#690 Singing in the Rain

May 30, 2022Scott Benner

Bricen has type 1 diabetes and 11 other diagnosed issues. His grandmother is here to tell us his story.

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

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends and welcome to episode 690 of the Juicebox Podcast.

Cheryl's grandson has type one diabetes and the 11 other diagnosed issues. Among them are seizures, autism, mitochondrial dysfunction, and he is visually impaired Sharla and her husband are Bryson's primary caregivers. And they have custody of him. Bryson's story is interesting to say the least. And I hope you enjoy it. 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 are becoming bold with insulin. If you are the caregiver of someone with type one, or have type one yourself and are a US resident, please head over to t one D exchange.org. Forward slash juice box join the registry. Take the survey, the whole thing should take you fewer than 10 minutes. Your answers to that survey are going to help people with type one diabetes, T one D exchange.org forward slash juicebox.

This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by us med get your diabetes supplies from us med all you have to do is go to U S med.com forward slash juicebox or call 888-721-1514. Get your free benefits check today. The podcast is also sponsored today by Ian Penn from Medtronic diabetes in Penn takes the guesswork out of dosing by using its app that uses your glucose levels and carbohydrate estimates to recommend the dose that's right for you. It also does a lot more I'll tell you about it later. Learn more Get started today at in Penn today.com. The podcast is also sponsored by touched by type one all they want you to do is check them out. Go to touch by type one.org Find them on Facebook, or Instagram.

Cheryl 2:34
Hello, my name is Cheryl. And I live in Nashville Tennessee. My grandmother Bryson Henderson. Who is a medically complex child diagnosed with diabetes January 20 of this year.

Scott Benner 2:49
Alright, show a couple things. You know the word futzing? That's not a southern word. Stop touching things. Keep your hands up. So okay, so, Bryson is your grandchild? But are you do you care for him? Like is he live with you?

Cheryl 3:11
Yes, he is. My husband and myself have custody and we've had custody for the last few years. Okay, how

Unknown Speaker 3:17
old is he?

Cheryl 3:19
He just turned 15.

Scott Benner 3:21
When was he diagnosed?

Cheryl 3:24
He was diagnosed on January 20 of this year. 21.

Scott Benner 3:29
Oh, okay. So you're not even a urine yet? No. Okay. Without taking I don't want to hear too many of your personal details. But how did you come to be his caregiver?

Unknown Speaker 3:42
Um, his parents for

Cheryl 3:46
just struggling to keep up with the medical complexities that he had. And so he came to live with us for about a year. And after he'd been with us for a year, then we sought custody. And so he's been with us since he was 10. And we've had custody since he was 11 years old. We've always been very involved in those laws,

Scott Benner 4:12
even prior to that. Your daughter or your son's child, my son, your son shot, okay. Okay, so he's been with you for four or five years. How old are you? I am 63. Okay, husband similar age a little older.

Cheryl 4:30
No, he's older. He's 74. Sure, yes.

Scott Benner 4:36
Woo is at some point. Were you a trophy wife?

Cheryl 4:41
I am always been a trophy wife. No, I yeah, we've been 20 years I guess. I guess I'm considered a trophy wife. He might disagree. But I like that.

Scott Benner 4:51
Oh, that's good. I still think he parades you around to his friends and he's like, look at this one in our 60s. Okay, So any other kids for you?

Cheryl 5:05
Yes, I have another older son, as well. So I have two children, only one grandson. Well, actually two, one Bryson that I have custody of. And then Bryson has a little brother. He's three.

Scott Benner 5:19
And his little brother doesn't live with you.

Cheryl 5:23
Excuse me, his little brother doesn't what

Scott Benner 5:25
doesn't live with you? No. Okay. All right. I think I understand what our, I guess let's, let's start at the beginning for Bryson, how old was he, when he when he had his first medical issue.

Cheryl 5:41
He was born with a medical issue. When he was born, he was in the ICU for 10 days, he had trouble regulating his temperature. And it was obvious he has hypotonia. And that is where when you pick them up, there's actually no resistance at all. He has very low muscle tone. So it's also known as rag doll syndrome, because that's how they feel. And so it was known at the beginning he has a stigma, which is where your eyes involuntarily move, and that is a brainstem issue. So we knew from the beginning that there were that there were issues,

Scott Benner 6:27
okay. Hypo,

Cheryl 6:30
hypo, hyper tone, hypertonia

Scott Benner 6:32
hypotonia, I say, Okay, I was stopping at the wrong spot in the work. Born with that, in that's not something that's getting better, right. Like that's a lifelong illness.

Cheryl 6:46
That is, it is actually causing problems right now. He's in a efos. And he actually broke his foot, I guess, about five weeks ago. And it's because his muscles hypertonia is when it's like a rubber band. So when you are like you and I are or muscle is always, you know, tied and ready to go to some degree his arm has are extremely relaxed unless he calls them to us. And so the muscles in his legs as he gains weight are no longer able to hold his weight. So his ankles are collapsing. So he's in a efos. Now, just to stabilize the stance,

Scott Benner 7:33
and this is an autoimmune disease, correct?

Cheryl 7:36
Well, is a whole stems from what is called mitochondrial disease or dysfunction. And that is he was born with it. And it's where the body does not convert food and oxygen. And to normal cell function. It doesn't put it into the mitochondrial can absorb it. So like diabetes, it's an energy channel that is blocked. And because of it, he has the low muscle tone. He is cognitively delayed and has seizures. And he is autistic. And he has high anxiety. And he was born with optic nerve atrophy, where his optic nerve did not have the energy to develop correctly in utero, and he is visually impaired and attends our state's school for the blind.

Scott Benner 8:39
Sure, that's a lot. Okay. It is a lot. Yeah. Are you okay?

Cheryl 8:44
Oh, yeah, yes, yes. Yes. I mean, it's like all of this, most of his diagnoses came within, you know, the first three years of life. It's like, we knew he was having seizures. He, he first presented with apps and seizures. So he was having these staring spells. And we knew something was going on. We just weren't really sure. And I actually had to video one before they took us seriously, that really was seizures. And when they did the EEG, they estimated he was having probably 150 Absent seizures a day.

Scott Benner 9:24
Oh my gosh. Okay. Let me try to understand trying I'm trying to find context. So callback, can you tell me what an average day for him is? Like?

Cheryl 9:37
Yes, an average day for him. First of all he has. He's cognitively delayed enough that he does not realize that his life is any different than mine or yours or any other 15 year olds. So he is a very happy, very joyful child. He gets up in the morning. He slams I think he's talking right now he's into not not jokes. So while he's eating breakfast, he's telling me not not jokes. He's autistic. So they're the same jokes, the same, you know, five or six jokes all the time. But we both laugh each time they're told. And then he cannot bade himself all the way. So he showers and I help him. And then he needs help putting on some of his clothes, especially he can't, because of the hypertonia. He has very low fine and gross motor skills. So he's not at it's very hard for him to button blue jeans and the zip blue jeans. And so right now we're lucky enough that it's then that we can use kind, he can just pull up and down by himself. So I help him get dressed. And then he gets on the bus. He has his vision is impaired enough that he has to have a human bio at all times. So if you will just see me putting him on the bus. He would be holding my elbow and I would be guiding them on the bus. He goes to school, he loves school, all of his therapies are at school. The school he attends is actually a residential sim Center. We're lucky enough to live close that he can go. But since it's our State School for the Blind and blessed, bustin everywhere, so he has a wide variety of children. It's a huge campus, you know, they have an indoor pools, or he may go swimming, they have an indoor, oh, in LA, he might go bowling. They have a huge auditorium. And so they're always having, you know, one of the grades will put on productions or plays or the choir will sing.

Scott Benner 11:52
Does he have? I'm sorry to cut you off? Does he have the ability to manage himself? At the bathroom? For example, I'm a healer. He takes a human guide to the bathroom. But then does the guide help him through the whole process? Or does Bryson handle some of it himself?

Cheryl 12:10
No, he is self sufficient. We've got him to the point where he is self sufficient in the restaurant. So I mean, we're he you know, at the house, he would be sitting on the couch listening to music, just like any 15 year old would do when they got home from school. And if he has to go to the restroom, he just gets up and goes. Because he has autism. He struggled or used to struggle with privacy issues he did not understand. But we've really honed in us in the school I've really honed in on so he's more aware of

Scott Benner 12:42
that privacy like modesty.

Cheryl 12:44
Modesty. Exactly. He's Yes.

Scott Benner 12:48
Gotcha. Do you work?

Cheryl 12:53
No. I am a retired industrial engineer.

Scott Benner 12:56
Oh, wow. So you have your you have time to to, to be with him?

Cheryl 13:02
Yes. When I retired, I did take a part time job as a hearing screener for newborns at our local hospital. And we got custody, they actually when I had it was a part time job a lot of times just a couple of hours a day. And my husband would watch him when I was gone. He's also retired. He's a retired banker. So we so he was always covered by one of us if he wasn't in school,

Scott Benner 13:29
okay. When I don't, I'm sorry, I don't want to be like, I don't want to be a bummer. But I'm wondering in 20 years, what is Bryson do?

Cheryl 13:40
You know, in 20 years, that's the fear. Mitochondrial Disease is can be a progressive disease, and many of the children that are severely affected, do not live to the age of five. So we consider ourselves so blessed that Bryson's here, and then that he was not affected to that degree, even though he has a laundry list. They're all managed, and he's a healthy child, in spite of them. It's really, you know, yeah, we don't know what their diabetes is progression or not. Bryson, we've never found the gene that's causing the mitochondrial dysfunction. And so therefore, we don't have a path and we don't have anyone else to say, oh, you know, these are the organs that we have to protect because he has, you know, lays disease and it may be, you know, its brain and this is how it progresses. And we don't have any of that information. So we just go along, hoping.

Scott Benner 14:52
Do you just you just Yeah, every day. What conjugal disease is a genetic disorder, right? Is there a Anyone else in the family that has it?

Cheryl 15:03
No, no. There was not. It may be that they, they have done studies on his parents, and they haven't really found a gene that they both had. And that Bryson has, it can be a mutation in within himself. And that's what they're thinking, since they haven't really pick up on any genes, known variances. So right now, he's kind of an unknown. And that that in a way makes it you don't want to have a one to two B diagnosis. It's one of the severe sides of mitochondrial, but then again, we're on land and the unknown. And we don't know what to expect,

Scott Benner 15:47
do you have a number for how many different issues he has as a diagnosis?

Cheryl 15:52
If I had all of his diagnoses, like ADHD and everything, he has about 12 or 12 diagnoses?

Scott Benner 16:02
Which is a strange question, maybe, but which one of them presents you the most trouble day to day?

Cheryl 16:08
Now? That's a very good question. Actually, it's as autism on a day to day function. It is autism, keeping him to be able to actually talk and communicate he wants to and he is horrible. But he has a hard time processing, processing the words and getting them out in the order. He knows everything about diabetes, but if he like he was going to talk to his teacher about it. And so we were talking and he's like, Oh, that's a lot of words that I have to say. And so that's how he thinks he knows he has trouble really, you know, process and then it presenting it. So autism on a day in and day out basis. As far as his quality of life and what he sees, it would definitely be autism.

Scott Benner 16:58
Okay. And for you, is it the same.

Cheryl 17:03
Now for my it's the number one is is diabetes, but calm, because, you know, he's going through puberty, we had such a good handle. When he was diagnosed, he was like 11.7, as I once say, when out three months after he was diagnosed, it was 5.9. Okay, with 97% in range. And that was only because of this podcast, because I found it in the hospital. And so being an industrial engineer, I did a lot of research. And my main job was to look at something, analyze that and make improvements. And so here's my grandchild. And he has all these variables and everything. And they tell me about them, and they don't want to overwhelm me, and I'm, like, overwhelmed me, I have to have this knowledge. And it was the podcast that gave me the knowledge. So he came. I mean, we came home, and I was listening to every episode that you guys have, and it allowed him to get to 5.9 and 95. His last a one C was 5.3 with 95% and range, and a standard deviation of 22.

Scott Benner 18:28
Come on. That's amazing. Good for you.

Cheryl 18:32
yourself on the back, Scott.

Scott Benner 18:34
I thought you're, I'm being honest with you. I thought you were gonna say he was honeymooning when you told me the first day once Yeah, I didn't expect you to say the podcast was helpful. What's your range?

Cheryl 18:42
No, he's not honeymooning, he came out. He came out of his honeymoon and he's been out for he was probably only in honeymoon maybe the first three months. And he's it was very obvious when he came out. And luckily we got the pod on the pod about the same time he gave came out, man. He was still in honeymoon when he got the Omnipod

Scott Benner 19:07
okay. Hey, so with a 22? Is that what you said? Your your timing ranges 95%. Your standard deviation and standard deviation is 22. Yes. What range? Are you shooting for like 70 to 120? Yes. Is that right that I get it right?

Cheryl 19:26
Yeah. About that? Yes. We don't ever panic if he's, he can hang out at 7977. You know, we don't panic. We we know he we know how to get him up. His body responds very well. He has no idea. He cannot tell lows. He cannot tell highs. We can't tell any difference in the way he acts with lows that you can like pies. He gets irritable when he gets very tired. But

Scott Benner 19:56
I have a question that this might take a turn that you're not expecting but Between your background and your situation and your age, you're you're doing an amazing job. So thank you. No, I mean, honestly, this is, I mean, that'd be hard to argue with. I think that's a pretty obvious statement. My question is diabetes specific. What did you take out of this podcast that you were able to put into practice? Like, explain to some, somebody else who just heard you say that and thought, Oh, great. I'm in my 30s, my kid doesn't have autism or any of these other problems. I'm nowhere near these numbers. Like, why is it? What is it about you and the information that blended so well together? Do you see the intersection? Do you know what it is?

Cheryl 20:46
I know a lot of it is my background. And even when I was in the emergency room, I was hearing bits and pieces of everything. And I was putting it together and learn why do you ever medical Brett Graham? And I said, No, I don't, I'm just putting pieces together. And my brain. Fortunately, for diabetes, that's how it works, it looks at things and it automatically takes information and stores it and puts it in kind of what I perceive to be a logical order. And so that's how your podcast is, it's very to me, in my way of thinking, it is very logical. And it was very soothing for me to be able to go on a pod pass and hear about how to deal with protein and how to deal about, you know, deal with fat. And so I knew, so it was no longer scared. And I was no longer wondering about you know, about the spikes, or going in and hearing someone's story, and I can relate to it. And I'm like, oh, okay, you know, and even if it's someone's story, like someone's listening to mine, and it isn't there a path, but they still might learn something for or it's interesting to know that you're not alone. And that even though everyone might be on a different path, we're still on the same journey.

Scott Benner 22:04
I'm stunned that I'm logical.

Cheryl 22:07
Oh, you're very logical. I perceive you to be very logical, I perceive most of your guests to present themselves in a manner that was very helpful for me.

Scott Benner 22:20
Yeah, their guests are terrific. Always. And, yeah, it's just those these conversations are so valuable. But I mean, I'm joking a little bit. I believe that I'm very logical about diabetes, and how to manage it like moment to moment, day by day. It's just that if you could see the rest of my personality, it doesn't really jive with that, you know. So it's sometimes I think of Mike, I don't think of myself, like you do. I see myself because I see myself in a completely different way. Like, if I got on here and really started saying what I was thinking, in 15 minutes, you'd be like, I think this guy's out of his mind. But I just, I see very strange connections to things and, and I like to joke about ridiculous stuff. And I don't know why I'm, I'm I don't, I'm just thrilled. I seriously I'm listening to what, what Bryson's life has been and, and you know, then you get, I mean, he gets diabetes, you must have been like, Are you kidding me? Right? Like, I mean, you gotta go in a room, put a fist through a wall or something then right?

Cheryl 23:22
I could not. Now, my husband is diabetic type two, and has been for 20 years. Bryson had been over his parents, and for the weekend, and they told me that he wasn't feeling well. And so he came home, and on the Saturday on a Sunday, and that night, he went, he has his own little refrigerator, and I was visually impaired and everything he has is in there and, you know, arranged specifically for him. And he was out of drinks. And he went in all hours and was getting in during the night and drank four liters of drinks. And his father had been listening to a rap song that started with week get drunk. And so, Bryson they noticed he was drinking a lot. And he told them, they had explained what drunk was he they just said, People drink tonight. So he told them, he was going to get drunk. And so he was drinking all this fluid, but saying he was doing what the song said and getting drunk. So you know, they got a kick out of it. And actually, that Monday, he had an appointment with his behaviorist for his autism. And it was on it was on Zoom because of COVID. And we were talking about him drinking. And, and, you know, his doctor was kind of laughing, you know, because he was drinking a lot because he wanted to get drunk, but he has no concept of drunk eels. He just knew you had to drink a lot. had to get this whatever drunk was. And so I'm like, okay, okay. And then he started throwing up. And I call this doctor and she said, there's two different stomach flu stomach virus is going around. Well, because of Bryson's mitochondrial he easily hydrates. And so his whole life, if he has long periods where he is is throwing up, then he has to go into the hospital for fluids. So I told the doctor 100 up and he was still throwing up, and he was still thirsty. And I'm like, You're gonna throw it up. And he's like, I don't care. My body says, I have to don't mind you, I still never thought of diabetes. So I called the doctor back and I said, he's still sick to the stomach, you know, call Vanderbilt. That's where we go Vanderbilt children's and it's the top hospital in the southeast, we're so fortunate to have it. So they open, you know, they called and said they were on their way. He was able to walk to the car by himself. If he's in familiar settings, he he doesn't need any help navigating. So he made himself to the car, by the time we got halfway to Vanderbilt is about 15 minutes away. He said, I can't keep my seatbelt on everything, all my body hurts. And he was like in the floorboard with his head on the seat. So I turn on the flash or you go there. And he lost consciousness by the time we got there. And, you know, the nurses came, and they had everyone in the emergency room. And they said, Is this sugar always high? And I might do what and it was, their monitor was like, over 700 At that time, and you know, some of the nurses were logging in, and the doctors, I mean, they came up and they were like putting their hands on, you know, Army and saying, you know, we know, this is a lot. We know, you know, he has a lot and because if you just look at the list, you don't know how that child is going to present. So they saw Bryson lane, they're not cognitively aware. And they were like, Is this his normal state? And I'm like, No, but you know, epileptic, especially if it's uncontrolled with his he's, you know, topped out on three seizure medicines. And that can cause severe brain damage mitochondrial can cause severe brain damage. So, you know, they they're, they're politely asking, Is this how we always see as and as we turn them normal? No. And so they're keep on asking me this. And I finally thought, I'm going to show them my phone, because my screensaver is a picture of him when he got his new phone. And he's just beaming. And you can look, and you can tell by looking at the picture, he looks like a typical 14 year old. Which when the pitcher was typing, and I'm like, This is him. And you could just say, oh, and so they're, you know, they went in and was talking now he's, you know, he's always horrible. And

so, yeah, I had, we had no idea was coming. I asked how he was severity. And they said he's an eight out of a 10. And they were given ready to give him and I think it was called a hyperbolic solution. And they said, he's an add on for 10. And we'll know exactly which way he's going to go when we give this to him. You know, and it's not like the movies where they just push you out. And you don't see all of this. I mean, I sat there and watched and go in and out of consciousness and there was no washering there was no, you know, standing there. And they gave him the solution. And it just makes him he just came up gasping and that lasted for like two minutes, and then he like back down. But that's all they needed to see was just that two minutes of him being aware for them to know that he was probably going to decrease from our seven at some point as opposed to go into a nine or TM

Scott Benner 29:13
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Cheryl 32:37
well, they they were because of the mitochondrial disease they had they slowed down everything they were going to do the dka I didn't even know that what that was they were telling me we're doing DKA. And I hear them talking about DK and I'm like, I have no idea. You know what that is. And then they stopped the protocol because of his monitor contrail dysfunction. They called the geneticists, and reviewed everything they were doing with his geneticists, to ensure that their protocol was not going against his mitochondrial protocol, which he also has. So usually, when he presents in the hospital, you know, they treat the child for the symptoms. And as they did with the diabetes, that there's also like, he can have lactated ringers, and that's something that's often automatically given to people, and he cannot have those. So they have to follow the mitochondrial protocol. First, and then the diabetes. So, you know, while he was in this perilous state, they were stabilizing him, but at the same time trying to figure out his course of action, where the diabetes and the mitochondrial dysfunction could both be treated effectively without one negatively impacting the other. Yeah.

Scott Benner 34:00
Oh, my gosh, you're by yourself in there with them. While this is happening. How long were you there? Like how long did all this take?

Cheryl 34:07
In the emergency room, they, once they found the protocol, we went from the emergency room to have they did a lot of things in the emergency room. We were there were a total of five days, three of which he spent in ICU. And so yeah, we were there five days and yes, because of COVID It was only it was only me. Now my sisters did come to see me once in the parking lot. And, you know, that's probably the hardest I've ever cry. I was say I had such a fear because of his autism that he would get home in would not allow us to prick his finger and would not allow us to give him an injection. And that was such Fear of mind that he would in cognitively he would not be able to understand why. Why I was trying to do this and he, you know, was 14 when he was diagnosed, he was way too big for us to hold down. So if he said there's no nerves and no injection, there wasn't going to be any injection. So that was my biggest fear. And it was just one more thing of a his laundry list.

Scott Benner 35:26
Yeah, no cheese. No kidding. Has it been an issue ever? Or how did you get him to be okay with all this because he's wearing a CGM. I mean, you don't, right, I just want a CGM and a pump.

Cheryl 35:39
Exactly. He was so sick. That he has since the add on to me for not calling a name. Because he said I was too sick, you should have called an ambulance. So even though he didn't, he doesn't understand the true severity of how sick he was. He knew how sick he was, you know, he knew he had never felt that way. And he knew he never wanted to feel that way again. And Vanderbilt has a fantastic tava life. And so they worked with him a lot. The nurses that were diabetic, type one diabetes came in and would talk to him, you know, when they were on shift, even if they weren't his nurse and said, Oh, I do this, and this is what I do. So by the time he left, he was used to the injections. He was pricking his finger has never bothered him. So he was used to that he was used to the interactions. And you know, basically, it was like, Bryson, we have to do this, or you're gonna get sick again. And he's like, I don't ever want to be that sick. So he was aware enough to know that he had to have this. And he still asked, when the doctors are going to his his pancreas, he's still hoping for cure just like everyone else's. You know, he doesn't want diabetes, but he's very, very compliant, and always has been, I think, if he had to go back to injections, we would have some resistance, because the pod is just so easy. And so life changing. It made our life so much easier to ask a question.

Scott Benner 37:22
So he's, he's, he's asked me about, like, you know, can diabetes go away? But the rest of the rest of the stuff that's going on with him, you said that he doesn't see himself as different. So he doesn't ask about any of the other stuff. He's never asked about any of the other issues?

Cheryl 37:40
No, yeah, only thing they only thing that he is upset about is he cannot drive. But not only is he visually impaired and couldn't drive his epilepsy, they just did an EEG. Because he started presenting with different kinds of seizures other than just absent. And he that came back, you know, that he was prohibited from driving. So you know, he has two conditions that he couldn't drive anyway. But he wants to drive. And we just had that discussion. And we've had it a couple of times that, you know, he just can't see well enough to drive and not to worry, well, if he ever wants to go anywhere, or take him and we're Oregon, always going to take him. But unfortunately, he's not going to be able to drive in there's intellectually intellectual ability, but on a day to day other than driving. He has no idea. And as a matter of fact, when I was his school is fantastic. And they actually called Omni potty in to do a presentation showed them how to fill the Omni pod. And when the representative had finished training the school because they have a full blown clinic because they have the residential program. So we're fortunate there. And when when the representative was late leaving, she told them she said, if you really want to know about diabetes, listen to Juicebox Podcast. But that wasn't on that was yeah, that was the Omni pod representative. So they've always been on board. We had a big meeting before school started before we ever walked in. And it was all the teachers that he was, you know, gym teacher, speech teacher, everybody was there. And they were talking about what he could have ate and I said he can have anything to eat anything he wants. You just have to cover it. And

Scott Benner 39:46
what's his diet like?

Cheryl 39:49
That is another thing that that's another thing that's really changed for the better since diabetes. Because before he had a very limited diet very limited, I mean, you know, he would eight, maybe 10 foods and now he will eat anything just about that's put in front of him. He doesn't like coleslaw, but he will eat any kind of vegetable broccoli, cauliflower, anything and put in front of them, he will eat now. And that changed because of the diabetes because you know, we said your body has to stay healthy. And you know, we you have to eat healthy in order for your body to be able to work healthy. So once again, as sick as he was was the one thing that helped him with his even with his Stiltz abilities to understand how serious diabetes could be

Scott Benner 40:50
that TK had a real impact on him. He's not Oh, yeah, he's not going to forget that anytime soon. And it's it's interesting, isn't it? Because that's the what I want to say here. That's the reaction you would expect from everyone. But because he's not encumbered by the other, like some of the other things that that a person, maybe without his issues is unencumbered by like, like, just simple things like his own personal desire, right? Like, he doesn't think about like, I just want to be happy, you know, or I want a pizza he he's gets this feeling of like this hurt. I'm not going to do this anymore than he doesn't question again. Is that right?

Cheryl 41:36
You're exactly right. And the thing is Bryson does not express pain. He has passed a kidney stone we've never known. I don't again, I referred earlier, earlier that he had a broken bone. He never told us that his foot hurt. I noticed he was limping. But he's he promised nothing to hurt on is that I take him to the doctor.

Scott Benner 41:58
Is that the high blood pressure? Or Is that him just being resilient? What do you think that is?

Cheryl 42:03
I think a lot of it is I think his body is in pain, because of the hypertonia. And the muscles. I think he has, you know, some pain. Not on a high level. But I think he's used to dealing with pain, and his autism disallows him from once again, really processing what's going on. He has migraines, and he'll tell you he has a migraine. But other than that he won't he doesn't acknowledge pain. It's scary. That's yeah. Yeah, that is scary. But he he realized how sick he was. With the diabetes with the diabetes. He couldn't express. He couldn't express how we felt us. But he knew how he felt.

Scott Benner 42:49
Yeah. Does he have a? Have they ever talked to you about his lifespan? What the hope is for him?

Cheryl 42:59
Well, that's why when he was diabetic, once I got over the shock, my first question to everyone was, Is this the progression of the mitochondrial disease? Because mitochondrial can affect any organ in the body and cause, you know, a dysfunction? And and they were not sure. And once again, that's because we haven't found the gene. So we don't know, the path that his body's going to take. So we don't know if this is progression, or if it is just he's diabetic. Okay, all right. And the life expectancy we don't know. But, you know, 5.9 5.3, I'm going to do and his parents are committed, and my husband, everyone who controls his diabetes, they keep him in range, because we cannot control anything with him with his with all of his disabilities, there's really nothing we can do. We can try to give him therapies and supports the we can't really physically do anything to help him. But now the diabetes we can. And so my gold is in and fit when he's 50 or 60. For him to never be in a position where the diabetes, something that we could control, cause any complications. But there's crossovers from the complications because mitochondrial your stomach takes a lot of intestines. They they take a lot of energy. And so you know, Gastro paralysis is very common in my dough, but it is in diabetes, too. So if something like that happened, it would have be a result of the mitochondrial or you know, or what advancement of Maido or advancement have a complication of diabetes. So whenever anything happens to him, like if he were to have a seizure before it was and we're not talking about the absence seizures, we'll talk about that. tonic clonic what everyone classically thinks of as a seizure? When he has one of those? Now, it's like, is it that combine, you know, is just just a seizure? Which is what we thought before? Or is he's low in his Dexcom? Showing, you know, 79. But he's really lower than that. Yeah. Because we don't know if this Thresh hole, you know, we don't know if his threshold is going to be the same as a diabetic because he's already epileptic. So that's an unknown variable. And so there are things that now when something happens, we can't just look at what we did this that one diagnosis, now we have to also look how diabetes could have affected it. And so you know, you just have to go down like this little tree to find out, and you can't really check a child's blood when they're seizing,

Scott Benner 46:00
right? Yes, you just what do you do you assume it's the seizure disorder first, if it's, if the aim is, is reading well, okay, I have a couple of more like psychological questions for you. So my first one is, Does having something like diabetes that's more manageable, like, like, cause and effect management? Does it make you feel? Does it make you feel better? Because I hear in your hearing your statements, that you think a lot about what's coming? And what could come and you don't feel like you can stave off any of the other problems? They're going to just progress if they're going to progress? So do you get any comfort from managing the diabetes?

Cheryl 46:46
Wish with everything that he didn't have it? And but yeah, I do get comfort of the control because his epileptic is intractable, which means they never don't never get it under control. We know that his seizures are progressing and presenting in different ways, which, I'm pretty sure he's going to be diagnosed in the next couple of weeks when he goes back to the neurologist with a epileptic disease. And, yeah, I I'm one that likes to control things, especially with someone that you love so much. And so I do find comfort in the fact that this is the one thing I can do for him that medically I can have a positive impact.

Scott Benner 47:42
Sure. Are you at all impressed with the intuitive nature of my question? Because I am

Cheryl 47:47
Oh, yeah. Yeah, no, all of them, all of them, because you're asking the right questions or asking the things, you know, that that are wanted to, to do, but you're going back to what I was saying about him not knowing anything, and when I was talking to his school, and she said, Okay, so at breakfast, this was his teacher, she was like, okay, at breakfast, if they do a math, and we just won't give them a muffin. And I'm like, you know, the child always comes before diabetes. And he doesn't know anything else that he's missing out on in his life, he has no clue, but he knows is missing out on the muffin. So given the muffin, give him anything, treat him like anyone else cover the carbs. But he knows that he's missing out on the map. And then it was just like a metaphor for just like everything. That's how it felt like when I was saying that it was more than just the muffin. It was just for everything else that was thrown at him. Do everything you can to make him His life as normal as possible.

Scott Benner 48:54
You sort of get that feeling sometimes, like you know what, I've made a lot of concessions. And I'm, that's it like I'm done making concessions. So we're gonna figure out another way around this issue and it whether it's eating the muffin or something else. You just get to that, like, you know, I've I've had all I can stand that I can't stand no more. And that's it. We're going to we're going to make a stand right here. We're going to we're going to say, figured out you figured out how to Bolus from off and obviously you've amazing standard deviation and agency and time and range. How did you figure it out? Just this was the

Cheryl 49:27
school but it has to do that. Really? Yes, the school is the school. Like I said they are very, they called the Omni pod representative. Within the first the second day of school, they had gone through all of their menus and wrote down the carbs per serving. They had even gotten to the point and this is the school that had even gotten to the point where there were different brands that say care It's, and they had different carbs. And so at every day, they call and say, Okay, you're having carrots, which brand of carrots are you serving at lunch? And so as you can tell, I am so blessed that that's where he is. And if there was any question there forever, you know, calling and saying, you know, this is where he is. And you know, what do you want to do? So I have a very good relationship with the school. And so they're the ones who figured that out. He is running higher at school, like at lunch, they do have at the Bolus before and the other half after. And so there was not the Pre-Bolus. So he goes, Hi. i During lunch easily,

Scott Benner 50:45
did he show a propensity for not finishing his food? Is that why they did that?

Cheryl 50:51
They weren't really sure. But now his thing is, he used to eat more than they say, you know, it's not uncommon for him to eat two lunches. And if you saw him, he's five, six and a half and 107 pounds, so he's extremely thin. But he eats,

Scott Benner 51:10
well, maybe, maybe they can get past that idea and just give him all the insulin at once, instead of splitting it before and after, like, maybe a time Sorry, go on. No, no, I didn't mean to cut you off. But maybe with time, they can get comfortable.

Cheryl 51:25
And that's what I'm hoping I'm hoping at least that they can Bolus for the full lunch. Because I would rather say them Bolus for 50 carbs or, you know, however many. And if he eats 40, then give him you know, a couple of sips of juice, give him something to cover it other than just letting him go to 200. Because there's not really a Pre-Bolus. And the ins, you know, all the foods hitting before the insulin is that they they understand it. You know, I explained exactly how, you know, how it went, how it proceeded. But that's just their comfort. And I know a lot of schools, that's the only issue I have with them is that they won't Bolus Pre-Bolus him his full carb camp for lunch.

Scott Benner 52:14
And you do it at home. You don't have any trouble with it.

Cheryl 52:17
Yes, yes, we pro Pre-Bolus. He's going through puberty, as I said, and we're finding this week that everything that we thought we knew, he's still spiking on. So I'm in the process of reevaluating his Bolus. And then looking if we need to do something else with collaborations.

Scott Benner 52:43
Can I ask question, I'm

Cheryl 52:44
doing the basil first. Not the bonus. The basil. I'm doing the basil first.

Scott Benner 52:48
I have a question. It's completely away from all of this. So can you just mentioned that he's, he's, you know, coming up on puberty? What do you what do you do when he starts having, like sexual desires? I know he's known. But have you had to have thought of this? Like, what do you? How do you handle that?

Cheryl 53:08
Well, we, it's already presented itself. And especially when he pre diagnosis, he was getting erections constantly, much more than I thought was normal. And once once we got his blood sugar under control that that decreased, like 80%, which is a aside from what you asked, but just I thought very interesting. But now we've we've just told him, this is why your body's you know, this is what's going on with your body. He has, he doesn't know what to do to satisfy himself. He hasn't discovered that yet. But we just talked in general terms that were pretty specific, as far as he wanted to know that if that happened to everyone, and it was going to continue to happen. And, you know, you couldn't touch yourself in public once again, you know, I started, you know, saying that he has no modesty. So, you know, you could not touch yourself in public. Try to say when this happens, you know, put your hands or you know, trying to do things because those he needs to be typical, like any 15 year old and in a part of it is just his dignity. And so we've we've touched upon it, and he's done really. He's done really similarly. Well. That's excellent.

Scott Benner 54:47
So far. Yeah. And by his dignity, you just mean like how how people see him like you don't want him to come off, like out of control. Is that right?

Cheryl 54:59
I don't know. Once you felt, you know, I don't want him walking around with an erection in him ever been, you know, one, one teenager nudge another and then saying and look at him and bars and be totally unaware because he is unaware. So it's just like, you know, that happens to everybody just kind of put your hand in there. And so that to him, that's just part of having good manners to him. That was just like saying, Please, and thank you because he doesn't understand anything about sex or any kind of sexual and we didn't go into that we didn't go into why that part of your body, because unfortunately, that's going to be another part of his life that won't ever be utilized or that he'll ever have. Or we don't foresee that. And so we didn't go into details. It was just more the good habits of it.

Scott Benner 55:53
Okay. That's just wondering because I imagined you'd thought it through. Shall there's a part of me that imagines that you've thought everything through. So

Cheryl 56:01
as much as possible, you know, he's 15 years old and has to go in the women's restaurant.

Scott Benner 56:05
No, I mean, beyond that, Cheryl, like, if you find a genie lamp, you know, your, you know, your wishes already. Like, have you like, What haven't you thought through is what I'm saying? Like, if you find a lamp on the beach, and you rub it, the genie comes out? Do you already know what you're gonna ask the genie for? Have you thought through that? What happens if there's a fire? What window? Do you go out? Like, I feel like you've got everything?

Cheryl 56:25
Yeah. Yeah, all that. We have fire drills with Bryson forever. for just that reason, if we're on one end of the house, and he's on the other because he is able to, you know, as I just said, he mobile, you know, he's totally mobile in our house, they can go and do anything is totally free to do whatever he wants. So for year, one and a half, and he's in the other and the fire alarm goes off, what is the closest door because that's not something that he is going to automatically think he is not going to think, oh, I need to go out the front door. So that's what we do. You know, we've actually set the alarm and had you know, drills just like they do at schools and say, okay, the fires in the kitchen, which door? Are you going out? The fires in the garage? Where are you going? You know, and you know, the fires in the living room? Where are you going? So we do those scenarios, so that he can it will be automatic to him.

Scott Benner 57:21
I think I want you taking care of me what's for dinner tonight?

Cheryl 57:25
All right, already. That's that's a downfall. Okay. You know, that's what my husband wouldn't say I was a trophy wife. Because he you would have to ask him what was for dinner? Because he actually does more cooking than I

Scott Benner 57:39
thought. I thought you had the whole thing set up here. No, I

Cheryl 57:43
don't. I'm not the whole package. 99% As long as you don't expect a chef. Oh, that's

Scott Benner 57:49
excellent. Oh, my gosh. Before we started to record, you kind of you you said you were like excited to meet me. And I have a hard time understanding that. So because you're such a together thoughtful person. Can you explain it to me because I don't understand. I'm being genuinely serious. I don't know why anyone would come on here and be excited.

Cheryl 58:15
Okay, you know, start dismay, shock even more, but I am tearing up. Because to sit in a hospital room with a child who's already some medically fragile and have diabetes thrown at you. And you just feel like this is one more thing that can't be controlled. And then you Google diabetes. And you start listening, you visit different pages, and you start listening. And finally you hear a voice that to you is a voice of reason to you. It's a voice that you can follow. And so I went from feeling totally out of control and in panic, that I was going to take this child home, not even knowing how to take care of him. I knew I could. And that wasn't anything that they told me. That came from the pipe house. I came home and immediately I mean, that's why I spent my time in the hospital was listening to your podcast, and it gave me comfort. And that was from you. So as as I said I live in Nashville, I ran into quite a few you know, country music stores. And and I'm like, Oh, there they are. That's great, great. But I'm like oh my gosh, I am going on the Juicebox Podcast and I am going to talk to Scott. And maybe just maybe someone will be sitting in a hotel room and you will give them through your Odd cast comfort, and you will give them hope. And you will give them a sense of control that had been ripped out from underneath me. I thought I knew how to take care of him. And then I found out I didn't. And you taught me how to again. And it wasn't any. I mean, Vanderbilt has a great program, they have a clinic, but they're not the ones who taught me how to take care of boys. And that was you. And yeah, so yeah, when I said I was a band girl, or a fan woman, I guess I should say, since I've already told you my age. So yeah, I'm definitely a fan woman, and I'm definitely you just, you just don't know how much your voice has meant to me. And now it's pulled me up.

Scott Benner 1:00:50
Thank you. I, I honestly don't know what to say. I feel like anything I say would be ridiculous. So I'm just gonna say thank you. I'm incredibly happy that that worked out for you that way. And I do agree that you being on the show will be someone else's episode that they that they land on when they're in the hospital or unsure our whatever moment of need. strikes them. How about your I know you're not? Listen, I'm not trying to paint you as like, like 150 years old, but I don't think 62 year old.

Cheryl 1:01:26
Thank you so much. I may not be your fan if you if you hold that steady state.

Scott Benner 1:01:33
No, I'm just trying to get to the idea that I don't think that 62 is the average age of a podcast listener. Did you listen to podcasts prior to that?

Cheryl 1:01:44
No, no, yours was. I had that. I mean, I am active on social media, Instagram, Facebook. I don't post a lot. I follow a lot. So I follow podcasts. I mentioned to therapy dogs and Crisis Response canines. So the podcast and things that I followed. Were 100% directed towards that if every podcast I listened to was that, so I did not listen to medical podcast. That wasn't a point of interest. I never would have found your podcast or any other medical podcasts and yours. Yours is the only podcast I listened to because I found out really, really quickly that you spoke my language you presented information in a way that made sense to me. So I discounted the the other podcasts.

Scott Benner 1:02:48
Can I want to dig into that for a second? And not I'm not trying to I'm not trying to make a funny statement. But it? Did you try a number of them. And mine fit you the best or did you try mine? It fit well. So you didn't go look at the rest of them?

Cheryl 1:03:03
No, I you know, I did. I did several women and of course we're not going to name them but I did you know I did snapper all the Facebook's you know. And some of them I still do on Facebook. But your was the only podcast once again because you spoke my language. And it wasn't not that the others are fluff but they were fluffier. And I didn't want fluff. diabetes is not a fluffy to me. It's not fluffy. There's no fluffiness about it, you know, give me the cold, hard facts. And if they're bad, then I want to know them. You know, because my mind is automatically gonna say it's bad. What can I do to make it better? And so I fit very well in your in your podcast, and in my mind. Yeah, that's just how I think and the others were too, too general, too. I couldn't get anything. I couldn't get anything useful on how to care for ball. I said not the nuts and bolts of how to care for Bryson and your podcast has nuts and bolts.

Scott Benner 1:04:07
Oh, that's excellent. I I guess I'm extra interested because yesterday, a fan of the show sent me something they saw online where a person said that they didn't think this podcast was good for newly diagnosed people. It called me a micromanager and I read the little blurb and I thought I don't I don't think those are accurate statements about me. But I think in general, I think the podcast is great for people who are newly diagnosed for the reasons that you just said, because why spend a bunch of time hearing stuff that's not going to be helpful or isn't complete information. And I don't see I mean, it's 141 I think maybe two hours ago I said to Arden, like you should Bolus more, but I don't talk about our diabetes a lot with her at all really? You know, so I mean and over the years it's been done Finish. She's been younger. But I also don't understand when people think that you, I don't know if it's micromanaging to, you know, help a kid Bolus for a meal and then check in on it to make sure that you hit the Bolus, right. And you're not spiking, like, is that micromanaging? Or is that just reasonable use of the insulin? So

Cheryl 1:05:17
I think that's teaching. I think that is teaching. I think that as a parent who wants their child to be successful when they leave the house, and are given them the tools to let them be successful, I don't see it micromanaging. Bryson would never we'll never be able to manage his diabetes. And so we never have to do with the teenager inks where they, you know, aren't bolusing other aren't taking, you know, corrected the correct measures to keep the numbers in control. But I can guarantee you, I would be like you, I would be micromanaging. Because, like I said, I don't see that micromanaging. I think that teaching good life skills. And that's, that's how I view.

Scott Benner 1:06:00
Yeah, I think that sometimes people's first reactions are not always right. But that doesn't stop them from never reevaluating what they're saying, you know, I think that you could hear me say that I, you know, Tech Stars, and hey, Bolus a half a unit in the middle of the day, and think that's micromanaging. But you know, there's a world where the way I think about it is, if she doesn't get the one ad during the day and sit there for three hours, then we won't be bolusing Bolus and bolusing later in the day, and then causing a low at 11 o'clock at night. And like I see it as a more holistic big picture. And anyway, I was just very faint. Thank you. Yeah.

Cheryl 1:06:44
That's why the podcast is so good, because that's exactly how I think you know, that's, that's what I do. You know, this budget nudge. I'm all about budgeting and nudging.

Scott Benner 1:06:54
Also, I'm delightful, right? Yes.

Cheryl 1:06:58
Cheryl, do you like to call me an old lady then? Yes. I'm not gonna call me an old lady than your delight

Scott Benner 1:07:03
department in the episode where people are like, Oh, what is he going to end up calling my episode?

What? Do you like my sense of humor? Or do you just like the way I talk about diabetes?

Cheryl 1:07:16
Oh, no, I like your sense of humor. Okay. I mean, I find everything very entertaining. You know, I was nervous about coming on. But it's because I had, it meant so much to me.

Scott Benner 1:07:27
My expectation was this, don't you? Like you want this? Yeah,

Cheryl 1:07:31
yeah. And I have you've asked the right questions. And I've been able to say what I've wanted to say. But it was just that I could present myself in such a manner that I would help someone. But you've put me very much at ease. But no, I was never nervous about speaking to you, as much as I was just getting the information across.

Scott Benner 1:07:54
Well, you did. You were excellent. I we've been talking for an hour and 15 minutes.

Cheryl 1:08:00
Okay. Let's start talking.

Scott Benner 1:08:03
Oh, you are chatty. I could have left a couple of times. But, but I but you also know me if you weren't. If your what you were saying was invaluable. And entertaining. I would have interjected. And so and so I love the way you laid this all out. I thought it was terrific.

Cheryl 1:08:21
Okay, well, good. Yeah. I also think we're fans of each other. Right? Well, yeah.

Scott Benner 1:08:25
I also think this shows a little bit of growth on my part over the last couple of years, because you know, I would have not like I would have talked more a couple of years ago. And I'm getting I'm getting better at listening. So yes, I'm getting better. You're

Cheryl 1:08:37
right. Yeah, you're right. There were times Yeah. Yeah. at the, at the first there were times where people were saying something. And I'm like, wait, you know, there may have been a little more nugget there. Yep.

Scott Benner 1:08:47
I'm starting to be able to quiet the little voice in my head. That's that says keep it interesting. Move on. And, and I'm willing to listen for another 30 seconds. But I have to tell you, when it happens, and nothing comes in those 30 seconds. I'm like, oh, I should have should have moved on. But yeah,

Cheryl 1:09:07
yeah, it's just yeah, I can. Yeah, I can. I can totally, I can totally understand, for

Scott Benner 1:09:13
sure. Because of, you know, a lot of the things you said today make my point. But I am aware of how valuable the podcast is for people's health, and their sanity and all that other stuff. But I'm also acutely aware that if this isn't entertaining, no one's going to listen to it. So it could have the secrets to the universe and it but if it was boring, you might you're not gonna make it through it. And so I'm always trying to balance Listen, ability with content so that you get what you need. And don't bail on something before the good things get set. And you know, that just, it's just true. Like I know it sounds crazy, but you could put the secret to life in this podcast and if 45 minutes into it, you're bored you'll you're just not going to make it and So you kind of have to that's all. I just,

Cheryl 1:10:04
I mean, you're you're exactly why didn't you are entertaining? Um, you know?

Scott Benner 1:10:08
Yeah. Like, what's his name in his prime? That guy with a dance with the umbrella? Yeah, I'll never think of that. Dammit. You're like, I'm not even I'd love to know who you're talking about. The City and the ring guy. Who am I talking about? Oh, God. I don't know what hold on Jesus. I'll figure it out. Well, I figured it figured out I guess if I can remember how to spell saying I'll be okay. I was gonna bother me because as soon as I see gene Kelly's name, I'm gonna know I mentioned Kelly dammit, Gene Kelly. That's all I did I reach back to the 50s the thing I was born to literally seven days.

Cheryl 1:10:49
Okay, well, and and I will let you know that I did say the last two years of the 50s. But I didn't I wasn't old enough to watch when Jane Kelly and Auburn hit.

Scott Benner 1:11:02
I have it right here now. Jean Kelly. Donald O'Connor Debbie Reynolds.

Cheryl 1:11:10
Oh, Debbie Reynolds. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's too far back for me.

Scott Benner 1:11:15
You know, your episode could be called singing in the rain. There could be because you're really upbeat person. And this is not an upbeat situation. So,

Cheryl 1:11:26
no, it's not. And you know, everyone has their their moments. But

Scott Benner 1:11:31
what do you do in those moments? Cheryl? When it's too much, what do you do?

Cheryl 1:11:37
I'm not really a crier. I have two, if I'm totally one of them. I read. But, and you know, it depends on what it is. If it's like his seizures, and they're and they're, you know, getting new seizures. There's not a lot I can do. So I just like the mine and Gaston and that's what I'm pretty sure is going to be diagnosed with as a seizure disorder. And it's just learning everything I can about it, but I can't do anything about it. So when I'm really down there, it's to seek information and then realize there's nothing I can do about it. And I just have to resolve that within myself. Because that's probably my what bothers me the most is when something presents itself, and it's progressing like it seizures are in there's, there's nothing that can be done, you know, the teacher, the doctors are scrambling to add medications and change doses times. And so that's, that's probably my dark place is when I can't control it. So I just have to resolve that. And myself, I hate not being there's nothing else I can do.

Scott Benner 1:13:05
No, I agree with you. I think it's a smart thing. My mom is sick right now. And it's the worst part of it is not being able to, I feel like I want to continually be able to say something that's valuable, or do something that's valuable, move it in a good direction, even if the end is not good. I want to I want to keep moving in a good direction. And I got a little for the first couple of weeks she was that we were aware of it. I had a lot of I don't know if it was anxiety, I was stressed out like I couldn't, my body was under stress. And I could tell and I said to Kelly one day I was like I said this is going to kill me before it kills my mom. So I have, like, I have to find a way. And I think that you're right, like I mean, people can say like I exercise or I read or I cry like those are all great things. But in the end, it's the letting go. And it's not it's not giving up. It's it's not holding yourself responsible for something that you can't be in control of that sound right

Cheryl 1:14:13
now, and that's that's exactly that's exactly how it is. And that's where my anxiety or my my moments come from is when I can't control it. But then you just have to realize that as much as you want to control something you cannot there's nothing you can do. And you know, I can try to say, okay, he was doing this when they see your happened and like one of them we had lost the we had to put one of his dogs down and he had a really bad seizure afterwards. And I'm like, okay, so does that equal, you know, huge emotional impact is going to equal a seizure. Now, I don't know, but I kind of, you know, put that in the back of my thought. So I try to control as much as I can. But at the end of the day, there's nothing I can control. All I can do is gather data for seizures. I cannot control them and that's very, very hard.

Scott Benner 1:15:07
You have to resolve yourself to that factor or if you don't, yeah, okay. All right, Cheryl, you were terrific. This was amazing. I really appreciate your time. Thank you so much.

Cheryl 1:15:20
Well, thank you so much for having me

Scott Benner 1:15:21
of course a huge thanks to Cheryl for coming on the show and telling us this story. Absolutely amazing. I also want to thank us Med and remind you to go to us med.com forward slash juice box or call 888-721-1514 To get your free benefits check. Get your diabetes supplies from us med thanks also to in pen from Medtronic diabetes head over to in pen today.com To learn more about the M pen and to get started. There are a ton of series inside of the podcast like the diabetes Pro Tip series and defining diabetes. You can learn more about them at juicebox podcast.com or on our Facebook page Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes