#765 Everything Is Not What It Seems

OmnipodJuicebox PodcastInterviewType 1 Diabetes

Oct 4

Jennifer Stone played Harper Finkle on Wizards of Waverly Place and she also has type 1 diabetes - and she is a nurse!

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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 765 of the Juicebox Podcast.

On today's episode, I'll be speaking with Jennifer stone. Jennifer is an adult living with type one diabetes. She's a nurse. And you may also know her as an actress. Jennifer played Harper Finkel on Wizards of Waverly Place. And she's here today to tell us about her life with type one diabetes and I have to find out how she became a nurse and a bunch of other stuff. I genuinely had a terrific time speaking with Jennifer and I believe you're going to love this episode, she is really just a lovely person. While you're listening, please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician or a wizard before making any changes to your healthcare plan, or becoming bold with insulin. If you're a US resident who has type one diabetes, or is the caregiver of someone with type one, you could complete the survey AT T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox in fewer than 10 minutes, and support people living with type one who would also help you and the podcast. It's absolutely HIPAA compliant, completely anonymous and simple to do T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by Dexcom, makers of the Dexcom G six continuous glucose monitoring system. See the speed direction and number of your blood sugar in real time, right on your phone with Dexcom. Go to dexcom.com Ford slash juice box to learn more, or to find out if you're eligible for a free 10 day trial of the Dexcom GS six. Today's episode is also sponsored by the in pen from Medtronic diabetes. And we're going to be talking today about Medtronic blue balloon campaign, which runs from September 26 to November 30 2022. Every time you use the hashtag blue balloon challenge and tag Medtronic diabetes in your post. Medtronic is going to make a $5 donation up to $100,000 to the life for a child organization. And at the end of this episode, I'll tell you a little more about life for a child. It's time to talk to Jennifer. So put on your crazy funky junky hat. And let's get started. Can we start? Are you good? Oh, please go ahead. Yeah, great. She sounds terrific. So Jennifer, this is a really casual podcast. Normally I have people introduce themselves, and then we start talking but that seems kind of silly, because your name will be in the title. So I'm just gonna kind of launch right in and ask my first question if that's okay. Okay, cool. Yeah, that's great. Before I start, as I said, I was gonna launch in, this is going to be terrific for you. Because I don't know a damn thing about Wizards of Waverly Place. I am not going to ask you any of the questions that everyone asks you all the time. Although I have three cringe questions that are at the end that I will ask you at the very end. I love a cringe question. Okay. All right. Well, last,

Jennifer Stone 3:15
I also really appreciate your candor. That's really nice.

Scott Benner 3:17
Well, here's the here's the real compliment, though. I mean, I'm 51 Okay, my daughter's 18 My son's 22. I have never sat down and consciously watched an episode of Wizards of Waverly Place, but I bet you I've seen countless episodes of them pieces at a time. I know the song like if I heard the song, I'd start dancing, like like the whole fat, but I've never sat and watched it. So I think that's a real, it's a real kind of great thing, actually, to have such an imprint on people

Jennifer Stone 3:46
would be a little odd if you like after your kids went to sleep, watched it by yourself. It'd be a little strange.

Scott Benner 3:51
My wife was like, you want to like, get a glass of wine or watch wizards? And I was like, No, we'll definitely throw on the Disney show. I don't Yeah, definitely. So how old were you when you're diagnosed with type one? I was 2020 And were there any signs or other people in your family extended with autoimmune issues?

Jennifer Stone 4:12
Well, my mom so coming to find out because at the time I didn't know this so they told my mom incorrectly that cuz she had gestational diabetes, and they told her all it's fine once you like give birth it'll go away for you will be a problem for the kid. But actually, I'm not gonna give exact numbers because I don't know the statistical data there. But you're more likely to get type two as with gestational diabetes, and your your kid is more likely to get type one. Does that happen? Oh, and we both Yep, she got type two and she actually found out because I don't know if she would have ever really realized it at least not as quickly if it wasn't for my type one diagnosis because it made her more aware of some of the signs and symptoms and for me, I I wasn't your standard type one. Because I know a lot of people when they're first diagnosed, they lose a lot of weight. I didn't, I gained like 60 pounds in three months, I was super tired from the most basic things I lost my like vision was so blurred. They used to say that auditions are like, she just doesn't feel like she's connecting. I'm like, because I can't see you. I can't connect you if I can't see you. I'm the Yeah, so those were some of the things that I experienced that was obviously a red flag that something was going on. So. So that was when I started going to see doctors to try to figure out what was up and found out it was type one,

Scott Benner 5:33
you'd be surprised at how many people I speak to who's healthy issue ends up in pit impacting people around them, kind of very favorably, even stuff like people with type one who ended up having kids with type one, who will tell me that I never really took great care of myself until my child had it. And then I started thinking, Well, why am I doing such a great job for them? I could be doing it for myself to or on and on. It's also I think they see the I think they see the change and the increase in technology. And it kind of pulls them along as well. And they think, oh, you know what, maybe I'll wear a pump or I'll get a pen or I'll do something I've been shooting with these needles for 20 years, you know?

Jennifer Stone 6:12
Yeah. And that's what's great about the diabetes community is it's such a resource of just people sharing their experiences, because diabetes is not a one size fits all. condition. I mean, everybody's experience is really different. And so you know, things like the ink pen works really well for me, but may not work for somebody else. But you're never going to know until you try. And that's it's that's diabetes is a constant trial and error trying to see you know, how you can best balance those blood sugars throughout the day.

Scott Benner 6:38
I like to say that you don't want to wake up one day and realize you're using, like methods from 10 years ago. And you're like, wait, What's everyone doing now? You know, like, Don't switch, just totally switch. But if there's better ways, then and they're more helpful for you, and that's great. Okay, so you were diagnosed? And you're 20 you're done? Are you done acting at that point? Are you acting last? Are you still trying to act like, I don't understand how you get from acting to nursing?

Jennifer Stone 7:03
No one does, it's okay. Nobody gets that job. Um, so I took a break for a bit to focus on my health and make sure my health was okay. And then and then continued that break to go to nursing school. But no, my I loved acting since I was six years old. So I was my plan was never to leave. And I have it I just juggle the two. Which is easier some days than others. I

Scott Benner 7:27
was gonna say like, how do you make that like when you get hired as a nurse, I'm assuming at a hospital? Yeah, give the admin in the emergency room? Do you say to him, Hey, I like I might not be here for three days because I I got two scenes and a thing or something or

Jennifer Stone 7:41
I mean, it works with it. Because I mean, thankfully, I work three days a week, 12 hours a day and and so and sometimes just the way you can finagle kind of scheduling and things like that I work with both my managers at the hospital and my my manager enacting and we just work kind of on scheduling, everyone's really, really great about that. And

Scott Benner 8:03
how are you? How are your blood sugar's during 12 hour shifts?

Jennifer Stone 8:07
They, my pancreas knows when we're gonna get an influx of patients, I swear, because we have like times where like, it's more likely that it's gonna get busier. So like, maybe around like 9:10am, I'll get a spike, and then around 4pm I'll get another spike. But it's a lot better than when I did night shift. Night shift was oh my goodness that that complete flip flop of your circadian rhythm for not was not agreeable with my system.

Scott Benner 8:35
So you're using an impedance. You were in a CGM as well, right? Yeah. So do you see a spike with adrenaline?

Jennifer Stone 8:42
With cortisol usually? Yeah. So yeah, I'm really cortisol sensitive. That's interesting.

Scott Benner 8:47
Do you Bolus for it? Or do you work through it? You know, yeah,

Jennifer Stone 8:51
oh, no, I have to Bolus for it. And that's where like the in pen is so great is because it takes that math out of doing it that sort of mental math that most diabetics have to do all throughout the day. You just it's this like smart pen that you plug into an app. You plug in your blood sugar, it says this is what you take, you take it really quickly and then get back with your day, which on ships with nursing is like valuable

Scott Benner 9:12
had you tried to pump prior

Jennifer Stone 9:15
I did it just again, like I was talking about leaner, some things work for some diabetics and not for others, and the pump just didn't agree with me. It it I never got the full three days out of it. And also too, I'm really clumsy, I would get the wire stuck on everything. So that didn't help either. So between those two things, it just wasn't the right method for me.

Scott Benner 9:37
I want to bring up for people listening because I don't think enough people do this. I think you're wearing medical ID bracelet, aren't you? Yeah, that's cool. It really is because it's hard to get people you tell them how important it is. And they just kind of won't do it. So

Jennifer Stone 9:52
you see enough people in the emergency room that don't wear them and then you know, things are not like we just don't have all the information so they'll come in completely out of it not wearing one, we can't get it on their phone either. And so we were basically just like guessing with what's going on with them. So you see that enough times? Yeah, it makes it a pretty easy decision to wear one.

Scott Benner 10:13
What would you say? Well, I guess let me ask you this first when you're diagnosed, it's a strange age because you're an adult, but you're not, you know, someone helped or a lot of people. Yeah, just somebody helped you in the beginning. Like a parent mom. Yeah.

Jennifer Stone 10:26
My mom's my mom's a rock star. And she was really, she went into full Mama Bear mode when I had endos that weren't great, you know, and found me and those that were and I'm really thankful that like, I have my endocrinologist now, which my mom helped me find, at the time, because at 20, I mean, you're still, you're, like, barely an adult like you. You're still figuring out how to pay a bill much less, you know, deal with a chronic condition.

Scott Benner 10:53
Your brain still jelly until your early 20s. I think they say you're not.

Jennifer Stone 10:57
What is it like? 25? Before you're like frontal cortex is like fully developed? How old are you now? I'm 2929. So

Scott Benner 11:04
you've been doing this for quite some time. I have your goals. For your range. And for your a one see, like your outcome goals? Have they changed over time? Or have they been pretty similar?

Jennifer Stone 11:16
They've been pretty similar. But the thing that I think has changed the most for me is how, because I'm a perfectionist, and recovery is my like, ongoing joke. And diabetes is not a great condition to have for any perfectionist, because there's so much that's out of your control, you can do everything perfectly, and it doesn't matter. So the thing that's changed for me is not those numbers. But what's changed for me is my understanding with myself. And being able to, you know, to look at my blood sugars and Bolus when I need to and try to be as on top of it as I can be. But if it still doesn't get to that perfect range numbers, whatever I can, no, I did everything I could. And then that's enough. That's okay.

Scott Benner 12:02
Yeah, I find that if your Basal set well, if you understand how to Bolus for your food, if you understand the glycemic load and you know, impact of the things that you're eating, and you don't abide to high blood sugar, if you look at a high and just go it's fine. Instead, you kind of like knock it back on again. Yeah, you know, Pre-Bolus your meals, probably in a onesie in the sixes if you if you do those sorts of things, and it doesn't have to always be 8090 100 It's for that outcome to exist. And yeah, very true, then you balance sort of the, the psychological aspects of it as well and don't end up making yourself crazy over it. Okay, so what I mean, why did you want to be a nurse?

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Jennifer Stone 16:47
I had both good and and bad experiences with healthcare providers. I mean, they're people so you're gonna find the good and the bad. So I got into it because I wanted to understand my body better. I was about to transition to a four year for a psychology degree. And I completely recalibrated and sort of going after nursing because I wanted to understand my body better and I wanted to make sure that patients felt seen and that worst time of not knowing because it to me I think that's the worst is not knowing what's going on with your system and not having a plan and an answer. And tools like the ink pen to to make your life easier while you're still figuring it out. So I wanted to be there for people as a resource. In that interim time of not knowing and uncertainty that can be really scary.

Scott Benner 17:34
So why, why is the wrong way to get into this but you'll you'll take me at my at my meeting for a second in a second. Why didn't you just double down in Hollywood and ruin yourself chasing things constantly? What made you go after like a normal thing? Do you know what I mean? Like, I know Seth Rogen makes pottery but you guys all doing something else that we don't know about? And

Jennifer Stone 17:56
you know what I mean? Like the normal ones? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so

Scott Benner 17:59
but what about your upbringing? Made you say, Okay, well, now I'm gonna go to college.

Jennifer Stone 18:06
Well, I mean, college was never not an option for me. I mean, my my parents. I know, both my mom and dad. My mom's dad had gone to college, but my dad's dad had not. And so he was the first one in his family to go to college. So it was very important for both of my parents, for my brother and I to go to school. So not getting a degree was never off the table, I was always gonna get a degree. But the thing with acting is, like, I love the art of it so much with the business can be really self involved. And I was never raised that way my parents just raised me of like, get outside yourself. Like, it's not all about you. And so even when, even when my mom was on sets with me, you know, she made sure I did things to stay grounded. And so, you know, to me, it's the perfect balance of I get to act for me. And I get to nurse for other people. And so that way, it kind of keeps that sort of push pull between self and other really balanced.

Scott Benner 19:05
It's, it's exemplary, you'll be able to do that I have incredibly limited experience, meaning that I once filmed an iPhone commercial. And I believe I was on the Katie Couric show a couple of times. So I know those are weird examples. But the strange thing is like during the commercial filming, I remember being nervous before it started. And I asked for, you know, just a bottle of something to drink. And you're about to find out that I live on the east coast because I can't say water. And so I asked the whoever I asked, and then ringing through these, like headsets all over this big room where the talent needs water. And then people were running at me with bottles and I thought, well, this is how natural Oh, this is how people go crazy. Yeah, because you could feel yourself thinking I could like this, you know, like I could really like somebody's chasing me around this way. So anyway, I think it's kind of a big deal that you were able to do that and probably, you know, a great insight into your parents too. And your family.

Jennifer Stone 20:07
It's all my folks. It's all my parents. I am just I count my lucky stars that I got the parents that I did, because otherwise, who knows?

Scott Benner 20:16
Well, so then how to how to like level headed people. Also be the people who started you acting when you were young. Like where's that, like,

Jennifer Stone 20:24
that was on it was on me. It was on me like I my brother, we joke that it's a hobby that got really out of control. And my mom, even to this day, like when it gets hard, she's like, you know, you can quit or I'm like, I know, but I really love it. Like, it's, it's, it's, it just makes me feel the most like me. And that's when you know, you found something worth doing is when it makes you feel like the best version of yourself. And, and, yeah, I mean, I got dragged to theater camp with my older brother. And it like, sparked my mind. And you know, I started doing it, and I loved it. And I was the one that drove the whole thing. I mean, my mom was never like, oh, we should get you in showbiz. Like, she was always wondering, like, do you want to quit now? Can we go play soccer or something

Scott Benner 21:05
like that about sports? Like, are you sure you want to keep doing this? We could do something. Yeah. So I've been finding recently, as I get older, that I'm starting to believe that my memories, the ones that I think of as really strong memories are actually more tied to photographs that I have more access to. And I was wondering if you disproportionately see yourself as younger because there's so many images of you that way.

Jennifer Stone 21:30
I mean, I don't, to be honest, and this is why like, I was joking with you, before we got on about like me just talking to no one is I try not to, like, look or think about myself as much as humanly possible being an actor in the age of social media. But I mean, like it because it's just, I don't find it healthy to like surrounded myself that much with the idea of myself or the image of myself. So I try to not avoid it, but it's just not the center of my universe. But no, I mean, it's I've always, like, I hate the term old soul. But I've always felt like that, because I grew up working on sets at a really young age with adults. So I've always felt older than I am not an experience, but just something within me. But no, I definitely don't think of myself as is younger, just because. I mean, you don't I mean, it's like looking at a high school yearbook. Like, I don't want to look at my high school yearbook. And that's what those images are to me. You know,

Scott Benner 22:32
how about when people approach you like, I'm assuming that you've walked into a room, someone's arms have like, ripped off and they go like, Oh my God, you're Harper Finkel? Does that happen? Guys? Right?

Jennifer Stone 22:42
Yeah, yeah, it happens. I mean, I pick my moments. Sometimes it's a moment where I can be like, Yeah, that's me, you know. And it's nice, because when somebody's having a really bad day, because people don't come to the ER, when they're having a good day, you know, so if they are having a bad day, I can give them something to be excited about or something to be happy about. So that's really a gift.

But the times when I've had people that are I'll just say not 100%, they might be a little, like mentally, you know, altered.

And when they like are hallucinating a bunch of things. And they also include me in that and they're like, Oh, are you? You're from like, that's what I'm just like, No, that's not me, let's focus on getting you better. And you

Scott Benner 23:27
should say, like, the anesthesiologist is the chimpanzee from BJ and the bear. So

Jennifer Stone 23:33
totally. I mean, they're seeing a lot of other things when that that realization happened. So I'm just like, No, we're just kind of right. Not the right time.

Scott Benner 23:41
It's a strange thing. Because I can imagine that people don't, can can possibly not see you as people, but as things right, and then you just show up in the most normal, like vulnerable situation in their life. And you're like, yeah, no one makes a joke. Like, do you have like a one that you could fix this with? Or something like that?

Jennifer Stone 24:00
Well love that one. Yeah, that one they love I wear a lot of like, really like silly outfits on the show that we're all like themed so I'd have like a watermelon themed outfit or something. So people usually ask me like wear something that I wore is are

Scott Benner 24:15
so my love those to my daughter is in. She's a freshman actually in. She's doing fashion design at SCAD. And oh yeah. And so she asked me to ask you if you had any input about those outfits, or if you even like them, or if they were more Not, not you personally but just for the character, I guess.

Jennifer Stone 24:33
No, I loved it for the character. And I it was never it kind of evolved naturally that they were themed. That was something that was never scripted. I think I had like one outfit in my first episode that kind of had a theme to it. And then it just like exploded from there. And so me in the wardrobe department who was incredible. They like handmade all of that because Where are you going to find like a meet dress, you know, unless you're Lady Gaga. But you know, like so like they like handmade all of that. And, and, you know, I, it would be things like oh, what if we like I love this necklace, let's turn it into a whole thing. So it'd be cool from like a daisy necklace to being a whole full Daisy thing. I have a flowerpot on my head like all of that. And I loved it because it made my job easier. It's a lot easier to make somebody laugh when you look crazy. A lot easier. It made my job a lot easier. And it was a lot of fun to.

Scott Benner 25:26
Okay, so your your mom helps you in the beginning. But I'm assuming you have a job where you're kind of on your own a lot. You didn't have a CGM in the beginning, I would imagine, right?

Jennifer Stone 25:36
No, I didn't. At the beginning, I was doing like finger pricks and things like that, which was incredibly difficult. And I applaud anyone because I know not everybody is as lucky as I am to have the resources that I have. So the people that have to use just, you know, your old school like, you know, pen and needle method. It's really difficult to keep your blood sugar's under control. So between the CGM and like having the N pen to be able to like knock it back, like you're saying, when it starts to get a little too high. That's when it's, it's a game changer, for sure.

Scott Benner 26:14
So what about bringing it up in your personal life? So I don't know if you're dating or meeting new people or like going to a job? Do you mean? Yeah, I'm assuming you don't run in and yell, I have diabetes. Like, how soon until you tell somebody?

Jennifer Stone 26:29
I mean, I, it's pretty it comes up pretty early. Just because I, I am not shy about bolusing. So like, I'll pull out my own pin, like at dinner. And I know, I have a funny first date story about this. So they find out pretty quickly because they're like, obviously, the first question is, what are you injecting yourself with. But I was I was priming it. And I accidentally primed it in the wrong direction. And I primed it, like, under his food. And so he was worth he's like, um, so what does this mean? Am I going to taste it? What is this going to do? And I was like, Well, you might get a little like sweaty and like, feel weak, but just eat more, and you'll, you'll be fine. Like, that's the worst that will happen to you. But it was very funny, because we both had that that like, Oh, no moment, where we both like looked at each other and like watched it happen. And yeah, so I mean, it comes up pretty early, just because I'm not shy about bolusing.

Scott Benner 27:26
Do you think it's ever put an end to a relationship? Or do you think you've seen discrimination in work because of it or anything like that?

Jennifer Stone 27:32
I'm not at work, not at work. I've been lucky at the fact, a lot of it just comes from ignorance, to be perfectly honest, like people being like, well, can't you just take that off? Like I've had wardrobe departments be like, well, can't you just take that off or, or like, I'm like, I need to go to my trailer or the break room to get my, the hospital less so because people obviously have some kind of a medical understanding. But unsettling, like I really, I really need to go to my trailer, I really need to get you know, my endpin I gotta Bolus because I gotta catch this before it gets too high. And there's like, Oh, give it give it 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and then we'll take a break. And I'm like, I don't have 2030 minutes. You know what I mean? And then there have been some dates that have been cut short, because of inappropriate questioning about how diabetes works with things. So Oh, yeah. Hey, you know what better now than later,

Scott Benner 28:22
Jennifer, we have entire episodes about how to do stuff like that while you have diabetes. So I don't think I would bring it up with somebody on a first date. That's for certain.

Jennifer Stone 28:32
Yeah, like I said, in, we tweeted out a few people pretty quickly,

Scott Benner 28:35
I say that all the time that if people are going to judge you, or in any way hold you accountable for things that aren't your fault, it's a good way to get rid of somebody quick and not have to. Yeah, you know what I mean, spend a bunch of time with somebody is gonna end up letting you down eventually anyway.

Jennifer Stone 28:52
So absolutely. It's better to get it out of the way before the entree. So do you find

Scott Benner 28:56
now that you understand type one so well, that it's misunderstood in the hospital setting? Or are their goals just different in a hospital setting?

Jennifer Stone 29:05
I mean, I do think that there is room for improvement on education. Because there's such a big that one of the things that I came across when I was being diagnosed was that the idea of like the traditional diabetic, and like you mentioned, like I was diagnosed later in life. And so it really threw people for a loop. Like I had a bunch of people going back and forth between type one and type two, just simply because of how old I was when symptoms started showing up. And so I think, I think sometimes they're too aggressive with treating certain things and not aggressive enough, just because they it's not their experience. They don't know what it's like. And so, that's something that I really love. Being able to do is being a resource as a nurse of, of, you know, letting people know not only the experience of it and kind of what to focus on what to not focus on not Then I'm an expert by any means, but I just have my own experience to pull from. But, you know, and then also to like talking with other diabetic patients about what works for me, like the amount of times I've said, like, look, my impact has been a game changer because I can use half units. You know what I mean? And it gives me so I can make a cameo for the cats. But you know, and like, gets me like the right dose at the right time and just gets me back to my day. And so finding the thing that not only treats diabetics when they're NDK, or hypoglycemic, effectively, but also getting them on a routine in their day that helps them be consistent so that we don't get to those highs and lows.

Scott Benner 30:39
Okay. Hold on a second. Why texted my son, who I told I was recording right now. Yeah. Okay,

Jennifer Stone 30:46
I had somebody like, come up on on mine, too, that I was like, hold on.

Scott Benner 30:51
Do you have a preferred method of eating? Do you intermittent fast? Do you eat lower carb? Do we like any specific way or not really,

Jennifer Stone 31:00
I try to do lower carb higher protein with a good amount of fiber. Because I find that fiber runs super, like my cortisol levels are really sensitive. Like I was mentioning before, and, and so I get insulin resistant, pretty quick. And so fiber helps me it's one of those like little tricks that really helps me to, to kind of combat any carbs, I kind of cut the cards in half from the amount of fiber or at least subtract the amount of fiber anyway, I won't get all into like the nitty gritty of that. But yeah, so I try to I try to just keep a pretty balanced as far as macro diet, but I'm not. I'm not perfect. I definitely love a piece of cake every now and then. And you know, nothing like bread and butter. You know, if I love a good piece of a piece of toast, like I'm sorry, like bread and butter is. It's a classic for a reason. It's really good.

Scott Benner 31:55
I think I took a piece of bread the other day that was too thick, toasted it, I put butter on it, and then sprinkled some like pink salt on top. And my wife's like, what do you do? I'm like, This is my whole meal, this piece of bread. I'm super excited about it. Yeah. Okay, so I know you don't know this, but my daughter is the one who has type one diabetes. She was diagnosed when she was two years old, I guess that she's 18. Now she just left for college things are going really well with her stuff, which is is very cool. But I wonder she's found. Arden has friends who have type one diabetes, but they're all virtual, in one way or another. Like she doesn't know anybody in her real life was type one. And I'm wondering that once you become public about having diabetes, and you have a social media presence already, what do you get out of that interaction because I find community to be really important and not spoken about enough.

Jennifer Stone 32:51
I completely agree. It was something that I when I was first diagnosed before I was open about it, because I was still figuring things out at the time. I felt so alone. And that was something that I find. And it was part of the reason I got into nursing in the first place is I wanted to be able to help patients not feel alone in that time. But yeah, I felt so alone of like, you know, try and just the daily ins and outs, ups and downs that come with with diabetes and having nobody understand that is such an isolating thing. And so I agree with you, because I found community with fellow diabetics, and it's it's, it's, it changes it because it helps you not only feel less alone in your day to day experiences, but also have this like resource of, hey, this was what works for me, does it work for you? Maybe you want to try it, that kind of thing. And that's been the biggest thing that I've really enjoyed about having diabetes on social media is two things one, making like being perfect. Not a thing because like I said, being perfect with diabetes is very hard to do. And like I said, there will be some days I joke this guy's the wrong shade of blue. So my blood sugar is just gonna be high today. You know, there's not I will Bolus and Bolus and Bolus and it just won't go down. Because, you know, it's just a bad day and making that more acceptable, because I think sometimes, you know, I've talked to fellow diabetics that are just really hard on themselves. That and then also trading secrets. Now, that shouldn't be secret. So like I said, you know, talking about the tools that work for us, and, you know,

Scott Benner 34:30
do you know, Charlotte jury?

Jennifer Stone 34:32
She's the gym. That name sounds vaguely familiar. Oh, yeah. Yeah, type

Scott Benner 34:35
one. She dates. Laurie Hernandez. I think Charlotte did trampoline in the Olympics. And Laurie. Oh, God is something about gymnastics. But Charlotte was on the show, because she was having trouble with something with her diabetes. And she went on to Instagram to talk to people about it. And one of the people was like, Hey, have you heard about this podcast? And so we started talking and then suddenly she was on the show and talk Talking about her her trip to diabetes. And I just think it helps people that it it's a simple statement like not to feel alone. But you know, it means so much more than that really like, right. Like, it's it's a lot more than than how it seems. So I think it's really cool that you're connected. Do you see do you get people reaching out a lot on social media have type one?

Jennifer Stone 35:21
Yeah. A lot of people still don't know that I'm type one. Because to me like, I look at it this way. It's not who I am. It's a part of me. Yeah. Right. And I think, you know, I think that's something that with that I've talked to about other diabetics is this idea of like, oh, that's who I am. Now. That's my label, you know? And it's like, no, that's just a part of who I am. It's a part of what I go through every day, but it isn't everything. But yeah, it's, it's crazy. And it's come full circle, because I actually found out about the ink pen from social media. Yeah, from the internet. And so from social media, and it was a trade, it was a trade secret that somebody shared with me that, like I said, it's not really a trade secret, but and so the fact that I'm able to not share that with other people of being like, hey, this was a game changer for me. You know, it's worth looking into.

Scott Benner 36:09
We got a Dexcom for my daughter early on, because somebody else that I knew that was in the diabetes space was talking about it. Arden uses a Piedra instead of the insulin she was given by the doctor's office, because yeah, we were talking online and saying, Hey, we're seeing this problem. And one person said, you should try a Piedra. And I was like, I didn't even know you could ask people for different insolence. back I was like, okay, so you know, we gave that a try ended up being a really great thing. So I can't agree. Enough. All right. You want to ask the stupid stuff now?

Jennifer Stone 36:40
Love it. Yes. Let's bring on the stupid.

Scott Benner 36:42
So the first thing is partly for me, but it's going to lead us into the stupid stuff because I haven't imagined that this happens to you constantly. So you have a real vibe. Like my daughter does. So I'm, I feel like I know how you're gonna answer this. But out of every 10 people you meet, who are not personal friends? How many of them bring up Selena Gomez?

Jennifer Stone 37:07
Oh, um, a lot. A lot. If they're if they're usually, it starts with a few questions. They either want to sing the hat song, which I love doing that people I blows my mind that one episode like people latched on to that I think it's so cool. If I kept any of the outfits, and then am I am I friends with Selena Gomez. And my favorite response to that I'll change it out. But my favorite response is like, no, she was CGM into the whole show. I never met her. But like, because it's so weird to you that people are like, Do you know her? They love to ask that question. I'm like, I spent my whole high school like rage with. Do

Scott Benner 37:47
you honestly hated each other to not know when to especially in the age of technology when you can text people and keep in touch easily? Like, you don't mean like, because, yeah, so many questions. Like I have a huge Facebook group. And people were like, were they as friendly as they seemed on set? And I was like, well, if they weren't, would you expect her to tell me? Like, Jennifer, was everybody horrible? They

Jennifer Stone 38:10
really were no, we actually really were like, we were pretty inseparable during that whole shoot, because like I said, we it was such a unique experience. So you kind of latch on to the people that are familiar and safe. And that's what we were for each other. At the time, because it was both both of us were just kids who like to act and we got on the show. And you know, and we got to do what we loved every day, which was amazing. But then all of a sudden people knew about it and knew who we were and that was different and strange. And so to be able to have somebody else that got that and to go through that with someone else was a really bonding experience. I

Scott Benner 38:45
would imagine especially at your you're at a certain age then to like where I would imagine friendships are very impressionable. Yeah, would really stick to you. Okay, so it's fair to say that if you texted her right now she'd get back to you. That's okay. That leads me to my next question. This is a quote from my daughter, will you please start a group chat with you and Selena Gomez me.

Jennifer Stone 39:08
I mean, Selena may not appreciate that. She's not a big texter texting that much. Like she is she'll FaceTime me, or call me and I hate the phone. I hate it. Like, I'm not a phone person. I only text her all day. So like, sometimes we'll miss each other just because she doesn't want to text and I'm just like, well, I don't want to talk on the phone. I'm not in a place right.

Scott Benner 39:27
So I'll let my daughter know that's maybe so yeah. Hilarious. The other question of course, that everybody wanted was the hat song which I'm not going to ask you to. I'm not gonna ask you to sing. But what is it? Do you I mean, this is such a silly question. I feel like this is my first like weird showbiz question but like so you started dawning. What are the things that happened while they were happening to you that you ever thought like, this will follow me for the rest of my life or are you surprised by the things that they are?

Jennifer Stone 40:00
I'm, the thing is in like, the entertainment industry has so many examples of this. But when people try to make a thing a thing, it never works. Yeah. Right. And when people are just organically creating, people will latch on to things. Why people latched on to that song. I have no idea. I love that they have I think that that's so special. But I just came out of like the movie theater the other day, I was going to see a movie and this girl comes up to me and she's like, sobbing, sobbing, crying. And I'm like, and of course, my brain. I'm

like, what happened? Are you okay? Like, no connection in my brain between the two things? And she's like, I was raised on the hat song. And I'm like,

What is that's what you're crying. Like, you know what I mean? It's really like, Give me a hug. Like, that's awesome. But like, I don't know why you're crying about it. That's really sweet. And traumatic. Yeah, exactly. I like didn't hurt you. Like, you know, it's totally it's, I mean, it's no, I would have never guessed. And like the outfits. Like, there's certain outfits that if you had asked me to guess like which one people were going to be crazy about, I would have never guessed the marker dress is the one that everybody always and I know you have no idea what I'm talking about, which is totally fine. But the marker dress is like this dress I wore that was like all markers. It weighed like 25 pounds. Because it was like 1000 like Sharpie markers or something. And, and, and it's people love it. People love that dress. And it was something I wore like one episode. Do you I they latch on to that one? I have no

Scott Benner 41:33
idea. You have a favorite? Like, is there something you think back on and think I wish I still had this one.

Jennifer Stone 41:37
It changes all the time. But I do have the marker dress. You do have it. I still I stole it from a few outfits from set. Yeah, everyone's like, I can't believe they let you keep them. I'm like, Well,

Scott Benner 41:46
I didn't let me I have to say when I asked for forgiveness, right when I shot that commercial, the girl that dressed I mean, you can see me, Jennifer. I'm not like tall and lean and muscular and handsome and everything. And so like when the girls stressed me, I'm like, this is going to be horrible. I can't believe I agree to do this. And little things she did with my clothes, like rolling up my sleeves or something like that. I was like, Why do I look so much better? Like you're a genius. This is amazing, you know, really, really kind of interesting how they could just, I don't know, make me see myself differently.

Jennifer Stone 42:19
Well, and actors to like, you'll notice, like, I have a lot of friends that are actors, obviously. But they they do not know how to dress in their regular. Like, if somebody's not like, like if they weren't like if they have some that have like worked very consistently since they were a kid. And they've either have stuff that they've taken from set. And that's what they look good in and they wear it over and over and over again. But if they have to dress themselves and go to a store and pick something up, they're

Scott Benner 42:45
clueless no idea what it is. Yeah.

Jennifer Stone 42:47
Which I can't say like me now wearing scrubs all the time. Like I I could I could use some help on my day to day, I love a good sweat pant, you know?

Scott Benner 42:58
So moving forward, as you I'm assuming you're still going out and you said you're acting and doing things? Do you have a goal for what you're trying to do? Are you just trying to work? Or is there something specific you wanna do? Are you trying to use that sweet Disney influence to get into Star Wars or Marvel or something like that?

Jennifer Stone 43:14
I mean, for me, I just love acting, I love telling stories. I love playing characters, it's important to me now having my experience with diabetes and having that be such a part of who I am. You know, I do find it important that, you know, valid representation of diabetics and chronic conditions is out there. I did an indie movie that I co wrote, produced and CO starred in with a friend of mine during nursing school, actually, that really featured diabetes as what I was talking about before of, you know, it's not the whole character, it's just part of them. Because I think that's important. I it's, it can be frustrating when you see it as this like mellow, dramatic. Julia Roberts Steel Magnolias like diabetes moment, and everyone thinks that that's just what you're like. And so for me that representation is really important. But other than that, like it's it's important to me to make people feel seen in both of my jobs as a nurse as an actor. And the empathy that bridges between those two professions is very important to me. So whatever I can do, whatever stories I can tell, and characters that can play that make people feel seen and heard. That's what's important to me.

Scott Benner 44:30
All right. My last question is, it's based off of, it's based off the 19,000 people that asked me if you know, Nick Jonas, but I'm not directly asked you that. But do you know other famous type ones? Like are you sort of a club together?

Jennifer Stone 44:46
Yes, we have a secret club. It's like club 33 at Disneyland. No, no, no. I mean, it's it's because a lot of us are that are involved in like advocacy for diabetes. It's a small circle. So we meet up I mean, I met with a lot of different fellow diabetics to like, Canvas is the wrong word, but basically to just like help fund more research for, you know, diabetes and products, like the NPN to to help, you know, diabetics lives, the easier and more seamless. And so, you know, we'll come together a lot for things like that. And so that's, you know, kind of how we meet and it's pretty trade stories.

Scott Benner 45:28
Well, I appreciate this very much. I thank you for doing this. You said earlier that you don't know how many people know you have type one diabetes, I'm not bragging but a lot of people are going to know now so. And I have something I want to tell you when I push that up. If you'll hold on for one second for me. Yeah, of course. Thanks.

Thanks so much to Jennifer stone for coming on the show today. And please find her on Instagram, and Tiktok, where you can enjoy her loveliness even more. I also want to thank Dexcom, makers of the Dexcom G six continuous glucose monitor, and remind you to go to dexcom.com Ford slash juice box to find out if you're eligible for a free 10 day trial, the Dexcom G six. And of course, we're thinking in pen from Medtronic diabetes. But we're talking about the blue balloon challenge, which I'm going to continue to talk about as soon as the music ends. But I would be remiss if I didn't tell you to go to N pen today.com to support the podcast

Okay, first off, I was supposed to tell you that while you're on Instagram, partaking in the blue balloon challenge, you could also use the filter on Instagram, a filter on Instagram to take part in the challenge. I mean, that is well beyond my paygrade on Instagram. But for those of you who know how to use filters, apparently there's a blue balloon filter. Go crazy. All right, listen, life for a child. Like I said earlier, Medtronic is supporting life for child. We're trying to work together to make a brighter future for people. They've currently supported 34,000 Young people in 44 countries providing essential supplies. In some under resourced countries, children living with type one diabetes don't have access to life saving insulin, blood glucose test strips, and diabetes education live for a child partners with diabetes centers in countries like Tanzania, Mexico, and India to help young people with diabetes who have no other care available. So this is a great thing to do. You can use all the you know your apps, your good centers and everything that you love where you getting into them and put up a post and do something easy and simple. That will help somebody hashtag blue balloon challenge and tag Medtronic diabetes. Hey, check this out. I'm going through the literature they gave me there's this small country in East Africa whose name I can't pronounce says that life for a child recently delivered a new a one C machine to a clinic and the doctor that runs the Clinic says that the machine has revolutionized the way he's been able to care for children. Oh, that's something else. I mean, honestly, I'm gonna get a blue balloon and try to hold it up. I'll do it too. All right, I'll do it. You guys do it. I'll do it fair. All right, get a blue balloon. Bounce in the air all bounced out while making the podcast and and we'll all do it together. blue balloon challenge hashtag tag, Medtronic diabetes and find Jennifer stone online. For God's sake. She's freaking delightful. Say hello to her. Tell her you heard on the podcast. All right, I'm gonna go but before I do, let me give you this link again. This easy to remember link. Medtronic diabetes, my gonna get in trouble for making fun of the link probably not Medtronic. diabetes.com forward slash blue dash balloon dash challenge rolls right off the tongue. Medtronic diabetes.com forward slash blue dash balloon dot Talon. I got it wrong. I said dot Okay, Medtronic. diabetes.com forward slash blue dash balloon dash challenge there. Again, just type that in easiest pie. You'll learn everything you want to know about life for a child and the blue balloon challenge. And if anybody from Medtronic is listening, I'm just kidding. But, I mean, you could have put a link on in pen today.com. I could have just said go to Impend today.com and click on the link for the blue blue chat. But anyway, that's neither here nor there. Okay, there's it neither here nor there. Or neither here nor there. I don't know. Where do you think that saying comes from? Hold on? Seems like we're not quite done yet. Google will tell me Oh, I just left the dexcom.com Ford slash juice box and tried to give me a free 10 day trial of the Dexcom G six. Okay, neither Here, nor there. Origin The phrase first appeared in Arthur Goldings 1574 translation of a collection of sermons by John Calvin. I don't know anything about this, the sermons of John Calvin upon oh my goodness, Deuteronomy, is that right? True it is that our oh boy, they talked all kinds of backwards in the 1500s true is that are so doing is neither here nor there as they say, Huh, Shakespeare used to in Othello. Act Four scene three, Amelia and Desdemona are discussing marriage while talking about husbands and the concept of fidelity does Madonia emotional thought of what she's accused of asks Emilio, whether it is alright to cry, I'm gonna cry if I keep reading this. Amelia respond. Amelia replies that it doesn't matter one way or the other to her. Here it is in context does pneumonia. So get stay do a voice so No, I shouldn't do a voice. So get the gone Good night. Mine eyes do itch, Darth that bode weeping. Hey, doc that Amelia responds, tis neither here nor there. What do you think of that?

Hmm. What do you think of that? scandals? So do you guys think there's any chance Jennifer stone listen to this, and she's still listening and she's thinking to herself that I go on this podcast. Could be right. Anyway, if you're listening, Jennifer, I had an absolutely delightful time speaking with you. And you were invited back on whenever you want.