#1199 Prepared, Not Scared

Denver has a terrific message and sense of humor. 

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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 1199 of Juicebox Podcast.

Denver is 48 years old she's had type one diabetes for about three years and we're going to talk about a ton of different things today. But one of the things Denver really wanted to cover in her episode was about being prepared. And we'll tell you a story later about an incident where she needed to glucagon were being prepared very well may have saved her life. Please don't forget that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan or becoming bold with insulin. Don't forget to save 40% off of your entire order at cosy 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. When you place your first order for ag one with my link, you'll get five free travel packs and a free year's supply of vitamin D. Drink ag one.com/juicebox US residents who have type one or are the caregiver of someone with type one T one D exchange.org/juicebox needs you. It needs you to go and complete the survey. It'll take you 10 minutes and you're going to help with type one diabetes research T one D exchange.org/juicebox. This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by us med U S med.com/juice box or call 888721151 for us med is where my daughter gets her diabetes supplies from and you could to use the link or number to get your free benefit check and get started today with us met. Today's episode is sponsored by Medtronic diabetes, a company that's bringing together people who are redefining what it means to live with diabetes. Later in this episode, I'll be speaking with Mark, he was diagnosed with type one diabetes at 28. He's 47. Now he's going to tell you a little bit about his story. And then at the very end of the episode, you can hear my entire mini interview with Mark to hear more stories from the Medtronic champion community or to share your own story, visit Medtronic diabetes.com/juice box and check out the Medtronic champion hashtag on social media.

Denver 2:32
Hi, this is Denver. I am a type one diabetic that started using insulin about three years ago. But I knew over 20 years ago that I had the antibodies for type one. And so it's kind of been a long, interesting journey for myself along the way.

Scott Benner 2:50
How old are you remember,

Unknown Speaker 2:51
I'm 48.

Scott Benner 2:53
Three years ago when you were 45. But you've known since you were 25 that you had antibodies?

Speaker 1 2:59
Yes, so totally found out. So 20 years ago, and my doctor will shake his head because he told me never to tell the 20 year old story again, because of the stressful journey. It was kind of going through the process. But 20 years ago, I got really, really sick, I was losing the ability to kind of digest my food and swallow and things like that. got pregnant, was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. And throughout that process, I saw a nurse practitioner in Albuquerque, New Mexico, her name was Julie Krawcheck. And I'll just throw it out there because I think she was ahead of her times at that point. And just the insulin wasn't working the way that they expected and all that. So she asked to run the antibody test on me. And at that point, they were just starting to talk about bladder. And so she ran the antibodies, and she let me know that I was positive for dad. They still treated me like a gestational diabetic. And after I had my child, the numbers got better and everything but I never really like resolved it completely. My agency was always a little bit higher than you would expect. So I think that's kind of how I started the story and everything. And so we monitored over time. Eventually I started feeling better. So we think what happened kind of looking back is that I had an autoimmune condition that was undiagnosed, and it was affecting my pancreas as well as other parts of my body. But we never really got the full diagnosis because I got pregnant again. And once I got pregnant with my third child, everything seemed to kind of go into remission and I started getting better. And for

Scott Benner 4:46
I have to stop you for a second because something's happening. It's never happened before making the bike. I've been holding a lamp and I've been holding a lamp and since you started oh my god, you're you're not gonna know why but I have to tell you and it's is inappropriate and you're you're a woman of a certain age and you're a lady and I'm certain I shouldn't be saying this to you but you said you said I lost the ability to swallow and then I got pregnant

Speaker 1 5:19
oh my god I guess I just became part of the afterdark series

Scott Benner 5:36
for like, three minutes I can't believe that. I know that's not what you meant, but hold on. I'm wiping my I'm sweating from laughing Oh my god. I thought if I could let her keep telling the story, I'm gonna implode. Well, there you go. I changed your sad story. Oh my god. I know waving air on my face to try to cool off. Oh, dear Lord. Now you're laughing now you're gonna you're really thinking about it. You're like, oh, that maybe that is what happened.

Speaker 1 6:22
Oh, my God. I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep going now I'm probably going to stumble the rest of the conversation. I'm pretty

Scott Benner 6:27
sure you can't share it with those three kids anymore. But you know. Are you still married? Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 6:35
we've been married 23 years. Yeah,

Scott Benner 6:37
I bet you if I got him on here, he'd go. Yeah, she stopped before that.

Speaker 1 6:43
Well, the funny story is I he was at the gym this morning. And I said, Hey, you're at the gym a long time. You need to get home and get ready for work and get out of here. So he comes home. I'm like, you're running behind. You need to leave because somebody's coming over. And I'm like, Yes. God's coming over. And he paused for a minute. And then he goes, Oh, start cracking. Yeah, well,

Scott Benner 7:04
he'll enjoy this. I bet. Okay. Sorry. I'm so sorry. I really apologize to everybody. I'm 52 laughing now. Yeah. Well, I'm glad you're still laughing because I'm 52. And I feel like I'm 12. And I just Oh my gosh. Okay. Well, let's get back to the podcast now.

Speaker 1 7:23
Well, I told you, I was worried I was gonna be boring. So apparently, you started strong it up. Quick,

Scott Benner 7:30
you started strong.

Unknown Speaker 7:32
It's all downhill from here. Well,

Scott Benner 7:35
that was part of what was in my head. I was like, I'm gonna offend at least a handful of I don't want to say woke people. But you know, and I'm gonna offend at least a handful of people when I say this, but I didn't know how to go on without it. I was choking in the laughter the entire time. And I started like I said, I'm starting to sweat. And this is the shirt. I was planning on going to lunch. And so now I sound like I have to change clothes. Oh, I sound like such a fancy lady. Now. I'm like, Oh, this is the shirt. I was gonna go watch.

Speaker 1 8:04
Oh, my gosh, that is hysterical. Anyway,

Scott Benner 8:08
something about you getting diabetes, and then

Unknown Speaker 8:13
I don't know that we're ever gonna make it.

Scott Benner 8:16
I can do it. I've been doing this a long time. I got I got skills, or I'll pull the skills. Thank you do well, so I don't even know where the hell you were going when I stopped you. What you so you had, let's say

Speaker 1 8:33
can't go back that far spot here. I'm gonna let you recover. But actually, we're going to jump ahead. Because now I'm like hot and sweaty and nervous and you know, embarrassed. I don't get embarrassed. But my friends will give me a hard time you said

Scott Benner 8:46
you were embarrassed. You were nervous when we started but you're not nervous anymore. I imagine I fixed that. Right now we're going to hear from a member of the Medtronic champion community. This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by Medtronic diabetes. And this is Mark.

David 9:00
I use injections for about six months. And then my endocrinologist at a navy recommended a pump. How long

Scott Benner 9:06
had you been in the Navy? Eight years up to that point? I've interviewed a number of people who have been diagnosed during service and most of the time they're discharged. What happened to you?

David 9:15
I was medically discharged. Yeah, six months after my diagnosis.

Scott Benner 9:19
Was it your goal to stay in the Navy for your whole life? Your career? It was Yeah,

David 9:24
yeah. In fact, I think a few months before my diagnosis, my wife and I had that discussion about, you know, staying in for the long term. And, you know, we've made the decision despite all the hardships and time away from home, that was what we loved

Scott Benner 9:36
the most. Was the Navy, like a lifetime goal of yours. lifetime goal.

David 9:41
I mean, as my earliest childhood memories were flying being a fighter pilot, how

Scott Benner 9:46
did your diagnosis impact your lifelong dream?

David 9:49
It was devastating. Everything I had done in life, everything I'd worked up to up to that point was just taken away in an instant. I was not prepared for that at all. What does your son Work system look like friends, your family caregivers, you know, for me to Medtronic champions community, you know all those resources that are out there to help guide the way but then help keep abreast on you know, the new things that are coming down the pike and to give you hope for eventually that we can find a cure. Stick

Scott Benner 10:14
around at the end of this episode to hear my entire conversation with Mark. And you can hear more stories from Medtronic champions and share your own story at Medtronic. diabetes.com/juice box.

Speaker 1 10:27
Oh, I'm pretty sure you fix that. No, I'm like, oh, gosh, what's gonna come out of my mouth next?

Scott Benner 10:34
You gotta stop talking about your mouth Denver.

Alright, anyway, sorry. So you jumped in. Just go ahead with your story. I'm sorry, everyone just tried to remember I can't recap. But if I try to recap, but I'm going to start at the beginning. And we're gonna be right back here again. And I can't quit

Speaker 1 10:54
laughing. So I'm really sorry. And I have like a loud laugh. So apologies, everyone, but you're fine. Okay. So that's kind of the backstory. I mean, 20 years ago, I knew I had the antibodies, you know, I was really sick, I got better. That's really kind of the key thing. But I think from that, it's really just about advocating for yourself and kind of pushing for what you know, is wrong. Because I knew there was something to the story. You know about having the GAD antibodies in a positive ama that, you know, I needed to be aware of. So eventually, like, jump ahead, I'm watching my agencies climb, I'm 115 to like 120 pounds, and my agencies keep going up, I hardly eat, you know, I'm not a big eater for anything, but they were climbing and the doctors are just like, just eat better. And I'm like, how much more calorically Do you want me to cut out? Like, I hardly eat. I'm a two meal a day eater typically, like, I'm telling you, there's a problem, and they just kind of poo pooed it. And then eventually, I was having symptoms of diabetes. Okay. And this was probably five years ago. And I'm really bad with like timeframes and all that. But I would guess about five years ago, and I went to my doctor, who was my OBGYN, except them past the kids. So she's the GYN part of that equation. Now, you know, I let her know I said, I can't quit urinating. Like, I really think I have diabetes. You know, I've have the GAD antibodies. I, you know, all of that sort of, they run the agency, and they're like, your agency is fine. And I said, I don't eat. So I'm sure that I am faking the agency and that if I'm not eating, I'm lower, but when I eat it goes high, but because I hardly eat. The average is making my agency look like it's right. No, you're just getting older. How much caffeine? Are you drinking? I'm like, I have a cup of tea a day. I've done that forever. Right? And they're like, Well, no, it's just aging, caffeine, and they just kind of dismissed me. And living in Albuquerque, the health care system, there is not good. I felt like I lived in a third world country, to be honest, they're having a really hard time keeping their doctors there. So I would get an appointment with like a general physician, and they would leave. And before I could get to the appointment, I'd be like, Well, I'm still gonna have an appointment in a month, right? And they're like, No, we just got a new doctor. And they're already six months out. So you would just kind of have to wait to get in, but never actually see a doctor. And this is a known issue in New Mexico and I speak of it freely because maybe the right person will hear it and do something about it. So it really became a problem. And then you kind of jump ahead to three years ago, and I had become so sick that I pretty much gave up cooking for the family, like my husband began cooking, I worked from home. So I would wake up, go sit in front of my computer, I would work I would get off work and go lay on the couch and sleep until my husband told me to eat I would eat and then go up to bed and do it all over again. So I went from being extremely active, you know, walking five miles, every single day, like religiously, hiking mountains and all of that to not even really getting out of bed or getting off the couch. And knowing that I was really really sick, but having troubles getting into doctors or getting someone to listen to me. Yeah, you know, so it was it was just really stressful. I want

Scott Benner 14:39
to tell you that I never heard the caffeine thing before and I laughed at it but I did some googling while you're talking and apparently it's true. But it's it's a type two, type two thing. Studies of type two coffee drinkers have found that caffeine exaggerates glucose and insulin responses to a carbohydrate challenge and increase average daytime glucose and postprandial responses to meals in the natural environment. So

Speaker 1 15:03
right yeah. And it has that bit she actually meant it as the caffeine was irritating my bladder and because I was getting older, oh, it was paying more often because the like I was being completely dismissed is not a diabetic angle but like you're just getting older so the caffeine makes your bladder more irritable now, so cut it back.

Scott Benner 15:23
That's fascinating. So she almost was right about something she was wrong about for the wrong reason. Got it? Yeah, okay. Yeah,

Speaker 1 15:28
exactly. Anyway, so I wasn't getting off the couch or anything, I was really sick. And I ended up coming down with like this rash all over my body, head to toe, it was in my scalp that I mean, it was everywhere. And so I went to a dermatologist. They tried everything. I mean, they tried the creams and you know, lotions, and then eventually, they said, Hey, we're gonna put you on oral steroids. And I mentioned to them, I said, Look, my agency's climbing, I know that I'm becoming a diabetic. And I know that it's going to be type one, because I have the antibodies. Are you sure this won't push me over the edge? And they're like, No, you'll run higher, but then you'll be fine. But the rash was so bad, that I had no choice. Like I needed to take the steroids anyways. And so I took the steroids. And it didn't get rid of the rash. But what it did do was send my blood sugar's to the point that I was extremely symptomatic. At that point, it makes sense. Okay. Yeah. And so they were claiming, the dermatologist could not get rid of the rash. So I ended up going to the allergist, that my daughter sees that I also kind of know, on a personal basis as well. And asked her, you know, do you have any ideas, they did allergy testing, I was fine. They really couldn't find anything. And I said, you know, I really think I'm diabetic, and that the steroid just brought to the forefront where we couldn't ignore it anymore. Will you prescribe, I know, you can't treat me for diabetes, whoo. But we just ordered me a glucometer. So I can see what's going on. And she did. And that's when I found my blood sugar's were really high. And I went a couple days without eating, and they were still climbing, I went to the ER, because I didn't want to go into decay, like I knew what was coming. And the first hospital that I went to, and I'm not going to use names, but the first hospital that I went to, they left me in the hallway the whole time, and never really did anything. They did some blood work determined that I wasn't in DKA. And told me, they were going to discharge me with nothing. And I said, Look, I know this is type one, I have the antibodies, I showed him the labs and everything that I had from a while back, can you give me insulin? Like, can you treat me? And they said, No, you need to go find an endocrinologist and I said, I've been trying, I can't get in. And they said, to go see the endocrinologist within this hospital system? Well, the funny thing was, and is I made the call to try to get an appointment, they never returned my calls. It's kind of jump head real quick. It took them a year to call me back, like a year later, I get a call. And I said, Wow, if I would have waited for this call back, I would have been dead. You know, like, This is crazy. So kinda jump back to the hospital stay, they're gonna discharge me and I used to work in the medical field. So, you know, I knew what was happening. I knew I had to get ahead of it if I didn't want to end up in a coma. And I felt like if I didn't push the you know, and this is kind of dramatic, but it's honestly how I felt I felt like I was going to die. And they were going to send me home with nothing. And bit I knew my pancreatic function was enough based on the numbers I was seeing on the glucometer. That if maybe if I could just get some Metformin or something that it would kind of perk things up to keep me going until I could get into an endocrinologist. And at first, they didn't want to give it to me. And I told the doctor, the resident, I said, Look, you are going to write me this prescription. I'm not leaving without it. I'm going to pitch a fit. And I said, Go get your boss. And they left me sitting there a while longer. And eventually, you know, the head doctor came over and I said, Look, this is not okay, what you're doing, I need insulin. But if you're not willing to give me insulin, or help me get the help I need before I go into DKA then at least write me for Metformin. And if you won't, I swear I will make the biggest stink ever that you've ever heard. Yeah. And so she finally agreed that she would write me a prescription for Metformin. And I left the hospital with that prescription

Scott Benner 19:55
I need to ask you like what was their reservation about giving you insulin? They didn't believe that I was type one, but you have the antibody test and your agency's going up and you've got all the signs that you have type one diabetes.

Speaker 1 20:07
Exactly. Yeah, no, they were insistent that I was type two. The crazy thing is is like because of my medical background and everything and just the research I had done and then the things that Julie had told me to be aware of, in case I was going to be Lada you know, down the road, is that if I went unknown to advocate for myself and push, I really believe I would have ended up in DKA eurycoma situation, but I just didn't stop like, I mean, to be honest, I was kind of nasty by the end of it, but I needed to scare them into giving me what I needed so that bad things didn't happen to me like I was protecting myself and basically reacting anyway, I had to, to get that medication I need. Don't

Scott Benner 20:58
feel bad about that. I'm pretty sure right now, in an emergency room in Georgia, there's a story going around about a man from New Jersey who flew all the way to Georgia to yell at them, so don't worry about it. diabetes comes with a lot of things to remember. So it's nice when someone takes something off of your plate. US med has done that for us. When it's time for art and supplies to be refreshed. We get an email rolls up in your inbox says hi Arden. This is your friendly reorder email from us med. You open up the email two big button that says click here to reorder. And you're done. Finally, somebody taking away a responsibility instead of adding one. US med has done that for us. An email arrives, we click on a link and the next thing you know your products are at the front door. That simple. Us med.com/juice box or call 888-721-1514 I never have to wonder if Arden has enough supplies. I click on one link. I open up a box. I put the stuff in the drawer. And we're done. US med carries everything from insulin pumps, and diabetes testing supplies to the latest CGM like the libre three, and the ducks comm G seven. They accept Medicare nationwide, over 800 private insurers. And all you have to do to get started is called 888-721-1514. Or go to my link us med.com/juicebox using that number or my link helps to support the production of the Juicebox Podcast. Oh, that's certain that happened about two weeks ago. Yeah, I bet they're still talking about it now about that rude man from the north that came down and yelled at everybody for you know, not knowing what the hell they were doing. And me not overreacting, by the way, but maybe under reacting. I mean, if Yeah, anyway, I at one point, you're probably

Speaker 1 22:54
like that spiral up, right? You're totally calm and chill. But once you get pushed over that edge, it's like you better watch out

Scott Benner 23:01
though. There's, I mean, there's just a there's no, how was how was the Arden been putting it? She's like, everybody here pretends to be polite, but they're just regular people. That's, that's something she said about the South recently. Oh, that's funny. Whereas here we don't. We're not there's no pretending. Like we're just gonna do the thing that needs to be done or say the thing that needs to be said like, we're not worried about some, I don't know, 100 year old idea of how you treat each other in society, I guess you know that the situation was what it was like Arden had a real problem. They were dismissing her, telling her to go away, loading her up on pain meds and then telling her she was fine after that. And you know, stuck to that and not doing the testing they needed to do. And when I arrived, like literally when I flew overnight to get to her when I arrived in the that morning at the ER, they were they were trying to kick her out of the ER. And they were like forcefully trying to kick her out. And oh my gosh, one of her roommates was like on the brink of tears when I walked in Arden was so upset that she was in a tank top and her tears were collected in her clavicle. Like like in a pool. And I walked in and I was like what are you doing to this? Like, kind of burly like nurse it seemed like he was running the floor a little bit. Like what are you doing? I'm like, they're 19 What are you doing to them? I was like, look at them. I said hey, are you okay with this? You're proud of this? You know, and and I was like getting run the test yet? And Arden's like I told him I wasn't gonna leave and like so she when she thought she was gonna get streeted She demanded to be admitted for it like froze him long enough for me to get off the plane get on the phone and say I'm on my way there. I'm gonna be there in like 10 minutes. She's not don't leave our nose like you stay there. And you know, when I got there, he tried to tell me that if I wanted this test run, they had already released her. We would have to literally physically walk out on the street, come back in and go through the process again. If I One of the tests run, and that's about when he got New Jersey, Philadelphia, New York.

Unknown Speaker 25:07
Good for you. Anyway, they

Scott Benner 25:09
ran that test. So, yeah, we didn't lose. He's doing good. Now everything's okay. We didn't come up with answers. But we came up with a path to continue looking when she gets her I hate to say this when she gets home and back to a reasonable healthcare situation. So we were able to bridge her from there to this. Yeah, I was stunned. Like, I felt like I was watching a 1970s B movie. Like the way like he was badgering the girls. And one of the the other two girls that were with her. They've never had a medical issue in their life. And so one of them had never been in a hospital until that morning. And they had them in there for 12 hours. And they weren't helping them and just letting them sit in pain and not coming and talking to them. They're freezing cold. They're not even in a room. They're in a corner of a sectioned off room with a woman next to her is vomiting her guts out, nobody's helping her. The woman of sight. The craziest thing I saw while I was there, you would think is what happened to Arden. But no, it's a woman who came in with cystic fibrosis, for a treatment. So something pre planned apparently that they do in the ER that I didn't understand. But they brought her in, sat her down. And the doctor came in and went cystic fibrosis. And she goes, yeah, and he goes had a tough one. I was like, What the heck am I looking for right now? Like, what is what is happening? I don't know what it felt like we let DoorDash drivers become like doctors. I was like you didn't go to college, looking for a job tire to bring in people their food. Why don't you be a physician in this hospital, like it was I was able to dig one decent doctor up. And I hate to say it, but he was older and did not have a southern accent. He clearly and I'm not coming down on the south. What I'm trying to say is he moved there to retire and took a job in his waning years. And that's why he was not hospital. What I was doing is I was talking to a doctor who came from somewhere else. That's what that's what was happening. So forget the south of wherever the hell like you're out west like it, I don't really care where it is. I think there are pockets in places where the healthcare is just atrocious. And, you know, I may be unaware of that until Arden goes away at school. And we get away from diabetes for a second but still need health care. And then I get in there and I learned Oh, it's not NGOs who don't know what they're talking about that when I hear these stories from people. It's not that's not what, it's everyone. So, yeah,

Speaker 1 27:36
good luck. It's tough. It's tough. So and, you know, it's just I think the key is you just have to advocate for yourself and keep looking and keep pushing and you can't stop. Because if you stop you're giving in and there are people out there that can help you. But sometimes it's just exhausting trying to get to those people who can help you. And like in my situation. I went back home after the first hospital and I took my Metformin, like a good patient to you know why I'm trying to get in those. And it was amazing. I finally got an endo appointment. Got up to the point that I was good to see the Endo. And I got a call right before my appointment that said, Sorry, we have to cancel your appointment. But she doesn't treat people with diabetes.

Scott Benner 28:22
The endo doesn't. Yes. Could you believe that? As long were you? How long were you on the books for her? Um, couple months. They figured it out. Somebody

Speaker 1 28:32
figured it out a couple days before. Yep, that was great. I start, you know, was still getting sicker than Metformin actually made me feel like I had like lead weight to my legs. So it just made everything worse. And so I ended up I knew lots of physicians, you know, and I looked at my husband because I started sweating, the racing heartbeat, like just was a little bit of confusion and everything. And so I knew things were starting to shift pretty dramatically. Again, you know, like, it just didn't matter about the Metformin. And I said you need to call our friend at a different hospital system, and see if he can do anything because I'm not able to get into an endocrinologist and this is getting bad and I'm scared like at this point, I'm actually terrified. He makes the call and they say go straight to the ER and everything. So I go to the ER and there is a doctor there that I see supersweet gets me in. He goes Yep, you're diabetic. But you're type two and I said no I'm not I'm type one here you know the same thing and stuck to the he's like you know just keep taking the Metformin your you know, your pH is still fine and I said that my sugars are climbing I haven't eaten in two days like this is not good. I mean, if I were to eat I can't imagine what my numbers would be. They kept me and you know for a bit not admitted but just kept me in the ER and watch me and gave me fluids, which, you know, of course, that lowered my numbers a bit. And they said, well just go home, get an endo, you'll be okay. You're type two, you know, eat better that whole thing and, and I just kept pushing it he's, and he's came back and he said, I can give you some insulin here. And I said, Well, if it works, will you give me a prescription? Because that's what I need? And he said, No, I'd be more than experiment. I'm just curious what happens when I give you insulin. And I just looked at him and said, I'm not going to be your experiment, you know, let's be done. And so I left was really upset. I mean, I don't cry. I'm not a crier. I mean, my friends that know me know, I'm pretty tough. And I mean, I was just in tears, didn't know what I was going to do, and, and kind of broke down in a meeting at work. We were we do a lot of zoom meetings. And I pop in on a meeting and they're having a conversation, and they're like, hey, what kind of wine? Do you like to drink Denver? And I'm like, I just like to be able to drink wine. Heck, I'd like to be able to get off the couch these days. And it caught everybody off guard. And they were like, what's going on Denver? You okay? I'm like, I don't know, I think I'm gonna die. You know, I don't exactly remember what I said. But that was the gist of the conversation like I, that was it. I kind of resigned myself to I don't know what's going to happen next. And the person in the meeting said, No, tell me what's going on. And so I kind of gave her the background on the story. And she goes, your story is exactly like it was a person that we worked with daughter's story, you need to talk to her. And I was like, I'll talk to anybody at this point. Because I even as educated as I am, and knowing what I know about health care, I can't get past this hurdle. And they're gonna force me into DKA. And God knows if I'll survive it in this state, you know, and they're gonna force me into this, and it's so stupid when the answers right there in front of them. So I get connected. I have the conversation. I talked with the co workers daughter, and she and I, she was a geneticist, and her story was exactly like mine. And she said, I have a friend, I have somebody that I know and, and I want to get you connected with him. And it was Dr. Pettis, which I share that name just because some people know him. And she made the call. And he said, I'll see her. And they gave me an appointment a bit out. And I emailed Dr. Pettis with like a spreadsheet, literally, I had the spreadsheet that tracked my labs over 20 years, and you could see what was happening and everything. And then I got a call from the nurse that said, Hey, come sooner. And I'll never forget, like I walked in. And you know, I'm just, it changed me what I had gone through with the ers and just the frustrations. And he goes to what kind of diabetic Are you? And I said, I don't know, that's why I had to fly to California to to get the answer. And he goes, You're type one, you need insulin. I was like, Oh, I know. But I just I've been fighting. And so I start telling him the story, you know, the 20 year back story. And he goes, Look, you never have to tell that story again, like, it doesn't matter. 20 years ago, you are a diabetic right now. And that's all that matters in your type one, and you need insulin. And you're going to start feeling better right now. And like the relief that I felt, I mean, I went back to my hotel room, and I kind of get a little emotional even right now while I'm talking. But like, I just cried because it was like, oh my god, it's not going to kill me. I'm not going to have to go into DKA. To to feel better. And that was kind of the relief moment. At that point.

Scott Benner 33:43
What's that total time between the first time you thought I'm paying a lot? I need insulin, and when you got insulin?

Unknown Speaker 33:53
It's probably a year and a half.

Scott Benner 33:55
Everybody should be super proud. Yeah, yeah. Okay. It

Speaker 1 33:59
was probably a year and a half of that. But you know, one of the questions I see like in the Facebook group is, how long have you go? Did you know? Or how long did it take you to become a diabetic? And I think like, what you can kind of gather from what I'm sharing with you is that we don't know really about the adult onset of type one. People probably are predisposed to it and have it happening way before they even get the symptoms. So it's almost like an irrelevant question. It's just when do you get sick enough that you need to do something about it?

Scott Benner 34:34
Right? Yeah, when it's unavoidable, although you got you got the unavoidable and people who are still able to avoid it. So

Unknown Speaker 34:41
yeah, no, it was crazy. Speaking

Scott Benner 34:43
of that, at any point, did you feel crazy or did you never let go of the idea that I'm right.

Speaker 1 34:50
I knew I was right. There was never any doubt. And I could actually it's kind of interesting because I could feel the physiologic changes happening in my body Hmm. And I could tell when I hit the point of this is going to get really bad really fast because I don't have anxiety or anything like that. But like, my body was wigging out, like I would just start sweating, my heart rate would start acting up. I felt confused, I was foggy. I remember when I had my husband make the call, like, I was like, I'm starting to get confused. Like, I'm pretty quick on my feet and everything. And I'm like, it's just really hard to function and keep up with conversations, like things were changing really quickly. And I just think it was the metabolic changes in my body, when

Scott Benner 35:38
you feel it happening, and you can't do anything about it is my wife has pneumonia right now on top of long COVID. And so she was just about and she just felt like she was coming out along COVID after like a year. And then somebody got around her who was sick, and Kelly ended up with pneumonia. And, and the other day, she's just like, she's at this point, starting to feel better again. But in the beginning days of it, so I was away for the first few days that she was sick. I was in Austin giving a talk and she sent me a text while I was waiting, she goes, I think I have pneumonia. I'm going to the doctor, she went, and she did and they you know, gave her meds but it didn't hit her hard enough, fast enough. By the time I got home, she's like, I'm cloudy. I'm having trouble thinking, you know, like, just that being sick thing, that overall thing. Just it's like a heavy blanket on top of a heavy blanket just keeps happening until you kind of can't move and you kind of can't think and and then she was getting like you could tell she was desperate at points. Like she was almost like a little girl. Like she'd wake up in the morning. And she's like, I don't want to cough anymore. But she didn't mean it like a complaining way. She was kind of like begging the universe, if that makes sense. You know what I mean? And I imagine you in a similar situation as as why brought it up? Yeah,

Speaker 1 36:52
no, it sounds very similar. So Well, I hope she starts feeling better soon. It's so hard with the long COVID Because they you know, they're just trying to guess and figure out how to help people with it.

Scott Benner 37:02
Yeah, we have life insurance on her. So I'll be able to like something happens. Well, I just lost a bunch of weight. So I figured probably wouldn't have any trouble attracting a nice lady, you know, between the money and the skinny. I think I could probably work it out. You know, they mean, there you go. Yeah, as Arden points out, if that doesn't work out. You're just like chum, the ladies with diabetes. Just find one of them. And I was like, oh, yeah, that's a good idea.

Speaker 1 37:27
That's right. You got lots of fan girls, don't you

Scott Benner 37:31
imagine on my Tinder profile. I was like, if you have type one, I can manage your diabetes. After the conversation I had yesterday, which I won't go into I genuinely believe there are people would be like, I don't need love as long as this guy keep me from getting a loan with three in the morning.

Unknown Speaker 37:51
Oh my gosh, that

Scott Benner 37:53
none of you are getting my life insurance money. No. I think Kelly's gonna be fine. Obviously. If I thought Kelly was dying, I would be joking about it. I'm pretty

Speaker 1 38:02
sure Kelly's a catch. You know, so you better watch out. She might get rid of you. Oh,

Scott Benner 38:06
I've been waiting for that for 26 years. At our wedding reception, I was like this probably won't last much longer. Yeah, I'm hanging in there. Just just tooth and nail I refuse to go away. That's my that. That's my, that's my secret. I'm just beating the will out of her so that she can it's not worth it. Like trying you ever see somebody wrapped up by an anaconda? They can they struggle for a visual, they struggle for a bit then they're like, Ah, forget it. It's gonna eat me. Oh my god. Anyway, that's what helped us with our marriage. I think

Speaker 1 38:48
that's awesome. Well, I just want to thank Kelly for you know, letting her give of your time because I joke that Dr. Pettis saved my life. But you and Dr. Pettis, you know through the podcast and conferences and being in physician and things like that really are the ones that gave me my life back. And I know, my story isn't just my story. It's you know, everybody who follows your Facebook group, I mean, truly figuring out how to manage this disease and, and live vicariously with it is is huge. And I mean, obviously, the technology plays a big role in that as well. Of course, you know, I started out with him MDI and couldn't get my life back. Yeah, yeah, I felt better but couldn't exercise couldn't you know, kayak couldn't hike couldn't do anything. And so really, it was kind of the when I switched over to the Omni pod pump is truly whenever I felt like I was living again.

Scott Benner 39:46
Good for you. Well, that's and it's very nice of you to say and I'm glad you found the doctor that was helpful to you. And, you know, my thanks go out to doctors like that as well. Because obviously not everybody's a problem. It's just when it is The problem and you're in an actual emergent situation, there's no wiggle room for you not to know your job. It's just now it's just it's not okay. Like, look at, like, if you're a doctor listening to this, look what happened to Denver. Listen to that year and a half that she went through, like, the description of where she was that she had to get on an airplane to find a competent person. That's all fascinating. You know, and just shouldn't be. You literally handed them all the clues. You were like, here, it's the candlestick. It's mustard. It said dining room. Just say, just say it out loud. Say it out loud. So we can keep going. And they're like, No, I don't think it's that. Just I'm not really. And

Speaker 1 40:41
there are so many doctors who are still stuck on that. Well, if you're diagnosed in your 40s, or 50s, it's type two, even if you're skinny.

Scott Benner 40:49
Yeah, no, I know. That's the whole, it's just they have a picture in their head. That's pretty much a list. And to be perfectly honest with you, we got them off of even if you're skinny, at least we got them past the like, just look at your body composition and tell you what kind of diabetes you have. Is that used to happen to and probably still does. So I mean, maybe some of the moves a little forward, just not as not far enough? I don't listen, I'm gonna say it again. I'm a guy making a podcast. I figured the whole thing out. I didn't go to medical school. I didn't even go to college. How come you can't figure it out? With your undergrad and your grad degree and your you know, specialty and working in the hospital for all those years? You can't get this straight in your head is it isn't that difficult. I think I'm an idiot. I figured it out. Like stop. It's ridiculous. If I'm a doctor, am I not embarrassed to hear a woman on a podcast? Say hey, a guy who makes a podcast and his Facebook group? Or what I owe my good health to? Like, am I not like, Should I not have my head in the hole? If I hear that? You know, just see you got me upset. We started with a laugh. We laughed at the beginning. And now I'm upset. We have to move on to something else. You were here. Let's do this. I want to hear a little bit about your management before but before that, you say we met in Orlando it touched by type one recently.

Speaker 1 42:10
We did. Okay, we did. So let's see what maybe I can say that will help you kind of place who I am. So I got there early. You were still setting up when we

Scott Benner 42:23
I know that you're tiny. You're tiny person. Right? Like, like lean. Shorter. Yeah,

Speaker 1 42:29
well, bigger than I was. But thanks to insulin, but you know, yeah, I'm, I'm not sure. I'm like 560.

Scott Benner 42:35
Well,

Unknown Speaker 42:38
I mean, I'm lemons on my dress. Oh,

Scott Benner 42:40
you wait a second. Ever? If I find you on the group, will I be able to see you or now? Yes, there's

Unknown Speaker 42:47
a picture of me. Alright, let's

Scott Benner 42:49
do that. Let's use the internet instead of you describing your dress to me because I am. Although I imagine it's hard to tell because I'm a podcaster. I am straight. So I don't know what people are wearing when they talked to me. Never, never once looked at a woman's clothing and thought Let me commit this to memory. Oh,

Unknown Speaker 43:07
my stress.

Scott Benner 43:11
Ever I know you Okay, nevermind. We're good. I know exactly who you are? Of course I do. And

Speaker 1 43:17
then we talked at the end your mic? You Mike and I were chatting about looping. Yes. So at the last one. Yeah.

Scott Benner 43:24
By the way, if you would have just said that to you, or I would have known immediately. Oh, sorry. Okay, so we met we met in in Orlando and talked a little bit. But before we started recording, you started to kind of tell me a story about myself. And I stopped you I said no, no, tell me during the podcast. So what were you saying? Because I didn't get enough of what you were saying to like, make sense of it yet?

Speaker 1 43:47
Well, no, I just and it's not going to be as big and dramatic as you're imagining. But yeah, so we met I got there to the conference early and I just came over and introduced myself and we were chatting and everything but as we're talking you know other people were fan girling and excited to see you as they should be right because the impact you've had but of course like your brain is constantly even when you're talking to people like I can just see like you're thinking and looking and planning and you know people are sharing their stories and like you when you see you in person like I can see you taking the pieces of the puzzle and almost putting them together and then watching you speak and talk about how you just instantly see things now because you've been doing it so long like you truly have a gift. And it's interesting watching like I'm a people watcher and so it's just kind of interesting to watch you and See you not that I was stalking you. Well, that sounds like a stalker. But I mean, obviously we were around each other quite a bit that day. But watching you interact with people and be on stage or just be at your booth and just the way that you watch people and listen to their stories and instantly can throw things out or ideas or pull it all together for people or just even jump in between, you know, doing the pictures with the kids and the parents. And you know, then jumping back into having that serious, more technical conversation, like your brain is a special kind of brain. So I know you joke that like you barely made it through high school, and you barely had it, but you get it, because of the way your brain looks at things. And I think that's what's kind of given you that gift to be able to help people with insulin management. Never

Scott Benner 45:28
I'll tell you a secret. I was very bored by high school, very, I believe it. And then even the idea of going to college. It felt limiting to me. Because I thought if I went to college, I'd have to be a thing. Because I spent money to learn how to do a thing. And I thought, well, then what if I wanted to shift I couldn't shift if I was stuck doing this thing, which sounds like, as I'm saying it, I have to say I don't like it. When people in my position, say stuff like that, when they say things like don't go to school, like, you know, go be yourself like that's for them. It's not for everybody. You know, like it's, and I'm not saying I'm special. I'm certainly not saying I'm special. But the way my brain works, it would have been limiting and unpleasant for me to go to college, like I would have gone I would have learned a thing I would not have been good at learning it. I'm very bad at listening, sitting and listening to people. And I don't like to read, there's a thing I was told never to admit, I hate reading. And I really dislike reading. I want to be clear about that. Like, it's not the process. It's the stopping. I hate the idea of like stopping and sitting and only doing one thing that's sort of upsetting to me. Like I like to be able to like, not jump from thing to thing, but I like to be able to like get my fill of something, then move into something else. I don't know, the idea of reading doesn't seem attractive to me. Anyway. I don't like it when I feel like you know when like, like somebody who's like famous for having a six pack and has a has a podcast. And they're like, all you need to do is this. And you'll look like me. And I'm like, that's not true. Like you're, that's not true at all? No, yeah, if you do that this happens to you. Like there are some things that are universal. And there's some things that are specific to some people anyway, I would if I was all of you, I'd get an education. Don't listen to me is what I'm saying. And the only reason I'm even able to say this, because it worked out. But I can go back at any different points in my life and tell you how something could have gotten different. I wouldn't be sitting here today talking to you like this. And then what I would be saying was, oh my god, I should have just gone to college and found the thing to do. Like I screwed up. Like if this this one thing doesn't work out. For me, this one incredibly unlikely thing doesn't work out for me. I would be bemoaning the bad decision I made in high school and and when I was younger, so you shouldn't hear someone say that and just go Oh, yeah, that's right. I don't need college. You probably do. Like Like, I probably I probably did. I just got lucky. That's all

Speaker 1 48:06
but you can also be the inspiration for those, the college is not the right way for them. And there are other ways to do things and be successful. So you know, Courage isn't for everybody. So I think we have to recognize that as well. It's

Scott Benner 48:19
worth saying out loud, but it's not worth listening to and like just going oh, yeah, I don't need that. Because they're right, what's gonna happen is the people who need it are gonna hear this and be like, oh, yeah, I don't need to go to college, the guy listening on the podcast didn't go and he's fine. He makes a podcast, because that actually sounds like a thing you should be I should be embarrassed that I make it. Like, it's not a thing you should aspire to. Because there are, I mean, maybe the world is going to continue to shift. But at some point, someone's going to need to do the work. We all just can't be talking about it. Like, right, like there's an argument to be made that I should have gone to college and become a doctor and taught people about endocrinology. Like there's an argument to be made for that. It's just this thing worked out. And it's all timing. I could have started this podcast two years later, and it wouldn't have worked. As a matter of fact, I am maybe benefiting from sort of being first. Like there had been a couple of people in the blogging space who tried things in audio, but they weren't podcast, the technology wasn't there. But once the podcast technology was there, I was just sort of first through the door. I have what business people would call momentum now. Like, you can't just steal it from me. Do you know what I mean? Like, it's like, it's like trying to pull something out of orbit. Like you can't I'm there now and there's no room for more, and you can't take my momentum away. It's, it sounds like I'm talking about me, but I'm not it's a it's a business idea, like first to market sometimes just wins. And you know, like, I think that's the position I'm in. That's dumb luck. Although, if you wanted to get thoughtful about it, I could sit back and tell you that I was blogging and I saw things going to hell while everybody else thought they were okay. I moved into this spot on purpose to get here first. So, yes, I did it on purpose. But still, somebody else could have done it before me and I might be the one going, I don't understand I make a good podcast. I can't, can't catch that guy. Like why not? You know, so? I don't know. But it was nice to it's nice that you saw that. I appreciate that. Thank you.

Speaker 1 50:18
Yeah. And the reason why it works for you is, is because of patient storytelling. So, I mean, I work I don't know, actually, you don't know this. But I worked for a decade, almost a decade and patient storytelling working for a boutique marketing agency that works with the pharma companies. And you know, that's what we did was patient storytelling. And it's the fact that you build a connection and give an avenue for people to connect with type one. That's what they need. I mean, humans want to feel connected, they want to be able to share their stories and everything. And you've created that conduit, and then through the podcast, you allow people to, you know, connect with you connect with each other, through the Facebook groups and all of that. And so that is one of the reasons why you're so successful is the way that not that you did this to be marketing or anything like that. But it's that whole concept is what you've done without probably realizing in the beginning. That's what you were going to be doing. It's almost, you know, it just it's really kind of the secret sauce, it's made you successful is how you've been able to use your skills that carrying conversations with others and through the podcasts that pulls it together and brings in continues to bring in those people.

Scott Benner 51:34
It's serendipitous, really like you're right, I didn't, I didn't set out to do what happened, like I do maybe a little bit, but I didn't expect everything that happened afterwards, I will still tell you that when money lands in my account, that's from the podcast, I still think like, Huh, that's crazy. Like, like, really genuinely, I'm like, I can't believe that I sell ads like that. Because somebody who's not involved in it might just hear like, oh, you feel like you're selling something. It's about money. It's not like, first of all, if the podcast doesn't make money, I can't make it. Like, that's just the beginning of the end, right? I mean, I could probably do it as a hobby and give it to you once a week or once a month or something like that. But the time that goes into it is it's never ending, like, that's the first thing. But like, I didn't expect it to be a business. I expected it. At one point, I thought I could make enough money that my wife wouldn't mind the time I was putting into it to make it like weekly that it grew, I think just shows the need that it was filling, right? Like there was a genuine need, and it filled that need. And it grew. And still it's, it's still not growing the way I think it should. And I don't know if that's just me being aggressive or competitive or something like that. But I'm not happy. I'm never happy with the pie. Let me just say this. It took me seven years to get 5 million downloads. And it's taken me 24 months to get 10 million more. And I still sit around at night wondering why I'm not successful at growing the podcast,

Speaker 1 53:13
you are your own worst competitor. That's what's going on.

Scott Benner 53:18
I bugged my wife about it last night while she was being sick. I was like, you know, she's like, Oh, God, is he going to complain about this again? And I'm not complaining? I'm trying to think it through. Because there's an avenue out there. I can't find it. If that makes sense. Like the avenue I'm on is a great avenue. It's going well. But I know there's a better route. And I'm, I can't figure out what it is. But I'm trying to find it two nights ago it was me texting Isabel from the Facebook group like this. I was like I was like October sucked. I was like, what's going on? Where is everybody? What are they doing? They're abandoning me. I think I think October was that like 3% from September, but in September, I released the entire protest. So it didn't make any sense for October to be greater than September. It just didn't. And yet I still have that feeling of like, and here's where it comes from. And I haven't said it like this in a very long time because I think it's a bit distasteful. But I don't know a better way to explain it to people who are not in my position. I often feel like the scene at the end of Schindler's List, when Oscar Schindler realizes he still has a piece of jewelry on. That's how I genuinely feel not to that, please. I'm not comparing the Holocaust with helping people with diabetes. But that feeling right there is like, I know I have this thing. And I know how it helps people. I can't believe I'm missing an opportunity to find more people. That's how it feels. So whatever that feeling is, I have that a lot. And for the last couple of years I've been able to not make let it make me feel badly Because the growth was like, was happening, like in an insane level, but now I'm like, expecting more out of it than just what it's doing, which and what it's doing is ridiculous. No lie, I might be in the top 96% of all active podcasts with a niche inside of a niche show. And there is there is no successful type to podcast, which is baffling. And by successful I mean like huge, like in the market. So and type ones, you know, I mean, such a niche thing, what we're really talking to, like less than 2 million Americans, right? So like, there's not like a there's a big group of people to like, it's not like I'm making a comedy podcast, and everybody wants to laugh. Like, it's not that simple. And still, it's doing amazing. And I still think Well, yeah, but I know how many people it reaches? What about all the rest of them? Like, how do I find a way to them? And then when I was speaking in Austin, this weekend, someone actually said it to me, like, what are you doing to reach into communities that don't find the podcasts? And I'm like, Oh, God, is that my responsibilities? Like, maybe it is, you know, so the whole thing is just like, there's part of me that just wants to go out like Johnny Appleseed with like, thumb drives with the Pro to all the series on them for managing and just like walk up to people and give diabetes here, this is for you. I just give them like here, just go listen to these you go take this thumb drive, plug it in your computer, listen to these, your life will be better a month from now. And I know that's not realistic. But you know,

Speaker 1 56:29
I don't know what else to do. Well, somehow you have to get your marketing out to the physicians. And then that way the physicians share.

Scott Benner 56:39
You just told me you spent 45 minutes telling me not to listen to them. I

Speaker 1 56:42
know. But you can give them a tool that they can share. Because

Scott Benner 56:46
you know, hey, they're not gonna listen to me. I know.

Speaker 1 56:49
Unfortunately, yeah. So the reason why you invited me on this podcast is because you cook on story. And I just looked at the clock, and you've got to meet your brother shortly. Do you want me to share? It's

Scott Benner 57:02
the only thing left on my list. I have Orlando. And I scratch that off. And I have low stories. So yeah, like, it's basically this is basically a glucagon story inside of an episode. So go ahead, tell me all about

Speaker 1 57:15
it. Okay, so just to kind of before we get into the glucagon story, the one thing that I would tell you is that I refuse, I'm very independent. I'm very feisty, I live my life by my own terms, my husband will tell you. And so with my friends, so whenever I became diagnosed, it was really hard because my family kind of started smothering me and got worried, you know, they read online and everything. And during COVID, I had bought a property out in Florida, that I was going to build a pool in and bright literally, I got really sick, right after I put the offer on the house, and I had to make the decision, am I gonna buy this house? Or am I gonna back out and I thought, now we're going to move forward with it. And so when everybody was kind of panic, I'm like, Oh, my gosh, I'm going to Florida like, I need to figure out this disease and managing it and might keep my independence because everybody wanted to, like, watch my numbers. And it was like, I would be 120 and drifting down. And you know, people are calling me panicking, oh, my God, you're dropping, I'm like, I'm fine. So I needed a little bit of separation, just to kind of figure out the disease and keep my independence, which for a lot of people won't make sense that but I am like, very much. I have to do things on my own terms kind of kind of person. And so I knew in order to do that, like I had to put some safety checks in place. So I let you know, my husband obviously followed me. But my sister followed me as well. And so my husband, he lost his son at birth, in his arms, and so he can get a little upset and nervous and all that. So my sister really was kind of my person that I would call first if something happened. I know that sounds weird. But she because of her job, she can answer the phone immediately. My husband's always on planes and stuff and maybe can't answer. And so I put together an emergency plan with my sister and I said, look with this disease, you just have to be prepared. You don't have to feed the what ifs you don't have to be scared of it. But you have to understand that when things go wrong, what are you going to do? Because you can't in the moment, figure out what you're going to do and be always successful. Right. And so I talked through with her and I explained like if I ever call you and I say do the emergency plan. Here's what you're going to do. Here's the local number for the police department here. I put an electronic lock on the front door. This is the code for the electronic lock, make sure to tell them you know, and I just walked her through this pre created emergency plan. Never think thinking that we would actually have to enact it or hoping that we wouldn't, right. So I woke up, you know, kind of jumping ahead, I woke up and had changed my Dexcom the night before. And so I got in the shower, and I'm always really stable with my numbers and everything. And when I got out of the shower, I thought, oh, I need to check my sensor and make sure that it's within range, because sometimes my sensors can be a bit off. And I went, and I looked at my meter, and it said, 100, you know, and 30 I don't remember the exact number, but it was 130s. And I decided to fingerstick. And it came back as 54 is what it was, I believe. And I thought, hmm, is it really that offer? Am I dropping that fast? So I called my sister and I said, Look, this is it. This is the real deal. And she panicked. And she started asking me questions. Were you sure you this? And I said, Tara stop. I said, if you want me to survive, enact the plant, don't ask me questions. I'm hanging up with you now, do what you're supposed to do. Like I just I could tell I was in trouble. I don't have symptoms of being low. So I felt totally fine. But I just knew something wasn't right. And then finally, the Dexcom, read 54 double arrows down. And I checked my blood sugar again, and I was already 20. And so I grabbed the vaccine, me. And the one thing that my doctor had told me when I started on insulin, he said, Look, don't be afraid of glucagon. He's like, if you ever think you need it, just use it. It won't hurt you. But not using it when you think you need it could. And so because I was at this home alone, there was nobody going to find me or anything. I grabbed the vaccine me and did it and I had read, you know, on the Facebook group, like, oh, it gives you a terrible headache and this and that. And I thought well headache or die. I mean, that's pretty much what's about to happen. And so I remember trying to get it open struggling with the plastic, hey, I hate the plastic on it, but got it open. And I bent over and I was like, Oh, this is gonna hurt 123 Go, you know, when I I did the vaccine me the headache wasn't that bad. I mean, for everybody listening and is like, Oh, I you know, worried about the headaches, you know, again, headache or death, make your choice, not that big a deal. So I did the vaccine me. And then I just grabbed glucose gel and tabs like I could tell from how fast I was dropping that I was in trouble. And so I started sucking down the jail sucking down the glucose tabs, I did 50 grams probably have, you know, tabs in jail and I thought, oh my gosh, the front doors on lot. When the ambulance arrives, they're gonna wait for the fire truck and the how long it's taking, like, I'll be gone, you know, this isn't good. And so I was like, I have to make it to the front door. And so I made it to the front door and unlock the door. And then I thought, hmm, maybe the neighbors are home so that way they can talk to the paramedics and tell them I'm not a drug user, don't assess me for don't assess me for an overdose. Just go ahead and give me the dextrose drip when I go unconscious. Because at this point, I know I'm gonna go unconscious, or at least I believe that I am

Scott Benner 1:03:32
you were worried they might give you Narcan when he got there,

Speaker 1 1:03:35
or start looking for the drugs that I use. You see all the horror stories that when they find diabetics, and so I made it over to my neighbor's house. And I was 20 at that point, double arrows down. And I right they had a ring doorbell and I push it and it's like, seven 30 in the morning. And they didn't come to the door, which I didn't expect. But in the ring, I say, hey, I need help. And they don't come and I'm like, I start to if you can imagine a slideshow, like where you click it forward, and it goes black and opens and it's a different picture. So that starts happening. And I'm like, Ooh, I gotta make it back to the house because the paramedics won't find who are the Dexcom is registering low double arrows down at this point. And the finger stick is 20 Actually, the finger stick was already registering 20 Before I went to the neighbor's house, actually, but the Dexcom is now low double arrows down. And so I'm like I have to get back to my yard. So I start walking path back to the yard and every time like I feel like I take a step it goes black, and I'm like and you're gonna have to bleep me probably but I'm like, Q I'm not dying today. And the lights would come back on and I would it would happen again and again. I was like you I'm not dying today. No, and the lights would come back on and I literally fought it all the way across my yard. I made it to a chair in the front yard and And I felt like initially that I stayed awake the whole time. But thinking back, I don't know if I did or I didn't, because the next thing I remember is I hear somebody screaming, and coming around the corner. And it's my neighbor who's jumped out of a shower. She's got a towel wrapped around her head, and she has a coke. And she's like, drink this. And so, and then shortly after that, the paramedics had shown up, I did call the paramedics and I was on the phone with them. So my sister had called them as well, I guess this is part of it. I was on the phone with the paramedics and I can remember the paramedics saying, Stay with me stay with me. And I'm like I am I'm fighting it. But it's really hard to stay away. Like I'm struggling, and they're like, stay with me. Can you hear them? And I'm like, Yeah, I hear the sirens. But this is getting really hard. And he's like, You can do it. You know, he's like, trying to give me the pep top. And you know, I'm fighting it as well. The ambulance happened to be on a call just the street behind me. So from the time the ambulance was called, they were to me in six minutes. So I was still at 20 when the paramedics found me and tested me on their own device as well. So even though I had done the vaccine, me, taken all the glucose and everything. 15 minutes later, I was still 20. it took it took 30 minutes, I think it was to hit ADA. Wow.

Scott Benner 1:06:26
So what happened? Like did you use the, like a crazy amount of insulin that you didn't cover somehow? Or do you have like any idea how you got to that situation?

Speaker 1 1:06:36
I do. So what happened was is I did my long acting insulin. And I was on to jail at the time. And this has nothing to do with to Jao I just want throw it out there. Nobody should be scared or worried about their kids, because they're using to Jao. It was a fluke. When I did my injection, I did it in kind of my buttocks thigh area. And my belief is is I hit a capillary. And so that long acting insulin basically turned into rapid acting that hit all at once. Yeah. And so the rapid drop was me trying to counteract all of the units of insulin that I had done, it was probably 13 units, right? That, you know, it was counteracting it hurt the second I did it like, you know, my injections never hurt me before. But I did that when I was like, Oh, that hurt. And I instantly had a bruise. So I definitely hit a vessel, I'll be as small. So it was like that one in a million chance. And at first everybody was like, No, you must have mixed up your long acting. In fact, that fast acting, I was like, No, my fast acting was in another room. I hadn't even left my bedroom for the day. And I said, besides, it takes 30 minutes for insulin to really start working in me. And this was instant.

Scott Benner 1:07:53
As soon as it happened, I started getting low. And your sister followed through. She did what she was supposed to do. I was excellent. He

Speaker 1 1:07:59
kept it together. She did what she was supposed to do. She called my husband and she said, Bill, you know, don't don't do what your first reaction is don't call Denver. But I'm telling you what's happened. And then you know, I think after it was all done, and you know, she got the call, you know, the paramedics let her know we're with her. She She's awake. And, and all of that. You know, I think at that point, you know, of course, she started crying and the relief came over her.

Scott Benner 1:08:25
I don't know how I don't know how she wouldn't cry. I'm crying. So it's terrible. Like,

Speaker 1 1:08:30
it was hard. You know, it was hard. I really thought I was gonna die. But I just, I wasn't gonna give into it. And I farted and, but really what saved my life? I mean, I'm feisty, don't get me wrong, but it was the fact that I had a plan. And I didn't have to think about like, what am I going to do? I already knew that if I ever was alone and and saw a fast drop, that I would use my glucagon. You know, and I think my biggest problem is is you know, when I was at the touch by type one conference, what makes me angry, I know you have your things that make you angry. What makes me angry is like the number of people that I heard who are on insulin, but their doctors won't prescribe glucagon and unlike this should be malpractice. Like you should not be allowed to prescribe insulin without glucagon. Because, yes, you're not going to need it more than likely, but the off chance that you need it and you don't have it available. I mean, it's truly the difference between life and death. I mean, even with glucagon, I barely survived it. Yeah.

Scott Benner 1:09:33
No, I can't imagine that. Everyone's not given it as soon as they should be handing it to you with the insulin. Yes, yeah. Right.

Speaker 1 1:09:41
Yes. It just shouldn't be allowed, you know, so, and it was interesting, like my neighbor, you know, sent me a text the next day and she was, you know, she's like, I just don't know how you survive. She's like, I just coded a diabetic. They was 19 in the field, and we gave them two bags of dextrose and they went to 300. Read it and they didn't make it like, how did you make that? You know, because it was documented on multiple devices that you know what I'm describing as really what happened. And I said, I was just feisty and started the treatment soon enough. Like I if, if I would have waited for somebody to help me and just didn't keep pushing through and consuming, I consumed over 150 grams of carbs for the paramedic Scott there

Scott Benner 1:10:29
a few minutes where you kind of couldn't help yourself anymore. But you're still kind of like trudging around trying to find help.

Speaker 1 1:10:35
Yeah, yeah, no. And I had stuff with me. And and it was interesting, because even over an hour later, I don't even think I was barely over 100. So like, my neighbor, and I went out to breakfast night pancakes and hashbrowns. And I mean, I consume so many carbs, because I was just nervous, you know about what was going on. I, you know, ate too much. But I didn't care. So but it took a long time to bounce back. And eventually I got really high, but it took a good couple hours before that happened. Yeah.

Scott Benner 1:11:09
Wow. That's crazy. Wow, I appreciate you sharing that. I really do. I don't even like I want people to not be scared. But I want them to be prepared. Right? Maybe Oh, prepared, not scared. That's really what you shouldn't do. I like that. Thank you. But you just like, That's a great story. Because the situation's unique in that you likely like mainline the insulin, but how quickly you were like, I know what's happening. I know what to do. And you started doing it. Like that's all really well done. Like I don't even know another way to say it down for like, a lot of people would freeze and think oh, it might be okay, let me wait. As soon as you saw what was happening, like you just went into it and having a plan ahead of time. That's just, that's not something I think everybody has. So although when someone asked you why not called the paramedics instead of your sister.

Speaker 1 1:12:03
The reason why was because I knew I wasn't going well, I felt there was a chance that I wasn't going to be able to stay with it enough to help myself. So she had all the details to be able to give them why they were on the phone. So we would skip some of the steps like she could give him the code to get inside the house. She could tell them she's not a drug user, give her dextrose you know, via IV don't even assess her heart or anything, just start the dextrose. So, so she had a plan that I had her write out ahead of time of everything that she was to do. And that's why when she started to get spun up and asked me questions, I'm like you have it all written down. That's what you have to do you like I'm gonna die if you don't start doing the thing. Switch? Yeah, do it. Just do it, you know. And, you know, she did. And, you know, I think if there's one takeaway from this episode that, you know, I hope somebody would learn from my experiences. Don't be scared of the disease. Don't be scared of a low, be prepared, like you just said, right? Like, take that moment to write down exactly what that plan looks like. And although I wasn't diagnosed as a child, and I don't have a child with diabetes, it's kind of the same thing. Like start training your kids for that independence and teaching them there's always a plan. And even for the caregivers like to have the plan that they can share with others of what does it look like in our emergency because nobody had to wonder it was all written out. It was all done. And so in that moment that somebody's brain freezes, if they have that paper or the note digital note in their phone, they can go through step by step and do what needs to be done. And for me, I know for a fact that was the difference between life and death. And I also keep glucagon throughout my house because you may have a low and not be able to get to your medicine cabinet. Or remember that it's in the medicine cabinet if you get confused. So I have a bowl of candy with you know glucagon in it. My living room, it's in my kitchen, it's in my bedroom. There's one in my car, there's, you know, throughout my bags, like I have it on auto refill. So every time I get one, I just throw it in a different place. And so I think that's the biggest thing is just be prepared for

Scott Benner 1:14:17
you. Wow, I appreciate you sharing that with me. I really do. Thank you so much. This was a fantastic episode. You were terrific. How long have you been listening to the podcast?

Speaker 1 1:14:24
Couple years? A couple years then yeah, I was so mad. I was trying to go through and listen to all the episodes and on the drive to Orlando. I bumped the button and it erased so now I don't know which episodes I've listened to and which ones I haven't

Scott Benner 1:14:38
drove to see me. Where were you coming from?

Speaker 1 1:14:41
I live out on the Gulf Coast. So I'm out by Tampa Bay. Okay.

Scott Benner 1:14:47
So this I met somebody there who drove like 13 hours and I was apologizing to them when they told me oh my gosh, I said I said I'm not gonna do anything today that is worth driving that far for I'm so sorry. Like I felt like I felt like I wasn't gonna do it. I mean, like, I felt like it wasn't gonna do enough. I was like, that's a big commitment. So but it was, it was very nice for you to count all the people who drove over like to see me and, and come to the event. It was really, really lovely. Yeah, yeah, I

Speaker 1 1:15:14
met some great people, they're one of the things I want to do is start like a little group get together, you know, out in the area and stuff just because you know, people want to get together and everything. So I was joking. I'm like, we'll have the juice box get together. And we'll talk about the latest episode. There's a few of us that swap numbers that we met at the touch by type wine conference, one of these days I might get around to pull that together. Oh, my gosh,

Scott Benner 1:15:39
I can't please don't put me in charge of that. If you guys want to make local chapters. I think that's terrific. But I can't be involved.

Unknown Speaker 1:15:45
Oh, no, we won't. But ya know, I'm

Scott Benner 1:15:47
looking at my to do list because it actually sounds like a fun idea. I mean, I'm like, I can't get involved that I don't have enough time for that.

Speaker 1 1:15:56
Yeah, and it's cool. And then we met because the other thing we chatted about is after my glucagon story, I just happened to meet the guy that invented that non invasive, continuous glucose monitor. So I'm in the clinical trial for that. So like, I'm excited for the technology that's up and coming. You know, it's, there's so much changing with type one, you know, it's it sucks to have the disease. But I think for the longest time, when you look back, it's like things really didn't change. And I think we're kind of in a pivotal point, you know, of technology, where things are really starting to pick up and go a different direction,

Scott Benner 1:16:32
honestly, because this will come out later. I can I feel free saying this here. But unless something goes upside down, but I'm not expecting or I can't foresee there'll be another advertiser for a different CGM this year. So Dexcom still an advertiser, but there'll be another one. And it's a it's a different format to so Oh, nice. Yeah. So we'll see if I can just spread the word about all the options that people have as well.

Speaker 1 1:16:57
That's the key options, because you know, it's for each person. The technology is so specific on what you're looking for, you know, it's it's not one size fits all, for sure.

Scott Benner 1:17:09
No million percent, B should do what works for you for certain. Okay, well, I'm going to say goodbye. And thank you very much for doing this. This is lovely. I really do appreciate. And

Speaker 1 1:17:19
you're welcome. And thank you for having me on. And thank you to your wife for you know, all the time you're allowed to give to us, because I know that you help a lot of people, you know, with the show that you've created. So thank you to both you and Kelly.

Scott Benner 1:17:32
Oh, I'm sure she's thrilled to not have to spend that time with me. So I'm sure she'll take the thank you still, I would imagine, but I think if she heard that she'd think, yeah, I mean, it's good. You guys can have him once in a while.

Speaker 1 1:17:47
Well, you have. Oh, that's funny. Lunch with you, brother.

Scott Benner 1:17:51
Thank you. Yeah, I was gonna say done for the VM, that thing you described earlier about me, like assessing and thinking and all that stuff constantly. Like, you know, try to imagine day to day that might get a little exhausting if you are around me constantly, because I don't, I don't stop doing it. Like, I'll tell you the fastest story. I was leaving Costco the other day. And you know how they check your receipt on the way out the door to make sure you're not stealing anything? Or they're making sure the register people didn't miss anything? Do you know what I'm talking about? Yes, I do. So there's two lines down either side of the exit. And I'm standing there in line. And I noticed nobody really like absorbing the world around them. So I'm absorbing them. I'm like, looking at what everybody's doing and watching the checking people watch the people staying alive, I'm seeing the whole thing, this little adorable elderly Japanese couple come up, and they just blow right down the center. So there's a line on the left a line on the right in this space, and they go right down the center as if the world and its rules do not apply to them. And they just walk out of the Costco. And like it was it was funny. Like I'm pretty certain they weren't stealing a ribeye, but, but they're on their way out. And what I noticed was that no one else noticed. And so I really started assessing everyone's faces. I don't just mean the people checking the receipts. I mean, the people in line that people still know, it happened unbeknownst to everyone, but me. I had a full assessment of what had happened. And I tried to talk to the checker about and the guy goes, I don't know what you're talking about. I was like, That couple just walked out in front of you. He goes, I didn't see that. I was like, Oh, wow, you all don't see the world the way I do it. That's interesting. Like so I mean, there were 40 people there. No one but me solid. And then I started thinking like, am I the crazy one maybe I should just be like, shutting off while I'm standing in line at the Costco like didn't even but I'm not I'm like I'm busy going like, what's that person doing or what they're thinking or whatever their story is? Like, I just, I don't know. I think that might make be like what makes me a little better at talking to people is that I am genuinely interested in Whatsapp. Today so

Speaker 1 1:20:01
no I believe it so you can tell you can you carry great conversations with everybody so you're very nice that thank you well you have a good one and I appreciate the time and I hope everybody well we probably are I'm not you either offended half the people or made half the people laugh so you know

Scott Benner 1:20:22
the ones that are still here are all my people. Your everyone is still here. I love you so much like that you stayed through like a long conversation heard something said and got through the part in the beginning were temper said about the pregnancy. I think that I think you and I would all get along very well. So hold on one second.

Arden has been getting her diabetes supplies from us med for three years, you can as well, US med.com/juicebox or call 888-721-1514. My thanks to us med for sponsoring this episode. And for being longtime sponsors of the Juicebox Podcast. There are links in the show notes and links at juicebox podcast.com. To us Med and all of the sponsors. Mark is an incredible example of what so many experience living with diabetes, you show up for yourself and others every day, never letting diabetes define you. And that is what the Medtronic champion community is all about. Each of us is strong, and together, we're even stronger. To hear more stories from the Medtronic champion community where to share your own story, visit Medtronic diabetes.com/juice box. Don't forget, we still have marks conversation at the very end. It's a terrific kind of mini episode about 10 minutes long, that goes deeper into some of the things that you heard Mark talking about earlier in the show. 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. And now my full conversation with Medtronic champion, Mark. Mark. How old were you when you were diagnosed with type one diabetes? I was 2828. How old are you now? 4747. So just about 20 years?

David 1:22:28
Yeah, 19 years?

Scott Benner 1:22:30
What was your management style when you were diagnosed?

David 1:22:32
I use injections for about six months. And then my endocrinologist at a navy recommended a pump.

Scott Benner 1:22:38
How long had you been in the Navy? See eight years up to that point? Eight years? Yeah, I've interviewed a number of people who have been diagnosed during service and most of the time they're discharged. What happened to you?

David 1:22:50
I was medically discharged. Yeah, six months after my diagnosis.

Scott Benner 1:22:53
I don't understand the whole system. Is that like honorable? Yeah. I mean,

David 1:22:57
essentially, if you get a medical discharge, you get a commensurate honorable discharge. I guess there could be cases where something other than that, but that's that's really how it happened. So it's an honorably discharged with but because of medical

Scott Benner 1:23:08
reasons, and that still gives you access to the VA for the rest of your life. Right?

David 1:23:11
Correct. Yeah, exactly.

Scott Benner 1:23:13
Do you use the VA for your management? Yeah, I

David 1:23:15
used to up until a few years ago, when we moved to North Carolina, it just became untenable, just the rigmarole and process to kind of get all the things I needed for diabetes management, it was far easier just to go through a private practice.

Scott Benner 1:23:28
Was it your goal to stay in the Navy for your whole life? Your career was? Yeah,

David 1:23:33
yeah. In fact, I think a few months before my diagnosis, my wife and I had that discussion about, you know, staying in for the long term. And, you know, we've made the decision despite all the hardships and time away from home, that was what we love the most. So that's what made it that much more difficult

Scott Benner 1:23:48
was the Navy, like a lifetime goal of yours or something you came to as an adult,

David 1:23:53
lifetime goal. I mean, as my earliest childhood memories were flying being a fighter pilot and specifically being flying on and off aircraft carriers. So you know, watching Top Gun in the 80s Certainly a weight was a

Scott Benner 1:24:06
catalyst for that you've taken off and landed a jet on an aircraft carrier hundreds of times. Is there anything in life as exhilarating as that? No,

David 1:24:14
but there there's a roller coaster I wrote at I think it was at Cedar Rapids up in Cleveland Sandusky, and they've got this roller coaster rotation from zero to like, it's like 80 or something, you go up a big hill and you come right back down. So the acceleration is pretty similar. I would say to catapult shot.

Scott Benner 1:24:33
I'm gonna guess you own a Tesla.

David 1:24:35
I don't I I'm a boring guy. I got a hybrid rav4 I get made fun of I get called. You know, my wife says I drive like a grandpa on the five miles per hour over the speed limit person. No more than that. So yeah, in the car. I'm born Scott. So

Scott Benner 1:24:50
you've never felt a need to try to replace that with something else.

David 1:24:53
You can't replace it. It's irreplaceable. That's what I thought. So up until the point where someone you know, buys me An F 18 or allows me to get inside a two seater and fly it. You can't replace it. How did

Scott Benner 1:25:04
it make you feel when you saw or maybe you haven't seen? gentleman named Pietro has his large aircraft license. He's flying for a major carrier. Now he has type one diabetes. Does that feel hopeful to

David 1:25:14
you? Yeah, it does. You know, when I, when I was diagnosed, that wasn't a possibility. The FAA prohibited commercial pilots who had type one diabetes, but I think it was 2017 when they changed their rules to allow type one diabetics to be commercial pilots. And part of the reason they did that was because of the technology advancements, specifically in pump therapy, and pump management. So I don't have any aspirations of going to the commercial airlines. But one of my sons who has type one diabetes very much wants to be a commercial pilot. So, you know, in that respect, I'm very hopeful and thankful. Yeah.

Scott Benner 1:25:47
Do you fly privately now for pleasure?

David 1:25:50
I do. Yeah. One of my favorite things to do is fly my kids to the different soccer tournaments I have all over the southeast us. So last week, my wife and I and two of our boys flipped to Richmond for their soccer tournaments up there. And Charlie, who's my middle child has type one diabetes, so you know if I can combine flying family and football and one weekend to me that's I think I've just achieved Valhalla.

Scott Benner 1:26:13
So then it sounds to me like this diagnosis was a significant course correction for you. Can you tell me how it affected your dream?

David 1:26:20
Well, I you know, if I guess three words come to mind first, it was devastating. Everything I had done in life, everything I'd worked up to up to that point was just taken away in an instant. And I was not prepared for that at all. The second emotion was, it was scary. I hadn't thought much about life outside the Navy, certainly not life as anything else, but a fighter pilot. And Heather and I were getting ready to move to France, I was going to do an exchange tour with with the French naval air force. So we're taking French classes. So pretty quickly, I had to reinvent myself. And then probably the most important thing at the same time that all that was going on, I had to learn how to how to deal with type one diabetes, and how to manage it effectively. The third thing that pops into my mind, I guess, is challenging, you know, new daily routines, I had to establish first with injections, and then eventually, you know, through pump management, and then learning how to count carbs and recognize highs and lows, how my body reacts to blood sugar trends based on exercise and stress and those types of things. And my goal at that time, and it still is today is to leverage technology and make sure my habit patterns are effective so that I take diabetes management from the forefront to the background.

Scott Benner 1:27:27
Have you had success with that? Do you feel like you've made the transition? Well,

David 1:27:31
I have I mean, I believe in continuous improvement. So there's always more to do. I will say the technology since I was diagnosed specifically with pump management, it's just, it's just incredible. It takes less of me intervening. And it's really done by the pump itself and by the algorithms through the CGM. And to me again, that that should be the goal for everybody is to not have to focus so much on the daily aspects of type one, diabetes management, you know, we should let technology do that for us. What

Scott Benner 1:28:01
else have you found valuable? I've spoken to 1000s of people with type one diabetes, the one thing that took me by surprise, because I don't have type one, myself, and my daughter was very young when she was diagnosed. I didn't really understand until I launched this podcast, and then it grew into this kind of big Facebook presence. I heard people say, I don't know anybody else who has type one diabetes. I wish I knew more people. But until I saw them come together, I didn't recognize how important it was. Yeah,

David 1:28:30
I think similarly, I didn't know anyone with type one diabetes growing up as an adult up until when I was diagnosed. And then all of a sudden, people just came out of the woodwork. And when CGM is first hit the market, certainly within the last five years. It's amazing to me and my family, how many people we've noticed with type one diabetes simply because you can see the CGM on their arm. I mean, I would say, a month does not go by where we don't run into someone at a restaurant or an amusement park or a sporting event or somewhere where we see somebody else with type one diabetes. And the other surprising aspect of that is just how quickly you make friends. And I'll give an example. We're at a soccer tournament up in Raleigh, this past Saturday and Sunday. And the referee came over to my son Charlie at the end of the game and said, Hey, I noticed you're wearing pomp. And he lifted up his shirt and showed his pump as well and said, I've had type one diabetes since I was nine years old. I played soccer in college, I'm sure that's your aspiration. And I just want to tell you don't let type one diabetes ever stop you from achieving your dreams of what you want to do. And this gentleman was probably in his late 50s or 60s. So just having that connection and seeing, you know, the outreach and people's willingness to share their experiences. It just means the world to us and just makes us feel like we're part of a strong community.

Scott Benner 1:29:49
So would you say that the most important things are strong technology tools, understanding how to manage yourself and a connection to others? Yeah.

David 1:29:59
Technology for sure, and knowing how to leverage it, and then the community and that community is your friends, your family, caregivers, you know, for me, the Medtronic champions community, you know, all those resources that are out there to, you know, help guide away, but then help help you keep abreast on you know, the new things that are coming down the pike. And to give you hope for eventually, you know, that we can find a cure, you

Scott Benner 1:30:21
mentioned that your son wanted to be a pilot, he also has type one diabetes, how old was he when he was diagnosed,

David 1:30:26
so Henry was diagnosed when he was 12 years old. That was just at the start of COVID, we are actually visiting my in laws in Tennessee, we woke up in the morning and he had made his bed. And several years before that, we had all four of our boys tested for TrialNet. So you know, predictor of whether or not they're going to develop type one diabetes, and whether or Henry and one of his brothers tested positive for a lot of the indicators. So we always kind of had an inclination that there was a high degree of possibility he would develop it. But we always had at the back of our mind as well. And so when that event happened, at the beginning of COVID, we had him take his blood sugar on my glucometer. And it was over 400. And so right away, we knew that without even being diagnosed properly, by endocrinologist that he was a type one diabetic, so we hurried home, to get him properly diagnosed in Charlottesville. And then we just started the process first grieving, but then acceptance and, you know, his eventual, becoming part of the team that nobody wants to join. How old is he now? That he's 15 years old. Now?

Scott Benner 1:31:32
When is the first time he came to you? And said, Is this going to stop me from flying almost

David 1:31:39
immediately. So like me, he always had aspirations of flying. In fact, he out of all four boys wanted to be in the military, that was a difficult part of the conversation, and maybe something that we don't talk about as a community. But there are some things you cannot do as a type one diabetic, and that's a hard fact of life. And unfortunately, joining the military is one of those hard and fast things you cannot be, you cannot join the military as a type one diabetic. So it was very difficult for him and for me and my wife to get over. Then we also started talking about being a commercial pilot. So I saw that same excitement in his eyes because like me, you know, he can be an NFA teen or a 737 or a Cirrus SR 20 That I fly and be just as happy. So he still has that passion today and still very much plans to eventually become a commercial pilot.

Scott Benner 1:32:24
I appreciate your sharing that with me. Thank you. You have four children do any others have type one?

David 1:32:29
They do? My oldest twin Henry has type one diabetes and my middle son Charlie has type one diabetes as well. The boys are twins. The oldest two are twins. One has type one diabetes. My middle son, who is not a twin has type one diabetes.

Scott Benner 1:32:42
I see. Is there any other autoimmune in your family?

David 1:32:45
There isn't I'm really the only person in my family or my wife's family that we know of with any sort of autoimmune disease, certainly type one diabetes. So unfortunately, I was the first to strike it rich and unfortunately, pass it along to to my son's but

Scott Benner 1:33:01
celiac thyroid, anything like that? Not nothing. We're

David 1:33:05
really a pretty healthy family. So this came out of nowhere for myself and for my two sons.

Scott Benner 1:33:09
That's really something. I appreciate your time very much. I appreciate you sharing this with me. Thank you very much. Anytime Scott, learn more about the Medtronic champion community at Medtronic diabetes.com/juicebox or by searching the hashtag Medtronic champion on your favorite social media platform. 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

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