#1078 Mountain House

Kim has type 1 diabetes, a brain tumor and a story about her dad.

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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
Hello friends, and welcome to episode 1078 of the Juicebox Podcast

Okay, guys, I've got a great episode here for you. It's it's two episodes and one honestly, today's guest is Kim. She's had type one diabetes for 32 years, we're gonna talk about her type one where she lives, a benign tumor that was found in her brain. It's a fantastic episode. But then about an hour into it. Kim tells me something that is just oh my gosh, what do you hear? While you're listening? Please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan are becoming bold with insulin. I'm going to be saying this for a little bit because Apple really kind of screwed bus with this new podcast app. So if you've upgraded to iOS 17, you want to go into the podcast app, go to your library, touch Juicebox Podcast top right corner, three dots, then Settings, then scroll to automatically download and then go to the bottom all new episodes. Apple podcast changed their app and you may not be getting the podcast because of it. Hopefully you've heard this and you've made an adjustment. This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by us med. Now us med is where we get our diabetes supplies from and you can too as a matter of fact, later in the ad, I'm going to tell you about an email we just received from us med for now. Go to us med.com/juice box or call this special number just for Juicebox Podcast listeners 888-721-1514 When you go to the link, or call the number, you get yourself a free benefits check so that you can get started getting your diabetes supplies the way we do from us med. The podcast is also sponsored today by the contour next gen blood glucose meter. You want accuracy. Well, then you want the contour next gen contour next.com/juicebox Hey, Kim. Hi. How are you?

Kim 2:22
Good. How are you doing?

Scott Benner 2:24
My wife yelled at me a little bit this morning because I didn't come downstairs let the dogs out fast enough. But other than that I'm doing great. Excellent. Yes. Good. I told her what I said 16 years ago when you said I think the kids need a dog. I said no. Don't do that. I'm now today 16 years later, you're yelling at me because of the bad decision you made 16 years ago. But okay. I said that Ken dog is never gonna die. He understands. He's been alive for 16 years. That's That's an old dog. That's definitely it doesn't seem that old some days. So, anyway, yeah, she did not care for that answer. But I'm right. And I'm leaving that in our episode for posterity sake. Not to buy a dog. Literally and figuratively. He's never really bitten us. But it's been it's been descending. Yes, a number of times along the way. I love I want to be clear Kim. Love the dog. absolutely terrific. And if in the evenings when I went to sleep, or if I had to go away this weekend for work, which I have to do, or you know, at 630 in the morning, when he doesn't feel well, if somebody else was taking care of them at this point. Like if I was a Kardashian or something, for instance. Then this would be terrific. But this is an Instagram. And no, it is life. Yeah, exactly. Right. So Anywho. Kim, do you have a pair of headphones?

Kim 3:57
I am wearing headphones. Excellent.

Scott Benner 3:59
Is there like a little arm thing on them for the microphone? Or is it hanging on

Kim 4:03
your wire? It hangs on the wire.

Scott Benner 4:05
No problem. Are you in a room without carpeting?

Kim 4:11
Well, I'm laughing because I was just going to do this at my regular desk, but it's very windy here today and we live at 9700 feet. And so the house shakes and especially that garage room that I would have been in Savannah and a tiny closet and I brought in a bunch of pillows.

Scott Benner 4:30
Sounds a tiny bit hollow and I'm trying to figure out but I want to get back to the house shaking part but I'm trying to figure out if maybe that wire just needs to be a little closer to your mouth or moved it closer to Iraq. Or if it's just the spacer and I this is gonna sound crazy. Crack the door to the closet.

Kim 4:46
Okay

Scott Benner 4:50
give me some more words.

Kim 4:52
Okay, I opened the door.

Scott Benner 4:54
I like that better. Okay, all right. You're really in a closet. KIM Yeah, So like, I

Kim 5:00
knew that you are very, like, specific about how things sound. So I was like, He's not gonna like all the wind in the background and garage door shaking. So I need to find a different place to be. I

Scott Benner 5:11
see people put this on, by the way we've begun, people put this on me. But if you were listening to the podcast, no, I know. I

Kim 5:19
appreciate that about you and your podcasts. Because if the sound is like, grading, I will just start Listen,

Scott Benner 5:26
of course, well, no, I swear to you. I used to say it all the time. Somebody could say, hey, on this episode of The Juicebox Podcast, we have the secret to life at 36 minutes in but you can't skip forward. And you have to listen to the rest of it. If a garage door sort of banging around, I'd be like I'm doing okay. I don't need the secret to life. Nevermind. Yeah. So yes, yesterday, I interviewed a person. So interesting. I interviewed a person whose father is really famous. But she didn't want anyone to know that. And so the whole time, I was like, Come on, let's talk about it for five seconds. But we never did it. It was fine. But not the point. The point is, they had a really great microphone setup. And as soon as she came on, I could feel my whole body relax. I was like, Oh, she's got a great mic. It's quiet in there. It's great. I said one thing I don't have to worry about while I'm talking to her. So anyway. Okay. Again, usually, I would have told you before this started, like, you know, is there anything you're concerned about? Do you have any questions or anything you want to say? So I'm just going to ask you that while we're recording. Anything you need to know worried about? No, I'm good. Okay. Are you nervous? Not really. Excellent. Usually, I would tell you to introduce yourself. But your Kim, I think we've gone over that a couple of times. Yes, type one. I did. And I know you've had it since 1991. So I'm just gonna throw that in there. And we'll do the math together. 2000 I

Kim 6:49
did it last night to practice 32 years.

Scott Benner 6:51
Kim. I was gonna I was gonna teach people how to count as in 2001 and 2011 than 2021. Now it's 2023. So 2122 23, it's 32 years.

Kim 7:06
And it was the APR 1991. So we are actually only completed that year.

Scott Benner 7:12
32 years. On the button. Yeah. All right. All right. That's fine. Sounds good. Been a lot of fun. Has it? Sorry.

Kim 7:21
Oh, you know, I don't know. I mean, there's that whole thing where it's like, I don't know what my life would have been like without it. And but I do kind of think in ways it has been better for it. I mean, I don't want it but I know. Like, it's basically made me who I am. So it's hard to say.

Scott Benner 7:38
Are you saying it's like exercise?

Kim 7:41
I don't know what that analogy would be. You

Scott Benner 7:43
don't want to do it. But when you do exercise? What is wrong with you? You know, it's funny, I was gonna say something that would have been inappropriate based on something you're gonna say in the future, but I'm gonna jot it down. So I can remind people after it comes out how I almost said something very, I think would have been hilarious, but then would have been appropriate. Anyway. Okay. Okay, so Kip, so you're diagnosed and how old because how old are you now?

Kim 8:11
My birthday is next month, so I was eight, almost nine years old. Oh,

Scott Benner 8:15
wow. So you're, you're gonna be 4041 41. Wow, that exciting. Sad. How do you feel about

Kim 8:22
that? Um, it's fine. I don't really feel any different. So I don't worry about it too much.

Scott Benner 8:28
I think that too. Even when I hear people are like, Oh, I'm so upset. This is happening or that's happening. I always think well, you're alive. That's how you got to be 41. Alternative. You died before you were 41. I don't want that right now. I know. Everybody wants to live forever. But that's not happening. So not yet. No, no. Give me a lot of Musk's more time. Kim. Why do you live at the top of a mountain in a rickety house?

Kim 8:58
It's actually a brand new house. Okay. We are living in Denver for a while now. And then we decided to move up into the mountains. So now we live about an hour west of Denver on the top of the mountain.

Scott Benner 9:11
We are afraid that the government was gonna find your weed grows so you had to go higher. No, no. Okay. So are you skiers?

Kim 9:19
No, we're not. We're hiking and snowshoeing and biking. That kind of stuff.

Scott Benner 9:26
Are there wild animals where you are? Yes, I

Kim 9:29
haven't seen any yet but there's potential for bears, mountain lions, coyotes, deer, all that stuff. Better house

Scott Benner 9:38
just too easy cam and you were like let's level up.

Kim 9:42
Yes, also the house is completely off the grid. We have a well we have a septic system and solar panels and a propane backup generator. Or, you know, I feel like it but no, this is just how this house was Still, okay,

Scott Benner 10:00
so you, somebody come into some money and you're like, let's upgrade now been working hard your whole life. How did this

Kim 10:09
happen? Well, we were thinking of building a house in the mountains. And then we found this house on Zillow and then came up here to talk to the guy. And we're and so it has an amazing view that that's the thing being on top of the mountain, we can see like the entire, like, the Continental Divide and the Rocky Mountains. And so we're not like, so we're still not quite far enough West that we're like, in the Rocky Mountains, right like range legitimately. So like, we can see them from our house versus if because like, if you're living in them, you can't see them because you're in them. So we're still out far enough like in the foothills, to to see all the mountains so the view was a million dollar view. So we went for it.

Scott Benner 10:55
This man you breezed over? Did you feed into a bear and just take his house? How did that go? No, he

Kim 11:01
was the builder and the listing agent.

Scott Benner 11:05
You're like there was a man, then there was no more talking to him. I was like, they killed him. today's podcast is also sponsored by the contour next gen blood glucose meter. This is an incredibly accurate meter. And you want accuracy. Contour next one.com/juice box, find out all about the Second Chance test strips, the fantastic meter, the easy to read screen, the beautiful form factor that fits right into your hand. This meter is the bee's knees, it is incredibly accurate. And not every meter is. So don't just run around with whatever busted up meter somebody handed to you out of a drawer or a closet or because that's the sales guy they like the most. Look into meters get good meters. As a matter of fact, when you go to contour, next one.com/juicebox You may find that the contour meter and its test strips are less expensive for you out of pocket and cash than you're paying now for what could be a lesser meter through your insurance. Check it out. Links in the show notes links at juicebox podcast.com To contour us Med and all of the sponsors. No. So, okay, well, that sounds lovely. Can I ask you a question? How long have you been there?

Kim 12:24
Two months.

Scott Benner 12:25
All right. So I'm gonna ask a difficult question. Okay. You've been there long enough now to have buyer's remorse. What about it? Are you like, uh, I overlooked that.

Kim 12:35
I'm actually I'm surprised because I thought there'd be more of an issue with being like 45 to an hour minutes from Denver now because I still need to go back there to get like my allergy shots and stuff. But overall, that hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. So and we also have to drive up this like dirt road with that's really rutted and muddy sometimes. And that was kind of stressful, but we got a new car. So that's better now and so honestly, I don't have buyer's remorse at I am a little bit stressed about

Scott Benner 13:11
that. Nice Kim new house, new car, there's like 18 cents left in your bank account. And you're like, we don't have to eat this week. And I hear you're in the woods, but you need allergy shots would it have not been a good idea to move away from the woods?

Kim 13:27
I don't think I'm allergic to the woods as much as I am the animals in my own house.

Scott Benner 13:33
I don't want to make like a simple suggestion. But have you considered opening the door and letting them out?

Kim 13:39
No, that's not what you're supposed to do when you have dogs and cats. All right,

Scott Benner 13:42
Kim, you and I talked at the beginning. I am at the point now where I'm willing to let my dog walk away. I like just like put a little stick on it was in dog food and a bandana and like stick it his collar and be like guy, man, good luck. Like we've been together long enough. Now I want to divorce my dog is what I'm saying. Oh, really? I just didn't want him to live 16 years. It's funny. I didn't want him to live 16 years 16 years ago and now I don't I don't I don't know what a fake anymore.

Kim 14:12
Is he a smaller dog? I assume that's why he sold No,

Scott Benner 14:16
he weighs like, I mean at his at his best when he was in full vigor. You don't I mean, but he could have made a lady pregnant back then. He was like 55 pounds. Oh, I'm surprised. Okay. Yeah, now he's just old. He's thinner now. And gray. That's the weirdest thing. Your dogs get gray hair. No one tells you that.

Kim 14:35
Oh, I didn't know that before we got our visualise and they get like people call it sugar face and then their face turns white and we're a little freaked out about

Scott Benner 14:45
that. Do people call it coke face but your nice thing enough for me. They call it shook. Okay, I don't know like it's just it's weird seeing them get older in their face that Keith the key got thinner. You get that like the little hard nose thing happened to him. like you take him to the vet and the vet sec, how in DISA live and you're like, Yeah, what's up? And? Yeah, I mean, it's all like, even our kennel, which I don't think we use maybe twice a year, but we've been using them forever. They're wonderful people. Absolutely great. Last time I was there, they were like, You got to stop you can't bring into here anymore. And I was like, why? And she goes, he's just so old. And I'm like, All right. So you know what I had to do? Kim, I had to find a kennel with less morals. And they take him no problem, but because I because I still had to move my daughter into college like I wasn't going to do like, just leave them at home. Tell them good luck. Yeah. I mean, so anyway, how many dogs do you have? How many cats how many parents what's in that house making this nice? Well,

Kim 15:44
we have two dogs now and one cat. But this all started a long time ago. We had three cats. And no dogs.

Scott Benner 15:52
Kim Kim, three cats. We had three cats at one time. Yes. What are you doing? You're starting an army a cat. So you got bored of it? Or why three? Well, how does that happen?

Kim 16:02
Okay, so we had one cat that we got when we were in college. And then we got a second cat like a year later. And then they got older together. And then we got the third cat when they were about 10 or 11. Because we needed to be able to cycle through animals, like so that we weren't left with no animals. And that was that was the plan as laid out by my husband. And so then the middle cat died. And then we had the two cats. And then when the oldest cat died, then he got a dog in 2020 People

Scott Benner 16:38
hippies or something? What's going on? Like, just don't? Oh, no, not a hippie? I don't think so. Alright, you don't think so? I my son this years ago, my son's a freshman in college. He calls up and he goes, kid down the hall got a chinchilla in his room. Okay, when are you allowed to do that? And he goes, No, we are not allowed to do that. And so they hid that that animal for like he the kid hid that animal for like a year and a half. I don't know. Alright, so diabetes. Hmm, I guess the obvious question here around type one is, did you have any concerns moving such to such a rural place?

Kim 17:15
I didn't. Because I haven't had to call the emergency people in a long time like it not since I was a kid. Like, I haven't had to use a glucagon since I was a kid. My parents, on the other hand, were like, how are you going to live up there? They're going to an hour to hospital. And I was like, well, actually, the neighbors the lowest, what is an emergency room doctor and the other is a rheumatologist. So there is medical professionals nearby. It's just it would be a while to get to the hospital. But no, generally, I wasn't worried because like with decks calm and everything now like, I just don't worry about that being an issue. And otherwise I don't I can't think of any other emergencies that could happen.

Scott Benner 17:59
Do you work? I do out of the house where?

Kim 18:02
Yeah, we both work from home. I'm a CPA. Oh, oh, I

Scott Benner 18:06
have so many questions about that. But don't worry. I'll ask I'll ask them later. People are like do not ask her accounting questions before you talk to her about her diabetes. So I guess I kind of want to like, there's an elephant in the room, as far as I'm concerned, because I can see your little intake questionnaire. I'm almost embarrassed to say that last night, my wife's like, do you record tomorrow? I said, Yeah, tomorrow at 10 o'clock, with a lady who has type one. And she had a benign brain tumor. And my wife goes, Why do you sound excited by that? I'm like, doesn't that's like, doesn't that sound interesting? And she's probably not to hurt. I was like, No, I know. But to me, I think it's gonna be very interesting. So how old were you when that happened? How did that present?

Kim 18:44
So it was I was 26. And I had a ringing in my ear just that one year. And I didn't really have any other explanations for why that would happen. Because I don't listen to loud music or go to concerts or anything. We had moved to Washington, DC, pretty near about that time, and I got a new endocrinologist. And then it was like my first appointment with him. And he was like, Do you have any other concerns? And I was like, well, this isn't like for you, but like, I have this ringing in my ear. And so then he gave me the name of en t doctor in the building and said to go see him.

Scott Benner 19:28
And he's talks to you, and then decides to image your brain.

Kim 19:34
Yeah, so I got lucky because that doesn't always happen. So I did go to the end. And then first he did a hearing test. And I had some hearing loss in that year that I hadn't noticed. And so then he knew that something was going on. And luckily he then ordered an MRI and then we saw the tumor. Wow.

Scott Benner 19:59
and tell the people it's catnip, right? It got in your ears and in your head. How does that have any any of that in your family line? Anything like that? Oh, no. So

Kim 20:13
it is there is a way that it could be more of a hereditary thing when it's called neurofibromatosis. neurofibroma, I don't know ptosis to, that's when it is more of a hereditary thing. And it's like, it happens more in younger people. And you have like tumors all along the nerves in your body. And so they were a little concerns that that could be what I had because I was on the younger side. Usually, you don't get diagnosed with this until you're like in your 50s or 60s. And so that I did have some additional imaging done of my spine and to look for tumors there, but I didn't have any so it was just the regular one. So there's a couple of names for it. It's colloquially called the acoustic neuroma. But it's also like more medically accurate to call it a vestibular schwannoma Hmm,

Scott Benner 21:09
it also sounds more fun that way.

Kim 21:12
Yes, okay. Um, so then, yeah, so there Yeah, I had no reason to think I would ever end up with one of these. Right.

Scott Benner 21:19
Wow. And how, like, what did it measure? How big was it? For over two years we've been getting our diabetes supplies from us med. Us med.com/juice box are called 888-721-1514. Arden gets her on the pod and Dexcom supplies from us med but they have so much more. They accept Medicare nationwide and over 800 private insurers with an A plus rating from the Better Business Bureau. You're gonna love us med. They always provide 90 days worth of supplies, and they have fast and free shipping. They're gonna carry everything for you from your insulin pumps to diabetes testing supplies, the latest CGM, they have it if you need it. Us med.com/juice box you want to FreeStyle Libre two or three? They got it? Dexcom six or seven? They have it you want on the pod five? Check. They got that to Omri pod dash. T slim. They have what you want us med.com/juice box get your free benefits check right now prefer the phone 887211514 We received an email two days ago from us med that it was time to re plan. What we're going to refresh. Oh Dexcom supplies. I didn't respond to the email. So a couple days later, we got a phone call. I picked up the phone. Hey, this is us, man. It's like a recording. Do you want your supplies to come press one. I press one that was it done. The time before we use them. I use the email. I click Yeah, come on, send some more supplies. And they were on their way. It couldn't be easier. Us med.com/juice box links in the show notes links at juicebox podcast.com.

Kim 22:57
One and a half by centimeters by one and a half centimeters by like a little bit more than one and a half centimeters I think at that point. And so where it is is so the reason it gets a stain as acoustic neuroma is because a lot of the time it does present with hearing issues. And that's where the acoustic part of it comes from. But the Y the actual name of it being vestibular schwannoma is what that means is there's a schwannoma, which is a benign tumor on your vestibular nerve, which is your balance nerve. And so in your brain there, the hearing nerve, the balance nerve, and your facial nerve are all bundled together and they go into your brain, like through your ear canal, not your canal. But like in your brain. There's a passageway that these three nerves go through to get to the where they're coming from, and then to your brain. And so, so that a lot of the time because the tumor is growing on the balance nerve, it will affect the hearing nerve and the facial nerve. And so that's that's the lay of the land there. Wow.

Scott Benner 24:04
And for you, it was just it was ringing at first. Yes, yes. Then

Kim 24:11
well, then no, nothing else really. which was surprising, because I later found out what other things can feel like when you have your other nerves having issues. But at that time, no, no, I did not.

Scott Benner 24:24
So I want to move on to find out more. But first, I want to say that I thought you were trying to screw with me earlier when you said colloquial and I was like Is she gonna say curricula and colloquial in the same couple of minutes? Because that's gonna throw me off if that happens. And then he confused you did not say that, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. Anyway, here come the emails and say I have ADHD. Wow, that's crazy. Was it in any? I guess my question is it doesn't sound like it was life threatening, right?

Kim 24:55
No, no, no, it was not. So that's the thing they say So there's an acoustic neuroma Association and you can go, so I went to like a support group in DC that had people going to it and a lot of it. So the first question they asked you is like, are you watching weight? Or are you like decided on a treatment plan, which would either be surgery or radiation. And a lot of the time, they recommend that you watch and wait, just to see like, is it growing? Like, maybe it's been there. And it's just like, that's how big it's going to be. It's not going to get any better, which a lot of the time is what happens with older people. Because it is very slow growing tumor. And it's almost like they're going to die from things other than like, they wouldn't die from this. But like, there's no point in treating it if it's just slow growing, and they're already old. Don't

Scott Benner 25:47
worry, your McDonald's fries are gonna get you before this does. Yeah, great.

Kim 25:51
Yeah. So that then in my situation being 26, they were like, Yeah, we're probably going to do something. But let's see, like how quickly it's growing. So then I waited a couple of months, and then yet another MRI and it had gotten bigger in that time. So it seemed pretty clear that we should do something before it got even bigger. Okay,

Scott Benner 26:09
so it has to be removed physically, they art is this, how does this happen? It's

Kim 26:17
a rare tumor. Like if you go on Google, it's like one of those things that comes up. And it's like rare. So, which is why I like to say I'm probably the only person who's had this tumor and type one diabetes. You

Scott Benner 26:35
tried to get on television, Kim, what's going on? No, I

Kim 26:37
just think it's funny, like the intersection of that anyway,

Scott Benner 26:40
I do to actually, I'm always like, my brain gets fried. But I'm like somebody comes on. And they have six incredibly rare issues. Yeah. Oh, my God, that's just like, the oddest luck, you know?

Kim 26:54
Yeah. Because it's rare, you have to go to a place like a hospital that with doctors who do this a lot, in order to like, get a good result. Because it's a very small space that they are working in, especially if they're going to be doing surgery to physically remove it. Because it's just, it's a very, very tiny space in your head. At the time, like I said, we were living in Washington, DC. So I went up to Johns Hopkins, and met with doctors there, oh, first time that with doctors at Georgetown, because that was nearest and then went up to Hopkins. And then there's also a, like standalone kind of clinic Hospital in LA that does this a lot, held the house ear clinic. And so I also sent my stuff to them to look at to give me like a third opinion. So like, this is the sort of thing where like it can, because it is slow growing, you don't need to rush into anything. And you should get multiple opinions from different doctors about a treatment plan. Because, like, you don't want to have to do it more than once. And there's just a lot of options. But it's also a lot to decide.

Scott Benner 28:11
Yeah, I was gonna say, because what happens? I mean, it's like if I go to three people and say, What color do I paint my garage? And somebody goes purple, someone says read and someone says blue, you're like, Oh, is that how it goes? Or what are they pretty similar?

Kim 28:25
It can be. So a lot of the time, if you go to a person who does surgery, like physical surgery, they're gonna recommend that option because that's what they know, if you go to a radiation specialist, they're going to recommend that because that's what they know. Luckily, in my situation, being as young as I was, even the radiation specialist said, I should do surgery because there hadn't been enough time with like, you know, seeing what happens to people who had radiation, you know, 40 years later, there hasn't been enough of that, for them to be confident in recommending that to someone who's 26.

Scott Benner 29:06
You got the I'm not going to kill you answer. Yeah. So,

Kim 29:10
so everyone recommended that I do surgery. So that was that made that easier to decide that part. And then it was like, Where do I want to do it? And then I did end up having that done to at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Scott Benner 29:22
That's good hospital. So kinda like you're in that part of the country. I guess when that happened. Yeah. How long did it take you to figure out what to do?

Kim 29:32
The diagnosis was like in August 2008. And that I had the surgery in February 2009. And I had decided to do that probably by Thanksgiving,

Scott Benner 29:44
and the time living with it. I'm super interested in the psychological aspect of this, like, do you have that there's something in my brain feeling or does it not? Go like that?

Kim 29:56
I so I kind of there's a situation like this Probably from living with diabetes for a long time, at that point already, like, you know, you just kind of roll with it. Like I named the tumor I named it Manny. And so like my co workers, and I would like talk about Manny, like, how are you feeling about Manny? And I'm like, I'm gonna go like, evict Vanie what I was going to go get surgery done, you know, so it's just like, you just kind of like, go with it. And I didn't get too overwhelmed or upset because it was like a research project then. And I like research projects. And

Scott Benner 30:36
it Kim's like, it gave me something to do.

Kim 30:41
Yeah, yeah. And yeah, so I didn't get too overwhelmed or upset. And I just kind of, you know, went with it.

Scott Benner 30:48
You're married at that point? Yeah. Okay. Not a lot for your spouse to do.

Kim 30:54
No, he listened but, and helped make decisions. But he, you know, left it more up to me, because he's sort of, he doesn't want to take responsibility for other people's decisions. So like, he'll offer input, but like, ultimately, it needs to be up to the person making the decision. Yeah. He doesn't like telling people what to do.

Scott Benner 31:17
Does he not like getting yelled at later? Or does he not like,

Kim 31:22
I don't? Well, probably both. But I think it's more like he doesn't want to feel guilty later. If someone it's interesting. Like what happened? Yeah,

Scott Benner 31:29
no, that's very interesting. Did you know, of course, you would have no way of knowing this game. But when I was very, very young, and Kelly and I were only married for a few years, this opportunity came up to buy the house that we live in now. And it was at the time, a great piece of property and a really the house. And so the price was right. And I said, you know, we could sell our condo and make, you know, we can make some money. Our condo appreciated crazy. Like the first year we lived in it for reasons I still don't understand like it by the way, and the price went like right back down again. Like we somehow just took a bunch of money out of it laughed, and then people were like, they're not really worth that much. I was like too late. We're going. And so anyway, yep, years later. And I mean, years later, my wife says, I didn't want to buy this house. And I was like, what you could have mentioned that years ago, and she's like, now you seemed like something you wanted to do. And that's what it made me think of when you said that about your husband like, like, like, what if like I didn't, by the way I had no, it never occurred to me that that's how she felt. Yeah. And so was really interesting. And we've talked about that more. As, as times gone on, not just here, but I've heard about on the podcast, and people talking about how sometimes it's interesting. People can feel unheard, and not say anything. And the person who has a more I don't know what like, like, defined position can say like, Oh, I think we should paint the garage blue. And you're standing there thinking, I don't think we should do that. But you don't say anything. I think you agree. And you think I don't listen to you. Such an interesting thing.

Kim 33:22
Yeah, I have to be careful with that with like my husband. Yeah. So we've been married since 2006. And together since 2001. So it's been a long time. And this has been a thing that has developed is, I think a lot of the time like, so we're very both very independent. But like, there's certain things that each of us care about more than the other one. So a lot of the time, like, if it's something that he cares a lot about, and I don't have a strong opinion, then I'll just go with what he wants. But if there is something about it that I'm like, I don't think we should then I will say that. But then so I think it works out because then we aren't we don't not say something when we do feel something but generally we just let the other person who cares more. Do the thing that they care for. Have

Scott Benner 34:09
you ever done the thing where nobody speaks up? And you're 35 minutes into a movie or a meal or something and you realize no one wants to be there. I think that's hilarious. When that happens. You're like wait,

Kim 34:21
yeah, definitely hasn't with movies. Yeah, we're was like, like, halfway into it. Like is this is pretty bad. And

Scott Benner 34:27
you're like, but you want to come? You want it to come? Yeah, so Okay, so how did they get that? How did they get money out of your head? Through your ear? They go through your nose, your eyeball socket? Well, what do you do?

Kim 34:43
There are different options. So I had the retros sigmoid approach, which is when they go through like the base of your skull of the back of your neck behind your ear. So he like So another option would be to go through the ear, but then you are automatically losing your hearing that way. And I still had pretty good hearing in that side, it was my left side. By the way, we haven't said that yet. It's my left ear. So we didn't go with that approach. And then there is like an overlay over the top of the ear. I felt what that one's called. But we didn't do that one either. Because of where the tumor was located, it wouldn't get a good angle. So we went in from the back the bottom back. And so they drilled a hole in my skull. And then they, I don't know, move some stuff out of the way. And went in there, behind my ear and removed the tuba. How long does that take? It took a very long time. I think I was in surgery for like 10 hours. Holy

Scott Benner 35:51
Christ. Wow. Was Derek Shepherd there. From Grey's Anatomy Derek Shepherd. Renowned brain surgeon. I've never watched. Stop. What do you highfalutin? You got big ideas? That's crazy. 10 and a half hours? Did you feel like what's the recovery? Like?

Kim 36:12
It was a lot. So I woke up and I felt okay, like, I wasn't really ever in a lot of pain. But obviously, they're giving me pain meds and steroids, which when you have type one diabetes is a problem. And I think I was like, so that was an ICU. And then, so then a bunch of like, crazy stuff happened. So this is where like, the story gets more interesting, really.

Scott Benner 36:43
Fascinating. But there's more. Yeah.

Kim 36:46
It turned out. I lost my hearing in that side. So like, that was kind of a bummer. But I've adapted. We can talk more about that later. Yeah, so but then, okay, so I woke up and I'm an ICU and my husband and my parents are there and then then they leave, I don't know. It's like, the later that night, and then it's a little bit later, and I wake up and I'm being shuttled on a gurney, through this green hallway, this darker green hallway. And I'm like, what is happening? And they're like, we're taking you to get a CT scan. And I'm like, what's going on? And so apparently, I had been like, obviously, I had been intubated while I was under general anesthesia. And then I think they had on disk, I don't know, taking the tube out. But then I developed breathing problems later that night. And so they are taking need for a scan to see if there is something physically wrong. In side of me. I don't know where exactly. So then I got like, re intubated. But I didn't need it to like breathe for me. They just put it into like, hold open the airway.

Scott Benner 38:12
Oh, my goodness. Yeah.

Kim 38:15
So that was kind of scary, because I was still like, kind of out of it. And then I just remember the greed hallway. And then so I think I was worried that I was wearing my insulin pump, and that they were taking me to get a scan. And I was like, the insulin pump can't go in the scanner, you know, like, they're like, looking at me like I'm a crazy person. And because I am not wearing an insulin pump, and why am I talking about that to them? And I just remember that and they were all kind of annoyed

Scott Benner 38:45
by that. They're probably like, Lady your airways closing, we don't prioritize, shall we?

Kim 38:51
The next day, my husband comes back to the hospital and he's like, what's going on? And they're like, We they didn't call you last night? He's like, No. And they're like, Oh, well, she cuz she stopped breathing. He was like, Why didn't anyone call me?

Scott Benner 39:07
I love married people. He's like, Yeah, she'll be fine. I'll go home, though. It's no big deal. He

Kim 39:12
couldn't stay there. Anytime to take care of the cats.

Scott Benner 39:18
I'm trying to get to these animals. Everyone in the whole thing. By the way, I want people to give me credit right now for every time you say the word hearing, I don't go What's that? Because I there's a five year old inside of me that wants to pretend I can't hear as a joke every time someone brings up hearing and I hold it inside. Okay, so thank you.

Kim 39:40
Yeah, that'd be a lot.

Scott Benner 39:41
Oh my god. It would be it'd be like a drinking game. Like you know, and, and I didn't know you lost your hearing from this when we started. Yeah, yeah, I did my gosh. And it's like, is it gone? Gone? Like there's any percentage of it?

Kim 39:56
Um, no. So there's the The hearing nerve got destroyed in the process of removing the tumor that was wrapped around the all the nerves there. So they did, they cut the balance nerve because it's easier to adapt afterwards if you have no balance there versus a damaged valance nerve, and then the hearing nerve, they tried to preserve it, but it was only a wisp by the end of it. And so I lost, I lost my hearing and like a hearing aid doesn't help or even like a cochlear implant like that would not help because there is no nerve from which to derive hearing on that side, if that makes sense. So the only thing I could do is this thing called a Bone Anchored Hearing Aid where you get like a little nub thing drilled into your brain or not your brain, your your skull on that side. And then there's a little amplification thing that would pick up sound. And then like, you know, those like, like bone conducting headphones, it's like that. So then you would, you can then hear what's happening on that side in your other ear. Because it's going through, it's being conducted through the bone in your head. But that has always freaked me out because my problem is like directionality. Like, if I'm in Target, and you're like, Hey, Kim, I'm over here, I have to spin around to look for you. Because I can't everything always felt sounds like it's coming from my right side. So if that doesn't fix that problem, like that's my biggest issue. And so like, I don't want to have more stuff. Board board on to me than I already have with diabetes. So

Scott Benner 41:43
you don't want to hear better, but still direction on the directionally Yeah. Wow, boy, that's crazy. Yeah, so then

Kim 41:50
like when I'm in a crowded place, like it is a little anxiety ridden when I'm like, doing like a happy hour or networking thing. And like I like I just have to like look to see like, I have to apparently look to see if there's someone on my left side, like talking to me. And then I can like, turn my head and hear it. Like I asked them to repeat it. And I turned my head all around so they can put it into the correct ear. So it's that's a little annoying. But it hasn't. There's only been one time that I know of that like someone at work was sitting on my left side, like at a lunch. And then later they were like, I thought Kim didn't like me, because she just ignored me when I was talking to her. And then then later I was like, no, no, no, I can't hear you. I'm sorry. I have like, See, the problem is it's also hard to know what to tell people that you're deaf on your left side because like so like the first thing I want to do when I meet someone who's like, oh, by the way, I'm deaf on this side. But then like I get through it, and then like I get to know them more. And then I've met up with them a few times, and then I still don't tell them. And then I'm like I should have told them already. Because they would be like happy to know that so that they're not making my life harder by always being on my left side, you know, so it's just like, a whole thing.

Scott Benner 43:11
And then on the diabetes on top of that, too, like when do you tell people you have type one? When do you tell people like, Are you do you not? And I actually

Kim 43:19
I think I tell people about diabetes quicker and sooner than I do about being deaf of the left. And

Scott Benner 43:26
I assume that passive aggressively if you're pissed at your husband, you give him your left side. And he knows that means I'm not listening to you. No, no.

Kim 43:35
Oh my god, Kim, but if we're like out to dinner, like I'll put him on my left because he knows that I can't hear him on that side. And then I can use my good ear to hear everybody else better. And then like the he and I don't really talk at dinner and you know, like, I need to hear the people that we're meeting up with not I don't need to hear him.

Scott Benner 43:54
What a sad little look into marriage that was for people younger than you, Kim. Like when I go out to dinner with other people. My husband, I put my husband in the spot where I can't hear him because we weren't going to talk anyway.

Kim 44:06
It works. There's

Scott Benner 44:07
like a 25 year old right now going what? Wait, what happens if I get married? Oh my gosh. How? Yeah. Oh my gosh, it's so much are you okay? Yeah,

Kim 44:21
yeah, I'm good. Um, but then it gets the plot thickens later. No, stop it. Yeah. Oh, wait, but I gotta tell you this one part after surgery. So like I was in surgery for so long in what they call the park bench position, which would be I guess, if you were like sleeping on a park bench, I don't know. So I was like my head was twisted to get to that part of my head and I was like laying down. And so I had I ended up with like a pinched nerve in my neck. And then my left hand was known when I came out of surgery. And it took a couple of months for all the feelings to come back in My hand. How was your

Scott Benner 45:03
diabetes control as a young person? It was good. And what does that mean?

Kim 45:10
I would say like, like a one see what like what would

Scott Benner 45:14
be Yeah, yeah. I mean, your outcomes. Like,

Kim 45:17
I would say, I was like, you know, during the troubling, like puberty times, you know, it was like probably the sevens but other than that, like,

Scott Benner 45:27
not crazy. Yeah. Not crazy. No, no. Okay. Well, I'm looking at the park bench position right now, and it doesn't look comfy. Yeah,

Kim 45:36
I can't imagine having been in that position. But if

Scott Benner 45:40
you don't, if you don't mind surgery, photos, Google park bench position and go to images. Wow, that's bonkers. Yeah, model months for you the feeling to come back? Yeah,

Kim 45:52
like it has the nerve. It was like my pinky came back last because that's the furthest away from the nerve. I guess that's what happened. I don't know. Anyway, but then. So then this other funny thing is like, because I was like, in that position for so long. Like, my body was just like, so stiff. And so eventually, like once I could get up out of bed and start walking around, like, I couldn't turn my head because my neck was just like, stiff, like so stiff. And so I would be walking. And then I'd be like, what? And I would turn at the torso and be like What the So I was like this weird like

Scott Benner 46:30
Frankie cyclists body? Yeah. Walking around now.

Kim 46:34
Yeah. And I kind of had to learn relearn how to walk, because not like I couldn't walk. But like, I didn't have a balanced err on that side. And so then you start walking, not in a straight line side of practice, like walking in a straight line or walking up and down stairs, which is really actually difficult, like down is harder than up because you have to like work against gravity to like, stay upright when you're going down stairs. And so it was like a process of a few months before I felt pretty more comfortable just like walking around. And I was out of work for six weeks after and

Scott Benner 47:11
a number of things that you just don't, you don't even think about ever like the idea that as you're walking downstairs that if you weren't controlling your body, your body would just tumble forward. Yep. That's interesting. Is this about the time your husband redownloaded his dating app? Like there's no way she's making it through all this? I got to do a couple of setups and meet some ladies.

Kim 47:33
No, I'm very resilient. No, no,

Scott Benner 47:35
you are God. Damn right. That's insane. Okay,

Kim 47:38
so then I'll say fast forward as well. So they had some MRIs afterwards that everything was like they was good everything. We got it all. We got it all. They said we got it all. Okay, fast forward to that was 2009. Fast forward to 2015 I start having facial spasms. What is that? Like you meet you want to know? Okay, so the left side of my face would scrunch up from the my mouth and chin up to like my eye and the whole like cheek area with just like crumble in. And it would be stuck like that for like 20 seconds. Like, this seems weird. Yeah. And it would happen when I was like, stressed, or I was laughing or to something, or brushing my teeth, like something would trigger the muscles, and they're just crunched up. So go back to the doctors at Johns Hopkins. And they are like, Well, I mean, look, look in here. Look at this scan like this, this area is lighting up, but it's just scar tissue. See, it's just scar tissue, look at it over the time, scar tissue, scar tissue or like, okay, and suddenly, like we could do Botox so that your face can't scratch up? And I'm like, No, that doesn't, that seems to not really, really fixing the problem that's treating the symptom. And then they're like, Well, maybe you had like, the herpes virus in your head. That is like causing the and I was like, What are you talking about? Like, okay, so that was a problem. And hopefully it was getting worse. And so then in 2016, we moved to Colorado. And I was like, Okay, well, I need to establish care at somewhere out here. And also, maybe these other new people will have some better ideas about these facial spasms that I'm having. So I go meet with like the same kind of doctor here. So there's a there are two surgeons there's the odo learn, like neuro otolaryngologist, which is like, the more like in the brain, ear, nose and throat doctor, surgeon guy, and then there's just like a neurosurgeon who's good at surgery in the brain. So I met with another like otolaryngologist here. And then he was like, that's very suspicious like I know your doctor from Hopkins because we we like, get together we have these, you know, conferences, that all these doctors get together at an eye like I know your doctor. And I'm really surprised that he's telling you it's scar tissue because I think it's regrowth and I'm like, okay, so then he wants me to give him all of my MRIs from inception through now. And he's gonna look at them all in like succession and see what he thinks. And then he takes all of my scans, then to the skull base tumor meetup that they have at the University of Colorado and shoots Medical Center. And so all of the rest of the doctors there that do what he does all look at my images, and they're like, yeah, it's regrowth I sorry, that your doctor at Johns Hopkins. I don't know if he felt like, it just couldn't be because he was there. And he thought he got it all. And it was like an ego thing. Or he just didn't think like, I don't know, but you have regrowth. And I'm like, okay, great. So then I talked to him about doing surgery a second time. And I talked to a radiologist guy that at University of Colorado about doing radiation, he's like, Oh, well, now you're a good candidate for radiation, like, oh, I don't want to go through all this again, okay, so then I, I decide, I'm gonna do something a little crazy. And I'm gonna submit my stuff, my scans and situation to Stanford University, because I know that the doctor there is like one of the best in the whole field. And he does both surgery and radiation. So he should be able to give a better opinion versus just what he wants to do. And so then I started went out there. And at the time, my brother lived in San Francisco, so it was really easy. And so my brother went with me to meet with Dr. Chang there. And he was like, here's the thing, you should have radiation, because first of all, like, no one wants to do surgery on someone else's surgery. And really, you don't want to do it again, on your own surgery anyway. Because like, you like when someone goes into that small of a space and does surgery, they're like messing up all the landmarks of how you know where anything is in the in the brain in the head. And like, and they leave it a certain way that someone else doesn't like and if they like, if they sometimes they will, like rebuild the structures in your brain, like using bone dust and things, which I think my surgeon did do. And so like that just like makes it even harder for anyone else to go back in there and figure anything out.

Scott Benner 52:59
I imagine they get in there. They don't even know what they're looking at them. Yeah, yeah. So

Kim 53:03
he was like, No. And also, like, You should do this thing that so they at Stanford, they invented this thing called CyberKnife. So it's like the next generation of radiation machines were so like the first generation or even before that a Linac machine like all these things like you can't move when you are getting zapped in a certain spot. And the way they do that is they would screw a steel frame into your skull, and then they hold it in place. So you can't move once they figured out where the radiation beam should go in your head. But that's kind of scary, and I didn't really want to have a steel frame screwed into my head. So what they invented at Stanford is CyberKnife and what that does is you still have a thing that holds you still so it was like this, like face mask kind of thing like this, it was like this plastic mesh, that like they warm up and then they drape it over your, the front of my face. And then that whole like it makes a mold of my face to then put back onto me when they're going to do the zapping and then that gets screwed into the table that I'm laying on. So they can't move but also the way that they invented the CyberKnife is that it is continuously readjusting its position like it knows what it needs to aim at. And then it can like readjust or stop if the person does move. Like if you sneeze in the middle of it like it will just stop. And so it was like this new thing. And so I was like okay, I that all makes a lot of sense. I agree with you. I think this is the place to do it. So then I went back to Stanford around Thanksgiving of 20 16 No, no, no, no, no, it was Thanksgiving 2017 We went back to Stanford, and had CyberKnife radiation done for the regrowth

Scott Benner 55:13
people should look it up. It's a really interesting looking device. Really, really kind of amazing that somebody came in

Kim 55:19
it. Like I only needed like 24 minutes or 20 minutes of radiation. And then I was done. Wow. And I had nothing. Like, there's no I had no issues afterwards. And then the really funny thing. So there's the doctor that I met with who was like the head of everything. And then there he works with the radiation surgeon to like to figure out like how many units of radiation they're going to do and how to like program the machine to do it. And that guy, so I had been reading on the acoustic neuroma forums that like people still get prescribed steroids after the radiation. I was like, I really don't want to deal with steroids. So I asked that the radiation guy I was like, so I've seen that like, all the time people take steroids after, do I really need that. Like, because I have type one diabetes that just makes everything hurt. And then he gets this. He was like, I also have type one diabetes that I totally understand. And no, you don't need steroids, we usually just give them to people. So they feel like they got something.

Scott Benner 56:25
Oh, wow.

Kim 56:29
We're like, Yes, this is awesome.

Scott Benner 56:30
Finally, I get more people on my team. Yes. Yeah. Really crazy. And through this whole thing, you know, in between these big events, you doesn't have any impact on your blood sugar or your management or the way you have to deal with your type one or not particularly?

Kim 56:48
No, I mean, once I was still a steroids, I, yeah, nothing was really impacting diabetes. About

Scott Benner 56:55
that. So is that kind of what you meant earlier, when you said that? You're I mean, you didn't come right out and say you're grateful to have diabetes. But that's about what you said. You said, like, prepare you for this, I guess is the question. I

Kim 57:09
would say, in a way, because I'm the like, I'm accustomed to dealing with things that I can't change. And that are like, life impacting medical thing? Yeah. So I think I just, it wasn't like a new thing to have something to deal with basically.

Scott Benner 57:30
Like, I think some people live their lives expecting like, a straight path with no impact and no impediments. And you're accustomed to being somewhere and your blood sugar getting low or having to remember to do something before you do something else, or change a pump on your way out the door. Like that kind of stuff. And so when somebody starts laying obstacles in front of you, you're like, alright, well, we'll just go pet will get past these things. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's perspective. That's really crazy. Wow, Kim. Yeah.

Kim 58:01
So now I am what, like, 657? I don't know. See, I am not good at math up until now. No, you don't need to know math to do accounting,

Scott Benner 58:15
you need to know the laws.

Kim 58:18
Yeah. So anyway, I have had periodic MRIs as follow ups at different intervals since then. And so far, see, I thought that I'd be like, freaking out about having radiation because I want to know everything right away. Like, I'm like, I'm very impatient. And I want to know everything. And this is going to take time for it to like, do its thing. But I haven't been as worried about it as I thought I would be. And actually, I don't really ever think about it at all. So but on the scan since then, it has been the tumor has been like shrinking a little bit. And like, looking like it's dying, which is what it's supposed to do. So it will just be a dead thing in my head. And that's, that's okay.

Scott Benner 59:05
Well, and you don't see them other places like they haven't appeared on your spine or other places like that. So honestly, it's a lot of good news. Yeah, yeah. All right. So you're telling me that the other week as I was leaving my accountants appointment, because he was preparing our taxes, and I asked him this question, and he pulled out a calculator. And I thought, That's not difficult math. Why did he just grab a calculator? I'm not the only one. Oh, interesting.

Kim 59:32
Like for also the software like a lot of time like I work in Excel a lot. Excel is gonna add it for me. I don't need to add up all these numbers or, like in the tax software, like you just need to know where to put in the numbers and it will do its thing like, I don't need to do a lot of manual adding, except with the years sometimes

Scott Benner 59:52
Kim This is reinforcing my idea that society is being held together with a lot of luck.

Kim 1:00:00
In computer theaters,

Scott Benner 1:00:01
how can here's a question for you? I have no overhead I won't the government helped me. It's not my fault that I built a business that needs a few $1,000 worth of equipment and a room in my house. Why am I being punished? I am being punished, aren't I?

Kim 1:00:24
Um, you can hire someone to do

Scott Benner 1:00:28
I talked to the guy about that. And it's not a one to one thing. It's not like if I pay someone $1 I save $1 No, not directly, right. So if I hire somebody, I lose more money.

Kim 1:00:42
You could gain time. Oh,

Scott Benner 1:00:44
that's what every accountant says. And that's bullshit. I don't need time. I need to buy a house on a mountain one day or, like more probably more likely pay for like some lady to change my diapers. That's probably what I'm really saving for. Right? But right, you're like, Yeah, probably.

Kim 1:01:05
No, we have to like we don't have kids or like, what are we gonna do?

Scott Benner 1:01:10
Well, those cats are just going to each other not going to help at all. Yeah, can you imagine if at the end, you're just like, Oh, no. A bear is gonna find this eventually. I guess that would work out and the rheumatologist moved out years ago. Yeah. Oh my gosh, you have a four by four like a four wheeler like an ATV. No.

Kim 1:01:31
Other people do. I don't know that we need one. At this point. We upgraded to a Ford Bronco so that we have more of a check truck kind of car.

Scott Benner 1:01:42
fair to people moving up into the hills, the locals there's no way the locals like you in my right.

Kim 1:01:48
I had jury duty last week at in this county. And there. I had told them that I had just moved here because I ended up on the jury. And then you have to like tell them about yourself.

Scott Benner 1:02:00
And we're like, oh, we know who you are. Don't worry.

Kim 1:02:04
Then the one guy like he lived there his whole life and he's talking to this other guy. And here's like, the yuppie years I'm like, I know I'm a Denver yuppie. I guess I just am a Denver Yuffie it is what it is.

Scott Benner 1:02:16
They're already spreading like Bear stuff on your house to draw them to you. They're like, we'll get rid of these people. No trouble. Wait till they wake up to a bear standing in their driveway leaning on their Bronco. There'll be out of here in five minutes. We can have the place back to get to turn your house into a commune garden. No, oh, yeah. I mean, what would grow in Denver? Nothing right at that height. It's ready. Maybe some sort of a pine tree. Okay, so a couple of things. I'm glad you're okay. I have no recourse tax wise. Is that what you're telling me?

Kim 1:02:51
No, make less money and then you won't have

Scott Benner 1:02:53
to pay as much tax I have to tell you. It's interesting. When you hear somebody say something like that, like, you know, really, if you pay if you made less money, you'd pay less taxes and I'm like, okay, okay. So I shouldn't try to be successful with it. I know.

Kim 1:03:07
I know. It's it's not fair to the normal people that this is how it works. I'm

Scott Benner 1:03:13
not wealthy. By the way, Kim, I don't want to give off the impression that I like there's piles of money in the corner. I don't know what to do with them. Like, you know, like, it's not. It's, yeah, I worked my butt off all year when I get done. I'm like, This is what's left. Okay, no, I understand. It's like it's you know what, it's enough to make you want to do keep working. Oh, yeah. You go I better. I had other ideas though. It's like, it's enough to make you go I bet. I guess I better keep going. Because yeah, that didn't do it. So. All right. Okay. Well, that's just nobody and you charge a ton of money to now what I'm understanding is to plug my information into a spreadsheet.

Kim 1:03:51
Hey, we cost less than lawyers that

Scott Benner 1:03:55
how you make yourself feel better can

Kim 1:03:59
be sometimes where we go oh my gosh.

Scott Benner 1:04:02
Well, I guess I should have been a lawyer is what you're telling me? Maybe as podcasting things not paying off the way I was, like, hoping you know, is there anything we didn't talk about that we should have or any other directions you want to go? Well,

Kim 1:04:14
you didn't ask me about other autoimmune in my family and I did research on that.

Scott Benner 1:04:21
I definitely want to hear that I was busy being proud of myself for not going what every time you said hearing and for not making a joke about a head injury when I knew you had a brain tumor. So because you said something earlier and I was like Oh, is that because you had a head injury? And I was like that's not even a good joke. I'll hold that in. So you have well how about you first of all, do you have anything else?

Kim 1:04:43
I'm just the allergies. Yeah, I don't really have for you, but bad

Scott Benner 1:04:48
enough that you're getting like, like what like one of those wants monthly injections?

Kim 1:04:53
Yeah, allergy shots. They like put in the they put it in the shot like a little bit of the thing you're allergic to and then you're supposed to Be desensitized over time.

Scott Benner 1:05:02
Does that work?

Kim 1:05:04
It worked for my brother. So he's always been like, why don't you get allergy shots? And like, I don't want to go there all the time to get a shot. Like, I don't care about getting a shot, obviously, but I don't want to go there all the time. But

Scott Benner 1:05:16
I'm busy stealing money from people to do their taxes. Yeah. Hey, before we dive into this is your year, like very busy for a short period of time? And then what do you do when it's when tax season is over? Well,

Kim 1:05:29
okay, so I used to work in public accounting. So that was where I did people's taxes during the tax season, like January to April. And then the rest of the year, I did audits, mostly of nonprofit organizations. And so that kept me busy the rest of the year. So I was like, busy year round. And then after that, so I did that. I worked at that firm for like eight years. And then I worked at a firm here in Denver, where they only do audits of nonprofit organizations. Because I thought like that I wanted to be with people again, which I don't and then it was hybrid. And I was like, why am I going to this office? This is a waste of my time. Yeah. Oh, so then I quit that after eight months. And now I'll just I work at JDRF in the finance department. Oh,

Scott Benner 1:06:28
that's very nice. Look at you. Yeah. Can you just divert some of that money to the podcast? Or is that illegal? That's probably Yeah, that was probably illegal. Okay. Nevermind. Well, that's interesting, because I always like I imagined my like an accountant, as a person who just like after tax season's over, just sits there and goes, I hope nobody gets audited.

Kim 1:06:50
Well, the people who only do taxes like that is kind of what they do, but I don't like being bored. So I just like sign up for all the work you could possibly do at

Scott Benner 1:06:59
the firm. Very nice. That's excellent. Okay, so, allergies to pets. Yes, no, thyroid. Celiac. I do not read a Lago. No. Any bipolar in the family? Yes.

Kim 1:07:14
My dad. And he has Parkinson's now, which I think is like they're trying to figure out if that is auto I

Scott Benner 1:07:24
mean, at some point, I imagined in the future that people will use this podcast as part of a research study about bipolar disorder and its relationship to autoimmune issues. That's, that's fascinating. How was it growing up with a bipolar father? Well, we

Kim 1:07:39
didn't know it until, like, 2007. What precipitated it? He had a period of? Well,

Scott Benner 1:07:53
you're laughing you're like, he wrote a mountain lion down the middle of the road. And it didn't seem scared Scott. And we know ya know

Kim 1:08:01
what, he had a manic episode that then we all found out about what he was doing in his free time, which wasn't really ideal. And then and he like, my mom was in the hospital for double knee replacement surgery. And he, like, basically, like, he was like, I'm going out with my friends. And my brother and I were like, you don't have friends? What are you talking about? Then my brother went on the computer to figure out where he was going. And then we found out what he was doing. And then he lied to us. He was doing and then Mom gets out of the hospital and then she finds out more about what he's doing. And it's yeah, that's what we found

Scott Benner 1:08:46
out came out and do you know the phrase tickle your ass with a feather?

Kim 1:08:52
Repeat more like what my dad was doing?

Scott Benner 1:08:53
No. Let's see. That's that's what you just did you. You just tickled my ass with a feather a little bit. You didn't You didn't give me the whole thing you just gave me enough for I was like, Oh, there's more but she's not going to say just please. broad sweeping. She was going

Kim 1:09:07
to to dungeons and doing things. Excellent.

Scott Benner 1:09:13
Yes. Wow. Good dad. Yeah. The guy that takes out the garbage. And that guy, my dad who's a pastor. Thank you, Kim. I didn't know that. But I appreciate you sharing that.

Kim 1:09:26
Now this is turning into after dark. Okay.

Scott Benner 1:09:29
Because we talked about taxes. It's what Wow, yeah, sorry. When did that like moment lead him to get health care or did that moment lead him to be like I'm done with your people.

Kim 1:09:45
That moment led him to get more health care and get more that was like the beginning of all like he takes like 30 Some pills a day now. So that's like the beginning. thing of that process. sounds

Scott Benner 1:10:02
easier just to let somebody tie your balls up of the thing, but I mean, okay. The 30 pills is a lot. Well, it's Parkinson's and everything. Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. All right, right. Wow. That's how often does that come up at family events?

Kim 1:10:20
Well, it's not, we never have really like, talked about it a whole lot as a family. And I talked about it. I talked with my mom a little bit, but we never really talked about with my dad. And at this point, I don't think he even really

Scott Benner 1:10:33
know not like he was doing. So I didn't mean with him. I meant like when you and your brothers sitting together, do you ever just look at each other? And go, Hey, how about that time, we found that dad was going to a dungeon periodically

Kim 1:10:45
as every couple years really? That was?

Scott Benner 1:10:53
Does it make you worry about your mental health? Do you think like, Oh, I am looking out for that for myself? Or is it one of the reasons you didn't have kids?

Kim 1:11:00
Sometimes I think about it. So my brother also had OCD. And so like, I am generally a very anxious person. So I don't think I need to worry about it. Like I've talked to people and they're like, you don't need to worry about it. Like, also, if you were doing something, if you were being manic and all that, like we were totally like,

Scott Benner 1:11:29
Did you in hindsight, do you look back and see his behavior being different? Or was he just masking it somehow? Yeah,

Kim 1:11:37
he was masking it and also that we just like, like his narcissism and all that kind of stuff. Like we just thought that was how he was like, he kind of fly off the handle at times when I was growing up. And, like, I just thought that was just how he was but now like, knowing that he has bipolar disorder, I think that's what it was, but we just didn't know that. I'm

Scott Benner 1:12:01
so disappointed that I said, masking it not gag balling it. Really. Okay, that must mess with you. Know, no therapy. Kim, you didn't go talk to a therapist about this. Um,

Kim 1:12:14
I have talked to a therapist, but we haven't like, it's more just like, that's part of my whole thing. I don't need to unpack it. Yeah,

Scott Benner 1:12:21
I mean, I don't know what you do is what it is. Yeah. I mean, I have to imagine that. I mean, everybody's parents are doing something they don't know about your thing is just comically odd. That's all like you don't have Yeah, when you hear about it. Yeah. Wow. I had to a bit shocking moment. Boy find your iPhone really screwed him over. Is that right? Like is that? Well, it

Kim 1:12:45
was it was that he kept his password to his Gmail or Yahoo mail or whatever, like on a sticky note next to the computer. And so then my brother was able to figure out

Scott Benner 1:12:56
any chance that the password was titty Twister.

Kim 1:12:59
I don't know what it

Scott Benner 1:13:01
is. By the way, I found a way to say a lot of words that you're not supposed to say. But I've said them in ways that are acceptable. Isn't it interesting? Like I could say like, bounces balls. That's okay. I don't have to bleep that out. But if I said something a different way, you wouldn't be able to continue twisters, a colloquialism, which is the word you used earlier. So I'm okay with that. And I could have said Purple Nurple. But I think that's too old and that people wouldn't have gotten that one. Holy hell. That's a great story. Kim, you should be a stand up comic. By the way. No, no, no, no, no. And then because every time people don't like what you're saying you would turn your left side to them and just pretend it wasn't happening. I really see. I think you've got 15 minutes and you easily.

Kim 1:13:46
Yeah, I might. I

Scott Benner 1:13:47
might. No kidding. And your husband is he just scared off to the side waiting for this ride to end or sleeping okay with the office.

Kim 1:13:56
He's okay. Like he and my dad never got along.

Scott Benner 1:14:01
That's okay. Because your dad asked to spank him and he said no problem. No,

Kim 1:14:05
it was because my dad he's he like because we were in Ohio and then my dad. We're gonna move to Chicago after graduating from college. And then my dad was like convinced that he was my husband. Not my husband yet was going to take me to Chicago and abandoned me. They're

Scott Benner 1:14:25
like a western film from the 1870s Don't let them move you to the Dust Bowl. He'll leave you for another woman. Yeah,

Kim 1:14:32
that was the joke that I was. Right. And like this time, I was like, now my TED thinks that he's gonna take me up to this rural house and oh,

Scott Benner 1:14:43
well, that might be right about it. He's you're definitely getting fed to a bear. And he's your husband like, I don't know what happened. Actually. It's good thing you recorded this because when you turn up dead, they're gonna use this. So be careful and you won't hear the bear coming. So you're in trouble. Get an amen. Do you ever think About I would I have to be honest with you, if I move somewhere where there was a bear, I parked my car on top of the front door, dive out the front door into the car and drive away.

Kim 1:15:09
I think you just don't want to leave food outside, which we have not been doing. So I think we're going to be okay.

Scott Benner 1:15:15
Okay, I'm just saying people moved out of the woods on purpose. You know, I'm saying that you went back. You did a lot backwards. You used to be by the way people made money to get away from wildlife. You're like, no, no, no, I've made some money. I'm gonna go back to the wildlife. All right. Well, I hope this is a by the way. Did you say Bobcat or mountain lion earlier? Did I say that? I

Kim 1:15:34
did. No. Those are both options to the could show up.

Scott Benner 1:15:38
What about snakes? Um,

Kim 1:15:41
I don't. I don't know.

Scott Benner 1:15:42
Don't make me google it and ruin your day cam?

Kim 1:15:45
Well, it's okay. It's fine. Like there's there's rattlesnakes, like, Oh, my trials and things. Oh

Scott Benner 1:15:52
my god. It

Kim 1:15:53
just depends on your elevation whether or not they're going to be there because they I'm past eight under tree line. But I think we're still under treeline here. So they're definitely going to go there could be snakes out

Scott Benner 1:16:05
there. Yeah, absolutely insane. What you just said made me think, like, I don't know why Denver's not a desert. If that's the truth, like I don't go where there's a snake. That doesn't happen to me. I can't I can't tell I'm not doing I'm not doing that. I just don't. I don't understand what you did. Like, I'd be like, well, that's why the house is for sale. Because the man who woke up one day. And there was a bear beating a bobcat with a snake and he's like, I can't live in this weird animal sex dungeon anymore. I gotta get out of here. And he sold it to us suckers. That's all I can say.

Kim 1:16:44
Yeah, we're gonna put up a fence. That'll help

Scott Benner 1:16:47
him. I don't know what to name this episode. Don't be like, because if you think about it, you were a little nervous in the beginning. So let's start off a little nervous.

Kim 1:16:58
No, no, I was.

Scott Benner 1:17:00
I felt nervous. What's the word? Not nervous? You didn't open all the way up yet. You made just a little intrepid like at first, right? So we get

Kim 1:17:09
you kind of can. Like this is how we ended up where we are now. Yeah, sounds like oh boy. I don't know

Scott Benner 1:17:15
yet. Because voice in your head. That's like, somehow this guy is gonna find out about my dad. That's when there are people who won't come on this podcast. They're like, I know what's gonna happen. You're gonna get you're gonna get me comfortable. And we're gonna start joking and talking. And the next thing you know, I'm gonna say something I don't want anybody else to know. And I'm like, Yeah, that's the whole point of the book. I know. You think the points diabetes? You know, I mean, loosely. Oh, yeah, I guess I should ask you at the end. Do you pump you have a CGM?

Kim 1:17:46
Um, yeah, I have a tandem and Dexcom. Using the

Scott Benner 1:17:49
control IQ. Yes. Excellent. works well for you.

Kim 1:17:53
It's okay. I hope that there's a time when you can turn off the auto correction when you're in exercise mode. Oh,

Scott Benner 1:18:03
okay. So you get moving. Running from a bobcat, and your blood sugar starts falling too quickly?

Kim 1:18:12
Well, it's like, it'll be like when I'm going out for a bike ride. And then I eat a snack. But then you know, the exercise. Didn't use the snack yet. And then it boluses but I'm like, No, I needed those carbs. Like I'm gonna need them in 20 minutes. Why did you give me insulin? I didn't want insulin on board.

Scott Benner 1:18:32
I gotcha. So you would like it to be a little more intuitive? Yeah,

Kim 1:18:36
because otherwise, like, what I had been doing is just turning off control IQ, but then you don't get the low protection unless you turn it back on like after, right? Like you remember to turn it back on. So that was a problem. But I have heard that that will be a new software feature on the next update, so maybe they will be doing

Scott Benner 1:18:56
okay. Hey, my last question is, is there any chance you're left handed?

Kim 1:18:59
I am not left handed.

Scott Benner 1:19:02
If you could teach yourself. Here's why I ask. Because first of all, I've never given this advice to anybody before that I'm out of my depth. But I think you should have a gun. Oh, that I think you should teach yourself to shoot left handed so that when it makes the noise doesn't hurt your that's what I was gonna say. This year. I'm being serious. This is my best advice for you after speaking to you for an hour and 20 minutes. You have you have a gun.

Kim 1:19:24
No, but now I have to tell my husband that you you think we should because everyone else he's told thinks as crazy but he thinks that like either we are going to need one for an animal attacking the dogs or something or there's just like, like, we're in the middle of nowhere and someone could just drive up the road and end up at our house and then be like, yeah, and then we have no protection from someone attacking us at home.

Scott Benner 1:19:53
Have you ever seen Pulp Fiction, Kim?

Kim 1:19:56
Um, that's a good question. I Don't know.

Scott Benner 1:20:00
Well, Kim, first of all Pulp Fiction is the best movie anyone's ever made. You should watch it. But there's going to and I don't want to ruin it for you now, but I'm just saying you could end up in Zeds dungeon in your own house and yeah, again, I want to shut down at the very least I know nothing about guns by the way, first of all, but I think I think a shotgun like a little just something to like, maybe put a little buckshot in something can get them out, get them moving a little bit, even a little bird shot. Maybe you don't I mean, just to you know, get them get them thinking the right way. Also, your husband's clearly going to shoot the dog instead of the bobcat.

Kim 1:20:34
No, no, no.

Scott Benner 1:20:35
So your husband said he thinks maybe gun. He has mentioned it a few times. I'd have one if I was you. And floodlights on the roof. That was like, Oh my God, I don't know what you're gonna die up there. That's all I want to say.

Kim 1:20:52
That's okay, it's it's pretty. I like it. Well,

Scott Benner 1:20:54
let's see this and being really serious. Yes, absolutely. Rock solid internet connection.

Kim 1:21:01
Oh, yeah. It's a dish that goes to a tower and because there's so high up, there's like nothing in between us.

Scott Benner 1:21:10
Oh, my God, you've got the best connection. And I was panic because at the beginning you were like, Why didn't want to go in that room? Because the garage door is shaking because of the wind. And I'm like, this lady is living on a fishing trawler somewhere. I don't know what's happening. Exactly. But my goodness. What a listen. Being serious. Congratulations on the new house. I'm sure you won't die up there. anytime soon. Oh, no, no, I'm sure it'll be fine. Yeah, but that's really it's really I think it's interesting the moves you made like and I and it also shows I want to be serious for a second. Okay. You don't have like there's no I don't you're not scared of life is what it feels like to me. Again, it almost feels like to me like you're like look, I got diabetes. I'm okay. At this thing grown in my head. I'm okay. I'm gonna move up to the top of the mountain now and try this like I really Yeah, I'm envious a little bit of in the free in the freeway. You did this thing?

Kim 1:22:05
Yeah, we're kind of like we're not risk takers. But we want to like make sure we live life, I guess.

Scott Benner 1:22:13
No, you live on a mountain with a bear. You're a risk taker. Alright, so let's get a shotgun. And let's get let's talk to somebody who knows about not the people in town because they're already pissed. You're there. But like, you know, I may be a big knife. You like a like a like, I don't know, in case you get into a tussle? You might need to ship something. I don't know, Kim. Like, how did Daniel Boone do it? Daniel Boone was somebody right? Like, how did he do that?

Kim 1:22:43
I always just think of the Revenant and Leonardo DiCaprio fighting like grizzly bear. But these would be black bears. So it's not Oh,

Scott Benner 1:22:51
yeah. It's much easier to beat up a black bear. You'll be fine. You don't know what you're talking about. Kim, you got to get on the internet and properly scare yourself. Maybe all right, you're gonna have like a 12 gauge. Like five minutes from now. You're gonna be in the Walmart like I need a gun. Hello? Anyone? They're gonna be like us. Another one of these ladies buying a gun. That Bronco has never been offered. That's what they're gonna say. Would you pull? Oh, my God, Kim. You're terrific. Thank you so much. I appreciate this very much. Thank you. Yep, hold on one second for me

well, a huge thanks to Kim for open and honest interview. And we're also going to thank us met us med.com/juice box or call 888-721-1514. I'd also like to thank contour makers of the contour next gen blood glucose meter, and remind you to go to contour next one.com/juicebox To get the most accurate meter that I've ever used. Check out the Juicebox Podcast private Facebook group Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes. And of course if you're an apple podcast user, head into those settings, and choose all new episodes. Thank you so much for listening, and for supporting the show. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast next week, December 11 12th and 13th. What are you getting? What are you getting? Brand new Omni pod five content. Make sure you're subscribed and following

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