#1084 Dryer Balls

December 13, 2023Scott Benner

Rachel has type 1 diabetes and a great story.

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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 1084 of the Juicebox Podcast.

Today on the Juicebox Podcast, I'll be speaking with Rachel, she's 31 years old, and has had type one diabetes for just a couple of years. This episode goes in so many different directions, I can't really explain it to you here. Rachel has an interesting diagnosis story, and so much more. While you're listening. Please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan, or becoming bold with insulin. You will receive five free travel packs in a year supply of vitamin D offer free with your first order of ag one at my link drink at one.com/juice box. And you'll save 40% off of your entire order at cozy earth.com When you use the offer code juice box at checkout. If you're looking for community and support, or maybe have a couple of questions, can't find the answer to check out Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes on Facebook. It's a private group with over 43,000 members. And there's a conversation happening right now that you will enjoy

this episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by Dexcom, makers of the Dexcom G six and Dexcom G seven. You can learn more and get started right now with my link dexcom.com/juicebox. Today's podcast is also sponsored by us med us med.com/juicebox or call 888721151. For us med is where we get our diabetes supplies from and you can as well use that link or that number to get your free benefits check and to get started today with us med.

Rachel 2:06
Hi, I'm Rachel from Maine. And I have been a type one diabetic since January of 2021. So it's been a little over a year.

Scott Benner 2:22
Oh, that's very recent. How old are you?

Rachel 2:26
I'm 31.

Scott Benner 2:28
Rachel, did you get in the game late?

Rachel 2:32
Oh, yeah, it's a it's really special. How it happened?

Scott Benner 2:36
Is it a story? I think

Rachel 2:40
it is absolutely a thing.

Scott Benner 2:41
I want to hear that.

Rachel 2:44
So it's kind of complex, and there's a lot of parts to it.

Scott Benner 2:49
It's okay, I can pay attention.

Rachel 2:50
I'll okay. Oh, I'll say in the fall of 2021. I was having some insane like the ability eating back pain. And it has to do with like bulged disc and degenerative discs. I've, I have a terrible, terrible spine. And it was to the point where I couldn't walk, I couldn't drive. I'm in grad school. And at the time, I had to withdraw from a class. It was intense. It was it was really painful. And the doctor prescribed oral prednisone a steroid. And it worked. I was able to actually have some quality of life for like a week. And they renewed that prescription for the next week. And kind of midway through that next week, I stopped taking it even though it was making me feel better, because I was up all hours of the night using the restroom and just getting really thirsty. And it was like really just distracting. Almost more so than like pain wouldn't be so yeah. So that basically it was sort of the start of some of my symptoms was just like the excessive drinking and urination. Can

Scott Benner 4:12
I can I can I jump in and ask a question real quick. So I have experience with this. So oral steroids. Prednisone can make your pitch as they say. So they did they tell you that in the doctor's office?

Rachel 4:32
Yeah, no, that was like a like a Yeah, that was like normal and everyone who I've talked to they're like, yeah, no, that can make you happen. So like I really didn't think anything of it.

Scott Benner 4:40
Were you the part about being up at night was just for the bathroom or were you all jacked up like I don't mean like Arnold Schwarzenegger at so.

Rachel 4:48
I don't think I was all backed up. I was able to get like back to sleep immediately. Very sleeper.

Scott Benner 4:54
Okay. Got it.

Rachel 4:57
It wasn't really until I had a calm friends like I was October, at a conference in Chicago in December, and my husband calls me he's like, You want us to spend $800? What did you just buy? And I'm like, Oh, I can't drink the hotel water. So I just bought you and I was there for five days, I bought orange juice and apple juice, and like gallons of water. And like daily, I was drinking gallons and gallons of liquid of all kinds. And this is like, day and night. And I just, I couldn't stop drinking. And at the time, also, I was like, looking back, I was starving to death or starving myself. And I was just snacking all the time. So yeah, I racked up like $800 grocery bill. Just like mostly like 90% liquid.

Scott Benner 5:54
So this is an important distinction to me. Did you buy these things through the hotel? Or did you go to a store to get them? No, I went to a market. Okay. You know, because through the hotel, it could have been a Twix bar and a bottle of Evian for $800. So I wasn't sure but you but you. Oh my gosh. What do you think your house by the way, if you ever asked your husband what he really thought when he saw that he's like, Oh, she's cheating on me. Is that what he thought?

Rachel 6:16
Oh my god. No, he thought I was just bawling out like a gift shops and stuff. And I'm like, pulling out of the gift shop. Yeah. What do you think I'm getting? diamond plated?

Scott Benner 6:30
I have so many spoons that say the Windy City on it. We're gonna give him his gifts for years. When you see what I've done. I know. Okay.

Rachel 6:41
He was. He wasn't impressed. I mean, yeah, I did come back with souvenirs but not not to that extent. How

Scott Benner 6:48
long is this excursion at the mini market? Uh, from the steroids. Are you still on the steroids at that point?

Rachel 6:56
Yeah, no, it was like, two months later. And within that two months, I again, it was just, I was so thirsty. And I was just snacking all the time. Going to the bathroom like 12 times a night. And basically, when I got back from Chicago, like my husband looked at me, he's like, you've lost a lot of weight, like in your face. He's like, I can see it. I lost 10 pounds from October to December. So you know, like, at that point, I'm like, Yeah, we were actually kind of joking. Like, yeah, I probably have diabetes. Ha ha ha. Not not funny. Wait, you

Scott Benner 7:36
really thought that? Hold on? Hold on. Rachel, you thought that what made you think that?

Rachel 7:41
Well, my, my, my niece, she at the time was recently like very, very recently diagnosed with type one nice

Scott Benner 7:52
on your side of the family. Nice on your husband side of the family.

Rachel 7:56
So right, okay, this is where things get kind of muddy.

Scott Benner 8:01
We found someone steal this girl from a mall. And we're trying not to let anybody know.

Rachel 8:08
It's on my side of the family. But she basically it was, how do I say that? She got it from her father, my brother in law. So I kind of knew like my sister. You know, she's been married to her husband for a long time. So I kind of like knew like diabetes, but right when my niece got diagnosed, you know, we the whole family was just kind of like aware of like, oh, here are the symptoms that she has. Is that the other thing? Yeah. So that's how I sort of kind of like, oh, diabetes, like this is kind of similar to what she had. But there's no way because there's no one in my side of the family that actually has type one. So you know, that's impossible. Can

Scott Benner 8:53
I ask another question while you're lamenting? Does your sister have any autoimmune diseases or any women on your side of the family or men? No, no. Okay. Because I mean, your brother in law still gotta mix this thing with the lady. And then so it's hard. It's hard to say it just comes from his side or not? You don't I mean, but yeah, that's true. Yeah. So I was just trying to pick through it to find out. Also, before we get too far away from it, I just want to tell you how jealous I was. When you said that you came home from a trip, and your husband noticed that you lost 10 pounds that you looked very skinny, because I've been losing weight recently. And I went to the dentist office, and I had lost 13 pounds, and I walked in, and I just was like, I'm just gonna wait for my accolades. You know, because I'm, I'm tight with the people in the office, and I walked in and talking and talking and no one said a word and I was like, Oh my God, I've lost 13 pounds and no one can notice.

Rachel 9:51
Oh my god, like,

Unknown Speaker 9:53
I definitely need to lose more if this is happening.

Rachel 9:56
I mean, I don't know I I feel like you must be like this. You're like really close, then you have a lot of dental work done.

Scott Benner 10:03
I mean, I have a fair amount of dental work done more than my fair share, by the way, if God is listening, definitely. It just was upsetting. I was like, damn it, like I wanted to. I wanted someone to like, look and go, Hey, I can tell that thing you're doing is working or blah, blah. They were just nothing. Damn it. Anyway, you just 10 pounds on you. And everybody's like, Oh, she's dying. I'm like, great. Well, yeah, I

Rachel 10:27
don't know. I'm I not. I have never really been like on the heavier side. So I think it was. It was very,

Scott Benner 10:35
I hear what you're saying to me, Rachel. Okay, go ahead. Yeah. All right. I'm fat. Do not go ahead. Tell the rest of your story. Go ahead.

Rachel 10:44
Oh, my gosh. Oh, well. All right. Yeah. Back Back to my niece and my sister. Yeah. Yeah. So again, this is December. Christmas. My, my sister's like, hey, why don't why don't you just try the fingerprick we'll see where we at. And I was on board. We were going to do it. And then I don't know some events happened. And you know, just Christmas how Bob we've basically like, never got to it was kind of on everyone's mind. But again, it was almost like a joking. Joking kind of fashion. Weird. Yeah. And then, and then I'm like, Okay, I'm going to make a doctor's appointment and in that's January, right. And I roll into my primary care physician. I just ate a granola bar. So I'm sure that like, really, really spiked it up extra extra high. And I walk in and I tell the doctor, all my symptoms, everything that's happening. She does the finger prick blood test, and I just read high. And she she was fresh, like two years out of out of her, you know, residency and everything. And she just comes in just like white face and like bait, like very visibly freaking out. Really? Like, Oh, yeah. And I'm like, What's up? She's like, you have diabetes. And I was like, oh, like, Oh, that makes sense. Yeah. We've

Scott Benner 12:19
been joking about this in my family for some months now. So yeah, well, is this I'm sorry. Also, this is Maine in January.

Rachel 12:30
It is and yeah. So like, you know, we're rugged. It's rugged, and you go places, even in a snowstorm. But the medical system up here is not great. And that's part of my story. Okay. She this doctor is wonderful. She's fabulous. And I hope she stays we there's a problem up here. Good doctors not staying? Well.

Scott Benner 12:51
I'm assuming people, people walk outside in the wintertime and think to themselves, I should move anywhere but here. And then they leave I would have think. Don't you think so? Were you born there?

Rachel 13:02
I was. Yeah, I'm a native. My husband is from South Boston. He fell in love with the place and me. So he's up here. But I don't know. I feel

Scott Benner 13:16
like if you're from there, you don't know. You're in the Four

Rachel 13:20
Seasons and not being near other people. It's the place for you.

Scott Benner 13:26
Do you want solitude and leaves? Because if you do main has it. Doctors. No, we don't have those. But so So okay, so she comes in. She gives you the news. You're not shocked. I imagined but still upsetting.

Rachel 13:40
Yeah, yeah. No, it definitely was one of those legs. Surreal moments. I'm like, oh, okay, this is official now. So she she kind of goes in and out of the room. She's calling her like her mentor from like, her residency or whatever, like, just to basically get advice for this because she's never dealt with it. And at the same time, I'm texting my sister who lives in New Hampshire. And I was like, hey, ya know, I just got diagnosed. My agency is like, 14 point something and she's thinking of sending me to the ER, immediately my sister like is on the road. She's like, alright, I'll be there. We're gonna go good. Three hours away from one another. And she's She packs up. Yeah, it was a whirlwind.

Scott Benner 14:31
Oh my gosh. So her daughter, her daughter has type one for how long at this point.

Rachel 14:37
She was, I think maybe like five or six months. Before I was this must

Scott Benner 14:46
have been more upsetting for her than it was for you. Maybe even maybe she just felt I

Rachel 14:51
think so. And but I mean, she got she was so great. She came and she you know in Er at the time it was, you know, we know, visitors or guests were allowed. And it was almost like busting down the door because the folks at the ER were basically like really ticked off at my doctor for even sending me there.

Scott Benner 15:16
Because the COVID know,

Rachel 15:18
just because they thought I should have gone directly to an endo. And what

Scott Benner 15:23
was your your, your blood sugar was high, it was over 500 At least. Yeah, I

Rachel 15:27
don't know what it was. But it was high, I think. I think it's a yar. I forgot if it was like, five or something. They read, maybe

Scott Benner 15:38
the doctor was like, I would like this lady not to, like go into decay and die. If you were you. Were you. Were you in decay? No,

Rachel 15:46
but I if it's possible, I think that I did have an episode at my house like the week before. I don't know if like, if that's something you can go in and out of. But there was certainly a period where I thought I was, it was like a quick. I don't know, maybe like three hours of just complete suffering. shakes and other things I won't mention but yeah, I don't I don't know. But at the yard? No, I was not I was perfectly fine.

Scott Benner 16:16
So how do they handle at the ER? Are you on a IV at this point? Are they talking about bringing your butcher are they busy arguing in the backroom like saying like, we have to kick this lady out of here because we don't want to do this. Now let's talk about the Dexcom g7. The Dexcom g7 is a small and wearable continuous glucose monitoring system. It sends real time glucose readings, to your Dexcom g7 app or the Dexcom receiver. Use my link dexcom.com forward slash juicebox. To learn more and get started today, you will be able to effortlessly see your glucose levels and where they're headed. This way, you'll be able to make better decisions about food, insulin and activity. Once you're able to see the impact that those variables have on blood sugar, you'll begin to make more purposeful decisions and have better outcomes. My daughter has been wearing a Dexcom My daughter has been wearing a Dexcom product for so many years. I don't even remember when she started. But today she wears the Dexcom G seven and it is small and easy. And oh my goodness, are you going to love it dexcom.com forward slash juice box, you can head there now and click on the button that will get you your free benefits check or just hit that other button that says Get Started. When you use my links, you're supporting the production of the podcast dexcom.com forward slash juicebox.

Rachel 17:43
Well, both they were like almost like hesitant to give me the IV. In there's no background. It was all in front of my face. And I was like, okay, like, can you not talk like that in front of me? So yeah, I did get an IV to bring bring it down a bit. And then I got sent home with no plan with no insulin with nothing.

Scott Benner 18:10
Did they set you up with a doctor?

Rachel 18:13
No, no, my primary care is working on it. And when I say some of the doctors in Maine are not great. This is like kind of where that comes in. Definitely like the Endo. All right, it was a group of endos kind of the closest ones that could get me in. And they it was almost like a no response for two days. So I was I was two days without insulin without plan. And this is like where my sister like really? It was awesome. And then we finally got to the end of

Scott Benner 18:50
what's the endo pissed at the hospital? Yeah, actually,

Rachel 18:54
I'm in again, this is like I told you this is complex. There's a lot here. So I when we all sort of ask my husband, my sister and I get to this end. He reads my records like in a back room. And I will say in November, I had a corticosteroid injection in my spine. Because I was again at the point where like, I could barely walk and I knew I was getting on that airplane to Chicago. So I did have a an injection. So he comes in he big graph dude. And doesn't even look at me doesn't even sit down. He just walks in flipping papers and says you don't have diabetes. You just have residual effects from your steroid injection.

Scott Benner 19:44
Oh, great. Perfect. By the way, I googled it and it says people from Maine are friendly, but it says Maine is home of some of the friendliest people in the US. I guess they just don't work. Yeah, I guess they just they're not people you've met So far through the healthcare system.

Rachel 20:02
Yeah. And, and you know, I think in general, yes, there's a big group of people who don't like people from away because I don't know why I think just weird cultural, cultural differences. But I think a lot of people do like people from a way because that helps our economy.

Scott Benner 20:22
I just think you're, I think it's too cold that it makes people mean, that's all I'm saying. Okay, so now the doctor says to you, Oh, silly. You don't have I'm being nice, because I'm pretending he's nice. I'm assuming he was talking to his fees. Like you don't have diabetes. Have a look at here. And I looked on the paper. Here it is from the start with. And so did you at first thing, great. It's excellent. Oh,

Rachel 20:44
no, I was like, pretty ticked off. I'm like, Who are you coming in here? Not introducing yourself or being passionate whatsoever? Like, who the heck are you? I was like, really instantly kind of took off? Yeah,

Scott Benner 20:54
plus your blood sugar was high. You were probably extra. Like,

Rachel 21:00
two days, just like, plus

Scott Benner 21:02
Rachel, none for nothing. You're from Maine. You know what I mean? So I think we're learning.

Rachel 21:09
No, so I was like, I started having intense symptoms. In October after my oral steroid. I think that you should reevaluate. And he said, okay, and left the room. And then he comes back in? Well, I think because he, he was upset, like, I think he mentioned with with my doctor's office, and later on my doctor's office said, Yeah, this endo was like mean to our, like, secretaries and to the doctor here, basically reaming her out for even suggesting that I go there is so he comes back in. And now he sits down and looks at me and says, I think you have type one diabetes thing.

Scott Benner 22:00
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, good job.

Rachel 22:05
Like, okay, thank you. So, you know, then he proceeds to, you know, order all the antibody tests and or whatever all of that stuff. And history from there.

Scott Benner 22:18
I wonder what he did while he was off figuring it out? redoing his because Intas maybe you've read the whole file there. That's fascinating. So for people who are wondering, what is the link between prednisone and diabetes taking prednisone can make the liver resistant to insulin, raising blood sugar levels and potentially leading to steroid induced diabetes? Steroid induced diabetes is more similar to type two diabetes than type one. I don't know what they mean by that. People who use prednisone face the risk of developing type two diabetes, that's what they mean by that. I don't see any. I don't see any literature here about steroid use to type one. But, I mean,

Rachel 23:04
yeah, um, I took a dive into like, scientific literature. Like, immediately after, and I found a few papers. Yeah, I for for my specific case, the right the antibody tests. There's like one, one, main one, I don't know what they are. But there's like one kind of Biggie in that that's the one that that determines if you're, you know, kind of black and white type one, type two, I think. And then there, there were like three more, and I was like, off the charts for those like, random three, but the one that was like, Are you type one or type two. I I wasn't that wasn't, that wasn't horrible. So and I guess like those, whatever those three are, I wish I was more.

Scott Benner 23:53
Okay. You had the you had the GAD anybody? Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I didn't care by then Scott. Yeah,

Rachel 24:02
I don't know. But I basically In short, I had three of them that were like significant type one. Like you have it. Okay.

Scott Benner 24:11
Yeah, you have it that's they should call it the you have an antibody. That's That's it actually. Presence of Gad antibodies is observed in 75% of people with type one diabetes diagnosis. Wow. Yeah. All right. Well, so he's your sister with you through all this or did she just come in patch on the head and leave?

Rachel 24:32
Absolutely not. So she and I don't know I'll say to your listeners, because I'm sure when this comes out her interview with you will already be out.

Scott Benner 24:46
My name is Rebecca. Let me look at the file shirts

Rachel 24:49
charity. I'm sure she talked about me. She was basically like my guiding light and I know she'll she'll she's listening. Thank you, Becca. for everything, because I was basically the doctor the endo just threw into the fire. And, you know, here's some insulin, you know, and I didn't have a ratio or anything. It was, it was just crazy. So my sister came with all of her, you know, kind of educational materials for her daughter. Sure. So like she has nice, like, infographics and like, colorful charts. You know, it's like, parents of kids. So it's what her her daughter, her daughter's endo gave her. It just helped break things down and helped me understand all the different, the nuances in it a year in and I'm still trying to understand some of them, you know, on my fridge, I still have kind of the, you know, the graph of how does protein versus fat verse, you know, like sugar like, how do they all kind of make your blood glucose spike or

Scott Benner 26:05
a new world and a lot of things to to figure out. Hey, real quick. Is Rebecca's last name hyphenated? Yeah, yes, yes. Okay. Then Should hers will be out about three months before yours. Oh, cool. Yeah. I don't know what to call it because I haven't heard it since I recorded it in February. And I haven't edited yet. So I'm not sure what she and I talked about to be perfectly honest. I wonder if she said horrible. Wouldn't it be crazy if she's like, my sister, Rachel? Oh, my God. Listen to me. What a pain in the ass. Those doctors were lovely. And she did nothing but just give them trouble the hold?

Rachel 26:38
Oh, yeah, that's me. I'm a rabble rouser.

Scott Benner 26:43
I did want to ask you like, this is going to be maybe a probing question. But do you have a lot of experiences with people that go the way these went? Or no.

Rachel 26:54
In what context like

Scott Benner 26:55
doctors, though, just in general, like you meet a person, they kind of like, you know, they're gruff to you. They didn't quite give you like, like, I mean, I'm looking at a picture of you. You seem to lightful but I'm wondering if there's something about you that like rubs people the wrong way and you don't know it?

Rachel 27:10
Oh, I absolutely have a resting bitchface Oh, bleep it out. That

Scott Benner 27:17
that words, okay. It's good. That's not one of the words I have to bleep. Does that happen

Rachel 27:22
to you? Not frequently. Okay.

Scott Benner 27:24
All right. I just didn't know if maybe like you were just like, I don't know. Like, had an aura around you. And people were always like, just scared of you or something like I'm scared of my wife. No, I yeah,

Rachel 27:34
I think I'm just like, again, I'm pointing fingers at the medical system. A few years earlier, I had like an emergency room visit for like a rupturing internal abscess. Very similar to one of your episodes. The like, Periodontal abscess? butthole.

Scott Benner 27:50
Adjacent, you're referring to my favorite title. Yes.

Rachel 27:55
Exact same weird thing.

Scott Benner 27:58
Wait, you're in the same place? Yeah. Oh my god. Yes.

Rachel 28:04
And the CAT scan the first time showed it. And they sent me home with Vikon and it didn't touch it. And so I went back to the ER different er. So that's why I'm saying like, sorry, everyone who like wants to like, live in Maine for a certain doctor or something. This doesn't apply to you, but

Scott Benner 28:24
I don't want to get off track but I'm trying to imagine a pain near my butt that is not touched by Vikon. That must be terrible. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Okay. All right. So I can't believe I can't believe I've met two people. This has happened to me is absolutely the highlight of my day. But

Rachel 28:41
me No, I like I made my husband like listen to like a part of it. I'm like, Look, I'm not alone. He's

Scott Benner 28:48
like, Oh, that guy stayed too. Yeah, I gotta go. I can't I can't I'm not good, but I'm sorry. Goodbye. I did. I really did love you. I gotta go though. Terrible. Well, I'm sorry. How long before the type one diagnosis was that? Everybody who has diabetes has diabetes supplies, but not everybody gets them from us med the way we do us med.com forward slash juice box or call 888721151 for us med is the number one distributor for FreeStyle Libre systems nationwide. They are the number one specialty distributor for Omnipod 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 reached 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.

Rachel 30:43
Two years. Yeah, okay. Yeah. Okay. Talking with my doctor, the primary care and, and sort of like my education, my, my PhD education. I, we've both sort of kind of concluded that the type one was likely caused by the oral combination, not just the steroid, but you know, either viral or bacterial. Like infection at one point that, yeah, likely mutated something. And then the prednisone just kind of flipped the switch and turned it on.

Scott Benner 31:22
Interesting. How's your back?

Rachel 31:26
My back is great. I bought an inversion table actually really helps.

Scott Benner 31:32
No kidding. You and I have such a similar story. So Rachel, let me tell you that my back has been troublesome most of my life. And it wasn't until well, also, my wife got me to inversion table for Christmas last year, which is very nice to hang upside down. If your back hurts at the bottom. By the way, they're not expensive in case Rachel and I seem like, you know, we're like, let me tell you about my cold punch tub. Yeah, they're like 200 bucks. But, but anyway, it does help just to kind of like, accordion out a little bit. But you know, what helped me the most because I've had this exact experience as you were I had to go on prednisone for something else. And my back pain just completely disappeared during it. So this is gonna sound really crazy. Probably. I think I fixed my digestion. And I'm eliminating on a better schedule. And because I'm not, I don't want to say this. Because I'm going every day. I really believe My back doesn't hurt anymore. And I think it's because of that. I feel like, look, what I know about the inside of a person's body is nothing because I didn't go to college work. But it feels like when it feels like when I'm storing poo, my back gets tight at the bottom.

Rachel 32:53
Oh, yeah, you're expanded. And? Yeah, well, most nerves utilize that. And that sort of makes fun. Listen, I

Scott Benner 33:01
could be out of my mind. But if you gave me $50,000 And made me bet on it, this is what I would bet on. This is what I've come up with. I don't have 50. But if you gave it to me, like Scott bet on this one way or the other, we have the answer. I'd go with more frequent elimination has reduced and almost completely taken away the lower soreness, the soreness in my lower back.

Rachel 33:22
So it sounds like science to me. Yeah. So

Scott Benner 33:26
my question is, are you constipated often?

Rachel 33:29
Oh, no. So no. I

Scott Benner 33:34
know what you said. That was hilarious. Like, no, that's not a thing. Don't worry.

Rachel 33:39
Yeah, no. Anyway, but no, the tables great. I recommend anyone 10 out of 10. Like if you need surgery, try it first. I think if you have high blood pressure, it's not it's not good for you. Because

Scott Benner 33:51
your head will pop or something like that. Yeah, yeah. Well, that would have been the table wouldn't have given you a diabetes for sure. So what if you fell off the inversion table? Hit your pancreas and got I guess you could do you ever, like have that feeling when you flip back? Or do you like it's not going to hold me and I'm going to fall on my head and die. Do you ever think that? Well,

Rachel 34:12
I don't fully invert. So. Oh, no kidding. I don't feel like I'm that risky.

Scott Benner 34:17
Gotcha. I like being completely upside down. Really? Yeah. I like do you know what the hardest part of it is, is to like, you have to isolate in your mind your hips. And like, let go. I don't know if that makes any sense to people. But like, yeah, you

Rachel 34:34
have to like deep breathe like you're gonna breathe. Hey, my dogs are barking outside. Can you hear them? Yeah,

Scott Benner 34:41
sure. Is. Is the Abominable Snowman there. Do you want to go help them?

Rachel 34:45
Yeah, I mean, that's, it's probably just a squirrel.

Scott Benner 34:50
Take your time. That's fine. I'm going to talk about the inversion table while she's going. Like you flip upside down and you can Still feel tension, like, I don't know, it feels like this is obviously not technical, but it feels like there's a hinge between your back and your hips and your lower back. And if you just relax in the right way, it just sort of your body stops holding it together. And then you get that like, the decompression happens. It just feels like pop up like that. It's very Oh, it's dreaming.

Rachel 35:21
It's dreaming. I got my father one for his birthday.

Scott Benner 35:28
It's helped. Yeah, no, I've, I have nothing but good things to say about it. When my wife gave it to me. I was like, Where are we going to put this? And she's like, well, if it helpful, she goes, give it helps you What do you care? And I was like, All right. Good point. So had a little bit of a thing, but you have diabetes. Now. Now, in your note, you talk about depression, did they come after the diabetes?

Rachel 35:49
Oh my gosh, I am usually a really happy person. Even though my face doesn't show it. Um, I was definitely I'd say like two or three months after, I was like, bedridden sobbing couldn't like I couldn't function didn't want to see anybody. I was extremely, extremely depressed. And I think part of that was hormonal, like, the insulin was kicking in and other you know, other things, but also like, I just felt so alone. I like was looking on like Facebook groups, like Does anyone else have steroid induced diabetes or like adult diagnosed and it's so hard to just find a community? I really didn't find any, any thing like that. So I was just feeling sorry for myself. And just, you know, I'm, I was 30 in my life has, it has changed dramatically? So I? Yeah, I mean, I would go grocery shopping. I'd look at the popsicles, and I would just sob. Like, it was bad. I'm way better.

Scott Benner 37:03
Like, did you like popsicles a lot? No. See, I kind of thought you were gonna say no, but because Oh,

Rachel 37:12
but it was like one of those things. It's like, I could never be on like one of those survival shows because I have diabetes. You know what I mean? Like, this

Scott Benner 37:22
got in your way of being on the 29th. season of Survivor, you were like, I was I was really gonna try out. But you can't be on Survivor if you have type one diabetes?

Rachel 37:35
I don't think so. I mean, I don't watch Survivor and no, I'm talking about more hardcore if you were sitting alone.

Scott Benner 37:41
Great show. Yes. Yeah. All right, hold on. Can I be on alone? With type one? Is that That's not naked and alone, is it?

Rachel 37:54
No, but I feel like any of those like, actual like, rah, rah, survival shows you you are really limited to what you can burn.

Scott Benner 38:03
Were you really planning on ever doing that?

Rachel 38:05
Are you No, no, no, my husband and I have been trying to get into, like, sign up for the amazing race. But that's not good. At times gone in our lives.

Scott Benner 38:18
My wife, my wife is like people would love to watch you and I on The Amazing Race. She's like, we would argue constantly. And I was like, I know. But all that running? Yeah, I mean, by not doing that. Okay, so it got in the way of things. This is very interesting, actually. Because you're upset about losing things that you've never had and didn't want.

Rachel 38:48
Yeah, I mean, but also the things that I've always had, and have had to adjust and change for, for instance, you know, and just like, you know, putting my Dexcom on and like, I did it wrong, and I have to peel it off, or something like that, like that would just trigger me going low. I would just get triggered. i It was just, I was a hot mess. And it will yes, no, there were definitely stupid things that I would get emotional about.

Scott Benner 39:20
Well, by the way, I did see here you can be on Survivor with type one. They will let you have your year. So it's not too late for you to make a fool of yourself on television for fleeting, fleeting fame and no money. Yeah. How did they start you like, what's your management like three sticks and a chipmunk? Or do they give you a meter? What do they do?

Rachel 39:43
It was just, I don't know. I think it was like 12 units each me at all. Here's a meter. How about it? It was like that for a long, long time, like months and months and months. And I'm like You know, just the education for my sister and talking with her like almost daily. And just like this isn't this doesn't seem right. And in some of the, I think the insulin he put me on it was just archaic. Like, all the methods were archaic. And he basically kind of calculated a ratio for me. And I started playing with it and started working. And then when I went back to this Endo, it was like, Listen, I want a ratio. And he basically was like, Yeah, I feel like I couldn't handle it. And I'm like, I'm a PhD student, like, I want to, I want to ratio. Give me one. Like, I'm not dumb, man. And so he finally gave me one. At what

Scott Benner 40:43
point if you having all these experiences the doctors, right? Like, is there a moment where you say to yourself, like, I'm not going to get what I need from them? Or do you keep feeling hopeful that I think there's just a quiet desire and people like the I want this to go, well, like, I'm gonna go and I'm gonna go to the appointment, they're gonna say a thing. I'm gonna do the thing, and that's gonna be okay. Like, it's hard to like, be I mean, every step of the way. You've described people kind of half helping you. And then yeah, so now that you're kind of, you know, you're like, Okay, I have diabetes, we got that part done. I'm past the, this isn't fair. And I got it because my stupid back hurt and all that stuff. Like, like, now you have to live with it. Do you not walk in there thinking? These are the same people who have dropped the ball every step of the way. And I'm expecting him to help me with what is now the most difficult part of this. What? Yeah,

Rachel 41:35
I mean, no, they're, they're nutritionist was really great. But I, I feel like I kind of grew that person. You know, it was just, it was also an hour from my house, their office. So I, for I think, six months, I was with them. And then I started calling around and hardly anywhere was accepting new clients. So I actually did find one that was actually a town over for me. And there's one Endo, and I only really see the nurse practitioner. But it's been a good, a good fit. So yeah, I left that first, endo after like six months, because it was just exactly they were not helpful. Not helpful, or just, it was not good.

Scott Benner 42:24
So you figure the whole thing out on your own with your sister, do you think or did someone finally like step up for you?

Rachel 42:31
No, no, I I attribute all that to Rebecca. She I mean, like the figuring out insurance with all the gear and the medication. And you know that she helped me every step of the way. Every time like you like you're my Endo. Because like she has, she has a husband with it. She has a child with it. And she has another child who's about to get it. It's a lot. So she's she's most knowledgeable person.

Scott Benner 43:06
Did you have trouble mining that information for yourself? Or were you just comforting but you just comfortable getting it from her so you didn't look hard for it on your own?

Rachel 43:16
Are you fishing for me to say I was listening to the Juicebox Podcast?

Scott Benner 43:20
No. Honestly, I was fishing. I was trying to be nice and ask if you're being lazy about it. But

Rachel 43:27
no, she actually, I will. I will say that. No, she she sent me a link to one of your like, I didn't know your intro ones. And it it was so helpful. Just to help understand, like, what does Bolus mean? And yeah, I mean, I I do research all day. And so I there was a big chunk of it that like I was doing research, but like googling things wasn't great. And I think I mentioned like there's no community around so I couldn't really find community. Yeah. So she she was a big help your This podcast was a huge help. I'm

Scott Benner 44:11
glad Thank you. I wasn't honestly fishing. I thought maybe you were just kind of like, doing the like, yeah, I don't want to do this thing. But somebody's helping me. I wasn't sure. Which, which because it mean if you were feeling depressed, and it was overwhelming, I could see you. I guess lazy was the wrong word earlier. But like if you were just not diving into, like,

Rachel 44:31
tapping out. No, that's not my personality. I I always I feel like I persevere and I hated that. I was really succumbing to depression. It was just you know, I worked through it. It was hard.

Scott Benner 44:44
No, I can imagine what makes you come on the podcast.

Rachel 44:50
Definitely to talk about the steroid induced stuff because it can happen. But also that I guess I could put a plug in At the end, kind of encourage people to consider clinical trials. Because I'm, I'm in a clinical trial right now, for what? Yeah, it's it's the called tn 27. topple. It's for type one, type one diabetes two just got diagnosed within I think it was like a 48 month time span.

Scott Benner 45:26
What are they looking for?

Rachel 45:27
Yeah, it. It's a plasmid therapy. So it's actually I had to go down for 12 straight weeks of injections. Plasma therapy, it's double blinded. So I don't know if it's if I got the placebo or the real thing. Well, based

Scott Benner 45:46
on your interaction with other doctors, I don't think they liked you when they got there. And they gave you the placebo. Right? They're like, No, that's not her.

Rachel 45:56
Yeah. No. And again, my sister encouraged me to kind of look into clinical trials. And I went on like a website, and it was just like, overwhelming and like, holy cow. Like there's a lot of diabetes research going on right now, which is awesome. And so I called the Joslin diabetes Center. And I was like, listen here, here's my story. I, I want to help with science. Like, sign me up for something. They narrowed it down to two and the one that kind of worked for my schedule, was that topple. Okay.

Scott Benner 46:33
Did they run that at multiple locations? Or is that at Yale? I'm trying to think of where that is.

Rachel 46:38
Yeah, they do. And they do. You can only participate at certain physical locations. So I had to travel from Maine to Boston. Often

Scott Benner 46:51
did your husband get to go home once in a while because of this?

Rachel 46:56
He, yeah, he He's stayed home every time. I have family that live outside of Austin. And so like I was able to, like go down the night before. Yeah, he stayed home. We have a farm. So you get to do

Scott Benner 47:10
the chores. Chickens. Chickens.

Rachel 47:13
We get every we have like everything. sheep, horses, ducks, chickens, pigeons. You name it.

Scott Benner 47:19
What is the purpose of this farm? Is it for pleasure? Yeah.

Rachel 47:22
Pleasure. Meet will eggs.

Scott Benner 47:26
Alright, hold on a second. You're getting wool from sheep.

Rachel 47:29
Yes. And meat. Sorry. No, no.

Scott Benner 47:32
Yeah, I'm not. Don't be sorry. And you see you took you take the wool and what do you make with it? Do you make those little wool balls that you put in your dryer to make fluff up your laundry?

Rachel 47:41
I do I wear really fun. Yeah. Yeah, those are easy. I don't really make yarn. But yeah, I do like some felted stuff. Honestly, I have bags of it just sitting. I haven't gotten to it. While I'm busy.

Scott Benner 48:00
You imagine if somewhere there's a hairdresser who does that with human hair bags and all up and holds on to it? How creepy with that there is Oh, that'd be like that's the makings of a great horror movie. Yeah, they capture you and then they make a hair suit up for you. And then they call you, whatever. Then they call you Sasquatch and let you go in the woods, then they hunt you. What do you think of that?

Rachel 48:23
It's hard for me to wrap my head around. But I think you've been very creative imagination. Thank

Scott Benner 48:30
you. Thank you. I personally am more impressed with the idea that I figured out you made dryer balls with the wool because honestly, that is a pretty big stab in the dark, don't you think?

Rachel 48:40
Yeah. Well, I feel like a lot of people it's it's just like one of the easy fundamental things that people sheep can make. Like, it's just so easy. So everyone does it.

Scott Benner 48:48
Well, Rachel, this is an indication of your life that you think everyone does that. Oh, really? Yeah. No one I know. Does that ever. You're the only one. Which is delightful. It's I was like, I was so interesting. You're like, oh, yeah, I do that. Like you said it so casually. I was like, Why is she not more impressed that I figured this out? Why is she not more impressed that I know what they are? You just know what they are. So you think it's like just a common thing.

Rachel 49:18
I mean, I don't know maybe I'm just I start I have people in my circle who maybe they're just like really crunchy granola people that have stopped using dryer sheets a long time ago. So yeah, I think maybe we should explain just like the inversion table. dryer balls are wool compact balls that you use in the dryer, in replace of dryer sheets. They do help with static, and

Scott Benner 49:40
they also kind of keep things fluffy because the way they keep things separated while they're drying and everything else. I want to remind people that I once wrote a book called Life is short laundry is eternal. That's not right. I think eight out of 10 people that are hearing this right now like I have no idea I've never heard about wool dryer balls in my life. If

Rachel 50:00
Yeah, no, they should try try it.

Scott Benner 50:03
Yeah, they should try. dryer balls. Multiple balls multiple. Yeah, I think we named your episode dryer balls by the way. Cuz out of context it's hilarious.

Rachel 50:16
It might draw some interest. Right

Scott Benner 50:19
and that down dryer balls. People would be like, I do have a problem with moisture. Let me see if I can find out. Yeah. Oh, I handle this. Well, they're gonna be so disappointed. 15 minutes into it when they're like, Wait, it's stuff you put the dryer. Right? Cool. Yeah, yeah. Oh my god. I used to work. I used to work in a sheetmetal shop. And it's very hot in the summertime. And I worked with this guy who was absolutely just one of my favorite people that I've ever met as an adult.

Rachel 51:00
Talking about dryer balls heater, just talking about like,

Scott Benner 51:03
at any point in the day during the summer, if you walked by me had like a big container of Ammons powder, and he was just jamming it down the front. Oh not even so sweaty, don't you think? I mean, you just was doing it constantly.

Rachel 51:23
Just like in front of people. He's just a carry. It was

Scott Benner 51:25
a sheetmetal shop or you eat all almost cut off one of our appendages and helped each other. Like there was no like, yeah, no, it was. You have like a little workstation. And you had your tools. And in the summer he had this big dispute. Do people know what admins powder is?

Rachel 51:40
I think you've heard of it. Did you all share it? Or was it just his exclusively? Yeah, it's

Scott Benner 51:44
insulting. I did not share. I did not share or close. Not that close. The neck of the thing had been down the front of his like it was probably bouncing on the top of his. You know what I mean? Yeah. So I mean, it just because he really shake. Oh, Amis has changed the bottle since I was 20 years old. That makes sense for marketing purposes. Oh, yeah. They still make it? Yeah, I don't. I mean, listen, I'm not a doctor. I don't know if you're supposed to sprinkle this on your bets or not. But this guy did that. And he seemed happier after he did it.

Rachel 52:20
Well, whatever works

Scott Benner 52:23
would come out of his bed like you could track him

laugh I've ever had on the podcast. You could track him by the little way. Trail of powder. Oh my god. Boxers, I'm guessing right. It's got to be right now that we're thinking about

Rachel 52:52
I mean, yeah, unless you like was really missing the mark.

Scott Benner 52:59
Okay, maybe he was putting it down his legs to keep his I mean, it was hot as I was. You know what I almost said it was hot as balls in there.

Rachel 53:11
Welcome to dryer ball. Oh, my

Scott Benner 53:13
God. Yeah, no, it was just, I mean, we worked in a really hot environment with machinery. And you know, there's no air conditioning. And, you know, like, I spent most of my life standing in front of a fan with a fan blowing 110 degree heat air at me. And I was like, oh, refreshing. So it was like a terrible job. That job made me not want to work for real. Like that. That job focused me on like figuring out something horrible and

Rachel 53:39
you open, like, you know, you've opened my eyes to what? That's like, and I too, don't ever want to do that. No, geez,

Scott Benner 53:47
definitely not. I mean, somebody's got to do it. And God bless you. If you're out there doing it. Thank you very much. But I did already and I put my time in. And I actually I've made parts for the space shuttle. I left school I once spent an entire summer, making a part that I guarantee everyone in here has been within three feet of it's just like so you know, when you walk through a door, and you step on the thing on the ground or a sensor and it opens. If you look, if you look above that door, there's a long aluminum extruded box. And inside of that box, there are parts and we made those boxes and the parts inside. So I very likely touch something that you've walked through the door. This is not a brag. It was worse, the worst summer of my life. But that's only because the way Arden was diagnosed this summer is probably the second worst summer of my life. But um, yeah. So you've all walked past something I've touched. I guarantee it. Anyway, I will

Rachel 54:51
forever think of you when I'm walking through

Scott Benner 54:54
an automatic door at the grocery store. Yes. Yeah. Well, thank you. I appreciate that very much. And the space shuttle which they don't use anymore. So

Rachel 55:02
which one? Oh, gosh,

Scott Benner 55:05
I don't remember it was the early 90s. It was for NASA. Yeah, we made some parts for them. We made we did all kinds of different stuff there. But, and then I worked in a paint shop for two years. So I'm probably not long for this world because if you think they made you wear things like masks while you were painting, in the early 90s, they did not make you do that. So I can't possibly live much longer. I think about that all the time, by the way. Oh, my God. Yeah. Like it was just I know, I'm out. I'm on my way out. And it's gonna be from that. So anyway, that's, but don't worry. I made $5 an hour. So completely worth it. Rachel. Hey, we're aligning. Yeah, and I know how to keep my nuts dry in a pinch. So although, although I've never done it, oh, my God. All right. What else? Rachel, is there anything else? We haven't talked about that we should have?

Rachel 56:03
Yeah, I don't know. I think I covered it.

Scott Benner 56:07
I was laughing so hard a moment ago when I was I couldn't get out about the trail of powder. I think.

Rachel 56:16
I think I like one of those last up crime.

Scott Benner 56:19
I almost went in audible. I almost thought like, I think she might think I'm not making noise right now. But I was laughing and I couldn't breathe. So anyway, that's because I knew what I was gonna say next. And I could picture the trail of powder moving through the building. Neither here nor there. I wonder if he's alive. He's probably still alive.

Rachel 56:38
Oh my gosh. Well, he was older.

Scott Benner 56:40
Because he was older than me. Oh, oh, I was like a child.

Rachel 56:49
Well,

Scott Benner 56:49
I'm gonna look him up on Facebook. If he's alive, we'll know together.

Rachel 56:53
If he's that much older than you would have Facebook?

Scott Benner 56:56
Of course he does. Everybody has Facebook. Hold on. Oh, oh, there he is. He's the Grandpop. Now, look how big his family is. This is so nice. He's still married. Oh, this is lovely. He's one of my favorite people. All right, I'll do that. Let's say he hasn't posted since December 2022. But that's not that long ago. He's probably still alive. I'm glad he's alive. Do you think he thinks about me?

Rachel 57:34
I have no idea.

Scott Benner 57:35
I mean, it's a nice opportunity for you to say something nice to me. But you just love it.

Rachel 57:39
I mean, you clearly remember him. And I, you know,

Scott Benner 57:43
I don't know. He still lives in the same place. I could creepy go to his house. I'm not doing some powder. He has such a just such an amazing sense of humor. And it was a hard working guy. Like he had a business that was very successful. And that he loved. And his business partner messed it up. And he lost, lost that business. And then ended up working in a sheetmetal shop, which was something he had never like done in his entire life. And I remember him doing it, but he was doing it for his family, you know, just helping his family and getting back into the world. But he I can hear his voice such a wonderful way about him. Anyway. Let's hope. Let's hope his balls are good. You know what I mean? Because I don't know if you're supposed to. I don't know if you're supposed to put that powder on him or not? You Yeah, you don't know either do for

Rachel 58:39
sure. I mean, I would I would assume he probably pass that knowledge down through the generations and so they're probably all all fine.

Scott Benner 58:48
I'm just gonna Google real quick. Can I put Ammons powder on my nobody's looked at me so far. Here you go. Preventing swamp crotch. plying talcum powder to my is, is applying talcum powder to my genitals harmful. How do I apply powder to my groin? Somebody asked that question. What do you mean how?

Rachel 59:16
I mean it it's kind of awkward depending on like the canister. Oh,

Scott Benner 59:21
I see what you're thinking about. You might have to lay down right. I mean, I guess Can you imagine if like you to walk through that room and he was on his back, like with his knees up in the air, like, hilarious. That would have been? Oh my god. All right. Well, I'll check on him. Make sure he's okay. I'll check on that. Alright. So how are you doing with your diabetes things going well, have you hit a stride or things where you want them? Have you changed how you eat how you think? Like, what have you done? Oh, yeah.

Rachel 59:52
Well, I do. I don't know if I got the real drug or I mean, I think I'm just assuming I'm still in the honeymoon phase. Because I hear it for adults it can last over a year.

Scott Benner 1:00:08
Are you not using much insulin? I

Rachel 1:00:11
use hardly anything at all. I actually ended up getting like a junior pen with a half doses real. Mm hmm.

Scott Benner 1:00:21
Yeah, you were in a CGM?

Rachel 1:00:25
I am. Okay. Yeah. Nope. No palm just MDI.

Scott Benner 1:00:29
Alright, and where's your a one say?

Rachel 1:00:31
Oh, do not know. I can't remember if it was like 5.8. Does that does that sound right?

Scott Benner 1:00:45
Are you asking me?

Rachel 1:00:48
Well, now I know you like having me wondering. I texted it to my sister.

Scott Benner 1:00:54
Like, does that sound right? I don't know. I don't know you.

Rachel 1:00:58
Yeah, I think it's like really good. Whatever it is.

Scott Benner 1:01:02
Yeah, well, yeah. Sounds like it's really difficult for you to achieve. So well. I

Rachel 1:01:07
mean, do you have a certain? Oh, go ahead. Do

Scott Benner 1:01:11
you have a certain feeling style? Like is there a way you eat or be whatever you want? Yeah, I

Rachel 1:01:16
really gotta eat whatever I want. And I'm a grazer, which, like, diabetes, you shouldn't be eating like that. But I think I'm so active. That it kind of levels out. Most of the time. I'm not I don't really eat a whole lot of carbs. Some of my dinners are pretty curvy. Do

Scott Benner 1:01:36
you get low if you don't eat throughout the day.

Rachel 1:01:40
I used to I used to, before I got this junior, like the kid pen was a half doses because like even there were some days like I give myself one unit. And that would just be way too much. It was crazy.

Scott Benner 1:01:53
And that's for basil or mele Bolus,

Rachel 1:01:58
the Bolus, my basil, they're there. I mean, I kind of go through periods of lesson more in there was definitely like, like a month where I really didn't have to use it. And I was like, Oh, I don't have diabetes. And then it's like, yes, you do.

Scott Benner 1:02:18
So has anyone ever said Lada to you? Say that again? Has anyone ever said Lada to you? La da? diabetes? No. Yeah. Listen to more of the podcast. So yeah, so Layton, oh, God, Layton, autoimmune diabetes and adults. latent autoimmune diabetes in adults has a slow onset. And so that, so sometimes adults take a long time to get to their insulin needs can happen. So yeah.

Rachel 1:02:50
Well, between that and this clinical trial, maybe I don't look that up. That's cool.

Scott Benner 1:02:57
Yeah, look that up. And the clinical trials, What's it supposed to? Like? If you get the juice and the juice works? What are they hoping it does?

Rachel 1:03:04
Yeah, they, they're hoping that the plasmid will basically like, communicate with the immune system and basically help stop the attack on the beta cells to basically like, stop the duration of immune system loss and possibly even repair it. Okay. It's almost like a, I think a thought is like a pre diabetes type, like end goal. But, you know, maybe there's a chance that that the progression of the loss of my beta cells is slow or completely stops.

Scott Benner 1:03:49
I say, Well, I say, well, good luck with that. I hope that works. I mean, for everybody, not just for you, you 12 injections on the trial, and then how long do they follow up with you? Yeah,

Rachel 1:04:01
so this is the year it's a follow up a year. They'll do for I know, it's quarterly, there's like there's a few like, almost monthly, right after the last injection and then one for like, a year from there. So I've for follow up visits. There the like mixed meal tolerance tests where I have to fast and build give me like a big chocolate protein drink. You know, to see where my level haven't spikes and if it comes down at all, and then they'll, they'll take, like, 40 vials of blood will take all my blood. Wonderful.

Scott Benner 1:04:43
So is there Did they tell you like, like, say you ended up actually getting the drug? Is this a maintenance drug? Like would you need it again? Or do they not even know that yet?

Rachel 1:04:54
I don't think they even know that yet. So I'll explain it a bit more. They're the stuff He has four cohorts. And with each cohort the dosage is, is increased. So I was in the third cohort. The fourth one is underway right now. And that's the one that has the max dose. So, yeah, I don't know. And again, I don't know if they know the answer to that question. But basically, we will all find out. Again, it's a double blinded. So the researchers don't even know what we're getting. But we will all find out once that fourth cohort has their one year follow up. Next, okay. So it's going to take, you know, almost probably two years before we all figure out like, what we got. Yeah. And I'm so excited to learn what it was.

Scott Benner 1:05:50
Yeah, no, of course, I'm sure everyone is, I always wonder they must have a way of knowing. Like, there's gotta be something about it. Like, I've had other people on who are in clinical trials, they're like, you know, they tell you, they can't tell, but if you have it, or like you forgot the real drug or not, but like, you know, there are people have said, like, I think I can tell, do you think you're getting it? Or does it really no way for you to know, I

Rachel 1:06:12
have no idea. I mean, if I'm still Lada or honeymoon or whatever I am. I think it's that's a hard, you know, I can't really discern the difference.

Scott Benner 1:06:25
Yeah, these two possibilities could be overlapping. You mentioned you mentioned your PhD, what are you getting your PhD in?

Rachel 1:06:33
Broadly, ecology and environmental science, but it really kind of looking at like animal epidemiology, disease ecology. parasitology it's a lot of ologies.

Scott Benner 1:06:49
Do this for a living now.

Rachel 1:06:52
I get paid to go to school. Sure. Yeah. I I just through through university. Yeah.

Scott Benner 1:06:59
Yeah. But you don't have a job in the air in the in the field? No, not Yeah, this

Rachel 1:07:04
is my final year. So I'm starting to

Scott Benner 1:07:07
look. Wow, I just had this conversation with one of my son's friends from college. And he's like, I, you know, this thing I want to do, I think I need a PhD for it. Or doctorate. He called it. And I was like, yeah, and he goes, I don't know if I want to, like, start my life in my early 30s, though. He's like, because that's how it feels like it's gonna be Is that how it ends up being?

Rachel 1:07:28
It can feel that way. I was, I was a high school teacher before I went to grad school. And I worked through like nonprofits before that. So like, I feel like I've had the chance to, like have a life. But I wanted higher education. And now that I am 31. And looking for my big girl job. Yeah, I feel like I'm a bit behind especially like, you know, 401k kind of thing.

Scott Benner 1:07:56
I'm not retiring. Scott. That's what I'm telling you. How are you getting medical insurance? Yeah,

Rachel 1:08:03
it's through University. My I mean, my husband has a full time job at the states like, push comes to shove, I could go on his but it's super expensive. So University, it's, it's pretty good. Except they change it all the time. Which is weird.

Scott Benner 1:08:21
Chasing the cheapest, the cheapest plan. And

Rachel 1:08:26
then there's like a gap month, like the month of August is always like this big, like how to do because no one has insurance for the month of August or it's like retroactive. So everything that you have to pay out of pocket and repay you. That's not an option for me.

Scott Benner 1:08:44
I don't have the pocket you're referring to Yeah, doesn't have any money. Just some loose wool. That's all that's in there. And a leaf. And some feed that I throw at goats so they don't eat my shoes. Very cool. Well, I appreciate you doing this very much. And it'll be nice to follow up with you after your sister's been on too.

Rachel 1:09:03
Yeah, yeah. I'm excited to listen to her that episode. But ya know, this has been great, Scott. Thanks for having me.

Scott Benner 1:09:11
I appreciate it very much. Nothing we missed, so we're good there. You're okay with the episode being called dryer balls?

Rachel 1:09:18
Hell yeah. I mean.

Scott Benner 1:09:22
I'm not gonna spell it like dryer like dry er.

Rachel 1:09:25
All right. Dry her balls. Sure. Go. Wait

Scott Benner 1:09:30
a minute. No, no, not like that

Rachel 1:09:39
Oh,

Scott Benner 1:09:42
I was just gonna do it d r i e r, just so that it awesome ops. Ops. Ops you skate. Why can I say off you skate? Why can't What's the word I want? You have a PhD. I'm

Rachel 1:09:55
sorry. I'm just still thinking of dry her balls.

Scott Benner 1:10:00
If you that I actually don't think I can do I can't believe I couldn't say obfuscate for a second. But anyway, anyway, to make it more obscure. I'm gonna make it drier. Yeah, no. Yeah, definitely more alluring. I would, I would click it. People are like, Why? How? Let me find out when they're gonna be like bags a wool. How do you press the wool down and make a real quickly? How do you make the because I'm assuming the dryer balls are like, like more like tennis balls like firmness. So how do you do that? Okay, so

Rachel 1:10:32
DIY dryer ball, you take pantyhose, and you just shove, like real shove just wool in the dryer like in the pantyhose you tie a knot. So it's just kind of like

Scott Benner 1:10:47
baggy, twisted like a sausage, right? Was it like a sausage? Okay, okay,

Rachel 1:10:51
throw it through the washer, and then you throw it through the dryer to really compact everything together at the felt it.

Unknown Speaker 1:10:59
Felt it? Yeah, that's what the wash

Rachel 1:11:00
does the water and the soap like just really kind of makes all the fibers stick together.

Scott Benner 1:11:07
Yeah, that's interesting. And then can you sell these to friends? And give

Rachel 1:11:12
them to friends? Sure. And I sell them we used to sell them at like a farmers market and like purple events, but

Scott Benner 1:11:19
we How much can you get for a handful of balls? Oh

Rachel 1:11:23
my gosh, I think like a three pack? Some like really nice, colorful ones and go for like 15 for three packs. I don't know. I haven't sold them in a while. I think I do like three or four bucks a ball.

Scott Benner 1:11:35
Yeah, but when you did you were comfortable holding the balls. Yeah, I wish I could juggle. But having three or four balls in your hand at the same time. It's not off putting to you at all.

Rachel 1:11:46
No. And that's really that's like how many you should probably use in your dryer. Wow. Yeah,

Scott Benner 1:11:51
it too is not enough. No. Yeah. I love that. You're from Maine because a lot of my sarcasm this is you know,

Rachel 1:11:59
I hear it. I'm just I feel like I'm more. I don't know. You're so

Scott Benner 1:12:04
laid back. I really? Like if I just lead you down the road. You'd be like, Scott, I love fondling these balls you have no like you just say it like you'd be like, that's fine. Yeah, but I don't get like what I mean, it's an interesting thing.

Rachel 1:12:17
I depends on the size of the balls. You know, there's any groupies. You know?

Scott Benner 1:12:22
Do they get unpleasant when they're older?

Rachel 1:12:25
They do. They don't work as well.

Scott Benner 1:12:33
I have a feeling that if we weren't on a podcast, you and I might be having a completely different conversation. Oh my gosh. All right. Well, Rachel, thank you very much. Hold on for one second. Yeah.

I'd like to thank Rachel for coming on the show sharing her story and being so much fun. And I want to thank Dexcom for sponsoring this episode dexcom.com/juice box. Also want to thank you us Med and remind you to go to us med.com/juice box or call 888-721-1514 Don't forget to check out the private Facebook group Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes, and the brand new Omni pod five series. Ask the Expert that was at episode 1081 82 and 83. Those are questions from Juicebox Podcast listeners asked directly to three experts working at Omni pod who all have type one diabetes and use Omnipod five. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast.