#195 T1D Ryan has a DIYK9

Ryan has a do-it-yourself T1D service dog….

As Ryan fights to be a police officer with T1D his journey leads him to train his own diabetes service dog. 

You can always listen to the Juicebox Podcast here but the cool kids use: Apple Podcasts/iOS - Spotify - Amazon Alexa - google play/android - iheart radio -  or their favorite podcast app.

+ 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 0:00
Friends, Welcome to Episode 195 of the Juicebox Podcast. I just want to take a brief moment before we start and talk about Thanksgiving. This episode's going up just a few days before the holiday in 2018. And I'm seeing a disturbing amount of blogs and podcasts and people talking about, oh, it's diabetes, Thanksgiving, you can't win, just do your best. You know, don't worry about it if your blood sugar's high all day. I don't think any of that's necessary. And I simply don't like it. So if you have 15 minutes, when you're done listening to this, go back to Episode 139. It's a quick sit down that I did last year that just talked about how I was going to handle Thanksgiving, give it a try. Don't just accept that's just diabetes. Okay, so as the fourth year, that's correct, as the fourth season of the Juicebox Podcast comes to a close here through November and December, and we reached 200 episodes. I want to take a minute to remind you and me to be perfectly honest, that we couldn't have gotten here without the sponsors. That dex comment on the pot have been with me forever. And I want to thank them for that. I also want to thank them for re upping for 2019 Yes, very excited. And there's some more advertisers that are going to come on in 2019. I also don't want to forget the time that dancing for diabetes has been spending with us. Now dancing for diabetes has had their big show, but they are still going strong doing great work for kids with type one in the Florida area and beyond. Please take a minute, at the end of this episode to listen to a package piece. The dancing for diabetes made that I'm gonna I'm gonna put for you at the end. So you can listen I watched the video you'll hear the audio. It made me cry. But none of this good stuff happens if you don't click on the link, right. So if you're looking for an insulin pump, you want to go to my on the pod.com Ford slash juice box. You want to CGM you want to see what your blood sugar's doing. I know you do dexcom.com forward slash juice box and of course, dancing for diabetes.com that's dancing the number for diabetes.com. Listen closely because this is gonna blow your mind. Brian has type one diabetes for a long time. He wanted to be a police officer, he became a police officer. He had trouble with that because of his diabetes, he had to move on. He's trying to be a police officer again another part of the country. While he was there, nobody decided to do train his own diabetes alert dog. And more. I mean as if you'd need more, but there is more. A chock full episode. Please remember, while you're listening that nothing you'll hear on the Juicebox Podcast should ever ever, ever be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before being bold with insulin. And Happy Thanksgiving.

Ryan 2:59
My name is Ryan. I've been type one diabetic for about 16 years. And I always wanted to train my service dog. So I did a couple of classes and I read a book. And I got after it. That's crazy.

Scott Benner 3:13
So how old are you now?

Ryan 3:16
3116 Oh

Scott Benner 3:18
geez. This is like one of those like, even things let's do 1515 years about right look at me.

Your story is interesting. I think in the dog is a really interesting and I definitely want to get to it but there's you have a bigger picture so so diagnosed around. Alright, diagnosed around 15 years old. Was there any diabetes in your family or anything? Any autoimmune that makes this like not that surprising? Or were you guys surprised?

Ryan 3:51
absolutely shocked. no family history at all.

Scott Benner 3:55
Okay. Pretty standard presentation. You're paying a lot. Your parents are like, Hey, what's wrong and we went to the hospital or was it? Do you have a crazy story?

Ryan 4:06
Exactly. Nope. You nailed it.

Scott Benner 4:08
The easy one. Yeah. Ryan, you're paying a lot. Let's go to the doctor.

Ryan 4:16
And he smell really bad to

Unknown Speaker 4:19
what a bonus.

Unknown Speaker 4:21
Where were you live? Like,

Scott Benner 4:22
what part of the country were you living in when you were when you were diagnosed?

Ryan 4:27
I was in Northern California. Okay.

Scott Benner 4:30
So you became you go to college?

Ryan 4:33
Yes, sir.

Scott Benner 4:34
Okay, and so after college, you became a police officer?

Unknown Speaker 4:37
Yes, sir. Okay. All right. And

Scott Benner 4:39
was that like, kind of like a lifelong goal? Was that something you always thought about doing or did you fall into it?

Ryan 4:45
No, you know, at 18 years old, I thought, I didn't want that job. And then as I got a little older, I had some friends that were cops talked me into going for it and I actually went back to school and that's what I ended up doing. Going back to school to do and I got in a little bit later, but I was in my later 20s.

Scott Benner 5:04
Okay, and so you became a police officer with diet and there was no problem having diabetes becoming a police officer. I know some people talk about that sometime they always say there's some things you can't do. But I know there's a state trooper local to me that has type one and and so that was never an issue like guns. Did you go the academy? Or did you take classes specific to being a police officer in college?

Ryan 5:26
I did take specific academic courses related to police work. And then you I've had to go through their academy just further requirements. And you also have to do it to be licensed or to be valid through the state. Right, right.

Scott Benner 5:42
So how long are you still a police officer now?

Ryan 5:47
Currently, I work in the private sector. I'm waiting for some paperwork to go through. And I'll probably be working out here in Tennessee fairly soon.

Scott Benner 5:55
Okay, so but so that's what we're getting to really as you move from California to Tennessee, was the move anything to do with the trouble you had at work?

Ryan 6:05
Ah, a little bit. You know, the agency I work for, I guess it should have been a red flag when they said, the doctor called me and said, Hey, I want to hold you back three months when I was going through medical review. And it's required that every goes for medical review, and I totally get it. You know, we want people that have good agencies. And obviously, you don't want somebody passing out on a call for service when there's a dangerous person. And they said, Well, we want to hold you back for three months and monitor your glucose levels. And I you know, I told him, I said, Look, you know, my onesies are good. I don't have the perfect number every day every time like most type ones, but I haven't had any issues. And they were like, Whoa, you know, it was like, what are your episodes you talk about? You go to the endocrinologist? Maybe you feel like the endocrinologist is like, the humor blog. Is that for type twos? Is that oral?

Scott Benner 7:01
You're like I'm talking to somebody doesn't know what they're talking. And so they So basically, they wanted to get a baseline for you to figure out what you were doing. They wanted to track your blood sugar's but he didn't want you to walk into a room, pull out a gun, yell, freeze, and then fall over. And that's what they were. That's what they were worried about. Like, Hey, I'm dizzy. Would you hold this gun for a second while I pull out a glucose? Right? Can we ask pause this crime for a second?

Ryan 7:23
Yeah, can you do me a big favorite? Don't run my blood sugar. panelo If you could just listen to me, that'd be great. It's one of those days, man.

Scott Benner 7:30
It'd be wonderful though, if that turned out to be if there was just like, Ah, this poor guy. Yeah, let me just get the handcuffs on.

Ryan 7:36
Yeah. In the back of the car for you. But

Scott Benner 7:40
so Okay, so there's an understandable like, you know, there's like, maybe they don't have a ton of, you know, experience with type one or maybe they do and this is just how they do it. But they put you through this review. Did you make it out of the review at some point or how did that go?

Ryan 7:54
I did. The doctor called me back and he was like, Wow, I've never seen anybody with such great numbers. And I'm like, come on. I I'm not the perfect diabetic but I have good a one sees you know, between a six five give or take, you know, um, your average daily injection. You know, it was like, it's like, oh, no, you're fine. We're not gonna hold you back for three months we'll skip you through

Scott Benner 8:19
Okay, and so you so how long would you be on police officer it's a it's something you work towards all going really well. And then it doesn't go well how long until it doesn't go well.

Unknown Speaker 8:30
I want people to know that diabetes doesn't define you. I want people to be inspired. And if they even have type one that they're not alone and that we can do anything we put our hearts to

Scott Benner 8:48
dancing for diabetes wants you to know that you're not alone. If you're looking for inspiration, could it dancing for diabetes.com

Ryan 8:58
I felt a little uncomfortable in the first first day of the academy that the guy he came up who had us do the physical portion of it and he was like you know the guy who trains us in our defensive tactics and they run and have a few push ups all kinds of fun stuff.

Scott Benner 9:15
Make sure you can catch the guy who runs away although Ryan if you just drive after him with your car and just kind of give him a drink with the door I think that works in the movies that probably works in real life too so but but so you're going through your physical fitness right on the first day you don't you're not this guy's picture of what physical fitness is. Is that about what happened?

Ryan 9:35
No, I was actually runner up for like the athletic award but he was like you know I want you to keep your glucometer up here in the front of the class so I know where it is at all times. And I said you know sir, I I really appreciate your concern but I really prefer to keep it on me in on my at all times. And I have my glucose levels and if you ever need it if I'm ever in capacity, which knock on wood has never happened in my right pocket and that that just didn't build Well,

Scott Benner 10:00
so that's interesting. So you're, you're a standout in the class, you know, athletically. And and yet he, he needed that meter with him for whatever reason in his mind. And so did you keep the meter with him? Do you think that was the first time you were like, Where did he win? Where did that meter end up standing up in front of the class? You made it through the class, okay? Or did you not even get through the class because of this person?

Ryan 10:25
No, I was doing okay. In the class. You know, it was just I just told them, you know, look at Tom's I just gotta do my thing will take me 10 seconds or less. And he had gone through a very traumatic incident off duty. And he had, he came back to the Academy, he was gone for a couple of weeks for everything had to get cleared administratively. And I went to I started checking my blood sugar. Right, when when we were done with the physical portion, I would check because I noticed I'm starting to have a pattern of blows on the schedule, and just learning the routine of the Academy. And long story short, he yelled at me for checking my blood sugar in front the whole class, so it just wasn't. I thought it was rather frivolous.

Scott Benner 11:07
Yeah. And so does that. Is it something? How did you handle that? I guess it's my question next, when that happens, where do you go from there?

Ryan 11:15
I was really upset. And I was ready to take off my belt and yell at them and say, Hey, this is how you want to do it. I was I was really upset. I mean, I walked off and, and he walked over and later apologized. And he actually, after that, he was actually a great guy. He, you know, later on, he just said, Well, you know, I'm sorry, I thought I was looking out for your best interest. And that that wasn't the worst part. It was more actually, after I graduated, he go through what's called a field training officer, you have basically it would be like, you're the senior guy running the podcast. So you tell me all your tricks and how you do it. And and this is what you got to do your paperwork, this, this, this and they evaluate you. And this guy, you know, he he wrote me up for checking my blood sugar in the car, and he actually talking about it. And I like looking at the administration, like, isn't this liability on your part?

Scott Benner 12:09
Should he not be admitting to us?

Ryan 12:12
Yeah, and then, and then one night, I went to check my blood sugar in the report writing room, which is a sterile environment. I mean, it's safe. It's inside the station, right? And I'll just type it up my report. So I stopped real quick. And there's hand sanitizer there. And I poke my finger real quick. And it just goes, you know, can you not do that here. And I'm thinking to myself, you know, if I, if I go into that wall, as I walk into the bathroom, you're going to be out of a job. And, you know, I don't want to mask the law enforcement community they've got, they've got a hard job. But

Scott Benner 12:43
did you think it was a personal thing for him? Like, do you think the blood threw him off? Or do you think like, was he making a business decision when he said, I don't want to check in your blood sugar here? Do you think it just made him uncomfortable? Could you did you get a feeling?

Ryan 12:55
I I don't know. I mean, he wanted to scream and yell that everything.

Scott Benner 13:03
This guy was looking to yell, and there you are with your blood sugar. And he and you are an easy target. What was he yelling at other people as well? Just over different things?

Ryan 13:12
Yeah, I mean, he, it was an interesting person. So

Scott Benner 13:16
okay, so so so you're but you're working? I mean, you're on the street, right? And but you get written up for checking your blood sugar, which is crazy. And is there a point then when you think like, maybe I have, like a union representative here? Or like, I don't see I? Because I think I don't think there's a wrong answer to how you handle things. I just think it's in a real world situation. It's interesting. It's like, when do I rock this boat? Like, do I just sit back and let this guy have his way and try to keep the peace on my end? Or because you know what I mean, because once you once you push back in a real way, you're involved in a different situation, then it's not your fault when that happens, but it still needs to be considered when you make the decision.

Ryan 13:57
That's how it works. You're correct. They have a very strong union there. And I wasn't off probation. I was still in training, once you're out of the academy and the union, basically what that informally translates to that, unless something really, really big happens, they don't really care. I told the supervisor, and then I told another supervisor, and they just looked at me and kind of brushed it off. They didn't really acknowledge it, they didn't document it. So I I resigned as a result of it. I just said, you know, this job is not worth my life. It's not worth my kidneys. It's not worth my neuropathy. Or you know, I don't want to develop

Scott Benner 14:33
Yeah, you think we were you actually said the pressure it stopped you from testing when you wanted to and you realized it was gonna that was what it was going to be and you didn't want to be involved. Now that did that sucks because that's a lot of effort. Right? Like you went to school. You put in that effort. You went to the Academy, you put in that effort, like how much time did you have into getting to that spot? Do

Ryan 14:53
you think? Oh, yours? Yeah.

Scott Benner 14:58
I don't know what to say other than that. It really sucks I'm sorry. But now you think you're you're back at it. You think you're in a new you're in a new place in the in the in the country and you're you're looking for a job in law enforcement again, you think you're close to one?

Ryan 15:11
Yeah, yo, it was really interesting. I can't say too much because I'm here in Nashville, Tennessee, and what am I sure fate would have it? What am I good friends I end up meeting out here is actually works for Nashville Metro completely unrelated, just coincidental. And, you know, he kind of talked me into applying, I told him very openly about my experience. And he was like, Well, here's the thing in Tennessee, if you do that, here, you're going to get fired. Because if that would have happened to you here, that person would have been fired both of them. And if you would have gone and formally told the supervisor, and I openly talked about backgrounds, because before you get into any capacity of law enforcement, they do a very thorough background check. I mean, they come to your house, and they have a 50 page packet. And they openly, I openly wrote about my experience, and I felt like if it was going to negatively reflect me, then I don't want to be here. You know, like, I'm more than happy to be here. I want to work just as hard as athletically. I mean, I'm not a gazelle. I'm not gonna make the Olympics anytime soon. But I was, I was runner up for some of it. I just, I'm not a fast runner. That's worked against me. But everything else I was pretty good at. And I ultimately talked about it. And I was like, Look, I was a great wrestler in high school, I was looking at code for sight. I still do a lot of martial arts. It doesn't restrict me athletically, it doesn't restrict my strength. It's been Olympians, as you've interviewed. And they, they didn't care. They were like, Okay, well, we think you'll have a different experience here.

Scott Benner 16:43
Excellent. Oh, that's great. And I agree with what you said, too, because I often think that like, if you just, you have to put it out there however it is. Because if someone doesn't like it, like you said, I'm used the words I would have used like, I don't want to if you don't like this, I don't want to be here. You know, like, it's why would I go through this again? And you know, torture myself again? Let's find out on day one, if you're the kind of person who's not going to want me around, and let me get out of this, you know, before I even get in and waste all that time. I think that's really smart. I really do. And look how well it worked out for you. You found people who said Now don't worry about that. You're good. That's that's really actually you're in the process. Now there. Yes, sir. Yeah. Good for you. That's so how long is the distance in between time? So how long ago? Did you leave the other department?

Ryan 17:28
About two and a half years ago?

Scott Benner 17:31
Okay. And so did you consider not doing it in between that? And like, was it something you kind of gave up on until you met this person to talk to you into turn?

Ryan 17:39
Yeah, you're pretty much right on that.

Scott Benner 17:43
Well, it's a shame. I mean, it's it's, it's it sucks that you know, it sounds like you were you would have been one of the you know, one of the leaders in that situation and then be this guy sees your blood sugar meter and that it just sucks. You know, like it really it really does. I'm so happy that you feel like you've found a place that's not going to be like that did that experience at that first apartment did that change anything about how you felt about your diabetes or how you treated it and like the you find yourself being less public about it or anything like that. Let me read you an email I just received. Hi, Scott, thank you for your podcasts for helping us to be bold with insulin. Our daughter was diagnosed in January of 2014 when she was four years old. And we've been taking pretty good care of her with a one sees that of range between the mid sixes and the mid sevens. Yesterday at her quarterly endo visit, we got an A one C of 5.5. We credit a lot of that to your podcast, but also to Dexcom. And on the pod. Your podcast gave us the confidence to use these tools the way they were meant to be used. Now when I get this email, I am incredibly inspired to think that people are out there using the Omni pod the way it's supposed to be used. Temp Basal extended bonuses, no tubing, not tethered anything feeling the freedom, living life. And getting results like the ones you heard about here in this email is so easy to try it for yourself. Because Omnipod offers a free, no obligation demo, all you have to do is go to my omnipod.com forward slash juice box or click on the links in the show notes or Juicebox podcast.com. Fill in the tiniest bit of information about yourself. It is really just your name and your address. And on the pod will send directly to your door. A pump, you take the pot and you place it on your body and you wear it for days. So that you can see just how wonderful it is. Once you've decided it is wonderful to just keep going with the process. And the next thing you know, you're writing me an email about your a one C and how it's 5.5. Of course your results may vary but the demo is 100% free and there's no obligation so give it a try that experience If that first apartment, did that change anything about how you felt about your diabetes? Or how you treated it and like the Jew, find yourself being less public about it or anything like that?

Ryan 20:09
No, I just kind of figured, you know, that guy's gonna end up getting what he deserves. When he asked to go to a court of law, he's gonna have to answer to something. Because those people never last throughout the law enforcement community. You know, I mean, you might get away with it once or twice, but eventually, you're going to start stacking up complaints. And the laundry list is going to build and you're going to get reviewed one day, something's going to come up, and they're going to look at Oh, wow, hey, Scott has about five complaints. And Ryan over here has about 35. And they've been working in the same district, same time. Maybe we need to look at Ryan. But

Scott Benner 20:47
it also didn't change you personally. Like really, you didn't find yourself being more private about it or anything like that?

Ryan 20:53
No, why do you go get a service dog. I mean, I graduate canine I ended up in this job I'm working now I'm basically working in Tennessee, they have a very big, it's not security, you're actually considered private duty law enforcement, but they have a very big industry out here for it. And I ended up getting by sheer coincidence paired up with some hands and some retired canine handlers that I could kind of pick their brains about, you know, guys that were trying to scent detection for, for all kinds of stuff, you know, drug bombs. And it's the same theory, you know, essentially, our blood sugar goes to the second it goes higher low, there's a sense that you're just applying that training in a different context.

Scott Benner 21:36
And so so you see, you think to yourself, again, because you said your injections, right, you still you still do injections. And do you have a glucose monitor?

Ryan 21:44
a yes or no CGM and daily injections.

Scott Benner 21:47
Okay, so you're, you're, you're pretty old school. And, but but you, you decide you want to try to get a service dog, you found out they were incredibly expensive, I guess.

Ryan 21:58
20 to 40,000.

Scott Benner 22:00
That seems like overcharging. If it costs more than your car, you're in trouble. I think. I don't care what it does. By the way.

Unknown Speaker 22:09
a college education

Scott Benner 22:11
found me a flying dog. I wouldn't pay 40,000 dogs, because dogs just gonna fly away anyway. So. But so Okay, so you look into it really expensive. And there are this is very important for people. No, there are plenty of people who will try to take advantage of you and overcharge you for a service dog. If you do the process of picking the a reputable place is is very, very important. Or you could end up with you know, you your blood sugar goes low the dog pees on the carpet and and you're out 40 grand. And you know, it's but you figured out how to train it yourself. So this is this is incredible. So, so first of all, what made you think you could do it? What was it having the conversations with the guys you were paired with? Who had done in the past?

Ryan 22:58
Yeah, you know, so, a while back when I was actually working in law enforcement, I had a dog for a car. And I hear this, you know, the suspects in the back of our my car, meaning you know, the cars clear. And the dog I hear my hand like, No, no, no. And I hear that dog's paws kind of like, you know, like, like, if it was scratch, we got a door, the dog with the steering wheel. And I worked with another canine handler that was leaving the department and he gave up his dog he surrendered his dog and I'm like, and that's your dog like they make movies about this. You'll give up your dog.

Unknown Speaker 23:36
That's like a

Scott Benner 23:38
that's like a Disney movie moves to a farm with that dog I think and

Ryan 23:44
yeah, we can write a story yourself that we could we could really make this big. And I anyways, I ended up getting paired up with the guy at a job site and we had some time to kill and we were waiting. We were just talking and and he goes yeah, I'm a retired canine handler out of Indiana. I moved here you know after I retired blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I said Oh, really? I said hey, you know i ironically enough, I didn't even pick them out. It was my significant other Gina. She was like, oh, when we moved to Tennessee, it's very pet friendly. And I said, You know, I want to rescue a dog from the pound. And that's where I found Baylor. And Baylor was about six years old. We adopted him and he was a mess and he had been returned to the pound. I didn't know too much of the circumstances. They later on told me once I brought him in with a service vest and showed him all the videos, everything I did. And the lady told me because I promised her she cried when I adopted them and I promised her I would take them back there. And I would take great care of them. And she she told me a little bit about his background. They just said he wasn't a good dog. He was surrendered with his brother and they said he was really destructive. And one of the things people don't understand about working dogs is you have to have a dog that has prey drive or high energy because if they are not, they're not going to work.

Scott Benner 25:04
My dogs are laying around right now in two different piles. So I don't think I could get them to do anything to be perfectly honest, coming. If I don't want to say that loud because it'll end up with me, but I don't even know that walking across the room would motivate them. If there's food over here, and they'd be like, it'll be there later, won't it? So but so what kind of dog is a is is beller.

Ryan 25:26
He is a lab. And I think he's a pit mix because he's got a big broad chest, but he's got the stocky legs and the long lab nose and body. So you didn't just adopt a dog you adopted a hard lock dog

Scott Benner 25:39
like this dog had been given away by somebody picked up by somebody else in that person to come back and be like, Hey, I chose the wrong dog. Please take this one back again. And so he was kind of a two time loser by the time you got him. And and you really changed his life and yours I imagine. So what's the first step is the first step just getting him to be like a better pet like a more compliant animal? I guess is the beginning part of it. You can't you'll do you just dive right in with the blood sugar stuff.

Ryan 26:07
No. So that what the canine handler suggested I did because I'd taken a class for a diabetic alert service dog. And this class was actually intended for people that were interested in this charity, but we were moving from California. So we weren't going to be eligible, which I found out, of course, at the end of the class. And I'd read a book and I found online some more information on how to make samples and everything. And this guy's goes, Hey, so this is what he was the retired canine handler at Indiana that I got paired up with and I told him all about them because to start breaking them in off leash I go the dogs mess. I can't even walk them. I remember one night, I was walking and he's pulling, pulling, pulling and somehow he ended up into a car. I'm like, ah, Baylor you were wearing me out, but I mean, he was like a parked car. Who does that?

Scott Benner 26:58
Yeah. Was there ever a moment that beginning where you thought this is why this dog has been returned to them?

Ryan 27:05
You know, I guess you're gonna try him. That's what she said to me. She goes, she's Are you sure? And I said, Hey, you know, the dogs aren't perfect. I've seen them work in action. I've seen them do some amazing things and they're never gonna be so anyways, he he said, Hey, get a prawn collar and start breaking them. And he gave us some tips. He said, start breaking them in off the leash. And as soon as I started breaking them off the leash, took about three days. And he really started to excel. And then more obedience commands because you have to remember I had to think to myself like I've taken a 95 pound dog out in public. I have to be in control the stock or who knows. You know what can happen?

Scott Benner 27:47
You're well intentions turned into a lawsuit and the dogs hanging off someone's leg and you're like, yo, whose dog is that and you walk away? That's how I would handle it by the way. Oh my god, someone's dogs gone crazy. Call the goodbye.

Unknown Speaker 28:02
I don't know how that tag got on. That's not mine. So

Scott Benner 28:04
you don't call my house? No, but I mean, listen, it's very obviously very responsible and obvious. Like you can't you can't go out in the world. That's a big animal. And like you said, like if he if he decides to do something, you don't want him to do it, that's not a good situation. So you get him. Your his obedience training came along pretty quickly for you.

Ryan 28:22
Once I started breaking them in off leash it, it started to click, and I told them when I had intentions of doing, but I was struggling with it. And he goes, Well, this is gonna sound cheesy, but once you start to break them in, and you guys do more obedience training, you guys are gonna bond a lot more. And once you get them broken and more to the service, animal training, if it's a good fit, you guys will really take off. And one of the things I've noticed with all the handlers I've worked with, and the guys, you know, talking to them experience and watching the one to do work well in public, with their animals. regardless what it is, is the ones that do well have a good relationship. It's that simple. If

Scott Benner 29:02
that makes sense. It really does. Listen how much Let's beat let's so people don't get too excited. While they're listening be like I'm gonna do this too. I'm going to teach my, my laptop lot whatever those dogs are called to find out my blood sugar. So how much actual time and effort Do you think you put into like, if you had to break it down into months and hours? How much effort did it take to train Baylor to be a diabetes service dog for you?

Ryan 29:27
I would say approximately six to eight months, approximately and I was putting in I tried to keep the training sessions around 30 minutes, sometimes an hour. You know, it just kind of depended on his attention span or I try to break it down to where I'd be doing 25 minutes and then i'd i'd if he just wasn't wasn't having a good day, which is going to happen. Then I would stop and I would say all right, let's look Do this later. Yeah. I was. Kosh, I didn't think the hours but now.

Scott Benner 30:06
Yeah, it's a daily and it's not something you do on Monday and then forget about till next week like it's a it's a real constant. It's it's, you know, it's a real constant responsibility, I guess once you decide to do it. So what happened? So, are you just still amazed? Like, I would still look down once a while and be like, Oh my god, I trade this dog to do this thing that I would be amazed by that personally, but like, how does it work for you in your day to day life? How does he help you?

Ryan 30:36
Well, I don't take him everywhere with me. But he helps me tremendously. You know, down the road, I would like to switch to Dexcom and CGM and all that Omni pod. But I mean, there's been times you know, when you're having those bad days, and you're chasing that high, and then you're chasing that low. And what I didn't know at the time, and I thought he wasn't performing correctly. At first, I wanted him to notify me I set my numbers at 80 and 180. But what I didn't realize is that they can read ahead of our glucometers and our CGM. And so example, you check Arden's blood sugar, and let's say you didn't have the dexcom, the great technology that they they produce, let's say, and you check it, and she's at 85, you're like, oh, you're going to bed your blood sugar is at 85. This is perfect. And she's like, but that I feel kind of funny. And I feel like I'm going Oh, no, no, no, no, just ignore it, you're fine. And sure enough, 20 minutes later, she's at 40. And they can detect that. When I've had the this doesn't happen all the time. This has happened a couple of times off top my head. But Baylor has caught me when I've been at 120. And then I didn't believe it. At first I thought he wasn't working. And then I checked my blood sugar 20 minutes later, and I'd be down, going 85. And I'm like, yep, you're going low. Your blood sugar's rapidly dropping, you know, or couldn't believe it.

Scott Benner 32:03
He has a predictive low alerts, which is something they just added to the new Dexcom g sex.

Unknown Speaker 32:09
Oh, wow.

Scott Benner 32:10
Yeah. When it tells you like 10 minutes before, you're going to get low that you're going to get low. But that's amazing that Baylor does it. So that's a it's fascinating, actually, what do you think he senses? Is he actually because your blood sugar is legitimately 120? And you know, in that moment, let's say I guess there's there's something about your physiology that gives off that it's happening, but hasn't happened yet? Or is that is that?

Ryan 32:36
Is it a sense? So yeah, all I know is in the class, what they told us was the second your blood sugar goes low, or the second your blood sugar goes high, you instantly produce some sort of scent, and our range of smell, cannot smell that the dogs can smell approximately, I can't remember the one guy heard the seals. He was he was he worked with dogs in the seal program. And I can remember he said 30 times better 300 times better, but the point is way better than us their range of smell. So it has something to do with that. I don't know all the science. I just know how to make the samples. And that's that's what I'm looking for.

Scott Benner 33:20
It's amazing. And so how do you do that? How do you make the samples like to train him with? Okay, I don't know if I can do this in two minutes. But the other day, and you can see this as a blog post on my website. I'll put a link to that. But the other day Arden and I went to lunch for art and had chicken and waffles. So using the data that we get back from Arden's Dexcom g six continuous glucose monitor we were able to go into I'm going to look here, I want to make sure I get this right. We were able to go into the restaurant with a blood sugar around 120 and 1234 hours later, Arden's blood sugar was still right at 120. She had waffles, it was a weird meal, waffles, potato chips with cheese, real syrup. And we never ever once counted a carb. How do I do that? Super simple Pre-Bolus. Watch the Dexcom for responses stayed fluid gave more insulin when needed. It's all spelled out in the blog post. It's really easy to understand there that's at ardens de.com. It's actually you know, ardens.com forward slash blog forward slash waffle, but I'll put links in the show notes here. That's not the point though. The point is, if I tried to Bolus for a waffle with real syrup, after an appetizer of potato chips with cheese, I gotta tell you, I would have botched that without Dexcom. I totally would have watched it without on the pod because we did Bolus and Temp Basal and things like that. But this ad is about Dexcom go to dexcom.com forward slash juice box. To learn more, or go check out the blog post and scroll to the bottom, you can click on a link for Dexcom there. If you go to that blog post and see Arden's graph from those waffles and don't think I want one of those, I'd be really surprised.

Ryan 35:11
So you need to have a clear mouth. And when I say clear mouth, I mean, you can't have soda coffee on your bras, obviously, no alcohol for about 30 minutes beforehand, and you pick your numbers. So mine was 80 and 180. And then when you make that you buy sterile gauze pads, and you place them in your mouth, they'll come in your saliva, and you'll probably have to drink some water because you'll be like, cotton mouth dies. And you throw them in the freezer. And then I've purchased sterile six ounce bottles similar to like a small travel carry on like for the airport size shampoo bottles, but they were sterile. And I made three samples, meaning I made a Hi, hello. And I made a fake one. Because when I was training him, I didn't want him to just pay me for treats. So that's, that's how I did that. That's crazy.

Scott Benner 36:06
And so you make these ahead of time. And then how do you sue you just I so what's next I take the sample and what do I do with it to train him?

Ryan 36:17
So I just went with high and my theory was I don't know if this is accurate. And I'm sure there are better people in the world that know I have more information on this. And a lot of first responders I talked to paramedics and cops and aunties and say when a blood sugar goes high, when they have a diabetic they can always smell it on them, which is not always true. I've never been able to smell it but other people have. So I figured obviously if we can smell it, the dog can smell it plus some it'll be so i when i first

Scott Benner 36:45
okay. And so you just wouldn't you just like give him the sample. And I don't know like like, what's next? Like, like I get if you wanted to sit down and you get him to sit, you go, Okay, you've sat, that's great. Here's a treat. Boom, but you want him to bark or come for you or something when he smells the smell? Is

Ryan 37:04
that the idea? So I trained him to pommy and the theory was that way if I'm in public, he's not distracting or if I read to take them into a business like setting or a play or I don't know the movie knows.

Scott Benner 37:17
Yeah. And so so she you're in bed tonight, and your blood sugar goes over one at the dog wakes you up.

Ryan 37:25
That is the one thing I could never get him to do. He there's been a couple of times he's barked at me in the middle of the night. It's very rare. Okay, but they do tell you that with concealing yourself in your covers. And also, he's always been a heavy sleeper. I mean, if someone breaks into this house, I wouldn't be surprised. We just sleeps it off. And that's just always how he's been. And I adopted him. It's six. He's now I think he's Seven, eight, I don't know right around there. But he's always been a sound sleeper. And he's a little bit older dog What? Looking back on it, I would have actually woken up in the middle of the night and woke him up. And once I got up dialed in with the training with the piping and the sign the samples, I would have actually done that.

Scott Benner 38:07
Yeah, I say Well, listen. I mean, it's, there's a lot to think about, I guess. And so when you're low, do you know you're low? Like what number do you feel your lows at?

Ryan 38:18
Most the time? You know, everyone smile, catch them real early. I know. I'm starting to feel a little funny. Like this morning. I work nights last night. So I woke up right before talking to you. And I kind of felt a little funny. Baylor's got to go the bathroom. So he's distracted by that goes, the bathroom comes in the house pause me and I'm kind of thinking to myself, I better go check. And I check in on my 85 that's like, Okay, I know, based on my training based on my experience, you know, it's like you it's hard and you're like up, our blood sugar always likes to drop at this time, right? And now I just kind of have a poor man's Dexcom.

Scott Benner 38:57
it's it's a it's fun, how you how you learn, though, like really like it after having experiences over and over again, you really do get to that. I always think of it this way. You know, I see people talk about you know, Dexcom has a warmup period, right? You put it on, you wait two hours before you can start using it. And I always hear people like, Oh, this is the worst these two hours. I don't feel that way anymore. Because I have a reasonable expectation that I understand what's going on. And with a couple of finger sticks. I can I can still actually maintain the same. You know, sort of like the same basic rhythm that I had with a CGM. I can have without not you know, could I do it all day like that I could, but then I'd be testing again, like a lunatic and thinking about it all the time. But I do think you learn from your experiences. And I think that I think that makes total sense. So you're falling, you feel it, but if you don't feel it, he comes and he has she ever come to you and you've been so low that you kind of can't care that he's with you and pawing at you or does it does Yeah.

Ryan 39:56
That's interesting. So one time right after a We we just bought a house and we were in the process of moving and it was the first time we bought a house, you know, and I and you know, you know, stressful it is, you know, underwriting insurance, all that fun adult stuff. Not.

Scott Benner 40:13
Hey, listen, I just got my taxes today I know what I owe, so I'm not doing great with being an adult today either.

Ryan 40:23
And, anyways, Geno's working nights at the time. And there's nobody else home and I got off the couch. And I felt a little funny. And I didn't think much of it because I was focused on unpacking, and I got to work tomorrow, all these things. And as I walk away, Baylor pause me in the back of my calf. And I thought, honestly, he kind of fell or it was a fluke, or I didn't want to believe them, because I was trying to get my other stuff I need to get done. And then I walked into the kitchen, he follows me into the kitchen. And he starts staring at me first making eye contact. And then he kind of starts walking towards me. And then he doesn't quarter me like when I say that people think he's growing and he's trying to know, he then gets a little bit more aggressive and comes up and starts cutting me off. And then he paused me again when I stopped. And that's why I said, Okay, you need to check her blood sugar, because he's getting awfully aggressive about it, meaning he's not, he's not getting aggressive in the sense that he's not growing. He's not darling. He's making eye contact with me. He's giving me all these signs, right. And sure enough, I'm glad he was there. Because I was, I think I was at 40 year are not a good number of 40 or 60.

Scott Benner 41:33
Right? And it's so the lower you got the more aggressively he he's trying to get your attention. It's so it's like cutting you off like you're trying to walk? And he's like, No, you can't walk away. We haven't done the thing with a blood sugar yet. So when does he start? So your blood sugar's low? When you test? Does? Does he? I don't know. What's the next like? Does he see you test them? leave you alone after that? Or does he kind of stay with you and keep reminding you about the low blood sugar until it's back up again?

Ryan 42:00
No, typically, he'll leave me alone. And the one thing I've noticed about dogs, especially working with them, and I trained a couple dogs after this not for for diabetic alert, but they're very receptive to our patterns. So you grab your keys, this AWS thinks, oh, they're gonna take me out, they're leaving, maybe I can count them and to get me a no walk. You grab their leash, they know they're going to go somewhere. And I've noticed that with Baylor that after he sees me grab my black glucometer pouch. He seems to leave me alone holes sometimes still come up and pop me a little bit. But for the most

Scott Benner 42:35
part expects that's what he's trying to accomplish to get you to pick up that pouch.

Ryan 42:39
Yeah. And I didn't teach him that. That was just kind of what came with the territory. Once we started working together more. It's interesting.

Scott Benner 42:47
After all, the work and everything and you have Is it a benefit? Is he a real benefit in your life? Or have you ever looked back and thought, Wow, that was more work than it's been worth? Or I you know, I'm interested to know like, how valuable Do you find having a dog?

Ryan 43:02
Yeah, My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner.

Scott Benner 43:07
It's a big so it's a big even that can you imagine a day where you have a glucose monitor and you think I don't need the dog anymore? Or do you have or do you think you don't have a glucose monitor because you have the dog?

Ryan 43:18
I don't have a glucose monitor because I like to do a lot of the mix Martin a lot of the martial arts so Jiu Jitsu, and I've worried it will get torn off during like live sparring and stuff like that. And I'm also going to wait to see my insurance where that goes. But I have heard that when people switch to things like what you're talking about CGM index coms, that people that have had dogs in the past and have that they stopped going alone, they stopped going high and the dog stops working.

Scott Benner 43:50
Oh, the Dexcom breaks the dog. That's interesting. Like because it takes away because once you so now it's in that's an interesting idea. So once you don't have the highs and lows and the variability anymore, because the technology helps you get past that. Then the dogs like forgets all about it, because it's not happening as much. That's interesting.

Ryan 44:08
Well, they say that, but I worked with a guy too, that said he had to get a sock recertified. It was a drug dog. And he was like, Hey, you know, I hadn't had a bus. I'll keep it PG because I know his family. I haven't had a bust of this type of stuff in a long time. And I'm really nervous about my dog getting certification certified because they have to get certified for a certain accuracy. Okay. And sure enough, the dog walks in the room and nailed it right away. Okay. I don't know what they say. Yeah,

Scott Benner 44:39
it's still it's still an interesting concept that the idea that you could kind of you know, if you don't use it, you lose it kind of concept with anything really. I guess you don't you know, if you don't do it enough, it goes away a little bit.

Unknown Speaker 44:50
My name is Elizabeth, and at 10 years old, I was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes. Shortly after inspired by my middle school dance class. I came up with the idea to host a show to raise funds and spread awareness about diabetes and dancing for diabetes started and has grown ever since.

Scott Benner 45:11
You are only about 10 minutes away from hearing that entire recording. I'm telling you it is spectacular. Dancing for diabetes, calm dancing, the number for diabetes.com

Ryan 45:22
you're married or you're you guys are just together you're married. We're trying to get together that we're gonna wait probably tell after a while after I get through all this fun Academy stuff and the schedule pulls down and I can get time off

Scott Benner 45:38
but you own a house you live together you live together for a while I was wondering like how involved is issue with your with your care? Like, is that something you share with another adult? Or is it something keep yourself? No, Gina

Ryan 45:51
would definitely tell me at times if he she sees something like hey, I think you need to go check. But other than that, I mean, I try to do everything myself and it was Baylor I specifically wanted to train Baylor because who they dog typically trains with is who they're gonna bond with. So I told her I was like, No, no, no, no, I don't want to do anything. I mean, she'll take them for walks here and there, it will take them out to go to the bathroom. But beyond that, I mean, I was the one who really wanted them. So yeah,

Scott Benner 46:18
I was just trying to decide how my wife would feel if we had to take my daughter's insulin pump for a walk if he sort of like your diabetes tack, right? Like I like what would I do if I had to, like clean up and feed it like this? Does having a service dog preclude him from being a pet? Or do you if you get both of those worlds?

Ryan 46:42
You do get both those worlds? Um, you know, so so here's the thing with burning dog behavior. When dogs aren't working, they're at home. And that's when they get to be a dog. That's when they get to. He's he's actually good friends with their cat, Rainey. And they're their buds. They play tag outside. And at certain times. Yeah, he's an absolute pet. I mean, he's, if he jumps on the bed, and he's laying there, and you're watching TV. Yeah, he's a pad. He's laying next to your petting home. He's happy. But the thing is, when he's laying on that bed next to you, the chances of that dog working is minimal to none, because they work for your affection and your attention.

Scott Benner 47:24
Oh, I see. So if he feels connected to you at the moment, he might be less apt to to do the work that you've trained him to, though?

Unknown Speaker 47:31
Correct? As about,

Unknown Speaker 47:33
okay. Yeah, and

Ryan 47:35
one of the first things that organization does is like, let's say you and Arden want a dog, you guys go through the paperwork. You guys are okay, you're selected. They take you out to the beach with a lot of dogs and they see which one you bond with. And it works the same way in police. Military, typically, they don't just take a dog and say, Hey, this dog shores god, this is gonna be your dog. They pair it up with your personality, what they think and how you communicate and how this dog is and their their profile, what they think is going to be a best fit.

Scott Benner 48:06
I say, I say, Well, that makes sense. I mean, it's like a dating situation. You can't just go he had just point from across the room be like you you'll work because it doesn't work that way. You gotta find you gotta find a bond, you gotta find common ground, you know, something to start with. Right? Some some something to something to build on. Not just, you look good demeanor. I like what color that dog is. I guess I'm wondering about like, with just managing with shots and everything. Because essentially, because you talk about, would you like a pump and you would like, you know, maybe a glucose monitor and a pump, but at the same time, you don't have them. You do have some lows. So what do you think, is the biggest? I don't know, what's the biggest impediment when you're doing injections? Like what do you find to be the thing you wish you could make? Go away?

Ryan 48:58
Oh, last, you know, versus in a pub. As you know, you can adjust your needs, and everybody's needs are going to be different. So that's, that's a great thing versus lantis. You know, you're either slave to if it's like you have seasonal allergies, and it shoots sky high on you. You're kind of stuck with that, that goes versus if you're going low all the time, then you're slave to eating every two hours or every 45 minutes or who knows, you know?

Scott Benner 49:26
Yeah. And so so you think the basal insulin is the is the thing you would like to have more control over the most. So what is what's the thing about injections that you like the most? Like what do you think you'd miss if you went to a pump?

Ryan 49:40
I would just be worried about it getting ripped off and either the line of duty or during grappling practice. I did have about 10 years ago, I had a mini med pump. Okay, and I was so lean. The problem was I had to do the the child inserts and they were amazing. They were the ones. And if I didn't use those, they would kink. And then of course, when I went to practice those hurt really bad, especially in any sort of aggressive sparring, it was really difficult.

Scott Benner 50:14
Why would say that things have changed pretty significantly since then I get your concern, I really do, I think that you would easily be able to, I mean, if you chosen on the pocket, you mentioned it before, if you chose that, I think you'd easily be able to put it somewhere where that wouldn't be an issue. I know some kids that play like football with them. And they'll like, there's like this band, and it's called a band, but there's a rap you put around it on your arm, for instance, that keeps it from shaking and pulling off when you get tackled. When my daughter knows, she's gonna go play softball, sometime, she keeps it more on her stomach. So that it, you know, like, it's just, it's not a place where people grab it grab at you were touching or something like that. I think it would be something that you would find that you'd look back one day and think, oh, that wasn't really a big deal. And I and I only bring that up not to sell you in some pump. But because I think you fall into a really interesting category. You've had diabetes for 15 years. You had an experience a while ago with a technology. It's a lot different now. And and you're and you're it's working for you what you're doing is working for you. And you're comfortable. I just I always get concerned, I always try to stay cognizant of the idea of I don't want to look back one day and think, what did everybody move forward? And I didn't notice, like, do you know what I mean? Like it's washed, you still know what it's all about. But I saw it with a friend once who, you know, did his injections, injections injections. And then a couple years ago, finally even just got away from the old insulin, it was at novalogic couldn't figure it out that know what they were doing. It was a real like, you know, a real hardship for him. And but I think had he moved along, like, I would not switch for the sake of switching. Like if a new pump came out tomorrow, I wouldn't just be like, oh, give me that one. Cuz it's new. But I mean, you know, I think Omnipod and Dexcom know this very well about how I feel if somebody comes out with something, it's that much better than what they're doing, I would have to look at it. Because I would want to, I would want to stay current. And hopefully these companies that I like, so much stay current on their own and staying with them is staying current. But I I don't want to get into a situation where I'm like, I'm the old timey like diabetes person who's like, I have this and people are like, yeah, we don't do that anymore. So I just I wouldn't want you to get caught in that space. Like that mindset of like, this is good enough, because some of the new stuff is, is a lot better, in my opinion. You know?

Ryan 52:41
Yeah, I do you want to check it out? I'm gonna wait to see if I get hired on here. And then of course, that's one of the things I thought about becoming a police officers, you know, working for the government, you're not really good medical? Yeah. So that's what I think I'm gonna kind of wait and see what's up for the Academy, because your life changes a lot after that. But I'm going to try to go in and check that out. There's, ironically enough, I met a really nice young family and they had, I think he's about one or two. And he's just been newly diagnosed type one, not in the family at all. And they're going to go Omni pod dex calm, and I turned him on to your show, too. I said, Hey, thank you. Listen to the show. It's got a lot of great information. I mean, I don't even have an omni pod or and I've learned great stuff about it stuff. I didn't know. So.

Scott Benner 53:27
Well. That's excellent. Thank you, you know, you're pleased. You're it's very much My pleasure. So that's interesting. So even though you're not using the technology that we use the stuff we still talk about still valuable for you.

Ryan 53:39
Absolutely. I mean, I love learning about new technology. I just can't figure out Skype to save my life. But we got it. I went to five in the morning. All right. Can we give me some slack?

Scott Benner 53:49
I actually think you're doing great. I actually think you've got that good. Like I'm tired energy going right now, which is it's just you you're trying to stay awake. But but so do you have something something pops into your head, like something we talked about here that you were actually able to take into your own life? It's not technology related, like like, kind of maybe one of the tenants of the ideas that you use with just injections?

Ryan 54:11
Yeah, no, totally. You know, I don't know why I never put this together. So when I was on the insulin pump, they always talk about pre bazel or right Pre-Bolus Thank you. Yep. And I'm like, Oh, man. Oh, my blood sugar's high. Again. I took a bunch of insulin and then it never my numbers never come out right when I eat carbohydrates, then my blood sugar's high. Oh, yeah, maybe I should apply that technique to this tale.

Scott Benner 54:37
It's, it's hilarious because it's just, it's it doesn't have anything to do with a pump, like it's called Pre-Bolus thing, but you could pre inject just as much, you know, and in the end, it's just it's just that concept, right? Like if the insulin doesn't start working right away, you need to give it a chance to to sync up with the carbs are done. I just had a I would say a pretty serious conversation yesterday for the first time, like, I am very much just sort of like, she picks things up as we go as we go. And I don't sit down and, you know, I don't give her like, now here's your diabetes lesson. You know, I, we, I've never done that with her. But yesterday, it just became clear to me that I needed her to kind of move along with me a little bit. And so I sat her down, and I gave her a bigger overview than she had had in the past, I guess. So she's, you know, closer to 14 and 13. And she came down the other day. And I've been taking care of her blood sugar as, as I wouldn't, she came down for breakfast, she was hungry, she said to my wife, you know, I need to eat. And my wife hasn't had not been involved with the blood sugar at all. And my wife took the words I need to eat as I'm low. And my daughter just meant I'm really hungry. And so and so my wife, sort of like I shouldn't panic, but she very quickly made her food that was, you know, higher in carbs situation, and not anything different than what we normally would have eaten. But she didn't Pre-Bolus or because she thought she was low. And it just all kind of happened really quickly. And so, I came back into the room, and I was like, Hey, what's going on? She's like, she's gonna eat this. And I was like, okay, and I started to pick up the thing to give her insulin and the food was ready already. And then her blood sugar shot up, and we spent a couple of hours getting it back down again, it was not easy. You know, it was one of those crappy rollercoaster situations. And so later in the day, I sat with Arden and I said, Look, you have to understand that just because me, you know, you just because someone says it's okay, here's the food. You I said, you still know, right? And I was like, you know, and she's like, yeah, I said, you have to Pre-Bolus for that food. It's never gonna work out if you don't. And she's like, right. And I said, what you needed to stick up for yourself a little bit there, even though it's Mom, you had to you needed to tell her Hey, wait, I don't think I can just start eating this right now without this insulin. And, and I showed her some of the reasons why. And she was really receptive and an understanding of it. I didn't overwhelm her with it. I didn't scare with it. But I did. I gave her more information, more real information about diabetes than she had had in the past. And I'm glad I did, because I saw her handle it maturely. And, you know, it, it sunk in a little bit. So I think every once in a while I'm like, I might do that I might, you know, just let her have it. Slowly, slowly. But every once in a while when I see something like this, I think I might have to step in and do a, like a 15 minute like, you know, masterclass on it, like, just here, here's the important things you need to know. I think it's really cool that any of that's helping you or anybody else, but, um, but it's great that you can apply that stuff with injection. So

Ryan 57:49
Well, yeah. And I mean, I just how much you're helping how much this show is helping this family? I mean, I can't imagine having basically an infant, and not knowing anything about the disease, not having a background in it, you know, and they're, they're doing great. And it's, I don't know why we're stuck in the stagnate of, well, you got to be diabetic for a year to get a pump. I mean, that's the that's the dumbest thing ever. You know, there's, I want to see the support that says, you know, you shouldn't have a CGM, I think they should. If your insurance and you can afford it, I think it should be a policy, you've leave it to CGM. And if you choose not to use it, that's fine. But we're gonna write you the prescriptions. And we want you to know that this monitors it. And this this this? I don't, I don't know why. And that's what they're kind of. I they didn't allude to anything negative, but that's what they're dealing with right now. They're like, Oh, we're gonna like Why? Why are we paying on a daily injections? You know, this is an infant stage. You can't talk, huh? No, I

Scott Benner 58:43
listen. It's just an old time idea that people hang on to like, you have to have this for a year. And then you can have this in the end. It's a pump, it's a needle, why does it matter how the insulin gets into you? It really, really doesn't, by the way, what's the difference of how it happens? I like that, like, once you figure out how to drive it like this, then we'll give you breaks. Well, you know, one of the breaks would be nice to have on day one, if you don't mind. Right? It's so if I can, if I can throw this rock out the window on this chain and bring the car to a stop without hitting anything, then you're really going to appreciate how great I understand how this car works. And I just, it's a simple idea. It's 2018 this stuff exists. If your insurance covers it, and like you said, If you want it, then it should be available to shut the fight for it. You shouldn't have to go home and have some terrible experience and some struggle because somebody's giving you this arbitrary number, you have to wait. And by the way, I tell people all the time, if anyone's listening, you don't have to abide by that I can count on my hand for people in the last couple of weeks that I've spoken to who all ran into the same thing. And I gave them all the same advice. And I can say that this was advice I said, just go back and tell the doctor I don't. It's nice. I thank you for your concern. But now write the prescription for the insulin pump and they always do No one fights you like it's just it goes to show you how little the statement Oh, you have to wait a year. You have to wait a year. No I don't. Okay, here you go. Well, why if it was so important how come I got the script from you by saying, you know by fighting with you for five seconds, you know what I mean? Like it's it just it just shows itself for how how random the idea that you have to wait a certain amount of time this

Ryan 1:00:23
right i mean when we get our license they don't sit there and say drive for a year get in an accident wear your seatbelt. You know, I mean, I I honestly do think CGM, you know, obviously in the artificial pancreas and in all those things are the technology is only working to improve us improve our quality of life, lessen your chance of neuropathy. I mean, my last day once he was a six, three, that's excellent. And I'm lucky that I had that. But there's going to come a day where I'm going to have a really, really stressful I'm going to have some stressful months ahead of me. And you know, why not take the advantage? Fine? No, why not?

Scott Benner 1:01:00
It Listen, I don't you'd want to give yourself every opportunity, I would think and then from there, you'll decide how valuable it is or isn't free. Listen, maybe you'll get a pump and just say you know what I was okay, with insulin injections. I should I'm going to go back to it. You very well may do that. But you should at least try to know. You know what I mean? Like you can't just assume that it's going to be one way because it really you're just using your imagination to think up reasons not to do it. Seriously. I mean, I completely I'm not I'm not totally not coming down. I think you can tell that from our conversation. But I think some of the reasons you are worried about a pumper just you making up reasons why, why it's not going to work out because there are plenty of people who do martial arts with an insulin pump. get anything like so, it'll work out for it's just something new for you. When you see it, you'll you'll you'll decide, but I think you'll have a good experience.

Ryan 1:01:54
So yeah, that gives me an excuse to buy an iPhone, and I watch. Hey,

Scott Benner 1:01:58
you know what? More fun, more fun stuff. I wrote off on our taxes this year, our cell phone bills and the purchases of iPhones for medical devices,

Ryan 1:02:09
right.

Scott Benner 1:02:11
I mean, it didn't stop me from owing money, but it helped a little bit. Yeah, yeah. So right now, we're breaking up on an hour. I just want to ask you, is there anything we didn't talk about that you wanted to say that that I maybe didn't hit for you?

Ryan 1:02:26
Know, thank you for doing the show. It's easy to follow. And I mean, it's it's a it's an honest, the thing I love is that it's honest, candid information. And it's basically kind of like what I did with Baylor. Look, this is what I did. It worked for me. Yeah, it helps you take it and if it doesn't find something else,

Scott Benner 1:02:48
right on Yeah, don't get stolen. If this isn't working for you. Don't stick with me go somewhere and figure out something that does work. That's it's amazing advice. I appreciate that. I really do. I'm so I'm super psyched that you found the podcast and he came on and told your story about training your own diabetes alert dog now I've got like a DIY DIY pancreas, Episode, artificial pancreas episode now even DIY training dog. I never thought that would happen. It's really as Dude, it's commendable about the effort and the focus you had for it. So good for you. Are you giving me ask you? Are you that way in other parts of your life? Or did just having this dog mean that much to you were able to put the time into it.

Ryan 1:03:27
Know what I like when I want something? I'm like, it's gonna happen. Okay.

Scott Benner 1:03:32
Gotcha. Gotcha. This is a big, it's a big undertaking. There's I mean, just to decide to train a dog like that is, especially when you especially when you live with a woman who eventually would look at you and go, Oh, we have this big lump in the corner. Now that does not check your blood sugar. And it's just eating a bunch of food and crapping all over the house. You said this was gonna be a diabetes alert dog. And it seems like it's a pillow in the corner. That's excellent, man. Good for you. I want to tell you. I hope you have a lot of success with the new job endeavor. I hope you get on the force in Tennessee. And and I hope you can fall back asleep after doing this because I know you're probably tired.

Ryan 1:04:13
look great. Well, hey, Scott, thank you so much. I mean, you know your podcast, just like that new family. You know, when when I was first diabetic, there was no, there was no check your podcast and let's share information. There was no, hey, this worked for me, Hey, you know what, I switched to this and this, I have this problem. I didn't know there's a two hour warmup period. And that's great, because now I go in with these realistic expectations.

Scott Benner 1:04:35
Yeah, right. I think a lot of what you see people complain about online, whether it's about technology or just, you know, anything really things you do Pre-Bolus, anything like that, as they get this, like you said there's a preconceived idea that this is going to work like this and when it doesn't, instead of just seeing it still for the real benefit that it is they see it as like some sort of failure. And so I think you're right having all the information you can have is is does always work. Thanks so much to Ryan for coming on the show and sharing his life with type one his DIY dog and everything else. Thank you of course to Dexcom and Omni pod, you can check them out@dexcom.com forward slash juice box, and my omnipod.com forward slash juicebox. Don't forget about that blog post I told you about where you can see Arden's graph from the waffles. And you can see how we bolused where we boast. I want to wish you all a Happy, Happy Thanksgiving, and remind you to hang out for one more second to hear this from dancing for diabetes. You can find out more at dancing for diabetes.com. My name

Unknown Speaker 1:05:43
is Elizabeth and at 10 years old, I was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes. Shortly after inspired by my middle school dance class, I came up with the idea to host a show to raise funds and spread awareness about diabetes. And dancing for diabetes started and has grown ever since. Raise your hand if you have type one diabetes. We operate a variety of programs year round through dancing for diabetes, but my absolute favorite is our kids and teens dance program. All the kids and teens have type one diabetes, it's free. It's open to everyone in Central Florida. And it's a lot of fun to see these kids and teens get together and they get to build these support networks and become free with their diabetes. Everyone in the room gets it. And I think that's really empowering for the kids and the teens in the room to be in an environment where they can still be a kid, but also be cared for and take care of their Type One Diabetes at the same time. What comes to your mind when I asked you to describe what type one diabetes makes you feel like not what it is. But what are words to describe diabetes.

Unknown Speaker 1:06:55
I don't like diabetes. Because a girl at my school, she made fun of me and mckaela because we were diabetic. It's been embarrassing. It's really hard to get to and like every day, but I battled through it because it's for myself. That's the only way I'd be here. And I don't like diabetes, but it does make me stronger. It kind of makes me feel

Unknown Speaker 1:07:23
what scares you about diabetes, low blood sugar, scary, some lows, they just come right away. But I've had lows where I could be low for over an hour. And like notice, and you keep treating it and like there. There's been times where like I'm 16 in the next 15 minutes when it should be like in the 142. And it's like it's scary. For me it was like feeling in my legs and everything like you're losing consciousness. That's a lot of times when it feels like for me, you're either like really tired, really hungry, like you're just like really drained and you can't like really put to anything. Ultimately, what's the worst case scenario a low blood sugar. I think that being diagnosed with Type One Diabetes forces kids to grow up a lot faster than their peers. So I think that this dance program allows the kids and teens an opportunity to be a kid but at the same time, see others that are there similar age and see how they're managing their type one diabetes, how they're making their decisions on their own. So I think that while the dance program offers the kids the opportunity to to be kids in that class, they also get the opportunity to learn from others that are in their exact same situation how many times you'd be around this thing people with type one diabetes these peoples

Unknown Speaker 1:08:39
and these peoples

Unknown Speaker 1:08:42
here and one other fish

Unknown Speaker 1:08:45
are only here. Yeah, those of you that said when you you are hanging out with others who have type one diabetes, where did you meet those friends? Hear? Hear hear? What has been your favorite part about dancing for diabetes? I think like meeting new friends like others that has the same disease and learning more fully finally feeling comfortable in a room and like later in the year like when people get closer we're like, oh, are you okay? Like I heard your ducks calm or like, Are you okay, I heard you from go off like I'm kind of cool and rolling in like, be uncomfortable about the show is incredibly entertaining and inspiring. But the best part is when the kids and teens walk out on stage and get to perform what they've been working so hard for, and remind us why we're all here and why we're working so hard year round, to ensure that they have better lives and one day don't have type one diabetes. What do you want people to learn the night of dancing for diabetes, but

Unknown Speaker 1:09:48
know that diabetes doesn't stop you from doing anything to know that we're not alone and

Unknown Speaker 1:09:53
we're strong.

Unknown Speaker 1:10:00
Be yourself and maintain diabetes and diabetes control my life.

Unknown Speaker 1:10:09
My hope for all the kids and teens in our dance program is that their Type One Diabetes will never get in their way it will never stop them from achieving any goals or dreams that they have, and that they will feel empowered by their Type One Diabetes to do more to do better, and to do well for everyone including themselves.

Unknown Speaker 1:10:31
On the night of the show, I want people to know that diabetes doesn't define you. I want people to be inspired. And if they even have type one, that they're not alone and that we can do anything. We put our hearts to

---

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!

Donate