#666 Half a Century

April 19, 2022Scott Benner

Christine has lived with type 1 diabetes for over fifty years.

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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
fair to say that everyone listening today is not superstitious, as I welcome you to Episode 666 of the Juicebox Podcast.

Christine's on the show today she has had type one for many, many, many, many decades. And she's going to tell us her story. If you play this next bit in reverse, it will reveal who killed President Kennedy. Please remember today 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. Now try to figure out how to play a podcast backwards, you're never gonna do it. Keeping this theme going for episode 666 I compel you to go to T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. And take the T one D exchange survey. When you do you'll be helping people with type one diabetes and supporting the show. All you have to be is a type one who is a US resident or a US resident who is the caregiver of a type one. After that T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox fewer than 10 minutes and you're done. It can tell the this show is sponsored today by the glucagon that my daughter carries. G voc hypo Penn Find out more at G voc glucagon.com. Forward slash juicebox. today's podcast is also sponsored by touched by type one visit touched by type one.org. Or find them on Instagram and Facebook. I mean honestly, you could probably do all three of those things, find them on Instagram, Facebook, and visit touched by type one.org.

Christine 2:04
Hi there. I'm Christine and I'm recording from Oregon. Oregon. I grew up in Wisconsin. And I've been out here though most of my life.

Scott Benner 2:19
You went from Wisconsin to Oregon when you were younger.

Christine 2:22
After college, I went to school at the University of Wisconsin at Madison,

Scott Benner 2:28
if I will avoid Oregon or something. I'm

Christine 2:31
a girl. I'm kind of kind of a boy, I heard that Oregon was a beautiful place to be and I had done some internships out in the west and just headed out this way. And as soon as I got here, I knew it was where I needed to set my routes down. But I came out here by myself basically.

Scott Benner 2:54
Okay, that's excellent. All right. Let's let me remind you, as we go, zippers, banging anything like that is gonna come through pretty loud. You have a really good microphone, so Okay, try not to fit. Are you nervous?

Christine 3:11
Um, I'd be lying if I said that. I didn't have a few butterflies, but generally, I don't get nervous. Um, I'm excited.

Scott Benner 3:24
Good, good. It's gonna say, Christine, you're a grown person. There's nothing to be nervous about. I think it kind of it fits into your story. So how old are you?

Christine 3:34
I just turned 65. Yeah, happy birthday in September 14. Congratulations. Yeah, it's getting diabeetus at age 13. On my birthday, basically, was, was quite the present.

Scott Benner 3:52
Do you recall any of that?

Christine 3:54
I do. How did it happen? Um, I recall standing at the kitchen sink, all summer long drinking gallons of cold water. And my mother would say that I would sit down at the table before anybody got there. And I'd start eating. And I was still there after everybody left. And I was pretty little I was, you know, that was seventh grade. Going into seventh grade. I was 7075 pounds. And I was just eating like a horse. And it was mostly my mother was watching that scenario go on. And when school started, it was in the days. I don't know that they still do this but the nurse we'd get weighed, and I had lost six pounds from the year before. During a period of time where you're supposed to be growing Right. So Mom took a urine sample into the doctor. And bingo, there it was. So I wasn't sick. I think it was caught pretty early. My recollection is maybe my blood sugar was in the four hundreds.

Scott Benner 5:19
I have a question. Did the doctor asked for a urine sample? Or was your mom just the kind of lady that when you didn't feel good, you had to pee in a cup?

Christine 5:25
I know, I think I think she had a doctor's appointment for herself. And then she called in and talked about what was going on with me that I had lost the weight and she was watching the water drinking. And they said, just bring a urine sample in. So and that was the weekend of my 13th birthday. And he wanted me to go to the hospital right away. And she said, Well, we're having a birthday party this weekend. And he says, Okay, you can wait till Monday, but don't let her eat too much birthday cake.

Scott Benner 6:02
Oh, you didn't get a cake?

Christine 6:05
I think she let me have a little bit.

Scott Benner 6:08
And then from there, what is the policy? I usually ask what the beginning of your management life is like, but it's gonna be a big chunk of it for you, right?

Christine 6:18
Yeah, well, it was 52 years ago. And if that was in the days of you pee in a cup, you check an eyedropper and put in, I don't know, five drops of urine 10 drops of water and then this little tablet in it fizzed up and turned color. And usually, you know, to have no sugar in your urine. It was blue. But by the time you're dumping sugar into your urine, you're already way too high. So it was pretty rudimentary tools that we had at that time, and I was mortified that I would have to do this at school, you know, lock myself in the bathroom and pee in a cup. And you know how the day

Scott Benner 7:17
is how often did you do that? Well,

Christine 7:22
I do remember doing it at school a couple of times. And then probably going to the doctor and crying about it. And he said I didn't have to do it at school anymore. So no, we probably did it in the morning and in the evening. You know, we we boiled the glass insulin syringe and put a new needle on it every morning. But it's pretty long time ago it was beef and pork insulin and and probably on some sort of mixture. I don't remember we certainly didn't have fast acting insulin.

Scott Benner 8:03
No, no. This is 1969. Is that right? Yes. Yeah. You know, if your birthday was a month sooner, I could call this episode summer of 69. But fall of 69 it's not going to make anybody go Oh, I wonder what this is about?

Christine 8:18
I think I think something else will come up.

Scott Benner 8:21
Yeah, you've exceeded your to say something insane in the next hour. Okay, well, let's get to that part, then. I do want to like dig through a little like contextually, like you say it's so offhandedly like we boiled the syringes and, and but you had a set right? They were glass syringes with metal needles, and then every time you use them, they had to be sterilized.

Christine 8:46
Right? You know, I don't remember boiling the needle. I think there were disposable needles that you just clipped on the top of that class syringe? Sure. Um, but with you know, that went on, because I was in seventh grade. And I just kind of remember that class syringe for a long time before they came out with the disposable needles. Show. Yeah, the doctor didn't say I had to keep doing that urine test at school, but I was doing it at home. Um,

Scott Benner 9:20
what? What was the goal of the test?

Christine 9:24
The goal of the test was to have it be blue, that meant you didn't have sugar in your urine. But again, my recollection was that by the time it turned a different color was that you had already dumped a lot of you know, from your blood, filtering out the sugar into your kidneys. Your blood sugar is already pretty high. So that was the best that we had at that time.

Scott Benner 9:55
But I mean, if it wasn't blue, you didn't get more insulin right? No, what did you say? up eating or running around, or what was the plan, then

Christine 10:04
you just kept taking your insulin dose. You know, there really wasn't much strategy that I remember. It was I was on one of those diets that they called the exchange diet. So, for breakfast, I had two starches a protein, you know, a fruit, a milk, lunch, you know, kind of the same sort of thing. And my mom was pretty good at sticking to that exchange diet and what that all meant. It was harder on her than it was on me. She had a hard time giving me shots. I mean, she would just fall apart every time she had to give me a shot. And I would just say, Mom, just give me the needle. And I would, and I would take over it. That was it. It just hurt her to feel like she was hurting me.

Scott Benner 11:07
How many? How many kids? Did your mom have?

Christine 11:10
Um, there are four of us. We were all really stretched out my I had an older sister who is eight years older than I was. And then I came along, and then a younger sister who is almost four years younger. And then another brother, who is you know, there was almost eight years between him and I

Scott Benner 11:31
wow. So was your mom only fertile every eight years or?

Christine 11:34
I know, I didn't get to ask her. Before she died. What was that family? What the heck was going on in between? I know there was one miscarriage. I think between me and my younger sister. So yeah, who knows?

Scott Benner 11:54
Maybe your dad was only nice every seven years or so?

Christine 11:58
My dad, my dad wasn't around very much. So that may have been part of it. I don't know.

Scott Benner 12:04
No, it's interesting. That's all yes. How would you know, but I don't know. I'm interested. I love that. So okay, so you do this for ever and ever. And there's not a ton of impact on you, right? Like, you don't remember your life as being difficult.

Christine 12:21
I don't I, I have never in 52 years been hospitalized for DKA. I remember never skipping an insulin dose. I do remember screwing around with my diet, though, that as time went along, and you started to push the envelope a little bit and go, Oh, I really want a piece of cake. And you'd eat the piece of cake and nothing really bad happened. You just kept pushing it. And I think I was pretty good in high school, you know, just kind of telling the mark, I was a good girl. And um, but then when I went to college, I went through some rebellious years, and maybe a little bit of light depression, about about living with this disease and kind of using it a little bit to be in denial. I mean, I remember going down for the vending machine in the college dormitory and getting not one Snicker bar, but five, I'd eat five Snickers. And then I'd get really tired and take a long nap. But I never got it never got so bad that I ever was hospitalized. So I'm patting myself on the back for that for all these years that I never really got into serious trouble,

Scott Benner 14:04
even in college that there is no meter right.

Christine 14:07
So, in college, I finally got to see an endocrinologist. Up until that time. I was still being seen by a family doctor, and I didn't know about endocrinologist. And for some reason, you know, we must have had a health plan at at the school, and I got into at the University of Wisconsin to see this Scottish physician. And there's a couple of things that I remember very distinctly about him and that really helped to form how I carried on with this disease and so So he, I don't know if we I don't I don't think because that was in the late 70s. I don't think we still had the a one C test. I don't know, you might know when that test was developed. But um, I remember him saying to me, he actually called me at home one night maybe to give me some lab work. And he basically laid it on the line and said, you know, you really got to get your act together here. And he used

Scott Benner 15:44
you froze? Hold on a second. Christine, hold on. You are frozen frozen? Is Oregon internet is dodgy. Something happened to the tree you live in? What happened?

Christine 15:57
I don't know. I don't know. I checked my internet connection. It looks okay.

Scott Benner 16:01
It's okay. Don't worry about it. You were talking about the doctor. And

Christine 16:05
so he called me and he said in his little Scottish accent, Gather ye rosebuds. While he may. And I remember that. And I guess it hit home. And there were a couple of other things that hit home right at that time it was I was in my early 20s. I did have a cousin, a second cousin who developed diabeetus, we were the same age. And but he developed it five years earlier than me. And when he was 21, he lost his sight due to diabeetus. So I had this doctor telling me this, I had my cousin who had just gone blind. And I was like, Oh, my God, this stuff is real, I better start paying attention here. And I got on the bandwagon. And I and I also was studying to be in a health occupation was vacillating between two different fields. And being in a Health Occupation, you you know, I was exposed to people who had complications I was exposed to, you know, stuff that was going on in the medical field. And I really think it helped me to get on board. Okay, quickly. Yeah, he was

Scott Benner 17:40
telling you, by the way, Gather ye rosebuds. While ye may, proverb act, and it may, it means enjoy yourself now, before your situation is changed.

Christine 17:50
Exactly the rest of the poem goes. Gather ye rosebuds, while ye may old time is a flying, and this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be a dying. So that really stuck in my head. And and, you know, I'm grateful to him for that i He, I got involved in a couple of research studies. In college. He did one he asked me if I would volunteer to be hospitalized for a week. And I was all about trying to do the right thing. And the hospitalization was going to be about seeing if you could get a faster reaction from your insulin. And by that time regular insulin was out, I believe. And to see if you could get a faster reaction if you didn't, I am injection inner muscular injection. And I said, Okay, I'll do it. And admitted myself to the hospital. I was probably in for five days. And they were starting to do blood tests, then at that point where you put a drop of blood on a strip and the strip turned color. It was still pretty wide ranges, but it was better than the urine testing. And so I had to agree to using a one inch needle that you'd go straight in usually to your quad Big Muscle on your thigh and see if having muscle uptake was faster than subcutaneous. So the I don't know what they used to measure. I don't know how long I did it for But it was an interesting theory. And it didn't go on very long. And it was it's painful to do an I am injection sounds like it. Yeah, yeah. And the cost, the benefit wasn't real clear. And, you know, he said I didn't need to keep doing it, but showed there was that study. And then there was also a study going on that just started at the University Wisconsin called the The Wisconsin epidemiological study for diabetes, retinopathy, that did W E, S, D, R. And they were looking at, you know, control how well your control was, and they were going to do a 20 year study. And I was followed in that study for probably not quite 20 years, they stopped the study, because the results were so obvious that if you had good control, that you could slow down I disease, and they measured a bunch of things. And every year, I'd go in and have my eyes photographed, and just go through a series long series of questions. And it was usually a two hour appointment that I had. But they they did stop that study before 20 years, because the evidence was obvious that could control was

Scott Benner 21:39
read good outcome,

Christine 21:41
and had good outcomes. Yes. So and but we still didn't have good tools, right to measure. And,

Scott Benner 21:51
well, you know, you mentioned the a one t test with the best I can find is that in the 80s, the A one C test came up. Okay. And it doesn't say exactly when but that's also the decade of meters, test strips requiring less blood, like all that stuff sort of picked up a little bit in the early right. Through the 1980s.

Christine 22:11
Yeah, yeah. And I graduated from there in 1981. And I, I'm an occupational therapist, so I worked in hospitals and clinics. And I, I worked with a lot of people who had diabeetus, because in their complications, so as an occupational therapist, you help people to deal with their disease process or injury. And I got to see what happens when you don't take care of yourself.

Scott Benner 22:48
So, so those people you were working with could maybe act as the Ghost of Christmas Future for you. And it did keep you in line a little bit.

Christine 22:55
Oh, I'm sure that it all influenced. Yeah. You know. And then, you know, I was constantly, you know, in the field where I had good access to health care. And, um, yeah, I mean, all of it helped. I'm really glad that I chose that occupation. And I had that sense of, and I don't know which doctor along the way, said, You know, this isn't a death sentence, getting diabeetus there's a lot worse things out there. And I looked at, you know, our family history, and there was, there were things in our family history, like depression, developmental disabilities, muscular dystrophy, alcoholism. And I thought, you know, maybe diabetes isn't so bad, you know, we all get somehow struck down with something in our lives and diabetes teaches you how to live balanced and healthfully exercise eat right, all those things. And I took on that attitude of this isn't horrible. It college. I did. I think it was probably through going into that university health clinics. Somebody told me about a support group. And from college on up until even now, I've always been involved in some sort of support group around diabeetus. And I remember clearly that we had a nurse in our support group, and he was talking about how and again, this is late 70s, early 80s. How he says, Well, you know, if I wanted to eat I'm a little bit more I would just take some more insulin. And we all the rest of the people in the group we just guessed, like, oh my god, you can't do that. You can't just take more insulin. And he said, why not? You know, and it was that first sign of, yes, you could take more insulin to cover more carbohydrates or, you know, yeah. And so, of course, you know, that's where we are now.

Scott Benner 25:33
Well, I want to ask you a couple questions before we keep going. So there was like, muscular dystrophy in your background? That's autoimmune, I think, right?

Christine 25:42
Um, yeah, maybe it was on my dad's side. diabeetus was more on my mom's side. If if, in fact, you're right, I don't know that. But how about that would be the main autoimmune thing.

Scott Benner 25:59
How about thyroid, any thyroid, celiac? That kind of stuff?

Christine 26:07
Kind of surprisingly. You know, thyroid disease is pretty prevalent, but I don't remember anybody.

Scott Benner 26:15
Maybe, maybe, um, maybe Muscular Dystrophy is not it's the best I have here is a hyperactive immune system can lead to inflammation and autoimmune disorders. Muscular Dystrophy is a group of inherited diseases that lead to progressive muscle weakness. Yeah, it's not it's not making an indication there. Okay. Yeah. Depression, though, huh?

Christine 26:38
Yeah, I think my mom suffered from depression, my sister. There's alcoholism in my family. So when I looked at all those things, I thought, okay, maybe diabetes so bad. I mean, at least, I mean, I found a way to embrace it. Which I think it's a healthy way to

Unknown Speaker 27:01
live with it. Yeah. So I mean, I

Christine 27:03
would I would I rather not have diabetes, of course, right?

Scott Benner 27:07
Where did you find support groups back then.

Christine 27:11
So that one was, through college, there was some sort of thing on campus that we'd meet. And then as I was taking jobs in hospitals, or kind of working with my doctor, you know, it was often suggested, oh, there's a support group that meets, you know, once a month, that's such in such a place, and they would have guest speakers come in, or we would all just get together and bitch, you know, about having this disease or help each other to, you know, deal with certain things like how do you? How do you function with this. And I also, I just, we kind of know, in research that support groups help people to, to function better to live longer. You know, they say that women who are involved who get breast cancer who are involved with support groups often live longer with their disease. So we know it's a healthy concept. And I've been fortunate. Now up until COVID. Those last support group that I've been in was at a pump, users support group. So when I was vacillating about going out a pump, and I really pushed it away for a long time. It had been suggested by my doctor, you know, try a pump, dry pump. And I was like, you know, I do pretty good without it, and I wasn't ready for that attachment. And it wasn't until I get I was in my 40s. Show. I went along. I wrote jotted down some notes last night about I probably went along about 30 plus years, on MDI. And I've been on a pump now for 20 plus years. And what pushed me to finally go on a pump was that I couldn't remember. Like, when did I take that shot? How much did I take? You know, and when was my insulin gonna peak? I just couldn't remember, you know, it's just loose, you know, start to lose your mind in your 40s and 50s. And I was like, Okay, I should come. And I was the first pump that I went on was that Cosmo pump and I love After that little pump, I was very sad when the company went out of business and I think I went through two Cosmo pumps. And then I went through two animus pumps. Those are the ones that

Scott Benner 30:14
you hear people. They're very romantic about the Cosmo and and the ping Right. Was that yeah,

Christine 30:20
I liked the Cosmo. I did not like the ping, though. The endless scrolling just started to get to me. And so when they came out with the touchscreen, on that tandem, I couldn't wait to get that. So Should I've been on I've had to tandems now and I'm gonna be up for my next hand. And next year,

Scott Benner 30:45
can we? Can we talk for a little bit about what it's like to get older when you have to remember all this stuff? Because I'm I'm 50. And I searched for words. Sometimes, I have a fairly decent vocabulary. I don't whip it out all the time on the podcast. But there are times I couldn't tell you where to go to look for it. But I'll talk around not remembering a word. And I'm pretty good at it. So you might not hear it. But I'll feel as I'm speaking when I get going. I know what I'm saying before I say it. So I'm five words ahead. And I'm like, oh, gosh, it's almost like looking up the road and seeing a tree falling across the road. And I'm like, Oh no, there's a tree across the road, meaning I don't remember the word I want. And then I will speak an entire sentence to avoid needing that word. Like I'll explain the word instead of doing that. That's one of the things I've noticed as I get older. But I don't have to remember that I gave myself insulin and is there fat and what I ate and stuff like that. I really do want to know what that's like?

Christine 31:45
Well, I would say that right now at 65 If I have any fear that I have about MIT continuing to manage this as I get older.

Scott Benner 32:05
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Gonna get back to Christine in just a moment. But before we do, I'd like to remind you to go to T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. And take the survey also to get a touched by type one.org. And find out what they're up to over there helping people with type one diabetes as they do find them on Instagram, Facebook, and on their website touched by type one.org. I'll remind you that the links to the sponsors and all of the sponsors can be found in the found can be found in the show notes of your podcast player. And at juicebox podcast.com. No kidding. When you click on the links and support the sponsors, you are keeping the show frequent and free. So I appreciate your support very much. That's it you're ready. Here comes Christine.

Christine 33:35
Continuing to manage this as I get older, so certainly going out a pump helped immediately with oh, all the history is right there. I can just go and look and find it. Okay. But you're right. As I'm aging, I'm noticing that I can't walk from room to room without going oh my God, what did I what am I doing here I there was something I was going to get and I have to retrace my steps and, and it does impact well impacts everything but particularly, you know, diabeetus and I heard a statistic once about that as a diabetic. I'm I am thinking and having to make at least 200 Or maybe 300 I don't know what it is extra decisions in a day about what I'm putting in my mouth counting, you know, doing the numbers. You know, the pump does numbers for me, but all those little things that as a diabetic, you are thinking about that. Nobody, you know people don't have diabeetus don't have to think about and when you think of 200 extra little pieces of detail in a day. That's a lot you And so it is a fear that I have about what am I going to do? And I, what if I forget the steps of, you know, filling my pump? And I have to be, I've noticed now that when I'm loading my pump, I need to shut the door. Don't let anybody interrupt me. Because I might lose track. And I might skip a step or you know, or have to go back and start over. But yes, I am noticing the impact of just ah, just a yes, exactly.

Scott Benner 35:39
I mean, as a person who worries about a person who has diabetes, you know, I think the, the way I always thought of it is the first thing that concerns me greatly was, of course, Arden was diagnosed so young. And so when they're telling you stuff, like don't worry, you know, side side effects from diabetes and those impacts, they don't come for 30 years. And I was like, Oh, well, she'll be 32 then when she started having problems, like, that's not comforting, you know, were you trying to comfort me, because that didn't do it. Then there's the thinking about being on your own. And that whole process that you spoke about, about kind of, you know, just rebelling against life and going through that late adolescent period, getting, you know, getting out of your 20s alive, basically, that feeling. And then, you know, having to build a family being concerned that if you make a baby, is your baby going to have autoimmune issues as well? Is that something you want to give to someone else? And is it a burden you want to add to yourself? Because now you're not, you know, I think about how difficult it is to be the parent of a child of type one, but I don't have type on. So if you add that, is that an extra thing. And then I think about the getting older parts that we just spoke about. And then the part that scares me the most that if I talk about too long, I will just cry is what about when dexterity gold goes when you get older, like with your hands and grabbing and twisting and being able to manipulate small things and buttons. And then I feel like oh, God, like there'll be a day, if she lives that long, she'll have to go back to injections. And she won't know what the hell she's doing with that. And I won't be there. And you know, like, that's that that kind of like tidal wave of how I think about all that stuff?

Christine 37:20
Yeah. So I did make some decisions in my life based on just what some of the things you just talked about, I did not have children. And I remember my doctor at the time, who is a, he, he was an endocrinologist saying, okay, now's the time, I didn't get married till I was like 30, he says, but if you want to have a baby, you should do it sooner rather than later. And pumps were just coming out. And he said, we can put you on a pump during your pregnancy, which would help. And I just, I was sitting on the fence. And the one thing that probably multiple things, but a big thing that stuck out was I can probably get through this pregnancy successfully. I will be a good mother. But I will probably not take as good care of myself. Because I'll be taking care of a kid. I knew that my own my energy would go to taking care of the kid instead of taking care of myself. And you know, I have moments right now where I feel like I really wished that I had a kid. Just one would have been nice. But I didn't. I made the best decision that I could at that time. And I probably wouldn't be as in good health as I am right now. I think I could be wrong. But definitely pregnancy is hard on your body, anybody's body. And when you're diabetic, it's going to be a little bit harder. So, you know, I did that. That was a pretty large part of my decision not to have children.

Scott Benner 39:26
How was your husband with that?

Christine 39:28
I'm sure he was okay. Um, he I think he sat on the fence as much as I did. And so

Scott Benner 39:40
are you guys together? No, we

Christine 39:43
were no longer together. So, um, but,

Scott Benner 39:48
but at that time, it felt like he was in on it.

Christine 39:51
Yeah, he was supportive. And so, like, it wasn't like, it wasn't like, you know, he really felt like he went I have a kid and he was disappointed by the fact that I wasn't going to lean in that direction.

Scott Benner 40:05
Is that one of the more difficult decisions you've made?

Christine 40:10
I suppose, you know, none of the kids and my siblings, nobody had children. So there's, there's really no, yeah, a four out of four of us. Nobody had children

Scott Benner 40:24
purposely for the other three.

Christine 40:27
Um, you know, I think because my dad was not around very much. I don't think we had a really great role model of good family, what what a good family looks like. And that may have been part of it. My I think my youngest brother may have wanted to have children and his wife didn't. My older sister had some stepchildren, and then I have a younger sister who might have but she died of alcoholism. And at a young, pretty young age. And so yeah. Probably lots of different reasons. But it is unusual to have four kids. And there's no, there were no offspring.

Scott Benner 41:21
I need to ask you just so I don't wonder the whole time your father not being around. Was that alcoholism?

Christine 41:27
I think so. Yes. Hidden, hidden alcoholism. And I really, I didn't realize that until he was almost dead, you know, there was like, Oh, my God. That's why he was never around. He had his own business. And I think he was drinking over there. And I asked my mother about it. One day, they were both ill in their 80s. And I said, Was Dad drinking over there in his welding shop and and she changed the subject and said, No, so fast, I got whiplash.

Scott Benner 42:05
If you pardon me, Dad fight in the war.

Christine 42:10
He was in World War Two, he did not do combat. He had a desk job in the army, because of some sort of something I think he had, because he had a vision thing. They gave him a desk job. So

Scott Benner 42:28
I was just, I was trying to get out. I was wondering if he had PTSD or anything like that, before they understood what it was. So that's okay. I didn't mean to dig up your entire I just know.

Christine 42:39
I know. Okay. It's i It all relates. It relates. Yeah.

Scott Benner 42:44
No, I think it does, too. And I just sometimes I hope that people can see that that some of these details, make some of the bigger statements make more sense. And then they become valuable, not just you and I chatting for no reason. I appreciate that. Thank you. Yeah. So now it's funny, you know, I've heard a little beeping. What What technology do you use right now?

Christine 43:10
I don't know what was beeping. I have a tandem pump. I have a duck's Trump. Oh, to just be Yeah, no heard that.

Scott Benner 43:19
Your blood sugar's whatever your high threshold is you hit it about 10 minutes ago. You're right. I know.

Christine 43:26
Meal. I ate oatmeal this morning for breakfast because I didn't want to. I wanted a little spike this morning. I can eat oatmeal without getting a spike. But when I when I'm getting too low. I start not to think clearly. And I wanted to be thinking very clearly this.

Scott Benner 43:47
So that's interesting. Are your are your goals based on on that? Really? Like were you? I mean, obviously your goals are where you feel good, but are yours different than like somebody else's? Perhaps.

Christine 44:02
So you mean you want to know what my targets? Yeah. And have they changed? She got older. Oh, they've changed as I've listened to your podcast, oh, they're getting tighter and tighter and lower and lower. I mean, I had my parameter set it between 70 and 150. And, you know, and I was on MDI, for 30 plus years, and they started doing a Wednesday tests. I always on MDI was hovering in the low sevens. Probably when they first came out with the A one C test, I might have been an eight ish, I don't remember being much more than an eight. And then that test really kind of made me hone in better and I always was in the mid sevens. And then once I got on a pump, I dropped down into the sixes and And my last a winsy. And I never ever thought this would happen even though I was listening to you, I was getting bolder with insulin, I was doing Pre-Bolus saying and working with my basals I thought there is no way I will ever get into the fives like some of these people are doing. I just thought that was phenomenal. That my last one was a 5.6 Wow,

Scott Benner 45:29
that is amazing. Good for you.

Christine 45:31
I know. And it was like, it seemed effortless. Show. So the the one thing that, you know you, we were talking about these aging issues. And the one thing I wanted to emphasize was, you know, the idea of complications that we all we've learned about if you know the complications of diabetes, if you aren't trying to stay in control, I kidney, vascular system and all that. But, and I've pretty much evaded those things, I have one thing going on with my eyes that I'm getting some treatment for. But I think that's that's the most wonderful thing right now that I mean, you can still have diabeetus and have none of this technology and do a bad job. But what I'm seeing and hearing is that people are getting onboard with the technology right away, they're doing such a great job. They're not even, you know, they get diagnosed with a a one C of 10. And then in three months, they're down in a normal level, it's like, we're gonna get to a period of time where we don't see those complications anymore. And that is so much, I think, for families, parents to hang on to, you know, the idea that, wow, I can pretty much a kid normally, you know, I have this attitude of this disease isn't as bad as a lot of other things could be. But now you can have this disease and really hone in with all the technology and hopefully not have to be looking at any complications down the road. Yeah,

Scott Benner 47:32
no, I mean, it's, it's only been a number of decades. It's funny when you talk about your life, and you say, I was MDI for 30 years, I'm over 20 years on a pump. Now, my first reaction is like, it's astounding, you know, it feels like you've lived lifetimes inside of a lifetime is how it makes me feel. And at the same time, when you really consider it, there's, you know, past the late 80s, diabetes started to, to move in a completely different direction. And if you even cut away the the 80s, and the 90s, from your, you know, from your analysis of the last 10 years, is astonishing, compared to the first, you know, decades. Exactly. And I think that some of some of the problem is holdover. It's people who live so long in the first part, or the second part, that when they are as doctors giving advice to people who live now, their advice is still just very rooted in 1985. Instead of instead of them just forgetting that, like, just forget what happened before. And look at what what's possible now. It's just it's it's a, it's what slows people down sometimes. Now, I'm not talking about people who don't want to pump. Like I understand if somebody doesn't want a pump attached to them. Like I couldn't argue with that, if that's not what you want. I'm talking about doctors who are saying things like, I just got a note from a lady this morning and her kids graph is ridiculous. And she's like, I don't know, like what happened. I went to my endo and told them that we were seeing drops after meals and they made his basil heavier. And now the drops are worse, and I'm feeding his insulin all day long. And I said, Look, I looked at it, I listened to what she had to say. And I said I would put the basil back to where it was and look at your meal ratios because our first problem was the kid was falling after food. But I think the doctor saw the big spike and added basil for some reason, but the spike was from her catching the fruit catching the drop with food. It's just like, How could someone misunderstand this so drastically? You know and to say that they are professionals at it. i That's the That's today's biggest hurdle is getting practitioners who can read those graphs quickly and make sense of them.

Christine 49:59
Yeah, show I've, I've I've my last two internists that I went to and I go to endocrinology person, the last two internist, who were looking at my A wincy at a 5.6. And a 6.0. Said, I'm a little worried about this. A won't see that this is too low. But I see that you're working with endocrinology, and I'll just leave it alone. And I said, that's a good idea. Because I said, technology today is all about. I don't, I don't have to have extreme lows anymore. That 5.6 does not. When I had sevens. I had more lows than I do now. Yeah.

Scott Benner 50:57
It's obvious to me, I don't know why it's like the if you don't get high, you don't have to correct and then you don't get low later. It's, uh, you said earlier that the five six felt effortless. And I mean, my heart just swelled. Because, I mean, if you've listened to the podcast, you know how I think about it, if you don't get high, you won't get high. If you don't get high, you don't have to crack, you know, like you, you put the effort into staying in that spot. And then all that other stuff that everybody struggles with, most for the most part doesn't happen anymore. Your your insulins not timed poorly. It's not working when there's no food in your system, etc. Like all the things you'll hear me say in the podcast. But I was just really, it's lovely that you that that struck you that way too. And I just because you had gone through so many iterations of diabetes, why were you able to hear what I was saying? And how long have you been listening? And how the hell did you find a PA, I have a lot of questions. I don't understand how you find a podcast at your age. How did you find yourself listening to a person who doesn't have diabetes? Like how did you get over that hurdle?

Christine 52:00
Well, I'm so in the pump users support group that I'm currently in. When I first got on the Dexcom, with my tandem pump, I was going to this support group, and people were starting to use the mostly continuous monitoring with their med tronics. And, and, and some Dexcom. fours and fives, you know, and I never wanted to go on a Dexcom earlier because it was like, well, you still have to calibrate it. I was like, I will go on. I'll go on continuous monitoring, when I don't have to calibrate it anymore. Why would I want to do that and still have to test my blood sugar. So I was kind of waiting for the perfect opportunity. But in that group, when I got on to G six, that was my first continuous and, and then I had the chance to pump. I said, Okay, I'm getting all this data. I don't quite know what to do with it all. You know, how do I work with it. And one of the dieticians who ran that group, she says, you might want to listen to the Juicebox Podcast. And so I I didn't even know what a podcast was. So I don't learn how to do that on my iPhone. And I started listening to you and we that was back in. It was in the low 200 episodes, okay. And what the very first day I thought, I don't know if I can listen to this guy.

Scott Benner 53:56
My wife would agree with you.

Christine 53:59
kind of fool yourself. It took me one day to get over it. And I thought, oh my god, this guy has something to say. I mean, stick with this. And I had a job where I worked out of my car, I traveled as a as a home occupational therapist. So I had that podcast going on all day long when I was in my car. And I'd listened to episode after episode and I just started to eat it up and start to make slow changes. Cool. And then I was telling the group I said, you all need to be listening to this. This is really helpful information. And it made sense to me. The idea about you know, the struggle to bring down a high versus the ease and bringing up a low you know, and don't don't do 15 grams of carbohydrate. All you need are eight grapes to bring up that low? And especially if it's a low that you're moving into slowly, which is what happens on a pump, you know, unless, I mean, it's very rare anymore that I overdose on a Bolus. And even if that would happen, like I just don't calculate it right. Then it's like, oh, okay, I get to have a little chocolate right now. This little snack to keep me from crashing. That's excellent. Yeah. So, um, yeah, it's just a whole lot easier. So and I, yes, I attribute my 5.6 to you.

Scott Benner 55:51
Oh, well, I'm very happy for you, sincerely. I, I know I, I know how I can probably come off in the beginning. But there's nothing. To me. There's nothing you can do about it also needs to be interesting. I, you know, so it's always been, it's always been in the back of my head, you know, that you can't just, you can't just pump out the information in the driveway, no one will listen to it, right?

Christine 56:17
Do you remember when I first wrote to you, like six or seven months ago, and I said, I think I have something to contribute to your program. And I said, you, you do such a great job of what we call in my occupation, of oath of occupational therapy. It's called therapeutic use of self. And you do that really well. And, and it allows you to connect with people. And it always allowed me to connect to my patients in a way that I did not see my co workers necessarily connecting. It's putting your whole self into it. It's putting your experiences to develop a connection and rapport between you and your listeners, between you and me, the person that you're interviewing, you just do that really well. You make you make people feel safe and respected. No, thank you. And that, and that is, I think, you know, that's kind of the fancy words to somebody who knows how, who knows how to do the gift of gab, and to be a really good schmoozer? You know, you've been told that by Who was it, Katie Couric that told you you have a good way with people? Was she the one?

Scott Benner 57:44
Yeah, she was the one she's, she's, she said, you don't know, I was doing her television show. And when it was over, she said, all those people, they were just, they were waiting for you to talk again. They didn't care what the other people were saying. And, you know, she's nice, like, I could feel it, like I have whatever that is, like, I don't know that anybody wouldn't have it. But when you're talking, and you can feel people moving, you can feel their emotions moving or their interest moving on your words, it's a, an electric feeling. And so I knew I knew that it was happening. But I didn't have the context for it that she had, because she had watched it so often, I guess, in the past,

Christine 58:22
and using humor, and storytelling, your personal experience, it's just all part of it. And it just makes people you know, believe in you. And connect. Difference between, you know, you as a really good podcaster and or me as an occupational therapist between somebody who's successful at it, and somebody who's just kind of doing their job, right.

Scott Benner 58:54
The way I the way I think about it, I mean, if we want to go behind the curtain, I guess is that I think there's something valuable about me not having diabetes, because of that sort of dispassionate breakdown that I can do of what's happening, you know, whereas if you talk to another type one, their emotions are going to get into it pretty immediately. I mean, I don't know what it's like to have a low blood sugar and think I'm going to pass out. It sounds really scary. And I hope I never have to understand what that's like. But I can stand as a third party and tell you what it was like to watch it happen, and where and what was important to do and when it was important to do to stop it or to slow it down more quickly, where to have it come back without a spike like that kind of stuff. I agree about the storytelling thing. I think people need to hear things slowly. I don't think having things shouted at you or bullet pointed is a valuable way to teach people things. And, you know, being comfortable is I can't even take credit for that. You know, I've got I won't say who and my family but we were sitting around one day speaking about something. And I started talking and being vulnerable about how I felt about the situation, which led to another person in the room doing the same thing. And those people were older, and it made their spouse uncomfortable. And then it started like a, an argument. And I remember at the end, I was not part of the argument. The person who opened up after I opened up looked at me and said, This is your fault. And I laughed, and I said, Hey, the two of you not knowing how to be honest with each other is not my fault. I was like, I don't know if you just saw what happened. But you were honest. It made your your your partner uncomfortable to feel that you were sad. And then you guys didn't know how to communicate after that. I said, that had nothing to do with me. But I take your point. There's something about I was honest. And then it made him want to be honest. And then it just it went on from there. So

Christine 1:01:05
instead of it being your fault, you could take credit for that.

Scott Benner 1:01:09
Oh, at the end, I was like, Yeah, I pulled you aside. I said, Well, you're welcome. You know, it's up to you guys. Now to third times, when I hear people complain to me, and in my head, I think, I think to myself, Oh, so what you mean here is Thank you. But you just don't know it yet. That's fine. And it really is. It's an odd pairing, right? Like, why? Why is it me? You know what I mean? But it all works, and I can't take credit for it working. It just works. And and then then that's the next step. If I pretend that's not the case, if I use false modesty, you're going to feel that. So I'd rather seem brash to you at first when you get to the podcast, and then you realize that maybe I deserve that feeling, then for me to pretend like oh, no, you know, that's not, you know, that kind of both, is. I think that that fake stuff would turn people off it, at least it would turn me off. So, you know, I don't do it, when you hear me get embarrassed about something. I'm really embarrassed. Like, when when people say nice things, it's, it is gotten easier for me to accept over time. But it's still strange. I mean, you're a person who over the last hour has painted an amazing picture of decades of living with diabetes. And to hear at the end of that story, for you to say that I'm in the fives because of a podcast I made is, it's difficult to absorb, from my perspective, you know, but I appreciate it. It just makes me a little uncomfortable. Maybe I'll be a full adult and other 10 years, and I'll be able to accept it better. I

Christine 1:02:46
don't know. Yeah. Well, I want you to know that with every episode I listened to, um, you know, some of the what do you call him the dark after dark? The after dark? Yeah. You know, somebody's talking about drug addiction and diabetes. And I think, Oh, well, that's, that's an interesting title. And, you know, I never did drugs, I'm probably not going to get anything out of this. But I've listened to all of them, you know, as they come up, and there's always some thread of information that I can get from even that episode. You know, um, you know, people talk about, you know, just the emotions behind having a chronic disease. And even though I don't suffer from depression, I remember some depressing times of, and I just can, every episode, it just brings me back to so much history that I just love, you know, kind of that that piece of it where I am constantly reliving some things or remembering some things that I totally forgot.

Scott Benner 1:04:14
Well, there can be value in other people's perspectives. That's obvious, but there can also be value in you hearing somebody say something that's clearly wrong. And it can reinforce it. And you I mean, there. I don't agree with everything everybody says when they're on the show, but I don't stop to you know, I don't always stop to give my perspective that's, that's opposite sometimes. You know, sometimes the people who come on have to realize that by being so open and honest, there are going to they are going to reveal things about themselves that aren't maybe stuff that you would help other people to see. But by letting other people see those things, you end up helping those people. I just got a note about something like two days ago where a woman said hey, in this recent Episode when this person said, you know, XYZ, how come you didn't correct her? And I said, Oh, she seems really, you know, sure about that for herself. But what I hear is then the person who thought her right in about it, that helped them because it solidified a thought they had. And so there's this sort of, there's this bigger there's a bigger responsibility in bringing people's stories out than it might seem to just the casual listener. Right, there's, I'm, uh, I'm trying to accomplish more things. And it might seem like, I guess, it seems kind of high minded for a podcast, but it's actually true. So yeah, yeah. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. You enjoy it? I really do.

Christine 1:05:49
I do. I do. I'm not I'm retired, right before COVID. From the most, you know, the fullest part of my job, I still do a little two hour a week job as a part time employee, but I'm not in a car anymore, driving around. And all day. So I realized, Oh, my God, I'm not listening to as many podcasts, I have to create some other time, besides being in the car, to be listening to the podcasts,

Scott Benner 1:06:24
you know, and when COVID came, I was so worried that that is what was going to happen, you know, that, Oh, gosh, people are going to stop driving. And you know, this is it. Like, I actually, I was worried, like, you know, will the if the podcast, you know, could fold if people don't listen, advertisers won't be, you know, inclined to advertise. If that happens, you know, good luck, all of you with me explain to my wife that I'm now just making a podcast for all of you out of the goodness of my heart, because we have bills and children and college and things like that. And then the opposite happened. So it just it skyrocketed through COVID. And I was like, huh, that went backwards. But your experience was the experience that I expect it? And and I'm sure it happened to some people. But overwhelmingly, what happened is that people found themselves with more time.

Christine 1:07:14
Yeah, so that's good. That's good.

Scott Benner 1:07:17
It's good for me. Because because I want to make the podcast, I'm in a very weird position where I do a thing that helps people. And that is my main focus. But that thing takes so much time and effort that if I can't monetize it, I can't do it the way I want to do it. And then it becomes, you know, it could become difficult to maintain after that. I just feel lucky that I make money off of a thing that's actually valuable to people and that I enjoy doing. Like, I never thought I was gonna get all three of those things like enjoyment value and a living. I didn't I didn't think I could get all of them. So I feel very lucky about it. Yeah, yeah. Having said that, you need to listen more, Christine. Okay, I do.

Christine 1:08:03
I'm gonna have to learn how to like, turn on the podcast and sit, sit in my office hear that? And I I'm a quilter. So I can have it on while I'm sewing. And so, yeah, there's all kinds of ways. Anyway,

Scott Benner 1:08:24
are you enjoying yourself? Is this okay? Did you get out everything you want to talk about?

Christine 1:08:28
Um, yeah, I think there was one. This might give you a title. Today, I do. I am going through one. I call it a minor complication. You know, my cousin went blind when he was 21. And he's, he, he would have been 65 this year, but he died two or three years ago. From all of the complications of diabeetus. He the diabeetus was kind of from both of our mother's sides. And then his father had early heart disease. So he got the double whammy of having not only diabeetus but a cardiac condition as well. So over his lifetime of 62 years, he had three or four heart attacks he had bypass surgery. He was having kidney shut down he lost his sight he lost a leg and you know, he was pretty much heading into another surgery with it for another amputation and and he died. But I have always because I was involved in that I study in college knew right away to kind of make sure that my eyes are being checked every year and been faithful about that. And I remember, you know, the very first time having the physician tell me Well, we're seeing a little bit of background diabetic retinopathy. But it's kind of what we would expect to see in somebody's eyes who's had diabetes for 30 years, you know, you don't have anything to worry about right now, and but just maintain control. So it's another reason to maintain good control, I had a cousin who was blind and, and then I had a little bit of retinopathy. Well, so as the years went by, you know, that little bit has changed. And I'm undergoing treatments now. For it's called diabetic macular oedema, D and E. And they go in, it started out being every month, but now it's every other month for I call it my time to get the sharp stick in my eye. So I get an injection of, you know, a very fancy, expensive drug called eylea. I see advertisements for it on TV now. And it is something that I'm probably going to have the rest of my life, but it controls the edema that can, without the injections, the edema can get worse, and then it tugs at your retina or something like that, you lose your sight. And so, you know, had that been there, you know, when my cousin was in his 20s, he wouldn't have lost his sights. And now I'm at that place where, you know, at first was like, Oh, my God, I have to go have this treatment now. And instead of going down the rabbit hole of, oh, this is terrible and getting depressed, it's like, hey, we have a treatment for this, I am not going to lose my sight. I just have to go in and get a sharp stick in my eye every two months, you know. And so, again, I've heard you talk about with your daughter of how you know how much you know, you tell and make decisions, and you guys text and you tell her what to do. And at first I thought, wow, she's a teenager, she should be able to do all that because I, I, I right off the bat learned how to do all of that my mom was kind of incapable, she would just crumble. And so I had to learn how to do that at an early age. And then I could hear you talk about all the things that you did for Arden. And I thought, wow, she doesn't have to make those decisions. Isn't that? Wow, I wonder when she's going to learn that. And then I thought, hey, if somebody texted me and said, Hey, take five units of insulin, and you know, what are you going to eat? I thought that was pretty nice. Maybe I'd like that too.

And she, and then you talked about, hey, by the time she does have to start learning that by herself, there's going to be more technology out there. So that she may not have to be learning all the things that I do for her. Right, the technology is going to change again and again and again, because it is changing so rapidly. And so I guess the point being like with complications and like this eye disease, I decided not to get all bent out of shape about Yes, I've got this thing going on. But for God's sakes, I've had diabetes for 52 years. Because it's dead. I could be dead and I'm not. I'm doing very well. I have been on the same dosage of insulin from almost when I was a teenager that I am now. You know, I take care of myself, I exercise I stay slim. And I eat well. And we I have every reason to believe my doctor says, you know, you might make the 100 year club happy amazed and I and I know and I know. Some days I think yeah, that's possible. I've I feel like I've been lucky. And I've also worked very hard at it so it's hard to know how much is hard work and home He has some stroke of luck.

Scott Benner 1:15:02
Well, you gotta take what? You gotta take it. Right, right. It's a little, it's a little luck was coming your way. I mean, that's amazing. And maybe there's just something about your body that that did well through those early years and didn't feel the the impact as much, I have to tell you the two things. I was like, as soon as you talked about the injections for your eyes, I just thought, well, that's a miracle that somebody figured that out, you know, like that that exists is just, it's just wonderful. Yeah. And does it hurt? Does the needle hurt? What? How would you describe the injection?

Christine 1:15:37
Um, so the very first one I went in for I said, to the retina, RetinA, but he's a retina specialist. I said, you know, I'm a little I don't get anxious. But I said, I'm a little anxious right now, because you're going to put something really sharp in my eyeball. And I mean, nothing. There's nothing about that. That sounds good. And he said, Yeah, and I'm going to tell you right now that you having anxiety is not helpful. So he says, I'm going to help you breathe through this. And he really put me at ease. And he is very skilled, and very fast. So that, and they put these numbing drops in your eye. So I don't I feel something. But I'm sure not as much as it would be without the numbing drops. And it just goes so fast. And then he's done. And then they rinse your eyeball out. And then you go home. And he says, the best thing for you to do right now is to go home and take a nap. Keep your eyes closed for a couple hours. And because generally, what happens is I feel the prick. And then on the drive home, my eyes starts to feel really scratchy. And I go to sleep. There's something in it that makes me sleep for two hours, I could never take a two hour nap. But I sleep for about two hours. And I wake up and it's pretty much gone. Well, the it's just a slight irritation. And till the next day, I don't even know it. Yeah. So you just have to kind of get over that. Yeah, they're gonna poke your eye for the needle.

Scott Benner 1:17:30
And then the rest is cake. Yeah. And the other thing I want to tell you, and I do have to let you go in a minute, just because I'm running up on something. But the other thing I want to tell you is that I just got back from a wedding, my wife and I drove cross country to go to my god daughter's wedding. And I of course, didn't say this out loud before we left, but Arden stayed at home by herself. And we left Thursday afternoon and returned late Sunday night. So with the exception of one evening, where I'm gonna say we were between the end of a pot of a pump site, where I wish maybe she would have changed the pump a little sooner, and some hormonal things. You know, so there was a struggle, this one for about 112 hour period. And her her blood sugar was higher during that time. 100 ad 200. And but I let her keep going at it. And then once in a while I jumped in. I was like, Hey, you gotta do something here. You know, like, this isn't it's not going to break. You know, you have to do something I already Bolus. I was like, I know, but it's not working. Like, look at the line. It's not it's not working, you know, and then I nudged her towards, I think your pod should be changed. And she said, It's not the pod because I was it worked earlier, she said, and I was like, I know I'm like, but there's this entire experience that we're having right now says to me, we're seeing some resistance and the pump site's not fresh. So I said, I think if you go to a fresh pump site, we're going to start and we make a nice big Bolus, I think this is going to be okay. So she said, No, I want to, I'm gonna do it in the morning. I said, Okay, well, that's fine. But then we're going to make one more big correction. And I said I, because I think we can push enough through this bed site to keep you safe while we're asleep. And she guessed that how much insulin and if the site was working, right, she would have had the right number, but I knew to do much more. So I pushed six units through as a correction for like a 200 blood sugar. But that's based on everything I'd seen over many, many hours. And she got up in the morning, changed her pump and got everything back the way you know again so to me that's a learning experience like she gets to see that happen. And and, and I do believe what I say which is a oversee slowly over time. She's learning more than she thinks she knows. And I do think things are going to continue to get better. And it'll be a different situation for her in the Future.

Christine 1:20:00
Oh, she's gonna she's gonna figure it out as she leaves home and goes off to college that she's going to be on her own. So figure it out, and so she won't do. You know, she'll have some bumps along the way, but slowly

Scott Benner 1:20:13
expected. However, in the many years prior to that, I mean, I think we're up to seven or eight at this point, like, imagine how crazy it is. I've lost track of how long Ardens a onesies been in the fives, I don't even know. And because it feels effortless at this point. But But even at that, if she got eight years of a five point something, a one C, and she's learning how I did it. Slowly without it feeling like she's not pressured by I don't know if you heard the episode with her. Like she couldn't be more chilled out about it. So yeah. So you know, so there's no pressure. She's having good outcomes. She is learning more than she thinks she knows technology is going to get better and moving forward. I mean, I did my best to put her in a good position. So yeah, that's all. Christine, I have to tell you, this is really terrific. I could probably talk to you all day, I am going to go jump onto another call right now. My son has a doctor's appointment that I have to sit in on. Or else the report back we'll get from it. As Doctor said, it's fine. I mean, like he didn't say anything else. That's it. It's okay. How about if I have it if I'm there, too. I really appreciate this. Thank you so much.

Christine 1:21:28
It was it was great. Thank you for letting me come on. And yeah, wonderful.

Scott Benner 1:21:34
Yeah. Well, and hello to your support group, because I'm assuming they all listen to you. And you they listen to the podcast now. So

Christine 1:21:40
yes, I told them. I need to start listening to you. I tell everybody about it.

Scott Benner 1:21:45
So thank you. That's right. All right. Hold on one second, please. Okay, I'm just gonna

a huge thank you to one of today's sponsors, G voc glucagon. Find out more about Chivo Capo pen at G voc glucagon.com. Ford slash juicebox. you spell that GVOKEGL You see ag o n.com. Forward slash juicebox. I just want to take a moment to thank Christine for coming on the show today and sharing her story. I really really enjoyed our time together.

last bits, tea one day exchange.org Ford slash juice box. Take the survey Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes on Facebook, join the private Facebook group. I'm just gonna non sequitur. All these enjoying the show. Tell a friend or a stranger doesn't matter to me. If you really love the show, try leaving a review and rating where you listen like say you listen to an apple podcast, open it up and say five stars. Click and then it says write a review that you click that and then write a nice thoughtful review that will make somebody else think you know this bill from Paris who wrote this review. He really seemed to like this podcast. I'm going to check it out to see what I'm saying about the reviews. That's what they're for. And last but not least, I didn't mean to connect these two things because I was supposed to non sequitur the whole thing. But last but not least, if you're listening in a podcast app or an audio app like Amazon music, Apple podcast Spotify, please subscribe and follow the show. Some apps ask you to subscribe to be a follower. Some apps ask you to follow to be a follower. Fancy words. Not really. But they mean the same thing depends on the app you're in Subscribe and follow. Subscribe and follow. You can pill the digit forget about the 666 thing already. There's only an hour ago. I am your master. You will do what I say. Subscribe and follow. leave a review make it five stars support to sponsor by a contour meter. You need a different glucagon. Your tubing is stinky. Don't you want to see your CGM numbers on your phone? Raha right it's enough just to purchase sponsors. I gotta keep this thing going. Thanks so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast.