#1138 Reheated Happy Meal

February 24, 2024Scott Benner

Kerrie has Hashimoto's, her son, sister and aunt have type 1 diabetes.

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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 1138 of the Juicebox Podcast.

Carrie is a nurse she has Hashimotos her son Liam is three and has type one diabetes diagnosed at 14 months old. Carrie sister and Aunt both have type one diabetes. Carrie wanted to come on the podcast because she said that without the show she wouldn't be able to do what she's doing for her son and that she wasn't getting answers from her doctors. We spend a lot of time talking about little kids in type one and I have some remembrances about raising Arden with type one diabetes. 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. When you place your first order for ag one with my link, you'll get five free travel packs and a free year supply of vitamin D. Drink ag one.com/juice box. Don't forget to save 40% off of your entire order at cozy earth.com. All you have to do is use the offer code juice box at checkout that's juice box at checkout to save 40% at cosy earth.com

I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome a brand new sponsor to the show ever since CGM. I don't have an ad for you yet, but I want to welcome ever since and let you know that there are links in the show notes right now if you're looking for them. But you'll be hearing more about that implantable CGM very soon here on the Juicebox Podcast welcome ever since ever since cgm.com/juice box, this show is sponsored today by the glucagon that my daughter carries. G voc hypo pen. Find out more at G voc glucagon.com. Forward slash juicebox.

Carrie 2:07
My name is Carrie and I am a mom of a three year old type one.

Scott Benner 2:12
Is that child your only child?

Carrie 2:15
I have a nine month old. Oh, congratulations. Thanks.

Scott Benner 2:19
It's very nice. Three and a nine. You're married for how long?

Carrie 2:25
11 years.

Scott Benner 2:26
Did you not know Were you counting?

Carrie 2:29
So funny. My anniversary is next week. And I'm like I don't even know how long I've been married for. Did you? Like happens? A

Scott Benner 2:35
gift or something?

Carrie 2:38
Um, we're gonna go on vacation actually.

Scott Benner 2:39
Oh, that sounds like a gift. That's nice. Yeah, I my anniversary was just seven days ago. Oh, hi, anniversary. Oh, you're very nice. Thank you. You're now the first woman to wish me happy anniversary. So because that was the day before. And my daughter and myself and my wife, we were standing in the kitchen, like making plans about something. And I said, I said about like, well, tomorrow. What if we would like to go out like for lunch in the middle of the day? Do you have a little time we could go out for anniversary and she go like my wife paused. And Arden goes she didn't know, tomorrow's your anniversary. And I said, I said yeah, I'm seeing that right now. And she's like, Oh, no, I can't like I have a meeting and I'm like, oh, okay, no problem. So we've been married a long time. So I'm 27 years. Wow. Yeah.

Carrie 3:30
That's amazing. Is it? Yeah, totally. With two kids. Totally.

Scott Benner 3:34
I know, right. But anyway, the next day came and we did not go out to lunch. I gave my wife flowers, an arrangement I made myself. And she said thank you. She gave me nothing. And that was that's how it goes usually right. That's my expectation. I was like, I don't even know what I would want to be perfectly. Yeah. You know, like, if that's true, like if something happened, what would I want it to be? I have no idea. It's a long time. 27 years. It's insane.

Carrie 4:01
It's really insane. Yeah, but it's awesome. Yeah,

Scott Benner 4:05
no, I'm very excited about it. I think she was too. I can tell. Yeah, totally.

Carrie 4:08
Did you meet like, Did you meet like in college or

Scott Benner 4:13
Kelly worked at a movie theater that that a number of my friends worked at. And she was college aged. And I had known her for years before just like as a like as a person who worked at this theater, but I didn't know her like know her. I was aware of her I guess. Yeah. And she went on an island vacation with friends and came back very tan with her hair braided. And I became very focused on trying to have sex with her. Oh my god, that's so funny. So I purse Yeah, so I pursued her for a while. And that is where I met her at actually. That's awesome. Yeah, I think if she didn't get her hair braided, even I don't even know what would have happened.

Carrie 5:00
Yeah, it was it was it the braids? I mean, it could have

Scott Benner 5:02
ruined her life that braiding that hair. She wouldn't have done that she couldn't have she could have stayed away from me and all these problems, you know?

Carrie 5:08
Oh my god, you're so funny.

Scott Benner 5:12
I guess if we look back at it getting her hair braided was her was her major life mistake. Oh, I

Carrie 5:17
don't think it's a mistake. Not No, of

Scott Benner 5:20
course not. I'm being facetious. Okay, so wait a minute. So you have a nine month old? And a three a three year old, right? Yes. Okay. Your three year old has typed was a girl or boy. He's a boy. We're going to use his name or no. Oh, yeah, we

Carrie 5:35
can use it. His name is Liam. Okay. All right, William.

Scott Benner 5:38
How old was Liam? When he was diagnosed?

Carrie 5:40
He was 14 months old. Wow. Yeah, pretty

Scott Benner 5:44
young. Okay, do you have any type one in your family?

Carrie 5:48
I do. My sister's type one. And my aunt is type one. We have like, my family's full of autoimmune diseases. So yeah, I mean, it was definitely a shock him being so young, but I wasn't anticipating it. But yeah,

Scott Benner 6:02
we do. How old? Are you? Okay, I ask.

Carrie 6:04
I'm gonna be 41 on Saturday. Okay.

Scott Benner 6:07
So happy birthday. Thanks. There's a lot of celebration going on. Yeah, there's tons. So you're 41 you had a baby three years ago when you were like 38 diabetes. So did you recognize the diabetes symptoms and the baby.

Carrie 6:23
So I am also a nurse. So I had just noticed for like a week prior that he was like drinking a lot more fluids. He was like soaking through diapers. And it was the end of April when he was diagnosed. And I was just kind of like, I was kind of I was kind of hot we lived in well, we live in New Jersey, we lived kind of near the beach. So we were outside a lot of the park and kind of brushed it off. But then like four days before he was diagnosed, I like went to put him to sleep. And he was breathing on me and I could smell like ketones. And I turned to my husband, I was like, I think I smell ketones on the EMS breath. And he's like, whoa, what has been first of all was like, I don't even know what that is. I was like, something's not right with him, you know. And so I had reached out to our pediatrician a couple of times with concerns about the fluid, like the extra fluids and all that stuff. And she kind of brushed it off. And then there was just one day that I just remember watching him in my living room chug, like a huge bottle of water. And I was like something isn't right. So I called my pee and I was like, I want to take him in. I think there's something going on. I think it might be like suspicious of diabetes. And she's like, he's way to go. And I was like, okay, so I made my husband go to Walgreens and I was like, let's just dip his urine for ketones because I was like, something isn't right. So, took his diaper off and waited till he peed. My husband like caught his pee in his hand. And we dipped it and he had large ketones. So I called my doctor back and I was like, Okay, so now he's has large ketones. Like I'm suspicious. She's like, Oh, that's normal. And I was like, oh, no, that's not normal. Like I knew enough. So I went set my husband back out to get a glucometer. And then I ended up just doing like a heel stick on him. And he registered like over 500 Wow,

Scott Benner 7:58
look at you. Did your doctor not know you're a nurse.

Carrie 8:02
She knew I was a nurse and like I pretty much like reamed her out when I got to the hospital. I mean, she I think she was taken aback. But I think my my heart like, thinks now and I still think about it now. Like what would have happened if I didn't have that knowledge. You know, when I didn't keep pushing my doctor to be like, there isn't some there's something not right with my son, you know, and she just kept brushing it off. Like, I don't know, I think it's really sad. And I think there's so many young kids that get diagnosed, and it's so traumatic because their symptoms are so easily misdiagnosed as like, oh, labored breathing. Oh, that that's RSV or you're vomiting. Oh, you have a stomach bug, but like, these kids are in DKA. And I just, I'm just so grateful that he wasn't DK when he was diagnosed. No, of course, but

Scott Benner 8:45
you're I mean, you're specifically saying, hey, my kid has ketones. I think they have diabetes. He's drinking a lot of water. I think he has diabetes. Like it's almost like you're describing the sun. And you're saying to her, Hey, I'm going to describe the sun do you go it's around and she goes That's not it? And you're like well it's yellow and she goes no, that's not it either. It's very hot. Now it doesn't sound like the sun to me. That's just very strange. If you take insulin or sulfonylureas you are at risk for your blood sugar going too low. You need a safety net when it matters most. Be ready with G voc hypo pen. My daughter carries G voc hypo pen everywhere she goes because it's a ready to use rescue pen for treating very low blood sugar and people with diabetes ages two and above that I trust. Low blood sugar emergencies can happen unexpectedly and they demand quick action. Luckily G vo Capo pen can be administered in two simple steps even by yourself in certain situations. Show those around you where you storage evoke hypo pen and how to use it. They need to know how to use Tchibo Capo pen before an emergency situation happens. Learn more about why G vo Capo pen is in Ardens diabetes toolkit At g voc glucagon.com/juicebox G voc shouldn't be used if you have a tumor in the gland on the top of your kidneys called a pheochromocytoma. Or if you have a tumor in your pancreas called an insulinoma visit G voc glucagon.com/risk. For safety information. Yeah,

Carrie 10:20
it was really disappointing. And she was also like a really like, well known pediatrician, like, everybody, like loves her. And so I like I just the frustration around his diagnosis was like, I'm just happy that he was okay. And he was an NDK. And I was able to catch everything, but I just, yeah.

Scott Benner 10:37
Did you go with thoughtful anger? Or did you just randomly yell at her when you saw it?

Carrie 10:44
Was not thoughtful at all. You know, like, what are you going to do? Like, I literally was like, I'm pretty sure my kid has diabetes. And she's like, No, like, I mean, when I dipped his urine, he was like dark purple, like, like large ketones. And I was like, he has large ketone. She's like, if that's normal, I know. It's like Lady, Emily, a nurse, but like that is not normal for kids. Did

Scott Benner 11:06
she know that you have relatives with type one?

Carrie 11:10
I told her my sisters are very well versed. I said, I smell ketones on his breath. I can smell like the acetone on his breath. completely dismiss me. Yeah.

Scott Benner 11:19
You were in so he found a new peed? Yeah, I was gonna say that's the obvious end of that story. But you were in some sort of a power struggle with her ego.

Carrie 11:27
Yeah, for like, it was like four days that I was going back and forth with her before. I was like, You know what, like, this is ridiculous. I am doing this myself. And I just dipped his urine saw the ketones. I called her back and then I was like, she was like, that's normal. Come in. It was like a Thursday. She's like our Friday. She's like, come in on Monday for bloodwork. If you're still concerned over the weekend, and I was like, I I was like, I can't sleep until I know what his blood sugar is now, like, we need to just go to heal sick. And then it was like, I think he was 638 when he got to the ER and I was just

Scott Benner 11:54
really Yeah, 14 months old. He couldn't wait much. Right?

Carrie 11:58
No, he was like, 20 something pounds. Yeah. Good.

Scott Benner 12:01
Do you think you caught it really early? Or do you think it was going on for a bit?

Carrie 12:05
It's a once he was nine. So I don't think I caught it early. But he wasn't a DKA. So I don't I don't really know. I know that a couple more days he would have been there just by like looking at like from my like looking at his labs now. I can kind of like figure out like, he wasn't indicate but he was close.

Scott Benner 12:20
What other autoimmune stuffs in your family.

Carrie 12:23
So my sister was actually on the show. Like I want to say like eight months ago. Really? She Yeah, Michaela. She will she has. My sister has epilepsy. And she has type one. She has lupus. My mom has sarcoidosis. I have Hashimotos my other sister has Hashimotos My aunt has Addison and type one. So we have a lot.

Scott Benner 12:44
Wow. By the way, I thought sarcoidosis was just the thing they'd used on house to get you to the real answer is that actually,

Carrie 12:50
yeah, it's an actual thing. It's like, it's like a lot. It's like long. It's like a sarcoids that like get on your lungs and stuff like that. I actually don't know a lot about it. I probably should. But

Scott Benner 12:59
yeah, a rare condition that causes small patches of swollen tissue called granulomas to develop in the organs of the body. It often affects the lungs and lymph nodes and can affect your skin also. Yeah. Did you ever watch House anybody who watched the show house, and it was about this diagnostic Doctor Who would figure out tough cases. At some point in almost every episode, someone would float. sarcoidosis. Really? Yes. It was like it was almost they became a joke. Actually, at some point. They always would be like, this could be sarcoidosis. And then it never was. Like I was just kept thinking like will it ever be that actually? Anyway, I've never really got into house well, power. Watch it. You'll hear the word a lot. Yeah. I'm gonna have to listen to it. Okay, so So there's is this consistent with just the females on your side? Are there men too, with issues

Carrie 13:51
as men? So I'm one of seven kids. I'm the oldest, but there's five girls. My mom has more sisters and brothers. I maybe it is more consistent with the females. That's actually really good point. I never really thought about that. There's just more girls. I think that's probably why

Scott Benner 14:04
Okay, yeah, I see that with my wife's family though. Yeah, seems to be more specific with the females for some reason. Anyway, okay. So diagnosed in the hospital. And I'm always interested, did your nursing help or get in the way

Carrie 14:20
it got in the way? Nurses are the worst patients and probably even worse as a mother. It was we did not have a good hospital experience either. We had like a nurse lose his blood. When she did a blood draw on him. She like lost the blood vial. Like we had another nurse give him his first insulin injection with the cap on and then she came back and she's like, oh, sorry, actually didn't give him the shot. Now I'm really gonna give it to him. It was really a nightmare. And I was like, what

Unknown Speaker 14:45
they don't understand how could you I

Carrie 14:49
I don't even know it was a it was it's a well known Hospital in New Jersey, very good pediatric er. And she came in she gave him his first shot of insulin and she walked away and I I looked at my husband, I was like, That is not what an insulin injection is supposed to look like. You could see like the whole cap that was an indented on his leg. And then she comes back in five minutes later, and she's like, Oh, I'm really sorry, I accidentally gave it with a cap on now. I'm really gonna give it to him. I was like, Oh, my gosh, just give it to me. I'll give it to you.

Scott Benner 15:16
I gotta be honest, that one would have i That might have been enough for me right there. Especially after the doctor experience. I don't know that I could have like, I might have been like, we're leaving. Can we go somewhere else?

Carrie 15:26
I have to say I was really traumatized by ever. I think every parent is when you have a child that's diagnosed. And you know, like the, your it's hard to process everything. But then like when like people are start screwing up with your kid. It's like next level, like,

Scott Benner 15:40
listen, see? You're being polite that her like screwing up as one thing. She took the needle with a cap on it, and somehow believe that she gave it an injection.

Carrie 15:48
Yeah, I mean, thank God, she was honest, and came back and actually gave it to him. What's

Scott Benner 15:51
she gonna know? Yeah, you know, she should have come back in and said like, Hey, I was just kidding. That's what it looks like when you don't. I'm just trying to teach you what's happening. Well, that's faster than that. Yeah. Okay. How long did it take them to get his blood sugar down and get you out of the hospital? So

Carrie 16:11
that's actually I think what I'd never understood about his hospitals day is that like, they never got his blood sugar down. Like he was like, well, also, we were bolusing after he, when we were in the hospital, but they just cleared they were just concerned about his ketones being cleared. And then they were like, ready to send us home. And I was like, I'm not ready to go home because his blood sugar is still like, 400. Like, this is kind of ridiculous, but they like, thought that was fine. And sent us home. And so we were in the hospital for like, two nights, three days. Was this during COVID? Yeah, it was during that like, the first COVID way, but like COVID was going on. It wasn't like bad. I mean, we were wearing we were obviously wearing masks in the hospital. We were in like single room. But like it was I was kind of disappointed. I actually went to the doctor and I was like, I'm not comfortable bringing my son home yet because his blood sugar's is still 400 Like, we haven't gotten a grip on it yet, you know, but they were like, you know, it's just gonna be like, trial and error. And I was like, okay, that's whatever.

Scott Benner 17:04
I was just wondering. Yeah, I was just wondering if they were trying to move people out quickly because of COVID. But that also doesn't sound like that. Now, maybe just because he was never in DKA. They

Carrie 17:15
weren't as concerned. They just wanted to make sure his ketones were cleared, which they were by like, the next morning after a couple like, after he was hydrated, and he had a couple boluses in him. He's ketones were cleared. And then they were like, okay, like, we're gonna do a training and you guys are gonna go home in the morning, my husband and I were like, what?

Scott Benner 17:28
You might have got the medical professional bum rush. The she knows.

Carrie 17:33
I think it was Yeah, that happens. Yeah, actually, it's a shame because I was like, so overwhelmed, because they don't anybody that is like a nurse. Like they don't teach you any of this stuff in nursing school. Like I knew, like nothing. I learned nothing about diabetes in nursery school. So yeah, interesting.

Scott Benner 17:47
Okay, so he leaves on injections. Do you have anything different than what you left with? Now? What do you do now?

Carrie 17:57
So my son, my son is still MDI, we are pursuing we're in the process of pursuing a pump. Now, up until now, he was still like, pulling off his Dexcom and stuff sometimes. And it just wasn't the right timing for me to throw another device on him and deal with him pulling off two things. Yeah. So yeah, so we're in the process of getting a pump now. So we are just trying to figure out which pump is gonna be more appropriate for him. Okay.

Scott Benner 18:21
But you've been doing MDI for years. Yeah, yeah. How long have you had a Dexcom? For?

Carrie 18:27
I demanded Dexcom. In the hospital. Okay.

Scott Benner 18:31
Yeah. When the next day, how did you know about that? My sister, right. Okay. She

Carrie 18:35
was like, don't leave the hospital to Dexcom. And I was like, You got it. And I was like, I need a Dexcom. Or I'm not leaving. And they're like, Here, get out.

Scott Benner 18:41
Did it scare you about having another baby?

Carrie 18:44
I very much so. Okay,

Scott Benner 18:46
but you did it. So yeah. What was the what was the conversation like, between you and your husband?

Carrie 18:51
I just I didn't want my son. I think what Liam growing up without having a sibling and I didn't want the fear of another child with diabetes to get in the way of having a family. You know, I guess we just both kind of looked at it like, well, if we're going to have another diabetic, baby, it's going to be the best parents for him or her or whatever. So yeah, I mean, I worry about my second getting diabetes all the time, but I mean, I can't change it. So

Scott Benner 19:21
yeah, are you having that unreasonable thought that it's just five months away from happening?

Carrie 19:25
Yeah, you know, it's funny, I smell his breath, like all the time, because I get so worried you know, where I'm like, oh my god, he soaked through two diapers last night or like he you know, he has diaper was so full this morning, that those are always my first thoughts or oh, he really likes water. You know, like, all those things always go into my mind. But yeah, I don't want I don't want the fear of diabetes to get in the way of me having a family so

Scott Benner 19:45
that's excellent. Okay, so you came home with a CGM. And I mean, was he was still around 20 pounds. He didn't lose a lot of weight off of the off of his weight.

Carrie 19:57
During those he lost a pound. Okay, that was the only yeah so nothing really.

Scott Benner 20:00
And so I'm just really interested in hearing about what your experience was like absorbing diabetes and, and figuring it out with such a small person.

Carrie 20:12
Yeah, it was hard. I was also breastfeeding and I ever all my, the endo that we were seeing in the hospital was like you need to stop breastfeeding, like very much like you need to stop. And I was like if I will not take away the one thing right now. And that is going to keep him like content and happy and I'm not. I just refused to stop breastfeeding. So that was very difficult to manage the breastfeeding with a bowl thing with overnight. It was just, it was really hard. That was the hardest time of my life is when he was diagnosed and I just had a really hard time we had a hard time with the Dexcom changes and he was getting reactions to the decks comps. And yeah, it was it's really hard when they're that little ya know, it's really hard. No,

Scott Benner 20:50
it's It's, you know, so much about the dosing the insulin is is incredibly difficult. Yeah, just really, it's hard to put into words, when in a half a unit. It's like a massive amount of insulin. Oh, totally. Yeah. And you're and you can't even reason with them 14 months old, like what do you do you look at him like a Liam, listen, I need to do this man. There's going to be problems. You're like, you can't have those and breastfeeding. You don't even know what's what they're taking in. Really?

Carrie 21:17
Yeah, yes, feeding was really difficult. Yeah. So it was, it was hard. I think I went through like my own, like, emotional, like, space in my life where I just was like, I don't want to say angry, but I was kind of angry. Like, why does this happen to my kid? And why am I you know, like, having to go through this. And my son is having to go through this so young. And it was

Scott Benner 21:36
hard. Yeah. No, I imagine. Yeah. Did you go to a therapist financial with, I

Carrie 21:41
did see a therapist right after he was diagnosed for a while. But then it just kind of became like, I don't want to say like my life, but I just have on better terms with it. Now. You know, I think my biggest thing for me it was like I always hated when people would be like, well, things can be so much worse. You can have cancer. And I'm like, you're like totally dismissing what I go through on a daily basis. You know,

Scott Benner 22:01
I don't understand the idea of like, comparison. Yeah, it's actually interesting. I just put it on my list to talk to Erica about because I'm trying to figure out what the the human need is to compare everything.

Carrie 22:15
Yeah, what is that? I don't get it. I don't know. You know, he just have diabetes. And like, he does get shots. But like, think of it like he could be getting chemo right now. And I was like, what you're doing right now is like totally missing, what my like, what my son goes through and what we go through on a daily basis in my house. So like, just stop. You know, I just, that's one of my biggest pet peeves is people comparing like, it could be worse. And I'm like, but it could be better.

Scott Benner 22:37
So what if it didn't exist? When that'd be No, yeah. Like,

Carrie 22:40
what if there was a cure, it would be a lot better. So yeah, I'm always confused

Scott Benner 22:44
by I mean, I guess to me, the worst thing that's ever happened to you is the worst thing that's ever happened to you. So if the you know, a person over here has cancer, and your kid has type one diabetes, and you know, another person lives in a house, and another person is homeless, and they they all have bad things happening to them. Like, yeah, they're, you know, the guy in the house isn't maybe as bad off as the homeless person. It doesn't make the guy in the houses situation. Different to him. And yeah, and that's, that's the thing. I hate the I hate the you're a good parent for this. Yeah, that one. I'm not I'm not a fan of that at all. It could be worse is terrible. But those that one that was said to me that God gave Arden diabetes, because he knew I could handle it. Yeah, I've heard that one too. I did not find that comforting in case anyone's Yeah,

Carrie 23:34
like why like? Yeah, thanks. Yeah,

Scott Benner 23:38
I actually I responded, I said, so if I was a big screw up, then Arden wouldn't have diabetes. This let me say, Well, we started making sense. And the conversation went away pretty quickly. But But you But I mean, also, in fairness, I know what they meant. And it was it was meant to be comforting. And yeah, even if I can understand the context that they meant it in like, you can handle this, but just say I, Scott, I've known you for a while and I think you can handle this and you'll be okay. That would Yeah, that would be great. Yeah. Don't tell me that my kid got diabetes, because God was like, Oh, that guy can take care of diabetes. Also, by the way, I've met a lot of people whose kids have diabetes who can't take care of it. So yeah, same. Yeah, they gotta get bored that day, and just give it to that person. Like, try to make more so it's good. Let's just give it to her. It's fine. Yeah, I

Carrie 24:28
totally agree with you on that. But okay, so

Scott Benner 24:31
your How long did you breastfeed? I guess after the diagnosis.

Carrie 24:37
Oh, like a year. Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah, I, um, he wasn't ready to wean and I was just like, and then I wanted to get pregnant again, have another baby because I was getting really old. So I was like, We gotta, we gotta cut it. But yeah, I think it was I think I probably did it longer for him because I just, I felt like I just didn't want to take anything away from him, you know? So we're

Scott Benner 24:59
You were you I was gonna say at least but were you pumping and then and then putting in a bottle so you can see how much it was or were you actually breastfeeding both

Carrie 25:08
in the beginning I was trying to pump to see how much but it became really difficult in the overnights because I just never knew how much he was taking in. And then I tried to get my breast milk analyzed, someone mentioned like trying to get your breast milk analyze, and it was like all carbs, and I was like, okay, but I mean, breast milk is mostly carbs anyway. Yeah, depends on the time of day. But yeah, and then it just, we ended up just bringing up our Basal dose much higher to kind of cover the overnight feeds and it just got messy. And then it was it was time. It's

Scott Benner 25:35
a balancing act. I mean, it will, it will get as he puts on body weight. I'm sure you're seeing this right. It's getting easier. We

Carrie 25:43
our growth spurts in my house are like, brutal okay with him. There are so hard this is that's been the hardest part for us. This past like six months is like dealing with growth with him and being MDI

Scott Benner 25:55
is I was gonna say is this part of the reason you're thinking about a pump now? Yeah, or overnights are

Carrie 25:59
really rough with just like growth hormones and stuff. And I think it's time that we just get on a pump just so are nicer, better?

Scott Benner 26:05
Do you think you'll try an algorithm? Or do you think you'll just go for like a manual pump?

Carrie 26:09
I'm pretty sure I'm really leaning towards the T slim, my sister has a T slim, I'm very familiar with it. It's just really, it's really comes down to is he going to keep it on. But he's going to school in September, he started in pre K. So like, I'm hoping that we can fit it in over winter break, like do like the whole pump and get used to it before he goes back to school. So that's my hope.

Scott Benner 26:31
You think he'll be okay with the Tethered part.

Carrie 26:33
We talked to him a lot about it, we're going to try and get like do like a trial where we keep like the Tethered part on him and see how he does. The problem is that he's a really smart kid. And like, I just worry about him. Like, I know, there's like tons of safety features to the pumps, but I just worry about him like doing something and I

Scott Benner 26:49
don't know. I don't know, this is a difficult decision. Honestly. Yeah. huge for us. Yeah, no. Yeah. Well, you said that you're talking to him about a lot. What you think is like grasp of his diabetes is.

Carrie 27:04
It's interesting. So I was at the park with him the other day. And he had well we use iport. So he has an iPad on one arm right now. And he has his Dexcom on the other. And this little girl i i Sometimes I'm a helicopter mom with him because I don't want kids to, you know, make him feel different about his devices or anything. And I was at the park and I was holding my other son and I was watching a little girl staring at his Dexcom and I was like, this girl is gonna come up and say something to him that I was like, have to just watch, you know, before I like happen to this. And she like walks up to Liam and she's like, what's on your arm? And he goes, Oh, that's my Dexcom checks my blood sugar. And she's like, Okay, do you like McDonald's? And he's like, yeah, she's like, me, too. And then they just walked away. And it was like, I could just breathe for a minute. Sounds like you because you know, like, yeah, he understands. But it was just that and that was it. Last

Scott Benner 27:50
year at the Jersey Shore, you didn't know what kind of attitude she was gonna have. Exactly.

Carrie 27:54
She could have been the hammer and you never know what you're gonna get there.

Scott Benner 27:57
What do you use wearing on your arm there? Yeah, exactly. Um,

Carrie 28:02
but it was it was fine. So I think he I think he did say he's like, you know, his blood sugar and like all that. He's a smart kid. Yeah.

Scott Benner 28:09
So he knows I eat I need insulin. This is why. Yep. I actually had a conversation with Arden the other day about her thyroid medication. And I was like, Oh, I don't think she completely understands what's this? Oh, really?

I made a little note for myself. Like, let's have a 15 minute conversation about thyroid review. Because she, she,

I mean, she's 19 Right. So she she was out with her friends like all night, the other night that she's home from school on a break. And she literally came home in the morning. And I just said to her Hey, before you go to sleep, take your, your, your terrassen and your T three. And she goes

Carrie 28:44
why take tiersen you'd never hear about anybody taking tiersen

Scott Benner 28:47
it's cleaner. That's why we like cleaner. Yeah, so don't be Don't worry. So she takes tears and she takes sleight of mouth. Is it Saito? I think so. Okay, do you okay, we'll talk about that. Hold on. So she I said take that before you go to sleep. And she goes, I'm gonna take it when I wake up. And I was like, no. And she goes, yeah, it's for energy. And I went, Oh, God, what did you just say? And I went, hey, it's not yet. We'll talk about this later. I was like, just take that. And she goes, okay. She went into a room. I was like, oh my god,

Carrie 29:22
it does kind of give you energy.

Scott Benner 29:25
I know where she's coming from. Like, she's like, I you know, that's the stuff that peps me up. I don't want to do that before I sleep. I'm like, that's not how that works. Exactly. We'll talk about this tomorrow. I'm like, You need to keep it 24 hours apart like you're trying to and I looked at it and I was like, we'll just talk about this later. But how long have you been taking tiersen? Oh,

Carrie 29:43
God, like six, seven years. I was starting to add Synthroid, I hated it. And then I saw an endo who was like, I think you'd do much better on tiersen and I was like, sold and I like read the ingredients and just made more sense to me to take it and it's kept my thyroid like, perfect ever since I've been taking it Never had any issues with my thyroid since I started taking it through it. I was like all over the place. And then even like, what through my pregnancies? It was it. I just think that tiersen is the best thyroid men out there.

Scott Benner 30:10
So what were your symptoms? What led you to it? To Hashimotos?

Carrie 30:13
Yeah, I was just really tired and like, I had no idea that I was I like, went to the doctor and I was like, I'm just feeling like really tired all the time. Like, I didn't have kids at the time. So she was like, Okay, we'll just do like a blood draw. And my TSH was like, 10 Oh, okay. Like really high. And then they checked for the antibodies, and I was positive for those. So yeah,

Scott Benner 30:32
yeah. How long did you do that? Before they added T three.

Carrie 30:35
They actually just added tea free for me this year. What was what led to that? Well, I don't even know I don't like it's so funny. My focus is so much on my kids and like my, their endo that like she's like, do you want to try a T three? And I'm like, Yeah, sure, throw it in. And I try it. And I was like, I feel great. I don't sleep anyway. So

Scott Benner 30:52
should we put carrots in this too? I don't see why not just do it. Well, so for Arden, her T the tiersen is the T for replacement. Right? And her numbers can be terrific. But she's still tired. Oh, really? Yeah. If you don't give her the T three. She's exhausted. Interesting. Yeah. It's and I don't just mean like tired. I mean, like dripping in a puddle tired. Like I've told I've told the story before, but I'll tell you in Arden's yearbook for her her senior year in high school that you know when they people like take out like ads, you're basically paying Yeah, yeah. Right. So we did one of those. So there's this beautiful picture of art in the middle and then around it. If you can imagine nine small photographs around one in the middle they are all like cell phone pictures of Arden asleep on different hard surfaces in our house. Like passed out. So she needs it. Yeah, like passed out, like come home from school sit down at an island and just face down on a piece of stone asleep. Oh, that's crazy curled up on the floor, like any like in just like random places like she'd get on the floor to play with the dog and you'd look over to be asleep. And wow, yeah, it was it was insane. And you add she needs it. Oh my god. It's she does not function without it. It's really interesting. As a matter of fact that the end of her last school year, I think that's what it was. She ran out of it a few days before the end of the year. And it took about seven days for her to get home and to get new. And it like it decimated or she was back to like not being able to function. Wow,

Carrie 32:19
that was really that's crazy. Yeah, holy. She has it. She

Scott Benner 32:22
knows oh my god, it's so much better. If it was 50 years ago, we would have like, put her to sleep like a dog or something. Like seriously, I don't know what to do with her like she barely could like, even now that she's on all these things. She still says sleeping for me is not refreshing. Really? Yeah. She's like, I never

Carrie 32:39
reaching her. Like a deep sleep. Is she getting to that? Like, Carrie?

Scott Benner 32:43
She sleeps forever. If you if you don't wake her up, she'll she'll stay asleep forever.

Carrie 32:49
Yeah, sounds to us.

Scott Benner 32:52
Like a nice 12 hours. Like when she got home when she got home from the overnight thing. She's like, I'll be up in five hours. So I was like, Don't imagine that's gonna be true. But okay. But But anyway, so are so are you watching that with your kids to do you add that? Yeah. bloodwork good.

Carrie 33:07
Yeah, we do like the annual bloodwork for the for his thyroid. It's been fine so far. Knock on wood. So yeah, good

Scott Benner 33:12
for you. Did your husband after all this started happening? Did he say hey, this should have been disclosed before I married you. Yeah,

Carrie 33:19
I mean, he was just kind of like Go figure. Like, like our kid gets like the worst. You know, jeans like, I don't know, my husband is like the specimen of health. His whole family lives to like 100 Right. And like, great teeth like everything is like perfect. It's so annoying. And then like my family has got like all these autoimmune diseases and like they people are dying younger and like,

Scott Benner 33:38
whatever crate teeth is hilarious.

Carrie 33:41
Yeah, he has great. My husband has great teeth. Like he has great teeth. I don't know, for some reason people might be like, we just don't have great teeth. So

Scott Benner 33:48
people in your family die younger. Yeah,

Carrie 33:52
I mean, I think the grandparents died when they were like in their 60s. That's about

Scott Benner 33:55
right. Still, though you're almost my age like this. Were you I guess you're right. You and I are like the first go round of people who did not grow up like in a salt mine, basically. So I think this is where you're gonna see a leap. Those of us who grew up a little easier, although half of us are gonna probably just go the wrong way with nutrition and it'll be a different thing that kills people but totally Yeah, but I think Yeah, for now. Yeah. If you're if you have a less impactful job, and you're actually taking reasonable care of yourself, like I'm interested to see how long people can can go even the thing being diagnostically seen Yeah, like my I've like low iron but because the diagnostics and decent like health care, like I'm ahead of that otherwise, I'd live my whole life making cells over and over again with not enough iron in my system and I probably would die sooner.

Carrie 34:47
Didn't you get an iron transfusion? I thought I saw a picture of you on I've had a

Scott Benner 34:51
couple packs. Yeah, a couple so I haven't had them in a while and I have my fingers crossed that that they won't happen again with supplementing, but I Don't know like it could. Yeah, totally. But still, it's within reason I get a little sleepy I call a doctor. They draw some blood. They go, hey, it's low. I wait a couple days, I go to the thing, a Jackie backup, and you're on your way again. So yeah, I've

Carrie 35:14
had a couple two, I always feel amazing afterwards. Yeah, this is great. It actually, like I feel better. I don't know.

Scott Benner 35:19
I can't say enough. When if your iron, I did a whole series of conversations about it, because I wanted people to know, but even what the what the testing parameters are. It's, it might not be enough. Like, you know, I had an endo on that said, if you're a woman of menstruating age, for example, that she sees 70 as the absolute bottom of where your ferritin should be. I agree with that, though. Yeah. Yeah. And that's not like

Carrie 35:47
d3 to the vitamin D, they always say like, you always want to put on the high, high, high upper end.

Scott Benner 35:52
Yeah, I take 5000 I use the vitamin D every day. That's see

Carrie 35:57
that's so crazy. But that's so good for you know, Liam's was like, critical low when he was diagnosed. Yeah, no,

Scott Benner 36:05
no, I mean, I think that's there's space for good supplementation and definitely agree with you. definitely helpful. And I actually drink Athletic Greens on top of all that, to which I don't think I'm supposed to call Athletic Greens anymore. Ag one. I don't know. Oh, did it change my link when from athletic greens.com juice box to drink? Ag one.com/juice box. So I'm assuming

Carrie 36:24
that stuff. I think I'm going to get it for my husband. So be it.

Scott Benner 36:28
This is not an ad, but they are advertisers. It's the only green drink I ever tried that I could that I could drink that, Nick. Yeah, and it's not. And it's not just that I can stomach it. I drink it. And I go, that was great. And it's over. And like, really? Oh my god, the other stuff. I couldn't get through my mouth. I was like, some of it's really gross. And it would get in your stomach and be like, sit there real weird, you know? It's not good. But yeah, he won. I'm very happy with so it's a matter of fact, I gotta keep selling it because I get it for free. As long as you guys keep buying it.

Carrie 36:59
Oh, that's good to know.

Scott Benner 37:03
No, no, if that stops, and then I'm on the hook. Because I think I gotta keep trying. I need you guys to pay. Anyway. It's worth it. I do think it's worth a try. Yeah, let's get oh, let me just say drink@one.com forward slash juice box. You get a free year supply of vitamin D and five free travel packs. Gary. You're smiling like Sorry. I feel like an idiot anyway. Algorithm. You think? Yes. You'd like to go pee slim? Control? Like you? Yeah, yeah. Okay. How much insulin does he getting in a day? He,

Carrie 37:39
I mean, he needs what he needs. So he gets like eight of the eight. His Basil is right now is eight. He's about 5050 To be honest with you. Yeah, he gets usually like, usually about eight to eight. If you log in about it's he's he's on eight of Joseba right now. Okay.

Scott Benner 37:54
Yeah, that's how much do you weigh now at three?

Carrie 37:57
He's, he's three and a half. He's 40 pounds. He's like 95th percentile for weight. 95th for height. He's the solid kid.

Scott Benner 38:05
He's your husband big.

Carrie 38:06
No, you know, it's so funny. Went to the pediatrician the other day. And he's like, you know, he's like, 90 is for weight and 95th for height. He's like, at least he's proportion that was like, You're right. He least he is. He's like at least is that overweight? And I was like, Dude, he's three. Okay. Don't even go there with a week with me.

Scott Benner 38:22
I heard you apologizing for him. And you went, Hey, listen, he is three and a half. So

Carrie 38:26
he's three and a half. Like he's still before this winter. Yeah, he's just he's a solid kid.

Scott Benner 38:30
Your husband not a big tall guy. Are you tall?

Carrie 38:32
I'm like, five, six. My husband's six foot. We're not like crazy. So I don't know. Yeah.

Scott Benner 38:37
It doesn't always work out. I mean, for instance, my children are attractive and athletic. So I don't know where the hell that came from. I used to tell people all the time that my my mailman must be a very good looking athletic guy. Oh, you're so funny. My assumption because, I mean, there's been times I've watched my kids do think things athletically, and I'm just like, I'm probably not there. But anyway, as actually as Cole gets older, he's starting to look more like me. Oh, really? Which is interesting. He's,

Carrie 39:09
I can't remember I released a new one episode recently. He's he's in college or high school here.

Scott Benner 39:14
Now. He graduated from college. He's got his first season done with college. Yeah, he's at his first job now.

Carrie 39:19
I don't know why I thought he was he was younger. Wow. Yeah. It's crazy. Because the podcast can

Scott Benner 39:23
jump around. So yeah, but he's been living on his own for eight months now. Very far from home. And he is he likes the job and he's getting good experience from it. But he's like, I need to leave here. Because I'm so by myself is like he's like, yeah, there's just nobody here and his girlfriend's somewhere else. And, you know, they're trying to figure all that out. So got it. Yeah. Okay. But he had the experience and it was it was a very good job with a great company. And he's like, I'm, you know, this is how I'm going to move up. I gotta get this so I can go to the next thing. Yeah, totally. So he's still got that I'm proud of him. He really is on his own. So yeah, you should be that's really cool. Good for him. Yeah, I would be like mental. Like, oh, same here. Yeah. So the saddest thing to me the other day he goes on. What do people do after work? And I'm like, Oh, he's got a TV to watch. He's like, I play basketball in the park. And, like, I go shopping. And he's like, talking about the things he asked to do. And he's like, can I keep gonna keep my place clean and stuff he's like, but what else do people do? And I was like, Oh, buddy, I was like, This is life. I'm sorry.

Carrie 40:32
Really nothing, no other secrets. It

Scott Benner 40:34
was like I said, when I was your age, I had a kid. So like, are getting ready to have one. I was like, I was moving towards that. I'm like, I don't know, man. I'm like, you gotta find a hobby or, you know, something. He's like, I might start going to a Boxing gym to work out. I was like, That's a great idea. Like, try that. But this is very strange moment where at 23. He was like, Oh, this, this isn't all like just Ferris wheels. And this this

Carrie 40:58
thing. What else do I do? That's funny. What else

Scott Benner 41:01
is there? That was like? Nothing. Yeah, there's nothing else.

Carrie 41:05
Welcome to adulthood. There's nothing else. There's no secrets for somebody so you can die. Sleep when you can. So funny.

Scott Benner 41:17
Can you explain how blood sugars reacted? So you're you're in a unique situation. You're watching an infant who's breastfeeding and going on to solid foods on a CGM, like what kind of shifts did you see in blood sugars,

Carrie 41:30
crazy shifts, I mean, I had to rehaul everything. I was feeding him at that point, because he just I don't know what it was about him. When he was diagnosed, no honeymoon, right off the bat, he needed a lot of insulin, he needed a lot of, you know, he needed a lot of diesel like he just had high needs for insulin. And I was really scared about that, because I was like, This just seems not right for, you know, a 14 month old be taking this much insulin, he just was resistant for a while. And then we just kind of gotten to a groove when I started listening to the juice box. And they started kind of like riding the wave of the Dexcom all day long, and kind of watching how he reacts to certain foods and kind of, you know, finding alternatives to some of the foods that he likes. Because I didn't want to him on a roller coaster all day long. Yeah. So that was that took that took all a really long time for me to figure all that out, like a really long time. Actually, I think you actually talked to my husband, right after Liam was diagnosed, I posted on the juicebox. Like, I'm losing my mind. I'm not sleeping. I don't know why my son is running so high. And I was like pleading for someone to help me and you responded, like, let's talk. And so I hadn't you like talked to my husband and and you've read off of that. Were like, he needs more basil. And you were right, because we ended up like going up a lot in his basil shortly after that. So yeah, he

Scott Benner 42:48
and I talked by phone. Yeah, yeah, I remember that. Okay, I

Carrie 42:52
think because you saw that we were like in New Jersey. And you're like, you know, like, let's talk about this. Because I think I'd post I posted a lot and the juicebox like, right when he was first diagnosed, because I was really overwhelmed. And I was just feeling so defeated by seeing these numbers all the time. Not trying to like figure out what I was missing, you know? And so yeah, you talk to my husband right after Liam was diagnosed. It's

Scott Benner 43:14
such a good guy. No, can you are? I just look to your sister's episode was nine 911. Yeah, it's called T one D lupus and epilepsy. Yep. Okay. She turned you on to the podcast, or vice versa?

Carrie 43:28
No, I turned her on to it. When we were in the hospital, we actually started listening to like the beginnings. And then shortly after, like, I contacted Jenny to start making appointments with her. Okay, I was like, I

Scott Benner 43:38
need help. Yeah, no kidding. Oh, so Jenny helped you with the baby.

Carrie 43:41
Oh, Jenny. I've been working with Jenny since he was diagnosed or so we're still working with her. Oh, that's

Scott Benner 43:45
lovely. Good, good. But still, you're still like on the group going? I don't know what's wrong. That

Carrie 43:52
yeah, in the beginning, I will. Also we did, we had some issues with our Endo. We like I had to leave the endo that we had seen at the hospital because I hated them. I thought they were not helpful at all. And then I was like, my husband, I lived in Boston for several years prior to having kids and I was like, well, then I'm moving to Boston. I'm sending I'm bringing them to Jocelyn like so it was a no brainer. And my husband's like Carrie, you're losing it and I was like, okay, maybe I am. So we did like virtual with Jocelyn because I like knew somebody that worked there from working there and whatever. So we worked with Jocelyn for like a while until we got we switched to our endocrinologist that we have now. But our endos prior to our endo Now, none of them were helpful. I just like everybody was just like, correct, correct. And I was felt like I was choosing highs and you know, treating lows. I just never gotten to a groove with him for a really long time. Yeah. So

Scott Benner 44:43
they said is his settings up? And then even as his settings were too weak, they would just tell you just the correct the high blood sugar. Yeah,

Carrie 44:53
we had I just they were questioning me a lot. They were like, Why are you doing it? It's just Yeah, it was just it was hard. We just never gotten to a groove with an endo for a while, why were you doing what? Like, you know, like your carb count was wrong. Like I had to do the logs afterwards. And you know, it was just hard. Like, I don't know how many carbs or my breast milk I was estimating, and they would get on my case that I was estimating wrong, or I was imposing enough. And it was kind of it was kind of a nightmare. And then I was like, I can't do this anymore. It's affecting my mental health. I need a new end of the socket to question me, it's gonna support me. Yeah. And then we went to chop. And it's been like, an amazing experience. So yeah,

Scott Benner 45:27
by the way, if anyone needs an indication of how upset you were, you were like, we'll relocate to where there's a better hospital.

Carrie 45:33
Yeah, that was like, we're just going to move to Boston. My husband was like, Terry, you think you're losing it? And I was like, Okay, well, then I'm going to leave. And I'm going to bring them to Boston, and we'll go see a new endo there. And he's like, we have chop here. We just need someone around here. And I was like, okay, like,

Scott Benner 45:49
you're gonna live here. We're gonna live in Boston. So yeah, it is a lot. It's just a lot of stress. And it's nonstop. I mean, honestly, it's 24 hours a day, nonstop. And the baby small, and it's got to always be in your head. Like, if he gets too low, and I can't talk him into eating something or whatever. Like, we're gonna have a real problem. Oh,

Carrie 46:09
I still have those thoughts now with him. Sure. Oh, please.

Scott Benner 46:12
I think you're gonna have them for a while. Yeah, don't worry. I

Carrie 46:15
think toddler toddler stage is even harder, because he's like, he takes swim lessons. And like, we went to swim and after swim lessons, he gets to go to McDonald's. And it's like my thing, and I have no mom guilt about it, because he enjoys it. And it's that's it. So I have mastered a happy meal for him. And we went to McDonald's, and we sit down, I Pre-Bolus him are sitting there waiting for the food and the burger comes and he looks at me. He goes, I don't want this. And I was like, why? He's like, I just don't want it. Let's leave. And I was like, oh, like, it's just you know, it's hard with toddlers.

Scott Benner 46:45
No, we're gonna I was like,

Carrie 46:47
why you want to? You told me you want to have a meal. He's like, I don't want to now and I was like, Okay,

Scott Benner 46:51
what do you do?

Carrie 46:52
I have cookies in my purse. I just gave him the cookies. And I was like, let's get out of here. Of course you wanted an hour later, but whatever. Did

Scott Benner 46:59
you go back? No, I

Carrie 47:01
had it still brought it

Scott Benner 47:02
home. Oh, yeah. He ended up his happy meal. Yeah, yeah. Can we call this episode reheated Happy Meal, maybe? Perfect. Excellent. Yeah. I mean, it's just, it's not a thing that a lot of people are going to understand. I mean, you can, you can imagine it, but I live through it. And it's frightening. And I was on edge for years. Like you really have to imagine that Arden was diagnosed in 2000 762 1006 weight of sex. And she was two years old. And she weighed like, 18 pounds when she was diagnosed. And there was no CGM. They like syringes and Novolog and, and a Basal insulin that was so ineffectual. Nobody uses it anymore. Basically, a you know, and you were just on your way. And it was up and down, and up and down. And you couldn't even tell you were just testing trying to like, get ahead of the problem and always worried. Like, I haven't talked about it in a while. But I mean, for like a full year, I'd live a whole day with Arden, like, at home with her. My wife would come home from work, and I'd be like, I have to get a shower because I didn't get a chance to get a shower. Today. I went in the shower to cry. Yes,

Carrie 48:13
really, I totally feel you on that. It's really hard. It's also really hard finding other parents or friends that you can like relate to, like, for me, at least, you know, like you like, sometimes I would find like I would talk to other moms and they will be like, Oh, my night was so hard. Like, my baby woke me up twice. And I'm like, Are you serious? Like, I treated the high for like, four hours last night I finally slept two hours. You know? Like, It's hard finding, you know, people that you can, I don't know relate to sometimes, right? Yeah.

Scott Benner 48:40
commiserating is helpful. And, and that's actually what that person is trying to do with you, except they don't understand the, the level you're at versus the and, and again, not to compare it I'm sure it's terrible for her to, like, you know, but it's not helpful for you as far as like finding, I don't know, an actual sounding board who understands your situation? Yeah,

Carrie 49:01
it's really I think it's just, it's just harder when they're younger. I know you can relate to that. You just I always just felt like for a really long time, or still do like I just wait for the next ball to drop. You know, like, what's going to happen, just kind of live your life always like on edge. Yeah.

Scott Benner 49:13
I mean, in the end, I think the best you can do is get good settings, understand how insulin works. And, you know, give yourself a chance to be in the fight. Really, you know, instead of being blind, I was blind the whole time. For those first number of years. I didn't know what I had literally didn't know what I was doing. It was a mess. And you know, how did you like figure it all out? I think writing the blog was partly helpful. Yeah, I get that because you could kind of like, relive what was going on later, when you weren't as upset about it. And then I started asking people questions. So one of the things that got me there was, I asked Arden's nurse practitioner one time I said if I gave you a magic wand, and I said you could make people with diabetes, no one thing What would you make them? No. And she said, I tell them how insulin works was that and I said, Okay, so I don't know how insulin works. That's a problem. So I'll figure out what that means. And then I just started quantifying it. Like I put it in here, I see a spike, you know, the spike crashes, like, you know, like, I just started trying to make sense of it. And then I mean, CGM is came. Yeah, it was a huge part of it. The first Dexcom kind of wasn't so much about the number it was almost about the graph and the arrows. Totally. Right. So you can kind of see like, okay, like, it's going up now. Like, I got that, like, you know, why is there not enough resistance here? I put the insulin in at a good number, like, why is the number going up? And why is it staying up? And how come I mean, I put in the right amount of insulin, but her blood sugar's really high, it's not moving. And they would tell you then like, Well, don't put more insulin and you'll be stacking. But after you watch it happen a number of times you think, well, that's, that wouldn't be stacking, because her blood sugar is never going to come back down again. And then you kind of reverse engineer, you go, Well, if I would have put more insulin up front, what did he even gone up? Right. And then that started making sense. And I started making leaps. The next leap I made was, I was afraid of insulin. Yeah, I know, I was afraid of it. And so one year, I used to write for Omni pods blog, which I don't know that it exists now or not. But I would write six pieces for them a year. They came to me at the end of the year, and like, what do you want to write about next year, and I said, I'm gonna write about not being afraid of insulin, it's going to be a six part series about not being afraid of insulin. And they were like, okay, and I told them why and, and that was it. Like, I just I talked myself into not being afraid of insulin. Like it's not like I knew something. I wrote about it in a way that talked myself out of it. Yeah, it was it really. So. I did misspeak earlier, the magic wand story, she said, I would tell people not to be afraid of insulin. So they knew how it worked. There was a little more to it than that. So yeah, so I just was like, Okay, well, I am afraid of it. There's nothing that's gonna make me not afraid of it, except maybe understanding how it works. So I'll start paying attention to how it works. And then then that leap of trusting that I knew what was going to happen was going to happen. Interesting. That was a big deal for me. Yeah, I'm sure. How many times can you not Pre-Bolus a meal, watch it go to 300 have to put into more units to bring it back down? Before you say to yourself, let me see what happens when I Pre-Bolus. Yeah. And then you Pre-Bolus And it goes to 200. But it doesn't come back down. How many times you have to do that before you think okay, well, I Pre-Bolus that help. But obviously, there's not enough insulin here. So I don't care what the carb count says. This meal needed two more units of insulin. Yeah, so I'm gonna use it. Like, why would I just do it again, tomorrow, when I know it's gonna happen again. So then I was like, alright, you know, the carb count says three, but I'm gonna use five. And then it worked. And I was like, All right, well, I'm going to trust that that's going to work. And it's almost the same kind of leap you have to make the first time you realize that, you know, if you had three blood sugar meters, and you took the same blood drop on all three, you'd get three different numbers. Yeah. And then you have to say to yourself, I have to just go with what I have. And I think those little leaps got me there. And then I started seeing it like that it slowed down. Like it's such an old reference. Now, I don't even know if it works for people. But diabetes, like it started feeling like the matrix. And I felt like I was standing in the middle of the bullets, and they weren't moving very fast. I was like, Oh, I see it all happening now. And once I saw, it's really cool. Yeah, that's how it felt it felt like before, everything was happening way too fast. And I couldn't make sense of it. And I had found a way to slow everything down. So I could kind of almost look up and like reach and grab a bullet and go, I'm just gonna move this one over here. So it doesn't hit me. Yeah. And then I don't know from there. I wrote about it more. And, you know, kind of clarified my thoughts, and then kept experimenting, and then kept getting good feedback. It was working. And then one day, I just told my wife, I was like, I have a system that works. Like, I don't I don't have a name for it. I don't quantify it. Like, I'm not going to write a book about it. But I know if I do these things that will work and then I made a podcast about it. So, so cool. Pretty much it. Yeah. Really cool. I had a lot of free time. I was a stay at home parent. Yeah. So you know, so cool. Just do the laundry. mop the floor. go grocery shopping. Yes. That's pretty much it. You know, do it again the next day. Yeah. And I honestly, I just, I'm a really emotional person. And like, her health being poor was like killing me. See? Yeah, so I couldn't let her be like that. And I couldn't Yeah, I couldn't be the one that did it. You know, like, so that this I was fighting against all of that.

Carrie 54:47
Yeah, yeah, totally. Yeah, I feel that so much.

Scott Benner 54:51
And it just feels easy now because now I'm like, the guy gets in the phone. I'm like, turn your basil up. You're like he knows everything. I'm like, not really. But I have like, I haven't have knowledge that I can look at it and with reasonable certainty know that this is what I'm seeing. Yeah, you know, so and then the doctors, they don't I don't know, if they don't have it, I tend to think of doctors biggest issue is really the same issue that all businesses have, which is that people come and go. Right, like so. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, you bring somebody in about the time they know what they're doing, they go somewhere else, because they can sell themselves for more, because now they have more responsibility. The next person that comes in doesn't know crap, because they're just starting. And, you know, so everybody's always either dealing with somebody who really knows what they're doing, or has no idea what they're doing. And it just you can't build consistency. It's, it's, it's how free agency killed football. Yeah. You know, totally not that players shouldn't be free to move around. I support that. Like you. It's hard to build a core and keep it together now. Because people people jump around. And I think that happens in business. And I think that doctors offices are businesses. And yeah, they are usually. So you know, when you get the girl with the needle calf was probably like, she's probably in her first six months of this. Totally. Yes. So. And those people are always cycling in and out. I think that yeah, the bigger problem, actually, every problem we have in the world is a failing of people. On some level, like, it's just yeah, you're right. Yeah. It's your job. It's not your life. And so if I have a bad day, or I don't get a lot of sleep last night, or God knows, like, the, I don't know, maybe the receptionist schedule, got a little coke problem. Like, who knows? Like, you know, like, everybody's got their own lives, and they go to this thing during the day, and they put as much effort into it as they think they need to to keep their job. And then, you know, it's not really, I mean, how many people do you know who have a job they really care about? Not many. So, and then you show up with your kid, or I show up with my kid or whatever. And I'm expecting these people to be perfect. And you know, beyond reproach, and the truth is, is that they live up the street from me, and they really are just dreaming of getting home and having three beers and watching American Idol. And yeah, that's it. So true. Yeah. It's one of those. It's not a big deal. Just is what it is. If you know it, then you can work around it.

Carrie 57:23
Totally. That's all. Yeah, I

Scott Benner 57:24
agree with you. Yeah, I just don't have any big high expectations for people. Yeah, same. I think teachers are people who want to have off during the summer. It's true, not that teaching is not a big thing. But I bet you that it attracts, a lot of people are like, wow, three months off cool.

Carrie 57:40
Like, I want to be my kids school nurse eventually, because I'm like, I get the summers off of them.

Scott Benner 57:46
That's exactly my point. And by the way, I'm sure there are plenty of people who really want to shape young minds, and blah, blah, blah. I'm sure that's all true. But if if 50% of the people are just like, I just got to make it to August, and the other 50% are working really hard. Well, then you get a mixed bag. And yeah, totally. It's just yeah, what it is, I don't know, I was sitting here yesterday looking out the window. But for people who work for my Township, were picking up three branches with a machine big enough to knock a house over. And I was like, just walk over and pick it up. Oh, they could have driven over with a pickup truck and grabbed it in eight seconds. But instead, it's like, we just use 72 gallons of diesel fuel using a machine that I could be part of a war if it needed to be it was so big, and I was like, What are we doing? And you know, I don't know how I got to that. But that's my point is that I guess my point is that you need to, on your own, figure out what this is. And then advocate for yourself and see your doctors as people who if you're lucky, you get a great one. And that's great. You take their information. And if you get a bad one, then you you know, then they're the nice people with the prescription pad and you go do what you got to do and and get what you need. And then you go home and make your own decisions. I'm watching someone online. Now. This is such a common thing with people with diabetes. She's looking at a chart or graph, she puts it up online. She says what's going on here? I said this graph screams not enough basil to me. And she said, I said that to the doctor. But they told me no. And I'm like, Okay, well, what now? Because you still have the problem. They said that's not it. You say that's it. I say that's it. 30 Other people are looking at it and tell you the other thing. What are you gonna do? Like, you know, yeah, so it's up to you at some point. That's all. Forget diabetes. If you're waiting for somebody else to tell you the right thing to do. You're making a mistake. Yeah, totally. You gotta get in there. That's all. What are we not talking about? Sorry, that we should have. I

Carrie 59:48
think that's it. I don't know. I just, I was just really excited to be able to get the chance to talk to you. I mean, this this podcast has like changed my life. Oh, in so many ways.

Scott Benner 59:56
Would you take a minute to tell me how

Carrie 59:59
Yeah, I mean, first of all, it's been an amazing support system for me just having other people to like bounce things off of. But I mean, I learned so much from this podcast, like his chi completely changed by way of managing Liam. I mean, because of obviously, when he was diagnosed, I was listening to the doctors, and it just got me nowhere. And, you know, when I found this podcast, I was like, I'm doing everything on my own. I mean, not like on my own, but I mean, I'm making the decisions. And I, I mean, it's just been a lifesaver for me and my husband. We both I mean,

Scott Benner 1:00:33
I'm glad. Yeah, it's very nice. And you got your helped Mikayla hope to? Yeah, totally. Yeah. Do we get the Angelus and by any chance? Because I can use more listeners? Yeah,

Carrie 1:00:43
I should ask her. You don't really talk. But I see. out there.

Scott Benner 1:00:47
For me. Really? He should talk to her. Yeah, totally. Yeah. Feels like, feels like you owe me a little bit. And this is what I'm asking for. Yeah, sure. You got it. Liam's names, not Scott. That's too late. Yeah, you didn't name the next boy, Scott.

Carrie 1:01:00
Yeah, this is, I guess, doing everything for this podcast.

Scott Benner 1:01:05
You're very well, listen. I'll be very honest with you. I wrote the blog because I was trying to raise awareness. And at some point during writing the blog, I realized that it was, what do they call it shot in Freud? What is that? It just, it was just people complaining? Yeah. So I was I was saying what was going wrong? And other people were coming in and going, Yeah, that happens to me, too. You know, it sat and then people would like commiserate. And I thought, oh, there's value in this, like, there's value in knowing that somebody else is going through it. But it wasn't doing enough. And so I thought, like, Well, I'm gonna really try to help people. Like, like, Why buy I know this thing now? Like, I should tell them? Yeah. And then I did that. And it was, it was nice and everything. And the blog did well, but it didn't do nearly as well as the podcast, like when when I moved to podcasting, like, that's when, like, a note a week turned into like, 10 notes a day? For sure. Yeah, it was, it was really interesting. But it's just not something. The space just doesn't do what we're doing here on the podcast. Like, you know, if you stop and think about, I don't know, Instagram content that you see that kind of stuff around diabetes, it's all just very still like, hey, like, I have a recipe for this, or Don't you hate it when this happens? Like, yeah, okay. Like, yeah, great. I hate it. When that happens. Like, is there a way to stop it from happening? Could you tell me that? Yeah. And the only people who will tell you, like how they manage, I mean, often are just trying to drive you to a coaching service. So they tell you a little bit and then they want you to pay them. And I I'm not good with that either. Like, I just think that they carry between you and I, if I charge $9 a month for you to listen to this podcast, I'd be sitting in a gold chair. Okay. But well, you're very nice. But I'm trying very hard not to charge people for that. Like so like, I to me, it's like I take ads, and then the ads support the production that I it takes me 6070 hours a week to make the podcast. So like, I make the podcast and everybody gets to have these conversations, they get community, they get, you know, maybe tips and tricks and stuff like that, or learn things they didn't know before. And there's nowhere to go. You don't have to go pay somebody you don't have to like take a class, you don't have to have a frequent meeting with some jackass who just wants to have that meeting with you so they can charge you for it. Like that kind of stuff. You know, I think that's important. And yeah, you know, it to me, that seems like the right thing to do. Now, don't get me wrong. If I ever lose all the advertisers. I'm 100% gonna charge you for the podcast. You definitely should. But without at that point would be to keep it going. Yeah, I'm sure we'd all pay it too. So I just want I just want everybody. It feels really good to me to know that. You found it. First of all, you said you found at the hospital? Yeah. Was that just googling?

Carrie 1:04:01
Yeah, Google that. And I started listening to one of the series, I think it was like, I want to say it was bold beginnings. I can't remember. And I had it on playing and my husband was like, Carrie, we have so much going on right now. Can we like listen to this when we get home cuz I was like, No, this is, this is like, this is gonna be really important to us, you know, but we had, like, everybody coming in and trying to educate us so they can get us out. And so I just remember being like, Hey, I'm gonna come back to this because I just was overwhelmed. But yeah, I did find it in the hospital.

Scott Benner 1:04:28
The nurses. This guy on the internet is telling me about diabetes. Hold on. Yeah, they're like, yeah, he doesn't have diabetes. But don't worry, we're not gonna let that stop us from listening. But But anyway, like, you found it that early. So in my mind, you avoided some of the heartache that I had. Yeah, totally. I'm sure I did. That makes me feel good. Like there's things that didn't happen to you that trust me, you would not have found pleasant. Yeah. And like that, I think is terrific. And there's no reason that can't happen for anybody. I mean, you spent Yeah, a reasonable Hold on to this hour talking about, like, you just weren't getting good direction from people. Yeah, you know. So I don't think that's not the norm. I think that's what happens more often than not. I totally agree with you. Yeah. So I don't want that. I don't want that. I don't want you to I don't want that to happen to you. And I don't want you to pay for it. Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm what I'm trying to do here. So anyway, cool. Thank you very much. I appreciate you coming on.

Carrie 1:05:24
Thanks so much for having me. I was so excited for this. Oh, good. Great to talk to you. Oh, thank

Scott Benner 1:05:29
you. You were terrific. I appreciate it. Thanks. Yep, hold on one second.

Huge thank you to one of today's sponsors, G voc glucagon. Find out more about Chivo Capo pen at G Vogue glucagon.com forward slash juicebox. you spell that GVOKEGLUC AG o n.com. Forward slash juicebox. If you're looking for community around type one diabetes, check out the Juicebox Podcast private Facebook group Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes, but everybody is welcome. Type one type two gestational loved ones. It doesn't matter to me. If you're impacted by diabetes, and you're looking for support, comfort or community. Check out Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes on Facebook. Once there was a time when I just told people if you want a low and stable a one C, just listen to the Juicebox Podcast. But as the years went on, and the podcast episodes grew, it became more and more difficult for people to listen to everyone. So I made the diabetes Pro Tip series. This series is with me and Jenny Smith. Jenny is a certified diabetes care and education specialist. She is also a registered and licensed dietitian and a type one herself for over 30 years and I of course, am the father of a child who was diagnosed at age two in 2006. The Pro Tip series begins at episode 210 with an episode called newly diagnosed are starting over and from they're all about MDI Pre-Bolus Singh insulin pumping, pumping and nudging variables exercise illness, injury surgeries glucagon long term health bumping and nudging how to explain type one to your family. Postpartum honeymoon transitioning all about insulin Temp Basal. These are all different episodes, setting your Basal insulin, fat and protein pregnancy, the glycemic index and load and so much more like female hormones and weight loss. Head now to juicebox podcast.com. Go up in the menu at the top and click on diabetes pro tip. Or if you're in the private Facebook group, there's a list of these episodes right in the feature tab. Find out how I helped keep my daughter's a one C between five two and six two for the last 10 years without diet restrictions. juicebox podcast.com Start listening today. It's absolutely free. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast. The episode you just heard was professionally edited by wrong way recording. Wrong way recording.com