#843 Cult Jam
Lisa's child has type 1 diabetes and she writes about type 1.
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Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends and welcome to episode 843 of the Juicebox Podcast.
Today I'll be speaking with Lisa. She is the mother of a child with type one. She owns a daycare center, and she writes for her local newspaper about type one diabetes. 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 healthcare plan or becoming bold with insulin. Do you have type one diabetes, or are you the caregiver of someone with type one? If you were to complete the survey AT T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. You would be helping with type one diabetes research. This survey is simple. It is easy it is HIPAA compliant. It is nonnamous. And it will take you about 10 minutes T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. Join the registry complete the survey. That's it just like that you've helped. If you're looking for the diabetes Pro Tip series, they begin at episode 210 In your podcast player, where you can find a complete list at juicebox podcast.com. We're in the feature tab of the private Facebook group Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes
this show is sponsored today by the glucagon that my daughter carries G voc hypo Penn Find out more at G voc glucagon.com. Forward slash juicebox. today's podcast is also sponsored by the Dexcom CI six dexcom.com forward slash juice box check it out. See if you're eligible for a free 10 day trial of the Dexcom G six see your blood sugar, speed, direction and number all in one place. On your receiver or smartphone dexcom.com forward slash juice box.
Lisa 2:10
I am Lisa side tells I am a mother of four children, a wife to my husband Sam. And I own Reed preschool and camp Tuscaloosa here in Hammond to New Jersey.
Scott Benner 2:22
She has a preschool. That's interesting. Yes. How old are your children top the bottom.
Lisa 2:30
So Jaden is nine. Casey is seven. Ashton is turning five in August and Sora is turning three in August.
Scott Benner 2:40
Which one has type one? Casey,
Lisa 2:42
my seven year old.
Scott Benner 2:45
And you started a daycare just because you had so many kids, it was the only way you could afford to take care of your kids.
Lisa 2:52
So actually, this place has been in existence since 1954. And my husband and I took it over six years ago. I see. Okay. It is yes, it is beautiful to have my four children go through my own program. That's very true.
Scott Benner 3:09
Yeah. Well, and you're not paying somebody, I'm assuming you don't charge yourself.
Lisa 3:13
No, no, they're here for free.
Scott Benner 3:17
I'm just saying you have enough kids that that's a financially viable idea. Like, hey, we could either pay for daycare, or just buy a daycare. I think it's probably cheaper to buy one. That's funny. Is there any autoimmune thing your family? Do you have thyroid issues or anybody and you're connected? extended family?
Lisa 3:38
Not at all. Sam, I guess in his more further out family has some people with type one. But they're like half siblings of other people in the family. So to us, Casey getting type when diabetes was an absolute shock. It is not in the immediate family at all.
Scott Benner 4:01
Nothing you were aware of. But certainly there's a genetic connection.
Lisa 4:06
It seems so if we go off of the half sibling a few generations above us, yes. Sounds
Scott Benner 4:13
to me. How about other people with other autoimmune issues?
Lisa 4:17
Um, I don't think so. Not that we're really aware of now. Okay.
Scott Benner 4:24
So how old was Casey when he was diagnosed?
Lisa 4:28
Casey was five it was two weeks before his sixth birthday.
Scott Benner 4:33
And this is during COVID.
Lisa 4:35
Yes. Okay.
Scott Benner 4:38
How bad was it and how did you figure it out? Was it like one of those things? You just noticed something weird and followed up with a doctor or was he in decay?
Lisa 4:47
So it's a very actually interesting story is in my first article that I wrote for the newspaper describes it, but he had all these symptoms and But they, you know, as for most people, you know, unless you're aware of type one, they all seem like separate and unrelated. And, you know, it started with me noticing that he seemed to be losing his baby fat, you know, he's always been my child that had a little bit more like, you know, to him. And one day I said, Sam, doesn't he look like he's losing his baby fat? And Sam's like, oh, I don't know, you know, maybe. And then and that was actually like, you know, a few months before we discovered he was type one. But then it got to the point where my three boys like to hang together. And you know, one of them or all of them, I wasn't sure who those wedding head. And so after, like a while this happening, I was like, Okay, we gotta like, figure out who's doing this. So I separated them out. And I realized it was Casey, and like, I was concerned, because, you know, he's, you know, he was almost six and be wetting the bed to the degree, like, pick up a sheet. And it was like, it was head to toe. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. And, and in the meantime, he was also like, to drink milk, like, every 10 minutes, and he had scratches on his face. And I'm like, Why aren't these healing and he got to the point where we had a playdate. And he's just like, he went on the couch, sat down, covered his head, and I'm like, What are you doing? Can you see like your friends over right now. And he's like, Oh, I'm just tired. I'm gonna rest. And I was like, That is interesting and strange. But okay. And then it got to the point where he came down to our school, we had opened our school, the older ages during COVID. And so that allowed him to be in the school again. And my staff member came up to me and said, Casey's really tired today, I'm going to, you know, just let him rest. And I looked over at him, and he was lying on the couch in a ball. And I was like, something's wrong, like something's not right. Like, his best friend is here like, this is this is never going to be like my son, like, you know, declining to play or engage. So I took him upstairs. And he and I started, I was like, I'll do your work with you up here, where you just, you know, hanging out with me and, and he fell asleep. Like, I'm talking like, he was like, awake. And then his eyes closed. And I was like, wow, okay, they must be really tired. So when he was sleeping, I Googled his symptoms, because there were just too many of them that were concerning me. And type one was the first thing to pop up, but because it doesn't run in my family, you know, to my knowledge, and I just never imagined that he would have that. So I read Google his symptoms, and it said, oh, like urinary tract infection. Is it okay, I don't really think it's that. And then I thought to myself, well, we'll take him to a doctor, you know. So, he napped, he woke up later, he seemed to be feeling a little bit better. So he was said to stay with a friend of ours for a few hours. That night, because Sam and I had a COVID shot, we had to go and we didn't want to bring all the kids. And she happens to be type one diabetic. And so we took two kids that to her house to concern another friend's house. And when we came back to pick him up, I had just told her ahead of time, I never mentioned I Googled anything. I never even mentioned type one, I just didn't cross my mind that it could be. And when we picked him up, Sam gets in the car and, and he says stuff thinks that Casey's diabetic. And the minute he said that, like all the alarm bells went off, because that's what had popped up on Google,
Scott Benner 8:57
that I had said, Oh, no, it's not that, right? Yes.
Lisa 9:00
And I was just, I was terrified. And I had read about ketoacidosis. So I knew it could be serious. And so we got home, and I started calling people. And, you know, his teacher was like, you know, if you're really concerned, maybe you should just go to the hospital, you know, don't wait to see a doctor tomorrow. And I called my mom. She's actually been a person in the diabetes field for 10 years. And she published his papers on it. And I said to her, how scared I was like, what if using ketoacidosis? And she said, you know, take him back to steps house and have her testing with her blood meter. And so we drove him right there. I left Sam with other kids. I took him there. She tested him and she had like one I don't know if I've ever seen one of these since then, but she had this alarm that flashed and I won't Never forget it, it flashed, she grabbed my arm and looked at me and absolute terror. And she said, This is not good. And in that moment, I thought my son was gonna die. I thought I was gonna lose him. And I burst into tears. And she retested him to be sure and his blood sugar was 676. And, and she herself as a type one had never seen a blood sugar that high. So we immediately rushed him to the emergency room, I ran in there, like, you know, we've never been admitted so fast, because I could literally say like, he's type one, he needs to be on an IV now. And he was later transferred to a much better hospital. And they told me that if he had gone one other night, they don't think he would have woken up
Scott Benner 10:53
early. So that's a lot. That's a lot to go through. And you were able to get in no problem, even though it was COVID. time they got you right in the hospital.
Lisa 11:03
Yes. Thankfully, he went right in. And I just remember, like, there was so much in those two days that we were admitted in the hospital. And I had grown up with a family friend who's a diabetes type one for about 50 years. Hey,
Scott Benner 11:26
I'm sorry, you cut out for a second, you grew up with a family friend,
Lisa 11:29
who has had type one diabetes for now going on about 50 years he got in his 20s.
Scott Benner 11:35
I want to stop? Can I stop you for a second here before you tell me about that? Because there was one thing about the previous part of your conversation that threw me for a loop. So you said that there's you didn't think about diabetes, because there was no connection to your family, you didn't know anybody that hadn't your family. But then when you said your mom worked in the field, I have to admit that confused me. So what is your mom do now? So she,
Lisa 11:57
um, she is a professor of education. And she so it actually ties into this friend, I was about to tell you about a family friend. He's had diabetes for 50 years. And I've known him for 35 of those. And so she, after observing him, over the years realized that type one diabetes is like, a job. And she's like written, you know, she's in the education field, she writes descriptions of like, what does it take to like, do certain jobs. And in the case of type one, there's no days off, there's no like, you know, holidays, or there's no night off, there's just no time off period. And she realized that to take care of type one is, is at least as complicated as a middle level job. So if you think about, like, what you have to do to respond to type one during the day, during the night, all the unpredictable factors involved, like treating a problem? Do we even this solution is a problem right now. You know, she was a comparative being a lawyer, how does it compare to being a custodian? How does it compare to this, and it's a very complicated job that people don't sign up for, and they don't want either. So the rate of non compliance for caring for type one can be like sort of low. And to her like goal over this time has been to, like spread awareness about how complicated type one is, and to help people in the medical field to almost like, like, realize that this is a serious job that people aren't going to comply with, unless you, you know, break it down to like, their individual needs, and, and levels. And they can, you know, understand exactly what's involved in have the support that they need to comply.
Scott Benner 14:00
I see. Yeah, the idea, I guess, being that, you know, if you get thrown into a thing, your ex, your understanding of it is not good. You might not be, I mean, intellectually prepared for it. And then all of a sudden, it's life and death. It's very important. The doctor sends you on the way out the door, thinking, Oh, I explained everything to them. And then if you don't have good outcomes, their expectation is often that you didn't try, when really, you were never set up for any kind of success to begin with. And now you're at odds, kind of quietly. It's interesting, isn't it? Like quietly at odds because the doctor believes you're not paying attention, but they don't really say it to you, and you think you think you're failing? And you don't really ever say that out loud, either. It's, yeah, you get into a bad communication loop.
Lisa 14:50
Yes, exactly. And, like one of the things that I realized in those days at the hospital is I said, I just don't know how someone that It's never graduated high school, for instance, can take in all this information, like my first article says, uh, you know, I'm a smart person, but to suddenly have to learn how to become like a clinician for your child 24/7 to prevent them from dying on possibly an hourly basis, it and then go back to full life at full pace and all your other obligations and distractions, like it's a job that like they're sending you well to do it with like, is almost no preparation and they're throwing all this information at you, like, oh, you should be able to absorb this in about three days or six hours. And it's not the case, you leave the hospital, feeling terrified. And knowing that you have, you know, so much that you still have yet to learn so much that you don't understand. And in some cases, like we did, we had like, almost no support from the medical field when we left because our insurance was ending the one we had it, the company had gone bankrupt. So we suddenly had to go to a different insurance that no longer accepted that hospital, and to get an appointment at the next hospital took months. So we were literally left hanging, and we relied on people in our town, our friend, like my mom, who has more knowledge than the average person to help us, you know, get through this, and even like emotionally support us. And it was at that time that I realized I was sitting down like about four to five months later, just absolutely inside, distraught, and very aware that I had had I thought I knew about type one because I grew up with someone who had it, seeing them for 35 years. But in that moment, I realized I had zero understanding of type one. And I felt terrible that here was this friend of ours, living this day in and day out in front of my very eyes. And I had no clue about what he was going through until my son was diagnosed. And when I realized that I said, I have to do something, I have to spread awareness, I have to prevent someone else's child from going into DKA. And like I have to, like make it known that like all these misperceptions about type one out there, like they need to be cleared up. I mean, I remember when Casey was diagnosed, my husband, I said, Did we feed him too much sugar? You know, and clearly that's not the case. But like, the responses we got for like, you know, how did he get it over time, like, you know that there's a lot of people that don't understand it. And those a piece in my first article, where I like had to convey what type one means. And by the time I get to the end of the article, I said, it's like you're holding a little heartbeat in your hands. And you're the number one barely trained doctor. And I say wouldn't you want to be a perfectionist too, because a heartbeat is basically in in that scenario. I was comparing it to the pancreas, you need it to live, you need it to survive every single day. And if you're not monitoring it, then you lose the life.
Scott Benner 18:31
Lisa, I used to couple things, I used to say that in the beginning, when my kid was first diagnosed, it felt like I was in charge of her breathing, and that I had to literally say breathe in, breathe out. And if I forgot to say it, she wouldn't breathe. Like it felt like that. It felt like that was my responsibility. And to make you feel a little better, maybe about having a, you know, a lifelong, like, person you knew with diabetes, but then didn't see the diabetes in your own kid. My best friend was diagnosed with type one when we were like 17 or 18. And, I mean, I don't just mean like a good friend of mine. I mean, you know, like, I walked outside, he was waiting for me. He walked outside, I was waiting for him. There are very few things we didn't do together. When we had girlfriends. We dated together like we were together all the time. He had diabetes. This was the late 80s and early 90s. And he was very private about it. And I guess even to call it private might be a misnomer. I just don't there wasn't much for him to do. Right. He shot like regular and mph in the morning and at dinnertime. He didn't really do much else other than that. But it wasn't for literally weeks. And weeks after Arden was diagnosed that I thought, Oh Mike has this. I didn't even make that correlation. Like a person I was around constantly who had type one diabetes. And then I don't know how many years later 16 years later, my daughter gets it and it never entered my mind that my Best friend has it. It just, I don't know, it just, it never did. So, and now you're having an incredibly common reaction to, to a new diagnosis, this feeling of wanting to go out into the world and make sure everyone knows everything, you know, and to say that you're maybe the, you know, 1000s, the person I've met who's had this feeling who's done something about it is probably an understatement. There's probably been more. Can you talk a little bit about the specific drive that makes you want to do that? Is it is it is it that you thought you're gonna lose your sight, and you're trying to save somebody else from being in that situation?
Lisa 20:42
So it's, I guess, a variety of things. First of all, I don't ever want anybody to lose a child, if they can prevent that. Just the fact that we could have lost Casey was absolutely traumatizing. So there's definitely that involved. The other factors are that I realized that when I didn't see what my friend goes through, I realized that diabetes is such a silent disease, like so many people deal with it, without the public eye really having a clue of what's going on behind the scenes. That that is partly why it's sort of, like almost stigmatized is something that, oh, it's no big deal. You know, but it's a very serious deal. And so I wanted to dispel the kind of thought process that the general public might have of one, like, what is type one, you know, you don't get it because you ate too many desserts. And too, you know, what people are actually going through behind the scenes that no one is ever witnessing, like, I didn't really witness too much with my friend. And I knew personally what it felt like to go through this process. So I, so like, my articles that are published monthly, are basically mine in cases journey and Sam. And what happens is something that I will write about, and I want other families to feel that they're understood that, you know, they can, you know, be related to somebody else's have feeling exactly the way they are. Or they might learn something from my articles that they didn't know, since I started writing. I mean, I've put some on your page, I haven't put all of them although if you don't have a problem with it, I I share just, you know, to help people, but I put some on your page or other pages for parents of type one diabetics. And the feedback I've gotten from them is is absolutely heartwarming, and amazing. I've had people like me saying, like, I'm like a savior in their lives for giving advice, or, like, thank you so much like no one in my family or my friends and newsstands, what we're going through, can I share your article like this will help them understand our reality. I've had people, I've actually had people, I've met people that live within my vicinity that have type one, some of them even with other kids have type one, some of them even some ham into itself, that read my article, and are like, Oh my gosh, like you're not that far from us. So it's also brought me some like really nice connections. So that you know, I can support people here and in the the thing that's amazing about it is in writing to help other people. I never realized that indirectly, it would end up helping me like my last article that's so publication now is about diabetes, distress. And I think pretty much any parent of a type one child is going to go through that. And the solution for me that I realized over this time, is that and helping other people. It helps me. It helps me get through this. And I know that if I can make a difference in someone's life, that's amazing. I thought like if my article reached one person, maybe it saved one life, even if it's like 10 years from now, someone remembers reading about DKA, or whether my article helped one person explain this disease for their family. But in the end, I saw that my articles have ended up helping maybe even hundreds of people, you know, manage through this. And like I couldn't really ask them more than that. Just knowing that I can like maybe make a difference in someone's life. There was the one article I wrote about the meaning behind a die aversary I know that none of you Every you know, wants to feel the need to celebrate a day the child was diagnosed with a life changing disease. But the article was more of like the perspective of like, well, we can't make this diseases appear, but we can decide how we respond to it. And I got almost more feedback on that article than even many of the others, where people wrote me and said, like, you change my perspective, like, I'm gonna go bigger on this celebration, or I'm going to celebrate now I wasn't going to before, like, I literally changed and maybe I've impacted someone's life for like 20 diversities to come, you know, was before they may never have, you know, looked at that day as something to try to make positive in some way. You know,
Scott Benner 25:48
where do you where do you write these?
Lisa 25:51
I, so I like them and I. So I live in a small town, and there was a local newspaper here called the Hamilton Gazette. And way back before COVID hit, my husband and I were were writing articles for them about parenting and with our experience in childcare, and then COVID hit and you know, I was unable to write, I had to focus on my business. But so one day, five months after PT was diagnosed, I sat down. And I just wrote that first article, it poured from my heart rate into the keyboard, and not one word was changed from the minute I started it to the minute I ended it. I emailed it to the Gazette. And I said, by no means do you have to accept this article. But I read in this, and obviously, I'm passionate about spreading awareness, and I plan to write more. And basically, without any hesitation, I got an email back, saying, how should we end this, you know, because at the bottom of all the articles, they say, you know, Lisa side tells and Sam side tells her the only read, please go on campus, Felisa and they have four children are active members of the community. So I said that was fine. And since then, she's been publishing my articles, I can't even begin to say how grateful I am to her, because through her, you know, publishing them, it's allowed me to reach an audience I never thought I would ever reach. And it's, and it's made actually other impacts in Hamilton. And in the type one world in ways that are absolutely beautiful. It's led to huge fundraising events supported by our town. We just recently did one with the Hamilton Lions Club, we're members of the Lions Club, and it was an Easter family event to raise money for JDRF. And because that interviewed us about that, as well. And in the event, I remember thinking, I don't know how many people will show up. And before it even hit 10 o'clock, I think it was 945. In the morning, a line of cars started coming and it just didn't stop. And when I saw it, I started crying. Because the community support was more than like, anyone could ever hope for There ended up being hundreds of people on our property. And that for that day for this event, hundreds. Excellent. It. It was amazing. And we ended up raising $7,300 For JDRF.
Scott Benner 28:37
Wonderful, Lisa, how aware are you of the podcast? You listen to it? Your podcast? Yeah.
Lisa 28:45
Yes, I so I really plan to listen to a lot more episodes, but I definitely listen to the ones in the beginning, like what you're talking about, you know, just what the different terminology means. Especially with people just starting out. I just,
Scott Benner 29:02
I only ask because your story is incredibly similar to mine. Except that happens. You know, later, you know, in time, and it's backwards as far as where you decided to write. So most of what you just described happened to me. My daughter was diagnosed, I felt an overwhelming sense of loss, and then an incredible responsibility to take good care of her. You become incredibly aware suddenly that other people might not know about this, you want to protect them or maybe put a thought in someone else's head that might help your kid one day, I started to write on a blog, which was not a thing back then. It's interesting like big blogs. Were just getting started when I made a blog and you are starting to write in print which kind of isn't a thing right now. Like like didn't really mean but you but you got on it anyway and it's it's doing the same thing. I would tell you that you In the first year or two that I wrote my blog, I describe how I reach people the same way as you, if I just reach one person, I think that's wonderful. I couldn't believe when you know, 100 people showed up at a thing, or something like that. It's very, very similar stories, which I just, I really do think that your reaction to diabetes and my reaction to diabetes initially were very similar. They just they just aren't I'm sure that most people have, you know, some variation of a certain feeling that I'm sure there's not 1000 different feelings, there's probably a few different ways people go, you want to get motivated, tell somebody else. It makes you sad, you hunker down, like the whole thing. And you talked earlier about how, how unfair it is to be thrown into this new job without any training or tools, and maybe an obviously no desire to do it, initially. And that you have to go back to your regular life and do this thing, like you suddenly have two jobs. And I, I've always felt very grateful that when my daughter was diagnosed, I was already a stay at home father. So basically, the things that I was supposed to do. If I ignored them, it just meant there was more laundry piled up, not that I wasn't getting paid at my job that I was paying the bills with. You don't I mean, like, it's, it's, it's an overlooked thing, that people get sent home, to go back to their lives, and to start a new life. And that these two things have to happen at the same time. But you don't get 24 extra hours in the day or two other hands or eight more hours asleep or something like that. Really, really, I'm just Yes,
Lisa 31:32
that exactly. Yeah. Like I would say like that maybe that's like a differentiate between us like, like, we preschool and camp Tuscaloosa are technically like two different businesses, they get different age groups of kids, and they keep me and Sam working 24/7. So I definitely felt overwhelmed. Not to mention, I have four kids total. So you know, it was very overwhelming to me, and we don't have family that lives close to us. And the mom is the closest one about an hour 10 minutes away. So we didn't even have like, hey, I can come over and you know, you know, give you guys you know, some time to recover or anything like, you know, my I did, my mom did come for the first weeks to help out. She's always been like, you know, a huge support for us in every way possible. But you still it's not like you have like the grandparents that live next door, you know, so it was definitely a lot for us to take in. And, like I am grateful that we had families and Hemington that were like if you need anything like you know, if you need advice, or you no need to learn how to do anything like put on a Dexcom I remember being terrified of putting on a Dexcom the first time so I had my friend come over and do it because her type one daughter, you know has been doing this for years more than us and in now I feel fairly like oh gosh, I didn't know how to put on a Dexcom it seems pretty easy right now, but it was terrifying because you there's it's such a high stakes disease that if you mess something up, then it's a huge problem. Certainly. Yeah, yes. And like, I think in our journey, you know, a bunch of my articles like touching different things, but I think the thing that's, like probably traumatized me the most in our journey is when a doctor made a deadly error with my son, and we almost lost Casey. Again, because of that deadly error and I don't know if you've ever talked to anyone else, or a doctor's made such a horrendous mistake before.
Scott Benner 33:50
You're gonna find out the second least because I don't know what you're talking about and I want to hear about it so Casey had had diabetes for how long when this happened
when you have diabetes and use insulin, low blood sugar can happen when you don't expect it. G voc hypo pan is a ready to use glucagon option that can treat very low blood sugar in adults and kids with diabetes ages two and above. Find out more go to G voc glucagon.com forward slash juicebox G voc shouldn't be used in patients with pheochromocytoma or insulinoma visit G voc glucagon.com/risk. My daughter has been in college now for a few months and without any exaggeration. I'm not sure how we would have done it without the Dexcom GS six. I can see Arden's blood sugar on my phone. I get alerts and alarms if she leaves the range that I set up on my app you and it just brings a peace of mind. Like, I can't really describe Actually, her blood sugar is 136 right now. And she's doing terrific. She's doing her homework, she's in her dorm room. And she's okay. And I can see that on my phone dexcom.com forward slash juice box, that information can be shared with up to 10 followers with the Dexcom G six, and you may be eligible for a free 10 day trial of the device. That is something you can find out at my website dexcom.com forward slash juice box. So get started today or go see about the trial, whatever you want to do. It's up to you, of course, but I'm just going to tell you that Dexcom has been maybe the best partner My daughter has had with diabetes. It's a toss up between Dexcom and Omnipod, I think all these years. But they both do an amazing job. That said, seeing her blood sugar, speed, direction, and number on my smartphone with a flip of my finger. It's pretty great. I think you would enjoy it. I think it would relieve some of your anxiety, I think it would help you make better decisions about carbs and insulin. Just being able to see the blood sugar kind of gives you a feel for what you're doing. Anyway, you should check it out. There are links in the show notes of the podcast player you're listening in now, links at juicebox podcast.com. Or you can just type this right into a browser dexcom.com forward slash juice box. I think you'll be happy that you did
Lisa 36:41
we met this doctor in April he was diagnosed in so you diagnosed March 1. And we met this doctor at the end of April. Okay, so it was like two months later. And at the time, I was very concerned that I you know, really didn't have too much of a good feeling about what I was doing to care for my son. Like diabetes always makes you undermine your self confidence. Like it undermines it, it makes you question everything and am I doing this right? And, you know, at this appointment, it was like pretty, like a pretty basic appointment. And I had expressed it that appointment, you know, my son's about to start our summer camp. It's active eight hours a day, I'm worried like, I don't know how his blood sugar is going to respond to this. And like, really, it was just like, Okay, well, we'll see you back three months later in July. And I was like, Okay, and so I went. And you know, we went through three more months, his blood sugar was all over the place. Thankfully, his nurse at school, her son actually has type one. So I've been blessed in having this amazing person looking out for him at the school. But our camp, you know, it's me and Sam. So So basically, when we went back in July, I was very frustrated, I said to the doctor look like I need more diabetes education, I need somebody to like, you know, that actually checks in with me more often. Like, I need more. And I need you guys to explain, like how the dosing chart works and how like what these factors are, that are affecting my son, because I know like activity affects things. Obviously, what you eat affects things, illness affects things, etc. There's all these like things that you can always put your finger on. And so I was frustrated, I demanded that and I also, you know, explained to him how his blood sugar's would just like be like so high at various points during the day. So he came back in with a new dosing chart that we were going to follow because we weren't doing the calculation part yet, we will just go off of a dosing chart. Like if he's eating this many carbs, you're gonna give him this much insulin, if his blood sugar is this, you'll add that amount of insulin. And we haven't learned the calculations at that time to do it really on our own. So in this chart, and I'm looking at it, and I'm thinking, okay, you know, it's more insulin for the carbs, more insulin for the blood sugar. I did you know, he did say we're going to try to get those high spikes down. So it's like, okay, you know, when I left, I was like, gosh, I hope you know now I'll feel more confident in managing this condition. And so I bring Casey back. I dropped him off at the camp, and I and Casey and all I can say to this day is think my son was not hungry. And he said, I'm not hungry Mom, I want to just go play at camp. So I sent him off with his counter. I told Sam who was on the property. You know, Casey doesn't want to eat right now. He has a new dosing chart with him here it is. And I had to go take my other son Jaden to the eye doctor. So on the way there, I say go run some errands to the camp, and then I'll stop at the eye doctor. So I'm literally sitting in the eye doctor's office four hours later. And the doctor is trying to talk to me about my son, and I get this phone call. And I answer it. And the nurse on the other line says, don't use the new dosing scale. And just like that, and I'm like, what? And she never says like, why, but I sense in my heart that something is terribly, terribly wrong. Yeah. And I said, Yes. And I said to her, it's four hours later, like, I can guarantee you that my husband has used this chart by now. Like, it's been four hours, and she said, Call in now, I'll call you back in 10 minutes. And I was like, okay, so I called Sam. And he had used it about an hour earlier to dos Casey. And I was just panicked, because I still didn't know why, what the problem was, but I knew something was wrong. So I said, Sam, go get him now. Like, run like you've never run before and get our son. I called his counselor. And I said, like, you know, where's Casey? Where's Casey? And she said, Oh, we just got out of the pool. And I was like, Oh, my God, like, because the CGM doesn't have a signal in the pool, right. And so I knew that nobody knew. And they wouldn't know for the next 30 minutes, probably what his blood sugar was in that moment. And so I said, Watch him to Sam now, like, stat. And so Sam gets to him. And by that time, kisi is struggling to get up the stairs to our house. Like he's crying. He's like, disoriented, like, my husband's telling me this later. And I'm terrified because I'm not even there. Yeah. And he can barely climb the stairs. And my husband uses the manual tester to test him. And his blood sugar is 26. And my husband just saw tatting him chug juice, so you can't believe. And it took, I don't even know a while until Casey's blood sugar finally climbed back up to 71. And in the meantime, the nurse calls me back. And she says, Did you get a hold of him? And I said, Yeah, I did. I said Casey's blood sugar was 26. And he just got out of the pool. And she says, Oh, no, I am so sorry. This is our fault. I am so so sorry. And I said to her, I'm not gonna lie to you right now. But I'm completely traumatized. Like, my son could have blacked out in the pool, he could have blacked out after he got out of the pool. And like, I don't know, like, you know, people have told us that they don't even know if we could have got into him fast enough with like, the, like, the glucagon, or any of that with that kind of low blood sugar. And, and she's like, well, let me call your husband right now. Like, and talk to him. So she called him and, you know, assess how Casey was doing and she had told me the doctor would call me back to the doctor eventually called me and I relate everything to him. And he's like, I'm so sorry. This is our fault. And I said to her like him, I said, How did this happen? You know, like, and he's like, Well, I a nurse took the wrong scale or have a binder and I'm like, what? And because this past before his eyes, you know, it passed before her is it bad? Or did you just hand me something from a binder and not look at it? No. So I thought to myself like you know, every single person in that practice is liable for my son was dying right now. And I just couldn't believe and he's like well you know, his tail will be under a different nurse from now on but in my head I'm like and also it will be under a different doc. You know, like this is not okay with me. And I just remember I finally got home like when I got to Casey I just like you know, housing like can't believe and and then it took and then I had to make sure you know over that time and you know through the night that that insulin wasn't still like working we had to give him like more carbs and like stop his activity at Camp obviously. Because the scale once you added the extra insulin for the cards and the actual zoom for the blood sugar, it was at least five times as much insulin giving given to him than before. And as you got higher up the scale. Sometimes it would like the highest it would be would be like nine times as much insulin like if you got that high up the scale which thank God we didn't know And it was just like an astounding difference between what they were giving before like, and we all know that half a unit of insulin one way or the other can, or even a unit can like cause some serious effects, or would you get to like five times the insulin, or more like he basically had handed us a death sentence and was having us give Casey that sentence by, because obviously, we're injecting him with that insulin. So
Scott Benner 45:27
I have a question. So do you recall, like going back to that time, like, for instance, what a unit was to cover? And then how much a unit was to cover after they gave you the new scale?
Lisa 45:40
Um, I think that's in my article, I'd have to like, look back at the article to honestly say like, what it was off memory, but I do believe I put it in the article wasn't what,
Scott Benner 45:53
I'm sorry, was it enough that you that it was like startling, or were you so new at it that it wouldn't have mattered, like you didn't have the, you didn't have the blow through it at that point.
Lisa 46:03
So looking back, so as an unexperienced person that was like, I need diabetes education, I need this and that, I didn't see it. When he handed me that chart. Like I was just too new to this. And, and that's in where it comes in, actually, that how his life ended up being saved. But by that nurse calling it she told me a few months later, when I actually met her in person that she called because of my request for diabetes education and understanding the scale like she had just seen the notice, I guess, in her computer, that down to look at this chart, do calculations, and she's like, Wait, something's not right. None of this makes sense. And that's when she called me in a panic if I hadn't requested diabetes education and help with that chart. My son might not be alive today, like I really couldn't say. And the when I look back at it, now, you're way more experienced, I would definitely say like, five times as much as much insulin to correct like, you know, some high blood sugars during the day, that's too much like the I think the max dose we would ever have given Casey. At that time, I think was like, three units or so, you know, now he's maybe gets up to like, if he's going like, all LP, ice cream party day, you know, maybe he'll get six units, but something like that was above that, right? Like, that would have been like, you know, at this point, in my experience level, a huge red flag. So it just that like these, I was supposed to, like trust these people who are supposed to know way more than I know about this disease only like five months in. And it got to a point where my type one friend who is responsible for saving cases life, she said to me, Well, 100% responsibility for his condition is staggering. Because you now have to question his medical team, you have to leave wondering, Is this accurate? Like you you lost that confidence that you're supposed to have in the medical team?
Scott Benner 48:24
Can I ask you Have they had I mean, did you leave them pretty soon after that?
Lisa 48:30
So I switched location. I never went back after that I switched location, I travel over an hour to get to this new hospital for him i because there's nothing really close to that or insurance except, and it's under a team that is just completely the opposite. When we first sat down with them, they gave us diabetes education, they asked us well, what do you know, explain to us what you know, so that they could see well, do you know what you think, you know, so we did that? They they went over stuff that we hadn't really learned well, yet. They went over like, you know, more stuff on nutrition. They answered all our questions. And they helped us they gave us pediatric supplies that I could not get under our insurance like it is crazy to me in this day and age that I am being denied pediatric pediatric supplies for my type one son. So what we ended up doing sometimes was we couldn't use a pen to inject Casey because he was only on half unit doses like increments. And the pens came in one unit so they wouldn't even give us half unit syringes either. So I would have to take a one unit syringe, put it into a pen, pull out, you know, whatever the half unit one and a half units by the half unit, inject it into KC and then the pen of course was is no longer valid because you've punctured it. So it can never be used as a pen again. So even if one day he was like, Oh, he just needs one unit insulin, I can't give it to him for the pen, I still have to use a needle. And it was like these crazy things that I'm going through between his medical team and insurance stuff. It got to the point where it's like, is this the norm for families with type one? Is this just like, crazy, unlucky knee? Because if this is the norm, like it's completely unacceptable, has that been 100 years in? Yeah,
Scott Benner 50:34
has that been the case at the new place? Or is the new placement better?
Lisa 50:37
So the new place has definitely been better. The one thing that are up to me is that we got a letter from them saying that they were unable to negotiate a contract with the current insurance we had. And so they were going to no longer be able to accept it. So on a dime, I had to suddenly switch insurance, and which meant I had to switch pharmacy medical supply company, and even like, figure out like, sometimes I get last minute that Oh, his Dexcom is no longer going to come from, you know, this one durable medical supply. Now, it's a pharmacy prescription, like things like it was everything was a mess. And I swear you not as soon as I get two weeks in on this thing, insurance, I got a letter saying, Oh, nevermind. You know, we've renegotiated we'll continue to accept it. And I was like, you've got to be kidding me. Are you serious? Give me let
Scott Benner 51:31
me do that. First thing is, I wondered if the new place was better medically, but the insurance thing, it wasn't what I was wondering. But I will tell you this. And this is a good thing for all of you to know. Hospitals will use their patients the way television programs use their viewers when they think they're going to get cancelled. So this is a, this is common practice. So like if your TV your favorite TV show looks like it's not going to be renewed by wherever it's on Netflix or somewhere, then the TV show will go out into the public and say, you know, tweet to this person, make noise on social media tell people you want to watch the show, blah, blah, blah, excuse me. I've seen this a number of times, I'm comfortable enough saying this is true. When hospitals can't get contracts with insurance companies, they gin up the patient population, they get them upset to try to get them to yell at the insurance companies. I've seen this happen a couple of times, it's really shady. But it definitely goes on. So if they think a big insurance companies shake, you know, really it's never about it's not usually about not reappearing, it's usually about contract money. And so they try the hospitals will try to sick the patients on the insurance company to get public opinion moved in their direction. You used to see it a lot when we were younger, the cable companies would send you a text and say, You're not going to have FX anymore after June 30. And you know, if you're not happy about that, somebody better call, you know, Cox Cable and let them know, you know what I'm talking about?
Lisa 53:11
Yeah, I can totally see that happening. I guarantee
Scott Benner 53:15
that's what happened there. But my question was more about medically, the new place medically is more stable and has better advice.
Lisa 53:23
Yes. And in fact, I finally at his last visit, which wasn't that long ago, I finally got the doctor I want, she has type one diabetes, and she even has the same pump as him. And she's so sweet. And she's so friendly. And I was like, finally, you know, my son finally has someone that understands what he's going through, can like, you know, give him like emotional support and not just see him in the office. And then 10 minutes later, Okay, goodbye, you know, next patient, you know, but actually relate to him when I told her I actually I showed her to JDRF has made us the 2022 family team champion for South Jersey one more, which is a huge honor. And I showed her a video that we made with Casey talking about being in one walk and she literally started crying, because she knows what it means to find a cure for type one, she knows what Casey is going through. And for me to finally have like go from a doctor that almost killed my son to someone who would never let that happen because she knows what it means to live with type one. Like I couldn't ask for anything better than that. I was very fortunate.
Scott Benner 54:50
I was gonna ask you, but you left the the first practice so quickly. You don't have an answer for it. But I but I did wonder I mean, it's a big mistake. Don't get me wrong. Like I'm not saying that's wrong. On, but it was one mistake. And so was it as easy as a nurse picked up the wrong piece of paper and read through the wrong numbers? And would that crappy care have continued or not, and I get leaving to not find out because to your point, it did have to pass over the eyes of the doctor. And you would think that someone would look at a number and go, this is a newly diagnosed, you know, six year old kid, we just, we just gave them a new chart that's five or six times greater than what we've given them. That doesn't make sense. That's not right. Somebody should have noticed I'm on but I do wonder, if you would have stayed, maybe you would have got stuck staying, if you would have learned that that was a one off problem. Or if you would have continued to have problems like that.
Lisa 55:41
I don't think I would have stayed because like, you know, some other examples where like, I just didn't feel like we got enough support. Like I did feel like it was like, Okay, we saw Casey now 10 minutes later, goodbye next patient. But also it was because like they sent me, it's like they didn't really take the time to know like what our situation is. And like they would send me like directions like to download the Dexcom clarity app so they could see his stats. And for me, like in that time of my life, it was very overwhelming. I'm not like the greatest with technology. And I was like, I call them and I said like, I would really appreciate it. If someone could call me and walk me through this. Instead of saying, here's another 40 steps on your plate to add to your normal day to day and night tonight, take one management. And so they did have a nurse call me because of that and walk me through it. And it did take a while like I was on the phone a while going through this process. And like to me that shouldn't be standard procedure that you just hit Hey dumped this in their lap to like, it should be like, hey, you know, do you need help? Getting the software downloaded? Like, let me walk you through it. And so the character wasn't what I think a type one family needs, like you're trying to do so much on your own with this disease. It's so unpredictable and chaotic at times, and like you're still trying to learn it, you need more support, like one of my article says like the first few months in a diagnosis, you should be seeing someone monthly, you shouldn't be seeing someone every three months, you know, you should have someone checking in with you weekly, you know, Hey, how's it going? Because there's definitely some adjustments in insulin dosing that you could do. Like, if you see a week oh, this isn't working. There's a new parent in this is like, I don't know Is it just me messing up. But in the end, it could just be the insulin chart is not good enough to have an adjustment
Scott Benner 57:41
or contact with somebody would be really beneficial. You know, it's funny, you brought up the decks like just like, here, download this thing, you know, I'm going to tell you the truth. For years, my daughter's Children's Hospital has had a really great online portal where you can see your tests and all that stuff. And they always give you a piece of paper like here, you should get on the online portal. And every time I go to do it, it doesn't work the way it's supposed to. And I never finished. And I do mention it to them. I say hey, I'm having trouble getting on the portal, and they'll say, oh, ask the personnel front, they'll give you the instructions. So I've seen the instructions, the instructions suck. And you know, I can't get on the portal, and then it just gets dropped. Like it's like, okay, like if the online portal is so freaking important. Like, to your point, someone go get a laptop, and let's get me on the online portal, because there's obviously something I'm missing. I don't know what it is. I'm a fairly adept computer user. I mean, you know, they'll tell you like, oh, we hear that from other people, do you? Well then maybe change the instructions or fix the, I don't know, like, Why is it my job to put me online portal, you know,
Lisa 58:49
exactly, there should be way more support for everybody managing this and, and just to go back to the other point of why would leave them is because this new place just handed me a bag full of diabetes supplies that I could not get from the insurance. And no place was like, Oh, well, you know, let's arrange a zoom call. Let's figure out how to insert a one unit syringe into one unit pin and try to somehow come across with some half unit dosing from that. And like just deal with this with other places like you can't get this here you go. Here's like five Dex comms, like three transmitters, half unit needles, and then like, you know what Lisa effort into calling the insurance and saying, Hey,
Scott Benner 59:36
Lisa, Hey, what's up half unit syringes? That shouldn't be a heavy lift to get you some half units. Like I mean, what are we talking about here? They cost nothing. You know, whether you have insurance or it's somebody just needs to get your prescription so you can get the damn things and be done with it or hand you some samples or something. Instead of just letting you flounder and making this thing that is already difficult, more difficult. You're struggling, they're struggling someone, someone should should I take your point, when you're struggling, someone should get you past the struggle not point out that you're struggling and go, Oh, here's a piece of paper, you should go home and download an app like, Oh, thanks.
Lisa 1:00:16
Like, there really was like, no support and like, and of course, someone like my mom who like meal the last 10 years has made it her living to try to make, you know, medical providers and have like, this is a full time job like this is more complicated than a job you some people go to every day, and they walk away with at least a paycheck here like, you're there's no holidays, no time off, you're not earning any money. You're just like floundering on your own, trying to figure out this crazy, complicated disease. And like with almost like no support, no, a lot of our support at the beginning, like I said, came from the town. And in the people that knew what it meant to have type one.
Scott Benner 1:01:05
We say it's a really interesting mixture, right? Because we live in a society where we say, we want to help people, but then our institutions aren't really set up to help them. And yeah, and our attitude is, Oh, you got type one diabetes. And that's tough luck. Good luck. But our outward messaging is you got type one diabetes, oh, no, you have insurance, and we're a hospital, come here, and we'll help you. And then you go to them. And then the help is lackluster. At best. Sometimes there are some places where it's terrific, your your experience, not good. And so even that's going on, because you keep saying this one thing, which I think is interesting. It's the idea of like, you've been thrust into a thing that you don't want. And yet, there's no way for you to avoid it, you have to do it. But there's always that underlying feeling of this isn't even something we did to ourselves like, it's it just happened. And then there, there's gonna be other people who hear that and think, well, listen, that's bad luck. You don't even like I didn't, I had a car accident, I didn't want to have a car accident and my leg broke. And yeah, you don't even like it. In the end, what you're looking at is, is a specific story about a bigger picture. And yet somehow, somehow, kind of the kindness of us, right, who the people who become nurses for great example, like caregivers, and people who want to help other people, doctors who say that this is their life's calling, like they all gather together in a place and then are unable or unwilling, or don't know how to reform the system that they get put in. So that all that all the things that they wanted to do when they were younger, or when they were in school can actually happen. Because this is just like medicines like politics. In that you see a bunch of well, meaning people who are like, I'm gonna run for Congress and change the world. And 10 years later, this guy's in the pocket of everybody, you know what I mean? Or, you know, a little kid says, I'm gonna grow up, I'm gonna be a nurse, I'm gonna be a doctor, I'm gonna go help people, then they get thrown into the system, and the system runs them over. And meanwhile, all this effort and good intentions never reaches the people it's intended to reach. And so instead of this well oiled machine, that could really be I mean, look at all the man hours and the effort that's being put in by the nurses and doctors. Like imagine if it was directed back into the world in a more, I don't know, well thought out fashion, or in a way where it wasn't, you know, strings weren't being pulled by money and insurance and all these other things. All the efforts were all the efforts, they're all the people are there. And the outcomes, not there.
Lisa 1:03:49
Yes. And like everyone questions to this day, why it's not just a standard procedure to test kid's blood or their urine at a checkup or yearly checkup? I've seen that question like so much. And I know JDRF is trying to change that, but
Scott Benner 1:04:05
it's like, we see you know,
Lisa 1:04:08
medical doctors out there that have no clue what type one is to this day. They have they clearly haven't been trained in it. They don't know what even symptoms to look out for. Because we all know it's misdiagnosed as flu strep stomach bug growth spurt, you know, to this day, and it's like every time I see like a new family diagnosed on one of these support pages on join to my heart just hurts because I know what they're going through. And it's like almost inevitable that that's going to happen because there's the like, the another reason for me when you spread awareness is these doctors. If you're going to be like a physician, you need to be aware of type one, and the incidence of it is increasing. I mean, the statistics in the future don't look good. The incidence and rates and children are increasing and The general public doesn't realize that 93% of people that get type one, have no family history of it. And it's going to affect any race, gender, ethnicity, any anybody whatsoever, like anyone is at risk of getting this. And so even though there were sent people like, oh, there's only like a 1% chance of me ever getting it? No, I look at statistics very differently than most people because like, I also had a 1% chance of getting a DVT, deep vein thrombosis blood clot, and my son was born and I got it, you know, my son only had a 1% chance of getting type one, well, he got it, you know. So like, I don't look at a percentage like that, like, everyone needs to be aware that this could land in your plate, or it could land in your friend's plate. If you're a teacher in a classroom, a kid in your class could get it, like everyone should be aware of what to look out for, so that that child doesn't dive in DKA will even have to land in DKA, you know,
Scott Benner 1:06:01
well, you know, in the end, Lisa, what you're saying is 100%, right, right. In a perfect world, we'd all we test everybody's here and we would, you know, everything would happen. But I'm gonna tell you right now, like just from what you're saying, and a little bit of Googling, there are 73 million children in the United States. And what's it say here from 2002 to 2015. study identified 14,638, us younger than 20, who were newly diagnosed type one diabetes 3916, dually, diagnosed with type two, even if the even if I'm finding bad numbers, the point is, if there were a million kids diagnosed with type one diabetes every year, they're gonna tell you Well, that's only a small percentage of the children that there are, and we're gonna put our efforts somewhere else. Like, it's, it's whoever makes the most noise. You know, if you really want, if you really want to get, you know, the medical community to test every kid at their wealth visit, then somebody's gonna have to throw a lot of money into it and push really hard against, you know, the governing bodies of these doctors and force that like, no one's going to do it on purpose. And the insurance companies are going to push back because 73 million tests a year, times whatever the insurance company says that test cost is more money, and then they're gonna say to you, and then you're gonna tell me you're only gonna find blah, blah, blah, many like, and then you're gonna start talking about people like numbers, and not like,
Lisa 1:07:23
just you're not gonna look at them as life. Right? You're gonna look at them as just a number. Yeah,
Scott Benner 1:07:28
because there's somebody somewhere an actuary somewhere sitting in a room that says, Listen, and I don't mean, listen, this isn't my, these aren't my words, but this is what I imagine is happening in the work the world, right? Like, what are we talking about 100 kids died a year from this. That's how they're gonna think about it. You know, what I mean, of 73 million 100 of them die. And they're gonna say, statistically, you know, not important, except, you know, to those 100 children, of course, and their families, of course, is the most important thing in the entire world. So how do you get, like, where do you point those resources that how do you make those decisions? How do you force people to make those decisions in a world where, let's not forget, in this isn't a world where a nurse, a trained medical person called you up and said, Hey, start giving your kid five times more insulin they use, though? So you're asking a lot, Lisa. Yeah,
Lisa 1:08:23
I know. All I can say is like, at least, you know, through spreading awareness. No, that's what I said, if I reach one person, and they're like, hey, like, oh, like someone paying a lot could be a sign of type one, well, maybe 10 years down the road. It's their kid or their neighbor's kid. And they're like, Why doesn't my son stop wetting the bed? Like, they're like, Ha, you know, it's something clicks well, and they think back, like, if even I say, one person, you know, or change some person's life in some positive way they give, it's not going to be at the higher level system, you know, then at least I can do what I can, you know, I think my level
Scott Benner 1:09:01
think of you, me, even in the same way, right? I think of what you're doing and what I'm doing. It's the same thing. Like we're satellites. We're just we're amplifying the signal and sending it out farther. Right. Yeah. And then the satellites are in a system where they all kind of maybe they don't talk to each other. Maybe they do actually, where, you know, you're not the only one doing this. I get I guarantee you, there's a Lisa in every town across the country. Oh, I hope so. Right. And they're, and they're writing for their little local newspaper and making sure that they know. And every once in a while, we get a New York Times writer whose kids diagnosed with type one diabetes, Nate, and they do the same thing you did. I've seen that happen in the past. I had lunch with one of them one time, they had the same feelings you had and they just had a bigger pulpit to yell from. Yeah, and they choose something. They pick something they think's important, and they amplify. And I did the same thing. Like Like, Lisa, this is, you know, I'm sitting in front of a number of computer monitors right now. And one of them I don't usually do track the downloads of the show so carefully. But this is the last like eight hours of the last day of May, for my statistics, and this month just became the most popular month of the podcast ever. So that's amazing. And so I'm watching it. And if I told you rough numbers this month has more downloads or streams, people get upset when I say just downloads they're like, but I stream it does that count, it counts, if you're listening to the show, it counts, this month has more of those than the first two and a half years of the podcast it. That's amazing. And so sometimes the message you send out, people really want to hear, and then you find ways to turn off the power on your satellite. And then you start reaching more and more people. And you might do that one day, you know what I mean? You might be doing it right now. And you don't even know what you might be reaching more people than you think. Or someone else might read what you wrote and say I'd put that in my newspaper, too.
Lisa 1:10:56
And yes, I mean, that's one thing is I was just scrolling my Facebook like not that long ago, a few weeks ago. And on my page, one of my articles shared by someone randomly on a diabetes page that said, worth the read. And I was like, Oh my gosh, that's my article. I know. And I have no idea how many other shares there are out there because like, I didn't know she shared that one, you know, but like, if my words somehow travel, you know, farther than that's amazing. My mom because she writes on diabetes. Her last paper that was published within this last year was an international journal. And she actually cited for my first four articles, and that one podcast we did for diabetes Awareness month with my husband. And so now like, you know, there are somewhere out there International, but some of these diabetes pages are also like they have people from like Australia, and like all over the place. So these people are reading, you know, the Hamilton Gazette, all the way out in you know, places all over the place. Yeah, yeah. And maybe they're sharing it with their people. And immediately, my word will spread further than I'll ever know. You know, I don't know. But if it does, that would be amazing. I know, like I told you, my goal was to reach one person just like yours was and if and if it gets bigger and farther than that, then I will die a happy person, you know,
Scott Benner 1:12:28
least I'll give you some examples. This month in the United Kingdom, more people listened to my podcast, then listen to it worldwide. In the first year, it was out. Well, yeah. And in Australia, and Canada, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, the show is in every country in the world. And it was not my intention, I did not think that would happen. And I really just, I really was just doing what you've described earlier, I had seen something. I thought it was unfair for other people not to know about it. And I said, I wonder how many people 110 100 I could reach and hopefully make their lives easier, or healthier or something. And now here I am, the 2022 I wrote that first blog post in 2007. So long time ago, you know, so wasn't wasn't instantaneous or overnight or anything like that. But it actually ended up working. And, and I just, I love your story. I think what you're doing is really wicked cool. And, and I hope you keep doing it. And I was happy to let you come tell the story here today. I have to go I'm running out of time. But is there anything that we didn't talk about that we should have? Did we miss anything?
Lisa 1:13:42
Um, no. But like, I don't know if you're able to link up any of my articles in the podcast notes, but I'm happy to show them if anyone wants to read them. Like I said, like they are meant to spread awareness but also to help people in your community, family friend or otherwise, just understand, like, what you may be going through. Yeah.
Scott Benner 1:14:05
You send me the links. And when it posts I'll put them up. Yes. And
Lisa 1:14:11
and I will never forget, I have to end by saying this. I will never forget that you said when someone asked how you got on the Juicebox Podcast to say Do you remember what
Scott Benner 1:14:22
you said? Godley so what did I do when I say
Lisa 1:14:25
that I sent you a message way too long to read. So there was just shorter and faster to interview we
Scott Benner 1:14:33
call this an interview really is specious to begin with because you are a chatty, I found myself thinking. You might not know what your husband and children's voices sound like. You were you were such a good talker, like you get going and you just you know what you want to say and you're clear and concise and you tell a good story. Do you let the other people in your house talk or now?
Lisa 1:14:54
Oh my gosh, I'm actually more laid back in my house and my husband But the funny thing that you mentioned that is my husband said, Oh, you would talk about type one all day so you'll be fine. And my mom was like Lisa, you always so well spoken, you have nothing to worry about.
Scott Benner 1:15:11
Oh, no, you're terrific. You really weren't and I was happy for it. But the first couple of times where I'm like, I've got to run her over so I can say my thing here I was like Lisa, Lisa, Lisa and then the problem he says, when I do that, my brain goes Lisa Lisa culture, and then I lose my thought for a second. But no, you were terrific. I was thrilled to have you on.
A huge thank you to one of today's sponsors, G voc glucagon, find out more about Chivo Capo pen at G Vogue glucagon.com forward slash juicebox. you spell that GVOKEGLUC AG o n.com. Forward slash juice box. Thanks also to the Dexcom G six dexcom.com forward slash juice box. See your blood sugar, the number the speed and the direction on one little look, swipe up on that phone, pull out that Dexcom receiver and the information is right there. Set your alerts and alarms where you want them next comm makes that up to you. dexcom.com forward slash juicebox thank you so much to Lisa for coming on the show and sharing her story. I really appreciate it. I appreciate all of you listening. Please don't forget to subscribe or follow in Apple podcasts Spotify, Amazon Music audible wherever you listen and tell somebody else about the show. That's our grows. What else check out the private Facebook group Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes on Facebook and don't forget the the website juicebox podcast.com. All those different series. After Dark defining thyroid bold beginnings pro tip all that stuff is at juicebox podcast.com is a big list of them there. You can actually listen to them online if you want or you can just use the list to refer back to your podcast app. It's completely up to you
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