#1474 Head Like a Hole
You can always listen to the Juicebox Podcast here but the cool kids use: Apple Podcasts/iOS - Spotify - Amazon Music - Google Play/Android - iHeart Radio - Radio Public, Amazon Alexa or wherever they get audio.
Diagnosed at 26. Chicago pediatric nurse and new mom who built a looping algorithm after overcoming early depression with her husband’s support.
+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
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 00:00 Here we are back together again, friends for another episode of The Juicebox Podcast.
Carolina 00:15 Hi, my name is Carolina. I'm 30 years old. Turned 30 yesterday, and I have type one diabetes.
Scott Benner 00:24 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 cozy earth.com All you have to do is use the offer code Juicebox at checkout. That's Juicebox at checkout to save 40% at cozy earth.com AG, one is offering my listeners a free $76 gift. When you sign up, you'll get a welcome kit, a bottle of d3, k2, and five free travel packs in your first box. So make sure you check out drink AG, one.com/juice, box to get this offer. Are you an adult living with type one or the caregiver of someone who is and a US resident? If you are, I'd love it if you would go to T 1d, exchange.org/juice box and take the survey. When you complete that survey, your answers are used to move type one diabetes research of all kinds. So if you'd like to help with type one research, but don't have time to go to a doctor or an investigation and you want to do something right there from your sofa, this is the way t 1d exchange.org/juice, box. It should not take you more than about 10 minutes. Today's episode of the juice box podcast is sponsored by the contour next gen blood glucose meter. This is the meter that my daughter has on her person right now. It is incredibly accurate and waiting for you at contour next.com/juice, box. US med is sponsoring this episode of the juice box podcast, and we've been getting our diabetes supplies from us med for years. You can as well us med.com/juice, box, or call 888-721-1514, use the link or the number. Get your free benefits. Check and get started today with us. Med, the episode you're about to listen to was sponsored by touched by type one. Go check them out right now on Facebook, Instagram, and of course, at touched by type one.org check out that Programs tab when you get to the website to see all the great things that they're doing for people living with type one diabetes touched by type one.org
Carolina 02:48 Hi, my name is Carolina. I'm 30 years old. Turned 30 yesterday, and I have type one diabetes. Are
Scott Benner 02:56 you serious that yesterday was your birthday? Yes, yes. Turned 30 yesterday. Yesterday, I recorded with a woman, and she said, Today is my birthday.
Carolina 03:05 Oh, yeah, and it was Election Day. It was a big day.
Scott Benner 03:09 It was, but that's not but what the heck? Isn't that weird? It is weird. The two people born on the same day recorded a rather niche podcast a day apart, one on their birthday and one the day after it. I don't like it. I think it's freaky. Okay? I just want to say I'm not okay with anything that's happened so far. Well, happy birthday. How old are you again? I'm 30. Congratulations. It's a nice age. Yeah, really is your hips don't hurt yet.
Carolina 03:36 Yeah, right, yet. Awesome. I woke up feeling okay, so we're okay so far.
Scott Benner 03:40 Oh, you might have named the episode. I woke up feeling okay. I like that. Let's see where this goes. How old were you when you were diagnosed? I was 26 oh, what the hell that's a bummer. It sure was. Tell me a little bit about that.
Carolina 03:56 Yeah. So I was, yeah, 26 I did not see it coming at all. I was losing weight. Excused everything away. I was having vision problems. I was just like, oh, I need stronger glasses. I was finishing grad school at the time, so everything I was just like, I'm stressed. I'm tired. Of course, I'm working full time and in grad school. So everything was excused away. And then the weekend of my graduation, we flew to Pennsylvania for graduation. My parents were there. My parents were like, You look really rough. Like, even my dad, you know. And my dad's like, you know, he's the type of guy who's like, everything's always fine, and he doesn't notice those things. And he's like, You look really thin. Like, are you okay? And I was like, yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm eating all the time. Like, I'm just so so fit and losing weight. It's great.
Scott Benner 04:48 You don't understand, this is me. This is this is Fit Carolina, okay, yeah, no, I've been doing uh, pilates, exactly, by the way. Had you been doing anything?
Carolina 04:58 Uh, no, no. Okay, working. Full Time and in grad school, so I was just doing homework all the time.
Scott Benner 05:02 I finally found the secret mix of El fudge to Doritos, and it's working perfectly. Dad, I don't know, I just I figured the whole thing out. Okay, so Does that strike you when your parents, who are normally not those people, are like, Hey, what's wrong with you?
Carolina 05:19 You know, when my dad said something, my mom, like, worries about everything. So not from her, but when my dad said something, I kind of was like, Maybe something's off. And then, like, the first thing that ran through my mind was like, okay, unexplained weight loss. Do I have cancer? And then I was like, in my head, I was like, if I do have cancer, I'd rather deal with that in a week after graduation, not right now, so I just kind of avoided thinking about it. And then on our plane ride home, I started vomiting. No, I didn't vomit till we landed. And then after that, I just kept vomiting and vomiting. And so eventually went to the ED and they, you know, looked at me, and they were like, has anyone ever told you that you have diabetes? And I was like, No, I have never heard those words in my life. It's
Scott Benner 06:07 only because I don't. So, yeah, because I don't have diabetes. I don't know if you know, I'm getting an advanced degree. I'm on my way. I'm taking over the world. So
Carolina 06:16 yeah, and that was that, you know, right away, I was like, maybe 100 pounds at the time. I was pretty small, so they were basically right away. They were like, it's probably type one. We're gonna have to wait for all these test results to come back, but probably type one. And I was like, I'm a nurse. So I was like, I like, begged them in the ED I was like, Can it please be type two? And they were like, No, probably not. What about
Scott Benner 06:38 your nursing background in your life made you wish you had type two, not type one. I
Carolina 06:42 was a camp nurse back in nursing school for a summer, and the type one kids were maybe needy is the wrong word, but like, they needed so much care, that was, like the closest experience I had to type one. So I just remember, like, having to wait, anytime we had a kid who had type one, we'd have to take turns, like waking up go prick their fingers overnight. I didn't know about CGM and all that stuff, because none of those kids. I don't know if it was a coincidence. It wasn't that long ago, but nobody had anything like that. So I was just like, oh my god, I'm gonna have to prick myself all night for the rest of my life and give these shots. And it just sounded so overwhelming. And I was like, with type two. I was like, I can fix my diet. Eat less of those Doritos that we just talked about, which, you know, now I know a lot more, a lot more than that, but at the time, that's how I saw it. And I was like, I can, I can go on more walks. I can, I can eat more salads. Like, I can do something, whereas with type one, I knew there wasn't really anything I could do to, you know, prevent or reverse, yeah.
Scott Benner 07:37 So it felt like two fold, like, this is like genetic somehow, I'm not getting rid of this. And functionally, there's a lot of work here, yes, and it's not going to end. It's always going to be this thing. I watched those kids, it felt like a struggle for them. Now I'm going to struggle that whole thing. Yes. Okay, exactly. Now, when you ask the lovely people in the emergency department to change over the kind of diabetes you had. Did anyone pull out a magic wand to try to help you? No, they were just, what a bunch of assholes. Why wouldn't they just help also, I have to get past this in my mind, or I'm never going to. I thought for sure that your name was going to have some weird pronunciation that didn't match its spelling. No, yeah, but it doesn't your Carolina doesn't,
Carolina 08:22 yeah. I mean, some people say Carolina, and I answer to that too, but I usually go by Carolina, but your parents
Scott Benner 08:28 were like, That's Carolina. My parents are Polish. Oh, is that why it starts with a K? I'm just kidding. Yes. No, go ahead. What do they say? Yeah,
Carolina 08:38 no, they say, you know, like Carolina, that's how you say it in Polish.
Scott Benner 08:41 Oh, okay, so it's not your parents being like, I just love the south on the East Coast, and I wanted to name my kid after. It's a name that's not, it's not an American name,
Carolina 08:50 correct? It's a super popular Polish name. If you, if you go to Poland, you'll meet Carolinas on like, every corner, oh, oh,
Scott Benner 08:57 it's the Smith of of Poland. Yeah. Gotcha look at us getting through all this. When they say it to you, what does it sound like? Catalina, Oh, lovely. You don't have a an accent of any kind, though. I don't I was born here. I was born in the States. Gotcha. Do you speak Polish? Is polish a language? Uh, oh, oh,
Carolina 09:15 wait a minute, polish it is language, okay, yes, yeah. Poland is a country. No, no. I mean,
Scott Benner 09:21 I know it's a country, but I don't know if they like, like, you're not like Carolina, that wasn't nice. I mean, I don't know everything. I'm just trying to find out. Okay, all right. So here we are, emergency department. I've got type one diabetes. Your parents are around, right? Because you did you do it while you were visiting, or did you wait till you went home to look into it. Yeah.
Carolina 09:42 So I live in Chicago. My parents live in the suburbs. I'm married at this point at 27 so, yeah, I got married at 24 Okay, which sounds young now, but back then,
Scott Benner 09:52 did it feel young? Uh, oh, I can feel I like you Carolina. I feel like we're gonna be all over the place today. Did it feel young when you were getting married? Or were you like? No, I'm so. Ready for this?
Carolina 10:00 No, I was so ready. Yeah, I always say I forever feel 24 because that's when I got married. Nothing really changed after that. So,
Scott Benner 10:07 yeah, so now when you look back, you're like, Oh my God, why didn't somebody stop me? Or are you, like, happy with it? I'm happy with it. He's the best. He's the best. He's not the best. Yeah, stop it. He's the best. He's one of the best. I guess, if I'm the best, how can he be the best, true,
Carolina 10:21 I said one of the best. Yeah, I see what you're
Scott Benner 10:24 saying. So me and him basically. Okay, yeah. So what are you telling me? He's got a decent job and he's not an idiot, right? Yes,
Carolina 10:31 and yeah, can't imagine, you know, even going through DKA and everything you know, without him. So
Scott Benner 10:37 let's talk more about that. Then you were in DK before you went to the emergency department, and how do you manage all that like, what? What's that run up like? What it's like after you get the diagnosis? You've probably heard me talk about us Med and how simple it is to reorder with us med using their email system. But did you know that if you don't see the email and you're set up for this, you have to set it up. They don't just randomly call you, but I'm set up to be called if I don't respond to the email, because I don't trust myself 100% so one time I didn't respond to the email, and the phone rings the house. It's like, ring. You know how it works. And I picked it up. I was like, hello, and it was just the recording was like, US med doesn't actually sound like that, but you know what I'm saying. It said, Hey, you're I don't remember exactly what it says, but it's basically like, Hey, your order's ready. You want us to send it, push this button if you want us to send it, or if you'd like to wait. I think it lets you put it off, like a couple of weeks, or push this button for that. That's pretty much it. I push the button to send it, and a few days later, box right at my door. That's it. US, med.com/juice, box. Or call 888-721-1514, get your free benefit. Benefits checked now and get started with us. Med, Dexcom, Omnipod, tandem, freestyle, they've got all your favorites, even that new islet pump. Check them out now at us, med.com/juice, box, or by calling 888-721-1514, there are links in the show notes of your podcast player and links at Juicebox podcast.com to us, med and all the sponsors. The contour next gen blood glucose meter is sponsoring this episode of The Juicebox Podcast, and it's entirely possible that it is less expensive in cash then you're paying right now for your meter through your insurance company. That's right. If you go to my link, contour next.com/juicebox, you're going to find links to Walmart, Amazon, Walgreens, CVS, Rite, aid, Kroger and Meyer. You could be paying more right now through your insurance for your test strips in meter, then you would pay through my link for the contour next gen and contour next test strips in cash. What am I saying? My link may be cheaper out of your pocket than you're paying right now, even with your insurance, and I don't know what meter you have right now. I can't say that, but what I can say for sure is that the contour next gen meter is accurate. It is reliable, and it is the meter that we've been using for years. Contour next.com/juice box. And if you already have a contour meter and you're buying test strips, doing so through the Juicebox Podcast link will help to support the show. Yeah.
Carolina 13:21 So before I thought they were going to tell me, I have cancer, as I had mentioned before, I was like, maybe it's stomach cancer. That's why I'm vomiting. And so that diagnosis came as a shock, so I'm still in shock. It's 2021 so it's still COVID ish, so they're not letting him spend the night or anything like that, which was really, really hard that first night. I think I cried like the whole night, the poor, like, CNAs coming in to prick my finger were like, Oh, honey, it's gonna be okay. I'm just like, it's not gonna be okay. So we made it through. And then, rather than, like those moments, the hardest part for me was about six months after, I never considered myself to be someone who had like, anxiety or depression. And six months later, I was, like, deep in a hole. I think the first few months, I was just like, Okay, I'm gonna carb count perfectly, and I'm gonna do everything that I'm supposed to do, and I'm gonna be the best diabetic on the planet, and it's gonna be great. You know, I'm carb counting, I'm trying to work out. I'm like, up, I'm down, I'm 40, I'm 250 like, nothing's making any sense. And few months later, I was like, Okay, I'm trying so, so hard, and it's it's not working. And so that's when I kind of Yeah. At some point, I was like, I don't think I want to live anymore. And having those thoughts really freaked me out, so I found a therapist. Like, right away, I was like, I I have the tools. I have so much insulin on hand. Like, I don't want to go deeper down this hole. I don't like myself like this. Like, that's not me. But I was in that place, and that was really, really hard. So you know, for my husband to be there for me through all of that, I. And, you know, just support me and be like, Okay, what do you need? You know, try to lighten the mood when I was upset, and then at the same time, not like, you know, when I'm having a hard time just, just really being there for me. Was like, you know, that's what marriage is, right? So it was, it was so important. And at some point I was like, we're not even ever going to have kids, because what if I pass this down to them, and he just let me process how I needed to process, didn't try to talk me out of anything or or pressure me in any way. Have you
Scott Benner 15:29 ever wondered if he was just sitting there quietly thinking, like, how long do I have to wait before I leave her? I hope not. I'm sure he wasn't. Probably, he's like, Oh, no, no. You're like, Oh, look how understanding he's being in his mind. He's like, so there's how much money in the bank account. No, no, that's lovely. That's it's really awesome. So how long did you, you know, how long did you have, like, your head, like, a whole moment, oh, look at me, Nine Inch Nails. Is that what I just did? Had, like, a whole black as you're Yeah, oh, I'd rather die than give you control. Is that how you felt? Yeah, I wonder what this song's about. Do you think Trent Reznor wrote this about you, like perhaps, but 20 years ago. I mean, how old is this? Do you even know this song? No, Holy Christ. You're young. You don't know head like a hole from Nine Inch Nails. No,
Carolina 16:23 all right, I don't my parents were foreign, so sometimes I don't know things that other people know. So are they not still?
Scott Benner 16:33 So now I can't play a song on here, so I'm gonna leave it to you to listen to. Do you what kind of music do you like? Oh, like country. Oh, you're not gonna like this song at all. Okay, I still listen to it. All right. Try it once head like a hole by Nine Inch Nails. Okay, all right. So obviously we can't go down that road or that hole, because you don't know what we're talking about. So your your boy is being very like supportive, which is awesome. You are not that far into being married, right? Like two years maybe, right? And you're, you're doing the whole thing. Everything's wrong, everything's nothing's gonna work out the way I want it to. I'm trying my hardest. All it's doing is returning, like, horrible results. And how do you get you go to a therapist? Is that? Right? What's the therapist tell you? That's helpful.
Carolina 17:20 She had type one, oh, which that was enough for me. I realized I really needed community, and I didn't have that at the time. I needed someone who understood without me having to explain, you know, the the mental toll of every day of type one, right? And so she gave me the phone number of someone she thought I would hit it off with, and I met up with this girl, and she was my first friend with diabetes, and that I feel like more than anything, more than the therapy, more than anything, that really started to turn it around for me. Wow, and I just really needed that community. Is that
Scott Benner 17:57 legal? By the way, I don't care, because it worked out really well for you. But are you? Isn't that a HIPAA violation? She asked, I suppose. Oh, okay. Oh, that makes sense. Yes, I see, I see she didn't just go like, Hey, check this girl out. Yeah, no, here's her Instagram handle, just like stalker. Till you can find her, it'll be great. Okay, I see she worked it out like a professional, yeah? So she gave you a friend. Is that right? That is right, huh? Say, Listen, I'm I, I'm not super surprised by that. Like, I watch it happen in my Facebook group constantly. So as a matter of fact, one of the things that I I'm saddest about that I have to say things on Facebook like, please don't DM each other like, you know, like, if you have an answer, put it here. Because, you know, for every great person who wants to help somebody, there's like, one Nick in there that's trying to take advantage of people, and so in order to try to stop everybody from being taken advantage of, sometimes you end up blocking what I think could be some of the best aspects of it. Yeah, now I imagine people do it on the slide behind my back, and I act like, I don't know that's happening, because almost like, when people are like, I have pumps that I want to give to somebody, and I'm like, oh, you can't give away medical stuff, but I sometimes wait an hour before I say it, you know what? I mean, yeah? But that's awesome. Like, she just gave you a buddy, yeah? Tell me what that did for both of you,
Carolina 19:13 yeah, for both of us. I mean, we still talk all the time. She ended up coming to my baby shower like we are legit friends, yeah, having her was amazing. We we built Iaps together. We had a little I back before it was, what is it now trio, when it was Iaps, we had a little IPS building party. We could just text each other like, you know, a screenshot of our Dexcom graph, and be like, today sucks. And just having that more than more than my husband, more than my mom, more than people who were like, yes, that sucks, but I don't understand. I don't know that was just so important for me, just to have that understanding without me having to explain. And since then, I hope you don't kick me out of your Facebook group. I met two other people on Facebook through your Facebook group. One. One of them lives a few blocks away from me, so we hang out, and I met another girl, and we have not met in person, but I'm going to her wedding next year, and so I just feel like having diabetes as a foundation to a friendship for me has just been, I don't know, I've made such great friends that it's like, unbelievable. Carolina.
Scott Benner 20:18 Me too. Listen. Would you believe that the first time I met Jenny, I had probably had hundreds of hours of conversations with her before we met in person? Oh, really, yeah, and no, Jenny and I did not like face to face meet for God, five years of knowing each other, I just met Erica last, like, two months ago. Oh, wow, yeah, I had no idea, for the first time in person, and it's such a strange thing. And I told her ahead of time. I was like, listen, Eric, it's gonna be weird. She's like, Yeah. And I was like, she's like, No, it won't I'm like, It's gonna be weird. I'm like, because we feel like we know each other, and then you're gonna get there, and there's gonna be this physical aspect of it that didn't exist before. But two days later, she and I at the end of, like, a long weekend where we were both exhausted from all the talking we did. We sat and had a dinner at the end of the night, and I felt like I was talking to somebody I'd known for years, because I was, you know, yeah, the internet for all the things that it does that, you know, I'm not always thrilled about it really does, right? It makes the pond, smaller so you can find your fish. That's pretty much it, you know, it's awesome. So look at how you, kind of like, low key slipped in that you made a baby. Yes, I did. How old were you when you did that?
Carolina 21:32 Well, I was 29 was born five months ago, just a little baby, still,
Scott Benner 21:38 holy shit, is this it Carolina? Is the baby's name, Scott. Is that? Why you're here? Come on, is it? Oh, my God, it's, I knew that was gonna come up, but it's not. It's not, did you even think of it for a second? We didn't, but
Carolina 21:50 we have a valid reason. It's a
Scott Benner 21:53 terrible name, but what else was the reason?
Carolina 21:56 No, so my husband's from Italy, so we wanted an Italian name. Oh
Scott Benner 21:59 well, I'm adopted, and I went to 23andme and I'm mostly Italian, so apparently Scott is an Italian name, and you messed now, we know, no, it's too late now, isn't it? I mean, are you gonna make another
Carolina 22:11 baby? Oof, not right now? Oh, I don't think so.
Scott Benner 22:19 I have kids. I know what you meant. I'm gonna get back to the making the baby part with diabetes. But before I do these words from Chief o kypo pen, no, I'm just kidding. It's actually like, are those lies? Can you imagine if I start doing live ads? Chief o kypo Pen is actually, God bless chief oak. They don't make me re record those. I don't even remember what that one says. I recorded it years ago. I could do some of the other ones off the top of my head, though, so I don't know. I just cracked myself up. Now, I gotta give me a second. Also, I have a day in front of me. So, I mean, election was last night. I think it was up to, like, three in the morning, and I'm recording with you, and then I'm recording two more times today. And the truth is, all I really want out of today, besides doing good recordings for you all listening, is I want to go to the grocery store and buy like, a half a pound of shrimp and steam it for my dinner. And I think I'm not going to be able to accomplish that, and it's pissing me
Carolina 23:17 off. Love, sucks. Can you order it? Can it be delivered?
Scott Benner 23:19 I'm old and I don't let people bring me groceries in their car. Oh yeah, I think you're all gonna live to regret that one day. I don't know how it's gonna happen. I just think one day, collectively, society's gonna stand up and go, Hey, do you remember back when we let strangers drive us around in a Corolla. Why did we do that? I don't know. Maybe not. Then again, I the cars are going to drive themselves. It's not going to matter. You're not even have time to think back on it. So whatever. Yeah. Anyway, this is not the point. The point is this, you got diabetes. It sucked. You got sad. You dug your way out of it through what it sounds like a really supportive young guy who was nice enough to not leave you when he found also, by the way, I don't think there's any reason he should have but do you know how many stories I've heard of people who did,
Carolina 24:11 yeah. I mean, I was telling him to leave me. So tell me more. There was that, yeah. I was like, you know, this sucks. I'm gonna have this forever. It's super expensive. We have to max out our health plan every year. I was like, we're not going to have a baby because that baby's going to get diabetes, so that's out the window. I was like, we're young. I was like, Go find someone young, healthy and leave me here. And he just ignored me. But yeah,
Scott Benner 24:38 he just ignored me. He's like, by the way, that's how I got my wife to marry me. She's like, I don't really like you. I'm like, I'm just gonna stay. I think you do. I think it's gonna be fine, don't worry. But by the way, see, that would have been a funny thing to say 20 years ago, but now everybody will get upset about it. But yeah, I just outlasted her. That's all I did.
Carolina 24:59 I. First it worked. You guys are still together, right? So, oh yeah, and
Scott Benner 25:03 we're generally happy, right? It's generally the right word, I think so mostly it might be better when you've been married for 30 years. Yeah, that's crazy. How old will you be when you're married for 30 years? I guess I'll be 54 ah, I'm 53 Oh, exactly I did the same made the same mistake you did. It's your husband your age. Uh, he's two years older. They're always older, right? Because you can't find boys your own age that are not nut next Am I right? Where's nut next coming from? What am I Yiddish? All of a sudden, it's hard to find boys that aren't idiots when you're younger, right? Yes, yeah. That's why I found one. And then we you're like, Oh, this is good enough. Let's go, yeah. Oh, I like you talking like a boy. Go ahead, say it again. I locked that up, Scott, that's what I did. How did you start your management off? It's not that long ago, right? So how long until you find CGM? And is that something you found through your buddy or on your own?
Carolina 26:05 Yeah. So I actually got to CGM super early, so I was in the hospital, and you know how they like listen to you. So I was literally getting ads for Dexcom, like the next day after I got diagnosed.
Scott Benner 26:17 Oh yeah, your Siri knew you had diabetes, yeah.
Carolina 26:20 Literally, Instagram started showing me like Nick Jonas Dexcom, I don't remember what else, but all sorts of stuff. So
Scott Benner 26:27 all you're making me think is that I know somebody at Dexcom in marketing. Why don't I ask them how they did that? So that when people get diabetes, they get my podcast on Instagram?
Carolina 26:36 Yeah, you should. They did a good job. So Okay, all
Scott Benner 26:41 right, I'll figure that out on my own, by the way, right now, there's people out there like, do not do that, you idiot. I can't afford it. Obviously, I think Dexcom has a couple more dollars than I do. I almost said shekels. I am Yiddish today. By the way, Yiddish is not a person Jewish speaking Yiddish. This is not my point. Okay, so you're on what is wrong? Oh, I'm tired. Is that? What's happening that will never up till three, yeah, that could be it. Never mind. You get your ads. What happens? Yeah,
Carolina 27:05 so I get discharged from the hospital with nothing, I mean, a long acting, pen and short acting. I get the Dexcom, like a couple days later because somebody had sent in a prescription for me. And so I have a virtual meeting with an endo. I think they were like, a PA, do you feel like you can? She's like, you're a nurse. She's like, it's easy to put on. Like, do you think you can just figure this out? Or do you want to come in for a class? And I was like, I want to put this on as soon as I can. Just the like, four days of pricking my finger, that was enough for me. I was like, I'm either 40 or, like, 300 and I don't understand, I need something more. So she was like, okay, then just put it on and see you later. And so I put it on, and kind of from that moment on, I was like, Oh my God, no one's really gonna help me. I'm gonna have to figure this out on my own. And so I tried. I actually got, I don't know if it was an ad, but somebody on Instagram posted about your podcast. About your podcast, probably within that first week. And this is going to sound so bad, but the name threw me off. It made me think it was for kids or something, even though she was an adult who was diagnosed at like 30, and she was like, go listen to this podcast. It's the best. And I was like, that sounds like a child podcast. It's not for me. So it took me a while to actually listen to it, but the first episode I listened to was bold with insulin, maybe a month or so after being diagnosed, and I was like, Oh, my God, I need a pump. And then I did not want a tube, pump. And back in 2021 there was no algorithm except loop for the Omnipod. So, I mean, within like, a month or two of diagnosis, I was like, I need to loop. And I don't really know what that means, and I don't really know how I'm going to do this, but that is what I want. Okay, and so I had to fight with my underdog office to get the arrows pods. They really wanted me on Dash. And again, in 2021 you couldn't dash. Wasn't ready. Finally got my arrows pods that took forever, and so I started looping in, like, maybe, like, four months, four or five months after diagnosis. So I wasn't on pens very long. And so I never really figured out pens. I hope I never have to go back to them, but if I do, I guess I know how to, like, survive, but I did not have good management. And then all of a sudden, my my agency dropped. It was I was 11.7 at diagnosis, dropped to 6.8 and then after that, I've been in the fives. Oh, good for you. So that's awesome. It's been, I think, a combination of loop trio, Iaps and obviously your podcast, learning how to manage insulin. It's not
Scott Benner 29:41 lost on me that I wore you down too. You're like, Juicebox, nah, go off, and then you're like, woke up. Like, sometime later you're like, man, where's that podcast? This ain't going well, by the way. I imagine that's how it goes. For a lot of people, to be perfectly honest, do you know what I mean? Like, I see the barriers to entry, like I have type one diabetes. I'm an adult. I'm gonna go to listen to a guy who doesn't have type one diabetes talking about how he took care of his daughter with type one diabetes. Like, that doesn't sound like that's me. That sounds like it's them, until you listen, and then don't let me put the words in your mouth when you listen to the podcast, you realized what? Yeah,
Carolina 30:22 well, one, I was starting to get that community that I realized later that I really needed. So listening to the stories, especially the ones of people diagnosed as adults, was kind of my only like tangible connection to someone with type one at that point. So that was so helpful to me, and then the management, because I knew what I wanted. I wanted good control. And I got really lucky that when I was in the hospital, you know, we met with some of the doctors, and there was a fellow there, and my husband asked her, like, what can we expect in the future? Like, in terms of blood sugars, what is this going to look like for us in real life, and she just, like, off handedly, was like, Oh, I imagine, like, she's gonna have, you know, pretty normal blood sugars, like, once everything is, you know, stabilized and she gets the hang of it. And so that's what I had in my head, that like, I'm going to have stable blood sugars, but I couldn't figure out how. And so when I started listening to the management episodes, I was like, Oh, this is exactly what I was told was going to happen. But nobody, at the end, though, is able to give me any tools to, like, make this happen. So it just gave me everything I was kind of searching for, I guess. Well,
Scott Benner 31:32 good, just what I wanted, honestly, get. You know what I mean, like, I'm thrilled that it worked that way for you, genuinely, genuinely happy. You get your tech very quickly, you're motivated by not wanting to poke your finger CGM. You hear about, like, more stable blood sugars. You think, I need more control over my insulin pump. You go right to Omnipod because you don't want tubes. And then the algorithm is a leap. But why was it not a leap? Who in your life is tech savvy enough that you were like, Oh, I could do that. Is it you? I guess it's me. Yeah, cool. So you were, you're not put off by any of that. No, here,
Carolina 32:06 well, here's where I'm gonna sound, you know, dumb because I was a nurse. I was in healthcare. I'm a pediatric nurse at that. I thought that's how pumps worked, that they read your blood sugar number and responded to it. So when I got diagnosed and I found out that that's not how most pumps back at that time worked. I think it was just tandem, maybe, oh, and Medtronic. But I found out very quickly to not get Medtronic. So I, you know, didn't consider that one. And so I was like, shocked that that was not how it was. So when I found out you could do it yourself, I was like, Oh, well, perfect. This solves all my problems.
Scott Benner 32:42 That's awesome. So it was your expectation that led you to desire that stuff. You're like, this is how it should work,
Unknown Speaker 32:48 yeah,
Scott Benner 32:52 ignorance is bliss, yeah, yeah, and so, oh, that's awesome. Also, it should be noted that before we started recording, I joked with you, like, how quickly you, like, fixed your technical problem, versus people who are, like, 10 years older than you, who fumble around when it happens. Oh, that's right, yeah, and get pressured, and they're like, oh, I don't know what to do, and I like all that, but you were just like, okay, click, click, click, and it was like, oh, Bucha fixed that very quickly. So just generationally, you're not put off by technology either.
Carolina 33:19 Yeah, that's probably what it is.
Scott Benner 33:21 Yeah, no, that's that's really great. Let's see I'm looking at we skipped over that you ended up on antidepressants when you weren't feeling your best. Did that something that you kept doing? Or has that stopped? How are you managing that
Carolina 33:35 I am still on that I'm nervous to get off of it, because I hated how I felt like I didn't feel like myself, and I had all those thoughts and so I would be, I've been nervous to get off of it, especially, you know, considering that I was pregnant and now I have a little baby, I was like, it's probably not the best time to go off of it. So I'm hoping in the future, I'm just on, like, one low dose once a day to get off of it, but I feel like myself, and so I'm okay with it right next. I mean,
Scott Benner 34:06 listen, I think what works is what's right usually. So it's a thought in your head though, like you're like, one day in the future, I might like, wean myself from this and see what happens. Yeah, has your doctor talked to you about
Carolina 34:18 it? Whenever I get my refills, she's just like, do you want to try? Do you want refills? And I'm always like, I want to refill. And she's like, Okay, see you in six months, or
Scott Benner 34:28 whatever. Gotcha. I'm glad it's working for you. Yeah. How was it being pregnant with type one, it
Carolina 34:33 wasn't that bad, which I would never expect to say on the other side, I thought it was going to be it sounded so scary, but now going through it, I'm like, Okay, that wasn't really that bad. I will say I did a lot of work in the front end to get a team that I thought would help me have the pregnancy that I imagined. I think I went through like three undoes before I finally found one who would support me. Looping during pregnancy. That was a challenge. I had an endo who was supportive of loop, but literally, was like, the second you're pregnant, you have to go off of it. And I was like, What happens if I don't go off of it? And she's like, well, we you won't be compliant. We could hold your refills. I was like, That sounds terrible. Don't know if they actually would. But I was like, this is not the endo office for me. Hey, you're no
Scott Benner 35:20 fun. We're gonna find something. Did you say to her? I'm gonna be leaving? No,
Carolina 35:24 I went back a second time because I felt like I was so thrown off in that conversation. Because she was supportive of loop. I didn't expect it at all. So I went back for one more visit, hoping to have kind of an adult conversation about it, advocate for myself and it literally, she just like, said no. And I was like, you can't say no. You don't control what I do outside of here. So then after that, I left good for you. I went somewhere else that didn't work out either. And then I finally found a third Endo, and she was wonderful. And same with, you know, finding an OB GYN, I really did not want to be induced early, simply because I have diabetes. I know that happens a lot, just for me. I was like, I want to go to at least week 40 before we talk about induction, assuming the Baby and I are healthy. And so I finally found an OB who was on board with that. She was like, That's reasonable. She's like, you will have like, extra monitoring. But she basically said, like, even if we schedule an induction, she's like, we don't show up to your house, like, so if you don't show up, like, you know, not much
Scott Benner 36:30 we can do.
Carolina 36:31 And I was like, Wow, I like you.
Scott Benner 36:33 You're like, I just want this baby to be like, medium well before it comes out exactly. Yeah, I don't want it to come out too rare. And I don't want it to be tough, you know what? I mean, like, excellent. But what'd you end up doing? I
Carolina 36:46 ended up going into labor at 39 and actually exactly at 39 on my own, nice. So I'm glad that I did not agree to be induced at, you know, 37 or 38
Scott Benner 36:56 and maybe a good size. Were they happy with the size? Yeah, he was seven pounds. He come out the, the natural way. Or did he? Did you make a little pocket and take him out through
Carolina 37:06 that? I love that. Um, he came out the, the natural way.
Scott Benner 37:10 Gotcha, yeah? Something that is another reason you don't want to have another baby, right?
Carolina 37:15 Yes, no, we're good.
Scott Benner 37:22 But yeah, you keep listening. You can be the academic as you want and understand everything, but as it's happening, you're like, what the is going on?
Carolina 37:32 I know my husband was like, if somebody offered me a million dollars to do that again, I would not do that.
Scott Benner 37:38 It's like, whoa. The fun part turned into the weird part. What's going on? Yeah,
Carolina 37:43 and I was like, you, you're just, you were just there. You didn't do anything. Well, what
Scott Benner 37:49 does that tell you? He's like, I wouldn't go through this again, and nothing happened to me. Yeah, it's off putting. I'm just gonna say beautiful, Miracle life, etc, and so on. But what the hell am I right?
Carolina 38:03 Yeah, no, it's people
Scott Benner 38:07 ask me, How do you know there's not a god, I'm like, if there was, there'd be a zipper on the side of a lady, and that's where the baby would come out from. I mean, duh, oh my gosh. Like, right? Zip here. Zip done. I mean, if we're engineering this thing, why go with that? Yeah, no. Seriously, nice. Also, why doesn't P come out of the tip of your pinky? How great would that be if you just walked over to something you're like, convenient. I'm making a lot of sense. I'm just saying, if this is on purpose, maybe they could have thought it over for another week or two. Yeah, before me getting sick meant boogers getting in my nose. Like, I mean, was there not another way? True? You know what I'm saying. I do. Where are you from? What part of the country did you say Chicago? Chicago? All right, okay, it's the worst.
Carolina 38:54 Boogers the worst. No,
Scott Benner 38:55 boogers are the worst. Oh, oh, yes, oh, we can definitely call the episode boogers are the worst, can't we?
Carolina 39:02 People might not listen to it. Oh no,
Scott Benner 39:04 them, they'll listen i I've set my expectations up in a way where they're like, it doesn't matter what it's called. You know, can I loop back around to the thing I wasn't sure if I was gonna say or not. Yeah, okay. Is part of my charm, and this is me leading you by saying I'm charming, because you might not find that I am, but is part of why you like the podcast. That's not the question. Once you were like, Okay, I'm going to listen to a podcast, and it's going to be from the dad of a guy of a girl who has diabetes, right? And then there's this expectation, right? That it's a parent, I'm going to be like, all high voice, then like, oh my god, everything's great, or everything's terrible, or like that. But like, when you jumped on and you're like, This is just a person talking to me, like, I would listen to this podcast if it wasn't about diabetes. Did that happen to you first of all? And if so, was it surprising? Or am I making this up and I'm wrong? Like, I just, I feel like people must jump on here and be. Like, well, this is not what I expected.
Carolina 40:01 It was not what I expected. Okay, but I will say the first episodes I listened to were, it was definitely bold with insulin. And then, like, some management episodes, because back then, you didn't have all your lovely helpers on the Facebook group, and so somebody just randomly posted, like, if you're newly diagnosed, try out these episodes. And it was like a picture of, like, a note card with, like, handwritten right? Episodes, yeah. And so that's the list I went off of, because you had so many at the time. Now you have even more. But we had so many, there's
Scott Benner 40:29 gonna be more. Hold, hold, tight. Carolina, we're making a podcast here. There's gonna be like, 1000 more by the time you look up again. But go ahead.
Carolina 40:36 So I feel like I wanted the management and I wanted the diabetes, so I didn't even think about the fact that I would probably listen if it wasn't about diabetes, because I was searching for diabetes.
Scott Benner 40:45 So is that unfair of me? Like, or in hindsight, if, if I started making a podcast about something else and it wasn't like something that you hated, do you think you'd listen?
Carolina 40:55 I don't listen to podcasts except yours, so I'm probably a bad person to ask this question.
Scott Benner 40:58 Too interesting, but you do listen to mine like a podcast though, like you like, Oh, someone's here to talk about they used math. I'll listen to that. Like you do listen to it. Like, oh, yeah, I drew you in. Yeah, it's exactly how I tricked my wife. This is awesome. I'm glad to know it works in other forms of life. It just occurs to me that, I mean, if you said to me, I'm gonna listen to something that's made by the parent of a child with a chronic illness. I would not expect for someone at 30 minutes into a conversation to refer to childbirth as you turned the fun part into the weird part, yeah. And I think that's why people like the podcast,
Carolina 41:36 oh yeah. And that's why you keep listening. Because in the beginning, I was looking for the management I was looking for the diabetes, like I really needed that,
Scott Benner 41:44 but you wanted to get in and get out. Was, yeah, yeah. I would have stopped
Carolina 41:48 listening. But now it's, it's entertaining. It's nice to hear about people's different walks of life. And yeah, the conversations are casual or entertaining. They're they go all over the place. I never know. Like, when I click on an episode, I'm like, oh, what's gonna happen in this one, you know? So, yeah,
Scott Benner 42:03 podcast, I'm just following my heart. Seriously, I'm doing something later today. I'm recording with ever since, actually, I'm gonna, I'm gonna record about the ever since 365 that came out. So the new implant, the implantable CGM now lasts a year, and so I'm having somebody on from the company to talk about it, and the person who sets it up is, like, very cool with how I am, which is awesome, because some companies will be like, well, what are you gonna ask and what are you gonna talk about? And what do you I'm like, Oh, I don't know. And I think that, like, they think that's like, a facade, like, like, because the podcast does run very well, right? And it is popular. So I think they must think that, like, behind the scenes, I'm like, all Machiavelli, and I'm like, today I'll talk about this, and tomorrow I don't like, I swear to you, like, a week from now, there's gonna be an after dark episode on a Friday and then another one on a Monday. I didn't do that. I just was like, actually, when I found that, that's how I set it up, I was like, What the hell did I do that was dumb, like, so I'm not planning anything. I really don't know what we're going to talk about. I don't look at your notes before we start talking. You don't, no, I don't look at the note that you sent until, like, we're into the conversation.
Carolina 43:13 Oh, okay. I was like, Wait, why did we fill that out? No, no, you filled it out because,
Scott Benner 43:17 like, also, I want to make sure you're a real person and stuff like that. Also, honestly, it's your relationship with diabetes. Have you been on a podcast in the last six months about because another pipe on pot, because I wouldn't want you to come like, I'm not looking to like, regurgitate some conversation that somebody already had. So and then, what are some common themes you want to talk about? Is basically, once we start talking. My assumption is you have things in your heart you want to get out, and I don't want to, like, steamroll you and miss them. And as you're seeing today, I could easily be a little sleepy and then go off on a tangent, and then you don't get to tell me your story, and other people will enjoy it when they listen. But you, I don't want you to get short changed. If that makes sense, makes sense, having the baby with loop, not so bad. Yeah,
Carolina 44:07 I was on Iaps IPs for my pregnancy, not so yes, it really wasn't that bad. I mean, I had an easier time managing my blood sugars when I was pregnant than I do now. Postpartum. I know that's not always the case for everyone, but that's how I personally found it postpartum. I'm almost five months out, and I still, I think I'm having like, the worst blood sugars I've had since, since I figured out what I was doing. Okay,
Scott Benner 44:30 so are you breastfeeding? Is that part of it? Do you think?
Carolina 44:35 I think so, especially in the beginning, anytime he would eat, I would I would just crash, like, like, crash, crash, just double arrows down. So I would have to eat, like, while he's eating without taking insulin.
Scott Benner 44:47 Do you drop crumbs on him when that's happening by any chance?
Carolina 44:50 Oh, yeah, he said all sorts of things on it.
Scott Benner 44:54 Cleavage. Crumbs must be the worst. No, they're so uncomfortable. I would think, yeah. Yeah, the worst, I'm just imagine you like you're just chowing down and the stuff's like falling on the kid. You're like, Listen, I'm gonna pass out if I don't do this. Just nothing. Are you just flicking them off of him? How does it go? Exactly? I usually
Carolina 45:12 pick them off and eat them inside.
Scott Benner 45:15 Awesome. Oh, look at that big piece. What do you eat to help keep your blood sugar up while you're breastfeeding? It
Carolina 45:22 was like, breastfeeding? It was like bars for the most part. You know, Lara bars, Kind bars, whatever I could get my hands on. It wasn't usually like fast acting, maybe a little bit of fast acting, but I tried to circumvent by something that would keep me a little more stable. Yeah.
Scott Benner 45:36 So breastfeeding with type one sort of like going for a run. You just got a car blown in the beginning and put something in there. It's not going to digest very quickly. You didn't need it in there to hold you up for a while. How long is the impact after the breastfeeding?
Carolina 45:48 That part of my life is such a blur because it's gotten better, like, I'm definitely more stable now than I was, you know, the first month postpartum. I just remember my husband waking me up all the time, and he'd be like, sorry, but like, you're you're 35 you're low. I was constantly low, right? Don't die. I
Scott Benner 46:05 don't want to take care of this baby by myself. Yeah, Jesus, I should have left her. She said you can leave. And where was I? So it sounds like very hormonal. So you didn't have as many hormonal impacts during the pregnancy as you did in the weeks after it.
Carolina 46:20 Yeah, I never, you know, I feel like I hear, you know, I joined on some, like, Facebook groups and type one in pregnancy. And, you know, I read a lot. I read Jenny's book. And so I know some people are, like, on a one to one by the end of pregnancy. And I was terrified because some of sometimes, some parts of the damn like, one to five. So I have, like, a relatively stronger, you know, carb ratio. So I was terrified. I'm like, Oh my gosh, I'm gonna end up on u2 100. This is gonna be crazy, but I never got there, okay, like, I think one to four was, like, my strongest carb ratio during pregnancy. Are
Scott Benner 46:54 your blood sugars after pregnancy more like before or no, they're different.
Carolina 46:59 They're different. I just feel like I'm having a harder time timing my insulin than I used to, and I can't figure that out. So things that I used to have, I'd be like, Okay, I need I enter this many carbs, this much fat, this much protein. I Pre Bolus 15 minutes, 10 minutes, whatever it is, you know, I had these meals figured out. I cannot figure them out.
Scott Benner 47:19 Are you? I'm sorry to ask like, this, is your weight different than it was before you got pregnant?
Carolina 47:23 No, I'm basically back to my pre, pre pregnancy. Oh, show
Scott Benner 47:27 off. Wait, I mean, that's nice. Good. Good for you. That's excellent. So I was just wondering if, like, your your ratios were off and because of that. But that's not the case. So, yeah, do you think it's hormonal? I think
Carolina 47:40 it might be, you know, I still have not gotten my period back since having the baby, so I assume there's some hormone somewhere in my body doing something. And, like I said, the timing of it. So I don't know if my digestion is different, or maybe that's related to milk production. I don't know, but, yeah, the timing, I think it's the timing rather than the amount, okay, but I can't seem to figure
Scott Benner 48:02 it out. Yeah, and, but you think it's normalizing slowly as time passes. It does
Carolina 48:06 feel that way. Okay. Now my nights, most of the nights, I don't get Dexcom alerts for a long time. I did, especially low ones, so that's been nice. Yeah, that's
Scott Benner 48:15 tough. Overnights are like, I mean, plus the baby, right? How old does he even sleep at this point. Yeah,
Carolina 48:21 he did till he turned four months, and now we have a fun four month regression. Oh,
Scott Benner 48:26 it's going backwards. Yeah, hey, buddy, go to sleep. Go to sleep. I'm losing my mind like that. Or is that about where we're at now?
Carolina 48:38 Um, kind of he sleeps with me now my my husband's in the guest room. So that's where we're at. That's how we're surviving right
Scott Benner 48:47 now. Oh, no kidding, because your husband can't go to work if, if he's near the what's going on? Oh, I see why you're not having another baby. There's a lot of reasons I got you. It'll happen to you. Probably you just wake up one day and you'll be like, Hey, honey, you know we should do and he's gonna be like, go on vacation, and you're gonna go, no, no, I think we should give away all the money that we were gonna spend on that vacation and make another baby because our son needs a sibling or something ridiculous like that. That you're gonna say, My God, God bless everybody. You're all in trouble, by the way. Good luck paying for college. I just want to say that too. Oh, I know, yeah, that is probably gonna like, I mean, have you already saved a couple of million dollars? So you'll be all right if you have, I wish. No, you haven't. Oh no. Oh, my god, yeah, it's ridiculous. Arden, by the way, is like, at some point today, she's like, I just looked into baking school. And I was like, Oh, if you want to drop out of college, that'd be awesome. I support that. Yeah, I'm fully behind that. I would also write you a check for a few $1,000 to help you get on your way. What do you think of that? Like, let's get you out of here. I'm sorry. You're a nurse, and can I ask what your husband does? I. He's an engineer. Oh, oh, I didn't know this about you. Is your dad an engineer too?
Carolina 50:06 No, my dad's a construction worker,
Scott Benner 50:09 contractor. Do they think similarly the two of them? Uh, no,
Unknown Speaker 50:13 no, okay,
Scott Benner 50:17 why? How do you like being married to like an engineering mind. I
Carolina 50:20 like it. I, you know, my dad was a business owner, and so I was like, I want somebody who works a nine to five and is, I mean, you own a business. So, you know, it's, I mean,
Scott Benner 50:30 I was working last night at 930 I don't know what I was doing. I just, I'm, like, up here. I'm just, like, hammering away Kelly's like, what are you doing? I'm like, trying to make money. I mean, you wouldn't be able to be able to pay the bills, right? Like, it's a terrible feeling. So okay, you're looking for a guy who's going to be around a little more,
Carolina 50:47 yeah, except he is now a consultant, so he works, like, you know, 800 hours a week. So it did not work out for me, but I gave it my my best try. I chose
Scott Benner 50:55 poorly. Scott, Okay, what else do you want to talk about? What else is on your list here? What are you thinking about? I mean,
Carolina 51:01 I think we covered most of the things. I think I just wanted to say how helpful it was to have community definitely advocating for yourself. I feel like I see especially in the pregnancy and type one groups like, Oh, my doctor said I have to do this. And, you know, people do it. I put a lot of time and effort into picking physicians who would support the pregnancy I wanted and the birth I wanted, and I think that was worth all the effort. And so I think sometimes people just forget that you don't have to stay with that doctor just because that's the one that you live closest to. And I know I'm in Chicago, so I have a lot of doctors to choose from, but if anybody's, you know, kind of on the fence of, should I stay with this doctor? Should I not? You know, it's okay to to leave them. I think sometimes people are like, Oh, I felt bad leaving. They're so nice, but at the end of the day, like you have to look out for yourself and your family. I'm so grateful, because I think my my pregnancy would have been way more stressful and way different experience if I hadn't done all that work up front. So, yeah, I just wanted to, I guess, encourage anyone who was thinking about
Scott Benner 52:05 it. Yeah, it's awesome. Are you an only child? Yes, oh, okay, I figured it out. Nevermind I got you, I don't know where, at 24 years old, you know, 26 years that age, like, where you get the like, your first response is just like, Whoa, no, I'm going somewhere else. I was trying to figure out, like, Why did you have such, like, a clear vision of yourself and what you would be willing to accept? And that I thought, oh, probably a only child, plus immigrant parents, right? Yeah, working hard. They weren't looking to, like, right? They're not trying to repopulate the world. They're trying to get their feet under them. So it made sense to me, and you speak like you're older than you are. Oh, interesting as you're talking, if you told me you were, you know, 40, I believe that easily. So not because you sound old, but because you're sure of yourself and measured. Does that make sense? That's nice to hear. Oh, is it? Oh, good. Well, then I meant it as a compliment. It was not, I know I didn't mean in any special way, but since you took it that way, I definitely meant it. No, I mean it is a compliment, and it's um, but indicative of someone who's an only child. Yeah, that's interesting. My son's girlfriend's an only child, like she doesn't accept bullshit. It's just very simple, and I was an only child for five years, and I have a bit of that myself. I was just trying to figure out, like, the whole time you've been talking, I've been in the back of my mind thinking about, like, what makes a young, pregnant, almost newly diagnosed type one say, like, be so self assured in the face of doctors telling them something, especially because the doctor was very curt with you. Yeah. It wasn't like, hey, we can talk about it. No, it's not going to work out. It was no, if you do that, you'll be non compliant, and we'll withhold your medication, yeah. And you were like, or you, and then you left, and I was like, Oh, awesome, because a lot of people would go, Okay, well, I won't do that. Then, yeah,
Carolina 53:59 maybe some of it is because I'm a nurse, so, like, I also know that doctors are human, because I've worked with so many doctors over the years, right? So, yeah,
Scott Benner 54:07 my wife says that my wife works with a lot of medical people. She said to me one time, she goes, Oh, doctors, some of the dumbest people I know are doctors. But it's not because they're doctors. She just realized they're people. And yeah, and they can be wrong or, you know, influenced by how they feel, or things they think that, you know, might not be what you think. It's just really awesome that you were just like, No, I'm just gonna go find somebody else. I'm gonna do this. Look what you got out of it. You had what you described as not a bad pregnancy with type one, which I think is, I mean, that's like saying rainbows and sunshine. Not bad, you know what I mean, yeah, yeah. Did you ever go back to that doctor and go like, Oh, I just wanted to let you know how wrong you are. No, look at you. I wish very mature. It's awesome. And a photo, yeah, a photo of the kid with a note that just says, Hey, just wanted to let you know how wrong you were about everything. My pregnancy went great. It's very easy to manage with IEPs. I. I carried the baby just about the completely full term all by myself, in case you're wondering. And also, like, I know who you are, a little bit like, you're a tinier person, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, right. So like, that baby gets neck, it gets pretty big, and you were like, now I can hold it in forever. Don't you worry. You were wrong. Go away. Thank you. Carolina pronounced and then write it out phonetically. But I'm petty. So you know, I'm actually not petty, but I would have thought all those things.
Carolina 55:32 Oh, I thought a lot of things. Oh, okay, all right, cool. Yeah, it's
Scott Benner 55:35 good to know I'm not petty. Seriously, I would have laughed, but I'm older, like, if at this point, if a doctor would say something to me, I go, oh, oh, you're serious. Okay, never mind. You know, most people don't get into that situation. They get that white coat syndrome when they get in there and they're scared, and not you, though, huh? Were you in there by yourself during these conversations? Or was your husband with you? Oh, I was by myself. I like you. Okay. All right, you're allowed to be on the podcast. This is awesome. Oh, great. All right. Well, let's end strong.
Carolina 56:08 Well, I will say before we go, the one thing you didn't ask me was auto immune in my family. Oh, you're polish.
Scott Benner 56:14 I just assumed celiac. And hold on, what else did I assume? Celiac? Thyroid? Am I right
Carolina 56:23 kind of I have thyroid. I have Hashimotos. My mom has lupus. Oh,
Scott Benner 56:27 wasn't on my bingo card today, but it could have been on a different day. Go ahead.
Carolina 56:32 Yep. And then her brother, so my uncle, this is pretty recent. He was diagnosed with MS. I want to say, like a year or two ago. That sucks, yeah. Up until then, it was just my mom that we knew of, then me and now my own no celiac. I'm gluten free, but I don't know if I'm
Scott Benner 56:49 actually celiac. Oh, why are you gluten free? You trying to be trendy? Or did your belly hurt?
Carolina 56:54 Yeah, after I got my wisdom teeth removed back in high school, I got, like, super sick, and I was losing a lot of weight, and we couldn't figure out why, and so we were trying diet things, and I went gluten free, and I felt a lot better.
Scott Benner 57:08 Don't go getting tested find out Scott was right. Okay, yeah, let's just let that be a mystery.
Carolina 57:14 We decided it doesn't change anything. I will be gluten free either way. So what's the point of actually finding out? Yeah,
Scott Benner 57:21 is that part of your trouble with your blood sugars? Like, are you eating? Because I know a lot of gluten free foods can be car beer,
Carolina 57:28 maybe, but I've been gluten free the whole time. I've, you know, had type one, so I don't know it any other way. Yeah,
Scott Benner 57:33 it makes sense. Why would it matter this? Yeah, it's hormonal or something, something in there is messing with you. Yeah, get that kid to drink a diet fresca or something instead of your you know what you're making for him. And I think maybe a lot of your stuff goes back to normal. Yeah, diet fresca. Where did that come from? I don't know. Am I having
Carolina 57:53 a is there a regular Fresco? I don't actually know what fresca is. Oh, well,
Scott Benner 57:57 first of all, fresca is a terrible soda that was for sale when I was young. I don't know if it's still for sale or not. Oh, was there a diet fresca? I mean, we can look.
Carolina 58:07 I'm googling fresco right now. Damn, right here. Okay, to see what it looks like from
Scott Benner 58:11 the Coca Cola Bottling Company. Now, it's a sparkling flavored soda. Oh, so does it have carbs? Oh, it's soda. I don't think it does. If Wait, hold on a second. Oh, because you said sparkling, I see what you're saying. Hold on. I'm looking boy, anything you click on takes you to Amazon. That's Bezos guy, huh? He must be doing all right.
Carolina 58:28 Ai overview says it was introduced in 1966 and is a sugar free diet soda. Oh, it's
Scott Benner 58:35 a diet fresca. Yeah, there you go. Now we know. Now we know. Yeah, what do we know exactly? Not much. I'm laughing in my mind, thinking of you listening to head like a hole later. So, oh yeah, yeah, it's on my list. Is it really? Are you really gonna do it? Well, I have to,
Carolina 58:51 right? I feel like
Scott Benner 58:52 you and I could listen to it now at the end, but then I'd edit it out, and then afterwards, just ask you what you thought, but I don't know if you'll be able to hear it. Never mind. It seems like a lot of work. I just as I said all that, I was like, ah, that I'm not doing all maybe we gotta listen to the song. Then we gotta wait, and then you gotta tell me what you think, and the editor's gonna take out the bar over it just seemed like a lot. I was just like, Ah, never mind. We don't give a what she thinks about this,
Carolina 59:20 and I'll probably hate it. So we don't all have to listen to
Scott Benner 59:22 that. What kind of country music do you like? What's your go to right now,
Carolina 59:26 I have a baby. I just type in, like, you know, hot country hits, and then they play. Are you? I don't have a lot of time to
Scott Benner 59:34 Well, now you sound 40 for real. By the way, you're like, I let the machine Tell me. Like, so wait, like, more like jelly roll, or more like Luke Bryan,
Carolina 59:44 like Luke Bryan, Poppy country, yeah,
Scott Benner 59:47 so more like Poppy pickup truck songs, yes, all right, they're the best listen. I'm alright with. That's good, yeah. Can you imagine if I wasn't? You imagine if, right now, after all these episodes of the podcast, I just. Like, sat up on my chair, stealed my spine, and said, Listen to me. I can't believe these are the songs you're listening to. I have a lot of thoughts about this. I don't give a what you listen to, but I just wasn't sure if you were, like, where you were, like, falling your whole life. Country music, I'm
Carolina 1:00:13 not that picky. So like, whatever's on the radio, I'm usually like, Oh, this is catchy. I just like catchy things. Okay, faster music, catchy things. I'm less of like a slow listen to the words,
Scott Benner 1:00:27 would you listen to a Taylor Swift bop? Yeah. Okay, so it doesn't have to be boss. She's Do you know she started as a country artist. I do know that. Yes. Oh, finally, we found something that happened recently enough that you're aware of it. And I don't sound like I'm about to die. Why does he keep saying things I don't understand. I interviewed somebody recently and they said, Can I be honest, Scott, I don't understand a lot of your references. I like it when Arden says to me, like, like, what's a good example? She's like, you know that Dua Lipa song? And I go, what I'm like, is that a person? And she's like, Yeah, you know who it is. And I go, No, I don't. My wife will be like, you know this song? And I go, I do not know this song. And she goes, No, you've heard this before? And I'm like, No, I have not. I do not know this song. And she's, you know, like, I only hear stuff if it breaks through for like, weird social reasons, you know what I mean? Yeah. Like, if, what is that Whap song, like that. I was like, Wait, what's going on? Like, that made it to me. But do you even know what that is? I don't wait, hold on a second. This is gonna have to get bleeped out the Oh, God, I can't believe I'm gonna say this.
Carolina 1:01:36 Oh, wait, oh, wait. Don't
Scott Benner 1:01:39 make me say it. You're a young mother. You know what I'm talking about.
Carolina 1:01:41 Right now, I got it. Okay, yes. Now I know all right. Like that
Scott Benner 1:01:45 made it to me because I was like, What the hell is happening? In fairness, if you said to me right now, gun to your head, sing that song, I'd be like, I don't know how to do that. You don't even sing
Carolina 1:01:54 it either. Yeah. Well, I think, I don't know if that helps or not, but I
Scott Benner 1:01:57 think it's good. You think we could be friends, even though we're 23 years apart, I feel that way. I do too. It's awesome. That just makes me feel young. By the way, it's got nothing to do with you. I'm like, I can still hang I know I can. The minute my hair is not dark, I fear for how I'm gonna feel about myself. I feel like it's the only your hair. No, I don't, by the way, okay. No, no, I'm just saying I have nice dark hair, and I think that the minute it lightens like, if it goes to gray, I feel like it's my superpower right now, it's the only thing that allows me to, like, you know, when people say I feel like I'm 12 inside my whole life, like, I really do feel like that. But I think people do get to an age sometime where they just give up on that part. And I don't see a time where that's gonna happen for me so far, and I just think that, like, all this silliness, if I was gray, would be weird. I know that sounds super strange, but I think it would be
Carolina 1:02:49 weird. Yeah, you don't care, though, right? It'll be interesting when it happens to see how you feel.
Scott Benner 1:02:54 What's the cut off for when you go, I can no longer listen to a podcast made by a 65 year old. Like, where's the number, where you're just like, What am I doing?
Carolina 1:03:03 I don't know. I mean, as long as you keep bringing on the guests and all the Dexcom people, I feel like
Scott Benner 1:03:09 doing everyone, all right, yeah, I'm done. Okay, well, I'll tell you what. I've been holding off buying a new enclosure for my chameleon, because I always feel like I want to tell you, like, when you make content for a living, which I hate talking about, like, this way, but it's what I do. There's this, like, feeling in the back of your head constantly where you're like, this can't last much longer, right? You know what I mean, like, this has got and now it's a decade I've been doing, literally, making this podcast for 10 years. Wow. But I'm not like, I grew up broke, so I just want to buy a new enclosure for my chameleon. And I'm like, seems like a waste of money, because, like, this podcast thing, like, I'm gonna have to go get a real job. Like, you know what I mean? Like, maybe not. All right, I'm just gonna put that out there at everybody I would like to not get a real job. So if you can all keep listening, I think that would be awesome. Thank you very much. All right, Carolina, all sticking around, help me say, I want to try to say your name the way your dad says it. Okay. Help me one more time. I'm very bad speaking phonetically. But go, yeah, Carolina, Carolina, no, that was close. It was close. It wasn't good, though. Why? Why? It's back your throat? Carolina, no, front of your throat. Carolina, no. Bucha, I lost it. I'm so bad at this. The
Carolina 1:04:20 first A is different. It's
Scott Benner 1:04:24 Carolina, Carolina. Oh, Carolina. We're in that bounce. All right, I'm not doing that, but does your husband call you
Carolina 1:04:36 that? I don't know what he calls me. What a great question. What is your Oh, go ahead. What
Scott Benner 1:04:40 does your husband call you? Let's figure it out before we go, because that whatever he calls you is the name of the episode. Go,
Carolina 1:04:46 oh, I think he just calls me like Carol, or Carol or something like that, like
Scott Benner 1:04:51 the syrup that people put on pumpkin pie. Oh, there's no way you knew that one either. I. Yeah, all right. Carol is a corn syrup, which I think is really not good for you. So my dad was a Pennsylvania Dutch, like, I know it's not a thing you know about. It doesn't matter, like think Amish, but not that serious, okay, does that okay? They eat like the strangest things. So when Thanksgiving rolled around, my grandmother would make pumpkin pies from scratch, and then they would pour dark carro syrup on it, and then a little whipped cream. And I have a small jar of dark carro syrup in my house all year long, for the time when I put a tablespoon of it on a slice of pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. Now, if you google this, you will look at it and think, oh, Scott, I don't think that's a thing you should put in your body.
Carolina 1:05:46 So I'm googling it right now. Yes, it looks a little scary to me. Oh,
Scott Benner 1:05:52 don't get me wrong, but if you put a little bit of that dark on pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and eat it and don't love it, I don't understand you. Now, I think the craziest thing we've learned by clicking on carrot.com is that Tia Mowry is their spokesperson. Oh, do you know who that is?
Carolina 1:06:08 Yes, but I'm not actually on their website. I was just on, like a grocery store from Sister. Sister. Yes, I see her now. I did know Sister. Sister. So there's something I know more crazily, am I right about this? I think it's possible
Scott Benner 1:06:26 that I once moderated an online chat that she or her sister was in for a diabetes org, and just now, when I Googled her name to see if I was right. I've learned that her daughter's name is Cairo. Oh, so Caro, K, A, R O, her daughter's name, c, a, i, R O, I think that's Cairo, right. And then I think I've spoken to her or her sister at some
Carolina 1:06:58 point. That's wild. Are they related to diabetes? I don't know.
Scott Benner 1:07:02 Now I'm trying to figure it out, because I don't remember why they were there, but I don't it was, it was some diabetes org, and they reached out to me to moderate their thing. So Tia had gestational when she was pregnant. Oh, I wonder if that's so long ago, I don't remember, awesome. I don't know what to call this episode now, before I'm excited to find out. Yeah, I mean me too. All right, I'm gonna let you go. It feels like you have to go breastfeed something. So, um, do you is that coming up? I'm at work, so, oh, you have a job. You're trying to get back to work. Yeah? All right, go do your thing, hold on one second. Having an easy to use an accurate blood glucose meter is just one click away. Contour next.com/juicebox That's right. Today's episode is sponsored by the contour next gen blood glucose meter, touched by type one, sponsored this episode of The Juicebox Podcast. Check them out at touched by type one.org. On Instagram and Facebook. Give them a follow. Go check out what they're doing. They are helping people with type one diabetes in ways you just can't imagine. Us. Med, sponsored this episode of the juice box podcast. Check them out at us. Med.com/juice, box, or by calling 888-721-1514, get your free benefits check and get started today with us. Med, hey, thanks for listening all the way to the end. I really appreciate your loyalty and listenership. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast. The Diabetes variable series from the Juicebox Podcast goes over all the little things that affect your diabetes that you might not think about travel and exercise to hydration and even trampolines, Juicebox podcast.com, go up in the menu and click on diabetes variables, the episode you just heard was professionally edited by wrong way recording, wrong way, recording.com do.
Please support the sponsors
The Juicebox Podcast is a free show, but if you'd like to support the podcast directly, you can make a gift here. Recent donations were used to pay for podcast hosting fees. Thank you to all who have sent 5, 10 and 20 dollars!
