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Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, and welcome to season eight of the Juicebox Podcast. This is episode 605.

Welcome again to season eight of the Juicebox Podcast the Juicebox Podcast began in January of 2015. And here we are in January of 2022. Happy New Year to everyone. And thank you for listening to the show. On today's episode, we start the year off with Martha Andrews. Martha is the mother of four grown children, one of whom was diagnosed with type one diabetes when they were nine years old. He's all grown up now, and he's got a pretty cool job. You're going to enjoy this episode, it's going to go in a bunch of different directions. So whether or not you're a sports fan, the parent of a child with type one or an adult living with type one, this one's gonna have something for each and every one of you. While you're listening today, please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan, or becoming bold with insulin.

This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by the Dexcom G six continuous glucose monitor, please head over to dexcom.com Ford slash juice box to learn more and get started today. The podcast is also sponsored by Omni pod makers of the Omni pod dash, you can find out more and again get started at Omni pod.com forward slash juicebox. There are links in the show notes to these and all of the sponsors of the Juicebox Podcast. You can even find those links at juicebox podcast.com.

Martha Andrews 2:12
Hi, Martha Andrews, parent of a type one diabetic and live in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Scott Benner 2:18
Hi, Martha. Thank you for doing this. Sure. I really appreciate it. Let's see. Where do we start? Do you how many children do you have?

Martha Andrews 2:26
I have four four.

Scott Benner 2:28
Are they reasonably spaced together?

Martha Andrews 2:31
They're each about two years or less. Between but two grades between each other?

Scott Benner 2:36
That seems reasonable to me enough time to catch your breath. Right?

Martha Andrews 2:40
Yes, but not didn't seem reasonable at the time. But yes, now that I've gotten past all of the hard stuff, it seems reasonable.

Scott Benner 2:48
Did you feel like you're just doing the same thing over and over again, as they were growing up and and getting worse

Martha Andrews 2:52
and worse at it?

Scott Benner 2:54
You were getting? Were you getting worse at it? Or did you just care a little less as it went on?

Martha Andrews 3:00
Well, it's just you know, it's each one had their own individual issues that you have to deal with and, and getting them all through them at the same time and dealing with it. It just became a lot of work. It was fun. It was a lot of fun. But you know, I have three times like, I don't know if I can keep doing it like, Okay,

Scott Benner 3:21
well, of the four children. You have one with type one. Do any of the other kids have other autoimmune issues or type one?

Martha Andrews 3:29
None? Nope. Just mark. Just mark Okay,

Scott Benner 3:33
where does he fall in the line of the four kids?

Martha Andrews 3:36
He's my youngest. He's the baby.

Scott Benner 3:39
How old the oldest?

Martha Andrews 3:41
He just turned 32. Okay,

Scott Benner 3:44
and marks 26. Is that right? Yes. Okay. Are all the kids athletic?

Martha Andrews 3:51
Every one of them. They, they all are very, very competitive. Whether it's getting to bed first brushing their teeth first finishing their plate first. scoring the first goal. It was always a competition.

Scott Benner 4:07
Walking through a doorframe just just absolutely. So did you spend most of your life going to children's sporting events?

Martha Andrews 4:17
All of my life once I started having kids. It was every night, every weekend traveling? It was pretty intense. Actually.

Scott Benner 4:29
Yeah. No, I found it to be more than I expected. I sometimes my son just plays college baseball. And just I Yeah, well, that's impressive. It is but I find myself telling people listen, unless your kids are just like love, love, love it. Just do it for fun inside of the season. There's no reason to travel or, you know, go to another state to play. You just try to enjoy it because there were times where it felt like a job for me. I don't I don't think for him ever but

Martha Andrews 5:00
I think people would say, you know, they're gonna get a scholarship and you're like, some money we've spent on their sports, we could pay for full college tuition.

Scott Benner 5:10
I think I may be broke even. And Mike's son gets a fair amount of money. And he's like, I'm saving you all this money. He's like, Are you forgetting all the sandwiches, we bought it delis and the gasoline in the hotel. So you could learn to be slightly better at this than the next person, you know?

Martha Andrews 5:30
Well, it's a lot of fun to watch him do what they love.

Scott Benner 5:33
Yeah, I have to say that Cole's a senior this year. So the spring coming up is, you know, his last of his undergrad year, because of COVID. He's going to have some NCAA ability to keep playing, you know, Brian gave him back some of their eligibility. So I'm kind of hoping he'll he'll maybe go to grad school or something and play a little more or, or I don't even know what I just I

Martha Andrews 5:58
have plans to maybe go professional. He Well,

Scott Benner 6:01
it's his whole, I'm gonna tell you that. I don't know, I could have gotten him into college if he wasn't playing baseball. And he's a very good student taking a fairly difficult my son's getting a quantitative econ degree. Oh, my gosh, and I still tell you, I'm not sure you would have went to college if you couldn't play baseball. So it is what he thinks about. You know, that's awesome. Yeah. So we'll see. I know, he's gonna try until he fails or his body blows up. I I've come to the conclusion that there's no amount of anything that's going to get him to stop. So we'll see what happens. But he's not what

Martha Andrews 6:36
it takes. You have to be driven for sure. He's got that part.

Scott Benner 6:39
That's for sure. He didn't grow quite like your son. Did though. Did the boy come out that size? Or?

Martha Andrews 6:45
Yes. He was a nice size when he was born. But from shortly after he was standing, it was obvious that he was pretty much taller than everybody else

Scott Benner 6:59
bigger than your husband. Yes. Okay. And you're not a particularly tall person.

Martha Andrews 7:03
I'm 510. I'm the shortest my daughter's six foot. I have a son that six to one at six, four and then mark that six, six.

Scott Benner 7:12
Well, you are tall, then. I mean, I don't you know, 510 Relatively speaking,

Martha Andrews 7:17
I am Yes, I was tall till I got in this family.

Scott Benner 7:21
I always I always kind of I don't laugh, Martha. But sometimes you see the parents, and they have a tiny little kid. And, you know, and the husband's five, six, and the wife's five, two, and they're like he's gonna play in college. And I'm like, no, no, it's not. Something crazy is about to happen. But yeah, so when did he start growing? Like, when did you think wow, this is? I guess we I guess if you had older children, you already knew your kids were kind of bigger to begin with.

Martha Andrews 7:47
They all were tall. And so he in our family, he you know, he stayed he was he was shorter than a sister. And then, I think probably around end of elementary or middle school, he got taller than she was. Um, and and then he just kept going and he was really skinny.

Scott Benner 8:09
Okay, in high school. Yeah. Do you fill out in high school because he went through a legitimate football college too. So?

Martha Andrews 8:17
Yes. You he was pretty thin. I mean, he at six, six, he was probably 200 pounds. Maybe. When he went off to college?

Scott Benner 8:28
No, no kidding. Well, and then that's big for a high schooler and small in high

Martha Andrews 8:33
school. He was definitely tall. And I think he worked out so much that meaning running and doing things like that it was hard for him to keep weight on.

Scott Benner 8:44
Okay. My son talks about that all the time. He said they drag us into a gym to put on weight, and then they take us outside and run it right. I just found it. He's like, it's like the one hands not talking to the other one. So, um, Listen, did he play football, like peewee was it better? No, no,

Martha Andrews 9:02
no, no, no. He was He loved soccer, baseball. Basketball. You didn't start football until ninth grade?

Scott Benner 9:11
No kidding. So as he was kind of going into high school, yes. Sorry. While you were watching him, like when does it first occur to you like when do you and your husband like you're married? Right? I'm sorry. Yes, yeah. When do your husband lean into each other and go? He's gonna do this in college?

Martha Andrews 9:28
Ah, not until like the coaches started calling. Really? Okay. Yeah. You know, we've always been hearing all of our children were talented, they were all great athletes, they could have gone and played a sport in college if they'd wanted to. And you know, that you have to love what you do to be able to get to that point and we just hear about that funnel. And so we just really pushed school and it probably wasn't going to be a reality of getting to play sports in college. Like we didn't even like to talk about

Scott Benner 10:06
it. Okay? So it wasn't something that you've just looked at him and thought this is beta complete this has to happen. He just looks like a perfect because like, for know, when my son started high school, he came home one day and he goes, Yo, there's a kid on our football team. And this high school was not some like, you know, I mean, it's a northeast school. It's not a powerhouse for football or anything like that. And he goes, there's a kid on our high school team. He's like, he's gonna easily play in college. And I was like, really goes, he's an offensive lineman, like you should see him. And before I could even get a chance to see him some private schools scooped him up and took him right away. Oh, really? I believe he started for Penn State. So, you know, you could just like my son could say it, like everybody could see it. But Mark wasn't that person. Right? Well,

Martha Andrews 10:48
I mean, when he started playing football, and he could have played basketball in college. Yeah, he quit soccer just because he was so much bigger than everybody else. He got picked on a lot. He couldn't. He couldn't pick back because he was the biggest person on the field. It was a really frustrating experience for him.

Scott Benner 11:07
And are you saying that they get chippy with him, but he couldn't chip back.

Martha Andrews 11:11
He couldn't get snippy with them, right. And he's like, I'm done. You know, even from when he was little, they'd say, he drove here. He's like, he's 12. He did not drive here.

Scott Benner 11:24
That kid. That kid back that guy's kids are watching the game from the stance. Trust me, we've all made that joke if we'd been involved in youth sports,

Martha Andrews 11:32
absolutely. And so that was frustrating to him. But he had started to compete at basketball at a really high level. And when he started playing football at the same time, he had a coach that he worked with a lot. He was a volunteer football coach, he played for Nebraska. And he said, Mark, how many people are on a football team? And how many people are on a basketball team? And he said, How many people on a basketball team are six, six or are taller? How many on a on a football team? How many how many receivers Do you see that are six, six. And he kind of just got him thinking, you know, if you want to play sports in college, let's start thinking of where you have the best opportunity. And so that kind of was a mind shift. He loved basketball. He loved playing it for this his high school, he loved his coach. But he he just stopped the club version of that and focused on football from that point on. And his very first game was the very first time someone came up to us and said, I mean, he just we were in shock. Our mouth was open, we had no idea he could do what he did and and the other coach from the other side said we're gonna see him on Sunday

Scott Benner 13:06
I think people might imagine it's just the size but there's a fluidity and and athleticism and you know, speed like it. Where it becomes really uncommon is to be all of those things at that size, and have the drive to do it and everything else that comes with it. It's saying it's an uncommon mix. Are your other children magically good at other things? Are you a witch? Like what is it we all know? About? You know, do you sometimes look up and think it's crazy? Word or is it normal to you now? I mean, you and I to have

Martha Andrews 13:41
mark or a to have all all my kids are incredibly successful. Yeah. And I've been very fortunate. I've kind of it's almost not embarrassing, but you know, people ask what do your children do? And I'm like, you know, I kind of played off but I really want to say I mean my kids are amazing. It's really bad say like that, but they are they've made something of each one has just become the best at what they do. And I it it is really heartwarming as a parent to know that they're doing what they love, and they're so good at it.

Scott Benner 14:19
Is it hard to want to talk about the other three? Because, you know, eventually you're gonna have to say in marks at tight end?

Martha Andrews 14:24
I know. It is. Yeah, I say but you know, his brother's a doctor, his sister's a dentist, his other brothers are really successful business in real estate. You know, I want to, I want to tell them that, but they don't really care.

Scott Benner 14:36
Yeah, well, that's what I started wondering. Like, if that's what you meant, that just doesn't matter. Like you could be like, this one's a physicist and an astronaut on the weekends. And they'd be like, could you just tell me about the guy that catches the football players? Exactly.

Martha Andrews 14:49
Yeah. Yeah, that's, well, they're they're really proud of him to oh,

Scott Benner 14:53
I would imagine that's really cool. Do you get to see him play much in person anymore?

Martha Andrews 14:58
Um, you know since COVID, Did we kind of definitely pulled back and him watching on TV is so much nicer than being? Well, first of all, I vowed never to go to an opposing teams, you know, watch him as a visitor. I don't like that. It's, it's uncomfortable. It's not the friendliest place to be. I do like going and watching and in Baltimore and being able to see him and we didn't go this year. I mean, we're still a little COVID leery. We don't want to put him at risk from traveling or anything else like that. So we think his brother's been, and I think both brothers have been this year.

Scott Benner 15:40
Are you saying that it's hard to cheer for him in front of people who are cursing at them? Yes. Is it? Is it just hard for you to hear it?

Martha Andrews 15:48
No, not? Well, maybe a little bit. But as my husband always tell me, don't tell them who your son is. I'm like I have to because I don't want them to be mean about him around me. I kind of just gently tell the people around me Okay, be nice to number 89 I miss mom, I'll be quiet.

Scott Benner 16:07
I promise not sure if you promise not to curse and use his name at the same.

Martha Andrews 16:12
And then for not, you know, when he does something great to not really be able to cheer and scream and the way you know, you got to be a little subtle about it. I don't like that at all. So

Scott Benner 16:20
you screaming yell at home, though, while you're watching? Oh, gosh. Yes. So I want to ask you, I'm gonna ask you one more football thing. And then I want to ask you a bunch of diabetes stuff. So okay, you and I spoke a few days ago to get to know each other to get this all set up. And then like the next day, I think or maybe two days later, I found myself standing in front of a room. It was like we were in a bar having dinner. Every time I say that. I want to remind people

Martha Andrews 16:45
i know i just want listen to a podcast, you were at another bar had dinner with my

Scott Benner 16:48
family. And we're sitting around and there and the Ravens game is on. And I'm watching it go back and forth. And I said to my wife, I said, you know, that lady I talked to on the phone. I said, that's her son right there. And I said this situation is getting down to where I think they're going to go to him to try to win the game. So let's pay attention for a second. And then it happens. And it doesn't go the way you expect. Or hope, I guess. And I found myself sitting there only knowing you for about a 15 minute phone call. I felt terrible for you. Not even for him, by the way. Like like for you. I was like how much she feel right now. And I just I've been, I just want to know, like, if he catches that ball and they win the game, he doesn't catch the ball and they don't win the game, whatever. How does it feel for you? Like is it fleeting? Does it stick with you all day? Are you happy all week after that saddle week? Like how much impact does it have on your life? Well,

Martha Andrews 17:42
I mean, the most important thing, I'm sad for Mark, because I know he's gonna take it hard, right? That, you know, if he makes that play, he's like a hero and everything's fabulous. And I'm always looking. I don't really care if we win or lose. I want him to be healthy. I want him to play well. And I want it to be over. Yeah, right. That's the most important thing for me as a mom, I'm sad for him. I love him. It's not a big deal. It is a football game. It's not, didn't make or break. how good he is how you know, his success or not. I just I'm sad. I know he's not gonna talk to me the next day is gonna avoid discussing it. But you know, so there's just a game. Yeah.

Scott Benner 18:32
But there's no like, here's an example. My son's out recruiting for colleges one day, and I'm standing talking to a coach who kind of came to find me and was chatting about coal and coals out in the outfield. And as he came back, he's running back along the fence line runs past us. And I said, Oh, hey, Cole, this is so and so from blah, blah, college, he was just telling me how bad you are. And, and we just laughed, and my son said hello. And then he kept running by we have a very loose, like, relationship like that, because the man was not standing there telling telling me that.

Martha Andrews 19:03
You know, I mean, he knows his dad has always joked Yes, yes, he's aware

Scott Benner 19:06
of that. Like, I just was like trying to put myself in your position. I was like, I wonder if I would have been like, just stay quiet or so it's interesting to hear your your response to that. And I also think it's interesting because I talked to a number of Steelers fans after the game. And every one of them just because I kind of steadfastly was like, oh, you know, the rusher kind of threw off the quarterback and he's like, I don't think it was that gay. Like it could have been caught maybe but like, it was funny how like they wanted they were on his side, even like, Oh, that's nice. It's very interesting. And then that made me think there's a guy in a grocery store all over this country having a conversation about your kid. Think of it that way. How weird that is.

Martha Andrews 19:52
It is weird. And it's it's kind of funny, like, you know, my husband says I like to tell everybody that marks my son and you know plays and that's not true, but it is amazing. Like I'll go out with other people and I was sitting at I don't know, that place where they cut up your your food Benihana and the chef was there cutting and the people I was sitting with said, you know, this is Marc Andreessen. He goes the mark Andrews, you know, like, this is some random guy, oh my gosh, and then went on and on and on and on and how he's followed his career, blah, blah, blah. And it's, you know, if you take that kind of stuff, if you listen to it and makes you happy, then you got to take the other stuff like he should have caught that ball. He you know, so you have to be careful if you if you want to revel in all the goodness, you got to be able to take the, the not so good as well.

Scott Benner 20:47
Yeah, I definitely. i There is nothing worse than my son is an exceptional outfielder. And, you know, 100 times out of 100 He's gonna catch the ball doesn't matter where it is, you know, there are moments when like the right fielder catches the ball and my son standing behind him waiting for the ball to hit the ground. Like you can catch it. It's your position, you might as well and then the one time something happens and he stumbles or trips or the sun gets in his eyes and everyone looks at you like you as the parent. Like what happened? I'm like, oh, nine out there, man. I was like, you know, but I said if he asked me it looks hard to do and, and but it's amazing that they forget the other 99 times.

Martha Andrews 21:30
Oh, yeah, you just can't go on the internet at all. After your something like that game.

Scott Benner 21:34
I'm like, What about the other ones? Where are you? Alright, nevermind.

Martha Andrews 21:39
Let's see. And that's that's not your tea, Wendy. So like, if Mark drops a catch anything is should he go test you know, there's something is something going on. If he drops to I'm almost on the phone to the trainer he needs to.

Scott Benner 21:54
I don't like the way it looks. Yeah. So he's nine years old when he's diagnosed is that right?

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Martha Andrews 25:39
Yes, okay. So

Scott Benner 25:40
that's Robert said he was like this, like 17 years ago. Does that sound right? 2004 ish. Yeah. Okay. But you're pretty impressed with how I did that real quick.

Martha Andrews 25:49
I was just like your bow. That was good. He did it ahead of time.

Scott Benner 25:53
I didn't. Didn't so there must have been a lot of numbers that just worked with the way my brain works, because that all went way too smoothly. So he's nine years old. How does it present?

Martha Andrews 26:04
Okay, and I'm just full disclosure. I may not, but I may I always cry when I tell the story. And I'm gonna start again.

Scott Benner 26:10
If you cry, I'm gonna cry. Martha. Just so you know.

Martha Andrews 26:12
I think it's the hardest thing in the world. I can't believe I do this every friggin time. If it brings it back.

Scott Benner 26:21
Yeah. We'll take your time. And or you don't have to tell me

Martha Andrews 26:25
I'll be fine. I do. I don't. I've done it on national TV. I need to learn, not cry every single time I talk about it. But okay. So it presented itself. He was doing baseball and soccer at the same time. And he was playing a baseball game and his grandparents had taken him. You know, he's a fourth child. Every every one of us is at a different sporting event with one of the children. And she said, my, my mother in law said he had to go to the bathroom a couple times. I said, Oh, okay, fine. Thanks. No, she goes. And then we took him to a soccer game right afterwards. And he left and ran to go to the bathroom at halftime. He has never done that. And my mother in law says, I think he has diabetes. And we look at her like she had grown horns and was so crazy how to like get that that was a stupidest thing anybody could ever say.

Scott Benner 27:18
Yeah. What does she know? Something that that? Does she have any? Like, why would that pop into our head?

Martha Andrews 27:24
I don't know. I mean, we were shocked. And we said absolutely not. You know, he's, he's, he had big circles under his eyes. And he I don't think he may have even maybe wet the bed. I don't know. But it's still just wasn't coming together. We're getting ready to go on a ski trip for spring break. And he came home from school on Monday, and he didn't feel good. And he didn't look good. So the next morning, my my husband said, we better just get him checked, make sure nothing's wrong, before we head out of town. And so we went and did some blood work and took him back to school. And my husband calls me sorry,

Scott Benner 28:14
no, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you'd get upset or I might not have asked.

Martha Andrews 28:18
It's okay. I'm not. I mean, I talk about it all the time. And he said, Mark has diabetes, you need to go get him protected. I didn't know even I had no idea what it meant. I am one of those people that kind of goes through the world. And if it's bad stuff, I don't really look into it. Um, if someone needs to tell me something, they'll tell me and I kind of go through with rose colored glasses. pretty optimistic about everything. So we go to the doctor's office, I still don't so don't know exactly what it means.

Scott Benner 29:03
Your husband just tells you that it's important. He's, something's wrong. And you hear a word you think of as not being like, healthy. Yeah, yeah. And you're on your way. Yeah.

Martha Andrews 29:12
Yeah. And obviously, he knows exactly what it is. But so the doctor was also a neighbor of ours. And she she tells us and Mark is pretty stoic. We don't have to go the hospital. We go over to an endocrinologist and they start educating us immediately. And I think he was more upset that we didn't go skiing because of it. You know, that that? He just, you know, what do I have to do? Just give me the tools I need. And let's get get over this. Yeah, no.

Scott Benner 29:51
Well, you know, it's funny. My biggest concern would have been that my wife Mother was right about something. And then like, I wouldn't Never heard the end of that. We were pretty shocked. Actually. I just figured when your husband's like we better take him to the to the doctor. He's like, my mom has been bugging me about this. And she said something. But I'm fascinated that that your that your mother in law, just like from being a couple times, just like that's diabetes like wow, Jesus. Yeah, she

Martha Andrews 30:19
was a smart lady. She read a lot. And the fact that she she called it that was pretty impressive. And we really, I mean, my husband's a urologist. He knows about peeing, he knows what it means, you know. But you don't go there. I was listening to one of your podcasts and And the woman said, you know, don't look for zebra, if it's a horse, it's a horse. You don't have to look for the zebra or whatever she said. And that's so true. Yeah, you know,

Scott Benner 30:47
except if you have diabetes, and you don't know it, when now it's a zebra all the sudden, because, yes, because she's, you know, a kid piece a couple of times. For most people, that just means they drank a lot or maybe ate like a fewer carbs and maybe a little more high protein that day. And but yeah, that's really something so he just, he's not DKA, which is great.

Martha Andrews 31:09
No, I think the amount of exercise the sports that he he did, and he was always no, the strongest player, typically on the team. And so you know, he worked he played the whole game of whatever he was doing and then going on to the next one and running up and down the field. So I'm sure that had a lot to do

Scott Benner 31:28
with it kind of kept his blood sugar down. So yeah, 17 years ago, is he did he get fast acting insulin? Was he using Basal on?

Martha Andrews 31:37
He did the human he had Humalog and the the long acting like Lantis

Scott Benner 31:44
or something mantis. Yeah. And you got a meter I imagine, but

Martha Andrews 31:48
was not not for. Yeah, we got a meter for sure. Right? Yes, but we had meters everywhere in the house everywhere. I have probably maybe 15 meters

Scott Benner 31:59
all over the house and probably throw some of them away. Now, Martha if you want to.

Martha Andrews 32:02
I know I need to keep opening another meter.

Scott Benner 32:05
Was he just injecting

Martha Andrews 32:08
he was that his endocrinologist did not want him to look at a pump or a CGM, or maybe a CGM. We didn't discuss it but a pump until he was he had mastered first of all that until he had shown a sign that he needed it. And that he understood if he was controlling it with shots that he was going to stay that way. We even though we kept asking.

Scott Benner 32:34
Okay, I'm trying to think of when Dexcom all they were founded in 99. Did they have a product right away then? I wonder when the first CGM was

Martha Andrews 32:43
Mark was pretty he caught it in high school. He didn't like it. Okay. When he first got it, the CGM and he stopped wearing it for a while.

Scott Benner 32:52
Does he wear one now? Oh, yes. Yeah. The first couple iterations were like they were groundbreaking, but they're not nearly the way they are now. That's no,

Martha Andrews 33:01
and then the needle itself that I mean, that's the insertion portion of the process

Scott Benner 33:09
was awful. Which one was he using? In the beginning? Was it the Medtronic? One Medtronic, oh, yeah, they call that one? The harpoon? Yes. I'm sure Medtronic, they don't call it that. But outside.

Martha Andrews 33:22
But the pump? I mean, that was an amazing. That was an amazing game changer for us.

Scott Benner 33:27
Yeah. Tell me why what did it change for him?

Martha Andrews 33:31
Well, just, he didn't have to carry. I mean, he always had his D bag, as we call it. You know, it's one of those Nike shoe bags that you could wear as a backpack. And he always had his stuff in there, but, but he didn't have to pull out go through all the process of dosing for himself if he could just do it. By pressing a couple of buttons. It gave him a lot of freedom. Wow, wherever he was the people he was with. And I think it helped control. Taking the insulin. You know, I think a teenage kid sometimes. You know, they say they took it and they didn't, or they miss a dose because they said they're gonna do it. And then they forget. Yeah,

Scott Benner 34:17
just the easier to have a pump on what he wears. I don't know what pump he wears. Now, I guess, to slim, if he slim? Is he doing control like you? Or is he? Um,

Martha Andrews 34:26
I think yeah, he is. Well,

Scott Benner 34:28
that's pretty cool. That's great technology.

Martha Andrews 34:31
Yeah, that his problem is he does take his pump off for hours at a time when he's at practice. So he switches up. He doesn't get his he didn't do his he has to take long acting in addition. Okay,

Scott Benner 34:47
so because to his pump, yeah, his his life is pretty specific. So he doesn't I guess that's not that he doesn't want to wear it. I guess he can't. He can't carry that fuselage. He can't carry that around. Yeah, I would imagine by the rules of the game. He's not allowed to if nothing Yeah, I

Martha Andrews 35:01
don't I don't think we've ever tested that there's just no way he's gonna go around with a Yeah. You know that on him?

Scott Benner 35:07
Well, well, you know, it's funny because if you've never met like a professional football player in real life, you don't have because they're also big on television. It's deceiving. Like, like how large they are, and how gigantic and how fast they're running into each other. You might as well just take that T slim out and like, throw it on the ground, hit it with a hammer before trying to take it to a football game. But yeah, they just they're launching themselves at each other in at amazing speeds. And it's just, you just have to meet one guy and stand next to him for five seconds before you think like I'm not even a human being compared to this guy. Like, I'm not a man compared to this. I I've had those moments around baseball players, where I stand there and I'm like, I feel like a little kid, you know?

Martha Andrews 35:53
And imagine taking him up to college for the first time at a pretty big, big time college and seeing the people that were going to try and kill him obviously. It's like as a mother, I'm like, we're turning around and going home.

Scott Benner 36:05
Well, yeah, cuz finally they're all as big as him right? Oh, well,

Martha Andrews 36:09
and they were so mean. They had huge beards. I mean, these were men. These were not like 18 year old Mark. Yeah. Did he play biceps as big as his thighs?

Scott Benner 36:21
Did he redshirted? Did he play right away? He redshirted? Yeah, yeah. They're trying to probably get weighed on him at first, right? Did he play? Did he play for years? Or did he get drafted before

Martha Andrews 36:29
he played he had redshirted one year and was played for three years. So he was there for four years. Gotcha. What is his degree in? Business?

Scott Benner 36:41
Well, hopefully he'll be able to use that when he's done playing a lot. That's the plan. Yeah. Excellent. That's really something like I mean, in Oklahoma, did you get to see him play there? Much?

Martha Andrews 36:50
We went a lot. Yeah, we tried to go as often as we could. You know, they don't let you see him except for after the game like in and professional, you can go out to dinner with them the night before the game, or the only time we could see Mark was after the game. You know, if we had a little time, we could go to dinner. At least sit with him at his house or do whatever, but we didn't see him as often.

Scott Benner 37:16
A lot of people might not know about that. You go to your kids college games and you don't like the last thing in the world you want is a coach to see you talking to or making eye contact with your child like you just just keep it all very just I don't know why you feel i That's the that's when I feel like a little kid the most.

Martha Andrews 37:33
Yeah. You don't let the coach see you want

Scott Benner 37:37
to break a rule? You know, it's ridiculous. We should just all walk up the fence or whatever, and be like, Hey, how are you like a human being and then walk away. But instead everybody's just got their head down. And

Martha Andrews 37:47
you have to remember that they have their their game, you know, rituals? Yeah. And you can't mess with that either.

Scott Benner 37:54
Yeah, no, I know. Trust me. I'm aware. I just, it just feels silly. While you're doing it, and you're an adult and you're paying for that school. You don't I mean, that's. Oh my gosh. So at what point did you not look at him and think he's smaller? Did he get to that point in college?

Martha Andrews 38:14
Um, yeah, I mean, he, he definitely was one of the taller players once he actually started playing on the football field after his first year. I mean, he had put on weight. He was strong. He was definitely was one. You know, one of his good buddies is Orlando Brown, who plays for Kansas City right now. And he was six, eight, you know, he's really the only one that made Mark look small. But other than that, I mean, Mark was, you know, towering in that in that huddle?

Scott Benner 38:50
Yeah, well, that's what makes him special, honestly, is that he's that big and he moves well, you know what immunity he can run? Yeah. Yeah. You know, guys that sighs I mean, for the most part and blocking usually get you know, and being more a lineman or he's just, you know, he moves like, he's not that big. So I

Martha Andrews 39:08
think that soccer and basketball Yeah, yeah. From playing man. I think it's made a big difference in his foot. Foot skills and and his speed.

Scott Benner 39:16
Yeah, that's really interesting, because they try to tell you all the time not to just put your kid in one sport and mostly no one listens. Yeah, but he gets it into their head that they can turn this kid into a thing and but I'll tell you right now, like, I don't think he can I think you just, you know, you can get better and you can work hard and all that stuff. But you got to start with. Gonna start with the right pieces. You can't just put it together from out like, I could not suddenly become a bodybuilder. You know what I mean? Like, I could work as hard as I want. It's just it's never gonna come together for me. And that's not necessarily true, Martha, I don't know. I'm pretty sure it's true. I

Martha Andrews 39:50
mean, you take all the right supplements, you get a good trainer. You work really hard.

Scott Benner 39:54
Who's gonna make you might be able to make this podcast while I'm busy doing all that. Oh my gosh. All right. I'm Sorry, so he gets diabetes. Nine years old. Who how's the management work, then? Is he doing it himself? Are you supplementing him? Or How's it go?

Martha Andrews 40:09
Well, I mean, the whole family steps up, we're all involved in the education portion, including his grandparents who who lived up just down the street from us. We all learned what needed to be done. But bottom line, it was Mark that did it. And he started from the very first shot giving it to himself. Occasionally, he, he needed help, maybe inserting money on a pump. But for the most part, he did it. And and I would say, the details like the numbers, the different things we had to remember that was that was really my responsibility. Just you know, but we always had someone with them. He went from being the fourth child, we dropped off at places that some being the fourth child that always had a brother, sister, mother or father with him. Yeah,

Scott Benner 41:03
no one. Did anyone resent that? Do you think? Or was everybody kind of on board?

Martha Andrews 41:07
Oh, no. Everybody was on board. Good. That's

Scott Benner 41:09
amazing. So he goes, I mean, is his diabetes, a focal point of his life through through high school? Or is it in the background?

Martha Andrews 41:20
I'd have to say it in the background. It was it a focal point of my life with him in high school, probably. But, you know, it was it was something that Mark did and it really had nothing to do with. He tried not to let it affect, you know, schoolwork, or, or sporting things or being with friends. He took good care of it for the most part. I mean, he wasn't. It's a hard. It's a hard disease to be really perfect that because it throws curveballs on a daily basis, but it wasn't, you know, I don't I would say half this. I'd say 90% of the school didn't even know he had diabetes. And it's certainly not something he hid.

Scott Benner 42:04
Right? Yeah, just just something it just didn't come out a lot. No, yeah, I get that. How about was there? Well, I guess I should ask you first because it's before CGM and everything else. Did you sleep much? Or were you know what

Martha Andrews 42:19
I'm at? I'm a terrible mom, I have to tell you. I don't think I woke up one time in the middle of night to test his blood sugar. Unless he was sick. Yeah, but he was okay. So yeah, he was always okay. And I kind of I talked to you I do this coffee with another woman whose son is older and, and we work with JDRF. And have once a month we have a coffee. Mostly it's it's moms with newly diagnosed or younger children with diabetes, and it's for just the moms and you know, they're up several times a night, they've got the the numbers on their phone. And they're constantly doing that I, I probably should have. And I actually feel really guilty, but I guess I just didn't know to do that.

Scott Benner 43:10
I'm gonna say that before the technology exists that where you could see the blood sugar in real time. That's not what they told you. Right? Like, they probably was what go to bed a little high. You test in the morning. If you're not low, it went okay. And don't think about now you see the CGM and you realize how it can fluctuate. And

Martha Andrews 43:26
it goes so high go so low. I mean, you know, you just hope that that their bodies can feel something when it's really not good and that you always had sugar there, whatever. And I was attentive to him. He took care of himself. But that was now there were mornings it would he would wake up. And we Tet, I'd asked him his numbers. And I remember what number it was really high, and he couldn't even walk, right. I mean, his legs crumbled underneath me threw up. I mean, that was probably a night, I should have woken him up in the middle of the night, see what his numbers were?

Scott Benner 43:57
Yeah, but how would you know if that's how it was done that I'll tell you that for those people who you're talking about who are newly diagnosed, or you know, have the technology and can see it, the key to me, and if you keep listening to the podcast, Martha, you're going to hear it like, to me the key is to just really understand how the insulin works to have a rock solid Basal program Pre-Bolus Your meals to stay away from spikes, you know, don't stare at high blood sugars, kind of, you know, correct them. Understand the different impacts of different foods be flexible, like when you do that, you can start to find stability that actually will will, you know, pay you back overnight, and that's suddenly you're not up all the time. And yeah, top of that these algorithms are insane. Yeah. Amazing. Yeah.

Martha Andrews 44:40
Do you did you get up at night?

Scott Benner 44:42
Oh, before the CGM? Yeah, like I was. But my daughter was diagnosed when she was too. Yeah, you had to Yeah. So there was just like, you know, it took me in the beginning. I just thought I was great at it. Like I was, you know, I had this plan. I would get her to like 190. And she'd wake up at like 90 And I thought I was amazing. And then then one night, I just, I found myself wondering like what is happening while she's asleep. And then CGM, like Dexcom became available, and I got the doctor to do this, you know, back then they would give you one blinded for a week to see if your insurance would pay for it used to be like that, you'd have to wear it for a week, then the report would come back. And if you were having Lowe's, and your insurance company would pay for it. So the report comes back, I was putting Arden to bed at 190, she was dropping into the 50s. I'm assuming eventually her liver would kick in and like, give off some glucose. And then she'd drift back up to 90. And when I saw that, I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, like, not only am I not good at this, like how was like, I'm lucky, she's okay. You know, and that, that then made me start paying attention to it, but I was not good at it back then. The way I am now, it took me a while to figure out how to create real stability. And to keep blood sugar's at a lower number stable without a risk of like, you know, a quick fall all the time and how to manage karbi or stuff, you know, I'm sure your son must eat like a horse I'm imagining, right, like so like, how do you Bolus for all that stuff, especially as they're growing? Stop a spike without there being a, you know, allow, like, there's, there's episodes of this podcast that are all about just management stuff. And I find that they're not just valuable for me, but for the people listening to.

Martha Andrews 46:31
So I mean, so your daughter doesn't have a lot of highs and lows, she just kind of maintains pretty level.

Scott Benner 46:38
Yeah, the way I draw Yeah, the way we think about it is, I don't want her to be under 70. So we would stop that from happening if it was trying to happen, but it does not try to happen very, very often, probably a time or two a month, you'll get to that 55 or something just goes wonky. You don't know what happened. But on the other side of it. After a meal, I'm okay with like 140 ish 160 I think of as a higher blood sugar, and I think of 180 as a spike. And then when you kind of get yourself in that mindset, and you've got good solid settings, you'd be surprised how infrequently you spike and how infrequently you get low, because it's so much about putting the insulin in at the right times. And that's sort of it. It's, uh, took me a long time to figure all that out and took me even longer to lay it out here in the podcast so people could hear it. Yeah, but it still happens. I mean, I'm not going to tell you that there aren't days where, you know, she's ovulating. And her you know, I can't get her blood sugar to move off to Swanee. And I'm sure you saw growth hormones when Mark was in high school, you probably just didn't even you didn't record it was so

Martha Andrews 47:46
fluctuating. I mean, it's still I mean, he's a meal, it goes up to 300. And you know, then it falls back down to normal number. I just can't, I just can't worry about the highs. Yeah, I can barely worry about the lows. But

Scott Benner 48:04
so you're an interesting position because you came out of a different generation of this, where what you're saying makes complete sense for them. And I I totally understand it, but you tell Mark, if he wants to spend like four days after the season's over, I'll teach him how to Bolus and he won't have highs like that anymore. Okay, it's super time. Yeah, it was how like, you just listen to the podcast if you wanted to. Good luck. Not a podcast guy you don't think? I don't know? You don't know? Is it is that um, is it hard that he still has diabetes, but he's an adult? For you, you worry about him? Do you want to say things? Do you want to ask questions that you don't because you're like, how does that whole relationship work?

Martha Andrews 48:48
Um, well, you know, I knew he was gonna have diabetes as an adult. I mean, I never even thought it was going to be an option. Right? Yeah. So diabetes is the one thing I don't ever hesitate. I'm embarrassing myself. or contacting him when I'm not supposed to. It's It's my job. Even if, you know, I know, he disconnects me sometimes. But I'm not going to keep my mouth shut. I'm gonna you know, I'm always gonna step up if I think you need you know, to treat more or you know, I'll keep calling if he's asleep and his numbers are low and he's not answering. I'll keep calling up keep calling. I'll call a neighbor call, you know, do things he probably is cringing, but um, you know, I have no problem. doing whatever it takes for me to make sure he's healthy and safe. With his diabetes.

Scott Benner 49:55
That's amazing. Also, I think it's hilarious that he does that he takes you off from seeing

Martha Andrews 50:00
Just one time I said, You need to turn me on. I'm like, Oh my God, that didn't sound right.

But yeah, he his brother and I keep keep his numbers. Okay, so he says you call him I said, No, you call? No, you call.

Scott Benner 50:17
I'm imagining a times he's gotten a Texas says, Hey, mom's worried about your blood sugar, you gotta do something. I'm tired. Oh, absolutely.

Martha Andrews 50:22
100% Mom's on my case, will you please take some sugar?

Scott Benner 50:28
It's just kind of like, it's interesting to hear. I mean, listen, we haven't said it directly the entire time we're talking. But the reason I wanted to have you on is because the your relationship and your life. And his accomplishment is, it's so tied to what people worry about when their young children are diagnosed, right? Am I you know, am I or is this disease going to slow my kid down, keep them from accomplishing something. And, you know, people love to hear, I think, from athletes from type one, because it's that it's that thing, we all kind of just, you know, universally agree. Like, you know, it's amazing, like, I listen, I don't know, I love football, but off the top my head on whether they're 30 teams ish in the NFL 3232, they each carry probably one starting tight end, your son is one of the 32 best tight ends in the world, you know what I mean? And I think you could have an argument, he's probably a lot closer than to the top than he is to the bottom. So like that he did that with diabetes, and in a time when they didn't have glucose sensing technology, nearly the way is, is it is today, like, I know, people are gonna hear this and feel good like that maybe my kid has a real shot or I there's things I could be doing that I'm not giving myself credit for being able to do. You know, it's lovely of you to come on and talk about it, because I think it's that important to everybody.

Martha Andrews 52:03
Well, I mean, it is it's important to mark and more importantly, right. So, you know, on his cleats, he said for that my cause my cleats, he he always puts on his cleats, diabetes is a part of me, but I will never let it define me or my dreams. And that's the message he wants to give to people is that I mean, you know, kids, certain kids have a lot of other complications other than just diabetes, it could be a celiac, they could have other autoimmune things going on. So, you know, it's not just as simple as that. And sometimes it's not a sporting thing they want to do it, it's that they want to go and be a fireman, or they want to go to the army. And you think, you know, how do you achieve that? When you're dependent on insulin? I mean, can you know, are you going to be able to do that? Or what if what if you're having a low and you're, you're out in the middle of nowhere? I mean, there's all sorts of things but but it doesn't mean it's impossible. It just means you got to figure out how to make it work. And, and not and you know, you may get a lot of nose. But then there's gonna be someone that might give you that chance. And I think, you know, with Mark, yeah, I personally, this is just coming from me. I thought mark should have been drafted in on the first day, and a higher draft pick in the first round. Yeah, but I think it, it was maybe a little intimidating that he had type one diabetes,

Scott Benner 53:34
Martha. So I'll let me tell you that I had a boy on about six months ago, Patrick wetlander, a pitcher, and he went a lot lower. He was diagnosed as the draft was coming up. And the conversations that people were having with him prior to diabetes, were not the same as they started having after he was diagnosed, he definitely dropped in the draft because of it.

Martha Andrews 53:57
I firmly believe that that is the case. But it only takes one person to believe in you, right? Or to take a risk or whatever it is. You just keep trying and trying until you find that solution. You know, the Raven said it wasn't a factor. So I applaud them. They should have taken him first. But you know, it is what it is. And I think Mark will probably he had probably a pretty good chip on his shoulder because of it. But you know, he just has to go out and do what he needs to do and he needs to take care of himself while he's doing it. I mean, what a diabetic goes through on a daily basis whether you're working in a in a business job, or you're, you're playing baseball or you're as a fireman or a ballerina or a fashion designer. It is so complex for them to get through every single day when everybody else just you know takes it for granted.

Scott Benner 54:58
Yeah, no It's, it's important that you don't give up because you will meet somebody along the way. Right. And you never know who your efforts gonna touch. You know, Sam folds been on here a number of times it Sam played for the Oakland A's and a number of different pro teams for he was in the league for like eight years. It's actually the general manager of the Phillies right now. But because he played baseball, he, you know, he played for a guy who managed him who now knows, you know, it's not a big deal to have a type one on the team. And then that guy goes off and he's a manager somewhere else, then the next kid comes along, and you got to think that in his head, he thinks, Well, you know, Sam did it. Like, right, maybe that's not maybe the next time the draft rolls around. I mean, maybe there are 31 other teams that are like, geez, we skipped this kid because he had diabetes, and we all should have taken him. Right, because by the third, he was taken to the third round, right, third round. Yeah. So I take your point, I would agree with you too. And that means they all passed on him multiple times. Maybe even right, you know, before somebody took him and now they're all I mean, he is legit. I mean, I think you know, that, like your, your kid can really play so good. Let them all let them all I feel bad about the crow. Yeah, no kidding. And, and other things to not just diabetes, like, you know, I mean, I don't know how you look up at him and think this is gonna be a problem. I mean, he played at Oklahoma for, you know, for all three years. Like, he obviously knows how to do it. It's

Martha Andrews 56:27
yeah. And he was he was a Mackey award winner. Was he? For tight ends. No kidding. He was all American, unanimous All American. And you wonder, you know, what do you think in that, that, that it was fake what he did? So I could go on forever about that. I just want to

Scott Benner 56:45
I don't want to get in trouble here. But was it palpable, palpable, palpable, palpable in the house, on when it didn't happen on the first day? Were you like, did anybody did your husband and you go into a closet and be like, this is the diabetes or like, you don't? I mean,

Martha Andrews 57:01
it was uncomfortable on the second day. Okay. After you know, okay, so we didn't go first round their second round. And then that was when it got a little tougher,

Scott Benner 57:12
huh. I imagine when you see other people going at your position that you think skills wise, you're like, oh, yeah, well, yeah. What's happening? Do you have a be honest? Is there a list of tight ends no longer in the league that we're taking ahead of your son hanging in your house anywhere? No, my, my daughter played softball very competitively. When she was younger, she had a she had a list of kids. So my daughter was small, but very, very athletic with an amazing arm. And she was just a really great third baseman. And she had a small list of all the girls, they tried to put in front of her third base that she knocked off a third base over and over again. And that's awesome. Yeah, part of me thought it wasn't healthy. But the other part of me is I really lit a fire for sighs like, she's like, Yeah, come back from practice you'd like now they're trying to put this one there. And I was like, Okay. I got beat her to I was like, All right.

Martha Andrews 58:07
Yeah, whatever they need to do to get through the day.

Scott Benner 58:10
No, no, it's Listen, no one's gonna know how hard it is. Unless they do it. My son puts so much effort and time into sports. It's, you know, it happens in the middle of winter when nobody else would think it's happening. It happens in the dead of summer when he's the only one standing outside. And 105 degree heat trying to get better at something and yeah, it is so true. It is not easy at all.

Martha Andrews 58:34
No. And they don't come home. They're not home for holidays there. Yeah.

Scott Benner 58:39
Oh, God. Spring break is baseball tournament. Yeah,

Martha Andrews 58:42
I Oh, absolutely.

Scott Benner 58:43
I haven't been on a vacation at the time. Most people go on vacation. And I can't even I don't even know when the last time was that go to his games? Yes, much. Yeah, I make almost all of them. That's impressive. Yeah, he's they have a lot of games. Yeah. But he's within driving distance of us. And that's good. I don't make the ones during the week. They make the weekend games usually. And it just it to me. Like this is a conversation probably every parent of a kid who goes off to college to play something has. He's been playing baseball since he's four. And he finally made it like I forget how old he was eight or nine years old when he said to me, like, I'm gonna play baseball in college. I don't even think he knew what college was when he said, you know, and I'm like, Alright, man, like, you know, when they say like, okay, you know, and, and there's still little kids and there's kids on this team at that time that look like they're better than him. And that happens every year. Every year. Somebody looks like they're better than you but they don't work as hard or whatever. And I just said to my buddy, I was like, he's been playing since he's four he made it to college. I'm like, What am I gonna stop going now? Right? Like this is like this is the this is it? Like he probably doesn't go farther than this. I've got four years left to watch him play baseball. And awesome, you know, so yeah, we make as many as we can. Is there anything about all of this but I didn't think to ask you about.

Martha Andrews 1:00:03
Um, yeah, it's pretty much been pretty open. You know, I've been interviewed quite a few times about Mark and, and one of the things that I do know, that is so important is the family is critical, the friends are critical. Making sure that, you know, you're not a T, one D. And nobody else knows about it, that it really does take a village and caring for them. And I know Mark understands that as much as maybe it drives him crazy. He knows that he needs all of us to be on board to support him. And, you know, I'm so thankful that we we've been lucky enough where he went to college, and I walked down the aisle had a meeting with the doctors and the coaches, when we first got there, they probably thought it was crazy. But I told him, I had to meet with them and said, You know, I don't want my son to die here. So we have to have a game plan, and everybody needs to be on board. Yeah. And, and you know, they all stepped up, it was very impressive. And it's been pretty similar. In Baltimore, when I've needed them, they've been there. And his brothers and sister are always there to take care of things they need to take care of. And they look out for him. They go out when he's here, you know, with his buddies, you know, going out enjoying themselves. They like to go with him. Not because you know, they're they're babysitting or anything, they just, you know, it's the right thing to do. And

Scott Benner 1:01:47
you So do you ever wonder or worry about like, if he, if he's dating, I'm not asking you if he's dating. But like that idea of like, you start meeting a partner who understands type one as well. Do you think? Do you ever think about that? Because a lot of parents come on here and talk about that, like, they're worried that their kids are going to end up with somebody who won't support them or understand things like that. I haven't

Martha Andrews 1:02:09
worried about that. I mean, he doesn't he's not dating you by now. He has dated someone, you know, people in the past. And they they have been supportive. I mean, I don't know, if they've been supportive, or I've made them support. It's like this, you will do this. It's not a choice. I do it with his friends, too. I mean, this is this is who he is. This is how we take care of it. And if you're going to be a part of his life, you have to be on board.

Scott Benner 1:02:36
Do you think that people would like, you think that his size makes people think of him as older than he is? Has that always happened through his life?

Martha Andrews 1:02:44
Yes, yeah. Always. Always. And he's a pretty mature kid. I mean, I think diabetes makes you very mature at an early age. Yeah. And I think and he, you know, being the youngest of four, being as tall as he is, I mean, he, he comes across much older than any Yes,

Scott Benner 1:03:02
yeah, it was just as I'm just thinking, like, you know, as he's walking out the door, and you're grabbing one of his friends and you're like, Listen, do you know how the glucagon works? And

Martha Andrews 1:03:11
it but isn't that the truth? No, call me you know, they, his college roommate called when he couldn't get them to wake up his his high school buddies. Bring him home immediately. When he's not acting right. You know, either they test they try and get sugar in it. If they still can't take care of it. They brought him home. Yeah, you know, something's wrong with Mark,

Scott Benner 1:03:29
you need a group of people around you. It makes it much, much easier. Yeah, I percent. Listen, I didn't know if he was dating. But I gotta be honest, if I was his age, and in the shape he was in and just signed the contract he did. I wouldn't be dating anybody either.

Martha Andrews 1:03:42
First of all, he doesn't have time. And he like, likes to meet as many people as possible.

Scott Benner 1:03:49
That's the route I would go to. I think he's handled it just perfectly. Anyway. Well, I just, I can't thank you enough for doing this. It really was. It's lovely speaking with you. Maybe we need to do this again. Actually, I was just thinking you said you have a coffee thing is that like an in person thing you do local. We

Martha Andrews 1:04:10
were doing it in person. And it was great. We once a month we'd have coffee over the other hosts or my house and JDRF would you know they're sponsoring it and people would come and we I mean, we all cried. Sometimes we'd have grandparents there. Sometimes it'd be the dad, sometimes it'd be the mom. And we just you know, we'd have different topics. We have different guest speakers. We went to zoom. I think their numbers increase because it's a little bit easier to be you know, someone that works, can can listen in. And it's it's just been a for me, I need to I need to I don't know represent. I'm someone who was scared to death to send a child to college and I You know, I survived it, I'm scared to death, let him drive, he's driving, you know, all the things that I was scared to death to do. But he did. And we survived it. And he's excelling. So, you know, I feel like it's my duty to help these, these moms who are just in the weeds, when that first diagnosis comes through. And, you know, whatever we can do to support that, and let them know that we we understand what they're going through. And it doesn't it it, it never goes away. But it's just not so intense. Once you understand it a little bit better.

Scott Benner 1:05:40
Yeah, I usually tell people that diabetes doesn't get easier. But at some point, you'll get so good at it that it might feel easy once in a while. Right, you know, and just the idea that it alleviates a little bit once you get your footing, and you really know what you're doing. And you've had some experiences that have led to more knowledge, and all of a sudden you start putting it together. And before you know it, you're like, Oh, we're not bad at this.

Martha Andrews 1:06:02
Right? Yeah. And you know, people need to know, what do you take for sugar? What do you take for? What do you do? How do you travel? How do you do this? How do you do that? I mean, there's so many questions. You can't just sit and call your doctor all the time. And, you know, so I think it's great when we're not moms can talk or they got it one of those diabetes dogs. Yeah. What does that look like? And it's not what you think, you know, it's hard work. And

Scott Benner 1:06:27
just the dog just doesn't sit in the corner, like a superhero. And every time it needs something, yeah,

Martha Andrews 1:06:32
that it is the network kind of thing. It's just going to solve all your problems, but it doesn't, you know, and, and so learning about that is so helpful on it if we can, if we can alleviate some of the questions and concerns or, or give them tools to help it make it easier, then I'm all for that.

Scott Benner 1:06:50
Excellent. Me too. And you are going to reach a lot of people doing this. So you've done that today as well. I really appreciate your time.

Martha Andrews 1:06:57
Well, it's always my pleasure, and you make us You make me feel very comfortable talking to you. So I appreciate that. Oh,

Scott Benner 1:07:04
I It's my goal for you to feel comfortable. Plus, how are you going to say that you think your kids should have gone higher? If you're nervous? I need

Martha Andrews 1:07:13
am I going to get in trouble for that? I don't know

Scott Benner 1:07:15
you're going to but the whole time I was sitting here I was thinking like, like, Mark, I'll just bleep this out later. But like through the entire thing. I'm like, how did that kid go in the third round? Like, that doesn't make any sense to me. And and then you said it, I thought, Well, how did I not think of that? Because I just interviewed a kid who said the same thing happened to him? Just it's just I don't know, I think it's because your son's built like a, like a giant that I don't think of anything. Being serious. Like, I don't think of anything being able to touch him. But like, look how easily this happened. You know, and I mean, listen, it's, you know, I feel like it probably all worked out really well for him in the end. But, you know, it's also a tough game like he could, you know, I mean, he could have snapped his head off nine games into it never, never made any money. And you know, you could be sitting here, it'd be a different story.

Martha Andrews 1:08:06
So I will tell you when he was chosen for the Pro Bowl, which, you know, was a huge, huge, huge, huge accomplishment. Yeah. It was the first time he felt validated in his professional career. And I think he'd always kind of felt like that. Being picked, so many people, so many Titans being chosen before him. Then he wins the starting spot at the ravens and he wasn't the first tied in, and he wins, you know, and then he gets in the Pro Bowl. And for him, it was some validation. And he was actually it's the first time he was able to talk about it with us about his feelings through that process. So I thought that was, you know, that was a, that was a really special moment for all of us.

Scott Benner 1:09:04
I would imagine it feels some I mean, not that it could feel much better. But, you know, he definitely knows nobody handed it to him. Right. And that's absolutely that's got to feel really great. You know, just because you come out of a pedigree College, especially, I mean, if I'm, Listen, I'm not an aficionado, but Oklahoma makes tight ends, right.

Martha Andrews 1:09:25
I have no idea. I don't know football. But they make they make winning football. Yeah, they win football game. I mean, that's for sure. And that's why he went there, you know, and he could have gotten a lot. He could have gone anywhere you wanted. But you know, he went

Scott Benner 1:09:40
there purposely and you Yeah. And I just listen, I listen, I have a different perspective than maybe some people would because I have a child who plays a sport and I know what goes into it. And I also imagine that it could sound silly to somebody else, right? Like, oh, you weren't drafted in the first round draft. Like who cares boohoo It's like big work. Yeah. But you don't you might not know. You know what I mean? Like, there are things that, you know, while the rest of you are sitting around, you know, and you're watching television or doing whatever you're doing, like, I can hear my son in the basement when he's home from school, lifting weights and putting them back down and write him off and putting them down and, and he's the one who goes out and stands on a baseball field and throws a ball over and over and over again. So that the one time in a game that it happens, and it happens at full speed. He makes that throw the way he means to and you know, he'll he'll, for every amazing thing I've ever seen my son do in a baseball game. I saw him do it 1000 times on a practice

Martha Andrews 1:10:39
field. Exactly. So well put, yeah, so well put,

Scott Benner 1:10:43
it really isn't as simple as you know, you could say it's just a game if you want, but you put your whole life into anything. It's not just anything. You know, it's it's what you've been putting your focus into. So, yeah, yeah. And it's so worth it. I'll never forget the first time I saw a kid put a ball into a gap, you know, in the right center field and the largest offense and the kid on the first thought he was gonna make it the third and my son stands up like Superman and puts that ball in the third base. And it is hard not to stand up and go yo, did you all just see what my kid did? That was my son. And I imagine you know how that feels. It's very hard to hold that inside. Just stand up and you're very politely clap at a baseball. Oh, good job. Nice. Throw it inside. You're thinking my son's much better than yours. And there you go. And I'm not trying to get you to say that I just, I really, it is just it's a it's a it's an overwhelming wash of pride. Because you know how much effort he put into it. And not that the other don't put that kind of effort into it. But when it pans out, it's it's just kind of special, you know, and you deserve. You deserve what you deserve after that, so. Alright, well, Martha, I'm glad you had a good time. I did. I will say goodbye to you now. Thank you so much course Hold on one second for me.

I am not afraid to set the bar high by coming out of the gate strong in 2022 with Mark Andrews mom about that right. And NFL football players mommy was on the show. How cool is that? I want to thank Dexcom for sponsoring this episode of The Juicebox Podcast and remind you to go to dexcom.com Ford slash juice box to get started today. But the best darn CGM that I've ever seen, held, touched or looked at through the internet. And don't forget about that on the pod promise Omni pod.com forward slash juice box. If you've been wanting to switch to a pump, or get rid of your tubing, there's no better time than right now to make that decision and get started.

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