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Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends and welcome to episode 1069 of the Juicebox Podcast.

Today I'll be speaking with Cameron he is 31 years old and living with type one diabetes since he was 10. And he's had a bit of a rocky road. Today Cameron comes on the show, and tells us all about it. While you're listening, please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan for becoming bold with insulin. Learn more about comfort at cozy earth.com. Learn more about savings by using the offer code juice box when you check out. Get a free year supply of vitamin D and five free travel packs with your first order of ag one when you use the link, drink ag one.com/juice box, find the private Facebook group Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes, and please subscribe or follow in the audio app you're listening in right now. Subscribing and following in like Spotify Apple podcast Pandora, wherever you listen is a huge boost to the show. I don't normally put a brand new episode out on Thanksgiving. But I put one listener in charge of deciding about today's episode. And she happened to be Canadian. So she chose new episode. This one's for Canada, everywhere else in the world, and people in America hiding from their families. This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by touched by type one touched by type one.org. They're also on Facebook and Instagram. And they are an amazing organization helping people with type one diabetes, they just want you to come by and check them out. Find them on Facebook on Instagram, and it touched by type one.org. The podcast is also sponsored today by the place where Arden gets her diabetes supplies. US med us med.com/juicebox or call 888-721-1514 at the link or at the number you get your free benefits check and you get started with us med

Kamaron 2:19
name's Cameron 31 years old, live in live in Indiana, Pat diabetes for 21 years now. So I know you're you're a big math guy, you could probably figure that out. I was I was 10 years old when I got diagnosed. And it's definitely been a journey to get to where I'm at today.

Scott Benner 2:40
Cameron, if if the country is hinged on people being math guys who can subtract 21 from 31 quickly in their head. I think we're in trouble. But yeah, so you were 10

Kamaron 2:52
I was 10 Yeah.

Scott Benner 2:54
Do you have any brothers and sisters?

Kamaron 2:55
I do. So my parents were never married. So I'm the only the only child that my biological parents have. But then they remarried. And so I have three siblings on my mom's side and three siblings on my dad's side. Wow.

Scott Benner 3:15
With any of them around when you were diagnosed?

Kamaron 3:18
All but one. Okay. All but one.

Scott Benner 3:22
How did you work? How did you work that? Did you go back and forth between houses? Or did you live with? Yeah,

Kamaron 3:27
yeah. So. So I was born in Ohio. I lived there for a seven years, seven years. And they used to live like, literally you could walk to the end of the street and see my dad's house or walk to the industry and see my mom's house. They live really close. I think God spent considerable amount of time in both places. But they I wouldn't say they were the the friendliest with each other. But they definitely co parented well. And my, both my stepmom and my stepdad were both big factors of allowing the smooth transition, I guess. Yeah.

Scott Benner 4:13
How was that getting? Input from so many adults? Like, did you find it? Did you find it valuable? Like hearing, I guess more, more perspectives and, and getting different ideas from people like Did it make you more well rounded?

Kamaron 4:32
Definitely. They're two totally different people. And I knew that when I was with my dad, you know, I was going to be exposed to these types of things and these type of people when I was with my mom, I'd be exposed to something completely different and I wouldn't say one was better or worse than another. But like you said, it definitely helped me and shaping who I am today, my childhood and ultimately why we're here. The care of my Diabetes. Yeah. So

Scott Benner 5:01
well, let's get let's get that's really fascinating, actually. But we'll we'll move forward to your diabetes. So you're diagnosed? Are your parents together at that point? Are you living?

Kamaron 5:11
So no, no, no, they are not.

Scott Benner 5:14
So what do you remember about it anything?

Kamaron 5:18
Oh, man, it's, I feel like it's a funny story. So it was May of 2002, the Harry Potter movie had come out, I think in like, the holiday season like 2001. And I was really on my mom about wanting to go, I pushed her and pushed her like to take us. And it's not that she didn't want to, but she made us earn things that we got. And so she ended up buying the complete book set up until that point, I think it was like, maybe the fourth book or something. And she said, If we read those books, that she would take us to the movie. Well, you know, I was nine at the time. Didn't really, I mean, I'm, let's say, I'm a great student, but reading has just never really been my thing. And so read, she said, Okay, this day, we're gonna go super excited about it. We get to movie theater. And at that time, it was at like the second run. Yeah. You know, like sometimes, once a movie is out for so long, it'll go to another theater where it's kind of like older movies, but not ready to go to DVD yet. DVD. That's how long ago it well,

Scott Benner 6:33
I'm thinking, I don't even know if people understand this. But there used to be second run theaters where they'd like pull you in for a couple of bucks for a ticket and they'd give you a free popcorn. Trying Yeah, that's

Kamaron 6:43
exactly how this that's exactly how this one was. Yeah. So yeah, so we get a bucket of popcorn candy, drink the whole nine yards. movie starts I'm real excited. I've already read the book. So I kind of my mind know how the movie is gonna play out. But Cameron, I lost you five times camera. I

Scott Benner 7:06
lost you. I'm sorry. You knew in your mind how the movie was gonna play out.

Kamaron 7:09
I knew Yeah, of saying. I knew in my mind how the movie was going to play out. But I'm still excited to see it. But in the first 30 minutes of the movie, I get up to the bathroom like four or five times. You know, the first time it's like, you know, understandable second time. My mom's like, geez, like, maybe you shouldn't, you know, she put the drink down. After the third time. She's like, Okay, if you don't want to see the movie, like just say that, you know, you're the one that wanted to come to this. I'm like, Mom, I don't know what's wrong. I just I have to use the bathroom. And it's like full bladder every time. After the fourth time. She's like, okay, let's just get up and go. And I'm upset. Think I start crying? Like my brother's upset with me? Because he's like, man, we waited so long to come see this movie, and you just messed it up for us. And I'm like, I just don't know. Like, I just cannot stop using the bathroom. Think we get home? Mom's like asked me like, you know, do you feel sick or anything? I'm like, no, because at that time, I wasn't really aware of like the symptoms. But my mom, she was a she's a type two diabetic. And she just kind of thought in her mind. Like, you know what, let's just check your blood sugar and see what it is. I'm like, what, what does that mean? My mom's really jokey lady. And she's like, Oh, that's just you know, the the meter be a nice tea saying Hi. How you doing things like that. But I can tell like in in the way she was acting in her in her voice that something was wrong. We wait a little bit, I think like maybe a couple hours. Check it again. Still says hi. And she takes her to the emergency room. And right then and there. They just listing off everything that had happened. They're like, Yeah, we're gonna go ahead and admit you to our peds RPG unit. At that time, they tell me like, you know, you have type

Scott Benner 9:06
cameras to my life camera, and I'm so sorry. They tell you you have type one. And they

Kamaron 9:12
told me I had type one diabetes. My blood sugar 1600. And at that point, I realized like, my life was gonna be changed forever. Wow.

Scott Benner 9:22
1600 Yeah. Oh, geez. That's crazy. How had you lost weight? Like in hindsight, did you say oh, I've lost weight, you know, and

Kamaron 9:33
I've always I've always been on the thin side. You know, outside playing around so you're always drinking water. You've always been a skinny kid. She said that she never really noticed any of that stuff. So yeah, like, I mean, I can't really remember any symptoms before. Going to see Harry Potter. Yeah.

Scott Benner 9:56
In that something. Just all of a sudden it all Just kind of washed over you at once.

Kamaron 10:02
It did. It definitely did. Wow. So

Scott Benner 10:06
you go you go to the hospital or a doctor, I'm sorry, I kind of missed,

Kamaron 10:09
ya know, so I, They admitted me to the hospital. I was there for four days, I think which, after hearing everybody else stories seems like a long time. But from what I can remember what my mom said, she, she said that like it was it took a while to, to kind of get you back to stable. And then like I said, like things just kind of things just kind of changed like guy, you know, they put me on was like human log. And I was trying to wrack my brain, I think it was humulin. But maybe remember, there was a red cap and an orange cap and one was like slow acting, one was fast acting. And so trying to like regulate that trying to try to you know, explain how everything works and everything. Because with my mom having type two, I think all she took was like oral medications. And so the use of insulin wasn't something that she was Uber familiar with. Sure,

Scott Benner 11:11
sure. She didn't know about that at all. Why? Right, right, man, that's crazy. So she obviously start with me, it's 21 years ago, right? So isn't it by the way. So far, the most stunning thing you've said is that 21 years ago was 2001. And you were like talking about the first Harry Potter movie. And I'm like, Oh my God, how old am I? You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah,

Kamaron 11:38
like, whenever I say 20 years ago, I'm still thinking like, 1980s

Scott Benner 11:42
I swear to God, that's exactly how it hits me. So oh my gosh. So how do you? Does your mom help you with management? Or is it something that gets given to you? Everybody who has diabetes has diabetes supplies, but not everybody gets them from us med the way we do us med.com forward slash juicebox or call 888721151 for us med is the number one distributor for FreeStyle Libre systems nationwide. They are the number one specialty distributor for Omni pod dash, the number one fastest growing tandem distributor nationwide. And they always provide 90 days worth of supplies, and fast and free shipping. That's right us med carries everything from insulin pumps to diabetes testing supplies, right up to your latest CGM, like the FreeStyle Libre two, n three, and the Dexcom, G six and seven. They even have Omni pod dash and Omni pod five, they have an A plus rating with the Better Business Bureau and you can reach them at 888-721-1514 or by going to my link us med.com forward slash juicebox. When you contact them, you get your free benefits check. And then if they take your insurance, you're often going and US med takes over 800 private insurers and Medicare nationwide. better service and better care is what US med wants to provide for you. Us med.com forward slash juicebox get your diabetes supplies the same way Arden does from us med links in the show notes links at juicebox podcast.com. To us Med and all the sponsors. When you use my links, you're supporting the show.

Kamaron 13:31
She she definitely she she empowered me to the counting of the carbs and everything. She empowered me to do that stuff. But she her and my dad and my stepdad and my stepmom. They all kind of kept that like, hovering eye on me to make sure that I understood what I was doing. They made sure that I was doing the right thing. So like I said they were very helpful in the in the process of learning and managing, I'd say up until I was in high school.

Scott Benner 14:06
Wow. That's great. Yeah. Did you have good outcomes because of that kind of support?

Kamaron 14:12
I did. Up until high school. Yeah, when they completely gave me rain. And it just it kind of went downhill from there.

Scott Benner 14:20
You stopped paying attention or not

Kamaron 14:23
that I stopped paying attention. But I mean, it was to that point, I was still taking injections. So it was like kind of easier to hide. And it's not ever something I've been embarrassed about. But at the same time not something I'm like just very forthcoming with like, I don't just go tell people, Hey, I'm type one diabetic. Yeah, it was never anything like that. But yeah, when I got to high school, I got put on an insulin pump. I never really wanted an insulin pump. Because I felt like that would just be something to tell people like oh, he has diabetes or he has something wrong then what's that thing sticking out of you? It was just something I was kind of ashamed of. I mean, it sounds terrible, but I was like a shame to have it felt like I was less than. And so once they did kind of like Give me control because I was I wouldn't say I was like a rebel kid but I definitely was very independent in my my thinking and my actions and everything. And so I just be have to be had my endo appointments every three months or whatever. No, I should check my blood sugar every time I eat when I wake up when I go to bed. So, you know, six to eight times a day, I should be checked my sugar. I was lucky if I was check my sugar once. And so then when it came time to go to endo appointment, and my mom's like, Okay, do you have your notebook with all your numbers written down? You know, because there was no gluco or any kind of like, data sharing back then I would just make up numbers. And, you know, I never wanted to make it seem like I was, you know, not in control. So I'd write down that I was having good numbers, well, then my a one C comes back. And it's, you know, 10.5 and they're just like, well, what is going on? Like, there's no way that these numbers match up to a one C? I'm like, Oh, um, oh, maybe just something's wrong with the with the, with the monitor. And so we had to have gone through like seven or eight different monitors. Different, you know, stop using your blood, my fingertips, I start using my forearm and my pom. Things like that.

Scott Benner 16:29
Cameron, while all that's happening? Are you sitting in that office thinking here? I'm not really doing anything like that, girl. Yeah.

Kamaron 16:37
And looking back on it, man, I feel I feel bad about it. Because I know I put my mom through hell trying to figure out what was wrong. I feel like my endo knew. But she didn't want to be, you know, accusatory or anything like that. But I know I put my mom through hell and my dad's kind of just like, Man, this is this is not making sense. I don't know. But, you know, you seem like you're okay. But really, I wasn't. Yeah. So another thing that's kind of, like, ashamed of, but from, like, the age of, let's see, so I got diagnosed when I was 10. From the age of like, 10 to 12. Like, I probably went to bed like at least once a week. And it was because my blood sugar was so high all the time. Sure. And you know, and it before then, like, you know, never had accidents or anything like that. But, you know, it's just something that I hid and so my mom didn't know that that was going on. And it was I think he had she you have known she would have known like, Hey, okay, your blood sugar's aren't right. And the things that you're writing down on this notebook as far as what your blood sugars are, that's, it's not adding up. So let's, let's try to maybe let's rein back your control. Let me get back to kind of take over more control. I think if, if she would have known everything that was kind of going on behind the scenes, you know, had the classic like muscle cramping. Just always felt kind of tired and dry. My eyesight was like, I didn't know them on. Wednesdays, I was like, Oh, my goodness, like I was blind. But yeah, it was a rough. It was a rough four years in high school with with all of this. Wow.

Scott Benner 18:26
And so because the, the impacts of it on your health are slower. And it's not, it's not like immediate, are you thinking you're getting away with something? Are you like, I don't really need to do as much as they're saying, what was it? Or was it not?

Kamaron 18:45
And I think that's why I was I was able to go those four years throughout high school. I'm gonna go to kidney dialysis having to go through dialysis and losing limbs, but that's not going to happen to me. I mean, I'm still able to get out there on the football field and score two touchdowns or be on the basketball court and the score 20 points. Like it wasn't slowing me down at all. So at least what everybody else could see. Now, I knew on the inside that I felt like crap, but you know, I just figured I just pushed through it and didn't seem like it was stopping, you know, not at all. So, okay,

Scott Benner 19:23
yeah, I see. So what, what finally gets you through that?

Kamaron 19:29
The summer of my senior or, I guess, after graduation, of high school, going into my freshman year of high college, I find out that my girlfriend at the time was pregnant. And she you know, I had plans to go off to one school she had plans to go off to another school. And I just I have such a great, like foundation as far as my parents go and even having, you know, like I said, my, my stepdad, my stepmom, I knew that I couldn't be just like somebody who didn't care about their child or, yeah, he's gonna live off with them, and I'll see you twice a year or whenever she comes back from whatever. So we both made an agreement to stay in our hometown. And then once he was born, I kind of just knew like, Man, I, I gotta make it to his high school graduation to his wedding to his children being born. And I gotta do something different. Now, it wasn't like an overnight like realization. But at that time I started, you know, actually checking my blood sugar and seeing like, Damn man, like, your blood sugar is like 300 all the time. And that's, that's not going to get you to where those goals or those milestones that you say you want to be at. And so the birth of my, of my first son definitely changed, or at least put me in the path of like, getting better. Now, I still wasn't exactly doing what I was supposed to be doing. It definitely made me feel like I need to, I need to change something or else I'm not going to make it. Yeah.

Scott Benner 21:17
Tell me how old are you when you're you have your son?

Kamaron 21:21
So I just turned 18. Wow. That's hard. Yeah, like, Forget diabetes. Yeah. So it made me grow up real fast. And like I said, I was very kind of independent in my actions in ways and so I didn't have to move out of my parents house. But I was like, No, I'm going to live, but I'm going to live on my own. I'm gonna get my own apartment, I'm going to take care of this child, I'm going to graduate college, I'm just gonna do it all by myself. It was it was challenging. But like I said, I knew that I had something to live for now. It ended up being for the better

Scott Benner 21:57
camera. It is the most common theme in my conversations with people who are adults who have type one diabetes is that it took like, the concern for someone else, or a relationship of some kind, to make them focus on themselves and pull things together. It's yeah, just the most common theme. It's in

Kamaron 22:18
something else. Yeah. And it's like, to me, it seems like that's a like, man, so you care about somebody else more than yourself. But, I mean, I do care about myself, but I felt like I was managing. So I was like, I don't need to change anything. But then the, like I said, having having the birth of my son, knowing that I need to be around for him. It just, it just gave me that extra push that extra motivation that I needed, because, and I always tell him this, like without him like, I probably wouldn't be alive today. Well,

Scott Benner 22:50
because you think you would have just continued on that path and then gotten into real trouble with your type one?

Kamaron 22:55
Most most? Definitely. I mean, there were times where like, my blood sugar, I check it when I wake up in the morning, and it's 500 and I'm just like, oh, shoot, like, I didn't take any insulin yesterday. So then, I'm like, This sounds terrible. I don't maybe this needs to be like an after dark to, to maybe shield some kids listening or something. But like, I would take like, I will take 30 units of insulin. Oh, dear God, yeah. Yeah. And like I said, that was just how I was doing things and how I was managing my diabetes. But I just felt like, Okay, well, you know, I can just take this insulin, everything will be fine. I had never listened to the Juicebox Podcast I've never really cared about, like, the little things that I could do to make such a difference in my life, not only for my, my physical health, but like for my mental health. And just for like, all the relationships in my life. Because I felt like those kind of were on one edge sometimes because of my up and down with my blood sugar, just you know, it messes with your, your irritability, your mood, your your your focus. And I sometimes I didn't have the the focus and control of myself to, to take to take on the initiative to stop, stop myself from letting my sugar get so high and then doing something dumb like taking a big Bolus of insulin, they let it get so low. And so you know, mess with my mood and irritability sometimes and I was probably it's probably hard to deal with. It's just

Scott Benner 24:32
such a cycle, right? You, you don't manage your blood sugar, your blood sugar gets very high, you stop, you know, you're not making these decisions the way you would if your blood sugar was lower. And now you know, it just snowballs and then eventually the number slaps you in the face and you say, I guess I gotta do something. And then it breaks through all that and then you do another thing that's not safe and then just try to catch it on the backside. I hear a dog I'll say, you know, when they have friends with diabetes that, you know, when people have trouble, like with really low dangerous blood sugars, it's often because of this, it's often because they get into a situation where they just get very aggressive with insulin and then sometimes fall asleep afterwards or things like that. And then they're not there to help themselves. Exactly.

Kamaron 25:19
Yeah, exactly. And that's, that's kind of what was happening. You know, there's a, there's a difference between being bold with insulin, and then being careless and reckless with insulin. And I was definitely doing the latter, you know, wasn't really thinking about the consequences of what was going to happen to me. And

Scott Benner 25:39
got lucky, I guess nothing ever went to wrong. Yeah,

Kamaron 25:43
I mean, I definitely, I had my moments where, you know, like I said, I was living by myself. And you know, my mom would come over to see me or see, see my son, and she knocked on the door. And it's like I can, I can hear that she's knocking, but in my, my body, I just can't get up. And so you know, she used her key open up, and I, here I am on the floor. After my diagnosis, she went to nursing school and got her RN degree. And so she became a lot more aware of things to look for, and how to how to manage things. But, you know, there'll be time to she'd have to call, he'd have to call the EMS service to come out, give me back a D tend to, you know, save my life. And

Scott Benner 26:35
that's scary. Yeah. But

Kamaron 26:39
like I said, it. It helped me going through all of that helped me get to where I am today.

Scott Benner 26:45
Cameron, can I ask you, if at that young age, was it, just you and the baby are with you? Are you with the baby's mom, too? Are you guys married? Or?

Kamaron 26:53
No. So me and my son, and my son's Mom, we were kind of on and off for maybe like, two years after he was born. And then just kind of realized, and I think it kind of goes back to, you know, just my, my instability and my actions and mood and everything. We ended up not being together. So yeah, for like, two and a half, three years. Before I met my now wife. I lived on my own with my with my son.

Scott Benner 27:27
Wow, that's a lot. That's a That's pretty impressive.

Kamaron 27:31
Yeah, in my heart, I don't know if I can allow you to keep doing this. Because not only are you putting yourself at risk, but you're putting this this child at risk to. And me being all machismo and having having a huge ego. I'd be like, Oh, no, I'm fine. I'll take care of it. But luckily for me, this these things would never happen when when I was with my son, because we would, you know, he come stay with me for the weekend or a couple of days throughout the week. And I'd be on top of my game. But then when I wasn't with them. That's kind of when I would slip back into old Cameron ways and not take care of myself the way that I should.

Scott Benner 28:17
Yeah, well, Cameron, I mean, in honesty, you're really just describing an 18 or 19 year old guy, you know, or person and that the application of diabetes to your life. I mean, is obvious. It's unfair, it's unexpected. And you're still going through like a growth and maturation process. You're not finished with it yet. And now you have this serious thing to do. Like, it's easy to say, like, oh, I should have done better I could have or I wasn't, but I mean, I don't know how many 19 year old people, you know, taking anything very seriously. Not a lot. Not a lot. Yeah, right. You know, so you're, you just you just put in a bad situation and a bad time in your life. And it mean to your credit you you pulled yourself together, you know?

Kamaron 29:01
Yeah, but I cannot take all the credit for that. Because like I said, meeting my wife, she definitely had an impact. When I first met her, I was getting better at the management of my diabetes, but I still wasn't doing everything that I was supposed to, but she kind of like put it down like I can't keep seeing you like this because she also had to see me sometimes with those low or high blood sugars and she had to call EMS a few times. But she got me to the point where I could see that like I was really going to lose something great if I didn't take care if I didn't change something and stick with it. It couldn't just be you know, do it a little bit here a little bit there type deal. And yeah, without without her. I definitely wouldn't have the control that I have today.

Scott Benner 29:58
Yeah, well listen, I mean I got that story or I think a lot of guys that story. But, but did you have that that realization of like, why already? Like, I'm not with the mother of my child now because of like, and it's gonna happen again did you see like, oh geez, this is happening again?

Kamaron 30:16
No See because at that time I was only so when I met my wife I was 2021 I didn't have I didn't have the the knowledge that I have now. So like looking back on it like yeah, I'm probably Well, I wouldn't say the only reason but one of the reasons I'm not with my first son's wife, my first son's mother was because of my diabetes, but I mean, now I can say that. But back then I'm just like, oh, no, she's crazy. You know, she doesn't she doesn't realize what she's losing out on. Stop. Just I can't deal with her.

Scott Benner 30:51
Yeah, Cameron, every girl wants the guy laying on the floor uncapable of helping themselves.

Kamaron 30:56
But I realized that I could, I could lose something good. And pretty much from day one. She has been she has been good for me and good to me. So that's

Scott Benner 31:07
excellent. Yeah, you can't beat a good pairing. And I mean, honestly, it just gave me that

Kamaron 31:13
extra. Yeah, extra push the, the thing that I needed to, like, stay consistent with my, with my care and everything that I was doing.

Scott Benner 31:22
Yeah, I mean, it sort of makes sense to because generally speaking, women mature faster than men. And I mean, I needed like, Kelly helped me a lot when I was younger, you know, she was just, she was more like, emotionally mature than I was. And so she can kind of point things out and be like, Ah, that's right. And then you know, then it comes down to someone points something out about you, you're either gonna face it, or run away from it. And like you said, you're like, Well, I really liked this girl. Like, I don't want this to stop. So I'll face what, what, what I'm learning about myself and, and grow from here. It's good stuff. Yeah, it's good stuff. And

Kamaron 32:01
so, so Yeah, and like, I mean, so then you could also thank my wife for leading me to you. Because so I was working at a school with kids who are not the most well behaved, it's an alternative school. So some of these kids should, should have probably been in some kind of juvenile correctional system. But they're given a second chance, they got to go to this alternative school. And these kids realize that, oh, oh, Mr. Cameron, he has this insulin pump in him, or he has this, this tube hanging out of them. And every time it beeps, you know, he stops what he's doing, he'll check it. But if that chord comes out, then he'll leave the classroom, and we'll kind of have free rein to ourself, you know, for 556 minutes. And it happened a couple of times where they, you know, call me over, like, Oh, hey, I need help with whatever worksheet or assignment they were doing. And they would pull out my cord, they pull out my my infusion set. Wow, sounds terrible, but it's to be expected from from choke from kids like this. And she's like, well, not only is that damaging your health, because now you don't have insulin or whatever. She's like that, that cost money. And, you know, insurance was I had insurance, but it wasn't the greatest and so it was a big bill for us to pay every month to get those supplies. And so she, she looked up like alternatives to to insulin pumps, and she found the Omni pod. And I thought like, okay, yeah, that sounds cool. I'll try it or whatever. I got it. It was cool. But I felt like I was missing something. So I start doing some research about like, you know, could I watch a YouTube video and maybe like somebody who had this stuff, and she found the Juicebox Podcast, start listening to this. She listened with me for like, the first couple of months and she's like, you know, this guy says some pretty good stuff. Like maybe you should try to incorporate that into what you do. And the rest from there. I mean, it was only up from there. I have a one C start coming down. was able to finally like to start keeping weight on it. It was it was it was a great. It was a great find by her. And then shortly after I got the dex calm, and things just kind of start clicking. That's fantastic. How

Scott Benner 34:30
long ago was this?

Kamaron 34:31
This was in 2016. Wow, you found the podcast really early? Yes. Back when you were like, before we got to Episode 100

Scott Benner 34:43
Yeah, back when my dogs were barking in the background and stuff. Yeah, I didn't have this great microphone. Wow. That's really boy that's that's interesting. And very, I don't know how to put it like, like while you were explaining her finding the pod cast. And just when you said like, you know, there's things being said here, I think you could incorporate. It's hard for me to imagine, like, still one on one, like, I know I say something in the microphone and a lot of people hear it. But that like it, that's not a, it's not a human thing. Like it's a number, right? Like, oh, it goes to this many devices. But the hear of like, you and your wife having a conversation, and then it leading to value for you, is really gratifying. I don't really know another way to say it. I'm appreciative that you share that with me. Thank you. Yeah, I

Kamaron 35:35
mean, it's, it's great. And I mean, sometimes always asked, like, you know, like, why is Scott not like, in the medical field? Why is he not like, why is he not an endocrinologist, or, you know, a diabetes educator, because half the stuff that I hear from him, I've never heard from endo team, or, you know, and they make you do trainings every time you get a new pump or something like that, like, you know, and, you know, not to not to be little, like your experience or intelligence or anything, but he's no medical professional. So, you know, how was he able to come up with these realizations, and they're not

Scott Benner 36:09
strange thing. Just, it's, you know, I think that the system teaches away. And that's then people get into a professional setting, and they do the thing they were taught, and you're being taught based on old ideas. I can, you know, I can shift in the moment. And I still don't like, don't get me wrong. I never had like an experience and ran right to a microphone or keyboard and said, like, hell, this just like, I wait a while until I think like, this is really consistent. Like, I'm seeing this over and over and over again, this this is, this is the thing that's not letting me down. Now it's a good time to share with people what we're doing. And you know, but then I can pivot. Like, right, like if you, you know, if you're at a hospital right now, working and you're like, yeah, man, I'd love to tell people to Pre-Bolus but they won't let me do that here. There's no way there's no way to make a change. You know,

Kamaron 37:03
to me, this is so mind blowing, because like, if you're not doing that, you're chasing that number. And granted, yes, sometimes there are certain situations where Pre-Bolus thing isn't necessary might even be detrimental. You know, if your blood sugar's 60, before you start eating, well, yeah, maybe you should eat and then take insulin, like in the middle of your meal. But like the term Pre-Bolus, and I even used that, like, when I first met with my, my current endocrinologist, and I use the term Pre-Bolus. He's like, what does that mean? I'm like, great, man, you got all these pictures on your wall? Like you've been doing this for 20 years, and you've never heard the term Pre-Bolus Like, or

Scott Benner 37:44
never, never just considered the idea of matching up the impact of the insulin with like, you know, like with the food that is that? Is that a crazy? A crazy thought.

Kamaron 37:57
So it just, I don't know. And then, like, just the whole idea of, you know, foods, eating differently. Like I said, I've just I've learned, and maybe it's stuff that I knew, but I didn't really know how to put that into practice. But yeah, listen to the podcast just kind of opened up like a whole new whole new way of thinking. And being bold with the insulin on throat like I said, not not being not being reckless with the insulin but being bold, like not being afraid to push that number down. Like, yeah, it's 120. But let's, let's try to get it to 100 Let's try to get it to 90 you like, feel so much better and over the long run, you know, it'll help your your

Scott Benner 38:44
carry, you jumped out there for a second, but I'll just say like, you're back. Yep, I'm

Kamaron 38:50
here. Yeah. Sorry.

Scott Benner 38:53
I used to hear people say that to like, Oh, this guy is saying to be like, careless within sound. I was like, where did you Where did you get that from? I said bold one time was like, just, you know, just be a little bold. That doesn't mean you know, it doesn't mean like your hair on fire and jump off a cliff. It just, it just means don't lay back. And, and then as as I was saying it for longer and longer. I don't hear that anymore. Now that there's a bunch of content up, and people who listen really understand it, you realize that that's no different than any other knee jerk reaction that you see in media anywhere else, like you can hear a snippet of anything anyone says and argue about

Kamaron 39:34
it. Yeah, take it out. It gets taken out of context. 100% Yeah.

Scott Benner 39:38
So now that now that it's up, like and people can listen, they go, okay, I get what he's saying. You know, like, just maybe not be scared would be right,

Kamaron 39:46
because I mean, we're being proactive instead of reactive. And that's, I feel like what helps, what helps lower that a one see what helps get your standard deviation down? You know, because if you're not taking insulin until you're You know, 150, arrow up? By the time it levels back out, you might be at 200. Sure. And then what does that do for the sensation in your, your fingers? Like, and those are things I'm sure nobody wants to lose. So, yeah,

Scott Benner 40:15
right. Like, what what did those deviations, those jumps in those spikes? They're, they're very, they're very harmful to your body. Like every time your blood sugar spikes up and stays up and comes crashing back down. That's hard on you. And it, it's a cumulative effect. If that keeps happening, then things get worse. I mean, you were having real problems when you were younger, and you weren't even doing it that long. And you know, you get bad impacts from it. Exactly. Yeah. No, no kidding out. Yeah. I mean, so Cameron, don't be scared of insulins not a good logo tagline for a T shirt. So I went with both. Don't be snappy.

Kamaron 40:51
I think it sounds it sounds great. Good. Good. I

Scott Benner 40:54
appreciate it. And, and it hit you. Well, you heard something, you thought, well, this makes sense. And then you tried it. Like, I think there are times when people think like, oh, I have to do exactly what that guy says like, I don't think that at all. Like I think of myself as delivering concepts and ideas, and I'm just sharing, and then you take them back in your life and see where they fit or that we're not, you know, right? Because

Kamaron 41:17
I mean, they're I mean, you're like, Yeah, you're, you know, about to hit like 800. You might even pick on past 800 episodes now.

Scott Benner 41:27
Well, from

Kamaron 41:28
where, because sometimes I will get the notification that you posted a new one, and I'll see the title and I'm just like, that doesn't really catch my shot doesn't really catch my attention right now. So I'll listen to it later. Yeah. But, you know, we're, I hear these sometimes I'm just like, oh, maybe that works for them. But for me, and like, in my job. And that's, I guess, maybe something I should mention, here later. With my job, I can't I can't do this, I can't necessarily do that. I can't, I can't always Pre-Bolus Or I can't always eat a low carb meal or, you know, do things like that. So

Scott Benner 42:04
yeah, I get confused when people feel like the thing they heard, like has to be done. But then you look at the medical field, and that is how it's set up. It's like, here are the rules, follow the rules. And then somebody comes

Kamaron 42:16
is no, there is no, no, there are some variables in this. There's,

Scott Benner 42:20
there's 1000s of possibilities. And you need to cherry pick the ones that fit in your life. And, and, and work for you like and there's things that people do that don't work for others, there's sometimes they don't work because they're doing them wrong. And sometimes they don't work because it's not right for them. And that's for you to figure out like, I can't figure that out for you. But what I know is, is that when people go to a doctor's office, and they're given a static set of five rules, what I'm hearing back from people is that does not help me. And I live in unhealthy life. Right. So I say, give everybody all the information that exists. And then let them let them write their own story with it, you know?

Kamaron 43:04
Yeah, but I mean, it does take time, though. Because newly diagnosed, I would never be able to be like, Well, okay, so yeah, my blood sugar is this. But I know, if I've just kind of bumping nudge a little bit, I can get it down without fearing that it's going to get low. Or I can eat a bowl of pasta, that maybe has 80 grams of carbs. And then I could also eat, you know, a steak dinner with some potatoes. And that also has 80 grams of carbs, but that's gonna hit me completely different. Like, you don't have that. You don't have that, that baseline or those life experiences to help kind of guide that. So I can kind of understand why they give the Omega kind of static, like, just do this and see if it works. But I mean, when, you know, you've been going to the same endo for 10 years, and they're giving you the same information. And it's like, whoa, as I need to adjust, you should also be adjusting Oh, yeah, as well. No. And

Scott Benner 44:02
you just, I mean, I don't know how many people I have to talk to who didn't have access to the information. And now I do and things are so much better for them. I mean, you just, you can't hold back information from people. It's that it has to be readily available to them. And then they can I mean, they're adults, they can do what they want to do with it after that. Like it's, you know, and hopefully people have good success like you did, you're doing terrific. It's amazing. I'd like to think so. Are you kidding? What's your emergency now?

Kamaron 44:31
A one C now is 5.4. Which I mean, like, I remember when I looked on the clarity app, and the clarity app said that my agency was going to be like five, six or something. And then I go to the doctor's office, you know, we get my blood work back and it says it's five, four, and I'm just like, so excited. And he's like, Well, you already knew it was gonna be that right? I'm like, Yeah, but five, four. That's that's almost seven holes. points lower than what I was five years ago. And then what I was 10 years ago. And so just the the progress that I'm making, like is always just look back and be like, Man, I've come a long way. Yeah, I've come a long way

Scott Benner 45:14
you have enough history to appreciate the the success that you're having. Right? Yeah,

Kamaron 45:20
I mean, because I can, I can remember times where, you know, I would be I'd leave on a trip, maybe go out of town, somewhere for whatever reason, and forget to bring, forget to bring insulin like, Man, I packed everything else that I needed, but I forgot my insulin, whatever, I'll just, I'll be fine for the weekend without it. And now like, I can't even leave the house without like, Okay, do I have my go bag with me? Do I have my do I have my PDM? Do I have an extra sight? Do I have an extra sensor with me just to, you know, prepare for all that stuff. And without all those bad times I went through before, I might not have the knowledge to or even the wherewithal to think like, let's let's prepare for let's prepare for everything. Not everything. So you can't really and that, but let's be better equipped to handle this thing called diabetes. Yeah,

Scott Benner 46:14
within reason. Like there's there are times when, you know, I see people are like, I'm in another state. And I need a you know, I need an infusion seven, like, how did you get? How did that happen? Yeah, that's

Kamaron 46:25
like when when we're packing, like we just got back from, from a spring break trip. And the first thing that was on my list was diabetes supplies, and not only my academy, my diabetes supplies could just mean having my PDM and an extra site with me. But you're going out of town, like can you know, you're going to be gone for a while, like, why don't you have you know, you might only be gone for a week, but I'm going to take four different. I'm gonna take four sites with me, I'm going to take two sensors with me. And sometimes it might seem excessive, but you never know what might happen. Well,

Scott Benner 46:58
it's better to unpack it at home later or not use it then not have it. And that's not to say

Kamaron 47:03
yeah, that's yeah, that's something I say all the time. And my kids even will repeat after me Dad always says it's better to have it and not need it than needed and not have

Scott Benner 47:11
it. Damn right. I'm pleased when we go on trips with Arne. I mean, I could probably take care of two people who use it on the pod. Right? Because why not like and

Kamaron 47:21
then like, yeah, just seeing sometimes seeing all the posts and things like on the Facebook site and everything and people are, you know, they might be, you know, five hours away from home and say that they need something, I would like to be able to help those people, if ever I could. So that's another reason I never know he might run into and people are kinda more open about it now. So like, you might see somebody's Dexcom like, on the back of their arm and be like, ooh, they have diabetes. And, you know, my wife will be like, Oh, he's gonna go say something to him or whatever. Or

Scott Benner 47:57
he kids think you're corny, Cameron or no?

Kamaron 47:59
Yeah. But sometimes I kind of liked that I liked when people approached me about it. So I would think that maybe this person would like the same. Yeah,

Scott Benner 48:08
no, I think everybody's in a different part of their journey. But I think that it is a mentally and psychologically freeing thing, to not hide your diabetes, and to meet other to meet other people who have type one or type two, I just think it's a, it's terrific, you know, like, it's absolutely can pull you out of that feeling of like, oh, this is just happening to me, and it's not happening to anyone else, it's valuable to know that that's not true. Right

Kamaron 48:38
to have that just that community. And that's one thing, like listening to your podcast, and then joining the private Facebook group, and everything, like hearing some people's stories. It's like, ah, yeah, I remember when that happened to me. And so I'm able to share my experiences sometimes. And, you know, sometimes people are just like, oh, no, I could never do that. And other times people are like, Thank you like, that was I needed to hear that. And it's like, I'm just saying stuff that, you know, I've experienced or maybe even heard from you and your podcasts or maybe from your guest. But, you know, maybe they didn't hear that episode. And so, you know, just being a resource sometimes. is all we need in this diabetes community. Yeah, because it can feel it can feel very lonely sometimes, but it doesn't have to be Yeah,

Scott Benner 49:24
and you could shift. I mean, it's a, it's a pie in the sky idea for me, but, you know, I have a limited time on the planet, and I have a limited, you know, influence in in this space. And I'd like very much to see if I couldn't shift a generation of thinking, and, you know, maybe we get to a point where, you know, instead of you going to your doctor and saying, Hey, what do you think it'd be Pre-Bolus thing for a meal, the doctor going, I don't even know what you're talking about. Like, wouldn't it be great if a generation from now, people came in saw a spike and said, Hey, are you Pre-Bolus In your meals, you know, like, like, let's change how people Think about it, because you're not going to change the system like that. No, that moves too slowly, like, you know, creeks along like an iceberg. So, you know, you need something that's more nimble, that can change with technology. And I just think this is a, this is a golden moment, you know, all these algorithms are going to be delivered to people over the coming years, you're gonna see a lot more six a one sees on people who previously would not have been able to get out of the nines and 10s. If they were lucky,

Kamaron 50:30
and say, it wasn't even imaginable to me before, before the podcast before the Omni pod index calm with the Omnipod, five. Now, you know, before that, I would not even be imaginable to me to be in the fives, like I hear that. And I'm just like, whoa, like you, you take way too much insulin, or that must be because your blood sugar is low all the time? No, it's just because your blood sugar steady.

Scott Benner 50:54
Yeah. And the only reason you thought that, by the way is because you just didn't have the information you needed. Correct? Yeah, that's great. Like I said, just it's information, just keep pumping it out there and people can can do what they can do with it. And you're gonna help overall, like, Are there going to be people who are overwhelmed by it. And they're just like, I don't understand, or I can't make sense of this. They are. And that's unfortunate. And hopefully, we can find ways to help them as well. But those people weren't going to be helped one way or the other. And so you got to you have to look at the goods.

Kamaron 51:25
That's where the community comes in. Yeah. And you know, you feel like it's too much. It's whatever. But I think when you realize that, like, oh, man, they're dealing with it. So why can I?

Scott Benner 51:34
Yeah. So yeah, I find it helpful to know that, like, I don't have a degree in anything, that I couldn't be a doctor. I think that people can sit in their doctor's office and think well, yeah, of course, you can do it. You went to medical school, I, you know, I'm an idiot. Like, if this guy with the podcast is doing it, like Jesus, maybe anybody can, you know, and I actually believe in that. And I and I hope that's what I'm getting across the peoples. I don't know anything. I mean, I know a lot about diabetes, but I don't have any special ability to think about it that you don't have I just, I just know the information. And yeah, and I apply it when it needs to be applied. Listen, Arden's going through a menstrual thing right now she had a big hormonal impact. And she says to me the other day, I'm going to eat a very large bowl of cereal now. I'm like, okay, she's in school, you know. And she gave herself an aggressive Bolus. And it knocked her blood sugar all the way down to 50. And I texted her, I was like, You all right? And she goes, Yeah, I'm fine. She's like, I feel fine. Like, this is going to trust me. She's like, I eat a lot of cereal. And I'm like, Okay. And it's still like, even though she had Pre-Bolus so much that her blood sugar got to like, 50. You know, after she got done eating, her blood sugar still went up to 170 after that. Now, imagine you don't Pre-Bolus that? Oh, yes, in the three, three, hundreds easy for and for hours, and so up to 170. And then she managed it back down, and she was good. And it's just, you know, like, that's an 18 year old kid at college. Right? So and she doesn't listen to my podcasts, you just listen to me drone on in her ear about it. You know? So I generally believe that if you if you just listen, I know there's so many episodes. But if you just listen through this show, I don't see how you don't have an A one C, at least in the high fives or low sixes when it's when it's over.

Kamaron 53:39
I mean, it's not like you're, you're given a kind of rocket science. It's just like, hey, like, did

Scott Benner 53:44
you ever think about this, you're throwing out things that aren't really given to you information that's not, you know, provided when you're first diagnosed, or when you've been struggling with, with, with diabetes for 10 years, you know, because it's not so like you said, it's not. It's not a new age, it's we're not in a generation where the endocrinologist will be willing to kind of step outside of what's in the textbook that maybe was written, yeah, five years ago, it's a privilege to have the information because so few people get it. I don't want to I'm not going to out anybody. But I was asked to privately give my talk to somebody, like there's a 45 minute talk camera I could give that would like, write, you know, write your thoughts about diabetes. And so this person comes and says, Well, you know, you're having so much success helping people with diabetes, what does it tell them? Like get on a private, you know, thing, and I give the talk. And when it's over, the person says, you know, I knew all that already. And so I was kind of dismissed as well. You You're not saying anything special? I thought you're saying something special. You're helping so many people. You just said things I know and I thought Yeah, you know them Lucky, like you're gonna meet like they don't like, everybody's on that same day. Yeah, it doesn't. And isn't that kind of comforting that they don't need rocket science text to figure out their diabetes, they just need these kinds of common ideas and they need to be reinforced, they need to understand when to use them, they have to understand the impacts to their food and how insulin works, that it's not that hard. And I'm very upfront in the podcast, I say all the time. Like, there's not that much to it. You just don't know it, like you'll you can get to it, you know, when you're purely talking about management, not the psychological stuff in the community and all the other stuff that's really valuable. But I was kind of like, I'm not gonna lie, like, I hope they never hear this, because this good person and everything, but I was like, Man, that was, you know, like, I was like, Yeah, I I said, Yes, it's not groundbreaking information, but I'm very good at delivering it to people. And if and that's a special thing, because if it wasn't, then I wouldn't have a popular podcast because people wouldn't need this information. Right, you know, and so anyway, I was off putting to me I was it actually upset me a little bit. Now,

Kamaron 56:07
you definitely put it out there that I feel like it's very digestible. It's fun to listen to. I mean, I listen, this podcast, I'm on my way to work. Sometimes when I'm in the gym working now, you know, just doing stuff around the house, because it's like I can, I can hear it. And sometimes I can really key in on something that you're saying. And other times it's kind of just like a conversations going on in my in my ear. Yeah. So your, your way, your way of delivering is definitely I think one of the driving factors of the success of this of this podcast, I

Scott Benner 56:40
appreciate that very much. I mean, I have people telling me sometimes like, well, I, you know, I'm not good at learning when I'm listening. And I'm like, Yeah, I understand that. That's not for everybody. And they're like, well, you should do it like this, I'm like, I this is how I do it. But I can't just like make another thing for you. Like, I don't know how much time you think I have left, but they're like, you know, make videos. It's like when she like I have to sleep. I don't know what else to tell you to do this. But I think that, I also think that if they kind of just listened without the intention of learning, just to hear it and absorb it, you'd be surprised at how much information would be at your fingertips when you needed it. Even though if I put a piece of paper in front of you, and tested you, you might not be able to answer the questions. I just think there's something to that I listened to some pretty heavy podcasts where people are talking way over my head about things. And I'm sometimes I'm like, I don't even know what that word means. But I get to the end of it. And I have a general understanding of what they were speaking about that. And I think that's, you know, I think that's what this is, you just have to listen long enough to where a problem pops up. And without thinking, you just go, Oh, I know what I'll do here. I'm gonna set a Temp Basal. And, you know, like that kind of stuff. That's when it becomes really valuable when it becomes second nature. Right?

Kamaron 57:56
because it challenges you and I mean, that's the great thing about listening to podcasts on your phone is like, Okay, well, while he's talking about, you know, while he's talking about different different things that go on with diabetes, like let me just Google that. Let me like, oh, okay, that's what that means. And sometimes that's why you're like your little sub series or your, what do you call them? Like defining diabetes to find like defining diabetes, or the variables or anything with that, that those are always really helpful, because sometimes it's like, Okay, I've heard that word before. But what does that actually mean? Yeah, like, is that something I'm Is that something that I'm dealing with? Or, oh, that finally puts a, I can put a word to what I've been experiencing. So now when I go into the doctor's office, and I talk about, you know, like my gut health, or I talk about different hypo or hyper glycaemia things like, you know, it's, I'm giving you I'm giving them words that maybe they don't, they don't have to like will ask 1000 questions. They're like, okay, yeah, you're dealing with this. Okay. Let's try this. Yeah,

Scott Benner 59:04
yeah, you you have the language to speak to them, and not put them in a position where they're trying to figure out like, what the hell's this guy talking about? Right? Yeah, no, it's Listen, it's, it's terrific. I'm actually Jenny and I are getting ready to start another series. We're finishing up the type two series that we did, which I you know, it's interesting camera, like, it was very important to me to put together a type two series. And it hurt me a little bit like my downloads were down because I put type two information into the podcast, but I didn't care. I was like, I think it's going to help people. So I'm making, I'm making

Kamaron 59:39
definitely there's definitely a market for it. Because when I told my mom about the podcast, she was she started listening and she's just like, you know, he talks a lot about type one stuff and you know, it's good because I have a better understanding of what what you're going through what you've been going through, but she's like, it doesn't really help me much. Right. And so then when I did see I can't remember what I remember who your guest was, but you were talking about type two diabetes and the different the different things that they go through. I shared it with her. And she's like, this is what I needed to hear. Yeah, this is I wish that there was more of this. Is there a type two podcast for? Or is there a podcast for type two diabetics? I'm like, Well, I'm sure there is. But it might not be as good as Scott as

Scott Benner 1:00:24
well, we put together this type two series, which I'm really proud of. It's a very honest conversation about, you know, exercise and food, but also the, you know, how medications can help and insulin can help and technology. So a blend of what I think real world impacts, you know, people, but we're getting we're bundling that up and getting done with it. And we're moving on now we're going to do a debunking series, like we're gonna debunk myths about diabetes. Because there are a lot of Yeah, and because it's funny, as some of them are, I start wondering, like, how many people believe this, you know, so, Jenny and I are going to do kind of a shorter episodes about that. And I just, you know, I think that if I'm going to continue to help people and reach them, the podcast just has to stay current, like, it has to be new information. I mean, man, I could lay back and just point to the Pro Tip series and be like, Look, listen to that you're able to see is gonna go down, because it will, you know, but people people want, they also want content, they also want to be entertained. And they and there's a shocking number of people shocking to me, that know how to manage their diabetes, but just want to hear from other people who have type one. You know, and so that even that's terrific. So I don't know, I appreciate it. So you mentioned we're over time, but if you're okay to keep going? Oh, yeah, sure. What is it you do for a living? Now you no longer are children pulling your insulin pumps offering? No,

Kamaron 1:01:52
nope, not that I am actually a firefighter. And I mean, that, that, and it's so fulfilling, could be a whole could could be a whole episode. But just dealing with that, and like the the variables that go into just my everyday shift, we work 24 hour shifts. So, you know, having to deal with that, having to kind of educate my crew members about diabetes and talking, and I'm not making sense. Or if I, you know, I'm sweating a lot, and it's not really hot. So that just doesn't really make sense. They've, they've learned those things, and you know, it, it can be annoying sometimes, because, you know, maybe I'm just sweating, because I just got done.

Scott Benner 1:02:43
Karen, hold on, you broke up for a second. But hey, I'm sorry, you broke up for a second, but I'm assuming what you were telling me was that sometimes you're just sweaty, and people are like, Hey, man, are you alright? Right?

Kamaron 1:02:54
And it's like, no, I'm just hot, or, you know, I have my gear on. So that's why I'm sweating. And I'm working harder than you. That's why I'm sweating. But I mean, they even know, like, the different sounds that come from my phone or from my PDM. Like, up I know that that sound means and it is it's refreshing to know that I don't have to be embarrassed by it. Yeah. I'm very forthcoming now that I have, you know, diabetes. I wasn't in the beginning of my career, because I felt like, I mean, it was even a hassle just to get on the department with my diabetes had to go see a couple of different doctors for them to say like, okay, yeah, he manages it well enough, this will this won't affect his ability to do the job, things like that. It's been good. And then I don't know if I mentioned it, but ever since getting on the comedy, Part Five, and using this algorithm, it's made it to the point where sometimes like, people ask like is your is your is your is your PDM not working today? Because I haven't heard it beep at all. And I'm like, Whoa, look at this line. I mean, it almost looks like a ruler, because it's so straight. Yeah. I'm just like, oh, so that it must be working out really well for you. It's

Scott Benner 1:04:09
amazing. Isn't it amazing to see like a sea of machine do the thing that we talked about in the Pro Tip series? Like take it away? Give a little more like that kind of stuff. It's so wonderful. I mean, it really is. Yeah, and

Kamaron 1:04:21
it's for me, I think what what helped a lot was just the adjustable Basal. The smart AI. It's not called Smart IQ. It's called what

Scott Benner 1:04:31
else? Oh, geez, isn't that funny? I you got it in my head about control like you with with tandem because they Yeah, but smarter. Just they call it

Kamaron 1:04:41
smarter. Just yeah, sorry. Yeah. Because before, you know, I might have been taking like 35 units of Basal insulin every day, which was way too much and now with this, like sometimes I'm at like 18 or 19 units and I'm just like, man, that would have helped that bouncing around a lot. because I'm getting in so much Basal, and it's making blood sugar low so that I'm eating more, which makes my blood sugar high. Whereas now, you know, I could, I could not eat all day, and my blood sugar would still stay in the 90 to 100 range. That's all I can eat. I can eat like a king. And you know what the right with the right Bolus with the right boluses and carb inputs, you know, still stay at a pretty pretty flat line in the on the CGM. So I'll

Scott Benner 1:05:29
tell you that's one of the more fascinating things about an algorithm is you know, to watch art and like I don't know, sleep in one morning and not have eaten for 12 hours. And our blood sugar is just super stable and she doesn't get low. It

Kamaron 1:05:42
is the best feeling in the world to see like that overnight, your blood sugar didn't jump up or drop down like it stayed right where you want it to be. Just looking at that, like I'll even like before my wife wakes up, I'll be like, Hey, babe, look at this. And she, you know, turn over what do you want? But look how straight that line is? Good, good, good for you. Good for you. Now let me go back to sleep. But it's just something I get excited about still on. I've been on it for a year now.

Scott Benner 1:06:11
So not Oh, no, you just you made me like just talking about it. i It makes me want to talk for 20 minutes about the value of being able to fast like not eat, you know, without, without being like, Oh, I'm gonna get low. Like it just I mean, just to get up in the morning. Like if you have to go to a blood test. And it says, Oh, it's a fasting blood sugar. Or, you know, you're not like, Oh, God, well, what am I going to do? Like, what if I have to eat? Like, what if my blood sugar is definitely gonna get low, and then I'm gonna have you know, just that that little bit of anxiety gone. Just the idea that you can sleep and extra

Kamaron 1:06:43
worry about the net. And it just, it frees up so much space in your mind like not saying I don't think about it, but I know that I can. I can be at work and we can be we can be on scene of a fire for you know, five to six hours. And I know that my blood sugar is not going to drop down.

Scott Benner 1:07:01
Or even if I'm sorry, even if you do get low the value of knowing that it's been cutting back basil for like an hour before that. Like it's not like going to be one of those like crazy falling lows. Like all right, I got low, but at least it's not a panic situation. That right?

Kamaron 1:07:17
Yeah, might have dropped down to 70. Which I mean, I can I mean, having having the tighter control now I can feel that. Whereas before it's like my blood sugar would my sugars being in the 203? Hundreds? Yeah. Right. Yeah, sensitivity has gotten gotten a lot better

Scott Benner 1:07:36
and fantastic glucose monitoring algorithms greatest just really, I I'm excited for them becoming more affordable and more available. You know, you might you might really change like, you know, the the world for a lot of people and their health. Just fairly exciting. Oh, yeah. Yeah, cameras. We haven't talked about that we should have. No, this

Kamaron 1:07:59
was this was great conversation. I guess I just, I like to share my story. Because, you know, people see me now and they're just like, man, you. I wouldn't even I wouldn't even know that you have diabetes, like, you know, kind of going into that myth thing that you're talking about, but they're like, you know, you're not a big person or you're not old or, you know, you don't eat like crap. So how do you have diabetes and psycho had type one diabetes? Yeah. Oh, well, how can you do the job then? Because, you know, I have a cousin that has diabetes, and they're, you know, they're not nearly as fit as us. So just, I guess, talking about the growth that I've had in the 21 years, I've had diabetes, I just talking about it makes me feel like proud of myself and grateful for all the people and the technology that has that has come a very long way. Since my since my initial diagnosis is is a great thing. You have a ton

Scott Benner 1:08:52
of perspective for a younger person two, because it

Kamaron 1:08:56
was an old I got an old soul.

Scott Benner 1:08:59
Yeah, well, yeah, I definitely feel that. But you're also like your diagnosis time was interesting. Like, you weren't in the 80s or the early 90s When everything was just kind of like a mess. Like as far as insulin was going and stuff like that. It was still just very much coming together. Like you came into it 2001 You know, there's not quite like, like CGM is aren't there yet. Like there's a couple more years away. There's a pump or two that are that exist. But it just this thing start happening. You're, you're about ready to start taking care of yourself like so. You know, you you while you were struggling 1718 1920 the industry being that and the technology and the insolence we're just really kind of all coalescing and so when you popped up out of your out of your, you know, out of your hole and you're like, I'm ready to take care of myself. There was an offering of things there to help you do that. The podcast insulin pump Um, better insulin CGM. You just like took off with it. You know, like it's really, really cool. Well,

Kamaron 1:10:08
I'd be, I'd be amiss to say, I didn't pop up out of that hole. My wife pulled me out of

Scott Benner 1:10:14
that. Yeah. Okay. That's very nice. So she,

Kamaron 1:10:16
she is definitely a very big factor of, of my care today. And I mean, and I can even sometimes like I'll I'll be annoyed because so I don't need you to text me that my blood sugar's dropping like I get that on my watch, I get that on my phone, I get that on my PDM. Like, I don't need another notification. But she's just like, Okay, I'm just letting you know, because sometimes I know, like, you hear and you think that you're going to be okay. So she, she stays on top of it, she stays on top of me and with me has has allowed me to be where I'm at today. Yeah,

Scott Benner 1:10:56
it's good for to do that. Because it's easy to get pushed off of that. And like, I get your perspective, I really do. But, you know, I could go on forever about the perspective of a person who cares about somebody who's using insulin. Right, you know, like I was in the car. Yeah, I hear

Kamaron 1:11:13
that all the time when you're talking about art. And I'm just like, Man, I kind of feel like art and sometimes like, yeah, I don't need you texting me, like, leave me alone.

Scott Benner 1:11:21
Please, that happened the other day, just the other day. She had a really. So she had a thing where her she tried to make a site last too long. And I texted her, and I was like, listen, just change this pump before you go to class. And she's like, there's 40 units left in this pod. And I'm like, Yeah, but look like look back over the last six hours. Like it's not, it's just not working the way we want it to. And she went out. And she, you know, tried to eat and her you know, cuz she was holding a decent blood sugar, it was holding it like 120. And it was pushing like the algorithm was giving more insulin but couldn't get it down, which is the site's going bad, right? And so, right, so she tries to eat and that 120 goes to 150. And then now it's creeping, and I'm watching it 161 70 She's in class, like, there's nothing she can do. So we're just like pushing as much insulin through it as we can. And then she gets, I think too hopeful and tries to eat one more meal on the pump. And like, bang, like she's just like, 300 like, it just can't hold up to that crappy college food. And so she, you know, doesn't need me to tell her she goes back, she changes her pump. And she makes a you know, a Bolus. But now you're you're in it. Now camera. Now this is going to be two and a half hours to break this 300 and get it back down again. And so she does a really great job of doing all that. But I'm in the car when it breaks. And I don't know if like when it breaks is that idea that like translates to everybody. But if you have a CGM, like it's a sticky, high, it's a sticky, high, and then all of a sudden, you're like, oh, here it comes. And you're, you know, she's falling double arrows down. Yeah, like, and so I texted her, I'm like, Hey, and she doesn't answer me because she sees the text and goes, Yeah, I know. But I don't know. She knows. And now and I'm in the car. So I called her and she, like, denied the call, and I and she's like, Stop, I know. And I said, Listen, that's cool. And, but I'm in the car, and I can't look. And I know that this isn't, like perfect for you. But I can't drive a half an hour and look up and find out you're dead. Like, I can't live with that, like I need, I need to tell you this. And you know, and, and I believe in you. I know you're taking care of it. And I don't think you're ignoring it. But what if I don't know? What if you just missed it? And then I don't say something? Like that's the part that I don't know that people would diabetes can appreciate. Because they're not on the other side of it. Like, I can't, I can't be the one not to say something if you know, if something bad's gonna happen, like, that's the other. So

Kamaron 1:13:54
she always says she's like, I'd rather annoy you and you stay alive than for me to just say like, Oh, he's got it, and then get a call that, you know, you bought you bottomed out somewhere. Yeah,

Scott Benner 1:14:03
no, please, I'm not gonna I listen, I tell her. I'm like, I love you. I'm just trying to help. I just, you know, I want you to be safe. I believe in you. I know, you've got this. But you know, this is a situation that calls for a little redundancy. And I think she understands it later. It's just in the moment. i It must be so and I can't I can't imagine it must be so irritating in the moment, you know, for you.

Kamaron 1:14:30
It is. And I feel like maybe you could talk to your friends at Dexcom. And just say like, you know, maybe in the follow app, we can put like a chat feature where you can, you know, put a thumbs up like you see that it's dropping low so that you like the person knows who's following you that, Hey, I see this. I've acknowledged it. I'm good.

Scott Benner 1:14:48
It'd be great, wouldn't it just to like be able to like go into the app and just touch something that says I'm aware that this is happening so the people who are following you right just are like, Oh, they know. I know. pleased that said it would be I think that'd be a really great idea. That's just

Kamaron 1:15:03
just a one of my many ideas that I think would make the user interface better. I mean, I can I get that this to save your life? So yeah, and that's and that's what those people who are following you, I think, you know, when they reach out to you because they see that, hey, your blood sugars like double arrow down and you're at, you know, 140 like, maybe you should do something or, you know, your blood sugar has been at 250 for two hours now, like, are you going to take some insulin?

Scott Benner 1:15:35
Right, right. Yeah, going back to Arden cereal story, like the vibe from her was, I can't possibly die. You have no idea how much the cereal is in me right now. And then that's her perspective. Like, she's like, I know, I'm okay. Right? Because

Kamaron 1:15:52
you don't you don't see that you don't see what she's eating. So all you see is the number in the direction of that arrow and it's just like, Oh, I got to do something.

Scott Benner 1:16:01
I enough uncertainty. That's just it's unnerving. You know, and so you need someone to say I know where I got it. And it takes away a lot of the stress on the other side. Well, anyway, I mean, I don't I don't see that changing much. That dynamic seems pretty set in stone and rather human. So anyway, but it's all for the better. Yeah. Oh, my God, please. You have, like, you know, but some people don't know some people are newer to this, the worst CGM their whole life and never know diabetes without it. It ragdolls you when you can't say it. Like you just feel like you're being thrown around some days when you're blind. And there's still plenty of people living without CGM. And they still know that feeling. So that sucks, really does.

Kamaron 1:16:45
I hate when like, you know, at the doctor's office, they'll tell you like, oh, well, you got to, let's wait six months before we talk about putting you on a pump. It's like, well, if the technology is there, like, let's just go ahead and give it to him now. Like, why would why make them suffer to deal with that. But at the same time, I think having that time where I didn't have a CGM, and I didn't have an omni pod, like, it allows me to appreciate like, Man, I got a really good thing here. And like, how was that? How was I surviving before?

Scott Benner 1:17:17
Yeah, well, I agree with that. But you get to have that perspective, because you made it through it. And there, you know what I mean, there are plenty of people who get told like no to an insulin pump, and never go back and never ask again. And they they end up going down a much different path. So like, Yeah, I agree with you. Like, there's part of me that says, Just give it to everybody. Like, what are you doing? There's part of me that appreciates that the struggle builds understanding. I always just kind of default to the idea of like, what about the people who struggle and never come out of it? Like, would it have been better just to slap an algorithm on him? Right, yeah, we

Kamaron 1:17:52
don't always have to learn the hard way. thing, right.

Scott Benner 1:17:57
That might be generational. I don't think my kids think of it that way. Like I don't, I don't need to be hitting the head to learn something. Right. But we'll say, oh, man, it's great. I enjoy talking to you very much camera. I appreciate what to do this.

Kamaron 1:18:07
This was good man. I'd like I said, just just hearing your voice in the in the headphones here. It's like, Man, am I listen to a podcast? No, I'm actually talking to him. So it's good. And just to kind of share my thoughts and hear your opinions about it. It's very valuable.

Scott Benner 1:18:23
I'm glad Thank you. I just listened when I realized how long you've been listen, I like I parked right up. I was like, I can't let this guy down.

Kamaron 1:18:30
I gotta come. I'd say I'm, I'm one of the OGS when it comes to this Juicebox Podcast.

Scott Benner 1:18:35
No kidding. You really are. I appreciate that very much. I'm in I'm being serious to like, I know, everybody can't listen to every episode. Like that's not my intention. I mean, I think if you look like I try to spread things through through one week, where, you know, there's might be a couple things there you're interested in, you might want to listen to all of them, but you, you should at least find something that would would engage you and that you would enjoy. So I'm you know, I'm aware of that. But yeah, I

Kamaron 1:19:03
mean, you use I think your title, your titles of things, you know, definitely sparked interest. Sometimes I'm just like, wait, what, what, what does that have to do? Or, you know, what does that have to do with diabetes? Like, we're that kind of sounds like provocative, like, I'm curious to find out. And then I think it's also kind of like, a marketing genius tool that you use, where you don't give a lot of description in like the podcast, you might give like one sentence and then your, your list of ads or whatever. So it's like, well, I guess I gotta listen to this. So thanks. See, and then once you once you're in it for 20 minutes, you're like, Whoa, this isn't the most exciting, but I'm still gonna listen because I'm already I'm already in it now. So yeah,

Scott Benner 1:19:44
and eventually, even people who you have nothing in common with, I find eventually say something that you're just like, Hmm, I never thought of it that way. And, you know, like, I think that's kind of valuable sometimes is to listen to people that have nothing to do with you. And I I mean, don't get me wrong, like, there's plenty people I interview and I think like I could have done without hearing this I like, but then every time I have that thought, I hear from a bunch of people who are like, I love that app. There's one I have in mind from this year, I got done it and I was like, am I even gonna play this? Like, like, I just I thought, God, this, I thought it sucked. But I really did. And then I added it back. And I thought, no, someone's gonna like this. And I put it up and my God that I get a lot of good feedback about it. And I don't know until you know, yeah, I couldn't even have imagined. Like, if you gave me one that I for sure knew I could have just been like, I'm just going to pretend I lost this one. Like it would it would have been that episode. Man. Did people get back to me? I loved her. This was great. I really, I was like, oh, okay, cool, like, so I don't try to judge any more what I think people enjoy or want to hear like, I just I tried to put it all out there and let them find it. But my point to you was that I appreciate you sticking with it for this long. Because it really is. I know I say it sometimes. But you have no idea. Like this is an absolute full time job. Like I wake up in the morning, I start doing something for this podcast, and there are many nights, I don't stop till nine o'clock at night. And if the podcast didn't have ads, then I couldn't do that. And then the podcast wouldn't exist. And you know, it's because of how people support the show. It's because they listened to it because they drive big numbers to it. That, you know, a certain percentage of those people are like, I could use some sheets, or I do want an omni pod. And yeah, and enough of those people use those links to bring those advertisers back. And those advertisers allow me to get up in the morning and focus on making a podcast for people who have diabetes. So it's really I mean,

Kamaron 1:21:48
those ads, they definitely work because like when I first started listening, all I had was the Omni pod. And then I started listening and I was like this Dexcom thing kind of sounds cool. I should try that out. Yeah, I went to went to the link that you had and one of the show notes and like got into it. And then like once I had it I understood like man, yeah, this is a great tool to have. So and I mean, and like you were saying, you do this so much. Like, even when I think like me, Okay, I've got this thing really down. I listened to a pot. I listened to an episode. I'm just like, Oh, okay. Yeah, that's, that's an interesting take on that. Like I should. I should try that. Yeah, it's helpful.

Scott Benner 1:22:30
I appreciate it very much. I really do.

Kamaron 1:22:32
I did have one question. I did have one question for you though. I don't know if he lets go edit this out. But with the so when I'm listening to the podcast, like I subscribed,

Scott Benner 1:22:43
you broke up Cameron, hold on a second.

Kamaron 1:22:47
But you always talk column downloads? Oh, I know that you can download the episode but I just listened to it is that how is that helping or hurting you're hurting your numbers or anything? Exact

Scott Benner 1:22:56
same thing. So I think the the download just comes from back in the day to listen to a podcast you actually had to download onto your device. And so now we stream most people stream their their their content, right? Okay, so a download or a stream to me is the same thing. It's a it's it's a delivered episode.

Kamaron 1:23:18
Yeah, cuz I was feeling bad one day, I was like, oh, man, I don't I don't download these episodes. Like I just click on it and it starts playing and I feel like if I listened to it all the way through then it counts as it does it should count towards his towards his metrics. But no, it absolutely does. I mean, if you've maybe I'll go through and just start letting letting all these podcasts that didn't listen to play through or maybe I have to click download on all of them. Well, just so you know, Scott can get his numbers. This is the

Scott Benner 1:23:43
level of of, of interest I want from people listening. Thank you very much. But no, it's if you listen to a show, like technically, you've you're downloading it slowly as you stream it, it's just not being saved. So it's all the same. It's all the metrics just, it's listen and listen through. So, you know, I can see, like, I can actually see where people stay till where they drop off. It's interesting, you know, it's very interesting. My listen through rate is really high. And I'm proud of that, like, more people out of every 100 than our normal for podcasts. actually listen to the entire episode, which is really cool. And, and I appreciate it very much. Yeah, no, thank you. You can I'll leave this and I appreciate you caring very much.

Kamaron 1:24:33
All right. Cool. Yeah, man. It was great. I like this.

Scott Benner 1:24:37
I appreciate it. Tell your wife I said. Hello. Sounds like she she saved your life. That's pretty cool. How many kids? Hey, how many kids do you have in total now?

Kamaron 1:24:47
I have three have three sons three boys. Wow.

Scott Benner 1:24:51
Wow. Do they have any autoimmune or do you have any other autoimmune stuff, Cameron?

Kamaron 1:24:55
Nope. I do not know. And I was here you asked this question to people and they're just like, Well, no. I don't but then I have this or I know I have that and I'm like, Well, that's an autoimmune disease.

Scott Benner 1:25:06
That's why I ask because I don't think people know most of the time like no, I don't have any autoimmune stuff. I do have been a Lago like Wait. Okay, hold on.

Kamaron 1:25:15
But, but yeah, no, no, none of my boys do. There was a time where I thought that my middle son, he would we do that we did the trial net thing and came back that, you know, he was he was good. Didn't have any of the markers or anything.

Scott Benner 1:25:34
That's great. I'm glad. So far. Good. Good. I'm glad. I hope everybody stays that way. Anyway, thank you very much. Can you hold on for a second for me? Sure, thanks.

Want to thank Cameron for coming on the show and sharing his story. And I'd also like to thank us met not just for getting me art and supplies quickly and easily, but for sponsoring the show us med.com/juice box or call 888-721-1514 Get your diabetes supplies from us met. Please don't forget to check out touched by type one.org and find them on Instagram and Facebook and give them a follow. They really are helping people with type one diabetes in a unique and special way. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast. Don't forget to subscribe and that app