of, like, my drinking phase too. I guess you would call

Scott Benner 21:13
it. I thought you're gonna say do cocaine and have sex with co workers, because some people have come on here and told crazy stories about working in

Megan 21:21
restaurants. Yeah, no, well, I might be boring. You're

Scott Benner 21:25
like, I just got loaded.

Megan 21:28
Yeah, I just drank like, a boring

Scott Benner 21:31
person, like a boring person, yeah, no, seriously, some of the stories people have told about restaurants, I'm like, Really,

Megan 21:37
yeah, no, there are crazy stories that, like, I've heard like, the next day, but you know, I wasn't you. No, I was typically somebody that, like, I was one of the first ones to go home most of the time, because I'm, like, all right, I'm I'm out, but,

Scott Benner 21:51
but you've had a friend come up to you and tell you, Oh, I know why. They call him the short order cook now,

Megan 21:55
yeah, yeah, yeah, stuff like that. Like people getting arrested at three o'clock in the morning and, like, missing their shift because they're in jail. Yeah? Like crazy.

Scott Benner 22:05
Tip your waiter. Yeah, they need it for bail. Yeah, yeah, that's funny. My gosh, okay, so, I mean, you can call it burnout. Like you said, I didn't get an endo real quickly after leaving Children's Hospital, but like, you still knew what you were doing, right? So, like, Is there, like, there's some sort of, like, I mean, listen, this happens to people where they have diabetes or not, right? They reach a certain age and they're like, I'm an adult now, right? Like, and maybe for some people, it's like, I'm not gonna clean my room anymore, or I'm, you know, I'm gonna let my hair grow, or I'm gonna have sex with that guy that my mom told me not to. But like, for you, it's like, I'm probably not gonna take insulin quite as often as I had to. It's yeah, yeah. And you're okay now today, you feel good. Yeah,

Megan 22:47
I do. I feel good despite, you know, having the, you know, somewhat recent lupus diagnosis, yeah,

Scott Benner 22:54
but you know how to use your insulin. You have you're up on technology, you're active. You obviously work out a lot. So let's talk about that a little bit like, yeah, when did you start like, working out? Like, I mean, five times a week is pretty aggressive, right?

Megan 23:07
Yeah. But if I like, don't hit the five days a week, I feel like, gross. So now it's so ingrained in my routine that if I don't do it, it feels weird. But it was like January of 2019, I had, like, the New Year's resolution, I'm gonna get in better shape. And I actually followed through with it, because I, you know, I had said that before in previous years, and kind of just did it for a few weeks and then gave up. Yeah.

Scott Benner 23:37
What does that mean? By the way, you're looking to change your weight, your muscle tone, your physical endurance. What was your goal? I would say body composition. Okay, moving stuff to where you want it,

Megan 23:49
yeah, like adding more muscle, trimming fat in certain places. I mean, probably weight loss was my goal in the beginning, just because I feel like, as women or girls, that's kind of drilled into our heads. Like, watch the number on the scale and now, like, I don't even know how much I weigh right now, I just go by how I look and how I feel.

Scott Benner 24:14
It's a pretty great thing not to have to think about anymore. Like, did your mom put that in your head? Or was it societal? Or where do you think you got it from? Yeah, I

Megan 24:21
think it was societal, like, I grew up in, you know, the 90s and early 2000s so, you know, I graduated high school in 2007 and the look at that time was skinny. It's not like it is today, where they're like muscle mommies and, like, it's cool to be, like, muscular now as a woman that just wasn't a thing or a body image that was widely talking, yeah, accepted back then.

Scott Benner 24:51
Interesting. So, like, so you make this decision in would you say 2019, for your New Year's resolution? Yeah, okay, and you're. Go for it, and this time you don't it goes more than a few weeks. Do you know what the first thing was that happened that hooked you, that kept you wanting to go?

Megan 25:07
I started noticing, like definition in places where I was never able to get it before. And I think the only reason was because I just wasn't consistent enough for a long enough period of time. So when I did start seeing results and like, Okay, well, what's it going to look like in another four weeks, or, you know, another 12 weeks or six months? So I think that's what initially

Scott Benner 25:34
hooked me. Okay, yeah, that's awesome, just seeing some sort of progress. Yeah, yeah. Did you go by yourself? Did you have a buddy? Did you like? How did you make the decision to like, I mean, did you, you know, pair up with somebody to keep you, you know, focused on it.

Megan 25:51
I hired a personal trainer to do, like, three days a week. I think it was just 30 minute sessions. It wasn't even super long. What also helped me stay consistent was like, I'm spending money on this, and I might as well go to these sessions, because otherwise, you know, what am I spending this money for? Yeah. So that was also a big motivator, especially in the beginning, like, I don't want to waste my money, so I might as well go right

Scott Benner 26:20
and did you tell people, like, I do that sometimes I'm like, I'm doing something. I'd say it out loud so I can't, like, back out of it. Yeah, yeah, that too. That is helpful sometimes. I mean, if it doesn't work out, it probably just feels like more pressure. But I do it a lot with the podcast. Like, I'll get on here and say, like, like, what's this thing that I want to do with the podcast that I know is a ton of work, and it might not work out, and it might end up being a waste of time. Like, let me just say it out loud, and maybe that'll make it happen. You know, yeah, it does help, yeah. Would you consider that your, like, your gym routine is, like, anaerobic? Is it more weight related? Is it, you know, aerobic? Like, you know what I mean. Like, how do you like, was it resistance, or is it a little mix of everything?

Megan 27:01
I would say, for the most part, it's weight training. I just started incorporating some cardio back in just because it's summer, I want to, you know, cut a little bit of fat, and I've also dropped my calories. So that's also a big part of it, is the food. Foods like 70% of your your progress and your change. So if that's not calibrated correctly for your body and your goals, I think that's where some people get hung up. And they're like, well, not seeing results, and I'm doing these workouts, and I think that's a big point of frustration for people, is, if the food isn't correct and calibrated to you, you're not gonna you're not gonna see the changes you want to see.

Scott Benner 27:48
So was your nutrition solid before the gym or to going to the gym teach you to work on your nutrition?

Megan 27:54
I think I was eating the right foods. I just wasn't eating the right amounts, like I definitely wasn't eating enough protein, and overall, I just wasn't eating enough calories for muscle

Scott Benner 28:07
growth. Okay, that's interesting, yeah. How do you figure that out? By talking to somebody at the gym, or just by, like, working out, going, I'm putting a lot of effort in this, and I'm not seeing a return. Well, both, yeah,

Megan 28:20
I started, yeah, I started noticing kind of, like, a plateau where I'm, like, I'm not seeing, you know, as much change as I would think that I should be seeing. And I think I mentioned, you know, what I was eating to somebody at the gym, and they referred me to, she's not a nutritionist, but she has, like, a nutrition certification so she can calibrate your macros for you. Okay, that made a huge difference in results. Oh,

Scott Benner 28:49
it's awesome. I didn't know we were going to talk about this, but I'm glad we did, and we are, because, like, Jenny and I are in the middle of putting out a nutrition series in the podcast right now, so it's been, just been, only been going on for a couple of weeks, but she's a, she actually is a nutritionist and and she, she's, like, always wants to talk about this, but it's funny, like, you know, I've kind of talked about this privately and not really said it out loud, but we wanted to do it earlier, but we really felt like I had to build up more of like, I had to build a bigger fan base up and more like, trust with people before you start, because once you start talking about how to eat with people, man, like it, people get pissed about that. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, I wanted the listeners to know. Like, I'm not telling you what to do, and I'm not judging you like that. But here's what Jenny thinks like this. You know, here's what I've learned, you know, but here's what she knows. And I hope this helps you, and if it does, that's awesome. And if, and if you're mad that you hear me saying Doritos aren't good for you, then I mean, hopefully you won't just leave and ignore, you know, your health in general, like, anymore, like, say, but yeah, it's a real feeling, because I you. You know, I made a misstep a few years ago. I, you know, some would say, some people say no, but like, you know, we just put out, like, I think, like, a seven or eight episode Pro Tip series for type twos. And the idea really was Megan, just like, Listen. A lot of you listen and think that this podcast is helping you with your type one. You must know people living with type two. Here's some content you can show them. And yeah, I had, I don't want to say exactly how much I think, but I lost a fair percentage of listeners, you know, basically type ones who are like, you know, I don't want you talking about type two diabetes on this podcast. And it was like, so you now, you know that that can happen. Like, you get nervous when you're like, Hey, we should talk about nutrition next. And I like, party is like, like, this is what people probably, you know, a lot of people don't know about like, you're talking about it now. Like, who would think if you didn't know, who would think, yes, I'm eating protein, but not enough, or, you know, I'm trying to lose weight and build muscle, I need more calories. I don't think those are common sense things like, all the time. So, yeah, it's like, almost counterintuitive, and people do like, they take,

Megan 31:06
like their food and their food choices, like,

Scott Benner 31:10
like politics and religion. Yeah,

Megan 31:13
it gets super personal sometimes. And I just, I don't know, because if you're making on some level, I feel like they have to know that what they're eating isn't the best or optimal. I don't

Scott Benner 31:26
know. I've talked to a lot of people. Megan, I don't always think that's the case. Like, I take your point like, you think, Well, nobody's having a handful of, like, jelly beans, and being like, this is very healthy for me. But I also don't think that they think, Hey, did you know there's, you know, I don't know, 12 tablespoons of sugar in that soda you're drinking. Like, I don't think that's the thing people know either. I think it can be in the middle a little bit, like, some of it's just, like, you know, a little blissful ignorance, like, I'll just, I won't, you know, I just, I'll ignore this, and it'll be okay, because I love the way Ho Hos taste. I really don't know. Like, I grew up in a world where this was food, it was given to me, and I don't know any different. I used a couple of examples recently, but one of them that I think is just really important is that, you know, I told Jenny, like, you know, when I grew up, there was this giant tub on top of the refrigerator. It had a scoop in it and a powder, and you'd put, like, God knows how many scoops into a gallon of water and, like, just fill it at the sink and shake it up, and you drank that, and it was just, like, pure sugar water. And like, that's what I drank, like, every time I was thirsty, that's what I had. I genuinely did not know that wasn't good for me. So, you know, who knows? Yeah, I can see that too, especially if that's just how it's presented, yeah, how it's always been, yeah. So your note here says it's great. I can't wait to hear what you want to say about this. What do you have to say about Jim bros?

Megan 32:49
Oh, my God, I forgot I wrote that. So, I mean, it depends on the level of like Jim bro. I guess an extreme example would be, there's this guy that goes to my gym. I see him at least three times a week because we seem to go for our workout around the same time, right? And he's like, super intense with his reps and stuff. And he's like, he's like, screaming and like, making all these weird noises, and like, I can hear it over my earbuds, and people are looking at him. And then he's got this, this guy following him around with like, a camera, like an actual camera, not just like a phone. Yeah, he's doing something, right? It's a camera. I mean, I I'm assuming he's probably competing, or has competed in the past, and he's, you know, gearing up for another competition.

Scott Benner 33:49
But like, you think he's just making content, maybe,

Megan 33:54
like, for himself. Somebody's walking around filming him,

Scott Benner 33:57
like, it's like, if he's filming all this and not putting it somewhere. I'm I'm even more worried now,

Megan 34:02
yeah, yeah. Like, what are you doing with it then? But yeah, so there's, there's gym bros like that. There's like, gym bros that. There's another day where I'm, like, I have one more exercise left, and it was the leg curl. And for whatever reason, there were like, three dudes just hovered around this machine. None of them were using it, and then one of them had, like, his shaker bottle on it.

And just like, this is the last

thing I need for my workout. And then I'm done, and you guys are just like, standing there, and I need that machine. Do

Scott Benner 34:38
you like, say something to them? Or do you feel uncomfortable at that moment? I did

Megan 34:43
finally, yeah. Like, are any of you using this? And they're like, oh no. And then they walked over to another machine and hovered around it. And I don't know what they were talking about,

Scott Benner 34:51
but is there a lot of what they call mansplaining going on at the gym?

Megan 34:56
I've seen it before, but not I. Well, I guess there was one time somebody felt the need to come over and tell me how to use the hip thrust machine, and I didn't really appreciate that very much. You

Scott Benner 35:12
think you were being hit on? Maybe?

Megan 35:15
No, that's thing. No, it's not that. So, yeah, the form is, I mean, once you get it, it's it's easy, and it's literally, like, how it sounds, it's a hip thrust. And he's like, I think you should do it like this. And he was, like, hyper extending. I'm like, you don't think he was

Scott Benner 35:32
hitting on you don't think he was just trying to, like, take you out or get a number or something like that, maybe. But you aren't up for that. You already have a three legged cat. You don't need his pets. Yeah, yeah, exactly. You know, are there women that are like that at the gym too? Like, very loud and boisterous? Is it a big gym?

Megan 35:52
It's a local gym. It's not like a chain, and actually they it's not air conditioned. It's kind of like an open air gym. There are a couple of industrial fans strategically placed to kind of keep air moving, okay, but today, it's like upper 80s here, and you know, it's just a couple of fans in there. So I'm kind of not looking forward to you get used to it eventually. But fortunately, the the weather here went from like 70 to like 85 in a day. And I just haven't, like gotten used to the warmer temperatures yet. Yeah, and then trying to work out in that, like it's an adjustment period.

Scott Benner 36:41
Is that them being cheap? Is that a theory about working out like that? You want it to be warmer? I feel like, like, back when Arnold was in his prime, I feel

Megan 36:51
like he was probably working out in a gym without air conditioning. And I think maybe they're just trying to be like old school. The building that the gym is in, it looks like it used to be an old, like, kind of small warehouse. So maybe it's not even, like, you can't even put an HVAC system in there. I I mean, I wouldn't know, but I'm sure it also doesn't bother them to not have an AC Bill, I'm

Scott Benner 37:21
guessing that. So we were talking to your father about about maybe getting a pump. Yeah, but I was wondering, how often do you guys talk? And how often is that talking about diabetes? Like, does he check in with you still, or do you check in with him? Oh,

Megan 37:36
yeah, yeah, I would say that we probably talk at least once a week. I'm definitely a daddy's girl, and I'm pretty sure I'm his favorite child.

Scott Benner 37:44
Well, I'm sure you are, yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, we talk regularly and pretty frequently. And have you ever had, I don't know what to call it, pushback about these conversations, like, even when you were younger, you ever have times and you're just like, I don't want to talk about diabetes. About diabetes. Or have you always had that relationship with Him?

Megan 38:06
We've always had that relationship, I think just because, you know, it's a common experience between the both of us. And like, he can't talk to my other siblings about diabetes the way that he can talk to me about it. And same thing, like, they just don't get it

Scott Benner 38:23
enough context, yeah, yeah. And so you guys are, I hate to say diabetes, because that sounds goofy, but like you guys are, like, you have, like, a little, a little club about diabetes, yeah, yeah, to get a secret handshake, that'd be awesome. We should, yeah, I don't know why you haven't thought of that already. I know, do you let other family members who have type one into this group? Like, do you have, like, a group chat where you talk about type one or anything like

Megan 38:46
that? No, my aunt, that's type one. She was misdiagnosed. I as Type Two for, I don't know how long of period of time it was. She just got her diagnosis, I think within the last like five years. So she's relatively new to it. And then my grandma is type two, and she's like 90 pounds and 88 years old. Her a 1c is kind of just sat at like 5.7 Okay, for the last

Scott Benner 39:15
chugging along, doing okay. Yeah, yeah. In your note, you just said resilience. You didn't say anything else about it, right? And I'm wondering, I mean, you thought to put it in here. You have big thoughts about, you know, what this life has taught you, or things you've taken from it?

Megan 39:32
I mean, I think a lot of it, just like I said before, comes from diabetes, like, you know, you you have a choice, you can take care of it or you don't. I think it's just much easier to choose to take care of it. And you know, it's, it's not a cake walk. And that's definitely taught me some things, because life isn't always a cake walk either. You just have to keep going. Going,

Scott Benner 40:00
can you like, think of specific times when it was harder than others and you had to push through? Or has it always been like, because, you know, some people might be like, Well, yeah, our dad has it too, like they have a connection, like she gets support from that. Like, it might be easier for you to say, like, this isn't that bad, yeah. Has there been moments where you're like, I mean, you mentioned college, but have there been other times?

Megan 40:22
Yeah, probably college. And then I was like 24 I happened to be walking around a pool. I stepped on some kind of rock on the bottom of my foot, and it made a little scratch on my heel. I didn't think anything of it, but it ended up getting infected, and I had to be hospitalized for that. That was awful. And obviously that was at the same time the, you know, I wasn't necessarily in the best control with my diabetes, so that that was day 1c

Scott Benner 41:01
time. Yeah, it was okay, yeah. So, just for clarity, for people, you're not saying you have neuropathy and you couldn't feel the cut, it just it didn't heal and it got infected.

Megan 41:09
Yeah, yeah. It like for a long time, it didn't seem like it was getting worse, but it also wasn't healing. And then one day, I just spiked a fever. And you know, my foot was so small and I couldn't see my ankle bones anymore, so I had to be admitted, and I was in the hospital for four days that had to be debrided, and I was on IV antibiotics the entire time I was in the hospital, and then they sent me home with home health, and I had to be on IV antibiotics for the next Four weeks for it to clear

Scott Benner 41:41
up, and you attribute that to the higher blood sugars,

Megan 41:44
yeah, I think the reason it took as long as it did to heal and then the fact that the infection ended up, it was starting to disrupt the tissue, like surrounding my bone, So it got pretty deep.

Scott Benner 42:00
Okay, jeez, that's scary. Oh my gosh.

Megan 42:03
Not that I didn't take it as seriously as I should have, but I just didn't understand the severity until, like, after I was out of the hospital and I was still on tethered to an IV pole at home,

Scott Benner 42:16
did that, you know, quote, unquote, scare you straight? Or did it take more than that?

Megan 42:20
Yeah, yeah, that was a big wake up call. Like, I don't want this to happen again. I don't want to be like, the stereotypical, like, diabetic without a foot or toes, and like, like, I don't want to be that person and like, I'm better than that. Like, I know what I am supposed to do. I know how I'm supposed to do it. I just like, I need to do it. And, you know, basically, grow up.

Scott Benner 42:47
Yeah. Do you have any context, backward looking context, about why a person might just, for years, stop doing the thing they know they're they should be doing?

Megan 42:57
Burnout would be one. But I also think there's probably, like a fear component to it, like, you know, I'm afraid, you know, if I do this, and you know what, if I still fail, or that's a good question, yeah. But I think for me, at least, I feel like it was burnout and probably some immaturity,

Scott Benner 43:22
okay? And then you have the foot thing, and then you say, Oh, I don't want to be like this. And then you just kind of like, it's like everything else in life, like, you get more mature, you get more context. You make different decisions,

Megan 43:33
yeah, yeah, looking, looking back on that, I'm like, Why did I just not go to the doctor when, you know, like, a week after it happened, once I realized it wasn't healing

Scott Benner 43:43
right before you stepped on that stone or whatever you stepped on at the pool. If I would have said to you, hey, the management that you are currently employing for your diabetes is such that if you get a cut on your foot, you're gonna end up in the hospital with a massive infection that almost gets to your bone. Would you have believed that? Or would you have said, No, I'm doing fine. I don't

Megan 44:02
know if I would have believed that at the time, yeah, yeah. Because at the time I felt like, yeah, you know, it's not great, but I'm not it's not 13, it's nine, yeah. So I kind of tried to rationalize it that way, like, Yeah, I know I can do better, but it's not terrible, or I'm not as bad as, you know, some people.

Scott Benner 44:24
It's the rationalization that I always hear in people's stories like this, no matter what, it's sort of like, well, yeah, sure, but it's not like this, or it could have been that, or I should have, you know, I Yeah, sure, I didn't do that, but also I'm okay. And then you get that kind of reinforcement every day, when you wake up and you're not sick, right? You're like, yeah. Like, you know, they say this is bad. My a one sees 10, but I feel fine, yeah, yeah, right. Like, that's maybe they're wrong. Maybe I can live like this. Maybe it's just not something that I'm being forced to look at. Yeah, yeah. Exactly that thing a lady told me just the other day I was interviewing her about, like, you know what forced her to look at? Her care was like, she had a miscarriage, and the doctor just, very clearly was, like, your blood sugar is too high. That's why the baby discard, you know? Yeah, it still doesn't like, it doesn't flip a switch. I have to tell you, the human psychology I'm just like, I'm going to be endlessly enamored with forever and ever. I think, like, you know, like, I put up an episode today, and I just, I found myself thinking, like, I'm gonna go online and tell people about it, because it's so fascinating to listen to this person, you know, talk about how her mom hid her diabetes from the family and then passed away very early, probably because she wasn't taking great care of herself, because she was very focused on nobody knowing, like she literally thought her kids didn't know she had that type one. And then, but, yeah, right, it does seem crazy, right? But then I'm talking to the, you know, the woman who's now an adult, and she didn't think it was that crazy. And then you start picking through her life, and you realize she hides a lot of things from people, and, you know, you're like, Oh, this is, like, a little familial. Maybe it's a little like, you know, just the psyche of the family, or whatever, like, burned in, who knows exactly, I don't know, like, God knows how she got there. But every story she told ended up being a story of how, like, they hide things from each other. And then you can hear her as she's, like, talking through it, going, Oh, yeah. Like, that is another example of that. And I make it just makes me wonder, like, it's months later, is she, like, out there actively trying not to do that, or is it just have such a strong hold on her that it went, you know, it goes right back after you stop talking about it. Yeah. Anyway, that part of the human mind and the experience. I don't know if I'll ever hear an answer, but it's fascinating. To talk about and to wonder about, yeah, well, I think when you

Megan 46:49
you grow up that way, that's what you're surrounded by. That's all you ever know. I think it takes you know, I think stepping away and looking at the way other people, you know, interact, and how they behave, and I think that makes people maybe start to question, like, in what I you know, is my behavior normal, or am I the weird

Scott Benner 47:14
one, like, and it happens to everybody. I mean, if you're listening right now and you're thinking like, oh, Scott's, you know, speaking from like, it doesn't happen to him and his kid or whatever, but it happens. Of course, it does. Like, you know, my kid doesn't listen to me, just like every other kid doesn't listen to every other parent. I hear people say all the time, like, oh, Arden, so lucky you have such a grasp of this blah, blah, blah, you're so willing to help that doesn't change anything. And by the way, the person that wrote me that note, if they were 20 years old and had diabetes, they wouldn't listen either. They'd be like, ah, that guy is my dad. He doesn't know, like, you know, like, that kind of thing. Like, I've given people advice about, like, saying, like, very specifically, like, saying to a kid, like, Look, if you're having trouble right now, you can offload some of that to me. I'd be happy to, like, like, shoulder some of this for a while. Tell me what it you know, what? What of the things that are burdening you right now? Do you think would allow you to reset and get out of this feeling like, if somebody else was handling it for you for a while, and I've told people, like, I would go to my kid and say that, like, say, look, you're struggling with your diabetes right now. That's fine. Like, you know it happens. Let me help a little bit with this piece. Let you reset a little bit. I've said that to Arden recently, like, you know what I mean? Like, is there something here that I can, that I can help you with? She's got a lot going on, you know, and like, you can, like, she's quiet and listens, but she doesn't, like, turn to me, like, it's a, you know, like, a Hallmark movie, and go, Father, thank you for that wonderful offer. That would be great. Here's the thing that I think would help like it's nothing works that way. No, it doesn't. I think one of the most interesting things about diabetes type, one especially, is that it it speeds up your timeline, such that it gives you an in the moment. Look at some of the things that happen in a life without diabetes stretched out over decades, aging, for example, right? Like, or the decline of health, it's an easy one, right? Like, you can get up every day and smoke a cigarette, drink the wrong thing, have the wrong food, not exercise. You could go 2030, years and think, I'm beating this thing. And even if your body starts to decay in certain ways, our minds are set up so that we we ignore that, and we press on, right? We're resilient. We keep going. Then one day, you're 65 and I don't know, you know what I mean, like your kidney falls out of your side, or something like that. And the doctors like, oh, you know, that's because that thing you've been doing for the last 30 years, right? Yeah, but in diabetes, type one really, especially, don't do the thing you're supposed to do, you're going to get a pretty what would in normal life be, a 30 year result. You're going to get that result much more quickly. Yeah, and I think that experience is sprinkled about diabetes in tons of ways, in interpersonal. Ways and psychology, depression, happiness, everything gets sped up a little so that you can kind of see the results sooner than you normally would. Yeah, and I think then it's up to you, the person living that life, to either decide like I'm going to use this as directional and say to myself, Okay, look, I know if I do this, this and this and this, 30 years from now, that thing falls out, but now it's happening a year from now, or six weeks from now, or three months from now, when I get my a 1c again, I'm going to take that information, not feel burdened by it, but feel lucky to have it make adjustments, do the thing, or you're going to be in that situation where you say to yourself, well, you know what? This is unfair, and I give up, like, I think that it sort of goes like, one way or the other sometimes, and then some people give up, but something shocking happens to them, and they're snapped out of it, you know? Yeah, some people just find the rhythm, and they just ride that rhythm right till the end. So I don't know, I don't know why I said all that. That's all I had to say. I'm done. Now, is there anything that you'd like to respond to there, or anything else you'd like to talk about? I mean,

Megan 51:11
I think what you said is pretty accurate. I mean, for me, it was, you know, it was the whole foot thing, like, okay, I can keep doing what I'm doing, and you know, the results are probably going to be similar to this or worse.

Or, you know, I can put in

some effort and get my a 1c to a better place, feel better, be happier, be healthier. And you know, it might not always be the easiest way or the easiest choice, but it seems like it's worth it to at least try, then to just completely give up, and, you know, have a poor quality of life or outlook on life, because I just don't want to do the things that I am supposed to do, right?

Scott Benner 52:03
And those things, by the way, are bringing you benefits in the moment as well. It's not just like you're not just avoiding the 30 year problem. Yeah, you know, you're probably seeing less insulin resistance because you're so active, right? You eat a certain way, so you probably don't see a ton of like, crazy spikes that you're fighting with for six hours that end up with a low at five o'clock in the morning like you probably avoid a lot of that stuff by by living the life this way. Is that right?

Megan 52:27
Definitely had to dial back my basal rate and stuff when I started adding the cardio in, and then, obviously, with the reduction of calories, there's less of a need for insulin just because of that. So there are definitely benefits, and it definitely makes aspects of diabetes easier, just by, you know, coupling it with activity and correct calories for for my body,

Scott Benner 52:55
yeah, do you not work out on the weekends? Or, like you said, five days a week. When do you not work out?

Megan 52:59
I try to do Monday through Friday, like everybody else, I struggle with motivation sometimes. Yesterday I didn't go, so I'll go today through Saturday. I prefer to, like be finished, like Monday through Friday, and then have Saturday and Sunday to do whatever I want. But yeah, no, however, I need to fit in five days. That's what I'm going

Scott Benner 53:23
to do. How many days do you have to miss before you see in your insulin needs that? Oh, I'm getting a benefit out of this activity, and now it's gone and I'm needing more insulin, or I'm having other issues. Is there a gap of time where it starts to turn on you? Or,

Megan 53:37
yeah, actually, that's a good question. It's probably around day three or day four. Like, if I've not gone to the to the gym, not done anything active, including, like walking steady state cardio, like, if I haven't done anything in three or four days, I'll start to see my blood sugars rise.

Scott Benner 54:01
Yeah, the activity is super important, especially Yeah, for this, yeah, no, I agree. I appreciate you coming on and talking about all this. Can I ask you, like, what motivated you to ask to be on the podcast?

Megan 54:12
Well, because I've obviously listened before. I don't think I've listened to every single episode.

Scott Benner 54:18
Why? No, I'm sorry.

Megan 54:21
No, I haven't, but no, I've, I've listened to it consistently, probably for at least the last couple of years. And I just think some of the stories on here are so interesting, and the perspective of other people, and you know, some of their other stuff going on, and how they juggle diabetes and their life experiences. And I don't know, I don't think I'm particularly interesting, but I thought if me sharing my experiences and some of my story could help somebody and they're listening to it, then why not? Oh,

Scott Benner 54:58
that's awesome. I appreciate. Oh, that's i. Some of the best episodes come by. I'm sorry that you don't think you're particularly interesting. Should I call this episode not particularly interesting? You think that'll really grab people's attention?

Megan 55:08
Yeah, you're Jim bros. Well,

Scott Benner 55:12
you know it's funny, like, I'm always entertained by the idea that people are like, I know this isn't good. I actually, I have a note from the other day. I know that. I know our conversation was terrible. You don't, don't feel any pressure to use it. No, that happens like, more frequently than you would think, like, a note comes from somebody, and I'm like, I responded back. I was like, I just said, like, You're being silly. Your episode was awesome. Like, stop it. Yeah, I just, I make the same point over and over again to people. I was like, you listen to this podcast. You've heard stories that really helped you? Do you know those people also thought their story was not interesting and not valuable? Talking about human psychology, like, what is it about people that does not allow them to just believe that their actual story has value?

Megan 55:52
You know, I don't, yeah, interesting. That's a good question. Yeah,

Scott Benner 55:56
I don't know what's wrong with us. Trust Me, I'm Trust Me, I'm lumping myself in with everybody else. It's fascinating to me. Nobody ever jumps off and is like, wow, that was awesome. I can't wait for people to hear that, because I really brought it.

Megan 56:11
Okay, good. I'm glad I'm not the only

Scott Benner 56:13
one. Yeah, no, trust me, this is a pretty common feeling. And I thought you were great. Like, I really think this will help people. And, you know, there's plenty. I mean, especially now while, like I said, talking more about nutrition, you know, Megan, like, if you've listened to enough of the podcast, I think one of the main things that I focus on is that I don't think I'm in charge of how people eat, nor do I think that anything that I or anybody else says is going to like, change somebody's opinion about how they're eating, right? And, you know, just because you grew up with a bucket of sugar water in your refrigerator that somebody told you was juice, you know, like, doesn't mean that 20 years later, if your kid gets type one diabetes, they deserve to have an A, 1c in the 10s, like, so my thought here is everyone listening is going to have more success health wise, if they understand how insulin works. Yeah, that's my base goal. Like, I just want you all to understand what your basal does. You know how to Pre-Bolus? Like, you know what different glycemic loads and impacts. Do you know what to do when you find yourself in the mall and you're like, I'm gonna eat a Cinnabon? Do I think you should be running around eating Cinnabons all the time? I do not. But if you go to the mall and you're like, I'm getting a Cinnabon, first of all, you should know there's like, 160 carbs in that thing. Like, that's not even a thing people would guess. You know. And you should know how to, like, attack it without making yourself super low later, or, you know, giving yourself a 400 blood sugar that you're screwing with for the next six hours. Having a Cinnabon shouldn't put you in that situation.

Megan 57:52
Yeah, it shouldn't ruin your

Scott Benner 57:55
day. And at the same time, like when you start out telling people like, this is how insulin works, apply it to your eating style. I mean, the rest of that is, you know, no lie, ate a little better and thought more about your micro, macro nutrients. And, you know, making sure that you know your your nutrition was, you know, a little more spot on. At least this whole diabetes thing gets a lot easier.

Megan 58:21
Yeah, no, it really, really does. You said Cinnabon, and for whatever reason, it made me think of my 600 pound life. Do you watch that

Scott Benner 58:29
show? I've seen it like once or twice, not a whole, not all the way through, I but I know enough to know what you're talking about.

Megan 58:35
Okay, yeah, oh, it's just crazy. Like, the amount of, just the amount of food that they eat like, it's, it's just crazy. I we binge watched that show me my boyfriend. Well, listen,

Scott Benner 58:47
I can tell you that Jenny and I, right now are making a series called Bolus for where people just sent in different foods they don't know how to Bolus for. And so, like, Jenny and I are, like, doing like, 10 Minute Talk throughs on everything. But we're also, like, you know, we're pretty fresh into it. We've only been doing it for a couple of recordings now. And mainly we're getting through like, cereal, like Cinnabon, which is why it's on my head right now, you know, like, that kind of stuff. Like, eventually we'll get to, like, you know, broccoli and stuff like that. It's really something like, I've never looked to see how many carbs are in a Cinnabon before. Or, you know, like, it's not a thing, like, it's not a thing we've ever run into. I've never thought about it, but I think top of my head, if I'm remembering the recording the other day, was literally, like, 165 carbs and, like, in a stunning amount of a stunning amount of fat, and, yeah, and just, you know, and all and way more salt than you would think,

Megan 59:42
yeah, yeah. Salt isn't everything well.

Scott Benner 59:46
And then Jenny starts talking about, like, look, you know, there's that magic mixture of sugar, salt and fat that just makes your body go like, Oh, my god, yeah, yeah. Because, like, I mean, listen, I bake a lot. You do not need a lot of salt when you're baking. King. But I guess somebody figured out, like, if there's this much fat and this much sugar and this much salt, you're gonna go crazy when you're eating this

Megan 1:00:07
fat, sugar, salt, and, you know, you've seen those, like, I think there were snack wells, I think the green box where it's, like, zero fat, but then they dumped more sugar in it. Or, like, if something has no sugar, it has a bunch of extra fat. Like, you can't take both out. You have to, you know what I mean, yeah, it

Scott Benner 1:00:31
ends up being cardboard. Nobody wants it, yeah, yeah. I bring up all the time around here, there's Italian ice places. And, you know, always a huge sign on the front that says fat free. And I'm like, Yeah, but your body's gonna take that sugar and store it as fat. Exactly, yeah, it's not in there now, but it's gonna end up as fat. Yeah, you know, it's just marketing. And I think the same thing with the, you know, I'm not even picking on Cinnabon, but like, you know, they're trying to make a thing that when you bite into it, you're like, I'm very willing to give you $10 for one more of these, like, you know, like, that's what they're trying to accomplish. So I don't think that we think about food that way. I don't think that we think about like, this is engineered to like, you know, like snooker you into having more, or to feel like, almost like, you know, having an addictive like, responses to it. And so, you know, so we bring it up, and hopefully people will be interested in it, and, you know, not yell at us for telling them how to eat, because I certainly don't. I mean, it's your life. I am a live and let live person to the end of the to the end of time, right? Like, I'm, I'm for your personal freedom. And if your personal freedom runs the gamut, it's not for me to judge, nor do I even have an opinion about it. Like, so like, do whatever you want. But you know, just like with the Bolus thing, I just want you to know what you're like, what the reality of what you're of what you're involved in is, and then after that, you're an adult, you do whatever you want. You know, like, yeah, I don't care. I'm happy for you if it's going well and if it's not going well, and you're looking for something, and then you find it here. I'm happy for you, too. And if you want to eat a Cinnabon every day, and, you know, go down in a blaze of glory. Like,

Megan 1:02:06
yeah, eat your Cinnabon. Eat your Twinkies. Or don't, like, go for you.

Scott Benner 1:02:10
Like, go if that's you, if that's you, that's you. Like, I don't have like, I have no problem in the world with that, you know, listen, it's, um, you know, it's a way online that people make content that's very popular, but they just, you know, they just put you into a different camp, and then get people to fight against you. So they say, you know, somebody's like, you know, I'm a gym person. I work out. Everybody doesn't work out. Doesn't care about themselves and their assholes and blah, blah, you know, like, and what do you get? You get a bunch of people who agree with that, and then, then, now you have an online community, and then you can charge them $20 a month or something, right? Like, and then there's the other people on the other side that are, like, That's bull. Like, I can live any way I want. Like, you know, the right way to eat is vegetarian, but and then they do the same thing, and then they market to you and sell you stuff and like, I know you don't think that's what's happening to you, but trust me, that no one who's talking to you about like keto gives a about keto. They give a shit about building a community that they can make money off of or sell you something or whatnot. So exactly, trust me, I'm not selling you anything. I pay for this podcast the old fashioned way advertising. I get somebody else to pay for this so I can sit here and do this. You all can go do whatever you want, just even if you don't buy anything, just click on the links once in a while. Everything's great. Then, you know, it keeps me It keeps me going, and keeps these conversations happening. Anyway, Megan, any last words?

Megan 1:03:27
For whatever reason I had cereal and protein shake on my mind, I might send you and Jenny in that for the

Scott Benner 1:03:33
Bolus four series. Yeah, send it over like email to me.

Megan 1:03:37
Okay, yeah, because I've said it's such a pain in the ass to dose for I feel like I do the Pre-Bolus correctly, and I know that it's high protein, high carb meal, so that factors in as well. But, like, I just can't seem to get a handle on it. And it's, like, one of my favorite, like,

Scott Benner 1:03:53
breakfast specific, like, down to like, you know, brand names and stuff like that. Okay, and send it over. And I will, I'll add it to the list. I absolutely will just email it to me. Okay, yeah,

Megan 1:04:04
definitely. No. It was awesome talking to you. I was a little bit nervous. It was like talking to a famous person.

Scott Benner 1:04:08
That's ridiculous. Let's, let's stop being silly. Okay,

Megan 1:04:13
it does. It feels like that. It's weird. Yeah. Well, after

Scott Benner 1:04:16
this, I'm going to take Arden to an appointment and then come home and do some laundry while I'm editing and making social media. So I, trust me, I'm not famous. Listen, we all learned how Gene Hackman died recently. He's famous, and I think he got eaten by rats. So, like, you know, like, fame's not, I don't know. I don't think so. I think, I think I'm I think I'm conflating something. Hold on a second. You want to find out real quick. I believe. Hold on a second. Gene Hackman got eaten by rats. No, he got, like, a, first of all, he's 95 I didn't know he was that old. Yeah, like he was. He's one of those guys who's like, 20 years ago, is like, I can't act anymore. And I was like, oh, but you're great. Okay, hold on a second. He. The actor had a biventricular pacemaker. He had Alzheimer's, maybe neurodegenerative features consistent with Alzheimer's. The autopsy, excuse me, autopsy showed severe a throw salistic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease, I think. But it's something weird about how he Oh, a toxicology report found trace amounts of acetone and Hackman system when he died, the solvents used for chemicals also product of a diabetic and fasting induced ketoacidosis. Hold on a second. That's not what I know, because his wife died too at the same time, but she was much younger than him.

Megan 1:05:39
Oh, okay, I remember, I kind of remember hearing about this. Now,

Scott Benner 1:05:43
how did Gene Hackman wife? There's something about like they found,

Megan 1:05:49
like rats were eating them after they died. Yeah, she

Scott Benner 1:05:54
No wait. She died from Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome I got, I'm telling you, this has got something to do with rodents. Yeah. Rodents. I don't know. I feel like we're watching Ratatouille, but, like, a really bad version.

Megan 1:06:07
That's so weird, because I just watched ratatouille last night. Why would you

Scott Benner 1:06:11
not awesome movie. It is so cute. Like, No, trust me, he wasn't well. He had, like, extensive heart disease. He had other things. Why can I not find this all of the dog was dead too.

Megan 1:06:24
Oh, that's so weird.

Scott Benner 1:06:27
Okay, how did his wife get Hantavirus? Hantavirus are primarily carried by rodents. Humans can become infected after exposure to urine, droppings or saliva from an infected rodent. So, so anyway, I don't know if that's what ended up happening, but there's a lot of talk about that, and it just made me think, like they were so they were older, and, you know, there was they obviously had, like, cleanliness issues in the house. And my point is, that's Gene Hackman, and he was famous. He really is famous, and still his life was not that exciting. That's my point. So imagine me and how not exciting my life is. Was my point? If Gene Hackman can have hunt the virus in his house, imagine how crappy my life is. This was my point. Megan, it took me a while to get to it, but that is my point. So I mean, you

Megan 1:07:15
got there, but calling me famous is

Scott Benner 1:07:17
ridiculous, is what I'm saying. Sounds

Megan 1:07:20
like he died from like the plague, is that the same thing like the bubonic plague, is

Scott Benner 1:07:25
that you and I together don't know. I can tell you that much for sure. I just sounds like there was, like they had an infestation of con some kind of their house. And I mean, she it sounds like, who knows exactly what happened? They're all dead. They can't even

Megan 1:07:39
ask the dog. I know, yeah, and then the poor dog too.

Scott Benner 1:07:43
They say a dog. When a dog dies, it takes forever for them to start eating, like a corpse in the house, like, if you die, your dog won't, like, start eating you. But if the dog's trapped, that's good. If you're if the dog's trapped there long enough, it eventually will, but if you die near a cat, they're gonna start eating your eyes out almost immediately.

Megan 1:08:03
Oh yeah, cats are dicks, like, they're like, they're not like dogs like, they're just, they're just whole. Sometimes,

Scott Benner 1:08:10
yours will take a little longer because it'll, I mean, it's gonna have to hobble to you, but that won't take much longer. So, yeah,

Megan 1:08:15
I know he'll have to come over with his three legs. And, yeah,

Scott Benner 1:08:20
all right, hold on a second.

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Scott Benner 8/21/25 Scott Benner 8/21/25

#1606 Winn Dixie Eggs

Caitlyn, now 16, returns from Episode 458 (“Cutting on Cam”) to share her Florida teen life with T1D.

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Scott Benner 0:00
Welcome back, friends. You are listening to the Juicebox podcast.

Caitlin 0:13
Hi, my name is Caitlin. I'm 16 years old, and I'm from Southwest Florida. If

Scott Benner 0:20
this is your first time listening to the Juicebox podcast and you'd like to hear more, download Apple podcasts or Spotify, really, any audio app at all, look for the Juicebox podcast and follow or subscribe. We put out new content every day that you'll enjoy. Want to learn more about your diabetes management, go to Juicebox podcast.com up in the menu and look for bold Beginnings The Diabetes Pro Tip series and much more. This podcast is full of collections and series of information that will help you to live better with insulin. Please don't forget that nothing you hear on the Juicebox podcast should be considered advice medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan or becoming bold with insulin.

This episode of The Juicebox podcast is sponsored by us med. Us med.com/juicebox, or call 888-721-1514, get your supplies the same way we do from us. Med, the episode you're about to listen to is sponsored by tandem Moby, the impressively small insulin pump. Tandem Moby features tandems newest algorithm control, iq plus technology. It's designed for greater discretion, more freedom and improve time and range. Learn more and get started today at tandem diabetes.com/juicebox

Caitlin 1:49
Hi. My name is Caitlin. I'm 16 years old, and I'm from Southwest Florida.

Scott Benner 1:52
Caitlin, you've been on the show before. How old were you the first time? Oh

Caitlin 1:57
my gosh, I don't remember. I was actually thinking about that last night I Oh, was I like, nine or 10, I think,

Scott Benner 2:05
were you on by yourself, or was there a parent with you?

Caitlin 2:08
I was by myself. And then towards the end, you had my mom come on for, I think, like, six or seven minutes, maybe. Do you remember what we call the episode, called cutting on cam, because I was talking about my

Scott Benner 2:20
brother. Oh, that's right, you made fun of your brother the whole time. Wait, yes, I did. That was how long

Caitlin 2:25
ago I'm looking I have no clue. Actually, I found it like not too long ago, but I forgot to look at the date I'm looking at

Scott Benner 2:35
it. It's episode 458, it was posted in March of 2021, which just means we probably recorded it at the end of 2020. Yeah, we did this during

Caitlin 2:46
covid. Yes, yes, I know. I remember we did it during covid.

Scott Benner 2:50
No kidding, 458, I think I put up 1555, the other day. Insane. All right, and wait And how old were you back then? 11?

Caitlin 3:00
Yeah, I would have been 11. That's

Scott Benner 3:02
crazy. Okay, all right, well, this will be fun. What made you want to come back on?

Caitlin 3:06
I mean, it's been a while since we've talked, and I'm also in high school, so a lot of things have changed. I guess. I don't know. I

Scott Benner 3:13
want to find out what changed. So if you had to, well, let's give people like a just a high level overview of yourself, like, So how old were you when you were diagnosed? I think I was eight, eight. So I spoke to you three years into diabetes. I believe. So, okay, all right, and now you're, gosh, seven years in eight. Eight years, yeah. How long does it feel like you've had type one? Feels like I've had

Caitlin 3:39
it my whole life. I'm not used to. Like, I can't remember what it was like to not have to Bolus before I eat, or having to change all my devices every three or 10 days. Like, I don't remember a time before that. I honestly don't remember anything pre covid.

Scott Benner 3:54
I'll say that you don't remember anything pre covid. How long were you locked away?

Caitlin 3:58
It's so weird. I will be told things, and I'll say, Was that before covid, and somebody will go, oh yeah, it was. And I'm like, I can't remember that. It's weird. I

Scott Benner 4:08
find that television feels different before 911 and after, and I don't know if that's real or just something that it may be like, I feel like, I don't know. Like, I feel like, like television was wholesome is not the right word, but I don't know. Maybe, maybe it's not that it was more wholesome. Maybe that it's that I feel less maybe I feel more jaded now, yeah, yeah, that's interesting. So you don't remember anything, bro, okay, well, hopefully nothing important happened those first eight

Caitlin 4:41
years? Well, I mean, like, I remember diagnosis, and then there's certain things, like, I have really good memory. I can remember things from even before I was three years old. I remember holding my brother in the hospital when he was born and I was two months away from being three and but just like little, tiny, simple things from school, like. School field trips. I don't remember them at

Scott Benner 5:02
all. Trust me, I don't remember anything from when I was that age. So it's just gonna get farther or farther away. In your memory,

Caitlin 5:07
it's mostly school things like school before covid was so different that I just like, I think I blacked it all out.

Scott Benner 5:15
Did you prefer it one way or the other? Do you hate the way school has become?

Caitlin 5:18
It's a big shift, I'll say, because everybody's so much older now, like, I remember like, being in middle school, and it was so different from elementary school. And then now, when I look back at it, I'm like, it's a lot different, because everybody's obviously older, so everybody's more mature. But then it's like, also a lot of things changed, because I went to my sixth grade year was the CO it was like, 2020, to 2020, 21 so we had masks, and there was a bunch of repercussions that we had to follow and or not, repercussions precautions we had to follow. So it was very different. It was a big switch. I'll say,

Scott Benner 5:52
I think you were melding together repercussions and precautions. When you say, I

Caitlin 5:56
do that all the time. Now it's really bad. You morph words. Basically, I don't remember what the word was, but it was actually like two weeks ago, I was mixing two words together, and I couldn't figure out what I was trying to say.

Scott Benner 6:07
That's fun. Hopefully you'll do that more while we're talking. Yeah. So what do you think has changed for you about diabetes since we spoke last though, I mean, what's your been your biggest shift?

Caitlin 6:18
Well, I'm on the instead of the Omnipod dash. I'm on the Omnipod five so and I have the app on my phone, which is so much nicer. I will admit that

Scott Benner 6:28
better than having to carry like a secondary device, yeah, it's

Caitlin 6:31
so much nicer. It's literally just in my back pocket, and it's so easy for me to access everything. And also, like, corrects for myself, which is nice. Yeah, you like the the automation, yeah, it's a lot nicer. And then also, I'm on the g6 I believe I was on the g5 when I last

Scott Benner 6:49
spoke. I think you very well could have been. It's a long time ago. Yeah,

Caitlin 6:54
we're trying to get on the g7 I've used it before, but never when it was connected to my phone, but now you can connect the g7 to the app, so we're trying to see if we can get the g7

Scott Benner 7:05
why would you not be able to do, you know, because we don't have any What? No. I mean, like, is your, like, insurance stopping you, or your doctor, or, I

Caitlin 7:14
don't know if she ever got a response from my endocrinologist, but she had asked, Oh, I see if we could. So we're not sure. I'm not sure. I think she probably knows, but I wouldn't there's

Scott Benner 7:23
probably a glitch in the system. Somebody asked somebody, and then somebody probably dropped the ball along the way, and then life gets busy, and you don't check in anymore. You're like, Ah, this thing's working. So you're, you've been automated with Omnipod five for how long? Maybe about a year. Okay, what are the big differences between automation and not automation? No, it's been more than a year, longer than a year.

Caitlin 7:44
I'm a liar. I don't know how long, but I think maybe three.

Scott Benner 7:48
Okay, that doesn't make you a liar, though. Caitlin, don't worry. But tell me, what's the biggest difference like is it around meals? Is it around activities? Where do you see the bigger benefits for yourself?

Caitlin 7:59
The bigger benefits is my blood sugar can, kind of, it will elevate itself, like, if it spikes up, it'll level out, which is really nice. I don't have to, like, always be messing around with it, or always looking because if it's high, it'll correct me on itself. But then also, if I were to put in, like, a correction, it'll take insulin away, or it won't give me anything, because it's like, we've already corrected it for you, yeah, which is nice, just the only, like, I guess it's not a good benefit. It's around activities, because it my blood sugar could spike because right before I go to practice, I eat dinner, which can be really early sometimes, like at four o'clock, because I'll have practice for like, four hours, and then it'll spike up. And then, as I'm working, it like doesn't know that I'm doing activity, so my blood sugar will drop, but then it'll also correct me, so it drops

Scott Benner 8:52
really far, I guess, four hours. What are you practicing to be an astronaut? What are you doing?

Caitlin 8:55
I'm a dancer on a competitive team, so we have a lot of practices.

Scott Benner 9:01
Okay, is that a lot of moving than sitting around and listening, or is it constant movement? It's a

Caitlin 9:07
bit of both. Towards the beginning, it's more like getting to know everybody and getting to know the choreography. But once we hit like, I think it's November, is when we really start to work, and we continue working up until May.

Scott Benner 9:23
So if you have a meal at four o'clock and you miss it on, like a Bolus and you spike up, then what happens during dancing?

Caitlin 9:31
It's usually drops. It's like a 5050 shot. Sometimes it'll level out, and sometimes it'll drop really low. It really just depends on what we're doing, because not every day is the same. Yeah, it kind of messes around a little bit, and that can be a lot, because I my mood tends to change a lot too. When my blood sugar is high or low and it's like, not really good for the people around me. I guess there have been times where I would get really agitated, especially around the littles, because I work with I volunteer. Here for some of like, the classes with the five and six year olds. And I am very good around kids. I will never yell at a kid, or I'm very nice, like, I won't yell at them or scream at them. And there have been times where I'd get really agitated, really quick, and I'm like, I'm sorry, can I step out of the room for just two seconds? And it's usually my blood sugar is the

Scott Benner 10:18
problem is it usually high or low? When that happens, it's usually high. Okay. Have you ever tried going to dance without eating and eating after dance?

Caitlin 10:26
It usually depends on the day, actually, because Mondays, I'm last this is, I'm talking about like last season, because we just ended in May. So last season, I was at practice from four to eight on Mondays. Tuesdays was six to eight, and then Wednesdays was six to seven. So Mondays, I'd eat at four. Tuesdays, I would eat at eight, and then Wednesdays, I would eat at like 730

Scott Benner 10:52
Okay, do you find your control better without an active Bolus and a meal in you while you're there?

Caitlin 10:59
Sometimes, because it usually sometimes on, I know, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I would do this, it would drop, but then I'd be eating right after, so it would kind of like fix itself. But if I weren't to eat on the Mondays, when I was there from four to eight, it would be all over the place, like I'd be stepping out of the room every five seconds, because it would

Scott Benner 11:18
just drop. Do we get low? Because that a more active day?

Caitlin 11:21
Yeah, that's when I'm at practice. I'm, like, not sitting down for four hours. Basically,

Scott Benner 11:27
yeah, you're really hustling and moving. Yeah. Okay, so on those days, you definitely want to eat before but, but you're saying you need to make a good Bolus for that meal to stop a spike. Yeah, yeah. Are there things that you prefer to eat before you dance,

Caitlin 11:41
I usually will try to eat, have a protein, a carb, and, like, a vegetable or fruit. I found that those work really well if I just have, like, a healthier meal. I guess,

Scott Benner 11:49
awesome. How does it feel for someone to tell you that your personality isn't the same when it's not a thing you're doing on purpose?

Caitlin 11:56
Personally, I'm not, like, hurt by it or anything like I understand, and I'm like, okay, so I need to figure out a way to kind of shift, because I don't like being mean to people. That's one thing. And I don't know if I feel like I've upset somebody. I feel really bad, and I will hold on to that for so many like, I'll hold on to that for a while, and I'll feel really bad. So if somebody was like, I can kind of tell when I'm shifted a little, and then I just will figure out a way

Scott Benner 12:21
to fix it. What does it feel like internally? Like, how can you tell I mean,

Caitlin 12:26
I will, like, there are certain things that I'll say, and I will say it, and then I'll go, that was really out of character for me. I don't know why. I just said

Scott Benner 12:32
that, okay. And then that makes you feel like my blood sugar must be high,

Caitlin 12:36
yeah? And sometimes I'll look and I'm like, okay, so it's a little higher up. Maybe that's why, because I usually, I don't get aggravated at people that often. I'm a very difficult person to make mad. I guess. Interesting,

Scott Benner 12:48
is it discouraging or upsetting that there's a shift in your personality that has nothing to do with you? Like, if you didn't have diabetes, this wouldn't be happening. You know, I'm saying, like, if you're on the dance team, and I run up to you, and I What's that was, remember that girl that there's no way you remember this the ice skater with a pipe so she couldn't skate in the Olympics? Oh, yes, I've, yeah, I've heard that story. I come up and I pipe you Okay, and now you can't dance. That's not your fault. You're frustrated by that. Now I'm not dancing because something outside of my control unfairly, you know, crippled me. And so if your blood sugar goes up, is that not the same thing? Like, didn't something outside of your control change your ability to do something? I mean, kind of you're so young, I'm making you think way too hard about this. I'm sorry. I just like, I don't, I don't think I've ever thought of it like, No, I know. That's why I was asking the question. Don't worry, later, we'll, uh, bitch about your brother a little bit. I can't wait to find out about cam.

Caitlin 13:48
There's, it's really not that much. I'll say that there's not much

Scott Benner 13:51
Cam's a big nothing. Is that what you're here to say this time? No,

Caitlin 13:55
he just he's 13, so he's at that age where he'll mind his own business and all mine, mine we don't really like. He doesn't aggravate me that often, because he's usually just in his own little bubble, and I'm in mine. I guess.

Scott Benner 14:09
How many other brothers and sisters? Any? It's just him, just him, just him. Oh, your parents just made that one mistake of having one more kid. No, you like him? Yeah,

Caitlin 14:18
obviously I'm gonna love him because he's my brother. But it's just I kind of nice that he doesn't aggravate me as often as growing

Scott Benner 14:26
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Caitlin 17:00
My mom is very involved. She will always help me with, like, both my parents drive me to if I have, like, a an appointment with my Endo, they'll drive me there. But my mom helps out a lot, especially with dance, because a lot of the people at the studio, they don't know, or, like, they don't know how to work it, like, control it, or anything. Like, if I have a low blood sugar, they don't really know what to do. So my mom always will tell them, like, this is what needs to happen, and if this happens, call me. Or if this happens, just like, there's stuff there, she's very helpful with it.

Scott Benner 17:34
Awesome. Your dad less so or on the same level as your mom,

Caitlin 17:39
I'd say they're on the same level, just my mom, I My mom also, she works from home. So if something happens, my mom is always like the first one I can text to answer, because my dad, he he works, he's an owner of a business, so he's always like, on the run, or he's on the phone calling somebody. So I'll usually go to my mom first,

Scott Benner 17:58
yeah. If you contact your dad, he's gonna say, was mom not home?

Caitlin 18:01
Yeah. Or if I text mom, she'll go, like, if she's busy, she'll be like, just call like, whoa, text dad or something.

Scott Benner 18:08
Okay, so that's good. So they both have like, kind of an equal value for you on this. Yeah, awesome. Is that

Caitlin 18:13
comforting? Yes, I like, I don't know what I would do without them. I guess especially at such a young age,

Scott Benner 18:19
are there times when that's really evident to you, like something goes wrong, and have you ever thought like, Oh, my God, thank God, these people are here?

Caitlin 18:28
Yeah, I had a an incident. I think I was in seventh grade. Yes, seventh grade. It was towards the beginning of my seventh grade year, and I had a really bad low happen, and I was on the bus on the way home, and my blood sugar dropped, and it was like 30, and it was still dropping, and I was giving myself sugar, and nothing was working, and I couldn't move my left arm like it went weak. I couldn't lift it up. And I had my friend take my phone and call my mom. I was like, I need you to call. I was crying, actually, because I was like, I don't know what I'm doing. I thought I was going to pass out. I got tunnel vision. I was like, Can you call my mom and like, have her do something, because I it was out of my control at that point because I couldn't move. Yeah, and my mom was like, talking to the bus driver, and was like, You need to pull the bus over, and then they called my dad, and my dad, thankfully, he works close to where I live, and we were almost to my bus stop, so he sped over really quickly and got me, like, all fixed up and everything.

Scott Benner 19:32
No kidding. Now, are you famous after that on your bus? Or are people, everybody

Caitlin 19:36
kind of forgot about it, I guess, because nobody said anything the next day. And I was really, like, nervous. I was ready for somebody to say something, and I was like, I don't want to talk about it or hear it. I just remember when I got home, I thought about it in my head. I'm like, people are going to talk about this, and I'm going to be really embarrassed, and I'm just gonna have to pretend like it didn't affect me. But it, for sure, did. Yeah, people were cool. I guess. And they just, like, saw that the bus was pulled over, and I was just and, like, I was getting walked off by my dad, and that was really

Scott Benner 20:07
it. Generally speaking, how are kids with the diabetes? Do they mention it? They bother you about it? Are they supportive? What's your findings

Caitlin 20:16
it? It really depends on how I know them, like, how well I know them. Because when I was younger and I first got diagnosed, my class was very understanding. I was I had the same group of kids kindergarten all the way through fifth grade, so they knew me very well. And when they heard that I was diabetic, my teacher kind of gave them like a rundown of what it is. And like, you know, this is how this is going to work now. And they, honestly, they were very supportive. They helped me, especially my really close friends. They helped me out a lot. And then once I got to, like, middle school, there was a couple of kids who I had to meet because it's a new school, and it went from just being the same group of kids to seven different groups of kids, and some kids didn't understand it, I guess, right? They didn't have background to them, yeah? And they would, they would crack jokes here and there. But my friends, they were like, you can't say that. Like, that's not something you need to

Scott Benner 21:10
say, right? Just, like, dumb, thoughtless, like, sugar jokes and stuff like that,

Caitlin 21:14
yeah. And then they also confused type two with type

Scott Benner 21:18
one. Oh. They thought you did something to give yourself diabetes, yeah, okay.

Caitlin 21:22
And then my friends would be like, No, you don't know the difference. Like, that's why you can't say that. If you don't know what it is, why are you saying it? Yeah. And then once I got to high school, they didn't like, I don't hear anything about it,

Scott Benner 21:32
yeah. Did that make you feel any sort of way when they misunderstood?

Caitlin 21:35
Yeah? Because I was like, why are you saying stuff? But you don't know what it's like. You don't know what it is because I like, I won't say anything if I don't know what it

Scott Benner 21:46
is, kind of frustrating then that they didn't understand, but they felt comfortable talking about it, yeah, okay, but never hurtful. Like you didn't feel like it didn't feel personal.

Caitlin 21:57
It kind of did, but I was really good at I guess, hiding it, I don't

Scott Benner 22:01
know. Is that a thing you've ever thought about since then? Like it present day? Is that a thing that bothers you? Or no,

Caitlin 22:07
no, because I don't hear much about it. And if any kid when I was younger did something like, my friends would pull them aside and be like, you can't say that, and then they would apologize. So it was always it was always good after that,

Scott Benner 22:18
just a core of badasses with bats, like holding kids in corners and lockers, telling them, Hey, don't talk about Caitlin like that. Or was it done

Caitlin 22:25
more they would, they would just come up to them and be like, you can't say that. Like, that's not something you should say about people, because what if that

Scott Benner 22:31
was you? Oh, so, just good old fashioned reverse peer pressure. Then kind of, yeah, hey, listen, whatever works. Do you date? Is that a weird question?

Caitlin 22:39
No, I don't, do you

Scott Benner 22:41
think about it sometimes, I guess just I don't know what is dating look like when you're 16? I'm gonna sound very old for a second. Caitlin, so don't laugh at me. But like, you go to a movie, you go out and get, like, like a drink, to get like a soda, or go to a diner or something like that. Like, what do they do?

Caitlin 22:59
Well, one of my friends, her and her boyfriend, they go on like, little kind of, like lunch dates, especially because it's summer right now and they also play the same sport, so they'll usually drive to practices together. They're both very supportive with each other, which I like, I love to see that, yeah, and, I mean, yeah, I guess, like movies too, work, I know a bunch of like, lunch dinner dates usually happen, or even breakfast sometimes, but

Scott Benner 23:22
that's not something you're interested in right now.

Caitlin 23:25
I mean, like, if the opportunity came, maybe just where I'm at right now, I'm okay by myself, because I'm, you know, I'm not yearning for it. I guess I

Scott Benner 23:35
just, I understand, but if the right boy showed up, you'd maybe talk differently about this. Yeah, I got you. When I say that, is there a boy? You imagine, like, is there a real person?

Caitlin 23:45
No, if, if there was the right person, I guess, or if I felt like it was right

Scott Benner 23:49
person, I'm not rushing you. I don't think you should be dating at all, by the way, yes, I don't think you should even talk to boys because they're dirty. And, yeah, yeah. But you, you know, also, I imagine dance is very there's probably not a lot of boys in your extracurricular activities, right? No, not really. So if you played soccer, you might have a soccer boyfriend, but in dance, you don't have the same opportunity,

Caitlin 24:13
no. But we all just like everybody at dance, you really don't even kind of think about it, because we're all such a close community, I guess. So we're all very supportive of each other, and that's

Scott Benner 24:22
why your mom's got you in dance. She probably loves that you're there for four hours. She's like, there's no boys here. It's perfect. Let her go there. Do you go to competitions and stuff like that, and like travel? Or is it all very local? We

Caitlin 24:37
stay within the state of Florida the furthest we've gone because I'm southwest Florida, I'm like, an hour from Tampa. Am I an hour south of Tampa? I think I'm not sure. This is a question for my parents, not

Scott Benner 24:53
me. Yeah. The compass is very confusing.

Caitlin 24:55
Yeah. And the furthest we've gone north is, or. Orlando, and then the furthest we've gone south is Fort Lauderdale.

Scott Benner 25:04
Okay, so you have travel. I mean, that's, that's a bit of traveling,

Caitlin 25:08
yeah, and then recently that, I think it was, like a week ago, they went to Texas for nationals, because we were invited, but I didn't go, because none of my dances that I was in got asked to go because it was just a matter of who can go, how many are able to get there. It was just picked only, like a quarter of the kids in my dances were able to go, so they didn't bring it.

Scott Benner 25:32
Were you disappointed, or were you happy not to have to make the trip? I mean, I wasn't

Caitlin 25:36
upset about it. It was really fun to see my friends and like my team, because we did really good at Nationals. So it was really nice to see them and to know that, like all the hard work that they all put in paid off, because they did really

Scott Benner 25:49
well. I'm flying to Texas tomorrow. I'm going on a cruise with a bunch of listeners. I actually think it's going to be awesome, but I just don't want to fly. That's I sound not excited about a thing. I'm excited about a thing I'm excited about because I'm like, I have to get on a plane and sit on a plane all day. No, it's okay. It's okay for you. I don't love it, but yeah, so I'm gonna do that. Then I get off the plane, take nappy, go to sleep, get up. Then I'm gonna get on the boat on Monday, and then I guess it's a ship, I should probably say ship. And then we'll, uh, we'll take off. We're gonna go all around Mexico for five days.

Caitlin 26:20
Oh, I've been on one cruise, and that was October 2023, did you enjoy it? Yes, it was very fun. Yeah, I was first cruise I'd ever been on. I got to miss a week of school. I was with my little cousins. So when people would ask me, they're like, oh, did you meet anybody? And I was like, no, because I was really just with my little cousins the whole time. Yeah. And I'm like their babysitter, I guess. So I was just with them, and it was really fun, though I feel like I made the best of it, but I would love to go on another one, and they were talking about it, but it might be not this year, but next year.

Scott Benner 26:53
Okay. Well, let me say two things. First of all, it sounds like your parents took you on a cruise so you could watch your cousins so they could have a vacation. The second thing is, we're going to do this again next year, in June 2026 where we're going to leave out of Miami and go all around the Virgin Islands. That's where we went. Yeah, that's what we're going to do next time. So hopefully we'll get even a bigger group. We have a big group this time, 100 people and yeah, and then next time we're Yeah, we hope it grows and more people enjoy it, so that'll be fun. It's definitely gonna be a good time. It's gonna be a nice little my wife keeps saying it's gonna be a break for you. And I was like, I don't think so. I think it's gonna be a lot of me talking to people and and everything, which is gonna be awesome. But I don't think I'm gonna come back like, relaxed and refreshed. I think I'm gonna be exhausted when I get back. Yeah, but still going to be awesome to meet people by the time this plays. You all will have heard that, uh, that it went well, because we're going to be putting pictures up on social media and stuff. Yeah. Okay, so we're not dating. We're dancing a lot. Your brother's growing up, yes, nearly the pain of the body used to be. Are you driving?

Caitlin 28:00
So I like to say that I'm I like I am, but I'm also not. My parents will say that I'm not driving. I honestly, like I want to drive. I don't have my license, but I have my permit, and I on I like I want to drive, just I don't know why I get so nervous when I

Scott Benner 28:16
do got anything to do with the diabetes or no, it's just driving. So it has a little

Caitlin 28:21
bit to do with that, because when I get nervous, my blood sugar will either go straight up or straight down, and I'm like, I just have to think of all the different like, there's so many, so many things I have to think about that my brain gets really overwhelmed. And then also I'm scared that, like, I'm gonna hit somebody, or somebody's gonna hit me, and then it's just gonna be, like, a whole thing.

Scott Benner 28:39
Let me tell you something that I hope will make you feel better. After you've been driving for a little while, you'll look back on this moment and realize driving is actually pretty easy. That's why I keep telling myself, when you stop and break it down, it feels like so much I'm driving this big thing, it could kill somebody. I could kill myself, right? I could kill the people with me. We could just crash, and it could be expensive, and even if nobody gets hurt, it's going to be a big pain in the butt, and my parents insurance is going to go up, and I'm going to get in trouble. And you know all this, right? Like, those thoughts, then you're like, you feel like you have to be aware of your own car and staying in the lane and not driving too fast or too slow and breaking on time. And there's other cars. And do I look this way or that way? When you break it down, you think about it. It's overwhelming. Once you're good at it, all of that stuff just happens automatically. Yeah, think of it like this. Did diabetes used to be more encompassing? Did you spend more time thinking about it and worrying about it than you do today? Yeah, it's the same thing. You just need experience. Yeah, that's it. So you got to go out in parking lots and places like that until you feel more comfortable checking your blood sugar. What? What I just hear, are you checking your blood sugar? Oh, no, that was my water. Oh, your water box like she's I didn't want you to be like said, you get nervous. Maybe your blood sugar gets higher or less. I thought it might be, Oh, yeah. Her, you like, check my blood sugar, Scott, I have a CGM. Thank you. And why would I be nervous making your dumb podcast?

Caitlin 30:07
It like clicks like it has, like the part where you sip out of it and then it clicks down. And I guess it was too loud. No,

Scott Benner 30:13
it wasn't too loud. I just, I just heard it. So what we did with Arden, what I did with Arden is I took her to a local like, like, a community college that's near us, so it's a big campus with a lot of roads and a lot of parking lots, and we just went in there and just drove around, like we went in on the weekends when nobody was there. And we just drove around, like, up and back and stopping and starting and making turns and everything, until, like, I saw that she really had good control of the car, right? Yeah. And then we started going in week on weeknights, when there were some cars there, and she she had her permit, right? And she would drive same thing, like, it's traffic, but it's lower speed. And then one day, I was like, Do you want to drive home? And she was like, yeah. So then she drove home on the road, and then we just build it slowly from there. Now, when she got her license to celebrate, I put her right on the highway, like Martin's first drive was 45 minutes from New Jersey to Pennsylvania on the highway. And I we got there, and I was like, Yeah, all right. She goes, yeah. And I was like, he did great. And then she's like, why'd we do that first? And I said, Well, you did that. You could do any of this other stuff. And so I gave her a bunch of confidence. I knew she could do it, right? So I gave her a bunch of confidence. And then she started driving, and she was

Caitlin 31:32
good. So I've been told something like that, except it's with a truck. Yeah, my because my dad has a truck, and he's like, if you learn to drive a truck, you can honestly drive any car.

Scott Benner 31:41
I taught Arden in a very big SUV. The

Caitlin 31:44
first car I drove was my dad's truck, and that was the scariest thing ever.

Scott Benner 31:48
That's perfect. I saw Arden drive a pickup truck pretty recently, and she was effortless at

Caitlin 31:53
it. It's just, it's a big truck. My dad's truck is really big, and my dad is really tall and like, so I'm like, I guess for average, I'm like, average height for a woman. But in my family, my family is very tall on both sides, like my mom and dad, they're both very tall, so I'm considered short to them. Okay, so having

Scott Benner 32:15
five, five by fours, how tall are you? Like, 5554, I'm 555, okay, and then, and so you're in this car that's set up for a giant person.

Caitlin 32:24
Yes, yeah, because my dad is 640 so it's like, I'm in a very so it's all of our family, like, our whole family has massive cars. And I'm like, I cannot drive these because the first time I drove my dad's truck, I was driving around my neighborhood, and then he told me to go parked in the driveway and I almost hit the garage door.

Scott Benner 32:43
Is that, because how big the car is, could you not judge the front of the truck? Maybe

Caitlin 32:46
I couldn't. I could not judge it. I was like, leaning forward. I'm trying to, like, lean up and over, trying to see how close I am. And then I accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake. I was just, I was like, what happened?

Scott Benner 33:01
My wife drove through her parents garage door when she was learning to drive. Like, drove through it like, was in the garage with the door all over the car. Oh, no, yeah, that crazy.

Caitlin 33:14
My aunt, when she first learned to drive, she she was good. The day she got her permit, she was doing really good. And then she almost, I don't know if she almost hit the garage door, or if she did hit the garage door, and then I think she did, and it was like a tiny little bump. And then my grandpa took her on the interstate. That's like, literally that same day, not even five minutes later, he's like, Okay, let's go on the

Scott Benner 33:36
interstate. My mom never drove. She couldn't do it her whole life. She never drove a car. I tried to teach her when I was 16, because I was like, This is so easy, like she'll be but she was bad at it. And I, after she did it, I was like, You know what? Maybe they're right. I don't think this is for you, but trust me, whether it's a big pickup truck or a little tiny car anywhere in between, it's just once you have that feel and that vibe, you can run it like, it'll it'll be okay. You'll just get in, you'll go, you'll never think of it. You won't be, like, looking forward, trying to see over the hood, like, it doesn't work that way. I see some of you people out there driving like you're two centimeters from the steering wheel, like, trying to look through the windshield. Like, sit back, relax. Get a vibe. Like it's how it works good. Just gotta get a vibe for how it all works. And then you'll you'll be okay. You're a dancer, right? Yes, you're athletic. You have good control your body, right? Your body ends up where you mean for it to be when you're doing stuff. It's the same thing. It's the car. The car is just an extension of you through your hands.

Caitlin 34:33
What's also, I guess I'll say, really nice about being a dancer, is my reflexes are really well. So I didn't hit the garage door because had I had not had good reflexes, I would have hit the garage

Scott Benner 34:42
door right? You touch the accelerator, and then you break the time to stop yourself.

Caitlin 34:46
Yeah? That was like. I was like, Thank gosh, I have good reflexes. Because had I had not I would have went right through the cross.

Scott Benner 34:53
Yeah? Well, we don't want that, but, yeah, just get out there and practice more. You'll feel good about it.

Caitlin 34:58
That's what I'm hoping. To do? I want to get my license in July. I hope right or either, like, July or right before the school. School year starts in August. Why do you want it this summer? In July? Like, I want to just be able to drive to school and not have to go on the bus. Yeah, I loved it as a kid. I was like, Oh my gosh, I get to go on a bus in the morning. And then as I got older, I'm like, I have to wake up really early, because our school starts at 710 in the morning. Like, that's when first period starts. And my bus would pick me up at 610 so I would have to be up at five in the morning every morning. And I was like, this is such a pain, and I wouldn't be home till nine o'clock at night because of practice. So I would literally be up for well over 12 hours, and I would like towards eight o'clock. I'm like, I'm done. I need to go home and go to sleep.

Scott Benner 35:48
Yeah, exhaust. Yeah. Gosh, I if I had to get up at five o'clock to go I mean, I guess I did at some points, but if I had to do that now, I mean, if I had to get up at five o'clock to make this podcast, you guys wouldn't have this podcast. I'm sorry I can't accomplish that. That's way too early in the morning if I go to dentist to get my teeth cleaned, and I have, like, my first big I'm the first appointment of the day, you know? And I walk in there and I'm like, the time you guys get here, and the person up front tells me, and I'm like, oh my god, what time just to leave your house? And then she tells me, and I'm like, Have you ever considered quitting? I was like, this horrible, you know, like, she's like, driving for 40 minutes to get somewhere, and I'm like, oh gosh, terrible.

Caitlin 36:29
The only perk, I guess I'd say, of waking up early is I'm not an like, I'm an early bird. Now, I used to be able to stay up so late at night, I can't even make it past, like, 930 without actually falling asleep, and I can wake up at like, six o'clock and be fine

Scott Benner 36:45
when I just turn to an old person at some point, like, I don't know,

Caitlin 36:49
it's just I cannot stay up late. And my friend, she's a grade younger than me, so she'll be a sophomore, and she can stay up really late. And I'm like, How can you stay up late? We wake up at the same time. Yeah. Do you drink any caffeine or No, I do, and it's probably really bad, but I do. Are

Scott Benner 37:04
you using that to help yourself? I mean,

Caitlin 37:07
I guess kind of, it kind of helps. I just, I can't tell if it will help or not. Is

Scott Benner 37:12
it coffee or soda? It's usually coffee, but,

Caitlin 37:16
like, because it's i to me, I don't know if it's like a mental thing, like, Oh, if I drink coffee, I'm gonna feel awake or like, it actually

Scott Benner 37:24
works? Well, no, I think it works. I think you're you're probably addicted to coffee. How long have you been drinking coffee?

Caitlin 37:30
I think, like, a year. I think it was when I started high school I started drinking coffee. I've never had a

Scott Benner 37:35
cup of coffee. Wow, yeah, I'm on a roll.

Caitlin 37:39
It'll either be coffee or if I'm at a dance competition, because we've had times where I've had to be on stage at seven in the morning, and we'd have to be at the place by six, so I would be getting ready at five in the morning. And the crazy thing about dance competitions is they can start at five o'clock in the morning and end at 12 o'clock at night that same day. Ooh, it's the truth. We've had there was one dance competition. I'm not putting them on blast, though, but this one was always so rough for us, so that's why we did it. Our first competition was that one, because it was like the one thing we just get over with. We would have to do convention classes where you learn from dance teachers, and they give you like combo to learn and whatever for an hour. And you would do that from, I think it was like seven in the morning to one or two o'clock in the afternoon, and then immediately go on stage and compete at three o'clock. And awards wouldn't be done till like 1230 in the morning. Is that

Scott Benner 38:40
a money thing? What do they have a bunch of teams there, and they charge them to be there? Yeah, they're trying to make money. Yeah, no. I mean, this is my son play baseball, you know, the way you dance, and you'd go to tournaments sometimes, and the weather would get absolutely just unplayable. And you'd be like, cancel this. And they'd push it back. And they'd be like, No, I'm not canceling it because we're not giving your money back. I probably have said this on here before, and I don't remember even how old he was at this point, but probably, like, 15. I remember watching Cole play center field and pitch in a driving snow storm. Oh my gosh, one of those fall, like, early fall tournaments, and it just it got cold here fast, like, he pitched two innings, and then he came over to me at the fence, and he's like, I can't, I can't hold the ball anymore. I was, I'm like, you gotta go tell the coach. He's like, my hands like, frozen. I can't, like, Oh no, I can't get the grip on the ball. So they just kept using, you know, they got away from the starting pitchers, and then they just started anybody who could, like, hold the ball for a second to throw it. They asked the people, like, what? Cancel this? Yeah, it was before everyone had great cameras on their phones. So I probably don't have a picture of it somewhere, but I remember taking a photo of it when it was happening and like, you could almost not see him on the phone. Oh, wow, it's crazy. I've also seen them play in Georgia. I think it rained all day during a tour. Remember, they still try to jam games in at night, so they drug them back to the field to play like a 9pm game because the rain had stopped, but the rain stopped, then the weather shifted again, and then the fog rolled in. Oh gosh, and they actually played in a game where the kid in right field described that a fly ball landed three feet in front of him on the ground, and he never had any context for where it was. Oh my gosh. He heard the ball get hit, and then he said, I just stood there, and then the next thing I know, it fell right in front of me. And then it's even

Caitlin 40:37
worse, because people will be yelling at you because they can see it, and they're like, it's right in front of you. And you're just like, I can't just like, I don't see anything.

Scott Benner 40:44
That was the moment they actually finally canceled the game because I think people are like, Oh, I guess I could have hit him in the head. Yeah. Then we got adults to think a little bit, but they played the game long enough that they didn't have to what Caitlin refund our money? Oh, no, we played four innings. That's enough. It's all about money. Everything's money and power. Yeah, remember that as you get older? Okay, it's, you're too young for that, but people are motivated by money and power mostly. Anyway, that's not for today's conversation. That's, I don't, I don't want to scare you. You're still learning how to drive. So what made you want to come back and do this again?

Caitlin 41:16
I mean, I guess, like a catch up, because I'm, I don't see, I honestly don't remember how old I was, but it's been a while. Yeah, been a long while. Yes.

Scott Benner 41:24
I mean, it's been years since you and I talked, yeah, well, I appreciate you catching up with me, and I appreciate you sharing how things are going. You've come this far. Where do you think things are going to like, how do you see, for example, do you think you're going to college? And what are your plans around that? With diabetes.

Caitlin 41:41
I hope to go to college. Like, I really, like, I want to go to college. I want to be a, oh, is it like a pediatric therapist, okay, like a children therapist, I believe is that that's what pediatric means.

Scott Benner 41:55
What would you be, uh, theraporizing. I was trying to make a board and I couldn't find it. But what would you be? What would you be helping the kids with? See, I haven't thought of it that much, but that's like, Is it physical to you, or is it like speech,

Caitlin 42:07
more mental? I cannot do like physical therapy or anything like that. I just, I don't know.

Scott Benner 42:11
You can't do physical therapy. You don't, you don't think you could learn the parts of the body.

Caitlin 42:16
I struggle with human anatomy because there's so many bones that, just like, have the most random names. And I'm like, I'm like, No, I can't that's too much.

Scott Benner 42:26
I'm not remembering all that. So something where you might help kids with their their struggles that are maybe more psychological or behavioral, something like that. Okay, that's pretty cool. Do you want to dance in college? I know there's dance teams, right?

Caitlin 42:40
I want to try to, and if I can't do like a dance, like dance in college, I want to hopefully come back to my studio and help out with them, and then maybe do like guest choreography is something I love, like I like doing,

Scott Benner 42:55
so there's an age limit on the team.

Caitlin 42:58
Yeah, once you graduate, you can't, I think it's once you're 18. Okay, yeah, I think it's 18. It's ages five to 18.

Scott Benner 43:07
Okay, and so do you imagine yourself going to school in Florida or traveling to another state?

Caitlin 43:14
I'm hoping to go to stay in Florida. I want to stay in state, just it's really wherever it goes, I guess.

Scott Benner 43:21
Yeah, I'm sorry. What grade are you in? Right now? I'm going to be a junior. Going to be a junior after the summer. Yes, while you're a sophomore, you just finished your sophomore year. Yes, you're making me feel old. It's crazy. Do you feel old?

Caitlin 43:34
Actually? Yes. Because it hit me last week, I was looking through these yearbooks that my friend has, and they were really, really old yearbooks from when I was in, I think, like, sixth grade. And I was looking at them because their little sister had them. And I was seeing these kids who are in fifth grade at the time, and I know one of the I know a couple of them personally, and then I was doing the math in my head, and I go, Oh my gosh, they're going to be freshmen this year. Yeah. And I remember meeting them, and they were, like, six or seven years old, messes you up a little bit, right? Yeah, there was one girl in particular. I was like, I knew her since she was four years old. What do you mean? She's gonna be a freshman in high school, and then also with my little cousins as well, because my the oldest, he's gonna be in fifth grade. And then another kid that I've known, his older brother was a really good friend of mine, and he's going to be in fifth grade as well. And I've met that kid since he was a month

Scott Benner 44:27
old. Wow, wait a year. A senior, and you see those freshmen come in, you're going to be like, they're going to look like little

Caitlin 44:33
babies too. That'll be my brother. Actually, my brother will be a freshman when I'm a senior. Oh, you're

Scott Benner 44:37
going to get to go to high school with him one year. Yeah. And

Caitlin 44:41
we haven't been in the same school since I was in fifth grade. You're gonna be nice to him, yeah? I mean, I'm like, if he needs help with anything, I'm obviously gonna help him. But if he's, like, doing something stupid and he has control of it, I'm like, I like, I can't help you there. You know, it's

Scott Benner 44:56
funny. I mean, it's obvious you're 16 versus 11. When the last time I talked. You. But when I got you to, like, say bad stuff about cam, you were so, like, gleeful about it when you were little. You were like, That kid's a jerk. It was so much. I don't remember a lot about this podcast, but I remember the absolute joy that you spoke about him with when you were talking about him when you were 11. That's great.

Caitlin 45:17
He listened to it. I'll tell you that he did listen to it, and he was like, I don't care. I'd say the same thing about her too.

Scott Benner 45:22
Yeah. I mean, fair is fair, right? So are you on a good track? You think you'll be able to get into college? Your grades going? Okay,

Caitlin 45:29
yeah. I mean, like, it could all I mean, it could obviously change,

Scott Benner 45:33
but Caleb, are you gonna say can all fall apart or, well, like,

Caitlin 45:37
you never know. I mean, I'm good in school. I don't do anything bad. I usually have A's or B's in classes. It really just depends. I'm taking a lot harder classes now, now that I'm an upperclassman, so it may be a little difficult, but I usually figure out a way to, like, make it easier

Scott Benner 45:54
when you say, I don't do anything bad, and you start thinking about other people your age. What do you see kids your age? Doing that shocks you

Caitlin 46:01
like drinking or smoking, like doing substances and stuff

Scott Benner 46:06
drugs? Yeah, yeah. What's the popular drug in amongst your people in your grade? It's usually vapes. Vapes, okay? Are the big ones? Vapes with weed or vapes with tobacco? Or not tobacco?

Caitlin 46:19
It's, I think it's weed. Okay? I'm I believe that seems to be

Scott Benner 46:23
popular. Do you see kids doing anything harder, like cocaine or anything like that?

Caitlin 46:26
Not that I've seen personally, Thank gosh. But like, I haven't, I don't think I've ever heard of anybody at my school good ever doing that? There probably is, but I wouldn't know.

Scott Benner 46:37
What about like parties, like blackout drinking, or people getting together on the weekends and just losing their minds. Yeah, a lot of that, yeah. And why do you think you avoid that? It just

Caitlin 46:49
like, never was something that I ever thought of doing, and I know the benefit, like, not the benefits, but like, what could happen if I do start, let's say, drinking or vaping, like, I know what the consequences are. And I've never been the one to, like, want to do that. It's not something you're interested in. Yeah. Like, I don't plan on drinking when I'm older, when I turn 21 you know, maybe, like, I won't go, like, full on, like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna have a drink every day. But, like, I don't

Scott Benner 47:19
know, you might try, yeah, when you hear about kids smoking weed, for example, do you think that's not something that's for me, or do you think it's wrong? Like, do you feel judgment about what they're doing? Or do you just think To each their own, but it's not for me?

Caitlin 47:35
I guess I'd say it's like, both, because I see it and I think to myself, Oh, you know, I personally would never do that, because, like, that's not something I'd want to do. But like, if they do it, that's fine. But then I just think, like, you know, I would hope they know that this is what could happen if it gets to that certain point. Yeah, and just, like, doesn't seem something I want to go down. I don't want to go down that road. Right, right? I'm going to ask you a

Scott Benner 47:57
question. We're not going to dig into the details of it, because that's not important. It's not important. It's not important. It's not what I want to ask. I just want to know your level of like you talked earlier about how like fast things go by that like you reminded me, I'll tell you the setup for this. You talked about getting low on the bus and how people forgot about it very quickly, which made me think about how fast like, social media happens so people don't really focus on things for very long, till the next thing comes along. I didn't articulate that when you were telling the story. It was just a thought I had in my head. So I'm wondering, like, with how you guys get information and how things quickly things move. What's your level of understanding about like, the world? Do you know what's happening? For example, right now in the Middle East,

Caitlin 48:42
I hear about it, like, on the news and stuff, and then also I get like, uh, stuff from, like, in emails and stuff with, I guess, I guess I'd say the New York Times, because I have, I do, like the connections and the word all and stuff. So I get some stuff on it, because there's some people who will talk about it and talk about it and talk about it. I get that it's a problem, what's happening there, but I'm not affected by it. I'm, you know, thank God, I'm not.

Scott Benner 49:09
But it just feels like it's another place. Yeah, like, if it's

Caitlin 49:14
not, if it's affecting somebody I know personally, then that's when I will really, like, dig into it and focus on it. But if it's not affecting my circle, I guess I got

Scott Benner 49:25
you, it's good. It's gonna have to touch you personally before it would. It would be a thing you'd dig into more or feel impacted by. Yeah, I got you so you're aware of it loosely. Is that fair? Yeah, okay. And what about other things? Like, other I don't know. I don't even know what I'm saying. Like, do you know about, like, that food's more expensive right now? Or is that a thing you hear people talking about?

Caitlin 49:48
I mean, I see it a lot. I see it on the news a lot too. I mean, at like, the grocery store with eggs, especially, I saw it firsthand my dad. I think it was, I think it was with my dad. He looked at it and he was. Oh my gosh. These are, like, eight bucks. I

Scott Benner 50:01
remember holding eggs and going, like, we don't need eggs anymore. It's fine, don't worry about

Caitlin 50:05
it. Yeah, I my parents would buy the eggs and I wouldn't use them. And then my mom's like, Caitlin, you need to start using these. And I'm like, I don't want to use them, because I thought that that, like, you would have to go to the store and buy more, and then it would just add up. And she's like, No, I want you to use them. Oh,

Scott Benner 50:20
what a bizarre circle. You got caught in there. She's like, I'm buying these expensive eggs so my kids can get protein and eat and you were like, I don't want to eat these because I don't want my parents that to pay for more. And that

Caitlin 50:31
interesting. Yeah. I was like, What are you talking about? And when we went on vacation, I think every because we had four families with us, I'm pretty sure every family brought a carton, like, bought a carton of eggs and brought them, and I think we took them all home with us. So I was really confused. I was like, Mom, what are you talking about? You want me to eat these? There's four cartons of eggs in here. And she's like, I want you to eat them so they don't go bad. And I just wasted my money. And I'm like, wait, I'm gonna eat them all, and then you're gonna go to the store and buy more, and then you're wasting your money, either way. I was like, I feel really bad.

Scott Benner 51:01
Well, listen, when I grew up, my mom would buy food and then not give it to us, what? And we'd be like, Can we eat that? And she'd say no. And I'd be like, why she goes? Because I can't afford to afford to buy more of it. And I was like, well, then what do we buy it for to begin with? There was a lot of confusion around that. I think it's just a way of thinking about things. Your mom is like, this is expensive. Go use it. My mom was like, this is expensive. Don't touch it.

Caitlin 51:24
So funny. But then also, it was four carton of eggs that expired around the same time. And I don't think she would want to throw away a whole carton of eggs because they weren't

Scott Benner 51:33
having a souffle over there a big, uh, a big egg scramble or something, trying to use we did a lot of baking that week. I bet where'd you go on vacation that you came back with all those eggs. It

Caitlin 51:43
was actually where I was at when we were first supposed to record this.

Scott Benner 51:47
Oh, oh, that's right, yeah, you jumped on like, a week or two ago, and it was so noisy. I'm like, Hey, let's do this later. Yeah. What kind of setting was it like? Mountains, beach, Woods. It's called

Caitlin 51:57
weeky, watchy. It's a springs, and it's like a natural springs, and it's really nice. And we have two houses, and we have two families in each and then there's a bunch of, like, I guess, children, because every family had at least two kids. So they would split it up, girls and boys, and I was in the girls house, and thankfully they weren't in the house, so it wouldn't be as noisy, but it was a little there was a lot going on that day. I'll say,

Scott Benner 52:25
wait. Wiki, it's in Florida, right? Yes. Do you need the spelling for it? Because it felt kind of funny. Got it right here? W, E, K, I, W, A, C, H, E, E, wiki, watch now. There's a thing I didn't know existed.

Caitlin 52:41
It's very nice. It's i It's two hours and 25 minutes from where I live. But it's really nice. You drove the whole way. Yeah, I went straight from my dance recital on the 31st of May to go to there. Do you not usually

Scott Benner 52:56
drive that far? I realized when you just said that, I was like, that seems like nothing to me, but my kids went to school like across the country, so I've, don't I've taken a lot of long rides in my life.

Caitlin 53:05
I've driven further. We've driven to, well, I haven't personally driven, but we've driven to Ocean City in New Jersey and New York. We drove,

Scott Benner 53:15
that's a long drive. Yeah, yeah. No kidding. All right,

Caitlin 53:20
my brother and I were really young. I my brother, he wasn't, I guess you could say conscious, because he doesn't remember. Yeah, it's like, when you're at that age, when you're like, two or three, and you don't really remember what happened, but like, you've been told I remember it. I was six when I went but we were really young, and I don't think my parents wanted to put us on a

Scott Benner 53:38
plane. Think this might be a state park, yeah, is it?

Caitlin 53:42
Yeah, it's like a state park. And then there's a, there's a place called Rogers park that meets at the end of it, and there's, like, houses that you can rent out, or, like, Airbnb is, I guess they're really nice,

Scott Benner 53:56
incredibly clear water, I'll tell you that much.

Caitlin 53:59
Yeah, it's very like you could literally be standing above a six foot, I guess, dip, and you could see straight down. Wow, it's very nice. There's

Scott Benner 54:09
a Hardee's and a Winn Dixie right out on the highway. So if you get hungry, you can head over. Yeah,

Caitlin 54:12
that's where we usually shop. I think that's where all the eggs came from. Was when Dixie, Winn Dixie eggs? Yeah, I believe that's where they came

Scott Benner 54:19
from. Is there anything that we haven't talked about, that you wanted to talk about? Any about, any topics I missed or ideas that I skipped over? No, not really. That's it. So now we're down to Cam, okay, he's not a problem anymore. You're saying

Caitlin 54:32
no, no, he is so much like it's just the whole like he minds his own business. I mind mine.

Scott Benner 54:39
Do you feel like this is just him being more mature, or both of you,

Caitlin 54:42
I'd say both of us, because we used to like nag at each other when we were younger, because, you know, we're siblings, we're little, yeah, and, you know, you just kind of like joke around with each other, and then it kind of gets into more and I've seen it firsthand with my cousins, except it's a little different. Because they're both boys, but they have the same age gap that we do, so and they're 10 and seven, so it's like, that kind of dynamic that my brother and I had, except I'm seeing it firsthand for myself, yeah, and they'll, like, play around with each other, and then they'll nag at each other, and then I'm like, Okay, this is exactly like how Cameron and I were. I see it now I can see how much of a pain this was to my parents.

Scott Benner 55:25
You feel a little bad about it. Maybe, yeah, I'm

Caitlin 55:27
like, maybe I shouldn't have gotten so mad at him so easily. Or maybe I shouldn't have told him that he was stupid or something I don't

Scott Benner 55:35
know. In fairness, you were really young. Yeah, it was funny. I was asking you because it was funny, because I knew you were gonna say, like, goofy stuff about him. But it is interesting. Is interesting to see how your opinion of him has changed, you know, over time. It's really awesome.

Caitlin 55:47
He especially changed. He like, we're, I guess I'd say total opposites, because I am very extroverted, like, I will love to go and talk to people and go around and like, you know, meet people. I love talking, so that's why I love doing podcasts. Like I love doing this, because I just talk and talk and talk. But Cameron, he I could maybe, like a little bit of an extroverted introvert, I guess, because he would prefer to stay home and be with himself than go out and do something, I guess.

Scott Benner 56:17
But he's loud when he's being himself. Yeah, he'll play, he'll play,

Caitlin 56:21
like, Fortnite with his friends, and he's really loud. But thankfully, like, I told him, I was like, Cameron, you cannot be doing this because I am recording this and you'll hear it in the

Scott Benner 56:29
background. Oh, right now, you told him he's gonna calm down. Stop yelling. Yeah, he's holding it together for the time being. See, even that's a better, it's an upgrade. You have nothing to complain. You can't even complain about cam at all. No, okay, well, I mean, that's good, don't you think?

Caitlin 56:49
I mean, we haven't had any problems. I guess he's just at that kind of like, moody teenager age, especially when they start. He just turned 13 in March. So I'll like, tell him. I'll be like, hey, Cameron, because Cameron and I, we flip taking the dishes out of the dishwasher and putting them away. So whenever it's his, like, day to do it. I'm like, Cameron, can you, you know, are you able to do the dishes out of the dishwasher? And he's like, Okay, I'll do it. And then it'll be like, an hour later, and my mom's like, did he take them out? And I'm like, no. She's like, Okay, go tell him. And I tell him. And he's like, Okay, I'll do it. And then he just won't. And then he'll get upset and be like, Okay, fine, I'm doing it.

Scott Benner 57:28
Oh, see, I guess we're done. Cam has learned his lesson. He's going to be fine, by the way. This is all going to pivot again. You're going to get older. He's going to get older. It'll change again. You'll find a way to argue one more

Caitlin 57:38
time. It's kind of crazy. I'm a very like, I guess nostalgia hits me really hard. I guess I could say so when he turned 13, I was like, wow, he's 13. I couldn't believe it, because every time I see him, he's still like a five year old to me, yeah, and I couldn't believe that he was 13. And I was like, I feel like my parents right now, like, this is, must have been what they felt like when I turned 13, except it's their child. But I was like, Cameron is 13, and then my friend's younger brother, they're like, my brother and her brother are best friends. And he turned 13, like a month or like two months later. And I was like, Oh my gosh. Everybody is just growing up. And then also my cousins, you know him the oldest being 10. And I was like, wow, everybody's like, growing up. And there's some times where I'm like, I wish I could just stop growing up and be a five year old again, but, I mean, you can't do that. But just I remember the day Cameron, turning 13. I was like, I felt really old. I was like, why is this happening? He's supposed to be seven. I

Scott Benner 58:39
hear you. I some when it doesn't really happen to me much anymore, but there was a few years ago, look at my son, and he was so much older, but I couldn't think of him being that old. He still felt younger to me in my mind. I mean, it's different now, but, like, it was weird. I'd look at him and I just wouldn't see him the way he was, like, for a while. Yeah. So hear what you're saying. It would be nice to stay five forever. So get a little I wish Little Peter Pan going maybe 16 year olds, you've never seen Peter Pan, have you?

Caitlin 59:07
Yes, I have. I used to, actually, I used to fall asleep to that movie. That's what used to put me to bed when I was younger. Really, we had a it was a very, very tiny, tiny TV, like the screen was really small, and it used to be in my bedroom, and this is in my childhood house, and we had the DVDs, and my dad would put on Peter Pan because I guess that's the only thing I could fall asleep to, is

Scott Benner 59:30
Peter Pan. Oh, that's nice. So do you I'm gonna ask you one last question. Do you have, and if you don't, like, Don't feel pressured just to say anything. But do you have any, I don't know, like, advice or thoughts you'd want to share with other kids your age who are living with type one, anything that you find very, very helpful.

Caitlin 59:46
I mean, I guess if you just recently get diagnosed, it's gonna seem like a whirlwind, like your whole life just flipped upside down, because that's how I felt when it first happened. I was like, Okay, I am not the same person I was. You know, a week ago, after I got diagnosed, just know that you'll be fine, like, everything's going to be okay. And I know that's so, like, so cliche to say, but it's the truth. You're going to be okay. It honestly gets so much easier. And just if you know, be grateful that you have people there to support you, like family members, because they're going to be, like, your lifeline? I remember I literally would be terrified to go to school because I was like, how am I supposed to do this by myself, without my mom? And thankfully, like I had teachers and friends who were very, very supportive and helped through everything. So always, just be grateful that you have somebody, and I get your parents or somebody might nag you and be like, Hey, can you do this? Can you do that? It's gonna get very annoying, but just know that they're doing it to help you and to keep you alive. Because without them, like, if I didn't have my mom or my dad or any, really anybody, when I was younger, if it was just me when I first got diagnosed, I would be so lost. Yeah, it was, like my whole life basically flipped upside down, but they flipped with me. Think of

Scott Benner 1:00:59
it this way. Caitlin, you came on here when you were 11 years old, and you spoke about your brother the way you spoke about him. And now you're here five years later, and you're speaking about him completely different way. So I think maybe the messaging might be is that if somebody's annoying you right now, who's trying to help you, you might feel differently about it in the future, right? So even if your parents are bugging you, like there will be a day that you'll look back and think, Oh, I'm so glad they did that. Yeah, yeah, it's much better to have people who love you, who are involved with your life than the opposite. Yeah, I think that's a good message. I appreciate that. Thank you very much. Please tell your mom. I said, Hello, tell cam. It's sorry we couldn't complain about him. He turned into, I'll be like,

Caitlin 1:01:43
when the episode comes out, you'll be shocked at how completely different it is compared to the first

Scott Benner 1:01:47
one. You were kind to him. He was like, Huh? Things really have changed. Yeah. And good luck getting your driver's license and feeling more comfortable driving. I think you're going to be terrific. Just like I said, just, it's a vibe, like you just gotta go do it somewhere, till you get a feel for the vehicle.

Caitlin 1:02:01
It's just honestly a mental thing with me, because I have been told from people that I'm a really good driver, because I'm very aware. I think it's just me mentally being like, this is what's going to happen, and this is how it's going to go. And I make like, a whole play by play in my head, and it's really not what happens. I just need to get over that. Have

Scott Benner 1:02:18
you driven fast yet? Like, have you been over 60 miles an hour? No, yeah, that's another leap. That's a step. Once you can drive quicker, bring that so for my daughter, what we did was in a big like, a big empty space, once she seemed comfortable with the car, I was like, okay, like, let's go over to this side here. I'm not a trained driver instructor, okay, I have taught two people to drive. So I took both of them into a really, like, open area, paved, obviously, and put them on one side of it. And I was like, okay, like we're in the middle. There's nobody here. There's nothing to hit. Just go drive as fast as you can in a straight line. Just like, stop on it, and I'll tell you when to stop. And so we did that over and over again a couple of times until they realized, like, okay, even when it's going faster, like, this is how I control it, because it's not a thing you want to learn the first time on the highway. You know what I mean, yeah. So we would do that over and over again till, like, that didn't seem I just, I think I was just removing their fears as we were going along, yeah, breaking from a high speed you know about getting up to speed quickly, like giving them the whole vibe. But anyway, my last I have one last driving question for you, yeah, are you very dependent on cat, like your vehicles have cameras in them, or are you very mirror oriented? What do you use when you're backing up and changing lanes and stuff?

Caitlin 1:03:38
I mean, I guess I could say both. It really just depends on the situation. Because if I'm backing up, my mom is telling me, like, you cannot use your backup mirrors when you have to back up or something. But when I'm driving, I'm always looking out of my rear view or my side mirrors every time, because I just like to be aware of what everyone's

Scott Benner 1:03:56
doing. Yeah, my kids are so adept at using cameras over mirrors, yeah, and it took me a lot longer to be comfortable with that, and I just think it's, it's what they grew up with that they were more accustomed to, and what I grew up with was mirrors. So

Caitlin 1:04:11
yeah, I personally like the mirrors better. I guess just when I have to back out, it can get a little tricky, having to, you know, turn around and look over and kind of see because, you know, me being the height I am in a really massive vehicle, it's, like, really difficult for me to see, and then I'm like, I'm gonna hit that car. And there's really, like, six feet in between me and the other car.

Scott Benner 1:04:36
Yeah, I know my girl. Listen, my grandmother used to have a tennis ball hanging from a string in her garage, and she'd pull forward until she bumped into the tennis ball and she stopped. And

Caitlin 1:04:43
I might need that actually, that might help me a lot. We're a car with a camera

Scott Benner 1:04:47
in the front where you can just look and go, Okay, I'll stop now, so we'll see. All right, Caitlin, you were terrific. I really do appreciate you doing this. Thank you very, very much. Thank you so much. Oh, I'm glad you had a good time. Hold on one second. You.

US. Med sponsored this episode of The Juicebox podcast. Check them out at us. Med, Comm, slash Juicebox, or by calling 888-721-1514, get your free benefits. Check and get started today with us. Med head now to tandem diabetes.com/juicebox and check out today's sponsor tandem diabetes care. I think you're going to find exactly what you're looking for at that link, including a way to sign up and get started with the tandem Moby system. I can't thank you enough for listening. Please make sure you're subscribed or following in your audio app. I'll be back tomorrow with another episode of The Juicebox podcast. I created the diabetes variables series because I know that in type one diabetes management, the little things aren't that little, and they really add up in this series, we'll break down everyday factors like stress, sleep, exercise and those other variables that impact your day more than you might think. Jenny Smith and I are going to get straight to the point with practical advice that you can trust. So check out the diabetes variable series in your podcast player or@juiceboxpodcast.com I am here to tell you about juice cruise, 2026 we will be departing from Miami on June 21 2026 for a seven night trip going to the Caribbean. That's right, we're going to leave Miami and then stop at Coco k in the Bahamas. After that, it's on to st, Kitts, St Thomas and a beautiful cruise through the Virgin Islands. The first juice Cruise was awesome. The second one's going to be bigger, better and bolder. This is your opportunity to relax while making lifelong friends who have type one diabetes. Expand your community and your knowledge on juice cruise 2026 learn more right now at Juicebox podcast.com/juice, cruise. At that link, you'll also find photographs from the first cruise. The episode you just heard was professionally edited by wrong way recording, wrong way, recording.com

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Scott Benner 8/21/25 Scott Benner 8/21/25

#1605 Lion Heart

Marla, 44, shares 36 years with T1D, her late dive into pumping, her daughter’s iron struggles, and her raw frustration with clueless doctors.

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Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, and welcome back to another episode of The Juicebox podcast.

Marla 0:14
This is Marla, and I am a type one diabetic from Kansas, and I've been a diabetic for 36 years.

Scott Benner 0:26
Nothing you hear on the Juicebox podcast should be considered advice medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare plan or becoming bold with insulin. This episode of The Juicebox podcast is sponsored by Omnipod five. Omnipod five is a tube, free, automated insulin delivery system that's been shown to significantly improve a 1c and time and range for people with type one diabetes when they've switched from daily injections, learn more and get started today at omnipod.com/juicebox of my link, you can get a free starter kit right now. Terms and Conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox us med is sponsoring this episode of The Juicebox podcast, and we've been getting our diabetes supplies from us med for years. You can as well us Med, Comm, slash Juicebox or call 888-721-1514, use the link or the number. Get your free benefits check and get started today with us. Med, I'm having an on body vibe alert. This episode of The Juicebox podcast is sponsored by ever since 365 the only one year where CGM that's one insertion and one CGM a year, one CGM one year, not every 10 or 14 days ever since cgm.com/juicebox

Marla 2:48
This is Marla, and I am a type one diabetic from Kansas, and I've been a diabetic for 36 years.

Scott Benner 2:56
Awesome. We're recording then Marla, here we go. Okay, how long have you had type one for 30 just say 36 years. 36

Marla 3:02
Yes, 36 and like, four months. Maybe

Scott Benner 3:06
no kidding, and how old were you when you diagnosed?

Marla 3:08
I was eight, eight years old,

Scott Benner 3:12
44 now I could have done the math. I'm not

Marla 3:14
good at math, but I just know that I'm 44 so and I know I was eight when I was diagnosed. I think I did the calculator when I when I was every year, in February. I'm like, Okay, what year is it? And I'll say, okay, because that was the month I was diagnosed

Scott Benner 3:31
and you stopped to figure it out every year you wanted to make sure you were celebrating correctly. Yeah.

Marla 3:36
I'll say, oh, okay, it's this month. I don't really celebrate. But I'll say, Okay, well, I've made it another year. Yay,

Scott Benner 3:44
yeah. How is it living in Kansas? I love Kansas. I've

Marla 3:48
lived here most of my life, and it's the Sunflower State, and we grow a lot of crops to feed America so and maybe in the world. I don't know how far our crops go, but I didn't ask.

Scott Benner 4:00
I didn't ask. I didn't I didn't get, you should get out the calculator on that and figure it out. Where did you

Marla 4:05
live prior to Kansas? Well, I I was born in Kansas. I've lived a few years in Kentucky, which is interesting, because my father was a second career pastor. He had a career in marketing, aviation. Oh, and also, well, I live in Wichita, which we're the air capital of the world, so we build planes here. And my dad is very business minded, oriented. He grew up on a farm, in a farm family. However, he got a call into ministry. He decided he wanted to become a pastor, so he moved our family to Kentucky, and when I was in kindergarten, so we moved to Kentucky so he could go to seminary, get his masters of divinity, and then we moved back to Kansas to serve churches here. So no kidding, we just moved. Moved for a few years. So I asked my mom this morning. I said, When did I get sick? I mean, I remember what I went through. I know what my symptoms were, but I really don't remember being sick. And she and I was diagnosed the year after we moved back to Kansas. Okay? So she said that when we lived in Kentucky the year before, we were only there for two and a half years. So this would have been when I was seven. I was in second grade in Kentucky. I guess I had strep throat a lot that year, and also fixed the disease, which I don't even know anything. It's like a version. Wait, what's it called Six? Like the number six, but it's a version of herpes. Congratulations. Mom never knew that. I looked it up and it's, yeah, it's like a you can children get it, and it's a rash. Have no idea where that came from or what I don't, I don't remember having that,

Scott Benner 6:03
and that was maybe a year or two before you were diagnosed. Yes,

Marla 6:07
she said, one year before. So I would have been seven. Then we moved back to Kansas, and you want me to tell Do you want me to go into that, please? So, yeah, tell me. But I felt like, but, you know, in Kansas is pretty flat. Everywhere we've lived in Kansas anyway, there are some hills east of us, but in Kentucky, there really are hills. We were in the Smoky Mountains, and so I always thought I would get a lot of ear aches when we lived there, I felt like my mom said, Well, yeah, and you got strep throat also. So I at the time, I was thinking, Oh, it's because of where we live, but who knows, and that might have been, I don't know if the altitude was messing with my system. But then we came back to Kansas and we lived in southwestern Kansas, in a very small town, so we travel for any kind of shopping, even grocery shopping. I don't even think we had a grocery store. We had a gas station, but we would go to Amarillo, Texas, because they had a mall. One day we were there, I guess this was in February. I don't even know why we would be down there in February, but anyway, we were and we were shopping, and I guess every time we turned around, I had to go to the bathroom or and as soon as I got done, go in the bathroom. I was thirsty. So my mom the whole trip, I guess that it was just a day trip. The whole day she was either taking me to the bathroom or getting me a drink. So when we got home, she said, Okay, something's not right. She took me to our doctor, and they, I guess they checked my blood sugar. I don't know that was probably a telltale

Scott Benner 8:02
sign you don't remember any of this, though, really, I don't

Marla 8:05
remember much. Yeah, I so they must have checked my blood sugar, just our family doctor's office and saw that it was high, but I wasn't in DKA. I don't really know how high it was, because we didn't go, I mean, we didn't have a hospital anywhere close, but I know they told us, Okay, the next day, you're going to Wichita, which was about five hours away,

Scott Benner 8:35
really, geez, hey, you might have had that altitude induced tonsillitis. I don't know. I love that you were like, it's possible the altitude got me. I think it sounds like you're just like, I've never heard that. That might be a new one. You know how sometimes people go up into the Great Smoky Mountains and come down with adenoid Oh yeah. Sounds to me like your immune system was just kind of like, maybe sputtering and having issues. You were getting sick a lot for the first for a couple years before, yeah, is there other autoimmune in your family?

Marla 9:05
Well, yes, I knew you would ask. So my whole immediate family, both of my parents and my sister, have, I is it I think it's hypothyroidism when you're when you have under wrap? Well, no, it's not Hashimotos, but they have under, we all have under active. Maybe that's hyper.

Scott Benner 9:25
No, no, you're right. Hypo, so, but like, hypo, yeah. What I'm getting at is this, has anybody ever been tested for

Marla 9:33
Hashimotos? You know, I don't know, because everybody

Scott Benner 9:37
always says no, but then I realize nobody ever gets tested. So

Marla 9:40
that's, yeah, that's true. So, and I know I have, has a cousin that is also has thyroid. I also have vitiligo. I've lost pigment in on the top of my hands, okay, and on a few of my wrists, on a few, like, I have more. Then

Scott Benner 10:00
wait, all three of your wrists have Viti Lago on them.

Marla 10:04
Scott, this is what I was talking about. I said, I'm kind of afraid of what I'll say, so I didn't

Scott Benner 10:09
know which it's funny before we started recording. And I was like, you know, I asked her if I give any questions or concerns you'd like to talk about before we start and, you know, Marla's like, I mean, I'm a little worried about what I'm gonna say. And I thought she seems so sweet and calm, like, like, what?

Marla 10:23
Like, things like that two of my wrists. Like, who says that?

Scott Benner 10:27
You didn't mean, like, you were gonna say something horrifying. You meant you're gonna say something and you're gonna be like, Oh, I sound stupid,

Marla 10:33
right? Exactly like the things that you think about, you know, when you can't go to sleep at 11 o'clock and you're like, Why did I Did I really say that?

Scott Benner 10:42
Why you have reflective moments at the end of the day

Marla 10:45
where you're like, why would you even think it, much less say it?

Scott Benner 10:49
I had Viti Lago on a few of my wrists. What do you think you were trying

Marla 10:53
to say? I have no like on two of my wrists. On both of them.

Scott Benner 10:59
You could just say my wrists

Marla 11:01
Exactly.

Scott Benner 11:02
Hey, that could be the altitude from Kentucky still getting you, I don't know,

Marla 11:07
37 years later, it's still that that maybe that explains all my issues.

Scott Benner 11:13
Well, listen, I want to tell you something I once ate in a waffle house in Kentucky. Oh, yes, and everyone in there had a problem. So maybe it is Kentucky. I have no idea. It was one of the wildest experiences of my life, a waffle house. Yeah, I had never been before, and I always telling my wife, I'm like, one day I'm gonna eat at a waffle house. Like, this was something I should aspire to. And then we went to a wedding in Kentucky. Like, I think we got up the morning, we were gonna, like, drive back, and I was like, there's a waffle house near here. And then we went and, I mean, it was horrifying. I don't even know how to describe what I saw.

Marla 11:48
Let me know. I'm sure I can only imagine. We've, we've been to a few in the South. Yeah,

Scott Benner 11:54
I'm just gonna tell you now, I think it's a it's from the altitude, so I think it's awesome. All right, hold on a second. So you don't really remember much about this whole time, but when's the first time in your memory that you start thinking of your memories as having diabetes, you know, involved in them.

Marla 12:09
I do remember being in the hospital. So we went to Wichita, my mom and I stayed for two weeks in this education program. So I was actually inpatient, and my parents both, I believe my dad came for the first week, maybe, and they had parent classes in one room, and there were kid classes in another room. And now that I think about it. I just think, you know, you you hear about a lot of kids today being diagnosed, but back then, there weren't that many. But I feel like there was a class of us kids. I had a roommate in my hospital room that also was newly diagnosed, yeah. So I remember we did the classes separate, and then we would maybe come together at the end of the day to I guess, I don't know, talk about what we like. I do remember that my I worked with a nurse. She was awesome. I always, I still think about her. I don't have any idea where she is, but she taught me how to inject my shots, right? I believe we practiced on an orange. So she taught me how to draw the insulin. She taught me how to tap the bubbles out, how to pinch my skin and inject. Well, then when we met back up with our parents, I was showing my parents what I learned, and I started to tap the syringe, and my dad said, No, don't do that. What are you doing? Because he thought I was doing something I shouldn't have been doing. And I said, No, that's what I'm supposed to do. I'm getting the bubbles out I had. I guess, I don't know, maybe I had learned how to draw the insulin before they did, or something. I remember him saying, No, don't tap the syringe, though. And I was like, No, that's what she told me to do. I know what I'm doing. I'm eight. I've had diabetes for two days.

Scott Benner 14:13
Marla, I have a couple of thoughts here. First thought is, two weeks, yes, is it a re education camp where you like? What the hell was going on when you think of a CGM and all the good that it brings in your life is the first thing you think about. I love that I have to change it all the time. I love the warm up period every time I have to change it. I love that when I bump into a door frame, sometimes it gets ripped off. I love that the adhesive kind of gets mushy sometimes when I sweat and falls off. No, these are not the things that you love about a CGM. Today's episode of The Juicebox podcast is sponsored by the Eversense 365 the only CGM that you only have to put on once a year, and the only CGM that won't give you any of those problems the Eversense 365 Five is the only one year CGM designed to minimize the vice frustration. It has exceptional accuracy for one year with almost no false alarms from compression lows while you're sleeping, you can manage your diabetes instead of your CGM with the ever since 365 learn more and get started today at ever since cgm.com/juicebox one year, one CGM. Today's episode is brought to you by Omnipod. We talk a lot about ways to lower your a 1c on this podcast, did you know that the Omnipod five was shown to lower a 1c that's right. Omnipod five is a tube free automated insulin delivery system, and it was shown to significantly improve a 1c and time and range for people with type one diabetes when they switched from daily injections. My daughter is about to turn 21 years old, and she has been wearing an Omnipod every day since she was four. It has been a friend to our family, and I think it could be a friend to yours if you're ready to try Omnipod five for yourself or your family, use my link now to get started. Omnipod.com/juicebox get that free. Omnipod five Starter Kit today. Terms and Conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox

Marla 16:20
I don't know, but I do know that we had in the back in the 80s and the 90s, Wichita had an amazing endocrinologist. His name is Dr Richard Guthrie, and he just he was very determined and and dedicated to families and children and type one, and just teaching us everything that we needed to know, setting us up. And today, I'm just amazed. I have friends that have been diagnosed, and they they might go to the ER and spend, they might spend one night and come home and know nothing,

Scott Benner 17:05
yeah. Like, did it work? Did those two weeks really set you up? Well, yeah, I

Marla 17:10
think they did. My parents, they had a ton of information, yeah, I feel like we were comfortable. Not that everything always went well. I mean, you know, with diabetes, every day is a new day, and we learn new things. Even after 36 years, I still learn new things, so but I felt like we were set up. Well, I don't know. I should probably ask my parents.

Scott Benner 17:33
Marla, do you remember what your outcomes were like? Because there might be a difference between you being comfortable and feeling prepared and actually being prepared, or maybe there's not maybe you were like, rocking some crazy

Marla 17:44
I do remember so at this time, you know, we don't have CGM or but I do remember my parents would wake up in the middle of the night to check my blood sugar. I do know that during that first few years, I did have a few lows, probably, I think they were very early morning that sent me. I think maybe I had two that sent me to the hospital. And I don't even know that I stayed overnight,

Scott Benner 18:18
just an emergency thing. I mean, this is regular and mph, right? Yes,

Marla 18:23
yes, regular and, but we all, I remember taking 7030 also,

Scott Benner 18:29
okay, so, yes, so you've been through one two, you've probably been through like, three or four iterations of insulin. And yes, probably what like, when did you get a pump to the first time?

Marla 18:39
30? So I am MDI still today. I still don't wear a pump. I know I'm so old school, no, but you know, I will admit that after being a part of Juicebox and I'm actually new to this community, okay, but after reading so much about them. I'm more open to it today than I ever have been. And I see my endocrinologist in just a few weeks, so I'm I'm gonna talk to her. I'm open to it now I struggle with sensitivity, with things being attached to me. So that's been my one major issue for me, what

Scott Benner 19:21
are your experiences with having something attached to you that you didn't enjoy?

Marla 19:24
I just don't like things touching. I just, I just want to be,

Scott Benner 19:28
yeah, spoiler, you're single.

Marla 19:32
No, I'm I'm married. I've been married for 21

Scott Benner 19:36
years. Well, then you figured out how to let icky things touch you. You can do this true. That is true.

Marla 19:41
I I'm more I'm very much more open to it. Now, go

Scott Benner 19:45
away. Go backwards with me, a little bit like, when's the first time somebody mentioned a pump to you and what was your reaction? I have always disliked ordering diabetes supplies. I'm guessing you have as well. It hasn't been a problem for us for the last few years, though, because we began using us Med, you can too us med.com/juicebox, or call 888-721-1514, to get your free benefits. Check us med has served over 1 million people living with diabetes since 1996 they carry everything you need, from CGM to insulin pumps and diabetes testing supplies and more. I'm talking about all the good ones, all your favorites, libre three, Dexcom, g7 and pumps like Omnipod five, Omnipod tandem, and most recently, the eyelet pump from beta bionics, the stuff you're looking for, they have it at us. Med 888-721-1514, or go to us. Med com slash juice box to get started now use my link to support the podcast that's us. Med com slash juice box, or call 888-721-1514,

Marla 20:58
yeah, this is a whole nother ball game, and maybe this is why I've been so against it up until recently. I mean, when did they come out? I really don't remember the exact time, but I do know. I do remember them introducing it at our at my doctor's office, my very first endocrinologist. That was so awesome. But I remember it being very strict. And I believe I was probably in junior high or high school. I might have been in high school when, you know, control isn't maybe the best. And I remember them being very strict. I had to log every single number, and my a, 1c, had to be, like, perfect. Like, I mean, below six that before they would give me one. So I believe at the time, that probably just set me off, like, Well, I mean, I'll never be able to do that, not that I would never be I've been in the fives before, but not that I would never be able to do that. But I think from the get go, it was probably a negative, just like, Well, okay, I'll never be good enough. You

Scott Benner 22:07
felt like you weren't doing what they were wanting from you. Yeah, the pump was going to be control, or the man having you, or

Marla 22:16
probably some control also probably I, you know, I like being able to inject, not that I like taking my injections, but that's just what I've done.

Scott Benner 22:28
So you got accustomed to it,

Marla 22:30
yes, but I will say So I began wearing a CGM. Though I've always been open to a CGM, I began wearing one when I was pregnant 10 years ago. Okay, so I did that, and I believe since I've been wearing a CGM now that I'm having to correct more, because I can see my numbers, 24/7, like if I'm outside and my insulin is inside or in the car, and I see I'm going up a little. I think, man, if I just had a pump, I could just tell it, or it would automatically give me some more. And then I have to stop whatever I'm doing and go draw, like, two units of insulin and inject it. Okay,

Scott Benner 23:16
so for that time between the CGM and you know, the first time a doctor said you get a pump and you were like, Get away from me between those two times, what were your outcomes like, like, a one CS. And

Marla 23:28
I have been able to bring it down on my Well, my CGM has definitely brought down my a 1c before. It was always probably in the sevens and eight, okay,

Scott Benner 23:40
and did you have a lot of lows?

Marla 23:44
Don't know, how

Scott Benner 23:46
frequently did you think to yourself, I feel dizzy. I needed something.

Marla 23:50
Yeah. I mean, I would say it's not every day, but, I mean, I remember definite, extreme lows, but definitely when I was a child, I had more, and that might be because I

Scott Benner 24:08
was but in this gap of time again between, like, somebody saying, do you get a pump? And you saying no, and then 10 years ago, when you get a CGM for your pregnancy, like, would you say that? Like, there were scary lows monthly and lows to be dealt with every other every other day or so, or something like that. Okay, yes, yes. And then how often do you think you were super high and didn't know it?

Marla 24:31
I'm scared to even know because now I see it. You know, I love my CGM because I can see it all the time and correct but yeah, there's no telling. You know, I and one thing that I've learned from being a part of the Juicebox community is how awful highs make people feel. They don't make me feel bad, because when I was diagnosed, I was maybe in the three hundreds, I wasn't up there. Like a lot of people are,

Scott Benner 25:01
well, I'll tell you this though, like, if you're high a lot, your body will get accustomed to it, so you won't feel like you're, you're maybe

Marla 25:08
that's, yeah, maybe that's true also, especially when I was, you know, in my teens and 20s. Yeah. Do you have any complications? No, I don't. I mean, praise the Lord, I really don't. Because, I mean, I didn't have the best control in my probably college years and early 20s.

Scott Benner 25:29
When do you get fast acting insulin? When did somebody hand you Lantus the first time or something?

Marla 25:35
That was, yeah, that was probably in call. Would that have come out, like, in the,

Scott Benner 25:41
I mean, late 80s, nine, early 90s, around there maybe,

Marla 25:45
okay, so, yeah, I was on that, probably in high school. You might have

Scott Benner 25:50
been in high school already if you're running around with seven, a one CS, but you're also very low a lot, and very high a lot. Then, I mean, that's not really a 70 1c right? Like, so it's, yeah, throwing off the average, and then you get the CGM. Like I said 10 years ago, was this for your first pregnancy,

Marla 26:07
it was for my last so I went through and she's my third. So I've had three. I have had five pregnancies. I have three living children. But you know, when I was diagnosed in the late 80s, it was 1989 of course, you know, they say, Well, he's not going to be able to have children. And of course, you know, that made my parents sad, but we never made a huge deal about it, but it was just always kind of in the back and I've always wanted to be a mom, but that's always in the back of your mind. So like, when you date someone or get serious with someone, and I haven't dated a lot of people, but I think I've had to have that conversation a few times well, just so you know, I might not be able to have my own children, but then, you know, when we got into the 2000s my doctors were much more open to it and saying, Okay, well, you'll be fine. You can do this. Make sure you're more in range and have a better a, 1c

Scott Benner 27:12
so this is interesting. So you're diagnosed right around the time my friend Mike is diagnosed, okay, you're describing the the year that I graduated from high school, okay, and he's not with us anymore. I don't mean to be a bummer. Oh, he didn't know you're kind. I appreciate it. He has a story that's not different than yours, really. Like, diagnosed, like, you know, 7030 regular mph, you know, shoot twice a day, three times maybe, you know, eat when you're dizzy, like that kind of stuff, and then he just, like, never changed, like, they didn't move him to faster, insulin any quicker. But it's interesting to hear you talking about this, because you just did find, like you're saying, You just found everything kind of recently, like Juicebox and probably the Facebook group and stuff like that. So you're seeing people talking about it in a different way after having lived with it for 36 years the way you did. You know what I mean? Like, yes, it's got to be a shock. No. Like, just to see, like, oh, this has been happening. I have not been aware of this. Or no, are you just happy to see something different? Like, I'm trying to figure out what happens to you when you look up and see the world doesn't, from

Marla 28:19
my viewpoint, I'm I'm happy to see something different. Okay, I'm pretty optimistic, but I I'm also a realist, and I know I feel better when I'm not alone, and so I know I just love this community and seeing all these moms know that they're not alone because, okay, their child is going through the same thing that another child is going through, and

Scott Benner 28:46
that's cool. So you're getting the community vibe out of it. Yes, I

Marla 28:49
love that, okay, but I also love the information. For me, just Yes, seeing how people, how these young kids, are handling their pumps, I love that. I'm like, Well, okay, if they can do it, I can do it. You know, I know that if I were diagnosed today, there's no question I would be on a pump because of my circumstances in 1989 and that season of the diabetic community in the medical world. At that time, I wasn't so I kind of wonder about that, like, Hmm, okay, what effects am I going to have in 2030, years that could have been changed? I don't know.

Scott Benner 29:30
Yeah. I mean, it's not listen, it's one of those things like, right? It's not worth worrying about, but it is interesting to think about. And, and you had two kids before you even had a CGM. Were those pregnancies? Did you know those pregnancies

Marla 29:43
were actually pretty great? I had healthy pregnancies. My a 1c with my first child was probably the best it's ever been. I was 5.6 i. Leave when I was pregnant with her. However, I did have two miscarriages before I had her. So after my miscarriages, I said, Okay, I'm gonna and my a 1c was maybe in the sixes. At, you know, during those miscarriages, my doctor doesn't believe we don't know what caused them. My doctor doesn't truly believe it was diabetes, but who knows?

Scott Benner 30:24
You know, I think the A 1c is nice, but, like, I think the unpredictable variability is probably it's hard on you, like, it's hard on your system, but it's got to be hard on your fetus too. Like, right? So you don't have a CGM, Hemi, you didn't get a pump. Did you think of yourself as behind? I

Marla 30:39
got my a 1c down to five point I think it was 5.6 Yeah, or 5.7 yes on shots and just my glucometer. I took that glucometer with me everywhere. I didn't used to take it with me everywhere, but I did that year. So that was 2007

Scott Benner 30:58
so you're 34 then

Marla 31:01
yes, well, no, at that time, I would have been 27 because she was my that was my first, the first I did have one weekend where, well, I know now I was dehydrated, but I woke up with a migraine. And I've never had a migraine in my life. I rarely get headaches, maybe, maybe once or twice a year, I woke up with this just pounding headache. Felt sick. I was throwing up, and I was just in so much pain. My doctor, we kept calling my core husband. He kept calling my OB, saying she's not getting better. He kept saying, go to the store and get Mountain Dew. Have her drink, you know, 40 ounces of Mountain Dew, straight and

Scott Benner 31:50
help. This was medical advice, yes,

Marla 31:54
yes. For a migraine. I

Scott Benner 31:57
appreciate that, you guys. I mean, he wanted you to have caffeine. Probably, yes, yes, you could get that from T I just wanted to

Marla 32:04
say, All right, so we finally, we end up in the ER, my I'm like, I think my mom came to stay with us because my husband's, you know, he just, he cares so much, he loves me so much that he it overwhelms him when something like that happens. So we end up at the ER, and I'm like, What is going on? They're like, we don't know why, but

Scott Benner 32:29
let's give you some fluids. They didn't give you the Mountain Dew. They somebody didn't yell, 40 mls of Mountain Dew not

Marla 32:35
hitting you. They gave me fluids through an IV, and that headache went away within probably 10 minutes.

Scott Benner 32:44
You just saw what happens when you're not dehydrated anymore. Oh, my

Marla 32:47
goodness, I've never been dehydrated, I guess, or to that extreme. So that was really the only issue for that pregnancy. I had a great labor with her. She was six pounds, six maybe 12 ounces,

Scott Benner 33:02
and you switch doctors. How? Immediately after he suggested soda to you for a health issue?

Marla 33:06
Well, no, I stayed with him because I I love him. I don't love a lot of doctors, but he's actually one that I do love. Has

Scott Benner 33:16
he had any other great influences on you? Did he ever give you chocolate for hemorrhoids or anything like that. Or,

Marla 33:21
Oh, I think that was mentioned, maybe what I don't think that was mentioned by him, but I think after delivery, yes, I do remember someone mentioning chocolate. That's funny.

Scott Benner 33:32
Are you seriously? Because I randomly just made up two things and said it out loud, no,

Marla 33:35
chocolate is a laxative, right? I

Scott Benner 33:39
mean, it's got thanks it's

Marla 33:44
yes, it is. My aunt

Scott Benner 33:47
told me I need everybody in Kansas right now to pack your cars up and drive in whatever direction seems attractive to you. You gotta get the out of there right now. Okay,

Marla 34:00
we need people to build airplanes and farm.

Scott Benner 34:04
We need a couple of doctors for those people too.

Marla 34:07
I know, okay, no, the doctor is not the one that told me to eat chocolate. But even after you have a baby, you have to be careful. You know, you don't want to get the roids. You're right.

Scott Benner 34:21
Normally, they'd give you magnesium oxide for that. But, you

Marla 34:24
know, magnesium, yeah, well, everything my other children.

Scott Benner 34:29
So what about Hold on, what did magnesium just make you think about

Marla 34:33
my third daughter, my third child, she was, we'll get there. She was my. What are we talking about? She was my, like, hardest pregnancy, not so much pregnancy, but delivery, I

Scott Benner 34:47
should come out sideways, hold onto your liver, or something like that. And

Marla 34:51
the delivery wasn't that terrible. Actually, I really can't complain about that, but the recovery, yeah, my magnesium, my. OB, I believe she had a little bit of jaundice. And I remember my OB and my daughter's PCP standing in the room, in the hospital room, trying to decide, okay, are we going to let them go? I mean, the jaundice is better with the baby. And I remember my OB looking at my daughter's doctor and saying, I'm going to make this real easy for you. They are not going home because her magnesium is all messed up. I don't know how he said it, but I remember him saying, I'm going to make this real easy. She is not going home. So I do it. And that was the doctor that suggested the Mountain Dew, and it was

Scott Benner 35:39
probably what do you give you for the magnesium problem, Doritos or Ho Hos? Hadley handled,

Marla 35:44
no, I wasn't able to eat Doritos or Ho Hos in that hospital. I have another story about Okay, so I don't know that. I believe they gave me something through the IV. Is

Scott Benner 35:57
there? Can you imagine? That's what they did. I just figured, since he suggested soda, he might suggest potato chips next.

Marla 36:04
This was a weekend when my, when my dehydration episode happened, I'm almost sure that it was his nurse that said, Drink the Mountain Dew, anyway. So Yes, with my third child, my second daughter, yeah, I don't know my magnesium, and I'd never, I didn't, never thought about my magnesium. And then afterwards, I hear all these people say, Oh yeah, that's real important. Gotta check your

Scott Benner 36:29
magnesium. Were you taking, like, prenatal vitamins? Yes,

Marla 36:33
okay, yeah, I was. So I don't know. So then I had this sleep in the room that I gave labor in. You know, you usually give labor in a room and then they send you to another floor. I don't know if that's every hospital, but that was this hospital at the time. Okay, so they made me spend the night in the actual room that I gave birth in.

Scott Benner 36:56
So we were like, were they afraid? They'd never seen somebody with three wrists before. I

Marla 37:01
don't know, I think they needed to keep a closer look on me. I

Scott Benner 37:06
guess, Marley, you don't hear my sarcasm at all. It's awesome. It's my favorite thing that's happened to me this this week, for 100% you do not hear my sarcasm at all. Oh, my goodness, fantastic. Sorry, no, don't be sorry. It's fantastic. I said, did they keep you in the surgery room because they had never seen a person with three wrists before? And you were like, I don't know. Maybe, yeah,

Marla 37:30
well, at this point in life, Scott, you don't I mean, yeah. Well, when I've had this much trouble with doctors, there's no telling. But then okay, so I was sent to another room the next day. Well, then I believe that night, this was just a normal birth, and I was in that hospital for five days. That's not with my other two I will say I was only there for maybe two

Scott Benner 37:55
days. It was natural, yes, didn't care or anything.

Marla 37:58
This was no, no, no, it. But so they sent me. I think it took a few days for this magnesium to come up, I guess. But I did go low. I was nursing, and this was the first baby that I was able to nurse, just because, I don't know, the other two just weren't having it. I swear

Scott Benner 38:20
to god, I almost said something out loud that I definitely think people would not like me for afterwards. But were you having trouble producing milk the first two

Marla 38:27
times? No, well, those first couple days, you're just, you know, it's not like, what is it called? It's a loss. It's not, yeah, so I don't know. I think my kids were just hungry.

Scott Benner 38:41
Probably. Were they lazy suckers? Were they not like? Were they latching? What's that thing that they say? Were they latching

Marla 38:47
on? Just we were like, you know, and you know, with my first it's like, all brand new. And every time, you know, hormones are going crazy. So you just didn't want to do it. No, well, I did, but it wasn't working. So I was like, Okay, well, it

Scott Benner 39:07
wouldn't come out. You get mad at yourself when that happens. Is that? Like, what's that? What's that feeling like? Is it disappointing? Do you get angry? I

Marla 39:15
was disappointed, but I also wanted to sleep. So I was, I mean, I was disappointed, but it wasn't enough to make me go crazy or to make me go into a you know, there are lactation specialists, but they're not available all the time. They they might they're probably so many more resources. Now, that was 18 years ago. So my third child, though, the one that I was in the hospital for five days. One of those nights, I told my husband, I said, you know, I feel I feel low. I think I'm going low. So we had my glucometer. I was not. Okay, so this is the child that I began the CGM when I was pregnant with her. I did love it, but I also hated it because it was all new. I don't know when did CGM, when were they released? When did those come out?

Scott Benner 40:16
I mean, the Dexcom 24 I think it's the first time. I don't remember honestly. So this was

Marla 40:24
2015, okay, maybe they had been out for a while, I don't know. Well, once again, we live in Kansas, so we get things a little bit later than the rest of the world. However, one night, I tell Phil, I think I'm low. So he checks it on our own glucometer. You know the hospitals, the nurse is checking me throughout the day on her own device, but I have mine too well. It's 26 that's low. It's low. And so I freaked the nurse out. He tells her, you know, she needs something. And at this time, I think with my first one, I may be gone into like, the 60s, you know, which is 60s for me. I I'm fine. I can walk around, I can do everything. But when I was maybe in the 60s with her in the hospital, and they would give me real pop, I would be like, Oh, that's a treat. You know, I don't usually like real pop, but sometimes when I'm low, I do like it so but this time, this was eight years later, and by that time in the hospital, all they would give you if you had a low blood sugar was the gel, like the glucose gel, which is disgusting,

Scott Benner 41:41
not looking for that Wall Street 26 so that's pretty low Yes. So yes, I probably did. Well, can I ask a question? I don't want you to be insulted by Yes. Do you have ADHD?

Marla 41:52
I probably do. I as an adult, I have really noticed that yes, I not been diagnosed as a child. I don't think I did think it's

Scott Benner 42:05
something to happen later. Oh, yes, okay, I want to stay here with you getting that CGM so you get that CGM. Like, do things get easier? Do you start seeing like, Hey, this is awesome. Like, I like being able to see this. I can make better adjustments, or was it just the thing you used for, like, telling you you were low. Like, how did you, how did you use it at first?

Marla 42:27
Okay, so I started with the Dexcom in 2015 and at first, yes, I loved it, but I did stop wearing it after I had her because it just, I think it got to be too much for me to handle. I think I was over stimulated, honestly, the alarms and my husband freaking out, calling me, I shouldn't say freaking out. I should say caring about me and loving so much that he would want to make sure I was taking care of myself with a newborn and two other children at home.

Scott Benner 43:10
Next time I freak out, I'm going to tell my wife, I'm just loving her extra see where that gets me. Okay, so did you when did you put it back on and why did you put it back on?

Marla 43:21
I put it back on. My endocrinologist finally convinced me, and this was maybe two years ago. I know this is so bad. I know it's so bad now that I have it back on. Oh, I'm I'll never be without it.

Scott Benner 43:39
Marla, why are you fighting yourself?

Marla 43:42
I believe at the time, it was just I needed, I don't know if I needed support. I don't know what would have changed. It was a lot

Scott Benner 43:53
the way, I think to say this is going to be upsetting, but you're kind of a pain in the ass. Like, why? Yeah, yeah. Why is I

Marla 43:59
know. Why are you being I

Scott Benner 44:00
can't believe I'm saying this. Like, it's nice. 1975 and you have the vapors. But, like, why are you being difficult? Like, I know, yeah. Do you have any real reason? Like, do you do you have understanding?

Marla 44:10
Yes, I do. So I believe that under possibly different circumstances, I don't know if it was because it was just all new to me when I was pregnant, I think at the time, I was over stimulated, and I thought, well, I've lived with no complications. Well, for 28 years or 30 years, maybe I can get through the rest of this year without all this other stuff happening. So you were just, and I'm not saying that's right. No, I don't. Probably wasn't right,

Scott Benner 44:50
but no, that right or wrong doesn't come in. We're talking about psychology and like and you know, and like, what seems important to you. Like, I mean, you lived a long time believe. Saying, like, oh, getting low once in a while. That's what happens. And this is what happened. Like, so if you just think it's happening the way it's supposed to happen, you might not have a reason to believe that changes are better, that things have progressed. I mean, if you're talking to doctors who are telling you about, like, you know, chocolate and soda as like, fixes for things, I don't imagine they're throwing a ton of good information at you about other stuff, either true. So once you see it during the pregnancy, what you end up focusing on more is like the what you thought of as like the crazy parts that came with it, like somebody being aware and getting upset and stuff like that. So you just took it off again, and you never did you ever think about a pump in any of that time, like you said, you're thinking about it now, but you No, I am none of that time you thought about I just

Marla 45:47
feel like you're so overwhelmed when you have all these like little people counting on you. And that's another, I mean, you could look at it another reason, like, Yes, I have these little people counting on me. I should be the best that I can be. I should be on a pump and on a CGM and but at the time, I was just I couldn't take one more new thing.

Scott Benner 46:15
So I don't say that you can't take care of yourself on MDI without a pump. You certainly can. But if you're getting low a lot and then high a lot, you're not, I mean, you're not having the outcomes you're looking for. You knew those weren't the outcomes you were looking for. Yes or No, true, true. Yes. Okay, so then you do the thing of like, Well, I haven't had any complications, so this must be okay, and I have a lot else to do, so I'm not going to focus on this right now. Yes, right. And now you're seeing people who are are using these things. Are you thinking, Oh, maybe if I would have taken a month to figure all this out, a lot of things would have gotten easier.

Marla 46:50
You know? What if I do start using a pump? I could probably answer that in a year from

Scott Benner 46:57
now, yeah, what's got you even thinking about it right now, like, what looks attractive at the moment?

Marla 47:02
What is attractive? Okay, so I used to not want, well, I've said I used to not want anything attached to me. However, I just feel like I'm correct. I'm I find myself correcting and really, okay. So another thing that since I've been in the Juicebox community is looking at time and ranges my I have never been so focused on my time and ranges as I am right now, and in order to get that percentage higher, I feel like I I could do it so much easier on a

Scott Benner 47:47
Why do you want to improve it? Though? What's what's driving you to want to improve

Marla 47:52
it? Hmm, just

Scott Benner 47:55
the community of people trying that are also working towards it.

Marla 47:59
Yes. Okay, well,

Scott Benner 48:04
have you tried the Pro Tip series yet?

Marla 48:07
No, I haven't. I have seen, I've read other people say how much more in control they've gotten after doing that.

Scott Benner 48:18
When you're impacted by a community and you're, you find yourself like, I like it here. I like what's going on. I might want to try to, you know, I'm going to try to do some of the things they're doing. And then they come, somebody comes along once, twice, 10 times. I mean, I mean, the truth is, is, if you're in that Facebook group, you're going to hear somebody say, you know, one of those series really helped them every 20 minutes, yes. So when that happens, and now your kids are older, right? And you're not in charge of three people all the time, and I'm sure Phil's leaving you alone more often than he used to like, so you have a little more free time to yourself. I'm not because of you, because he's older. You know what I mean? Like, yes, you know what happens when you see somebody say, like, I listen this Pro Tip series, and this is my outcome. And they say it again, and somebody else says, But why don't you say, What stops you from going like, oh, that's free. I'll go listen to that and see what what they're talking about. Don't get embarrassed, because I'm genuinely interested

Marla 49:11
in your sounds so silly, but honestly, just taking the time to look it up. So I listen mostly when I'm on my way to pick up kids from school. We are done with school now, so I and I thought about that. I'm like, I When am I going to listen to my podcast? Because I'm just, I'll still be in the car, but not for maybe two and a half hours straight.

Scott Benner 49:39
What are you busy with? You run an IBM over there. What are you doing? Exactly

Marla 49:43
you would you would think, I

Scott Benner 49:46
mean, I'm a very busy person, and I listen to hours of podcasts every day. So

Marla 49:51
yeah, I think sometimes I just need it to be silent. Sometimes I just need to turn everything off. I don't need some. Thing, I'm going all type. I just get

Scott Benner 50:03
over every time somebody's not around, I put headphones in, okay, to try to learn something. Doesn't even matter what it is like the wayside,

Marla 50:10
so but, but another thing that I do, I really just listen to whatever was the last episode. Sometimes I'll search but for the pros, what is it? Pro tip? Pro

Scott Benner 50:23
Tips? Go to Episode 1000 hit play. Just let them let it play. Okay, and it'll play 25 episodes through the Pro Tip series. Then I think there's one new pro tip that's in, like the 1400s you'll have to go find it. Okay? So the reason I asked, and I'm certainly I'm not coming down on you and I'm not, I don't want you to be embarrassed or think that your answer sounds silly, because I don't think any of that, but I'm in a unique situation where I've made this thing that people overwhelmingly agree work. Some not everybody loves it. I'm not saying everybody thinks it's awesome, but like a lot of people all over the world are like, this group of episodes is really valuable to me, and then I somehow attract what I think now is coming up on 70,000 members in a Facebook group, and I am faced every day with the idea that the majority of those people will not try that podcast. I can't wrap my head around that like because, like, they're looking for help. They find help when they get there, all they can hear being shouted from every corner of the room is a tribal beginnings. You should try the Pro Tip series. You know what? I know you might not have a thyroid issue, but if you do, or maybe if you're even worried that you might like, here's four episodes about that that really will set this right for you. Like this saved my life that I these are not my words that saved my life. Scott saved my I read something before I started interviewing you today made me cry like from an older man who laid out his history, his health history, and a long note, and at the end, it really is just like he said. He just said, I just am saying this so I can say thank you to Scott. Oh, I cried like tears came out of my eyes. Now I think I welled up, but the ladies in my life tell me that if you well up, you're crying. So I'll just say it, I was crying. Okay?

Marla 52:09
Someone was cutting onions.

Scott Benner 52:10
I just think I got emotional, sure, but nevertheless, like I am daily faced with the idea that people see that man's post, or a post like it, and then go, I don't know, how do you get all the way to the protest? So much work, and when am I going to listen to it? Never mind. I'm busy. What are you busy with? I got to pick my kids up at school. The whole day is 24 hours long. Yeah, so that that's the thing that I can and I'm not saying that I'm probably not doing that my own life with something else. Like, don't get me wrong, like, I'm sure there's something I should be doing right now that I'm not doing. I'm trying to understand people so that I can intersect with them in a way that would give more people the opportunity to write the note that that guy wrote. Like, I want you to feel that way. Yeah. Can I tell you something I'm before again, before we started the interview today, I was texting with a business partner about something we're doing together, and they just said something to me that said, like, you know, what do you dream of? And it's not exactly what they said, but trust me, it got the conversation moving in that direction, and then I had just read this guy's note, and I'm all, like, emotional, and I respond back and I wish, and I said, like, I don't know, like, something you probably wouldn't say to a person you're you're doing business with. I said, honestly, like, I sometimes I think about being able to live in two different climates so you can run from the weather, but I want to be near my kids, so I probably wouldn't do that. And I'm pretty boring. Like I said, I just grew up broke, like I've been focused my whole life on just like, having money to retire with, or, like, not get sick and not be able to afford something like, I don't really have, I don't dream about stuff. And I said, and as strange as it sounds, and I'm paraphrasing, because I'm looking at this text. I said, I just read this note from this man, I said, and I'm now, I'm sad, like, I'm I feel melancholy, like, look what this did for him. And I'm just focused on trying to find more people who can be happy. Yes, once you've figured out like that, you can spend your time doing something and it makes somebody healthier or happier or less burdened, or whatever. Everything else seems kind of like ridiculous, right? I don't have things I want, like, I don't want clothes or like, you know, like, I don't really need expensive things. I have a car that I like, you know, like, but I mean, beyond that, I'm probably wearing the same T shirt I'm for three years. You know what I mean? Like, I don't have, I own two pairs of sneakers. Like, I don't have, like, a lot of feelings like that, like, but when I sit and think, when she said, What do you dream of? I thought finding more people who could like, be like, helped by this. But what you're. Telling me, Marla, is that when I kill myself, to find you, you go, I don't know. I don't really have time for that. And so, like, I don't know where to go from there. Like, you know what I mean?

Marla 55:10
Well, I appreciate you, and I know so many others do. I I think you should. I don't know. I Well, what's funny is that I just love everything that you talk about. Nothing's off limits. And you know, diabetes is really not what brought me to Juicebox.

Scott Benner 55:36
It's the community you like, the community

Marla 55:38
the yes, the community just knowing, I mean, people want to know that they're not alone and and I love reading these stories from parents perspectives, because it helps me to see what my parents were maybe feeling in the 80s and 90s. Because, you know, honestly, yeah, we, I mean,

Scott Benner 56:04
so is the answer. Marla, like, I'm not getting everybody, and I just shouldn't think about that. No, I don't think so. I'm imagining maybe I'm wrong, but I'm imagining you and people like you, who are have found, you know, commonality in something, and you're having a good time and enjoying the podcast and everything, and I'm over here thinking, like, maybe it's me putting how I feel on you. Maybe that's the unfair thing. Like, you know, like, because I'm saying, like, I want you to know how to use your insulin Well, I want you to understand, you know, like, like, I don't know basic things about your life that I think would help you, and I think I'm right. I think if you learned those things, that everything would get easier, and probably you'd feel less encumbered and all that other stuff. But maybe everyone's just that's just not their intention. It's not going to be and no matter what someone else does, it's not going to change. Like, I can't grab you and like, make you listen to it like, you know what I mean, like, and I certainly wouldn't even if I could. So, I mean, maybe I'm thinking about it

Marla 57:07
wrong. The fact that I saw, I'm not kidding. I really did see. I don't remember if it was yesterday or when it was but someone, I believe it was a comment. I don't think it was an actual post about the pro tip, and then you bring it up to me. So maybe I, maybe that's opening a door for me. Okay? I believe in the Lord, so I, you know, I might look at it. Is that okay? The Lord's opening the door and opening my eyes and leading me, okay, the pro tip, I need to go there

Scott Benner 57:41
so it's not, it's not up to me how quickly you get to it, like I can expose you to it, and then hopefully, yeah, and hopefully you'll find your way to it.

Marla 57:49
Yeah, all right. But you know what brought me to Juicebox? My daughter has low ferritin, okay? And she's 17, and we've had a heck of a time even finding out what was wrong with her, but she's been sick for about six months, and I posted on Facebook about it, and I have a friend whose daughter is a type she's very young. I think she was diagnosed when she was two, and she had seen a post on Juicebox about someone's low ferritin, and so she sent it to me right away. She's like, well, you need to be on this anyway. She didn't. She knew I wasn't on it, and so I'm like, yeah, why haven't I been on this had no idea. Well, that's crazy.

Scott Benner 58:44
No, that's, I guess, you know what? Honestly, maybe every day, yeah, maybe it's not crazy. Maybe it's kind of beautiful, like maybe it's maybe just how it works. Yeah, I maybe it's just because I'm so steeped in it all day long. It's just personally frustrating to me.

Marla 59:00
Yes, and I understand that would be so frustrating. You put everything, I know it

Scott Benner 59:07
feels like you're fighting against Facebook's algorithm, Apple's algorithm, Spotify algorithm, and like, you know, like you post things that I can't believe that what's going to happen is that my life is going to be about learning how to post things that are worded in certain ways so that algorithms deliver them to your feed. Like, I just so badly don't want that to be my truth. You know what I mean? Like I

Marla 59:30
just, and it's not Scott

Scott Benner 59:33
You don't know, I'm sitting here a lot of hours doing

Marla 59:38
every single day, but you know, that might be what some kids feel like, or what some type one moms feel like my life. You know, at their funeral, are they going to say anything about their diabetes? Probably

Scott Benner 59:53
not. I don't know. I might come up. I hope not. I mean, I hope it's a thing that's in the background and. Just is reasonable for them to deal with. And you know that it's not. I'm sure some people are gonna be overwhelmed by it and never climb out from under it, but I don't know. I just don't want, I don't know, like, morally, like, it's hard to explain, because when I start explaining it, I feel like I'm complaining, and I'm not. I'm just telling you that, like, there's right an amount of work that goes into reaching people in mass is insane, and everything between you and them appears to be fighting you. Wow, even when you have information that you've seen over and over again, works. And then even as I say that, I feel like I sound like a lunatic. So you know, it's not how I imagine spending the bulk of my days learning how algorithms like, how to word things. So algorithms will like, will push your post to somebody I don't know. I genuinely don't know what to say.

Marla 1:00:51
So, I mean, the internet, social media, is not new, but how is it kind of, I feel like, is it kind of like the medical community, like we're looking for answers and don't really know? Okay, this is the thing about diabetes, and the contrast that I have learned with dealing with my daughter and her low ferritin, we know for a fact that insulin is what we need to reduce our blood sugars. Now the balancing act of it all is a whole nother ball game, but at least I'm thankful for that with ferritin. I'm just like, there is no clear cut answer for it

Scott Benner 1:01:40
sure there is, I can give it to you right now. Okay, tell me she's of a menstruating age, correct? Yes, all right, and

Marla 1:01:48
not heavy, but not She assures me. It's just regular, like, not out of the norm.

Scott Benner 1:01:56
Okay, fair enough. Does she have celiac by any chance?

Marla 1:02:00
Okay, this is another thing I know that I know this is another thing, Scott, that I haven't done that I should be doing. I have not had any of my children. I have not had their antibodies tested. And I know there is that someone's told me there's a test for checking their antibodies, and it also checks for celiac.

Scott Benner 1:02:22
Does she make the poopies when she eats bread? Oh, well,

Marla 1:02:26
I don't know about that. However, I do know that her stomach hurts all

Scott Benner 1:02:31
the time. So, so here we go. So she's got,

Marla 1:02:33
I mean, I if we got the test back there, I wouldn't bat an eye at the results if they were

Scott Benner 1:02:38
possible. I don't know anything, but you've got vitiligo on all three of your wrists. You have type one diabetes. You have everyone in every woman in your family has Hashimotos. Your daughter's anemic, and her belly hurts all the time. She's probably celiac, not absorbing her minerals correctly, and that's why her iron is low. Okay? And in the meantime, you take her to a doctor, and you say, my daughter's anemic. Here's all the things that's happening to her. I want to get her tested for celiac to see if that might be why. But in the meantime, you're going to give her an iron infusion so she's not walking around like a zombie, and then four weeks later, she feels better, and that's it. We're on our way right. Then you start looking into why she's not absorbing the iron correctly, which is probably, you know, she probably has some sort of an autoimmune issue too. That's stopping that from happening. Yes, and when a doctor tells you, like, we'll take an iron tablet every day, you say, that's not gonna work. So let's do something more aggressive, like an infusion, and that's it. And she'll go to an infusion center, they'll pop into an IV. They'll Jack her up, maybe hit, depending on your insurance, they'll give you one of two different types of iron. One you have to have infused a little more often, or more frequently to get yourself up. Maybe it'll take like four visits and another one, it's like two visits, okay? And I'm telling you that once her red blood cells regenerate again, with all that iron in her system, she'll turn back on like a bright light. That's awesome. I can't wait. Yeah, it's that easy. But you I actually have down. You got to do it, though.

Marla 1:04:10
Yes, I have found a place that will, it's like one of those, you know, IV places. It's like a medical,

Scott Benner 1:04:18
come to your house and give you the little juice. Yeah,

Marla 1:04:21
yeah. But this place, I think we would have to go there. There's only, there's only one that I can find in Kansas. We have insurance in Kansas that will, yes, well, call your doctor do. Well, this is the thing we've been round and round and round. This is our, this is our biggest roadblock is that her ferret that my doctor's ferritin levels. The range is wild. Their range is five to 240

Scott Benner 1:04:54
Yeah, well, there's normal. Listen to me. Okay, all right, so Juicebox, Juicebox podcast.com, Okay, you go up to the top on trying to get on my own website, which always feels goofy. Imagine I'm like, let me just go to my website right now and I'll but yeah, so you go there and you want to go to, let's see what we have here for you. I'm going to tell you to go to episodes and then, no, no, no, yeah, go to series. And you just, by the way, you just talked me into making a series about iron. Oh, please. I just did that in my head. Please, do? We're gonna go now to the thyroid series, right? Okay, and you're going to look for episode 413 it's called thyroid disease explained. And I think in that episode, Dr Benito also talks about ferritin levels, and she says very directly, a woman of menstruating age with a ferritin under 70 is too low.

Marla 1:06:02
Thank you. Thank you for saying that. So hers. We've had it checked twice. In March, it was seven, and in April, it was nine.

Scott Benner 1:06:12
Cover your ears. Marla, cover your ears. I don't want, I don't want the Lord to hear this through your ears. Your doctors, okay, yeah, so is this the Doritos and soda guy? No, no. Different

Marla 1:06:26
other one. Oh, my God, one. I will say it's the same one that was in the hospital room with me when my OB had to tell him, I'm gonna make this real easy for you. Neither one of them are going home tonight.

Scott Benner 1:06:40
Yeah, listen, I don't know what you're dealing with over there. Okay, Episode 413, 413, she'll say it directly in there. Listen, I'm going to explain this to you. You already know this, but you're going to go back and and fight differently. The test ranges that come back on labs, all they mean is, this is the range we see people fall into.

Marla 1:06:59
Yes, I have done, oh, I have tried to figure out

Scott Benner 1:07:04
the doctor sees green, and they say, though this is fine, I've not met your daughter, and you have not spoken directly about her today. And I could describe her to you right now, because I know what low iron looks like, and you get her an iron infusion today. And I'm telling you they'll have her back in a week. They'll do another one. If you've got great insurance, she'll be done. If you have insurance that wants a cheaper one, you might have to go back a third week and a fourth week, right? It takes 30 minutes. You go in, they pop in the IV, they push in the iron, it's over your body, then remakes red blood cells. Right? Now her blood cells are being made without enough iron. So it's like she's building a sand castle without enough sand, right? So she's making a red blood cell. She's her body does not have enough iron when it's building it, it's going to put that iron, that ferritin and all those minerals, into her bloodstream. The next time her body goes to make red blood cells, it will make them with the correct amount of iron. She will then be able to breathe again, walk around without getting out of breath. She won't get lightheaded, she won't be tired all the time. She won't be distracted, foggy, all the other things that I know she is weak, right? Pale? Is she all these things? Yes, right? Yes, yeah. And then she's going to be fine. Then once she's fine, she doesn't seem like she's dying all the time. You take a deep breath and you say to the doctor, now let's figure out why this happened, because it's not from bleeding. She doesn't have heavy menstrual periods, so I have an autoimmune disease. Actually, I have a ton of them, and so does my family. Let's check for celiac first, but in the meantime, you could have her start eating like she has celiac to see if that starts making her stomach feel better. If it does, then you can hit the doctor with that and say, okay, look, let's get her iron back up. We'll change the way she eats, and let's see if her iron stays up, and if it doesn't, for some reason, we don't let her drift into oblivion again. We give her another iron infusion till we figure it out. We don't let her walk around like a zombie because she's 17, and that sucks. Yes, also, is she gaining weight? Yes, yeah, yeah. I know. Trust me. Do you see how I know? It's because I know, I know what low iron looks like. And you do too. You can't just go to the person and then say that to them, then have them go like, Well, no, we don't agree. And then you go, Oh, well, the guy doesn't agree.

Marla 1:09:14
He's wrong. So I found, Okay, who else does iron infusions? I found this medical

Scott Benner 1:09:22
spa go right to a um, a hematologist. That's

Marla 1:09:26
okay. Well, that's another issue I'm running into. I have asked to be referred to a hematologist. Our doctor, flat out says no. Now I have found another doctor. I'm done with them, because they said no, she's in normal ranges. She doesn't need to go to a hematologist.

Scott Benner 1:09:42
What's this answer to her problem? Then I Yeah, exactly No. He's gonna try to put on a an SSRI soon and Tell You She's depressed or something like that.

Marla 1:09:50
Well, yeah, that that's exactly what he said. Oh, look at me. I know what I'd say. I got you. She Well, this is the thing. We needed a school note signed for her to be out of school. She can't, I

Scott Benner 1:10:05
mean, she could. She can't lift her head up. I don't imagine a seven. Listen better. I had an 11 one time I bent down to pick something up. I almost fell through the floor head first. I took my son to an emergency room. When that happened, I

Marla 1:10:19
know like he's been through so much so, yeah, he said the best thing that you i i didn't want to go because I knew, I knew he wasn't going to believe us, and it was just going to be a big mess. But we needed a school note signed saying that she could finish the semester remotely, because they do have a thankfully, our school system had some kind of program, you know, like, if you have a health

Scott Benner 1:10:45
concern, but, yeah, but see, Marla, this is the problem. Like, instead of just fixing her problem, you're just finding ways to make her problem less burdensome, like, like, and that's not you, but that's Do you? Does your insurance require a referral?

Marla 1:11:00
Well, no, they don't, but because

Scott Benner 1:11:03
Marla, now I'm mad, what are you getting a referral for? Then,

Marla 1:11:05
because she's 17, every single

Speaker 1 1:11:09
hematologist wants her to be an adult, yeah,

Marla 1:11:13
if she's 18, they'll see her without a referral. But because she's 17, they say we need a referral from your PCP. It All right,

Scott Benner 1:11:21
if I curse again, let's see. I

Marla 1:11:26
have found, I, I have found a new doctor for just for my children, and I to see, yeah, but I, and I did find this medical spa with, but, I mean, it's gonna be $300 an infusion. So if she has to have four, yeah, it's a lot of money.

Scott Benner 1:11:49
Yeah, do they offer iron? I'm looking at one that's near me right now to see if they do. They do. There

Marla 1:11:54
is one that does iron. Just offer straight iron,

Scott Benner 1:12:01
like, I mean, Why can't someone know what they're doing? I'm not even kidding, like, just once in a while,

Marla 1:12:07
well, and I Yeah,

Scott Benner 1:12:12
seriously, it's so irritating this poor girl. Like, none of this has to be happening to her right now,

Marla 1:12:18
right? None of it I have. Called so many people. I have like, I just go down all these rabbit holes on every single social media. And I've, I've found some good groups, but,

Scott Benner 1:12:34
you know, you just need one doctor to do the right thing. How old is she? When she gonna be 18?

Marla 1:12:39
October 30 should

Scott Benner 1:12:41
be dead by then. Never mind.

Marla 1:12:45
I know I'm like, I gotta do something to get us through the summer.

Scott Benner 1:12:49
Here's my best advice. I would just call PCP offices. I would explain very simply, don't get wordy. Just say, Look, my daughter has low iron. She's under 18, my current doctor does not understand that her seven ferritin needs to be addressed with an infusion, and because she's under 18, I can't just book her directly with a hematologist. Is this a thing you would help us with? Please don't ask me to come in and talk to us. I need to know if you're amenable to getting her to an iron infusion, because I don't have time to waste because this girl's quality of life is terrible. Okay, I like that. Put it to them that way. Let them answer you. One of them is gonna say, you know, yes, we'd be happy to help her. She definitely sounds like she needs an iron infusion. You go, Great. Can you see her today? Okay, this is emergent. She's now out of school because of it, certain days, all she needs is an iron infusion. I know that she's going to be okay after this, and then tell her after that. We don't this is not from bleeding. We think it's possibly celiac, because we have a lot of autoimmune in our family. But can we first get her back on her feet before we try to figure out what's getting her there, like what's knocking her down, and then just wait for somebody to answer you, and if they give you a good answer, great. Make the appointment. And if they give you a beta answer, say, thanks very much. Hang up the phone and call the next place. Okay, yep, I like that. Thanks. Stop waiting for somebody to do the right thing. Like just Yes, just keep going. Call anywhere you have to call. Yes, you could get off with me now and have this worked out in an hour.

Marla 1:14:21
Yes, you absolutely. So my mom back to immediate family autoimmune endocrinology issues. Both my mom and my sister have had thyroid cancer. So my mom has told me her oncologist is also a hematologist. That's what I'm finding out all the hematologists are also on college

Scott Benner 1:14:43
because mostly like hematology is where people go for confusions, for their cancer treatments too.

Marla 1:14:50
Yes. Okay, so, so I called hers, and he's one in town that he his license just won't allow to see her until she's 18. However. I knew the girl who answered the phone was so nice to me, and she couldn't tell me that who she was when I called, but she told me afterwards. She's like, that was me, and I know her in real life. I'm like, of course, that was you. I know you work at a doctor's office, and I just didn't put the two, but she actually told me then who refers which doctors in town refer good to their clinic. So

Scott Benner 1:15:31
Marla say goodbye and go, go call them right now. Yeah, that's good. We did a good job. It's a nice podcast. We're all finished. And now let go save your daughter. Because this is, trust me, I've had this. It's way worse than you think

Marla 1:15:43
it is. I know that's what I'm hearing. I just feel

Scott Benner 1:15:48
she's not just tired. Yeah, it's horrible, like, really, really, really horrible.

Marla 1:15:53
And isn't that weird that every it happened to us, but everyone that I talked to that it's happened to also, they'll say, yep, your doctor will say you need to go to a therapist.

Scott Benner 1:16:05
Yeah, no, because that's what happens to women. Oh, they get told, like, you know, Oh no, it's in your head. Or are you just sure you're not sad? Maybe you're hormonal. Like, yeah, don't sleep. Better, put your phone down. Blah, blah, blah. Like, back in the in the 50s, but they say to women, you get what you get. She's got the vapors. Get right, like she's hysterical. Remember that in the 60s? Yes, now it's whatever it is. Now she's depressed. She's got no iron in her body. That's what's wrong with her, like all and by the way, go look up signs of low iron, depression is one of

Marla 1:16:45
them. Yes, it Yeah,

Scott Benner 1:16:49
your body is a machine that is running off of so many different minerals and hormones and water and glucose and all these other things. And it's when these balances get off too badly. You're moving forward on sheer will. At that point, your daughter's trudging along because her body doesn't want to die, but it does not have the ingredients it needs to be successful. That's all this is. And so you give her the ingredients back, she'll come right back to life, like a plant that you put in a window and watered. Oh, and then you get and then you look at her and you say, Okay, now we need to figure out why this happened. It's very likely, like, let's go look at celiac first. That's probably what's happening. You're probably not absorbing your nutrients correctly, or maybe she's eating, like, I don't know, I don't know how you feed her, but like she maybe she's not getting iron in her food. But the point is, she's so low now that even if you tried to supplement her with, like, good food and, you know, vitamins, but and she was able to absorb them to get her from a seven to where she's not going to feel like this is going to take years, and it probably it's just, it's too much. There's no reason to ruin this time in life. All right. Marla, say goodbye and go do that right now. Please. You're making me Okay. Thank you, Scott. You're very welcome. Hold on one second for me. You the podcast episode that you just enjoyed was sponsored by ever since CGM. They make the ever since 365 that thing lasts a whole year. One insertion every year. Come on. You probably feel like I'm messing with you, but I'm not. Ever since cgm.com/juicebox Arden has been getting her diabetes supplies from us med for three years. You can as well us med.com/juicebox or call 888-721-1514, my thanks to us, med for sponsoring this episode and for being longtime sponsors of the Juicebox podcast. There are links in the show notes and links at Juicebox podcast.com to us, med and all the sponsors. This episode of The Juicebox podcast is sponsored by Omnipod five. Omnipod five is a tube, free automated insulin delivery system that's been shown to significantly improve a 1c and time and range for people with type one diabetes when they've switched from daily injections, learn more and get started today at omnipod.com/juicebox, of my link, you can get a free starter kit right now. Terms and Conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox,

hey, thanks for listening all the way to the end. I really appreciate your loyalty and listenership. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox podcast. You

my diabetes Pro Tip series is about cutting through the clutter of diabetes management to give you the straightforward, practical insights that truly make a difference, this series is all about mastering the fundamentals, whether it's the basics of. Insulin dosing adjustments or everyday management strategies that will empower you to take control. I'm joined by Jenny Smith, who is a diabetes educator with over 35 years of personal experience, and we break down complex concepts into simple, actionable tips. The Diabetes Pro Tip series runs between Episode 1001 1025 in your podcast player, or you can listen to it at Juicebox podcast.com by going up into the menu. The episode you just heard was professionally edited by wrong way recording. Wrong wayrecording.com

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