#550 Is Nina Willing to Change?

Nina and her daughter have type 1 diabetes.

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DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends and welcome to Ooh, look at that, huh? And welcome to Episode 550 of the Juicebox Podcast. That number took me by surprise for some reason.

On today's episode, I'll be speaking with Nina who has type one, and so do other people in her family. So there's a lot going on here. It's incredibly interesting. And of course, you're going to love it. While you're loving it. Remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare plan, or becoming bold with insulin. That I love that partner. Always consult a physician that comes out of my mouth like 123. Scott, what's your name? My name is Scott. Scott, what do you say in the middle of thing, always consult a physician, always consult a physician? It just I can't not say it. Always consult a physician. I might have to edit that out. That was terrible. No, you know what I'm leaving it. Always consult a physician. It's a lot about breathing. Like. Always consult a physician. It's almost like it's one word. Always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare. You see it, it's just boom, boom, boom rolls out. Alright. podcast Here comes.

This show is sponsored today by the glucagon that my daughter carries. g vo hypo Penn. Find out more at G Vogue glucagon.com forward slash juice box. You can support Type One Diabetes Research and the Juicebox Podcast, all you have to do is go to T one d exchange.org. forward slash juicebox. They're looking for type one adults and type one caregivers who are from the United States to participate in a quick survey that can be completed in just a few minutes, right there from your phone or your computer. You can do it just sitting on your sofa. It's super easy to do. I did it in about seven or eight minutes for Arden. And you can too. It's completely HIPAA compliant, absolutely anonymous. And you'll be helping people with type one diabetes, just by giving them simple answers to simple questions, questions about living with type one. So if you've ever thought about supporting people with type one through research, this is an incredibly easy way for you to do it. You don't have to go to a site or see a doctor. And the questions are shockingly simple. I was actually surprised when I took the survey, it's not going to take you a lot of time and they're not doing any deep diving or probing questions that you're gonna think Oh, that's too personal. I don't want to share that. T one d exchange.org. forward slash juicebox. support people living with type one and support the podcast all in just under 10 minutes.

Nina Eizikovitz 3:02
Hi, Scott, Nina, which I have been type one diabetic since I'm 17 years old. So that let you do some math here. 23 years. And I also have a type one diabetic daughter who was diagnosed about a year and a half ago. So you're 40 I am 40 look at that seven

Scott Benner 3:22
in three years. 10. Two and one is three. And he carry the one and you get a four. There you go. Thank you. I wish I wish it just does it. Like just pop into other people's heads. Do other people here like 23 and 17 and just go that's

Nina Eizikovitz 3:38
40 hands on what your what you do like what your life is like? Like I'm a realtor. So numbers are much you know, I do that all day long, I guess.

Scott Benner 3:46
Yeah. I was listening to you talk right and consciously deciding to add up your, your these two numbers. And I could see a whiteboard in my head. And it was like 2317 730 I got like, Oh my god, I'm I'm probably a moron. I did it. Look look over celebrating. Plus now talking about it has made me completely forget the salient details of it. So you've had diabetes, since you were 17? Correct. So for 23 years. Gotcha. And I have to tell you, I ran my eyes. I began to run my eyes over your email last night before I went to bed and stopped myself. Because I was like, You know what, let's just do this while we're recording. So you've had type one since you were 17. Your daughter was just diagnosed.

Nina Eizikovitz 4:37
She was diagnosed in October 2019. Okay, a

Scott Benner 4:41
year and a half ish. Yes. But I

Nina Eizikovitz 4:43
also have a type one Father, type one brother type one nice. Those that say it doesn't run in the family. Come meet me.

Scott Benner 4:51
I don't know who says that.

Nina Eizikovitz 4:54
Heard it. I've definitely heard people say that. You find not genetic. I'm like really? I think too. differ.

Scott Benner 5:01
It's hard to wrap your head around the idea that it's not. I always want I always thought people just said that. So you felt comfortable. Like, I don't know, like your daughter's diagnosed and they get Don't worry, it's not. Right. But as you're looking at your other seven kids behind you thinking, oh my god, oh my god. Oh my god. I don't know. I mean, I'm sure there's a doctor that could come on and tell me the real skinny but I type one. Forget type one autoimmune issues appear to travel in family lines. That seems obvious to me that everyone in your family ended up with type one is fascinating. Are there other autoimmune or just type one? Oh,

Nina Eizikovitz 5:37
I have thyroid issues. hypothyroidism, I have a different daughter who also develop that. I have a niece with celiac. You know, there's stuff

Scott Benner 5:49
there's definitely stuff you have hashimotos or do you have?

Nina Eizikovitz 5:53
No so my daughter does it not?

Scott Benner 5:55
Interesting. So you have hypothyroidism? She has? hashimotos? How old's the hashimotos? Daughter? 1515. How old was ultegra? With type one, nine? Do you have any other kids?

Unknown Speaker 6:09
I have two other kids?

Scott Benner 6:11
Are they like themselves?

Nina Eizikovitz 6:14
You know, I think that like we just take one day at a time here and everything is doable. Like everything that we're dealing with is manageable. So we'll take it part of it, but we'll take what we have.

Scott Benner 6:25
I know plus, I'm starting to feel like if thyroid medication ever becomes incredibly valuable, I'm gonna be wealthy, because I'll just start a black market where I sell to listen to people. Which I wouldn't do in case anyone's listening in that please. I'm just saying. Okay, so daughter, you know what? I gotta tell you, Nina. I'm gonna need a couple of I'm gonna need a notepad for you. I just realized, I don't have a clean sheet of paper here. I'm about to get behind. Nine. Type 1/5 rain hashimotos you're 40 type one. hypothyroidism, your dad. type one. type one. Who else?

Nina Eizikovitz 7:12
I have two brothers. One is type one other type and his daughter is type one.

Scott Benner 7:18
Or type one. Okay. That's it. 12345 type ones. 123 thyroids. Good times. Well, you're getting close to like a christmas countdown song.

Nina Eizikovitz 7:36
Yeah, it's a little bit crazy. Kidding. Okay,

Scott Benner 7:39
so give me a second. People are like Scott just knows the questions asked not when there are this many questions. Scott doesn't know what question to ask next.

Nina Eizikovitz 7:51
I'm ready. We're ready. Go for it. I'm

Scott Benner 7:53
gonna start with what made you want to be on the podcast, I guess.

Nina Eizikovitz 7:57
So I have to say when my daughter was diagnosed, and we can kind of get to that whenever you're ready. I don't want to jump in. But I it was a different was on the other side of it. As much as I knew a lot and honestly knew more than everyone in the hospital was trying to teach us and educate us. I was like, Just get me out of here. I know more than you're telling me. But I didn't know what it was like to be a parent of a child with Taiwan. And I think I was on I must have been on a Facebook group and I saw something about Juicebox Podcast, I quickly went to, you know, look what it was. And I started listening. And I, I guess I know you've had other type one parents on before, but I felt it as like, I was learning about Taiwan from the other side of it, and things that I was already doing. Like I never from day one. I never counted carbs. I was never hospitalized when I was diagnosed. So I kind of just did my own thing. Like I had a brother who was diagnosed years before me. So I basically diagnosed myself I was 17 years old. I was going to the bathroom a lot. I was like, Oh, this isn't normal. I took blood, his blood check machine, change the needle, clean my finger. I was like, Oh, I don't remember. I was probably 353 80 something like that. I was like, okay, when to find my parents. I was like, Yeah, I think I have diabetes, guys.

Scott Benner 9:17
That's fine. We already have a drawer for that. So Exactly.

Nina Eizikovitz 9:20
And I remember they call the pediatrician and he said, like, you know, let's just start on a little bit of insulin, but there's no need to go to the hospital. Like you guys know what you're doing and we don't need to you know, I wasn't I wasn't in DK. I like I must have caught it somewhat early. And so I never really got that education, which I guess in some ways might have been better because I'm not the type of person that could have handled counting carbs like I just, I was on shots for years like needles and not even pens, but needles and vials for years. I don't remember when I made the switch to pens. I don't even think it was for like a good amount of time. I think I really was on needles. And vials for a long time. And the pens only I used occasionally like travel. I don't know why it was like, a luxury. I'm not sure if it was an insurance thing or just I was used. I was very comfortable. Like I never. This is what I know this works for me. I don't need to go on a pump. I'm not interested like this is years ago.

Scott Benner 10:19
Can I ask? Yeah, because it seems just when you're talking, like if I had to guess you're more of a, like a self starter than no waiting for somebody to tell you what to do. 100% and when a problem comes in your face, you think we can do it not Oh my god, we're gonna die.

Nina Eizikovitz 10:37
Yeah, I think that's always been my attitude, like, okay, like, this is not fun, but I'll deal with it. And

Scott Benner 10:44
I'm incredibly interested always in the small aspect of people that one person can hear something and think, and they and they shrink. And they're like, Oh, no, like, who will help me with this? Where do I hide? How do I get away from this? And some people hear that thing. And they're like, I'm gonna get on a horse and point a sword at people and run forward and see what happens. It's super interesting. The different responses that can come in, I don't

Nina Eizikovitz 11:10
think you have a choice sometimes. Like also, I guess it wasn't like, Wait, what? What is type one? What is diabetes? What is it like it was in my family? I knew I grew up with a brother who had it. So it wasn't like, I can't live with this. What am I going to do? It was like, Okay, how are we going to figure this out now? Yeah, I'm sorry.

Scott Benner 11:28
I was just gonna say it's just fascinating, cuz I just kind of literally last week finished a conversation with somebody, and we never really dug into their sibling, but their sibling got type one, two, and just didn't handle it. Like they were in the exact same situation as you were meaning they had an older sibling who had had type one diabetes, they were diagnosed, and they just, they just did the exact opposite of you. And it's not like the person's like, I'm sure, you know, they're like, kind, nice, educated, you know what I mean? Like, thoughtful. They just, that first reaction seems to be so important about different personalities, I guess it just is. It's that simple, I think but it's it's just fascinating to hear that. I mean, you really just, I mean, listen to what you did. You diagnosed yourself. You didn't go to the hospital, and you just figure it out. What did figure it out mean? Because that's 23 years ago. What was your measurements for success and health.

Nina Eizikovitz 12:21
So I mean, I was in I was a senior in high school. So I was not the one thing I said from the beginning was like, my close friends will know. But this is not something I'm like shouting from the rooftops like, I don't want everyone to take pity on me. I hated the like, Oh, I have a sugar free Piece of cake for you while you're coming. I was like, please don't like I don't want that. I don't need that it is not actually sugar free does not do anything different than that chocolate cake that's sitting right there. Um, and I just didn't want that conversation. I was very private about it. Yeah, I also was planning to go abroad to study my freshman year of college. So that was like something my parents I know were like, okay, like, it's, I think I was diagnosed October. And I was going away that like following school year, so we had like, just under a year to kind of get everything into place, because that was clearly happening still. And somehow we did, like, we just made it work. You know, I, I at the very beginning, I remember taking like, oh brand pills. My pediatrician, I think also had either type two or something. And he was very, he was experimenting with these old brand pills, and I was swallowing so many pills before I put anything in my mouth. And for like, a couple days I was doing it. And the truth is, maybe it was helping. Maybe I was honeymooning, who knows. But I think the like the thought was that the old brand would dissolve.

Scott Benner 13:44
It's like like, it sounds like if you met this guy today, he'd be like, I'm gonna get you a diffuser. And we're gonna say

Nina Eizikovitz 13:50
exactly wonderful. And at one point, I looked at my parents, and I'm like, I'd rather just stick myself like this is ridiculous. Like, I'm not even hungry for food after as well. These are the bills. Yeah, so I just it was like, it was a couple of weeks. Couple of days. I don't remember. But I remember carrying around like little Ziploc bags of pills. And I said, this is not working for me. Like, I'll just inject and

Scott Benner 14:12
be done with it. And we use regular mph. I was

Nina Eizikovitz 14:16
using Yeah, I was I believe it was nnr. Okay, um, and I remember my mother was very into like, different businesses did different things. And at one point, it must have been after I was diagnosed, I could be wrong. I don't remember so much. But we had my father we had my brother and we had me so we had all these glass vials of insulin around and it made her crazy because they were constantly falling out of the fridge. And she's practical and said like there's got to be something that we can you know make to go around these bottles that protects them. And she developed the thing she called it the insula, leave in suspense asleep and delete something. It's funny because it never really like she sold a few of them. I mean, this is way before eBay and internet shops and Etsy. years ago, she sold a few of them. I don't even know how word of mouth I guess and then fizzled out. But like, I remember like a few years ago looking and I'm like, look at this, like all of these products and all of these diabetes stores. It's unbelievable.

Scott Benner 15:14
Yeah, I'm interested by all that too. Like, we're very minimalistic around here about stuff like that. So, like I have a small, like, I don't know, it's probably six or seven inches long, four or five inches wide and tall enough that an insulin vial can stand up in it. And we just wrap a rubber band around Arden's insulin vials and put it in that and shove it in the back of the refrigerator. Right. Then, everyone we use just comes forward and it gets jammed in with the butter. And if it looks like it has butter on it, somebody wipes it off.

Nina Eizikovitz 15:46
I feel like also now the the active vial that we're using sits out on a dresser because we're constantly doing pump changes now years ago, I kept it in the fridge you needed to inject you went to the fridge take it took it out, it fell out. There's less in and out of a fridge, I would say so let's

Scott Benner 16:01
Yeah, I have no trouble with opening a vial and leaving it out in like in an air in an air conditioned environment. I don't worry about it. To be honest, during the winter, it's not like we're heating the place to freeze. You know, it's a it's usually about 68 or maybe 70 in here. Yeah, I just I don't know. Like I don't see as long as you don't have it out for more than a month. I've never really seen any big deal with it. Work. Yeah.

Nina Eizikovitz 16:25
So I just feel like the way I've started using insulin over the years just developed into like, Okay, sit out for a while, you know,

Scott Benner 16:31
do you not think that some people just like to buy? What would you call them like charges? Yeah, stuff. Right. Right. So

Nina Eizikovitz 16:38
I might admit to being one of those people for certain things, especially when my daughter was diagnosed, I felt like I had to buy everything and anything that would make her excited or happy and, you know, the pump peel stickers and the Dexcom patches and whatever it was, and she used them for a bid and now that like you know, she went from seven to nine. It's like, okay, like once in a while she'll change the sticker on her pumper. But I did whatever I needed to do to make her excited about this.

Scott Benner 17:08
Yeah, I don't not get that I just think some people lean into the most recent example I have is Kelly got me like this little drone. So you just fly it up in the air. And I joined a Facebook group to try to learn about it. And before you know it people are like I've bought a different color prop I bought a sticker to put on it. I bought this to do it. I'm gonna get this and like what it goes up in the air. You can't see it anymore. Right? I don't understand the point of this. It could literally look like a giant turd and 100 feet up in the air you wouldn't know and it wouldn't matter. I don't understand why it matters. Everything's a business. Yeah, I people just get really wrapped up in. You know, I mean, I can think all the way back to when I was a little kid you could buy like, you could buy tips for your shoe laces to make them different colors. I bet people do that. And I'd be like, wait, why? Why do you care? When's the last time you looked at your shoe lace? I don't understand any of this. Anyway, is pretty fascinating. Okay, so back on track. You've got diabetes for a long time you come through that RNN process, which, you know, I've had enough conversation with the people now to know that it's fairly laid back. Meaning you'd get up in the morning, give yourself some insulin, go about your day. And your goal was basically like what don't get dizzy.

Nina Eizikovitz 18:21
Yeah, you know, I don't remember. I definitely remember checking my blood sugar throughout the day. But I was incoming. I was finishing high school. I started college. I definitely did not walk around with a meter in my bag, like for sure not. I wasn't wearing a glucose monitor at the time. I checked. I at that point in my life. I felt when I was low. I had symptoms. I knew I treated I moved on. Was I 70? Was I 40? I don't know when I got shaky, sweaty whatever the symptom was that year because it has changed over time. Yeah. I treated and I would check. I definitely didn't check before every meal. I mean, like I really did the bare minimum but my a onesies were fabulous.

Scott Benner 19:02
Well, that Oh, that that insulin was very like blanketed, it just you ate at certain times to keep yourself from getting low is basically how that worked. Yeah, yeah, it was like, and it worked.

Nina Eizikovitz 19:13
And it was fine. Right? And at some point, I must have made this switch over to L. Like, I guess Atlantis or something like, I don't even remember.

Scott Benner 19:22
I love that you've had it so long. You don't know.

Nina Eizikovitz 19:24
I really I don't it just became something that I did. I didn't really think about it. And looking back sometimes I'm like, how did I make it through a year abroad? Like how did I do these things? I did.

Scott Benner 19:38
Do you think if we had a giant macro view of you if we had if we had a god drone and we put it up in the air and followed you around for the last 23 years, we would see you just barely missing dying a couple of days.

Nina Eizikovitz 19:48
It was definitely one time when I was walking around. I was in Israel for the year and I remember like walking I was walking a lot and I remember my legs like feeling shaky and I was like oh, I walked a lot Well, you know, that's and then at one point, I was like, Oh, my blood sugars probably low, I should probably eat something like it took a while for me to even realize like, that's why I was feeling the way I was feeling. Yeah.

Scott Benner 20:09
Now, definitely moments like that for people listening who were modern day managing. Can you please tell them that if they were using novolog and lantis? They could not have lived like that?

Nina Eizikovitz 20:19
Oh, yeah, no, definitely not. Right. A different lifetime. Yeah. And I will tell you now I have a pump and I have a Dexcom. And much and it's funny because I didn't get a pump until my first daughter was born in 2005. And I, I was I think I had never had like a low episode was never hospitalized from, you know, passing out. But there was one time my husband couldn't wake me up. Like he, the morning whatever it was, went to trial, and I wasn't waking up, but I remember like, feeling covered in juice. And he was shoving juice boxes in my mouth. And I finally came to, so we didn't have to, like go anywhere hospitalization, ambulance, anything, but I remember I was pregnant with my first daughter at that time. And I remember Actually, I looked back to check my emails, I have an email to my doctor. And I wrote to her like, Okay, I think I'm ready to start talking about a pump. And she was like, well, you're pregnant, not the best time to start. Now. Let's talk after that was like, what I finally said, I'm ready. He's like, we have to do this now. But she didn't want to start it in the middle of pregnancy. So I waited till right after I delivered. So it was I've been on a pump since probably 2005. Right. So my daughter was born November 2005.

Scott Benner 21:34
She didn't have an opportunity to have any babies on a pump. That was your last one.

Nina Eizikovitz 21:37
No, that was she was my first she was your first so you had three other kids. I was on a pump for all of them. Okay,

Scott Benner 21:43
was there a big difference?

Nina Eizikovitz 21:45
Um, I think given Yes, the answer is yes. I was definitely easier to control. I think I was. I'm very you couldn't tell yet type a very, like, I need to know I'm in control personality. So I made sure even I definitely was checking more during my first pregnancy. I was you know, I actually found some blood sugar logs that I had scanned in an email to my doctor. Like, I was like, I've never logged my numbers ever. But when I was pregnant, I was diligent. I wrote everything down. I wrote down what I was eating, how much insulin I was taking, you know, change the doses as needed. But once I was on a pump, it was much easier.

Scott Benner 22:22
Hmm. Do you want a second it is hard to give yourself some insulin. Go for it. Add 20 carbs to last meal. That's some loop stuff right there. Okay. Okay. So, I find this interesting because you are very proactive and like do it myself do it yourself. But before I move forward, I understand you know what your agency's worth or your 20s

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Alright guys, I have a personal goal between now and the end of diabetes Awareness Month. I want to be personally responsible for adding 2000 new survey responses to the T one D exchange, I need you to help me t one d exchange.org. forward slash juicebox. you head over there. You fill out the survey and you're done HIPAA compliant, completely anonymous, super simple answers, and you're going to help people living with Type One Diabetes. Past participants have helped bring increased coverage for test trips. Medicare coverage for CGM changes in the ADA guidelines for pediatric agency goals. And there's more coming, I have a meeting coming up with them sooner, they're going to tell me more stuff that's been happening. You can help. They're not going to ask you difficult questions. They're not incredibly probing or too personal for just about living with Type One Diabetes. Now all you have to be is a type one who lives in the United States, or a caregiver of a type one who lives in the United States. And you're on your way, T one d exchange.org. forward slash juice box, use that link. Answer the questions. And just like that you've helped to make the lives of people with type one diabetes much Much easier. And you've supported the podcast. So if you're enjoying the podcast or you want to help, or a combination of the two, or just one, say you don't want to help, but you want to help the podcast, go ahead and do it. Say you don't really like the podcast, but you want to help. And go do it for that reason. Now, if you love me, and you love people with type one, no brainer, T one d exchange.org, forward slash juicebox. Get in there. Take the survey. Please, please, please, please, please. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 2000. I want 2000 by the end of November, I think we can do it. By way, mostly, I mean, you listening because I've already done it.

Nina Eizikovitz 25:55
So I am telling you, I checked my emails last night because I wanted to see what information I could pull out for you. And I have one email in 2013. When we discussed the CGM for the first time and my doctor had emailed the one of the nurse practitioners and said, a one c 5.7. wants to talk about glucose monitor.

Scott Benner 26:14
They were probably like, Oh, this lady.

Nina Eizikovitz 26:17
I mean, I've been pretty well controlled. But I will tell you a lot of that was because I was I ran low. I was both I was bowled with insulin before both insulin was a thing. We're

Scott Benner 26:27
smart because you didn't know what was happening. Right? So you were just you're basically I just think of that as tricking the a one c test. Like you're throwing off the the way it comes to that number if you have a bug Yes,

Nina Eizikovitz 26:39
in a way, but I don't remember ever being like 350 like I didn't I didn't run high. Yeah, occasionally, if I had a bagel if I had a bowl of pasta, and I didn't know how much to Bolus for, like, I just like I said, I never counted carbs. So it was like, Alright, I'm eating this. Let me like think that to do with art. And also this, this this. Alright, that looks like 50. Let's go with that. Right. And if I was a little high after, okay, I took a correction. Like, no big deal.

Scott Benner 27:05
It's interesting. The words you use, though, because back then, because I'm wondering how they compare with the words you use now? Oh, because you're just like, you know, I was harder to control that day. Like, you know, to me, like there are times when it was harder to control. Like you said it during pregnancy, which I understand like, but right. At this point now, I'm guessing you and I have not had this conversation. It's not in your text in your email, nothing like that. If your blood sugar's 150. for more than an hour, you're probably irritated by that and trying to get it down. Right?

Nina Eizikovitz 27:35
So yes and no. Okay, because I am I have a crazy busy schedule. Well, Sunday through I mean, basically six days a week, Sunday through Friday, usually I don't work Saturdays. But I'm a realtor. I'm busy all day long. So a lot of times I'll see it. I mean, I have a Dexcom. It's beeping, I also wear a headset. So every text reads in my ear, it beeps in my ear. Like

Scott Benner 28:02
It's horrifying, isn't it? How loud is it? I don't know, because I've never used the follow up. Or I've never used the actual Dexcom app because it's with Arden. But the follow app runs through your earphones so loud

Nina Eizikovitz 28:15
it is it is loud. And I keep trying to get these companies to have a volume control. Maybe you can speak to somebody, I get it, I get it. It needs to be loud for some people. But if not some people there needs to be an option. And the truth is, I'm still I'm not as private as I was when I was first diagnosed, obviously, especially once my daughter was diagnosed, I was a lot more open about me being type one. But I don't want my phone beeping all day long. Like I didn't want that. So I wear a headset for work purposes. But it's the added benefit that it beeps in my ear and it's not yet and my daughter's numbers beep in my ear. I mean, I could be beeping all day long. But alerts are going off. All

Scott Benner 28:57
I know is if I have my phone up loud because I'm listening to something and I stopped listening to it. And then that alert comes through. I think I freeze up like a cartoon character from the 60s. I'm like, oh, like you want to run from it. And you can't it's it's drilling through

Nina Eizikovitz 29:12
time. It's like to answer your question. There's some times where I'm like 151 60. And I'm like, oh, quick, let me just Bolus quickly and other times where I'm like, okay, I can't deal with that. Now. I'll deal with it later. Okay, um, so yes or no,

Scott Benner 29:23
that's interesting. It really is. It's, um, it's interesting to see how you kind of morphed because I think you made a good transition from the old days to now where I've seen people not be able to do it, just like this is how I do it. Nevermind, I can't do this or they're there. They don't understand the impact of these newer, more quick acting insulins and stuff they were using 20 years ago, and they're constantly making themselves like definitely low all the time. But it sounds like you made a pretty clear transfer to it. Now what I also

Nina Eizikovitz 29:53
I was not a fan like I never wanted to go on a pump. I never wanted to go on a CGM. I was like I don't want to be a robot. I don't want to have things that Catch to me. And then once I decided to go on a pump, I like looked at my doctor and said, like, how do people live without this? Like, what was I thinking all these years? Why don't you make me do this?

Scott Benner 30:12
later? Yeah, tell me to shut up. It's like, we're just the, you know, it's the it's the insurance piece of it too. Because Hold on one second. I'm dying here. Give me a half a second. I apologize. It's the insurance piece of it, I think. Because if it was free to try, and then there was no obligation, you could just be like, ah, didn't work for me. I think people will try it. But it's the idea of like, you have to go through this whole process, get on your insurance, and then you're on it. Like, can you imagine going through that for three months and call the insurance company back up in a month and going, Oh, funny story. I don't want to do that. You know, I think if you could make that, and some companies do it. I don't know. Like

Nina Eizikovitz 30:51
the learning curve. It just it was overwhelming to me. Like I don't want to learn something new. This works for me if my agencies would have been 1211, whatever, I would have probably been pushed earlier on. But my agencies were fine. So it was like, why do I Why do I need this but anyone out there listening? Get on a pump. Get on a CGM.

Scott Benner 31:10
No one back then was talking to you about variability either keeping your blood sugar more like stability. That kind of stuff wasn't Yeah, and I remember, I don't imagine. Yeah. Okay. So how do you I mean, you've diagnosed yourself, I'm assuming you were able to diagnose your daughter pretty quickly. But how did that go?

Nina Eizikovitz 31:26
So we were actually away for the weekend. And she went to bed, and which was very out of character for her. And I noticed like, I didn't say anything, I just like set like, in my, in my gut, like, I knew something was up. And then I was watching her all day, and she's jumping on the trampoline, and she's coming in for water. And she's back on the trampoline, and she's coming in for more water. And I like, gave my husband this look and like stop, relax, you know, whatever. And then that was Saturday. And I actually had a birthday party with friends Saturday night, and I like, I didn't want to take her blood sugar. I said, like, I need one more night of normalcy, looking back on it. And I'm like, she could have been in a coma. But it all worked out on Sunday morning. First thing I said, let's just check, no, check your blood sugar, let's just see, you know, I feel like something's up. So she was very good about it. We checked and she was like, 333 50, something like that. I called the pediatrician and I said, Hey, what do I do? Do we have to go to the hospital, because my older daughter and her hashimotos were already seeing an endocrinologist in the local hospital. So I almost feel like it was like, set up like that, like, Oh, I had this relationship already with this doctor. So my pediatrician also has a relationship with her. He's like, I'm gonna call her Let me see what she wants you to do. Gotcha. I said, okay, but please, like if I have to go to the hospital with her, like one night Promise me not more than one night. And basically, I mean, we were I think we were there for two nights. But it was a smooth process. I mean, my daughter was a rock star. She was obviously scared and had no idea what was flying. But she was great. And I think it's easier when I can, you know, show her that I do it. We call my niece and you know, they check their blood sugar's together and introduced to a whole world of people, some neighbors, like friends, people in the community that she'd never even would have known.

Scott Benner 33:19
So how available is your I cannot clear my throat. This is the end of me right here, right here. I'm so sorry. I have no idea why this happens. Like twice a year, twice a year. I'm like, I can not get my throat there. How? How available is the knowledge that you have diabetes in the house prior to her diagnosis? Like, are you like, you're not private? Or are you?

Nina Eizikovitz 33:48
So I was it for a few years. Not purposely just like, you know, when I pulled my pump out to Bolus I didn't like do it at the dining table. Like I got up, I went to the bathroom, I went to my room sit in the hallway did my thing. I rarely checked my blood sugar in the past, you know, since 2013. Like my kids were little now they're older. But really, since I got my CGM I rarely checked. Even when I was supposed to calibrate with the old Dexcom. I never really did that. So it was very rare that they saw like, I didn't have strips lying out on the counter, and little vials and machines everywhere. Like I was very contained about it. And I remember at one point, I don't know how many years ago it was. But my endo said to me, you know, like, if one of your kids ever gets diagnosed and like you've been keeping this secret from them, they're gonna think it's something that they should be ashamed of. And like, it really resonated with me. And I said, You're right, like, You're totally right. And at that point, my kids were like, probably old enough to understand or the older two or three were probably old enough to understand at that point, and I didn't like make an announcement, but I was a little bit more like, Oh, look, here's my pump and like, Oh, what's that? Mommy, what do you do with that? And we just we spoke about it a little bit. Yeah. became a little bit more public. They knew that it wasn't like shout for them from the rooftops, like when each of them learned about in science class in middle school, and I would always comes up, you know, carbohydrates, diabetes. So one of my kids would always say, Oh, yeah, my mom has diabetes, and they come home and tell me, I'd be like, Oh, great, but they knew that I didn't really care. It's just like, I didn't like want to be that, you know. I don't know what the word is, like that said case that everyone was like the pity case.

Scott Benner 35:27
I hear that I understand that. People feel all different kinds of ways about it. I get that you felt that way. I was wondering how long had her cousin had it before she before her?

Nina Eizikovitz 35:38
Um, I would say about four or five years. Okay, so

Scott Benner 35:41
that was commonplace in her life.

Nina Eizikovitz 35:44
Correct. They live out of town like they're in Florida. And we're in Jersey,

Scott Benner 35:46
but still, like it's a thing they're aware of? Okay,

Nina Eizikovitz 35:50
correct. Definitely. And we spent like holidays together, we were together and they definitely knew about it. So I think that was like a little bit of a comforting thing. I guess the adjustment was easier.

Scott Benner 36:00
Is your daughter ever around your father? Yeah, we

Nina Eizikovitz 36:03
live in we live near each other. So definitely. And you know, it was at the beginning tried to make it fun. like everyone's pulling out their pumps and saying, oh, you're going to get a pump soon. And actually, in my own community within like a few block radius there. We found like a whatsapp group. And there's a bunch of kids your age and, you know, we get them together, I guess pre COVID more than now, but really try to like, just show that it's normal. Like there's another kid in her school. And actually, one was just recently diagnosed. So that made it a lot easier. We have a really good set up with the nurses. So like she feels like even today. She was packing up her bag, and I said, like, make sure you have snack. Oh, I don't need snack. We're having a candy party today. Oh, yay. And she's like, and you're gonna let me eat whatever I want. Right? Of course, whatever you want. Just, you know, send me the pictures and we'll figure it out.

Scott Benner 36:50
What's your dad's vibe about management?

Nina Eizikovitz 36:53
Um, it he has a palm?

Scott Benner 36:58
I don't know. Marble in your voice just now you're like,

Nina Eizikovitz 37:02
Yeah, um, I feel like he's probably not as on top of things as he should be, I think is a Wednesdays are fine. I think like also, it gets busy. You know, like, the pump will be more like your low your Yeah, yeah, I'll get there. I'll get there. Like, I'm the same way sometimes. So I kind of feel like I can't fault him. But I also feel like because of the Dexcom it's like, Alright, I'm only 65 or I'm only 50. But I'm straight. It's okay. I've been 35 and I'm walking around. It's all good. It's all right. now's a good time to say nothing you hear on?

Scott Benner 37:38
Yeah, yeah. I think none of us are saying that being 35 is okay.

Nina Eizikovitz 37:42
No, it's not okay. It's definitely not okay. But I get times where you know, the pre Dexcom where I'm like, Oh, I feel a little low. Let me check. I'm like, Oh, look, I'm 35. I'm still stalking. Unbelievable. But I do not recommend it. You're

Scott Benner 37:55
fascinated by it while you're dealing with it. Exactly. I know. I already got into the like, into the mid 50s the other day. And I was like, Hey, you know, if you do something right now you can do it with food. I said, if you wait any longer, you're gonna have to do it with juice. I was like that. Those are your decisions right there, you know? And she's like, okay, and, but she's like, Alright, well, in a minute, I'm doing something. She wasn't, like panicked by it or anything like that. And she felt she said she felt fine. But I wonder what that means.

Nina Eizikovitz 38:25
Right? Well, the craziest thing is when like, even though I'm type one, and I know what a 50 or 65 is, when my daughter was first diagnosed, and she was 68. I was like, panic. Oh my gosh, oh, my gosh, she needs something Hurry up, hurry up. And I was like, Okay, wait a second. Like, I know what 68 is like, it's okay. She can use a juice box. She's gonna be fine.

Scott Benner 38:46
So that, yeah, that is really where I want to go. Next. I want to understand what the differences between having it and caring about somebody that has it.

Nina Eizikovitz 38:56
Yeah, it's a learning curve. It's definitely a learning curve. I couldn't get out of the hospital fast enough, because I just felt like they were trying to teach it. And the truth is, I will say I did because I never counted carbs before. I didn't need that learning because she went on a pump right away. Like even with my pump. I don't put carbs in. I just say two units, three units, five units, six units, whatever. Like so I've never did that part of it. So I did need that education, which would have taken me an hour probably to learn. They insisted on training classes outside hospital. And at one point I looked at them and I said we're done here like I don't have time for this, which is under control. I'll make you a deal for a one fee goes up after the next visit. I will come back and everyone agreed and we have not been back

Scott Benner 39:43
on either. They can't bill you for seven different specialties. They're just going to flip the package over and go see here were some carbohydrates.

Nina Eizikovitz 39:50
Exactly, exactly. As servings.

I like I couldn't anymore. I said I cannot sit here I don't have time for this and like I felt bad for my daughter. She wanted to get back to school. She was missing school. It was hard. And yeah, so that's how we handled that. But it's it's a different role like it's even when she goes low in school. We have a great setup with the nurses like I know people have spoken about this before. But we have a whatsapp group. The nurses have her blood sugar up on their computer screen all day. They're using nightscout. I believe my husband I get like he's a little bit of a techie. So he has set up different things. But they have it up on the computer screen. They'll leave you know, at the beginning, let last year and I'll two years ago, I was diagnosed 2019 Yeah, last school year, whatever school year they had last year before we live shut down. We started off where she went to the nurse to even though not to check because she had the Dexcom. But to right away like to Bolus What's her snack, bring it. And that's what we did for the whole school year in person last year. And it was fine. Like she was little I didn't want her putting things into the pump by herself. But we had a whatsapp group, we would always, you know, chat and text. And then this year, we decided because the truth is she was home with us a lot. So she the benefit, I guess of COVID of any benefit came out of it was that we she learned a lot because we were with her all day. So she was able to she's so quick on that pump. Sometimes I'm like Slow down, slow down and get to make sure you're not making a mistake. Like

Scott Benner 41:16
I watched Arden text the other day. And I just was mesmerized by watching her thumb fly around her phone. So honestly, those kids have skills. I don't know if they're marketable or not. But they're fascinating. Yeah, I can, I can definitely see your daughter like blowing through her pump room

Nina Eizikovitz 41:36
crazy. So the nurses were hesitant. I said, Look, we have a whatsapp group. My husband and I are very much on top of like the chat all day again, like my text pop up in my ear. So I know when she has a question or she's sending me. And what she does is she sent me a picture of the snack even though I usually know what it is because we've packed it but sends me a picture of the snack sends me a picture of what the pump looks like after she puts in the carbs. She waits for us to say okay, and she takes it. There have been one or two times where I kind of forget. And she like question mark, question mark. I'm like, sorry, sorry, you're good. You're good. But we all and it's been working, she feels that independence. Occasionally, you know, she'll start dipping down and she has this narrow straight down and the nurses get panicked. And I say guys like it's okay, like she just had a juice box, give it give you 10 minutes, like she's gonna come back up. And if she does it, she'll have another half a juice box. I don't want her to be 300 because we're overtreating. And they're very, very good about it. And the communication is great. Like, I just feel like WhatsApp groups are a lifesaver sometimes. And other times super annoying. But

Scott Benner 42:35
so is this group just your family? Or is it other people at the school?

Nina Eizikovitz 42:39
No. So it's that we actually have a few different groups have my daughter because she we she has a phone. So she we set up WhatsApp for her on her phone, my husband, myself and the two school nurses. Last year, we had the teachers on it. But this year, we felt like we didn't need to bother them with that, like if we needed them, we have other ways to reach them. So we have that whatsapp group. And then there's one with just my husband and myself and the nurses in case we have to talk behind my daughter's back about something that like is going on that she doesn't want to do or whatever. And we have that one lot of different groups going on. But for the most part, like everyone's very much on top of it. And you know, she's managing very well,

Scott Benner 43:16
I would imagine that part of the success to that is people being able to like, vibe with it, like not get too crazy or be too involved. But just realize that being able to see you say to her, Hey, what are you eating and her saying this and use it and agreeing on insulin and the nurse being able to just kind of look over her shoulder and go, okay, it's one o'clock, and she just had insulin. I don't need to be involved in this. It's good that I know. And then that's the

Nina Eizikovitz 43:41
exactly even like, sometimes, like after breakfast, you know, we try to reduce that spike, but sometimes she'll ends up trending low. So like she'll see 79, diagonal down, the nurse will What's up, should you take something and I said give her give her a minute watch. And then she hits 70, it starts beeping and she writes taking something. I'm like thumbs up great. Like she's on it. And I want to give her that independence. I don't want to hit it off at 79 let her get to 70. Because sometimes she straightens out at 77 and then ticks back up to 85. Right? Yeah, so he's like, we got to just watch it, like let it ride a little bit. I

Scott Benner 44:12
as much as I think this might not be demonstrative of a statement for some people. I think for a lot of people it is like you just have to know how to hang. And exactly, really, whether it's, you know, at a social setting or with diabetes, he needs to know like, when to speak up, window. Wait a minute, you know when to just lay back and see what's going to happen. There's a whole science that is in the science behind that around diabetes, and

Nina Eizikovitz 44:39
it changes every day. I always say like, just because it worked this way today, doesn't mean tomorrow is going to be the same thing, right? Just kind of everyday is new.

Scott Benner 44:47
I think years ago on the podcast. I used to say a lot like you have to have the balls to wait sometimes. Like right, yeah, just to kind of wait a second to see what's going to happen.

Nina Eizikovitz 44:56
So I think at the beginning that was very hard for me like I was like oh my gosh She's in the 50s Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. But now, if she has sugar in her eye, you have to give it a minute to hit like, you have to just wait it out of it. Yeah. So I've gotten a little bit more comfortable with that.

Scott Benner 45:14
I think that's a big leap for you, honestly. Because right away, like, the difference between you having diabetes, and her is you've never like you described yourself pretty clearly you were never concerned about your own safety. Right? Right. You always thought you were just okay. in control. Yeah. And but the minute I was trying to explain this to my son the other day, the minute you have a baby, the something like for some people, like a switch, get thrown in your head. And now you're just like, I am just here on this planet, to make sure that person doesn't get hurt, right, you know, and is happy. And those are my goals. I like my goals used to be so much more, but now it's just don't let that kid get hurt. Don't let them not be happy. And and it's different, isn't it? Well, there's active insulin in another person. And it isn't.

Nina Eizikovitz 46:03
When their actions are not predictable. Like she's a kid. She's like, I want to go to the trampoline. Now. I'm okay. And she, you know, slowly but surely, she knows Oh, I should probably have something before or I just had lunch and took insulin and wasn't planning on going in the trampoline. Maybe I should have a snack. Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Like certain activities, and she's learning and she needs to learn. But that

Scott Benner 46:23
unpredictable nature of it made you like anxious,

Nina Eizikovitz 46:28
not anxious, it's it goes along with it. I just feel like it goes hand in hand. You can't do anything about it. You just have to learn to live with it. It's just the truth. Yeah, it's just what it is. And even if she jumped on the trampoline for an hour today, and she went down, whatever, tomorrow, she could jump for the same hour and not move like it's just whatever she ate before. However insulin she has on board. It's all going to be different every day and Mary's right.

Scott Benner 46:54
And there are some foods that fight off the trampoline. And there are some that don't. Right. Yeah, that's fun. Yeah,

Nina Eizikovitz 47:00
there's other ones. One other thing I wanted to just mention, I don't know, I, I will say I have listened to almost all of the episodes. I'm a little bit behind.

Scott Benner 47:08
Thank you. But

Nina Eizikovitz 47:10
I'm getting there. And we're we're Orthodox Jews. So we have like a Thanksgiving meal. Well, really to every Friday night, and every Saturday lunch. So in addition to all the Jewish holidays, so I felt like that was like a something I wanted to just discuss, and mentioned how you know, people go crazy about Thanksgiving and Christmas and all those things. And I'm like, we do it every week, twice. And it's it's a lot. It's a lot of food. It's a lot of unpredictability, it's we you know, again, pre COVID we were at other people's houses, I didn't know what they were serving. You don't know what's coming out next. You kind of have to just roll with it,

Scott Benner 47:51
huh? Well, is there I am going to go backwards. Before I do anything. Is there any through line with heritage and type one?

Nina Eizikovitz 48:02
Like? I think so. Not that anyone's ever mentioned here,

Scott Benner 48:06
because I've been googling while you've been talking over the last hour, and I don't see it anywhere. And I wasn't sure of your

Nina Eizikovitz 48:16
like there's Ashkenazi Jewish like genetic testing that people do sometimes before they get married and things like that. I don't think that's mean. I'm 99% sure that's not part of it. So I don't think that's something that would come up.

Scott Benner 48:27
I tried Hasidic. And I tried orthodox. And I don't see any Google searches that put the two together. Before you before you said you were orthodox, I was just going through my like, my Jewish Rolodex in my trying to like, think of all the groups that I can think of. And there's there's no tie that I can find that that says that. So I was just wondering of it. But it's

Nina Eizikovitz 48:49
amazing. The resources like even like Passover is coming up. And there is a lot of matzah, carbs, wine, grape juice, like as part of the meal in addition to all the other food that's consumed in that like two to three hour period. And there's groups, there's WhatsApp groups, there's websites that break down the carbs and give alternatives and like the resources that are out there today are unbelievable.

Scott Benner 49:12
That's excellent. And so it's a big meal. A big carby meal twice a week. Yeah. And you don't have any trouble at all.

Nina Eizikovitz 49:22
I mean, again, does it have to be a big carb meal? No, you choose what you put in your mouth. But you're sitting down for basically two Thanksgiving dinners twice a week, or dinner and lunch. And it's just it's just a lot. I mean, again, you learn how to deal with it. Like I said, I don't count carbs. So like, I'll sit down and I'm like seven units like that's what I need. And sometimes it works and sometimes I think it works and then an hour or two later I there's a spike and and honestly those are things that I learned from my daughter, like protein spike, what is that about? And I hear you and Jenny talk about it. And I'm like, I've been doing this for 23 years. I I eat string cheese. I Turkey never thought twice about it. And I don't know that it always makes me rise. I'm pretty sure that there were times in my life where I've had, like I was on no carb diets, and I barely took any insulin. Yeah. But for some reason, at some times, there is a little bit of a spike.

Scott Benner 50:14
Well, and even if you're on a low carb regimen, the spike, you know, you should make quotes around like might not be 300 like you

Nina Eizikovitz 50:23
can I still have that Basal going. So it could be that the basil is just covering whatever spike there is,

Scott Benner 50:27
could be I you know, you don't see it all the I will say there are some things that without fail, I see an art and like French fries, from certain places, going to make her blood sugar go up like an hour, an hour and a half later, like, just going to that happens over and over again. But you know, the same potato not fried? I don't have as much trouble with,

Nina Eizikovitz 50:51
right, I know, we've learned I feel like you know, Dunkin Donuts, we've learned you want a bagel and you want a donut, no problem, we have this, this is what you need before, this is what you need during this is what you need when you finish. And like for the most part, we have it covered.

Scott Benner 51:02
You figured it out. It's trial and error. Yeah, listen, if you're not willing to take a couple of swings and Miss, you're not going to figure out a number of these things. It's, it's why you'll always hear me tell people you know, the the most common question that I get is either How much? Or how long? Everyone wants a number? How long should I do that? For? How much should I do? I don't know, like, try, you know, like, try a number when it works. go, Wow, I can't believe I got it the first time. Or if it doesn't work, make an adjustment and do it again. And that is incredibly difficult for so many people because they just are not empowered. And I hate to use like a cliche word like I feel like I'm about to say think outside of the box. But most people are not empowered to make decisions about their diabetes. And therefore they stick with this very basic, like whatever they got told first. And then when it doesn't work, they go, Oh, wow, diabetes is really unpredictable, isn't it.

Nina Eizikovitz 52:01
But even with the knowledge that I have, when my daughter was first put on the pump, and they put in her, you know, doses and everything, I was not I wasn't touching that. And I'm super confident in the care for her and what I do for myself, and I'll change my basil and my Bolus is constantly but with her, I was like, I'm not touching that. And then really, at one point, I'm like, this is ridiculous. What am I waiting to talk to the nurse for? Like, let me just so I took a screenshot of what her current regimen was like what the current setup was. And then I said, I'll play with it. Worst case, I put it back tomorrow. Let's see what happens. Yeah. And wouldn't you know, it fixed the problem that we were having. And like, once I did it once and I got comfortable with it. I don't have a problem playing with those things within reason. Just to kind of Oh, she's spiking from between two and 3am. Okay, let me raise her basil at midnight, like whatever it is. I'll play with those things a little bit to get it better. And if not, you ask for help. That's why those doctors exist besides the prescriptions that we need to get.

Scott Benner 53:00
I just did. While while we've been recording. I did a bump of like, you know, I talked about bumping and nudging for me but I just did it like Arden had something to eat. I was unaware of. She took care of it. I saw the insulin go in. And I thought, Oh, she must have eaten something was just my thought. And about an hour less than 45 minutes later, she started to drift up. I said, Did you eat something? And she said, Yes, you did a good job with it. I said, I think maybe it needs a little more. So we pushed down a little more. It didn't work. It tried to keep going back up. So we just, you know, we put more on it and it's leveling off and we'll come back now. I don't I don't think we are where we are without those little ideas. And I just think that those little things that you can do that stop you from staring at a blood sugar that it's climbing 121 4160 and you're just like, oh, maybe it'll stop like it ain't stopping. You know, you know? Yeah, when you do something about those little things. That's where Arden's a once he hits, like I'm waiting for people who are listening to realize that there's nothing magical going on in this house that has Arden's a one c steadily in the fives I think for like seven years now. Wow. You know, and so it's just, it's just we're meeting the need your body. Your body's telling you if you have a CGM it's telling you that you do not have enough insulin here

Nina Eizikovitz 54:30
it's not a set it and forget it type of situation never you can set it but you can never forget it and you have to constantly be adjusting for the needs. You know, as she grows the hormones all those things like I know we're gonna have to be on top of it. Sometimes it's like we have two or three nights where steady line straight as can be. And then the next night I'm like, what, where did that 200 come from? Like, we were just 118 out of nowhere, but then the next night we're

Scott Benner 54:57
all the hormone stuff stocks. It's so terrible. It's just so much extra work. And I swear to you, I have a boy and a girl. Hormones hit boys. Definitely it makes them Superman in their minds. They're just like, I don't know if you have any boys, but three girls and a boy. Yeah. How old is the boy? Almost 14. It's just about starting to happen now. And like, but it gets to like, I know everything I can do everything, you can't stop me. I'm like a locomotive like that feeling from them. And that's the hormone thing. And then there's, with the girls are just, it's more of like, it's not like the emotional stuff. And the and the, you know, the stuff that you see in blood sugar that you wouldn't see if they didn't have type one. But, you know, when somebody's blood sugar is low, and they're feeling emotional. And you're like, Hey, you know what I think we should do? And they're in the middle of wanting to feel more independent. They're not like, Oh, no, please tell me what is it? You think we should? It doesn't work that way. Don't leave me alone. Oh, okay. Great. Hold on. Yeah, I don't know, which I prefer. Because both sucks. Like, if somebody if listened to laying out parenting could be done very simply, I would tell you like, right until they start turning into adults. It's kind of great. And then it's almost like you have to live through this part to get to the part where they stop, like getting, you know, a barrage with all those hormones. I can't wait to see if I still like them when they get old. Or if they like me. Yeah, the best parts in the beginning, we should all just like, like, take in, like a homeless kid. And then get them to the hormones and then give them that I don't know, give Is there someone to give it back to I don't know, I'm just saying there's a great time for children. And it's from when they're born until whenever that thing starts. And then my God, here it comes. But and then it impacts the blood sugars in the same way. But your sound like you're doing really well with your daughter at the moment like, and

Nina Eizikovitz 57:00
your last day when she was six. I'm pretty happy with that. And I also like as much as I'm a control freak, in many ways. Okay, if she rises to 200, she's not there for an hour, she's never sit mean, we don't like her to be sitting at 200 at 180, whatever, or even higher for a long period of time. But sometimes you're like, you know, you just gave her insulin, you know, she's eating and like, she's gonna come down. And if I touch it, she's gonna drop. So sometimes I let it ride for a little bit. And then I'm like, okay, not moving. Let's go. We got to bring this down. Yeah.

Scott Benner 57:33
And that that comes with that comes with experience to like being able to see the difference between like, if I let this go for a little it's going to, you know, there's enough insulin in there to take care of it. I'll turn around right where when you let it go and realize that your pumps site is going bad. You didn't realize it?

Nina Eizikovitz 57:48
Oh, Weiss was amazing. One night last week. She was like totally like 95 before bed. She had had a snack. And I said okay, like, let's see if she took enough. Let's see what happens. straightline amazing. And then she's 125 diagonal up, she goes to 144 straight up. I'm like, what is going on, like out of nowhere. So I go to and she has she's on control IQ. And we do not use sleep mode for the most part. So it does Auto Bolus does auto you know, increase the basil. But at the same time, I sometimes will have to go down and still do my own thing a little bit. So went down to my bedrooms upstairs, she's downstairs, I go down. I'm like, Okay, let me the pump gave her point to five. Let me give a little bit more, give her more. Come back up. And I have this is one also a great tip. I'll just interrupt myself. We have in our bedroom, like a computer screen that we have with our number up all night long, like through night scout. So sugar mate, night Scout, I think at night scout. And that way, like I roll over in the middle of the night, I don't have to pick up my phone, it makes noise and it's like this big bright number. I find that very helpful. So I see that her number is still going up. And now she's like 202 hours up and like also on half asleep at this point. It's like one o'clock in the morning, two o'clock in the morning. I'm like, forget it. I'm just changing her pump like it was fine all day, something must have happened. She must have rolled over on it. So I prepare the cartridge, bring it downstairs. And like I rolled her over and I'm like, what, what her pump was not connected. I must have disconnected it somehow. And I'm like, Are you kidding me? So I've been bolusing the insulin drop dripping off onto her bed. Oh, okay. So I was happy. I didn't have to wake her up because she would never want me to change it while she's sleeping. That was a deal we made. I will never fingerprick or change pump unless I wake her first. So I was happy that I caught it. I was like, how did that happen? And then of course in the morning I'm like, did you put it back on after you shower like we're going through this whole thing and you know, she probably just disconnected in her sleep.

Scott Benner 59:52
Yeah, I have to say that if it wasn't so late in the episode, I would stop right here and do an ad for Omnipod

Nina Eizikovitz 59:57
Omnipod. I know

Scott Benner 1:00:02
Well, it's you know, what you just described is what some like lifers will tell you the reason why they don't want to pump because if that thing gets disconnected, I'm going to go into DK, which is exactly what would happen to her if you didn't if you weren't watching her.

Nina Eizikovitz 1:00:14
Honestly, I feel like worst case scenario, if it would have gone the whole night like that, I don't know that she would have been 400. Like she had insulin in her. Again, I don't know. I just feel like by morning, we would have realized her she got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, she would have seen whatever it is, but to me, there's always a reason. Like, if it's not working, either the site is bad, or it's disconnected or the insulin is bad. So after a little bit of like, there's always a certain like limit where I say, okay, we've Bolus a couple times the arrows aren't moving. She's not budging. We got to change the site. And if we change the site, does that like take the site off? And I'm like, it's perfectly straight. It's not bad, like, great. Is it the insula Now, let's change the insulin out.

Scott Benner 1:01:01
So I've come to think of it as is the insulin doing what I expect it to do? Like, am I getting the response that I that I expect based on my history, like I Bolus here for this number in this situation? Here's what I expect to happen next. If that's not happening, then I start thinking is the site okay? I have to be honest, I never really think is the insulin okay. Like, I know, I know, people are like, my insulin went bad. But that seems so like. I don't know, that seems like the last thing I

Nina Eizikovitz 1:01:33
know, I never had like, before my daughter was diagnosed, I don't think I ever would have thought of that. But now I feel like you're grasping at straws. You're trying to figure out a reason like, well, if it's not this, it's not this must be this, it must be the insulin then like, and sometimes I'll change it all. And then before I even like, click it back in, double arrow down, I'm like, go see it was working and just needed another 15 minutes.

Scott Benner 1:01:56
I feel like I'd love to be a therapist right now. And just ask you, Nina, why do you love her more than you love yourself? It is fascinating. I, this podcast has taught me a lot over the years. And one of the things I have learned that I think is absolute rock solid, I will never, you'll never be able to tell me differently is that when people feel like they're doing things for other people, it often makes it I don't know, it makes it resonate for them. It makes it important for them. It makes them prioritize things differently. The amount of like young girls who come on here, and they're like, Oh, 1718 2023, I didn't really take care of it. And then I met someone and I started thinking about having a family and then I got my agency together. Or I got married and then you know, I didn't want this girl to have to worry about me. It's I had a baby, you know, and I wanted to do it. It's fascinating how, like, I don't like I was kind of joking. I don't think we all need to go to therapy. I just think it seems to be a very human thing, that when it's for you, you know, you'll keep yourself alive. But when it's for someone else, it just ratchets things up. It's very fascinating. It happened to you.

Nina Eizikovitz 1:03:16
Yeah, I mean, look, I think I was always in control. But I wasn't like obsessive about it.

Scott Benner 1:03:22
And you went from the lady walking around Israel with rubbery legs to the lady with a computer screen in a room that has your daughter's blood sugar on? Well, I guess from your perspective. When you say it like that, yeah. Well, you mean like when I'm paying attention all the details? Yeah.

Nina Eizikovitz 1:03:37
I also but but that's what I'm saying. I learned more about how to care for myself. Because of how I'm caring for my daughter. Like, I have changed a few things. Like instead of me letting like my, my low is at 70 my highest now I think at 180. And again, there were times maybe my high used to be a 200. But there were times where I just like it was beeping, I'm hot. Yeah, okay, fine. I'm not low, I'm not gonna pass out. It's fine. It's fine. I'll deal with it later. But now I try not to do that. I really try. One of the reasons that I haven't switched on the Medtronic pump is because I can do a remote Bolus to me that is I would love for and I know Omnipod is all remote Bolus, I think from what I understand.

Scott Benner 1:04:18
By just like, you don't have to actually pull the pump out to do it correct.

Nina Eizikovitz 1:04:20
Like you don't have to pull out a device. It actually the Contour. Next One meter is also the remote. Really, it links up. It's very cool. Um, it links up with the Medtronic pump, and you Bolus right from the meter.

Scott Benner 1:04:34
Okay, so on the pod right now, in March of 2021 has like a little, like PDM thing that's not connected to anything and it's like a looks like a little cell phone and you pull it out, right? Just do the thing. I think that most of the companies are trying to get to a cell phone control, right?

Nina Eizikovitz 1:04:53
I'm waiting for that day. Yeah, just newer devices, fewer things. Hopefully less noise guys, listen to me, please.

Scott Benner 1:05:01
The FDA is not gonna let them take the beeps away, I don't think. But I hear you like, sometimes you're like, Yes, I heard it.

Nina Eizikovitz 1:05:07
Just Options, Options for a little bit of a lesser despoil, maybe like something,

Scott Benner 1:05:12
I always talk to them about, like, I always bring up like all the companies that I talked to. I'm like, you know, if you ever use like Photoshop Elements is a good example. Yeah, you open it up at the top, across the top, it says something like beginner intermediate expert, like that. That's amazing. And that would be awesome. And when you click on one of the other, it simplifies the app, beginners get a more simplified app medium gets a little more tools expert gets full control,

Nina Eizikovitz 1:05:39
you're a beginner, you need loud noises, I'm all for that.

Scott Benner 1:05:43
You know, they have again, the FAA is not gonna let them. But I hear what you're saying, Well, you can't tell you can't tell somebody, this thing is gonna tell you if your blood sugar gets too low, except you can shut it off. Right,

Nina Eizikovitz 1:05:53
I get it, I get it. Yeah, you

Scott Benner 1:05:55
can stop wanting that.

Nina Eizikovitz 1:05:59
That remote Bolus feature is a huge plus for me, because I just two seconds. Again, because I'm not so public about it, I'm not going to just pull my pump out and start Bolus in or even pull out a PDM and start Bolus. And this is literally like, you know, the size of the meter. It's a little rectangle, it's nothing.

Scott Benner 1:06:15
There's like a little remote control for it. Yeah. And it's

Nina Eizikovitz 1:06:19
just like, no, very discreet. No one knows what I'm doing, you know, two seconds, and I'm done. So I can bring that 180 back down pretty fast. But you know, assuming that I'm not doing 10 other things at the same time,

Scott Benner 1:06:29
but that Medtronic pumps, not a loop. So you're using a Dexcom. With that. It's not a

Nina Eizikovitz 1:06:33
it is a loop. But I wouldn't give up the Dexcom for anything. Okay, it doesn't work with Dexcom. It has its own sensor that I was my daughter and I were never a fan of. So I am not looping and my daughter is looping. And I'm kind of jealous of her looping because I see what it does. And I'm like, that would be amazing if I didn't have to think about my 170 because it's being attacked on its own.

Scott Benner 1:06:55
So your daughter's using control IQ with tandem. Why don't you just switch that?

Nina Eizikovitz 1:06:58
Because tandem doesn't have a remote Bolus feature. So tandem when you're ready for that? I'm on board,

Scott Benner 1:07:04
you are very fickle.

Nina Eizikovitz 1:07:07
I am. Yeah. You know what, though, it works for me. This is what I keep saying because my doctor also keeps pushing me go on tandem. And at one point I had an insurance issue when they only cover the Medtronic and I when my daughter was diagnosed, I fought for nine months to get the tandem covered. We finally won. And three days later, that insurance company covered tandem. You kidding me

Scott Benner 1:07:30
before we move on? Because I have another question for you. I know we're up on time. But I have one more question for you. But redo Can I make an observation, please? Okay. You told me that you fought getting a pump forever. And then you had your reasons why, then someone you did it. And then you thought, why did I never do this before? And now you're telling me because of the way the thing you pull out of your pocket to give yourself insulin, you don't want to move to an algorithm. I just want to say this seems like a repeat of the last thing. You are 1,000% correct. That's why the podcast is great people 1,000% correct. But again,

Nina Eizikovitz 1:08:07
there's a there's a limit to everything. And there's only so much I'm willing to change. But it does come down to the noises like it's not just about taking the pump out that tandem pump beeps a lot constantly. Like because I guess because I'm not looping. I guess if I was looping with the Medtronic, it would also be blocked.

Scott Benner 1:08:27
I don't know why. I'm trying to figure out why the beat I don't I've never like used the tandem pumps on that

Nina Eizikovitz 1:08:33
way maybe because the way we have my daughter settings if she's going hi beeps that she's going look I want her to know in school like she's not pulling it out to check every day. She only knows she's low when it beeps. I

Scott Benner 1:08:43
don't know if that's the pump that maybe that's her settings. What's her high alarm at?

Nina Eizikovitz 1:08:47
Right. So I'm saying maybe that's why she's beeping so much. She's also at 180

Scott Benner 1:08:51
Hmm, oh, Arden's high alarm set at 120 on my phone.

Nina Eizikovitz 1:08:54
Yeah, I know, I know, Scott, we all can't be like you.

Scott Benner 1:08:57
Well, what do you mean, there's nothing to be like. It's the same thing. And one ad is 120 the cell

Nina Eizikovitz 1:09:02
but honestly, like if she was her high alarm was at 120 she would be alerting all day long. Like I can't have a nine year old and third grade like he's dead on top of it. As she gets older, I think we'll we'll change those things and try to have a little bit of tighter control. But at some point, like I my feeling is you got to let a kid be a kid within a certain range.

Scott Benner 1:09:20
So I want to say that I agree with everything you said, except for the idea that a lower threshold means it'll be forever I think a lower threshold changes your actions. And then those actions stop you from reaching the threshold. So it doesn't, it doesn't be forever it beeps until your it beeps until you start

Nina Eizikovitz 1:09:44
with 120 or one at the point

Scott Benner 1:09:47
it's not even that it's more like you, you Pre-Bolus a little better or you cover the meal a little better. Like once you once you learn like it's not learn like cognitively learn. It's the idea of If I do this at a meal, I never get the 130. So I'll just make sure I do this the meal, then I don't get a beep. And then that becomes commonplace for you. And then before you know it, there's no beeping, and there's no rising.

Nina Eizikovitz 1:10:13
Well, then I need a one on one. I need some more coaching, then

Scott Benner 1:10:17
I'm busy noon, I cannot

Nina Eizikovitz 1:10:20
get enough on your

Scott Benner 1:10:21
plate. Leave me alone. Okay. Now I know what I wanted to. I wanted to ask you. Because you kind of like said it. And we never got back to it. I just want to understand at the end, it's kind of helpful for me. How did you find the podcast? You just searched for it? Or somebody told you

Nina Eizikovitz 1:10:36
I think I started looking for parent groups on Facebook. Like while I was sitting in the hospital that first night. And I was just like, trying to find something to like, you know, calm my fears and like some normalcy and like other people out there. And I'm one of the threads someone mentioned Juicebox Podcast and I said like Juicebox Podcast, what is that? And I'm also what a cute name. Thank you. I loved it. And right away, I found your Facebook page. I didn't start listening to the podcast probably for a while after just because I needed like, I didn't have free time. Every one of my free minutes was busy on you know, doctor's appointments and learning and regimen and everything. But I think once she was back in school, I started listening. And I remember like, every my kids would make fun of me, you know, bumping nudge. Okay, bold with insulin. Okay, stop. We know that with your podcast, we know. But I really tried like i was i was i was it gave me the confidence to be bolder, even though I did it to myself, I always did that I had no problem. Big deal. So if I go a little low, I'll take some juice, I'll eat some sugar, big deal. Like I'd rather be a little on the lower side than be high. But I don't think I would have had the courage to do it. If I didn't listen to the podcast and hear everything you say and your guests say and it just gave me the competence to say okay, and I actually had my daughter on a Dexcom immediately because I had an extra Luckily, I had an extra transmitter and sensor in my house. Yeah. And I was like, I was I was afraid to put it on her. Like I said to the doctor, like this is okay. Right? Like, I could just do it. Nothing is good. Even though I know you put one on like, of course, you could just do it. But I just I was afraid to make a move without a doctor telling me it was okay. I

Scott Benner 1:12:14
wonder if you realize how valuable this conversation has been to just to hear you Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde through the entire thing. Like and I don't mean that in like a funny way. Like, I really think for people listening, I'm happy. Yeah, it's incredibly valuable. Like you have this kind of bold I can do it. This is not a problem better low than high attitude for yourself, then your daughter gets it. And you're the incredibly, you're incredibly opposite of that just at

Nina Eizikovitz 1:12:41
the beginning. Yeah, I just needed that like adjustment period. And honestly, I'm putting it out there like, um, feel free to share my contact information. Like I love talking to parents who need that, like, just diagnosed like, Is life ever gonna get back to normal? Because like, I've been there you have it as a kid. And as a parent,

Scott Benner 1:12:59
I feel like you're undervaluing the reach of this podcast, we're not going to share your contact information.

Nina Eizikovitz 1:13:03
Well, I'm not saying share it right now.

Scott Benner 1:13:04
But But anybody reach out?

Nina Eizikovitz 1:13:06
I really am happy. I'm not a nurse. I'm not a doctor. I'm not giving medical advice. But I just I know what it's like to be there.

Scott Benner 1:13:12
Are you in the private Facebook group or just the public one? I'm not sure we'd love the private one.

Nina Eizikovitz 1:13:19
Oh, well,

Scott Benner 1:13:20
then it's Juicebox Podcast, type one diabetes, you have to answer a couple of questions to get into prove your one that one that one's kicking. It's like up to 10,000.

Nina Eizikovitz 1:13:29
I'll double check. I think I am in the private one. Next. I do remember answering questions like are you a parent Do you have and I was like, I don't know if there was an option for both. And I was like, which one? Do I

Scott Benner 1:13:38
pick? Yeah, go there. That Yeah. Right. And my parents were more

Nina Eizikovitz 1:13:42
personal type. But I think I picked a kid for that one. Because that's what I discovered it.

Scott Benner 1:13:46
Can I be both? Right? I didn't realize I had to put that in as I'm not so active

Nina Eizikovitz 1:13:50
on it. Like I really my My days are consumed with working.

Scott Benner 1:13:55
If you want to meet people there that that that is an incredibly active page.

Nina Eizikovitz 1:14:00
Right. All right. I'm happy to be of help if I can't anybody. Been there, done that.

Scott Benner 1:14:03
I appreciate that. So the podcast just kind of gave you confidence.

Nina Eizikovitz 1:14:07
Yeah, it really just made me feel like it was someone whispering in my ear. It's okay. But only when I had the Dexcom. Like, I never would have done anything without being able to see that number. Like there when that Dexcom outage happened. I was like, paralyzed. I was how are you going to sleep tonight? What are we going to do? And then I started thinking like, How did my mother do this? Like my brother was diagnosed almost at the same age. How did she send them on the school bus? Yeah,

Scott Benner 1:14:32
they didn't. He didn't know anything was and she's the older and so on.

Nina Eizikovitz 1:14:35
Yeah, like I just was like, how do you that CGM is just a lifesaver in my mind. And anyone who has the ability to get one who doesn't is really just missing out? I think that you don't know what you're missing until you get it

Scott Benner 1:14:48
says the lady who won't move to an algorithm because

Nina Eizikovitz 1:14:52
I'm ready to move. I just need them to tweak things. Listen, I've spoken to the pump companies. They don't want to listen to me, but I told them What I need if

Scott Benner 1:15:00
these large corporations would just do what you asked them to do, you could loop no problem. I'm I'm fascinated how the word loop has become like Kleenex. Yeah, because your daughter's using control IQ, somebody who's going to be using by the time this comes out people will be using on the pod five. These are just different algorithms made by different companies. But somehow the word loop has become synonymous with using an algorithm based system. It's it's very, very interesting how but

Nina Eizikovitz 1:15:31
I do remember years ago, like someone telling me you can hack your pump. And you could make it this is before anyone really came out with an official loop? And I was like, What? Why would I want to mess with that? Like, I'm good. Everything was good.

Scott Benner 1:15:43
I can't tell you how well it works. It's really, it really works great. It just really does. I'm,

Nina Eizikovitz 1:15:50
I'll get there. Yeah,

Scott Benner 1:15:51
I've I think there's a time where people will hear this conversation. And it won't be that far in the future. And every major company is going to have an algorithm based system that's going to make adjustments to your blood sugar. And forward to that time, and most people I think, who can get their settings? Right? in those systems are gonna see a one season the six is probably with very little trouble.

Nina Eizikovitz 1:16:20
Right? It's amazing. I mean, technology has come far.

Scott Benner 1:16:24
That's my guess. I don't know if I'm right or not. But that that is my guess. And I'm excited to say it. That's for certain because even your daughter who, you know, like, let's be honest, she's only had diabetes for a year and a half. She's 15. Like she's got her nine. She's me nine. She's got her. She's got her agency at a at a six. You know, you take that algorithm from her. I bet you she's not a six. Do you think? Oh, for sure not? Yeah. So this is this is a super exciting time for people using insulin. It really is. I'm thrilled you did this. You were terrific. Oh, thanks so much. I felt like you had you knew what you wanted to say. And you're in control of it. And it makes it easier for me. So thank you for having no I really, I can't tell you this is a it's easier to talk to people from New Jersey for me, because you're talking fast. I'm talking fast. Nobody's like, please don't tell me to slow down. I was trying so hard. No, no, I don't mean fast in a bad way. Like, like, we're if I had something to say, and you were still talking. So it's a really interesting kind of East Coast thing, right? If you're talking, you're going along, making a point. And I feel like oh, here's where I'm going to say what I'm going to say right, this fits, and I'm wrong. You just keep talking people which is great, because I do the same thing. People from like, other parts of the country stop. And they're like, Oh, I'm sorry. I'm like, I might, in the back of my head. I'm thinking to just keep talking. Like, like I was wrong. Let's get past it. Like I tried to jump in at the wrong spot at school, but they'll stop that like, Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm like, No, it's okay. Go ahead. Then they're polite. They're like, No, you go and I'm like, What the hell? Like, the roll together? Yeah, you couldn't make it three blocks in Manhattan. What do you think of that? Just steamroll, keep going, you got a thought Keep it up. I screwed up. And and then I feel bad when I do it. Like when, you know, like when I'm talking and I don't stop for a second. Some people don't have the ability to jump in. And I see conversation is like a very like, like fluid back and forth thing. But there are some people who think of it as like, you talk until you're completely finished talking. And then I'll talk until I'm completely finished talking and I'm like, Oh, geez, I don't know. Like, I like the I liked the banter. So thank you. I thought it was terrific. My pleasure.

I knew I was going to enjoy talking to Nina from the very first sentence that she spoke. She gave me her birthdate or something and left the math up in the air and she goes, I'm gonna let you do the math. And without pausing, she then told me the answer and I thought this is gonna be fun, and she did not disappoint. Thank you very much, Nina. I'd also like to extend a huge thank you to one of today's sponsors. g Vogue glucagon. Find out more about chivo Kibo pen at G Vogue glucagon.com Ford slash juice box, you spell that? g VOKEGL Uc ag o n.com. forward slash juice box.

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