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Scott Benner 0:02
Oh my gosh, I'm so tired. Okay, I don't know how I'm tired. haven't left the house in a month. Hold on me. Draw up energy for this. Hello and Hello everyone. Welcome to Episode 325 of the Juicebox Podcast. Today's guest is Mike. I met Mike on Instagram he has type one diabetes and an interesting story. That's what got him on the show. And while you're listening to Mike remember that his story is brought to you by advertisers like Dexcom on the pod the Contour Next One blood glucose meter and touched by type one. Find out more about the dexcom g six continuous glucose monitor@dexcom.com Ford slash juice box Get yourself a free no obligation demo of the Omni pod tubeless insulin pump at my Omni pod.com forward slash juicebox dig into what the Contour Next One blood glucose meter is and see if you're eligible for a free meter at Contour Next one.com. And of course, my absolute favorite diabetes organization touched by type one is their name plus.org touched by type one.org. I want to thank everyone for continuing to listen to the show during the coronavirus lockdown. The numbers for this show the downloads that is have not changed since the Coronavirus has a has come about. But I've heard from some other people who have other podcasts that their shows are struggling. This means the world to me. Thank you very much. All right. So music and then like

I honestly didn't know where this conversation was going to go when we began having it but Mike and I had a lot in common. Like as an adult living with Type One Diabetes. He has specific experience growing up in a culture with diabetes. He's a young man who enjoys some similar music to me. I like his outlook on life and what he's trying to accomplish. All that turned into a lovely hour. While you're listening to that hour, please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, please always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare plan. or becoming bold with and so on. In this little bit of time I have here I'd like to remind you that while you're locked up at home, don't think of it as being locked up. Think of it as safe at home. But anyway, while you're locked up at home, it's a perfect time to work on your blood sugars. Go back and listen to the pro tip episodes again, they begin at Episode 210 to take you all of a day and a half maybe to listen and put the ideas into action. So if your blood sugars have been getting out of whack it might be time to you know tighten them back down again.

Mike 3:15
This is Michael. Um, some of you guys know me on Instagram as glucose gang, Mike, I'm a What am I a? Well, since I'm not a father, let me say I'm a son, brother.

uncle's

somewhat of a parent, not in the biological sense. And, you know, in regards to this podcast, I am a type one diabetic that has had this disease for 20 years.

Unknown Speaker 3:47
How old are you?

Mike 3:49
I'm 27

Scott Benner 3:51
seven years old. That seems to be a popular diagnosed number four people I'm talking to this week. I I kid you not you're the third person who said to me, I was diagnosed when I was seven. Maybe it's a maybe it's a good year for diabetes, like you know when they talk about wine. But who knows? Seven years old 20 years ago. You're 27 now

Unknown Speaker 4:12
go to college.

Mike 4:15
Yeah, so I graduated from the University of Michigan in 2017. And I moved from Michigan to North Carolina and that is currently where I reside.

Unknown Speaker 4:27
Did you Where were you born?

Mike 4:31
I was born and raised in a place called Ypsilanti, Michigan. But I went to my family's from Ypsilanti Michigan. So I have I know people throughout Ann Arbor as well as and Ypsilanti is spelled funny so people have a hard time pronouncing it. It's y p si. La en ti

Scott Benner 4:58
you just said it so naturally How did How do people mispronounce it?

Mike 5:03
Yes, the link, or

they emphasize the the Yep.

Scott Benner 5:11
I think you might have just named this episode of the podcast, the EPS mic, but we'll see where the rest of it goes. So are you so born and raised? Go to school there? What? What took you in North Carolina?

Mike 5:23
I have family down here. So I have two sisters that stay down here. And I wanted to get out of Michigan. The joke in Michigan is always the running joke, when you're a teenager is always like, Oh, I, you know, when I turned 18, I'm testing the first plane out of here, and I'm moving and this and that. And, you know, it. That was ideally my plan, but I didn't want to leave Michigan without something tangible. So I decided to get my degree first. And then I went ahead and left.

Scott Benner 5:57
Excellent. So, um, it makes a lot of sense to me. Did you say did you It's interesting, when you moved after college? Did you like have a job set up? Or did you just think I'm gonna go to North Carolina and reset my life here with this, you know, degree in this new person that I am?

Mike 6:14
No, I, I didn't have any job offers. At the time, I was just kind of, you know, jumping out of the plane with no parachute, so to speak. And I went ahead and I did it. And, you know, I don't regret it. Um, things kind of fell into place, thankfully for me. But when I first got here, it was kind of hard. I didn't have a car didn't have a job. So I had like, a bike and I wouldn't bike around Durham. And, you know, eventually I got a job. And with me getting a job, I got a car. So that was great. And

things just kind of fell into place. Excellent. Oh,

Scott Benner 6:54
how did you work out medical support, you know, health insurance, getting insulin and supplies, stuff like that between school and, and getting your luck getting your first job?

Mike 7:09
Well,

I had an idea I had a, I didn't know what was going to happen. So like a lot of people. I have tried to stock up on supplies before I went ahead and graduated and, you know, made the move down to North Carolina. But like a lot of people that I'm sure you've spoken to at times, I did have to ration my insulin, just to make sure that, you know, I had enough if necessary

Scott Benner 7:41
to get to get and so it's because I guess when you're in college, I mean, I guess depending on your situation, if you're, you know, if your parents have health insurance, you can stay on their health insurance while you're in college. But the minute you're, you know, whatever they whatever the phrasing is for, you know, what happens when you graduate legally to you just gone that, like they can't cover you anymore, stuffs expensive. So you just sort of like, turned into a little bit of a hoarder held onto as much as you could, and then went and tried your thing. And then it was, I guess, a race to get a job before he ran out of insulin.

Unknown Speaker 8:16
And the worst game show ever Mike, by the way. Hey, man.

Mike 8:23
You know, sometimes you got to do what you got to do. I don't even think my parents knew that. But now, you know, once they listen to this, they'll know. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 8:32
yeah. Would you say that? Um, how often

Scott Benner 8:36
did you think about that while you were trying to get going? And like, was it on your mind constantly? Or did you every once in a while, open up the refrigerator and look at that insulin and think, Wow, maybe I'm gonna have to take a job I don't want soon or, like, how did that impact your life?

Mike 8:52
It was definitely stressful for someone like me, where I'm constantly on the go, I'm constantly somebody who is has to, like I can't sit in the house and just relax. Oh, with activity comes corrections and blood sugar drops, and you know, all of those different things that affect your diabetes. So for me, there definitely was a bit of a rush. And in addition to all of that, I also just, you know, I liked the idea of working. So there was a bit of a rush to go ahead and find a job but thankfully, one came through. I think I got hired maybe a month after I moved down here and then moved down here, August 2017. And then I got a job and September, I want to say the end of September so it worked out. It's amazing. Yeah.

Scott Benner 9:50
Hey, I've one last question about this. When you talk about like when you hear people say I have to ration my insulin because I don't have enough. What's that look like? Like nuts and bolts Do you do Just aim for a higher blood sugar. So you use less insulin? Or do you

Unknown Speaker 10:05
skip

Scott Benner 10:07
meals? Do you eat low carb or no carb when you don't want to? Like how does that kind of take shape?

Mike 10:16
So for me, especially when I was younger, I had to develop and not develop, but I discovered different ways to somewhat maintain and also obviously brought my blood sugar. And if you want to raise it to see a bunch of sugar, right, so that was not a problem. But for me, it was more so like you said, eating healthy. So eating less carbs, maybe like salad instead of bread. And included things like cardio, are you a really, really helped my agency. And also men just from my personal 20 years of experience. If I constantly drink water, and I don't eat anything crazy, then my blood sugar relatively stays the same. I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's just exclusive to my body and my hormones work but I'm just constantly drinking water. Like I said, I was drinking I'm drinking a Fiji water throughout the day. That's like my thing. And that really helps to maintain and regulate my blood sugar's

Scott Benner 11:21
it's simple. It's interesting that you said that because I had a, I sat down with a like a 20 year old guy last night. And he was looking to understand what we talked about on the podcast. And I know him personally. And so we went to dinner and sat in a restaurant like he sort of got the talk that I do in public, but he got it in a restaurant. And I at some point asked him. So you got this 190 blood sugar, what do you usually do? And he's a person just managing with a meter and pens, you know? And he said I'd probably drink some water. And I said you would you correct it with insulin. And that was a completely foreign idea to him, because he's had diabetes for about seven years. And no one's ever talked to him about correcting a blood sugar. He's been told, you know, to count his carbs, give himself insulin, wait three hours. And you know, by the time that happens, you're hungry again anyway, and you start the process all over again. But he had never considered the idea of pushing that number down with insulin. But immediately he said, I would drink water. And you know, and then if it doesn't move, probably work out. And I thought, huh, that's a I mean, I know it works. But I've never heard anybody say that as like their go to idea. And then Just now you said the same thing. So kind of took me by surprise for a second. Alright, so seven years old. Mike, when you're diagnosed then do you have any real recollection of that's a long time ago.

Mike 12:47
Oh my gosh, God, are you are you calling your old?

Scott Benner 12:51
No, I'm just saying 20 years is a long time ago. You're By the way, I'm going to turn. What is today's date is today like the length of the 10th. In two days, I turned 48. So I have 20 years on your 20 years. So I'm not calling you old. But but I'm just saying the 20 years is a long time ago because if you ask me something that happened to me when I'm 28 I'm pretty sure I don't remember. And and I was an adult then. So I'm wondering, just do you have recollection of being seven and being diagnosed? And what that was like, if you do?

Mike 13:24
I have? Um, yeah, that to answer your question. I have a brief like glimpses and flashes of I remember. It's a funny story. And I'm going to break it down for you. So I was on a cruise ship with my family. And there is including my parents, for brothers and sisters. So there's seven of us right on this cruise ship. And we're all having a good time. Everybody's you know, celebrating, I think it was my brother, older brothers 15th birthday. And now we're just having a good time, and I ate something at dinner. And I just had to use the bathroom. And I use the bathroom. And then I felt like I had used the bathroom again. So I use the bathroom again. And I did it. I felt the sensation again. I'm constantly using the bathroom. And I'm really I just remember being very, very thirsty and asking my mom for a lot of water and it never quenching my thirst. And my mom before the end of the trip, she was like I think something's wrong. We need to take it to the doctor. And so I remember because my brother ironically, my brother's birthday just passed. His birthday was in July 7. No. Um, so yeah, so we got on the cruise. So I want to say I was After we got off the cruise, I want to say I went to the doctor in August. That's when they diagnosed me. And they were like, his diabetes. And my mom was like, totally blown away. And my dad, they were both just like, how is that possible? Like, he's seven years old. He's healthy. He's not, you know, obese or overweight. And by my endo at the time was like, you know, there's different types of diabetes. And he has what's known as Juvenile Diabetes is what they called it back then. Yeah, type one is what they call it now. And,

Scott Benner 15:38
well, I'm happy to hear, but like, I'm happy to hear that you went to a doctor off the boat, because in my mind, you were like, seeing that Love Boat doctor in those shorts, shorts with a glasses on and I thought, what could he possibly know about type one? The other thought I had when he said you were on a cruise was? Were you just cruising around like Michigan? Or did you fly somewhere and then go, coach,

Unknown Speaker 15:57
I'm assuming it was an ocean cruise?

Unknown Speaker 16:01
Absolutely.

Scott Benner 16:03
It's like, you know, those super famous Michigan cruise lines. And I realized you can fly somewhere and get on a cruise, it just struck me when you decided I had a picture of you on a cruise boat as a child, like rolling around the lake michigan over and over again. But um, so it's interesting, because it just kind of hit you that your brother's birthday is this month. So this is July, is probably the anniversary of when you figured it out in August is, I guess the anniversary of when someone told you, you know, for sure that you had

Mike 16:36
my diversity is they like to stay on Instagram, I don't know the actual date. I'd have to ask my parents that I don't know if they even remember. But I know that it was like, fall, because we were getting ready to go back to school and the leaves were changing and different things. I also remember them telling me, you know what I mean? Like, I remember going to like the unit U of M hospital. And then you know, hospitalizing me Of course, and, you know, telling me what the disease was and different things. And I feel like it was the maybe the second or the third day. And they came into my bedroom. Because you know, they check your blood sugar, like every two or three hours when you're recently diagnosed. And they came into my room. And the nurses like, Okay, it's time to take your shot. I remember just being like, no, like, no. And she was like, Michael, come on, like we have to be this is you know what I mean, we have to get and I was like no. And I remember very vividly, I remember this crystal clear, like, biting the nurse and the doctors had to run like come in like something out of a movie almost where you're like, you see this little seven year old kid who doesn't want to accept the fact that he has a chronic illness? I'm stressed out because I'm like, I don't want to you know what I mean? Like, all over the

Unknown Speaker 18:03
place, I

Mike 18:05
would say

Scott Benner 18:06
that's in your blood sugars are all over the place to like there's a lot impacting your, your behavior, besides just the fact that you're seven scared out of your mind some ladies trying to jab you with a needle. And you know, you're I mean, it, I can't wrap my head around it completely, because our aim was to. So we didn't really have to explain that much to her. You know what I mean? Like we did, obviously, we talked her through what was happening, but she didn't cognitively think to herself, oh, I have diabetes now. And you know, like, it just, it's different when they're when you're younger, but when you're younger, but at an age where you can understand some but not all of it. It just has to be. I mean, it has to be the most frightening thing that's ever happened to you. I would imagine.

Mike 18:48
You know, no doubt. Yeah, no doubt.

Scott Benner 18:51
Listen, I watched one time, like my son was, I don't know, eight, nine years old, getting a flu shot. And luckily, out of the corner of my eye, I saw what was going on. And this is not like a violent kid. Like I had to reach up and grab his hand. Because when the nurse came at him, he was gonna defend himself. It was it was really just a like a gut. Like reaction to him. He's like, if you could have tried to stab me with that. I'm gonna try to stop you. And so just you know, I'm with you, man. I would have I would have I would have maybe thrown some hands to the lady

Mike 19:26
to let her know

Unknown Speaker 19:28
exactly what

Scott Benner 19:32
you go find another mark because Mike's not getting Java whatever that

Unknown Speaker 19:37
Yeah, I don't know what your sick game is honey. But

Unknown Speaker 19:41
anyway,

Scott Benner 19:42
so but but I mean, 20 years ago, you must have done injections for a long time, right?

Mike 19:48
Oh, man, that was like yeah, so like, I'm gonna like a dinosaur at this point when it comes to like, how to give insulin and get insulin. So yeah, we were doing like you said this. I Remember this syringes with the orange needle caps and the vials and shaking up the vials. And you have to draw up the insulin with the syringe and the syringe has the tick marks on it.

That was the era when I was diagnosed. Yeah.

You know what I mean? I remember the big machines. And when you check their blood sugar

you have like the big machines and you have to

put the blood onto the

I'm drawing a blank. I had to check my blood sugar and like a huge, not a huge machine but a relatively large machine

Scott Benner 20:40
and needed a lot of a needle a lot of your blood to Yeah, it wasn't

Mike 20:45
now It wasn't like now where you know what I mean? You don't some some people don't have to check their blood sugar because they have the CGM. Right. But like, I don't have one yet. All right. So right now. Yeah, I mean, the amount of blood is like significantly smaller, less painful. Yeah,

Scott Benner 21:03
yeah, the leaps in technology are stunning. And especially with, you know, with what we're talking about here, the amount of blood size that you need to fill that test trip has gone from, you know, a gallon basically to like, basically, you know, there's some the one my daughter's use, now she's in the Contour Next One, and you barely even like, bump the thing into the blood. And it's like I'm working. And and even if you if you don't get enough, it doesn't ruin the test strip, you just touch it again and get a little more whereas there's some if you put blood on, but it didn't was enough to read like that would ruin the strip, there. And in the meter you're talking about. My friend Mike had one when we were 16 is a long time ago. And it looked like it was like literally the size of a brick. And you know, like you couldn't travel with it. You couldn't take it anywhere. It just sat in your house. And that's when you tested your blood sugar. If you were near it, and you thought to do it. It's just a different world. Yeah, you know, and when you're seven, when somebody is like, Look, we got to open a vein,

Unknown Speaker 22:06
you know, so that we could begin to get enough blood out of here.

Scott Benner 22:10
It's got to be incredibly off putting I know that Arden just got her a one seat done by fingerstick the other day, and you know, that needs a large sample. And she was put off by that she's like well afterward she's a cleanse a lot of blood that woman talk. And just it's her her perspectives different now.

Mike 22:27
Absolutely. And even like, oh, to touch back on that too. So even like being seven and like, Can you imagine having like as a child having died, so like I used to I used to carry my like, insulin is not my insulin, but like my needle, my syringes. My little pricker things I used to carry all of those and in a like, like a little pencil box. You remember the plastic careful boxes like with the green, the different colored tops? I do. I use it. So you know that was? That was like,

Unknown Speaker 23:03
that's a slick. Look, Mike, I'd like to see a photo of you carrying around your pencil box.

Scott Benner 23:13
Yeah, it might be your version of Napoleon Dynamite right there. Because that's really that assuming that how the ladies like that, by the way. We're

Mike 23:23
on. I was like I was totally shy. When I first got diagnosed. Like I remember. My teacher I remember my teacher saying was how we check my blood sugar. At one point, I told her like, I want to go in the hallway and check my blood sugar. Because I just didn't want everybody to know. And I also didn't want to feel alienated from my classmates, you know what I mean? And even though because kids won't say anything, you know what I mean? If you're, they'll just stare at you.

Scott Benner 23:53
While we judge you. Yeah, and then form a cabal form a cabal later where they hate you.

Mike 23:59
badly and then later on, it's like, they'll ask you, but for me, I didn't want any type of extra attention on me. So I had to take extra steps. Like I said, checking my blood sugar in the hallway.

Scott Benner 24:13
Usually just trying to blend when you're a kid, you know, you really are just trying to be wallpaper, you know, you're just like, don't let me be too different. And even think about Think of all the crazy things that you will avoid when you're a child. My wife is tall. She loves being tall. But when she was in middle school, she said being a tall girl was a problem. Because you were taller than boys and so boys didn't talk to you. And you know, like, and so she's growing up not liking that she's tall, which is something that's amazing for her. You know, like, just somebody too athletic, not athletic enough to rnc. Not artsy like you don't mean like you never you're just trying to be vanilla, right? You're just like, like, no one looks at me right? And and and you know what to Mike and I don't know how to I never know how to say something like this to a person I've never met before. Because in my personal life, this wouldn't be a big deal. I don't think it's a big deal here. And I feel like you're gonna handle this well. So I've now built it up so much that when I say it, people are gonna be like, that was not a big deal. Why did Scott do that? But you're African American, right? So is your, your beard? Right? And that's what I would have said, If I didn't, I would have been like, Mike, your black guy, aren't you? And, and so and so it did that community have different opinions about diabetes. And because I see it and hear about it a lot, like sometimes you get more, I don't know, like Southern roots. And then diabetes is thought of in a different way. And I hear a lot, I don't know if you heard it. But I interviewed Anthony Anderson, you know, a number of months ago now. And he was talking about his father having diabetes, he was talking about him having type two back then. But that his father, it just resolved themselves to the fact that basically, he had the sugar, and his life was going to be shorter. And that was all he could do about it like that he couldn't really do anything about it. And I see that from different cultures running this podcast over and over again, there are some places in the country, or ethnic backgrounds or something, they all treated like a little differently, some people stigmatize it, some people embrace it, it's really, it's I was wondering if you if you had anything like that just, you know, coming from a black community.

Alright, a little treat, I'm going to do all of the ads without stopping. And as you heard at the beginning of the show, I'm tired. So this is going to go. I mean, you got to guess not well, the Dexcom g six continuous glucose monitor is one of my favorite pieces of diabetes technology. And I can say in all honesty, that without it, the success that we have with my daughter Arden's blood sugars, and her a one season variability and our stability, I don't think it would be possible. I can say that with comfort because prior to the Dexcom CGM, we were not accomplishing the things that were complex now. seem you just have like a little flub there. I kind of swallowed a word. It's okay. I'm gonna keep going. So here's what you need to do. You go to dexcom.com forward slash juice box and get started today with the G six continuous glucose monitor. Why? You're gonna ask me why it's fine. I'll tell you, because you'll be able to see loved ones blood sugars remotely on an Android or iPhone, right? I see their blood sugar going up. Is it going down? How fast is it moving? What's the number? It's because the Dexcom is FDA approved for zero fingerstick treatment. That's not bad, right? And what else Dexcom Dexcom Dexcom. Ooh, I personally we work on Pre-Bolus thing and Temp Basal going and stopping high blood sugars and cutting off lows and all kinds of cool stuff with the data that comes back from Dexcom. Now, when we do stuff with artists insulin, like I'm just talking about that happens through Arden's Omni pod tubeless insulin pump. Now the coolest thing about on the pod is that they'll give you a free no obligation demo. Okay, you understand I'm saying you go to my omnipod.com Ford slash juice box, fill in a tiny bit of information about yourself. And on the pod, we'll send you out a pump to try on and where nonfunctioning so you can't, you know, hurt yourself with it. But you can figure out what it's like to live with the Omni pod. So just imagine yourself sitting on the sofa, staring at a wall, sitting in the kitchen, staring at a wall sitting in your bedroom staring at a wall, and you'll get to see what it's like to wear the AMI pod while you're staring at that wall. Right COVID-19 gottschee in the house, good time to work on your blood sugars, great time to work on your diabetes technology with x comment on the pod. Now, once in a while, you're going to need to test your blood sugar with a meter. And for those of you who don't have the dexcom this is happening all day long. Why not get great information back like the information that comes from the Contour Next One blood glucose meter. It is the most accurate and easy to use meter that my daughter has ever had. And she's had a number of them over the years. At Contour Next one.com. You can learn more about the meter about the app that you can use with it if you'd like. And you can find out if you're eligible for a free no obligation. Game Damn that was on the pod, you'll find out Contour Next one.com you'll find out if you're eligible for a free meter. You can actually fill in some information to find out. I told you I'm not editing and I'm not stopping. Here we go. They used to be dancing for diabetes, but now they're touched by type one, same organization. They just want you to understand they're not just about dancing. They realized maybe people think we're just about dancing, but they're not. They do so much more and you can find out about what they're doing. Find out about that isn't right. And you can find out more about what they're doing at touched by type one.com no.org touched by type one.org. I'm almost out of music, I'm freaking out. My omnipod.com forward slash juice box dexcom.com forward slash juicebox. Contour Next one.com touched by type one.org. Please, during these tough times, support the sponsors of the show, let them know you're coming from here, use my links. We got to make it through this Corona thing together people. And I mean, you know, health wise, obviously, but I'm talking about gotta keep the podcast strong. Because once we all go back to work, and you jump in your cars, again, walking around the grocery store popping out to your to your podcast, this podcast needs to still be you know what I mean? viable. So, hit up the sponsors. I'm out of breath is terrible. I don't usually do them like that, like I do one and then I'll stop and think about it for a second. I'm like, you don't want to say that on the panel. Boom, I do that. And sometimes, anyway, I'm tired.

Unknown Speaker 31:06
Oh, wait.

Scott Benner 31:09
It's not the end of the show. It's the end of the ads. Here comes Mike. He's gonna answer a question that I just asked a moment ago, I'll even re ask it just so you know where we're at. If you had anything like that, just, you know, coming from a black community.

Mike 31:26
Oh my god, totally. Um, so

where do I start with this? Um,

yeah, man. I mean, essentially, to answer your question, it is hard pacifically having diabetes and being black because so much of the word what a lot of people would call like Southern food or soul food. I'm not the healthiest for you. You know what I mean? And so if you're Thanksgiving, and you know, your nine year old kid, and even today, even today, and your mom cooks candy, yams, collard greens, you know, Turkey, which is protein, which is fine. Cranberry Sauce for the the, you know, mashed potatoes are not the master for the stuffing, mac and cheese. I mean, all of that is very, very, it definitely plays a role in your diabetes. You know what I mean? Depending on your nationality, it's it was very hard. Growing up, as well as you know what I mean, just measuring how much insulin to take and what to eat, what not to eat. On average, a friend also who I went to college with, I won't say his name. But he actually told me that he had type one diabetes. And the reason why he told me was because he saw me in class taking my inhalable insulin one day, and he told me as I knew that, Hey, I got it too. And I was like, Oh, cool. I was like, so, you know, what's your a CT test? And he was like, No, he's like, I don't he was just like, essentially, like, you know, it is what it is. And I don't have I'm not gonna, you know, check my blood sugar and this and that. So, that was disheartening. And to touch on your other point. It's, it is, it's hard. You know what I mean, because a lot of people do feel hopeless. Like you stated, like, a lot of people do feel that, you know, this is what it is, this is my life, and I have to take pills, or I have to take shots, and I'm gonna die at 50. And I've accepted that. I'm just one of those people who, you know, unfortunately, for fortunately, for my diabetes, I'm a fighter. Yeah, you're not going out.

Scott Benner 33:57
All right. So,

Mike 33:59
no, no, and I've always been like that. So I just, I, you know, once I accepted that, I had it. I buckled in, you know what I mean? And I, I made adjustments to my life, and I'm still constantly trying to improve, I'm still trying to better myself and, and speak to different people and get their advice. And you know what I mean, just, but I couldn't, I can't go out. I can't just let diabetes take me over. Yeah.

Scott Benner 34:32
Give me Give me a second on that. Because it's just it's, it's sad when you hear somebody say like, this is my lot in life. And that's the end of it. And I think sometimes that becomes generational, right? Like some things. You don't learn from your parents as much as your parents got a little bit from their parents who got a little bit from their parents, that eventually just becomes a feeling. And it's sort of like anything else. Like you can get generational wealth, you can have generational poverty, you could have a generational malaise about taking care of your, you know, your health. There's, there's, like these ideas that build over time, I'll tell you what I see recently is there's a spike in type two diabetes in the Indian population. And, but their diets are so carby with, you know, rice and things like that. And when I when I speak to people from that culture privately, it's funny how they say, Look, I know this isn't good for me, but, and then this is the sentence that throws me off. This is how we eat. Like, it's a rule. You don't even mean like, Hey, I'm Indian, I have to eat like this. And, you know, our food is like this. And I said to a friend, I was like, you know, there's other food, right? Like, you could just you don't have to do that. You don't have to soak big beans and brown

Unknown Speaker 35:52
sugar and honey, before you eat them. You might be could just eat the beans, Mike, you know what I mean? Like,

Scott Benner 35:57
and so I get that generationally, it builds, and people start thinking of like, it's not Christmas Without this, or it's not my birthday without that, but man, you know, you don't get Christmas in your birthday if you're not alive. So,

Mike 36:10
you know, and, and, absolutely, and not even to throw anybody else under the bus. But to touch on that, too. So like, it sometimes, you know, even your family members will be like, Oh, come on, you can have some of this cake, or, you know what I mean? Or Yeah, you know, you know where that comes from insulin and

Scott Benner 36:28
right. But you know where that comes from? Mike, it's, they feel bad for you. And then then they skip over this is my opinion. But I think when someone says, Come on, you can do it. What they mean is, we're all eating cake, and you're making me uncomfortable, and I feel bad that you can't have some. So why don't we all just ignore for a second that your situation, and you eat the cake, so that we can all feel like this is normal and happy. And I don't mean to say that if you have type one, you can't have cake. I'm not saying that. I'm saying that. You know, listen, if it's a cake soaked in, you know, look or certain this so can that you just look at it and go, you know what, I'm just gonna stick with what I got here. Because this is just, I don't know how to Bolus for this, you know, then then I get that if you don't want to eat it, but I really do think that's what happens is that when you break from the norm in a group, you become the problem, even though that's not true. You don't I mean? Like, it's, it turns into a pack mentality. Like there's more people there who think you should eat the cake than think you shouldn't. And so suddenly, you're wrong for not eating it. And that's a weird, you know, human nature thing. But it could pressure a person into doing something they don't want to do. And you just sound like you're the one who goes, you know, No, thank you. And I don't mind being a little different. How did you go from the kid who wanted to take his pencil box in the hall to somebody who didn't mind? If people saw?

Mike 37:53
Um, it got easier the older I got, I'll say that you know what I mean? Because as you elevate, as far as schooling goes, and different things, like once I got to college, it was just kind of like, I see these people every now and then I don't see them all the time. If they have questions they can ask me. Um, I also think that having a community that embrace diabetes, specifically, I'm referring to the Instagram community, have hashtag T one D or type one diabetes, that where, you know, they wouldn't post inspirational stuff and really rally behind people who are going through the same thing that you are, it really encourages you and motivates you to, you know, what I mean? put the word out, I do you

Scott Benner 38:39
know, I I see it constantly, the power of sameness, I guess, or community, you know, whatever you want to call it, just looking up and seeing somebody who's got your struggle. It's huge. You know, like, it really is impactful. I always think of this podcast, sort of first and foremost about like management. But I, I get so many notes from people who are like, yeah, I managed fine. And what you do is cool when I incorporate some of it, but for me, I listen to this podcast I hear Mike on there Mike's The only person with Type One Diabetes I've ever heard speak out loud. That isn't me. And and it. It's interesting how it can be so many different things for so many different people. Like I feel like it's one thing somebody sees it another way somebody else sees another way. Instagrams the same way, like you don't know you put a picture up because you have in the back of your head, this is going to impact somebody like this. You have no idea how it's really going to help them. It's um, it's really fantastic, actually.

Mike 39:37
Right, and then that's something that we need to highlight as well, too. I feel like because oftentimes, and I'm not condoning this either. Social media is looked at as a negative thing, which at times it can be but again, in my mind is a tool. So you can use it to you know what I mean? Most pictures of you doing stuff and and you putting people down or sharing terrible news about different events going on in the world. Or you can use it to inspire, you can use it to motivate you can use it to, you know what I mean? touch someone who you might not have been able to previously, just based on geographic location. Yeah,

Scott Benner 40:19
no, no, I'm 100%. And listen, there's always going to be, you know, it's easy to say there's always going to be people who are negative, and there's always going to be people that are positive, but I've seen somebody who's negative be a positive person, I've seen a positive person be a negative person, I think people are just a different spots in their life, they use the relief that they have, I usually think of people who are, you know, kind of being kind of shipped online as just there's somebody having a bad day, you know what I mean? Now, I gotta bleep it back, because I can't curse. And and like I, you know, I don't think this is a person and don't get me wrong. I've seen people who just appear to be a, you know, a tornado of unpleasantness and hate, and then everything but, but but it's, it's not everybody. And to your point about it being a tool, like, Look, if I build a house with a hammer, that's amazing. If I go next door and kill my neighbor with it, hammers not so great anymore. And so you can do, you can decide you can pick that hammer up and do what you want to do with it, you can use your Instagram for, you know, for good, or you can use it to try to make people feel bad. I think sometimes when people try to make people feel bad, they're really just trying to make themselves feel better. And I mean, I've been in, I've been in the space a really long time. And I've had people come at me, oddly, you know, there's there, there are groups of people who don't like that I talked about just, you know, listen, just use the amount of insulin you need. You know, and so those people, every once in a while flare up, and they're like, You're killing people by telling them they can eat whatever they want. I'm like, I said, I didn't tell

Unknown Speaker 41:46
anybody to eat anything. I just told him

Scott Benner 41:48
understand how to use your insulin, like, I don't care what you do with that knowledge once you have it. But I think you should understand how insulin works. And what I have found in those scenarios is these people aren't like, I've heard people talk about them, or call them angry, and you know, like mob mentality and stuff like that. And I'm like, No, you don't understand what they're really doing. They got to a spot in their life with diabetes, where they were just, they couldn't find something that worked. And they finally did, they found this thing that worked for them. And you have to understand that what they believe in their heart they're doing right now is saving you and other people, they think they're saying, look, this works. My agency is amazing. Now I don't have spikes like this, etc, etc. You should pay attention to this. Moreover, this guy over here was talking about Be bold with insulin, he's

Unknown Speaker 42:37
killing you.

Scott Benner 42:38
You don't mean like, it's it's their opinion. And don't get me if they find my podcast before they find that they might be a person who's like a, just eat whatever you want. If you use the right amount of insulin, you don't know, they found something that saved them. And they feel they, you know, everybody who's listening right now knows what I'm trying to say that I can't get the words out on it's like, you feel like you have the ability to save someone. And it feels important to do you know, so I don't even take those people as angry. I honestly take them as passionate. And they get to the point where they're like, Look, you're not listening to me, you have to listen to me, this is really important for you. So I don't know, but I hear you. I wish I'd like to see a little more flowers and sunshine like myself, you know, I think there's I think there's a way to, to put your message out there in a positive way. And I love anybody who does it? Is that what you try to do with your Instagram?

Mike 43:33
Absolutely. And I'm glad that you you know what I mean? You said all that. Um, so as far as me like diabetes, I looked at my diabetes. And I really thought to myself, like a lot of times people hear this word, and they say it's a negative thing, there's a negative spin on it, you know what I mean? And that's, you know, a lot of my life is kind of based around turning negatives into positives. So even amongst, with, you know, being black, a certain degree, certain things have a negative connotation around being black, but my whole thing is trying to change that and spin it, which is why I started glucose gain. Which is, which is honestly, it's a, it's a brand. It's a brand that I started. It's something that I've been trying to do for I had that concept for like a year, two years, and I've just never really did anything with it. But it's a brand and, you know, obviously it's raising awareness about type one diabetes, but I just reach to the back of what I have here on the card. So for me, it's just about redefining what is negative and creating something positive. And I put like we are, you know, fighting against the odds, even when they're not in our favor. And that can be for anything. Obviously this is specifically directed to related to diabetes and type one. Because we are against the odds and you know, people Oh, my limb fell off, or I have numbness in my toes and we are fighting against the odds, but we're not giving up. And that's really what glucose gangs and for. Um, and so, you know, I think that staying motivated and doing different things. Um, speaking of tools, let me ask you, have you heard of a book called bright spots in landmine?

Scott Benner 45:32
Oh, Adam Brown? Yeah, yeah. And when I had him spin on a couple of times on the podcast,

Mike 45:39
oh, my God, God, if you talk to them next time, if you can, please just thank him for me because I read this book. And you know what I mean, it really did make a difference. There's some of the techniques, you know what I mean, the chia seed pudding, and you know what I mean, exercising and bolusing. I mean, this guy's great. Adam is really a good guy. I also have, like, because I feel like diabetes affects my psyche. Sometimes. Yeah, I also have a friend who got me what's known as like an awesome journal. And essentially, it's just a book where, no, it's blank. And you write why you're awesome. is whenever you feel like it, whenever if you feel down, if you feel like you're having, you're gonna start a great day, if you this whenever, if you're feeling like, you need to get something off of your chest is awesome journal has really helped me as well, like, psychologically with the diabetes and this encouraging myself and really trying to, you know, get into the right mind frame, because oftentimes with diabetes that affects not only our body, but like, also our psyche.

Scott Benner 46:57
I think a lot. Yeah, I think it does a lot. I see your, so that book is like, is like your own hype, man. It's just you can you can hype yourself in that book, just be like, just see, ya know, I mean, there's so much science behind that idea of just saying something positive, moving in a positive direction, believing in something even when it doesn't seem like it's true. You know, there's all different ways of saying it, I think. I think a says fake it till you make it, right. You know, just,

Unknown Speaker 47:31
you know, you, you pull out a book

Scott Benner 47:33
and be like, Mike, here are the things that are great about you, like, let me just remind myself all the things that I am or that I, that I've done the things that I dream about, or I want to be, and you know, it's pretty much the equivalent of your guy standing in the corner, grabbing you by the shoulders and yelling, get in there and kill him, you can do it, you know, you're just, I always, I always say that football must be the easiest like sport to like, coach, because really, in the end, after you've gone over the X's and O's, your job is just to whip everyone into a murderous rage and send them out on tour. Right? And so and so that they can, you know, fling their bodies into things that if they were thinking about it, they'd go, you know, I don't really want to do that, because I think I'm gonna hurt my head. But you know, you can you can jack people up to a spot where they believe in themselves, and then they actually can perform at a level that might not be, you know, what their norm is. And so, when you're doing that, what leads you to that journal, because I think you're, you know, you and anyone else living with type one are uniquely qualified to answer the question like, what? And so my real specific question is, day after day, living with type one, making your boluses you know, trying to keep your blood sugar in a spot thinking about your foods. Worrying about is my you know, is my is my second Uncle, you know, pissed at me for not eating this cake, all that stuff going on? How does it start to impact you as the day's build on each other? Like, how do you get to the point where you're like, I need this journal right now. Kind of a deep question. I'm sorry to throw it on you but but I'm looking for like, you don't mean like, How does it feel? Like is it is does it feel like you're carrying a box and someone puts another box on top of it? And that just keeps happening to the point where you think I can't hold all this? Or does it hit you in a wash? Do you feel like you're doing great, and then all of a sudden you don't like you? Can you put into words, I guess?

Mike 49:25
I would say Yeah, um, it's similar to what you said. It's like, you know, it comes in waves. You know what I mean? Sometimes in life, you'll be doing great. Everything will be fine. It's, you know, birds and pain and and, you know, family's good, everything is great. And then the next minute, you know what I mean? Oh, something happened that works. Oh, my girlfriend broke up with me. Oh, my blood sugar is out of whack now because my hormones are mad. It comes in waves, right. And it's just Is the book really the awesome journal really is a reminder to, you know what I mean? Keep going this to, you know, lock in and understand that these things happen. And even good times will pass and then there'll be bad, but then also be good again. Yeah, you know what I mean? one of my heroes, one of the people that I look up to the not the most, but one of the top three people that I look up to is a guy named nipsey hussle. He recently passed, I'm sure you heard back in March, the end of March. And his thing was, one of his models was just like, you know, again, life is, is it's a marathon, you know what I mean? So you're, there's gonna be some bumps, there's gonna be some bruises, there's gonna be some slip and falls, there's going to be ankle pain, there's, but there's also going to be victory, there's also going to be, you know, winning and being surrounded by your family, there's, there's life comes, this is how life is. And,

Scott Benner 51:11
but I'm just gonna say nothing lasts forever, just get you know, it's, it's, um, I don't know why some people learn it in a way that they're able to endure the bad times and get back to the good times, I don't know, if you have to be brought up in it to know it. Or, if you had to have a good role model that had it happen. I grew up completely broke, like we didn't have, you know, two sets. And I can't, I just saw my mom just never gave up like it no matter how bad anything looked, I never saw her give up. And, and when she got overwhelmed, she'd cry. And then she'd do it again. You don't mean like that. That was my, that's what I got to see. And when I became an adult, and I got into the world, and started, you know, working and having money, and then not having it and getting a bill you didn't think you could pay and things like that. I eventually said to myself, you know, you have these worries. And then inevitably, you always find a way out of them. Like always. So why, why when it's happening, see it is this horrible thing like this is going to kill me like why would I expect this thing's going to kill me? It hasn't killed me the last 50 times. You don't you mean? Like, at what point do I say to myself, this is the part where it's hard. I need to do this, this and this to get back to the part where it's not. And, and so I just sort of adopted that idea like that, you know, I know this is gonna work out because traditionally, and historically, it works out. So I'm going to stop worrying about it. Now, that might not be easy for everybody. Some people have, you know, real, like anxiety and depression issues that would would maybe stop them from being able to make that leap. But for everyone else, you're like, Man, you wake up every day, stop acting like it's not gonna happen, you know what I mean? Like it is the sun's gonna come up all the all the isms that you've ever heard in your life are true. And, you know, instead of wallowing in something that feels terrible, just look forward to the part where it'll be over. And you can, you can move on. It just makes sense to me. I love that you said that.

Unknown Speaker 53:21
And, and to your By the way, your your question, I actually do know, nipsey

Scott Benner 53:26
My son has a wide range of music interest. And he particularly enjoys rap music on the way to and from his baseball games. So I now have a wide exposure to music I probably would not have heard at age 48, to be perfectly honest with you. And I really do like some of it. I actually, I have to tell you, my kid was off at college, you know, and I missed him, you know, in his first semester, and I'm out in the car by myself. And I put some Meek Mill on so I could feel like he was there.

Unknown Speaker 54:03
I'm telling you, I'm telling you.

Unknown Speaker 54:09
I really

Scott Benner 54:09
wish Yeah, I really wish it was like warm outside the windows would have down in the people could have looked over to me and went look at that old white guy listening to me.

Mike 54:21
But it gives you that feeling, you know, I mean, it gives you that motivation that

Scott Benner 54:25
felt like he was there. Like it really did. It felt like we were driving to a baseball game and it made me feel better than I'd see him again soon. You know? I didn't think I'd Uh, I don't know, man. Like if you looked at my Apple Music, you'd be like this an eclectic mishmash.

Unknown Speaker 54:46
Oh, my God.

Scott Benner 54:48
Yeah, so, but But isn't it funny to not to get too far off the path but to talk about community that my son's best friend is black. And that's where it's at. Some of this music was introduced to him. And so if my son doesn't meet this boy, and they don't become great friends, he doesn't you know, he doesn't see this music. It doesn't expand what he thinks of as music. He probably gets, you know, stuck in whatever his friends are listening to. Doesn't get outside of it. When he gets outside of it. I listened to it. I get outside of it. I mean, don't get me wrong. There are some lyrics still, Mike that stopped me in my tracks.

Unknown Speaker 55:27
But I'm getting

Scott Benner 55:28
better at it. I sometimes this will make you laugh. I'll be like, hey, just now when he said that thing about this the G six What is that? Exactly. And my kid hates it. When I break down rap lyrics. He's like, stop it. You're ruining it. I was like, I know, I'm just scrolling with it.

Mike 55:44
I just wouldn't figure it out.

Scott Benner 55:45
Yeah, just real quick, when he talks about his woman's woman's like, exactly what is he trying to get at? My kid looks at me like do not ruin this for me, man. Do not make me think about what that guy is saying. I was like I hear. So I'm screwing with him a little bit. But but anyway. But yeah, I mean, he brought something into my life I didn't know about. And I think that on Instagram, with this podcast, any other number of ways where people are trying to reach out beyond where they are to people who they may never meet in real life and say, Look, I know you're, you know, I know your baked beans have brown sugar on them, come on over here where they don't, you know, like, check this out. Like, I know that you're scared of this and you don't like you know, inject them public. But I think you should I think you should, because maybe one day, you'll meet a guy at college? Who goes hell, yo, you have diabetes. Me too. And then you can ask him how you're handling yourself. And maybe you put it into his head like, man, I should be paying closer attention to this, you know, like, there's, we're always touching people like that if we let ourselves. But you know, if you don't let yourself reach to people, then then you're just in your little bubble. You're not helping them. And and conversely, they can't help you.

Mike 57:01
And that's the thing, man, we're all conduit, you know what I mean? And we're all, you know, not to get spiritual and all that stuff. But we're all energy. And we're all you know, having a human experience. So why not encourage somebody or help somebody? Or even just put something in somebody here? Never know how it can affect them? Or what it can do? You really

Scott Benner 57:25
don't you? Listen, I I can't tell you. Most of the feedback I get about the podcast is overwhelmingly positive, which I really appreciate. But sometimes people find the podcast at bad moments, and it strikes them really wrong. And then a couple of them are, you know, prone to sending an email. It's like, I listen to your stupid podcast, and I've had diabetes forever. And that's not how it works. And you know, this is not right, and blah, blah, blah, and, and then six months later, you get another note from they're like, well, I listened again. And I did try that Pre-Bolus thing. And that really did work. And my agency did come down, you know, and then this is it goes on and on and on. And then three months later, the next note is like I love the podcast so much. Oh my god. Okay, I see we're on a little journey together here. And you know, and but but if you don't, so Mike, I guess my point is, is that you can't always expect a big smiling, thank you back from somebody, when you reach out. Sometimes you just have to be able to say to yourself, you know what I said didn't reach that person this time. Maybe it will one day, maybe it won't. I've done what I can do, and feel good about that and move on. And, you know, to bring it kind of back around to what I said earlier. I'm sure when low carb diet people are attacking me, they feel the same way. It hurts, by the way if you're listening, guys, but I can take it and you know, like, like, but but I'm just trying to do what you're trying to do. You know what I mean? Like I found something that works. And I'm just trying to share it with people what they do with it after that. I don't, I'm not in control of you know, but at least it's there. And I mean, you said it a second ago like like, I'm the least like religious person you'll ever meet. But I don't even know if I think about spirituality, to be honest with you, but I am driven every day. By what I've seen this podcast do. And I, I try really hard every day to move it to someone else. Whether it's by recording one, editing, one, putting it up having a private conversation with somebody, I can't even show if I tell people I talk to people privately and all that does is make more people come. I'm telling you, I'm gonna have to get one of those like deli tickets where you pick a number, you know, I mean, like pretty soon. I'm not gonna be able to live my life. There's times like I'm in bed. My wife's like, what are you doing? Like this woman just got a question about premium justice. She's like, it's midnight. I'm like, I mean, she seems upset. You know? It's, um, it's hard to stop doing like once you've had a good impact on somebody, it's difficult to just flip the switch and not not do it again. You know what I mean? So Mike, are you trying to move? So when you when you say your Tell me your hashtag again? And

Mike 1:00:09
so you can find me on Instagram at fucose? Do you see oh s? Dang ba n g, Mike. And then I'm on Facebook too, but I'm more so on Instagram. But you can, if anybody has any diabetes related questions or anything, anything really, man, I'm on Instagram a whole lot. I'm trying to get glucose gang as a brand up and off the ground. So Scott, my friend, I will send you a T shirt, you will definitely be in the next round and also send one for your daughter as well. I just need your guys's sizes. You guys can join the gang. And

yeah, that's where you can find me cool.

Scott Benner 1:00:56
I hope people reach out and you know, you can broaden what you're doing and and reach more people with, you know, you being positive and sharing your story. It's all just incredibly important. And not enough people stick with it. By the way. I'm talking to everybody out there who has this, like everybody comes out of the chute. They're like, I've got an Instagram, I'm doing this. I'm like, yeah, go get them. And then you know, when they don't talk to a million people in the first month, like, What a waste of time? I'm like, No, it's not you like, you know, you really, you know, for everyone out there who thinks that they have something to offer someone else, please know that in 2007. My blog reached 110 clicks a month. That was 110 clicks a month. I guarantee you that while Mike and I were talking here 1000 people downloaded the podcast. It just it's, you know what I mean? Like, you know, and, and so it doesn't all happen at once. You know, you have to like you have to have something real to say you have to stick with it, you have to say it when you think no one's listening, because they're listening, they're just not getting back to you. And and you have to believe in it. And if one day you say to yourself, wow, this really didn't work right on, like, there's no shame in walking away from it. But if you see it building, even if it's building slower than you want it to, if it means something to you stick with it, because one day, it could be the one day, it could be the most popular diabetes podcast online, getting their name in. And I didn't intend that when I started. So you never know where things go. So I want to just encourage everybody, if you're if you're in Mike's mine, you know, mindset of helping people. Keep going, be positive, keep going. Don't give up. I will say this too. At the end. Mike, there's recently was an article recently where a writer said something kind of terrible about testing in public. And so by the time people hear this, it will happen months and months and months ago. In the old school sort of diabetes community that would have been met with a lot of positive explanation, Hey, no, this is why you're, you know, off on this, let me explain this to you and explain that to you. In 2019, this person got kind of jumped a little bit, like, you know, internet jobs. And I have to admit, like I heard a like, kind of an odd, you know, diabetes blogger say, I'm disappointed that this is how the community responded to this. This isn't how we used to do this. And I have to admit, I agree a little bit like there's, I get that it's upsetting. But just lashing out at people is not the way like you, you know, it's easy to say you should educate, you know, and and that'll elevate and I think that's right. And I get that sometimes it's angering, but trust me, I've seen this for, you know, I'm coming up on a decade and a half here with this. Yelling back at somebody, it's not going to do anything. Like it just it falls on deaf ears. So if you just keep putting good information out there, hopefully more and more people will pick it up and less people say something stupid.

Mike 1:03:59
And I think too, I mean, it's, you know, how many times have you heard this? It's not what you say? It's how you say it. I'm a huge believer, I definitely believe that. So you know what I mean? They could have said what they said it's just maybe they could have cried they should have crafted it a different way. And you know, again, on the on anybody to judge anybody, I'm sure I've said some off the wall things some people before but putting that out there

Scott Benner 1:04:29
now pay for if you have another minute, it's so funny you said that because because just last night my son was with me when I was talking to somebody about diabetes, somebody who's got no idea about the things we talked about on this podcast, who's just living meter and you know, and meter and pen. And so we sat and explained all this stuff. And we were driving home and my son said, How do you do resist the urge not to say to him, like just get the glucose monitor. And like, like, you don't I mean, he's like, he's like, you know, yeah, right. And I was like, well I said that people don't hear that like, well, like, you know, like, and nobody needs me telling them what to do. Like, my best bet here is to give them an honest assessment of what I think the technology does. And they're going to need to decide like, he can't just thrust things on people, but my kids 19. He's like, just tell him to do it. And I'm like, yeah, it doesn't work like that, you know? And I said, I know what makes sense. Right? Like, like, we have all this data over all these years. We know what it does. You know, we're sitting there with, you know, a couple of days removed from my daughter's last day one. See, that was like five and a half. And I can tell and I can tell you, it's, it's, it's because of

Unknown Speaker 1:05:37
the data,

Scott Benner 1:05:38
right? Yeah. So you're very nice, thank you. But it's because of the data. It's like, I can make good decisions based on the data. And this person that we're talking to, doesn't have that data back. And, and therefore it's difficult for them, they could afford it, they have insurance, they wouldn't mind wearing it. And they're just understandably averse to just trying something new. And, and I think that's, you know, it's a good lesson for everybody out there who's trying to help somebody else is that all you can really do is be you know, you put up an example, and hopefully somebody will say it, it's no different than parenting or anything else in life. You can't, you know, you can't make people do things they're not ready for you can't make people do things they don't understand or they're scared of the best you can do is help them be comfortable, show them why it's important. And hopefully they'll come to it, you know, and if they don't, you did your best, that's all. So I love what you're doing, Mike, I really appreciate that you're out there. Thank you.

Mike 1:06:36
Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity, and a pleasure.

Scott Benner 1:06:42
Don't forget to check out Mike on Instagram at glucose gang Mike. Thank you so much to Dexcom on the pod touched by type one, and the Contour Next One blood glucose meter for sponsoring this episode of the Juicebox Podcast. I hope you guys are all doing well. getting along as best you can with your family as you're living so close in quarters. I'm going to try to take a nap. But first dexcom.com forward slash juice box my Omni pod.com forward slash juice box Contour Next one.com and touched by type one.org. Check them out if you get a chance