#1483 Small Sips: Just Smile and Wave
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Not everyone understands diabetes—acknowledge advice politely but stick with what works for you.
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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, welcome to the sips series.
These foundational strategies were nominated by listeners. They told me, these are the ideas in the podcast that truly made a difference for them. So I distilled them down into short, actionable insights. There's not going to be any fluff or complex jargon, just practical, real world diabetes management that you can start applying today. And I know your time is valuable, so we're keeping these short. Another small sip will come out once a week for the foreseeable future. If you like what you hear, check out the Pro Tip series or the bold beginning series for more. Those series are available in the menu at Juicebox podcast.com and you can find complete lists of all of the series in the featured tab on the private Facebook group. Please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan or becoming bold with insulin. The questions you have, I guarantee you there's answers to them in the Juicebox Podcast, and it's all free. You
I wasn't sure if I ever spoke about this with you, but I did in bold beginnings, medical team episode, 1117
Jennifer Smith, CDE 1:37
Okay, you'll have to tell me what I clearly don't know. The numbers.
Scott Benner 1:42
It's also come up in episode 357, and 679, 357, was actually called just smile and wave. So I would see people online have these, like, great achievements with their diabetes. They, you know, had a seven and a half a 1c they listen to the podcast. All of a sudden they had a six and a half a 1c they'd go to the doctor, and the doctor would immediately try to turn like, take away insulin. They're like, Oh, you're getting low. Because the doctor could not imagine that they did something purposefully, right, right?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 2:16
Achieved it without lows, right? It was just, I'm aiming too low now. And so, of course, my a 1c reflects that, because it is just an average. Yeah, so you must be having a whole bunch of blood sugars that are way too low rather than goodness. Let's look at your data to actually evaluate how you did that. Yeah. And wow, look, you're more stable. There aren't really any lows in the picture,
Scott Benner 2:38
but yeah. And it's not uncommon for people to stand in their doctor's office and then be forced to say something that I fully admit, and I think anybody would admit, probably sounds crazy in a doctor's office, which is, no, I found a podcast and I listened to it, and now my a one sees better and look like, look at my graph. I'm not like, you know, I'm not coming by this, you know, by having a bunch of lows and then a bunch of highs and a balancing out, like I'm actually, like, I learned how to keep my blood sugar stable at a lower number and everything. Now, some doctors will take your pump from you and change your settings. Some people get told their settings are going to get changed. They don't want them changed, but they don't have, they have that little bit of that white coat, right? Like they're scared of the doctor, so they just, they just go along with it. What were you gonna say? I
Jennifer Smith, CDE 3:25
was gonna say, you saw me like cringing with the take the pump and touch it. I think I've said before when we've talked, I feel very much when somebody in the past, eons ago, because I don't let them do that anymore, eons ago, they would take it, and I felt like they were touching me. Yeah? Because the pump is a it's a piece of me. It's almost like a body part, right? And in taking it, it's like removing it from the room. It's like, it's like taking your baby, your newborn baby, and taking it out to do tests, and you're the new parent in the room thinking, what are they doing to my poor child when I'm not there? You know? Yeah, that's how I felt about it. And I just I learned to put on my big girl pants, and I was like, I'm so sorry. I printed my reports for you. Here they are. You don't need to download my pump. I
Scott Benner 4:13
have learned and and still have to remember sometimes. But I asked permission to take Arden's phone I used to like because it occurred to me. It's funny you say like this, because at first it occurred to me like she didn't want to be told what to do. But I wonder how much of it might be like, No, this is me, like you're changing my body. If you touch this phone, you know, right, beyond that, beyond just like, you know, hey, I want to change your settings. There's other things. People come in and say, like, you know, I'm bolusing now for fat and protein, and some doctors have never heard that before, and they'll go, you can't do that like so any situation where you're with somebody medical or otherwise, even maybe your mother in law, who's trying to tell you that if you just put ashwagandha up your nose, that kid's diabetes will go away, or whatever, you know, whatever, there's more synonyms, right? That's. You know, you just haven't washed his hair enough with Berberine. Any situation you find yourself in, what I tell people to do is smile and wave. And it's getting to be a very old reference at this point, but there's that animated movie Madagascar, and the penguins are very mischievous, but when people look at them, they just put this big, dumb smile on and wave. And their leader, when they get they got caught doing something, their leader goes, just smile and wave. Boys, just smile and wave. And that's how I think of all of these situations. We want to make your basal lower. Okay, that's fine. Yeah, you know, have you tried having her tap dance on a piano? My grandmother's cat's diabetes went away after it danced on a piano one time. Oh, thank you. Thank you. That's lovely. Thank you. And then you leave the room and either talk about that person behind their back or you put your settings back. The amount of people who have sent me a note that said I listened to this podcast. I made changes. I went to the doctor. The doctor changed them back. I stopped in the parking lot and put those settings back, and anyway, just smile and wave. That's my advice in situations like this.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 6:13
No, it's a great and I usually say if they are wanting to touch your pump because they think you don't know how to use it. Have them tell you what to adjust and you push the buttons, therefore proving you actually know what you're doing with your device. Right? You are visually showing them. I'm not a dummy. Just because you have a white coat doesn't mean that I don't know what I'm doing. I wear this product, 24/7, it never leaves my side. At two o'clock in the morning, I know what to do when it alarms me. You're not there, right? And if they really want to give you the settings, then have them write them down, print them out on your you know, end of appointment summary. You can change. Say, I will change these when I get home or whatever, but if it's me, like you're not touching,
Scott Benner 7:05
well, my takeaway from smile and wave is this, if you truly know better on any subject and you're not looking to have an argument with somebody, you can just placate them. Yeah, and that's it. Now, for those of you who have a genuine inability to go against something a physician has told you. I think that the reason that this is on the list from people who have listened to the podcast and said, Here's a thing that's really helped me. I think this has really helped that type of person very likely to say, I know what I'm doing. You're not going to push me off what I know. So Right. Anyway, just smile and wave. Boys, just smile and I like
Jennifer Smith, CDE 7:40
it smiling. Wait,
Scott Benner 7:50
if you're ready to level up your diabetes care, the diabetes Pro Tip series from the Juicebox Podcast focuses on simple strategies for living well with type one, the pro tip episodes contain easy to understand concepts that will increase your knowledge of how insulin works. And so much more, my daughter has had an A, 1c, between five, two and six, four, since 2014 with zero diet restrictions, and some of those years include her in college. This information works for children, adults, and for the newly diagnosed and for those who have been struggling for years, go to Juicebox podcast.com and click on diabetes pro tip in the menu, or head over to Episode 1000 of the Juicebox Podcast to get started today with the episode newly diagnosed, we're starting over and then continue right on to Episode 1025 that's the entire Pro Tip series. Episode 1000 to 1025 if you're newly diagnosed, check out the bold beginnings series. Find it at Juicebox podcast.com, up in the menu in the feature tab of the private Facebook group, or go into the audio app you're listening in right now and search for Juicebox Podcast, bold beginnings. Juicebox is one word. Juicebox Podcast, bold beginnings. This series is perfect for newly diagnosed people. If you're not already subscribed or following in your favorite audio app, please take the time now to do that. It really helps the show and get those automatic downloads set up so you never miss an episode. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast. You.
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